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Year Books and Plea Rolls as Sources of Historical Information

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Extract

Eighteen years ago F. W. Maitland edited for the Selden Society the first volume of the Year Books of Edward II. In his introduction to that volume, moved by a pardonable enthusiasm, he wrote-perhaps not altogether advisedly— “It will some day seem a wonderful thing that men once thought that they could write the history of mediaeval England without using the Year Books.”. Since then that sentence has been frequently repeated, although it is to be feared that for the most part historians have turned a deaf ear to its warning: and lately Mr. W. C. Bolland, who has himself edited several volumes of Year Books for the same Society, has reiterated Maitland's plea and, going further, has drawn a damaging comparison between the Year Books and the Plea Rolls. The Year Books, we are told, “are the living body, acting and speaking and thinking and wrangling and changing its mind on the pressure of the moment”: while the Plea Rolls present “the skeleton, the dry bones of the bare facts.” It is true that Mr. Bolland is careful to explain that the Year Book and the Roll each contain matter which is absent from the other, and that for historical purposes neither is complete without the other: but there is no doubt that the general impression left by Mr. Bolland's lectures is that the Year Books are of high historical value, that they contain, in his own words, “innumerable matters of interest, legal, historical, constitutional and social, about which the record is entirely silent.”

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1922

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References

page 28 note 1 Year Books of Edw. II, i, xx., I do not think, however, that any candid reader of the context will give the sentence the extreme meaning which some of Maitland's followers seem disposed to give it: cf. the reference to the Plea Rolls in his introduction to Bracton's Note Book, p. II; below p. 69. For an extreme view see Tout, T. F., Political History of England (1216–1377); p. 461Google Scholar; Mr. L. O. Pike at one time expressed a high opinion of the value of the YBB. for social history (see especially YB. 18 and 19 Edw. III, pp. xxvi ff.), but he was careful to add “and the corresponding records,” and in his latest statement his opinion had changed substantially: “the records as a whole reveal an entirely different state of affairs” (YB. 20 Edw. III, ii, xlvii). See also his reference in Report of R. Commn. on Public Records, I, iii, 166, to “ the unique value of the details supplied by the rolls for historical purposes, and especially for social history, and the history of civilisation.”

page 28 note 2 The Year Books, Lectures delivered in the University of London.

page 29 note 1 Op. cit., pp. 29, 30.

page 29 note 2 Literary Supplement, February 24, 1921, p. 130.

page 29 note 3 Cf. Prof. A. F. Pollard's statement in History, vi, 217: “the Year Books remain the great unexplored source for constitutional history down to the Tudor period.”

page 29 note 4 Turner, YBB. of Edw. II (Selden Soc.), vi, xi.

page 29 note 5 The principal contributions to the discussion are the Introductions to volumes i, vi and xiv of the YBB. of Edw. II (Selden Soc.) and the YB. of 20 Edw. III (R.S.), Pt. ii. See also Holdsworth, , Hist, of English Law, ii, 451 ff.Google Scholar; Bolland, op. cit., pp. 31 ff.

page 30 note 1 Cf. Maitland, YBB. of Edw. II, iii, x; Pike, YB. 12–13 Edw. III, p. xxiii; Turner, op. cit., xiv ff.

page 30 note 2 Vernon Harcourt, His Grace the Steward and Trial of Peers, pp. 416 ff. See Pike's criticism, Law Quarterly Review, xxiii, 442 ff., and Harcourt's reply, ibid., xxiv, 43 ff. Harcourt's theory cannot be regarded as proved, but the difficulty still remains that “the records of that time falsify the book ”: Holdsworth, op. cit., i, 389 (3rd edition).

page 30 note 3 Maitland, , Select Pleas of the Crown, p. xxviGoogle Scholar.

page 31 note 1 Cf. Maitland, YBB. of Edw. II, i, xx: “ Reports must be read in considerable quantities if they are to be appreciated. They cannot be tasted in sips. Placed in the hands of a foreigner or of a beginner, what could be worse material than the last number of the Law Reports? It is of necessity a jumble of odds and ends. … Even so it is in the Year Books.”

