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OUR LEGAL HERITAGE
The first thousand years: 600 - 1600
King AEthelbert - Queen Elizabeth
by S. A. Reilly, Attorney
175 E. Delaware Place
Chicago, Illinois 60611-1724
April, 1999 [Etext #16904
The Project Gutenberg Etext Our Legal Heritage, by S. A. Reilly
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OUR LEGAL HERITAGE
The first thousand years: 600 - 1600
King AEthelbert - Queen Elizabeth
by S. A. Reilly, Attorney
175 E. Delaware Place
Chicago, Illinois 60611-1724
1998
Preface
This was written to see what laws have been in existence for a
long time and therefore have proven their success in maintaining
a stable society. It's purpose is also to see the historical
context in which our legal doctrines were derived. It looks at
the inception of the common law system, the origin of the jury
system, the meaning in context of the Magna Carta provisions, the
emergence of attorneys, and the formation of probate law from
church origins.
This book is a primer. One may read it without prior knowledge in
history or law, although it will be more meaningful to lawyers
than to non-lawyers. Since it defines terms unique to English
legal history, it may serve as a good introduction on which to
base further reading in English legal history. The meaning of
some terms in King Aethelbert's code in Chapter 1 are unknown or
inexact.
The chapters are sequential. The title of each chapter in the
Table of Contents includes the time period covered. The title of
each chapter denotes an important legal development of that time
period.
Each chapter is divided into three sections: The Times, The Law,
and Judicial Procedure. The law section is the central section.
It describes the law governing the behavior and conduct of the
populace. It includes law of that time by which people lived
which is the same, similar, or a building block to the law of
today. In earlier times this is both statutory law and the common
law of the court. The Magna Carta, which is quoted in Chapter 7,
is the first statute of the Statutes at Large. The law sections
of Chapter 7 - 13 mainly quote or paraphrase most of these
statutes or the Statutes of the Realm. Excluded are statutes
which do not help us understand the development of our law, such
as statutes governing Wales after its conquest and statutes on
succession rights to the throne.
The first section of each chapter: The Times, sets a background
and context in which to better understand the laws. The usual
subject matter of history such as battles, famines, periods of
corruption, and international relations are omitted as not
helping to understand the process of civilization and development
of the law in the nation of England.
The last section of each chapter: Judicial Procedure, describes
the process of applying the law and trying cases for the relevant
time period. It also contains some examples of cases.
For clarity and easy comparison, amounts of money expressed in
pounds or marks have been converted to the smaller denominations
of shillings and pence. There are twenty shillings in a pound. A
mark is two thirds of a pound.
The sources and reference books from which information was
obtained are listed in the bibliography instead of being
contained in tedious footnotes.
Dedication
A Vassar College faculty member once dedicated her book to her
students, but for whom it would have been written much earlier.
This book "Our Legal Heritage" is dedicated to the faculty of
Vassar College, without whom it would never have been written.
Table of Contents
Chapters:
- Tort law as the first written law: to 600
- Oaths and perjury: 600-900
- Marriage law: 900-1066
- Martial "law": 1066-1100
- Criminal law and prosecution: 1100-1154
- Common Law for all freemen: 1154-1215
- Magna Carta: the first statute: 1215-1272
- Land law: 1272-1348
- Legislating the economy: 1348-1399
- Equity from Chancery Court: 1400-1485
- Use-trust of land: 1485-1509
- Wills and testaments of lands and goods: 1509-1558.
- Consideration and contract Law: 1558-1600
- Epilogue: from 1600
Appendix: Sovereigns of England
Bibliography
Chapter 1
- The Times: before 600 -
Clans, headed by Kings, lived in huts on top of hills or other
high places and fortified by circular or rectangular earth banks
behind which they could gather with their herds for protection.
They lived in circular huts with wood posts in a circle
supporting a roof. The walls were of wood and/or mud and straw.
Sometimes there were stalls for cattle. Cooking was in a clay
oven inside or over an open fire on the outside. Forests abounded
with wolves, bears, wild boars, and wild cattle.
People wore animal skins over their bodies for warmth and around
their feet for protection when walking. They carried small items
by hooking them onto their belts.
Pathways extended through this camp of huts and for many miles
beyond. They were used for trade and transport with pack-horses.
Men bought or captured women for wives and carried them over the
thresholds of their huts. The first month of marriage was called
the honeymoon because the couple was given mead, an alcoholic
drink made from honey, for the first month of their marriage. A
wife wore a gold wedding band on the ring finger of her left hand
to show that she was married. Women wore other jewelry too, which
indicated their social rank.
Women usually stayed at home caring for children, preparing
meals, and making baskets. They also made wool felt and wove wool
into cloth. Flax was grown and woven into linen cloth. The
weaving was done on an upright or warp-weighted loom. People
draped the cloth around their bodies and fastened it with a metal
brooch inlayed with gold, gems, glass, and shell, which were
glued on with glue that was obtained from melting animal hooves.
They also had amber beads and pendants. They could tie things
with rawhide strips or rope braids they made.
The King, who was tall and strong, led his men in hunting groups
to kill deer and other wild animals in the forests and to fish in
the streams. Some men brought their hunting dogs on leashes to
follow scent trails to the animal. The men attacked the animals
with spears and threw stones. They used shields to protect their
bodies. They watched the phases of the moon and learned to
predict when it would be full and give the most light for night
hunting. This began the concept of a month.
If hunting groups from two clans tried to follow the same deer,
there might be a fight between the clans or a blood feud. After
the battle, the clan would bring back its dead and wounded. A
priest officiated over a funeral for a dead man. His wife would
often also go on the funeral pyre with him. Memorial burial
mounds would be erected over the corpses or cremated ashes of
their great men. Later, these ashes were first placed in urns
before burial in a mound of earth or the corpses were buried with
a few personal items.
The priest also officiated over sacrifices of humans, who were
usually offenders found guilty of transgressions. Sacrifices were
usually made in time of war or pestilence, and usually before the
winter made food scarce, at Halloween time.
The clan ate deer that had been cooked on a spit over a fire, and
fruits and vegetables which had been gathered by the women. They
drank water from springs. In the spring, food was plentiful.
There were eggs of different colors in nests and many rabbits to
eat. The goddess Easter was celebrated at this time.
After this hunting and gathering era, there was farming and
domestication of animals such as horses, pigs, sheep, goats,
chicken, and cattle. Of these, the pig was the most important
meat supply, being killed and salted for winter use. Next in
importance were the cattle. Sheep were kept primarily for their
wool. Flocks and herds were taken to pastures. The male cattle,
with wood yokes, pulled ploughs in the fields of barley and
wheat. The female goat and cow provided milk, butter, and cheese.
The chickens provided eggs. Pottery was made and used for food
preparation and consumption. During the period of "lent" [from
the word "lencten", which means spring], it was forbidden to eat
any meat or fish. This was the season in which many animals were
born and grew a lot.
Circles of big stones like Stonehenge were built so that the
sun's position with respect to the stones would indicate the day
of longest sunlight and the day of shortest sunlight. Between
these days there was an optimum time to harvest the crops before
fall, when plants dried up and leaves fell from the trees. The
winter solstice, when the days began to get longer was cause for
celebration. In the next season, there was an optimum time to
plant seeds so they could spring up from the ground as new
growth. So farming gave rise to the concept of a year.
There were settlements near rivers. Each settlement had a meadow,
for the mowing of hay, and a mill, with wooden huts of families
clustered nearby. Grain was stored in pits in the earth. Each hut
had a garden for fruit and vegetables. A goat or cow might be
tied out of reach of the garden. There was a fence or hedge
surrounding and protecting the garden area and dwelling. Outside
the fence were an acre or two of fields of wheat and barley, and
sometimes oats and rye. These were usually enclosed with a hedge
to keep animals from eating the crop. Flax was grown and made
into linen cloth. Beyond the fields were pastures for cattle and
sheep grazing. There was often an area for beehives.
Crops were produced with the open field system. In this system,
there were three large fields each divided into long and narrow
strips. Each strip represented a day's work with the plough. One
field had wheat, or perhaps rye, another had barley, oats, beans,
or peas, and the third was fallow. These were rotated yearly.
Each free man was allotted certain strips in each field to bear
crops. His strips were far from each other, which insured some
very fertile and some only fair soil, and some land near his
village dwelling and some far away. These strips he cultivated,
sowed with seed, and harvested for himself and his family. After
the year, they reverted to common ownership for grazing.
The plough used was heavy and made first of wood and later of
iron. It had a mould-board which caught the soil stirred by the
plough blade and threw it into a ridge. Other farm implements
were: coulters, which gave free passage to the plough by cutting
weeds and turf, picks, spades and shovels, reaping hooks and
scythes, and sledge-hammers and anvils. Forests were cleared to
provide more arable land.
The use of this open field system instead of compact enclosures
worked by individuals was necessary in primitive communities
which were farming only for their own subsistence. Each ox was
owned by a different man as was the plough. Strips of land for
agriculture were added from waste land as the community grew.
There were villages which had one or two market days in each
week. Cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, calves, and rabbits were sold
there.
Flint was mined for arrowheads. People used bone and stone tools,
such as stone hammers, and then bronze and iron tools, weapons,
breast plates, and horse bits, which were forged by blacksmiths.
Weapons included bows and arrows, daggers, axes, and shields of
wood with bronze mountings. The warriors fought with chariots
drawn by two horses. The horse harnesses had bronze fittings. The
chariots had wood wheels, later with iron rims. When bronze came
into use, there was a demand for its constituent parts: copper
and tin, which were traded by rafts on waterways and the sea.
Lead was mined.
Corpses were buried far away from any village in wood coffins,
except for Kings, who were placed in stone coffins after being
wrapped in linen.
With the ability to grow food and the acquisition of land by
conquest, the population grew. There were different classes of
men such as eorls, ceorls [free farmers], and slaves. They
dressed differently. Freemen had long hair and beards. Slaves'
hair was shorn from their heads so that they were bald. Slaves
were chained and often traded. Prisoners taken in battle, e.g.
Britons, became slaves. Criminals became slaves of the person
wronged or of the King. Sometimes a father pressed by need sold
his children or his wife into bondage. Debtors, who increased in
number during famine, which occurred regularly, became slaves by
giving up the freeman's sword and spear, picking up a slave's
mattock [pick ax for the soils], and placing their head within a
master's hands. Children with a slave parent were slaves. The
slaves lived in huts around the homes of big landowners. Slaves
often were used as ploughmen, sowers, haywards, woodwards,
sheperds, goatherds, swineherds, oxherds, cowherds, dairymaids,
and barnmen. A lord could kill his slave at will.
The people were worshipping pagan gods when St. Augustine came to
England in 596 A.D. to Christianize them. King AEthelbert of Kent
and his wife, who had been raised Christian on the continent, met
him when he arrived. The King gave him land where there were
ruins of an old city. Augustine used stones from the ruins to
build a church which was later called Canterbury. He also built
the first St. Paul's church in what was later called London. He
conducted Easter ceremonies in the spring and Christmas
ceremonies in winter. The word "Christmas" is short for "Christ's
mass". Aethelbert and his men who fought with him and ate in his
household [gesiths] became Christian.
Augustine knew how to write, but King AEthelbert did not. The
King announced his laws at meetings of his people and his eorls
would decide the punishments. He and Augustine decided to write
down some of these laws, which now included the King's new law
concerning the church.
These laws concern personal injury, murder, theft, burglary,
marriage, adultery, and inheritance. The blood feud's private
revenge for killing had been replaced by payment of compensation
to the dead man's kindred. One paid a man's "wergeld" [worth] to
his kindred for causing his wrongful death. The wer of an
aetheling was 1500s., of an eorl, 300s., of a ceorl, 100s., of a
laet [agricultural serf in Kent], 40-80s., and of a slave
nothing. At this time a shilling could buy a cow in Kent or a
sheep elsewhere. If a ceorl killed an eorl, he paid three times
as much as an eorl would have paid as murderer. The penalty for
slander was tearing out of the tongue. If an aetheling were
guilty of this offense, his tongue was worth five times that of a
coerl, so he had to pay proportionately more too ransom it.
- The Law -
"THESE ARE THE DOOMS [DECREES] WHICH KING AETHELBERHT ESTABLISHED
IN THE DAYS OF AUGUSTINE
- [Theft of] the property of God and of the church [shall be
compensated], twelve-fold; a bishop's property, eleven-fold; a
priest's property, nine-fold; a deacon's property, six-fold; a
cleric's property, three-fold; church-frith [breach of the peace
of the church; right of sanctuary and protection given to those
within its precincts], two-fold [that of ordinary breach of the
peace]; m....frith [breach of the peace of a meeting place],
two-fold.
2. If the King calls his leod to him, and any one there do them
evil, [let him compensate with] a two-fold bot [damages for the
injury], and 50 shillings to the King.
3. If the King drink at any one's home, and any one there do any
lyswe [evil deed], let him make two-fold bot.
4. If a freeman steal from the King, let him repay nine-fold.
5. If a man slay another in the King's tun [enclosed premises],
let him make bot with 50 shillings.
6. If any one slay a freeman, 50 shillings to the King, as
drihtin-beah.
7. If the King's ambiht-smith [smith or carpenter] or laad-rine
[man who walks before the King or guide or escort], slay a man,
let him pay a half leod-geld.
8. [Offenses against anyone or anyplace under] the King's
mund-byrd
[protection], 50 shillings.
9. If a freeman steal from a freeman, let him make threefold bot;
and let the King have the wite [fine] and all the chattels
[necessary to pay the fine].
10. If a man lie with the King's maiden [female servant], let him
pay a bot of 50 shillings.
11. If she be a grinding slave, let him pay a bot of 25
shillings. The third
[class of servant] 12 shillings.
12. Let the King's fed-esl [woman who serves him food or nurse]
be paid for with
20 shillings.
13. If a man slay another in an eorl's tun [premises], let [him]
make bot with
12 shillings.
14. If a man lie with an eorl's birele [female cup-bearer], let
him make bot
with 12 shillings.
15. [Offenses against a person or place under] a ceorl's
mund-byrd [protection],
6 shillings.
16. If a man lie with a ceorl's birele [female cup-bearer], let
him make bot with 6 shillings; with a slave of the second
[class], 50 scaetts [a denomination less than a shilling]; with
one of the third, 30 scaetts.
17. If any one be the first to invade a man's tun [premises], let
him make bot with 6 shillings; let him who follows, with 3
shillings; after, each, a
shilling.
18. If a man furnish weapons to another where there is a quarrel,
though no injury results, let him make bot with 6 shillings.
19. If a weg-reaf [highway robbery] be done [with weapons
furnished by another], let him [the man who provided the weapons]
make bot with 6 shillings.
20. If the man be slain, let him [the man who provided the
weapons] make bot with 20 shillings.
21. If a [free] man slay another, let him make bot with a half
leod-geld of 100 shillings.
22. If a man slay another, at the open grave let him pay 20
shillings, and pay the whole leod within 40 days.
23. If the slayer departs from the land, let his kindred pay a
half leod.
24. If any one bind a freeman, let him make bot with 20
shillings.
25. If any one slay a ceorl's hlaf-aeta [bread-eater; domestic or
menial
servant], let him make bot with 6 shillings.
26. If [anyone] slay a laet of the highest class, let him pay 80
shillings; of the second class, let him pay 60 shillings; of the
third class, let him pay 40 shillings.
27. If a freeman commit edor-breach [breaking through the fenced
enclosure and forcibly entering a ceorl's dwelling], let him make
bot with 6 shillings.
28. If any one take property from a dwelling, let him pay a
three-fold bot.
29. If a freeman goes with hostile intent through an edor [the
fence enclosing a
dwelling], let him make bot with 4 shillings.
30. If [in so doing] a man slay another, let him pay with his own
money, and with any sound property whatever.
31. If a freeman lie with a freeman's wife, let him pay for it
with his wer-geld, and obtain another wife with his own money,
and bring her to the other [man's dwelling].
32. If any one thrusts through the riht [true] ham-scyld, let him
adequately
compensate.
33. If there be feax-fang [taking hold of someone by the hair],
let there be 50
sceatts for bot.
34. If there be an exposure of the bone, let bot be made with 3
shillings.
35. If there be an injury to the bone, let bot be made with 4
shillings.
36. If the outer hion [outer membrane covering the brain] be
broken, let bot be made with 10 shillings.
37. If it be both [outer and inner membranes covering the brain],
let bot be made with 20 shillings.
38. If a shoulder be lamed, let bot be made with 30 shillings.
39. If an ear be struck off, let bot be made with 12 shillings.
40. If the other ear hear not, let bot be made with 25 shillings.
41. If an ear be pierced, let bot be made with 3 shillings.
42. If an ear be mutilated, let bot be made with 6 shillings.
43. If an eye be [struck] out, let bot be made with 50 shillings.
44. If the mouth or an eye be injured, let bot be made with 12
shillings.
45. If the nose be pierced, let bot be made with 9 shillings.
46. If it be one ala, let bot be made with 3 shillings.
47. If both be pierced, let bot be made with 6 shillings.
48. If the nose be otherwise mutilated, for each [cut, let] bot
be made with 6 shillings.
49. If it be pierced, let bot be made with 6 shillings.
50. Let him who breaks the jaw-bone pay for it with 20 shillings.
51. For each of the four front teeth, 6 shillings; for the tooth
which stands next to them 4 shillings; for that which stands next
to that, 3 shillings; and then afterwards, for each a shilling.
52. If the speech be injured, 12 shillings. If the collar-bone be
broken, let
bot be made with 6 shillings.
53. Let him who stabs [another] through an arm, make bot with 6
shillings. If an arm be broken, let him make bot with 6
shillings.
54. If a thumb be struck off, 20 shillings. If a thumb nail be
off, let bot be made with 3 shillings. If the shooting [fore]
finger be struck off, let bot be made with 8 shillings. If the
middle finger be struck off, let bot be made with 4 shillings. If
the gold [ring]finger be struck off, let bot be made with 6
shillings. If the little finger be struck off, let bot be made
with 11 shillings.
55. For every nail, a shilling.
56. For the smallest disfigurement of the face, 3 shillings; and
for the greater, 6 shillings.
57. If any one strike another with his fist on the nose, 3
shillings.
58. If there be a bruise [on the nose], a shilling; if he receive
a right hand bruise [from protecting his face with his arm], let
him [the striker] pay a shilling.
59. If the bruise [on the arm] be black in a part not covered by
the clothes, let bot be made with 30 scaetts.
60. If it be covered by the clothes, let bot for each be made
with 20 scaetts.
61. If the belly be wounded, let bot be made with 12 shillings;
if it be pierced through, let bot be made with 20 shillings.
62. If any one be gegemed, let bot be made with 30 shillings.
63. If any one be cear-wund, let bot be made with 3 shillings.
64. If any one destroy [another's] organ of generation [penis],
let him pay him with 3 leud-gelds: if he pierce it through, let
him make bot with 6 shillings; if it be pierced within, let him
make bot with 6 shillings.
65. If a thigh be broken, let bot be made with 12 shillings; if
the man become halt [lame], then friends must arbitrate.
66. If a rib be broken, let bot be made with 3 shillings.
67. If [the skin of] a thigh be pierced through, for each stab 6
shillings; if [the wound be] above an inch [deep], a shilling;
for two inches, 2; above three, 3 shillings.
68. If a sinew be wounded. let bot be made with 3 shillings.
69. If a foot be cut off, let 50 shillings be paid.
70. If a great toe be cut off, let 10 shillings be paid.
71. For each of the other toes, let one half that for the
corresponding finger
be paid.
72. If the nail of a great toe be cut off, 30 scaetts for bot;
for each of the others, make bot with 10 scaetts.
73. If a freewoman loc-bore [with long hair] commit any leswe
[evil deed], let her make a bot of 30 shillings.
74. Let maiden-bot [compensation for injury to an unmarried
woman] be as that of a freeman.
75. For [breach of] the mund [protection] of a widow of the best
class, of an eorl's degree, let the bot be 50 shillings; of the
second, 20 shillings; of the third, 12 shillings; of the fourth,
6 shillings. [Mund was a sum paid to the family of the bride for
transferring the rightful protection they possessed over her to
the family of the husband. If the husband died and his kindred
did not accept the terms sanctioned by law, her kindred could
repurchase the tutelage.]
76. If a man carry off a widow not under his own protection by
right, let the mund be twofold.
77. If a man buy a maiden with cattle, let the bargain stand, if
it be without fraud; but if there be fraud, let him bring her
home again, and let his property be restored to him.
78. If she bear a live child, she shall have half the property,
if the husband die first.
79. If she wish to go away with her children, she shall have half
the property.
80. If the husband wish to keep them [the children], [she shall
have the same portion] as one child.
81. If she bear no child, her paternal kindred shall have the
fioh [her goods]and the morgen-gyfe [morning gift; a gift make to
the bride by her husband on the morning following the
consummation of the marriage].
82. If a man carry off a maiden by force, let him pay 50
shillings to the owner, and afterwards buy [the object of] his
will from the owner.
83. If she be betrothed to another man in money [at a bride
price], let him [who carried her off] make bot with 20 shillings.
84. If she become gaengang, 35 shillings; and 15 shillings to the
King.
85. If a man lie with an esne's wife, her husband still living,
let him make twofold bot.
86. If one esne slay another unoffending, let him pay for him at
his full worth.
87. If an esne's eye and foot be struck out or off, let him be
paid for at his full worth.
88. If any one bind another man's esne, let him make bot with 6
shillings.
89. Let [compensation for] weg-reaf [highway robbery] of a theow
[slave] be 3 shillings.
90. If a theow [a type of slave] steal, let him make twofold bot
[twice the value of the stolen goods]. "
- Judicial Procedure -
If a man did something wrong, his case would be heard by the King
and his freemen. His punishment would be given to him by the
community.
There were occasional meetings of "hundreds", which were probably
a hundred hides of land or a hundred families, to settle
wide-spread disputes.
Chapter 2
- The Times: 600-900 -
People lived in villages in which a stone church was the most
prominent building. They lived in one-room huts with walls and
roofs made of wood, mud, and straw. Hangings covered the cracks
in the walls to keep the wind out. Smoke from a fire in the
middle of the room filtered out of cracks in the roof. Grain was
ground at home by rotating by hand one stone disk on another
stone disk. Some villages had a mill powered by the flow of water
or by horses.
Farmland surrounded the villages and was farmed by the community
as a whole under the direction of a lord. There was silver,
copper, iron, tin, gold, and various types of stones from remote
lead mines and quarries in the nation. Silver pennies replaced
the smaller scaetts.
Everyone in the village went to church on Sunday and brought
gifts such as grain to the priest. The parish of the priest was
coextensive with the holding of one landowner. The priest and
other men who helped him, lived in the church building. Some
churches had lead roofs and iron hinges, latches, and locks on
their doors. The land underneath had been given to the church by
former Kings and persons who wanted the church to say prayers to
help their souls go from purgatory to heaven and who also
selected the priest.
The church baptized babies and officiated at marriage ceremonies.
It also said prayers for the dying, gave them funerals, and
buried them. A piece of stone with the dead person's name marked
his grave. It was thought that putting the name on the grave
would assist identification of that person for being taken to
heaven. The church heard the last wish or will of the person
dying concerning who he wanted to have his property.
Every man carried a horn slung on his shoulder as he went about
his work so that he could at once send out a warning to his
fellow villagers or call them in chasing a thief or other
offender. The forests were full of outlaws, so strangers who did
not blow a horn to announce themselves were presumed to be
fugitive offenders who could be shot on sight. An eorl could call
upon the ceorl farmers for about forty days to fight off an
invading group.
The houses of the wealthy had ornamented silk hangings on the
walls. Brightly colored drapery, often purple, and fly-nets
surrounded their beds, which were covered with the fur of
animals. They slept in bed-clothes on pillows stuffed with straw.
Tables plated with silver and gems held silver candlesticks, gold
and silver goblets and cups, and lamps of gold, silver, or glass.
They used silver mirrors and silver writing pens. There were
covered seats, benches, and footstools with the head and feet of
animals at their extremities. They ate from a table covered with
a cloth. Servants brought in food on spits, from which they ate.
Food was boiled, broiled, or baked. The wealthy ate wheat bread
and others ate barley bread. Ale made from barley was passed
around in a cup. Mead made from honey was also drunk.
Men wore long-sleeved wool and linen garments reaching almost to
the knee, around which they wore a belt tied in a knot. Men often
wore a gold ring on the fourth finger of the right hand. Leather
shoes were fastened with leather thongs around the ankle. Their
hair was parted in the middle and combed down each side in waving
ringlets. The beard was parted in the middle of the chin, so that
it ended in two points. The clergy did not wear beards. Ladies
wore brightly colored robes with waist bands, headbands,
necklaces, gem bracelets, and rings. Their long hair was in
ringlets and they put rouge on their cheeks. They were often
doing needlework. Silk was affordable only by the wealthy.
Most families kept a pig and pork was the primary meat. There
were also sheep, goats, cows, deer, rabbits, and fowl. Fowl was
obtained by fowlers who trapped them. The inland waters yielded
eels, salmon, and trout. In the fall, meat was salted to preserve
it for winter meals. There were orchards growing figs, nuts,
grapes, almonds, pears, and apples. Also produced were beans,
lentils, onions, eggs, cheese, and butter. Pepper and cinnamon
were imported.
Fishing from the sea developed in the 8th century, and yielded
herrings, sturgeon, porpoise, oysters, crabs, and other fish.
Whale skins were used to make ropes.
Hot baths were in common use. It was usual to wash one's feet
after traveling and drying them with a rough wool cloth.
Traveling a far distance was unsafe as there were robbers on the
roads. Traveling strangers were distrusted. There were
superstitions about the content of dreams, the events of the
moon, and the flights and voices of birds were often seen as
signs or omens of future events. Herbal mixtures were drunk for
sickness and maladies.
In the peaceful latter part of the seventh century, Theodore, who
had been a monk in Rome, was appointed Archbishop and visited all
the island speaking about the right rule of life and ordaining
bishops to oversee the priests. However, this was difficult
because the bishops spoke Latin and the priests of the local
parishes spoke English. Theodore was the first archbishop whom
all the English church obeyed. He taught sacred and secular
literature, the books of holy writ, ecclesiastical poetry,
astronomy, arithmetic, and sacred music. The learned
ecclesiastical life flourished in monasteries. Theodore
discourage slavery by denying Christian
burial to the kidnapper and forbidding the sale of children over
the age of seven. Hilda, a noble's daughter, became the first nun
in Northumbria and abbess of one of its monasteries. There she
taught justice, piety, chastity, peace, and charity. Several
monks taught there later became bishops. Kings and princes often
asked her advice.
Kings were selected from the royal family by their worthiness.
Vikings made several invasions in the ninth century for which a
danegeld tax on land was assessed on everyone every ten to twenty
years. It was stored in a strong box under the King's bed. King
Alfred the Great unified the country to defeat them. He
established fortifications called "burhs", usually on hill tops
or other strategic locations on the borders to control the main
road and river routes into Wessex. The burhs were the first
towns. They were typically walled enclosures with towers and
several wooden thatched huts and a couple of churches inside.
Earthen oil lamps were in use. The land area protected by each
burh became known as a "shire". The country was called
"Angle-land", which later became "England".
Alfred gathered together fighting men who were at his disposal,
which included ealdormen's hearthband (men each of whom had
chosen to swear to fight to the death for their earldorman, and
some of whom were of high rank), shire thegns (local landowning
farmers, who were required to bring fighting equipment such as
swords, helmets, chainmail, and horses), and ordinary freemen,
i.e. ceorls (who carried food, dug fortifications, and sometimes
fought). Alfred had a small navy of longships with 60 oars to
fight the Viking longships.
Alfred divided his army into two parts so that one-half of the
men were fighting while the other half was at home sowing and
harvesting for those fighting. Thus, any small-scale independent
farming was supplanted by the open-field system, cultivation of
common land, and a more manor-oriented and stratified society
with the King and important families more powerful and the
peasants more curtailed. The free coerl of the older days became
the bonded villein. The village community became a manor. But the
lord does not have the power to encroach upon the rights of
common that exist within the community.
In 886, a treaty between Alfred and the Vikings divided the
country along the war front and made the wer of every free
farmer, whether English or Viking, 200s. Men of higher rank were
given a wer of 8 1/2 marks of pure gold.
King Alfred gave land with jurisdictional powers within its
boundaries such as the following:
"This is the bequest which King Alfred make unequivocally to
Shaftesbury, to the praise of God and St. Mary and all the saints
of God, for the benefit of my soul, namely a hundred hides [a
hide was probably the amount of land which could support a family
for a year or as much land as could be tilled annually by a
single plow] as they stand with their produce and their men, and
my daughter AEthelgifu to the convent along with the inheritance,
since she took the veil on account of bad health; and the
jurisdiction to the convent, which I myself possessed, namely
obstruction and attacks on a man's house and breach of
protection. And the estates which I have granted to the
foundation are 40 hides at Donhead and Compton, 20 hides at
Handley and Gussage 10 hides at Tarrant, 15 hides at Iwerve and
15 hides at Fontmell.
The witnesses of this are Edward my son and Archbishop AEthelred
and Bishop Ealhferth and Bishop AEthelhead and Earl Wulfhere and
Earl Eadwulf and Earl Cuthred and Abbot Tunberht and Milred my
thegn and AEthelwulf and Osric and Brihtulf and Cyma. If anyone
alters this, he shall have the curse of God and St. Mary and all
the saints of God forever to all eternity. Amen."
Sons usually succeeded their fathers on the same land as shown by
this lifetime
lease:
"Bishop Denewulf and the community at Winchester lease to Alfred
for his lifetime 40 hides of land at Alresford, in accordance
with the lease which Bishop Tunbriht had granted to his parents
and which had run out, on condition that he renders every year at
the autumnal equinox three pounds as rent, and church dues, and
the work connected with church dues; and when the need arises,
his men shall be ready both for harvesting and hunting; and after
his death the property shall pass undisputed to St. Peter's.
These are the signatures of the councilors and of the members of
the community who gave their consent, namely ..."
Alfred wrote poems on the worthiness of wisdom and knowledge in
preference to material pleasures, pride, and fame, in dealing
with life's sorrow and strife. His observations on human nature
and his proverbs include:
- As one sows, so will he mow.
- Every man's doom [judgment] returns to his door.
- He who will not learn while young, will repent of it when
old.
4. Weal [prosperity] without wisdom is worthless.
5. Though a man had 70 acres sown with red gold, and the gold
grew like grass, yet he is not a whit the worthier unless he
gain friends for himself.
6. Gold is but a stone unless a wise man has it.
7. It's hard to row against the sea-flood; so it is against
misfortune.
8. He who toils in his youth to win wealth, so that he may enjoy
ease in his old age, has well bestowed his toil.
9. Many a man loses his soul through silver.
10. Wealth may pass away, but wisdom will remain, and no man may
perish who has it for his comrade.
11. Don't choose a wife for her beauty nor for wealth, but study
her disposition.
12. Many an apple is bright without and bitter within.
13. Don't believe the man of many words.
14. With a few words a wise man can compass much.
15. Make friends at market, and at church, with poor and with
rich.
16. Though one man wielded all the world, and all the joy that
dwells therein, he could not therewith keep his life.
17. Don't chide with a fool.
18. A fool's bolt is soon shot.
19. If you have a child, teach it men's manners while it is
little. If you let him have his own will, he will cause you much
sorrow when he comes of age.
20. He who spares the rod and lets a young child rule, shall rue
it when the child grows old.
21. Either drinking or not drinking is, with wisdom, good.
22. Be not so mad as to tell your friend all your thoughts.
23. Relatives often quarrel together.
24. The barkless dog bites ill.
25. Be wise of word and wary of speech, then all shall love you.
26. We may outride, but not outwit, the old man.
27. If you and your friend fall out, then your enemy will know
what your friend knew before.
28. Don't choose a deceitful man as a friend, for he will do you
harm.
29. The false one will betray you when you least expect it.
30. Don't choose a scornful false friend, for he will steal your
goods and deny the theft.
31. Take to yourself a steadfast man who is wise in word and
deed; he will prove a true friend in need.
To restore education and religion, Alfred disseminated the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, the Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical
History of the English Nation, the Providence of Boethius on the
goodness of God, and Pope Gregory's Pastoral Care, which he had
translated into English and was the fundamental book on the duty
of a bishop, and included his duty to teach laymen. Alfred's
advice to pastors was to live as they had been taught from books
and to teach this manner of life to others. To be avoided was
pride, the mind's deception of seeking glory in the name of doing
good works, and the corruption of high office. Bede was England's
first scholar, first theologian, and first historian. He wrote
theological books and textbooks on grammar, rhetoric [public
speaking and debating], arithmetic, and astronomy.
A famous poem, the oral legend of Beowulf, a hero who led his men
into adventures and performed great feats and fought monsters and
dragons, was put into writing with a Christian theme. In it,
loyalty to one's lord is a paramount virtue. Also available in
writing was the story of King Arthur's twelve victorious battles
against the pagan Saxons, authored by Nennius.
There were professional story-tellers attached to great men.
Others wandered from court to court, receiving gifts for their
story-telling. Men usually told oral legends of their own feats
and those of their ancestors after supper.
Alfred had monasteries rebuilt with learned and moral men heading
them. He built a strong wall with four gates around London, which
he had conquered. He appointed one of his eorldormen to be
alderman [older man] to govern London and to be the shire's earl.
A later King built a palace in London, although Winchester was
still the royal capital town.
Under the royalty were the nobles. An earl headed each shire. He
led the array of his shire to do battle if the shire was
attacked. He and the local bishop presided over shire meetings
and meetings of the people. Reeves were appointed by the King as
his representatives in the shires. The reeve took security from
every person for the maintenance of the public peace. He also
brought suspects to court, gave judgments according to the
doom-books, delivered offenders to punishment. By service to the
King, it was possible for a coerl to be given land by the King
and thus rise to become a thegn. A thegn was a person with five
hides of land, a church, a bell-house, a judicial at the
burgh-gate, and an office or station in the King's hall. The
King's thegns who got their position by fighting for the King
came to be known as knights. Other thegns performed functions of
magistrates. The thegns became a nobility which replaced the
eorls. The wergeld of a thegn was six times that of a coerl. The
sokemen were freemen who had their own land, chose their own
lord, and attended their lord's court. A smallholder rented land
of about 30 acres from a landlord, which he paid by doing work on
the lord's demesne [household] land, paying money rent, or paying
a food rent such as in eggs or chickens. Smallholders made up
about two-fifths of the population. A cottager had one to five
acres of land and depended on others for his living. Among these
were shepherds, ploughmen, swineherds, and blacksmiths. They also
participated in the agricultural work, especially at harvest
time.
It was possible for a thane to acquire enough land to qualify him
for the witan [King's council of wise men, which included
archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, chief landowners, and
officers of the King's household]. Women could be present at the
witenagemot [meeting of the witan, which met three times
annually] and shire-gemot [meeting of the shire]. They could sue
and be sued in the courts. They could independently inherit,
possess, and dispose of property. A wife's inheritance was her
own and under no control of her husband.
Marriage required the consent of the lady and her friends. The
man also had to arrange for the foster-lean, that is, money for
the support of expected children. He also declared the amount of
money or land he would give the lady for her consent, that is,
the morgengift, and what he would bequeath her in case of his
death. If she remarried within a year of his death, she had to
forfeit the morgengift.
Great men and monasteries had millers, smiths, carpenters,
architects, agriculturalists, fishermen, weavers, embroiderers,
dyers, and illuminators.
For entertainment, minstrels sang ballads about heroes or Bible
stories, harpers played, jesters joked, and tumblers threw and
caught balls and knives. There was gambling, dice games, and
chasing deer with hounds.
Fraternal guilds were established for mutual advantage and
protection. A guild imposed fines for any injury of one member by
another member. It assisted in paying any murder fine imposed on
a member. It avenged the murder of a member and abided by the
consequences. It buried its members and purchased masses for his
soul.
Merchantile guilds in sea-ports carried out commercial
speculations not possible by the capital of only one person.
There were some ale-houses.
- The Law -
Alfred issued a set of laws to cover the whole country.
The importance of telling the truth and keeping one's word are
expressed by this law:
"1. At the first we teach that it is most needful that every man
warily keep his oath and his wed. If any one be constrained to
either of these wrongfully, either to treason against his lord,
or to any unlawful aid; then it is juster to belie than to
fulfil. But if he pledge himself to that which is lawful to
fulfil, and in that belie himself, let him submissively deliver
up his weapon and his goods to the keeping of his friends, and be
in prison forty days in a King's tun: let him there suffer
whatever the bishop may prescribe to him: ...".
The Ten Commandments were written down as this law:
"The Lord spake these words to Moses, and thus said: I am the
Lord thy God. I led thee out of the land of the Egyptians, and of
their bondage.
- Love thou not other strange gods above me.
- Utter thou not my name idly, for thou shalt not be guiltless
towards me if thou utter my name idly.
3. Remember that thou hallow the rest-day. Work for yourselves
six days, and on the seventh rest. For in six days, Christ
wrought the heavens and the earth, the seas, and all creatures
that are in them, and rested on the seventh day: and therefore
the Lord hallowed it.
4. Honour thy father and thy mother whom the Lord hath given
thee, that thou mayst be the longer living on earth.
5. Slay thou not.
6. Commit thou not adultery.
7. Steal thou not.
8. Say thou not false witness.
9. Covet thou not thy neighbour's goods unjustly.
10. Make thou not to thyself golden or silver gods."
If one deceives an unbetrothed woman and sleep with her, he must
pay for her and have her afterwards to wife. But if her father
not approve, he should pay money according to her dowry.
"If a man seize hold of the breast of a ceorlish woman, let him
make bot to her with 5 shillings. If he throw her down and do not
lie with her, let him make bot with 10 shillings. If he lie with
her, let him make bot with 60 shillings. If another man had
before lain with her, then let the bot be half that. ... If this
befall a woman more nobly born, let the bot increase according to
the wer."
"If any one, with libidinous intent, seize a nun either by her
raiment or by her breast without her leave, let the bot be
twofold, as we have before ordained concerning a laywoman."
"If a man commit a rape upon a ceorl's female slave, he must pay
bot to the ceorl of 5 shillings and a wite [fine to the King] of
60 shillings. If a male theow rape a female theow, let him make
bot with his testicles."
For the first dog bite, the owner pays 6 shillings, for the
second, 12 shillings, for the third, 30 shillings.
An ox which gores someone to death shall be stoned.
If one steals or slays another's ox, he must give two oxen for
it.
"If any one steals so that his wife and children don't know it,
he shall pay 60 shillings as wite. But if he steals with the
knowledge of all his household, they shall all go into slavery. A
boy of ten years may be privy to a theft."
"If one who takes a thief, or holds him for the person who took
him, lets the thief go, or conceals the theft, he shall pay for
the thief according to his wer. If he is an ealdorman, he shall
forfeit his shire, unless the King is willing to be merciful to
him."
- Judicial Procedure -
Cases were held at monthly meetings of the community [folk-moot].
The King or his representative in the community, called the
"reeve", conducted the trial by compurgation.
The one complaining, called the "plaintiff", and the one
defending, called the "defendant", each told their story and put
his hand on the Bible and swore "By God this oath is clean and
true". A slip or a stammer would mean he lost the case.
Otherwise, community members would stand up to swear on behalf of
the plaintiff or the defendant as to their reputation for
veracity. If these "compurgators" were too few, usually twelve in
number, or recited poorly, their party lost.
If this process was inconclusive, the defendant was told to go to
church and to take the sacrament only if he were innocent. If he
took the sacrament, he was tried by the process of "ordeal". In
the ordeal by cold water, he was bound hand and foot and then
thrown into water. If he floated, he was guilty. If he sank, he
was innocent. It was not necessary to drown to be deemed
innocent. In the ordeal by hot water, he had to pick up a stone
from inside a boiling cauldron. If his hand was healing in three
days, he was innocent. If it was festering, he was guilty. A
similar ordeal was that of hot iron, in which one had to carry in
his hands a hot iron for a certain distance. Although the results
of the ordeal were taken to indicate the will of God, the
official conducting the ordeal could adjust its parameters so
that a person with a guilty demeanor would be found guilty and a
person with an innocent demeanor found innocent. The ordeal seems
to favor the physically fit, because a person who was not fat
would tend to sink and a person who was in good health would have
prompt healing of burns. Presumably a person convicted of murder,
i.e. killing by stealth, or robbery [taking from a person's robe,
that is, his person or breaking into his home to steal] would be
hung and his possessions conviscated.
The issue of rights to herd pigs to feed in certain woodland was
heard in this lawsuit:
"In the year 825 which had passed since the birth of Christ, and
in the course of the second Indiction, and during the reign of
Beornwulf, King of Mercia, a council meeting was held in the
famous place called Clofesho, and there the said King Beornwulf
and his bishops and his earls and all the councilors of this
nation were assembled. Then there was a very noteworthy suit
about wood-pasture at Sinton, towards the west in Scirhylte. The
reeves in charge of the pigherds wished to extend the pasture
farther, and take in more of the wood than the ancient rights
permitted. Then the bishop and the advisors of the community said
that they would not admit liability for more than had been
appointed in AEthelbald's day, namely mast for 300 swine, and
that the bishop and the community should have two-thirds of the
wood and of the mast. They Archbishop Wulfred and all the
councilors determined that the bishop and the community might
declare on oath that it was so appointed in AEthelbald's time and
that they were not trying to obtain more, and the bishop
immediately gave security to Earl Eadwulf to furnish the oath
before all the councilors, and it was produced in 30 days at the
bishop's see at Worcester. At that time Hama was the reeve in
charge of the pigherds at Sinton, and he rode until he reached
Worcester, and watched and observed the oath, as Earl Eadwulf
bade him, but did not challenge it.
Here are the names and designations of those who were assembled
at the council meeting ..."
Chapter 3
- The Times: 900-1066 -
There were many large land-owners such as the King, earls and
bishops. Earls were noblemen by birth. A bishop was a church
official who had oversight responsibility for all churches within
his geographical area. The "bot" paid for injuring a bishop was
the same as that for an earl. This indicates that their social
rank was the same.
The lands of these lords were administered by freemen. They had
wheat, barley, and rye fields, orchards, vineyards, and
bee-keeping areas for honey. On this land lived not only farm
laborers, cattle herders, shepherds, goatherds, and pigherds, but
craftsmen such as goldsmiths, hawk-keepers, dog-keepers,
horse-keepers, huntsmen, foresters, builders, weaponsmiths,
embroiderers, blacksmiths, carpenters, tailors, salters, bakers,
cooks, and gardeners. Blacksmiths made gates, hugh door
hinges,lock, latches, bolts, and horseshoes. The lord loaned
these people land on which to live for their life, called a "life
estate", in return for their services. The loan could continue to
their children who took up the craft. Mills were usually powered
by water.
Clothing for men and women was made from wool, silk, and linen
and was usually brown in color. Men also wore leather clothing,
such as neckpieces, breeches, ankle leathers, shoes, and boots;
and metal belts under which they carried knives or axes. They
could wear leather pouches for carrying items.
Water could be carried in leather bags. Leather working
preservative techniques improved so that tanning prevented
stretching or decaying.
For their meals, people had drinking cups and bottles made of
leather, and bowls, pans, and pitchers made by the potter's
wheel. Water could be boiled in pots made of iron, brass, lead,
or clay.
There was a great expansion of arable land. Kings typically
granted land in exchange for services of military duties,
repairing of fortresses, and work on bridges. Less common
services required by landlords include equipping a guard ship and
guarding the coast, guarding the lord, military watch,
maintaining the deer fence at the King's residence, alms giving,
and church dues. Since land was granted in return for service,
there were limitations on its heritability and often an heir had
to pay a heriot to the landlord to obtain the land.
An example of a grant of hides of land is:
"[God has endowed King Edred with England], wherefore he enriches
and honors men, both ecclesiastic and lay, who can justly deserve
it. The truth of this can be acknowledged by the thegn AElfsige
Hunlafing through his acquisition of the estate of 5 hides at
Alwalton for himself and his heirs, free from every burden except
the repair of fortifications, the building of bridges and
military service; a prudent landowner church dues, burial fees
and tithes. [This land] is to be held for all time and granted
along with the things both great and small belonging to it."
A Bishop gave land to a faithful attendant for his life and two
other lives as follows:
"In 904 A.D., I, Bishop Werfrith, with the permission and leave
of my honorable community in Worcester, grant to Wulfsige, my
reeve, for his loyal efficiency and humble obedience, one hide of
land at Aston as Herred held it, that is, surrounded by a dyke,
for three lives and then after three lives the estate shall be
given back without any controversy to Worcester."
There were several thousand thegns, rich and poor, who held land
directly of the King. Free farmers who had sought protection from
thegns in time of war now took them as their lords. A free man
could chose his lord, following him in war and working his land
in peace. In return, the lord would protect him against
encroaching neighbors, back him in the courts of law, and feed
him in times of famine. These lords were the ruling class and the
greatest of them sat in the King's council along with bishops,
abbots, and officers of the King's household. The lesser lords
were local magnates, who officiated at the shire and hundred
courts.
The land of some lords included fishing villages along the
coasts. Other lords owned land with iron-mining industries.
Some lords had markets on their land, for which they charged a
toll [like a sales tax] for participation. There were about fifty
markets in the nation. Cattle and slaves were the usual medium of
exchange. Shaking hands was symbolic of an agreement for a sale,
which was carried out in front of witnesses at the market. People
traveled to markets on roads and bridges kept in repair by
certain men who did this work as their service to the King.
Salt was used throughout the nation to preserve meat over the
winter. Inland saltworks had an elaborate and specialized
organization. They formed little manufacturing enclaves in the
midst of agricultural land, and they were considered to be
neither manor nor appurtenant to manors. They belonged jointly to
the King and the local earl, who shared, at a proportion of two
to one, the proceeds of the tolls upon the sale of salt and
methods of carriage on the ancient salt ways according to
cartload, horse load, or man load. Horses now had horseshoes. The
sales of salt were mostly retail, but some bought to resell.
At seaports on the coast, goods were loaded onto vessels owned by
English merchants to be transported to other English seaports.
London was a market town on the north side of the Thames River
and the primary port and trading center for foreign merchants.
The other side of the river was called Southwark. It contained
sleazy docks, prisons, gaming houses, brothels, and inns.
Guilds in London were first associations of neighbors for the
purposes of mutual assistance. They were fraternities of persons
by voluntary compact to assist each other in poverty, including
their widows or orphans and the portioning of poor maids, and to
protect each other from injury. Their essential features are and
continue to be in the future: 1) oath of initiation, 2) entrance
fee in money or in kind and a common fund, 3) annual feast and
mass, 4) meetings at least three times yearly for guild business,
5), obligation to attend all funerals of members, to bear the
body if need be from a distance, and to provide masses for the
dead, 6) the duty of friendly help in cases of sickness,
imprisonment, house-burning, shipwreck, or robbery, 7) rules for
decent behavior at meetings, and 8) provisions for settling
disputes without recourse to the law. Both the masses and the
feast were attended by the women. Frequently the guilds also had
a religious ceremonial to affirm their bonds of fidelity. They
readily became connected with the exercise of trades and with the
training of apprentices. They promoted and took on public
purposes such as the repairing of roads and bridges, the relief
of pilgrims, the maintenance of schools and almshouses, and the
periodic performance of pageants and miracle-plays.
Many of these London guilds were known by the name of their
founding member. There were also Frith Guilds and a Knights'
Guild. The Frith Guild's main object was to put down theft.
Members contributed to a common fund, which paid a compensation
for items stolen. Members with horses were to track the thief.
