Chancery: Re-Disseisin Rolls

C 69

1285-1467

Enrolments of special writs addressed to sheriffs for the restoration of land unlawfully taken from the rightful freehold tenant.

Actions to establish rightful possession were heard before an assize of novel (recent) disseisin. If the assize found in favour of the original tenant, and the same disseisor again took the same property, this was known as a re-disseisin. Procedure here was to direct the sheriff to hold an inquest, and if this found in favour of the original tenant, a further writ instructed the sheriff to restore the land.

Due to the financial aspect of re-disseisin proceedings it was enacted in the Second Statute of Westminster (1285) that writs of re-disseisin should be enrolled and sent into the Exchequer at the year's end 'to see how the sheriff doth answer of the issue of such writs'. This presumably accounts for the commencement of the rolls at this date.

The writs state that they were directed to the sheriff to take action, that it had been shown that the plaintiff (named) who appeared in the king's court (place given) had been returned seisin of his holding against the defendant (also named). Details of the land are given.

Some rolls cover several years and others one year only.

The writs in this series are duplicated in the Originalia rolls: E 371

Public Record(s)

Latin

27 roll(s)

Topics

Litigation

The records in this series were formerly housed in the Wakefield Tower in the Tower of London. In the process of moving the documents to the Public Record Office in 1857, one roll from the reign of Edward I was mislaid. Other rolls, dating to the reigns of Edward II and Edward III, appear to have been lost at an earlier time.

If a plaintiff had recovered his freehold, and was later unlawfully disseised of the same holdings by the same disseisor, a procedure for re-disseisin could be put into effect. Under the Statute of Merton (1235), a Chancery writ was issued directing the sheriff to take the two coroners and 'some other good knights of the county' and go in person to the premises in question. There he should hold an inquest, calling as jurors a majority at least of the surviving recognitors from the novel disseisin action, and others. If the inquest bore out the charge against the defendant the plaintiff should again be restored his freehold, by special writ of re-disseisin addressed to the sheriff.

The defendant was gaoled until he ransomed himself at the king's pleasure and paid double damages. If the defendant disseised yet again, the sheriff could seize and hold land of the defendant's up to the value of the property he had taken. These were heavy penalties for a crime regarded as serious; to disseise a man after he had recovered by judgement of the king's court showed contempt of the king as well as the law. This was reiterated by the Statute of Marlborough in 1267, which provided that men held in prison for re-disseisin must make a fine 'with the king', and be released by his special command, and not otherwise.

It is possible that the re-disseisin rolls cease in 1467 because the law of trespass provided a yet more efficient recourse in law to deal with the question of disseisin of property, and that, therefore, the process of re-disseisin fell out of use.