Page:The English Reports v77 1907.pdf/412

that they were capable of lands within England by descent. And that this Act of 17 E. 2. was but a declaration of the common law, it appeareth both by Bracton who (as it hath been said) wrote in the reign of Henry the Third, lib. 3. tract. 2. c. 1. f. 116. and by Britton who wrote in 5 E. 1. c. 18. that all such lands as any Norman had either by descent or purchase, escheated to the King for their treason, in revolting from their natural liege lord and sovereign. And therefore Stamford Præerog. cap. 12. fol. 39. expounding the said statute of 17 E. 2. cap. 12. concludeth, that by that chapter it should appear (as if he had said, it is apparent without question) that all men born in Normandy, Gascoin, Guienne, Anjou, and Britain, (whilst they were under actual disobedience) were inheritable within this realm as well as Englishmen. And the reason thereof was, for that they were one ligeance due to one sovereign.^[1] And so much (omitting many other authorities) for Normandy: saving I cannot let pass the isles of Guernsey and Jersey, parts and parcels of the dukedom of Normandy, yet remaining under the actual ligeance and obedience of the King, I think no man will doubt, but those that are [21 a] born in Guernsey and Jersey (though those isles are no parcel of the realm of England, but several dominions enjoyed by several titles, governed by several laws) are inheritable, and capable of any lands within the realm of England, 1 E. 3. fol. 7. Commission to determine the title of lands within the said isles, according to the laws of the isles; and Mich. 41 E. 3. in the Treasury, Quia negotium præd' nec aliqua alia negotia de insulâ præd' emergentia non debent terminari nisi secundum legem insular præd', &c. And the Register fol. 22. Res fidelibus suis de Jernsey et Gersey. King William the First brought this dukedom of Normandy with him, which by five descents continued under the actual obedience of the Kings of England; and in or about the 6th year of King John, the Crown of England lost the actual possession thereof, until King Henry the Fifth recovered it again, and left it to King Henry the Sixth, who lost it in the 28th of his reign; wherein were (as some write) one archbishopric and six bishoprics, and an hundred strong towns and fortresses, besides those that were wasted in war. Maud the Empress, the only daughter and heir of Henry the First, took to her second husband Jeffrey Plantagenet, Earl of Anjou, Tourain, and Mayne, who had issue King H. 2. to whom the said earldom by just title descended, who, and the Kings that succeeded him, stiled themselves by the name of comes Andeguv', &c. until King E. 3. became King of all France; and such as were born within that earldom, so long as it was under the actual obedience of the King of England, were no aliens, but natural-born subjects; and never any offer made, that we can find, to disable them for foreign birth. But leave we Normandy and Anjou, and speak we of the little, but yet ancient and absolute kingdom of the Isle of Man,^[2] as it appeareth by diverse ancient and authentic records; as taking one for many. Artold King of Man sued to King H. 3. to come into England to confer with him, and to perform certain things which were due to King H. 3. Thereupon King H. 3. 21 Decemb. ann. regn. sui 34, at Winchester, by his letters patent gave licence to Artold King of Man, as followeth:

Rex omnibus salutem. Sciatis, quod licentiam dedimus, &c. Artoldo Regi de Man veniendo ad nos in Angl', ad loquend' nobisc' et ad faciend' nobis quod facere debet; et ideo vobis mandamus quod ei Regi in veniendo ad nos in Angl', vel ibi morando, vel inde redeundo nullum faciat' aut fieri permittatis damnum, injur', molestiam, aut gravamen, vel etiam hominib' suis quos secum ducet et si aliquid eis forisfact' fuerit, id eis sine dilat' faciat' emendari. In cujus, &c. duratur' usque ad fest' S. Mich.

Wherein [21 b] two things are to be observed; 1. That seeing that Artold King of Man sued for a licence in this case to the King, it proveth him an absolute King; for that a monarch or an absolute prince cannot come into England without licence of the King, but any subject being in league, may come into this realm without licence. 2. That the King in his licence doth style him by the name of a king. It was resolved in 11 H. 8. that where an office was found after the decease of Thomas Earl of Derby, and that he died seised,