▪ I. assize, n.
(əˈsaɪz)
Forms: 3–5 asise, 3–6 assyse, 4 assys, 4–6 asyse, assiss(e, 5 assis, assyze, acyse, asyce, 6 assyce, -ies, 3–9 assise, 5– assize. Aphet. 4–6 syse, 6 sise: see also size.
[a. OF. asise, assise, ‘act of sitting down, sitting, seat, siege; act of setting, settlement, fixation of imposts, assessment; appointment, regulation; regular mode, manner;’ substantive use of fem. sing. of a(s)sis, pa. pple. of asseoir, OF. aseeir ‘to sit at, set down, settle, assess’:—L. assidēre to sit at, sit down to: cf. assess. Analogous to ns. in -ata, -ada, Fr. -ée, from pa. pples. It is not clear whether the intrans. idea of ‘a sitting,’ or the trans. one of ‘a thing settled,’ was the original sense; perhaps both were equally early: see Stubbs Const. Hist. §160, where the suggestion is also made that in the latter sense assize was used to translate OE. ᵹesetniss, ME. isetnesse, statute. In the sense of ‘assessment,’ assise was early corrupted to acise, accise, now corruptly excise. In that of ‘measurement’ aphetized as size.]
I. Legislative sitting, statute, statutory measure or manner.
† 1. A sitting or session of a consultative or legislative body. Obs.
Applied in OF. to the sitting of the King's Council, but perhaps not in Eng. See next sense.
| [Jus Municipale Normann. i. v. vi. (in Du Cange) Assise est une assemblée de plusieurs sages hommes en la Cour del Prince, en laquelle cen qui y sera jugié, doit avoir perdurable fermeté.] |
† 2. a. The decree or edict made at such a sitting. Obs. exc. Hist.
Applied specifically in Eng. Hist to various formal edicts, named sometimes from the place where they were made, sometimes from the subject with which they were concerned; e.g. Assize of Clarendon, Assize of Arms, Assize of the Forest, Assize of Measures, Assize of Bread and Ale, etc. Assizes of Jerusalem, the code of jurisprudence for the new kingdom of Jerusalem, established by the Crusaders in 1099.
| [1164 Hoveden, Assisæ Henrici Regis factæ apud Clarendonum.] 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 301 Þe chartre of franchise conferm it ȝow he salle, & of þe first assise as his fader gaf it alle. 1590 Recorde, etc. Gr. Arts (1646) 316 The reason of the Statute of Assise of Bread and Ale. 1642 Chas. I. Answ. Decl. Both Houses 1 July 41 Assises (or Assessements) of Arms. 1768 Blackstone Comm. II. 66 By an ordinance in 27 Hen. II. called the assise of arms, it was provided that every man's armour should descend to his heir. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) V. ix. vii. 349 Their code of law was the Assises of Jerusalem. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. xiii. 573 The formal edicts known under the name of Assizes, the Assizes of Clarendon and Northampton, the Assize of Arms, the Assize of the Forests, and the Assizes of Measures, are the only relics of the legislative work of the period [of Henry II.] |
† b. Hence gen. Ordinance, appointment, regulation, established order. rent of assize (in the Assizes of Clarendon 1164, Assisus reditus): a fixed rent. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 804 Come blelyche to þe seruyse Whan holy chyrche settyþ asyse. c 1320 Seuyn Sages 2490 Thine seuen wise, That han i-wrowt ayen the assise. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 11 b, Also it is to be enquered, who be fre tenauntes..and what they yelde by the yere of rent of Assise. |
† 3. esp. Ordinances regulating weights and measures, and the weight and price of articles of general consumption (assisæ venalium); e.g. the Assize of Measures in reign of Henry II, Assize of Bread and Ale 51 Henry III, etc. Also gen. Rule of trade. Obs. exc. Hist.
| a 1330 Poem temp. Edw. II (1849) lxxiii, Somtyme wer marchants That trewly bout and sold, Now is thilk assise i-broke. 1473–4 Act 12 & 13 Edw. IV in Oxf. & Camb. Enactmts. 9 The kepyng of assise of brede, wyne, and ale. 1601 Tate Househ. Ord. Edw. II §15 He shal cause offendors which have broken thassise to be punished. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 149 They keip not..the assise (lawes) anent the bread, wyne, aill and fleshe. 1768 Blackstone Comm. IV. 157 The assize of bread, or the rules laid down by law, and particularly by statute 31 Geo. II. c. 29. and 3 Geo. III. c. 11. for ascertaining it's price in every given quantity. 1821 J. Q. Adams in C. Davies Metr. Syst. iii. (1871) 89 The act of 51 Henry III. (1266), is called the assize of bread and of ale. |
4. The statutory regulation or settling of the price of bread and of ale, with reference to that of grain, in accordance with the aforesaid ordinances.
