THE FIRST CHARTER OF THE EMPRESS.
Though the election of the Empress, says William of Malmesbury, took
place immediately after Easter, it was nearly midsummer before the
Londoners would receive her.[248] Hence her otherwise strange delay in
proceeding to the scene of her coronation. An incidental allusion leads
us to believe that this _interregnum_ was marked by tumult and bloodshed
in London. We learn that Aubrey de Vere was killed on the 9th of May, in
the course of a riot in the city.[249] This event has been assigned by
every writer that I have consulted to the May of the previous year
(1140), and this is the date assigned in the editor's marginal
note.[250] The context, however, clearly shows that it belongs to 1141.
Aubrey was a man of some consequence. He had been actively employed by
Henry I. in the capacity of justice and of sheriff, and was also a royal
chamberlain. His death, therefore, was a notable event, and one is
tempted to associate with it the fact that he was father-in-law to
Geoffrey. It is not impossible that, on that occasion, they may have
been acting in concert, and resisting a popular movement of the
citizens, whether directed against the Empress or against Geoffrey
himself.
The comparison of the Empress's advance on London with that of her
grandfather, in similar circumstances, is of course obvious. The
details, however, of the latter are obscure, and Mr. Parker, we must
remember, has gravely impugned the account of it given in the _Norman
Conquest_.[251]
Of the ten weeks which appear to have elapsed between the election of
the Empress and her reception in London, we know little or nothing.
Early in May she came to Reading,[252] the Continuator's statement to
that effect being confirmed by a charter which, to all appearance,
passed on this occasion.[253] It is attested by her three constant
companions, the Earl of Gloucester, Brian fitz Count, and Miles of
Gloucester (acting as her constable), together with John (fitz Gilbert)
the marshal, and her brothers Reginald (now an earl)[254] and Robert
(fitz Edith).[255] But a special significance is to be found in the
names of the five attesting bishops (Winchester, Lincoln, Ely, St.
David's, and Hereford). They are, it will be found, the same five who
attest the charter to Geoffrey de Mandeville (midsummer), and they are
also the five who (with the Bishop of Bath) had attended, in March, the
Empress at Winchester. This creates a strong presumption that, in
despite of chroniclers' vague assertions, the number of bishops who
joined the Empress was, even if not limited to these, at least extremely
small.[256]
This is one of the two charters in which the Empress employs the style
"Regina." It is probable that the other also should be assigned to this
period.[257] These two exceptional cases would thus belong to the
interim period during which she was queen elect, though technically only
"domina." Here again the fact that, during this period, she adopted,
alternatively, both styles ("regina" and "domina"), as well as that
which Mr. Birch assigns to his first period, proves how impossible it is
to classify these styles by date.
If we reject the statement that from Reading she returned to
Oxford,[258] the only other stage in her progress that is named is that
of her reception at St. Albans.[259] In this case also the evidence of a
charter confirms that of the chronicler.[260] At St. Albans she received
a deputation from London, and the terms on which the city agreed to
receive her must have been here finally arranged.[261] She then
proceeded in state to Westminster,[262] no doubt by the Edgware Road,
the old Roman highway, and was probably met by the citizens and their
rulers, according to the custom, at Knightsbridge.[263]
Meanwhile, she had been joined in her progress by her uncle, the King of
Scots, who had left his realm about the middle of May for the purpose of
attending her coronation.[264]
The Empress, according to William of Malmesbury, reached London only a
few days before the 24th of June.[265] This is the sole authority we
have for the date of her visit, except the statement by Trivet that she
arrived on the 21st (or 26th) of April.[266] This latter date we may
certainly reject. If we combine the statement that her flight took place
on Midsummer Day[267] with that of the Continuator that her visit lasted
for "some days,"[268] they harmonize fairly enough with that of William
of Malmesbury. If it was, indeed, after a few days that her visit was so
rudely cut short, we are able to understand why she left without the
intended coronation taking place.
