SOCIAL LIFE
Let us pass on to consider the daily life of the people. To begin with,
they were a busy people; there were no idle men: everybody followed
some pursuit; there were the wholesale merchants, the retailers, and
the craftsmen. I have submitted a rough division of London streets
into belts. In thinking of the aspect of the City, understand that
there were no shops in the streets at all; nor was there any crying of
things up and down the streets. All the retail trade was carried on in
the markets, West Chepe and East Chepe, and the wholesale trade was
conducted in Thames Street beside the quays and the warehouses.
The markets were, first, Billingsgate for fish, salt, onions, other
fruits and roots, wheat and all kinds of grain; every great ship paid
for “standage” twopence; every small ship one penny; a lesser ship one
penny; a lesser boat a halfpenny; for every two quarters of corn the
King was to have one farthing; on a comb of corn, one penny; on every
tun of ale going out of England, fourpence; on every thousand herrings,
a farthing, etc. Queenhithe, or Edred’s Hithe, was probably of later
date than Billingsgate.
London had already among her inhabitants many merchants of foreign
descent; they came from Caen and from Rouen, from Germany and from
Flanders. The “Emperor’s Men” had already set up their steelyard and
begun to trade within walls of their own, protected by strong gates,
and possessed of extensive privileges. The men of Lubeck, Hamburg,
and the Flemings, who did not belong to the “Gildhalla Teutonicorum,”
also set up their fortified trading-houses. I do not suppose that the
connection which was afterwards established between London and the
country gentry had yet been established; indeed it is impossible,
seeing that most of the manors of England had been granted to the
Norman followers of King William, and as yet these new masters of the
soil were in no sense English. But, as we have seen, many of the nobles
already had their town houses in London.
In the “Dialogus Scaccario,” printed in full in Madox’s _History of
the Exchequer_, and in Stubbs’s _Select Charters_, there is a most
valuable passage on the fusion of the Normans and the English. It is as
follows:—
“In the early condition of the Kingdom after the Conquest, those who
were left of the subject English used to lay snares secretly against
the race of Normans suspected and hateful to them: here and there,
wherever the chance offered, they murdered Normans in their forests
and remote places, in punishment for which, when the Kings and their
ministers for several years raged against the English with exquisite
modes of torture, yet found that they would not wholly desist, it
was at length resolved that the Hundred in which a Norman was found
murdered, if the murderer was not discovered or took to flight,
should be condemned to pay a large sum of money, sometimes as much as
thirty-six or even forty-three pounds, according to the character of
the place and the frequency of the crime....”
“Now, however, the English and the Normans living together and
intermarrying with each other, the two nations are so mixed that it is
difficult to distinguish, among free men, who is English and who is
Norman by descent.”
The fusion of the races was more easy in London than in the country,
partly because the Normans had already been settled in the place and
were carrying on the very considerable trade which existed with Rouen,
Caen, and other northern ports: partly, because there was no rankling
sense of injury, such as that which filled the hearts of dispossessed
Saxon Thanes. The Norman king kept his word with London; he oppressed
no citizen; he deprived no citizen of his property. Moreover, the
Normans appear to have taken the lead in many things. Their superior
refinement has been somewhat exaggerated, especially when we read of
the accomplishments and the learning of the Anglo-Saxon ladies. But
there can be no doubt that they introduced habits of temperance in
the matter of strong drink. The Norman merchant was held in honour
by the Norman knight, and the Norman noble had his town house in
the City. Young Thomas Becket was a friend of Richer de l’Aigle of
Pevensey; ecclesiastical dignitaries were his father’s guests; and in
the chapter which follows on a Norman family, we shall see how they
intermarried—Saxon and Norman, noble and burgher.
[Illustration: BUILDING A HOUSE
Claud MS. B. IV. (11th Century).]
