powers. Thus when the Conquerer confirmed "customs" to the abbot
of Ely, these were understood to include the following: 1) sac 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) fightwite -
fine for a general breach of the peace, 7) fyrdwite - fine for
failure to appear in the fyrd.
Every shire, now called "county", had at least one burh, or
defensible town. Kings had appointed a royal moneyer in each to
mint silver coins such as pennies 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. The Conquerer's head faced
frontally on his dies, instead of the usual profile used by former
Kings.
The Conquerer held and presided over his council three times a
year, as was the custom, at Easter, Christmas, and Whitsuntide,
which coincided with the great Christian festivals. This was an
advisory council and consisted of the Conquerer's wife and sons,
earls, barons, knights, officers of the King's household,
archbishops, and bishops. It replaced the witen of wise men. It
dealt with fundamental matters of law, state, war, and church. Its
functions were largely ceremonial. Earldoms and knighthoods were
conferred and homages to the king were witnessed. Bishops were
nominated. Attendance at the council, like attendance at courts,
was regarded as a burden rather than a privilege. The Conquerer's
will was the motive force which under lay all the council's
action. When it was administering royal justice, it was called the
Royal Court..
The Justiciar was the head of all legal matters and he or the
Conquerer's wife represented the King at the Royal Court in his
absence from the realm. The chamberlain was a financial officer of
the household; his work was rather that of auditor or accountant.
The Chancellor headed the Chancery and the chapel. Other household
offices were steward, butler, constable, and marshall. The
Treasurer was responsible for the collection and distribution of
revenue and was the keeper of the royal treasure at the palace at
Winchester. He was also an important member of the household and
sat in the Exchequer at Westminster, where he received the
accounts of the sheriffs. The Exchequer was composed of the
justiciar as head, the chancellor, the constable, two
chamberlains, the marshall and other experienced councilors. The
word "Exchequer" came from the chequered cloth on the table used
to calculate in Roman numerals the amount due and the amount paid.
The word "calculate" derives from the word "calculi", meaning
peebles. It was a kind of abacus. The Exchequer received yearly
from the sheriffs of the counties taxes, fines, treasure trove,
goods from wrecks, deodands, and movable property of felons, of
persons executed, of fugitives, and of outlaws due to the Crown.
The Conqueror presided yearly over feasts involving several
thousand guests at Westminster Hall, which was 250 feet by 70 feet
with a high ceiling, the largest hall in England.
The Conquerer'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,
chamberlain, constable, marshalls, steward, and butler. The
language of government changed to Latin. The chancellor was from
the clergy and supervised the writers and clerks, who were
literate, and appended the great seal before witnesses to
documents. He also headed the staff of the royal chapel. The
chamberlain was a financial officer who audited and accounted. The
constable was responsible for supplies for the knights of the
royal household. He also supervised the care of horses, hounds,
hawks, and huntsmen, houndsmen, and foresters. The marshalls came
from less important families than the constable and they preserved
order in the king's hall and recorded expenditures of the
household officers on tallies. The steward was a great baron whose
duties were chiefly ceremonial, such as placing the dishes before
the king at banquets.
Sheriffs became powerful figures as the primary agents for
enforcing royal edicts. There was no longer supervision of them by
earls nor influence on them by bishops. They were customarily
prominent barons. They collected the royal taxes, executed royal
justice, and presided over and controlled the hundred and county
courts. They were responsible for remitting a certain sum
annually. If a sheriff received more than necessary, he retained
the difference as his lawful profit of office. If he received less
than necessary, he had to make up the difference from his own
pocket. Before rendering theis account, he paid the royal
benefactions to religious houses, provided for the maintenance of
stock on crown lands, paid for the costs of provisions supplied to
the court, and paid for travelling expenses of the king and his
visitors. The payments were initially paid in kind: e.g. grain,
cattle, horses, hounds, and hawks. Sheriffs 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 county courts. They
also led the county militia in time of war or rebellion. At times,
a sheriff usurped royal rights, used royal estates for his own
purposes, encroached on private land and rights, extorted money,
and collected revenues only for his own pockets. Over the
centuries, there was much competition for the authority to select
the king, e.g. by the king, the county court, the barons, and the
Exchequer. There was also much pressure to limit his term to one
year. Also, the powers of the sheriffs slowly declined.
Royal income came from customary dues, profits of coinage and of
justice, and revenues from the King's own estates. For war, there
was no change in the custom that a man with five hides of land was
required to furnish one heavy-armed horseman for forty days
service in a year. The fyrd was retained. A threat of a Viking
invasion caused the Conquerer to reinstate the danegeld tax at 6s.
per hide, which was three times its old rate. (The price of an ox
was still about 30d.) To impose this tax 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 in 1086. The English called it
the "Doomsday Book" because there was no appeal from it.
The survey revealed, for instance, that 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."
Ilbert de Laci has now this land, where he has twelve ploughs in
the demesne; and forty-eight villani, and twelve bordars with
fifteen ploughs, and three churches and three priests, and three
mills of ten shillings. Wood pastures two miles long, and one
broad. The whole manor five miles long and two broad. Value in
King Edward's time sixteen pounds, the same now.
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 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.
In total there were about 110,000 villani [former coerls regarded
as customary, irremovable cultivator tenants]; 82,000 bordarii;
7,000 cotarii and cotseti [held land by service of labor or rent
paid in produce], and 25,000 servi [landless laborers]. There are
no more theows.
In the nation, there was a total of about 25,000 servi [landless
laborers], over 82,000 borderii, nearly 7,000 coatarii and cotseti
[held land or houses by service of labor or rent paid in produce],
and nearly 110,000 villani. This survey resulted in the first
national tax system of about 6s. per hide of land.
