Debt

This chapter contains cases concerning the action of debt, with particular reference to the modes of proof and pleading. If there was no deed evidencing the debt, but some quid pro quo, the plaintiff produced ‘suit’ (which became fictitious) and the defendant could usually wage his law by taking an oath that he owed nothing and producing eleven compurgators to back him up; the working of wager of law, which itself became semi-fictitious, is illustrated. The cases show considerable uncertainty as to the underlying law of contract, if indeed there was any, since it only occasionally surfaced for discussion. Where a deed was used, it usually took the form of a bond: a sealed writing acknowledging the indebtedness. Since a deed was superior to parol evidence, few defences were available to debt on a bond; this was found to cause considerable hardship.