quarters and 1 strike from all the produce of grain; and of 24
quarters brought from Mardon. Sum: 245 and a half quarters and 1
strike. For sowing 351 acres, 127 quarters. For bread for the lord
bishop, 18 and a half quarters delivered to John de Dispensa by
three tallies. For the balance sold, 110 quarters and 1 strike.
The same render account of 38 and a half quarters from all the
produce of small corn [grain]. For the balance sold, all. The same
render account of 29 quarters and 1 strike from all the produce of
mixed corn [grain]. For seeding 156 acres, 53 quarters and 1
strike. For bread for 3 autumnal works, 9 quarters. For the
balance sold, 27 quarters. The same render account of 178 and a
half quarters from all the produce of barley. For sowing 102 and a
half acres, 49 and a half quarters. For payment for carts, 1
quarter. For payment for hauling dung, 2 quarters. For allowance
of food of two carters, one carpenter, one neatherd, one dairy
woman, for the year, 32 and a half quarters. For feeding hogs in
the winter, 2 quarters. For the balance sold, 91 and a half
quarters. It is quit.
The same render account of 311 quarters and 2 bushels from all the
produce of oats. In sowing 221 and a half acres, 110 and a half
quarters. For prebends of the lord bishop and lord king, on many
occasions, 131 and a half quarters and 2 bushels, by five tallies.
For prebends of Roger Wakelin, 2 and a half quarters and 3
bushels. For prebends of Master Robert Basset, 3 and a half
quarters and 1 bushel. For provender of 2 horses of the lord
bishop and 1 horse of Richard Marsh, for 5 weeks, 5 and a half
quarters and 2 bushels. For provender of 2 horses of the lord
bishop who stayed 16 nights at Downton, 4 quarters. For that sent
to Knoyle, 18 quarters. For provender of 1 horse of Robert of
Lurdon for 3 weeks, 1 and a half quarters. For prebends of two
carters 7 quarters and 2 bushels. For the balance sold, 12
quarters. And there remains 14 quarters and 1 strike. The same
render account of 6 and a half quarters from the whole produce of
beans. For planting in the garden half a quarter. For the balance
sold, 6 quarters. It is quit.
The same render account of 4 quarters and 1 strike from all the
produce of peas. For sowing 6 acres, 1 and a half quarters. For
the balance sold 2 and a half quarters and 1 strike. It is quit.
The same render account of 4 quarters from all the produce of
vetches [pea plants used for animal fodder]. For feeding pigs in
the winter, all. It is quit.
Beasts of Burden: The same render account of 104 oxen remaining
from the previous year. And of 2 yoked from useless animals. And
of 1 from the will of Robert Copp. And of 17 purchased. Sum: 124.
Of living ones sold, 12. Of dead, 21. Sum: 33. And there remain 91
oxen. The same render account of 2 goats remaining from the
previous year. All remain.
The same render account of 19 cows remaining from the previous
year. And of 7 yoked from useless animals, and of 1 found. Sum:
27. By death, 1. By killing, brought for the need of the lord
bishop at Cranbourne, 2. Sum: 3. And there remain 24 cows. The
same render account of 7 heifers and 2 steers remaining from the
previous year. In yoked cows, 7 heifers. In yoked oxen, 2 bulls.
Sum: 9.
The same render account of 12 yearlings remaining from the
previous year. By death, 1. There remain 11, of which 5 are
female, 6 male.
The same render account of 13 calves born this year from cows,
because the rest were sterile. In tithes, 1. There remain 12.
The same render account of 858 sheep remaining from the previous
year. And of 47 sheep for the payment of herbage, after birth, and
before clipping. And of 8 bought before birth. And of 137 young
ewes mixed with two-year-olds. Sum: 1050. In live ones sold at the
time of Martinmas, 46. In those dead before birth, 20. In those
dead after birth and before shearing, 12. Sum: 78. And there
remain 972 sheep.
The same render account of 584 wethers [castrated rams] remaining
from the previous year. And of 163 wethers mixed with two-year-
olds. And of 16 rams from Lindsey, which came by brother Walter
before shearing. Sum: 763. In living ones sold at the time of
Martinmas, 27 wethers, 10 rams. Paid to the men of Bishopton
before shearing by writ of the seneschal, 20. By death, before
shearing, 14. Sum: 71. And there remain 692 sheep.
The same render account of 322 old sheep remaining, with lambs
from the previous year. By death before shearing, 22. And there
remain 300; whence 137 are young ewes, mixed with sheep, and 163
males, mixed with wethers.
The same render account of 750 lambs born from sheep this year
because 20 were sterile, and 30 aborted. In payment of the smith,
2; of shepherds, 3. In tithes, 73. In those dead before shearing,
105. Sum: 181. And there remain 569 lambs.
The same render account of 1664 large sheep-skins whence 16 were
from the rams of Lindsey. In tithes, 164. In payment of three
shepherds, 3. In the balance sold 1497 skins with 16 skins from
Lindsey which made 11 pondera.
