The Times: 1066-1100
William came from Normandy, France, to conquer England. 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. The Conquerer'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 such as spears and shields. They fought in a line holding up
their shields to overlap each other and form a shieldwall. The defeat
of the English was thought to have been presaged by a comet.
At Westminster, he made an oath to defend God's holy churches
and their rulers, to rule the whole people subject to him with
righteousness and royal providence, to enact and hold fast right law,
and to utterly forbid rapine and unrighteous judgments. This was in
keeping with the traditional oath of a new king.
Declaring the English who fought against him to be traitors,
the Conquerer declared their land confiscated. But he allowed those who
were willing to acknowledge him to redeem their land by a payment of
money. As William conquered the land of the realm, he parceled it out
among the barons who fought with him so that each baron was given the
holdings of an Anglo-Saxon predecessor, scattered though they were. The
barons 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. They gave him homage by folding
their hands within his and saying "I become your man for the tenement I
hold of you, and I will bear you faith in life and member [limb] and
earthly honor against all men". 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 original duration of a knight's fee until about 1100 was for his
life; thereafter it was heritable. The word "knight" came to replace
the word "thegn" as a person who received his position and land by
fighting for the King. The exact obligation of knight's service was to
furnish a fully armed horseman to serve at his own expense for forty
days in the year. This service was not limited to defense of the
country, but included fighting abroad. The baron led his own knights
under his banner. The foot soldiers were from the fyrd or were
mercenaries. Every free man was sworn to join in the defense of the
king, his lands and his honor, within England and without.
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. Some men were allowed to
redeem their land by money payment if they showed loyalty to the
Conquerer. Well-born women crowded into nunneries to escape Norman
violence. The people were deprived of their most popular leaders, who
were excluded from all positions of trust and profit, especially all
the clergy. The earldoms became fiefs instead of magistracies.
The Conquerer 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. This example
pacified others. His rule was strong, resolute, wise, and wary. He was
not arbitrary or oppressive. The Conquerer 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, who outnumbered the Normans by 300 to 1,
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. The Conquerer extended the King's peace on the highways, i.e.
roads on high ground, 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.
The barons subjugated the English who were on their newly
acquired land. There began a hierarchy of seisin 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'
service of the King, may enfeoff B, a church, to hold of him on the
terms of praying for the souls of his ancestors, 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. The value of a
knight's fee was 400s. [20 pounds] per year. 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 county [formerly "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. The
King's peace that had covered his residence and household had extended
to places where he might travel, such as highways, rivers, bridges,
churches, monasteries, markets, and towns, and then encompassed every
place, replacing the general public peace. Infraction of the King's
peace incurred fines to the King.
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. He held
his land at the will of his lord, to be terminated anytime the lord
decided to do so. A tenant could not alienate his land without
permission of his lord. In later eras, tenancies would be held for the
life of the tenant, and even later, for his life and those of his heirs.
This uniformity of land organization plus the new requirement
that every freeman take an oath of loyalty directly to the king to
assist him in preserving his lands and honor and defending him against
his enemies, which oath would supersede any oath to any other man, gave
the nation a new unity. The king could call men directly to the fyrd,
summon them to his court, and tax them without intervention of their
lords. And the people learned to look to the king for protection from
abuse by their lords.
English villani, bordarii, cottarii, and servi on the land of
the barons were subjugated into a condition of "villeinage" servitude
and became "tied to the land" so that they could not leave the land
without their lord's permission, except to go on a pilgrimage. The
villeins formed a new bottom class as the population's percentage of
slaves declined dramatically. 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.
A castle could be built only with permission of the King. A
typical castle had a stone building of about four floors [a keep] on a
small, steep hill. Later it also had an open area surrounded by a stone
curtain-wall with towers at the corners. Around the outside of the wall
were ditches and banks and perhaps a moat. One traveled over these via
a drawbridge let down at the gatehouse of the enclosing wall. On either
side of the gatehouse were chambers for the guards. Arrows could be
shot through slits in the enclosing walls. Inside the enclosed area
might be stables, a granary, barracks for the soldiers, and workshops.
