It was a practical manual of procedure and of the law
administered in the Royal Court.
There are personal actions such as "debt" for specific chattel or
specific sum of money. This splits into two actions. The detinue
award is for the specific chattel or its value. The action of
"replevin" is available to the tenant to recover personal property
which had been wrongly distrained, usually cattle; the goods are
"repledged" pending action. Also, but rarely used, are "covenant"
to protect termors for leases of land for terms of years, and
"trepass": a semi-criminal action brought by a private party for
an offense punishable by death (or in the 1100s by mutilation)
such as murder, rape, robbery, or mayhem, that is done with force
of arms and against the peace of the king. The use of trespass
grew as private actions for felony were supplanted by public
indictment. It occasioned outlawry in default of appearance. These
personal actions were initiated in common law courts by their
respective writs.
These are some of the cases of novel disseisin brought to the
king's court:
Woodbridge v. Bardolf (1194, king's court):
Ralf of Woodbridge seeks before the justices his free
tenement in Hebston by the assize of novel disseisin against
Hugh Bardolf. Against which assize Hugh said that he had
that seisin by judgment of his court for the default of the
same Ralf. And the court has recorded the summons and
distraints reasonably made on the same Ralf.
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