Below is a transcript of a suit found in:
Year Books of Richard II, 13 Richard II (1389-1390), ed. by Theodore F.T. Plucknett (1929). The Ames Foundation.
This 1390 suit concerns land originally sold in a 1314 fine between Joan de la Marche and John de Holewale. It corrects the Cantelo descent of Joan Le Chasteleyn found in all other sources.
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6. – Bisenham v. Wyse and Others
In scire facias out of a fine to obtain execution of a rent, the defendant claimed to hold the lands whence the rent issued for life only, and free of the rent, and so prayed aid of the reversioner. To oust her from the aid, the plaintiff must specify the nature of the rent in demand, and if it be a rent service then aid is not allowable ; the fact may be put in issue by pleading hors de son fee.
Scire facias to have execution of a fine concerning land and rent was sued against a woman and two others.
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Bisenham v. Wyse and Others
Hill for the woman, said that she was tenant of the land from which the rent issued, and that she held it for the term of her life discharged of the rent, and that the reversion was regardant to one J. without whom she could not answer, so we pray aid of him. The third made default and the other alleged joint tenure.
Hankford prayed seisin of the land in right of the third party (and had it), and as to the other said he was sole tenant , while as to the woman, Hankford [said] Sir, you see very well that we are demanding execution in respect of a rent, and that she answers as tenant of the land ; now it might be that our demand is of rent service, and in such a case she should not have aid in respect of the land, so we demand judgment, etc.
Rickhill, J. There are some sorts of rent where she would have aid, and others where she would not (implying that in the case of a rent charge she would have aid) .
Thirning, J. If she is to be ousted from aid it ought to be stated what sort of rent it is.
Hankford. The writ supposes that she holds the rent and she herself has pleaded as tenant of the land, so she has thereby accepted the writ as good, so we demand judgment whether she should have the aid (implying that the writ named her as the receiver of the rent rather than tenant of the land).
Wadham, J. Tenet and retenet is all one so the writ is good enough ; 1 and Cherlton, CJ, said that a writ like this had been held good enough in a similar case in this very court, and he gave the parties' names.
Hankford. We say that it is rent service and that the land is held of us by this rent, so we demand judgment whether she should have aid.
Hill. It is not rent service ; ready to aver it.
Thirning, J. Are you therefore ready to say that the land is out of his fee, and to take issue on that point?
Hill. The land is out of your fee ; ready to aver it.
Hankford. The land is held of us by this rent, and so it is rent service ; ready to aver it. And so to the country : and note this.
1. The sense of Wadham’s remark seems to be that it is immaterial whether the writ names her as tenant of the rent (tenet) or as tenant of the land who refuses to pay it (retenet). Holds and withholds is all one.
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Translation of the Record
Somerset. Whereas a certain fine was levied here in the court of the lord Edward, son of King Edward, formerly king of England and progenitor of the present lord king, in the octave of Michaelmas in (1314) the 8th year of his reign, before William of Bereford and his fellows, justices of the bench of the said progenitor of the present king, between Joan de la March of Yeovil, querent, and John de Holewale, deforciant, of one messuage, one toft, one mill, 2 acres of land, 2 acres of meadow, 8 pennyworth of rent, and the rent of one pair of gloves with their appurtenances in Yeovil and Kingston2 by Yeovil, whereof a plea of covenant was summoned between them in the said court, sc. That the said John granted to the said Joan the aforesaid tenements with their appurtenances and rendered them to her in the same court to have and to hold to the said Joan and the heirs of her body begotten, of the aforesaid John and his heirs for ever, rendering for them per annum 100 shillings during the whole lifetime of the said John at Easter, and to the heirs of the said John one rose at midsummer for all service, custom and exaction pertaining to the said John and his heirs, and doing thereof to the chief lords of that fee on behalf of the said John and his heirs all the other services which pertain to those tenements for ever ; and if it should happen that the said Joan should die without heir of her body begotten, then after the death of the said Joan the aforesaid tenements with their appurtenances shall entirely remain to Robert de Holewale of Leuerewell3 and the heirs of his body begotten, to hold of the said John and his heirs by the said services, as above, for ever ; and if it should happen that the aforesaid Robert should die without heir of his body begotten, then after the death of the said Robert the aforesaid tenements with their appurtenances shall entirely remain to John Bonson and the heirs of his body begotten to hold of the said John de Holewale and his heirs by the aforesaid services as above for ever ; and if it should happen that the aforesaid John Bonson should die without heir of his body begotten, then after the death of the said John the aforesaid tenements with their appurtenances shall entirely remain to Laurentia de Legh and the heirs of her body begotten to hold of the aforesaid John de Holewale and his heirs by the aforesaid services as above for ever ; and if it should happen that the aforesaid Laurentia should die without heir of her body begotten, then after the death of the aforesaid Laurentia the said tenements with their appurtenances shall entirely revert to the aforesaid John and his heirs quit of all the heirs of the aforesaid Joan, Robert, John and Laurentia, to hold of the chief lords of that fee by the services which pertain to those tenements for ever:
And now the lord king understands by the suggestion of John Bisenham, cousin and heir of the said Robert de Holewale, that the said Joan has died without heir of her body begotten, and also that
