XVI. That the Sheriff may take from the estates of him who does not pay, that which is required, even if, after the time when he commenced to be bounden to the king, he have alienated them in any way.
Likewise if a debtor, from the time when he began to be bounden to the king, shall have rented his estate or revenue to another, or have given it as a pledge for money, or even—which, perhaps, will seem absurd to thee—have transferred his domain from himself by sale: if means can not otherwise be found to give satisfaction to the king, whoever the person be or by whatever title he may have gained possession,—nevertheless what belongs to the king shall be taken from him; saving the proprietorship of the lord who has commenced to possess it with a just title. Unless, perchance, that debtor shall, in the beginning, of his own will pay to the king the price of the estate sold. For, in that case, the right of possession of the buyer shall remain undisputed. The cause of this, moreover, although it seems to be somewhat wrong and to serve too much the advantage of the king, thou wilt see to be evident, nevertheless, and just enough according to the laws of the country. For whoever is found to have committed an offence against the royal majesty is at the mercy of the king in one of three ways, according to the quality of his crime. For he is sentenced, for lesser faults, either to the extent of all his movable goods, or of all his immovable—that is, his estates and revenues,—so that he shall le deprived of his heritage; but if for greater faults, or for any very great or enormous crimes, to the extent of his life or members. When, therefore, any one is condemned to the mercy of the king as to his movable goods, and the sentence is passed upon him by the judges in these words: "such a man is at the mercy of the king as regards his money," it is the same as if they said: "all his money." For the indefinite sentences of laymen have their signification not according to the interpretation of those for whom it is more safe that they should be so interpreted—that is, of individuals,—but are equal for all. Since, therefore, the chattels of that estate which the debtor afterward?
