English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

, the assize of mort d'ancestor ("death of ancestor") was an action brought where a plaintiff claimed the defendant had entered upon a freehold belonging to the plaintiff following the death of one of his relatives. The questions submitted to the jury were, "was A seised in his

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

as of fee on the day whereon he died?" and "Is the plaintiff his next heir?" This assize enabled the heir to obtain possession, even though some other person might have a better right to the land than the deceased.

Origins, development and end

Mort d'ancestor was one of the so-called "petty assizes" established by

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

in the wake of the

Assize of Clarendon The Assize of Clarendon was an act of Henry II of England in 1166 that began a transformation of English law and led to Jury trial, trial by jury in common law countries worldwide, and that established assize courts. Prior systems for deciding ...

(1166) and the Assize of Northampton (1176). According to the Assize of Northampton, the lord must not prevent the heir having seisin forthwith on the ancestor's death, making this almost the final step in the development of common law heritability: "4. Item, if any freeholder had died, let his heirs remain possessed of such 'seisin' as their father had. ... And according to the result of the inquest let restitution be made to his heirs". Doris Stenton has argued however that it was only some time ''after'' the Assize of Northampton that the (purchasable) writ of mort d'ancestor itself was introduced, allowing individuals to seek justice for themselves in the royal courts (as opposed to the general enquiries of the two main Assizes). Whereas Northampton was mainly concerned with lords preventing heirs taking seisin, the new writ also covered the case of ''competing'' heirs to the same property.W. Warren, ''Henry II'' (1973) p. 344 Like the other petty assizes, the new writ was immediately popular, being quicker, cheaper and simpler than feudal justice; and like them too it gradually developed from a preliminary to a final action, while the range of relations who could claim heritage was also widened (in the 13th century) from close to far. With the other two petty assizes, it was abolished in 1833.

Examples

Ranulf de Glanvill's ''Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom of England'' give several examples of mort d'ancestor writs, which were issued to a sheriff as a command from the king. The general form was: * The sheriff shall, upon receiving security from the plaintiff, summon twelve local men to testify in the king's court, ** whether the plaintiff's relative held the land as a heritable estate ("was seised in his demesne as of his fee"), ** whether the relative died after the king's coronation, and ** whether the plaintiff was his heir. * Before their court appearance, these witnesses should view the land and sign their names on the writ. * The sheriff shall also summon the defendant or his representative to hear the testimony. Two early instances of such an action are recorded in feet of fine from the reign of King John for a family dispute between members of the de Brantingham family in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in 1202.The Surtees Society: 48The Surtees Society: 76 On 22 August 1202, one Matilda (or Maud), daughter of John de Brantingham, brought an action under the assize of mort d'ancestor against her sisters, Mary and Alice de Brantingham. Less than four months later, on 1 December 1202, John de Brantingham, son of Haldane the Deacon (and not to be confused with the later John de Brantingham, a Yorkshire

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man), brought a similar action against his three daughters. In Ireland in the early 1300s John de Cogan succeeded in a claim for assize of mort d'ancestor before a Bench of judges headed by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland.''Calendar of Irish Chancery Letters c.1244-1509'' From the surviving records of the

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

the land in dispute seems to have been a substantial wooded area in

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...

. Most such actions were in fact for very small areas of land, a few furlongs or a handful of acres.

Origins, development and end

Examples

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading