American Contract Law for a Global Age, 2017a

Giles had no right to use it. But the judges, if they believed Giles, would, in effect
(and in prettier language), tell Lord Blicester to shut up. He would simply be
forbidden to argue that the well was on his property. 1 The proceedings would go
something like this (translated very loosely from the law French of the period):
BLICESTER: Your honor, the well is on my land so I have a right
to exclude Giles from using it. A man’s castle is his home.
JUDGE: Well, yes, but you tricked him into digging it on your
property by lying to him, didn’t you?
BLICESTER: So what? It isn’t my fault that some of the peasants
aren’t the sharpest needles in the haystack.
JUDGE: So . . . that was a pretty bad thing you did. You’re a bad
person to try and take advantage of your neighbor.
BLICESTER: “Sticks and stones will break my bones.” There’s no
law against lying to your neighbor, is there?
JUDGE: Well, no.
BLICESTER: And a man has the legal right to throw people off
his own property, doesn’t he?
JUDGE: Yes.
BLICESTER: So why aren’t we done? I obviously win.
JUDGE: Not so fast. To throw him off your land, you have to be
able to prove that it is your land, don’t you?
BLICESTER: Sure. But I can prove that easily, because here’s my
deed to the property that lays the boundaries out correctly. It’s all
straight from the Earl himself. That’s his “X” right there on the
signature line, and his wax seal. I have the scriveners and the surveyors
here to testify.
JUDGE [pretends to cover ears]: La-la-la-laaa! I can’t hear you.
1 [If you think it unrealistic that a royal courts in the 15th century would rule for a farmer
against a nobleman, then think again. Don’t erroneously assume that rich people all make up a single
class with similar interests. A concern of the Crown in many European countries during this period
was to cut away at the power of the nobility who had their own armies, their own personal courts, and
a nasty habit of rebelling every few decades. Increasing the power of rising freedmen and peasants as
against nobles served as a means to suppress the relative power of the nobles and reduce their financial
resources. Of course, the Crown was not nearly so enthusiastic about increasing the power of freedmen
and peasants against the Crown itself. The moral of the story is that you sometimes you need a
scorecard to tell who is doing what to whom and why.—Eds.]
______________________________________________________________________________
156 CHAPTER III: CONSIDERATION