Page 441

OverviewTranscribeVersionsHelp

Facsimile

Translation

Status: Translated
Show Transcription

The assize of the claim of murder,
and that of treason,
and that of rebellion,
and that of violating a woman,
and the assize of the King Baldwin of outright assault,
And the assize of debt,
And when the lord makes a complaint of default of service,
and when the mercenary complains that he has not been paid,
and the assize of lame animals,
and concerning rebellion it is said that it cannot be open , if he against whom it is claimed did not know and approve it, or if he did not do it in the court, or it is not proven against him by witnesses, and he can put up and duel with one of the witnesses; because he who is accused of rebellion, his body is at the lord's mercy.

XXIII. He who wishes to challenge a witness, as soon as he might see him kneel to swear the testimony that he pronounces verbally, he should take him by his right fist and say, "Arise, because I hold you up as a false perjurer, because you do not cease from perjuring yourself, and so I am ready to demonstrate it to you, and prove it, my body against yours, just as and when the court will rule that it should happen." And then he should kneel before the lord and puts forth his pledge [of combat], and the other should defend himself against it. And then the lord should receive the pledges and command the court to rule on the mode and the day of combat. And if either of the two is impaired by an obvious injury, or he is older than sixty years, he can put a champion in his place, and it is not necessary that he name him, but say that he will prove this by one man against another, because his is injured or because his has surpassed the age limit.

XXIV. And if he who challenges the witness [the accused of purjurer] is a sergeant and the witness is a knight, the accuser should be made a knight and should do combat against him as a knight. And if the knight who is the witness might want to say that he does not wish to accept the sergeant [as a knight], because he is not his peer, the sergeant can answer that. in this case, this [argument] can be of no use to the knight; because this would be a great mistreatment of all those who are not knights, if the knights can bear witness in whatever way they wish against them, and one could not defy them, and thereby the assize would fail. For it says that regarding all disputes or damages or wagers valued at a mark of silver or more, there is a trial by combat against the witness, and the assize does not make exception for a knight or anyone else.

XXV. And in all disputes concerning murder or other matter wherein a knight summons a sergeant or a sergeant a knight, the accuser should do combat with the one who he accused, according to the law of combat of he who is accused. And he who avows himself as impaired or past the age limit should be safeguarded well, for he will be provided with a champion on the day; because if he were not to have him, he would be proved guilty; and if might wish to fight on his own behalf, he should not be able to do so unless he had made the arrangement at the time the pledges were given.

Notes and Questions

Please sign in to write a note for this page

lmorreale3-oldfordham

XXV. We are unsure of this last bit: since he had not been in full control over the delivery of pledges; ne le poreit il faire, se il n'eust moult maistreé au doner des gages.

npaul-oldfordham

XXII. Force aparant. This is glossed by Edbury as "An act of violence that is notorious or self evident, so there can be no dispute over whether an offense has been committed." In this context, however, especially in its proximity to "cop aparant" and the suggestion that the accused party may not have known about the act, suggests to us that "force aparant" may refer to something more specific than just violence, and something that could be done in conspiracy, like rebellion.

lmorreale3-oldfordham

The distinction between cop aparant and force aparant is difficult to ascertain/ understand. Whether we are talking about collective (that is rebellion) or individual actions is unknown.

lmorreale3-oldfordham

note