Document 4/20/49 (Melr. Lib., no. 327)
- Description
- An agreement is formed between the master and brethren of the Hospital of Jerusalem at Torphichen and Sir Reginald le Chen, knight, and Eustachia, his wife, concerning the right of patronage of the church of Ochiltree (AYR). The brethren, through their procurator, Brother John de Luda, and Reginald and his wife both claimed to have rights to the church and with the consent of all of those required, the case was submitted to the judgement of R[obert], bishop of Glasgow, who, with the expressed and unanimous consent of the whole chapter of Glasgow, ordained that the master and brethren shall have, in pure and perpetual alms, £14 annually, that is, £7 at the Nativity of St John the Baptist, and £7 at the Feast of St Andrew the apostle, without every burden of a single benefice of the said church of Ochiltree, which rent shall be paid by the hands of the rector, and that the right of patronage shall belong to the Lady Eustachia and her heirs. The master and brethren may not be cheated of the annual benefice whether by trickery or fraud; no cleric will be instituted to the presentation of the said church by Lady Eustachia until he is summoned especially by the master of Torphichen or his procurator, and provides a corporeal oath that he shall pay the said £14 at the set times without fraud or contradiction. The bishop of Glasgow may compel whoever shall be rector to observe all the above by ecclesiastical censure. If it happens that anything goes against this ordination by either party, £100 shall be paid towards the fabric of the church of Glasgow, to the bishop of Glasgow, who shall place a sentence of excommunication on the persons and an interdict on the lands. So that this is faithfully observed, the procurator of the master and brethren and the said Reginald and Eustachia, by freewill and with the consent of Reginald, her husband, bound themselves by a corporeal oath, and subjected themselves to the jurisdiction of the bishop of Glasgow, who shall compel them to observe by sentence of excommunication. Lady Eustachia has renounced, with the expressed consent of her husband, the benefit of senatus consultum velleianum and the legis Julie de fundo dotalis and all remedy of canonical and civil law.
- Firm date
- 29 January 1273 X 1296
- Probable date
- prob. early
- Dating Notes
- Consecration × ? Robert Wishart, bishop of Glasgow; probably early as Brother John de Luda appears in mid-13th century document.
- Source for Data Entry
- Melrose Liber, i, no. 327
- Trad. ID
- Melr. Lib., no. 327
- Calendar number
- 4/20/49
- Charter type
- Agreement
- Chirograph?
- yes
- Language
- Latin
- Duplicate Original (contemporary)
- yes
- Notes
- NAS, GD 55/327; See Knights of St John, xxvii. Note that GD 55/327*, a duplicate, was not printed.
‘The Velleian senate decree, enacted about 46 AD, forbade women to undertake liability for others. Such undertaking was called intercession and applied whether she undertook a primary obligation for the benefit of a third party, or whether she became surety or guarantor or became liable for another in any other manner, as for instance by novation or by giving a mandate.’ (From the Annotated Justinian Code, F.H. Blume (2007; http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian), Book IV, Title XXIX)
‘The Julian law forbade alienation of dowry land. If land, however, was turned over to the husband at a fixed valuation, the valuation, not the land, became the dowry, and the husband became the owner of the land. In such case the Julian law did not apply. But if the wife had the right to elect whether to take the land back or valuation, the Julian law applied.’ (From the Annotated Justinian Code, F.H. Blume (2007; http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian), Book V, Title XXIII)