Willis : Anglo-American Law 
101 
with the regular courts was the way they extended their ju- 
risdiction. The Exchequer tried common pleas. It extended 
its jurisdiction thru the writ of quo minas “whereby he (a 
debtor of king) is the less able to satisfy us the debts which 
he owes us” because defendant owed the debtor (plaintiff). 
The King’s Bench extended its jurisdiction so that it tried 
every kind of action except the old real actions by the bill of 
Middlesex and the writ of latitat. The King’s Bench had the 
right to try cases of trespass, and after a defendant was 
in the hands of the marshal it proceeded to hear any complaint 
against him. If the defendant sued in trespass in Middlesex 
came into the hands of the officer, trespass was dropped and 
an action of debt brought. If the defendant did not live in 
Middlesex the sheriff returned that he was not found in his 
bailiwick and a writ of latitat was issued to the sheriff of 
the county where he lived to bring up the defendant, on the 
theory that he was a fugitive and ‘had run away from Middle- 
sex. Besides these three law courts, there was created in 
1337 an appellate court, called Exchequer Chamber, from the 
common law side of the Exchequer. In 1585 this court was 
empowered to try appeals from the King’s Bench. Before 
this it had heard appeals from the Common Pleas. The 
judges in this court yrnre the barons and justices. 
The Merchant Courts continued to develop the law mer- 
chant. The chief Maritime Court of the lord high admiral 
of England, who delegated his power to the judge of the Court 
of Admiralty, dates from Edward III. It had civil jurisdic- 
tion over contracts made at sea (but not charter parties made 
on land), seamen’s wages earned at sea, and flotsam, jetsam, 
and salvage, but not of wreckage; and for a time it had crim- 
inal jurisdiction. 
The Court of Chancery, which grew up in this period, has 
already been explained. 
The judges of the assize were developed in the time of Ed- 
ward I. Before this time the justices itinerant confined them- 
selves to pleas of the crown and various real actions known 
as assizes, but after this they went on circuit by virtue of a 
royal commission of gaol delivery, oyer et terminer, assize, 
and nisi prius. The writ of venire facias had ordered the sher- 
iff to summon a jury in a common law case to appear at 
Westminster. The statute of Westminster II, chapter 30, in- 
