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, 46-47
Date: 12 December 1269
Place: Gloucester

 

Gloucester Burgesses

Inquisition taken at Gloucester on Thursday next after the feast of St. Nicholas, 54 Hen. III [1269], before Adam de Greymull , by the oath of Philip de Hatherle, Philip de Materesden, Robert de Ledene, Robert Keys, Henry de Lesseberewe, Henry Maurewent, Roger de Quedesle, Richard Toky, William de la Plukke, William de Rynn, Ernisius de Brokworth, Robert de Suenton, William de Benetham, Peter de Esteneston, Reginald de Brythampton, William le Faukener, Ralph Barun , and Hugh de Brythampton , whether the burgesses of the vill of Gloucester and their ancestors heretofore had common of pasture in the meadow of Suthmede, and in what other meadow without the Castle of Gloucester, after the hay of those meadows had been carried, which common Peter de Chaunent , constable of the said castle, lately took into the hand of the King; and also from what time and in what way they had the same, who say that

Walter, Constable of England, who made the said Castle of Gloucester, gave to the Prior of Lanthony and to the Convent the said meadow under the said castle which is called Presteneham, and then and before, from time immemorial, the burgesses of Gloucester had common in the said meadows of Presteneham and Suthmede immediately after the hay was carried, so that if any beasts were found depasturing or doing damage there it was lawful for the keepers of the said meadows to impark those beasts, and to take reasonable amends for the damage done to the hay. And the said burgesses always enjoyed that common peaceably successively from year to year until the coming of Sir Roger de Clifford , who kept the said castle on behalf of the King at the end of the war and impeded the said burgesses for some time, so that they could not have common as they were wont to have; but directly after peace was made they had their common from year to year as before, as well in the time of Adam de Greymull and Reginald de Acle as of Matthew Besylle , constable of the said castle after the time of the said Roger , and so they continued their seisin until the said Peter de Chaunent unjustly kept them out of the said common this year last past.

Chan. Inq. p. m., 54 Hen. III, No. 58.

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