DISPOSITION OF THE PENALTIES 



I.'^I 



shows how prosperous is their economic condition ; and also 

 makes plain how much the communities had to gain by the 

 enforcement of the labour legislation. It seems probable 

 that the pressure brought to bear by the taxpayers on the 

 justices and collectors was an efficient cause for the great 

 regularity with which sessions were held throughout Eng- 

 land during the running of the triennial and resulted in per- 

 haps a more thorough administration of the statutes than 

 was ever again achieved.' With the grant of the next 

 triennial, that of the 31st year, another set of penalties in 

 the place of these was given to the communities.^ The 

 reasons for the abandonment of the scheme are still to be 

 sought, but a possible explanation lies in the attitude of the 

 lords of franchises; their claims and those of the crown 

 deserve full attention. 



2. Period after the cessation of the triennial grants of 1348 



and 1352 



A. The rights of the crown: Easter, 13^1 to Easter, 

 1352; Michaelmas, 1354, to November, 1359. — At the end 

 of each of the above triennials, the penalties under the 

 statutes went to the crown, ^ subject only to the claims of the 

 lords of franchises, and were levied by the sheriff in the 

 same manner as were the penalties in other courts of the 



' My view is thus the very opposite from that expressed by Barring- 

 ton, quoted p. 100, note 6. 



^The escapes and chattels of thieves and felons convicted before the 

 keepers of the peace and the justices in eyre; Statutes, 31, st. i, c. 13. 

 Mr. J. F. Willard has examined the manuscript sources for this grant 

 and has acquired much information which it is to be hoped will soon 

 appear in print. The penalties under the labour statutes were never 

 again thus used. 



'This had been specified by the statute and by the grant of the sub- 

 sidy, but would have been assumed even without such a specification. 



