Note 730 — MAGNA CARTA. (continued 4)
Reading edition
The version of 1216 speaks of a “free tenement,” where that of 1215 spoke merely of a “tenement.” The addition makes no change, since in no case could the king’s courts try pleas affecting the villeins of mesne lords. Perhaps the object of the addition is to make it clear that there was no interference with the king’s rights over the holdings of his own villeins on royal demesne.