Note 755 — MAGNA CARTA. (continued 4)

In identifying the writ spoken of by Magna Carta as that “of life and limbs” with the well-known writ de odio et atia, most authorities rely on a passage in Bracton (viz.: folio 123). There is still better evidence. The Statute of Westminster, II. c. 29, ordains: “Lest the parties appealed or indicted be kept long in prison, they shall have a writ de odio et atia like as it is declared in Magna Carta and other statutes.” Further, in 1231 twelve jurors who had given a verdict as to whether an appeal was false, were asked quo waranto fecerunt sacramentum illud de vita et membris, without the king’s licence. See Bracton’s Note Book, case 592.