Members without horses worked in the place of the absent
horseowners until their return. The Knights' Guild was composed
of thirteen military persons to whom King Edgar granted certain
waste land in the east of London, toward Aldgate, for prescribed
services performed. This concession was confirmed by Edward the
Confessor in a charter at the suit of certain burgesses of
London, the successors of these knights. But there was no trading
privilege, and the Prior of Holy Trinity, Aldgate, became the
sovereign of the Guild and the Aldermen ex officio of Portsoken
Ward. He rendered an account to the Crown of the shares of
tallage paid by the men of the Ward and presided over the
Wardmotes. Every London merchant who had made three long voyages
on his own behalf ranked as a thegn.
Later in the towns, there were merchant guilds, which were
composed of prosperous traders, who later became landowners.
Merchant guilds grew out of charity associations whose members
were bound by oath to each other and got together for a
guild-feast every month. Many market places were dominated by a
merchant guild, which had a monopoly of the local trade. There
were also some craft guilds composed of handicraftsmen or
artisans. Escaped villeins, poor people, and traders without land
migrated to towns to live, but were not citizens.
Edward the Confessor, named such for his piety, was a King of 24
years who was widely respected for his intelligence,
resourcefulness, good judgment, and wisdom. His educated Queen
Edith, whom he relied on for advice and cheerful courage, was a
stabilizing influence on him. They were served by a number of
thegns, who had duties in the household, which was composed of
the hall, the courtyard, and the bedchamber. They were important
men, thegns by rank. They were landowners, often in several
areas, and held leading positions in the shires, although they
were not sheriffs. They were also priests and clerics, who
maintained the religious services and performed tasks for which
literacy was necessary.
The court was host to many of the greatest magnates and prelates
of the land at the time of great ecclesiastical festivals, when
the King held more solemn courts and feasted his vassals. These
included all the great earls, the majority of bishops, some
abbots, and a number of thegns and clerics. Edward had a witan of
wise men to advise him, but sometimes the King would speak in the
hall after dinner and listen to what comments were made from the
mead-benches. As the court moved about the country, many men came
to pay their respects and attend to local business.
The main governmental activities were: war, collection of
revenue, religious education, and administration of justice. For
war, the shires had to provide a certain number of men and the
ports quotas of ships with crews. The King was the patron of the
English church. He gave the church peace and protection. He
presided over church councils and appointed bishops. As for the
administration of justice, the public courts were almost all
under members of Edward's court, bishops, earls, and reeves.
Edward's mind was often troubled and disturbed by the threat that
law and justice would be overthrown, by the pervasiveness of
disputes and discord, by the raging of wicked presumption, by
money interfering with right and justice, and by avarice kindling
all of these. He saw it as his duty to courageously oppose the
wicked by taking good men as models, by enriching the churches of
God, by relieving those oppressed by wicked judges, and by
judging equitably between the powerful and the humble.
A King's grant of land entailed two documents: a charter giving
boundaries and conditions and a writ, usually addressed to the
shire court, listing the judicial and financial privileges
conveyed with the land. These were usually sac and soke [petty
jurisdiction over inhabitants of the estate], toll and team [a
share in the profits from trade conducted within the estate], and
infangenetheof [the authority to hang and take the chattels of a
thief caught on the property]. The writ was created by the
Chancery, which had been established by the King to draft
documents and keep records. The writ was a small piece of
parchment addressed to a royal official or dependent commanding
him to perform some task for the King. By the eleventh century,
the writ contained a seal: a lump of wax with the impress of the
Great Seal of England.
The town of Coventry consisted of a monastery manor and a private
manor. The monastery was granted by Edward the Confessor full
freedom and these jurisdictions: sac and soke, toll and team,
hamsocne [the authority to fine a person for breaking into and
making entry by force into the dwelling of another], forestall
[the authority to fine a person for robbing others on the road],
blodwite [the authority to impose a forfeiture for assault
involving bloodshed], fihtwite [the authority to fine for
fighting], weordwite [the authority to fine for manslaughter, but
not for willful murder], and mundbryce [the authority to fine for
any breach of the peace, such as trespass on lands].
Marriages were determined by men asking women to marry them. If a
woman said yes, he paid a sum to her kin for her "mund"
[jurisdiction or protection over her] and gave his oath to them
to maintain and support the woman and any children born. As
security for this oath, he gave a valuable object or "wed". The
couple were then betrothed. Marriage ceremonies were performed by
priests in churches. The marriage was written into church
records. Friends witnessed the wedding and afterwards ate the
great loaf, or first bread made by the bride. This was the
forerunner of the wedding cake. They drank special ale, the
"bride ale" (from hence the work "bridal"), to the health of the
couple.
This marriage agreement with an Archbishop's sister provides her
with land, money, and horsemen:
"Here in this document is stated the agreement which Wulfric and
the archbishop made when he obtained the archbishop's sister as
his wife, namely he promised her the estates at Orleton and
Ribbesford for her lifetime, and promised her that he would
obtain the estate at Knightwick for her for three lives from the
community at Winchcombe, and gave her the estate at Alton to
grant and bestow upon whomsoever she pleased during her lifetime
or at her death, as she preferred, and promised her 50 mancuses
of gold and 30 men and 30 horses.
The witnesses that this agreement was made as stated were
Archbishop Wulfstan and Earl Leofwine and Bishop AEthelstan and
Abbot AElfweard and the monk Brihtheah and many good men in
addition to them, both ecclesiastics and laymen. There are two
copies of this agreement, one in the possession of the archbishop
at Worcester and the other in the possession of Bishop AEthelstan
at Hereford."
This marriage agreement provided the wife with money, land, farm
animals and farm laborers; it also names sureties, the survivor
of whom would receive all this property:
"Here is declared in this document the agreement which Godwine
made with Brihtric when he wooed his daughter. In the first place
he gave her a pound's weight of gold, to induce her to accept his
suit, and he granted her the estate at Street with all that
belongs to it, and 150 acres at Burmarsh and in addition 30 oxen
and 20 cows and 10 horses and 10 slaves.
This agreement was made at Kingston before King Cnut, with the
cognizance of Archbishop Lyfing and the community at
Christchurch, and Abbot AElfmaer and the community at St.
Augustine's, and the sheriff AEthelwine and Sired the old and
Godwine, Wulfheah's son, and AElfsige cild and Eadmaer of Burham
and Godwine, Wulfstan's son, and Carl, the king's cniht. And when
the maiden was brought from Brightling AElfgar, Sired's son, and
Frerth, the priest of Forlstone, and the priests Leofwine and
Wulfsige from Dover, and Edred, Eadhelm's son, and Leofwine,
Waerhelm's son, and Cenwold rust and Leofwine, son of Godwine of
Horton, and Leofwine the Red and Godwine, Eadgifu's son, and
Leofsunu his brother acted as security for all this. And
whichever of them lives the longer shall succeed to all the
property both in land and everything else which I have given
them. Every trustworthy man in Kent and Sussex, whether thegn or
commoner, is cognizant of these terms.
There are three of these documents; one is at Christchurch,
another at St. Augustine's, and Brihtric himself has the third."
Nuns and monks lived in nunneries and monasteries on church land
and grew their own food. The local bishop usually was also an
abbot of a monastery. The priests and nuns wore long robes with
loose belts and did not carry weapons. They cared for the sick
and taught justice, piety, chastity, peace, and charity. Caring
for the sick entailed mostly praying to God as it was thought
that only God could cure. Slavery was diminished by the church by
excommunication for the sale of a child over seven. The clergy
taught that manumission of slaves was good for the soul of the
dead, so it became frequent in wills. The clergy were to be
celibate and not marry, but in lax times this rule was not
followed.
The Archbishop of Canterbury began annointing new Kings at the
time of coronation to emphasize that the King was ruler by the
grace of God.
Illness was thought to be caused by demons. People hung charms
around their neck for cure and treatments of magic and herbs were
given. For instance, the remedy for "mental vacancy and folly"
was a drink of "fennel, agrimony, cockle, and marche". Leeches
were used for healing wounds, such as those from snake bites.
- The Law -
Every free man who did not own land had to find a lord to answer
for him. The act of homage was symbolized by placing his hands
within those of his lord.
Every lord shall be personally responsible as surety for the men
of his
household.
Every free man who owned land had to be in a local peace-pledge
society, usually about ten men, [frankpledge], in which they
served as personal sureties for each other's peaceful behavior.
If one of them were accused of an offense, the others had to
produce him in court or pay for the offense, unless they could
prove that they had no complicity in it.
"And every man shall see that he has a surety, and this surety
shall bring and keep him to [the performance of] every lawful
duty.
- And if anyone does wrong and escapes, his surety shall
incur what the other should have incurred.
2. If the case be that of a thief and his surety can lay
hold of him within 12 months, he shall deliver him up to justice,
and what he has paid shall be returned to him."
Only a priest could declare a marriage. The groom had to bring
friends to his wedding as sureties to guarantee his oath to
maintain and support his wife and children. Those who swore to
take care of the children were called their "godfathers".
"No woman or maiden shall be forced to marry a man she dislikes
or given for money."
"Violence to a widow or maiden is punishable by payment of one's
wergeld."
No man shall have more wives than one.
No man may marry among his own kin within six degrees of
relationship or with the widow of a man as nearly related to him
as that, or with a near relative of his first wife's, or his
god-mother, or a divorced woman. Incest is punishable by payment
of one's wergeld or a fine or forfeiture of all his possessions.
Grounds for divorce were mutual consent or adultery or desertion.
Adultery was prohibited for men as well as for women.
Prostitutes shall be driven out of the land or destroyed in the
land, unless they cease from their wickedness and make amends to
the utmost of their ability.
Neither husband nor wife could sell family property without the
consent of the other.
If there was a marriage agreement, it determined the wife's
"dower", which would be hers upon his death. Otherwise, if a man
who held his land in socage [owned it freely and not subject to a
larger landholder] died before his wife, she got half this
property. If there were minor children, she got all this
property.
Inheritance of land to adult children was by the custom of the
land held. In some places, the custom was for the oldest son to
take it and in other places, the custom was for the youngest son
to take it. Often, the sons each took an equal portion by
partition, but the eldest son had the right to buy out the others
as to the chief messuage [dwelling and supporting land and
buildings] as long as he compensated them with property of equal
value. If there were no legitimate sons, then each daughter took
an equal share when she married.
In London, one-third of the personal property of a decedent went
to his wife, one-third went to his children in equal shares, and
one-third he could bequeath as he wished.
"If a man dies intestate, his lord shall have heriot [horses,
weapons, shields, and helmets] of his property according to the
deceased's rank and [the rest of] the property shall be divided
among his wife, children, and near kinsmen."
A man could justifiably kill an adulterer in the act with the
man's wife, daughter, sister, or mother. In Kent, a lord could
fine any bondswoman of his who had become pregnant without his
permission [childwyte].
A man could kill in defense of his own life, the life of his
kinsmen, his lord, or a man whose lord he was. The offender was
"caught red-handed" if the blood of his victim was still on him.
He could also kill a thief in the act of carrying off his
property, e.g. the thief hand-habbende [a thief found with the
stolen goods in his hand] or the thief back-berend [a thief found
carrying stolen goods on his back]. Self-help was available for
hamsocne [breaking into a man's house to assault him].
Cattle theft could be dealt with only by speedy pursuit. The law
required that a person who had involuntarily lost possession of
cattle should at once raise the hue and cry. All his neighbors
were then under a legal duty to follow the trail of the cow to
its taker.
Murder is punished by death as follows:
"If any man break the King's peace given by hand or seal, so that
he slay the man to whom the peace was given, both his life and
lands shall be in the King's power if he be taken, and if he
cannot be taken he shall be held an outlaw by all, and if anyone
shall be able to slay him he shall have his spoils by law."
"If anyone by force break or enter any man's court or house to
slay or wound or assault a man, he shall pay 100 shillings to the
King as fine."
"If anyone slay a man within his court or his house, himself and
all his substance are at the King's will, save the dower of his
wife if he have endowed her."
No clergy may gamble or participate in games of chance.
Measures and weights of goods for sale shall be correct.
Every man shall have a warrantor to his market transactions and
no one shall buy and sell except in a market town; but he shall
have the witness of the portreeve or of other men of credit, who
can be trusted.
No marketing, business, or hunting may be done on Sundays.
No one may bind a free man, shave his head in derision, or shave
off his beard. Shaving was a sign of enslavement, which could be
incurred by not paying one's fines for offenses committed.
"And if anyone is so rich or belongs to so powerful a kindred,
that he cannot be restrained from crime or from protecting and
harboring criminals, he shall be led out of his native district
with his wife and children, and all his goods, to any part of the
kingdom which the King chooses, be he noble or commoner, whoever
he may be - with the provision that he shall never return to his
native district. And henceforth, let him never be encountered by
anyone in that district; otherwise he shall be treated as a thief
caught in the act."
The Laws for London were:
"1. The gates called Aldersgate and Cripplegate were in charge of
guards.
2. If a small ship came to Billingsgate, one half-penny was paid
as toll; if a larger ship with sails, one penny was paid.
- If a hulk or merchantman arrives and lies there, four
pence is paid as toll.
2) From a ship with a cargo of planks, one plank is given as
toll.
3) On three days of the week toll for cloth [is paid] on
Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday.
4) A merchant who came to the bridge with a boat containing fish
paid one half-penny as toll, and for a larger ship one penny."
5 - 8) Foreigners with wine or blubber fish or other goods and
their tolls.
Foreigners were allowed to buy wool, melted fat [tallow], and
three live pigs for their ships.
"3. If the town-reeve or the village reeve or any other official
accuses anyone of having withheld toll, and the man replies that
he has kept back no toll which it was his legal duty to pay, he
shall swear to this with six others and shall be quit of the
charge.
- If he declares that he has paid toll, he shall produce
the man to whom he paid it, and shall be quit of the charge.
2) If, however, he cannot produce the man to whom he paid
it, he shall pay the actual toll and as much again and five
pounds to the King.
3) If he vouches the tax-gatherer to warranty [asserting]
that he paid toll to him, and the latter denies it, he shall
clear himself by the ordeal and by no other means of proof.
4. And we [the King and his counselors] have decreed that a man
who, within the town, makes forcible entry into another man's
house without permission and commits a breach of the peace of the
worst kind ... and he who assaults an innocent person on the
King's highway, if he is slain, shall lie in an unhonored grave.
- If, before demanding justice, he has recourse to
violence, but does not lose his life thereby, he shall pay five
pounds for breach of the King's peace.
2) If he values the good-will of the town itself, he shall
pay us thirty shillings as compensation, if the King will grant
us this concession."
5. No base coin or coin defective in quality or weight, foreign
or English, may be used by a foreigner or an Englishman.
Swearing a false oath or perjury is punishable by loss of one's
hand or half one's wergeld.
- Judicial Procedure -
There were courts for different geographical communities.
In London, the Hustings Court met weekly and the folkmoot of all
citizens met three times a year. Each ward had a criminal [leet]
court.
The vill [similar to village] was the smallest community for
judicial purposes. There were several vills in a hundred.
A King's reeve presided over local criminal and peace and order
issues [leet jurisdiction] at monthly meetings of the hundred
court. However, summary procedure was followed when a criminal
was caught in the act or seized after a hue and cry. Every free
man over age 12 had to be in a hundred. The hundred was a
division of the shire [county]. Usually, the shire reeve, or
"sheriff", held each hundred court in turn.
A shire [county] was a larger area of land, headed by an earl.
All persons residing in the shire met twice a year. They were
summoned together by the sheriff, who was appointed by the earl
and the King. This court was primarily concerned with issues of
the larger landowners. The earl usually took a third of the
profits of the shire court.
A bishop sat on both the shire and the hundred court.
"No one shall make distraint of property until he has appealed
for justice in the hundred court and shire court".
This lawsuit between a son and his mother over land was heard at
a shire-meeting:
"Here it is declared in this document that a shire-meeting sat at
Aylton in King Cnut's time. There were present Bishop AEthelstan
and Earl Ranig and Edwin, the Earl's son, and Leofwine,
Wulfsige's son, and Thurkil the White; and Tofi the Proud came
there on the King's business, and Bryning the sheriff was
present, and AEthelweard of Frome and Leofwine of Frome and
Godric of Stoke and all the thegns of Herefordshire. Then Edwin,
Enneawnes son, came traveling to the meeting and sued his own
mother for a certain piece of land, namely Wellington and
Cradley. Then the bishop asked whose business it was to answer
for his mother, and Thurkil the White replied that it was his
business to do so, if he knew the claim. As he did not know the
claim, three thegns were chosen from the meeting [to ride] to the
place where she was, namely at Fawley, and these were Leofwine of
Frome and AEthelsige the Red and Winsige the seaman, and when
they came to her they asked her what claim she had to the lands
for which her son was suing her. Then she said that she had no
land that in any way belonged to him, and was strongly incensed
against her son, and summoned to her kinswoman, Leofflaed,
Thurkil's wife, and in front of them said to her as follows:
'Here sits Leofflaed, my kinswoman, to whom, after my death, I
grant my land and my gold, my clothing and my raiment and all
that I possess.' And then she said to the thegns: 'Act like
thegns, and duly announce my message to the meeting before all
the worthy men, and tell them to whom I have granted my land and
all my property, and not a thing to my own son, and ask them to
be witnesses of this.' And they did so; they rode to the meeting
and informed all the worthy men of the charge that she had laid
upon them. Then Thurkil the White stood up in the meeting and
asked all the thegns to give his wife the lands unreservedly
which her kinswoman had granted her, and they did so. Then
Thurkil rode to St. AEthelbert's minister, with the consent and
cognizance of the whole assembly, and had it recorded in a gospel
book."
Courts controlled by lords had various kinds of jurisdiction
recognized by the King. "Sac and soc" included the right to deal
with land disputes. "Toll and team" included the right to levy
tolls on cattle sales and to hold a hearing for men accused of
stealing cattle. "Infangenetheof" gave power to do justice to a
thief caught red-handed. Sometimes this jurisdiction overlapped
that of the hundred court.
The King decided the complaints and issues of the nobility.
Chapter 4
- The Times: 1066-1100 -
William came from Normandy to conquer the nation. He claimed that
the former King, Edward, the Confessor, had promised the throne
to him when they were growing up together in Normandy if Edward
became King of England and had no children. William's men and
horses came in boats powered by oars and sails. The conquest did
not take long because of the superiority of his military
expertise to that of the English. He organized his army into
three groups: archers with bows and arrows, horsemen with swords
and stirrups, and footmen with hand weapons. Each group played a
specific role in a strategy planned in advance. The English army
was only composed of footmen with hand weapons and shields and
was inexperienced.
Declaring the English who fought against him to be traitors,
William declared their land confiscated. As William conquered
this land, he parceled it out among the barons who fought with
him. They again made oaths of personal loyalty to him [fealty].
They agreed to hold the land as his vassals with future military
services to him and receipt of his protection [homage]. They held
their land "of their lord", the King, by knight's service. The
King had "enfeoffed" them [given them a fief: a source of income]
with land. The theory that by right all land was the King's and
that land was held by others only at his gift and in return for
specified service was new to English thought.
The Saxon governing class was destroyed. The independent power of
earls, who had been drawn from three great family houses, was
curtailed. Most died or fled the country. The people were
deprived of their most popular leaders, who were excluded from
all positions of trust and profit, especially the clergy of all
degrees.
The barons subjugated the English who were on their newly
acquired land. There came to be a hierarchy of seisin [rightful
occupation] of land so that there could be no land without its
lord. Also, every lord had a superior lord with the King as the
overlord or supreme landlord. One piece of land may be held by
several tenures. For instance, A, holding by barons's service of
the King, may enfeoff B, a church, to hold of him on the terms of
praying for the souls of his ancestors [frank-almoin], and B may
enfeoff a freeman C to hold of the church by giving it a certain
percentage of his crops every year. There were about 200 barons
who held land directly of the King. Other fighting men were the
knights, who were tenants or subtenants of a baron. Knighthood
began as a reward for valor on the field of battle by the King or
a noble. Altogether there were about 5000 fighting men holding
land.
The essence of Norman feudalism was that the land remained under
the lord, whatever the vassal might do. The lord had the duty to
defend the vassals on his land. The vassal owed military service
to the lord and also the service of attending the courts of the
hundred and the shire, which were courts of the King,
administering old customary law. They were the King's courts on
the principle that a crime anywhere was a breach of the King's
peace.
This feudal bond based on occupancy of land rather than on
personal ties was uniform throughout the realm. No longer could a
man choose his lord and transfer his land with him to a new lord.
This uniformity of land organization plus the new requirement of
every freeman to take an oath of loyalty directly to the King
that would supersede any oath to any other man gave the nation a
new unity.
Each tenant, whether baron or subtenant, had to pay an "aid" in
money for ransom if his lord was captured in war, for the
knighthood of his lord's eldest son, and for the marriage of his
lord's eldest daughter. An heir of a tenant had to pay a heavy
"relief" on succession to his estate. If an heir was still a
minor or female, he or she passed into his lord's wardship, in
which the lord had guardianship of the heir and possession of the
estate, with all its profits. The estate of an heiress and her
land was generally sold to the highest bidder.
English villeins on the land of the barons were subjugated into a
condition of servitude and became "tied to the land" so that they
could not leave the land without their lord's permission. They
held their land of their lord, the baron. To guard against
uprisings of the conquered people, the barons used villein labor
to build about a hundred great stone castles, with moats and
walls with towers around them, at easily defensible positions
such as hilltops all over the nation.
The hall was the main building of the castle. The hall was used
for meals and meetings at which the lord received homages,
recovered fees, and held the view of frankpledge. There were
trestle tables which could be folded up, e.g. at night. At the
main table, the lord and his lady sat on chairs. Everyone else
sat on benches. Lighting was by oil lamps or candles on stands or
on wall fixtures. There was an open hearth in the middle of the
room, around which the floor was strewn with straw, on which
common folk could sleep at night. The residence of the lord's
family and guests was at a screened off area at the extreme end
of the hall or on a second floor reachable by an outside
stairway. Chests stored garments and jewels. Iron keys and locks
were used for chests and doors. The great bed had a wooden frame
and springs made of interlaced rope or strips of leather. It was
covered with a feather mattress, sheets, quilts, fur covers, and
pillows. Drapery around the bed kept out cold drafts and provided
privacy. The lord's personal servants slept nearby on benches or
trundle beds. There was a water bowl for washing in the morning.
A chamber pot was kept under the bed for nighttime use. Hay was
used as toilet paper. Sometimes there was a reservoir of water on
an upper level with pipes carrying the water below. There were
stools on which to sit. Chests and cupboards stored spices and
plate. One-piece iron shears were available to cut cloth. Hand
held spindles were used for weaving. Knights performing castle
guard duty slept at their posts in the walls. There were toilets
in the walls with a pit or shaft down the exterior wall. There
was also a well, a chapel area, a cellar for provisions, and
dungeons for prisoners. Stables and offices were sometimes built
around the courtyard of the hall. Bathing was done in a wooden
tub located in the garden in the summer and indoors near the fire
in winter. The great bed and bath tub were taken on trips with
the lord.
Markets grew up outside castle walls. Any trade on a lord's land
was subject to "passage", a payment on goods passing through,
"stallage", a payment for setting up a stall or booth in a
market, and "pontage", a payment for taking goods across a
bridge.
Norman customs were adopted by the nation. Everyone had a
permanent surname indicating parentage, place of birth, or
residence and this name was passed on to one's son. There were
two meals a day: dinner and supper. The Normans washed their
hands before and after meals and ate with their fingers. Feasts
were stately occasions with costly tables and splendid dress. The
Norman wore a cap or bonnet on his head, a shirt, a doublet over
his shirt, a cloak with wide sleeves, hose and shoes. There were
many colors worn, especially the doublet, which was made exactly
to fit. Surcoats of royalty almost swept the feet while those of
others reached scarcely half the way, so as not to impede them in
their work. The robe or mantle of the King was embroidered with
gold and lined with furs and swept the ground. There were
practical jokes, innocent frolics, and witty verbal debating with
repartee. A true and gentle knight showed devotion towards the
ladies. The Norman gentleman wore his sword and his retainers
carried spear and shield. They were clean-shaven. Anglo-Saxon men
were compelled to shave their beards and whiskers from their
faces, but they kept their custom of long hair flowing from their
heads.
Those few coerls whose land was not taken by a baron remained
free and held their land "in socage" and became known as sokemen.
Great stone cathedrals were built in fortified towns for
William's Norman bishops, who replaced the English bishops. Most
of the existing and new monasteries functioned as training
grounds for scholars, bishops, and statesmen rather than as
retreats from the world's problems to the security of religious
observance. The number of monks grew as the best minds were
recruited into the monasteries.
William made the church subordinate to him. Bishops were elected
only subject to the King's consent. Homage was exacted from them.
William imposed knight's service on bishoprics, abbeys, and
monasteries, which was commuted to a monetary amount. Bishops had
to attend the King's court. Bishops could not leave the realm
without the King's consent. No royal tenant or royal servant
could be excommunicated, nor his lands be placed under interdict,
without the King's consent. Interdict could demand, for instance,
that the church be closed and the dead buried in unconsecrated
ground. No church rules could be made without his agreement to
their terms. No letters from the Pope could be received without
the King's permission.
Men continued to give land to the church for their souls, such as
this grant which started the town of Sandwich:
"William, King of the English, to Lanfranc the Archbishop and
Hugoni de Montfort and Richard son of Earl Gilbert and Haimo the
sheriff and all the thegns of Kent, French and English, greeting.
Know ye that the Bishop of Bayeux my brother for the love of God
and for the salvation of my soul and his own, has given to St.
Trinity all houses with their appurtances which he has at
Sandwich and that he has given what he has given by my license."
When the land was all divided out, the barons had about 3/7 of it
and the church 2/7. The King retained 2/7 for himself and his
household, on which he built many royal castles and hundreds of
manor houses throughout the nation. He built the White Tower in
London. He and his household slept on the upper floors and there
was a chapel on the second floor and a dungeon below the first
floor for prisoners. The other castles were often built at the
old fortification burhs of Alfred. Barons and earls had
castle-guard duty in them. William was constantly moving about
the land from castle to castle, where he entertained his magnates
and conducted public business, such as deciding disputes about
ownership of land. Near these castles and other of his property,
he designated many areas as royal hunting forests. Anyone who
killed a deer in these forests was mutilated, for instance by
blinding. People living within the boundaries of the designated
forestland could no longer go into nearby woods to get meat or
honey, dead wood for firing, or live wood for building.
Swineherds could no longer drive pigs into the these woods to eat
acorns they beat down from oak trees. Making clearings and
grazing livestock in the designated forestland were prohibited.
Most of the nation was either wooded or bog at this time.
London was a walled town of one and two story houses made of mud,
twigs, and straw, with thatched roofs. There were churches, a
goods market, a fish market, quays on the river, and a bridge
over the river. Streets probably named by this time include Bread
Street, Milk Street, Honey Lane, Wood Street, and Ironmonger
Lane. Fairs and games were held outside the town walls in a field
called "Smithfield". The freemen were a small percentage of
London's population. There was a butchers' guild, a pepperers'
guild, a goldsmiths' guild, the guild of St. Lazarus, which was
probably a leper charity, the Pilgrims' guild, which helped
people going on pilgrimages, and four bridge guilds, probably for
keeping the wooden London Bridge in repair. Men told the time by
sundials, some of which were portable and could be carried in
one's pocket. London could defend itself, and a ringing of the
bell of St. Paul's Church could shut every shop and fill the
streets with armed horsemen and soldiers led by a soldier
port-reeve.
William did not interfere with land ownership in London, but
recognized it's independence as a borough in this writ:
"William the King greets William, Bishop of London, and Gosfrith
the portreeve, and all the burgesses of London friendly. Know
that I will that you be worthy of all the laws you were worthy of
in the time of King Edward. And I will that every child shall be
his father's heir after his father's day. And I will not suffer
any man to do you wrong. God preserve you."
So London was not subjected to the Norman feudal system. It had
neither villeins nor slaves. Whenever Kings asserted authority
over it, the citizens reacted until the King "granted" a charter
reaffirming the freedoms of the city and its independence.
William was a stern and fierce man and ruled as an autocrat by
terror. Whenever the people revolted or resisted his mandates, he
seized their lands or destroyed the crops and laid waste the
countryside and so that they starved to death. He had a strict
system of policing the nation. Instead of the Anglo-Saxon
self-government throughout the districts and hundreds of resident
authorities in local courts, he aimed at substituting for it the
absolute rule of the barons under military rule so favorable to
the centralizing power of the Crown. He used secret police and
spies and the terrorism this system involved. This especially
curbed the minor barons and preserved the public peace.
The English people were disarmed. Curfew bells were rung at 7:00
PM when everyone had to remain in their own dwellings on pain of
death and all fires and candles were to be put out, This
prevented any nightly gatherings, assassinations, or seditions.
Order was brought to the kingdom so that no man dare kill
another, no matter how great the injury he had received. William
extended the King's peace on high roads to include the whole
nation. Any individual of any rank could travel from end to end
of the land unharmed. Before, prudent travelers would travel only
in groups of twenty.
William's reign was a time of tentative expedients and simple
solutions. He administered by issuing writs with commands or
prohibitions. These were read aloud by the sheriffs in the county
courts and other locations. Administration was by the personal
servants of his royal household, such as the Chancellor, steward,
butler, chamberlain, and constable. The constable was in charge
of the knights of the royal household. Under pressure from the
ecclesiastical judges, William replaced the death penalty by that
of the mutilation of blinding, chopping off hands, and castrating
offenders. Castration was the punishment for rape. But these
mutilations usually led to a slow death by gangrene.
The Normans used the Anglo-Saxon concepts of jurisdictional
powers. Thus when William confirmed "customs" to the abbot of
Ely, these were understood to include the following: 1) sake and
soke - the right to hold a court of private jurisdiction and
enjoy its profits, 2) toll - a payment in towns, markets, and
fairs for goods and chattel bought and sold, 3) team - persons
might be vouched to warranty in the court, the grant of which
made a court capable of hearing suits arising from the transfer
of land, 4) infangenthef - right of trying and executing thieves
on one's land, 4) hamsocne, 5) grithbrice - violation of the
grantees' special peace, for instance that of the sheriff, 6)
fihtwite - fine for a general breach of the peace, 7) fyrdwite -
fine for failure to appear in the fyrd [national militia].
Every shire had at least one burh, or defensible town. Kings had
appointed a royal moneyer in each to mint silver coins for local
use. On one side was the King's head in profile and on the other
side was the name of the moneyer. When a new coinage was issued,
all moneyers had to go to London to get the new dies. William's
head faced frontally on his dies, instead of the usual profile
used by former Kings.
William held and presided over his council three times a year, as
was the custom, at Easter, Christmas, and Whitsuntide. This was
an advisory council and consisted of earls, greater barons,
officers of the King's household, archbishops, and bishops. It's
functions were largely ceremonial. William's will was the motive
force which under lay all its action. The justiciar was the head
of all legal matters and represented the King in his absence from
the realm. The Treasurer was responsible for the collection and
distribution of revenue. The Chancellor headed the Chancery and
the chapel.
Sheriffs became powerful figures as the primary agents for
enforcing royal edicts. They collected the royal taxes, executed
royal justice, and controlled the hundred and shire courts. They
also took part in the keeping of castles and often managed the
estates of the King. Most royal writs were addressed to the
sheriff and shire courts.
Royal income came from customary dues, profits of coinage and of
justice, and revenues from the King's own estates. A threat of a
Viking invasion caused William to reinstitute the danegeld tax.
To impose this uniformly, he sent commissioners to conduct
surveys by sworn verdicts of appointed groups of local men. A
detailed survey of land holdings and the productive worth of each
was made and compiled as the "Doomsday Book" in 1086. For
instance, one estate had "on the home farm five plough teams:
there are also 25 villeins and 6 cotters with 14 teams among
them. There is a mill worth 2s. a year and one fishery, a church
and four acres of meadow, wood for 150 pigs and two stone
quarries, each worth 2s. a year, and two nests of hawks in the
wood and 10 slaves." This estate was deemed to be worth 480s. a
year.
Laxton "had 2 carucates of land [assessed] to the geld. [There
is] land for 6 ploughs. There Walter, a man of [the lord]
Geoffrey Alselin's has 1 plough and 22 villeins and 7 bordars [a
bordar had a cottage and a small amount land in return for
supplying small provisions to his lord] having 5 ploughs and 5
serfs and 1 female serf and 40 acres of meadow. Wood [land] for
pannage [foraging by pigs] 1 league in length and half a league
in breadth. In King Edward's time it was worth 9 pounds; now [it
is worth] 6 pounds."
That manor of the town of Coventry which was individually held
was that of the Countess of Coventry, who was the wife of the
earl of Mercia. "The Countess held in Coventry. There are 5
hides. The arable land employs 20 ploughs. In the demesne lands
there are 3 ploughs and 7 ploughs. In the demesne lands there are
3 ploughs and 7 bondmen. There are 50 villeins and 12 bordars
with 20 ploughs. The mill there pay[s] 3 shillings. The woodlands
are 2 miles long and the same broad. In King Edward's time and
afterwards, it was worth 22 pounds [440 s.], now only 11 pounds
by weight. These lands of the Countess Godiva Nicholas holds to
farm of the King."
The survey shows a few manors and monasteries owned a salt-house
or salt-pit in the local saltworks, from which they were entitled
to obtain salt.
This survey resulted in the first national tax system of about
6s. per hide of land.
The courts of the King and barons became schools of chivalry
wherein seven year old noble boys became as pages or valets, wore
a dagger and waited upon the ladies of the household. At age
fourteen, they were advanced to squires and admitted into more
familiar association with the knights and ladies of the court.
They perfected their skills in dancing, riding, fencing, hawking,
hunting and jousting. Before knighthood, they played team sports
in which one team tried to put the other team to rout. A knight
usually selected a wife from the court at which he grew up.
The eldest son began to succeed to the whole of the lands in all
military tenures.
Astrologers resided with the families of the barons. People went
to fortune tellers' shops. There was horse racing and steeple
races for recreation.
The state of medicine is indicated by this medical advice brought
to the nation by William's son after treatment on the continent:
"If thou would have health and vigor
Shun cares and avoid anger.
Be temperate in eating
And in the use of wine.
After a heavy meal
Rise and take the air
Sleep not with an overloaded stomach
And above all thou must
Respond to Nature when she calls."
Many free sokemen were caught up in the subjugation by baron
landlords and were reduced almost to the condition of the unfree
villein. The services they performed for their lords were often
indistinguishable. This formed a new bottom class as the
population's percentage of slaves declined dramatically. However,
the free man still had a place in court proceedings which the
unfree villein did not.
William allowed Jewish traders to follow him from Normandy and
settle in separate sections of the main towns. They loaned money
for the building of castles and cathedrals. Christians were not
allowed by the church to engage in this usury. The Jews could not
become citizens nor could they have standing in the local courts.
Instead, a royal justiciar secured justice for them. The Jews
could practice their own religion.
William was succeeded as King by his son William II, who imposed
on many of the customs of the nation to get more money for
himself.
- The Law -
The Norman conquerors brought no written law, but affirmed the
laws of the nation. Two they especially enforced were:
Anyone caught in the act of digging up the King's road, felling a
tree across it, or attacking someone so that his blood spilled on
it shall pay a fine to the King.
All freemen shall have a surety who would hand him over to
justice for his offenses or pay the damages or fines due. Also,
the entire hundred was the ultimate surety for murder and would
have to pay a "murdrum" fine.
William made these decrees:
No cattle shall be sold except in towns and before three
witnesses.
For the sale of ancient chattels, there must be a surety and a
warrantor.
No man shall be sold over the sea. (This ended the slave trade at
the port of Bristol.)
The death penalty for persons tried by court is abolished.
- Judicial Procedure -
"Ecclesiastical" courts were created for bishops to preside over
issues concerning the cure of souls and criminal cases in which
the ordeal was used. When William did not preside over this
court, an appeal could be made to him.
The hundred and shire courts now sat without a bishop and handled
only "civil" cases. They were conducted by the King's own
appointed sheriff. Only freemen and not bound villeins had
standing in this court.
William held court or sent the Justiciar or commissioners to hold
his Royal Court [Curia Regis] in the various districts. The
commissioner appointed groups of local men to give a collective
verdict upon oath for each trial he conducted. A person could
spend months trying to catch up with the Royal Court to present a
case.
William allowed, on an ad hoc basis, certain high-level people
such as bishops and abbots and those who made a large payment, to
have land disputes decided by an inquiry of recognitors.
A dispute between a Norman and an English man over land or a
criminal act could be decided by trial by battle. Each combatant
first swore to the truth of his cause and undertook to prove by
his body the truth of his cause by making the other surrender by
crying "craven" [craving forgiveness]. Although this trial was
thought to reflect God's will, it favored the physically fit and
adept person.
London had its own traditions. All London citizens met at its
folkmoot, which was held three times a year to determine its
public officers, to raise matters of public concern, and to make
ordinances. It's criminal court had the power of outlawry as did
the shire courts. Trade, land, and other civil issues were dealt
with by the Hustings Court, which met every Monday in the
Guildhall. The city was divided into wards, each of which was
under the charge of an elected alderman [elder man]. (This was
not a popular election.) The aldermen had special knowledge of
the law and a duty to declare it at the Hustings Court. Each
alderman also conducted wardmoots in his ward and decided
criminal and civil issues between its residents. Within the wards
were the guilds of the city.
William made the hundred responsible for paying a murder fine for
the murder of any of his men, if the murderer was not apprehended
by his lord within a few days. The reaction to this was that the
murderer mutilated the corpse to make identification of
nationality impossible. So William ordered that every murder
victim was assumed to be Norman unless proven English. This began
a court custom in murder cases of first proving the victim to be
English.
The Royal Court decided this case:
"At length both parties were summoned before the King's court, in
which there sat many of the nobles of the land of whom Geoffrey,
bishop of Coutances, was delegated by the King's authority as
judge of the dispute, with Ranulf the Vicomte, Neel, son of Neel,
Robert de Usepont, and many other capable judges who diligently
and fully examined the origin of the dispute, and delivered
judgment that the mill ought to belong to St. Michael and his
monks forever. The most victorious King William approved and
confirmed this decision."
Chapter 5
- The Times: 1100-1154 -
King Henry I, son of William of Normandy, furthered peace between
the Normans and native English by his marriage to a niece of King
Edward the Confessor called Matilda. She married him on condition
that he grant a charter of rights undoing some practices of the
past reigns of William I and William II. Peace was also furthered
by the fact that Henry I had been born in England and English was
his native tongue. Private wars were now replaced by mock
battles.
Henry was a shrewd judge of character and of the course of
events, cautious before taking action, but decisive in carrying
out his plans. He was faithful and generous to his friends. He
showed a strong practical element of calculation and foresight.
He was intelligent and a good administrator. He had an efficient
intelligence gathering network and an uncanny knack of detecting
hidden plans before they became conspiratorial action. He made
many able men of inferior social position nobles, thus creating a
class of career judges and administrators in opposition to the
extant hereditary aristocracy. He loved books and built a palace
at Oxford to which he invited scholars for lively discussion.
Queen Matilda served as regent in Henry's absence. She was
literate and a literary patron. Her compassion was great and her
charities extensive. She founded a hospital and had new roads and
bridges built.
Henry issued charters restoring customs which had been
subordinated to royal impositions by previous Kings, which set a
precedent for later Kings. His coronation charter describes
certain property rights he restored after the oppressive reign of
his brother.
"Henry, King of the English, to Samson the bishop, and Urse of
Abbetot, and to all his barons and faithful vassals, both French
and English, in Worcestershire, greeting.
[1.] Know that by the mercy of God and by the common counsel of
the barons of the whole kingdom of England I have been crowned
king of this realm. And because the kingdom has been oppressed by
unjust exactions, I now, being moved by reverence towards God and
by the love I bear you all, make free the Church of God; so that
I will neither sell nor lease its property; nor on the death of
an archbishop or a bishop or an abbot will I take anything from
the demesne of the Church or from its vassals during the period
which elapses before a successor is installed. I abolish all the
evil customs by which the kingdom of England has been unjustly
oppressed. Some of those evil customs are here set forth.
[2.] If any of my barons or of my earls or of any other of my
tenants shall die his heir shall not redeem his land as he was
wont to do in the time of my brother [William II (Rufus)], but he
shall henceforth redeem it by means of a just and lawful
'relief`. Similarly the men of my barons shall redeem their lands
from their lords by means of a just and lawful 'relief`.
[3.] If any of my barons or of my tenants shall wish to give in
marriage his daughter or his sister or his niece or his cousin,
he shall consult me about the matter; but I will neither seek
payment for my consent, nor will I refuse my permission, unless
he wishes to give her in marriage to one of my enemies. And if,
on the death of one of my barons or of one of my tenants, a
daughter should be his heir, I will dispose of her in marriage
and of her lands according to the counsel given me by my barons.
And if the wife of one of my tenants shall survive her husband
and be without children, she shall have her dower and her
marriage portion [that given to her by her father], and I will
not give her in marriage unless she herself consents.
[4.] If a widow survives with children under age, she shall have
her dower and her marriage portion, so long as she keeps her body
chaste; and I will not give her in marriage except with her
consent. And the guardian of the land, and of the children, shall
be either the widow or another of their relations, as may seem
more proper. And I order that my barons shall act likewise
towards the sons and daughters and widows of their men.
[5.] I utterly forbid that the common mintage [a forced levy to
prevent loss tothe King from depreciation of the coinage], which
has been taken from the towns and shires, shall henceforth be
levied, since it was not so levied in the time of King Edward
[the Confessor, before the Norman conquest]. If any moneyer or
other person be taken with false money in his possession, let
true justice be
visited upon him.
[6.] I forgive all pleas and all debts which were owing to my
brother [William II], except my own proper dues, and except those
things which were agreed to belong to the inheritance of others,
or to concern the property which justly belonged to others. And
if anyone had promised anything for his heritage, I remit it, and
I also remit all 'reliefs` which were promised for direct
inheritance.
[7.] If any of my barons or of my men, being ill, shall give away
or bequeath his movable property, I will allow that it shall be
bestowed according to this desires. But if, prevented either by
violence or through sickness, he shall die intestate as far as
concerns his movable property, his widow or his children, or his
relatives or one his true men shall make such division for the
sake of his soul, as may seem best to them.
[8.] If any of my barons or of my men shall incur a forfeit, he
shall not be compelled to pledge his movable property to an
unlimited amount, as was done in the time of my father [William
I] and my brother; but he shall only make payment according to
the extent of his legal forfeiture, as was done before the time
of my father and in the time of my earlier predecessors.
Nevertheless, if he be convicted of breach of faith or of crime,
he shall suffer such penalty as is just.
[9.] I remit all murder-fines which were incurred before the day
on which I was crowned King; and such murder-fines as shall now
be incurred shall be paid justly according to the law of King
Edward [by sureties].
[10.] By the common counsel of my barons I have retained the
forests in my own hands as my father did before me.
[11.] The knights, who in return for their estates perform
military service equipped with a hauberk [long coat] of mail,
shall hold their demesne lands quit of all gelds [money payments]
and all work; I make this concession as my own free gift in order
that, being thus relieved of so great a burden, they may furnish
themselves so well with horses and arms that they may be properly
equipped to discharge my service and to defend my kingdom.
[12.] I establish a firm peace in all my kingdom,, and I order
that this peace shall henceforth be kept.
[13.] I restore to you the law of King Edward together with such
emendations to
it as my father [William I] made with the counsel of his barons.
[14.] If since the death of my brother, King William [II], anyone
shall have seized any of my property, or the property of any
other man, let him speedily return the whole of it. If he does
this no penalty will be exacted, but if he retains any part of it
he shall, when discovered, pay a heavy penalty to me.
Witness: Maurice, bishop of London; William,
bishop-elect of Winchester; Gerard, bishop of Herefore; Henry the
earl; Simon the earl; Walter Giffard; Robert of
Montfort-sur-Risle; Roger Bigot; Eudo the steward; Robert, son of
Haimo; and Robert Malet.
At London when I was crowned. Farewell."
Henry took these promises seriously, which resulted in peace and
justice. Royal
justice became a force to be reckoned with by the multiplication
of justices. Henry had a great respect for legality and the forms
of judicial action. He became known as the "Lion of Justice".
The center of government was a collection of tenants-in-chief
whose feudal duty included attendance when summoned and certain
selected household servants of the King. When it met for
financial purposes, Henry called it the Exchequer and it became a
separate body. It received yearly from the sheriffs of the
counties taxes and fines due to the Crown and also the income
from royal estates, which were then comingled. Henry brought
sheriffs under his strict control, free from influence by the
barons.
A woman could inherit a fief if she married. The primary way for
a man to acquire land was to marry an heiress. If a man were in a
lower station than she was, he had to pay for his new social
status as well as have royal permission. A man could also be
awarded land which had escheated to the King. If a noble woman
wanted to hold land in her own right, she had to make a payment
to the King. Many widows bought their freedom from guardianship
or remarriage from the King. Women whose husbands were at war
also ran the land of their husbands.
Barons were lords of large holdings of farmland called "manors".
Many of the lesser barons left their dark castles to live in
semi-fortified stone houses, which usually were of two rooms with
rug hangings for drafts, as well as the sparse furniture that had
been common to the castle. There were shuttered windows to allow
in light, but which also let in the wind and rain when open. The
roof was of thatch or narrow overlapping wood shingles. The floor
was strew with hay and there was a hearth near the center of the
floor, with a louvered smoke hole in the timber roof for escape
of smoke. There were barns for grain and animals. Beyond this
area was a garden, orchard, and sometimes a vineyard. The area
was circumscribed by a moat over which there was a drawbridge to
a gatehouse.
The smaller room was the lord and lady's bedroom. It had a
canopied bed, chests for clothing, and wood frames on which
clothes could be hung. Life on the manor revolved around the
larger room, or hall, where the public life of the household was
passed. There, meals were served. The daily diet typically
consisted of milk, soup, porridge, fish, vegetables, and bread.
Open hospitality accompanied this communal living. There was
little privacy. Manor household villeins carried the lord's
sheaves of grain to the manor barn, shore his sheep, malted his
grain, and chopped wood for his fire. At night some slept on the
floor of the hall and others, cottars and bordars, had there own
dwellings nearby.
Games with dice were sometimes played. In winter, youths
ice-skated with bones fastened to their shoes. They propelled
themselves by striking the ice with staves shod with iron. On
summer holydays, they exercised in leaping, shooting with the
bow, wrestling, throwing stones, and darting a thrown spear. The
maidens danced with timbrels.
The cold, indoors as well as outdoors, necessitated that people
wear ample and warm garments. Men and women of position dressed
in long full cloaks reaching to their feet, sometimes having
short full sleeves. The cloak generally had a hood and was
fastened at the neck with a brooch. Underneath the cloak was a
simple gown with sleeves tight at the wrist but full at the
arm-hole, as if cut from the same piece of cloth. A girdle or
belt was worn at the waist. When the men were hunting or working,
they wore gown and cloak of knee length. Humble folk also wore
knee-length garments, with a band about the waist.
There was woodland, common pasture land, arable land, meadow
land, and wasteland on the manor. The arable land was alloted to
the villeins in strips to equalize the best and worst land and
their distance from the village where the villeins lived. There
was three way rotation of wheat or rye, oats or barley, and
fallow land. Cows, pigs, sheep, and fowl were kept. The meadow
was allocated for hay for the lord's household and each
villein's. The villeins held land of their lord for various
services such as agricultural labor or raising domestic animals.