page 31 note 2 Cf. Pike, YB. 20 Edw. III, ii, xlvii fi.

page 31 note 3 See Vinogradoff, , Constitutional History and the Year Books, Law Quarterly Review, xxix, 273 ff.Google Scholar; below Appendix A.

page 31 note 4 It will suffice to refer to Hale, Jurisdiction of the Lords House; Pike, Const. Hist, of the House of Lords; Baldwin, King's Council.

page 32 note 1 Réville, Le Soulèvement des Travailleurs d'Angleterre en 1381; Powell, Rising in East Anglia; Powell and Trevelyan, Peasants' Rising and the Lollards (p. 18 of which gives further references).

page 32 note 2 Ed. G. F. Deiser: see pp. xvi ff. for account of MS. material for YBB. of Richard II.

page 32 note 3 YB. 35 Hen. VI (ed. 1601), Hil., ff. 446, 45a.

page 32 note 4 There is a good deal of information in the Coram Rege Rolls Nos. 7584–762 about Jack Cade's rebellion and other civil disturbances.

page 32 note 5 Ed. G. J. Turner (Selden Soc).

page 33 note 1 Op. cit., Wulghes v. Pepard, pp. 13, 14.

page 33 note 2 Ibid., Chaumberleyn v. Combes, pp. 20 ff.

page 34 note 1 YB. 45 E4w. III (ed. 1679), p. 17.

page 35 note 1 Coram Rege Roll No. 443 (45 Edw. Ill, Mich.), Rex, m. 23d. The reader may be warned that Mr. Bolland's statement (p. 27) with regard to rolls marked “Rex“ applies only to the Common Bench. It is not true of the Coram Rege Rolls: cf. Scargill Bird, Guide, p. 259.

page 35 note 2 Parliamentary Writs, II, ii, App., pp. 269 f.; Proceedings against Dame Alice Kyteler (Camden Soc), pp. xxiiiff.

page 37 note 1 Coram Rege Roll No. 455 (48 Edw. III, Mich,) Rex, m. 29.

page 38 note 1 His government had early tried to get into their power two alchemists who professed to make silver “ per artem alkemonie ”: Fædera (Record Commn.), II, ii, 762 (9 May, 1329). That the profession was not at this time a disreputable one and that the Government was inclined to look on it with a kindly eye is indicated by the curious case of Thomas of York (1337) who asked for, and was apparently given, an opportunity to demonstrate “la science de Alconemie ”: Palgrave, , Original Authority of the King's Council, pp. 28 ff.Google Scholar; Baildon, , Select Cases in Chancery, pp. 127128Google Scholar.

page 38 note 2 Camden, , Remaines (1636), p. 187Google Scholar: see also Selden, , Table Talk (1689), p. 22Google Scholar, where the alchemist is called Riply; Ashmole, , Theatrum Chemicum (1672), p. 443Google Scholar; Ruding, , Annals of the Coinage, i, 6263Google Scholar.

page 38 note 3 Quoted, Skeat'sChaucer, III, 493Google Scholar.

page 38 note 4 Ruding, op. cit., i, 217.

page 38 note 5 Coram Rege Roll No. 362 (25 Edw. III, Hil.), Rex, m. 4d.

page 39 note 1 At a guess, I suggest that the word should begin with b not g, and that the substance is Chaucer's bole armoniak: Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 790 (Skeat's Chaucer, IV, 534). Cf. p. 45, n. 3, below.

page 39 note 2 Skeat, op. cit., III, 493.

page 40 note 1 Coram Rege Roll No. 448 (47 Edw. III, Hil.), Rex, m. 14d.

page 40 note 2 See also YB. 15 Edw. III (R.S.), pp. 274–5, for an account of a brawl in Westminster Hall.

page 40 note 3 I.e., “ The thing that a thief taketh away.”