The only winter feed was hay, for which the horses, breeding animals,
milkcow, and workoxen had a priority over other animals. The bulk of
the cattle were usually slaughtered and salted.
The castle building typically was entered by an outer wood
staircase to the guard room on the second floor. The first [ground]
floor had a well and was used as a storehouse and/or dungeons for
prisoners. The second floor had a two-storied great hall, with small
rooms and aisles around it within the thick walls. There was also a
chapel area on the second floor. There were small areas of the third
floor which could be used for sleeping. The floors were wood and were
reached by a spiral stone staircase in one corner of the building.
Sometimes there was a reservoir of water on an upper level with pipes
carrying the water to floors below. Each floor had a fireplace with a
slanted flue going through the wall to the outside. There were latrines
in the corner walls with a pit or shaft down the exterior of the wall,
sometimes to the moat. Furs and wool clothes were hung on the walls
there in the summer to deter the moths. The first floor had only arrow
slits in the walls, but the higher floors had small windows.
Some curtain-wall castles did not have a central building. In
these, the hall was built along the inside of the walls, as were other
continuous buildings. The kitchens and chapels were in the towers.
Lodgings were in buildings along the curtain-walls, or on several
floors of the towers.
The great hall was the main room 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 [free pledge in
Latin], in which freemen agreed to be sureties for each other and pay a
claim directed at one of them if that man escaped. At the main table,
the lord and his lady sat on benches with backs or chairs. The table
was covered first with a wool cloth that reached to the floor, and then
by a smaller white linen cloth. Everyone else sat on benches at trestle
tables, which consisted of planks on trestles and could be dismantled,
e.g. at night. Over the main door were the family arms. On the walls
were swords ready for instant use. On the upper parts of the walls
could be fox skins and perhaps a polecat skin, and keepers' and
huntsmen's poles. There were often hawk perches overhead. At the midday
dinner, courses were ceremonially brought in to music, and ritual bows
were made to the lord. The food at the head table was often tasted
first by a servant as a precaution against poison. Hounds, spaniels,
and terriers lay near the hearth and cats, often with litters, nestled
nearby. They might share in dinner, but the lord may keep a short stick
near him to defend morsels he meant for himself. Hunting, dove cotes,
and carp pools provided fresh meat. Fish was compulsory eating on
Fridays, on fast days, and during Lent. Cooking was done outside on an
open fire, roasting on spits and boiling in pots. Some spits were
mechanized with a cogged wheel and a weight at the end of a string.
Other spits were turned by a long handle, or a small boy shielded from
the heat by a wet blanket, or by dogs on a treadmill. Underneath the
spit was a dripping pan to hold the falling juices and fat. Mutton fat
was used for candles. Bread, pies, and pastry dishes were baked in an
oven: a hole in a fireproof stone wall fitted with an iron door, in
which wood was first burnt to heat the oven walls. It could also be
used for drying fruit or melting tallow. Fruits were also preserved in
honey. Salt was stored in a niche in the wall near the hearth and put
on the table in a salt cellar which became more elaborate over the
years. Salt was very valuable and gave rise to the praise of a man as
the salt of the earth. Costly imported spices such as cinnamon, cloves,
nutmeg, ginger, pepper, and a small quantity of sugar were kept in
chests. Pepper was always on the table to disguise the taste of tainted
meat. Spices were tried for medicinal use. Drinks included wine, ale,
cider from apples, perry from pears, and mead. People carried and used
their own knives. There were no forks. Spoons were of silver or wood.
People also ate with their fingers and washed their hands before and
after meals. It was impolite to dig into the salt bowl with a knife not
previously wiped on bread or napkin, which was linen. It was unmannerly
to wipe one's knife or one's greasy fingers on the tablecloth or, to
use the tablecloth to blow one's nose. Feasts were stately occasions
with costly tables and splendid apparel. There were practical jokes,
innocent frolics, and witty verbal debating with repartee. They played
chess, checkers, and various games with cards and dice. Most people
could sing and some could play the lute.