The villeins, who worked the farm land as their ancestor ceorls
had, now were so bound to the land that they could not leave or
marry or sell an ox without their lord's consent. If the manor
was sold, the villein was sold as a part of the manor. The
villeins worked about half of their time on their lord's fields
[his demesne land], which was about a third of the farmland. This
work was primarily to gather the harvest and to plough with oxen
and to sow in autumn and Lent. Work lasted from sunrise to sunset
and included women and children. Life expectancy was probably
below thirty-five.
The villeins of a manor elected a reeve to communicate their
interests to their lord, usually through a bailiff, who directed
the labor. Sometimes there was a steward in charge of several of
a lord's manors, who also held the manorial court for the lord.
The steward held his land of the lord by serjeanty, which was a
specific service to the lord. Other serjeanty services were
helping in the lord's hunting expeditions and looking after his
hounds.
The majority of manors were co-extensive with a single village.
The villeins lived in the village in one-room huts enclosed by a
wood fence, hedge, or stone wall. In this yard was a garden of
onions, leeks, mustard, peas, beans, and cabbage and apple, pear,
cherry, and plum trees, and bee-hives. The hut had a high-pitched
roof thatched with reeds or straw and low eaves reaching almost
to the ground. The walls are built of wood overlaid with mud or
plaster. Narrow slits in the walls serve as windows. Which have
shutters and are sometimes covered with coarse cloth. The floor
is dirt and may be covered with straw or rushes for warmth. At
one end of the hut was the family living area, where the family
ate on a collapsible trestle table with stools or benches and
used drinking horns and wooden bowls and spoons, along with jars
and other earthenware. Their usual food was beans and peas, and
some bacon, butter, cheese, and vegetables, bread made from a
mixture of wheat, barley, and rye flour, and occasionally fish.
They drank water, milk, buttermilk, apple cider, mead, and ale
made from barley malt. Cooking was done over the fire with iron
tripod and kettle. Most of the food was boiled. They slept on the
floor or on benches. The villein regarded his bed area as the
safest place in the house, as did people of all ranks, and kept
his treasures there, which included his farm implements. Around
the room are a couple of chests to store salt, meal, flour, a
broom made of birch trigs, some woven baskets, the distaff and
spindle for spinning, and a simple loom for weaving. All clothes
were homemade. The man wore a tunic of coarse linen embroidered
on the sleeves and breast, around with he wore a girdle of rope,
leather, or folded cloth. Sometimes he also wore breeches
reaching below the knee. The woman wore a loose short-sleeved
gown, under which was a tight fitting garment with long
loose sleeves. If they wore shoes, they were clumsy and patched.
Some wore a hood-like cap. At the other end of the hut were the
horses, cattle, pigs, and poultry. In the middle is a wood fire
burning on a hearthstone. The smoke rises through a hole in the
roof.
The villein and his wife and children worked from daybreak to
dusk in the fields, except for Sundays and holydays. He had
certain land to farm for his own family, but had to have his
grain milled at his lord's mill at the lord's price. He had to
retrieve his wandering cattle from his lord's pound at the lord's
price. He was expected to give a certain portion of his own
produce, whether grain or livestock, to his lord. However, if he
fell short, he was not put off his land. When his daughter or son
married, he had to pay a "merchet" to his lord. He could not have
a son educated without the lord's permission, and this usually
involved a fee to the lord. His best beast at his death, or
"heriot", went to his lord. If he wanted permission to live
outside the manor, he paid "chevage" yearly. Woodpenny was a
yearly payment for gathering dead wood. Sometimes a "tallage"
payment was taken at the lord's will. The villein's oldest son
usually took his place on his land and followed the same customs
with respect to the lord. For an heir to take his dead ancestor's
land, the lord demanded payment of a "relief", which was usually
the amount of a year's income but sometimes as much as the heir
was willing to pay to have the land. The usual aids were also
expected to be paid.
Markets were about twenty miles apart because a farmer from the
outlying area could then carry his produce to the nearest town
and walk back again in the daylight hours of one day. In this
local market he could buy foodstuffs, livestock, household goods,
fuels, skins, and certain varieties of cloth.
The cloth was crafted by local weavers, dyers, and fullers, who
made the cloth full and dense. Some cloth was sold to tailors to
make into clothes. Butchers bought, slaughtered, and cut up
animals to sell as meat. Some was sold to cooks, who sold
prepared foods. The hide was bought by the tanner to make into
leather. The leather was sold to shoemakers and glovemakers.
Millers bought harvested grain to make into flour. Flour was sold
to bakers to make into breads. Wood was bought by carpenters and
by coopers, who made barrels. Tilers, oil-makers and rope-makers
also bought raw material to make into finished goods for sale.
Smiths, locksmiths, and wheelwrights worked over their hot fires.
The nation grew with the increase of population, the development
of towns, and the growing mechanization of craft industries.
There were watermills for crafts in all parts of the nation.
There were also some iron furnaces.
Stone bridges over rivers could accommodate one person traveling
by foot or by horseback and were steep and narrow.
Merchants, who had come from the low end of the knightly class or
high end of the villein class, settled around the open market
areas, where main roads joined. They had plots narrow in frontage
along the road and deep. Their shops faced the road, with living
space behind or above their stores. Town buildings were typically
part stone and part timber as a compromise between fire
precautions and expense.
Towns, as distinct from villages, had permanent markets. As towns
grew, they paid a fee to obtain a charter for self-government
from the King giving the town judicial and commercial freedom.
These various rights were typically expanded in future times.
Such a town was called a "borough" and its citizens or
land-owning freemen "burgesses". They were literate enough to do
accounts. Selling wholesale could take place only in a borough.
The King assessed a tallage [ad hoc tax] usually at ten per cent
of property or income. Henry standardized the yard as the length
of his own arm.
London had at least twenty wards, each governed by its own
alderman. Most of them were named after people. London was ruled
by sixteen families linked by business and marriage ties. These
businesses supplied luxury goods to the rich and included the
goldsmiths [sold cups, dishes, girdles, mirrors, purses knives,
and metal wine containers with handle and spout], vintners [wine
merchants], mercers [sold textiles, haberdashery, combs, mirrors,
knives, toys, spices, ointments, and drugs], drapers, and
pepperers, which later merged with the spicerers to become the
"grocers". These businesses had in common four fears: royal
interference, foreign competition, displacement by new crafts,
and violence by the poor and escaped villeins who found their way
to the city.
London in Middlesex county received this charter for
self-government and freedom from the financial and judicial
organization of the shire:
"Henry, by the grace of God, King of England, to the Archbishop
of Canterbury and the bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars,
sheriffs and all his loyal subjects, both French and English,
throughout the whole of England - greeting.
- Be it known to you that I have granted Middlesex to my
citizens of London to be held on lease by them and their heirs of
me and my heirs for 300 pounds paid by tale [yearly], upon these
terms: that the citizens themselves [may] appoint a sheriff, such
as they desire, from among themselves, and a justiciar, such as
they desire, from among themselves, to safeguard the pleas of my
Crown [criminal cases] and to conduct such pleas. And there shall
be no other justiciar over the men of London.
2. And the citizens shall not take part in any [civil] case
whatsoever outside the City walls.
- And they shall be exempt from the payment of scot and
danegeld and the murder fine.
2) And none of them shall take part in trial by combat.
3) And if any of the citizens has become involved in a plea
of the Crown, he shall clear himself, as a citizen of London, by
an oath which has been decreed in the city.
4) And no one shall be billeted [lodged in a person's house
by order of the King] within the walls of the city nor shall
hospitality be forcibly exacted for anyone belonging to my
household or to any other.
5) And all the citizens of London and all their effects
[goods] shall be exempt and free, both throughout England and in
the seaports, from toll and fees for transit and market fees and
all other dues.
6) And the churches and barons and citizens shall have and
hold in peace and security their rights of jurisdiction [in civil
and criminal matters] along with all their dues, in such a way
that lessees who occupy property in districts under private
jurisdiction shall pay dues to no one except the man to whom the
jurisdiction belongs, or to the official whom he has placed
there.
7) And a citizen of London shall not be amerced [fined by a
court when the penalty for an offense is not designated by
statute] to forfeiture of a sum greater than his wergeld, [hereby
assessed as] 100 shillings, in a case involving money.
8) And further there shall be no miskenning [false plea
causing a person to be summoned to court] in a husting or in a
folkmoot [meeting of the community], or in any other court within
the City.
9) And the Hustings [court] shall sit once a week on Monday.
10) And I assure to my citizens their lands and the property
mortgaged to them and the debts due to them both within the City
and without.
11) And with regard to lands about which they have plead in
suit before me, I shall maintain justice on their behalf,
according to the law of the City.
12) And if anyone has exacted toll or tax from citizens of
London, the citizens of London within the city shall [have the
right to] seize [by process of law] from the town or village
where the toll or tax was exacted a sum equivalent to that which
the citizen of London gave as toll and hence sustained as loss.
13) And all those who owe debts to citizens shall pay them or
shall clear themselves in London from the charge of being in debt
to them.
14) But if they have refused to pay or to come to clear
themselves, then the citizens to whom they are in debt shall
[have the right to] seize [by process of law] their goods
[including those in the hands of a third party, and bring them]
into the city from the [town, village or] county in which the
debtor lives [as pledges to compel appearance in court].
15) And the citizens shall enjoy as good and full hunting
rights as their ancestors ever did, namely, in the Chilterns, in
Middlesex, and in Surrey.
Witnessed at Westminster."
The above right not to take part in any case outside the city
relieved London citizens from the burden of traveling to wherever
the King's court happened to be, the disadvantage of not knowing
local customs, and the difficulty of speaking in the language of
the King's court rather than in English. The right of redress for
tolls exacted was new because the state of the law was that the
property of the inhabitants was liable to the King or superior
lord for the common debt.
Craft guilds grew up in the towns, such as the tanners at Oxford,
which later merged with the shoemakers into a cordwainers' guild.
There were weavers' guilds in several towns given royal sanction.
They paid an annual tribute and were given a monopoly of weaving
cloth within a radius of several miles. Guild rules covered
attendance of the members at church services, the promotion of
pilgrimages, celebration of masses for the dead, common meals,
relief of poor brethren and sisters, the hours of labor, the
process of manufacture, the wages of workmen, and technical
education.
Newcastle-on-Tyne was recognized by the King as having certain
customs, so the following was not called a grant:
"These are the laws and customs which the burgesses of Newcastle
upon Tyne had in the time of Henry King of England and ought to
have.
[1] Burgesses can distrain [take property of another until the
other performs his obligation] upon foreigners within, or without
their own market, within or without their own houses, and within
or without their own borough without the leave of the reeve,
unless the county court is being held in the borough, and unless
[the foreigners are] on military service or guarding the castle.
[2] A burgess cannot distrain upon a burgess without the leave of
the reeve.
[3] If a burgess have lent anything of his to a foreigner, let
the debtor restore it in the borough if he admits the debt, if he
denies it, let him justify himself in the borough.
[4] Pleas which arise in the borough shall be held and concluded
there, except pleas of the Crown.
[5] If any burgess be appealed [sued] of any plaint, he shall not
plead without the borough, unless for default of [the borough]
court.
[6] Nor ought he to answer without day and term, unless he have
fallen into 'miskenning'[error in pleading], except in matters
which pertain to the Crown.
[7] If a ship have put in at Tynemouth and wishes to depart, the
burgesses may buy what they will [from it].
[8] If a plea arise between a burgess and a merchant, it shall be
concluded before the third ebb of the tide.
[9] Whatever merchandise a ship has brought by sea must be
landed, except salt; and herring ought to be sold in the ship.
[10] If any man have held land in burgage for a year and a day,
lawfully and without claim, he shall not answer a claimant,
unless the claimant have been without the realm of England, or a
child not of age to plead.
[11] If a burgess have a son, he shall be included in his
father's freedom if he be with his father.
[12] If a villein come to dwell in the borough, and dwell there a
year and a day as a burgess, he shall abide altogether, unless
notice has been given by him or by his master that he is dwelling
for a term.
[13] If any man appeal [sue] a burgess of any thing, he cannot do
battle with the burgess, but the burgess shall defend himself by
his law, unless it be of treason, whereof he is bound to defend
himself by battle.
[14] Neither can a burgess do battle against a foreigner, unless
he first go out of the borough.
[15] No merchant, unless he be a burgess, may buy [outside] the
town either wool or leather or other merchandise, nor within the
borough except [from] burgesses.
[16] If a burgess incur forfeit, he shall give six ounces [10s.]
to the reeve.
[17] In the borough there is no merchet [payment for marrying off
a daughter] nor heriot nor blodwite [fine for drawing blood] nor
stengesdint [fine for striking with a stick].
[18] Every burgess may have his own oven and hand-mill if he
will, saving the right of the King's oven.
[19] If a woman be in forfeit for bread or beer, no one ought to
interfere but the reeve. If she forfeit twice, she shall be
chastised by her forfeit. If three times, let justice be done on
her.
[20] No one but a burgess may buy webs [woven fabrics just taken
off the loom] to dye, nor make nor cut them.
[21] A burgess may give and sell his land and go whither he will
freely and quietly unless there be a claim against him."
In the boroughs, merchant and manufacturing guilds controlled
prices and assured quality. The head officer of the guild usually
controlled the borough, which excluded rival merchant guilds.
Trades and crafts, each of which had to be licensed, grouped
together by speciality in the town. Cloth-makers, dyers, tanners,
and fullers were near an accessible supply of running water, upon
which their trade depended. Streets were often named by the trade
located there, such as Butcher Row, Pot Row, Cordwainer Row,
Ironmonger Row, Wheeler Row, and Fish Row. Hirers of labor and
sellers of wheat, hay, livestock, dairy products, apples and
wine, meat, poultry, fish and pies, timber and cloth all had a
distinct location.
The nation produced sufficient iron, but a primitive steel was
imported. Steel was used for tools, instruments, weapons and
armour.
Plays about miracles wrought by holy men or the sufferings and
fortitude of martyrs were performed. Most nobles could read,
though writing was still a specialized craft. There were books on
animals, plants, and stones. The lives of the saints as told in
the book "The Golden Legend" were popular. The story of the early
King Arthur was told in the book "The History of the Kings of
England". The story at this time stressed Arthur as a hero and
went as follows: Arthur became King at age 15. He had an inborn
goodness and generosity as well as courage. He and his knights
won battles against foreign settlers and neighboring clans. Once,
he and his men surrounded a camp of foreigners until they gave up
their gold and silver rather than starve. Arthur married
Guenevere and established a court and retinue. Leaving Britain in
the charge of his nephew Modred, he fought battles on the
continent for land to give to his noblemen who did him service in
his household and fought with him. When Arthur returned to
Britain, he made battle with his nephew Modred who had crowned
himself King. Arthur's knight Gawain, the son of his sister, and
the enemy Modred were killed and Arthur was severely wounded.
Arthur told his kinsman Constantine to rule Britain as King in
his place.
The intellectual world included art, secular literature, law, and
medicine. There were about 90 physicians.
Forests were still retained by Kings for their hunting of boars
and stags. The bounds of the Forest were enlarged. They comprised
almost one-third of the kingdom.
Barons and their tenants and sub-tenants were offered an
alternative of paying shield money ["scutage"] of 2 marks per fee
in commutation for and instead of military service for their
fiefs. This enabled Henry to hire soldiers who would be more
directly under his own control and to organize a more efficient
army.
A substantial number of barons and monasteries were heavily in
debt to the Jews. The King taxed the Jews at will.
During rivalry for the throne after Henry I's reign, the bishops
gained some independence from the Crown and strenthened their
ties with the Pope.
- The Law -
Henry restored the death penalty for thievery and robbery, but
maintained William I's punishment of the mutilation of blinding
and severing of limbs for other offenses.
The forest law stated that: "he that doth hunt a wild beast and
doth make him pant, shall pay 10 shillings: If he be a free man,
then he shall pay double. If he be a bound man, he shall lose his
skin." A "verderer" was responsible for enforcing this law, which
also stated that: "If anyone does offer force to a Verderer, if
he be a freeman, he shall lose his freedom, and all that he hath.
And if he be a villein, he shall lose his right hand." Further,
"If such an offender does offend so again, he shall lose his
life."
A wife's dower is one-third of all her husband's freehold land,
unless his endowment of her at their marriage was less than
one-third.
Counterfeiting law required that "If any one be caught carrying
false coin, the reeve shall give the bad money to the King
however much there is, and it shall be charged in the render of
his farm [payment] as good, and the body of the offender shall be
handed over to the King for judgment, and the serjeants who took
him shall have his clothes."
Debts to townsmen were recoverable by this law: "If a burgess has
a gage [a valuable object held as security for carrying out an
agreement] for money lent and holds this for a whole year and a
day, and the debtor will not deny the debt or deliver the gage,
and this is proved, the burgess may sell the gage before good
witnesses for as much as he can, and deduct his money from the
sum. If any money is over he shall return it to the debtor. But
if there is not enough to pay him, he shall take distress again
for the amount that is lacking."
Past due rent in a borough was punishable by payment of 10s. as
fine."
There are legal maxims which are becoming so well established and
known that there will never be a need to write them down as
statutes. As delineated by St. Germain in "Doctor and Student" in
1518, they are:
- If a man steals goods to the value of 12d., or above, it is
felony, and he shall die for it. If it is under the value of
12d., then it is but petit larceny, and he shall not die for it,
but shall be punished at the discretion of the judges. This not
apply to goods taken from the person, which is robbery, a felony
punishable by death.
2. If an exigent, in case of felony, is awarded against a man, he
has thereby forthwith forfeited his goods to the King.
3. If the son is attainted [convicted of treason or felony with
the death penalty and forfeiture of all lands and goods] in the
life of the father, and after he purchases his charter of pardon
of the King, and after the father dies; in this case the land
shall escheat to the lord of the fee, insomuch that though he has
a younger brother, yet the land shall not descend to him: for by
the attainder of the elder brother the blood is corrupt, and the
father-in-law died without heir.
4. A man declared outlaw forfeits his profits from land and his
goods to the King.
5. He who is arraigned upon an indictment of felony shall be
admitted, in favor of life, to challenge the number of inquirers
for three whole inquests peremptorily. With cause, he may
challenge as many as he has cause to challenge. Such peremptory
challenge shall not be admitted in a private suit because it is a
suit of the party.
6. An accessory shall not be put to answer before the principal.
7. If a man commands another to commit a trespass, and he does
it, the one who made the command is a trespasser.
8. The land of every man is in the law enclosed from other,
though it lies in the open field and a trespasser in it may be
brought to court.
9. Every man is bound to make recompense for such hurt as his
beasts do in the growing grain or grass of his neighbor, though
he didn't know that they were there.
10. He who has possession of land, though it is by disseisin, has
right against all men but against him who has right.
11. The rents, commons of pasture, of turbary [digging turf],
reversions, remainders, nor such other things which lie not in
manual occupation, may not be given or granted to another without
writing.
12. If a villein purchase lands, and the lord enter, he shall
enjoy the land as his own. But if the villein alienates before
the lord enters, he alienation is good. And the same law is of
goods.
13. Escuage (shield service for 40 days) uncertain makes knight's
service. Escuage certain makes socage.
14. He who holds by castle-guard, holds by knight's service, but
he does not hold by escuage. He that holds by 20s. to the guard
of a castle holds by socage.
15. A descent takes away an entry.
16. No prescription [assertion of a right or title to the
enjoyment of a thing, on the ground of having had the
uninterrupted and immemorial enjoyment of it] in lands makes a
right.
17. A prescription of rent and profits out of land makes a right.
18. The limitation of a prescription generally taken is from the
time that no man's mind runs to the contrary.
19. Assigns may be made upon lands given in fee, for term of
life, or for term of years, though no mention be made of assigns;
and the same law is of a rent that is granted; but otherwise it
is of a warranty, and of a covenant.
20. He who recovers debt or damages in the King's court when the
person charged is not in custody, may within a year after the
judgment take the body of the defendant, and commit him to prison
until he has paid the debt and damages.
21. If a release or confirmation is made to him who, at the time
of the release made, had nothing in the land, the release or
confirmation is void, except in certain cases, such as to vouch.
22. A condition to avoid a freehold cannot be pleaded without a
deed; but to avoid a gift of chattel, it may be pleaded without
deed.
23. A release or confirmation made by him, that at the time of
the release or confirmation made had no right, is void in law,
though a right comes to him after; except if it is with warranty,
and then it shall bar him to all right that he shall have after
the warranty is made.
24. If land and rent that is going out of the same land, comes
into one man's hand of like estate, and like surety of title, the
rent is extinct.
25. If land descends to him who has right to the same land
before, he shall be remitted to his better title, if he will.
26. If two titles are concurrent together, the oldest title shall
be preferred.
27. If a real action be sued against any man who has nothing in
the thing demanded, the writ shall abate at the common law.
28. If the demandant or plaintiff, hanging his writ, will enter
into the thing demanded, his writ shall abate.
29. By the alienation of the tenant, hanging the writ, or his
entry into religion, or if he is made a knight, or she is a
woman, and takes a husband hanging the writ, the writ shall not
abate.
30. A right or title of action that only depends in action,
cannot be given or granted to none other but only to the tenant
of the ground, or to him who has the reversion or remainder of
the same land.
31. In an action of debt upon an agreement, the defendant may
wage his law: but otherwise it is upon a lease of lands for term
of years, or at will.
32. The King may disseise no man and no man may disseise the
King, nor pull any reversion or remainder out of him.
33. The King's excellency is so high in the law, that no freehold
may be given to the King, nor be derived from him, but by matter
of record.
34. If an abbot or prior alienate the lands of his house, and
dies, though his successor has right to the lands, yet he may not
enter, but he must take legal
action.
35. If an abbot buys a thing that comes to the use of the house,
and dies, then his successor shall be charged.
Judicial activity encouraged the recording of royal legislation
in writing which both looked to the past and attempted to set
down law current in Henry's own day. The "Liberi Quadripartitus"
aimed to include all English law of the time. This showed an
awareness of the ideal of written law as a statement of judicial
principles as well as of the practice of kingship. In this way,
concepts of Roman law used by the Normans found their way into
English law.
Church law required that only consent between a man and woman was
necessary for marriage. There needn't be witnesses, ceremony, nor
consummation. Consent could not be coerced. Penalties in marriage
contracts were deemed invalid. Villeins and slaves could marry
without their lords' or owners' permission. A couple living
together could be deemed married. Relatives descended from the
same great great grandfather could not marry, nor could relatives
by marriage of the same degree of closeness. A legal separation
could be given for adultery, cruelty, or heresy. Fathers were
usually ordered to provide some sustenance and support for their
illegitimate children. The court punished infanticide and
abortion.
- Judicial Procedure -
Courts extant now are the Royal Court, the King's Court of the
Exchequer, shire courts, and hundred courts, which were under the
control of the King. His appointed justices administered justice
in these courts on regular circuits. Also there are manor courts,
borough courts, and ecclesiastical courts.
The King's Royal Court heard issues concerning the Crown and
breaches of the King's peace, which included almost all criminal
matters. The most serious offenses: murder, robbery, rape,
abduction, arson, treason, and breach of fealty, were now called
felonies. Other offenses were: housebreaking, ambush, certain
kinds of theft, premeditated assault, and harboring outlaws or
excommunicants. Henry personally presided over hearings of
important legal cases. He punished crime severely. Offenders were
brought to justice not only by the complaint of an individual or
local community action, but by official prosecutors. A prosecutor
was now at trials as well as a judge. Trial is still by
compurgation.
These offenses against the King placed merely personal property
and sometimes land at the King's mercy. Thus the Crown increased
the range of offenses subject to its jurisdiction and arrogated
to itself profits from the penalties imposed.
The Royal Court also heard these offenses against the King:
fighting in his dwelling, contempt of his writs or commands,
encompassing the death or injury of his servants, contempt or
slander of the King, and violation of his protection or his law.
It heard these offenses against royal authority: complaints of
default of justice or unjust judgment, pleas of wrecks of ships,
coinage, treasure-trove [money buried when danger approached],
forest prerogatives, and control of castellation.
Henry began the use of writs to intervene in civil matters. These
writs allowed people to come to the Royal Court on certain
issues. He had some locally based justices, called justiciars.
Also, he sent justices out on eyres [journeys],with wide
responsibilities, to hear and decide all manner of Crown pleas.
This brought royal authority into the localities and served to
check baronial power over the common people. He created the
office of chief justiciar, which carried out judicial and
administrative functions.
The Royal Court also decided land disputes between barons. There
was a vigorous interventionism in the land law subsequent to
appeals to the King in landlord-tenant relations, brought by a
lord or by an undertenant. Assizes [those who sit together] of
local people who knew relevant facts were put together to assist
the court.
Records of the verdicts of the Royal Court were sent with
traveling justices for use as precedent in shire and hundred
courts.
The King's Court of the Exchequer reviewed the accounts of
sheriffs, including receipts and expenditures on the Crown's
behalf as well as sums due to the Treasury, located still at
Winchester. These sums included rent from royal estates, the
Danegeld land tax, the fines from local courts, and aid from
barional estates. It was called the "Exchequer" because it used a
chequered cloth on the table to facilitate calculation in Roman
numerals of the amount due and the amount paid. It's records were
the "Pipe Rolls", so named because sheets of parchment were
fastened at the top, each of which dropped into a roll at the
bottom and so assumed the shape of a pipe.
The shire and hundred courts assessed the personal property of
individuals and their taxes due to the King. The shire court
decided land disputes between people who had different barons as
their respective lords.
The Crown used its superior coercive power to enforce the legal
decisions of other courts.
The shire courts heard cases of theft, brawling, beating, and
wounding, for which the penalties could be exposure in the
pillory or stocks where the public could scorn and hit the
offender. It met twice yearly. If an accused failed to appear
after four successive shire courts, he was declared outlaw at the
fifth and forfeited his civil rights and all his property. He
could be slain by anyone at will.
The hundred court heard neighborhood disputes, for instance
concerning pastures, meadows and harvests. It policed the duty of
frankpledge, which was required for those who did not have a lord
to answer for him. It met once a month.
The free landholders were expected to attend shire, hundred, and
baronage courts. They owed "suit" to it. The suitors found the
dooms [laws] by which the presiding officer pronounced the
sentence.
The barons held court on their manors for issues arising between
people living on the manor, such as bad ploughing on the lord's
land or letting a cow get loose on the lord's land, and land
disputes. They also made the decision of whether or not a person
was a villein or free. The manor court took over issues which had
once been heard in the vill or hundred court. The baron charged a
fee for hearing a case and received any fines he imposed, which
amounted to significant "profits of justice".
Boroughs held court on trading and marketing issues in their
towns such as measures and weights, as well as issues between
people who lived in the borough. The borough court was presided
over by a reeve who was a burgess as well as a royal official.
Wealthy men could employ professional pleaders to advise them and
to speak for them in a court.
The ecclesiastical courts dealt with family matters such as
marriage, annulments, marriage portions, legitimacy,
wife-beating, child abuse, bigamy, adultery, incest, fornication,
personal possessions, slander, usury, mortuaries, sanctuary,
sacrilege, blasphemy, heresy, tithe payments, church fees, and
breaches of promises under oath, e.g. to pay a debt, provide
services, or deliver goods. It decided inheritance and will
issues which did not concern land, but only personal property.
This developed from the practice of a priest usually hearing a
dying person's will as to the disposition of his goods and
chattel when he made his last confession. It provided
guardianship of infants during probate of their personal
property. Trial was by compurgation. An alleged offender could be
required to answer questions under oath, thus giving evidence
against himself. The court's penalties were intended to reform
and determined on a case-by-case basis. They could include
confession and public repentance of the sin before the parish,
making apologies and reparation to persons affected, public
embarrassment such as being dunked in water (e.g. for women
scolds), walking a route barefoot and clad only in one's
underwear, whippings, extra work, fines, and imprisonment in a
"penitentiary" to do penance. The ultimate punishment was
excommunication with social ostracism. Then no one could give the
person drink, food, or shelter and the only people he could speak
to were his spouse and servants. Excommunication included denial
of the sacraments of baptism, penance, eucharist, and extreme
unction at death; which were necessary for salvation of the soul;
and the sacrament of confirmation. However, the person could
still marry and make a will. Excommunication was usually imposed
for failure to obey an order or showing contempt of the law or of
the courts. It required a due process hearing and a written
reason. If this measure failed, it was possible to turn the
offender over to the state for punishment, e.g. for blasphemy or
heresy. Blasphemy [speaking ill of God] was thought to cause
God's wrath expressed in famine, pestilence, and earthquake and
was usually punished by a fine or corporal punishment, e.g.
perforation or amputation of the tongue. It was tacitly
understood that the punishment for heresy was death by burning.
The state usually assured itself the sentence was just before
imposing it. The court of the rural dean was the ecclesiastical
parallel of the hundred court of secular jurisdiction and usually
had the same land boundaries.
Chapter 6
- The Times: 1154-1215 -
King Henry II and Queen Eleanor, who was twelve years older, were
both intelligent, educated, energetic, well-traveled, and
experienced in affairs of state. Henry was the first Norman King
to be fully literate. Eleanor often served as regent during
Henry's reign and the reigns of their two sons: Richard, the
Lion-Hearted, and John, a short man. After Eleanor's death,
John's heavy-handed and arbitrary rule quickly alienated all
sectors of the population, who joined to pressure him to sign the
Magna Carta. Since John had extracted many heavy fines from
barons by personally adjudging them blameworthy in disputes with
others, the barons insisted on judgment by their peers under the
established law of the courts. The story of Robin Hood portrays
John's attempt to gain the crown prematurely while Richard was on
the Crusades to recover Jerusalem for Christendom.
Henry II was a modest, courteous, and patient man with an
astonishing memory and strong personality. He was indifferent to
rank and impatient of pomp to the point of being careless about
his appearance. He usually dressed in riding clothes and was
often unkempt. He was thrifty, but generous to the poor.
Henry revived and augmented the laws and institutions of his
grandfather, Henry I, and developed them to a new perfection.
Almost all legal and fiscal institutions appear in their first
effective form during his reign. For instance, he
institutionalized the assize for a specific function in judicial
proceedings, whereas before it had been an ad hoc body used for
various purposes.
Henry's government practiced a strict economy and he never
exploited the growing wealth of the nation. He abhorred bloodshed
and the sacrifice of men's lives. So he strove diligently to keep
the peace, when possible by gifts of money, but otherwise with
armed force. Merchants with precious goods could journey safely
through the land from fair to fair. Frankpledge was revived. No
stranger could stay overnight (except for one night in a
borough), unless sureties were given for his good behavior. A
list of such strangers was to be given to itinerant judges.
Henry had character and the foresight to build up a centralized
system of government that would survive him. He learned about the
shires' and villages' varying laws and customs. Then, using the
model of Roman law, he gave to English institutions that unity
and system which in their casual patch-work development had been
lacking. Henry's government and courts forged permanent direct
links between the King and his subjects which cut through the
feudal structure of lords and vassals.
He developed the methods and structure of government so that
there was a great increase in the scope of administrative
activity without a concurrent increase of personal power of the
officials who discharged it. The government was self-regulating,
with methods of accounting and control which meant that no
official, however exalted, could entirely escape the surveillance
of his colleagues and the King. At the same time, administrative
and judicial procedures were perfected so that much which had
previously required the King's personal attention was reduced to
routine.
The royal household translated the royal will into action. In the
early 12th century, there had been very little machinery of
central government that was not closely associated with the royal
household. Royal government was largely built upon what had once
been purely domestic offices. Kings had called upon their
chaplains to pen letters for them. By Henry II's reign, the
Chancery was a highly efficient writing office through which the
King's will was expressed in a flow of writs, and the Chancellor
an important and highly rewarded official, but he was still
responsible for organizing the services in the royal chapel.
Similarly, the chamberlains ran the household's financial
departments. They arranged to have money brought in from a
convenient castle-treasury, collected money from sheriffs or the
King's debtors, arranged loans with the usurers, and supervised
the spending of it. It was spent for daily domestic needs, the
King's almsgiving, and the mounting of a military campaign. But
they were still responsible for personal attendance upon the King
in his privy chamber, taking care of his valuable furs, jewels,
and documents, and changing his bedlinens. There were four other
departments of the household. The steward presided over the hall
and kitchens was responsible for supplying the household and
guests with food supplies. The butler had duties in the hall and
cellars and was responsible for the supply of wine and ale. The
marshall arranged lodgings for the King's court as it moved about
from palaces to hunting lodges, arranged the pay of the household
servants, and supervised the work of ushers, watchmen,
fire-tenders, messengers and huntsmen. The constable organized
the bodyguard and escorts, arranged for the supply of castles,
and mustered the royal army.
Henry brought order and unity by making the King's Royal Court
the common court of the land. Its purpose was to guard the King's
peace by protecting all people of free status throughout the
nation. Heretofore, the scope of the King's peace had varied to
as little as the King's presence, his land, and his highway. The
royal demesne had shrunk to about 5% of the land. The Common Law
for all the nation was established by example of the King's Royal
Court.
A system of writs originated well-defined actions in the royal
courts. This system determined the Royal Court's jurisdiction as
against the church, lords, and sheriffs. It limited the
jurisdiction of all other courts and subordinated them to the
Royal Court. Inquests into any misdeeds of sheriffs were held,
which could result in their dismissal.
Before Henry's reign, the church had become more powerful and
asserted more authority. Henry tried to return to the concept of
the King being appointed by God and as he head of the church as
well as of the state, as in Henry I's time. Toward this end, he
published the Constitutions of Clarendon. But the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Thomas Becket, refused to agree to them. The
disageement came to a head in Henry's attempt to establish the
principle of "one law to all" by having church clerics punished
by the civil courts as before, instead of having "benefit of
clergy" to be tried only in ecclesiastical courts, even for
secular crimes. Clerics composed about one-sixth the population.
The church courts had characteristically punished with a fine or
a penance, and at most defrocking, and never imposed a death
penalty, even for murder. When Archbishop Becket was murdered and
became a martyr, "benefit of clergy" became a standard right.
Appeals could be made to the Pope without the King's permission.
The King could take a criminal cleric's chattels, but not his
life. However, though theoretically the bishops were elective, as
a practical matter, the King appointed the bishops and the
abbots.
Henry and Eleanor spoke many languages and liked discussing law,
philosophy, and history. So they gathered wise and learned man
about them, who became known as courtiers, rather than people of
social rank. They lived in the great and strong Tower of London.
On the west were two strongly fortified castles surrounded by a
high and deeply entrenched wall, which had seven double gates.
Towers were spaced along the north wall and the Thames River
flowed below the south wall. To the west was the city, where
royal friends had residences with adjoining gardens near the
royal palace at Westminster. The court was a center of culture as
well as of government. The game of backgammon was played. People
wore belts with buckles, usually brass, instead of knotting their
belts.
London extended about a mile along the river and about half a
mile inland. Most of its houses were two stories, the ground
floor having booths and workshops, and the upper floor living
space. Walls between houses had to be stone and thatched roofs
were banned because there had been many fires. There were over a
hundred churches in the city, which celebrated feast days, gave
alms and hospitality to strangers, confirmed betrothals,
contracted marriages, celebrated weddings, conducted funerals,
and buried the dead. Fish and no meat was eaten on Fridays and
during lent. There was dark rye bread and expensive white wheat
bread. Vegetables included onions, leeks, and cabbage. Fruits
included apples, pears, plums, cherries, and strawberries. Water
was obtained from streams running through the town to the river
and from springs. There were craft guilds of bakers, butchers,
clothworkers, and saddlers, as well as of weavers. Vendors,
craftsmen, and laborers had their customary places, which they
took up every morning.
Some vendors walked the streets announcing their wares for sale.
In London, bells heralded the start and finish of all organized
business. At sunset, the gates of the town were closed for the
night. Only the rich could afford wax candles; others had
home-made tallow or fat lights which smelled and gave off smoke.
Most people washed their bodies. Few babies survived childhood.
If a man reached 30, he could expect to live until age 50. The
sellers of merchandise and hirers of labor were distributed every
morning into their several localities according to their trade.
Outside one of the gates, a horse market was held every week.
They wore horseshoes made of iron or of a crude steel. In other
fields, countryfolk sold pigs, cows, oxen and sheep. London
Bridge was built of stone with such a width that a row of wood
houses and a chapel was built on top of it.
The weavers guild of London received a charter by the King in
1155, the first granted to any London craft: "Know that I have
conceded to the Weavers of London to hold their guild in London
with all the liberties and customs which they had in the time of
King Henry [I], my grandfather; and that none may intermeddle
with the craft within the city, nor in Southwark, nor in other
places pertaining to London except through them and except he be
in their guild, otherwise than was accustomed to be done in the
time of King Henry, my grandfather ...So that each year they
render thence to me two marks [26s. 8d.] of gold at the feast of
St. Michael. And I forbid that any shall do injury or contumely
to them on this account under penalty of 10 pounds [200s.].
Witness T[homas], Chancellor, and Warinus, son of Gerard,
Chamberlain, at Winchester." These liberties were: 1) The weavers
may elect bailiffs to supervise the work of the craft, to punish
defaulters, and to collect the ferm. The bailiffs were chosen
from year to year and swore before the Mayors of London to do and
keep their office well and truly. 2) The bailiffs may hold court
from week to week on pleas of debt, agreements, covenants, and
minor trespasses. 3) If any of the guild members are sued in any
other court on any of the above pleas, the guild may challenge
that plea to bring it to the guild court. 4) If any member is
behind in his share of the payment to the King, the bailiffs may
distrain his loom until he has paid this.
Paying an annual payment freed the weavers from liability to
inconsequent royal fines. Failure to make this payment promptly
might have led to loss of the right, hence the rigorous penalty
of distraint upon the looms of individual weavers who fell into
arrears.
The weavers' guild punished members who used bad thread in their
weaving or did defective weaving by showing the default to the
Mayor, with opportunity for the workman to make entreaty, and the
Mayor and twelve members of the guild then made a verdict of
amercement of 1/2 mark [6s. 8d.] and the workman of the cloth was
also punished by the guild bailiffs according to guild custom.
The weavers' guild tradition of brotherliness among members meant
that injury to a fellow weaver incurred a severe penalty. If a
weaver stole or eloigned [removed them to a distance where they
were unreachable] any other weaver's goods falsely and
maliciously, then he was dismissed from the guild and his loom
was taken by the guild to fulfill his portion of the annual
payment to the King. The weavers were allowed to buy and to sell
in London freely and quietly. They had all the rights of other
freemen of the city.
Thus from the middle of the 12th century, the weavers enjoyed the
monopoly of their craft, rights of supervision which ensured a
high standard of workmanship, power to punish infractions of
their privileges, and full control of their members. In this they
stand as the prototype of English medieval guilds. These rights
represented the standard which all bodies of craftsmen desired to
attain. The right of independent jurisdiction was exceptional.
London growth led to its replacing Winchester as the capital.
Over its history,
it generally chose or elected its own mayor every year. (This was
not a popular election.) But there were many periods when royal
authority was asserted over it.
On the north side of the city was a great forest with fields and
wells where students and other young men from the city took walks
in the fresh evening air. Vendors on the river bank sold cooked
fish caught from the river and wine from ships and wine cellars.
London's chief magistrate was the port-reeve, who was appointed
by the King, until 1191. Then the port-reeve was replaced by a
mayor, who was elected yearly by the city wards. Each ward was
headed by an alderman and there were city sheriffs and
councilors. The mayors were typically rich merchant princes.
There were three ways to become a citizen of London: being the
son of a citizen, apprenticeship in a craft for seven years, and
purchase of citizenship.
St. Barthomew hospital was established in London for sick
pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury.
Trading was facilitated by the stabilization of the amount of
silver metallic content of the English coinage, which was called
"sterling" [strong] silver. The compass assisted the navigation
of ships and London became a major trading center for foreign
goods from many lands.
About 5% of the knights were literate. Wealthy men sent their
sons to school in monasteries to prepare them for a livelihood in
a profession or in trade or to the town of Oxford, whose
individual teachers had attracted disciples for a long time.
These schools grew up around St. Mary's Church, but had not been
started by the church as there was no cathedral school in Oxford.
Oxford had started as a burh and had a royal residence and many
tradesmen. It was given its basic charter in 1155 by the King.
This confirmed to it all the customs, laws and liberties [rights]
as those enjoyed by London. If became a model charter for other
towns.
Bachelors at Oxford studied the arts of grammar, rhetoric, and
logic, and then music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, until
they mastered their discipline and therefore were authorized to
teach it. Teaching would then provide an income sufficient to
support a wife. The master of arts was analogous to the master
craftsman of a guild. From 1190, the civil law was studied, and
shortly thereafter, canon law. Later came the study of medicine.
The use of paper supplemented the use of parchment for writing.
In this era, the English national race and character was formed.
Stories of good King Arthur were popular and set ideals for
behavior and justice in an otherwise barbaric age where force was
supreme. His last battle in which he lay wounded and told a
kinsman to rule in his place and uphold his laws was written in
poem ("Layamon's Brut"). Romantic stories were written and read
in English.
The only people distinguishable as Anglo-Saxon by their look and
speech were manor villeins who worked the farm land, who composed
over half the population. Intermarriage had destroyed any
distinction of Normans by look or speech alone. Although the
villeins could not buy their freedom or be freed by their lord,
they became less numerous because of the preference of landowners
for tenants motivated to perform work by potential loss of
tenure. Also, the Crown's protection of all its subjects in
criminal matters blurred the distinction between free and unfree
men.
The boroughs were dominated by lords of local manors, who usually
had a house in the borough. Similarly, burgesses usually had
farmland outside the borough. Many boroughs were granted the
right to have a common seal for the common business of the town.
Each borough was represented by twelve reputable burgesses. Each
vill was represented by a reeve and four reputable men. Certain
towns sponsored great seasonal fairs for special goods, such as
cloth. Less than 5% of the population lived in towns.
London guilds of craftsmen such as weavers, fullers, bakers,
loriners (makers of bit, spurs, and metal mountings of bridles
and saddles), cordwainers (makers of leather goods such as
shoes), pepperers, and goldsmiths were licensed by the King, for
which they paid him a yearly fee. There were also five Bridge
Guilds (probably raising money for the future construction of
London Bridge in stone) and St. Lazarus' Guild. The wealthy
guilds, which included the goldsmiths, the pepperers, and three
bridge guilds had landholding members who had been thegnes or
knights and now became a class of royal officials: the King's
minters, his chamberlain, his takers of wines, his collectors of
taxes.
Sandwich was confirmed in its port rights by this charter:
"Henry II to his sheriff and bailiffs of Kent, greeting. I will
and order that the monks of the Holy Trinity of Canterbury shall
have fully all those liberties and customs in Sandwich which they
had in the time of King Henry my grandfather, as it was adjudged
in pursuance of his command by the oath of twelve men of Dover
and twelve men of Sandwich, to wit, that the aforesaid monks
ought to have the port and the toll and all maritime customs in
the same port, on either side of the water from Eadburge-gate as
far as markesfliete and a ferry-boat for passage. And no man has
there any right except they and their ministers. Wherefore I will
and firmly command you and the men of Sandwich that ye cause the
aforesaid monks to have all their customs both in the port and in
the town of Sandwich, and I forbid any from vexing them on this
account." "And they shall have my firm peace."
Henry gave this charter to the town of Bristol in 1164:
"Know ye, that I have granted to my burgesses of Bristol, that
they shall be quit both of toll [a reasonable sum of money or
portion of the thing sold, due to the owner of the fair or market
on the sale of things tollable therein. It was claimed by the
lord of the fee where the fair or market was held, by virtue of a
grant from the Crown either ostensible or presumed] and passage
[money paid for crossing a river or for crossing the sea as might
be due to the Crown] and all custom [customary payments]
throughout my whole land of England, Normandy, and Wales,
wherever they shall come, they and their goods. Wherefore I will
and strictly command, that they shall have all their liberties
and acquittances and free customs fully and honorable, as my free
and faithful men, and that they shall be quit of toll and passage
and of every other customs: and I forbid any one to disturb them
on this account contrary to this my charter, on forfeiture of ten
pounds [200s.]."
John, when he was an earl and before he became King, granted
these liberties to Bristol about 1188:
- No burgess may sue or be sued out of Bristol.
- The burgesses are excused from the murder fine (imposed by the
King or lord from the hundred or town where the murder was
committed when the murderer had not been apprehended).
3) No burgess may wage duel, unless sued for death of a stranger.
4) No one may take possession of a lodging house by assignment or
by livery of the Marshall of the Earl of Gloucester against the
will of the burgesses (so that the town would not be responsible
for the good behavior of a stranger lodging in the town without
first accepting the possessor of the lodging house).
5) No one shall be condemned in a matter of money, unless
according to the law of the hundred, that is, forfeiture of 40s.
6) The hundred court shall be held only once a week.
7) No one in any plea may argue his cause in miskenning.
8) They may lawfully have their lands and tenures and mortgages
and debts throughout my whole land, [from] whoever owes them
[anything].
9) With regard to debts which have been lent in Bristol, and
mortgages theremade, pleas shall be held in the town according to
the custom of the town.
10) If any one in any other place in my land shall take toll of
the men of Bristol, if he does not restore it after he is
required to, the Prepositor of Bristol may take from him a
distress at Bristol, and force him to restore it.
11) No stranger-tradesman may buy within the town from a man who
is a stranger, leather, grain, or wool, but only from a burgess.
12) No stranger may have a shop, including one for selling wine,
unless in a ship, nor shall sell cloth for cutting except at the
fair.
13) No stranger may remain in the town with his goods for the
purpose of selling his goods, but for forty days.
14) No burgess may be confined or distrained any where else
within my land or power for any debt, unless he is a debtor or
surety (to avoid a person owed a debt from distraining another
person of the town of the debtor).
15) They shall be able to marry themselves, their sons, their
daughters and their widows, without the license of their lords.
(Lords had the right of preventing their tenants and mesne lords
and their families from marrying without his consent.)
16) No one of their lords shall have the wardship or the disposal
of their sons or daughters on account of their lands out of the
town, but only the wardship of their tenements which belong to
their own fee, until they become of age.
17) There shall be no recognition [acknowledgement that something
done by another person in one's name had one's authority] in the
town.
18) No one shall take tyne [wooden barrel with a certain quantity
of ale, payable by the townsmen to the constable for the use of
the castle] unless for the use of the lord Earl, and that
according to the custom of the town.
19) They may grind their grain wherever they may choose.
20) They may have their reasonable guilds, as well or better than
they had themin the time of Robert and his son William [John's
wife's grandfather and father, who were earls of Gloucester when
the town and castle of Bristol were part of the honor of
Gloucester].
21) No burgess may be compelled to bail any man, unless he
himself chooses it, although he may be dwelling on his land.
We have also granted to them all their tenures, messuages, in
copses, in buildings on the water or elsewhere to be held in free
burgage [tenant to pay only certain fixed services or payments to
his lord, but not military service (like free socage)]. We have
granted also that any of them may make improvements as much as he
can in erecting buildings anywhere on the bank and elsewhere, as
long as the borough and town are not damaged thereby. Also, they
shall have and possess all waste land and void grounds and
places, to be built on at their pleasure.
Newcastle-on-Tyne's taxes were simplified in 1175 as follows:
"Know ye that I have granted and by this present charter have
confirmed to my burgesses of Newcastle upon Tyne, and to all
their things which they can assure to be their own, acquittance
from toll and passage and pontage and from the Hanse and from all
other customs throughout all my land. And I prohibit all persons
from vexing or disturbing them therein upon forfeiture to me."
We grant to our upright men on Newcastle-on-Tyne and their heirs
our town of Newcastle-on-Tyne with all its appurtances at fee
farm for 100 pounds to be rendered yearly to us and our heirs at
our Exchequer by their own hand at the two terms, to wit, at
Easter 50 pounds and at Michaelmas 50 pounds, saving to us our
rents and prizes and assizes in the port of the same town.