The survey also provided the Conquerer with a summary of customs
of areas. For instance, in Oxfordshire, "Anyone breaking the
King's peace given under his hand and seal to the extent of
committing homicide shall be at the King's mercy in respect of his
life and members. That is if he be captured. And if he cannot be
captured, he shall be considered as an outlaw, and anyone who
kills him shall have all his possessions. The king shall take the
possessions of any stranger who has elected to live in Oxford and
who dies in possession of a house in that town, and without any
kinfolk. The king shall be entitled to the body and the
possessions of any man who kills another within his own court or
house excepting always the dower of his wife, if he has a wife who
has received dower.
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, jousting, and engaged in team sports in which the goal
was to put the other side to rout. They learned the knightly art
of war. Enemy fighters were to be taken and held for ransom rather
than killed. Those engaging in rebellion were to be pardoned and
restored to some or all of their lands and titles. Lords' sons
could be mutually exchanged with an enemy's as security for peace.
After achieving knighthood, a man usually selected a wife from the
court at which he grew up. Parents tried to send their daughters
to a household superior in social status not only to learn
manners, but to make a good marriage. A girl who did not marry was
often sent to a nunnery; a dowry was necessary before her
acceptance.
The following incidents of land tenure began (but were not firmly
established until the reign of Henry II). Each tenant, whether
baron or subtenant, was 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. The aid
was theoretically voluntary. Land could be held by an heir only if
he could fight. The eldest son began to succeed to the whole of
the lands in all military tenures. Younger sons of great houses
became bishops. An heir of a tenant had to pay a heavy "relief" on
succession to his estate. The relief replaced the heriot. If there
was a delay in proving heirship or paying relief, the lord would
hold the land and receive its income in the meantime, often a
year. 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
mother was not made a minor's guardian. No longer was the estate
protected by the minor's kin as his birthright. A female heir was
expected to marry a man acceptable to the lord. The estate of an
heiress and her land was generally sold to the highest bidder. If
there were no heirs, the land escheated to the lord. If a tenant
committed felony, his land escheated to his lord. The word
"felony" came from the Latin word meaning "to deceive" and
referred to the feudal crime of betraying or committing treachery
against one's lord.
Astrologers resided with the families of the barons. People went
to fortune tellers' shops. There was horse racing, steeple races,
and chess for recreation. Girls had dolls; boys had toy soldiers,
spinning tops, toy horses, ships, and wooden models.
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."
The Conquerer allowed Jewish traders to follow him from Normandy
and settle in separate sections of the main towns. Then engaged in
long-distance trade, money-changing, and money-lending. They
loaned money for interest 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. They could practice their own religion.
William the Conquerer was succeeded as king by his son William II
(Rufus), who transgressed many of the customs of the nation to get
more money for himself. He was killed by an arrow of a fellow
hunter while they and William's younger brother Henry were hunting
together in a crown forest. Henry then became king.
- 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. If an accused
man fled, his surety would have a year to find him to obtain
reimbursement.
The Conquerer proclaimed that:
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
cases concerning the cure of souls and criminal cases, in which
the ordeal was used. When the Conquerer did not preside over this
court, an appeal could be made to him.
The hundred and county courts now sat without clergy 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. They continued to transact their business
in the English language.
The local jurisdictions of thegns who had grants of sac and soke
or who exercised judicial functions among their free neighbors
were now called "manors" under their new owners, who conducted a
manor court.
The Conquerer's Royal Court was called the "Curia Regis". When the
Conquerer wished to determine the national laws, he summoned
twelve elected representatives of each county to declare on oath
the ancient lawful customs and law as they existed in the time of
the popular King Edward the Confessor. The recording of this law
was begun. A person could spend months trying to catch up with the
Royal Court to present a case. Sometimes the Conquerer sent the
justiciar or commissioners to hold his Royal Court in the various
districts. The commissioner appointed groups of local men to give
a collective verdict upon oath for each trial he conducted. The
Conquerer 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. Besides
royal issues, the Curia Regis heard appeals from lower court
decisions. It used English, Norman, feudal, Roman, and canon law
legal principles to reach a decision, and was flexible and
expeditious.
A dispute between a Norman and an English man over land or a
criminal act could be decided by trial by combat [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]. The combatants
used weapons like pick-axes and shields. Presumably the man in the
wrong would not fight as well because he was burdened with a
guilty conscience. Although this trial was thought to reflect
God's will, it favored the physically fit and adept person. After
losing the trial by combat, the guilty person would be punished
appropriately.
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. Its criminal court had the power of outlawry as did
the county 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]. (The election
was by a small governing body and the most wealthy and reputable
men and 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.
The Normans, as foreigners, were protected by the king's peace.
The entire hundred was the ultimate surety for murder and would
have to pay a "murdrum" fine of 31 pounds [46 marks] for the
murder of any Norman, 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 ethnicity
impossible. So the Conquerer 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 the Conquerer, 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. The private wars of lords were now
replaced by less serious 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. Although
illiterate, 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 of the kingdom in Henry's absence,
as William's queen had for him. Both queens received special
coronation apart from their husbands; they held considerable
estates which they administered through their own officers, and
were frequently composed of escheated honors. Matilda was learned
and a literary patron. She founded an important literary and
scholastic center. Her compassion was great and her charities
extensive. In London she founded several almshouses and a care-
giving infirmary for lepers. These were next to small monastic
communities. She also 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 to the King from depreciation of the
coinage], which has been taken from the towns and counties,
shall henceforth be levied, since it was not so levied in
the time of King Edward [the Confessor]. If any moneyer or
other person be taken with false money in his possession,
let true justice be visited upon him.