page 41 note 1 oram Rege Roll No. 342 (19 Edw. III, Mich.), Rex, m. 60.

page 41 note 2 Unum par de paternostres de Aubre: this last word can hardly mean anything but amber, which was so commonly used for rosary beads as to give rise to the term ambre de paternosters: cf. Cotgrave, s.v.

page 41 note 3 The offence is therefore petty larceny only.

page 41 note 4 Coram Rege Roll No. 448 (47 Edw. III, Hil.), Rex, m. 18d. I may note some other cases of pickpockets in Westminster Hall. In 1329 a man is taken in the King's Bench “ pro abscissione cuiusdam cultelli precii iid. Roberti Walshale superfacto et pro suspicione cissoris bursarum ”: there being no suit (secta) or indictment he is liberated (Coram Rege Roll No. 275, Rex, m. 15). In 1451 a cutpurse takes the purse of John Rede, Sergeaunt, “ iuxta barram banci ipsius Regis ”: the purse is worth 3d., but its contents are valuable: a gold ring worth 3s. 4d., “ vnum par precum de corall'” worth the same amount, and 20s. in money (Coram Rege Roll No. 762, Rex, m. 20). For a similar case see ibid., Rex, m. 18.

page 42 note 1 Coram Rege Roll No. 344 (20 Edw. III, Easter), Rex, m. 38d.

page 43 note 1 Exchequer Plea Roll No. 95 (49 Edw. III), m. 9. Out of this case apparently arose St. I Ric. II, c. 12: Rot. Parl., III, 25 (No. 107); Statutes of Realm, II, 4.

page 44 note 1 Exchequer Plea Roll No. 95, m. 3.

page 44 note 2 Coram Rege Roll No. 342, Rex, m. 25. Cf. V. C. H. London, i, 544; Cal. Pat. Rolls (1343–5), P. 544.

page 44 note 3 Ibid., Rex, m. 39.

page 45 note 1 Ibid., Rex, m. 49.

page 45 note 2 Op. cit., pp. 24–5.

page 45 note 3 The Canon's Yeoman's Tale “ belongs to the very latest period of Chaucer's work ”: Skeat, op. cit., III, 492–3. The mention therefore of sal armoniak, vitriole and bole armoniak (11. 790 ff.)must be dated a good many years after the Plea Roll.

page 45 note 4 Coram Rege Roll No. 443 (45 Edw. III, Mich.), Rex, m. 31.

page 46 note 1 Some eighteen months later we find “ batella vocata botes ” which carry “ ostres, muskles, risshes et faget et alia victualia ” to the Watergate in Southwark: Coram Rege Roll No. 449 (47 Edw. III, Easter), Rex, m. II: in the same roll there is also a reference to a “ shouta ”: ibid., Rex, m. 17. There are, however, many earlier references to “ shoute” or “ shouta ” in the records of the City of London: e.g. Riley, , Memorials, p. 262 (1350)Google Scholar; Cal. Letter Book G., pp. 97, 99, 206.

page 46 note 2 Coram Rege Roll No. 525 (16 Ric. II, Easter), Rex, mm. 57 ff. The verses are printed from the Ancient Indictments by Powell, and Trevelyan, , Peasants' Rising and the Lollards, pp. 1920Google Scholar. It is perhaps hazardous to state that the case is not mentioned in the reports, since only one year's reports of Richard II's reign have been printed: but there seems to be nothing like it in Add. MS. No. 32087, which contains all the cases for 16 Richard II that appear yet to have come to light: cf. G. F. Deiser, YB. of 12 Richard II, p. xix.

