And the commons grant to our lord the king the subsidy on wools to last till the Feast of St. Martin next to come. 89. Merchants to use English Ships only. manner of people, upon pain of as much as they may forfeit + And if any the same do, and that duly proved, it shall be done of 8. Item, touching the charters, releases, obligations, and other deeds and muniments, burnt, destroyed, or otherwise eloined in the same rumor, it is assented, that they which thereof feel them grieved, shall put their petitions distinctly made upon their matters specially before the king and his council, betwixt this and the Nativity of Saint John Baptist next coming at the furthest, and there make sufficient proof of the said muniments so lost, and of the form and tenor of the same; and that done, such remedy shall thereof be provided for them at every man's complaint, as best shall seem in the case, saving the law. + 90. An Act against Heretical Preaching iity 5. ITEM, forasmuch as it is openly known, that there be divers evil persons within the realm, going from county to county, and from town to town, in certain habits under dissimulation of great holiness, and without the licence of our permission holy father the pope, or of the ordinaries of the places or other man who sufficient authority, do preach daily, not only in churches and has indep churchyards, but also in markets, fairs, and other open places, auth in his where a great congregation of people is, divers sermons contain-on ing heresies and notorious errors, to the great emblemishing of the Christian faith, and destruction of the laws, and of the estate of holy Church, to the great peril of the souls of the people, and of all the realm of England, as more plainly is found and sufficiently proved before the reverend father in God the archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops and other prelates, and masters of divinity, and doctors of canon and of civil law, and a great part of the clergy of the said realm specially assembled for this cause; which persons do also preach divers matters of slander, to engender discord and dissension betwixt divers estates of the said realm, as well spiritual as temporal, in exciting of the people, to the great peril of all the realm: which preachers cited or summoned before the ordinaries of the places, there to answer of L now - social (1) - Jake charters away from pesants- religions. political that whereof they be impeached, will not obey to their summons and commandments, nor care not for their monitions, nor censures of the holy Church, but expressly despise them, and moreover by their subtil words do draw and beguile the people to hear their sermons, and to maintain them in their errors by strong hand and by great routs: it is ordained in this present parliament, that the king's commissions be directed to the sheriffs and other ministers of our sovereign lord the king, or other sufficient persons after and according to the certifications of the prelates thereof to be made in the chancery from time to time, to arrest all such preachers, and also their (fautors, maintainers, and favor abettors, and to hold them in arrest and strong prison, till they will justify them according to the law and reason of holy Church: And the king will and commandeth, that the chancellor make such commission at all times, that he by the prelates or any of them shall be certified and thereof required, as is aforesaid. T 91. An Act to reform the Administration (June, 1385. Latin text and translation, 2 S. R. 36. 2 Stubbs, 640.) O the honor of God, and at the request of the commonalty of the realm of England made to our lord the king in his parliament holden at Westminster in the morrow of Saint Martin, the eighth year of his reign; the same our lord the king of the assent of the prelates, great men, and commons aforesaid, hath caused to be made in the same parliament, a certain statute for the common profit of the said realm, and especially for the good and just governance, and due execution of the common law, in the form following. 1. First, it is accorded and statuted, that holy Church have all her liberties; and that the Great Charter, and the Charter of the Forest, the Statutes of purveyors and laborers, and all other statutes and ordinances heretofore made and not repealed, shall be holden and observed, and put in due execution according to the form and effect of the same. 2. Item, it is accorded and statuted, that no man of law shall be from henceforth justice of assizes, or of the common deliverance of jails in his own country; and that the chief justice of the common bench be assigned amongst others to take such assizes, and deliver jails; but as to the chief justice of the king's bench, it shall be as for the most part of an hundred years last past was wont to be done. 3. Item, whereas late in the time of the noble king Edward, grandfather of our sovereign lord the king that now is, it was ordained, that justices, as long as they should be in the office of justices, should not take fee nor robe of any except of the king, and that they should not take gift nor reward by them nor yet by other, privily nor openly, of any man which should have anything to do afore them in any wise, except meat and drink, of small value; and that they should not give counsel to any great or small in things or affairs, where the king is party, or which in any wise touch the king, upon a certain pain contained in the said ordinance: and in the same manner it is ordained of the barons of the exchequer, as in the said ordinance is more plainly contained; and the said ordinance being rehearsed in the parliament, it is accorded and statuted, that no justice of the king's bench nor of the common bench, nor none of the barons of the exchequer, as long as they shall be in the office of justice or barons, shall take from henceforth by himself or other, privily or openly, robe, fee, pension, gift, nor reward, of any but of the king, nor entertainment of any, except entertainment of meat and drink, which, shall be of no great value. And that from henceforth they shall give no counsel to any, great or small, in things or affairs, wherein the king is party, or which in any wise touch the king, and that they be not of any man's counsel in any cause, plea, or quarrel, hanging the plea before them or in other of the king's great courts or places, upon pain of loss of their office, and making to the king fine and ransom. 5. ; it is accorded and statuted, that all pleas and suits touching the common law, and which ought to be examined and discussed at the common law, shall not be hereafter drawn or holden by any means before the said constable and marshal, but that the court of the same constable and marshal shall have that which belongeth to the same court, 92. An Act regarding Fugitive Villeins (December, 1385. French text and translation, 2 S. R. 38.) 2. ITEM, whereas divers villeins and neifs, as well of great lords as of other people, as well spiritual as temporal, do flee into cities, towns, and places enfranchised, as the city of London, and other like, and feign divers suits against their lords, to the intent to make them free by the answer of their lords: it is accorded and assented, that the lords nor other, shall not be forbarred of their villeins, because of their answer in the law. 93. Articles of Impeachment against Suffolk (1386. French original. 3 R. P. 216. Translation by Editors. In this parliament, all the commons with one accord, assembled unanimously and came before the king, prelates and lords, in the chambers of parliament, complaining grievously of Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, late chancellor of England, then present and accused him by word of mouth in the following manner, to wit: 6. First, that the said earl, being chancellor and sworn to promote the king's welfare, purchased from our lord the king lands, tenements, and rents, of great value as appears by record in the rolls of the chancery, contrary to his oath, whereas he had not deserved so much considering the great need of the king and of the realm: and besides this, because the said earl was chancellor at the time of the said purchase, the said lands and tenements were appraised at a less value than they were worth per year by a great sum, in deceit of the king. Item, whereas nine lords were appointed at the last parliament. to inspect and examine the estate of the king and the realm, and to give their advice as to how it could be best improved and brought under a better government and order; and on this inspection made and the report made to the king both by word of mouth and in writing, the said late chancellor had said in full parlia |