Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 2, Page 335

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Volume 2, Page 335

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[001] provided the accused is attached until the accuser comes of age. I say this ¹provided
[002] that the accuser is a man of good reputation and is not himself a criminal,
[003] for criminals are debarred from making any accusation,² as where the accuser is a
[004] self-confessed thief or an outlaw,³ or one convicted or about to be convicted⁴ of a
[005] felony of some kind. Nor are conspirators⁵ or those consenting to the crime ever
[006] admitted to make an accusation in the crime of lese-majesty. In this crime accusation
[007] belongs to the accuser, the action to the king himself.⁶ [The crime of lesemajesty
[008] also embraces the crime of forgery, which takes many forms, as where one
[009] forges the seal of the lord king or counterfeits money and the like, as will be explained
[010] below.]⁷ [Thus] if one knows that another is guilty thereof or incriminated
[011] in some way he ought to come immediately and without delay, in his own
[012] person if he can, or through another if he cannot, to the king himself, or to some
[013] member of his household, and reveal everything to him exactly as it happened.
[014] For he ought not to remain in one place for two nights or days before he sees the
[015] king in person, nor ought he to turn aside to any business, however urgent, for he
[016] is scarcely allowed a backward glance. If he dissembles for a time and keeps silent,
[017] as though consenting and assenting, he will be a manifest betrayer of the lord
[018] king,⁸ whether the accused is his own man or another's. If after such lapse of time
[019] he wishes to make an accusation he is not to be heard de jure unless he can show
[020] that he was hindered by just cause. ⁹If one has been accused of this crime we must
[021] then see whether the accuser appears or does not. If no accuser appears, only
[022] public suspicion, but that originates among good and reputable men,¹⁰ he will be
[023] carefully attached by safe and secure pledges, or if he has no pledges, by imprisonment,¹¹
[024] until the truth as to the crime imputed to him is investigated. If he is
[025] convicted he shall suffer the extreme penalty¹² with torture, the loss of all his
[026] goods, and the perpetual disherison of his heirs,¹³ who are admitted neither to
[027] their paternal nor their maternal inheritance.¹⁴ For this crime is so serious that his
[028] heirs are hardly permitted their lives.¹⁵ If they are sometimes admitted to the
[029] succession it will be more as a matter of grace than of right. ¹⁶If the accuser
[030] appears, let pledges for prosecuting first be taken from him; if he has no pledges
[031] his simple affidation provides sufficient security, for this reason, because were he
[032] strictly bound to find pledges others would be deterred from making any similar
[033] accusation. Security for prosecuting having been furnished,¹⁷ as aforesaid, let the
[034] accused be arrested at once and

Notes

1-2. Tancred, 159: ‘dummodo sit integrae famae. Infames vero et criminosi ab omni accusatione repelluntur, ut C. 2, qu. 7, ca. 18 ... nisi crimina sint excepta ... excepta sunt crimen laesae maiestatis ...’

3. Infra 336; cf. 397, and the approver, 429

4. Cf. 397, 429

5. Tancred, 160

6. Reading: ‘pertinet accusatio (for ‘actio tota’) ad accusantem et [actio] ad ipsum regem’; king is actor: infra 337

7. Infra 337, iv, 286

8. Infra 398

9-11. Glanvill, xiv, 1: ‘Cum quis itaque de morte regis vel de seditione regni vel exercitus infamatur, aut certus apparet accusator aut non. Si nullus appareat certus accusator, sed fama solummodo publica accusat, tunc ab initio salvo accusatus attachiabitur, vel per plegios idoneos vel per carceris inclusionem,’

10. Tancred, 154; infra 338, 404

12. Glanvill, i, 2

13. Glanvill, xiv, 1: ‘et heredibus suis imperpetuum exheredandis’; supra 298

14. Infra 366

15. C. 9.8.5.1: ‘Filii vero eius, quibus vitam imperatoria specialiter lenitate concedimus’

16-17. Glanvill, xiv, 1: ‘Apparente vero certo accusatore ab initio, idem attachiabitur per plegios si quos habuerit quod placitum suum prosequetur. Si autem plegios non habuerit, fidei suae religioni solet committi, sicut in placitis omnibus de felonia. Solet autem in talibus fides sufficere, ne nimiae districtionis securitas alios a consimili terreat accusatione. Accepta autem ab accusatore securitate de placito prosequendo, tunc is qui accusatur ut praediximus per plegios salvos et securos solet attachiari ...’