medieval-atlas/administration/195

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Justice ayres in the thirteenth century The justice or justiciar first appears in the twelfth century as a royal officer carrying out judicial and other functions. Normally there was more than one at a time; and each seems to have been asssigned a particular area of the kingdom in which to perform his duties. By early in the thirteenth century a twofold division of the justiciarship was established: Scotia in the north and Lothian in the south. There may also have been a justiciarship of Galloway in the late twelfth century, which was re-established in the mid-thirteenth century. By this period the administration of the justiciary was well settled. Twice a year, in the spring and winter, the justiciar (normally a highranking layman) went on circuit or ayre through the sheriffdoms of his region, holding courts at the head burgh ofeach one. These courts exercised a wide jurisdiction and the income produced from the fines and other payments consequent upon this was accounted for to the exchequer by the sheriffs. From some surviving accounts of the 1260s it is possible to reconstruct the probable routes followed by the ayres of Scotia and Lothian and this is shown on the map. In Galloway the justiciary was subdivided into two parts defined by the River Urrratherthan the two sheriffdoms ofDumfries and Wigtown. SCOTlA Justiciarships kms Ayre towns o 25 50 75 100 ! ;' , , • Sheriffdom burgh Wigtown I o 10 20 30 40 50 60 Probable routes of justice ayres miles • Conjectural routes of justice ayres -------~ HLM Justice ayres in the thirteenth century 195

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