| 1447–8 J. Shillingford Lett. (1871) 91 Thine predecessours have had assize of bred and of ale. 1577 Harrison England i. ii. xviii. 294 In these markets..assises of bread..are not anie whit looked unto. 1638 Penkethman (title) Artachthos; or Assis of Bread. 1876 Rogers Pol. Econ. xx. 12 The assize of bread, that is the regulation of its price by the price of wheat. |
5. The standard of quantity, measure, or price ordained by such ordinances; hence, customary, required, or prescriptive standard.
| a 1400 Leg. Rood (1871) 80 Þan was it schorter þan þe assise. 1466 Paston Lett. 549 II. 268 For vii. barels bere, xviis. vid. For a barel of the grettest assyse iiis. iiiid. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 2, Xxxv. men..sworne to mayntayne the assies in London. 1622 Callis Stat. Sewers (1647) 25 They presented the said Were to be over high and..inhaunced above the ancient assize. 1710 Luttrell Brief Rel. VI. 586 Last week a baker was convicted for selling bread under the assize. 1768 Blackstone Comm. I. 275 It was ordained that..the custody of the assise or standard of weights and measures shall be committed to certain persons. 1813 Examiner 15 Mar. 160/1 The Lord Mayor..has ordered the price of Bread to rise half an assize. 1821 J. Q. Adams in C. Davies Metr. Syst. iii. (1871) 229 Laws regulating the assize of casks. |
† 6. Hence: Measurement, dimensions. Obs. (Now size.)
| c 1430 Syr Tryam. 1557 ‘A lytulle lower, syr,’ seyde hee..Now are we bothe at oon assyse. 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. 293 Iiij. peces of redde wusted of the grettest asyse. 1567 Drant Horace Epist. A iij, Put out no puffes, nor thwackyng words, words of to large assyce. 1624 Bp. R. Montagu Gagg To Reader 6 A pretty little Whip-Jacke of less than ordinary assise, in a blew Jacket. |
† 7. Measure, extent (of things immaterial). Obs.
| 1625 Bp. R. Montagu App. Cæsar. 316 The power of the keyes are to both alike in equall assise. a 1641 ― Acts & Mon. 83 A false surmise, that Prophecies and Promises be of like assise. 1655 Lestrange Chas. I, 166 Every event, of any considerable assise. |
† 8. Mode, manner, fashion; quality. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 844 As in þe asyse of Sodomas to seggez þat passen. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4451 It is geinli greiþed in a god asise. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 144 First they..ben hard, and thilke assise Betokeneth in a king constaunce. c 1460 Emare 830 Shypmen..Dyght her takull on ryche acyse. |
† 9. Site, situation, position. Obs.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 900 Floures..of many gise Sett by compas in assise. Ibid. 1237 Ther nas a poynt, trewely, That it nas in his right assise. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. ii. 194 b/2 In all other thynges he kepte the myddell assyse. |
† 10. ? Commodity; article; manner of thing. Obs.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 7074 Whan ther comes marchaundise, With corn, wyn, and steil, othir other assise. |
II. A trial in which sworn assessors or jurymen decide questions of fact; a judicial inquest.
11. a. Orig. applied to: All legal proceedings of the nature of inquests or recognitions, fiscal, civil, or criminal.
Esp. the Grand or Great Assize, recognition as to the right of the claimant in a writ of right, substituted in the reign of Henry II for trial by battle, the assizes of Mort d'ancestre, Novel disseisin, and Darreine presentment, named in Magna Carta.
| [c 1290 Britton iii. iv. §28 Qe le tenaunt se puse mettre en juree a la semblaunce de graunt assise, i.e. that the tenant may put himself on a jury after the manner of a great assize.] 1297 R. Glouc. 429 False sueryars of assyses. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 64 He was chefe justise, Agayn þe erle Godwyn he gert sette assise. 1876 Digby Real Prop. ii. §2. 73 The cause..was decided either by the duel, or, under the great improvement of the law effected by an ordinance of Henry II..by the grand assize; that is, by the verdict of twelve milites of the neighbourhood, chosen by four other milites summoned by the sheriff for the purpose. |
b. Hence, an action to be decided by such a trial; also applied to the writ by which it is instituted.
