In 1217 it was again slightly restricted in favour of the upper classes. No demesne cart of any “parson” (ecclesiastica persona), or knight, or lady, could be requisitioned by the bailiffs. The “demesne” carts were, of course, those that belonged to the owner of the manor as opposed to the carts of the villeins. Here again we have evidence of care to make it clear, if not that villeins were to have no part or parcel in the benefits of the great Charter, at least that their rights, if they had any, could not stand against the more important rights of the Crown. Yeomen and small freeholders were also left exposed to this annoying form of interference. Abuses continued. Purveyors would occasionally lay hands on all available horses and carts in the countryside—far more than they required—choosing perhaps the season of harvest or some equally busy time. The owners, who urgently required them for their own purposes, would pay ransom money to regain possession. Edward I. enacted that perpetrators of such deeds should be “grievously punished by the marshals,” if they were members of his household, and therefore amenable to the summary jurisdiction of his domestic tribunal, or, if not members, then they should pay treble damages and suffer imprisonment for forty days.[[694]]
[693]. The rate fixed by 13 Charles II. c. 8, for the hire of carts or carriages requisitioned by the king, was 6d. per mile. This hire included six oxen, or alternatively two horses and four oxen, to each vehicle.
[694]. See 3 Edward I. c. 32.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.
Nec nos nec ballivi nostri capiemus alienum boscum ad castra, vel alia agenda nostra, nisi per voluntatem ipsius cujus boscus ille fuerit.
Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our castles or for any other work of ours, wood which is not ours, against the will of the owner of that wood.
Purveyance of timber growing elsewhere than on royal estates is here prohibited in absolute terms. In marked contrast with the limited restrictions placed upon other branches of purveyance, this branch is taken away, not merely from local officials, but from the king himself.[[695]] There was an obvious reason for greater stringency in this case: the king’s own extensive demesne woods furnished timber in abundance, whether for building purposes or for firewood, leaving him no excuse for taking, especially if for nothing, the trees of other people.
The purveyors of James I., shortly after his accession, transgressed this provision of Magna Carta by requisitioning timber for repairing the fortifications of Calais. A decision against the Crown was given by the Barons of Exchequer in the second year of James’s reign, and a proclamation was issued, bearing date 23rd April, 1607, disclaiming any right to such a prerogative. The guilty purveyors were brought before the Star Chamber.[[696]]