[1594/4/18]¹

Regarding escheats and liferents of excommunicated persons

Forasmuch as there are diverse persons denounced rebels, who being suspected of papistry of before and fearing the sentence of excommunication to have followed against them, have procured the gifts of their escheats and liferents conveyed by our sovereign lord to their bairns or other conjunct persons upon hornings executed against them for civil causes, and nevertheless have retained the possession of their whole goods, gear, lands and possessions as if they had remained his highness's faithful and obedient subjects, which has given them occasion to continue in their rebellion, as also in their superstitious opinion of papistry and remaining under the said sentence of excommunication in manifest contempt of God, his true religion and laws of this realm. For the repressing of which contempt and remedy thereof, our said sovereign lord, with advice of the estates in this present parliament, decrees and declares all and whatsoever gifts of escheat and liferents granted to the said bairns and conjunct persons of any of the forenamed persons, denounced rebels and put to the horn for whatsoever cause, who being suspected of papistry of before have suffered the sentence of excommunication to pass against them, and whose goods, gear, lands and possessions may be verified to have remained in their own possessions as if they had remained faithful and obedient subjects, to have been from the beginning and to be in all time coming null and of no value with all that has followed or may follow thereupon, notwithstanding whatsoever decreets or declarators given and passed in favour of the said rebels, their bairns or conjunct persons; and the right of the said escheat goods, gear and liferents to have pertained and to pertain to our said sovereign lord and to be at his gift and disposition as freely as if the said pretended gifts and dispositions thereof had never been granted nor conveyed to their said bairns and conjunct persons, and as if declarator had not passed thereupon.