| [c 1481 Littleton Tenures §233 Il poit aver Assise de Novel disseisin envers le tenant.] c 1574 Transl. He may have an Assise of novel disseisin against the tenant. a 1626 Bacon Maxims Com. Law ii. (1630) 6 And the disseisee bring his assize in the Court of the Lord. 1641 Termes de la Ley 28 b, Assise is a writ, and it lyeth where any man is put out of his lands, tenements..and so disseised of his freehold. 1649 Selden Laws of Eng. i. lxvii. (1739) 158 In case the Lord would hold the Wardship longer than the full age of the Heir, an Assize did lie against the Lord. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 221 An assise of nusance is a writ, wherein it is stated that the party injured complains of some fact done. 1876 Digby Real Prop. ii. §9. 97 The writ of assize of Mort d'Ancestor was perhaps instituted by the ordinance called the Assize of Northampton, a.d. 1176. |
12. a. Hence (usually in pl.): The sessions held periodically in each county of England, for the purpose of administering civil and criminal justice, by judges acting under certain special commissions (chiefly and usually, but not exclusively, being ordinary judges of the superior courts, or, after 1875, of the Supreme Court).
It was provided by Magna Carta that the judges should visit each county once every year to take assizes (i.e. try writs of assize) of novel disseisin, mort d'ancestre, and darreine presentment (so that the jury who constituted the Grand Assize (see 11) might not be obliged to travel from remote corners of England to appear in court at Westminster). Thence the names assizes, and justices or judges of assize, still retained by these circuit courts and itinerant judges, after their judicial functions had been greatly extended in various directions, especially in that of the trial of felonies and offences.
Assizes were abolished by the Courts Act, 1971; their criminal jurisdiction was transferred to the Crown Courts.
| [1215 Magna Carta, Duos Justiciarios..qui..capiant in comitatu et in die et loco comitatus assisas predictas.] c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 314 Justice he was ful often in assise, By patent, and by pleyn commissioun. c 1538 Starkey England 190 Thos wych haue authoryte in the sessyons and Sysys. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 191 At Sessions or Assises, parties appeare and sue one an other. a 1626 Bacon Use Com. Law (1635) 18 The third commission that the judges of circuits have is, a commission directed to themselves onely and the Clerk of Assize to take assizes, by which they are called Justices of Assize, and the office of those justices is to doe right upon writs called assizes, brought before them by such as are wrongfully thrust out of their lands. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. II. vi. 150 Some few Counties, whither the King sent some Judges of Assize. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 46 ¶4 Finery for the assizes and horse-races. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) II. viii. 16 The judges of assize were directed to inculcate on their circuits the necessary obligation of forwarding the King's service by complying with his writ. Mod. Tried for murder at the Maidstone assizes. |
b. attrib. assize-ball, assize-week; assize sermon, a sermon preached at the holding of assizes.
| 1624 Sanderson Serm. (1681) I. 103, I..desired for this assise-assembly to choose a text as near as I could of equal latitude with the assise-business. |
| 1832 F. Trollope Dom. Manners Amer. xiv. 215 The dancing was not quite like..what we see at an assize or race-ball in a country town. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Ruth I. i. 13 The assize-balls had been discontinued. |
| 1857 Thackeray Fitz-boodle's Prof. Misc. Wks. IV. 29 Confounded new policemen and the assize-courts prevent that. |
| 1699 Sewall Letter-book (1886) I. 216 Mr. Noyes..preached an excellent Assize Sermon. 1859 Reade Love me Little iii, Shall you go to the assize sermon? |
| 1812 Sir S. Romily in Examiner 7 Sept. 573/2 The duty of a Sheriff was..to ride..before the Judges, into an Assize town. |
| 1628 Earle Microcosm. xxviii. 61 He is fearful of being Sheriff of the Shire..and dreads the Assize-week as much as the prisoner. 1845 Ainsworth's Mag. VII. 503 Some years ago..I acted in Lancaster during the assize week. |
13. In Scotland: a. A trial by jury.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xix. 55 [Thai] war with ane assiss thar ourtane. a 1605 Sir J. Melvil Mem. (1683) 128 He went through the street to the Tolbooth to undergo his assize. 1609 Skene Reg. Mag. Table 61 Ane Assise may proceid agains ane man absent being lawfullie summoned. 1651 Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 67 If the offender abide an assise, and by the same be absolved. |
b. The jury or panel.