From another and quite independent authority, we obtain the same day
(June 24th) as the date of her flight from London, together with a
welcome and important glimpse of her doings. The would-be Bishop of
Durham, William Cumin, had come south with the King of Scots (whose
chancellor he was), accompanied by certain barons of the bishopric and a
deputation from the cathedral chapter. Nominally, this deputation was to
claim from the Empress and the legate a confirmation of the chapter's
canonical right of free election; but, in fact, it was composed of
William's adherents, who purposed to secure from the Empress and the
legate letters to the chapter in his favour. The legate not having
arrived at court when they reached the Empress, she deferred her reply
till he should join her. In the result, however, the two differed; for,
while the legate, warned from Durham, refused to support William, the
Empress, doubtless influenced by her uncle, had actually agreed, as
sovereign, to give him the ring and staff, and would undoubtedly have
done so, but for the Londoners' revolt.[269] It must be remembered that,
for her own sake, the Empress would welcome every opportunity of
exercising sovereign rights, as in her prompt bestowal of the see of
London upon Robert. And though she lost her chance of actually investing
William, she had granted, before her flight, letters commending him for
election.[270]
Thus we obtain the date of the charter which is the subject of this
chapter. In this case alone was Mr. Eyton right in the dates he assigned
to these documents. Nor, indeed, is it possible to be mistaken. For this
charter can only have passed on the occasion of this, the only visit
that the Empress paid to Westminster. Yet, even here, Mr. Eyton's date
is not absolutely correct. For he holds that it "passed in the short
period during which Maud was in London, _i.e._ between June 24 and July
25, 1141";[271] whereas "June 24" is the probable date of her departure,
and not of her arrival, which was certainly previous to that day.
There is but one other document (besides a comparatively insignificant
precept[272]) which can be positively assigned to this visit.[273] This
consideration alone would invest our charter with interest, but when we
add to this its great length, its list of witnesses, and its intrinsic
importance, it may be claimed as one of the most instructive documents
of this obscure and eventful period.
Of the original, now among the Cottonian Charters (xvi. 27), Mr. Birch,
who is exceptionally qualified to pronounce upon these subjects, has
given us as complete a transcript as it is now possible to obtain.[274]
To this he has appended the following remarks:—
"This most important charter, one of the earliest, if not the earliest
example of the text of a deed creating a peerage, does not appear to
have been ever published. I cannot find the text in any printed book or
MS. Fortunately Sir William Dugdale inspected this charter before it
had been injured in the disastrous Cottonian fire, which destroyed so
many invaluable evidences of British history. In his account of the
Mandevilles, Earls of Essex (_Baronage_, vol. i. p. 202) he says that
'this is the most antient creation-charter, which hath ever been known,
_vide_ Selden's _Titles of Honour_, p. 647,' and he gives an English
rendering of the greater portion of the Latin text, which has enabled
me to conjecture several emendations and restorations in the above
transcript."
Mr. Birch having thus, like preceding antiquaries, borne witness to the
interest attaching to "this most important charter," it is with special
satisfaction that I find myself enabled to print a transcript of the
entire document, supplying, there is every reason to believe, a complete
and accurate text. Nor will it only enable us to restore the portions of
the charter now wanting,[275] for it further convicts the great Dugdale
of no less serious an error than the omission of two most important
witnesses and the garbling of the name of a third.[276]
The accuracy of my authorities can be tested by collation with those
portions of the original that are still perfect. This test is quite
satisfactory, as is also that of comparing one of the passages they
supply with Camden's transcript of that same passage, taken from the
original charter. Camden's extract, of the existence of which Mr. Birch
was evidently not aware, was printed by him in his _Ordines
Anglicani_,[277] from which it is quoted by Selden in his well-known
_Titles of Honour_.[278] It is further quoted, as from Camden and
Selden, at the head of the Patents of Creation appended to the _Lords'
Reports on the Dignity of a Peer_,[279] as also in the Third Report
itself (where the marginal reference, however, is wrong).[280] It is
specially interesting from Camden's comment: "This is the most ancient
creation-charter that I ever saw" (which is clearly the origin of the
statement as to its unique antiquity), and from the fact of that great
antiquary speaking of it as "now in my hands."
The two transcripts I have employed for the text (D. and A.) are copies
respectively found in the Dugdale MSS. (L. fol. 81) and the Ashmole MSS.
(841, fol. 3). I have reason to believe that this charter was among
those duly recorded in the missing volume of the Great Coucher.