For examples of other passages in the vernacular, contained in Coram Rege Roll No, 507, see Powell and Trevelyan, op. cit., pp. 36, 38.

page 47 note 1 Cf. Holdsworth, , Hist, of English Law, II, 456Google Scholar; Maitland, , YBB. of Edward II, iii. xiGoogle Scholar.

page 47 note 2 Cf. Pike, , YB. of 20 Edward III (R.S.), ii, xxviii ffGoogle Scholar.

page 47 note 3 Mr. Bolland has himself drawn some of his most interesting stories from record sources: op. cit., pp. 75–6.

page 47 note 4 YB. 20 Edw. III (Rolls Series), i, 330; YB. 26 Edw. III (Mich.) (ed. 1532), f. 71.

page 48 note 1 The best known case is that of Elryngton v. Elryngton (Abram, Social England, pp. 215 ff.). Many other cases will be found among the Early Chancery Proceedings.

page 48 note 2 E.g. Early Chanc. Proc, II/307, 19/264, 28/452.

page 48 note 3 Coram Rege Roll No. 327 (16 Edw. III, Hil.), Rex, m. 28.

page 48 note 4 Rot. Parl., II, 129.

page 48 note 5 Enforcement of the Statutes of Labourers, Pt. II, ch. 2, pp. 166 ff. App. F. 3–6, pp. 416 ff.

page 48 note 6 Ibid., pp. 81, 186 ff., App., pp. 147, 194, 432 ff. A vicar is presented for exacting extortionate marriage fees, p. 171. See also her Wage-laws for Priests after the Black Death, Amer. Hist. Rev., xxi, 12 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 48 note 7 Enforcement of St. of Labourers, pp. 189, App., 433.

page 48 note 8 YB. 4 Hen. IV (Mich.) (ed. 1562), f. 2b.

page 48 note 9 YB. 10 Hen, VI (Mich.) (H. Smith's edn.), f. 9.

page 49 note 1 For some statistics as to the proportion of various classes of cases in the YBB. and in the rolls see YB. 20 Edw. III (R.S.), Pt. II, pp. xlv ff.

page 49 note 2 YB. 40 Edw. III (Mich.) (ed. 1679), p. 39.

page 49 note 3 YBB. of Edw. I (R.S.): Hereford and Shropshire 20 Edw. I, Stafford 21 Edw. I, Middlesex 22 Edw. I; Eyre of Kent, 6 and 7 Edw. II (Selden Soc.); Select Bills in Eyre (Selden Soc), pp. 152 ff,: Derby 4 Edw. III.

page 49 note 4 Assize Rolls Nos. 546, 547 A.

page 49 note 5 Placita de Quo Warranto (Record Commn.) pp. 445 ff.

page 49 note 6 Munimenta Guildhallæ Lond. (R.S.), ii, 285 ff.

page 50 note 1 Donqes cels qe pledent deuant les viscontes perdent malement lor trauayle: quoted, YBB. of Edward II (Selden Soc), xii, xviii.

page 50 note 2 Roll C.C.–for, be it noted, 13–14 Edward II.

page 50 note 3 The version followed is that in MS. Harl. No. 1062: cf. Horn's, account, Munim. Gildh, Lond., ii, 289Google Scholar.

page 52 note 1 Law Quarterly Review, xxix, 273 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 52 note 2 E.g. Pike, Constitutional History of House of Lords; Mcllwain, High Court of Parliament; Pollard, Evolution of Parliament.

page 52 note 3 YBB. 33–35 Edw. I, p. 82: this, however, means no more than that the judges drafted it.

page 52 note 4 This is well brought out by the Bishop of Winchester's case: below p. 59.

page 52 note 5 Pp. 274 ff.: see also Pollard, Reign of Henry VII, II, 10 ff.

page 53 note 1 Coram Rege Roll No. 897.

page 53 note 2 I.e. when the term began, the fourth day of the Octave of St. Michael falling on a Sunday.

page 53 note 3 His patent appears not to be enrolled on the Patent Roll.

page 53 note 4 De Banco Roll No. 894, mm. 1,2: John Catesby's patent dated 20 Sept. (Cal. Pat. Roll, p. 33) is not entered.

