Page:Select historical documents of the Middle Ages.djvu/101

Rh the exchequer of that term in which the summonses are made is dissolved, the debts due the king throughout the different counties are taken by the clerks of the treasury from the great roll of that year and are written down, together with the causes, on smaller rolls; this being done, those whom we call the greater barons go apart, and, each county being mentioned in turn, they decree, concerning its different debtors, for how much each ought to be summoned; consideration being had for the quality of the person, and for the nature of the matter and for the cause for which he is bounden to the king. The authentic yearly roll, also, from which the debts are taken, lies before the treasurer or his clerk, lest there might, perchance, in some way, have been an error in making the abstract of them. There is also another clerk who studiously puts down what they have agreed upon in the matter of the debts of which the abstract has been made; and concerning these a summons is made in these words: " H. king of the English, to that or that sheriff, greeting. See to it as thou lovest thyself and all thy possessions, that thou art at the exchequer in such or such a place, on the day after St. Michael's day, or on the day after the close of Easter, and that thou hast there with thee whatever thou owest of the farm of former years or of this year, and these debts mentioned here by name: from that man 10 marks, for that reason, and so on." Moreover, when all the debts which are contained in the greater yearly roll, with their causes, have thus been marked down there in order, the lesser rolls, those of the itinerant justices, are brought forth; from these are taken what things are, by their labour and industry, owing to the lord king in the different counties; and these being assessed by the greater barons, they are put down in the summonses; these things having been arranged in order, the summons terminates with these words: " and thou shalt have all these with thee in money, tallies and writs and quittances, or they shall be taken from thy farm; witness, that or that person, there, at the exchequer." Some have believed that one ought to say: " in money, or (vel) tallies, or writs, or quittances "; not understanding that vel is sometimes used subdisjunctively. Moreover, a contention of this kind concerning words is superfluous, since