Ranulph, earl of Chester, made grants to his burgesses of
Coventry by this charter: "That the aforesaid burgesses and their
heirs may well and honorably quietly and in free burgage hold of
me and my heirs as ever in the time of my father and others of my
ancestors they have held better more firmly and freer. In the
second place I grant to them all the free and good laws which the
burgesses of Lincoln have better and freer. I prohibit and forbid
my constables to draw them into the castle to plead for any
cause, but they may freely have their portimote [leet court] in
which all pleas belonging to me and them may be justly treated
of. Moreover they may choose from themselves one to act for me
whom I approve, who a justice under me and over them may know the
laws and customs, and keep them to my counsel in all things
reasonable, every excuse put away, and may faithfully perform to
me my rights. If any one happen to fall into my amercement he may
be reasonably fined by my bailiff and the faithful burgesses of
the court. Furthermore, whatever merchants they have brought with
them for the improvement of the town, I command that they have
peace, and that none do them injury or unjustly send them into
court. But if any foreign merchant shall have done anything
improper in the town that same may be regulated in the portimote
before the aforesaid justice without a suit at law."
Henry confirmed this charter of the earl's by 1189 as follows: I
have confirmed all the liberties and free customs the earl of
Chester granted to them, namely, that the same burgesses may well
and honorably hold in free burgage, as ever in the time of the
father of the beforesaid earl, or other of his ancestors, they
may have better or more firmly held; and they may have all the
laws and customs which the citizens of Lincoln have better and
freer [e.g. their merchant guilds; all men brought to trade may
be subject to the guild customs and assize of the town; those who
lawfully hold land in the town for a year and a day without
question and are able to prove that an accuser has been in the
kingdom within the year without finding fault with them, from
thence may hold the land well and in peace without pleading;
those who have remained in the town a year and a day without
question, and have submitted to the customs of the town and the
citizens of the town are able to show through the laws and
customs of the town that the accuser stood forth in the kingdom,
and not a fault is found of them, then they may remain in peace
in the town without question]; and that the constable of the
aforesaid earl shall not bring them into the castle to plead in
any case. But they may freely have their own portmanmote in which
all pleas appertaining to the earl and to them may be justly
treated of. Moreover they may choose one from themselves to act
for the earl, whom I approve, who may be a justice under the earl
and over them, and who to the earl may faithfully perform his
rights, and if anyone happen to fall into the earl's forfeiture
he shall be acquit for 12 pence. If by the testimony of his
neighbors he cannot pay 12 pence coins, by their advice it shall
be so settled as he is able to pay, and besides, with other
acquittances, that the burgesses shall not provide anything in
corrody [allowance in food] or otherwise whether for the said
earl or his men, unless upon condition that their chattels shall
be safe, and so rendered to them.
Furthermore, whatever merchants they have brought with them for
the improvement of the town they may have peace, and none shall
do them injury or unjustly send them into suit at law. But if any
foreign merchant has done anything improper in the town that
shall be amended [or tried] in the portmanmote before the
aforesaid justice without a suit. And they who may be newcomers
into the town, from the day on which they began to build in the
town for the space of two years shall be acquit of all charges.
Mercantile privileges were granted to the shoemakers in Oxford
thus:
"Know ye that I have granted and confirmed to the corvesars of
Oxford all the liberties and customs which they had in the time
of King Henry my grandfather, and that they have their guild, so
that none carry on their trade in the town of Oxford, except he
be of that guild. I grant also that the cordwainers who
afterwards may come into the town of Oxford shall be of the same
guild and shall have the same liberties and customs which the
corvesars have and ought to have. For this grant and
confirmation, however, the corvesars and cordwainers ought to pay
me every year an ounce of gold."
A guild merchant for wool dominated and regulated the wool trade
in many boroughs. In Leicester, only guildsmen were permitted to
buy and sell wool wholesale to whom they pleased or to wash their
fells in borough waters. Certain properties, such as those near
running water, essential to the manufacture of wool were
maintained for the use of guild members. The waterwheel was a
technological advance replacing human labor whereby the cloth was
made more compact and thick, "fulled". The waterwheel turned a
shaft which lifted hammers to pound the wet cloth in a trough.
Wool packers and washers could work only for guild members. The
guild fixed wages, for instance to wool wrappers and flock
pullers. Strangers who brought wool to the town for sale could
sell only to guild members. A guildsman could not sell wool
retail to strangers nor go into partnership with a man outside
the guild. Each guild member had to swear the guildsman's oath,
pay an entrance fee, and subject himself to the judgment of the
guild in the guild court, which could fine or suspend a man from
practicing his trade for a year. The advantages of guild
membership extended beyond profit in the wool trade. Members were
free from the tolls that strangers paid. They alone were free to
sell certain goods retail. They had the right to share in any
bargain made in the presence of a guildsman, whetheer the
transaction took placein Leicester or in a distant market. In the
general interest, the guild forbade the use of false weights and
measures and the production of shoddy goods. It maintained a
wool-beam for weighing wool. It also forbade middlemen from
profiting at the expense of the public. For instance, butchers'
wives were forbidden from buying meat to sell again in the same
market unless they cooked it.
A baron could assemble an army in a day to resist any perceived
misgovernment by a King. Armed conflict did not interfere much
with daily life because the national wealth was still composed
mostly of flocks and herds and simple buildings. Machinery,
furniture, and the stock of shops were still sparse. Life would
be back to normal within a week.
Henry wanted to check this power of the barons. So he restored
the older obligation of every freeman to serve in defense of the
realm, which was a military draft. At the King's call, barons
were to appear in mail suit with sword and horse, knights in coat
of mail with shield and lance, freeholders with lance and hauberk
{coat of armor], burgesses and poorer freemen with lance and
helmet, and such as millers with pike and leather shirt. The
master of a household was responsible for every villein in his
household. Others had to form groups of ten and swear obedience
to the chief of the group. This was implemented in a war with
France.
However, the nobility who were on the borders of the realm had to
maintain their private armies for frequent border clashes. The
other nobility now tended towards tournaments with mock battles
between two sides.
A new land tax replaced the Danegeld tax. Freeholders of land
paid taxes according to their plowable land ("hidage", by the
hide, and later "carucage", by the acre). It was assessed and
collected for the King by knights with little or no remuneration.
The villein class, which in theory included the boroughs, paid a
tax based on their produce ("tallage"). Merchants were taxed on
their personal property, which was determined by an inquest of
neighbors. Clergy were also taxed. This new system of taxation
increased the royal income about threefold.
- The Law -
The peace of the sheriff still exists for his shire. The King's
peace may still be specially given, but it will cease upon the
death of the King.
Law required every good and lawful man to be bound to follow the
hue and cry when it was raised against an offender who was
fleeing. The village reeve was expected to lead the chase to the
boundary of the next jurisdiction, which would then take the
responsibility to catch the man.
No one, including the lord of a manor, may take land from anyone
else, for instance, by the customary process of distress, without
a judgment from the Royal Court. This did not apply to London,
where a landlord leasing or renting land could take distress in
his fee.
No one, including the lord of a manor, shall deprive an heir of
the land possessed by his father, i.e. his birthright.
A tenant may marry off a daughter unless his lord shows some just
cause for refusing to consent to the marriage. A tenant had to
pay an "aid" to his lord when the lord's daughter married, when
the lord's son was knighted, or when the lord's person was
ransomed.
A man [or woman] may not will away his land, but he may sell it
during his lifetime.
The land of a knight or other tenant of a military fee is
inherited by his eldest son. The socage land of a free sokeman
goes by its ancient custom before the Norman Conquest.
If a man purchased land after his marriage, his wife's dower is
still one-third of the land he had when they married, or less if
he had endowed her with less. But he could then enlarge her dower
to one-third of all of his lands. The same rule applied if the
man had no land, but endowed his wife with chattel or money
instead.
Dower law prevented a woman from selling her dower during the
life of her husband. But he could sell it or give it away. On his
death, its possessor had to give the widow the equivalent worth
of the property.
A widower had all his wife's lands by curtesy of the nation for
his lifetime to the exclusion of her heirs.
The Capital Messuage [Chief Manor] could not be given in dower or
divided, but went in its entirety to its heir.
Heirs were firstly sons, then daughters, then grandsons per
stirpes, then granddaughters per stirpes, then brothers, and then
sisters of the decedent. Male heirs of land held by military
service or sons of knights who were under the age of twenty-one
were considered to be in custody of their lords. The lord had
wardship over the heir's land, excluding the third that was the
widow's dower for her life. He had to maintain the heir in a
manner suitable to his dignity and restore to him when he came of
age his inheritance in good condition discharged from debts. Male
heirs of sokemen who were under the age of fifteen were in the
custody of their nearest kindred. The son of a burgess came of
age when he could count money, measure cloth, and manage his
father's concerns.
Female heirs remained in the custody of their lords until they
married. The lord was bound to find a marriage for his ward when
she became fourteen years of age and then deliver her inheritance
to her. She could not marry without her lord's consent, because
her husband was expected to be the lord's ally and to do homage
to him. But if a female heir lost her virginity, her inheritance
escheated to
her lord.
Bastards were not heirs, even if their father married their
mother after their birth.
Any adult inheriting land had to pay a "relief" to the lord of
the land. For a knight's fee, this was 100s. For socage land,
this was one year's value. The amount for a barony depended upon
the King's pleasure.
Heirs (but not widows) were bound to pay the debts of their
fathers and ancestors. A man who married a woman who had
inherited land could not sell this land without the consent of
its heirs.
When a man dies, his wife shall take one-third and his heirs
shall take one-third of his chattels [moveables]. The other third
he may dispose of by will. If he had no heirs and no will
[intestate], all his chattels would escheat to his lord. Any
distribution of chattels would take place after all the
decedent's debts were paid from the property.
A will required two witnesses. The testator could name an
executor, but if he did not, the next of kin was the executor. A
will could not be made by a man on his death bed because he may
well have lost his memory and reason. Also, he could not give to
a younger son if in so doing, he would deprive his lawful heir.
But he could give a marriage gift to a daughter regardless of the
lawful heir.
Usury was receiving back more than what was lent, such as
interest on a loan of money. When a usurer died, all his
moveables went to the King.
A villein may not buy his own freedom (because all that he has is
his lord's), but may be set free by his lord or by someone else
who buys his freedom for him. He shall also be freed if the lord
seduced his wife, drew his blood, or refused to bail him either
in a civil or criminal action in which he was afterwards cleared.
But a freed villein did not have status to plead in court, even
if he had been knighted. If his free status were tried in court,
only a freeman who was a witness to his being set free could
avail himself of the duel to decide the issue. However, if the
villein remained peacefully in a privileged town a year and a day
and was received into its guild as a citizen, then he was freed
from villeinage in every way.
A freeman who married a villein lost his freedom. If any parent
of a child was a villein, then the child was also a villein.
All shipwrecked persons shall be treated with kindness and none
of their goods or merchandise shall be taken from them.
If one kills another on a vessel, he shall be fastened to the
dead body and thrown with it into the sea.
If one steals from another on a vessel, he shall be shaven,
tarred and feathered, and turned ashore at the first land.
Passage on the Thames River may not be obstructed by damming up
the river on each side leaving a narrow outlet to net fish. All
such wears shall be removed.
- Judicial Procedure -
Henry II wanted all freemen to be equally protected by one system
of law and government. So he opened his court, the Royal Court,
to all people of free tenure. A court of five justices
professionally expert in the law sat in permanence, traveled with
the King, and on points of difficulty consulted with him. Other
professional justices, on eyre [journey], appeared periodically
in all shires of the nation. They came to perform many tasks
besides adjudging civil and criminal pleas, including
promulgating and enforcing new legislation, seeking out
encroachments on royal rights, reviewing the local communities'
and officials' performance of their public duties, imposing
penalties for failure to do them or for corruption, gathering
information about outlaws and non-performance of homage, and
assessing feudal escheats to the Crown, wardships to which the
King was entitled, royal advowsons, feudal aids owed to the King,
tallages of the burgesses, and debts owed to the Jews. assessing
feudal escheats to the Crown, wardships to which the King was
entitled, royal advowsons, feudal aids owed to the King, tallages
of the burgesses, and debts owed to the Jews; The decision-making
of justices in eyre begins the process which makes the custom of
the Royal Court the common law of the nation. The shire courts,
where the travelling justices heard all manner of business in the
shires, adopted the doctrines of the Royal Court, which then
acquired an appellate jurisdiction. The three royal courts and
justices in eyre all drew from the same small group of royal
justices.
Henry erected a basic, rational framework for legal processes
which drew from tradition but lent itself to continuous expansion
and adaptation.
The Royal Court was chiefly concerned with 1) the due regulation
and supervision of the conduct of local government, 2) the
ownership and possession of land held by free tenure, 3) the
repression of serious crime, and 4) the relations between the lay
and the ecclesiastical courts.
The doctrine of tenure applied universally to the land law formed
the basis for judicial procedure in determining land rights.
Those who held lands "in fee" from the King in turn subinfeudated
their land to men of lesser rank. The concept of tenure covered
the earl, the knight (knight's service), the church
(frank-almoin), the tenant who performed labor services, and the
tenant who paid a rent (socage). Other tenures were: serjeanty
[providing an implement of war or performing a nonmilitary
office] and burgage. All hold the land of some lord and
ultimately of the King.
Henry was determined to protect lawful seisin of land and issued
assizes [legal promulgations] giving the Royal Court authority to
decide land law issues which had not been given justice in the
shire or lord's court. These included issues of disseisin
[ejectment] of a person's free tenement or of his common of
pasture which belonged to his freehold. Though this petty assize
only provided a swift preliminary action to protect possession
pending the lengthy and involved action [grand assize] on the
issue of which party had the juster claim or ultimate right of
seisin,the latter action was only infrequently invoked. The
temptation of a strong man to seize a neighbor's land to reap
its profits for a long time until the neighbor could prove and
enforce his right was deterred. Any such claim of recent
dispossession [novel disseisin] had to be made within three years
of the disseisin.
An assize [now a judicial body] of recognition viewed the land in
question and answered these questions of fact: 1) Was the
plaintiff disseised of the freeholdin question, unjustly and
without judgment? 2) Did the defendant commit the disseisin?
Testimony of a warrantor (or an attorney sent by him in his
place) or a charter of warranty served to prove seisin by gift,
sale, or exchange. No pleadings were necessary and the action
could proceed and judgment given even without the presence of the
defendant. The justices amerced the losing party with a monetary
penalty. A successful plaintiff might be awarded damages to
compensate for the loss of revenue. Eventually royal justices
acquired authority to decide the ultimate question of right to
land using the grand assize and the alternative of an assize
instead of the traditional procedures which ended in trial by
battle.
There was also a writ for issues of inheritance of land. By law
the tenure of a person who died seised of a tenure in a lord's
demesne which was hereditary [seisin of fee] returned to the
lord, who had to give it to the heir of the decedent. If the lord
refused and kept it for himself or gave it to someone else, the
heir could sue in the Royal Court, which would decide whether the
ancestor was seised as of fee in his demesne, if the plaintiff
was the nearest heir, and whether the ancestor had died, gone on
a crusade but not returned, or had become a monk.
Issues of seisin were brought to the Royal Court by a contestant
in a local court who "put himself [or herself] upon the King's
grand assize". Then his action would be removed to the Royal
Court. The assize would consist of twelve knights from the
district who were elected by four knights and who were known as
truthful men and who were likely to possess knowledge of the
facts.
The tenant could object to any of the twelve knights for just
cause as determined by the court. Each of the twelve gave an oath
as to whether the plaintiff's or the defendant's position was
correct. If any did not know the truth of the matter, others were
found until twelve agreed [the recognitors] in favor of one side.
Perjury was punished by forfeiture of all one's goods and
chattels to the King and at least one year's imprisonment.
Alternately, the tenant-defendant could still chose trial by
duel. A duel was fought between the parties or their champions.
The losing party of a duel had to pay a fine of 60s.
However, if the parties were relatives, neither the assize nor
the duel was available to them, but the matter had to be decided
by the law of inheritance. Nor was burgage tenure usually decided
by assize.
This assize procedure extended in time to all other types of
civil actions.
Also removable to the Royal Court from the shire courts were
issues of a lord's claim to a person as his villein (duel not
available), service or relief due to a lord, dower rights, a
creditor's refusal to restore a gage [something given as
security] to a debtor who offered payment or a deposit, money due
to a lender, a seller, or a person to whom one had an obligation
under a charter, fish or harvest or cattle taken from lands
unjustly occupied, cattle taken from pasture, rights to enjoy a
common, to stop troubling someone's transport, to make
restitution of land wrongfully occupied, to make a lord's bailiff
account to him for the profits of the manor.
A person who felt he had not had justice in the manor court could
appeal to the King for a writ of right after the manor court's
decision or for a writ praecipe during the manor court's
proceeding.
The Royal Court also decided disputes regarding baronies,
nuisance or encroachments on royal land or public ways or public
waterways, such as diverting waters from their right course and
issues of nuisance by the making or destroying of a ditch or the
destruction of a pond by a mill to the injury of a person's
freehold. Other pleas of the Crown were: insult to the royal
dignity, treason, breaches of safe-conducts, and injury to the
King's servants.
Henry involved the Royal Court in many criminal issues, formerly
decided in the shire and hundred courts. To detect crimes, he
required royal officers to routinely ask selected
representatives: knights or other landholders, of every
neighborhood if any person were suspected of any murder, robbery,
etc. A traveling royal justice or a sheriff would then hold an
inquest, in which the representatives answered by oath what
people were reputed to have done certain crimes. They made such
inquiries through assizes of presentment, usually composed of
twelve men from each hundred and four men for each township.
(These later evolved into grand juries). These assizes were an
ancient institution in many parts of the country. They consisted
of representatives of the hundreds, usually knights, and villages
who testified under oath to all crimes committed in their
neighborhood, and indicted those they suspected as responsible
and those harboring them. What the assize did was to insist upon
the adoption of a standard procedure everywhere systematically.
The procedure was made more regular instead of depending on crime
waves. If indicted, the suspected persons were then sent to the
ordeal. There was no trial by compurgation, which was abolished
by Henry. If determined guilty, he forfeited his chattels to the
King and his land reverted to his landlord. If he passed the
ordeal but was ill-famed in the community, he could be banished
from the community. Later the ordeal was abolished.
As before, a person could also be brought to trial by the
accusation of the person wronged. If the accused still denied the
charge after the accuser testified and the matter investigated by
inquiries and interrogation and then analyzed, a duel was held,
unless the accuser was over the age of sixty or maimed, in which
case the accused went to the ordeal.
Criminal matters such as killing the King or sedition or
betraying the nation or the army, fraudulent concealment of
treasure trove [finding a hoard of coins which had been buried
when danger approached], breach of the King's peace, homicide,
murder (homicide for which there were no eye-witnesses), burning
(a town, house, men, animals or other chattel for hatred or
revenge), robbery, rape and falsifying (e.g. false charters or
false measures or false money) were punishable by death or loss
of limb. House-breaking, harboring outlaws, the royal perquisites
of shipwreck and the beasts of the sea which were stranded on the
coast were also punishable in the Royal Court.
The Royal Court had grown substantially and was not always
presided over by the King. To avoid court agents from having too
much discretionary power, there was a systematic procedure for
bringing cases to the Royal Court. First, a plaintiff had to
apply to the King's Chancery for a standardized writ into which
the cause had to fit. The plaintiff had to pay a fee and provide
a surety that the plea was brought in good faith. The progress of
the suit was controlled at crucial points by precisely formulated
writs to the sheriff, instructing him for instance, to put the
disputed property under royal protection pending a decision, to
impanel an assize and have it view the property in advance of the
justices' arrival, to ascertain a point of fact material to the
plea, oor to summon a 'warrantor' to support a claim by the
defendant.
The Royal Court kept a record on its cases on parchment kept
rolled up: its "rolls". The oldest roll of 1194 is almost
completely comprised of land cases.
Anyone could appoint an agent, an "attorney", to appear in court
on his behalf, it being assumed that the principal could not be
present. The principal was then bound by the actions of his
agent. The common law system became committed to the "adversary
system" with the parties struggling judicially against each
other.
The Royal Court took jurisdiction over issues of whether certain
land was civil or ecclesiastical [assize utrum], and therefore
whether the land owed services or payment to the Crown or not. It
also heard issues of disturbance of advowson, a complex of rights
to income from a church and to the selection of a parson for the
church [assize of darrien presentment]. Many churches had been
built by a lord on his manor for his villeins. The lord had then
appointed a parson and provided for his upkeep out of the income
of the church. In later times, the lord's chosen parson was
formally appointed by the bishop. In the twelfth century, many
lords had given their advowsons to abbeys.
As before, the land of any person who had been outlawed or
convicted of a felony escheated to his lord. His moveable goods
and chattels became the King's.
The manor court heard cases which arose out of the unfree tenures
of the lord's peasantry.
The honorial court, part of the manor court, heard distraint,
also called "distress", issues. Distraint was a landlord's method
of forcing a tenant to perform the services of his fief. To
distrain by the fief, a lord first obtained a judgment of his
court. Otherwise, he distrained only by goods and chattels
without judgment of his court. A distraint was merely a security
to secure a person's services, if he agreed he owed them, or his
attendance in court, if he did not agree that he owed them. Law
and custom restricted the type of goods and chattels
distrainable, and the time and manner of distraint. For instance,
neither clothes, household utensils, nor a riding horse was
distrainable. The lord could not use the chattels taken while
they were in his custody. If cattle in custody were not
accessible to the tenant, the lord had to feed them at his
expense. The lord, if he were not the King, could not sell the
chattel. The action of replevin was available to the tenant to
recover property which had been wrongly distressed. This court
also determined inheritance and dower issues.
The court of the vill enforced the village ordinances. The
hundred court dealt with the petty crimes of lowly men in the
neighborhood of a few vills. The shire and borough courts heard
cases of felonies, accusations against freemen, tort, and debts.
The knights make the shire courts work as legal and
administrative agencies of the Crown.
Admiralty issues (since no assize could be summoned on the high
seas), and tenement issues of land held in frankalmoin where the
tenant was a cleric were heard in the ecclesiastical courts.
The church copied the assize procedure developed by the Royal
Court to detect ecclesiastical offenses. Trial was still by
compurgation. Bishops could request the Chancery to imprison an
offender who had remained excommunicant for forty days, until he
made amends. Chancery complied as a matter of course. This went
on for six centuries.
The delineations of jurisdiction among these courts was confused
and there was much competing and overlapping of jurisdictions.
However, the court could appoint arbitrators or suggest to the
parties to compromise to avoid the harshness of a decisive
judgment which might drive the losing party to violent self-help.
The office of coroner was established in the last years of
Richard's reign to determine if sudden deaths were accidental or
due to murder.
Chief Justice Ranulph Glanville wrote a treatise on the writs
which could be brought in the Royal Court and the way they could
be used. It was a practical manual of procedure and of the law
administered in the Royal Court.
Chapter 7
- The Times 1215-1272 -
Baron landowners' semi-fortified stone manor houses were improved
and extended. They were usually quadrangular around a central
courtyard. Ceilings were now made of tiles supplied by the tile
craft, which baked the tiles in kilns or over an open fire.
Sometimes the lord had his own parlor, with a sleeping loft above
it. Having a second floor necessitated a fireplace in the wall so
the smoke could go up two floors to the roof. Other rooms each
had a fireplace. Windows of large houses were of opaque glass
supplied by a glass-making craft. The glass was thick, uneven,
and greenish in color. The kitchen was often a separate room
because of the hazard of fire and had a furnace and ovens.
Sometimes there was a separate room for a dairy.
The barons now managed and developed their estates to be as
productive as possible, often using the successful management
techniques of church estates. They kept records of their fields,
tenants, services owed by each tenant, and duties of the manor
officers, such as supervision of the ploughing and harrowing.
Annually, the manor's profit or loss for the year was calculated.
Most manors were self-supporting except that iron for tools and
horseshoes and salt for curing usually had to be obtained
elsewhere. Wine, tar, canvas and millstones were imports from
other countries. Sheep were kept in such large numbers that they
were susceptible to a new disease "scab".
Manors averaged about ten miles distance between eachother, the
land in between being unused and called "wasteland". Statutes
after a civil war proscribing the retaking of land discouraged
the enclosure of waste land.
Some villeins bought out their servitude by paying a substitute
to do his service or paying his lord a firm (from hence, the
words farm and farmer) sum to hire an agricultural laborer in his
place. This made it possible for a farm laborer to till one
continuous piece of land instead of scattered strips.
Looms were now mounted with two bars. The clothing of most people
was made at home, even sandals. The village tanner and bootmaker
supplied long pieces of soft leather for more protection than
sandals. Tanning mills replaced some hand labor. The professional
hunter of wolves, lynx, or otters supplied head coverings. Every
village had a smith and possibly a carpenter for construction of
ploughs and carts. The smith obtained coal from coal fields for
heating the metal he worked. Horse harnesses were home-made from
hair and hemp.
Most men wore a knife because of the prevalence of murder and
robbery. It was an every day event for a murderer to flee to
sanctuary in a church, which would then be surrounded by his
pursuers while the coroner was summoned. Usually, the fugitive
would confess and agree to leave the nation and never return.
It had been long customary for the groom to endow his bride in
public at the church door. This was to keep her and her children
if he died first. If dower was not specified, it was understood
to be one-third of all lands and tenements.
The county offices were: sheriff, coroner, escheator, and
constable or bailiff. There were 28 sheriffs for 38 counties. The
sheriff was a political appointee of the King and employed a
deputy or undersheriff, who was a lawyer, and clerks. If there
was civil commotion or contempt of royal authority, the sheriff
had power to raise a posse of armed men to restore order [posse
comitatus: power of the county]. There were about five coroners
in each county and they served for a number of years. They were
professionals chosen locally under the sheriff's supervision. The
escheator was appointed annually by the Treasurer to administer
the Crown's rights in feudal land in the county. The constables
and bailiffs operated at the hundred and parish level to detect
crime and keep the peace. They assisted sheriffs and Justices of
the Peace, organized "watches" for criminals and vagrants at the
village level, and raised the "hue and cry" along the highway and
from village to village in pursuit of offenders who had committed
felony or robbery in their districts.
Everyone was taught to read and write in English. Even obscure
villages gathered children together for this schooling. Boys of
noblemen were taught reading, writing, Latin, a musical
instrument, athletics, riding, and gentlemanly conduct. Girls
were taught reading, writing, music, dancing, and perhaps
household nursing and first aid, spinning, embroidery, and
gardening. Girls of high social position were also taught riding
and hawking. Grammar schools taught, in Latin, grammar, logic
[dialectic], and rhetoric [art of public speaking and debate].
The teacher possessed the only complete copy of the Latin text,
and most of the school work was done orally. Though books were
few and precious, the students read several Latin works. Girls
and boys of high social position usually had private teachers for
grammar school, while boys of lower classes were sponsored at
grammar schools such as those at Oxford. Discipline was
maintained by the birch or rod.
There was no examination for admission as an undergraduate to
Oxford, but a knowledge of Latin with some skill in speaking
Latin was a necessary background. The students came from all
backgrounds. Some had their expenses paid by their parents, while
others had the patronage of a churchman, a religious house, or a
wealthy layman.
A student at Oxford would become a master after graduating from a
seven year course of study of the seven liberal arts: [grammar,
rhetoric (the source of law), Aristotelian logic (which
differentiates the true from the false), arithmetic, including
fractions and ratios, (the foundation of order), geometry,
including methods of finding the length of lines, the area of
surfaces, and thevolume of solids, (the science of measurement),
astronomy (the most noble of the sciences because it is connected
with divinity and theology), music, and Aristotle's philosophy of
physics, metaphysics, and ethics; and then lecturing and leading
disputations for two years. He also had to write a thesis on some
chosen subject and defend it against the faculty. A Master's
degree gave one the right to teach. Further study for four years
led to a doctorate in one of the professions: theology and canon
or civil law.
There were about 1,500 students in Oxford. They drank, played
dice, quarreled a lot and begged at street corners. There were
mob fights between students from the north and students from the
south and between students and townsmen. But when the mayor of
Oxford hanged two students accused of being involved in the
killing of a townswoman, many masters and students left for
Cambridge. In 1214, a charter created the office of Chancellor of
the university at Oxford. He was responsible for law and order
and, through his court, could fine, imprison, and excommunicate
offenders and expel undesirables such as prostitutes from the
town. He had authority over all crimes involving scholars, except
murder and mayhem. The Chancellor summoned and presided over
meetings of the masters and came to be elected by indirect vote
by the masters who had schools, usually no more than a room or
hall with a central hearth which was hired for lectures. Students
paid for meals there. Corners of the room were often partitioned
off for private study. At night, some students slept on the straw
on the floor. Six hours of sleep were considered sufficient.
In 1221 the Friars established their chief school at Oxford. They
were bound by oaths of poverty, obedience, and chastity, but were
not confined within the walls of a monastery. They walked
barefoot from place to lace preaching. They begged for their food
and lodgings. They replaced monks, who had become self-indulgent,
as the most vital spiritual force among the people. In 1231, the
King ordered that every student must have his name on the roll of
a master and the masters had to keep a list of those attending
his lectures.
The first college was founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton, former
Chancellor to the King, at Oxford. A college had the living
arrangements of a Hall, with the addition of monastic-type rules.
A warden and about 30 scholars lived and ate meals together in
the college buildings. Merton College's founding documents
provided that: "The house shall be called the House of the
Scholars of Merton, and it shall be the residence of the Scholars
forever. . . There shall be a constant succession of scholars
devoted to the study of letters, who shall be bound to employ
themselves in the study of Arts or Philosophy, the Canons or
Theology. Let there also be one member of the collegiate body,
who shall be a grammarian, and must entirely devote himself to
the study of grammar; let him have the care of the students in
grammar, and to him also let the more advanced have recourse
without a blush, when doubts arise in their faculty. . . There is
to be one person in every chamber, where Scholars are resident,
of more mature age than the others, who is to make his report of
their morals and advancement in learning to the Warden. . . The
Scholars who are appointed to the duty of studying in the House
are to have a common table, and a dress as nearly alike as
possible. . . The members of the College must all be present
together, as far as their leisure serves, at the canonical hours
and celebration of masses on holy and other days. . . The
Scholars are to have a reader at meals, and in eating together
they are to observe silence, and to listen to what is read. In
their chambers, they must abstain from noise and interruption of
their fellows; and when they speak they must use the Latin
language. . . A Scrutiny shall be held in the House by the Warden
and the Seniors, and all the Scholars there present, three times
a year; a diligent enquiry is to be instituted into the life,
conduct, morals, and progress in learning, of each and all; and
what requires correction then is to be corrected, and excesses
are to be visited with condign punishment. . ."
Issues frequently argued concerned the newly discovered
philosophies of Aristotle vis a vis the accepted Christian
philosophy. Aristotle emphasized the intellectual use of reason
as a road to understanding whereas the church had always taught
that understanding came from revelation by God.
Roger Bacon, an Oxford master, applied mathematical knowledge to
natural phenomena such as metal work, mineral work, the making of
weapons, agriculture, and the remedies and charms of wizards and
magicians. He studied angles of reflection in plane, spherical,
cylindrical, and conical mirrors, in both their concave and
convex aspects. He did experiments in refraction in different
media, e.g. air, water, and glass, and knew that the human cornea
refracted light and that the human eye lens was doubly convex.
(However it was another 400 years before the discovery of the
image on the retina.) He comprehended the magnifying power of
convex lenses and conceptualized the combination of lenses which
would increase the power of vision by magnification. Soon
afterwards, eyeglasses were available to correct farsightedness.
Bacon studied gravity and the propagation of force, specifically
illustrated by the radiation of light and heat. He realized that
rays of light pass so much faster than those of sound or smell
that the time is imperceptible to humans. He knew that rays of
heat and sound penetrate all matter without our awareness and
that opaque bodies offered resistance to passage of light rays.
This was the beginning of the science of physics.
He took the empirical knowledge as to a few metals and their
oxides and some of the principal alkalis, acids, and salts to the
abstract level of metals as compound bodies the elements of which
might be separated and recomposed and the general concept of
generation of liquids, gases, and solids, which was the beginning
of the science of chemistry. He made experiments that led the way
to saltpeter being made to explode, which led the way to the
formulation of gunpowder. He believed that the principle of
explosive energy would one day carry ships across the seas
without sails and propel carriages down the streets, and flying
machines. He knew the power of parabolic concave mirrors to cause
parallel rays to converge after reflexion to a focus and was
familiar with work done to produce a mirror that would induce
combustion at a fixed distance.
He studied man's physical nature, health, and disease, the
beginning of the science of biology and medicine. He opined that
the use of talismen was not to bring about a change, but to bring
the patient into a frame of mind more conducive to physical
healing.
Bacon studied different kinds of plants and the differences
between arable land, forest land, pasture land, and garden land.
Like other educated men of his day (and those of the 13th through
the 16th century), he believed that the earth was the center of
the universe and in astrology, that is, that the position of the
stars and planets influenced man and other earthly things. For
instance, the position of the stars at a person's birth
determined his character. The angle and therefore potency of the
sun's rays influenced climate, temperament, and changes of mortal
life such as disease and revolutions. There was a propitious time
to have a marriage, go on a journey, make war, and take herbal
medicine or be bled by leeches, the latter of which was
accompanied by religious ceremony. Cure was by God, with medical
practitioners only relieving suffering. Pressure and binding were
applied to bleeding. Arrow and sword wounds to the skin or to any
protruding intestine were washed with warm water and sewn up with
needle and silk thread. Ribs were spread apart by a wedge to
remove arrow heads. Fractured bones were splinted or encased in
plaster. Dislocations were remedied. Hernias were trussed.
Bladder stones blocking urination were pushed back into the
bladder or removed through an artificial opening in the bladder.
Bacon studied the planetary motions and astronomical tables to
forecast future events. He did calculations on days in a month
and days in a year which later contributed to the legal
definition of a leap year. He knew about magnetic poles
attracting if different and repelling if the same and the
relation of magnets' poles to those of the heavens and earth. He
calculated the circumference of the world and the latitude and
longitude of terrestrial positions, which was the beginning of
the study of geography. He foresaw sailing around the world and
pointed the way to the Copernican astronomy, which was founded on
the concept of the earth and planets revolving around the sun.
His contribution to the development of science was abstracting
the method of experiment from the concrete problem to see its
bearing and importance as a universal method of research. He
advocated changing education to include studies of the natural
world using observation, exact measurement, and experiments.
The making and selling of goods diverged e.g. as the cloth
merchant severed from the tailor and the leather merchant severed
from the butcher. These craftsmen formed themselves into guilds.
They sought charters to require all craftsmen to belong to the
guild of their craft, to have legal control of the craft work,
and be able to expel any craftsman for inobedience. These guilds
determined the wages and working conditions of the craftsmen and
petitioned the borough authorities for ordinances restraining
trade, for instance by controlling the admission of outsiders to
the craft, preventing foreigners from selling in the town except
at fairs, limiting purchases of raw materials to suppliers within
the town, forbidding night work, restricting the number of
apprentices to each master craftsmen, and requiring a minimum
number of years for apprenticeships. In return, these guilds
assured quality control. In some boroughs, they did work for the
town, such as maintaining certain defensive towers or walls of
the town near their respective wards. In some boroughs, fines for
infractions of these regulations were split between the guild and
the government.
This jurisdiction was sought from the towns governments, which
were controlled by the merchant guilds, with great difficulty. In
London, this power was broken in 1261 by the craftsmen forcing
their way into the town-mote. By this brute show of strength,
they set aside the opinion of the magnates and selected their own
candidate to be mayor.
The citizens of London had a common seal for the city. London
merchants traveled throughout the nation with goods to sell
exempt from tolls. Most of the London aldermen were woolmongers,
vintners, skinners, and grocers by turns or carried on all these
branches of commerce at once. There are three inns in London.
Hospitals such as "Bethleham Hospital" were established in
London. Only tiles were used for roofing in London, because wood
shingles were fire hazards and fires in London had been frequent.
Some areas near London are disclaimed by the King to be royal
forest land, so all citizens could hunt there and till their land
there without interference by the royal foresters.
A gold penny waminted, which was worth 2s. of silver. Jews were
allowed to make loans with interest up to 2d. a week for 20s.
lent.
Ships had two masts, decks, and cabins. On the coasts there were
lights and beacons. Harbors at river mouths were kept from
silting up. Ships were loaded from piers. The construction of
London Bridge had just been finished. Coal was mined. Bricks
began to be imported for building.
Newcastle-on-Tyne received these new rights:
- And that they shall justly have their lands and tenures and
mortgages and debts, whoever owes them to them.
2. Concerning their lands and tenures within the town, right
shall be done to them according to the custom of the city Winton.
3. And of all their debts which are lent in Newcastle-on-Tyne and
of mortgages there made, pleas shall be held at
Newcastle-on-Tyne.
4. None of them shall plead outside the walls of the City of
Newcastle-on-Tyne on any plea, except pleas of tenures outside
the city and except the minters and my ministers.
5. That none of them be distrained by any without the said city
for the repayment of any debt to any person for which he is not
capital debtor or surety.
6. That the burgesses shall be quit of toll and lastage [duty on
a ship's cargo] and pontage [tax for repairing bridges] and have
passage back and forth.
7. Moreover, for the improvement of the city, I have granted them
that they shall be quit of year's gift and of scotale [pressure
to buy ale at the sheriff's tavern], so that my sheriff of
Newcastle-on-Tyne or any other minister shall not make a scotale.
8. And whosoever shall seek that city with his merchandise,
whether foreigners or others, of whatever place they may be, they
may come sojourn and depart in my safe peace, on paying the due
customs and debts, and any impediment to these rights is
prohibited.
9. We have granted them also a merchant guild.
10. And that none of them [in the merchant guild] shall fight a
duel.
The King no longer lives on his own from income from his own
lands, but takes money from the treasury. Elected men from the
baronage met with the King and his council in several conferences
called Parliaments to discuss the levying of taxes and the
solution of difficult legal cases, and to receive petitions.
Statutes were enacted. Earl Montfort and certain barons forced
King Henry III to summon a Parliament in 1265 in which the common
people were represented officially by four knights from every
shire [county] and two burgesses from every borough.
- The Law -
The barons forced successive Kings to sign the Magna Carta until
it became the law of the land. It became the first statute of the
official statute book. It's provisions express the principle that
a King is bound by the law and is not above it. However, there is
no redress if the King breaches the law.
The Magna Carta was issued by John in 1215. A revised version was
issued by Henry III in 1225 with the forest clauses separated out
into a forest charter. The two versions are replicated together,
with the formatting of each indicated in the titles below.
{Magna Carta - 1215}
Magna Carta - 1215 & 1225
MAGNA CARTA - 1225
{John, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland,
Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou: To the
Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries,
Foresters, Sheriffs, Reeves, Ministers, and all Bailiffs and
others, his faithful subjects, Greeting. Know ye that in the
presence of God, and for the health of our soul, and the souls of
our ancestors and heirs, to the honor of God, and the exaltation
of Holy Church, and amendment of our realm, by the advice of our
reverend Fathers, Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of
all England, and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church; Henry,
Archbishop of Dublin; William of London, Peter of Winchester,
Jocelin of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of
Worcester, William of Coventry, and Benedict of Rochester,
Bishops; Master Pandulph, the Pope's subdeacon and familiar;
Brother Aymeric, Master of the Knights of the Temple in England;
and the noble persons, William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke;
William, Earl of Salisbury; William, Earl of Warren; William,
Earl of Arundel; Alan de Galloway, Constable of Scotland; Warin
Fitz-Gerald, Peter Fitz-Herbert, Hubert de Burgh, Seneshal of
Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Basset,
Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppelay, John Marshall,
John Fitz-Hugh, and others, our liegemen:}
HENRY BY THE GRACE OF GOD, KING OF ENGLAND, LORD OF IRELAND, DUKE
OF NORMANDY AND GUYAN AND EARL OF ANJOU, TO ALL ARCHBISHOPS,
BISHOPS, ABBOTS, PRIORS, EARLS, BARONS, SHERIFFS, PROVOSTS,
OFFICERS AND TO ALL BAILIFFS AND OTHER OUR FAITHFUL SUBJECTS
WHICH SHALL SEE THIS PRESENT CHARTER, GREETING.
KNOW YE THAT WE, UNTO THE HONOR OF ALMIGHTY GOD, AND FOR THE
SALVATION OF THE SOULS OF OUR PROGENITORS AND SUCCESSORS KINGS OF
ENGLAND, TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF HOLY CHURCH AND AMENDMENT OF OUR
REALM, OF OUR MEER AND FREE WILL, HAVE GIVEN AND GRANTED TO ALL
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, ABBOTS, PRIORS, EARLS, BARONS, AND TO ALL
FREE MEN OF THIS OUR REALM, THESE LIBERTIES FOLLOWING, TO BE KEPT
IN OUR KINGDOM OF ENGLAND FOREVER.
[I. A CONFIRMATION OF LIBERTIES]
First, we have granted to God, and by this our present Charter
confirmed, for us and our heirs forever, that the English Church
shall be free and enjoy her whole rights and her liberties
inviolable. {And that we will this so to be observed appears from
the fact that we of our own free will, before the outbreak of the
dissensions between us and our barons, granted, confirmed, and
procured to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III the freedom of
elections, which is considered most important and necessary to
the English Church, which Charter we will both keep ourself and
will it to be kept with good faith by our heirs forever.} We have
also granted to all the free men of our realm, for us and our
heirs forever, all the liberties underwritten, to have and to
hold to them and their heirs of us and our heirs.
[II. THE RELIEF OF THE KING'S TENANT OF FULL AGE]
If any of our earls, barons, or others who hold of us in chief by
knight's service dies, and at the time of his death his heir is
of full age and owes to us a relief, he shall have his
inheritance on payment of [no more than] the old relief; to wit,
the heir or heirs of an earl, for an entire earldom, 100 pounds
[2,000s.]; the heir or heirs of a baron of an entire barony, {100
pounds} 100 MARKS [67 POUNDS OR 1340s.]; the heir or heirs of an
entire knight's fee, 100s. at the most [about 1/3 of a knight's
annual income]; and he who owes less shall give less, according
to the old custom of fees.
[III. THE WARDSHIP OF AN HEIR WITHIN AGE. THE HEIR A KNIGHT]
BUT IF THE HEIR OF SUCH BE UNDER AGE, HIS LORD SHALL NOT HAVE THE
WARD OF HIM, NOR OF HIS LAND, BEFORE THAT HE HAS TAKEN OF HIM
HOMAGE. If, however, any such heir is under age and in ward, he
shall have his inheritance without relief or fine when he comes
of age, THAT IS, TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE. SO THAT IF SUCH AN HEIR
NOT OF AGE IS MADE A KNIGHT, YET NEVERTHELESS HIS LAND SHALL
REMAIN IN THE KEEPING OF HIS LORD UNTO THE AFORESAID TERM.
[IV. NO WASTE SHALL BE MADE BY A GUARDIAN IN WARD'S LANDS]
The guardian of the land of any heir thus under age shall take
therefrom only reasonable issues, customs, and services, without
destruction or waste of men or goods. And if we commit the
custody of any such land to the sheriff or any other person
answerable to us for the issues of the same land, and he commits
destruction or waste, we will take an amends from him and
recompense therefore. And the land shall be committed to two
lawful and discreet men of that fee, who shall be answerable for
the issues of the same land to us or to whomsoever we shall have
assigned them. And if we give or sell the custody of any such
land to any man, and he commits destruction or waste, he shall
lose the custody, which shall be committed to two lawful and
discreet men of that fee, who shall, in like manner, be
answerable to us as has been aforesaid.
[V. GUARDIANS SHALL MAINTAIN THE INHERITANCE OF THEIR WARDS AND
OF BISHOPRICKS,
ETC.]
The guardian, so long as he shall have the custody of the land,
shall keep up and maintain the houses, parks, fishponds, pools,
mills, and other things pertaining thereto, out of the issues of
the same, and shall restore to the heir when he comes of age, all
his land stocked with {ploughs and tillage, according as the
season may require and the issues of the land can reasonable
bear} PLOUGHS AND ALL OTHER THINGS, AT THE LEAST AS HE RECEIVED
IT. ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE OBSERVED IN THE CUSTODIES OF VACANT
ARCHBISHOPRICKS, BISHOPRICKS, ABBEYS, PRIORIES, CHURCHES, AND
DIGNITIES, WHICH APPERTAIN TO US; EXCEPT THIS, THAT SUCH CUSTODY
SHALL NOT BE SOLD.
[VI. HEIRS SHALL BE MARRIED WITHOUT DISPARAGEMENT]
Heirs shall be married without loss of station. {And the marriage
shall be made known to the heir's nearest of kin before it is
contracted.}
[VII. A WIDOW SHALL HAVE HER MARRIAGE, INHERITANCE, AND
QUERENTINE. THE KING'S WIDOW, ETC.]
A widow, after the death of her husband, shall immediately and
without difficulty have her marriage portion [property given to
her by her father] and inheritance. She shall not give anything
for her marriage portion, dower, or inheritance which she and her
husband held on the day of his death, and she may remain in her
husband's house for forty days after his death, within which time
her dower shall be assigned to her. IF THAT HOUSE IS A CASTLE AND
SHE LEAVES THE CASTLE, THEN A COMPETENT HOUSE SHALL FORTHWITH BE
PROVIDED FOR HER, IN WHICH SHE MAY HONESTLY DWELL UNTIL HER DOWER
IS ASSIGNED TO HER AS AFORESAID; AND IN THE MEANTIME HER
REASONABLE ESTOVERS OF THE COMMON, ETC.
No widow shall be compelled to marry so long as she has a mind to
live without a husband, provided, however, that she gives
security that she will not marry without our assent, if she holds
of us, or that of the lord of whom she holds, if she holds of
another.
[VIII. HOW SURETIES SHALL BE CHARGED TO THE KING]
Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for any
debt as long as the debtor's goods and chattels suffice to pay
the debt AND THE DEBTOR HIMSELF IS READY TO SATISFY THEREFORE.
Nor shall the debtor's sureties be distrained as long as the
debtor is able to pay the debt. If the debtor fails to pay, not
having the means to pay, OR WILL NOT PAY ALTHOUGH ABLE TO PAY,
then the sureties shall answer the debt. And, if they desire,
they shall hold the debtor's lands and rents until they have
received satisfaction of that which they had paid for him, unless
the debtor can show that he has discharged his obligation to
them.
{If anyone who has borrowed from the Jews any sum of money, great
or small, dies before the debt has been paid, the heir shall pay
no interest on the debt as long as he remains under age, of
whomsoever he may hold. If the debt falls into our hands, we will
take only the principal sum named in the bond.}
{And if any man dies indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have
her dower and pay nothing of that debt; if the deceased leaves
children under age, they shall have necessaries provided for them
in keeping with the estate of the deceased, and the debt shall be
paid out of the residue, saving the service due to the deceased's
feudal lords. So shall it be done with regard to debts owed
persons
other than Jews.}
[IX. THE LIBERTIES OF LONDON AND OTHER CITIES AND TOWNS
CONFIRMED]
The City of London shall have all her old liberties and free
customs, both by land and water. Moreover, we will and grant that
all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their
liberties and free customs.