| 1513–75 Diurn. Occurr. (1833) 108 The names of the assyiss are thir; the erle of Cassillis, etc. 1574 tr. Littleton's Ten. 48 b, This name assise, sometime is put for the Jury. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 157 Of them quha spares the ritch men, and summons the pure men to passe vpon the assise. Ibid. Table 61 The Assise in the breive of richt, is of twelue sworne men. 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 31 The fact being only referred to the jury or assize as they call it. |
† 14. Judgement, sentence; deliverance of opinion. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 19344 Vr eldrin god did Iesu rise..Þe quilk ȝe hang wiþ fals assise. c 1314 Guy Warw. 13 Herkeneth now, hou seith the wise? Y schal you schewe bi this asise. 1426 Audelay Poems 49 Thus sayd David forssoth in the Sautere, And verefyus in asise the love of our Lord. c 1570 Thynne Pride & Lowl. (1841) 18 Perchaunce an issue hereon may be ioynt, Whereon thassise foorthwith we may award. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §14 Let us call to assize the loves of our parents. |
15. With great, last, etc.: The Last Judgement.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22780 For to deme baþe ded and quik..Al þat sal be at þat asise. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5514 Þe haythen men at þat grete assys Sal þan be halden als men rightwys. a 1400 Cov. Myst. 60 Ȝoure soulys may thei save at the last asyse. 1413 Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle i. v. 5 The grete assises, at which oure noble gloryous kyng wyl descende presentely in his owne persone. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas i. ii. (1641) 18/1 Where life still lives, where God his Sises holds. 1620 Dekker Christ's Coming in Farr S.P. (1848) 172 That Lord by his own subiects crucified, So at his grand assize comes glorified. 1730 Beveridge Priv. Th. i. 77 At the great Assizes of the World. 1812 Combe (Dr. Syntax) Pictur. viii. 29 Till summon'd to the last assize. |
† 16. transf. The office of judge, the action of judging, censorship. Obs.
| 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. iii. (1851) 158 The Roman censor, a civil function, to that severe assise of survaying and controuling the privatest and sliest manners of all men and all degrees had no jurisdiction..no punitive force annexed. 1675 Hobbes Odyss. 90 The judges..who had elected been By publick vote, of games to hold assize. |
III. Isolated senses from French.
† 17. Siege, besieging. (So in OF.) Obs. rare.
| c 1430 Syr Generides 8889 Generides by manly asise Hath beseged the tone of Vise..That noon may passe out I-wis. |
† 18. a. Fixation of imposts, imposition, tax. Obs. (See excise, a corrupt form of this word.)
| 1642 Howell For. Trav. (Arb.) 74 When one hath seene the Tally and taillage of France, the Milstone of Spaine, the Assise of Holland..hee will blesse God, and love England better ever after. |
† b. assize-herring, a royalty of one thousand herrings due three times a year during the season to the kings of Scotland from each boat engaged in the herring fishery. Obs.
| 1597 Act 15 James VI §237 The..assise herring perteinis to our Soveraine Lorde, as ane part of his customes, and annexed propertie. 1673 H. Stubbe Further Vind. Dutch War App. 128 The King could not alienate the Royalty of the Assize-herring, by the Laws of Scotland. |
▪ II. † aˈssize, v. Obs.
[a. AF. assiser, f. assise assize n.]
† 1. trans. To set, place.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 122 The which [stars] upon his heved assised He bereth. Ibid. 126 Right so ben devised The signes twelve, and stonde assised. a 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 430 Assise And yote on it tilpavyng playne and strong. |
2. To fix, ordain, appoint.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 228 The king..hath therof a time assised. Ibid. I. 181 Two cardinales he hath assised..That with his doughter shulden go. |
3. To determine, decide, judge.
| c 1399 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 11 Ȝit natheles the lawe stant assised Of mannys wit to be so resonable. |
4. To assess, value, rate.
| 1393 Gower Conf. Prol. I. 5 That this prologue is so assised. 1624 Bp. R. Montagu Gagg 2 It is a Prophecy; and Prophecies are assised at obscurity. |
5. To assess. a. To fix the amount of (a tax). b. To value for the purposes of taxation.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccix. 712 In tyme past, whan Gaunt was assysed, Andwarpe was of lyhte valur. Ibid. II. xlix. (R.) Taxes and tallages [were] assysed in cytees and good townes. |
6. To regulate or fix (weights, measures, prices, etc.) according to an ordinance or standard.
| 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. I. 15 If the people will haue victuals and corne at that price, whereat it was assised and rated in time past. c 1638 Ord. Priv. Counc. in Penkethman Artach. H ij b, When the second Wheat is at 3l. the Quarter, he may make and assize his Bread, as if the same Wheat were at 3l. 6s. the Quarter. 1638 Chart. Goldsm. Co. in A. Ryland Gold & Silver Wares (1852) 191 Persons, who shall bring..any weight called troy weight to be assized, according to his Majesty's standard. |