Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 2, Page 345

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Volume 2, Page 345

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[001] has been appealed of rape by a woman and the deed is of recent occurrence, as
[002] may often be ascertained by certain signs, as where the hue has been raised and
[003] recently pursued, or¹ her garments are torn, or¹ if not torn, stained with blood,²
[004] let the appellee be attached by four or six pledges, or more if that many may be
[005] found, or if not, by at least two, that he be etc., as above.³ But if the deed is not
[006] recent, nor was the hue recently raised, nor do signs sufficient to raise a presumption
[007] appear, it suffices if the appellee is attached⁴ by two pledges.

Of breach of the peace and wounding.

[009] This is their official duty ⁵[If one has been appealed of breach of the peace and
[010] wounding, the wound must first be viewed, and if it is a dangerous one and the
[011] appellee is present let him be arrested at once and kept in custody until it is clear
[012] whether the wounded man can recover or not. If he cannot and dies, let the appellee
[013] be kept⁶ in prison; if he recovers, let the appellee be attached by four or more pledges,
[014] according as the wound is serious or slight: if it is mayhem, by many pledges, that⁷
[015] there may be good security; if the wound is slight, two pledges are sufficient. ⁸If
[016] the appellee is a stranger and unknown, coming from afar, as a traveller, or if because
[017] of lack of friends he cannot find pledges,⁹ let his pledge be the gaol,¹⁰ which
[018] is assigned for his custody and not for his punishment.]¹¹

Of the duty of the [coroner and] sheriff in an appeal of breach of the peace and wounding; and of the measuring of wounds.

[020] when one has appealed another of breach of the peace and wounding. They ought
[021] to view the said wounds, measure their length and depth, ascertain in what part of
[022] the body they are, whether on the head or elsewhere, and by what weapons they
[023] were inflicted.¹² They shall have all these matters enrolled with the sheriff as witness
[024] if he is present at the inquest, or at least in the county court. If an appeal is made in
[025] the county court

If the wound is dangerous let the appellees be put in prison, nor are they to be released on finding pledges; but we must see in whose prison they are to be kept, that is, in the prison of him who has the power of judging such men.

[027] of homicide or breach of the peace¹³ and dangerous wounding, let those appealed
[028] be arrested at once, thrust into prison, and kept there until [convicted] or delivered
[029] by judgment, [or released by the king on finding pledges,¹⁴ or if they are clerks, of
[030] whatever order or dignity, until they are claimed by court christian.]¹⁵ [Let those
[031] appealed as accessories be safely attached until those appealed as principals are
[032] convicted.]¹⁶ ¹⁷[But we must see in whose prison they ought to remain once they
[033] have been arrested. If they are arrested for theft or homicide or some other felony

Notes

1. ‘vel’

2. Infra 394-5, 415

3. Supra 344, lines 17-18

4. ‘attachietur,’ all MSS.

5. Belongs infra at n. 14; om: ‘in appello ... plagis, ut’ redactor's introductory phrase

6. ‘appellatus retineatur’

7. ‘ut’

8-9. Inst. Cnuti, 35: Liebermann, i, 337: ‘Si advena aut peregrinus, qui de longinquo venit, sit tribulatus pro penuria amicorum, ut non possit habere plegios ...’

10. Gloucester Crown Pleas, 141; infra 432, iv, 363; a common phrase in the rolls: C.R.R., x, 67

11. D. 48.19.8.9: ‘carcer enim ad continendos homines, non ad puniendos haberi debet.’; supra 298

12. Infra 408

13. ‘vel’; ‘pace,’ all MSS.

14. ‘[vel] donec per dominum . . . dimittantur,’ from lines 33-4; the portion supra n. 5 belongs here

15. Infra 348

16. Infra 361, 391

17. New paragraph