登陆注册
5247300000040

第40章 VII. (6)

The Nobility were quick and earnest, notwithstanding his Minority, to have the Liberties and Laws of the Kingdom confirm'd; and Preparatory thereto, in the Year 1223, Writs issued to the several Counties to enquire, by twelve good and lawful Knights, Que fuerunt Libertates in Anglia tempore Regni Henrici avi sui, returnable quindena Paschae. What Success those Inquisitions had, or what Returns were made thereof, appears not:

But in the next Year following, the young King standing in Need of a Supply of Money from the Clergy and Laity, none would be granted, unless the Liberties of the Kingdom were confirm'd, as they were express'd and contain'd in the two Charters of King John; which the King accordingly granted in his Parliament at Westminster, and they were accordingly proclaim'd, Ita quod Chartae utrorumque Regum in nulla inveniatur dissimiles. Mat.

Paris. Anno 1224.

In the Year 1227, The King holding his Parliament at Oxford, and being now of full Age; by ill Advice, causes the two Charters he had formerly granted to be cancell'd, "Hanc occasionem praetendens, quod Chartae illae concessae fuerunt & Libertates scriptae & signatae dum ipse erat sub Custodia, nec sui Corporis aut sigilli aliquam potestatem habuit, unde viribus carere debuit," &c. Which Fact occasion'd a great disturbance in the Kingdom: And this Inconstancy in the King, was in Truth the Foundation of all his future Troubles, and yet was ineffectual to his End and Purpose; for those Charters were not avoidable for the King's Nonage, and if there could have been any such Pretence, that alone would not avoid them, for they were Laws confirm'd in Parliament.

But the Great Charter, and the Charter of the Forest, did not expire so; for in 1253, they were again, seal'd and publish'd:

And because after the Battle of Evesham, the King had wholly subdued the Barons, and thereby a Jealousy might grow, that he again meant to infringe it; in the Parliament at Marlbridge, cap.

5. they are again confirm'd. And thus we have the great Settlement of the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom establish'd in this King's Time: The Charters themselves are not every Word the same with those of King John, but they differ very little in Substance.

This Great Charter, and Charta de Foresta, was the great Basis upon which this Settlement of the English Laws stood in the Time of this King and his Son; there were also some additional Laws of this King yet extant, which much polish' d the Common Law, viz. The Statutes of Merton and Marlbridge, and some others.

We have likewise two other principal Monuments of the great Advance and Perfection that the English Laws attain'd to under this King, viz. The Tractate of Bracton, and those Records of Plea, as well in both Benches, as before the Justices Itinerant, the Records whereof are still extant.

Touching the former, viz. Bracton's Tractate, it yields us a great Evidence of the Growth of the Laws between the Times of Henry 2, and Hen. 3. If we do but compare Glanville's Book with that of Bracton, we shall see a very great Advance of the Law in Writings of the latter, over what they are in Glanville. It will be needless to instance Particulars; some of the Writs and Process do indeed in Substance agree, but the Proceedings are much more regular and settled, as they are in Bracton, above what they are in Glanville. The Book itself in the Beginning seems to borrow its Method from the Civil Law; but the greatest Part of the Substance is either of the Course of Proceedings in the Law known to the Author, or of Resolutions and Decisions in the Courts of King's-Bench and Common-Bench, and before Justices Itinerant, for now the inferior Courts began to be of little Use or Esteem.

As to the Judicial Records of the Time of this King, they were grown to a much greater Degree of Perfection, and the Pleadings more orderly, many of which are extant: But the great Troubles, and the Civil Wars, that happen'd in his Time, gave a great Interruption to the legal Proceedings of Courts; they had a particular Commission and Judicatory for Matters happening in Time of War, stiled, Placita de Tempore Turbationis, wherein are many excellent Things: They were made principally about the Battle of Evesham, and after it; and for settling of the Differences of this Kingdom, was the Dictum, or Edictum de Kenelworth made, which is printed in the old Magna Charta.

