Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) EditionReilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) Edition
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
Anyone may ship or carry grain out of the nation, except to enemies,
after paying duties. But the council may restrain this passage when
necessary for the good of the nation. Any merchant, privy or stranger,
who was robbed of goods on the sea or lost his ship by tempest or other
misfortune on the sea banks, his goods coming to shore could not be
declared Wreck, but were to be delivered to the merchant after he proves
ownership in court by his marks on the goods or by good and lawful
merchants.
All stakes and obstacles set up in rivers impeding the passage of boats
shall be removed.
Waterpower was replacing foot power in driving the mills where cloth
was cleaned and fulled.
A boundary dispute between two barons resulted in the first true survey
map. Nine cow pastures were divided by a boundary marked by a shield on
a pole which the commission of true and sworn men had set up.
King Richard II, an irresponsible sovereign, asserted an absolute
supremacy of the king over Parliament and declared certain statutes
which he claimed to have been forced on him to be revoked. He interfered
with county elections of knights to Parliament by directing sheriffs to
return certain named persons. He wanted to dispense altogether with
Parliament and instead have a committee of representatives. He claimed
that the goods of his subjects were his own and illegally taxed the
counties. There were many disputes as to who should be his ministers.
High treason was extended to include making a riot and rumor, compassing
or purposing to depose the King, revoking one's homage or liege to the
King, or attempting to repeal a statute. When Henry Bolingbroke reported
to Parliament that another lord had cast doubt on the king's
trustworthiness, a duel between them was arranged. But Richard, probably
fearing the gain of power of the lord who won, instead exiled the two
lords. He took possession of the Lancaster estates to which Bolingbroke
was heir and forbade this inheritance. This made all propertied men
anxious and they united behind Bolingbroke in taking up arms against
Richard. Richard was not a warrior king and offered to resign the crown.
The "Merciless Parliament" of 1388 swept out Richard's friends.
Parliament deposed and imprisoned Richard. It revoked the extensions to
the definition of high treason. It elected Bolingbroke, who claimed to
be a descendant of Henry III, to be King Henry IV. This action
established clearly that royal decrees were subordinate to parliamentary
statutes, that Parliament was the ultimate legal arbiter of the realm,
and that the consent of Parliament was necessary in determining
kingship. The House of Commons became very powerful. It was responsible
for the major part of legislation. It's members began to assert the
privilege of free speech. That is, they wanted to discuss other matters
than what was on the king's agenda and they opposed punishment for what
they said unless it was treasonable. Henry IV agreed to their request
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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