Source: Index Library xxx
Title: Abstracts of Inquisitiones post Mortem for Gloucestershire, returned into the Court of Chancery during the Plantagenet Period. Part IV. 20 Henry III. to 29 Edward I. 1236-1300. Edited by Sidney J. Madge, 1903, London, 231
Date: 14 September 1301
Place: Gloucester

 

Cecilia de Muchegros

Inquisition made at Gloucester, the 14th day of September, 29 Edward I. [1301], of the lands and tenements which were of Cecilia de Muchegros on the day that she died before the King's escheator, by the oath of Walter de Banneburi, Robert le Eyr, Gilbert le Cok, William de Side, William Sigrit, Stephen ate Plock, Hugh son of Reginald, John le Carpenter, Richard Ernis, Richard Gille, Walter Benper, and Walter Droys , who say that Cecilia de Muchegros held in her demesne as of fee on the day that she died the manor of Longeford of Nicholas son of Ralph by the service of half a knight's fee.
Chan. Inq. p. m., 29 Edw. I, No. 29b.

In feudal England, escheat (pronounced eesheet) referred to the situation where the tenant of a fief died without an heir or committed a felony. The fief reverted to the King's ownership for one year and one day, by right of primer seisin, after which it reverted to the original lord who had granted it. From the time of Henry III, the monarchy took particular interest in escheat as a source of revenue.
From the 12th century onward, the Crown appointed escheators to manage escheats and report to the Exchequer, with one escheator per county established by the middle of the 14th century. Upon learning the death of a tenant, the escheator would hold an "inquisition post mortem" to learn if the king had any rights to the land. These were often preceded by a "writ of diem clausit extremum" issued by the king to seize the lands and hold the I.P.M. If there was any doubt, the escheator would seize the land and refer the case to Westminster where it would be settled, ensuring that not one day's revenue would be lost. This would be a source of concern with land owners when there were delays from Westminster.
Source: Wikipedia