Lighting of the hall at night was by oil lamps or candles on
stands or on wall fixtures. For outside activities, a lantern [a candle
shielded by a metal cage with panels of finely shaved horn: lant horn]
was used. 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 higher floor.
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. 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. The lord's personal
servants slept nearby on benches or trundle beds. Most of the gentlemen
servants slept communally in a "knight's chamber". The floor of the
hall was strewn with straw, on which common folk could sleep at night.
There were stools on which to sit. Cup boards (boards on which to store
cups) and chests stored spices and plate. One-piece iron shears were
available to cut cloth. Handheld spindles were used for weaving; one
hand held the spindle [a small stick weighted at one end] while the
other hand alternately formed the thread and wound it around the
spindle. On the roofs there were rampart walks for sentry patrols and
parapets from which to shoot arrows or throw things at besiegers. Each
tenant of the demesne [household or messuage] of the king where he had
a castle had to perform a certain amount of castle guard duty for its
continuing defense. These knights performing castle-guard duty slept at
their posts. 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 tub
for bathing were taken on trips with the lord. The entire household was
of men, except for the lord's lady with a few lady companions. The
ladies rode pillion [on a cushion behind the saddle] or in litters
suspended between two horses.
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.
The Norman man was clean shaven on his face and around his ears
and at the nape of the neck. His hair was short. He wore a long-
sleeved under-tunic of linen or wool that reached to his ankles. Over
this the Norman noble wore a tunic without sleeves, open at the sides,
and fastened with a belt. Over one shoulder was his cloak, which was
fastened on the opposite shoulder by being drawn through a ring brooch
and knotted. He wore tight thick cloth stockings to protect him from
the mud and leather shoes. Common men wore durable, but drab, wool
tunics to the knee so as not to impede them in their work. They could
roll up their stockings when working in the fields. A lady wore a
high-necked, long- sleeved linen or wool tunic fitted at the waist and
laced at the side, but full in the skirt, which reached to her toes.
She wore a jeweled belt, passed twice around her waist and knotted in
front. Her hair was often in two long braids, and her head and ears
covered with a white round cloth held in place by a metal circlet like
a small crown. Its ends were wound around her neck. In winter, she wore
over her tunic a cloak edged or lined with fur and fastened at the
front with a cord. Clothes of both men and ladies were brightly colored
by dyes or embroidery. The Norman knight wore an over-tunic of leather
or heavy linen on which were sewn flat rings of iron and a conical iron
helmet with nose cover. He wore a sword at his waist and a metal shield
on his back, or he wore his sword and his accompanying retainers
carried spear and shield.
Norman customs were adopted by the nation. As a whole,
Anglo-Saxon men shaved their beards and whiskers from their faces, but
they kept their custom of long hair flowing from their heads. But a few
kept their whiskers and beards in protest of the Normans. Everyone had
a permanent surname indicating parentage, place of birth, or residence,
such as Field, Pitt, Lane, Bridge, Ford, Stone, Burn, Church, Hill,
Brook, Green. Other names came from occupations such as Shepherd,
Carter, Parker, Fowler, Hunter, Forester, Smith. Still other came from
personal characteristics such as Black, Brown, and White, Short, Round,
and Long. Some took their names from animals such as Wolf, Fox, Lamb,
Bull, Hogg, Sparrow, Crow, and Swan. Others were called after the men
they served, such as King, Bishop, Abbot, Prior, Knight. A man's
surname was passed on to his son.
Those few coerls whose land was not taken by a baron remained
free and held their land "in socage" and became known as sokemen. They
were not fighting men, and did not give homage, but might give fealty,
i.e. fidelity. 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. They might also hold their land by villein tenure,
although free as a person with the legal rights of a freeman. The
freeman still had a place in court proceedings which the unfree villein
did not.