2. Now Kingston – Piney, near Yeovil.
3. This place remains unidentified ; cf. Somerset Record Soc., vol. 12, p. 46.
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Translation of the Record – Continued
the said Robert has now died, and that one John Wyse of Yeovil and Constance his wife have entered one messuage, one toft and one mill with their appurtenances in Kingston« by Yeovil, , and one William Caraunt has entered 2 acres of meadow with their appurtenances in Kingston4 by Yeovil, and one William Bron has entered two acres of land with their appurtenances in the same vill of Kingston by Yeovil, and one Alice who was wife of John Cauntelou has entered 8 pennyworth of rent and rent of one pair of gloves with their appurtenances in the said vill of Yeovil, which are the tenements and rents comprised in the aforesaid fine, and that they severally hold them against the form of the fine aforesaid ; and that because etc. the sheriff is commanded to give notice by trustworthy men to the aforesaid John Wyse, Constance, William Caraunt, William Bron and Alice, that they be here at this day, sc. quindene of Trinity, to show if they severally have or know anything to say for themselves why the aforesaid tenements and rents with their appurtenances which they severally hold in the form aforesaid ought not to remain according to the from of the fine aforesaid after the death of the aforesaid Joan and Robert, to the said John Bisenham cousin and heir of the said Robert. And now at this day comes here the said John Bisenham, cousin and heir of the said Robert de Holewale, viz. son of Isabel daughter of Robert de Holewale ; and likewise come the said John Wyse and Constance his wife, and Alice who was the wife of John Cauntelou, by John Sparowe their attorney, and William Caraunt by John Janet his attorney. And the said William Bron, solemnly exacted on the fourth day of the plea, does not come, and the sheriff now returns that he gave notice to the said John Wyse and Constance, William Caraunt, Alice who was the wife of John Cauntelou, and William Bron by Henry Segere and Thomas Trokere, whereupon the said John Bisenham prays execution against them. As for William Bron, it is therefore awarded that the said John have execution against him by default etc.
And the aforesaid John Wyse and Constance say, as for the tenements in respect of which the said John Bisenham prays execution that one John Cauntelou was formerly seised in his demesne as of fee of those tenements with their appurtenances, and by a certain writing indented (which he proffers here in court) bearing date at Yeovil, [5 Oct. 1366] Monday next after the feast of St. Michael in the 40th year of King Edward the third after the conquest, granted to the same John Wyse and Constance, and Alice daughter of Cecilia, late daughter of the said John Wyse, those same tenements by the description of two messuages with their appurtenances, to have and to hold for the term of their lives and of whichever of them live longest ; and they say that the aforesaid John son of the aforesaid John Wyse and Constance, is dead, and so they say that they hold
4. Now Kingston-Pitney, near Yeovil.
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Translation of the Record – Continued
those tenements jointly with the aforesaid Alice daughter of Cecilia, and that they so held them on the day the writ was purchased, which day the writ was purchased, which Alice is not named in the writ ; wherefore they pray judgment of the writ, etc.
And the aforesaid William Caraunt, as for the said meadow in respect of which the said John Bisenham prays execution against him, etc. says that at the time of levying the aforesaid fine, and before, and after, one Walter Trill was seized of that meadow to himself, his heirs and assigns for ever, and this William Caurant now has the said Walter Trill’s estate in the said meadow , without this, that the said Joan de la March and John Holewale who were parties to the aforesaid fine , or either of them, had anything in that meadow at the time of levying the fine ; and this he is ready to verify, wherefore he prays judgment whether the aforesaid John Bisenham ought to have execution in respect of the said meadow by virtue of the aforesaid fine, etc.
And the aforesaid Alice who was the wife of John Cauntelou, as to the aforesaid rent whereof the said John Bisenham seeks execution, says that one Robert Sutton, chaplain, and Richard Hamstede were formerly seised of one messuage with its appurtenances (whence the said rent is issuing) [as] quit [of the rent] and they gave and granted the said messuage with its appurtenances to one John Cauntelou and to this Alice, then his wife, to have and to hold to the said John and Alice and the heirs and assigns of the said John Cauntelou for ever, and he says that the said John Cauntelou [is dead], after whose death the reversion thereof descended to one Joan, wife of John Maynford, as cousin and heir of the aforesaid John Cauntelowe, viz. daughter of Thomas the son of Thomasia daughter of Alice daughter of Richard brother of Robert father of Richard father of the aforesaid John Cauntelou, and so she says she has nothing in the said messuage whereof [execution is prayed], save for the term of her life, the reversion therein after her death pertaining to the said Joan wife of John Maynford, without whom she cannot answer therein, and she prays aid of the said John Maynford and Joan his wife etc.
