ason, which resulted in forfeiture of property and corruption
of the blood, was called "attainder".

The manor court heard cases arising out of the unfree tenures of
the lord's vassals. It also heard distraint, also called
"distress", issues. Distraint was a landlord's method of forcing a
tenant to perform the services of his fief. To distrain by the
fief, a lord first obtained a judgment of his court. Otherwise, he
distrained only by goods and chattels without judgment of his
court. A distraint was merely a security to secure a person's
services, if he agreed he owed them, or his attendance in court,
if he did not agree that he owed them. Law and custom restricted
the type of goods and chattels distrainable, and the time and
manner of distraint. For instance, neither clothes, household
utensils, nor a riding horse was distrainable. The lord could not
use the chattels taken while they were in his custody. If cattle
in custody were not accessible to the tenant, the lord had to feed
them at his expense. The lord, if he were not the King, could not
sell the chattel. This court also determined inheritance and dower
issues.

The court of the vill enforced the village ordinances. The hundred
court met twice a month and dealt with the petty crimes of lowly
men in the neighborhood of a few vills. The county and borough
courts heard cases of felonies, accusations against freemen, tort,
and debts. The knights make the county courts work as legal and
administrative agencies of the Crown.

The peace of the sheriff still exists for his county. The King's
peace may still be specially given, but it will cease upon the
death of the King. Law required every good and lawful man to be
bound to follow the hue and cry when it was raised against an
offender who was fleeing. The village reeve was expected to lead
the chase to the boundary of the next jurisdiction, which would
then take the responsibility to catch the man.

Admiralty issues (since no assize could be summoned on the high
seas), and tenement issues of land held in frankalmoin ["free
alms" for the poor to relieve the king of this burden], where the
tenant was a cleric were heard in the ecclesiastical courts.

Before Henry's reign, the church, with the pope's backing, had
become more powerful and asserted more authority. Henry tried to
return to the concept of the king being appointed by God and as
the head of the church as well as of the state, as in Henry I's
time, and t