"
"A parent or other who forcefully leads away and withholds, or
marries off, an heir who is a minor (under 14), shall yield the
value of the marriage and be imprisoned until he has satisfied the
king for the trespass. If an heir 14 years or older marries
without his Lord's permission to defraud him of the marriage and
the Lord offers him reasonable and convenient marriage, without
disparagement, then the Lord shall hold his land beyond the term
of his age, that, of twenty one years, so long that he may receive
double the value of the marriage as estimated by lawful men, or
after as it has been offered before without fraud or collusion,
and after as it may be proved in the King's Court. Any Lord who
marries off a ward of his who is a minor and cannot consent to
marriage, to a villain or other, such as a burgess, whereby the
ward is disparaged, shall lose the wardship and all its profits if
the ward's friends complain of the Lord. The wardship and profit
shall be converted to the use of the heir, for the shame done to
him, after the disposition and provision of his friends." (The
"marriage" could be annulled by the church.)
"If an heir of whatever age will not marry at the request of his
Lord, he shall not be compelled thereunto; but when he comes of
age, he shall pay to his Lord the value of the marriage before
receiving his land, whether or not he himself marries.
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