XIII John Chepstowe v. Raoul le Houdin

John Chepstowe was not the only member of the English clergy to be taken up by litigation before the Parlement. Indeed, he himself had been involved earlier in a suit over the cure of Hérouville, near Caen, and other clergy disputed cures and prebends in Norman cathedrals, in Paris and elsewhere.This suit was unusual in that, although it concerned a priest, it centred around the possession of secular property. John Chepstowe, who had been given houses in Caen by Henry V when he had come to work there in the Norman ‘Chambre des Comptes’, had earlier found himself opposed by Raoul le Houdin who took him before the council at Rouen which condemned Chepstowe. Forced to pay heavy expenses, Chepstowe was obliged to dispose of part of his newly-acquired property, some of which was sold to a Frenchman.