page 53 note 5 E.g. Coram Rege Roll No. 646 (Mich., I Hen. VI), m. 3: No. 886 (Easter, I Edw. V), m. I. On Coram Rege Roll No. 608 (Easter, I Hen. V), Rex, in. I, is enrolled the patent of appointment of the coroner and king's attorney with a minute of his appearance and admission, but the appointment of judges does not seem to be minuted in any way. The practice was followed on the return of Henry VI (Coram Rege Roll No. 838, m. I: the roll of the Common Bench is “unfit for production ”) and Edward IV (Coram Rege Roll No. 840, m. I; De Banco Roll No. 839, m. I), but I have not noticed any directions for a writ to continue process.

page 54 note 1 Coram Rege Roll No. 897, m. id.; De Banco Roll No. 894, m. id.

page 54 note 2 Coram Rege Roll No. 888, m. I. The appointments are dated 26 June and the court sat the same day.

page 55 note 1 De Banco Roll No. 801, m. id. It may be noted that St. I Edw. IV, c. i, gave parliamentary sanction to the procedure adopted: Rot. Parl., V, 489; Statutes of Realm, II, 380.

page 55 note 2 The examples given below are all taken from mediæval records. Dr. Hubert Hall draws my attention to the very interesting writs on the Coram Rege Rolls of Henry VIII, directing the justices to add “ Defender of the Faith ” to the king's title (Hil., 13 Hen. VIII, m. 14) and to insert “ et in terra supremum caput Anglicanae Ecclesiae” in his title (Hil., 26 Hen. VIII, m. 1) and also to the enrolment of the proclamation (No. 219 in Steele's Tudor and Stuart Proclamations) notifying the adoption of the title of King of Ireland (Hil., 33 Hen. VIII, m. I.).

page 55 note 3 See below p. 68.

page 55 note 4 Assize Rolls Nos. 362, 911.

page 55 note 4 Select Charters (Sth Edition), p. 387. Other Assize Rolls appear also to record similar eyres, as indicated by the nature of the querele and the presence of the Justiciar. But the precise relation of these rolls and the enquiry to be held under the Provisions of Oxford would require considerable study to elucidate. Cf. Cam, Studies in the Hundred Rolls, pp. 85 ff. The suggestion made by Prof.Tout, (Chapters in Administrative History, i, 296Google Scholar) that the Justiciar's judicial duties were not onerous seems very dubious. The translation of Justiciarius by justiciar or justice is, of course, quite arbitrary.

page 56 note 1 Assize Roll No. 362, m. 8: testatum est per totum Comitatum; Assize Roll No. 911, m. 12: Totus comitatus Sussex' recordatur.

page 56 note 2 Assize Roll No. 362. This appears to be the more usual spelling of his name.

page 56 note 3 Ibid., mm. 4d, 5, 5d, 14.

page 56 note 4 Ibid., m. 7: Postea ad diem ilium apud Nouum Templum Londoniis venit predictus Prior et optulit sc iiijto die uersus predictum Archiepiscopum. Et ipse non venit etc. Et visus fuit in Curia et recessit sine licencia Iusticiariorum. Ideo preceptum est vicecomite quod faciat eum venire a die Pasche in xv dies coram Rege vbicunque etc. ad audiendum recordum etc.

The action is between the Prior of Christ Church and Archbishop Boniface. A well-known charter of William Rufus (Davis, Regesta No. 338) is produced in court: it is ascribed to the Conqueror, and Anselm is stated to be Archbishop at the time. The charter is made to begin: W. dei gracia etc. An excellent example of mediæval diplomatic.

page 56 note 5 Ibid., m. 8d. Printed below, p. 60.

page 56 note 6 Assize Roll No. 911. In January he will sit at Chichester and take more Sussex business, but there will still be some left which he will hear at London: Assize Roll No. 537. The former roll in particular contains a great variety of information of historical interest. I may draw attention to an early reference to an organised legal profession in London (m. 6d.): Symon … adiuit Londonias et ibi colloquium habuit cum quodam Ranulpho de Nassenton' et aliis aduocatis ad suscipiendum defensionem predicte cause, ita quod idem Symon … apposuit in salarariis aduocatorum et aliis expensis circa defensionem predicte cause … xx libras. The action was in a Court Christian.

