Note 559 — MAGNA CARTA. (continued 2)

The various steps in the procedure ought to be clearly grasped, (a) A claimant challenged the title of the actual tenant in the court baron of the lord, from whom the tenement was held, and offered battle by a champion, who was supposed to be a witness. (b) The tenant (now become a defendant) applied to the king for a royal writ, the issue of which, ipso facto, stopped all procedure in the court baron, (c) The claimant (plaintiff) had thus to make the next move; and Henry’s ordinance left only one move which he could make, namely to apply for a new royal writ, but one of a different kind. This new writ referred the question of title to twelve knights of the Grand Assize. (d) Before these could be appointed and give their verdict, many formalities and delays necessarily intervened, involving expensive journeys to the king’s Curia, first by the four appointing knights and afterwards by the twelve appointed. Months and even years might elapse before the final verdict was obtained. This ingenious reform, while superseding trial by battle, incidentally superseded also the jurisdiction of mesne lords. Hence the Grand Assize never became popular with the magnates. Cf. under c. 34.