heir"; " in the treasury so much, and owes so much "; or " and he is quit." Notice, moreover, that so long as that honour or estate shall be in the hand of the king, with the heir, all the alms and payments of the poor which were established by the former lords out of sole regard for charity, shall be paid in their entirety to those to whom they are due, and shall be computed to the administrator at the exchequer: but the wages of servants, who may have seemed necessary to the lords for the performing of any services, and have received their position for this purpose, shall be paid at will while the king has possession. When, moreover, the heritage shall have come into the hand of the heir he should inhere in the footsteps of his father; so that, indeed, as long as those shall live for whom these payments were established to be enjoyed during life, he shall satisfy them; and after this, if he wish, he shall use or not use their services.
D. Thou did'st say, if I remember aright, that if any one holding in chief from the king should die and leave a minor as heir, he who was left receives at length, after attaining his majority, what is due him from the king, some without payment, some on promising money. Moreover, what is thus paid thou dost call a relief. Say, therefore, if, from every estate which is held of the king in chief, the relief ought to be exacted to the same amount,—or if not to the same amount, wherefore this?
M. I seem to have armed thee to my own ruin. For, conjecturing others from the things that have been said, thou dost vex me with armed questions. Know, then, that a different amount arises from the reliefs that are due to the king according to the different ranks of the possessors; for some, indeed, hold in chief from the king crown fiefs — greater, namely, or lesser baronies. If, therefore, a father having a possession of this kind die, leaving an heir who is already adult, the latter shall give satisfaction for these things, not according to a fixed sum, but according to what he can obtain from the king. But if the heir be a minor, being placed in wardship, he shall await his majority; then, moreover, either gratis as has been said, or, like the adult, at the good pleasure of the king, he shall obtain his paternal heritage. But if any one should die, holding at