Great stone cathedrals were built in fortified towns for the
Conquerer's Norman bishops, who replaced the English bishops. Bishops
periodically inspected the parishes in their dioceses to maintain
discipline aqnd settle any matters that were beyond the local priest's
competence, for instance the sacrament of confirmation, in which was
conferred upon a Christian soul a special strengthening grace after he
confirmed his belief in the tenets of Christianity. 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.
The Conquerer made the church subordinate to him. Bishops were
elected only subject to the King's consent. The bishops had to accept
the status of barons. Homage was exacted from them before they were
consecrated, and fealty and an oath afterward. The Conquerer imposed
knight's service on bishoprics, abbeys, and monasteries, which was
usually 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. The Archbishop of Canterbury was still
recognized as a primary advisor to the king. Over the years, the
selection for this office frequently became a source of contention
among king, pope, and clergy.
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 appurtenances which
he has at Sandwich and that he has given what he has given by my
license." Many private owners of churches gave them to cathedrals or
monastic communities, partly to ensure their long term survival, and
partly because of church pressure.
When the land was all divided out, the barons had about 3/7 of
it and the church about 2/7. Most of the barons had been royal
servants. The king retained about 2/7, including forests for hunting,
for himself and his family and household, on which he built many royal
castles and hundreds of manor [large private estate headed by a lord]
houses throughout the nation. He built the massive White Tower in
London. It was tall with four turrets on top, and commanded a view of
the river and bridge, the city and the surrounding countryside. The
only windows were slits from which arrows could be shot. On the fourth
and top floor was the council chamber and the gallery of the chapel. On
the third floor was the banqueting hall, the sword room, and the
chapel. The king and his household slept in apartments on these upper
floors. Stairs went up to the gateway entrance on the second floor,
which were hidden by a wall. The garrison's barracks were on the first
floor (ground floor). Any prisoners were kept in cells at a level below
the first floor. The other castles were often built at the old
fortification burhs of Alfred. Each had a constable in charge, who was
a baron. Barons and earls had castle-guard duty in the king's castles.
The Conquerer was constantly moving about the land among his and his
barons' castles, where he met with his magnates and conducted public
business, such as deciding disputes about holding of land. Near his own
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 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. It included a bundle of
communities, townships, parishes, and lordships. 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
great citizens had the land qualifications of knights and ranked as
barons on the Conquerer's council. 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 (of which there were many in the 1000s and
1100s), 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
portreeve. Across the Thames from London on its south side was
Southwark, a small trading and fishing settlement.
The Conquerer did not interfere with landholding in London, but
recognized its independence as a borough in this writ: "William the
King greets William, Bishop of London, and Gosfrith the portreeve, and
all the burgesses [citizens] 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.
Under pressure from the ecclesiastical judges, the Conquerer
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 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 [jurisdiction over
breach of the right of security and privacy in a man's house, e.g. by
forcible entry], 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 burh 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 witan of wise men. It dealt with fundamental matters of
law, state, war, and church. 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
pebbles. 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,
marshals, 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 marshals 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, who had first been head of shires, 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 this 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 traveling
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 sheriff,
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. Over time,
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 salthouse
or saltpit 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. 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 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. Actually, William and his sons insisted on undivided
succession rather than a strict application of the primogeniture rule
that the eldest son inherit.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 [reverted] 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 notion of the king's peace extended until it was the normal
and general safeguard of the public order.
The Norman conquerors brought no code of written law. William's
laws largely affirmed the laws of the nation as they were in the times
of Edward I. These are substantially all of the laws of William I:
All freemen shall swear an oath of loyalty to William I and shall
uphold his lands and honors and defend them against enemies and aliens.
William will protect them and exact no more than legally owed service.
