ally taking an oath thou shalt confirm the truth of this matter,"—namely, that thou have sought and not been able to find that by which the demands might be satisfied. If he replies, "I am ready to do so," the taking of the oath shall be deferred until the account is finished; when, being once given, it shall suffice for many like cases. Concerning this oath, indeed, much has already been said near the beginning, and something remains to be said in its proper place.
XIII. Concerning the different kinds of persons who are not solvent; with regard to what persons an oath is offered by the Sheriff, and under what tenor of words the oath shall he given.
Here, indeed, we must first distinguish with regard to debtors and debts; so that it may be clear to thee in the case of whom the oath offered shall be allowable, and in the case of whom, not. For if a knight or other freeman, or a bondsman, or any such person of whatever condition or sex, is bound to the king for any debt—which, indeed, must be a punishment for a misdemeanour, not a spontaneous offering,—the treasurer shall be content with that preferred oath of the sheriff which is to be taken at the end; and the man or woman, the action against whom, by reason of their poverty, has become void, shall again be written as debtor in this yearly roll as in the last. But it is otherwise if that debtor from whom the debt is sought is a citizen or burgher; if, namely, he is a citizen by birth, or if he have subjected himself of his own will to the laws of his fellow-citizens, necessity bringing it about. For it does not suffice for the sheriff that of these, if any do not render satisfaction for the sum required, he pay in, in order to thus be quit at the exchequer, the movable goods alone, or that he offer an oath as to his having sought and not found any: he must confiscate their homes and their estates and any revenues from the cities, and place them in the hands of others; so that, even in this way, the money due to the king may be forthcoming; but if none be found who will receive them, since men of the same condition mutually spare each other, he shall fasten up