{No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our realm unless by common
counsel thereof, except to ransom our person, make our eldest son
a knight, and once to marry our eldest daughter, and for these
only a reasonable aid shall be levied. So shall it be with regard
to aids from the City of London.}
{To obtain the common counsel of the realm concerning the
assessment of aids (other than in the three aforesaid cases) or
of scutage, we will have the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls,
and great barons individually summoned by our letters; we will
also have our sheriffs and bailiffs summon generally all those
who hold lands directly of us, to meet on a fixed day, but with
at least forty days' notice, and at a fixed place. In all such
letters of summons, we will explain the reason therefor. After
summons has thus been made, the business shall proceed on the day
appointed, according to the advice of those who are present, even
though not all the persons summoned have come.}
{We will not in the future grant permission to any man to levy an
aid upon his free men, except to ransom his person, make his
eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter, and
on each of these occasions only a reasonable aid shall be
levied.}
[X. NONE SHALL DISTRAIN FOR MORE SERVICE THAN IS DUE.]
No man shall be compelled to perform more service for a knight's
fee nor any freehold than is due therefrom.
[XI. COMMON PLEAS SHALL NOT FOLLOW THE KING'S COURT]
People who have Common Pleas shall not follow our Court traveling
about the realm, but shall be heard in some certain place.
[XII. WHERE AND BEFORE WHOM ASSIZES SHALL BE TAKEN. ADJOURNMENT
FOR DIFFICULTY]
{Land assizes of novel disseisin, mort d'ancestor and darrein
presentment shall be heard only in the county where the property
is situated, and in this manner: We or, if we are not in the
realm, our Chief Justiciary, shall send two justiciaries through
each county four times a year [to clear and prevent backlog], and
they, together with four knights elected out of each county by
the people thereof, shall hold the said assizes in the county
court, on the day and in the place where that court meets.}
ASSIZES OF NOVEL DISSEISIN, MORT D'ANCESTOR SHALL BE HEARD ONLY
IN THE COUNTY WHERE THE PROPERTY IS SITUATED, AND IN THIS MANNER:
WE, OR IF WE ARE NOT IN THE REALM, OUR CHIEF JUSTICIARY, SHALL
SEND JUSTICIARIES THROUGH EACH COUNTY ONCE A YEAR, AND THEY
TOGETHER WITH KNIGHTS OF THAT COUNTY SHALL HOLD THE SAID ASSIZES
IN THE COUNTY.
{If the said assizes cannot be held on the day appointed, so many
of the knights and freeholders as were present on that day shall
remain as will be sufficient for the administration of justice,
according to the amount of business to be done.}
AND THOSE THINGS THAT AT THE COMING OF OUR FORESAID JUSTICIARIES,
BEING SENT TO TAKE THOSE ASSIZES IN THE COUNTIES, CANNOT BE
DETERMINED, SHALL BE ENDED BY THEM IN SOME OTHER PLACE IN THEIR
CIRCUIT; AND THOSE THINGS WHICH FOR DIFFICULTY OF SOME ARTICLES
CANNOT BE DETERMINED BY THEM, SHALL BE REFERRED TO OUR JUSTICES
OF THE BENCH AND THERE SHALL BE ENDED.
[XIII. ASSIZES OF DARREIN PRESENTMENT]
ASSIZES OF DARREIN PRESENTMENT SHALL ALWAYS BE TAKEN BEFORE OUR
JUSTICES OF THE BENCH AND THERE SHALL BE DETERMINED.
[XIV. HOW MEN OF ALL SORTS SHALL BE AMERCED AND BY WHOM]
A free man shall be amerced [made to pay a fine to the King] for
a small offence only according to the degree thereof, and for a
serious offence according to its magnitude, saving his position
and livelihood; and in like manner a merchant, saving his trade
and merchandise, and a villein saving his tillage, if they should
fall under our mercy. None of these amercements shall be imposed
except by the oath of honest men of the neighborhood.
Earls and barons shall be amerced only by their peers, and only
in accordance with the seriousness of the offense.
{No amercement shall be imposed upon a cleric's lay tenement,
except in the manner of the other persons aforesaid, and without
regard to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice.}
NO MAN OF THE CHURCH SHALL BE AMERCED EXCEPT IN ACCORDANCE WITH
THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE OFFENCE AND AFTER HIS LAY TENEMENT, BUT
NOT AFTER THE QUANTITY OF HIS SPIRITUAL BENEFICE.
[XV. MAKING OF BRIDGES AND BANKS]
No town or freeman shall be compelled to build bridges over
rivers OR BANKS except those bound by old custom and law to do
so.
[XVI. DEFENDING OF BANKS]
NO BANKS SHALL BE DEFENDED, FROM HENCEFORTH, BUT SUCH AS WERE IN
DEFENCE IN THE TIME OF KING HENRY [II] OUR GRANDFATHER, BY THE
SAME PLACES AND IN THE SAME BOUNDS AS IN HIS TIME.
[XVII. HOLDING PLEAS OF THE CROWN]
No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other of our bailiffs shall
hold pleas of our Crown [but only justiciars].
{All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and tithings (except our
demesne manors) shall remain at the old rents, without any
increase.}
[XVIII. THE KING'S DEBTOR DYING, THE KING SHALL BE FIRST PAID]
If anyone holding a lay fee of us dies, and our sheriff or our
bailiff show our letters patent [public letter] of summons for a
debt due to us from the deceased, it shall be lawful for such
sheriff or bailiff to attach and list the goods and chattels of
the deceased found in the lay fee to the value of that debt, by
the sight and testimony of lawful men, so that nothing thereof
shall be removed therefrom until our whole debt is paid; then the
residue shall be given up to the executors to carry out the will
of the deceased. If there is no debt due from him to us, all his
chattels shall remain the property of the deceased, saving to his
wife and children their reasonable shares.
{If any free man dies intestate, his chattels shall be
distributed by his nearest kinfolk and friends, under supervision
of the Church, saving to each creditor the debts owed him by the
deceased.}
[XIX. PURVEYANCE FOR A CASTLE]
No constable or other of our bailiffs shall take grain or other
chattels of any man without immediate payment, unless the seller
voluntarily consents to postponement of payment. THIS APPLIES IF
THE MAN IS NOT OF THE TOWN WHERE THE CASTLE IS. BUT IF THE MAN IS
OF THE SAME TOWN AS WHERE THE CASTLE IS, THE PRICE SHALL BE PAID
TO HIM WITHIN 40 DAYS.
[XX. DOING OF CASTLE-GUARD]
No constable shall compel any knight to give money for keeping of
his castle in lieu of castle-guard when the knight is willing to
perform it in person or, if reasonable cause prevents him from
performing it himself, by some other fit man. Further, if we lead
or send him into military service, he shall be excused from
castle-guard for the time he remains in service by our command.
[XXI. TAKING OF HORSES, CARTS, AND WOOD]
No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any other man, shall take
horses or carts of any free man for carriage without the owner's
consent. HE SHALL PAY THE OLD PRICE, THAT IS, FOR CARRIAGE WITH
TWO HORSES, 10d. A DAY; FOR THREE HORSES, 14d. A DAY. NO DEMESNE
CART OF ANY SPIRITUAL PERSON OR KNIGHT OR ANY LORD SHALL BE TAKEN
BY OUR BAILIFFS.
Neither we nor our bailiffs will take another man's wood for our
castles or for other of our necessaries without the owner's
consent.
[XXII. HOW LONG FELONS' LANDS SHALL BE HELD BY THE KING]
We will hold the lands of persons convicted of felony for only a
year and a day [to remove the chattels and moveables], after
which they shall be restored to the lords of the fees.
[XXIII. IN WHAT PLACE WEIRS SHALL BE REMOVED]
All fishweirs [obstructing navigation] shall be entirely removed
by the Thames and Medway rivers, and throughout England, except
upon the seacoast.
[XXIV. IN WHAT CASE A PRAECIPE IN CAPITE IS NOT GRANTABLE]
The writ called "praecipe in capite" shall not in the future be
granted to anyone respecting any freehold if thereby a free man
may not be tried in his lord's court.
[XXV. THERE SHALL BE BUT ONE MEASURE THROUGHOUT THE REALM]
There shall be one measure of wine throughout our realm, one
measure of ale, and one measure of grain, to wit, the London
quarter, and one breadth of dyed cloth, russets, and haberjets,
to wit, two {ells} YARDS within the selvages. As with measures so
shall it also be with weights.
[XXVI. INQUISITION OF LIFE AND LIMB]
Henceforth nothing shall be given or taken for a writ of
inquisition upon life or limb, but it shall be granted freely and
not denied.
[XXVII. TENURE OF THE KING IN SOCAGE AND OF ANOTHER BY KNIGHT'S
SERVICE. PETIT SERJEANTY.]
If anyone holds of us by fee farm, socage, or burgage, and also
holds land of another by knight's service, we will not by reason
of that fee farm, socage, or burgage have the wardship of his
heir, or the land which belongs to another man's fee. Nor will we
have the custody of such fee farm, socage, or burgage unless such
fee farm owe knight's service. We will not have the wardship of
any man's heir, or the land which he holds of another by knight's
service, by reason of any petty serjeanty which he holds of us by
service of rendering us knives, arrows, or the like.
[XXVIII. WAGES OF LAW SHALL NOT BE WITHOUT WITNESS]
In the future no bailiff shall upon his own unsupported
accusation put any man to trial or oath without producing
credible witnesses to the truth of the accusation.
[XXIX. NONE SHALL BE CONDEMNED WITHOUT TRIAL. JUSTICE SHALL NOT
BE SOLD OR DELAYED.]
No free man shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised OF HIS FREEHOLD
OR LIBERTIES OR FREE CUSTOMS, OR BE outlawed, banished, or in any
way ruined, nor will we prosecute or condemn him, except by the
lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
To no one will we sell [by bribery], to none will we deny or
delay, right orjustice.
[XXX. MERCHANT STRANGERS COMING INTO THIS REALM SHALL BE WELL
USED]
All merchants shall have safe conduct to go and come out of and
into England, and to stay in and travel through England by land
and water, to buy and sell, without evil tolls, in accordance
with old and just customs, except, in time of war, such merchants
as are of a country at war with us. If any such be found in our
realm at the outbreak of war, they shall be detained, without
harm to their bodies or goods, until it be known to us or our
Chief Justiciary how our merchants are being treated in the
country at war with us. And if our merchants are safe there, then
theirs shall be safe with us.
{Henceforth anyone, saving his allegiance due to us, may leave
our realm and return safely and securely by land and water,
except for a short period in time of war, for the common benefit
of the realm.}
[XXXI. TENURE OF A BARONY COMING INTO THE KING'S HANDS BY
ESCHEAT]
If anyone dies holding of any escheat, such as the honor of
Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, {Lancaster,} or other escheats
which are in our hands and are baronies, his heir shall not give
any relief or do any service to us other than he would owe to the
baron, if such barony had been in the baron's hands. And we will
hold the escheat in the same manner in which the baron held it.
NOR SHALL WE HAVE, BY OCCASION OF ANY BARONY OR ESCHEAT, ANY
ESCHEAT OR KEEPING OF ANY OF OUR MEN, UNLESS HE WHO HELD THE
BARONY OR ESCHEAT ELSEWHERE HELD OF US IN CHIEF.
Persons dwelling outside the forest need not in the future come
before our justiciaries of the forest in answer to a general
summons unless they are impleaded or are sureties for any person
or persons attached for breach of forest laws.
[XXXII. LANDS SHALL NOT BE ALIENED TO THE PREJUDICE OF THE LORD'S
SERVICE]
NO FREEMAN FROM HENCEFORTH SHALL GIVE OR SELL ANY MORE OF HIS
LAND, BUT SO THAT OF THE RESIDUE OF THE LANDS THE LORD OF THE FEE
MAY HAVE THE SERVICE DUE TO HIM WHICH BELONGS TO THE FEE.
{We will appoint as justiciaries, constables, sheriffs, or
bailiffs only such men as know the law of the land and will keep
it well.}
[XXXIII. PATRONS OF ABBEYS SHALL HAVE THE CUSTODY OF THEM WHEN
VACANT]
All barons who had founded abbeys of which they have charters of
English Kings or old tenure, shall have the custody of the same
when vacant, as is their due.
All forests which have been created in our time shall forthwith
be disafforested. {So shall it be done with regard to river banks
which have been enclosed by fences in our time.}
{All evil customs concerning forests and warrens, foresters and
warreners, sheriffs and their officers, or riverbanks and their
conservators shall be immediately investigated in each county by
twelve sworn knights of such county, who are chosen by honest men
of that county, and shall within forty days after this inquest be
completely and irrevocably abolished, provided always that the
matter has first been brought to our knowledge, or that of our
justiciars, if we are not in England.}
{We will immediately return all hostages and charters delivered
to us by Englishmen as security for the peace or for the
performance of loyal service.}
{We will entirely remove from their offices the kinsmen of Gerald
de Athyes, so that henceforth they shall hold no office in
England: Engelard de Cigogne, Peter, Guy, and Andrew de
Chanceaux, Guy de Cigogne, Geoffrey de Martigny and his brothers,
Philip Mark and his brothers, and Geoffrey his nephew, and all
their followers.}
{As soon as peace is restored, we will banish from our realm all
foreign knights, crossbowmen, sergeants, and mercenaries, who
have come with horses and arms, to the hurt of the realm.}
{If anyone has been disseised or deprived by us, without the
legal judgment of his peers, of lands, castles, liberties, or
rights, we will immediately restore the same, and if any
disagreement arises on this, the matter shall be decided by
judgment of the twenty-five barons mentioned below in the clause
for securing the peace. With regard to all those things, however,
of which any man was disseised or deprived, without the legal
judgment of his peers, by King Henry [II] our Father or our
Brother King Richard, and which remain in our hands or are held
by others under our warranty, we shall have respite during the
term commonly allowed to the Crusaders, excepting those cases in
which a plea was begun or inquest made on our order before we
took the cross; when, however, we return from our pilgrimage, or
if perhaps we do not undertake it, we will at once do full
justice in these matters.}
{Likewise, we shall have the same respite in rendering justice
with respect to the disafforestation or retention of those
forests which Henry [II] our Father or Richard our Brother
afforested, and concerning custodies of lands which are of the
fee of another, which we hitherto have held by reason of the fee
which some person has held of us by knight's service, and to
abbeys founded on fees other than our own, in which the lord of
that feee asserts his right. When we return from our pilgrimage,
or if we do not undertake it, we will forthwith do full justice
to the complainants in these matters.}
[XXXIV. IN WHAT ONLY CASE A WOMAN SHALL HAVE AN APPEAL OF DEATH]
No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon a woman's appeal for
the death of any person other than her husband [since no woman
was expected to personally engage in trial by battle].
[XXXV. AT WHAT TIME SHALL BE KEPT A COUNTY COURT, SHERIFF'S TURN
AND A LEET (COURT OF CRIMINAL JURISDICTION EXCEPTING FELONIES)]
NO COUNTY COURT FROM HENCEFORTH SHALL BE HELD, BUT FROM MONTH TO
MONTH; AND WHERE GREATER TIME HAS BEEN USED, THERE SHALL BE
GREATER. NOR SHALL ANY SHERIFF, OR HIS BAILIFF, KEEP HIS TURN IN
THE HUNDRED BUT TWICE IN THE YEAR; AND NO WHERE BUT IN DUE PLACE
AND ACCUSTOMED TIME, THAT IS, ONCE AFTER EASTER, AND AGAIN AFTER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MICHAEL. AND THE VIEW OF FRANKPLEDGE [THE
RIGHT OF ASSEMBLING THE WHOLE MALE POPULATION OVER 12 YEARS
EXCEPT CLERGY, EARLS, BARONS, KNIGHTS, AND THE INFIRM, AT THE
LEET OR SOKE COURT FOR THE CAPITAL FRANKPLEDGES TO GIVE ACCOUNT
OF THE PEACE KEPT BY INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE TITHINGS]
SHALL BE LIKEWISE AT THE FEAST OF SAINT MICHAEL WITHOUT OCCASION,
SO THAT EVERY MAN MAY HAVE HIS LIBERTIES WHICH HE HAD, OR USED TO
HAVE, IN THE TIME OF KING HENRY [II] OUR GRANDFATHER, OR WHICH HE
HAS SINCE PURCHASED. THE VIEW OF FRANKPLEDGE SHALL BE SO DONE,
THAT OUR PEACE MAY BE KEPT; AND THAT THE TYTHING BE WHOLLY KEPT
AS IT HAS BEEN ACCUSTOMED; AND THAT THE SHERIFF SEEK NO
OCCASIONS, AND THAT HE BE CONTENT WITH SO MUCH AS THE SHERIFF WAS
WONT TO HAVE FOR HIS VIEW-MAKING IN THE TIME OF KING HENRY OUR
GRANDFATHER.
[XXXVI. NO LAND SHALL BE GIVEN IN MORTMAIN]
IT SHALL NOT BE LAWFUL FROM HENCEFORTH TO ANY TO GIVE HIS LAND TO
ANY RELIGIOUS HOUSE, AND TO TAKE THE SAME LAND AGAIN TO HOLD OF
THE SAME HOUSE. NOR SHALL IT BE LAWFUL TO ANY HOUSE OF RELIGION
TO TAKE THE LANDS OF ANY, AND TO LEASE THE SAME TO HIM OF WHOM HE
RECEIVED IT. IF ANY FROM HENCEFORTH GIVE HIS LANDS TO ANY
RELIGIOUS HOUSE, AND THEREUPON BE CONVICTED, THE GIFT SHALL BE
UTTERLY VOID, AND THE LAND SHALL ACCRUE TO THE LORD OF THE FEE.
{All fines unjustly and unlawfully given to us, and all
amercements levied unjustly and against the law of the land,
shall be entirely remitted or the matter decided by judgment of
the twenty-five barons mentioned below in the clause for securing
the peace, or the majority of them, together with the aforesaid
Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, if he himself can be present,
and any others whom he may wish to bring with him for the
purpose; if he cannot be present, the business shall nevertheless
proceed without him. If any one or more of the said twenty-five
barons has an interest in a suit of this kind, he or they shall
step down for this particular judgment, and be replaced by
another or others, elected and sworn by the rest of the said
barons, for this occasion
only.}
{If we have disseised or deprived the Welsh of lands, liberties,
or other things, without legal judgment of their peers, in
England or Wales, they shall immediately be restored to them, and
if a disagreement arises thereon, the question shall be
determined in the Marches by judgment of their peers according to
the law of England as to English tenements, the law of Wales as
to Welsh tenements, the law of the Marches as to tenements in the
Marches. The same shall the Welsh do to us and ours.}
{But with regard to all those things of which any Welshman was
disseised or deprived, without legal judgment of his peers, by
King Henry [II] our Father or our Brother King Richard, and which
we hold in our hands or others hold under our warranty, we shall
have respite during the term commonly allowed to the Crusaders,
except as to those matters whereon a suit had arisen or an
inquisition had been taken by our command prior to our taking the
cross. Immediately after our return from our pilgrimage, or if by
chance we do not undertake it, we will do full justice according
to the laws of the Welsh and the aforesaid regions.}
{We will immediately return the son of Llywelyn, all the Welsh
hostages, and the charters which were delivered to us as security
for the peace.}
{With regard to the return of the sisters and hostages of
Alexander, King of the Scots, and of his liberties and rights, we
will do the same as we would with regard to our other barons of
England, unless it appears by the charters which we hold of
William his father, late King of the Scots, that it ought to be
otherwise; this shall be determined by judgment of his peers in
our court.}
[XXXVII. SUBSIDY IN RESPECT OF THIS CHARTER, AND THE CHARTER OF
THE FOREST, GRANTED TO THE KING.]
ESCUAGE [SHIELD MILITARY SERVICE] FROM HENCEFORTH SHALL BE TAKEN
AS IT WAS WONT TO BE IN THE TIME OF KING HENRY [II] OUR
GRANDFATHER; RESERVING TO ALL ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, ABBOTS,
PRIORS, TEMPLERS, HOSPITALLERS, EARLS, BARONS, AND ALL PERSONS AS
WELL SPIRITUAL AS TEMPORAL; ALL THEIR FREE LIBERTIES AND FREE
CUSTOMS, WHICH THEY HAVE HAD IN TIME PASSED. AND ALL THESE
CUSTOMS AND LIBERTIES AFORESAID, WHICH WE HAVE GRANTED TO BE HELD
WITHIN THIS OUR REALM, AS MUCH AS PERTAINS TO US AND OUR HEIRS,
WE SHALL OBSERVE.
{All the customs and liberties aforesaid, which we have granted
to be enjoyed, as far as it pertains to us towards our people
throughout our realm, let all our subjects, whether clerics or
laymen, observe, as far as it pertains toward their dependents.}
AND ALL MEN OF THIS OUR REALM, AS WELL SPIRITUAL AS TEMPORAL (AS
MUCH AS IN THEM IS) SHALL OBSERVE THE SAME AGAINST ALL PERSONS IN
LIKE WISE. AND FOR THIS OUR GIFT AND GRANT OF THESE LIBERTIES,
AND OF OTHER CONSTRAINED IN OUR CHARTER OF LIBERTIES OF OUR
FOREST, THE ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, ABBOTS, PRIORS, EARLS, BARONS,
KNIGHTS, FREEHOLDERS, AND OUR OTHER SUBJECTS, HAVE GIVEN UNTO US
THE FIFTEENTH PART OF ALL THEIR MOVEABLES. AND WE HAVE GRANTED
UNTO THEM ON THE OTHER PART, THAT NEITHER WE, NOR OUR HEIRS,
SHALL PROCURE OR DO ANY THING WHEREBY THE LIBERTIES IN THIS
CHARTER CONTAINED SHALL BE INFRINGED OR BROKEN. AND IF ANY THING
BE PROCURED BY ANY PERSON CONTRARY TO THE PREMISES, IT SHALL BE
HAD OF NO FORCE NOR EFFECT.
{Whereas we, for the honor of God and the reform of our realm,
and in order the better to allay the discord arisen between us
and our barons, have granted all these things aforesaid. We,
willing that they be forever enjoyed wholly and in lasting
strength, do give and grant to our subjects the following
security, to wit, that the barons shall elect any twenty-five
barons of the realm they wish, who shall, with their utmost
power, keep, hold, and cause to be kept the peace and liberties
which we have granted unto them and by this our present Charter
have confirmed, so that if we, our Justiciary, bailiffs, or any
of our ministers offends in any respect against any man, or
transgresses any of these articles of peace or security, and the
offense is brought before four of the said twenty-five barons,
those four barons shall come before us, or our Chief Justiciary
if we are out of the realm, declaring the offense, and shall
demand speedy amends for the same. If we or, in case of our being
out of the realm, our Chief Justiciary fails to afford redress
within forty days from the time the case was brought before us
or, in the event of our having been out of the realm, our Chief
Justiciary, the aforesaid four barons shall refer the matter to
the rest of the twenty-five barons, who, together with the
commonalty of the whole country, shall distrain and distress us
to the utmost of their power, to wit, by capture of our castles,
lands, and possessions and by all other possible means, until
compensation is made according to their decision, saving our
person and that of our Queen and children; as soon as redress has
been had, they shall return to their former allegiance. Anyone in
the realm may take oath that, for the accomplishment of all the
aforesaid matters, he will obey the orders of the said
twenty-five barons and distress us to the utmost of his power;
and we give public and free leave to everyone wishing to take
oath to do so, and to none will we deny the same. Moreover, all
such of our subjects who do not of their own free will and accord
agree to swear to the said twenty-five barons, to distrain and
distress us together with them, we will compel to do so by our
command in the aforesaid manner. If any one of the twenty-five
barons dies or leaves the country or is in any way hindered from
executing the said office, the rest of the said twenty-five
barons shall choose another in his stead, at their discretion,
who shall be sworn in like manner as the others. In all cases
which are referred to the said twenty-five barons to execute, and
in which a difference arises among them, supposing them all to be
present, or in which not all who have been summoned are willing
or able to appear, the verdict of the majority shall be
considered as firm and binding as if the whole number had been of
one mind. The aforesaid twenty-five shall swear to keep
faithfully all the aforesaid articles and, to the best of their
power, to cause them to be kept by others. We will not procure,
either by ourself or any other, anything from any man whereby any
of these concessions or liberties may be revoked or abated. If
any such procurement is made, let it be null and void; it shall
never be made use of either by us or by any other.}
{We have also fully forgiven and pardoned all ill-will, wrath,
and malice which has arisen between us and our subjects, both
clergy and laymen, during the disputes, to and with all men.
Moreover, we have fully forgiven and, as far as it pertains to
us, wholly pardoned to and with all, clergy and laymen, all
offences made in consequence of the said disputes from Easter in
the sixteenth year of our reign until the restoration of peace.
Over and above this, we have caused letters patent to be made for
Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry, Archbishop of Dublin,
the above-mentioned Bishops, and Master Pandulph, for the
aforesaid security and concessions.}
{Wherefore we will that, and firmly command that, the English
Church shall be free and all men in our realm shall have and hold
all the aforesaid liberties, rights, and concessions, well and
peaceably, freely, quietly, fully, and wholly, to them and their
heirs, of us and our heirs, in all things and places forever, as
is aforesaid. It is moreover sworn, as will on our part as on the
part of the barons, that all these matters aforesaid shall be
kept in good faith and without deceit. Witness the above-named
and many others. Given by our hand in the meadow which is called
Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of
June in the seventeenth year of our reign.}
THESE BEING WITNESSES:
LORD S. ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, E. BISHOP OF LONDON, F.
BISHOP OF BATHE, G. OF WINCESTER, H. OF LINCOLN, R. OF
SALISBURY, W. OF ROCHESTER, X. OF WORCESTER, F. OF ELY, H. OF
HEREFORD, R. OF CHICHESTER, W. OF EXETER, BISHOPS; THE ABBOT OF
ST. EDMONDS, THE ABBOT OF ST. ALBANS, THE ABBOT OF BELLO, THE
ABBOT OF ST. AUGUSTINES IN CANTERBURY, THE ABBOT OF EVESHAM, THE
ABBOT OF WESTMINSTER, THE ABBOT OF BOURGH ST. PETER, THE ABBOT OF
REDING, THE ABBOT OF ABINDON, THE ABBOT OF MALMBURY, THE ABBOT OF
WINCHCOMB, THE ABBOT OF HYDE, THE ABBOT OF CERTESEY, THE ABBOT OF
SHERBURN, THE ABBOT OF CERNE, THE ABBOT OF ABBOREBIR, THE ABBOT
OF MIDDLETON, THE ABBOT OF SELEBY, THE ABBOT OF CIRENCESTER, H.
DE BURGH JUSTICE, H. EARL OF CHESTER AND LINCOLN, W. EARL OF
SALISBURY, W. EARL OF WARREN, G. DE CLARE EARL OF GLOUCESTER AND
HEREFORD, W. DE FERRARS EARL OF DERBY, W. DE MANDEVILLE EARL OF
ESSEX, H. DE BYGOD EARL OF NORFOLK, W. EARL OF ALBEMARLE, H.
EARL OF HEREFORD, F. CONSTABLE OF CHESTER, G. DE TOS, H.
FITZWALTER, R. DE BYPONTE, W. DE BRUER,
R. DE MONTEFICHET, P. FITXHERBERT, W. DE AUBENIE, F. GRESLY, F.
DE BREUS, F. DE MONEMUE, F. FITZALLEN, H. DE MORTIMER, W. DE
BEUCHAMP, W. DE ST. JOHN, P. DE MAULI, BRIAN DE LISLE, THOMAS DE
MULTON, R. DE ARGENTEYN, G. DE NEVIL, W. DE MAUDUIT, F. DE BALUN,
AND OTHERS.
GIVEN AT WESTMINSTER THE 11TH DAY OF FEBRUARY THE 9TH YEAR OF OUR
REIGN.
WE, RATIFYING AND APPROVING THESE GIFTS AND GRANTS AFORESAID,
CONFIRM AND MAKE STRONG ALL THE SAME FOR US AND OUR HEIRS
PERPETUALLY, AND BY THE TENOUR OF THESE PRESENTS, DO RENEW THE
SAME; WILLING AND GRANTING FOR US AND OUR HEIRS, THAT THIS
CHARTER, AND ALL SINGULAR HIS ARTICLES, FOREVER SHALL BE
STEDFASTLY, FIRMLY, AND INVIOLABLY OBSERVED; AND IF ANY ARTICLE
IN THE SAME CHARTER CONTAINED, YET HITHERTO PERADVENTURE HAS NOT
BEEN KEPT, WE WILL, AND BY ROYAL AUTHORITY, COMMAND, FROM
HENCEFORTH FIRMLY THEY BE OBSERVED.
Statutes which were enacted after the Magna Carta follow:
Nuisance is recognized by this statute: "Every freeman, without
danger, shall make in his own wood, or in his land, or in his
water, which he has within our Forest, mills, springs, pools,
clay pits, dikes, or arable ground, so that it does not annoy any
of his neighbors."
Anyone taking a widow's dower after her husband's death must not
only return the dower, but pay damages in the amount of the value
of the dower from the time of death of the husband until her
recovery of seisin.
Widows may bequeath the crop of their ground as well of their
dowers as of their other lands and tenements.
Freeholders of tenements on manors shall have sufficient ingress
and egress from their tenements to the common pasture and as much
pasture as suffices for their tenements.
"Grain shall not be taken under the pretense of borrowing or the
promise of after-payment without the permission of the owner."
"A parent or other who forcefully leads away and withholds, or
marries off, an heir who is a minor (under 14), shall yield the
value of the marriage and be imprisoned until he has satisfied
the King for the trespass. If an heir 14 years or older marries
without his Lord's permission to defraud him of the marriage and
the Lord offers him reasonable and convenient marriage, without
disparagement, then the Lord shall hold his land beyond the term
of his age, that, of twenty one years, so long that he may
receive double the value of the marriage as estimated by lawful
men, or after as it has been offered before without fraud or
collusion, and after as it may be proved in the King's Court. Any
Lord who marries off a ward of his who is a minor and cannot
consent to marriage, to a villain or other, such as a burgess,
whereby the ward is disparaged, shall lose the wardship and all
its profits if the ward's friends complain of the Lord. The
wardship and profit shall be converted to the use of the heir,
for the shame done to him, after the disposition and provision of
his friends." (The marriage could be annulled by the church.)
"If an heir of whatever age will not marry at the request of his
Lord, he shall not be compelled thereunto; but when he comes of
age, he shall pay to his Lord the value of the marriage before
receiving his land, whether or not he himself marries."
"Interest shall not run against any minor, from the time of death
of his ancestor until his lawful age; so nevertheless, that the
payment of the principal debt, with the interest that was before
the death of his ancestor shall not remain."
The value of debts to be repaid to the King or to any man shall
be reasonably determined by the debtor's neighbors and not by
strangers. A debtors' plough cattle or sheep cannot be taken to
satisfy a debt.
The wards and escheats of the King shall be surveyed yearly by
three people assigned by the King. The Sheriffs, by their
counsel, shall approve and let to farm such wards and escheats as
they think most profitable for the King. The Sheriffs shall be
answerable for the issues thereof in the Exchequer at designated
times. The collectors of the customs on wool exports shall pay
this money at the two designated times and shall make yearly
accounts of all parcels in ports and all ships.
By statute leap year was standardized throughout the nation, "the
day increasing in the leap year shall be accounted in that year",
"but it shall be taken and reckoned in the same month wherein it
grew and that day and the preceding day shall be counted as one
day."
"An English penny, called a sterling, round and without any
clipping, shall weigh 32 wheat grains dry in the middle of the
ear."
Measurements of distance were standardized to twelve inches to a
foot, three feet to a yard, and so forth up to an acre of land.
Goods which could only be sold by the standard weights and
measures (such as ounces, pounds, gallons, bushels) included
sacks of wool, leather, skins, ropes, glass, iron, lead, canvas,
linen cloth, tallow, spices, confections cheese, herrings, sugar,
pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, wheat, barley, oats, bread, and ale.
The prices required for bread and ale were based on the market
price for the wheat, barley, and oats from which they were made.
The punishment for repeated violations of required measures,
weights, or prices of bread and ale by a baker or brewer; selling
of spoiled or unwholesome wine, meat, fish by brewers, butchers,
or cooks; or a steward or bailiff receiving a bribe was reduced
to placement in a pillory with a shaven head so that these men
would still be fit for military service and not overcrowd the
jails.
Forest penalties were changed so that "No man shall lose either
life or member [limb] for killing of our deer. But if any man be
taken and convicted for taking our venison, he shall make a
grievous fine, if he has anything. And if he has nothing to lose,
he shall be imprisoned for a year aand a day. And after that,
ifhe can find sufficient sureties, he shall be delivered, and, if
not, he shall abjure the realm of England."
The Forest Charter provided that: Every freeman may allow his
pigs to eat in his own wood in the King's forest. He may also
drive his pigs there through the King's forest and tarry one
night within the forest without losing any of his pigs. But
people having greyhounds must keep them out of the forest so they
don't maim the deer.
The Forest Charter also allowed magnates traveling through the
King's forest on the King's command to come to him, to kill one
or two deer as long as it was in view of the forester if he was
present, or while having a horn blown, so it did not seem to be
theft.
After a period of civil war, the following statutes were enacted:
"All persons, as well of high as of low estate, shall receive
justice in the King's Court; and none shall take any such revenge
or distress by his own authority, without award of our court,
although he is damaged or injured, whereby he would have amends
of his neighbor either higher or lower." The penalty is a fine
according to the trespass.
A fraudulent conveyance to a minor or lease for a terms of years
made to defraud a Lord of a wardship shall be void. A Lord who
maliciously and wrongfully alleges this to a court shall pay
damages and costs.
If a Lord will not render unto an heir his land when he comes of
age or takes possession away from an heir of age or removes
anything from the land, he shall pay damages.
Kinsmen of a minor heir who have custody of his land held in
socage shall make no waste, sale, nor destruction of the
inheritance and shall answer to the heir when he comes of age for
the issues of the land, exccept for the reasonable costs of these
guardians.
No lord may distrain any of his tenants. No one may drive animals
taken by distraint out of the shire where they have been taken.
"Farmers during their terms, shall not make waste, sale, nor
exile of house, woods, and men, nor of any thing else belonging
to the tenements which they have to farm".
Henry de Bracton, a royal judge and the last great eccesiastical
lawyer, wrote an unfinished treatise: A Tract on the Laws and
Customs of England, systematizing and organizing the law of the
court rolls with definitions and general concepts and describing
court practice and procedure. It was influenced by his knowledge
of Roman legal concepts, such as res judicata, and by his own
opinions, such as that the law should go from precedent to
precedent. He also argued that the will and intent to injure was
the essence of murder, so that neither an infant nor a madman
should be held liable for such and that degrees of punishment
should vary with the level of moral guilt in a killing. He
thought the deodand to be unreasonable.
Bracton defines the requirements of a valid and effective gift
as:
"It must be complete and absolute, free and uncoerced, extorted
neither by fear nor through force. Let money or service play no
part, lest it fall into the category of purchase and sale, for if
money is involved there will them be a sale, and if service, the
remuneration for it. If a gift is to be valid the donor must be
of full age, for if a minor makes a gift it will be ineffective
since (if he so wishes) it shall be returned to him in its
entirety when he reaches full age. Also let the donor hold in his
own name and not another's, otherwise his gift may be revoked.
And let him, at the least, be of sound mind and good memory,
though an invalid, ill and on his death bed, for a gift make
under such conditions will be good if all the other
[requirements] of a valid gift are met. For no one, provided he
is of good memory, ought to be kept from the administration or
disposition of his own property when affected by infirmity, since
it is only then that he must make provision for his family, his
household and relations, given stipends and settle his bequests;
otherwise such persons might suffer damage without fault. But
since charters are sometimes fraudulently drawn and gifts falsely
taken to be made when they are not, recourse must therefore be
had to the country and the neighborhood so that the truth may be
declared."
In Bracton's view, a villein could buy his own freedom and the
child of a mixed marriage was free unless he was born in the
tenement of his villein parent.
- Judicial Procedure -
The Royal Court split up into several courts with different
specialties and became more like departments of state than
offices of the King's household. The judges were career civil
servants knowledgeable in the civil and canon law. The Court of
Common Pleas heard civil cases brought by one subject against
another. Pursuant to the Magna Carta, it sat only at one place,
Westminster Hall in London. Its records were the de banco rolls.
The Court of the Exchequer with its subsidiary department of the
Treasury was in almost permanent session at Westminster,
collecting the Crown's revenue and enforcing the Crown's rights.
The Court of the King's Bench (a marble slab in Westminster upon
which the throne was placed) traveled with the King and heard
criminal cases and pleas of the Crown. Its records were the coram
rege rolls. The title of the Chief Justiciar of England changed
to the Chief Justice of England.
Appeals from these courts could be made to the King and his
council.
Crown pleas included issues of the King's property, fines due to
him, murder (a body found with no witnesses to a killing),
homicide (a killing for which there were witnesses), rape,
wounding, mayhem, consorting, larceny, robbery, burglary, arson,
poaching, unjust imprisonment, selling cloth by non-standard
widths, selling wine by non-standard weights.
Royal judges called justices in eyre traveled to the shires every
seven years. There, they gave interrogatories to local assizes of
twelve men to determine what had happened there since the last
eyre. Every crime, every invasion of royal rights, and every
neglect of police duties was to be presented and tried. The
assize ultimately evolved into the jury of verdict, which
replaced ordeal, compurgation, and battle as the method of
finding the truth. Suspects were failed until their cases could
be heard and jail breaks were common.
Royal coroners held inquests on all sudden deaths to determine
whether they were accidental or not. If not, royal justices held
trial. They also had duties in treasure troves and shipwreck
cases.
The hundred court decided cases of theft, viewing of boundaries
of land, claims for tenurial services, claims for homage, relief,
and for wardship; enfeoffments made, battery and brawls not
amounting to felony, wounding and maiming of beasts, collection
of debts, trespass, detinue and covenant, defamation, and
enquiries and presentments arising from the assizes of bread and
ale and measures.
Still in existence is the old self-help law of hamsocne, the
thief hand-habbende, the thief back-berend, the old summary
procedure where the thief is caught in the act, AEthelstan's
laws, Edward the Confessor's laws, and Kent's childwyte [fine for
begetting a bastard on a lord's female bond slave]. Under the
name of "actio furti" [appeal of larceny] is the old process by
which a thief can be pursued and goods vindicated. As before and
for centuries later, the deodand [any personal chattel which was
the immediate cause of death] was forfeited "to God". These
chattel were usually carts, cart teams, horses, boats, and
mill-wheels.
Five cases with short summaries are:
CASE: "John Croc was drowned from his horse and cart in the water
of Bickney. Judgment: misadventur. The price of the horse and
cart is 4s.6d. 4s.6d. deodand."
CASE: "Willam Ruffus was crushed to death by a certain trunk. The
price of the trunk is 4d., for which the sheriff is to answer.
4d. deodand."
CASE: "William le Hauck killed Edric le Poter and fled, so he is
to be exacted and outlawed. He was in the tithing of Reynold
Horloc in Clandon of the abbot of Chertsey (West Clandon), so it
is in mercy. His chattels were 4 s., for which the bailiff of the
abbot of Chertsey is to answer."
CASE: "Richard de Bregsells, accused of larceny, comes and denies
the whole and puts himself on the country for good or ill. The
twelve jurors and four vills say that he is not guilty, so he is
quit."
CASE: William le Wimpler and William Vintner sold wine contrary
to the statute, so they are in mercy.
Other cases dealt with issues of entry, i.e. whether land was
conveyed or just rented; issues of whether a man was free, for
which his lineage was examined; issues of to which lord a villein
belonged; issues of nuisance such as making or destroying a bank,
ditch, or hedge; diverting a watercourse or damming it to make a
pool; obstructing a road, and issues of what grazing rights were
conveyed in pasture land, waste, woods, or arable fields between
harvest and sowing. Grazing right disputes usually arose from the
ambiguous language in the grant of land "with appurtances".
Courts awarded specific relief as well as money damages. If a
landlord broke his covenant to lease land for a term of years,
the court restored possession to the lessee. If a lord did not
perform the services due to his superior lord, the court ordered
him to perform the services. The courts also ordered repair by a
lessee.
Debts of country knights and freeholders were heard in the local
courts; debts of merchants and burgesses were heard in the courts
of the fairs and boroughs; debts due under wills and testaments
were heard in the ecclesiastical courts. The ecclesiastical
courts deemed marriage to legitimize bastard children whose
parents married, so they inherited chattels and money of their
parents. Proof was by compurgation, the ordeal having been
abolished by the Church.
Trial by battle is still available, although it is extremely rare
for the duel to actually take place.
The manor court imposed penalties on those who did not perform
their services to the manor and the lord wrote down the customs
of the manor for future use in other courts.
By statute, no fines could be taken of any man for fair pleading
in the Circuit of Justiciars, shire, hundred, or manor courts.
Various statutes relaxed the requirements for attendance at court
of those who were not involved in a case as long as there were
enough to make the inquests fully. And "every freeman who owes
suit to the county, tything, hundred, and wapentake, or to the
Court of his Lord, may freely make his attorney attend for him."
In Chancery, the court of the Chancellor, if there is a case with
no remedy specified in the law, that is similar to a situation
for which there is a writ, then a new writ may be made for that
case. (By this will later be expanded the action of trespass,
which even later has offshoots of misdemeanor and the tort of
trespass.)
Chapter 8
- The Times: 1272-1348 -
King Edward I was respected by the people for his good
government, practical wisdom, and genuine concern for justice for
everyone. He loved his people and wanted them to love him. He
came to the throne with twenty years experience governing lesser
lands on the continent which were given to him by his father
Henry III. He gained a reputation as a lawgiver and as a
peacemaker in disputes on the continent. He had close and solid
family relationships, especially with his father and with his
wife Eleanor, to whom he was faithful. He was loyal to his close
circle of good friends. He valued honor and adhered reasonably
well to the terms of the treaties he made. He was generous in
carrying out the royal custom of subsidizing the feeding of
paupers. He visited the sick. He dressed in plain, ordinary
clothes rather than extravagant or ostentatious ones. He disliked
ceremony and display.
At his accession, there was a firm foundation of a national law
administered by a centralized judicial system, a centralized
executive, and an organized system of local government in close
touch with both the judicial and the executive system. To gain
knowledge of his nation, he sent royal commissioners into every
shire to ask about any encroachments on the King's rights and
about misdeeds by any of the King's officials: sheriffs,
bailiffs, or coroners. The results were compiled as the "Hundred
Rolls". They were the basis of reforms which improved justice at
the local as well as the national level. They also rationalized
the array of jurisdictions that had grown up with feudal
government. Statutes were passed by a Parliament of two houses,
that of lords and that of an elected [rather than appointed]
commons, and the final form of the constitution was fixed.
Wardships of children and widows were sought because they were
very profitable. A guardian could get one tenth of the income of
the property during the wardship and a substantial marriage
amount when the ward married.
Most earldoms and many baronages came into the royal house by
escheat or marriage. The royal house employed many people. The
barons developed a class consciousness of aristocracy and became
leaders of society. Many men, no matter of whom they held land,
sought knighthood. The King granted knighthood by placing his
sword on the head of able-bodied and moral candidates who swore
an oath of loyalty to the King and to defend "all ladies,
gentlewomen, widows and orphans" and to "shun no adventure of
your person in any war wherein you should happen to be". A code
of knightly chivalry became recognized, such as telling the truth
and setting wrongs right. About half of the knights were
literate. In 1278, the King issued a writ ordering all
free-holders who held land of the value of 400s. to receive
knighthood at the King's hands.
At the royal house and other great houses gentlemanly jousting
competitions, with well-refined and specific rules, took the
place of violent tournaments with general rules. At these knights
competed for the affection of ladies by jousting with each
otherwhile while the ladies watched. Courtly romances were
common. If a man convinced a lady to marry him, the marriage
ceremony took place in church, with feasting and dancing
afterwards. Romantic stories were at the height of their
popularity. A usual theme was the lonely quest of a knight
engaged in adventures which would impress his lady.
The dress of the higher classes was very changeable and subject
to fashion as well as function. Ladies no longer braided their
hair in long tails, but rolled it up in a net under a veil, often
topped with an elaborate and fanciful headdress. They wore
non-functional long trains on their dresses and dainty shoes. Men
wore a long gown, sometimes clasped around the waist. Overcloaks
were often lined or trimmed with native fur such as squirrel.
People often wore solid red, blue, or green clothes. Only monks
and friars wore brown. The introduction of buttons and
buttonholes to replace pins and laces made clothing warmer. The
spinning wheel came into existence.
While the great barons lived in houses built within the walls of
their castles, most barons and knights lived in unfortified or
semi-fortified houses with two rooms. There were ornaments for
the tables and more wall hangings.
Wardships of children and widows were sought because they were
very profitable. A guardian could get one tenth of the income of
the property during the wardship and a substantial marriage
amount when the ward married.
Queen Eleanor, a cultivated, intelligent, and educated lady from
the continent, fostered culture and rewarded individual literary
efforts, such as translations from Latin, with grants of her own
money. She patronized Oxford and Cambridge Universities and left
bequests to poor scholars there. She herself had read Aristotle
and commentaries thereon, and she especially patronized
literature which would give cross-cultural perspectives on
subjects. She was kind and thoughtful towards those about her and
was also sympathetic to the afflicted and generous to the poor.
She shared Edward's career to a remarkable extent, even
accompanying him on a crusade. She had an intimate knowledge of
the people in Edward's official circle and relied on the advice
of two of them in managing her lands. She mediated disputes
between earls and other nobility, as well as softened her
husband's temper towards people. Edward granted her many
wardships and marriages and she arranged marriages with political
advantages. She dealt with envoys coming to the court. Her
intellectual vitality and organized mentality allowed her to deal
with arising situations well. Edward held her in great esteem.
She introduced to England the merino sheep, which, when bred with
the English sheep, gave them a better quality of wool. She and
Edward often played games of chess and backgammon.
Farm efficiency was increased by the use of windmills in the
fields to pump water and by allowing villeins their freedom and
hiring them as laborers only when needed. There was enough grain
to store so that the population was no longer periodically
decimated by famine. The population grew and all arable land in
the nation was under the plough. Harvests were usually plentiful,
with the exception of two periods of famine over the country due
to weather conditions. Then the price of wheat went up and drove
up the prices of all other goods correspondingly.
Although manors needed the ploughmen, the carters and drivers,
the herdsmen, and the dairymaid on a full-time basis, other
tenants spent increasing time in crafts and became village
carpenters, smiths, weavers or millers' assistants. Trade and the
towns grew.
Money rents often replaced service due to a lord, such as fish
silver, malt silver, or barley silver. The lord's rights are
being limited to the rights declared on the extents [records
showing service due from each tenant] and the rolls of the manor.
Sometimes land is granted to strangers because none of the
kindred of the deceased will take it. Often a manor court limited
a fee in land to certain issue instead of being inheritable by
all heirs. Surveyors' poles marked boundaries declared by court
in boundary disputes. This resulted in survey maps showing
villages and cow pastures.
The revival of trade and the appearance of a money economy was
undermining the long-established relationship between the lord of
the manor and his villeins. As a result, money payments were
supplementing or replacing payments in service and produce, as in
this manor's holdings, when 3d. would buy food for a day:
"Extent of the manor of Bernehorne, made on Wednesday following
the feast of St. Gregory the pope, in the thirty-fifth year of
the reign of Ding Edward, in the presence of Brother Thomas,
keeper of Marley, John de la More, and Adam de Thruhlegh, clerks,
on the oath of William de Gocecoumbe, Walter le Parker, Richard
le Knyst, Richard the son of the latter, Andrew of Estone,
Stephen Morsprich, Thomas Brembel, William of Swynham, John
Pollard, Roger le Glide, John Syward, and John de Lillingewist,
who say that there are all the following holdings:...