CHARTER OF THE EMPRESS TO GEOFFREY DE MANDEVILLE
(Midsummer, 1141).
M. Imperatrix regis Henrici filia Archiepiscopis Episcopis
►"Archiepiscopis, etc." (D.).◄ Abbatibus (Comitibus Baronibus
Justiciariis Vicecomitibus et ministris et omnibus baronibus et
fidelibus) suis Francis et Anglis totius Angliæ et Normanniæ salutem.
(Sciatis►"Sciant" (D.).◄ omnes tam præsentes quam futuri quod Ego
Matildis regis Henrici filia et Anglor[um]►"or'" (D.); "oru'" (A.).◄
domina) do et concedo Gaufrido►"Galfrido" (A.).◄ de Magnavillâ (pro
servitio suo et heredibus suis post eum hereditabiliter ut sit comes de
Essex[iâ]►"Essexa" (D.); "Essex'" (A.).◄ et habeat tertium denarium
Vicecomitatus de placitis sicut comes habere debet in comitatu
suo►"comitat' su'" (A.); "comitatu[m] suu[m]" (D.).◄[281] in omnibus
rebus, et præter hoc reddo illi in feodo et hereditate de me et
heredibus meis totam terram quam) tenuit[282] (Gaufridus de Magnavilla
avus suus et Serlo de Matom in Angliâ et Normanniâ ita libere et[282])
bene et quiete sicut aliquis antecessorum suorum illam unquam melius (et
liberius tenuit, vel ipsemet) postea (aliquo in tempore, sibi dico) et
heredibus suis (post eum), et concedo illi et heredibus suis Custodiam
turris Londonie►"London" (A.); "Londoniæ" (D.).◄ (cum parvo Castello
quod) fuit Ravengeri in feodo et hereditate de me (et heredibus) meis
cum terris et liberationibus et omnibus Consuetudinibus quæ ad (eandem
terram►"terram" (D., A.).◄[283]) pertinerent►"pertinat" (A.);
"pertinent" (D.).◄, et ut inforciet illa secundum voluntatem suam. (Et
similiter[284]) do ei et concedo et heredibus suis C libratas terræ de
me et de (heredibus) meis in dominio, videlicet Niweport►"Newport"
(A.).◄[285] pro tanto quantum reddere solebat die qua rex
H[enricus]►"Henricus rex" (A.).◄ pater meus fuit vivus et mortuus, et ad
rem(ovend') mercatum de Niweport►"Newport" (A.).◄ in Castellum suum de
Waldena cum omnibus Consuetudinibus que prius mercato illi melius
pertinuerunt in (Thelon[eo] et passag[io]►"passagio" (A.).◄[286]) et
aliis consuetudinibus, (et) ut vie de Niweport►"Newport" (A.).◄ quæ sunt
juxta littus aquæ[287] dirigantur ex consuetudine ad Waledenam (sup[er]
foris) facturam meam et Mercatum de Waldenâ sit ad diem dominicam►"dictam"
(A.).◄ et ad diem Jovis et ut feria[288] habeatur apud Waledenam et
incipiat in (Vigiliâ Pentecost►"Vigilia Pentecost" (A.); "vigil'
pentecostes" (D.).◄[289]) et duret per totam hebdomadam pentecostes Et
Meldonam[290] ad perficiendum predictas C libratas terræ pro tanto
quantum►"quanto" (A.); "quantum" (D.).◄ inde reddi solebat die quâ (Rex
Henricus fuit) vivus et mortuus cum omnibus Appendiciis et rebus que
adjacebant in terrâ et mari ad Burgum illud predicto die mortis Regis
Henrici, et (Deopedenam[291]) similiter pro tanto quantum inde reddi
solebat die quâ rex Henricus fuit vivus et mortuus cum omnibus
Appendiciis suis et Boscum de chatelegâ[292] cum (hominibus pro)[293] xx
solidis, et terram de Banhunta[294] pro xl solidis, et si►"et si" in D.;
"et" omitted in A.◄ quid defuerit ad C libratas perficiendas►"perfici
end'" (D.).◄ perficiam ei in loco competenti in Essexa (aut in
Hert)fordescirâ►"Heortfordescira" (D.); "Hertfordscira" (A.).◄ aut in
Cantebriggscirâ tali tenore quod si (reddi)dero Comiti Theobaldo totam
terram quam (tenebat)[295] in An(gliâ dabo Gaufrido►"Gaufrido" (D.);
"Galfrido" (A.).◄ Comiti Essex[ie] escambium suum ad valentiam►"valens"
(D.); "valentiam" (A.).◄ in his prædictis tribus►"his tribus" (A.).◄
Comitatibus antequam de) predictis terris dissais(iatur; si etiam►"et
etiam" (A.).◄ reddidero totum honorem et totam terram) heredibus