And the aforesaid John Bisenham says that where the said John Wyse and Constance his wife in respect of the tenements whereof execution is sought against them have alleged above that they hold those tenements jointly with Alice daughter of Cecilia, and so held them the day the writ was purchased, his writ ought not to be quashed by reason of that allegation, for he says that on the day of the purchase of his writ, viz. 10 May [1389] in the 12th year of the reigns of the present king, the aforesaid John Wyse and Constance were sole tenants as of freehold of the said tenements whereof he seeks execution against them, as is supposed in his writ, and he prays that this be inquired of by the country ; and the aforesaid John Wyse and Constance likewise etc. And as for the meadow aforesaid whereof the said John Bisenham as above prays execution against the said William Caraunt, he says that he ought not to be precluded from having execution thereof by virtue of the said fine by reason of
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Translation of the Record – Continued
anything above alleged by the said William Caraunt, because he says that at the time of levying the fine the aforesaid Joan de la March and John Holewale who were parties to the fine were seised of that meadow with its appurtenances, whereof execution is now sued, as is supposed in the fine, and he prays that this be inquired of by the country ; and the said William likewise etc. And as for the rent aforesaid whereof the said John aforesaid whereof the said John Bisenham seeks execution against the said Alice who was the wife of John , whereas the said Alice as tenant of one messuage whence the said rent is issuing, has prayed aid of the said John Maynford and Joan his wife, he says the rent aforesaid is rent-service, and the said messuage is held by the said service ; wherefore he prays judgment whether the said Alice who was the wife of John ought to have aid in this case etc.
And the aforesaid Alice who was the wife of John says that she ought not to be repelled from having aid in this case by anything alleged above, because she says that the aforesaid messuage is not held by the said rent, and so she says that that messuage is outside the fee and lordship of the said John Bisenham, and this she is ready to verify ; and so she prays judgment thereupon, etc.
And the aforesaid John Bisenham says that the said messuage is held by the rent aforesaid, and so he says that it is within his fee and lordship as he has alleged above, and he prays that this may be inquired of by the country ; and the aforesaid Alice who was the wife of John likewise. And so the sheriff is ordered to cause to come here in the quindene of Michaelmas twelve etc. by whom etc. and who neither etc. to recognize etc. because both etc.
Translation of the Foot of Fine
This is the final concord made in the court of our lord the king at Westminster in the Octave of Michaelmas in [1314] the 8th year of the reign of King Edward the son of King Edward, before William de Bereford, Lambert de Trykyngham, John de Benstede, Henry le Scrope, William Inge and John Bacun, justices, and other faithful people of the king there present, between Johanna de la Marche of Yeovil, querent, and John de Holewale, deforciant, of one messuage, one toft, one mill, 2 acres of land, 2 acres of meadow, 8 pennyworth of rent, and the rent of one pair of gloves with their appurtenances in Yeovil and Kingston by Yeovil, whereof a plea of covenant was summoned between them in the said court : to wit, the said John grants and renders in court the said tenements with their appurtenances to the said Johanna, to have and to hold to the said Johanna and the heirs of her body begotten, of the aforesaid John and his heirs for ever, rendering for them to the said John throughout [his5] life
5. See the text, and n. 41 opposite
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Translation of the Foot of Fine - continued
of the said Johanna the said tenements with their appurtenances shall remain entirely to Robert de Holewale of Lewerewell and the heirs of his body begotten, to hold of the said John and his heirs for ever by the services aforesaid. And if the said Robert should happen to die without heir of his body begotten, then after the death of the said Robert, the tenements aforesaid shall with their appurtenances entirely remain to John Bonson and the heirs of his body begotten, to hold of the aforesaid John de Holewale and his heirs by the services aforesaid for ever. And if the said John Bonson should happen to die without heir of his body begotten, then after the death of the said John the said tenements with their appurtenances shall entirely remain to Laurencia de Legh and the heirs of her body begotten, to hold of the said John de Holewale and his heirs by the services aforesaid for ever. And if the said Laurencia should happen to die without heir of her body begotten, then after the death of the said Laurencia the tenements with their appurtenances shall entirely revert to the said John de Holewale and his heirs quit of the other heirs of the aforesaid Johanna, Robert, John, and Laurencia, hold of the chief lords of the fee for ever by the services which pertain to those tenements.
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