FitzStephen’s account, though most interesting, leaves out a great many
things which we should like to know. He brings before our eyes a city
cheerful and busy: the young people delighting in games of all kinds,
especially archery, wrestling, mock fights, skating; he shows us a
place of great plenty and containing within its walls as much freedom
and as much happiness as any mediæval city could expect; he shows us
the craftsmen living each in his own quarters; he shows us the monastic
houses and the schools of children; he shows us a town in which all
went well so long, he says, with significance, as there was a good
king. Now the Norman kings were not without their faults, but one thing
must be allowed them,—they were strong kings, and at this time and
for many centuries to come, London wanted above all things a strong
king, and if you look back at history you will find that a strong
king meant a just king. In fact, though we are as yet far off from an
ideal London, FitzStephen makes us understand that the people already
possessed in Norman London an amount of liberty which was greater than
that enjoyed by any city of France or Spain, and equal probably to that
enjoyed by the people of Ghent and Bruges.
[Illustration: A FAMILY GROUP
Claud MS., B. 4. (11th cent.).]
London has always been a City of great plenty. As yet the stretches of
foreshore and marsh all down the river were uninhabited, as most of
them remain to the present day. All these marshes abounded with birds
innumerable: the river was full of fish—fish of all kinds; the supplies
of cattle and of sheep and swine came from the meadows belonging to
Westminster Abbey, and from the farms of Middlesex. The forest of
Middlesex, which began at Islington, stretched north over an extensive
tract; the forest of Essex was a continuation to the east, covering
what were afterwards Epping and Hainault Forests; the villages of Essex
and Middlesex were clearings in the forest. I suppose that the people
bred horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs for the London markets.
If the north part of London, where the craftsmen worked, was
picturesque with the cottages among the trees, the south part was also
picturesque, for the houses of the merchants were there, each with its
hall and its garden. Churches stood everywhere. Most of them were quite
small, plain village churches; here and there a Saxon church, like
that at Bradford on Avon, narrow and dark, no glass in the windows,
no pavement on the floor; and down the narrow lanes we could watch
the river with the ships going up and down, the Yeo heave Ho! of the
outward-bound, and the hymn to the Virgin for safety on the voyage
from those who worked their way up with the flood tide to deep anchor
below the bridge.
As for the people of the City, I venture to quote my own words from
another book (_London_, p. 68):—
“It is an evening in May. What means this procession? Here comes a
sturdy rogue marching along valiantly, blowing pipe and beating tabor.
After him, a rabble rout of lads and young men, wearing flowers in
their caps, and bearing branches and singing lustily.
The workman jumps up and shouts as they go past; the priest and the
friar laugh and shout; the girls, gathering together, as is the
maidens’ way, laugh and clap their hands. The young men sing as they
go and dance as they sing. Spring has come back again—sing cuckoo;
the days of light and warmth—sing cuckoo; the time of feasting and of
love—sing cuckoo. The proud abbot, with his following, draws rein to
let them pass, and laughs to see them—he is, you see, a man first and
a monk afterwards. In the gateway of his great house stands the Norman
earl with his livery. He waits to let the London youth go by. The earl
scorns the English youth no longer; he knows their lustihood. He can
even understand their speech. He sends out largesse to the lads to
be spent in the good wines of Gascony and of Spain; he joins in the
singing; he waves his hand, a brotherly hand, as the floral greenery
passes along; he sings with them at the top of his voice—
Sing cuccu—cuccu—nu sing cuccu;
Sing cuccu; sing cuccu nu!
Presently the evening falls. It is light till past eight; the days
are long. At nightfall, in summer, the people go to bed. In the great
houses they assemble in the hall; in winter they would listen to music
and the telling of stories, even the legends of King Arthur. Walter Map
or Mapes will collect them and arrange them; and the French romances,
such as ‘Amis et Amils,’ ‘Aucassin et Nicolette,’ though these have not
yet been written down. In summer they have music before they go to bed.
We are in a city that has always been fond of music. The noise of crowd
and pipe, tabor and cithern, is now silent in the streets. Rich men
kept their own musicians. What said Bishop Grossetête?—
Next hys chamber, besyde hys study,
Hys harper’s chamber was fast ther by.