We have little extant of Resolutions in this King's Time, but what are either remember'd by Bracton, or some few broken and scatter'd Reports collected by Fitzherbet in his Abridgment.

There are also some few Sums or Constitutions relative to the Law, which tho' possibly not Acts of Parliament, yet have obtain'd in Use as such; as De districtione Scaccarii, Statiutum Panis & Cervisiae Dies Communes in Banco Statutum Hiberniae, Stat. de Scaccario, Judicium Collistrigii, and others.

We come now to the Time of Edw. I, who is well stiled our English Justinian; for in his Time the Law, quasi Per Saltum, obtained a very great Perfection. The Pleadings are short indeed, but excellently good and perspicuous: And altho' for some Time some of those Imperfections and ancient inconvenient Rules obtain'd; as for Instance, in Point of Descents, where the middle Brother held of the eldest, and dying without Issue, the Lands descended to the youngest, upon that old Rule in the Time of Hen.

2. Nemo Potest esse Dominius & Haeres, mention'd in Glanville, at least if he had once receiv'd Homage, 13 E. I. Fitz Avowry 235.

Yet the Laws did never in any one Age receive so great and sudden an Advancement, nay, I think I may safely say, all the Ages since his Time have not done so much in Reference to the orderly settling and establishing of the distributive justice of this Kingdom, as he did within a short Compass of the thirty-five Years of his Reign, especially about the first thirteen Years thereof.

Indeed many Penal Statutes and Provisions, in Relation to the Peace and good Government of the Kingdom, have been since made.

同类推荐
  • 诗经稗疏

    诗经稗疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 熙朝乐事

    熙朝乐事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 朝野佥言

    朝野佥言

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 洪恩灵济真君自然行道仪

    洪恩灵济真君自然行道仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 文房四谱

    文房四谱

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 星际桃源系统

    星际桃源系统

    在母星多了一家每天营业一个小时的星际菜铺,在这里选购的菜品不但价格昂贵,并且不能外带只能在小店内自行加工!什么?自行加工!这家菜铺还能开下去的?可事实却是,每一天这家店铺门前人山人海,甚至有无数高等级觉醒者从几个星系之外奔袭而来。什么星际霸主,什么商盟第一人,什么联合会议议员,都给我乖乖的排队!星际种田文,以轻松娱乐为主,打打杀杀的都是调剂,希望各位喜欢呦!
  • 狼王的宠后

    狼王的宠后

    有人说自己很倒霉,但是一定不比她倒霉。吃个饭被噎死,还来个灵魂出窍。砸死了正牌的狼后。还来个借尸还魂,成了狼王的狼后。呜呜…人家还魂吃香喝辣的,她怎么就穿越成——畜生。【片段一】“你,你,你要做什么?”某女坐在床上,看着正慢慢向自己靠近在某只白狼。“亲爱的,当然是做我们该做的事情啦!”某狼开口暧昧的说道。某女两眼一翻,直接倒在晕死过去。狼,居然会说话?【片段二】“我不要怀狼宝宝,我要回家!”某女哭红着双眼,让她怀狼宝宝,那不是要她的命吗?“爱妃,这里就是你的家啊!”某狼笑着,从怀里抽出一张的纸。“什么东西?”某女好奇的伸手去接过,上面写着八个大字:“恭喜狼后,您怀孕了!”某女再次两眼一翻,她不可能会怀孕的。【片段三】“母后,妈咪是什么?可以吃吗?”某宝宝握着某女的一条手帕,紧紧的咬在自己的嘴里。母后的手帕,好好吃!“妈咪就是母后,母后就是妈咪。”某人扯着手帕,不再让宝宝咬。“哦!那宝宝要吃妈咪!”某宝宝天真的说着。<<<<<月下波笔《婚劫》悬崖一壶茶《六王妃》怜小瑜《谋权》公主桃《名门闺秀》晓竹清风《狼王的失贞小奴》爱如影《黑教父的小小点心》瑾瑜《继室谋略》北藤《天才儿子腹黑娘亲》冥溪《相公太勾魂》寻回犬《重生-头牌少夫人》万里月《九品小花痴》《凤煞》愿逍遥
  • 平常日子

