| 1321-10-25 | 25 October 1321. Rochester. Grant and confirmation of privileges to the inhabitants of Hastingues , as the inhabitants of the new bastide of Hastingues lately petitioned the king and council that it was originally founded by John de Hastings, seneschal of Gascony, in 1289 and given the fors of the bastide of Bonnegarde and the customs…of Dax, it is fitting that the said fors and customs be granted and confirmed. The king ordered the then seneschal of Gascony to examine the fors and customs diligently, and to certify them under the seal of the court of Gascony. This was done by William de Montague, late seneschal, deceased, who sent a copy of them to the king. The seneschal and council in Aquitaine then confirmed that the fors and customs were necessary and praiseworthy, but that certain additions and changes should be made to them, that is to say: No tax (tallia, albergata seu mutuum) or levy shall be taken from them unless freely granted, nor any fouage (hearth-tax) (focagium), except by the gift and grant of the general court (generalis curia) of Gascony, to which the jurats of the bastide shall be summoned, as are those of Dax and Bonnegarde. The inhabitants of the bastide are permitted to sell, exchange and alienate freely all movable and immovable goods, but not to religious houses or persons, nor to knights who are not their neighbours, nor to those outside the king’s allegiance. Houses and plots within the bastide and others held in fee (in feudum(sic)) from the king may also not be thus alienated, except to be held forever from the king and when they are alienated the king may have a tax (vende) of one twelfth (duodecimus denarius), half from the seller and half from the buyer, if the king's bayle agrees the sell and if he wants to retain for the king the sold property, he has to do it within eight days after the offer and have it for fives. less than the buyer would have given except if the price was under 50s.morl., in that case the bayle has to pay the whole price and he has to retain the property for at least one year and one daySimon: could you check the English of this last sentence?. The rights of lords in their holdings are to be respected, as are the king’s in his possessions. The inhabitants have the right to marry their daughters as they wish and to put forward their sons to take holy orders. No inhabitant shall be arrested and held except for murder, homicide or other capital crimes on account of which he may be condemned to death. If anyone is arrested for inflicting a potentially lethal wound, he shall be bailed (dabitur ad malentam) after the bayle is informed by the oath of a doctor or doctors that the victim can eat and drink without danger. No inhabitant shall be cited before any court outside the bastide and its appurtenances in property suits or personal cases, or for any other exaction committed within the bastide or baylie, or for any contracts made there, unless they concern the king or his heirs. If so, the case shall be heard by the bayle’s superior. If any inhabitant dies intestate, childless or without heirs, and his goods are duly inventoried by the bayle and jurats, those goods shall be kept in a secure place for two years. If during that time a credible heir appears, all those goods shall be made over to him. If not, they shall revert to the king, after payment of funeral expenses, dower to the deceased’s wife, and all other debts. Wills made in the presence of lawful witnesses shall be valid in perpetuity, even though not drawn up in strictly legal form, as long as the testator’s children are not defrauded of their just portion according to the customs of the region. No one challenged to a judicial duel shall be compelled to take part, but may defend himself otherwise by judgment of the court according to the fors and customs of Dax. The inhabitants may buy, rent or receive as a gift immovable goods, except for knights’ holdings, all or part of which they cannot acquire otherwise than do the inhabitants of Dax and Bonnegarde. Every inhabitant shall have a lot 12 ells [alne] in breadth and 30 in length,The ell (aune in French) was 1.191 meters long in the Landes. See Poitrineau, A. and alii, Les anciennes mesures locales du Sud-Ouest d'après les tables de conversion (Clermont-Ferrand, 1996), p. 97. where he may have an oven, and a garden or close twelve ells in breadth and 44 in length, rendering for them 9d. morl. every year at All Saints, and unless that rent is paid within the octave of that feast, he shall be fined 6s. Evil deeds done secretly and occultly in the bastide shall be corrected according to the king’s general statute, and the penalties imposed by the bayle and jurats. The seneschal and bayle shall, at the beginning of their terms of office, swear oaths to the bastide’s inhabitants (populus) as they swear them to those of Dax and Bonnegarde, and the inhabitants shall swear to the seneschal as do those of Dax, and to the bayle as do those of Bonnegarde to their bayle. There shall be six jurats in the town and yearly, at All Saints, another six shall be elected by the outgoing jurats, with the advice of the bayle, swearing on the Gospels that they will be good and faithful to the king and the people (populus) of the bastide, observe his laws, defend the people, faithfully serve in office, and elect six jurats to succeed them. The jurats shall have power to