If a Frenchman summons an Englishman for perjury, murder, theft,
homicide or open robbery, the Englishman shall defend himself by
whichever method he prefers, either the ordeal of iron or trial by
combat. The person defeated shall pay a fine to the king. If an
Englishman summons a Frenchman and declines to prove the charge by
ordeal or by combat, the Frenchman shall clear himself by a
comprehensive oath.
For a charge of outlawry, an Englishman shall clear himself by the
ordeal of iron. When an Englishman brings a charge of outlawry against
a Frenchman, the Frechman will defend himself by combat or by a
comprehensive oath, at the choice of the Englishman.
All the men whom I brought with me [Normans] or who come after me shall
enjoy my protection. If any of them is slain, his lord shall arrest the
slayer within five days, if he can. If not, he shall begin to pay me a
"murdrum" fine of 46 marks of silver from the property of that lord as
long as it lasts. If the property of the lord fails, the whole hundred
in which the murder was committed shall pay in common what remains.
All freemen shall be in a frankpledge, so that the frankpledge may
bring him to justice, if he has committed an offense or the members of
the frankpledge shall pay the claim unless clearing themselves of the
charge of any knowledge of fraud by the runaway. The hundred and county
courts shall be attended as before. Those who are required to appear
shall be summoned once. Ad if they refuse to appear on the second
summons, as ox [worth 30d.] shall be confiscated. And so for the third
summons, another ox. And if they refuse the fourth summons, the
"ceapgeld" [120s.] shall be paid and also the fine for insubordination.
"Everyone who wishes to be admitted to the benefit of the law and to be
qualified to obtain legal rights shall be in frankpledge."
In Mercia, a surety has a month and a day to find an escaped person
accused of larceny or robbery, or else shall swear with eleven
compurgators that he had not known him to be a thief, that he was not
accessory to his flight, and that he cannot find him. Then he shall pay
for the stolen goods and 20s. in lieu of the head of the accused man
and 4d. to the jailor, a farthing for the spade, and 40s. to the king.
Every lord shall be personally responsible as surety for his servant so
that, it an accusation is brought against him, he shall bring him for
trial in the hundred court. And if he escapes while he is under the
accusation, the lord shall pay his wergeld. And if the lord is accused
of being an accessory to his flight, he shall clear himself with 5
compurgators, and if he cannot, he shall pay compensation to the king;
and the man shall be an outlaw.
All freemen shall keep themselves supplied with arms and horses or pay
the full fine of insubordination.
All earls, barons, knights, tenants by serjeanty and all free men shall
be ready to perform their service defending me against enemies and
aliens, by virtue of their fiefs, which are hereditary. Or pay the fine
for insubordination.
The heriot of an earl, which falls to the King, is 8 horses - 4 of them
bridled and saddled - 4 coats of mail, 4 helmets, 4 shields, 4 lances
and 4 swords. Of the other 4 horses, 2 shall be hunters and 2 riding
horses with bridlos and halters. The heriot of a baron is 4 horses - 2
bridled and saddled - 2 coats of mail, 2 helmets, 2 shields, 2 swords
and 2 lances. And of the other 2 horses, 1 shall be a hunter and 1 a
riding horse with bridles and halters. The heriot of a thegn of lower
rank to his liege lord shall be discharged by (delivering up) his
father's horse, as it was in the day of his death, his helmet, his
shield, his coat of mail, and lance and his sword. And if he was
without equipment, having neither horse nor arms, it shall be
discharged by the payment of 100 s. The heriot of a villain: he shall
give to this lord the best animal that he has, either a horse, an ox,
or a cow. And further all villeins shall be in frankpledge. For those
who hold their land by the payment of rent, the legal heriot shall be
the equivalent of a year's rent.
No one shall entertain a man for more than 3 days, unless he is
committed to this charge by the man with whom he was formerly serving.
And no one shall let any of his men leave him after an accusation has
All men shall keep the law of Edward relating to the tenure of estates.
been brought against him.