page 57 note 1 Assize Roll No. 911, m. 3.

page 57 note 2 Ibid., m. 6. Printed below, p. 61.

page 57 note 3 Cf. Liber de Antiquis Legibus, p. 26: posuit eis diem inde usque ad parliamentum in media XL apud Londonias (1257).

page 57 note 4 Select Charters, p. 392.

page 57 note 5 It is of interest to observe that even at the end of the fourteenth century a clerk of the King's Bench thought it worth while to note the coincident sessions of that court and Parliament. Docket Roll 13–22 Ric. II, Ind. No. 1322, m. 9d.: Memorandum de termino sancti Hillarii apud Westmonasterium anno regni regis Ricardi secundi decimo septimo, parliamentum tune ibidem; see also m. 7d.

page 57 note 6 No. 167, m. 26: printed English Hist. Review, xxxvii, 81, 320 (corrections).

page 58 note 1 Circumstances did not permit the faithful observance of the scheme for regular parliaments. The absence of the king, for example, prevented a parliament being held in February, 1260, much to the discontent of the baronial party. A parliament was therefore convened for 25 April: as a consequence the next parliament was not convened until 8 July (Shirley, , Royal Letters, II, 155: Liber de Antiquis Legibus, pp. 44, 45)Google Scholar. But that there was every intention to keep the scheme alive may be deduced from such a phrase as “ in proximo parliamento nostro Londoniis primo die Iunii ” to be found in a writ of 19 March, 1265: Close Roll No. 82, m. 7; Fædera, i, 449.

page 58 note 2 Select Charters, p. 392.

page 58 note 3 So Stubbs, Constitutional History, II, 86: but the only evidence he cites is the writ printed in Fædera, i, 398.

page 58 note 4 Liber de Antiquis Legibus, p. 44.

page 58 note 5 Curia Regis Roll No. 167, m. 10. Printed below, p. 62.

page 58 note 6 In protesting to the Barons against a parliament being held in his absence, the king expressly concedes “ quod iustitia communis omnibus et singulis in regno nostro per Hugonem le Bygod iusticiarium Anglie … exhibeatur, mediante consilio vestro,” but there is to be “ nulla nova mutatio siue ordinatio … in regno nostro sine nostra presentia et consensu.” This indicates clearly what were understood to be the (dual) functions of parliament: Close Roll No. 76 (44 Hen. III), m. 3d.; Shirley, Royal Letters, II, 155.

page 58 note 7 Assize Roll No. 911, m. 3d.

page 59 note 1 Close Roll No. 75 (44 Hen. Ill), m. I7d.; Statutes of Realm, i, 8.

page 59 note 2 Parliamentary Writs, i, I; Engl. Hist. Rev., xxv, 236. Prof. Pollard is inexact in stating (Evolution of Parliament, p. 47) that “down to 1300 the word ‘parliament ’ is not mentioned ” in the writs printed by Palgrave.

page 59 note 3 Statutes of Realm, i, 26.

page 59 note 4 See Liber de Antiquis Legibus, p. 44, for another example of the term, applied to the Parliament convened for 25 April, 1260.

page 59 note 5 E.g. Exchequer Plea Roll No. 54 (I Edw. Ill), mm. 2, 3: Coram Rege Roll No. 283 (Hil., 3 Edw. III), m. 33, Rex, mm. 28, 29; No. 468 (Hil., I Ric. II) Rex, m. 17.

page 59 note 6 Coram Rege Roll No. 646 (Mich., I Hen. VI), Rex, m. 25: this contains a good example of the interrogatory process employed in the Council.

page 59 note 7 YB. Easter, 3 Edw. III (ed. 1562), ff. 81, 82 (No. 32): Coram Rege Roll No. 275 (Hil., 3 Edw. III), Rex m. 1, No. 276 (Easter), Rex, m. 9d. The latter entry is printed by Coke, 4 Inst., pp. 15, 16: his remarks (p. 17) on the inadequacy and faults of the report are instructive.

