Distraint
How a creditor could enforce a debt by taking goods, and where the law set limits on it.
Fasting upon a LordA woman is owed a debt by a lord, and the lord will not pay. What can she do?
Distraint on the PhysicianA physician owes a debt and will not pay. What does the plaintiff do?
The Cow That Had Just CalvedA creditor drives off a cow that has just calved. Is that lawful distraint?
Words used
- athgabál: Seizing a debtor’s goods, usually cattle, to enforce a debt without going to court: notice, a delay, then seizure, then the animals held in a pound where more is forfeited each day.
- ráth, naidm, aitire: Someone who stood behind a bargain. The ráth was a paying surety, the naidm an enforcing surety who could distrain or seize the debtor, and the aitire a hostage-surety.
The wider machinery is in How the law worked.
Cases are listed in the order of the book. Each case page says where it comes from.