Many tymes, by nightes and dayes,
He hade solace of notes and layes.
One asked him the resun why
He hadde delyte in minstrelsy?
He answered hym on thys manere
Why he helde the harpe so dere:
The virtu of the harpe thurh skill and right
Wyll destrye the fendys myght,
And to the cros by gode skeyl
Ys the harpe lykened weyl.
[Illustration: LADY SAVING A STAG FROM THE HUNTERS
Harl. MS., 4751 (13th cent.).]
He who looks and listens for the voice of the people in these ancient
times hears no more than a confused murmur: one sees a swarm working
like ants; a bell rings, they knock off work; another bell, they run
together, they shout, they wave their hats; the listener, however,
hears no words. It is difficult in any age—even in the present day—to
learn or understand what the _bas peuple_ think and what they desire.
They want few things indeed in every generation; only, as I said
above, the three elements of freedom, health, and just pay. Give them
these three, and they will grumble no longer. When a poet puts one of
them on his stage and makes him act and makes him speak, we learn the
multitude from the type. Later on, after Chaucer and Piers Plowman
have spoken, we know the people better—as yet we guess at them, we do
not even know them in part. Observe, however, one thing about London—a
thing of great significance. When there is a Jacquerie—when the people,
who have hitherto been as silent as the patient ox, rise with a wild
roar of rage—_it is not in London_. Here, men have learned—however
imperfectly—the lesson that only by combination of all for the general
welfare is the common weal advanced. I think, also, that London
men, even those on the lowest level, have always known very well
that their humility of place is due to their own lack of purpose and
self-restraint. The air of London had always been charged with the
traditions and histories of those who have raised themselves: there
never has been a city more generous to her children, more ready to hold
out a helping hand: this we shall see illustrated later on: at present
all is beginning. The elementary three conditions are felt, but not yet
put into words.
We are at present in the boyhood of a city which after a thousand years
is still in its strong and vigorous manhood, showing no sign, not the
least sign, of senility or decay. Rather does it appear like a city in
its first spring of eager youth. But the real work for Saxon and Norman
London lies before. It is to come. It is a work which is to be the
making of Great Britain and of America, Australia, and the Isles. It is
the work of building up, defending, and consolidating the liberties of
the Anglo-Saxon race.”
The question of slavery—whether it was common in London, and how long
it lasted, is very difficult. When William told his new subjects that
they were “law worthy,” he meant that the freemen were law worthy;
none but freemen had any privileges at all. No one was allowed to have
the freedom of the City unless he was known to be of free condition:
and “even if, after he had received the freedom, it became known that
he was a person of servile condition, through that same fact he lost
the freedom of the City” (_Liber Albus_, p. 30). Witness the case of
Thomas le Bedell, Robert le Bedell, Alan Underwoode, and Edmund May,
who in the year 1301 lost their freedom because it was discovered
that they held land in villeinage of the Bishop of London. The serfs
or villeins held their land “in villeinage” or “in demesne.” They had
no rights, and were the absolute property of their lords, who could
dispossess them at any moment. Of the lower or dependent class, there
were many subdivisions; all these were more or less serfs, holding
their lands by the tenure of certain services; in the whole of England,
according to _Domesday Book_, there were about 225,000 of these people,
so that, if each of them had a wife and four children, there were a
million and a quarter of cultivators of the soil who were also serfs.
There is evidence, in plenty, that the condition of these people under
the Normans rapidly improved; the Norman knight could not understand
all the distinctions; he lumped the people all together and treated
freemen and villani in much the same manner. Some of the villeins grew
rich; some were emancipated formally; some passed through no form of
emancipation; there remained, however, certain disabilities: they were
not admitted to the freedom of the City of London, and we hear of
complaints made about their admission to holy orders.