The same render account of 569 lamb skins. In the balance sold,
all, which made 1 and a half pondera.
The same render account of 138 cheeses from arrears of the
previous year. And of 19 small cheeses. And of 5 larger ones from
the arrears of the previous year. And of 273 cheeses which were
begun the 6th of April and finished on the feast of St. Michael,
both days being counted. And they made cheeses two by two for 96
days, viz. from the 27th April to the vigil of the feast of St.
Peter in Chains, both days being counted. Sum: 435 cheeses. In
tithes 27. In payment of a shepherd, and mowers of the meadow from
Nunton, 2. In duty of a carter, 3. In autumnal work, 10. In
expenses of the bishop in the kitchen, 2 by one tally. In the
balance sold, 133 cheeses, which made 10 heads, from arrears of
the previous year. In the balance sold, 177 cheeses, which made 18
heads in this year. In expenses of the lord king and lord bishop
on the feasts of St. Leonard and St. Martin, 19 small cheeses, and
5 larger ones from the arrears of the previous year. And there
remain 52 small cheeses which make one head.
The same render account of 124 hogs remaining from the previous
year. And of 29 that were born of sows. Sum: 153 pigs. In tithes,
2. By death, 9. In those killed for the larder, 83. Sum: 95 pigs.
And there remain 58 pigs. Also 19 suckling pigs. Sum of the whole:
77 pigs.
The same render account of 48 chickens from arrears of the
previous year. And of 258 chickens for cheriset. Sum: 306. In
expenses of the lord bishop on the feast of St. Martin, 36 by one
tally. In expenses of the same on the feast of St. Leonard, 106,
by one tally. In expenses of the lord king and bishop on the feast
of the Apostles Peter and Paul, 131 chickens, by two tallies. In
allowance for food for Roger Wakelin, 8. In allowance of food for
Master Robert Basset, 4. By death, 21. Sum: 306 chickens. It is
quit.
The same render account of 273 chickens, 27 sticae of eels, 4
suckling pigs, freed for the expenses of the lord king and bishop.
From the Larder: The same freed for the expenses of the lord
bishop meat of 2 cows taken to Cranbourne.
The same render account of 13 sides of bacon, arrears of the
previous year. And of 5 oxen and 1 quarter of old beef from
arrears of the previous year. And of 84 hogs from Downton. And of
71 hogs from Mardon. And of 10 hogs from Overton. And of 9 hogs
from High-Clere. And of 14 hogs from Harwell. And of 7 hogs from
Knoyle. Sum: 203 hogs, and meat of 5 oxen and one quarter. In
expenses of the lord bishop at the feast of St. Martin, 8 sides of
bacon. In expenses of the same at the feast of St. Leonard, 17
sides of bacon, the meat of 5 oxen, and 1 quarter of an ox. In
expenses of the same on the morrow of the feast of the Holy Cross,
delivered to Nicolas the cook, 27 sides of bacon. In expenses of
the lord bishop delivered to the same cook at Knoyle on the
Saturday before the feast of St. Michael, 15 sides of bacon. In
expenses of the same and of the lord king on the feast of the
Apostles Peter and Paul, 50 sides of bacon. In allowance of food
to Master Robert Basset on the feast of All Saints, half a side of
bacon. In allowance of food to the same on Wednesday and Thursday
before Pentecost, 1 side of bacon. In those sent to Knoyle for
autumnal work, 6 sides of bacon. In three autumnal festivals at
Downton, 9 and a half sides of bacon. Sum: 134 sides of bacon. And
there remain 74 sides of bacon.
The same render account of skins, sausages, and offal of the said
hogs. In expenses of the lord king and lord bishop at the feast of
St. Leonard, all. Nothing remains."
King Richard the Lion-hearted, unlike his father, was interested
in warfare. He spent most of his term on crusade to recover
Jerusalem. For his expenses, he imposed a tax of one-tenth of
rents and income from moveable goods. He also sold town charters,
heiresses and heirs, widows, sheriffdoms, justiceships, earldoms,
and licenses for tournaments. The crusades' contact with Arabs
brought to England arabic numerals, which greatly facilitated
arithmetic, Arab horses, and an expansion of trade. The church
decreed that those who went on these crusades would be remitted of
his sins.
At the end of this period was the reign of King John, a short man.
After his mother Eleanor's death in 1204, John ruled without her
influence. He had no conscience and his oaths were no good. He
trusted and was trusted by no one. He had a huge appetite for
money. He imposed 2,000 pounds [3,000 marks] on London for
confirmation of its charter. He imposed levies on the capital
value of all personal and moveable goods. It began the occasional
subsidies called "tenths and fifteenths" from all people on
incomes from movables: one-tenth from boroughs and royal demesne
land, and one-fifteenth elsewhere. He sold the wardships of minors
and the marriages of heiresses to the highest bidder, no matter
how base. He appointed unprincipled men to be both sheriff and
justice, enabling them to blackmail property holders with
vexatious writs and false accusations. Writs were withheld or sold
at exorbitant prices. Crushing penalties were imposed to increase
the profits of justice. He asserted over fowls of the air the same
exclusive right as over beasts of the forest. 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.
