Assize of Northampton

Last updated

The Assize of Northampton, largely based on the Assize of Clarendon of 1166, is among a series of measures taken by King Henry II of England that solidified the rights of the knightly tenants and made all possession of land subject to and guaranteed by royal law.

Contents

The assize is believed to have been passed at a council held in Northampton in January 1176.

Clarendon extended

The assize confirmed the offences to be brought forward by the jury of presentment according to Clarendon, and added arson and forgery to the list. [1] It also set down new and severe punishments that could be handed down, including the removal of an offender's right hand.

Aftermath of revolt

Following as it did the Revolt of 1173–74, the Assizes included a wide-ranging oath of fealty (Item 6), as well as items concerning castles (8 and 11), insisting especially that "the justices see to it that the castles which have been destroyed are utterly demolished." [2]

Administrative reforms

The assize is connected with the reorganisation of itinerant justices and contains instructions for six groups of justices appointed to tour the country. Bailiffs and sheriffs were made answerable for their profits, as well as given powers to hold thieves. [3] Clause 7 dealt with the introduction of important new legislation, chiefly the king's right to have certain cases brought into his court.

The Assize of Northampton is also the first official document to contain information on the question of seisin and disseisin, anticipating the later possessory assizes of mort d'ancestor and novel disseisin . [4]

Revenue

Crown revenue increased significantly following the Assize, reflecting the impact of the judicial eyres. [5] As G. M. Trevelyan put it, "The Justices were quite as busy collecting the King's revenues as enforcing the King's peace. They were two sides of the same operation." [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Assize of Clarendon was an act of Henry II of England in 1166 that began a transformation of English law and led to trial by jury in common law countries worldwide, and that established assize courts.

Bloody Assizes English trials after the Monmouth Rebellion, 1685

The Bloody Assizes were a series of trials started at Winchester on 25 August 1685 in the aftermath of the Battle of Sedgemoor, which ended the Monmouth Rebellion in England.

York Castle Grade I listed monument in York, England

York Castle is a fortified complex in the city of York, England. It consists of a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings, which were built over the last nine centuries on the south side of the River Foss. The now-ruined keep of the medieval Norman castle is commonly referred to as Clifford's Tower. Built originally on the orders of William I to dominate the former Viking city of Jórvík, the castle suffered a tumultuous early history before developing into a major fortification with extensive water defences. After a major explosion in 1684 rendered the remaining military defences uninhabitable, York Castle continued to be used as a jail and prison until 1929.

Assize or Assizes may also refer to:

Ejectment is a common law term for civil action to recover the possession of or title to land. It replaced the old real actions and the various possessory assizes where boundary disputes often featured. Though still used in some places, the term is now obsolete in many common law jurisdictions, in which possession and title are sued by the actions of eviction and quiet title, respectively.

Nisi prius is a historical term in English law. In the 19th century, it came to be used to denote generally all legal actions tried before judges of the King's Bench Division and in the early twentieth century for actions tried at assize by a judge given a commission. Used in that way, the term has had no currency since the abolition of assizes in 1971.

Trailbaston was a special type of itinerant judicial commission first created during the reign of Edward I of England and used many times thereafter during the reigns of Edward II and Edward III, primarily to punish felonies and trespass at the king's suit.

The Assize of Bread and Ale was a 13th-century law in high medieval England, which regulated the price, weight and quality of the bread and beer manufactured and sold in towns, villages and hamlets. It was the first law in British history to regulate the production and sale of food. At the local level, this resulted in regulatory licensing systems, with arbitrary recurring fees, and fines and punishments for lawbreakers. In rural areas, the statute was enforced by manorial lords, who held tri-weekly court sessions.

Writs of praecipe are a widespread feature of the common law tradition, generally involving the instigation of some form of swift and peremptory action.

In English law, the assize of novel disseisin was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff had been disseised, or dispossessed. It was one of the so-called "petty (possessory) assizes" established by Henry II in the wake of the Assize of Clarendon of 1166; and like the other two was only abolished in 1833.

Assize of darrein presentment

In English law, the assize of darrein presentment was an action brought to determine who was the last patron to appoint to a vacant church benefice - and thus who could next appoint - when the plaintiff complained that he was deforced or unlawfully deprived of the right to appoint by the defendant.

In English law, the assize of mort d'ancestor was an action brought where a plaintiff claimed the defendant had entered upon a freehold belonging to the plaintiff following the death of one of his relatives. The questions submitted to the jury were, "was A seised in his demesne as of fee on the day whereon he died?" and "Is the plaintiff his next heir?" This assize enabled the heir to obtain possession, even though some other person might have a better right to the land than the deceased.

Carucage was a medieval English land tax enacted by King Richard I in 1194, based on the size—variously calculated—of the taxpayer's estate. It was a replacement for the danegeld, last imposed in 1162, which had become difficult to collect because of an increasing number of exemptions. Carucage was levied just six times: by Richard in 1194 and 1198; John, his brother and successor, in 1200; and John's son, Henry III, in 1217, 1220, and 1224, after which it was replaced by taxes on income and personal property.

Henry of Braybrooke was an English High Sheriff and justice.

Assizes Periodic courts held around England and Wales until replaced by the Crown Court in 1972

The courts of assize, or assizes, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes exercised both civil and criminal jurisdiction, though most of their work was on the criminal side. The assizes heard the most serious cases, which were committed to it by the quarter sessions, while the more minor offences were dealt with summarily by justices of the peace in petty sessions.

Roger fitzReinfrid 12th-century English sheriff and royal justice

Roger fitzReinfrid was a medieval English sheriff and royal justice. Probably born into a knightly family, Roger first was in the household of a nobleman before beginning royal service. His brother, Walter de Coutances, was a bishop and archbishop and likely helped advance Roger's career. Besides holding two sheriffdoms, Roger was entrusted with the control of a number of royal castles.

The Inquest of Sheriffs was a commission held by King Henry II of England in 1170 into the conditions of local government in England.

The Grand Assize was a legal instrument set up in 1179 by King Henry II of England, to allow tenants to transfer disputes over land from feudal courts to the royal court.

References

  1. G. O. Sayles, The Medieval Foundations of England (London 1967) p. 336
  2. Quoted in D. Baker ed., The Early Middle Ages (London 1966) p. 151
  3. D. Baker ed., The Early Middle Ages (London 1966) p. 151-2
  4. J. R. Tanner ed., The Cambridge Medieval History (1926) p. 586
  5. H. G. Richrdson, The English Jewry under the Angevin Kings (London 1960) p. 64
  6. G. M. Trevelyan, History of England (London 1926) p. 161