exam91a1

MEDIEVAL STUDIES 117:
ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL HSTORY

Professor Donahue, Mr. Berkhofer

March 18, 1996

This is an "open book" exam. You may bring with you and use anything that you wish. You should bring your class materials with you. Read the following document carefully. Then answer the questions that follow it:

GLANVILL, Book XIII, §§ 32-3 (Materials pp. 167-8)

[32] Lastly there remains for discussion the recognition called novel disseisin. When anyone has unjustly and without a judgment disseised another of his free tenement within the assize of the lord king--that is, within the limit of time which is appointed for this purpose by the lord king on the advice of his great men, which varies in length--then the disseisee can claim the benefit of this constitution, and shall have the following writ:

The writ of novel disseisin

[33] The king to the sheriff, greeting. N. has complained to me that R. unjustly and without a judgment has disseised him of his free tenement in such-and-such a vill since my last voyage to Normandy. Therefore I command you that, if N. gives you security for prosecuting his claim, you are to see that the chattels which were taken from the tenement are restored to it, and that the tenement and the chattels remain in peace until the Sunday after Easter. And meanwhile you are to see that the tenement is viewed by twelve free and lawful men of the neighbourhood, and their names endorsed on this writ. And summon them by good summoners to be before me or my justices on the Sunday after Easter, ready to make the recognition. And summon R., or his bailiff if he himself cannot be found, on the security of gage and reliable sureties to be there then to hear the recognition. And have there the summoners, and this writ and the names of the sureties. Witness, etc.

QUESTIONS

1. What is this writ about? What are its significant features? Try to place the writ in its social and legal context making use of the hints as to context that are given in the writ itself and in the introductory text by Glanvill.

2. Now try to place this in a somewhat broader context, that of the reign of Henry II. How does it fit into what Henry II seems to have been trying to accomplish? Consider what would have happened to a demandant (plaintiff) who had been disseised in the manner described in the time of Stephen and in the time of Henry I.

3. Finally, what happened as a result of this writ? Consider both its immediate effect at the time of the Polestead Saga and also its more long-term effects, say, by the time of Edward I.

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last modified: 12/13/08

	MEDIEVAL STUDIES 117: ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL HSTORY Professor Donahue, Mr. Berkhofer March 18, 1996
	This is an "open book" exam. You may bring with you and use anything that you wish. You should bring your class materials with you. Read the following document carefully. Then answer the questions that follow it:
	GLANVILL, Book XIII, §§ 32-3 (Materials pp. 167-8)
	[32] Lastly there remains for discussion the recognition called novel disseisin. When anyone has unjustly and without a judgment disseised another of his free tenement within the assize of the lord king--that is, within the limit of time which is appointed for this purpose by the lord king on the advice of his great men, which varies in length--then the disseisee can claim the benefit of this constitution, and shall have the following writ:
	The writ of novel disseisin
	[33] The king to the sheriff, greeting. N. has complained to me that R. unjustly and without a judgment has disseised him of his free tenement in such-and-such a vill since my last voyage to Normandy. Therefore I command you that, if N. gives you security for prosecuting his claim, you are to see that the chattels which were taken from the tenement are restored to it, and that the tenement and the chattels remain in peace until the Sunday after Easter. And meanwhile you are to see that the tenement is viewed by twelve free and lawful men of the neighbourhood, and their names endorsed on this writ. And summon them by good summoners to be before me or my justices on the Sunday after Easter, ready to make the recognition. And summon R., or his bailiff if he himself cannot be found, on the security of gage and reliable sureties to be there then to hear the recognition. And have there the summoners, and this writ and the names of the sureties. Witness, etc.
	QUESTIONS
	1. What is this writ about? What are its significant features? Try to place the writ in its social and legal context making use of the hints as to context that are given in the writ itself and in the introductory text by Glanvill. 2. Now try to place this in a somewhat broader context, that of the reign of Henry II. How does it fit into what Henry II seems to have been trying to accomplish? Consider what would have happened to a demandant (plaintiff) who had been disseised in the manner described in the time of Stephen and in the time of Henry I. 3. Finally, what happened as a result of this writ? Consider both its immediate effect at the time of the Polestead Saga and also its more long-term effects, say, by the time of Edward I.