Ancient Indictments, 1341-2

Summary

The Record from which these indictments are taken is officially “ King’s Bench, Ancient Indictments, Beds, no. I,” of the Record Office. This class of Records includes “ the original Indictments found by the Grand Jury in the Court of King’s Bench, all informations exhibited on the Crown Side of the Court, and also such Indictments, Presentments, and Convictions as were removed into the King’s Bench …… by Certiorari or Writ of Error.” No. I may be an Indictment found by Grand Jury; the rest appear to be the presentments of a joint session of the Hundred Courts of Willey and Stodden to the Justices in Eyre.—The second membrane of the roll is practically a duplicate of the third.

A hard matter in these lawless times was the due administration of justice. Although now more than a century since the day when Falk de Breauté imprisoned such as he could catch of the Justices who had fined him, still, as this Record bears witness, things had not grown much better. The first entry deals with men who conspired to use the forms of law corruptly for their own ends. This had for some time past been a crying evil; in 25 Edward i (1299-1300), a statute, known as ‘ Articuli super chartas,’ shows that a special writ had been devised for such cases as conspiracy to put forward false information or to pack a panel.

En droit de conspiratours faus enfourmours e mauveis procureours de duzeines enquests assises e jurees le Roi ad ordene remedie as pleintifs par bref de Chancelerie [etc.]

In right of conspirators, false informers, and wrongful procurers of Twelves, Inquisitions, Assises, and Juries, the King has ordained a remedy for the plaintiffs by Writ of the Chancery [etc.]

Five years later it was found necessary to define conspiracy :

Conspiratours sount ceux qi se entrelient per serement covenant ou per autre alliaunce qe chescun eidera e sustendra autri emprise fausement e maliciousment enditer ou faire enditer ou fausement mover plees ou maintenir [etc.]

Conspirators are those who bind themselves by oath covenant or other tie that each will support other, undertaking falsely and maliciously to indict or cause to indict or falsely to present or to maintain pleas [etc.]