Mesne Lords · Atlas

in the texts

Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John20th Century · English

Feudal lords holding courts of their own, whose jurisdiction over their tenants' land disputes was progressively eroded by royal writs.

Writs of entry were thus, from the point of view of the magnate with his private court, wolves in sheep’s clothing.

2 evasion of its spirit ¶

The feudal lord, in whose court baron the plea would naturally have been decided, was thus robbed by the King of his jurisdiction.

i royal writs and feudal jurisdictions ¶

, at the height of his power, and eager to set his house in order, shrank from an open breach of the Great Charter, gladly adopting subtle expedients to oust mesne lords from rights secured to them by the present chapter.

2 evasion of its spirit ¶