Willelmi peur[elli] de Lond[oniâ][296] dabo similiter ei escambium ad
valens antequam dissaisiatur de illâ quæ fuit peurelli et illud
(escambium erit) de terrâ que remanebit illi hereditabiliter Et preter
hoc do et concedo ei et heredibus suis de me et heredibus meis tenendum
feodum (et servicium) xx militum et infra servicium istorum xx militum
do ei feodum et servicium terre quam Hasculf[us] de tania[297] tenuit in
Angliâ die quâ fuit (vivus et) mortuus, quam tenet Graeleng[us][298] et
mater sua pro tanto servicii quantum de feodo illo debent et totum
superplus istorum xx militum[299] ei perficiam in (prenomina)tis[300]
tribus comitatibus. Et servicium istorum xx militum faciet mihi
separatim preter aliud servicium alterius feodi sui. Et preterea concedo
(illi ut)[300] castella sua que habet stent et ei remaneant (ad)
inforcia(nd[um])►"inforciand'" (A.);"inforciandum" (D.).◄[300] ad
voluntatem suam Et ut ille et omnes homines sui teneant terras (et
tenaturas)►"terras et tent'" (A.).◄ suas omnes de quocunque teneant
sicut tenuerunt die quâ ipse homo meus effectus est salvo servitio
dominorum Et ut ipse et homines sui (sint quieti) de omnibus debitis que
debuerunt regi Henrico aut regi Stephano et ut ipse et omnes homines sui
per totam Angliam sint quieti de Wastis fores(tariis et) assartis que
facta sunt in feodo ipsius Gaufredi►"Gaufridi" (D.); "Galfridi" (A.).◄
usque ad (diem quo) homo meus devenit Et ut a die illo in antea omnia
illa ess(arta sint amodo excultibilia et arrabilia sine forisfacto et ut
habeat mercatum die Jovis apud Bisseiam[301] et feriam similiter ibidem
quoque anno; et incipiat►"anno incipiat" (A.).◄ vigiliâ Sancti Jacobi et
duret tres dies. Et [preterea]►"preteria" (A.); "præterea" (D.).◄ do et
concedo ei et heredibus suis in feodo et hereditate ad tenendum de me et
heredibus meis vicecomitatum Essex[ie]►"Essex" (A.); "de Essexâ" (D.).◄
reddendo inde rectam firmam que inde reddi solebat die quâ rex Henricus
pater meus fuit vivus et mortuus, ita quod auferat de summâ
firmâ►"firmæ" (D.); "firma" (A.).◄ vice)comitatus quantum
pertinuerit[302] (ad) Meldonam et Niweport►"Newport" (A.).◄ que ei
(donavi►"donu'" (A.); "donavi" (D.).◄ et) quantum (pertinuerit[303] ad
tertium) denarium de placitis Vicecomitatus unde eum feci Comitem, et ut
teneat omnia excidamenta mea que mihi exciderint (in com)itatu Essexe
reddendo inde firmam rectam quamdiu erunt in Dominio►"Dominica" (D.).◄
meo Et ut sit capitalis Justicia in Essexâ►"Essexiâ" (A.).◄
hereditabiliter mea►"meo" (A.).◄ (et hered[um]) meorum de placitis et
forisfactis que pertinuerint ad Coronam meam, ita quod non mittam aliam
Justiciam super eum in Comitatu illo nisi[304] (ita sit quod ali)quando
mittam aliquem de paribus suis qui audiat cum illo quod placita
mea juste tractentur Et ut ipse et omnes homines sui sint (quieti
versus) me et versus heredes meos de omni forisfacto et omni
malivolentiâ►"malevolentia" (A.).◄ preteritâ ante diem quo►"anno et die
quo" (A.); "ante diem" (D.).◄ meus homo devenit Et ei firmiter concedo
et (heredibus suis) quod bene et in pace et libere et sine placito
habeat et[305] teneat hereditabiliter, sicut hæc carta confirmat, omnia
tenementa sua (que ei concessi, in terris) et tenaturis►"tenaturis"
(D.); "tenem'tis" (A.).◄ et in feodis et firmis et Castellis et
libertatibus et in omnibus Conventionibus►"consuetudinibus" (A.).◄ inter
nos factis (sicut aliquis Comes) terre[306] mee melius et quietius et
liberius tenet ad modum Comitis in omnibus rebus ita quod ipse vel
aliquis hominum suorum non (ponantur[307] in ullo►"ponantur ullo" (D.).◄
modo) in placitum►"placitum" (D.); "placit'" (A.).◄ de aliquo forisfacto