    平常日子

    本书为散文集,收散文59篇,抒情、叙事、记人,从一些琐琐碎碎的小事件、小细节中,展示了当代人的生活风貌和作者的丰富情怀。
  • 隐医农女

    隐医农女

    穿越异世大陆,偶得一芥子空间,家徒四壁,不怕,现代知识随便用,没事修个仙,四处瞎转转,现代医术一现,病魔通通不见。这是一个女主一边种田修仙,一边隐秘医治病人的故事。
  • 购物指南(最新21世纪生活百科手册)

    购物指南(最新21世纪生活百科手册)

    本书主要讲述的是如何购物,一些日常生活用品的选购技巧及注意事项。
  • 穿越后从零开始的异世生活

    穿越后从零开始的异世生活

    “你觉得你之前做的每一步都做到最好了吗?”“你所做的一切,真的都是最正确的选择吗?”“你是否,遗漏掉了什么呢?”握住她的手进入自己的梦境当中。在这里黑十三寻找着遗失的回忆,在记忆的间隙中,为了真相而努力着。
  • 阴阳店

    阴阳店

    位于尚武中学附近的长生店,是一家神鬼之店。一次无意的闯入,方逐白成为长生店的外送员,从此徘徊于阴阳两界之间,一脚踏阴,一脚还阳。尘世间种种,生死定数,似乎都跟这间阴阳店能扯上联系。活着的人,在这里寻找归属。死去的人,在这里寻找慰藉。方逐白徘徊于生死之中,游荡在两界之外,而生生死死……这人世间的寻常中,又隐藏了多少不为人知……翻开此页,书中自有分晓。
  • 乱世至尊

    乱世至尊

    她,莫名其妙地来到一个陌生的世界,面对的是被安排好的命运。不愿低头,她的人生要自己掌控。高高在上的公主如何变成天下至上的主宰?她是朝堂的未央公主,是江湖的忘忧山庄庄主洛亦。她曾是他的,月剑离,她此生唯一的爱,可爱失去,泪断绝,悲白发,唤不回。“为什么你不愿意只为了我眉心的一点朱砂,弃了这天下也罢?为什么每一次回眸,我都要小心翼翼,生怕只是梦幻的泡沫?”若有来世,真的,剑离真的愿意,在逝水河畔卸下所有的前尘,走过丛生的荆棘与坎坷,只为在她皎洁的眉心,点上一滴守候来世的朱砂——天下三分,分久必合。可是属于她的还会回来吗?等待真的是一生最初的苍老,又要用多少新生的时间来供思念回头?天若不知道了,这次——
  • 出马仙:我当大仙的那几年

    出马仙:我当大仙的那几年

    南茅北马,自古以来以山海关为界,南方属茅山道术,北方则是出马仙马家,出马仙继承了上古萨满教的传承,信奉,胡,黄,长,蟒,这类野仙,胡三太爷,黄三太奶,常小跑,黄小花,蟒天龙,这些东北仙堂的名字,或许只是存在于传说当中。具有东北灵根的王莫枫,一个困扰几代人的诅咒,不想成为出马弟子可却偏偏与马家有着千丝万缕的联系,他的命运会如何,成为出马弟子后又会有着怎么的命运。一本《天荒道典》,一段曲折的身世,白驰所谓的南茅弟子,又会有着怎样的故事。
  • 大智大勇的探险家(1)(世界名人成长历程)

    大智大勇的探险家(1)(世界名人成长历程)

    《世界名人成长历程——大智大勇的探险家(1)》本书分为玄奘、达·伽马、斯坦利等部分。