of his successor (c. 31). Baillisand sénéchauxmust swear not to offer
bribes to royal councillors sent out on commissions of inquiry, or to
their wives and families; not to sell or connive in the sale of royal offices
or revenues, in particular to their own kin; and to correct subordinates
who were oppressive, suspected of usury or openly leading wicked lives
(cc. 6, 7, 8, 13, 24). To prevent his officers building up private interests
in the bailliagesto which they were appointed, Louis strictly forbade
them to buy lands during their terms of office without his permission,
or make marriages, or acquire ecclesiastical benefices for their children
(13, 14). Only with the king’s licence might his men seek entertainment
in religious houses (c. 15). Without urgent cause bailliswere not to
impose a ban on the export of corn, wine, or other goods from their
territories, but trading with Saracens was totally forbidden while they
were fighting Christians. Louis’s statute of 1230 against Jewish and
Christian usurers was reaffirmed, and the blasphemies of the Talmud
were condemned (cc. 32, 33). The general order of the kingdom was the
subject of clauses demanding that prostitutes be expelled from commu-
nities stripped to their shifts and the houses sheltering them confiscated;
forbidding games of checkers or dice; and restricting lodging in taverns
to genuine travellers (cc. 12, 34–6).^11
The heart of the établissementwas the assurance that royal justice
would operate in the interests of everyone in the land, ‘great, middling
and small’, strangers as well as subjects (c. 2). A baillimust swear
not to accept from litigants, for himself or members of his family, gifts
other than bread, wine, or fruit worth less than ten sous in any one
week, and not to borrow more than twenty pounds from anyone due to
pursue a lawsuit before him; and oaths were required of judges,
provosts, and mayors that they in particular would not make gifts to
baillisor their relations (cc. 4, 5, 9). The serjeants baillisemployed
to execute court orders were to be restricted in numbers, and they were
to be appointed in open court and carry proper authorization (cc. 17,
18). Criminals could ask to know the charges being investigated against
them; persons of good repute, however lowly, must not be threatened
with judicial torture to extract money from them; and fines must be
imposed and assessed in public court for proven misdeeds, not extracted
by terror or unfounded accusations (cc. 19, 23). To reduce crime with-
out imposing labour and expense on the king’s subjects, the baillis
should try malefactors in their localities, and not move courts from their
accustomed meeting-places (c. 25) No one should be disseised of his
property without fault proved in court or the king’s express order, and
baillies and seneschals must impose no new monetary dues on their
150 New High Courts and Reform of the Regime
(^11) Richard, Saint Louis, 156–8; the numbering of the clauses is that given in Ordonnances
des Roys de France,i. 65–81.