quod fecissent antequam homo meus factus esset, nec pro aliquo
forisfacto quod facturus sit in (antea ponatur in) placit[um] de feodo
vel Castello vel terrâ vel tenurâ quam ei concesserim quamdiu se
defendere potuerit de scelere sive (traditione►"de traditione" (A.,
D.).◄) ad corpus meum pertinente per se aut per unum militem si quis
coram venerit qui eum appellare inde voluerit.
(T[estibus] H[enrico] Ep[iscop]o Winton[ensi]) et A[lexandro] Ep[iscop]o
Lincoln[ensi] et R[oberto] Ep[iscop]o Heref[ordensi] et N[igello]
Ep[iscop]o Ely[ensi] (et B[ernardo] Ep[iscop]o de S[ancto] David et
W[illelmo] Cancellario et Com[ite] R[oberto] de Glocestr[iâ] et Com[ite]
B[aldewino[308]]) et Com[ite] W[illelmo] de Moion et B[riano] fil[io]
Com[itis] (et M[ilone] Glocestr[ie] et R[oberto] Arundell[309]] et
R[oberto] Malet[310] et Rad[ulfo] Lovell[311] et Rad[ulfo] Painell[312])
et W[alkelino] Maminot[313] et Rob[erto] fil[io] R[egis][314] et
Rob[erto] fil[io] Martin[315] (et Rob[ert]o fil[io] Heldebrand[i][316]
Apud Westmonaster[ium]).[317]
One cannot but be greatly struck by the names of the witnesses to this
charter. The legate and his four brother prelates, who had been with the
Empress in Winchester, at her reception on March 3, are here with her
again at Westminster. So are her three inseparable companions; but where
are the magnates of England? Two west-country earls, one of them of her
own making,[318] and a few west-country barons virtually complete the
list. I do not say that these were, of necessity, the sole constituents
of her court; but there is certainly the strongest possible presumption
that had she been joined in person by any number of bishops or nobles,
we should not have found so important a charter witnessed merely by the
members of the _entourage_ that she had brought up with her from the
west. We have, for instance, but to compare this list with that of the
witnesses to Stephen's charter six months later.[319] Or, indeed, we may
compare it, to some disadvantage, with that of the Empress herself a
month later at Oxford.[320] Where were the primate and the Bishop of
London? Where was the King of Scots? These questions are difficult to
answer. It may, however, be suggested that the general disgust at her
intolerable arrogance,[321] and her harshness to the king,[322] kept the
magnates from attending her court.[323] Her inability to repel the
queen's forces, and her instant flight before the Londoners, are alike
suggestive of the fact that her followers were comparatively few.
There are several points of constitutional importance upon which this
instructive charter sheds some welcome light.
In the first place we should compare it with Stephen's charter (p. 51),
to which, in Mr. Eyton's words, it forms the "counter-patent."[324] In
the former the words of creation are: "Sciatis me fecisse comitem de
Gaufredo," etc. In the charter of the Empress they run thus: "Sciatis
... quod ... do et concedo Gaufredo de Magnavilla ... ut sit Comes,"
etc. This contrast is in itself conclusive as to the earldom having been
first _created_ by Stephen and then _recognized_ by the Empress. This
being so, it is the more strange that Mr. Eyton should have arrived at
the contrary conclusion, especially as he noticed the stronger form in
the charter creating the earldom of Hereford ("Sciatis me fecisse
Milonem de Glocestriâ Comitem"), a form corresponding with that in
Stephen's charter to Geoffrey. The earldom of Hereford being _created_
by the Empress, as that of Essex had been by Stephen, we find the same
formula duly employed by both. The distinction thus established is one
of considerable importance.
