Seigniorial control of villagers litigation beyond the manor in later medieval England*

Abstract

Medieval villagers were assiduous users of legal structures in defence of private interests. To enforce contracts against and recover debts from residents of other villages, rural plaintiffs had to prosecute in courts situated beyond the boundaries of their 'home' manors. The ability to sue elsewhere than the local manor court was thus crucial to commercial development in the countryside. This article explores the obstacles to such litigation, challenging the claim that servile villeinage acted to restrict villagers' choice of court. It lays the foundation for a larger investigation into the importance of villagers as civil litigants in ecclesiastical and royal jurisdictions.

Suing in a local jurisdictional court in late medieval Catalonia. The case of Caldes de Malavella (1328–1369)

“…An obstacle for these claims, though, was the fact that these institutions were not directly able to exercise jurisdiction over the inhabitants of Caldes. 34 Jaume Geronès, from Caldes, 'firmed the law' in a suit where the plaintiff Bernat Massot, cloth merchant from Girona, had already instigated a seizure in the court of Caldes. They produced letters to the officials in Caldes such as the one that the bishop's court issued in 1345.…”

Review of periodical literature published in 2008

“…Briggs (in Historical Research ) considers the ways in which lords in the high and later middle ages might attempt to prevent their unfree tenantry from proceeding in courts other than those of their own jurisdiction. He concludes that, in reality, attempts to constrain would‐be peasant litigants were quite limited; he also suggests that, given we are aware of (but cannot closely quantify) peasant involvement in extra‐manorial jurisdictions, it is reasonable to suggest that, as much as (or far more than) lordly constraint, it was other impediments, such as risk, cost, and distance, which may have deterred such activity.…”