Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 2, Page 438

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Volume 2, Page 438

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[001] ¹That is why he who kills a thief, either a day thief or a night thief, is not liable,
[002] [that is], if he could not otherwise escape danger;² if he could he is liable.³ ⁴Nor
[003] is he liable who kills by misadventure,⁵ without intention and wish to kill,⁶ and is
[004] guilty neither of dolus nor culpa,⁷ of which we have spoken above,⁸ who, that having
[005] been proved, is dealt with more leniently by grace of the prince.⁹ He is slain without
[006] right if he is slain in premeditated assault and felony and with intent to kill,
[007] through anger and greed. And so if he has struck and killed one person when he
[008] intended to strike another feloniously; he is liable. And so if, thinking to strike a
[009] light blow, he has struck a heavy one and killed; he is liable. For everyone ought
[010] to observe mean and measure in what he does.¹⁰ An injuria of this kind entails the
[011] ultimate penalty, when it is sued criminally.¹¹ There is also another kind of injuria
[012] which is punished by nothing more than a pecuniary penalty, sometimes that and
[013] imprisonment, depending on the nature of the deed. ¹²[An injuria is committed not
[014] only when a man is struck with a fist or flogged or beaten with clubs but when he
[015] has been insulted or victimized by defamatory verses and the like.¹³

How one may suffer an injuria through his dependents.

[017] ¹⁴One may suffer an injuria not only in his own person but in the persons of those
[018] he has in his potestas, as his children and his wife. A husband may sue for an
[019] injuria done to his wife, but the converse is not true, for wives ought to be protected
[020] by husbands, not husbands by wives.¹⁵ One may also suffer an injuria through
[021] those of his household, as his servants and bondsmen, if they have been beaten
[022] and flogged to his dishonour and shame,¹⁶ or to the extent of his interest in not
[023] being deprived of their labour.¹⁷ For the actual wounds and beatings suffered by
[024] them they and not their lord have the action.¹⁸ ¹⁹For if bondsmen have a standing
[025] in court against all men for injuriae done them in breach of the king's peace, so a
[026] fortiori do servants. Bondsmen even have a standing in court against their lords,
[027] for heinous wrongs, where life and member are involved, or for robbery,²⁰ and for
[028] treason against the lord king and other acts committed against his person, for in that
[029] case everyone is allowed to speak.]²¹ ²²If it is pecuniary, [though] a sum certain is
[030] made the subject of the action it must nevertheless be taxed by the judge, [it is
[031] sometimes reduced, [but] since it is the sum claimed, he ought never rightfully to
[032] increase it,]²³ since the extent of the plaintiff's interest is wholly uncertain, [because],
[033] depending on the nature of the delict and the status of the injured party,²⁴

Notes

1-2. Inst. 4.3.2; ‘Itaque qui,’ as Inst.

3. Supra 341, 408

4-5. Inst. 4.3.3

6. Supra 289-90, 372, 375, 384

7. Inst. 4.3.3

8. Supra 341

9. Supra 369, 375, 378

10. Supra 289, 341

11. Supra 411

12-13. Inst. 4.4.1; ‘convicium,’ as Inst.

14-15. Inst. 4.4.2; supra 325

16. Inst. 4.4.6: ‘in contumeliam tuam pulsatus sit’; supra 326

17. Supra 325-6

18. Supra 296

19. Om: rubric

20. ‘de atroci iniuria . . . vel roberia,’ from lines 31-2; supra 34

21. Glanvill, xiv, 1; supra 334, 397

22. Om: ‘Poena igitur . . . pecuniaria,’ a connective

23. ‘quandoque minuitur [sed] cum . . . deducta, numquam . . . de iure,’ from last lines; Inst. 4.4.7; supra 282, 296

24. The notes opposite should be numbered 29-33