Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/83

 Ch. 5. female ward were not married to his enemy. But this, among other beneficial parts of that charter, being diregarded, and guardians till continuing to dipoe of their wards in a very arbitrary unequal manner, it was provided by king John's great charter, that heirs hould be married without diparagement, the next of kin, having previous notice of the contract ; or, as it was expreed in the firt draught of that charter, ita maritentur ne diparagentur, et per conilium propinquorum de conanguinitate ua. But thee proviions in behalf of the relations were omitted in the charter of Henry III; wherein the claue tands merely thus, "haeredes maritentur abque diparagatione;" meaning certainly, by haeredes, heirs female, as there are no traces before this to be found of the lord's claiming the marriage of heirs male; and as Glanvil exprely confines it to heirs female. But the king and his great lords thenceforward took a handle from the ambiguity of this expreion to claim them both, ive it malculus ive foemina, as Bracton more than once exprees it and alo, as nothing but diparagement was retrained by magna carta, they thought themelves at liberty to make all other advantages that they could. And afterwards this right, of elling the ward in marriage or ele receiving the price or value of it, was exprely declared by the tatute of Merton ; which is the firt direct mention of it that I have met with, in our own, or in any other law.

6. attendant or conequence of tenure by knight-ervice was that of fines due to the lord for every alienation, whenever the tenant had occaion to make over his land to another. This depended on the nature of the feodal connexion; it not being reaonable nor allowed, as we have before een, that a feudatory hould transfer his lord's gift to another, and ubtitute a new tenant to do the ervice in his own tead, without the conent of the lord: and, as the feodal obligation was conidered as Rh