Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 2, Page 418

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Volume 2, Page 418

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[001] was an accessory, that is, he held her while the said B. took her maidenhood (or
[002] ‘he lay with her after etc.’ or aided in some other way). And that he did this
[003] wickedly and in felony she offers to prove against him as the court may award.’
[004] The appellee may here be set free by the country [or convicted] though the
[005] principal is convicted.

Addition.

[007] ¹<Man-made as well as divine law forbid the rape of women. [In ancient times the
[008] practice was as follows: if a man meets² a woman or comes across her somewhere,
[009] whether she is alone or has companions, he is to let her go in peace; if he touches
[010] her indecorously he breaks the king's ordinance and shall give compensation in
[011] accordance with the judgment of the county court; if he throws her upon the
[012] ground against her will, he forfeits the king's grace; if he shamelessly disrobes her
[013] and places himself upon her, he incurs the loss of all his possessions; and if he lies
[014] with her, he incurs the loss of his life and members. Athelstan.]³ By the law of the
[015] Romans, the Franks and the English, even his horse shall to his ignominy be put
[016] to shame upon its scrotum and its tail, which shall be cut off as close as possible to
[017] the buttocks. If he has a dog with him, a greyhound or some other, it shall be put
[018] to shame in the same way; if a hawk, let it lose its beak, its claws and its tail. The
[019] land and money which the ravisher lost through his amercement shall be given to
[020] the woman, the king warranting the whole to her. And if she was a whore before,
[021] she was not a whore then, since by crying out against his wicked deed she refused
[022] her consent. If some dispensations are nowadays provided, for instance, that the
[023] ravishers may receive those they have ravished in marriage, that is not by law but
[024] by permission of Holy Church and the king. That permission belongs to the king
[025] alone within the realm. It first arose in France in the case of a certain count who
[026] gave hospitality to a jester and his beautiful wife. When the jester died (and
[027] how he died we do not care to recount) the count had her against her will. One
[028] night, however, she escaped from the castle and fled to Paris, where she found
[029] King Robert,⁴ and falling at his feet told him what had happened. As [soon as]
[030] the king had heard her he sent for the bishops and barons who were then at court
[031] and ordered the woman to tell them what she had told him, which she did. The
[032] king, on the advice of the bishops and barons, ordered

Notes

1. Supra i, 389

2. ‘obviaverit,’ all MSS.

3. Unidentified; not in Liebermann

4. Robert the Pious, 996-1031