John Pollard holds a half acre in Aldithewisse and owes 18d. at
the four terms,and owes for it relief and heriot.
John Suthinton holds a house and 40 acres of land and owes 3s.
6d. at Easter and Michaelmas.
William of Swynham holds one acre of meadow in the thicket of
Swynham and owes 1d. at the feast of Michaelmas.
Ralph of Leybourne holds a cottage and one acre of land in Pinden
and owes 3s. at Easter and Michaelmas, and attendance at the
court in the manor every three weeks, also relief and heriot.
Richard Knyst of Swynham holds two acres and a half of land and
owes yearly 4s. William of Knelle holds two acres of land in
Aldithewisse and owes yearly 4s. Roger le Glede holds a cottage
and three roods of land and owes 2s. 6d. Easter and Michaelmas.
Alexander Hamound holds a little piece of land near Aldewisse and
owes one goose of the value of 2d. The sum of the whole rent of
the free tenants, with the value of the goose, is 18s. 9d.
They say, moreover, that John of Cayworth holds a house and 30
acres of land, and owes yearly 2s. at Easter and Michaelmas; and
he owes a cock and two hens at Christmas of the value of 4d.
And he ought to harrow for two days at the Lenten sowing with one
man and his own horse and his own harrow, the value of the work
being 4d.; and he is to receive from the lord on each day three
meals, of the value of 5d., and then the lord will be at a loss
of 1d. Thus his harrowing is of no value to the service of the
lord.
And he ought to carry the manure of the lord for two days with
one cart, with his own two oxen, the value of the work being 8d.;
and he is to receive from the lord each day three meals at the
value as above. And thus the service is worth 3d. clear.
And he shall find one man for two days, for mowing the meadow of
the lord, who can mow, by estimation, one acre and a half, the
value of the mowing of an acre being 6d.: the sum is therefore
9d. And he is to receive each day three meals of the value given
above. And thus that mowing is worth 4d. clear. And he ought to
gather and carry that same hay which he has cut, the price of the
work being 3d. And he shall have from the lord two meals for one
man, of the value of 1 1/2 d. Thus the work will be worth 1 1/2
d. clear.
And he ought to carry the hay of the lord for one day with a cart
and three animals of his own, the price of the work being 6d. And
he shall have from the lord three meals of the value of 2 1/2 d.
And thus the work is worth 3 1/2 d. clear.
And he ought to carry in autumn beans or oats for two days with a
cart and three animals of his own, the value of the work being
12d. And he shall receive from the lord each day three meals of
the value given above. And thus the work is worth 7d. clear.
And he ought to carry wood from the woods of the lord as far as
the manor, for two days in summer, with a cart and three animals
of his own, the value of the work being 9d. And he shall receive
from the lord each day three meals of the price given above. And
thus the work is worth 4d. clear.
And he ought to find one man for two days to cut heath, the value
of the work being 4d., and he shall have three meals each day of
the value given above: and thus the lord will lose, if he
receives the service, 3d. Thus that mowing is worth nothing to
the service of the lord.
And he ought to carry the heath which he has cut, the value of
the work being 5d. And he shall receive from the lord three meals
at the price of 2 1/2 d. And thus the work will be worth 2 1/2 d.
clear.
And he ought to carry to Battle, twice in the summer season, each
time half a load of grain, the value of the service being 4d. And
he shall receive in the manor each time one meal of the value of
2d. And thus the work is worth 2d. clear.
The totals of the rents, with the value of the hens, is 2s. 4d.
The total of the value of the works is 2s. 3 1/2 d., being owed
from the said
John yearly.
William of Cayworth holds a house and 30 acres of land and owes
at Easter and Michaelmas 2s. rent. And he shall do all customs
just as the aforesaid John of Cayworth.
William atte Grene holds a house and 30 acres of land and owes in
all things the same as the said John. Alan atte Felde holds a
house and 16 acres of land (for which the sergeant pays to the
court of Bixley 2s.), and he owes at Easter and Michaelmas 4s.,
attendance at the manor court, relief, and heriot.
John Lyllingwyst holds a house and four acres of land and owes at
the two terms 2s., attendance at the manor court, relief, and
heriot.
The same John holds one acre of land in the fields of Hoo and
owes at the two periods 2s., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Reginald atte Denne holds a house and 18 acres of land and owes
at the said periods 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Robert of Northehou holds three acres of land at Saltcote and
owes at the said periods attendance, relief, and heriot. Total
of the rents of the villeins, with the value of the hens, 20s.
Total of all the works of these villeins, 6s.10 1/2 d.
And it is to be noted that none of the abovementioned villeins
can give their daughters in marriage, nor cause their sons to be
tonsured, nor can they cut down timber growing on the lands they
hold, without license of the bailiff or sergeant of the lord, and
then for building purposes and not otherwise. And after the death
of any one of the aforesaid villeins, the lord shall have as a
heriot his best animal, if he had any; if, however, he have no
living beast, the lord shall have no heriot, as they say. The
sons or daughters of the aforesaid villeins shall give, for
entrance into the holding after the death of their predecessors,
as much as they give of rent per year. Sylvester, the priest,
holds one acre of meadow adjacent to his house and owes yearly
3s.
Total of the rent of tenants for life, 3s.
Petronilla atte Holme holds a cottage and a piece of land and
owes at Easter and Michaelmas - ; also, attendance, relief, and
heriot.
Walter Herying holds a cottage and a piece of land and owes at
Easter and Michaelmas 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Isabella Mariner holds a cottage and owes at the feast of St.
Michael 12d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Jordan atte Melle holds a cottage and 1 1/2 acres of land and
owes at Easter and Michaelmas 2s., attendance, relief, and
heriot.
William of Batelesmere holds one acre of land with a cottage and
owes at the feast of St. Michael 3d., and one cock and one hen at
Christmas of the value of 3d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
John le Man holds half an acre of land with a cottage and owes at
the feast of St. Michael 2s., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Hohn Werthe holds one rood of land with a cottage and owes at the
said term 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Geoffrey Caumbreis holds half an acre and a cottage and owes at
the said term 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
William Hassok holds one rood of land and a cottage and owes at
the said term 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
The same man holds 3 1/2 acres of land and owes yearly at the
feast of St. Michael 3s. for all.
Roger Doget holds half an acre of land and a cottage, which were
those of R. the miller, and owes at the feast of St. Michael
18d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Thomas le Brod holds one acre and a cottage and owes at the said
term 3s., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Agnes of Cayworth holds half an acre and a cottage and owes at
the said term 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Total of the rents of the said cottagers, with the value of the
hens, 34s.6d.
And it is to be noted that all the said cottagers shall do as
regards giving
their daughters in marriage, having their sons tonsured, cutting
down timber, paying heriot, and giving fines for entrance, just
as John of Cayworth and the rest of the villeins above mentioned.
"
The above fines and penalties, with heriots and reliefs, are
worth 5s. yearly.
Most villeins did not venture beyond their village except for
about ten miles to a local shrine or great fair a couple times a
year. Often one village was divided up among two or more manors,
so different manorial customs made living conditions different
among the villagers. Each villein had his own garden in which to
grow fruit and vegetables next to his house, a pig (which
fattened more quickly than other animals), strips in the common
field, and sometimes an assart [a few acres of his own to
cultivate as he pleased on originally rough uncultivated waste
land beyond the common fields and the enclosed common pastures
and meadows].
People told time by counting the number of rings of the church
bell, which rang on the hour. Every Sunday, the villagers went to
church, which was typically the most elaborate and centrally
located building in the village. Their religion brought comfort
and hope of going to heaven after judgment by God at their death
if they avoided sin. On festival days, Bible stories, legends,
and lives of saints were read or performed as miracle dramas.
They learned to avoid the devil, who was influential in lonely
places like forests and high mountains. At death, the corpse was
washed, shrouded, and put into a rectangular coffin with a cross
on its lid. Priests sang prayers amid burning incense for the
deliverance of the soul to God while interring the coffin into
the ground.
A villein could be forever set free from servitude by his lord as
in this example:
"To all the faithful of Christ to whom the present writing shall
come, Richard, by the divine permission, abbot of Peterborough
and of the Convent of the same place, eternal greeting in the
Lord:
Let all know that we have manumitted and liberated from all yoke
of servitude William, the son of Richard of Wythington, whom
previously we have held as our born bondman, with his whole
progeny and all his chattels, so that neither we nor our
successors shall be able to require or exact any right or claim
in the said William, his progeny, or his chattels. But the same
William, with his whole progeny and all his chattels, shall
remain free and quit and without disturbance, exaction, or any
claim on the part of us or our successors by reason of any
servitude forever.
We will, moreover, and concede that he and his heirs shall hold
the messuages, land, rents, and meadows in Wythington which his
ancestors held from us and our predecessors, by giving and
performing the fine which is called merchet for giving his
daughter in marriage, and tallage from year to year according to
our will, - that he shall have and hold these for the future from
us and our successors freely, quietly, peacefully, and
hereditarily, by paying to us and our successors yearly 40 s.
sterling, at the four terms of the year, namely: at St. John the
Baptist's day 10s., at Michaelmas 10s., at Christmas 10s., and at
Easter 10s., for all service, exaction, custom, and secular
demand; saving to us, nevertheless, attendance at our court of
Castre every three weeks, wardship, and relief, and outside
service of our lord the King, when they shall happen.
And if it shall happen that the said William or his heirs shall
die at any time without an heir, the said messuage, land rents,
and meadows with their appurtenances shall return fully and
completely to us and our successors. Nor will it be allowed to
the said William or his heirs to give, sell, alienate, mortgage,
or encumber in any way, the said messuage, land, rents, and
meadows, or any part of them, by which the said messuage, land,
rents, and meadows should not return to us and our successors in
the form declared above. And if this should occur later, their
deed shall be declared null, and what is thus alienated shall
come to us and our successors ...
Given at Borough, for the love of Lord Robert of good memory,
once abbot, our predecessor and maternal uncle of the said
William, and at the instance of the good man, Brother Hugh of
Mutton, relative of the said abbot Robert, A.D. 1278, on the eve
of Pentecost."
Villeins who were released from the manorial organization by
commutation of their service for a money payment took the name of
their craft as part of their name, such as, for the manufacture
of textiles, Weaver, Draper, Comber, Fuller, Napper, Cissor,
Tailor, Textor; for metal-work, Faber, Ironmonger; for
leatherwork, Tanner; for woodwork, building and carpentry,
Carpenter, Cooper, Mason, Pictor; for food-production, Baker,
Pistor. Iron, tin, lead, salt, and even coal were providing
increasing numbers of people with a livelihood.
Many new boroughs were founded as grants of market rights by the
King grew in number. These grants implied the advantage of the
King's protection. In fact, a certain flooded town was replaced
with a new town planned with square blocks. It was the charter
which distinguished the borough community from the other
communities existing in the country. It invested each borough
with a distinct character. The privileges which the charter
conferred were different indifferent places. It might give
trading privileges: freedom from toll, a guild merchant, a right
to hold a fair. It might give jurisdictional privileges: a right
to hold court with greater or less franchises. It might given
governmental privileges: freedom from the burden of attending the
hundred and county courts, the return of writs, which meant the
right to exclude the royal officials, the right to take the
profits of the borough, paying for them a fixed sum to the Crown
or other lord of the borough, the right to elect their own
officials rather than them being appointed by the King or a lord,
and the right to provide for the government of the borough. It
might give tenurial privileges: the power to make a will of
lands, or freedom from the right of a lord to control his
tenants' marriages. It might give procedural privileges: trial by
battle is excluded, and trial by compurgation is secured and
regulated. These medieval borough charters are very varied, and
represent all stages of development and all grades of franchise.
Boroughs bought increasing rights and freedoms from their lord,
who was usually the King.
In the larger towns, where cathedrals and public building were
built, there arose a system for teaching these technical skills
and elaborate handicraft, wood, metal, stained glass, and stone
work. A boy from the town would be bound over to a particular
workman, who supplied him with board and clothing. After a few
years of this apprenticeship, he became a journeyman and
perfected his knowledge of his craft and its standards by seeing
different methods and results in various towns. He was admitted
as a master of his trade to a guild uponpresenting an article of
his work worthy of that guild's standard of workmanship: his
"masterpiece". The tailors' guild and the skinners' guild are
extant now.
When guilds performed morality plays based on Bible stories at
town festivals, there was usually a tie between the Bible story
and the guild's craft. For instance, the story of the loaves and
fishes would be performed by the Bakers' or Fishmongers' Guild.
The theme of the morality play was the fight of the Seven
Cardinal Virtues against the Seven Deadly Sins for the human
soul, a life-long battle.
A borough was run by a mayor elected usually for life. By being
members of a guild, merchant-traders and craftsmen acquired the
legal status of burgesses and had the freedom of the borough.
Each guild occupied a certain ward of the town headed by an
alderman. The town aldermen made up the town council, which
advised the mayor. Often there were town police, bailiffs,
beadles [messengers], a town-cryer, and a town clerk. No longer
were towns dominated by the local landowners.
In London by this time there was a wall with four towers
surrounding the White Tower, and this castle was known as the
Tower of London. Another wall and a moat were built around it and
it has reached its final form. Hovels, shops, and waste patches
alternated with high walls and imposing gateways protecting
mansions. The mansions had orchards, gardens, stables,
brewhouses, bakeries, guardrooms, and chapels. London streets
were paved with cobbles and sand. Each citizen was to keep the
street in front of his tenement in good repair. Later, each
alderman appointed four reputable men to repair and clean the
streets for wages. Prostitutes were expelled from the city
because the street with their bawdy houses had become very noisy.
London had twenty four wards. The aldermen for the first time
included a fishmonger in 1291. The Fishmongers were the only
guild at this time, besides the weavers, which had independent
jurisdiction, as they had transferred control of their weekly
hall moot from a public official to themselves. Craftsmen began
to take other public offices too. Other city offices were:
recorder, prosecutor, common sergeant, and attorneys. Each ward
chose certain of its inhabitants to be councilors to the
aldermen. This council was to be consulted by him and its advice
to be followed. Admission to freedom of the city [citizenship]
was controlled by the citizens. Apprentices had to finish their
terms before such admission. Craftsmen had to have sureties from
their crafts as of 1319. No longer could one simply purchase
citizenship. Only freemen could sell wares in the city, a custom
of at least two hundred years.
In 1275, a goldsmith was chief assay-master of the King's mint
and keeper of the exchange at London. The King gave the
Goldsmiths' Company the right of assay [determination of the
quantity of gold or silver in an object] and required that no
vessels of gold or silver should leave the maker's hands until
they had been tested by the wardens and stamped appropriately. In
1279, goldsmith William Farrington bought the soke of the ward
containing the goldsmiths' shops. It remained in his family for
80 years. A patent of 1327 empowered the guild to elect a
properly qualified governing body to superintend its affairs, and
reform subjects of just complaint. It also prescribed, as a
safeguard against a prevailing fraud and abuse, that all members
of the trade should have their standing in Cheapside or in the
King's exchange, and that no gold or silver should be
manufactured for export, except that which had been bought at the
exchange or of the trade openly.
There was a problem with malefactors committing offenses in
London and avoiding its jurisdiction by escaping to Southwark
across the Thames River. So Southwark was put under the
jurisdiction of London for peace and order matters by grant of
the King. London forbade games being played because they had
replaced practice in archery, which was necessary for defense.
Exports and imports were no longer a tiny margin in an economy
just above the subsistence level. Raw wool, cloth, grain, and
herring were exported. Wine, silk, timber, furs, rubies,
emeralds, fruits, raisins, currents, pepper, ginger, and cloves
were imported. They were transported in ships with two masts upon
which sails could be furled and which had the recently invented
rudder. Many duties of sheriffs and coroners were transferred to
county landowners by commissions. In coastal counties, there were
such commissions for supervising coastal defense and maintaining
the beacons. Ports had a vigilant coastguard and well-maintained
harbors, quays, and streets. A customs revenue was collected on
exports and imports.
Women could inherit land in certain circumstances. Some tenants
holding land in chief of the King were women.
Regulation of trade became national instead of local.
Responsibility for the coinage was transferred from the
individual moneyers working in different boroughs to a central
official who was to become Master of the Mint. The round half
penny and farthing [1/4 penny] were created so that the penny
needn't be cut into halves and quarters anymore.
Edward called a meeting of representatives from all social and
geographic sectors of the nation at one Parliament to determine
taxes due to the Crown. He declared that "what touches all,
should be approved by all". He wanted taxes from the burgesses in
the towns and the clergy's ecclesiastical property as well as
from landholders. He argued to the clergy that if barons had to
both fight and pay, they who could do no fighting must at least
pay, and compelled them to renounce all Papal orders contrary to
the King's authority. This new system of taxation began the
decline of the imposition of feudal aids, scutages, and carucage.
The aids of the boroughs, counties, and church had been
negotiated by the Exchequer with the reeves of each town, the
sheriff and shire courts of each county, and the archdeacons of
each diocese.
This Model Parliament of 1295 was composed of the three
communities. The first were the lords. Because of the increase of
lesser barons due to a long national peace and prosperity, the
lords attending were reduced in numbers and peerage became
dependent not on land tenure, but on royal writ of summons. The
second community was the clergy, represented by the bishops of
each diocese. They later declined to attend. The third community
was the commons. It was composed of two burgesses elected by
principal burgesses of each borough and two elected knights
representing each county. The common people now had a voice in
law-making. The first legislation proposed by the commons was
alteration of the forest laws governing the royal pleasure parks.
Such a statute was passed in a bargain for taxes of a percentage
of all moveables, which were mostly foodstuffs and animals.
Parliament soon was required to meet once or twice yearly.
Lawmaking is now a function of Parliament, of which the King's
council is a part, instead of a function of the King with his
council and judges. However, legislation may be passed without
the consent of the commons. Also, there was no convention that
agreement or even the presence of representatives was required
for legislation. The Chief Justices still had, as members of the
council, a real voice in the making of laws. The King and his
justices might, after a statute has been made, put an
authoritative interpretation upon it.
Most petitions to Parliament were private grievances of
individuals, including people of no social rank, such as
prisoners. Other petitions were from communities and groups.
The commons became a permanent and distinct body with its own
clerk in Edward III's reign.
The export of wool had increased and Parliament made permanent
customs duties on the export of wool, woolfells, and hides at 6s.
8d. per sack, which was collected at each of the thirteen ports.
Sheriffs were elected in their own counties rather than appointed
by the King as of 1297.
Lawyers are now drawn from the knightly class instead of
ecclesiastical people. Law no longer belongs to the church, but
to the knightly class of landed gentlemen. The Inns of Court in
London provide legal education and certify members to the bar.
From 1299, statutes were recorded in a Statute Roll as they were
enacted.
By the end of the thirteenth century, the King's wardrobe, where
confidential matters such as military affairs were discussed in
his bedroom, became a department of state with the privy seal. It
paid and provisioned the knights, squires, and sergeants of the
King and was composed mostly of civil servants. It traveled with
the King. The other two specialized administrative bodies were
the Exchequer, which received most of the royal revenue and kept
accounts at Westminster in London, and the Chancery, which wrote
royal writs, charters, and letters.
As of 1336, importing foreign cloth or fur, except for use by the
King's family, was prohibited, as was the export of unwoven wool.
Later, this was relaxed and a customs tax of 33% was imposed on
wool exported. Foreign cloth-workers may come to live in the
nation, be granted franchises, and shall be in the King's
protection. No cloth may be exported until it is fulled.
Edward I confirmed the Magna Carta. He also agreed not to impose
taxes without the consent of Parliament after baronial pressure
had forced him to retreat from trying to increase, for a war in
France, the customs tax on every exported sack of wool to 40s.
from the 6s. 8d. per sack it had been since 1275. The customs tax
was finally fixed at 10s. for every sack of wool, 2s. for each
tun of wine, and 6d. for every pound's worth of other goods. A
tax system of "tenths and fifteenths" levied on moveables or
chattels every year also came into being. Never again did a King
impose a tax without the consent of Parliament. Edward also
confirmed the Forest Charter, which called for its earlier
boundaries. And he agreed not to impound any grain or wool or and
like against the will of the owners, as had been done before to
collect taxes. Lastly, he agreed not to impose penalties on two
earls and their supporters for refusing to serve in the war in
France.
There was a recoinage due to debasement of the old coinage. This
increased the number of coins in circulation. The price of wheat
went from about 7s. in 1270 to about 5s. per quarter in 1280.
Also the price of an ox went from 14s. to 10s. From 1280 to 1290,
there was runaway inflation.
As before, inadequate care and ignorance of nutrition caused many
infant deaths. Accidents and disease were so prevalent that death
was always near and life insecure. Many women died in childbirth.
Under Edward II, all citizens of London had to be enrolled in the
trade guild of their craft.
To support a war with France, Edward III created the staple
system, by which wool exports were taxed through his officials
only at the designated staple port. Certain large wool merchants
were allowed to create a monopoly on the export of wool. Also
under Edward III, Flanders weavers were encouraged to come to
England to teach the English how to weave and finish fine cloth.
A cloth industry grew with all the manufacturing processes under
the supervision of one capitalist manufacturer, who set up his
enterprise in the country to avoid the regulations of the towns.
The best places were hilly areas where there were many streams
and good pasture for flocks of sheep. He hired shearers to cut
the nap as short as possible to give a smooth surface, then
spinsters to card and spin the wool in their country cottages,
then weavers, and then fullers and dyers to come to fulling mills
established near streams for their waterpower. Fulling became
mechanized as heavy wooden hammers run by water-power replaced
feet trampling the cloth covered with soap or fuller's clay,
until it became thick and smaller. The shaft loom was a
technological advance in weaving. This loom was horizontal and
its frames, which controlled the lifting of the warp threads,
could each be raised by a foot treadle. This left both hands free
to throw and catch the shuttle attached to the woof thread. Also
many more weaving patterns became possible through the use of
different thread configurations on the frames.
- The Law -
Edward I remodeled the law in response to grievances and to
problems which came up in the courts. The changes improved the
efficiency of justice and served to accommodate it to the
changing circumstances of the social system. These statutes were:
"No man by force of arms, malice or menacing shall disturb anyone
in making free election [of sheriffs, coroners, conservators of
the peace by freeholders of the shire]."
"No city, borough, town, nor man shall be amerced without
reasonable cause and according to the severity of his trespass.
That is, every freeman saving his freehold, a merchant saving his
merchandise, a villein saving his waynage [implements of
agriculture], and that by his peers."
No distress shall be taken of ploughing cattle or sheep.
Young salmon shall not be taken from waters in the spring.
No loan shall be made for interest.
If an heir who is a minor is married off without the consent of
the guardian, the value of the marriage will be lost and the
wrongdoer imprisoned. If anyone marries off an heir over 14 years
of age without the consent of the guardian, the guardian shall
have double the value of the marriage. Moreover, anyone who has
withdrawn a marriage shall pay the full value thereof to the
guardian for the trespass and make amends to the King. And if a
Lord refuses to marry off a female heir of full age and keep her
unmarried because he covets the land, then he shall not have her
lands more than two years after she reaches full age, at which
time she can recover her inheritance without giving anything for
the wardship or her marriage. However, if she maliciously refuses
to be married by her Lord, he may hold her land and inheritance
until she is the age of a male heir, that is, twenty one years
old and further until he has taken the value of the marriage.
Aid to make one's son a knight or marry off his daughter of a
whole knight's fee shall be taken 20s., and 400s.[yearly income
from] land held in socage 20s. [5%], and of more, more; and of
less, less; after the rate. And none shall levy such aid to make
his son a knight until his son is 15 years old, nor to marry his
daughter until she is seven year old.
A conveyance of land which is the inheritance of a minor child by
his guardian or lord to another is void.
Dower shall not abate because the widow has received dower of
another man unless part of the first dower received was of the
same tenant and in the same town. But a woman who leaves her
husband for another man is barred from dower.
A tenant for a term of years who has let land from a landlord
shall not let it lie waste, nor shall a landlord attempt to oust
a tenant for a term of years by fictitious recoveries.
When two or more hold wood, turfland, or fishing or other such
thing in common, wherein none knows his several, and one does
waste against the minds of the others, he may be sued.
Lands which are given to a man and his wife upon condition that
if they die without heirs, the land shall revert to the donor or
his heir, may not be alienated to defeat this condition.
If a man takes land in marriage with a wife, and she dies before
him, the land will revert to the donor or his heir, unless they
have a child, in which case the husband will have the land by the
courtesy of the nation for his life before it reverts to the
donor or his heir.
A free tenant may alienate his land freely, but if the alienation
was for an estate in fee simple [to a man and his heirs], the
person acquiring the land would hold of the land's lord and not
of the person alienating the land. (This halted the growth of
subinfeudation and caused services as well as incidents of aids,
relief, escheat, wardship, and marriage to go directly to the
Chief Lord. It also advantaged the Crown as overlord, which then
acquired more direct tenants.)
One may create an estate which will descend in unbroken
succession down the line of inheritance prescribed in the
original gift as long as that line should last, instead of
descending to all heirs. The successive occupants might draw the
rents and cut the wood, but on the death of each, his heir would
take possession of an unencumbered interest, unfettered by any
liability for the debt of his ancestor or by any disposition made
by him during his lifetime e.g. a wife's estate in dower or a
husband's estate in courtesy. If there was no issue, it reverted
to the original donor. ( This curtailed the advantage of tenants
of the greater barons who profited by increased wardships and
reliefs from subinfeudation from subdivision and better
cultivation of their land while still paying the greater barons
fixed sums. This statute [Quia Emptores] that protected
reversionary estates incidentally established a system of
entails. This new manner of holding land: "fee tail", is in
addition to the concepts of land held in fee simple and land held
for life. Interests in remainder or reversion of estates in land
replace the lord's tenurial right to succeed to land by escheat
if his tenant dies without heirs.)
In Kent, all men are free and may give or sell their lands
without permission of their lords, as before the Conquest. (Since
Kent was nearest the continent, money flowed between England and
the continent through Kent. So Kent never developed a manorial
system of land holding, but evolved from a system of clans and
independent villages directly into a commercial system.
Anyone disseising another whereby he also robs him or uses force
and arms in the disseisin shall be imprisoned and fined. The
plaintiff shall recover seisin and damages.
"All must be ready at the command and summons of sheriffs, and at
the cry of the country, to sue and arrest felons as necessary as
well within franchise as without." Otherwise, he shall be fined.
A Lord defaulting shall lose his franchise to the King. A Bailiff
defaulting shall be imprisoned a year as well as fined, or be
imprisoned two years if he cannot pay the fine. A sheriff,
coroner, or any other bailiff who conceals a felony will be
imprisoned for a year and pay a fine, or be imprisoned for three
years if he cannot pay the fine.
Villeins must report felons, pursue felons, serve in the watch,
and clear growth of concealing underwood from roads. They must
join the military to fight on the borders when called. Desertion
from the army is punishable.
Accessories to a crime shall not be declared outlaw before the
principal is proven guilty. (This made uniform the practice of
the various shires.)
Only those imprisoned for the smaller offenses of a single
incidence of petty larceny, receipt of felons, or accessory to a
felony, or some other trespass not punishable by life or limb
shall be let out by sufficient surety. Prisoners who were
outlawed or escaped from prison or are notorious thieves or were
imprisoned for felonious house-burning, passing false money,
counterfeiting the King's seal, treason touching the King
himself, or other major offenses or have been excommunicated by
the church may not be released.
Killing in self-defense and by mischance shall be pardoned from
the King's indictment. Killing by a child or a person of unsound
mind shall be pardoned from the King's indictment. (But a private
accuser can still sue.)
Any man who ravishes [abducts] any woman without her consent or
by force shall have the criminal penalty of loss of life or limb.
(The criminal penalty used to be just two years in prison.)
Trespasses [serious and forcible breaches of the peace] in parks
or ponds shall be punished by imprisonment for three years and a
fine as well as paying damages to the wronged person. After his
imprisonment, he shall find a surety or leave the nation.
"Forasmuch as there have been often times found in the country
devisors of tales, where discord, or occasion of discord, has
many times arisen between the King and his people, or great men
of this realm; For the damage that has and may thereof ensue, it
is commanded, that from henceforth none be so hardy to tell or
publish any false news or tales, whereby discord or occasion of
discord or slander may grow between the King and his people, or
the great men of the realm." Anyone doing so shall be imprisoned
until he brings into the court the first author of the tale.
A system of registration and enforcement of commercial agreements
was established by statute. Merchants could obtain a writing of a
debt sealed by the debtor and authenticated by royal seal or a
seal of a mayor of certain towns, and kept by the creditor.
Failure to pay a such a debt was punishable by imprisonment and,
after three months, the selling of borough tenements and chattels
and of shire lands. During the three months, the merchant held
this property in a new tenure of "statute merchant". (Prior to
this, it was difficult for a foreign merchant to collect a debt
because he could not appear in court which did not recognize him
as one of its proper "suitors" or constituents, so he had to
trust a local attorney. Also, the remedy was inadequate because
the history of the law of debt was based on debt as a substitute
for the blood feud, so that failure to pay meant slavery or
death. Also a debtor's land was protected by feudal custom, which
was contrary to the idea of imposing a new tenant on a lord.)
"In no city, borough, town, market, or fair shall a person of the
realm be distrained for a debt for which he is not the debtor or
pledge."
Anyone making those passing with goods through their jurisdiction
answer to them in excess of their jurisdiction shall be
grievously amerced to the King.
No market town shall take an outrageous toll contrary to the
common custom of the nation.
Since good sterling money has been counterfeited with base and
false metal outside the nation and then brought in, foreigners
found in the nation's ports with this false money shall forfeit
their lives. Anyone bringing foreign money into the nation must
have it examined at his port of entry. Payments of money shall be
made only by coin of the appropriate weight delivered by the
Warden of the Exchange and marked with the King's mark. (A
currency exchange was established at Dover for the exchange of
foreign currency for English sterling.)
The silver in craftwork must be sterling and marked with the
Leopard's Head. The gold in craftwork must meet the standard of
the Touch of Paris.
The assize of bread and ale had been and was enforced locally by
local inspectors. Now, the Crown appointed royal officers for the
gauge of wines and measurement of cloths. Edicts disallowed
middlemen from raising prices against consumers by such practices
as forestalling or engrossing and price regulation was attempted.
For instance, prices were set for poultry and lamb, in a period
of plenty (1299). Maximum prices were set for cattle, pigs,
sheep, poultry, and eggs in 1314, but was hard to enforce. In
London examples of prices set are: best hen 3d.2q., best wild
goose 4d., best rabbit 4d., best kid 10d., best lamb 4d., best
fresh herrings 12 for 1d., best pickled herrings 20 for 1d., best
haddock 2d., best fresh salmon 3s.,
Freemen may drive their swine through the King's demesne Forest
in order to agest them in their own woods or elsewhere. No man
shall lose his life or limb for killing deer in the Forest, but
instead shall be grievously fined or imprisoned for a year.
The Forest Charter allowed a man to cut down and take wood from
his own woods in the King's forest to repair his house, fences,
and hedges. He may also enclose his woods in the King's forest
with fences and hedges to grow new trees and keep cattle and
beasts therefrom. After seven years growth of these new trees, he
may cut them down for sale with the King's permission.
Each borough has its own civil and criminal ordinances and police
jurisdiction. Borough courts tended to deal with more laws than
other local courts because of the borough's denser populations,
which were composed of merchants, manufacturers, and traders, as
well as those engaged in agriculture. Only borough courts have
jurisdiction over fairs. In some boroughs the villein who resides
for a year and a day becomes free. There are special ordinances
relating to apprentices. There are sometimes ordinances against
enticing away servants bound by agreement to serve another. The
wife who is a trader is regarded in many places as a femme sole.
There may be special ordinances as to the liability of masters
for the acts of their apprentices and agents, or as to brokers,
debt, or earnest money binding a bargain. The criminal and police
jurisdiction in the borough was organized upon the same model as
in the country at large, and was controlled by the King's courts
upon similar principles, though there are some survivals of old
rules, such as mention of the bot and the wer. The crimes
committed are similar to those of the country, such as violence,
breaches of the assize of bread and beer, stirring up suits
before the ecclesiastical courts, digging up or obstructing the
highway, not being enrolled in a tithing, encroachments upon or
obstructions of rights of common. The most striking difference
with the country at large are the ordinances on the repair or
demolition of buildings, encroachments on another's building,
fires, and nuisances. Specimens of other characteristic urban
disputes are: selling bad food, using bad materials, unskillful
or careless workmanship, fraudulent weights and measures, fraud
in buying and selling, forestalling or regrating, acting in a way
likely to endanger the liberties of the borough, usury, trading
without being a citizen, assisting other unlicensed persons to
trade, unlawfully forming a guild, complaints against various
guilds in which trade might be organized. Since the ordinances
were always liable to be called in question before the King's
courts, they tended to become uniform and in harmony with the
principles of the common law. Also, trading between boroughs kept
them knowledgeable about each other's customs and conditions for
trade, which then tended to standardize. Boroughs often had seals
to prove communal consent and tended to act as a corporate body.
Borough ordinances often include arson such as this one: "And if
a street be set on fire by any one, his body shall be attached
and cast into the midst of the fire." Robbery by the miller was
specially treated by an ordinance that "And if the miller be
attainted of robbery of the grain or of the flour to the amount
of 4d., he shall be hanged from the beam in his mill."
In London, an ordinance prescribed for bakers for the first
offense of making false bread a forfeiture of that bread. For the
second offense was prescribed imprisonment, and for the third
offense placement in the pillory. A London ordinance for millers
who caused bread to be false prescribed for them to be carried in
a tumbrel cart through certain streets, exposed to the derision
of the people.
By statute, no one may make a gift or alienation of land to the
church. An attempt to do so will cause the land to escheat to the
lord, or in his default, to the King. Religious houses may not
alienate land given to them by the King or other patrons because
such gifts were for the sake of someone's soul. An attempt to do
so will cause the land to revert to the donor or his heir. If the
church did not say the prayers or do the other actions for which
land was given to it, the land will revert to the donor or his
heir. The church shall send no money out of the nation.
"Concerning wrecks of the sea, where a man, a dog, or a cat
escape alive out of the ship, that such ship nor barge nor
anything within them shall be deemed wreck, but the goods shall
be saved and kept by view of the Sheriff, Coroner, or the King's
Bailiff". If anyone proves the goods were his within a year and a
day, they shall be restored to him without delay. Otherwise, they
shall be kept by the King. "And where wreck belongs to one other
than the King, he shall have it in like manner". If he does
otherwise, he shall be imprisoned and pay damages and fine.
Some statutes applied only to Kent County, which had a unique
position between London and the continent. One could sell or give
away his land without the consent of one's lord. The services of
the land, however, could only be sold to the chief lord.
Inheritance of land was to all sons by equal portions, and if
there were no sons, then to all daughters in equal portions. The
eldest brother has his choice of portion, then the next oldest,
etc. The goods of a deceased person were divided into three parts
after his funeral expenses and debts were paid. One third went to
the surviving spouse. One third went to the deceased's sons and
daughters. One third could be disposed by will of the decedent.
If there were no children, one half went to the spouse and one
half went according to will. If an heir was under 15 years old,
his next of kin to whom inheritance could not descend was to be
his guardian. A wife who remarried or bore a child lost her dower
land. A husband lost his dower if he remarried. If a tenant
withheld rent or services, his lord could seek award of court to
find distress on his tenement and if he could find none, he could
take the tenement for a year and a day in his hands without
manuring it. It the tenant paid up in this time, he got the
tenement back. If he didn't within a year and a day, however, the
lord could manure the land. A felon forfeited his life and his
goods, but not his lands or tenements. A wife of a felon had the
dower of one half or her husband's lands and tenements.
The common law recognized the tort of false imprisonment if a man
arrested as a felon, a person who was not a felon.
Ecclesiastical courts were successful in their competition with
the secular courts for jurisdiction over testamentary [concerning
wills] and intestate succession [no will] to chattels. It's law
made a woman's chattels the property of her husband upon
marriage. She also lost all power over her land during marriage.
A husband became liable for his wife's torts. Promises under oath
were not recognized for married women.
Land may not be alienated to religious bodies in such a way that
it would cease to render its due service to the King.
- Judicial Procedure -
The writ of Quo Warranto [by what right] is created, by which all
landowners exercising jurisdictions must bring their ancestors'
charters before a justice in eyre for the Common Pleas for
examination and interpretation as to whether they were going
beyond their charters and infringing upon the jurisdiction of the
Royal Court. As a result, many manor courts were confined to
seigneurial matters and could no longer view frankpledge or hear
criminal cases, which were reserved for the royal courts. In the
manor courts which retained criminal jurisdiction, there was a
reassertion of the obligation to have present a royal coroner,
whose duty it was to see that royal rights were not infringed and
that the goods of felons were given to the Crown and not kept by
the lords.
The supreme court was Parliament. Next were the royal courts of
the King's Bench, Common Pleas, and the Exchequer, which had
become separate, each with its own justices and records. The
Court of Common Pleas had its own Chief Justice and usually met
at Westminster. This disadvantaged the small farmer, who would
have to travel to Westminster to present a case. The Court of the
King's Bench heard criminal cases and appeals from the Court of
Common Pleas. It traveled with the King. There were many trespass
cases so heard by it in the reign of Edward I. In criminal cases,
witnesses acquainted with particular facts were added to the
general assize of twelve men from each hundred and frou men from
each town.
The most common cases in the Court of Common Pleas were "detinue"
[wrongful detention of a good or chattel which had been loaned,
rented, or left for safe-keeping with a "bailee", but belonged to
the plaintiff], "debt" [for money due from a sale, for money
loaned, for rent upon a lease for years, from a surety, promised
in a sealed document, or due to arbitrators to whom a dispute had
been submitted] and "account" [e.g. by bailiffs of manors, the
guardian in socage, and partners]. It also heard estovers of
wood, profit by gathering nuts, acorns, and other fruits in wood,
corody, yearly delivery of grain, toll, tronage, passage
[pawnage], keeping of parks, woods, forests, chases, warrens,
gates, and other bailiwicks, and offices in fee.
The justices in eyre gradually ceased to perform administrative
duties on their eyres because landed society had objected to
their intrusiveness.
Breaches of the forest charter laws were determined by justices
of the King's forest, parks, and chases, along with men of
assize.
Coroners' inquest procedures were delineated by statute and
included describing in detail in the coroner's rolls every wound
of a dead body, how many may be culpable, and people claiming to
have found treasure who might be suspects.
There were local courts of the vill, borough, manor, hundred,
county, sheriff, escheator, and royal bailiff, with overlapping
jurisdictions.
In the manor courts, actions of debt, detinue, and covenant were
frequent. Sometimes there are questions of a breach of warranty
of title in agreements of sale of land. Accusations of defamation
were frequent; this offense could not be taken to the King's
court, but it had been recognized as an offense in the
Anglo-Saxon laws. In some cases, the damages caused are
specifically stated. For instance, defamation of a lord's grain
cause other purchasers to forbear buying it. There are frequent
cases of ordinary thefts, trespasses, and assaults. The courts
did rough but substantial justice without distinction between
concepts such as tort and contract. In fact, the action of
covenant was the only form of agreement enforceable at common
law. It required a writing under seal and awarded damages. Their
law was not technical, but elastic, and remedies could include
injunctions, salary attachment, and performance of acts.
The precedent for punishment for treason was established by the
conviction of a knight, David ab Gruffydd, who had turned traitor
to the Welsh enemy during the conquest of Wales and plotted to
kill the King. He was condemned to be dragged at the heels of
horses for being a traitor to his knightly vows, hanged by the
neck for his murders, cut down before consciousness left him to
have his entrails cut out for committing his crimes during the
holy week of Easter, and his head cut off and his body divided
into four parts for plotting against the King's life. The head
and body sections were placed in public view at various locations
in the nation. Prior to this the penalty was imprisonment usually
followed by ransom.
Trial by battle is now limited to certain claims of enfeoffment
of large land holding and is barred for land held in socage,
burgage, or by marriage. Assize is the usual manner of trial, but
compurgation remains in the borough court long after it becomes
obsolete in the royal courts. Defendants no longer request
assizes but are automatically put to them.
Numerous statutes protect the integrity of the courts and King's
offices by double and treble damages and imprisonment for
offenses such as bribery, false informers, conspiracy to falsely
move or maintain pleas, champerty [giving an interest in the
outcome of a case to a person for his assistance in litigating
it], conflict of interest by court officers by having a part in
the business or thing at issue. There had been many abuses, the
most common of which was extortion by sheriffs, who jailed people
without cause to make them pay to be released.
The King reserved to himself and his council in its judicial
capacity the correction of all breaches of the law which the
lower courts had failed to remedy, whether from weakness,
partiality, or corruption, and especially when the powerful
barons defied the courts.
The Court of Hustings in London is empowered to award landlords
their tenementsfor which rent or services are in arrears if the
landlord could not distrain enough tenant possessions to cover
the arrearages.
Wills are proven in the Court of Husting, the oldest court in
London, which went back to the times of Edward the Confessor. One
such proven will is:
"Tour (John de La) - To Robert his eldest son his capital
messuage and wharf in the parish of Berchingechurch near the land
called 'Berewardesland`. To Agnes his wife his house called
'Wyvelattestone', together with rents, reversions, etc. in the
parish of S. Dunstan towards the Tower, for life; remainder to
Stephen his son. To Peter and Edmund his sons lands and rents in
the parish of All Hallows de Berhyngechurch; remainders over in
default of heirs. To Agnes, wife of John le Keu, fishmonger, a
house situate in the same parish of Berhyng, at a peppercorn
[nominal] rent."
The Court of the Mayor of London heard diverse cases, including
disputes over goods, faulty goods, enhancing the price of goods,
using unlawful weighing beams, debts, theft, distraints,
tavern-brawling, bullying, and gambling. The following four cases
pertain to customs, bad grain, surgery, and apprenticeship,
respectively.
"John le Paumer was summoned to answer Richer de Refham, Sheriff,
in a plea that, whereas the defendant and his Society of Bermen
[carriers] in the City were sworn not to carry any wine, by land
or water, for the use of citizens or others, without the
Sheriff's mark, nor lead nor cause it to be led, whereby the
Sheriff might be defrauded of his customs, nevertheless he caused
four casks of wine belonging to Ralph le Mazun of Westminster to
be carried from the City of Westminster without the Sheriff's
mark, thus defrauding the latter of his customs in contempt of
the King etc. The defendant acknowledged the trespass. Judgment
that he remain in the custody of the Sheriff till he satisfy the
King and the Court for offense."
"Walter atte Belhaus, William atte Belhous, Robert le Barber
dwelling at Ewelleshalle, John de Lewes, Gilbert le Gras, John
his son, Roger le Mortimer, William Ballard atte Hole, Peter de
Sheperton, John Brun and the wife of Thomas the pelterer, Stephen
de Haddeham, William de Goryngg, Margery de Frydaiestrate,
Mariot, who dwells in the house of William de Harwe, and William
de Hendone were attached to answer for forestalling all kinds of
grain and exposing it, together with putrid grain, on the
pavement, for sale by the bushel, through their men and women
servants; and for buying their own grain from their own servants
in deception of the people. The defendants denied that they were
guilty and put themselves on their country. A jury of Richard de
Hockeleye and others brought in a verdict of guilty, and the
defendants were committed to prison til the next Parliament."
"Peter the Surgeon acknowledged himself bound to Ralph de
Mortimer, by Richard atte Hill his attorney, in the sum of 20s.,
payable at certain terms, the said Ralph undertaking to give
Peter a letter of acquittance [release from a debt]. This
Recognizance arose out of a covenant between them with regard to
the effecting of a cure. Both were amerced for coming to an
agreement out of Court. A precept was issued to summon all the
surgeons of the City for Friday, that an enquiry might be made as
to whether the above Peter was fitted to enjoy the profession of
a surgeon."
"Thomas de Kydemenstre, shoemaker, was summoned to answer William
de Beverlee, because he did not clothe, feed and instruct his
apprentice Thomas, William's son, but drove him away. The
defendant said that the apprentice lent his master's goods to
others and promised to restore them or their value, but went away
against his wish; and he demanded a jury. Subsequently, a jury of
William de Upton and others said the apprentice lent two pairs of
shoes belonging to his master and was told to restore them, but,
frightened by the beating which he received, ran away; further
that the master did not feed and clothe his apprentice as he
ought, being unable to do so, to the apprentice's damage 40d.,
but that he was now in a position to look after his apprentice.
Thereupon Thomas de Kydemenstre said he was willing to have the
apprentice back and provide for him, and the father agreed.
Judgment that the master take back the apprentice and feed and
instruct him, or that he repay to the father, the money paid to
the latter, and that he pay the father the 40d. and be in mercy."
A professional class of temporal lawyers is prominent in the
nation. They were educated and certified at the new Inns of Court
in London. Some are employed by the King. Judge tend to be
recruited from among those who had passed their lives practicing
law in court, instead of from the ecclesiastical orders. Men
learned All lawyers were brought under the control of the judges.
There are two types of attorneys: one appears in the place of his
principal, who does not appear. The appointment of such an
attorney is an unusual and a solemn thing, only to be allowed on
special grounds and with the proper formalities. The other type
of attorney accompanies his client to court and advocates his
position with his knowledge of the law and his persuasiveness.
The great litigation of the nation is conducted by a small group
of men, as is indicated by the earliest Year Books of case
decisions. They sit in court and one will sometimes intervene as
amicus curiae. Parliament refers difficult points of law to them
as well as to the judges. In 1280, the city of London made
regulations for the admission of both types of attorneys to
practice before the civic courts, and for their due control. In
1292 the King directed the judges to provide a certain number of
attorneys and apprentices to follow the court, who should have
the exclusive right of practicing before it. This begins the
process which will make the attorney for legal business an
"officer of the court" which has appointed him.
Because the common law and its procedures have become technical
and rigid, the Chancery was given equity jurisdiction by statute
in 1285. In Chancery, if there is a case with no remedy specified
in the law, that is similar to a case for which there is a writ,
then a new writ may be made for that case. These were called
"actions on the case". This added to Chancery's work of now
hearing petitions of misconduct of government officials or of
powerful oppressors, wardship of infants, dower, rent charges,
fraud, accident, and abuse of trust. Also, Parliament may create
new remedies.
Disputes within the royal household were administered by the
King's steward. He received and determined complaints about acts
or breaches of the peace within twelve miles around the King's
person or "verge". He was assisted by the marshall in the "court
of the hall" and by the clerk of the market when imposing fines
for trading regulation violations in the "court of the market".
Chapter 9
- The Times: 1348-1399 -
Waves of the black death, named for the black spots on the body,
swept over the nation. The first wave of this plague, in 1348,
decimated the population by about one half in the towns and one
third in the country. People tried to avoid the plague by flight.
The agony and death of so many good people caused some question
their belief in God. Thus begins a long period of
disorganization, unrest, and social instability. Customary ways
were so upset that authority and tradition were no longer
automatically accepted. Fields lay waste and sheep and cattle
wandered over the countryside. Local courts could not be held.
Guilds and rich men made contributions to the poor and ships with
provisions were sent to various parts of the country for the
relief of starving people.
Farm workers were so rare that they were able to demand wages at
double or triple the pre-plague rate. The peasants had become
nomadic, roaming from place to place, seeking day work for good
wages where they could get it, and resorting to thievery on the
highways or beggary where they could not. The Robin Hood legends
were popular among them.
They spread political songs among each other, such as: "To seek
silver to the King, I my seed sold; wherefore my land lieth
fallow and learneth to sleep. Since they fetched my fair cattle
in my fold; when I think of my old wealth, well nigh I weep. Thus
breedeth many beggars bold; and there wakeneth in the world
dismay and woe, for as good is death anon as so for to toil."
