The Ordinances of Edward the Second. 1315-6.
A.D. 1315-6.—After the Statutum Walliæ there is no legislation relating to Wales until the reign of Edward the Second (who was the first Prince of Wales), when two Ordinances were promulgated by that King which are of importance and are printed with the statutes hereafter. They were Ordinances concerning the customs of West Wales, South Wales, and North Wales, and are to be found in Rymer's Fœdera.
An Ordinance differed from a Statute. A Statute was enacted by the King in Parliament and became a permanent addition to the law. An Ordinance was an executive act issued by the King in council, usually of a tentative and temporary nature; it could be recalled by the King; it was not enrolled in the statute book, although it might be converted into a statute. These Ordinances of Edward the Second altered and amended certain provisions of the Statutum Walliæ, and dealt with various grievances of the different parts of Wales. It will be noticed that Edward the Second declares therein that he was born in Wales, a statement of value in considering the disputed question as to the place of his birth. On reading these Ordinances carefully it will be seen that there are points of difference between them. Both deal with the custom of Amobragium, but nothing is said in the North Wales Ordinance of Westva, Blodwyte, complaints of felonies and torts, and the superabundance of bailiffs.
In dealing with Amobragium, or "Amobr" (the fee payable to the Lord by his tenant on the marriage of the latter's daughter), the Ordinances set up a limit of time (within a year) when the fine could be enacted, and declared also that it should be levied only in those cases in which under the Princes of Wales it could be levied. These fines were farmed out to "amoberers," who greatly oppressed and impoverished the people. Westva was the "gwestva" of
