Crime and PunishmentThe King's judge at work: non-violent cases Return to the main page
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  JUST 1/695; an entry from the 1241 Eyre Roll
 
  JUST 1/695; an entry from the 1241 Eyre Roll. This case shows the king's judge making sure the king got his feudal rights. Someone who held land directly from the king was a tenant "in chief". An unmarried woman who became a tenant in chief (probably, in this case, when the father, Robert Arsic, died), was "in the king's gift". That meant he could tell her who to marry. If she got married without the king's permission, as here, she lost her right to the land. In this case both sisters have done this and the sheriff, the king's official, takes the land. Land worth 7 pounds and 10 shillings(a year) was probably a small farm.
 
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  No crime had been committed here. What is the judge doing?
 
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