Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 2, Page 111

Harvard Law School Library

Bracton Online -- English

Volume 2, Page 111

Next

Go to Volume: Page:

[001] during my life and after my death of the chief lords for the service that pertains
[002] to that land.’ If the younger son dies first, his older brother will succeed him, [and
[003] the tenement will remain with him] because homage has not been taken.¹ If the
[004] gift is made [simply] in this way, ‘to hold of the chief lords,’ he [the father] bars
[005] himself from the wardship [if the younger son dies in his lifetime], and so where a
[006] gift is made by a father to an older son for his service without² homage to hold of
[007] the chief lords and he dies in the lifetime of the father; his younger brother will
[008] succeed him, whether he is of age or not: if he is a minor, the father being excluded
[009] from the wardship,³ it will belong to the chief lord; if he is of full age, then his relief.>

[The words of charters].

[011] ⁴A gift in writing is made in these words, ‘Know all men, present and future, that
[012] I, such a one, have given, granted, and by this my present charter confirmed to
[013] such a one, for his homage and service, so much land with the appurtenances
[014] in such a vill etc.’ as below. By saying, ‘I, such a one,’ he indicates the donor and
[015] names him specifically in the gift. When he says, ‘I have given’ he makes clear
[016] his intention that the thing given be made the property of the donee. From the
[017] words ‘I have granted,’ it may be inferred that he gave his consent to the gift,
[018] for there is no great difference between ‘concessi’ and ‘consensi.’ By saying ‘by
[019] my present charter I have confirmed,’ he intimates that his will, by which the
[020] thing is transferred to the donee and which must be firm, be confirmed by the
[021] present charter authenticated by his seal, for to confirm is but to reaffirm what
[022] before was firm.⁵ And when he says, ‘to such a one,’ he indicates the person to
[023] whom the gift is made and names him specifically. And by saying, ‘for his homage
[024] and service,’ he makes clear the causa for which the gift is made and expresses it
[025] precisely. And so if he says ‘for service,’ without homage. And when he says, ‘so
[026] much land,’ he shows it to be his intention that a thing certain [and certain
[027] appurtenances, which then belonged to it,] be comprised in the gift. By the words
[028] ‘in such a vill,’ he indicates a place certain, in which the thing given is situated.
[029] The charter ought also to contain the words ‘to have and to hold to such a one and
[030] his heirs (generally, or with a limitation of heirs) freely and quietly, honourably,
[031] properly and in peace (or ‘in free marriage to such a one and such of his heirs,’
[032] or ‘to such an abbot (or ‘prior’) and his successors in free and pure alms’). Also
[033] ‘to such a one and his heirs or assigns,’ as may clearly be seen in an example above.⁶
[034] And by the words ‘to such a one and [such of]⁷ his heirs,’ the donor intends that
[035] certain persons be included to whom the thing given ought to descend after

Notes

1. Infra 192, iii, 313

2. ‘sine’

3. Reading: ‘et si minor fuerit, patre excluso a custodia, ad dominum’

4. Supra i, 133-6 (full collation); supra 108, n. 1

5. Supra 106, 108, infra 173

6. Supra 75

7. ‘et heredibus suis talibus’