The History of the Common Law of England [48]
touching Liberties, and the King's Rights; and the better to acquaint them with their Business, there were certain Assises which were first enacted at Clarendon, and afterwards confirmed at Northampton; they were not much unlike the Capitula ltineris mentioned in our old Magna Charta, but not so perfect, and are set down by Hoveden iubi supra, and are too long to be here inserted: I shall only take Notice of this one, viz. Establishing Descents, because I shall hereafter have Occasion to use it, Si quis obierit Francus Tenens haeredes ipsius remaneant in talem Seisina qualem Pater suus, &c. But besides those Courts in Eyre, there were two great standing Courts, viz. The Exchequer, and the Court of Kings-Bench, Vel Curiam coram ipso Rege, vel ejus Justiciario; and it was provided by the above-mentioned Assisae, "Quod Justiciae faciant omnes Justicias & Rectitudines Spectantes ad Dominium Regis, & ad Coronam suam, per breve Domini Regis vel illorum qui in ejus Loco erunt de Feodo dimidii Militis & infra, Nisi tam grandis sit quaerela quod non possit deduci sine Domino Rege vel talis quam Justiciae ei reponunt pro dubitatione sua, vel ad illos qui in Loco ejus erunt," &c. Neither do I find any distinct Mention of the Court of Common Bench in the Time of this King, tho' in the Time of King John there is often mention made thereof, and the Rolls of that Court of King John's Time are yet extant upon Record, & vide post. sub Richardi Primi. The Limitation of the Assise of Novel Disseisin, is by those Assises appointed to be, a tempore quo Dominus Rex venit in Angliam proximam post Pacis factam inter ipsum, & Regem filium suum. The same King afterwards, in the Twenty fifth Year of his Reign, divided the Limits of his Itinerant Justices into Four Circuits or Divisions, and to each Circuit assigned a greater Number of Justices, viz. Five at least, which are thus set down in Hoveden, Folio 337. viz. Anno 1179, 25 H. 2. Magno Concilio celebrato apud Windeshores, Communi Consilio Archiepiscoporum Comitum & Baronum & coram Rege Filio Suo, Rex divisit Angliam in quatuor Partes, & unicuique partium praefecit viros sapientes ad faciendum Justitiam in Terra sua in hunc Modum. 1. Ricardus-Episcopus Winton, Ricardus Thesaurarius Regis, Nicholaus filius Turoldi, Thomas Basset & Robertus de Whitefield, for the Counties of Southampton, Wilts, Gloucester, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Berks and Oxon. 2. Galfridus Eliensis Episcopus, Nicholaus Capellanus Regis, Gilbertus Pipard, Reginald de Wisebeck Capellanus Reges & Gaulfridus Hosce, for the Counties of Cambridge, Huntingdon, Northampton, Leicester, Warwick, Winchester, Hereford, Stafford and Salop. 3. Johannes Episcopas Norwicensis, Hugo Murdac Clericus Regis, Michael Bellet, Richardus de le Pec, & Radulphus Brito, for Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hartford, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Bucks and Bedford. 4. Galfredus de Luci, Johannes Comyn, Hugo de Gaerst, Radulphus de Glanvilla, W. de Bendings, Alanus de Furnellis, for the Counties of Nottingham, Derby, York, Northumberland, Westmorland, Cumberland, and Lancaster. Isti sunt Justiciae in Curia Regis constituti ad audiendum clamores Populi. This Prince did these Three notable Things, viz. First, By this Means, he improved and perfected the Laws of England, and doubtless transferred over many of the English Laws into Normandy, which, as before is observed, caused that great Suitableness between their Laws and ours; so that the Similitude did arise much more by a Conformation of their Laws to those of England, than by any Conformation of the English Laws to theirs, especially in the Reigns of King Hen. 2 and his Two Sons, King Richard, and King John, both of whom were also Dukes of Normandy. Secondly, He check'd the Pride and Insolence of the Pope and the Clergy, by those Constitutions made in a Parliament at Clarendon, whereby he restrained the Exorbitant Power of the Ecclesiasticks, and the Exemption they claimed from Secular