(In 1198, the bishop barons had refused to pay for a campaign of
Richard's war in Normandy arguing that military service was only
due within the kingdom of England. When Richard was captured,
every person in the realm was required to pay a part of his ransom
of 100,000 pounds, which was double the whole revenue of the
crown. Aids, tallages, and carucage were imposed. The heaviest
impost was one-fourth of revenue or of goods from every person.)
In 1213, strong northern barons refused a royal demand for service
in France or scutage, arguing that the amount was not within
custom or otherwise justified. John had private and public
enemies. No one trusted him and he trusted no one. His heavy-
handed and arbitrary rule quickly alienated all sectors of the
population: other barons, bishops, London, and the commons. They
joined the barons to pressure him to sign the Magna Carta
correcting his abuses. For instance, since John had extracted many
heavy fines from barons by personally adjudging them blameworthy
in disputes with others, the barons wanted judgment by their peers
under the established law of the courts. In arms, the barons
forced John to sign the Magna Carta correcting his abuses.
- The Law -
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. [By taking "per stirpes" instead of "per
capita", a person's share goes to that person's heirs if that
person predeceases the ancestor-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. A woman with property could not do homage
because she could not perform military service, but she generally
swore fealty. She could receive homage from men.
Bastards were not heirs, even if their father married their mother
after 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 [movables or personal property].
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 movables 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 trial by combat 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 weirs 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, traveled with the King, and on points of
difficulty consulted with him. Justices began to be more than
presiding officers; they, instead of those attending, rendered the
judgments. The chief court was in Westminster, where the
weightiest decisions were made. Other professional itinerant
justices appeared periodically in all counties of the nation to
hear certain criminal and civil cases and to hear citizens'
private civil suits [common pleas]. They came to perform many
other tasks, 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. The
decision-making of itinerant justices on circuits begins the
process which makes the custom of the Royal Court the common law
of the nation. The county courts, where the travelling justices
heard all manner of business in the counties, adopted the
doctrines of the Royal Court, which then acquired an appellate
jurisdiction. The itinerant justices came from the same small
group of royal justices who were on the Royal Court and the
Exchequer, which was headed by the justiciar. Difficult cases were
decided by the king and wise men of his council.
Tenants of manors and of escheats in royal hands, who had been
excused from the monthly county court, were required to appear.
Side by side with the reeve and four men of the rural townships
appeared the twelve legal men of each of the chartered boroughs
which owed no suit to the ordinary county court. In the formation
of the jury of presentment for criminal cases, each hundred sent
twelve legal men and each township four to make report to the
justices. Women did not serve on juries. Compurgation was not
used; accused persons were sent directly to the ordeal. In 1194,
twelve knights or legal men from each hundred answer before any
itinerant justice for their hundred in all criminal, civil, and
fiscal cases. All who are bound to attend before the itinerant
justices are, in the forest counties, compelled to attend the
forest courts.
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 ("free
tenement" was decided by justices to be one held for life or one
held heritably [a fee]), 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
[free alms]), 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 giving the Royal Court authority to decide land law issues
which had not been given justice in the county or lord's court.
But he did not ordain that all litigation respecting free
tenements, e.g. right of seisin, should take place in the king's
court. Rather he gave protection to mere possession of land, which
could be justified because possession was intimately associated
with the maintenance of the king's peace. These assizes included
issues of novel disseisin [recent ejectment] of a person's free
tenement or of his common of pasture which belonged to his
freehold. Though the petty assize of disseisin only provided a
swift preliminary action to protect possession pending the lengthy
and involved grand assize on the issue of which party had the more
just 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 example of a writ of novel disseisin is: The king to the
sheriff, greeting. N has complained to me that R unjustly and
without a judgment has disseised him of his free tenement in
[Houndsditch] since my last voyage to Normandy. Therefore I
command you that, if N gives you security for prosecuting his
claim, you are to see that the chattels which were taken from the
tenement are restored to it, and that the tenement and the
chattels remain in peace until Sunday after Easter. And meanwhile
you are to see that the tenement is viewed by twelve free and
lawfulmen of the neighborhood, and their names endorsed on this
writ. And summon them by good summoners to be before me or my
justices on the Sunday after Easter, ready to make the
recognition. And summon R. or his bailiff if he himself cannot be
found, on the security of gage and reliable securities to be there
then to hear the recognition. And have there the summoners, and
this writ and the names of the sureties. Witness etc.
Then an assize panel of recognition summoned concurrently with the
defendant and before he had pleaded, viewed the land in question
and answered, from their knowledge, these questions of fact: 1)
Was the plaintiff disseised of the freehold in 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.