Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 4, Page 80

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Volume 4, Page 80

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[001] of necessity,¹ as where ‘languor’ is awarded to him in one plea and he is summoned
[002] to answer in another; an essoin of difficulty in coming lies for him though he does
[003] not leave his house² [because] if he arises without licence he may lose, nor can he
[004] appoint an attorney. The essoin is therefore admitted of necessity, though he was
[005] not taken ill on the journey, and also [because] ‘languor’ is a more effective excuse
[006] than passing illness. The same may be said if he is vouched to warranty in some
[007] plea.³ An essoin is sometimes allowed that would not be allowed in other circumstances,
[008] as where ‘languor’ has been awarded him in one plea and he has had all his
[009] essoins in another, and on his day, though he cannot do so de jure,⁴ he essoins himself
[010] de facto, when he cannot come nor appoint an attorney; the essoin will be allowed
[011] him because of such necessity by counsel of the court. And so if a man and
[012] his wife are impleaded, both have an essoin of difficulty in coming, one of them [he]
[013] afterwards essoins himself⁵ of bed-sickness and the other [she] appears. She will
[014] have a day for [the same] reason, and on that day an essoin, and when ‘languor’ is
[015] awarded him,⁶ an extended day, until the ‘languor’ has passed,⁷ [but she will never
[016] have an essoin on an essoin because of such necessity,] for both may thus fall into
[017] default.⁸

Who may essoin himself.

[019] We must see who may essoin himself, and when, and in which pleas, and when an
[020] essoin lies and when not, and what the law is if a tenant appoints an attorney,
[021] several or one. Also if there are several demandants and one tenant, or conversely,
[022] or several demandants and several tenants, and one of them defaults. Also if a tenant,
[023] one or several, vouches a warrantor, one or several, and one or more of them defaults.
[024] Also how essoins are judged, and how they are returned. Who may essoin
[025] himself and who may not. It is clear that anyone who is not prohibited may do so,
[026] male or female, provided they are of full age. A minor, if it is clear that he is a
[027] minor, may not essoin himself,⁹ nor does an essoin lie against him by anyone of full
[028] age, especially in assises, because were he present he could say nothing against the
[029] assise, why it may remain. [If a minor essoins himself when he is the tenant in a
[030] plea in [cases in] which he is bound to answer under age, where he has been enfeoffed
[031] within age,¹⁰ and others, let mention be made on the essoin, in the margin,
[032] that he is a minor.]¹¹ [With respect to the statement that an essoin does [not] lie

Notes

1. Infra 95

2. ‘licet a . . . recedat,’ from lines 1-2

3. Infra 95

4. ‘licet . . . iure,’ from line 12

5. ‘se’

6. ‘cum languor . . . adiudicatus,’ from preceding line

7. Infra 94, 96, 103, 128

8. Infra 96

9. Cf. infra 106

10. Infra 92, 106

11. Infra 92