The special grant of the "tertius denarius" is a point of such extreme
interest in its bearing on earls and earldoms that it requires to be
separately discussed in a note devoted to the subject.[325]
But without dwelling at greater length upon the peerage aspect of this
charter, let us see how it illustrates the ambitious policy pursued in
this struggle by the feudal nobles. Dr. Stubbs writes:—
"It is possible that the frequent tergiversations which mark the
struggle may have been caused by the desire of obtaining confirmation
of the rank [of earl] from both the competitors for the crown."[326]
But it is my contention that Geoffrey and his fellows were playing a
deeper game. We find each successive change of side on the part of this
unscrupulous magnate marked by a distinct advance in his demands and in
the price he obtained. Broadly speaking, he was master of the situation,
and he put himself and his fortress up to auction. Thus he obtained from
the impassioned rivals a rapid advance at each bid. Compare, for
instance, this charter with that he had obtained from Stephen, or,
again, compare it with those which are to follow.
The very length of this charter, as compared with Stephen's, is
significant enough in itself. But its details are far more so. Stephen's
grant had not explicitly included the _tertius denarius_; the Empress
grants him the _tertius denarius_ "sicut comes habere debet in comitatu
suo."[327] But what may be termed the characteristic features are to be
found in such clauses as those dealing with the license to fortify, and
with the grants of lands.[328] These latter, indeed, teem with
information, not only for the local, but for the general historian, as
in the case of Theobald's forfeiture. But their special information is
rather in the light they throw on the nature of these grants, and on the
sources from which the Empress, like her rival, strove to gratify the
greed of these insatiable nobles.
Foremost among these were those "extravagant grants of Crown lands"
spoken of by Dr. Stubbs and by Gneist.[329] Now, in this charter, and in
those which follow, we are enabled to trace the actual working of this
fatal policy in practice. The Empress begins, in this charter, by
granting Geoffrey, for this is its effect, £100 a year in land ("C
libratas terræ"). Stephen, we shall find, a few months later, regains
him to his side by increasing the bid to £300 a year ("CCC libratas
terræ"). But how is the amount made up? It is charged on the Crown lands
in his own county of Essex. But observe, for this is an important point,
that it is not charged as a lump sum on the entire _corpus comitatus_
(or, to speak more exactly, on the annual _firma_ of that _corpus_), but
on certain specified estates. Here we have a welcome allusion to the
practice of the early Exchequer. The charter authorizes Geoffrey, as
sheriff, to deduct from the annual ferm of the county, for which he was
responsible at the Exchequer (being that recorded on the _Rotulus
exactorius_), that portion of it represented by the annual rents
(_redditus_) of Maldon and Newport, which, as estates of Crown demesne,
had till then been included in the _corpus_.[330] From the earliest
Pipe-Rolls now remaining we know that the estates so alienated were
usually entered by the sheriff under the head of "_Terræ Datæ_," with
the amount due from each, for which amounts, of course, he claimed
allowance in his account. I think we have here at least a suggestion
that even at the height of the anarchy and of the struggle, the
Exchequer, with all the details of its practice, was recognized as in
full existence. I have never been able to reconcile myself to the
accepted view, as set forth by Dr. Stubbs, of the "stoppage of the
administrative machinery"[331] under Stephen. He holds that on the
arrest of the bishops (June, 1139) "the whole administration of the
country ceased to work," and that Stephen was "never able to restore the
administrative machinery."[332] Crippled and disorganized though it
doubtless was, the Exchequer, I contend, must have preserved its
existence, because its existence was an absolute necessity. Without an
exchequer, the income of the Crown would, obviously, have instantly
disappeared. Moreover, the case of William of Ypres, and others to which
reference will be made below, will go far to establish the important
fact that the Exchequer system remained in force, and that accounts of
some kind must have been kept.
