ASSISE SUR LA LIGECE, c

ASSISE SUR LA LIGECE, c. 1163

1. John of Jaffa, "Livre des assises de la Haute Cour", s. 40, 197

An [assise] made in the time of King Amalric, concerned with the rights and duties of lords to their men and of the men to their lords, ...because the said Gerard, without interlocutory or final judgment ("sans esgart et sans conoissance") of his court, disinherited one of his men of a fief which he held of him in the lordship of Sidon, which he [Gerald] held of the king, and for which he was his man...and [peace between Gerard and his man] was made by the court of the said king and of the said Gerard and of all the barons and the high men of the realm and of all those who had men who held fiefs in the said realm, and this assise was thus made and established:-

That the men of the men of the Chief Lord ("chief seignor")¹ of the realm should do liege homage ("ligece") to the chief lord of the realm by the assise or otherwise, should be bound each to the other, and also the men of these men in every court by itself;
And that if the king wanted to have [an oath of] fidelity from the people who were dwelling in the cities and castles and bourgs which these men held of him, they should all swear fidelity to him, and that they should be bound to him by this fidelity in the same way as the men of these men were bound to him by the liege homage done to the chief lord by the assise...

[A man does liege homage to the chief lord by kneeling in front of him, putting his hands in between the chief lord's hands, and saying:]

"Lord, I do you liege homage by the assise for such a fief which I hold from such (give the names) and I promise you to keep and save you against everyone who can live and die, as liege homage done by the assise demands that I should." [and then he should kiss him on the mouth].

(Finished by 1266)

(R.H.C., Lois, i. 214-5, 317)

2. Philip of Novara, "Livre de forme de plait", 40.

If it happens that any lord disseise his man of his fief...without judgment ("esguart") of his court, and the lord be present and send an order to his bailiff ("bailli") to disseise his man without judgment of his court, then the disseised can summon and adjure his peers to come before the lord...or his bailiff, ...and they are to require him (the lord) to be condemned to put their peer back in seisin and tenure of what he was disseised of without judgment of court. And if he (the lord) does not do so, the disseised can summon and adjure his peers by the assise...to go with him and aid him and lend strength and power so that he can enter into seisin; and they (his peers) must do it thus without fail [as was done to the Emperor in 1232].

(Composed c. 1250 and revised in the 1260's)

(R.H.C., Lois, i. 517)

Footnote:

1. "Chef seignor" normally refers to the king, but can also refer to a bailli when the king is absent or there is none.