1919.] 



EARLY CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. 187 



judgment of the Itinerant Justices or, in certain localities, to 

 that of a specially appointed local officer. This is shown by 

 Henry II. 's charter to the Vicomte of the Oximin, informing 

 him that he had exempted the lands of Robert Marmion from 

 the jurisdiction of the vicomte's own court, but not from the 

 pleas of the sword, felonies affecting life or limb, which 

 belonged to the bailiff of Falaise. (1) At the end of the 12th 

 century, we gather from the " Tres Ancien Coutumier," the 

 vicomte held pleas of only minor importance. He arrested 

 and held in prison malefactors accused by twelve knights or 

 persons worthy of credence, (2) he received the writs of the 

 ducal chancery and executed the preparatory proceedings in 

 matters reserved for the judgment of the Justices of the 

 Assizes,* 3 ' carried out their sentences W and collected the fines 

 inflicted by them.< 5 > The Great Roll of 1180, as we have 

 seen, shows us Robert de Haverlant, the deputy of the 

 Vicomte, Gilbert de la Hongue, carrying out this last duty 

 and accounting for 36 livres 19 sols 5 deniers, the remainder 

 of the fines of the old pleas. (6) The vicomtes and baillis were 

 required by an ordinance of 1159 to hold their court once a 

 month, <7) and they sat with their justices in the larger Assizes, 

 where they are sometimes specifically called justices. Further, 

 the vicomte was closely supervised by the Itinerant Justices. 

 It was their duty to see that he had done justice to the poor, 

 had done no ill to the innocent, and had received no bribes to 

 condone robbery or other misdeeds. If he had done any of 

 these things, the " Tres Ancien Coutumier" tells us. heavy fines 

 and even imprisonment awaited him j 8) 



If the vicomte's jurisdiction in criminal cases was small, 

 it was equally so in regard to possessary cases, cases concerning 

 the possession of land. In early Norman times, for all disputes 

 between the tenants-in-chief there was only one court, the 

 Great Court of the Duke, and the case was determined by 

 battle, or in exceptional cases the Duke might order certain of 

 his barons to hold an inquisition on the matter and give 



(1) Valin, p. 227, note. Henricus D. G. etc., vicomiti Oximi, salutem. Precipio 

 quod terra Roberti Marmium sit quieta de omnibus placitis sicut esse debet et esse 



solebat ex hiis que te pertinent sal vis placitis meis de gladio que spectant ad 



ballivos meos de Falesia. (Cart. Fontenay-le Marmion.) Circa 1163-1173. 



(2) Tardif. Tres Ancien Coutumier, II. 



(3) Tardif. Tres A. C. XXY Quant li bries est aportez au baillif le due 



el pais a celui qui se plaint, il fet plet estre em pes jusq'a la premiere assise de sa 

 bailli. E dedanz ce li bailliz fet veoir la terre e metre en escrit les nons des jureeurs 

 seur la veue de la terre. Cf. Powicke, Loss of Normandy, p. 88. 



(i) Valin. Le Due de N. et sa Cour, p. 99, 100. 



(5) Ibid. p. 99. 



(6) Stapleton. Mag. Rot. Scaec, p. 26* 



(7) Haskin. Norman Institutions, 168. Robert de Torigni, ii. 180, 



(8) Tardif. Tres Ancien Coutumier, II., LY, 



