Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 4, Page 143

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Volume 4, Page 143

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[001] king's hand by the little cape. And let him who defaulted be summoned to be
[002] present on another day to hear his judgment, no mention made of the other,
[003] whether husband or wife, who did not default.¹ If one of several parceners dies
[004] before all have appeared, the whole plea falls. If one is under age, the plea will remain
[005] in suspense until he comes of age. If one is insane and enjoys no lucid intervals,
[006] the plea will remain until his death, because since he once began to possess
[007] animo et corpore, he may never cease to possess animo, once madness comes upon
[008] him.² But if he enjoys lucid intervals, such time will be awaited. It is otherwise in
[009] the case of the fool and the idiot, as will be explained more fully below in the
[010] tractate on exceptions.

If one is essoined in the county court of bed-sickness; how the essoinee ought to appear and when.

[012] If one is essoined of bed-sickness in the county court, the same procedure ought to
[013] be observed, as is evident, in the county court as in the court of the lord king. When
[014] ‘languor’ has been awarded him, he ought to come within the year and day to some
[015] certain place appointed for the purpose by the county court, namely to some castle,
[016] and there show himself to the castellan on the day³ he comes, as he would to the
[017] constable of the Tower if the plea were at Westminster in the court of the lord king.
[018] Nor need the demandant observe any day in the county court once ‘languor’ has
[019] been adjudged and attested, but let him observe his day at the castle as he would
[020] do at the Tower if the plea were in the court of the lord king. We must see, among
[021] other things, whether he essoined himself of bed-sickness in the county where the
[022] land sought is or in another; if in the same, the sheriff then has the power to send
[023] the four knights to view, even without a writ, and let those who view and attest
[024] proceed exactly as was said above with respect to the court of the lord king, as to
[025] defaults and licence to rise and the rest. If he is essoined outside the county, the
[026] sheriff then does not have power to send knights of his county into another county,
[027] nor a fortiori knights of another county to view, because his jurisdiction does not
[028] extend to that. The demandant must therefore aid himself by this writ, directed to
[029] the sheriff of the county where the essoinee lies, that the essoinee be viewed.

Writ for viewing a man who is essoined in the county court of bed-sickness.

[031] ‘The king to the sheriff, greeting. Send four lawful knights to such a place to see
[032] whether the infirmity by which A. essoined himself of bed-sickness against

Notes

1. Supra 128

2. Supra iii, 270, infra 308

3. ‘die quo’