ſtagnate; and that the lords were curtailed of the fruits of their ſigniories, their eſcheats, wardſhips, reliefs, and the like: and therefore, in order to prevent this, it was ordained by the ſecond of king Henry III's great charters[1], and afterwards by that printed in our common ſtatute books, that all ſuch attempts ſhould be void, and the land forfeited to the lord of the fee[2].
But, as this prohibition extended only to religious houſes, biſhops and other ſole corporations were not included therein; and the aggregate eccleſiaſtical bodies (who, ſir Edward Coke obſerves[3], in this were to be commended, that they ever had of their counſel the beſt learned men that they could get) found many means to creep out of this ſtatute, by buying in lands that were bona fide holden of themſelves as lords of the fee, and thereby evading the forfeiture; or by taking long leaſes for years, which firſt introduced thoſe extenſive terms, for a thouſand or more years, which are now ſo frequent in conveyances. This produced the ſtatute de religioſis, 7 Edw. I; which provided, that no perſon, religious or other whatſoever, ſhould buy, or ſell, or receive, under pretence of a gift, or term of years, or any other title whatſoever, nor ſhould by any art or ingenuity appropriate to himſelf, any lands or tenements in mortmain; upon pain that the immediate lord of the fee, or, on his default for one year, the lords paramount, and, in default of all of them, the king, might enter thereon as a forfeiture.
This ſeemed to be a ſufficient ſecurity againſt all alienations in mortmain: but, as theſe ſtatutes extended only to gifts and conveyances between the parties, the religious houſes now began to ſet up a fictitious title to the land, which it was intended they ſhould have, and to bring an action to recover it againſt the tenant;
- ↑ A. D. 1217. cap. 43. edit. Oxon.
- ↑ Non licet alicui de caetero dare terram ſuam alicui domui religioſae, ita quod illam reſumat tenendum de eadem domo; nec liceat alicui domui religioſae terram alicujus ſic accipere, quod tradat illam ei a quo ipſam recepit tenendam: ſi quis autem de caetero terram ſuam domui religioſae ſic dederit, et ſuper hoc convincatur, donum ſuum penitus caſſetur, et terra illa domino ſuo illius feodi incurratur. Mag. Cart. 9 Hen. III. c. 36.
- ↑ 2 Inſt. 75.