I prohibit the slaying or hanging of anyone for any offense, but his
eyes shall be put out and he shall suffer castration, so the trunk
remains alive as a sign of his treachery and wickedness. If a person
violates this, he shall pay the insubordination fee.
All cities, boroughs, castles, hundreds and wapentakes shall be guarded
every night on all sides against malefactors and enemies, as our
sheriffs, earldormen, reeves and other officials and servants best
provide.
The protection of the church is inviolable. Whatever crime a man has
committed, if he can make his way to a holy church, he shall have
protection for life and limb. And if anyone lays hands on him there, he
shall pay for anything he has taken and a fine of 100s. for a bishop's
church, abbey or monastery, 20s. for a parish church, and 10s. for a
chapel.
"If a man wishes to prove against his lord that he has an agreement for
his land, he must do so by means of his fellow-tenants whom he summons
as witnesses, for he cannot do so by means of strangers."
If a man slays another he shall pay manbot to the lord of the slain man
in the amount of 10s. for a free man and 20s. for a slave.
The wergeld of a thegn is 20 pounds in Mercia and 25 pounds in
Wessex. The wergeld of a villain is 100s. (20s. would buy a stallion,
10s. a bull and 5s. a boar.) 10s. of the wergeld shall be paid to the
widow and children and the relatives and orphans shall divide what
remains among themselves.
The archbishop shall have as compensation for breach of his protection
40s. in Mercia, a bishop 20s., an earl 20s., a baron 10s.,and a sokeman
40d.
If a man wounds another he shall pay for medical attendance and if he
is wounded on the face, or a part which is visible, for every inch 8d.,
on the head or any hidden place, for every inch 4d., for every piece of
bone drawn out of the wound 4d.
If a man cuts off the hand or foot of another, he shall pay half his
wergeld according to his inherited rank. For the thumb he shall pay
half the value of his hand, for the finger next the thumb, 15s.
according to the English reckoning (i.e. 4d. to the shilling), for the
middle finger 16s., for the ring-finger 17s., for the little finger
5s., for the nail if it is cut away from the flesh, 5 English s., for
the nail of the little finger 4d.
"If a man poisons another, he shall be slain or sent into permanent
exile."
There is a 100s. fine for violation of the king's peace or attack on
people's houses or for premeditated waylaying.
If anyone slays or assaults anyone who is traveling through the country
on any of the following four highways, namely, Watling Street, Ermine
Street, the Fosse Way, the Icknied Way, he violates the king's peace.
(Two of these streets extended the length of the kingdom and two
extended across its width.)
For the guarding of roads, every 10 hides of the hundred shall supply a
man between Michaelmas and Martinmas, or pay compensation for any
livestock taken over the road, unless they have raised the hue and cry
of been subject to force.
A peasant is not to be harassed or ejected except for not performing
his legal services. A peasant leaving the estate where he was born must
be returned to it.
If a father finds his daughter in adultery in his own or in his
son-in-laws house, he may slay the adulterer. The same holds for a son
and his mother during the father's lifetime.
"He who assaults the wife of another man shall forfeit his wergeld to
his lord."
"If anyone assaults a woman he shall suffer castration as a penalty."
"If a woman who is pregnant is sentenced to death or to mutilation, the
sentence shall not be carried out until she is delivered."
If anyone knocks out a man's eye by any kind of accident, he shall pay
70 English shillings as compensation. And if he destroys the sight
without displacing the pupil, he shall pay only half the sum.
"If a man dies intestate [without a will], his children shall divide
the inheritance equally among themselves."
And if anyone comes upon a thief and of his own accord lets him escape,
without raising the hue and cry, he shall make compensation by the
payment of the thief's value or clear himself.
"And if anyone hears the hue and cry and neglects it, he shall pay the
fine for neglecting it to the king, or clear himself."
If a man captures a thief without the hue and cry being given, the
injured man shall pay 10s. as a fine for neglecting to arrest the thief.
