Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 4, Page 373

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Volume 4, Page 373

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[001] does not come on his day, let proceedings for default be taken against him, that is,
[002] let him not be attached but resummoned, and if he does not come on the resummons,
[003] heavily amerced, as [in the roll] of Trinity term in the third year of king Henry.¹

If a clerk refuses to find a surety because of the privilege of his order.

[005] The sheriff may also be excused because of the privilege of clerks, as where he has
[006] the king's order to attach a clerk, who refuses to find pledges because of his clerical
[007] privilege and has no lay fee by which he may be distrained, nor ought the lord king to
[008] lay a hand on them. Since he has no coercion over them, especially [it is otherwise² in
[009] delicts and trespasses,] in the case of major crimes,³ there will be no other remedy except
[010] that the ordinaries of the place who have baronies, as archbishops, bishops and
[011] others, in whose dioceses the persons to be attached are resident or have ecclesiastical
[012] benefices, over whom the king has coercion because of their baronies, be ordered by
[013] the king to cause such persons to come. Let the enrolment be made as follows: ‘A.
[014] offered himself on the fourth day against B. with respect to such a plea etc. and B. did
[015] not appear; the sheriff was ordered to attach him and sent word that the aforesaid
[016] B. is a clerk who refused to find pledges and had no lay fee by which he could be distrained.
[017] Therefore the ordinary of the place, as the archbishop, bishop or the like
[018] was ordered to cause such clerk to appear on such a day,’ unless it is alleged that such
[019] clerk has a lay fee and chattels in the lay fee by which he may be distrained and the
[020] sheriff deceitfully sends word that he has nothing. In that case let it be done as
[021] above, [in the portion] on the deceits of the sheriff. But what if the clerk has a prebend,
[022] that is, a lay fee and refuses to find pledges? Quaere whether the sheriff may at
[023] once distrain him by his prebend, or if, when he has an order to attach, he ought to
[024] make the return by the ordinary, so that⁴ the ordinary may distrain the canon by his
[025] prebend. It seems that neither may distrain, neither the sheriff nor the bishop. The
[026] sheriff cannot, though he has a warrant to enter the liberty, without the bishop or
[027] other ordinary, since the bishop is the head of the church and the canons its members.
[028] Nor may the bishop by such return, without the special order of the lord king, since
[029] a canon holds his prebend of the church as freely as the bishop holds his barony. And
[030] the canons are, so to speak, a separate body in the church, and, though the bishop is
[031] the head of the church, nevertheless the canons have their own property distinct
[032] from the bishop's property. Therefore [only] when the bishop has a special mandate
[033] from the lord king,

Notes

1. B.N.B., nos. 20, 28

2. ‘secus’ for ‘sicut’

3. Supra 250, 265, 278, 283, infra 375

4. ‘ut’