A freeman who married a villein lost his freedom. If any parent of
a child was a villein, then the child was also a villein.
All shipwrecked persons shall be treated with kindness and none of
their goods or merchandise shall be taken from them.
If one kills another on a vessel, he shall be fastened to the dead
body and thrown with it into the sea.
If one steals from another on a vessel, he shall be shaven, tarred
and feathered, and turned ashore at the first land.
Passage on the Thames River may not be obstructed by damming up
the river on each side leaving a narrow outlet to net fish. All
such weirs shall be removed.
- Judicial Procedure -
Henry II wanted all freemen to be equally protected by one system
of law and government. So he opened his court, the Royal Court, to
all people of free tenure. A court of five justices professionally
expert in the law, traveled with the King, and on points of
difficulty consulted with him. Justices began to be more than
presiding officers; they, instead of those attending, rendered the
judgments. The chief court was in Westminster, where the
weightiest decisions were made. Other professional itinerant
justices appeared periodically in all counties of the nation to
hear certain criminal and civil cases and to hear citizens'
private civil suits [common pleas]. They came to perform many
other tasks, including promulgating and enforcing new legislation,
seeking out encroachments on royal rights, reviewing the local
communities' and officials' performance of their public duties,
imposing penalties for failure to do them or for corruption,
gathering information about outlaws and non-performance of homage,
and assessing feudal escheats to the crown, wardships to which the
king was entitled, royal advowsons, feudal aids owed to the King,
tallages of the burgesses, and debts owed to the Jews.
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