Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 4, Page 331

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Volume 4, Page 331

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[001] is partible among the several co-heirs who descend from the same stock, and has
[002] always been divided from ancient times. There may be several co-heir parcener demandants
[003] and several co-heir parcener tenants, or one [co-heir parcener] demandant
[004] by himself and several tenant parceners, or one.¹ [There may be] several co-heirs who
[005] hold nothing, neither in purparty nor in compensation, others who hold in purparty,
[006] and others in compensation for their share. There may be several parcener demandants²
[007] or several tenants who are complete strangers to one another; not co-heirs but
[008] parceners, as neighbours. Several demandant parceners, or one by himself [may
[009] claim] the whole inheritance, whether it includes several manors or not, or part of it,³
[010] either against several parceners, [co-heirs] or strangers, or against one or two of
[011] them, or⁴ a stranger non-parcener. When there are several demandants, co-heir
[012] parceners or parceners who are not co-heirs, all who claim and ought to take [part]
[013] of the thing claimed must be named in the writ. [But] when the tenant excepts in
[014] these words, ‘Brother I am not bound to reply to this writ because if you have a right
[015] you have parceners who have as much right in the thing as you yourself, namely A.
[016] and B.,’ the demandant may reply and say that all who can claim any right in⁵ the
[017] tenement claimed or take part⁶ of the thing claimed, are named in the writ, and that
[018] no right belongs to either A. or B. so as to make them parceners, because A. is a
[019] bastard and B. is the offspring of a villein, though of a free woman parcener married
[020] to him.⁷ Hence A. can never take because he is a bastard, nor can B. since he is the
[021] offspring of a villein. Nor may the woman parcener claim at this time, since she is
[022] married to a villein.⁸ [Or] she cannot take part of the thing claimed because she holds
[023] part of the common inheritance in maritagium and is unwilling to put her maritagium
[024] into the pot, that⁹ she may have the whole of her portion of the common inheritance.¹⁰

That the parcener is in the allegiance of the king of France.

[026] [The demandant] may also answer that the parcener mentioned can take nothing
[027] since he is in allegiance of the king of France,¹¹ and therefore can take nothing until
[028] he is made a liege of the king of England and the lands are common, and therefore he
[029] need not be named in the writ. [Or] that the parcener who is not named or one of his
[030] ancestors committed felony, so that he cannot be

Notes

1. Om: ‘tenens . . . vel plures’

2. Om: ‘vel unus . . . tenens sine participe’

3. ‘vel eius partem,’ from line 13

4. ‘vel’

5. ‘in’

6. ‘partem capere,’ as below

7. ‘ei’

8. Infra 337

9. ‘ut’

10. Supra ii, 223-4

11. Supra 292, 328