If theft is discovered on anyone's land and the thief is discovered,
the lord of the estate and the thief's wife shall have half of his
property and the claimants shall have their goods, if they find them.
And with regard to the other half, if the theft is discovered in a
district over which the lord has rights of jurisdiction, the wife shall
lose her share and it shall pass to the lord.
"Further, we forbid the buying or selling of any livestock except
within towns and before three trustworthy witnesses, likewise that of
any second-hand goods without a surety and warrantor." The penalty is
twice the value of the goods and the fine for insubordination.
No one shall buy anything of 4d. in value, either livestock or other
property, unless he has 4 men as witnesses either from a town or a
village. If anyone claims it and he has no witnesses and no warrantor,
the goods shall be given up to the claimant and the fine shall be paid
to the party who is entitled thereto. And if he has such witnesses,
vouching to warranty shall take place three times; and on the fourth
occasion he shall prove his ownership of it or deliver it up.
If anyone has taken livestock into his care, whether horses or oxen or
cows or sheep or pigs, the man who claims them shall pay 8d. and no
more in return for the care of them, however many there are up to a
hundred head of cattle. As for one pig, 1d, for one sheep, 1d., and so
on up to 8d. And he shall give pledge and find surety, that if another
man comes forward within a year and a day to claim them, he will bring
it for decision to the court of the man who had taken them into his own
care.
Strayed livestock and found property shall be exhibited in three parts
of the neighborhood. Anyone who claims it shall give pledge and surety
and if another claims it within a year and a day, he will bring it for
decision to the court of the man who found it.
The attachment of livestock: If anyone desires to claim it as stolen,
and is willing to give pledge and find surety for prosecuting his
claim, he who has possession of it must name his warrantor if he has
one. If not, he shall name his surety and his witnesses, and produce
them at the appointed day and time, if he has them, and the claimant
shall give a pledge with 5 compurgators, and the other shall give the
livestock into the hands of his warrantor or his surety, whichever of
these he has. And if he has neither but has witnesses that he bought it
in the public market and that he does not know whether his warrantor or
his pledge is dead or alive, he shall swear to this along with his
witnesses with a simple oath. In this way he shall lose his goods, but
escape punishment, if they bear witness that he obtained a surety for
them. And, in Mercia, if he can produce neither warrantor nor witness,
he shall lose the goods and pay in addition compensation to the
claimant and forfeit is wergeld to his lord. And if he can prove that
it is of his own breeding by means of witnesses drawn from three parts
of his neighborhood he shall have won his case.
There shall be no market or fair except in boroughs or castles or other
enclosed or well-guarded places.
Weights and measures shall be stamped and reliable as before.
"Likewise if slaves have remained for a year and a day, without being
claimed, in our cities or in our walled boroughs or in our castles,
from that day they shall become free men."
I forbid anyone to sell a Christian out of the country, especially into
heathen lands, or pay the fine for insubordination to me.
Anyone can set free a slave of his by presenting him to the sheriff in
the county court and giving him the arms of a freeman, namely a lance
and sword.
If I cast your things overboard from a ship in fear of death, then you
cannot bring a charge against me. The things that remained in the ship
shall be divided in common according to the value of the goods
originally belonging to each person.
He who possesses livestock of the value of 30 d. shall pay Peter's
Pence, and then his laborers, herdsmen, and servants shall be exempt.
Otherwise he shall pay a fine of 30d. to the bishop and 40s. to the
king.
If a man accuses another of theft and the latter is a free man and can
produce witnesses to prove that he is entitled to the benefit of the
law, he shall clear himself by the simple oath (of exculpation). And
those who have been (previously) accused shall clear themselves by the
oath with selected compurgators, that is by means of 14 qualified men
nominated (by the court) of whom 11 must act as the accused man's
compurgators to clear him of the charge, if he can find as many to do
so. And if he cannot find them, he shall defend himself against the
charge by the ordeal. And the plaintiff shall swear by means of 7 men
nominated (by the court), of whom 5 must act as his compurgators, that
he does nothing through malice or for any other reason than to obtain
his legal right.
