Also known as: grand assizes · grand assise · assize
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A sworn panel of knights summoned by judicial writ to decide disputes over the right to real property in a writ of right proceeding. Henry II introduced the procedure in the twelfth century to provide an alternative to trial by battle.
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Gwen Gallagher claims ownership of farmland through inheritance. Her opponent demands trial by battle. The court issues a writ directing the sheriff to assemble four knights who then select twelve more to form the panel. The panel hears evidence of title and renders a verdict awarding the land to Gwen.
Gregory Gates sues to recover ancestral estates held by a distant relative. Instead of combat, the sheriff summons knights under the writ of right. The resulting panel examines charters and testimony. Its decision establishes Gates as the lawful owner.
Golden Gate Logistics asserts fee simple title against a tenant holding over. The tenant requests battle. The court substitutes the grand assize. Twelve knights review deeds and prior possession. They return a verdict quieting title in the company.
Gabriel Gonzalez brings a writ of right for a manor once held by his grandfather. The defendant offers combat. The court empanels the grand assize. The knights weigh evidence of seisin and descent. Their finding restores possession to Gonzalez.
It replaced trial by battle in writs of right concerning title to real property.
Supporting sources
Four knights summoned by the sheriff first took oaths and then chose twelve additional knights to complete the panel.
Supporting sources
It decided who held the better right to real property in an action begun by writ of right.
Supporting sources
…7th Ed., Lond., note, Reeve, H.L. 41. And as to the grand jury itself, we learn of its constitution and functions from the Assize of Clarendon, A.D. 1164, and that of Northampton, A.D. 1176, Stubbs' Charters, 143-150. By the latter of these, which was a republication of the former, it was provided, that "if any one is…