CHAP. X.
If those Heirs, liable to be in Custody, have more Lords than one, the chief Lord, that is, the one to whom the Heir owes allegiance for his first Fee, shall have the Custody. But this is not to deprive the Lords of the other Fees of their Beliefs and rightful services; but the Custody shall remain to them entire, under the form before mentioned. Yet should it be observed, that when any one hold of the King in Capite, the Custody of him belongs exclusively to the King, whether the Heir has any other Lords or not; because the King[255] can have no equal, much less a superior.[256] But yet, by reason of Burgage Tenure,[257] the King is not preferred in the Custody to others. If the King should commit the Custody to another,[258] then, a distinction is to be made, whether it is unconditionally, and in such manner as not to render the person to whom it was committed accountable to the Exchequer, or whether it is under restrictions. If it is committed to him in such unconditional manner, then he can present to vacant Churches, and, generally, as far as consistent with Justice, manage the concerns of the Heir, as if they were his own.