[001] court, he came with her not as her husband but as her servant, nor was any mention [002] made in the writ by which she pleaded that she had a husband. Now the aforesaid B., [003] to the deceit of our court and to nullify the judgment given in our court, is drawing [004] the same A. into plea before you in court christian by authority of letters of the lord [005] pope in order to legitimise the said children, so that he may thus, by another way, [006] recover the tenement which he lost, and that his children may thus be able to succeed [007] to their paternal and maternal goods. And since judges can have no cognisance of [008] legitimacy with respect to inheritance and succession unless a plea has earlier been [009] begun by writ in our court, bastardy has been there objected, and the plea has then [010] been transmitted to court christian, we forbid you to proceed further in that plea. [011] For when the aforesaid children come to us in our court we shall do them justice with [012] respect to the aforesaid tenement in accordance with the custom of our realm, where, [013] if bastardy is objected against them, we will order the ordinary of the place to take [014] cognisance as to their legitimacy, if cognisance is to be entrusted to him in this matter.’ [015] There is also a prohibition similar to this but more open concerning a certain [016] Walter Muschet, that cognisance of legitimacy with respect to succession is not valid [017] if it has not been so entrusted by the king's court. The prohibition is this.
If one wishes to prove his legitimacy in court christian before an enquiry has been entrusted to the judges by the king's court: of Walter Muschet.1
[019] ‘The king to such judges, greeting. It has been shown us on behalf of A. that when he [020] arraigned an assise of mortdancestor against B. with respect to certain land in N. [021] before our justices next itinerant in such a county, the same B., fearing that the disgrace [022] of bastardy might be raised against him in the same assise, before the aforesaid [023] arrival of the justices, and before bastardy raised against him in our court in that [024] assise, and before an inquest to prove legitimacy was entrusted by us to the ordinary [025] of the place according to the custom of our realm, impetrated letters of the lord pope [026] directed to you, that you take cognisance of his legitimacy and admit witnesses to [027] prove it, so that the inheritance and succession might thereby remain to him, contrary [028] to the custom of our realm hitherto observed, approved and confirmed by the [029] apostolic see, [namely], that in an action of succession and
Volume 4, Page 260
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