If we try to apply these facts to London we are baffled by a difficulty
already indicated. Were there serfs in the City? If so, how many? What
work did they undertake? Remember—a point already advanced—that in a
city of many industries, if any industry or craft becomes regarded as
especially the work of a slave, no freeman will ever after touch it;
and if the slave is emancipated, he will never again do any of that
work. But in London there has never been any prejudice against any kind
of work. I cannot understand how London, at such a time, could have
been composed entirely of freemen; but of the slaves, if there were
slaves, I can find no trace, no memory, and no indication.
[Illustration: SAXON DOORWAY, TEMPLE CHURCH]
There is, however, the ancient Saxon custom that obtains in all free
boroughs, if a villein fled from his master and found shelter within
the walls for a year and a day unclaimed, he thereby became free. Now
it is true that mere residence is not enough; a man must remain all
that time unclaimed. May we not see in this law the determination
that within the walls of London there should be no slave at all? In
the _Liber Albus_ all that I can find on the subject is that persons
holding land in villeinage shall not be allowed the freedom of the
City: this fact seems rather to point in the direction of allowing none
but freemen in the City. In 1288 the attorney of the Earl of Cornwall
preferred a claim in the Hustings against nine men, the bondmen of
the Earl, runaways. The decision of the Court is not given, but it is
clear that the men, who were villagers, hoped to remain unclaimed in
London, and that they were disappointed. On the whole, therefore, I
am of opinion that London would not allow any but freemen to live and
work within her walls. And we may remember the clause (No. 24) in the
Ordinances of the Council of 1103, to the effect that there shall be no
more buying and selling of men, “which was hitherto accustomed.”
We have already seen what were the exports of London under the Saxons
and Danes. Of course they remained the same under the Normans. Wool
was the staple. England subsisted, so to speak, upon her wool. It went
to Bruges, to Germany, and to Italy. The imports were, as before,
wine from Germany and La Rochelle; spices, gums, cloth of gold, silk,
and the finer weapons. New communications were opened up with the
Continent, and England lost her ancient isolation, when her people
could freely cross into Normandy, where their King was Duke. Trade was
carried on by means of the tally. This was a piece of wood, generally
willow wood, about nine inches long, cut into notches. Thus, a notch an
inch and a half across at the widest or the outside part means £1000;
an inch across £100; half an inch £20; and a long, narrow, sloping
notch £10. Other convenient marks denoted single pounds, shillings, and
pence.
The great fire of 1135 destroyed the whole of London from the Bridge
to the Fleet river. It is sometimes said that this fire destroyed
everything that was Saxon. Perhaps it did. But things moved very slowly
in the eleventh century; we need not believe that there was any change
at all in the buildings that succeeded Saxon London; the huts of the
craftsmen, once burned down, were rebuilt on exactly the same plan,
the frame houses of the merchant were rebuilt exactly as they had been
before. What we may regret were the little Saxon churches—would that we
had one or two of those left to us—and in addition, everything still
remaining of Roman London. We shall never know what remains of Roman
villas, temples, basilicas, baths, perished in this and other mediæval
fires, of which there were so many.
It must have been mortifying to the English merchant that the whole
of the foreign trade, the export and import trade, was carried on by
strangers; the Port of London for a long time had no ships, or next
to none, of her own. The Flemings and the German ships came and went
in fleets too strong to be attacked; otherwise the narrow seas were
swarming with pirates. There were English pirates, Norman pirates,
and French pirates; none of them were anxious to respect a ship of
their own nationality; it seemed as if by merely living in a seaport
one became naturally a pirate. Our sailors were simply undisciplined
pirates. When Henry the First raised a fleet, the men mutinied and half
of them went over to the enemy. The only chance of the London merchants
was to send out a fleet strong enough to fight and beat off these
pirates. This, however, they could not do; therefore for many a year
to come the foreign trade of London remained with the men of Hamburg,
Cologne, and Bruges.
On the government of London at this period we have spoken fully in
the second volume on _Mediæval London_, where will be found a chapter
called “The Commune” (p. 11).