Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 4, Page 150

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Volume 4, Page 150

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[001] he has an excuse, since¹ it cannot be known to the justices before the tenant
[002] appears, putting forward his excuse and proving it, as above [of excuses.] The day
[003] of the taking ought to be endorsed on the back of the writ, that by it and the attestation
[004] of the knights the day the land was seized may be known, and consequently
[005] whether it is claimed by replevin on time, for [It ought to be claimed by replevin
[006] within the quindene after it has been seized into the hand of the lord king; if it is
[007] claimed before it is seized or after the quindene it is not claimed on time.]² it may
[008] be claimed earlier or later than it should be. The claim ought to be enrolled thus:
[009] ‘Such a one claimed by such a one (if he claims by someone other than himself) on
[010] such a day the land which was seized into the king's hand because of the default
[011] he made against such a one before such justices on such a day.’ He will have no
[012] writ, nor will anything be done except that he will be told to observe his day, contained
[013] in the writ of seizure.

How land seized into the hand of the lord king by default ought to be claimed by replevin.

[015] It is evident, therefore, that by such replevin and the day received by him [when
[016] he claims in his own person and receives a day³ by the writ of seizure,] that whether
[017] he was summoned or not, he cannot subsequently deny the second⁴ summons if he
[018] later defaults in court after the seizure. [If he receives it by someone other than
[019] himself, it seems that the contrary may be done, that he may deny it by wager of
[020] law, if he denies the first summons and the last.]⁵ ⁶The seizure ought to be simple.
[021] For the tenant ought not to be kept from having the free administration of all his
[022] lands and tenements, whether he has right in them or not, for if it were not so, it
[023] would be a disseisin rather than a distress, and hence if a church among the appurtenances
[024] falls vacant during the time the thing is thus in the king's hand, the collation
[025] will belong to the tenant, not to the king. When it is thus claimed by replevin
[026] it will not be replevied to the tenant at once, not before he appears in court, that it
[027] may then be known whether the demandant wishes to hold himself to the principal
[028] plea or to the default. If to the principal plea, he then waives the default and the
[029] default will be void and the thing replevied. If he holds himself to the default, it
[030] must not be replevied until he has cured the default; if he cannot do so, seisin must
[031] thenceforward be adjudicated to the demandant.

Notes

1. ‘cum’; om: ‘de excusatione’

2. Om: ‘Et ideo,’ a connective

3. Om: ‘secundum summonitionem’

4. ‘secundam’; infra 152

5. Infra 153

6. New paragraph