The next point to which I would call attention is the expression "pro
tanto quantum inde reddi solebat die quâ Rex Henricus fuit vivus et
mortuus," which is applied to Maldon and Newport. The Pipe-Rolls, it
should be remembered, only took cognizance of the total ferm of the
shire. The constituents of that ferm were a matter for the sheriff. At
first sight, therefore, these expressions might seem to cause some
difficulty. Their explanation, however, is this. Just as I have shown in
_Domesday Studies_[333] that the ferm of a town, as in the case of
Huntingdon, was in truth the aggregate of several distinct and separate
ferms, so the ferm of a county must have comprised the separate and
distinct ferms of each of the royal estates. That ferm would be a
customary, that is, fixed, _redditus_ (or, as the charter expresses it,
"quantum inde reddi solebat"). A particularly striking case in point is
afforded by Hatfield Regis (_alias_ Hatfield Broadoak). When Stephen
increased the alienation of Crown demesne to Geoffrey, he granted him
Hatfield _inter alia_ "pro quater xx libris," that is, as representing
£80 a year. This same estate, after the fall of Geoffrey, was alienated
anew to Richard de Luci, and in the early Pipe-Rolls of Henry II. we
read, under "Terræ Datæ" in Essex, "Ricardo de Luci quater xx libræ
numero in Hadfeld." That is to say, in his annual account, the sheriff
claimed to be allowed £80 off the amount of his ferm, in respect of the
alienated estate. Now, the Domesday valuation of this manor is
fortunately very precise: "Tunc Manerium valuit xxxvi libras. Modo lx.
Sed vicecomes recipit inde lxxx libras et c solidos de gersuma" (ii. 2
b). The Domesday _redditus_ of the manor, therefore, had remained
absolutely unchanged. In such cases of alienation of demesne, it was,
obviously, the object of the grantee that the manor should be valued as
low as possible, while that of the sheriff was precisely the reverse. It
was on this account doubtless, to prevent dispute, that these charters
carefully named the sum at which the manor was to be valued, either in
figures, as in the case of Bonhunt,[334] or, as in that of Maldon and
Newport, in the formula "quantum inde reddi solebat" at the death of
Henry I., this formula probably implying that the earlier ferm had been
forced up in the days of the Lion of Justice.
The conclusion I would draw from the above argument is that the sheriff
was not at liberty to exact arbitrary sums from the demesne lands of the
Crown. A fixed annual render (_redditus_) was due to him from each,
though this, like the _firma_ of the sheriff himself, was liable to
revision from time to time.[335]
But it would be difficult to overestimate the importance of evidence
which forms a connecting link between Domesday and the period of the
Pipe-Rolls, especially if it throws some fresh light on the vexed
question of Domesday values. Moreover, we have here an obvious
suggestion as to the purpose of the Conqueror in ascertaining values, at
least so far as concerned the demesne lands of the Crown, for he was
thus enabled to check the sheriffs, by obtaining a basis for calculating
the amount of the _firma comitatus_. With this point we shall have to
deal when we come to Geoffrey's connection with the shrievalty of Essex
and Herts.
Attention may also be called to the formula of "excambion" (as the
Scottish lawyers term it) here employed, for it would seem to be earlier
than any of those quoted in Madox's _Formularium_. But the suggested
exchange is specially interesting in the case of Count Theobald, because
it gives us an historical fact not elsewhere mentioned, namely, that the
Empress, on obtaining the mastery, forfeited his lands at once. Her
doing so, we should observe, is in strict accordance with the
chroniclers' assertions as to her wholesale forfeitures and her special
hostility to Stephen's house. And we can go further still. We can
ascertain not only that Count Theobald was forfeited, as we have seen,
by the Empress, but also that the land she forfeited had been given him
by Stephen himself. In a document which I have previously referred to,
we read that Stephen had given him the "manor" of Maldon,[336] being
that manor of Crown demesne which the Empress here bestows upon
Geoffrey.