Groups of armed men took lands, manors, goods, and women by
force. The villeins agreed to assist each other in resisting by
force their lords' efforts to return them to servitude. Justices
became afraid to administer the law. Villeins, free peasants, and
craftsmen joined together and learned to use the tactics of
association and strikes against their employers.
The office of Justice of the Peace was created for every county
to deal with rioting and vagrants. Cooperation by officials of
other counties was mandated to deal with fugitives from its
justice.
When there were attempts to enforce the legal servitude of the
peasants, they spread rhymes of their condition and need to
revolt. A secret league, called the "Great Society" linked the
centers of intrigue. A poll tax for a war with France touched off
a riot all over the nation in 1381. This tax included people not
taxed before, such as laborers, the village smith, and the
village tiler. By this time, the black death had reduced the
population from 5 million to 2 1/2 million. It was to rise to 4
million by 1600.
Mobs overran the counties around London. The upper classes fled
to the woods. But the Chief Justice was murdered while fleeing.
Written records of the servitude of villeins were burned in their
halls, which were also looted. Prisoners were released from
jails. The archbishop, who was a notoriously exploitive landlord,
and the Treasurer were beheaded on Tower Hill and their heads
were posted over London Bridge. The villeins demanded that
service to a lord be by agreement instead of by servitude, a
ceiling on rents of 4d. per acre yearly, abolition of a lord's
right for their work on demand (e.g. just before a hail storm so
only his crops were saved), and the right to hunt and fish.
The revolt was suppressed and its leaders punished. Also, the
duty to deal with rioting and vagrants was given to royal judges,
sheriffs, mayors, bailiffs, and constables as well as the
Justices of the Peace. There was a high constable in each hundred
and a petty constable in each parish. Justices of the peace could
swear in neighbors as unpaid special constables when disorder
broke out.
The sheriff was responsible for seeing that men of the lower
classes were organized into groups of ten for police and surety
purposes, and for holding of hundred and shire courts, arresting
suspects, guarding prisoners awaiting trial, carrying out the
penalties adjudged by the courts, and collecting Crown revenue
through his bailiffs. Royal writs were addressed to the sheriff.
Because many sheriffs had taken fines and ransoms for their own
use, a term limit of one year was imposed. Sheriffs, hundreders,
and bailiffs had to have lands in the same shires or bailiwicks
[so they could be held answerable to the King].
Efforts were made to keep laborers at the plough and cart rather
than learn a craft or entering and being educated by the church.
The new colleges at the universities ceased to accept villeins as
students.
Due to the shortage of labor, landlords' returns had decreased
from about 20% to 5%. But some found new methods of using land
that were more profitable than the customary services of villeins
who had holdings of land or the paid labor of practically free
men who paid a money rent for land holdings. One method was to
turn the land to sheep-breeding. Others leased their demesne
land, which transferred the burden of getting laborers from the
landlord to the lessor-tenant. The payment was called a "farm"
and the tenant a "farmer". First, there were stock-and-land
leases, in which both the land and everything required to
cultivate it were let together. After 50 years, when the farmers
had acquired assets, there were pure land leases. The commutation
of labor services into a money payment developed into a general
commutation of all services. Lords in need of money gladly sold
manumissions to their villeins. The lord and lady of some manors
now ate by themselves in a private parlor with a fireplace of its
own and the great hall was deserted.
Some farmers achieved enough wealth to employ others as laborers
on their farms. The laborers lived with their employer in his
barn, sleeping on hay in the loft, or in mud huts outside the
barn. The farmer's family lived at one end of the barn around an
open fire. Their possessions typically were: a chest, a trestle
table, benches, stools, an iron or bronze cauldron and pots,
brooms, wooden platters, wooden bowls, spoons, knives, wooden or
leather jugs, a salt box, straw mattresses, wool blankets, linen
towels, iron tools, rushlightholders, and livestock. Some farmers
could afford to have a wooden four-posted bedstead, hens, geese,
pigs, a couple of cows, a couple of sheep, or two plow oxen. They
ate dark bread and beans and drank water from springs. Milk and
cheese were a luxury for them. Farming still occupied the vast
majority of the population. Town inhabitants and university
students went into the fields to help with the harvest in the
summer.
Town people had more wealth than country people. Most townspeople
slept in nightgowns and nightcaps in beds with mattresses,
blankets, linen sheets, and pillows. Beds were made every
morning. Bathing was by sponging hot water from a basin over the
body, sometimes with herbs in it, rinsing with a splash of warm
water, and drying off with a towel. There were drapery-rugs hung
around beds, hand-held mirrors of glass, and salt cellars. The
first meal of the day was breakfast, which broke the fast lasting
the night. Meals were often prepared according to recipes from
cook books which involved several preparation procedures using
flour, eggs, sugar, cheese, and grated bread, rather than just
simple seasoning. Menus were put together with foods that tasted
well together and served on plates in several courses. Table
manners included not making sounds when eating, not playing with
one's spoon or knife, not placing one's elbows on the table,
keeping one's mouth clean with a napkin, and not being
boisterous. There were courtesies such as saying "Good Morning"
when meeting someone and not pointing one's finger at another
person. King Richard II invented the handkerchief for sneezing
and blowing one's nose. There were books on etiquette.
There were extremes of fashion in men's and women's clothing
including tight garments, pendant sleeves down to the ground,
coats so short they didn't reach the hips or so long they reached
the heels, hoods so small they couldn't cover the head, and shoes
with long curved peaks like claws at the toes. Some women painted
their faces and/or colored their hair. There were hand-held glass
mirrors. Some people kept dogs purely as pets.
New burgesses were recruited locally, usually from within a 20
mile radius of town. Most of the freemen of the larger boroughs,
like Canterbury and London, came from smaller boroughs. An
incoming burgess was required to buy his right to trade either by
way of a seven year apprenticeship or by payment of an entry fee.
To qualify, he needed both a skill and social respectability.
Towns started acquiring from the King the right to vacant sites
and other waste places, which previously was the lord's right.
The perpetuality of towns was recognized by statutes of 1391,
which compared town-held property to church-held property. The
right of London to pass ordinances was confirmed by charter. Some
towns had a town clerk, who was chief of full-time salaried
officers. There was a guildhall to maintain, a weigh-house,
prison, and other public buildings, municipal water supplies,
wharves, cranes, quays, wash-houses, and public lavatories.
After the experience of the black death, some sanitary measures
were taken. The notorious offenders in matters of public hygiene
in the towns, such as the butchers, the fishmongers, and the
leather tanners were assigned specific localities where their
trades would do least harm. The smiths and potters were excluded
from the more densely populated areas because they were fire
risks. In the town of Salisbury, there was Butcher Row, Ox Row,
Fish Row, Ironmongers' Row, Wheelwrights' Row, Smiths' Row, Pot
Row, Silver Street, Cheese Market, and Wool Market.
Fresh water was brought into towns by pipe or open conduit as a
public facility, in addition to having public wells. In London, a
conduit piped water underground to a lead tank, from which it was
delivered to the public by means of pipes and brass taps in the
stone framework. This was London's chief water supply. Water
carriers carried water in wooden devices on their backs to
houses. The paving and proper drainage of the streets became a
town concern. Building contracts specified the provision of
adequate cesspits for the privies at town houses, whether the
toilets were built into the house or as an outhouse. Also, in the
better houses, there grew a practice of carting human and animal
fecal matter at night to dung heaps outside the city walls.
Country manor houses had toilets on the ground floor and/or the
basement level. Stairwells between floors had narrow and winding
steps.
In all towns, the organization of craft associations spread
rapidly downwards through the trades and sought self-government.
Craft guilds were gaining much power relative to the old merchant
guilds in governing the towns. The greater crafts such as the
fishmongers, skinners, and the corders organized and ultimately
were recognized by town authorities as self-governing craft
guilds. The guild was not necessarily associated with a specific
product. For instance, a saddle and bridle were the result of
work of four crafts: joiner (woodworker), painter, saddler
(leather), and lorimer (metal trappings).
In London in 1392 craft guilds included: baker, fishmonger (cut
up and sold fish), fruiterer, brewer, butcher, bird dealer, cook,
apothecary (sold drugs he had ground up), cutler (made knives and
spoons), barber, tailor, shoemaker, glover (made gloves), skinner
(sold furs), girdler (made girdles of cloth to wear around one's
waist), pouchmaker, armorer, sheathmaker, weaver, fuller (made
cloth full and dense), painter, carpenter, joiner (woodworker,
including furniture), tiler, mason (cut stone for buildings),
smith (made metal tools for stonemasons and builders), tallow
chandler (made candles), wax chandler (made candles), stirrup
maker, spurrier (made spurs), and hosteler (innkeeper). However,
the merchant guilds of the goldsmiths, vintners (sold wine),
mercers (sold cloth), grocers, and drapers (finished and sold
English cloth) were still strong. The goldsmiths, tailors,
skinners, and girdlers bought royal charters, which recognized
their power of self-government as a company and their power to
enforce their standards, perhaps throughout the country. There
were paint mills and saw mills replacing human labor. Women who
spent their days spinning with the new spinning wheel were called
"spinsters".
Many of the guilds bought sites on which they built a chapel,
which was later used as a secular meeting place. The guild
officers commonly included an alderman, stewards, a dean, and a
clerk, who were elected. The guild officers sat as a guild court
to determine discipline for offences such as false weights or
measures or false workmanship or work and decided trade disputes.
The brethren in guild fraternity were classified as masters,
journeymen, or apprentices. They were expected to contribute to
the support of the sick and impoverished in their fellowship.
Their code required social action such as ostracizing a man of
the craft who was living in adultery until he mended his ways.
The rules of the Company of Glovers were:
- None but a freeman of the city shall make or sell gloves.
- No glover may be admitted to the freedom of the city unless
with the assent of the wardens of the trade.
3. No one shall entice away the servant of another.
4. If a servant in the trade makes away with his master's
chattels to the value of 12d., the wardens shall make good the
loss; and if the servant refuses to be judged by the wardens, he
shall be taken before the mayor and aldermen.
5. No one may sell his goods by candle-light.
6. Any false work found shall be taken before the mayor and
aldermen by the wardens.
7. All things touching the trade within the city between those
who are not freemen shall be forfeited.
8. Journeymen shall be paid their present rate of wages.
9. Persons who entice away journeymen glovers to make gloves in
their own houses shall be brought before the mayor and aldermen.
10. Any one of the trade who refuses to obey these regulations
shall be brought before the mayor and aldermen.
Cordwainers [workers in soft cordovan leather from Spain,
especially shoes] of good repute petitioned the city of London in
1375 for ordinances on their trade as follows:
'To the mayor and aldermen of the city of London pray the good
folks of the trade of cordwainers of the same city, that it may
please you to grant unto them the articles that follow, for the
profit of the common people; that so, what is good and right may
be done unto all manner of folks, for saving the honor of the
city and lawfully governing the said trade.
In the first place - that if any one of the trade shall sell to
any person shoes of bazen [sheep-skin tanned in oak or
larch-bark] as being cordwain, or of calf-leather for ox-leather,
in deceit of the common people, and to the scandal of the trade,
he shall pay to the Chamber of the Guildhall, the first time that
he shall be convicted thereof, forty pence; the second time, 7s.
half a mark; and the third time the same, and further, at the
discretion of the mayor and aldermen.
Also - that no one of the trade shall keep house within the
franchise if he be not free [invested with the rights or
privileges] of the city and one knowing his trade, and that no
one shall be admitted to the freedom without the presence of the
wardens of the trade bearing witness to his standing, on the pain
aforesaid.
Also - if any one of the trade shall be found offending touching
the trade, or rebellious against the wardens thereof, such person
shall not make complaint to any one of another trade, by reason
of the discord or dissension that may have arisen between them;
but he shall be ruled by the good folks of his own trade. And if
he shall differ from them as acting against right, then let the
offense be adjudged upon before the mayor and aldermen; and if he
be found rebellious against the ordinance, let him pay to the
Chamber the sum above mentioned.
Also - that no one of the trade shall entice or purloin the
servant of another
from the service of his master by paying him more than is
ordained by the trade,
on the pain aforesaid.
Also - that no one shall carry out of his house any wares
connected with his trade for sale in market or elsewhere except
only at a certain place situated between Soperesland and the
Conduit; and that at a certain time of the day, that is to say,
between prime [the first hour of the day] and noon. And that no
shoes shall exceed the measure of seven inches, so that the wares
may be surveyed by the good folks of the trade, because of the
deceit upon the common people that might ensue and the scandal of
the trade, on the pain aforesaid.
Also - that no one shall expose his wares openly for sale in
market on Sundays at any place, but only within his own dwelling
to serve the common people, on the pain aforesaid.
Also - that if any one sells old shoes, he shall not mix new
shoes among the old in deceit of the common people and to the
scandal of the trade, on the pain aforesaid."
Smithfield was a field outside the city gates at which horses
were sold and raced. In 1372, the horsedealers and drovers
petitioned for a tax on animals sold there to pay for cleaning
the field. The city ordinance reads as follows: "On Wednesday
next after the Feast of St. Margaret the Virgin came reputable
men, the horsedealers and drovers, and delivered unto the mayor
and aldermen a certain petition in these words: 'To the mayor,
recorder, and aldermen show the dealers of Smithfield, that is to
say, the coursers and drovers, that for the amendment of the said
field they have granted and assented among them that for the term
of three years next ensuing after the date of this petition for
every horse sold in the said field there shall be paid one penny,
for every ox and cow one half-penny, for every eight sheep one
penny, and for every swine one penny by the seller and the same
by the purchaser who buys the same for resale.` Afterwards, on
the eleventh day of August in the same year, Adam Fernham, keeper
of the gaol at Newgate, Hugh, Averelle, bailiff of Smithfield,
and William Godhewe, weaver, were chosen and sworn faithfully to
collect and receive the said pennies in form aforesaid and to
clean the field of Smithfield from time to time during such term
of three years when necessary."
Some London houses were being made from stone and timber and even
brick and timber, instead of just timber and mud. However,
chimneys were still a luxury of the rich. There were windows of
glass and a guild of glaziers was chartered by the King. Many
single-roomed houses added a second-floor room for sleeping,
which was approached by a wooden or stone staircase from the
outside. Goods were displayed on a booth outside the door of the
house or hung in the windows. They were stored at night in the
cellar. Over the booths swung huge signs, which had to be nine
feet above street level to allow a man on horseback to ride
underneath. There were no footpaths. Street repair work for wages
was supervised by a stone master. The streets sloped down from
the middle so that the filth of the streets would run down the
sides of the road. Dustmen collected rubbish from the streets and
pigs and geese were no allowed to run at large in the streets,
but had to be fed at home.
Aldermen were constantly making rounds to test measures and
weights, wine cups, the height of tavern signs, and the mesh of
the fishing nets, which had to be at least two inches wide. They
saw that the taverns were shut when curfew was rung and arrested
anyone on the street after curfew who had a weapon. Wards
provided citizens to guard the gates in their respective
neighborhood and keep its key.
The city was so dense that nuisance was a common action brought
in court, for instance, vegetable vendors near a church
obstructing passageway on the street or plumbers melting their
solder with a lower than usual shalt of the furnace so smoke was
inhaled by people nearby.
Crime in London was rare. Murder, burglary, highway robbery, and
gross theft were punishable by hanging. Forgery, fraud, was
punishable by the placement in the pillory or stocks or by
imprisonment. Perjury was punished by confession from a high
stool for the first offense, and the pillory for the second.
Slander and telling lies was punished by the pillory and wearing
a whetstone around one's neck.
Prominent Londoners sought to elevate their social position by
having their family marry into rural landowners of position.
Many master freemasons left the country for better wages after
their wages were fixed by statute. The curvilinear gothic style
of architecture was replaced by the perpendicular style, which
was simpler and cheaper to build. Church steeples now had clocks
on them with dials and hands to supplement the church bell
ringing on the hour.
Towns recognized surgery as a livelihood subject to admission and
oath to serve the social good. Master surgeons were admitted to
practice in 1369 in London in full husting before the mayor and
the aldermen and swore to: faithfully serve the people in
undertaking their cures, take reasonably from them, faithfully
follow their calling, present to the said mayor and aldermen the
defaults of others undertaking, so often as should be necessary;
to be ready, at all times when they should be warned, to attend
the maimed or wounded and others, to give truthful information to
the officers of the city as to such maimed, wounded, or others
whether they be in peril of death or not, and to faithfully do
all other things touching their calling.
Only women were allowed to be present at a birth, at which they
spread the knowledge of midwifery. As usual, many women died
giving birth. Various ways to prevent pregnancy were tried. It
was believed that a baby grew from a seed of the father planted
in the woman's body.
Infant mortality was especially high in boroughs and burgess
family lines usually died out. A three-generation family span was
exceptional in the towns, despite family wealth.
After the plague, gentlemen no longer had their children learn to
speak Norman. The grammar schools taught in English instead of
Norman. Bishops began to preach in English. Twenty years later,
English became the official language of the courts and of
Parliament.
A will in 1389 in which a wealthy citizen arranges for one son to
become a lawyer and the other a merchant:
"Will of William de Tonge, citizen of London: One hundred marks
[1,333s.]each to my two sons. And I will that my said two sons
shall live upon the profits of the money bequeathed to them above
until the age of twenty years. And if my said two sons be well
learned in grammar and adorned with good manners, which shall be
known at the end of twenty years, and the elder son wish to
practice common law, and if it is known that he would spend his
time well in that faculty, I will that over and above the profit
of the said one hundred marks he shall have yearly from my rents
for the term of seven years five marks [67s.]. And if he should
waste his time aforesaid, or if he should marry foolishly and
unsuitably, I will that he receive nothing more of the said five
marks.
And if younger son wishes to attend the University of Oxford or
to establish himself well in the mystery of a merchant after the
age of twenty years, and [if] there be knowledge of his
praiseworthy progress in his faculty or his carefulness in
trading ... I will that he shall receive five marks yearly in the
manner described above for his maintenance, over and above the
profit of the said one hundred marks to him bequeathed, for the
space of seven years; and if he behave himself otherwise, I will
that thereupon he be excluded from the said five marks. And in
case the said bequest of 200 marks [2,667s.]to him and his
brother shall be annulled so that he shall have nothing therefrom
... then the said 200 marks shall be spent upon all the yearly
chaplains who can be had to celebrate divine service in the
church of All Hallows for my soul."
England was still an agricultural rather than a manufacturing
country. Imported were cloth, silks, linen, velvets, furs, glass,
wines, candles, millstones, amber, iron, and mercury. Exported
were wool, leather, lead, tin, and alabaster for sculpturing. But
the Merchant Adventurers now manufactured cloth good enough for
export and began to buy up raw wool in such quantity that its
export
declined.
An Oxford theologian and preacher, John Wyclif, voiced the
popular resentment of the materialism of the church, benefit of
clergy, immorality of priests, and the selling of indulgences and
pardons. He argued against the supremacy of the papal law over
the King's courts and against payments to the papacy. He opined
that the church had no power to excommunicate. The Friars had
become mere beggars and the church was still wealthy. He proposed
that all goods should be held in common by the righteous and that
the church should hold no property but be entirely spiritual. He
believed that people should rely on their individual consciences.
He thought that the Bible should be available to people who could
read English so that the people could have a direct access to God
without priests or the Pope. Towards this end, he translated it
from Latin into English in 1384. His preachers spread his views
throughout the country. The church then possessed about one-third
of the land of the nation.
Stories were written about pilgrimage vacations of ordinary
people to religious sites in England. Geoffrey Chaucer's "Tales
of the Canterbury Pilgrims" portrayed characters of every social
class, including the knight with his squire, abbot,prioress, nun,
priest, monk, friar, poor parson of the country, summoner (who
enforced the jurisdiction and levied the dues of the church
courts), pardoner (sold pardons from the Pope), scholar, lawyer,
doctor, merchant, sailor, franklin, yeoman, haberdasher,
tapestry-maker, ploughman, cook, weaver, dyer, upholsterer,
miller, reeve, carpenter.
It told stories about a beautiful and virtuous wife disliked by
her mother-in-law, the difficulty of marriage between people of
different religions, the hatred of a poor person b his brother
and his neighbor, rich merchants who visited other kingdoms, the
importance of a man himself following the rules he sets for other
people's behavior, the spite of a man for a woman who rejected
him, the relative lack of enthusiasm of a wife for sex as
compared to her husband, a mother giving up her own comfort for
that of her child, the revenge killing of a murderer by the dead
man's friends, the joy of seeing a loved one after years of
separation, that life is more sad than happy, that lost money can
be retrieved, but time lost is lost forever.
Other stories in the Canterbury Tales were about two men who did
not remain friends after they fell in love with the same woman,
about a child who preferred to learn from an older child than
from his school-teacher, about a wife who convinced her husband
not to avenge her beating for the sake of peace, about a man who
woke up from bad dreams full of fear, about a man wanting to
marry a beautiful woman but later realizing a plain wife would
not be pursued by other men, about a man who drank so much wine
that he lost his mental and physical powers, about a woman who
married for money instead of love, about a man who said something
in frustration which he didn't mean, about a person brought up in
poverty who endured adversity better than one brought up in
wealth, about a wife who was loving and wise, about a good
marriage being more valuable than money, about a virgin who
committed suicide rather than be raped, about a wife persuaded to
adultery by a man who said he would otherwise kill himself, about
three men who found a pile of gold and murdered each other to
take it all, about an angry man who wanted to kill, about a
malicious man who had joy in seeing other men in trouble and
misfortune, about a man whose face turned red in shame, about a
wife expecting to have half of what her husband owned.
Will Langland's poem "The Vision of William Concerning Piers
Plowman" portrays a pilgrimage of common people to the shrine of
Truth led by a virtuous laborer. Mystics wrote practical advice
with transcendental teaching, for instance "Scale of Perfection"
attributed to Walter Hilton and "Cloud of Unknowing". Richard
Rolle wrote about spiritual matters, probably the "Prick of
Conscience". Richard de Bury wrote "Philobiblon" about book
lovers. Jean Froissart wrote the "Chronicles" on knights. Courtly
ideals were expressed in "Sir Gawaine and the Grene Knyght",
wherein the adventures of the hero, an Arthur knight, are
allegorical in the struggle against the world, the flesh, and the
devil (1370). "Pearl" eulogized all that is pure and innocent on
the event of the death of a two year old child. Paper
supplemented parchment, so there were more books.
Political songs and poems were written about the evil times of
King Edward II, the military triumphs of King Edward III, and the
complaints of the poor against their oppressors, such as "Song of
the Husbandman". John Gower wrote moralizing poems on the
peasant's revolt, the sins of the clergy and lawyers, and the bad
rule of King Richard II. Robin Hood ballads were popular. The
minstrel, who was a honorable person, replaced the troubadour of
older times.
There were many colleges at Oxford and Cambridge due to the
prohibition of gifts to the church. Laymen instead of
ecclesiastics were appointed as Chancellor. The Masters at Oxford
got rid of ecclesiastical supervision by a bishop and archdeacon
by 1368. One could be admitted as a student at age thirteen.
A Bachelor of Arts degree was granted after four years of study
and an oral exam. Required reading in 1340 for the Bachelor's
Degree was Aristotlean logic and a selection from these works:
"Of Heaven and Earth", "On the Soul", "Of meteors", "Of Birth and
Decay", "Of Feeling and What is Felt", "Of Memory and
Recollection", "Of Sleep and Waking", "Of the Movement of
Animals", "Of Minor Points in Natural History".
A Master of Arts degree could be awarded after three more years
of study and teaching. A Doctorate degrees in theology required
ten more years of study. A Doctorate in civil or canon law
required eight more years. A man with a degree in canon law who
wanted to practice in a certain bishop's court had to first
satisfy this bishop of his competence. The guilds gave rise to
the Inns of Court in London. They used the Register of Writs, the
case law of the Year Books, and disputation to teach their
students.
For a doctorate in medicine from Oxford or Cambridge, five more
years plus two years of practice were required. Surgery was not
taught because it was considered manual labor. Humans were
thought to be influenced by four humors: sanguine, phlegmatic,
choleric, and melancholic. Urinalysis and pulse beat were used
for diagnosis. Epilepsy and apoplexy were understood as spasms
inside the head. It was known what substances served as laxatives
and diuretics. Teeth were extracted, eye cataracts were removed
with a silver needle, and skin from the arm was grafted onto a
mutilated face.
Englishmen who had collected books on philosophy, medicine,
astronomy, and history and literature books from the continent
gave their collections to the universities, which started their
libraries. Marco Polo's discoveries on his journey to China were
known.
The requirements of elementary and higher studies were adjusted
in 1393 and began the public school system. William of Wykeham's
school, St. Mary College of Winchester in Oxford was the
prototype. The curriculum was civil law, canon law, medicine,
astronomy with astronomical instruments that were made, theology,
and the arts. The arts text books were still grammar, logic,
Donatus, and Aristotle. Many laymen were literate, for instance
country gentry, merchants, and craftsmen. Laymen instead of
clerics were now appointed to the great offices of state.
Parliament was composed of representatives from 100 boroughs and
37 shires. Merchants were entering Parliament and paid much of
the taxes. Some were created Earls and appointed as ministers to
the King. Edward III did not summon anyone to his council who did
not have the confidence of the magnates [barons, earls, bishops,
and abbots]. Under him, the commons took a leading part in the
granting of taxes and the presentation of petitions.
King Richard II exiled Henry of Lancaster, forbade his
inheritance, and took his property. This made all propertied men
anxious. The "Merciless Parliament" of 1388 swept out King
Richard II's friends. Parliament threw Richard II into prison and
elected Lancaster to be King Henry IV. This action established
clearly that royal decrees were subordinate to parliamentary
statutes. The House of Commons became very powerful.
So the roles of Parliament and the King's council are starting to
differentiate into legislative and executive, respectively. The
legislative function is law-making and the executive is
regulation-making that refines and effectuates the laws of
Parliament. But the legislative, executive and judicial
authorities have not as yet become so completely separated that
they cannot on occasion work together.
At the 1376 Parliament, ("the Good Parliament") the Commons,
which formerly had only consented to taxes, took political action
by complaining that the King's councilors had grown rich by war
profiteering at the cost of impoverishing the nation and the
people were too poor to endure any more taxation for the war and
held a hearing on malfeasance of two ministers. The Parliament
found the charges proved and dismissed them from office. This
established the constitutional means for impeachment and removal
of ministers. The commons demanded that its members be elected by
shire citizens rather than appointed by the sheriff. Actions of
this Parliament were undone a few months later.
There was a standard form of direct taxation voted by Parliament,
which was normally 1/10 of the value of all moveables in towns
and royal domains and 1/15 in the country.
From 1150 to 1400, resistance was an ordinary remedy for
political disagreements. If a popular leader raised his standard
in a popular cause, an irregular army could be assembled in a
day. (There was no regular army, since England was protected by
the sea from invasion.) So misgovernment by a King would be
quickly restrained. Society recovered quickly from conflict and
civil war because the national wealth consisted chiefly in flocks
and herds and in the simple buildings inhabited by the people. In
a week after armed resistance, the peasant was driving his team.
There was little furniture, stock of shops, manufactured goods,
or machinery that could be destroyed.
The feudal army was summoned for the last time in the 100 year
war with France, which began in 1337. In it the English longbow
was used to pierce French knights' armor. Gunpowder and guns and
cannon were introduced in 1338. They became common by 1372 and
foresaw the end to the competition between the strength of arrows
to pierce and the heaviness of armor to resist. Featherbeds and
blooded horses were favorite spoils of war brought back to
England.
Many lords got men to fight with them by livery and maintenance
employment
agreements such as this one of 1374:
"Bordeaux, February 15. This indenture, made between our lord
King John [of Gaunt, of Castile, etc.] of the one part and Symkyn
Molyneux, esquire, of the other part, witnesses that the said
Symkyn is retained and will remain with our said lord for peace
and for war for the term of his life, as follows: that is to say,
the said Symkyn shall be bound to serve our said lord as well in
time of peace as of war in whatsoever parts it shall please our
said lord, well and fitly arrayed. And he shall be boarded as
well in time of peace as of war. And he shall take for his fees
by the year, as well in time of peace as of war, 133s. ten marks
sterling from the issues of the Duchy of Lancaster by the hands
of the receiver there who now is or shall be in time to come, at
the terms of Easter and Michaelmas by even portions yearly for
the whole of his life. And, moreover, our lord has granted to him
by the year in time of war 67s. five marks sterling by the hands
of the treasurer of war for the time being. And his year of war
shall begin the day when he shall move from his inn towards our
said lord by letters which shall be sent to him thereof, and
thenceforward he shall take wages coming and returning by
reasonable daily [payments] and he shall have fitting freightage
for him, his men, horses, and other harness within reason, and in
respect of his war horses taken and lost in the service of our
said lord, and also in respect to prisoners and other profits of
war taken or gained by him or any of his men, the said our lord
will do to him as to other squires of his rank."
A navy was formed with over 200 ships selected by the English
admirals acting for the King at the ports. Men were seized and
pressed into service and criminals were pardoned from crimes to
become sailors in the fleet, which was led by the King's ship.
They used the superior longbow against the French sailor's
crossbow. In 1372, the Tower of London had four mounted fortress
cannon and Dover had six.
The war's disruption of shipping caused trade to decline. But the
better policing of the narrow seas made piracy almost disappear.
In 1363, Calais, a continental town held by the English, became
the staple town for lead, tin, cloth, and wool and was placed
under a group of London capitalists: the Merchants of the Staple.
All exports of these had to pass through Calais, where customs
tax was collected.
Waterpower was replacing foot power in driving the mills where
cloth was cleaned and fulled [thickened].
Bethlehem Hospital was used from 1377 to house the mentally ill.
- The Law -
After the Black Death of 1348 these statutes were enacted:
High treason was defined by statute in 1352 as levying war
against the King, aiding the King's enemies, compassing or
imagining the death of the King, Queen, or their eldest son and
heir, or violating the Queen or the eldest unmarried daughter or
the wife of the King's eldest son and heir, making or knowingly
using counterfeits of the King's great or privy seal or coinage,
or slaying the Chancellor, Treasurer, or any justice in the
exercise of their duty. The penalty was forfeit of life and
lands. During the reign of King Richard II, who was later
disposed, high treason was extended to include making a riot and
rumor, compassing or purposing to depose the King, revoking one's
homage or liege to the King, and attempting to repeal a statute.
But these extensions were repealed after he was deposed.
Petit treason was defined by statute and included a servant
slaying his master, a wife her husband, or a man his lord, to
whom was owed faith and obedience.
No one shall tell false news or lies about prelates, dukes,
earls, barons, and other nobles and great men or the Chancellor,
Treasurer, a Justice, Clerk of the Privy Seal, Steward of the
King's house whereby debates and discords might arise between
these lords or between the lords and the commons. Cases shall be
tried by the King's Council, which included the Chancellor,
Treasurer, and chief justices.
Preachers drawing crowds by ingenious sermons and inciting them
to riot shall be arrested by sheriffs and tried by the
ecclesiastical court.
Any stranger passing at night of whom any have suspicion shall be
arrested and taken to the Sheriff.
No man shall ride with a spear, upon pain of forfeiting it.
No servant of agriculture or laborer shall carry any sword or
dagger, or forfeit it, except in time of war in defense of the
nation. He may carry bow and arrow [for practice] on Sundays and
holy days, when he should not play games such as tennis.
football, or dice.
No one may enter another's land and tenements by strong hand nor
with a mob, upon pain of imprisonment and ransom at the King's
will.
Charters, releases, obligations, [quit-claim deeds] and other
deeds burnt or destroyed in uprisings shall be reissued without
fee, after trial by the King and his council. Manumissions,
obligations, releases and other bonds and feoffments in land made
by force, coercion or duress during mob uprisings are void.
Men who rape and women consenting after a rape shall lose their
inheritance and dower and joint feoffments. The husbands, or
father or next of kin of such women may sue the rapist by
inquisition, but not by battle. The penalty is loss of life and
member.
The Statute of Laborers of 1351 required all workers, from
tailors to ploughmen, to work only at pre-plague wage rates and
forced the vagrant peasant to work for anyone who claimed him or
her. It also encouraged longer terms of employment as in the past
rather than for a day at a time. Statutory price controls on food
limited profits to reasonable ones according to the distance of
the supply. Later, wages were determined in each county by
Justices of the Peace according to the dearth of victuals while
allowing a victualler a reasonable profit and a penalty was
specified as paying the value of the excess wages given or
received for the first offense, double this for the second
offense, and treble this or forty days imprisonment for the third
offense.
A fugitive laborer will be outlawed, and when found, shall be
burnt in the forehead with the letter "F" for falsity.
Children who labored at the plough and cart or other agriculture
shall continue in that labor and may not go into a craft.
A statute of 1363 designed to stop hoarding various types of
merchandise until a type became scarce so to sell it at high
prices, required merchants to deal in only one type of
merchandise. It also required craftsmen to work in only one craft
as before (except women who traditionally did several types of
handiwork). This was repealed a year later.
Where scarcity has made the price of poultry high, it shall be
lowered to 8d. for a young capon, 7d. for an old capon or a
goose, 9d. for a hen, and 10d. for a pullet.
The fares for passage on boats on fresh waters and from Dover to
the continent shall remain at their old rate.
Any merchant selling at a fair after it has ended will forfeit to
the King twice the value of that sold.
Anyone finding and proving cloth contrary to the assize of cloth
shall have one-
third of it for his labor.
No shoemaker nor cordwainer shall tan their leather and no tanner
shall make shoes, in order that tanning not be false or poorly
done.
The staple was reinstituted by statute of 1353 after an
experiment without it, in which profits of a staple went to
staples outside the nation. The rationale for the staple was to
facilitate inspection of quality and the levy of customs. Wool,
woolfells, leather, and lead sold for export had to go through
the staple town. The penalty was forfeiture of lands, tenements,
goods, and chattel. (The staple statute remained basically
unchanged for the next 200 years.) The mayor and constables of
the staple were elected annually by the native and foreign
merchants of the place. The mayor gave validity to contracts for
a set fee, by seal of his office. He and the constables had
jurisdiction over all persons and things touching the staple,
which was regulated by the Law Merchant in all matters of
contract, covenant, debt, and felonies against foreign merchants.
A Hue and Cry was required to be raised and followed for anyone
taking a cart of merchandise or slaying a merchant, denizen
[resident alien] or alien, or the town would answer for the
robbery and damage done.
All denizen [foreigner permitted to reside in the realm with
certain rights and privileges] and alien merchants may buy and
sell goods and merchandise, in gross, in any part of the country,
despite town charters or franchises, to anyone except an enemy of
the King. They may also sell small wares: victuals, fur, silk,
cover chiefs, silver wire, and gold wire in retail, but not cloth
or wine. They must sell their goods within three months of
arrival. Any alien bringing goods to the nation to sell must buy
goods of the nation to the value of at least one-half that of his
merchandise sold. These merchants must engage in no collusion to
lower the price of merchandise bought, take merchandise bought to
the staple, and promise to hold no staple beyond the sea for the
same merchandise. An amendment disallowed denizens from taking
wools, leather, woolfells, or lead for export, but only
strangers.
Towns failing to bring disturbers of this right to justice shall
forfeit their franchise to the King and pay double damages to the
merchant. The disturber shall be imprisoned for a year.
Cloth may not be tacked nor folded for sale to merchants unless
they are opened to the buyers for inspection, for instance for
concealed inferior wool. Workers, weavers, and fullers shall put
their seals to every cloth. And anyone could bring his own wools,
woolfells, leather, and lead to the staple to sell without being
compelled to sell them in the country. Special streets or
warehouses were appointed with warehouse rent fixed by the mayor
and constables with four of the principal inhabitants. Customs
duties were regulated and machinery provided for their
collection. No one was to forestall or regrate, that is, buy at
one price and sell at a higher price in the same locale.
Forestallers were those who bought raw material on its way to
market. Regrators were those who tried to create a "corner" in
the article in the market itself.
Anyone may ship or carry grain out of the nation, except to
enemies, after paying duties. But the council may restrain this
passage when necessary for the good of the nation. Any merchant,
privy or stranger, who was robbed of goods on the sea or lost his
ship by tempest or other misfortune on the sea banks, his goods
coming to shore could not be declared Wreck, but were to be
delivered to the merchant after he proves ownership in court by
his marks on the goods or by good and lawful merchants.
All stakes and obstacles set up in rivers impeding the passage of
boats shall be removed.
Imported cloth shall be inspected by the King's officials for
non-standard measurements or defects [despite town franchises].
No one shall leave the nation except at designated ports, on pain
of one year's imprisonment.
English merchants may carry their merchandise in foreign ships if
there are no English ships available.
Social distinctions by attire were mandated by statute of 1363. A
servant, his wife, son, or daughter, shall only wear cloth worth
no more than 27s. and shall not have more than one dish of meat
or fish a day. Carters, ploughmen, drivers of the plough,
oxherds, cowherds, shepherds, and all other people owning less
than 40s. of goods and chattels shall only wear blanket and
russet worth no more than 12d. and girdles of linen according to
their estate. Craftsmen and free peasants shall only wear cloth
worth no more than 40s. Esquires and gentlemen below the rank of
knight with no land nor rent over 2,000s. a year shall only wear
cloth worth no more than 60s., no gold, silver, stone, fur, or
the color purple. Esquires with land up to 2,667s. per year may
wear 67s. cloth, cloth of silk and silver, miniver [grey] fur and
stones, except head stones. Merchants, citizens, burgesses,
artificers, and people of handicraft having goods and chattels
worth 10,000s. shall wear cloth the same value as that worn by
esquires and gentlemen with land or rent within 2,000s. per year.
The same merchants and burgesses with goods and chattels worth
13,333s. and esquires and gentlemen with land or rent within
400s. per year may not wear gold cloth, miniver fur, ermine
[white] fur, or embroidered stones. A knight with land or rents
within 2,667s. yearly are limited to cloth of 80s., but his wife
may wear a stone on her head. Knights and ladies with land or
rents within 8,000s. to 20,000s. yearly may not wear fur of
ermine or of letuse, but may wear gold, and such ladies may wear
pearls as well as stones on their heads. The penalty is
forfeiture of such apparel. This statute is necessary because of
"outrageous and excessive apparel of diverse persons against
their estate and degree, to the great destruction and
impoverishment of all the land".
If anyone finds a hawk [used to hunt birds, ducks, and pheasant]
that a lord has lost, he must take it to the sheriff for keeping
for the lord to claim. If there is no claim after four months,
the finder may have it only if he is a gentleman. If one steals a
hawk from a lord or conceals from him the fact that it has been
found, he shall pay the price of the hawk and be imprisoned for
two years.
No laborer or any other man who does not have lands and tenements
of the value of 40s. per year shall keep a greyhound [or other
hound or dog] to hunt, nor shall they use nets or cords or other
devices to take [deer, rabbits, conies, nor other gentlemen's
game], upon pain of one year imprisonment.
No man shall eat more than two courses of meat or fish in his
house or elsewhere, except at festivals, when three are allowed
[because great men ate costly meats to excess and the lesser
people were thereby impoverished].
No one may export silver, whether bullion or coinage, or wine
except foreign merchants may carry back the portion of their
money not used to buy English commodities. The penalty for
bringing false or counterfeit money into the nation is loss of
life and member. An assigned searcher [inspector] for coinage of
the nation on the sea passing out of the nation or bad money in
the nation shall have one third of it. No foreign money may be
used in the nation.
Each goldsmith shall have an identifying mark, which shall be
placed on his vessel or work only after inspection by the King's
surveyor.
No one shall give anything to a beggar who is capable of working.
Vagrants begging in London were banned by this 1359 ordinance:
"Forasmuch as many men and women, and others, of divers counties,
who might work, to the help of the common people, have betaken
themselves from out of their own country to the city of London
and do go about begging there so as to have their own ease and
repose, not wishing to labor or work for their sustenance, to the
great damage of the common people; and also do waste divers alms
which would otherwise be given to many poor folks, such as
lepers, blind, halt, and persons oppressed with old age and
divers other maladies, to the destruction of the support of the
same - we do command on behalf of our lord the King, whom may God
preserve and bless, that all those who go about begging in the
said city and who are able to labor and work for the profit of
the common people shall quit the said city between now and Monday
next ensuing. And if any such shall be found begging after the
day aforesaid, the same shall be taken and put in the stocks on
Cornhill for half a day the first time, and the second time he
shall remain in the stocks one whole day, and the third time he
shall be taken and shall remain in prison for forty days and
shall then forswear the said city forever. And every constable
and the beadle of every ward of the said city shall be empowered
to arrest such manner of folks and to put them in the stocks in
manner aforesaid."
The hundred year cry to "let the King live on his own" found
fruition in a 1352 statute requiring consent of the Parliament
before any commission of array for militia could be taken and a
1362 statute requiring purchases of goods and means of conveyance
for the King and his household to be made only by agreement with
the seller and with payment to him before the King traveled on,
instead of at the low prices determined unilaterally by the
King's purveyer.
Every man who has wood within the forest may take houseboot and
heyboot in his wood without being arrested so long as it take
such within the view of the foresters.
English was made the official language of the courts, replacing
French and Latin, and schools in 1362 and of Parliament,
replacing Anglo-Norman, in 1363.
No fecal matter, dung, garbage, or entrails of animals killed
shall be put into ditches or rivers or other waters, so that
maladies and diseases will not be caused by corrupted and
infected air. The penalty is 400s. to the King after trial by the
Chancellor.
Gifts or alienation of land to guilds, fraternities, or towns are
forbidden. Instead, it escheats to its lord, or in his default,
to the King.
No man will be charged to go out of his shire to do military
service except in case of an enemy invasion of the nation. Men
who chose to go into the King's service outside the nation shall
be paid wages by the King until their return.
Admiralty law came into being when ancient naval manners and
customs were written down as the "Black Book of the Admiralty".
This included the organization of the fleet under the Admiral,
sea-maneuver rules such as not laying anchor until the Admiral's
ship had, engagement rules, and the distribution of captured
goods: one-fourth to the vessel owner, one-fourth to the King if
the seamen were paid by the King's wages, and the rest divided
among the crew and Admiral. Stealing a boat or an anchor holding
a boat was punishable by hanging. Stealing an oar or an anchor
was punishable by forty days imprisonment for the first offense,
six months imprisonment for the second, and hanging for the
third. Desertion was punishable by loss of double the amount of
wages earned and imprisonment for one year. Cases were tried by
jury in the Admiral's court.
Wines, vinegar, oil and honey imported shall be gauged by the
King's appointees.
A man may not hire another man to fight in his place in a
quarrel, except one living in his household or his esquire.
- Judicial Procedure -
The office of Justice of the Peace was developed and filled by
knights, esquires and gentlemen who were closely associated with
the magnates. There was no salary nor any requirement of
knowledge of the law. They were to pursue, restrain, arrest,
imprison, try, and duly punish felons, trespassers, and rioters
according to the law. They were expected to arrest vagrants who
would not work and imprison them until sureties for good behavior
was found for them. They also were empowered to inspect weights
and measures and enforce the new law against hiring another to
fight one's quarrel. Trespass included forcible offenses of
breaking of a fence enclosing private property, assault and
battery, false imprisonment, and taking away goods and chattels.
Private suits for murder or personal injury were falling into
disuse and being replaced by the action of trespass.
Pardons may be given only for slaying another in one's own
defense or by misfortune [accident], and not for slaying by lying
in wait, assault, or malice aforethought.
Justices of Assize, sheriffs, and Justices of the Peace and
mayors shall have power to inquire of all vagabonds and compel
them to find surety of their good bearing or be imprisoned.
Treason was tried in Parliament, by bill of "attainder". It was
often used for political purposes. Most attaints were reversed as
a term of peace made between factions.
A reversioner shall be received in court to defend his right when
a tenant for a term of life, tenant in dower, or by the Law of
England, or in Tail after Possibility of Issue extinct are sued
in court for the land, so as to prevent collusion by the
demandants.
A person in debt may not avoid his creditors by giving his
tenements or chattels to his friends in collusion to have the
profits at their will.
Where there was a garnishment given touching a plea of land, a
writ of deceit is also maintainable.
Actions of debt will be heard only in the county where the
contract was made. The action of debt includes enforcement of
contracts executed or under seal, e.g. rent due on a lease, hire
of an archer, contract of sale or repair of an item. Thus there
is a growing connection between the actions of debt and contract.
Executors have an action for trespass to their testators' goods
and chattels in like manner as did the testator when alive.
If a man dies intestate, his goods shall be administered by his
next and most lawful friends appointed. Such administrators shall
have the same powers and duties as executors and be accountable
as are executors to the ecclesiastical court.
Children born to English parents in parts beyond the sea may
inherit from their ancestors in the same manner as those born in
the nation.
A person grieved by a false oath in a town court proceeding may
appeal to the King's Bench or Common Pleas, regardless of any
town franchise.
The Court of the King's Bench worked independently of the King.
It became confined to the established common law. The King
proclaimed that petitions for remedies that the common law didn't
cover be addressed to the Chancellor, who was not bound by
established law, but could do equity. With the backing of the
council, he made decisions implementing the policy of the Statute
of Laborers. Most of these concerned occupational competency, for
instance negligent activity of carriers, builders, shepherds,
doctors, clothworkers, smiths, innkeepers, and jailers. For
instance, the common law action of detinue could force return of
cloth bailed for fulling or sheep bailed for pasturing, but could
not address damages due to faulty work. The Chancellor addressed
issues of loss of wool, dead lambs, and damaged sheep, as well as
dead sheep. He imposed a legal duty on innkeepers to prevent
injury or damage to a patron or his goods from third parties. A
dog bite or other damage by a dog known by its owner to be
vicious was made a more serious offense than general damage by
any dog. A person starting a fire was given a duty to prevent the
fire from damaging property of others. These new forms of action
came to be known as assumpsit, which provided damages for breach
of an oral agreement and a written agreement without a seal, or
trespass on the case, which did not require the element of force
of the trespass offense.
Decisions of the common law courts are appealable to Parliament,
which can change the common law by statute.
No attorney may practice law and also be a justice of assize.
Champerty [an outsider supporting or maintaining litigation in
which there is an agreement for him to share in the award] is
forbidden because court officials have
maintained and defended a party which has resulted in another
party being cheated out of his land.
Whereas it is contained in the Magna Carta that none shall be
imprisoned nor put out of his freehold, nor of his franchises nor
free custom, unless it be by the law of the land; it is
established that from henceforth none shall be taken by petition
or suggestion made to the King unless by indictment of good and
lawful people of the same neighborhood where such deeds be done,
in due manner, or by process made by writ original at the common
law; nor that none be out of his franchise, nor of his freeholds,
unless he be duly brought into answer and forejudges of the same
by the course of law. (forerunner of indictment grand juries and
trial juries for criminal cases)
There were so many cases that were similar to, but not in
technical conformity with, the requirements of the common law
for a remedy by the reign of Edward III, that litigants were
flowing into the Chancery, which had the power to give swift and
equitable relief.
The King will fine instead of seize the land of his tenants who
sell or alienate their land, such fine to be determined by the
Chancellor by due process.
