United States or Somalia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !


The Third Statute of Westminster, or, to use the name by which it is more commonly known, the Statute "Quia Emptores," is one of those legislative efforts which mark the progress of a wide social revolution in the country at large.

And further, of our especial Grace, certain Knowledge and meer Motion, we have given, granted and confirmed, and by these Presents, for Us, our Heirs and Successors, do give, grant and confirm unto the said Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkeley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carterett, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley, their Heirs and Assigns, full and absolute Power, License and Authority, that they the said Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkeley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carterett, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley, their Heirs and Assigns, from Time to Time, hereafter for ever, at his and their Will and Pleasure, may assign, alien, grant, demise or enfeoff the Premises or any Part or Parcel thereof to him or them, that shall be willing to purchase the same; and to such Person and Persons, as they shall think fit, to have, and to hold to them the said Person or Persons, their Heirs and Assigns, in Fee simple or in Fee Tayle, or for the Term of Life or Lives, or Years to be held of them, the said Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkeley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carterett, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley, their Heirs and Assigns, by such Rents, Services and Customs, as shall seem fit to them the said Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkeley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carterett, Sir John Colleton, and William Berkeley, their Heirs and Assigns, and not of Us, our Heirs and Successors: And to the same Person and Persons, and to all and every of them, We do give and grant by these Presents, for Us, our Heirs and Successors, License, Authority and Power, that such Person or Persons, may have and take the Premises, or any Parcel thereof, of the said Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkeley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carterett, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley, their Heirs and Assigns, and the same to hold to themselves, their Heirs or Assigns, in what Estate of Inheritance soever, in Fee simple, or in Fee Tayle, or otherwise, as to them the said Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkeley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carterett, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley, their Heirs and Assigns, shall seem expedient; The Statute in the Parliament of Edward, Son of King Henry, heretofore King of England, our Predecessor, commonly called, The Statute of Quia Emptores Terrar; or any other Statute, Act, Ordinance, Use, Law, Custom, any other Matter, Cause or Thing heretofore published or provided to the contrary, in any wise notwithstanding.

The most important of these were the First and Second Statutes of Westminster, in 1275 and 1285, which made provisions for good order in the country, for the protection of merchants, and for other objects; the Statute of Mortmain, passed in 1279, which put a partial stop to injurious gifts of land to the church, and the Statute Quia Emptores, passed in 1290, which was intended to prevent the excessive multiplication of subtenants.

About this time is another statute forbidding usury, and permitting Christian debtors to retain half of all debts they may owe to the Jews, who are required to wear the mark of two cables joined on their coats; and there is the great Statute of Westminster III, Quia Emptores, affecting land tenures, still of importance to the conveyancers.

The expulsion of the Jews, the reform of the administration, the statute Quia emptores, the treaty of Tarascon, the humiliation of Gloucester, and the successful issue of the Scottish arbitration, mark the culminating point in the reign of Edward I. The king had ruled twenty years with almost uniform success, and his only serious disappointment had been the failure of the crusade.

In the same year as this marriage, Edward passed another law directed against the baronage. This was the statute of Westminster the Third, called from its opening words, Quia emptores.

Something like a continuous attendance may be dated from the accession of Edward, but it was long before the knights were regarded as more than local deputies for the assessment of taxation or admitted to a share in the general business of the Great Council. The statute "Quia Emptores," for instance, was passed in it before the knights who had been summoned could attend.

The 55th William I. secured to freemen the inheritance of their lands, and they were not able to sell them until the act QUIA EMPTORES of Edward I. was passed. The tendency of persons to spend the representative value of their lands and sell them was checked by the Mosaic law, which did not allow any man to despoil his children of their inheritance.

However small the estates thus created might be, the bulk were held directly of the Crown; and this class of lesser gentry and freeholders grew steadily from this time in numbers and importance. The year which saw "Quia Emptores" saw a step which remains the great blot upon Edward's reign.

Thus the Court Rolls of a manor of the fourteenth century for before the statute Quia Emptores I suspect that they were kept with much less regularity and much less care than they were afterwards are practically the registers of the deaths of all occupiers of land within the manor; and, as every householder was an occupier of land, the death of every householder may be said to be inscribed upon the Rolls.