Definition
A writ in old English practice, translated as "great cape" or "grand cape." The magnum cape was issued in a real action — primarily a writ of right — when a defendant failed to appear in court after being summoned. It commanded the sheriff to seize the defendant's land into the king's hands and to summon the defendant to appear before the justices of assize to choose twelve jurors who, together with existing members, would constitute the grand assize — the body that tried the matter of right. The writ operated as a compulsory mechanism: it enforced appearance in proceedings concerning title to land by threatening and effectuating seizure of the land at issue.
The magnum cape was distinct from the parvum cape (small cape), which issued later in the proceeding and under different circumstances. Together, the two writ forms structured the sequencing of compulsion in real actions under medieval English procedure.
The trial by grand assize to which the magnum cape was connected was itself a creation of Henry II, introduced as an alternative to trial by battle (the duel) in writs of right. Both the grand assize procedure and the magnum cape were abolished by 3 & 4 William IV, c. 27 (1833), as part of the sweeping reform of real property actions in the early Victorian era.
Common Confusion
MAGNUM CAPE vs. PARVUM CAPE: These two writs operated in sequence within the same class of actions and are easily collapsed into one another. The magnum cape issued first — upon a defendant's initial failure to appear — and its defining consequence was seizure of the land and the summoning of jurors for the grand assize. The parvum cape issued at a later stage of the proceeding. Researchers encountering either term in historical sources should note which writ is meant, as their procedural effects and timing differed.
MAGNUM CAPE vs. CAPE: "Cape" alone appears in some historical sources as a generic reference to this class of writs. In context, cape without qualification most often refers to the magnum cape, but the usage is not consistent across all sources. Verify context before assuming equivalence.
Why It Matters in Research
This term is purely historical and obsolete. No modern legal system employs the magnum cape or the grand assize procedure. Researchers will encounter it only in primary sources predating 1833, in historical legal histories (particularly Reeves' History of English Law), and in medieval and early modern treatises such as Fleta.
Several research traps are worth noting. First, the term appears almost exclusively in Latin or Law Latin in primary sources; anglicized forms ("great cape," "grand cape") appear in secondary treatments. A search on either the Latin or the English form may miss sources using the other. Second, the historical dictionary entries are largely cross-references to GRAND CAPE — researchers should follow that cross-reference, as the substantive treatment in historical sources clusters under that heading rather than under the Latin form. Third, the abolition date (1833) is a hard terminus: any source purporting to apply this writ after that date should be treated with suspicion.
The connection to the grand assize is the analytically significant element. The magnum cape was not freestanding — it was the procedural engine for populating the grand assize. Understanding the writ requires understanding the grand assize's role as an alternative to trial by battle in land disputes, and the broader trajectory of Henry II's procedural reforms.
Historical Dictionary Support
The four source dictionaries are in full agreement on the substance, though they vary in depth. Burrill's is the most useful, supplying the primary source references (Fleta, lib. 6, c. 14, § 2; 1 Reeves' Hist. 418) that allow a researcher to trace the writ to contemporaneous authority. Black's First Edition provides the most contextual detail, noting the connection to Henry II's parliamentary institution of the grand assize as an alternative to the duel, and citing the abolition statute. Black's Second Edition and Bouvier's both function as pure cross-references to GRAND CAPE, adding no independent content.
None of the historical dictionaries address the internal sequencing of the magnum cape within the writ-of-right proceeding in any depth, nor do they systematically distinguish it from the parvum cape. For that distinction, Reeves' History of English Law remains the more useful research tool than any of the standard law dictionaries.
Jurisdictional Note
The magnum cape was a writ of English common law and has no equivalent development in American law. American courts inherited a simplified version of real actions from English practice, but the grand assize and its associated writs were never transplanted in operative form. The term appears in American legal dictionaries only as a historical and comparative matter.