The King's coroner and a murderer who had taken sanctuary in a
church often agreed to the penalty of confession and perpetual
banishment from the nation as follows: "Memorandum that on July
6, [1347], Henry de Roseye abjured the realm of England before
John Bernard, the King's coroner, at the church of Tendale in the
County of Kent in form following: 'Hear this, O lord the coroner,
that I, Henry de Roseye, have stolen an ox and a cow of the widow
of John Welsshe of Retherfeld; and I have stolen eighteen beasts
from divers men in the said county. And I acknowledge that I have
feloniously killed Roger le Swan in the town of Strete in the
hundred of Strete in the rape of Lewes and that I am a felon of
the lord King of England. And because I have committed many ill
deeds and thefts in his land, I abjure the land of the Lord
Edward King of England, and [I acknowledge] that I ought to
hasten to the port of Hastings, which thou hast given me, and
that I ought not to depart from the way, and if I do so I am
willing to be taken as a thief and felon of the lord King, and
that at Hastings I will diligently seek passage, and that I will
not wait there save for the flood and one ebb if I can have
passage; and if I cannot have passage within that period, I will
go up to the knees into the sea every day, endeavoring to cross;
and unless I can do so within forty days, I will return at once
to the church, as a thief and a felon of the lord King, so help
me God."
Property damage by a tenant of a London building was assessed in
a 1374 case: "John Parker, butcher, was summoned to answer
Clement Spray in a plea of trespass, wherein the latter
complained that the said John, who had hired a tavern at the
corner of St. Martin-le-Grand from him for fifteen months, had
committed waste and damage therein, although by the custom of the
city no tenant for a term of years was entitled to destroy any
portion of the buildings or fixtures let to him. He alleged that
the defendant had taken down the doorpost of the tavern and also
of the shop, the boarded door of a partition of the tavern, a
seat in the tavern, a plastered partition wall, the stone
flooring in the chamber, the hearth of the kitchen, and the
mantelpiece above it, a partition in the kitchen, two doors and
other partitions, of a total value of 21s. four pounds, 1s. 8d.,
and to his damage, 400s. 20 pounds. The defendant denied the
trespass and put himself on the country. Afterwards a jury ...
found the defendant guilty of the aforesaid trespass to the
plaintiff's damage, 40d. Judgment was given for that amount and a
fine of 1s. to the King, which the defendant paid immediately in
court."
The innkeeper's duty to safeguard the person and property of his
lodgers was applied in this case:
"John Trentedeus of Southwark was summoned to answer William
Latymer touching a plea why, whereas according to the law and
custom of the realm of England, innkeepers who keep a common inn
are bound to keep safely by day and by night without reduction or
loss men who are passing through the parts where such inns are
and lodging their goods within those inns, so that, by default of
the innkeepers or their servants, no damage should in any way
happen to such their guests ...
On Monday after the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary
in the fourth year of the now King by default of the said John,
certain malefactors took and carried away two small portable
chests with 533s. and also with charters and writings, to wit two
writings obligatory, in the one of which is contained that a
certain Robert Bour is bound to the said William in 2,000s. and
in the other that a certain John Pusele is bound to the same
William in 800s. 40 pounds ... and with other muniments [writings
defending claims or rights] of the same William, to wit his
return of all the writs of the lord King for the counties of
Somerset and Dorset, whereof the same William was then sheriff,
for the morrow of the Purification of the Blessed Mary the Virgin
in the year aforesaid, as well before the same lord the King in
his Chancery and in his Bench as before the justices of the
King's Common Bench and his barons of his Exchequer, returnable
at Westminster on the said morrow, and likewise the rolls of the
court of Cranestock for all the courts held there from the first
year of the reign of the said lord the King until the said
Monday, contained in the same chests being lodged within the inn
of the same John at Southwark
And the said John ... says that on the said Monday about the
second hour after noon the said William entered his inn to be
lodged there, and at once when he entered, the same John assigned
to the said William a certain chamber being in that inn, fitting
for his rank, with a door and a lock affixed to the same door
with sufficient nails, so that he should lie there and put and
keep his things there, and delivered to the said William the key
to the door of the said chamber, which chamber the said William
accepted...
William says that ... when the said John had delivered to him the
said chamber and key as above, the same William, being occupied
about divers businesses to be done in the city of London, went
out from the said inn into the city to expedite the said
businesses and handed over the key of the door to a certain
servant of the said William to take care of in meantime, ordering
the servant to remain in the inn meanwhile and to take care of
his horses there; and afterwards, when night was falling, the
same William being in the city and the key still in the keeping
of the said servant, the wife of the said John called unto her
into her hall the said servant who had the key, giving him food
and drink with a merry countenance and asking him divers
questions and occupying him thus for a long time, until the
staple of the lock of the door aforesaid was thrust on one side
out of its right place and the door of the chamber was thereby
opened and his goods, being in the inn of the said John, were
taken and carried off by the said malefactors ... The said John
says ...[that his wife did not call the servant into the hall,
but that] when the said servant came into the said hall and asked
his wife for bread and ale and other necessaries to be brought to
the said chamber of his master, his wife immediately and without
delay delivered to the same servant the things for which he asked
... protesting that no goods of the same William in the said inn
were carried away by the said John his servant or any strange
malefactors other than the persons of the household of the said
William."
On the Coram Rege Roll of 1395 is a case on the issue of whether
a court-crier can be seized by officers of a staple:
"Edmund Hikelyng, 'criour', sues William Baddele and wife Maud,
John Olney, and William Knyghtbrugge for assault and imprisonment
at Westminster, attacking him with a stick and imprisoning him
for one hour on Wednesday before St. Martin, 19 Richard II.
Baddele says Mark Faire of Winchester was prosecuting a bill of
debt for 18s. against Edmund and John More before William
Brampton, mayor of the staple of Westminster, and Thomas Alby and
William Askham, constables of the said staple, and on that day
the Mayor and the constables issued a writ of capias against
Edmund and John to answer Mark and be before the Mayor and the
constables at the next court. This writ was delivered to Baddele
as sergeant of the staple, and by virtue of it he took and
imprisoned Edmund in the staple. Maud and the others say they
aided Baddele by virtue of the said writ.
Edmund does not acknowledge Baddele to be sergeant of the staple
or Mark a merchant of the staple or that he was taken in the
staple. He is minister of the King's Court of his Bench and is
crier under Thomas Thorne, the chief crier, his master. Every
servant of the court is under special protection while doing his
duty or on his way to do it. On the day in question, he was at
Westminster carrying his master's staff of office before Hugh
Huls, one of the King's justices, and William took him in the
presence of the said justice and imprisoned him.
The case is adjourned for consideration from Hilary to Easter."
Chapter 10
- The Times: 1399-1485 -
This period, which begins with the reign of the usurper King,
Henry IV, is dominated by war: the last half of the 100 year war
with France, which, with the help of Joan of Arc, took all
English land on the continent except the port of Calais, and the
War of the Roses in England. The barons and earls returned from
France with their private fighting units. Nobles employed men who
had returned from fighting to use their fighting skill in local
defense. All the great houses kept bands of armed retainers.
These retainers were given land or pay or both as well as
liveries [uniforms or badges] bearing the family crest. They came
to fight for the cause of one of the two royal family lines
competing for the throne. In the system of "livery and
maintenance", if the retainer was harassed by the law or by
enemies, the lord gave him protection [maintenance].
In both wars, the musket was used as well as the long-bow. Cannon
were used to besiege castles and destroy their walls, so many
castles were allowed to deteriorate.
Barons and earls settled their disputes in the field rather than
in the royal courts. And men relied increasingly on the
protection of the great men of their neighborhood and less on
the King's courts for the safety of their lives and land. Local
men involved in court functions usually owed allegiance to a lord
which compromised the exercise of justice. Men serving in an
assize often lied to please their lord instead of telling the
truth. Lords maintained, supported, or promoted litigation with
money or aid supplied to one party to the detriment of justice.
It was not unusual for lords to attend court with a great force
of retainers behind them. Royal justices were flouted or bribed.
The King's writ was denied or perverted. For 6-8s., a lord could
have the King instruct his sheriff to impanel a jury which would
find in his favor. A statute against riots, forcible entries,
and, excepting the King, magnates' liveries of uniform, food, and
badges to their retainers, except in war outside the nation, was
passed, but was difficult to enforce because the offenders were
lords, who dominated the Parliament and the council.
Since the power of the throne changed from one faction to
another, many bills of attainder caused lords to lose their lands
to the King. Fighting between lords and gangs of ruffians holding
the roads, breaking into and seizing manor houses, and openly
committing murders continued. The roads were not safe. People
turned to mysticism to escape from the everyday violent world.
They had no religious enthusiasm, but believed in magic and
sorcery.
With men so often gone to fight, their wives managed the
household alone. The typical wife had maidens of equal class to
whom she taught household management, spinning, weaving, carding
wool with iron wool-combs, heckling flax, embroidery, and making
garments. There were foot-treadles for spinning wheels. She
taught the children. Each day she scheduled the activities of the
household including music, conversation, dancing, chess, reading,
playing ball, and gathering flowers. She organized picnics, rode
horseback and went hunting, hawking to get birds, and
rabbit-ferreting. She was nurse to all around her. If her husband
died, she usually continued in this role because most men named
their wives as executors of their wills with full power to act as
she thought best.
For ladies, close-fitting jackets came to be worn over
close-fitting long gowns with low, square-cut necklines and
flowing sleeves, under which was worn a girdle. All her hair was
confined by a hair net. Headdresses were very elaborate and
heavy, trailing streamers of linen. Some were in the shape of
hearts, butterflies, crescents, or long cones. Men also were
wearing hats rather than hoods. They wore huge hats of velvet,
fur, or leather. Hair was short and later shoulder-length. They
wore doublets with thick padding over the shoulders or short
tunics over the trucks of their bodies. Their sleeves were long
concoctions of velvet, damask, and satin, sometimes worn wrapped
around their arms in layers. Their legs were covered with hose,
often in different colors. Shoes were pointed with upward pikes
at the toes. At another time, shoes were broad with blunt toes.
Both men and women wore much jewelry and ornamentation. Cooking
and the serving of meals was also elaborate. There were many
courses of a variety of meats, fish, stews, and soups, with a
variety of spices. The standard number of meals was three:
breakfast, dinner, and supper. The diet of an ordinary family
such as that of a small shopholder or yeoman farmer included
beef, mutton, pork, a variety of fish, both fresh and salted,
venison, nuts, peas, oatmeal, honey, grapes, apples, pears, and
fresh vegetables. Cattle and sheep were driven from Wales to
English markets. This droving lasted for five centuries.
Many types of people besides the nobility and knights now had
property and thus were considered gentry: female lines of the
nobility, merchants and their sons, lawyers, auditors, squires,
and peasant-yeomen. The burgess grew rich as the knight dropped
lower. The great merchants lived in mansions which could occupy
whole blocks. Typically, there would be an oak-paneled great
hall, with adjoining kitchen, pantry, and buttery on one end and
a great parlor to receive guests, bedrooms, wardrobes, servants'
rooms, and a chapel on the other end or on a second floor. The
beds were surrounded by heavy draperies to keep out cold drafts.
Master and servants ceased to eat together in the same hall. In
towns these mansions were entered through a gate through a row of
shops on the street. A lesser dwelling would have these rooms on
three floors over a shop on the first floor. An average Londoner
would have a shop, a storeroom, a hall, a kitchen, and a buttery
on the first floor, and three bedrooms on the second floor.
Artisans and shopkeepers of more modest means lived in rows of
dwellings, each with a shop and small storage room on the first
floor, and a combination parlor-bedroom on the second floor. The
humblest residents crowded their shop and family into one 6 by 10
foot room for rent of a few shillings a year. All except the last
would also have a small garden. The best gardens had a fruit
tree, herbs, flowers, a well, and a privy. There were common and
public privies for those without their own. Kitchen slops and
casual refuse continued to be thrown into the street. Floors of
stone or planks were strewn with rushes. There was some tile
flooring. Most dwellings had glass windows. Candles were used for
lighting at night. Torches and oil-burning lanterns were portable
lights. Furnishings were still sparse. Men sat on benches or
joint stools and women sat on cushions on the floor. Hall and
parlor had a table and benches and perhaps one chair. Bedrooms
had a curtained bed and a chest. On the feather bed were pillows,
blankets, and sheets. Better homes had wall hanging and cupboards
displaying plate. Laundresses washed clothes in the streams,
rivers, and public conduits. Country peasants still lived in
wood, straw, and mud huts with earth floors and a smoky hearth in
the center or a kitchen area under the eaves of the hut.
In 1442, bricks began to be manufactured in the nation and so
there was more use of bricks in buildings. Chimneys were
introduced into manor houses where stone had been too expensive.
This was necessary if a second floor was added, so the smoke
would not damage the floor above it and would eventually go out
of the house.
Nobles and their retinue moved from manor to manor, as they had
for centuries, to keep watch upon their lands and to consume the
produce thereof; it was easier to bring the household to the
estate than to transport the yield of the estate to the
household. Also, at regular intervals sewage had to be removed
from the cellar pits.
Jousting tournaments were held for entertainment purposes only
and were followed by banquets of several courses of food served
on dishes of gold, silver, pewter, or wood on a linen cloth
covering the table. Hands were washed before and after the meal.
People washed their faces every morning after getting up. Teeth
were cleaned with powders. Fragrant leaves were chewed for bad
breath. Garlic was used for indigestion and other ailments. Feet
were rubbed with salt and vinegar to remove calluses. Good
manners included not slumping against a post, fidgeting, sticking
one's finger into one's nose, putting one's hands into one's hose
to scratch the privy parts, spitting over the table or too far,
licking one's plate, picking one's teeth, breathing stinking
breath into the face of the lord, blowing on one's food, stuffing
masses of bread into one's mouth, scratching one's head,
loosening one's girdle to belch, and probing one's teeth with a
knife.
Fishing and hunting were reserved for the nobility rather than
just the King.
As many lords became less wealthy because of the cost of war,
some peasants, villein and free, became prosperous, especially
those who also worked at a craft, e.g. butchers, bakers, smiths,
shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, and clothworkers.
An agricultural slump caused poorer soils to fall back into
waste. The better soils were leased by peasants, who, with their
families, were in a better position to farm it than a great lord,
who found it hard to hire laborers at a reasonable cost. Further,
peasants' sheep, hens, pigs, ducks, goats, cattle, bees, and crop
made them almost self-sufficient in foodstuffs. They lived in a
huddle of cottages and pastured their animals on common meadows.
They subsisted mainly on boiled bacon, an occasional chicken,
worts and beans grown in the cottage garden, and cereals. They
wore fine wool cloth in all their apparel. Brimless hats were
replacing hoods. They had an abundance of bed coverings in their
houses. And they had more free time. Village entertainment
included traveling jesters, acrobats, musicians, and bear-baiter.
Playing games and gambling were popular pastimes.
Most villeins were now being called "customary tenants" or
"copy-holders" of land because they held their acres by a copy of
the court-roll of the manor, which listed the number of teams,
the fines, the reliefs, and the services due to the lord for each
landholder. The Chancery court interpreted many of these
documents to include rights of inheritance. The common law courts
followed the lead of the Chancery and held that copyhold land
could be inherited as was land at common law. Evictions by lords
decreased.
The difference between villein and free man lessened but
landlords usually still had
profits of villein bondage, such as heriot, merchet, and chevage.
A class of laborers was arising who depended entirely on the
wages of industry for their subsistence. The cloth workers in
rural areas were isolated and weak and often at the mercy of
middle-men for employment and the amount of their wages.
Rural laborers went to towns to seek employment in the new
industries. They would work at first for any rate. This deepened
the cleavage of the classes in the towns.
The townspeople did not take part in the fighting of the War of
the Roses. Many boroughs sought and obtained formal incorporation
with perpetual existence, the right to sue and be sued in their
own name. Often, a borough would have its own resident Justice of
the Peace. Each incorporation involved a review by a Justice of
the Peace to make sure the charter of incorporation rule didn't
conflict with the law of the nation. Henry IV granted the first
charter of incorporation. A borough typically had a mayor
accompanied by his personal sword-bearer and serjeants-at-mace
bearing the borough regalia, bailiffs, a sheriff, and
chamberlains or a steward for financial assistance. At many
boroughs, aldermen, assisted by their constables, kept the peace
in their separate wards. There might be coroners, a recorder, and
a town clerk, with a host of lesser officials including beadles,
aletasters, sealers, searchers [inspectors], weighers and keepers
of the market, ferrymen and porters, clock-keepers and criers,
paviours [road pavers], scavengers and other street cleaners,
gatekeepers and watchmen of several ranks and kinds. A wealthy
borough would have a chaplain and two or three minstrels.
In all towns, the wealthiest and most influential guilds were the
merchant traders of mercers, drapers, grocers, and goldsmiths.
From their ranks came most of the mayors. Next came the
shopholders of skinners, tailors, ironmongers, and corvisors
[shoemakers]. Thirdly came the humbler artisans, the sellers of
victuals, small shopkeepers, apprentices, and journeymen on the
rise. Lastly came unskilled laborers, who lived in crowded
tenements and hired themselves out. The first three groups were
the free men who voted and paid the tax of scot and lot, and
belonged to guilds.
In the towns, many married women had independent businesses and
wives also played an active part in the businesses of their
husbands. Wives of well-to-do London merchants embroidered, sewed
jewelry onto clothes, and made silk garments. Widows often
continued in their husband's businesses, such as managing a large
import-export trade, tailoring, brewing, and metal shop. Socially
lower women often ran their own breweries, bakeries, and taverns.
It was possible for wives to be free burgesses in their own right
in some towns.
Some ladies were patrons of writers. Some women were active in
prison reform in matters of reviews to insure that no man was in
jail without due cause, overcharges for bed and board, brutality,
and regulation of prisoners being placed in irons. Many men and
women left money in their wills for food and clothing for
prisoners.
There was much overlapping in the two forms of association: the
craft guild and the religious fraternity.
Paved roads in towns were usually gravel and sometimes cobble.
They were frequently muddy because of rain and spillage of water
being carried. Iron-shod wheels and overloaded carts made them
very uneven. London was the first town with paviors. They were
organized as a city company in 1479. About 1482, towns besides
London began appointing salaried road paviors to repair roads and
collect their expenses from the householders because the policy
of placing the burden on individual householders didn't work
well. London streets were lighted at night by public lanterns,
under the direction of the mayor.
The King granted London all common soils, improvements, wastes,
streets, and ways in London and in the adjacent waters of the
Thames River and all the profits and rents to be derived
therefrom. Later the King granted London the liberty to purchase
lands and tenements worth up to 2,667s. yearly. Each ward
nominated two men for alderman, the final choice being made by
the mayor and the other aldermen.
There were many craft guilds. In fact, every trade of twenty men
had its own guild. The guild secured good work for its members
and the members maintained the reputation of the work standards
of the guild. Bad work was punished and night work prohibited as
leading to bad work. The guild exercised moral control over its
members and provided sickness and death benefits for them.
Apprentices were taken in to assure an adequate supply of
competent workers for the future. When these apprentices had
enough training they were made journeymen with a higher rate of
pay. Journeymen traveled to see the work of their craft in other
towns. Those journeymen rising to master had the highest pay
rate.
But the guilds were being replaced by associations for the
investment of capital. In associations, journeymen were losing
their chance of rising to be a master. Competition among
associations was starting to supplant custom as the mainspring of
trade.
The Merchant Adventurers was chartered in 1407. A share in the
ownership of one of their vessels was a common form of investment
by prosperous merchants. By 1450, they were dealing in linen
cloths, buckrams [a stiffened, coarse cloth], fustians [coarse
cloth made of cotton threads going in one direction and linen
threads the other], satins, jewels, fine woolen and linen wares,
threads, drugs, wood, oil, wine, salt, copper, and iron. They
began to replace trade by alien traders. (The history of the
"Merchant Adventurers" was associated with the growth of the
mercantile system for more than 300 years. It eventually replaced
the staples system.)
In London, shopkeepers appealed to passers-by to buy their goods,
sometimes even seizing people by the sleeve. The drapers had
several roomy shops containing shelves piled with cloths of all
colors and grades, tapestries, pillows, and 'bankers and dorsers'
to soften hard wooden benches. A rear storeroom held more cloth
for import or export. Many shops of skinners were on Fur Row.
There were shops of leather-sellers, hosiers, gold and silver
cups, and silks. At the Stocks Market were fishmongers, butchers,
and poulterers. London grocers imported spices, canvas, ropery,
drugs, unguents, soap, confections, garlic, cabbages, onions,
apples, oranges, almonds, figs, dates, raisins, dye-stuffs, woad,
madder, scarlet grains, saffron, iron, and steel. They were
retailers as well as wholesalers and had shops selling honey,
licorice, salt, vinegar, rice, sugar loaves, syrups, spices,
garden seeds, dyes, alum, soap, brimstone, paper, varnish,
canvas, rope, musk, incense, treacle of Genoa, and mercury. The
Grocers did some money-lending, usually at 12% interest. The
guilds did not restrict themselves to dealing in the goods for
which they had a right of inspection, and so many dealt in wine
that it was a medium of exchange.
Grocers sold herbs for medicinal as well as eating purposes.
Breadcarts sold penny wheat loaves. Foreigners set up stalls on
certain days of the week to sell meat, canvas, linen, cloth,
ironmongery, and lead. There were great houses, churches,
monasteries, inns, guildhalls, warehouses, and the King's Beam
for weighing wool to be exported. The Mercers and Goldsmiths were
in the prosperous part of town. The Goldsmiths' shops sold gold
and silver plate, jewels, rings, water pitchers, drinking
goblets, basins to hold water for the hands, and covered
saltcellars. The grain market was on Cornhill. Halfway up the
street, there was a supply of water which had been brought up in
pipes. On the top was a cage where riotous folk had been
incarcerated by the night watch and the stocks and pillory, where
fraudulent schemers were exposed to ridicule.
Outside the London city walls were tenements, Smithfield cattle
market, Westminster Hall, green fields of crops, and some marsh
land.
On the Thames River to London were large ships with cargoes;
small boats rowed by tough boatmen offering passage for a penny;
small private barges of great men with carved wood, gay banners,
and oarsmen with velvet gowns; the banks covered with masts and
tackle; the nineteen arch London Bridge supporting a street of
shops and houses and a drawbridge in the middle; quays;
warehouses, and great cranes lifting bales from ship to wharf.
Merchant guilds which imported or exported each had their own
wharves and warehouses. Downstream, pirates hung on gallows at
the low-water mark to remain until three tides had overflowed
their bodies.
The large scale of London trade promoted the specialization of
the manufacturer versus the merchant versus the shipper.
Merchants had enough wealth to make loans to the government or
for new commercial enterprises. Some London merchants were
knighted by the King. Many bought country estates and turned
themselves into gentry.
In schools, there was a renaissance of learning from original
sources of knowledge written in Greek and rebirth of the Greek
pursuit of the truth and scientific spirit of inquiry. There was
a striking increase in the number of schools founded by wealthy
merchants or town guilds. Merchants tended to send their sons to
private boarding schools, instead of having them tutored at home
as did the nobility. At the universities, the bachelor's degree
came into existence to denote a preliminary stage in the course
of becoming a master.
The book "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" was written about an
incident in the court of King Arthur and Queen Guenevere in which
a green knight challenges Arthur's knights to live up to their
reputation for valor and awesome deeds. The knight Gawain answers
the challenge, but is shown that he could be false and cowardly
when death seemed to be imminent. Thereafter, he wears a green
girdle around his waist to remind him not to be proud.
Other literature read included "London Lickpenny", a satire on
London and its expensive services and products, "Fall of Princes"
by John Lydgate, social history by Thomas Hoccleve, "The King is
Quair"" by King James I of Scotland about how he fell in love,
"The Cuckoo and the Nightengale", and "The Flower and Leaf" on
morality as secular common sense. Chaucer, Cicero, and Ovid were
widely read. Malory's new version of the Arthurian stories was
popular. Margery Kempe wrote the first true autobiography. She
was a woman who had a normal married life with children, but one
day had visions and voices which led her to leave her husband to
take up a life of wandering and praying in holy possession. The
common people developed ballads, e.g. about their love of the
forest, their wish to hunt, and their hatred of the forest laws.
About 30% of the people could read English. Books were bought in
London in such quantities by 1403 that the organization of
text-letter writers, book-binders, and book sellers was
sanctioned by ordinance. "Unto the honorable lords, and wise, the
mayor and aldermen of the city of London, pray very humbly all
the good folks, freemen of the said city, of the trades of
writers of text-letter, limners [illuminator of books], and other
folks of London who are wont to bind and to sell books, that it
may please your great sagenesses to grant unto them that they may
elect yearly two reputable men, the one a limner, the other a
text-writer, to be wardens of the said trades, and that the names
of the wardens so elected may be presented each year before the
mayor for the time being, and they be there sworn well and
diligently to oversee that good rule and governance is had and
exercised by all folks of the same trades in all works unto the
said trades pertaining, to the praise and good fame of the loyal
good men of the said trades and to the shame and blame of the bad
and disloyal men of the same. And that the same wardens may call
together all the men of the said trades honorably and peacefully
when need shall be, as well for the good rule and governance of
the said city as of the trades aforesaid. And that the same
wardens, in performing their due office, may present from time to
time all the defaults of the said bad and disloyal men to the
chamberlain at the Guildhall for the time being, to the end that
the same may there, according to the wise and prudent discretion
of the governors of the said city, be corrected, punished, and
duly redressed. And that all who are rebellious against the said
wardens as to the survey and good rule of the same trades may be
punished according to the general ordinance made as to rebellious
persons in trades of the said city [fines and imprisonment]. And
that it may please you to command that this petition, by your
sagenesses granted, may be entered of record for time to come,
for the love of God and as a work of charity."
The printing press was brought to London in 1476 by a mercer:
William Caxton. It supplemented the text-writer and monastic
copyist. It was a wood and iron frame with a mounted platform on
which were placed small metal frames into which words with small
letters of lead had been set up. Each line of text had to be
carried from the type case to the press. Beside the press were
pots filled with ink and inking balls. When enough lines of type
to make a page had been assembled on the press, the balls would
be dipped in ink and drawn over the type. Then a sheet of paper
would be placed on the form and a lever pulled to press the paper
against the type. Linen usually replaced the more expensive
parchment for the book pages.
The printing press made books more accessible to all literate
people. Caxton printed major English texts and some translations
from French and Latin. He commended different books to various
kinds of readers, for instance, for gentlemen who understand
gentleness and science, or for ladies and gentlewomen, or to all
good folk. There were eyeglasses to correct near-sightedness.
Old-established London families began to choose the law as a
profession for their sons, in preference to an apprenticeship in
trade. Many borough burgesses in Parliament were lawyers.
Many carols were sung at the Christian festival of Christmas.
Ballads were sung on many features of social life of this age of
disorder, hatred of sheriffs, but faith in the King. The legend
of Robin Hood was popular. Town miracle plays on leading
incidents of the Bible and morality plays were popular. Vintners
portrayed the miracle of Cana where water was turned into wine
and Goldsmiths ornately dressed the three Kings coming from the
east. Short pantomimes and disguising, forerunners of costume
parties, were good recreation. Games of cards became popular as
soon as cards were introduced. The king, queen, and jack were
dressed in contemporary clothes. Men bowled, kicked footballs,
and played tennis. May Day was celebrated with crowns and
garlands of spring flowers. The village May Day pageant was often
presided over by Robin Hood and Maid Marion.
The church was engendering more disrespect. Monks and nuns had
long ago resigned spiritual leadership to the friars; now the
friars too lost much of their good fame. The monks got used to
life with many servants such as cooks, butlers, bakers, brewers,
barbers, laundresses, tailors, carpenters, and farm hands. The
austerity of their diet had vanished. The schedule of divine
services was no longer followed by many and the fostering of
learning was abandoned. Into monasteries drifted the lazy and
miserable. Nunneries had become aristocratic boarding houses. The
practice of taking sanctuary was abused; criminals and debtors
sought it and were allowed to overstay the 40-day restriction and
to leave at night to commit robberies. People turned to the
writing of mystics, such as "Scale of Perfection" and "Cloud of
Unknowing", the latter describing how one may better know God.
People relied on saint's days as reference points in the year,
because they did not know dates of the year. But townspeople knew
the hour and minute of each day, because mechanical clocks were
in all towns and in the halls of the well-to-do. This increased
the sense of punctuality and higher standards of efficiency.
Important news was announced and spread by word of mouth in
market squares and sometimes in churches. As usual, traders
provided one of the best sources of news; they maintained an
informal network of speedy messengers and accurate reports
because political changes so affected their ventures.
A royal post service was established by relays of mounted
messengers. The first route was between London and the Scottish
border, where there were frequent battles for land between the
Scotch and English.
The inland roads from town to town were still rough and without
signs. A horseman could make up to 40 miles a day. Common
carriers took passengers and parcels from various towns to London
on scheduled journeys. Now the common yeoman could order goods
from the London market, communicate readily with friends in
London, and receive news of the world frequently. Trade with
London was so great and the common carrier so efficient in
transporting goods that the medieval fair began to decline. First
the Grocers and then the Mercers refused to allow their members
to sell goods at fairs. There was much highway robbery. Most
goods were still transported by boats along the coasts, with
trading at the ports.
Embroidery was exported. Imported were timber, pitch, tar, potash
[for cloth-dying], furs, silk, satin, gold cloth, damask cloth,
furred gowns, gems, fruit, spices, and sugar. Imports were
restricted by national policy for the purpose of protecting
native industries.
Single-masted ships began to be replaced by a two or three masted
ship with high pointed bows to resist waves and sails enabling
the ship to sail closer to the wind. The increase in trade made
piracy, even by merchants, profitable and frequent until merchant
vessels began sailing in groups for their mutual protection. The
astrolabe was used for navigation by the stars.
Consuls were appointed to assist English traders abroad.
Henry IV appointed the first admiral of the entire nation and
resolved to create a national fleet of warships instead of using
merchant ships. In 1417, the war navy had 27 ships. In 1421,
Portsmouth was fortified as a naval base.
For defense of the nation, especially the safeguard of the seas,
Parliament allotted the King for life, 3s. for every tun of wine
imported and an additional 3s. for every tun of sweet wine
imported.
The most common ailments were eye problems, aching teeth,
festering ears, joint swelling and sudden paralysis of the
bowels. Epidemics broke out occasionally in the towns in the
summers. Leprosy disappeared.
Hospitals were supported by a tax of the King levied on nearby
counties. The walls, ditches, gutters, sewers, and bridges on
waterways and the coast were kept in repair by laborers hired by
commissions appointed by the Chancellor. Those who benefited from
these waterways were taxed for the repairs in proportion to their
use thereof.
Alabaster was sculptured into tombs surmounted with a recumbent
effigy of the deceased, and effigies of mourners on the sides.
Few townsmen choose to face death alone and planned memorial
masses to be sung to lift his soul beyond Purgatory. Chantries
were built by wealthy men for this purpose.
Gold was minted into coins: noble, half noble, and farthing.
The commons gained much power in Parliament under Henry IV
because he needed so much taxes that the commons had a hold over
him. Also, as a usurper King, he did not carry the natural
authority of a King. The lords who helped his usurpation felt
they should share the natural power of the kingship. Also, the
commons gained power compared to the nobility because many nobles
had died in war. Shakespeare's histories deal with this era. The
Commons now has a speaker.
The Commons established an exclusive right to originate all money
grants to the King in 1407. The commons announced its money grant
only on the last day of the parliamentary session, after the
answers to its petitions had been declared. It tied its grants by
rule rather than just practice to certain appropriations. For
instance, tonnage and poundage were appropriated for naval
defenses. Wool customs went to the maintenance of Calais, a port
on the continent, and defense of the nation. It also put the
petitions in statutory form, called "bills", to be enacted
without alteration. It forced the King's council appointees to be
approved by Parliament, and auditors to be appointed to audit the
King's account to ensure past grants had been spent according to
their purpose.
This was the first encroachment on the King's right to summon,
prorogue, or dismiss a Parliament at his pleasure, determine an
agenda of Parliament, veto or amend its bills, exercise his
discretion as to which lords he summoned to Parliament, and
create new peers by letters patent [official public letters].
The King lost Parliamentary power. The magnates asserted that
their attendance at one Parliament established a hereditary right
to attend the others. The consent of the Commons to legislation
became so usual that the judges declared that it was necessary.
In 1426, the retainers of the barons in Parliament were forbidden
to bear arms, so they appeared with clubs on their shoulders. The
clubs were forbidden and they brought in stones concealed in
their clothing.
The authority of the King's privy seal had become a great office
of state which transmitted the King's wishes to the Chancery and
Exchequer, rather than the King's personal instrument for sealing
documents. Now the King used a signet kept by his secretary as
his personal seal. The position of secretary rose in power under
Edward IV.
King Edward IV introduced an elaborate spy system, the use of the
rack to torture people to confess, and other interferences with
justice, all of which the Tudors later used.
King Richard III prohibited the seizure of goods before
conviction of felony. He also liberated the unfree villeins on
royal estates.
It was declared under Parliamentary authority that there was a
preference for the Crown to pass to a King's eldest son, and to
his male issue after him. Formerly, a man could ascend to the
throne through his female ancestry as well.
- The Law -
The forcible entry statute is expanded to include peaceful entry
with forcible holding afterwards and to forcible holding with
departure before the justices arrived. Penalties are triple
damages, fine, and ransom to the King. A forceful possession
lasting three years is exempt.
Women of age fourteen or over shall have livery of their lands
and tenements by inheritance without question or difficulty.
Purposely cutting out another's tongue or putting out another's
eyes is a felony [penalty of loss of all property].
No one may keep swans unless he has lands and tenements of the
estate of freehold to a yearly value of 67s., because swans of
the King, lords, knights, and esquires have been stolen by yeomen
and husbandmen.
The wage ceiling for servants is: bailiff of agriculture 23s.4d.
per year, and clothing up to 5s., with meat and drink; chief
peasant, a carter, chief shepherd 20s. and clothing up to 4s.,
with meat and drink; common servant of agriculture 15s., and
clothing up to 3s.4d.; woman servant 10s., and clothing up to
4s., with meat and drink; infant under fourteen years 6s., and
clothing up to 3s., with meat and drink. Such as deserve less or
where there is a custom of less, that lesser amount shall be
given.
For laborers at harvest time: mower 4d. with meat and drink or
6d. without; reaper or carter: 3d. with or 5d. without; woman
laborer and other laborers: 2d with and 4d. without.
The ceiling wage rate for craftsmen per day is: free mason or
master carpenter 4d. with meat & drink or 5d. without; master
tiler or slater, rough mason, and mesne carpenter and other
artificiers in building 3d. with meat and drink or 4d. without;
every other laborer 2d. with meat and drink or 3d. without. In
winter the respective wages were less: mason category: 3d. with
or 4d. without; master tiler category: 2d. with or 4d. without;
others: 1d. with or 3d. without meat and drink.
Any servant of agriculture who is serving a term with a master
and covenants to serve another man at the end of this term and
that other man shall notify the master by the middle of his term
so he can get a replacement worker. Otherwise, the servant shall
continue to serve the first master.
No man or woman may put their son or daughter to serve as an
apprentice in a craft within any borough, but may send the child
to school, unless he or she has land or rent to the value of 20s.
per year. [because of scarcity of laborers and other servants of
agriculture]
No laborer may be hired by the week.
Masons may no longer congregate yearly, because it has led to
violation of the statute of laborers.
No games may be played by laborers because they lead to murders
and robberies.
Apparel worn must be appropriate to one's status to preserve the
industry of agriculture. The following list of classes shows the
lowest class, which could wear certain apparel:
- Lords - gold cloth, gold corses, sable fur, purple silk
- Knights - velvet, branched satin, ermine fur
- Esquires and gentlemen with possessions to the value of 800
- per year, daughters of a person who has possessions to the
value of 2,000s. a year - damask, silk, kerchiefs up to 5s. in
value.
4. Esquires and gentlemen with possessions to the yearly value
of 800s. 40 pounds - fur of martron or letuse, gold or silver
girdles, silk corse not made in the nation, kerchief up to 3s.4d
in value
5. Men with possessions of the yearly value of 40s. excluding
the above three classes - fustian, bustian, scarlet cloth in
grain
6. Men with possessions under the yearly value of 40s. excluding
the first three classes - black or white lamb fur, stuffing of
wool, cotton, or cadas.
7. Yeomen - cloth up to the value of 2s., hose up to the value
of 14s., a girdle with silver, kerchief up to 12d.
8. Servants of agriculture, laborer, servant, country craftsman
- none of the above clothes
Gowns and jackets must cover the entire trunk of the body,
including the private parts. Shoes may not have pikes over two
inches.
Every town shall have at its cost a common balance with weights
according to the standard of the Exchequer. All citizens may
weigh goods for free. All cloth to be sold shall be sealed
according to this measure.
There is a standard bushel of grain throughout the nation.
There are standard measures for plain tile, roof tile, and gutter
tile
throughout the nation.
No gold or silver may be taken out of the nation.
The price of silver is fixed at 30s. for a pound, to increase the
value of silver coinage, which has become scarce due to its
higher value when in plate or masse.
A designee of the King will inspect and seal cloth with lead to
prevent deceit. Cloth may not be tacked together before
inspection. No cloth may be sold until sealed.
Heads of arrows shall be hardened at the points with steel and
marked with the mark of the arrowsmith who made it, so they are
not faulty.
Shoemakers and cordwainers may tan their leather, but all leather
must be inspected and marked by a town official before it is
sold.
Cordwainers shall not tan leather [to prevent deceitful tanning].
Tanners who make a notorious default in leather which is found by
a cordwainer shall make a forfeiture.
Defective embroidery for sale shall be forfeited.
No fishing net may be fastened or tacked to posts, boats, or
anchors, but may be used by hand, so that fish are preserved and
vessels may pass.
No one may import any articles which could be made in the nation,
including silks, bows, woolen cloths, iron and hardware goods,
harness and saddlery, and excepting printed books.
The following merchandise shall not be brought into the nation
already wrought: woolen cloth or caps, silk laces, corses,
ribbons, fringes, and embroidery, gold laces, saddles, stirrups,
harnesses, spurs, bridles, aundirons, gridirons, locks, hammers,
pinsons, fire tongs, dripping pans, dice, tennis balls, points,
purses, gloves, girdles, harness for girdles of iron latten steel
tin or of alkemine, any thing wrought of any tawed leather, towed
furs, buscans, shoes, galoshes, corks, knives, daggers,
woodknives, bodkins, sheers for tailors, scissors, razors,
sheaths, playing cards, pins, pattens, pack needles, painted
ware, forcers, caskets, rings of copper or of latten gilt,
chaffing dishes, hanging candlesticks, chaffing balls, sacring
bells, rings for curtains, ladles, scummers, counterfeit basons,
ewers, hats, brushes, cards for wool, white iron wire, upon pain
of their forfeiture. One half this forfeiture goes to the King
and the other half to the person seizing the wares.
No sheep may be exported, because being shorn elsewhere would
deprive the King of customs.
No wheat, rye, or barley may be imported unless the prices are
such that national agriculture is not hurt.
Clothmakers must pay their laborers, such as carders and
spinsters, in current coin and not in pins and girdles and the
like.
The term "freemen" in the Magna Carta includes women.
The election of a knight from a shire to go to Parliament shall
be proclaimed by the sheriff in the full county so all may attend
and none shall be commanded to do something else at that time.
Election results will be sealed and sent to Parliament.
To be elected to Parliament, a knight must reside in the county
and have free land or tenements to the value of 40s. per year,
because participation in elections of too many people of little
substance or worth had led to homicides, assaults, and feuds.
(These "yeomen" were about one sixth of the population. Most
former voters and every leaseholder and every copyholder were
excluded. The requirement lasted for 400 years.)
London ordinances forbade placing rubbish or dung in the Thames
River or any town ditch or casting water or anything else out of
a window. The roads were maintained with tolls on carts and
horses bringing victuals or grains into the city and on
merchandise unloaded from ships at the port. No carter shall
drive his cart more quickly when it is unloaded than when it is
loaded. No pie bakers shall sell beef pies as venison pies, or
make any meat pie with entrails. To assist the poor, bread and
ale shall be sold by the farthing.
Desertion by a soldier is penalized by forfeiture of all land and
property.
The common law held that a bailee is entitled to possession
against all persons except the owner of the bailed property.
Former judge Sir Thomas Littleton wrote a legal textbook
describing tenancies in dower; the tenures of socage, knight's
service, serjeanty, and burgage; estates in fee simple, fee tail,
and fee conditional. For instance, "Also, if feoffment be made
upon such condition, that if the feoffor pay to the feofee at a
certain day, etc., 800s. forty pounds of money, that then the
feoffor may re-enter, etc., in this case the feoffee is called
tenant in mortgage, ... and if he doth not pay, then the land
which he puts in pledge upon condition for the payment of the
money is gone from him for ever, and so dead as to the tenant,
etc."
Joint tenants are distinguished from tenants in common by
Littleton thus: "Joint-tenants are, as if a man be seised of
certain lands or tenements, etc., and thereof enfeoffeth two, or
three, or four, or more, to have and to hold to them (and to
their heirs, or letteth to them) for term of their lives, or for
term of another's life; by force of which feoffment or lease they
are seised, such are joint-tenants. ... And it is to be
understood, that the nature of joint-tenancy is, that he that
surviveth shall have solely the entire tenancy, according to such
estate as he hath, ..." "Tenants in common are they that have
lands or tenements in fee-simple, fee-tail, or for term of life,
etc., the which have such lands and tenements by several title,
and not by joint title, and neither of them knoweth thereof his
severalty, but they ought by the law to occupy such lands or
tenements in common pro indiviso, to take the profits in common.
...As if a man enfeoff two joint-tenants in fee, and the one of
them alien that which to him belongeth to another in fee, now the
other joint-tenant and the alienee are tenants in common, because
they are in such tenements by several titles, ..."
- Judicial Procedure -
People took grievances outside the confines of the rigid common
law to the Chancellor, who could give equitable remedies under
authority of a statute of 1285 (described in Chapter 8). The
Chancery heard many cases of breach of faith in the "use", a form
of trust in which three parties were involved: the owner of land,
feofees to whom the owner had made it over by conveyance or
"bargain and sale", and the beneficiary or receiver of the
profits of the land, who was often the owner, his children,
relatives, friends, an institution, or a corporation. This system
of using land had been created by the friars to get around the
prohibition against owning property. Lords and gentry quickly
adopted it. The advantages of the use were that 1) there was no
legal restriction to will away the beneficial interest of the use
although the land itself could not be conveyed by will; 2) it was
hard for the King to collect feudal incidents because the
feoffees were often unknown 3) the original owner was protected
from forfeiture of his land in case of conviction of treason if
the Crown went to someone he had not supported. Chancery gave a
remedy for dishonest or defaulting feofees.
Chancery also provided the equitable relief of specific
performance in disputes over agreements, for instance, conveyance
of certain land, whereas the common law courts awarded only
monetary damages by the writ of covenant.
Chancery ordered accounts to be made in matters of foreign trade
because the common law courts were limited to accounts pursuant
to transactions made within the nation. It also involved itself
in the administration of assets and accounting of partners to
each other.
The Chancellor took jurisdiction of cases of debt, detinue, and
account which had been decided in other courts with oathhelping
by the defendant. He did not trust the reliance on friends of the
defendant swearing that his statement made in his defense was
true. An important evidentiary difference between procedures of
the Chancery and the common law courts was that the Chancellor
could orally question the plaintiff and the defendant under oath.
He also could order persons to appear at his court by subpoena
[under pain of punishment].
Whereas the characteristic award of the common law courts was
seisin of land or monetary damages, Chancery often enjoined
certain action. Because malicious suits were a problem, the
Chancery identified such suits and issued injunctions against
taking them to any court.
The Chancery was given jurisdiction by statute over men of great
power taking by force women who had lands and tenements or goods
and not setting them free unless they bound themselves to pay
great sums to the offenders or to marry them. A statute also gave
Chancery jurisdiction over servants taking their masters' goods
at his death.
Justices of the Peace, appointed by the Crown, investigated all
riots and arrested rioters, by authority of statute. If they had
departed, the Justices certified the case to the King. The case
was then set for trial first before the King and his council and
then at the King's Bench. If the suspected rioters did not appear
at either trial, they could be convicted for default of
appearance. If a riot was not investigated and the rioters
sought, the Justice of the Peace nearest forfeited 2,000s.
Justices of the peace were not paid and need not have a legal
background. For complex cases and criminal cases with defendants
of high social status, they deferred to the Justices of Assize,
who rode on circuit once or twice a year.
Manor courts still formally admitted new tenants, registered
titles, sales of land and exchanges of land, and commutation of
services, enrolled leases and rules of succession, settled
boundary disputes, and regulated the village agriculture.
All attorneys shall be examined by the royal judges for their
learnedness in the law and, at their discretion, those that are
good and virtuous shall be received to make any suit in any royal
court. The attorneys shall be sworn to serve well and truly in
their offices.
Attorneys may plead on behalf of parties in the hundred courts.
A qualification for jurors was to have an estate to one's own use
or one of whom other persons have estates of fee simple, fee
tail, freehold in lands and tenements, or freehold, which was at
least 40s. per year in value. In a plea of land worth at least
40s. yearly or a personal plea with relief sought at least 800s.,
jurors had to have land in the bailiwick to the value of at least
400s., because perjury was considered less likely in the more
sufficient men.
Jurors were separated from witnesses.
Justices of the Peace were to have lands worth 267s. yearly,
because those with less used the office for extortion and lost
the respect and obedience of the people.
A Sheriff was not to arrest, but to transfer indictments to the
Justices of the Peace of the county. He had to reside in his
bailiwick. The sheriff could be sued for misfeasance such as
bribery in the King's court.
Chapter 11
- The Times: 1485-1509 -
Henry and other exiles defeated and killed Richard III on
Bosworth field, which ends the War of the Roses. As King, Henry
VII restored order to the nation. He was readily accepted as King
because he was descended from both royal lines who were fighting
each other and married a woman who also was in the royal
bloodline. Henry was intelligent and sensitive. He weighed
alternatives and possible consequences before taking action. He
was convinced by reason on what plans to make. His primary
strategy was enacting and enforcing statutes to shore up the
undermined legal system, which includes the establishment of a
new court: the Court of the Star Chamber, to obtain punishment of
persons whom juries were afraid to convict. It had no jury. The
Star Chamber was the room in which the King's council had met
since the 14th century. In his reign of 24 years, Henry applied
himself diligently to the details of the work of government to
make it work well. He strengthened the monarchy, shored up the
legal system to work again, and provided a peace in the land in
which can later flourish a renaissance of the arts and sciences,
culture, and the intellectual life.
The most prevalent problems were: murder, robbery, rape or forced
marriage of wealthy women, counterfeiting of coin, extortion,
misdemeanors by sheriffs and escheators, bribing of sheriffs and
jurors, perjury, livery and maintenance agreements, idleness,
unlawful plays, and riots. Interference with the course of
justice was not committed only by lords on behalf of their
retainers; men of humbler station were equally prone to help
their friends in court or to give assistance in return for
payment. Rural juries were intimidated by the old baronage and
their armed retinues. Juries in municipal courts were subverted
by gangs of townsmen. Justices of the Peace didn't enforce the
laws. The agricultural work of the nation had been adversely
affected.
Henry made policy with the advice of his council and implemented
it by causing Parliament to enact it into legislation. He
dominated Parliament by having selected most of its members. Many
of his council were sons of burgesses and had been trained in
universities. He chose competent and especially trusted men for
his officers and commanders of castles and garrison. The fact
that only the King had artillery deterred barons from revolting.
Also, the baronial forces were depleted due to war. If Henry
thought a magnate was exercising his territorial power to the
King's detriment, he confronted him with an army and forced him
to bind his whole family in recognizances for large sums of money
to ensure future good conduct. Since the King had the authority
to interpret these pledges, they were a formidable check on any
activity which could be considered to be disloyal. The earl of
Kent, whose debts put him entirely at the King's mercy, was bound
to "be seen daily once in the day within the King's house". Henry
also required recognizances from men of all classes, including
clergy, captains of royal castles, and receivers of