Note 366 — Book IX.

Having already spoken of Amercements, we shall here merely remark that in the reigns of William the Conqueror and his Son Rufus, they were no less immoderate, than oppressive. Henry the First was compelled, by the peculiar difficulties of his situation, to make many concessions.—One of which was, that amercements should no longer be assessed, as they had been in his Father’s and Brother’s reigns, to the extent of the whole property of the offender, but should be proportionate to the crime—sicut retro a tempore patris mei et fratris mei in tempore aliorum antecessorum meorum. (LL. Hen. 1. c. 1.) If these words mean any thing, they imply, that Henry merely restored the Common Law, which his Father and Brother had violated. How ill this concession was observed, we may conjecture, from its having been felt necessary to make it part of the great charter. (See 2 Inst. 27.)