CENTRAL COURTS 167 



hand, from the point of view of the vigor of the attempt 

 to enforce the statutes during the years 1 349-1 359, the es- 

 sential requirement is an enumeration of all the actions on 

 the Plea Rolls of both courts for the whole decade, supple- 

 mented by information derived from the Controlment Rolls, 

 Coroners' Rolls, and Ancient Indictments. A limitation, 

 however, to these official records and to this short period 

 would preclude the possibility of using the unofficial evi- 

 dence contained in the Year Books, since the majority of 

 reported cases on the statutes belongs to the latter part of 

 the reign; and neglect of the reports would mean failure 

 to present a sufficient account of the legal issues involved 

 in the interpretation of the statutes by the upper courts. 

 On the other hand, from the point of view of law, an ex- 

 haustive treatise (Fitzherbert's is by no means adequate) 

 can be written only on the basis of a study of all the re- 

 ports dealing with the statutes, down to the reign of Henry 

 VIII, as well as of the corresponding records ; such a study 

 should also include the Rcgistrum Brevium, Novae Nar- 

 rationes, Fitzherbert's commentary in his Nezv Natura 

 Brevium, his abridgment, and those of Statham and 

 Brooke/ For this purpose the printed Year Books will 

 not answer. The editions of Mr. Pike have not yet reached 

 the Black Death ; ^ while the old editions omit the years 



Rolls, ed. Gross, and app., 413. Among the Coroners' Rolls proper 

 there are a few rolls of exigends of ofifenders convicted in the two upper 

 courts with cross-references to the Plea Rolls. Pardons for outlawry are 

 recorded on the Patent Rolls. 



Controlment Rolls and Gaol Delivery Rolls have neither of them 

 been included in my search; for the former, see Scargill-Bird, Guide to 

 the Public Records, 168, and for the latter, ibid., 170, and List of Plea 

 Rolls. 



' For exact titles and dates of publication, see m.y bibliography. 



-Published in the Rolls series. The Selden Society editions are for 

 the reign of Edw. II. 