And if anyone is accused of breaking into a church or a treasury, and
has no previous convictions, he shall clear himself with 11
compurgators found among 14 qualified men nominated (by the court). And
if he has been previously accused, he shall clear himself with three
times as many, namely with 35 compurgators found among 42 qualified men
nominated (by the court). And if he cannot find them, he shall go to
the triple ordeal, just as he had (to produce) a triple oath. And if he
has previously paid compensation for theft, he shall go to the water
ordeal.
He who gives a false judgment shall forfeit his wergeld to his lord,
unless he can swear on the holy relics that he did not know how to give
a better decision.
No one shall be condemned to death for a trivial crime, but another
penalty shall be devised according to the nature and magnitude of the
crime.
He who makes an unjust judgment because of rage, malice, or bribery
forfeits 40s. to the king and loses his right of jurisdiction.
A judgment given in a case between those concerned cannot affect
injuriously others who are not present.
He who refuses to observe just law and just judgment shall forfeit a
fine to the party who is entitled thereto, the king 6 pounds, an earl
40s. and to all those who have a court in England.
No one shall appeal to the king until he fails to obtain justice in the
hundred or county courts.
"When a man carries on a suit in any court other than that in which the
king is present in person, and it is maintained against him that he has
said something which he will not acknowledge - if he can prove by means
of a trustworthy man, who has seen and heard all the suit, that he did
not say it, then the validity of his word shall be admitted."
"And if anyone who has charges brought against him in the hundred court
to such an extent that 4 men accuse him, he shall clear himself with 11
compurgators."
"No one shall make distraint of property whether in the county court or
outside it, until he has demanded justice three times in the hundred or
in the county courts." If the man against whom he is bringing his
charge fails to appear the fourth time, he shall get leave to make
distraint for what is his own.
If anyone who is accused and against whom evidence of untrustworthiness
is given fails three times to attend the court proceedings, and if, at
the fourth meeting of the court, the summoners bring forward his three
defections, he shall once more be asked to find a surety and appear
before the court. And if he refuses, he shall be seized, alive or dead,
and all that he has shall be taken, and the value of his goods shall be
paid to the claimant, and the lord of the thief shall take half of what
remains and the hundred half.
One God shall be honored throughtout the kingdom.
By charter, William granted to Londoners all the rights they had in the
time of King Edward and willed that every child should be his father's
heir.
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 Conqueror 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" and their owners conducted a manor court.
The Conqueror's Royal Court ["Curia Regis"] replaced the witan.
It was composed of those to whom William had made grants of land on the
understanding that they should perform certain feudal services to him.
When the Conqueror 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 Conqueror 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 Conqueror 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 Royal Court 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. The powers of the shire court were lessened
by the expanding authority of the Royal Court.
Trial by combat could be used in two instances: 1) a dispute
between a Frenchman and an Englishman over seisin of land initiated by
a writ of right, or 2) a criminal appeal of felony brought by an
Englishman or Frenchman against the other. 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 pickaxes 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
folkmote, 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 wardmotes in his ward and decided
criminal and civil issues between its residents. Within the wards were
the guilds of the city.
King William I decided a lawsuit regarding land on the basis of
testimony of the county thus: "William, by God's grace king of the
English, to Bishop Walkelin, {Sheriff} Hugh de Port and his lieges of
Hampshire, greeting. I notify you that I have restored to Archbishop
Thomas of York one hide of land pertaining to the church of Mottisfont,
as Archbishop Ealdred best had it at the time of King Edward, in
meadows and wood and pasture and in common pasturage for as many
animals as the maximum he could have there at the time of King Edward,
as was testified before Bishop [William] of Durham and Bertram de
Verdun and devised by the men of the county. Farewell. Witnesses:
Bishop William of Durham and Bertram de Verdun."
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."