order the inhabitants to repair roads, fountains, bridges and other public utilities, to enact reasonable statutes, and to appoint a proctor or syndic; the inhabitants are to have a common seal, kept by two jurats, but it is not to be used without the knowledge of the bayle, unless the proctor or syndic wish to oppose the bayle. The jurats also have power, after consulting the bayle, to impose tallages and taxes on the inhabitants as expedient, to which all holding possessions in the bastide shall contribute. Fines of 6s.morl. are to be imposed for non-lethal woundings done in anger even if no blood is drawn, if proven by view of two worthy jurats, burgesses of the place; and for lethal woundings, a fine of 66s.morl.. Fines of 66s.morl. are to be imposed for killings in self-defence, after inquest by the bayle; the goods of the perpetrator are to be restored to his heirs, once the fine had been paid. If the perpetrator flees and does not appear after three summonses, then his goods are to revert to the king, according to customs relating to banishment. In cases of homicide unproven by inquest or confession, the heirs of the victim must not attack an acquitted suspect; if they do, they will incur the above penalties. Anyone who breaks the king’s peace, or draws a sword on anyone in anger, must pay 6s.morl. as a fine. Anyone who breaks a pledge, given to the bayle or the bayle’s serjeant, by violence, proven by two witnesses or by confession, shall pay 66s. morl. to the king. Anyone taken in adultery by day or night shall, by choice, either go naked through the streets or pay a fine of 100s.morl. Anyone who rapes a married woman, or a girl whom he is not fitted to marry, shall be duly punished, as long as this is known and proven. Thieves shall be punished according to the value of the goods stolen, by the pillory, marking by the ear and hanging, and the stolen goods must be returned to the lord or, if the culprits are strangers, to the king. Weights, measures and ells (alne) used in the bastide shall resemble those of Dax, and those using false measures shall pay 6s.morl. A heavier penalty shall be imposed if the crime is persistent and, if discovered by six jurats, or the majority of them, the false measures shall be destroyed. False claims are to be punished by a fine of 6s.morl., but costs are in some cases to be awarded to the plaintiff, and fines imposed for delays. Injuries and evil deeds done in the bastide may be proven on oath by one, two or more of the six jurats, before the bayle, who will punish and fine the transgressors. In cases of debt or contract between neighbours, two neighbours may be present to see that the debt is paid or the contract fulfilled, and the complainant shall pay the king 6s.morl. Anyone seeking redress a second time in such cases must appeal to the worthy men (probi homines) of the court of Dax. Appeals beyond the bayle and the court of Dax are to go to the seneschal. In other such cases, not included above, other customs of the court of Dax are to be applied and, if they are lacking, then written law (jus scriptum) is to be used. All inhabitants holding hearths and houses within the bastide, enjoying the freedom of the place, shall perform military service (excercitus) as do the inhabitants of Dax, or of other parts. They are, however, to be quit of such service, and of the payment of half of all fines taken by the bayle, for ten years. Notarial instruments drawn up by public notaries in the bastide, created by the major seneschal of the region, presented to him by the bayle and six jurats, shall carry due authority as is the custom in other Gascon cities and towns. But if any notary commits any crime against the king or against his neighbours, he shall lose clerical status. Although the inhabitants shall have rights to their own baking ovens, the king has also his own ovens, which may be used by them on payment of 1d.morl.. There shall be a twice-yearly fair in the bastide, i.e. on the feasts of St Matthew the Apostle 21 September and St Andrew the Apostle [30 November], lasting 8 days, and a market in the month of March. Those coming to the fairs and market are to be exempt from dues, unless they are principal debtors, and shall be kept safe and sound unless they have killed, or taken goods from, the inhabitants of the bastide. Sellers shall pay to the king the relevant dues and taxes, according to the nature of the beasts and the goods sold. But the inhabitants of the bastide and their successors shall be free of taxes and dues on sales and purchases. Fines for fraudulent behaviour, however, whereby the king is defrauded of taxes and dues, shall be punished by a fine of 6s.morl.. Those staying in the bastide may save goods deposited by strangers in their houses from use as pledges, unless their owners are principal debtors or sureties, and unless the goods pledged concern the king’s own interest. Debtors shall not lose their houses, nor shall bed linen necessary for the household, daily clothing, iron tools, or armour and weapons be taken as pledges for their debts. For the common utility of the region, and safe-keeping of the roads, which the king and his bayle are obliged to observe, those travelling through the bastide and its appurtenances shall pay to the bayle or to our collector there half of what they owe in fair or market dues.
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