[13.] I restore to you the law of King Edward together with
such emendations to it as my father [William I] made with
the counsel of his barons.
[14.] If since the death of my brother, King William [II],
anyone shall have seized any of my property, or the property
of any other man, let him speedily return the whole of it.
If he does this no penalty will be exacted, but if he
retains any part of it he shall, when discovered, pay a
heavy penalty to me.
Witness: Maurice, bishop of London; William, bishop-elect of
Winchester; Gerard, bishop of Herefore; Henry the earl; Simon the
earl; Walter Giffard; Robert of Montfort-sur-Risle; Roger Bigot;
Eudo the steward; Robert, son of Haimo; and Robert Malet.
At London when I was crowned. Farewell."
Henry took these promises seriously, which resulted in peace and
justice. Royal justice became a force to be reckoned with by the
multiplication of justices. Henry had a great respect for legality
and the forms of judicial action. He became known as the "Lion of
Justice".
The payment of queen's gold, that is of a mark of gold to the
queen out of every hundred marks of silver paid, in the way of
fine or other feudal incident, to the king, probably dates from
Henry I's reign.
A woman could inherit a fief if she married. The primary way for a
man to acquire control of land was to marry an heiress.
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