page 59 note 8 Const. Hist, of House of Lords, p. 242.

page 59 note 9 Controlment Roll No. I, m. 21.

page 60 note 1 Coram Rege Roll No. 315 (Hil., 13 Edw. III), Rex, m. 22d.

page 60 note 2 Coram Rege Roll No. 467 (Mich., 1 Ric. II), Rex, m. 6. For a similar case, where the Council intervenes— “per consilium domini Regis missi” — see Coram Rege Roll No. 470 (Trin., I Ric. II), Rex, m. 13d.

page 60 note 3 Exch. Plea Roll No. 96, m. 216.

page 61 note 1 From m. 6d.

page 64 note 1 And, in brief compass, the section on Judicial Records in the Repertory of British Archives, pp. 65 ff.

page 64 note 2 See as to Controlment Rolls, L. W. V. Harcourt, The Baga de Secretis, Engl. Hist. Rev., xxiii, esp. p. 511, n. 17: as to Eyre Rolls, H.M. Cam, Studies in the Hundred Rolls, p. 79: as to Docket Rolls, below p. 65.

page 64 note 3 See Mr.Pike's, L. O. criticism on other points: Report of R. Commn. on Public Records, I, iii, 164Google Scholar.

page 64 note 4 The whole class is, however, officially known as Assize Rolls, and this compendious (but inaccurate) title is used in this paper.

page 64 note 5 Appendix III, pp. 103 ff.: and see pp. 74 ff. for an account of the records of Justices of Trailbaston.

page 64 note 6 Engl. Hist. Rev., xxviii, 321 ff., xxix, 480–1.

page 64 note 7 Ibid., xxix, 479 ff.

page 64 note 8 E.g. Gaol Delivery Rolls Nos. 216, 317: 216/1 contains proceedings before Justices of the Peace.

page 65 note 1 P. 259.

page 65 note 2 Indexes Nos. 1322–7: they bear such headings as, “ Memorandum Tohannis Hulton ”: “ Memorandum Iohannis Hulton et Hugonis Halgot,” CJ. Guide, p. 266.

page 66 note 1 Ubi supra, p. 165.

page 66 note 2 The Memoranda Rolls which record many actions, of great historical interest, heard in the Exchequer are not classified as Plea Rolls.

page 66 note 3 A list of printed texts will be found in Gross, op, cit., pp. 451 ff, Very little has been added since.

page 66 note 4 Maitland, Bracton' Note Book, i II.

page 67 note 1 m. 22. Select Pleas of the Exchequer of the Jews (Selden Soc), p. xliv: see also Prynne, , Demurrer, i, 19 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 67 note 2 m. 34d. Engl. Hist. Rev., x, 294 ff.; Collected Papers, III, ii ff.

page 67 note 3 III, 123 ff.; one case, No, 1128, in the Note Book seems not to be on the roll.

page 68 note 1 De Legibus (Rolls Series), II, 606 ff.; VI, 510 ff.

page 68 note 2 Bracton's Note Book, i, 110 ff.

page 68 note 3 King's Council, p. 60: “Among these [ordinances] is found the wellknown answer of the barons concerning the proposed change in the law of bastardy, quod nolunt leges Anglie mutare que usitate sunt et approbate.”

page 68 note 4 Prof. B. G. Adams, with the Note Book before him, inclines to the view here expressed, but says: “exactly what took place in October, 1234, is not clear enough to enable us to affirm anything with certainty ” (Origin of the English Constitution, p. 199). To me, on the contrary, the actual record on the Plea Roll seems to be clarity itself.

page 68 note 5 Curia Regis Roll No. 115B, m, 16d.

page 69 note 1 Bracton's Note Book, i, II.

page 70 note 1 I suggest this reign as the terminus ad quern for reasons indicated in the Repertory of British Archives, p. 65.