Another important though difficult subject upon which this charter bears
is that of knight-service. Indeed, considering its early date—a quarter
of a century earlier than the returns contained in the _Liber Niger_—it
may, in conjunction with Stephen's charter of some six months later, be
pronounced to be among our most valuable evidences for what Dr. Stubbs
describes as "a subject on which the greatest obscurity prevails."[337]
Let us first notice that the Empress grants "feodum et servicium XX
militum," while Stephen grants "LX milites feudatos ... scilicet
servicium" of so and so "pro [LX] militibus." Thus, then, the "milites
feudatos" of Stephen equates the "feodum et servicium ... militum" of
the Empress. And, further, it repeats the remarkable expression employed
by Florence of Worcester when he tells us that the Conqueror instructed
the Domesday Commissioners to ascertain "quot milites feudatos" his
tenants-in-chief possessed, that is to say, how many knights they had
enfeoffed. But the Empress in her charter complicates her grant by
adding the special clause: "Et servicium istorum XX militum faciet mihi
separatim preter aliud servicium alterius feodi sui." Had it not been
for this clause, one might have inferred that the object of the grant
was to transfer, to Earl Geoffrey the "servicium" of these twenty
knights' fees due, of right, to the Crown, so that he might enjoy all
such profits as the Crown would have derived from that "servicium," and,
at the same time, have employed these knights as substitutes for those
which he was bound to furnish, from his own fief, to the Crown. But the
above clause is fatal to such a view. Again, both in the charters of the
Empress and of her rival, these special grants of knights and their
"servicium" are kept entirely distinct from those of Crown demesne or
escheated land, which, moreover, are expressed in terms of the "librata
terræ." On the whole I lean strongly to the belief that, although the
working of the arrangement may be obscure, the object of Geoffrey was to
add to the number of the knights who followed his standard, and thus to
increase his power as a noble and the weight that he could throw into
the scale. And the special clause referred to above would imply that the
Crown was to have a claim on him for twenty knights more than those whom
he was bound to furnish from his own fief.
Lastly, we may note the identity of the formula employed for the grant
of lands and for that of knights' service. In each case the grant is
made "pro tanto,"[338] and in each case the Empress undertakes to make
good ("perficere") the balance to him within the limit of the three
counties of Essex, Cambridgeshire, and Herts.[339]
With the subject of castles I propose to deal later on. But there is one
point on which the evidence of this charter is perhaps more important
than on any other, and that is in the retrospective light which it
throws on the system of reform introduced by the first Henry.
Incidentally, we have here witness to that system, of which the
Pipe-Roll of 1130 is the solitary but vivid exponent, and under which
the very name of "plea" became a terror to all men. Every man was
liable, on the slightest pretext, to be brought within the meshes of the
law, with the object, as it seemed, and at least with the result, of
swelling the royal hoard (cf. pp. 11, 12, _n._ 1). Even to secure one's
simplest rights money had always to be paid. Thus, here, Geoffrey
stipulates that he and his men are to hold their possessions "sine
placito," and "ita quod ... non ponantur in ullo modo in placito de
aliquo forisfacto," etc., etc. So again, in his later charter, we find
him insisting that he and they shall hold all their possessions "sine
placito et sine pecuniæ donatione," and that "Rectum eis teneatur de
eorum calumpniis sine pecuniæ donatione." The exactions he dreaded meet
us at every turn on the Pipe-Roll of 1130.
But, on the other hand, the charter, broadly speaking, illustrates, by
the retrograde concessions it extorts, the cardinal factor in the long
struggle between the feudal nobles and their lord the king, namely,
their jealousy of that royal jurisdiction by which the Crown strove, and
eventually with success, to break their semi-independent power, and to
bring the whole realm into uniform subjection to the law.
After the clauses conferring on Geoffrey the _hereditary_ shrievalty of
Essex, a matter which I shall discuss further on, there immediately
follows this passage, the most significant, as I deem it, in the whole
charter:—
"Et ut sit Capitalis Justicia in Essexiâ hereditabiliter mea et heredum
meorum de placitis et forisfactis que pertinuerint ad coronam meam, ita
quod non mittam aliam justiciam super eum in comitatu illo nisi ita sit
quod aliquando mittam aliquem de paribus suis qui audiat cum illo quod
placita mea juste tractentur."
The first point to be dealt with here is the phrase "_Capitalis_
Justicia in Essexiâ." Here we have the term "capitalis" applied to the
_justicia_ of a single county. On this I would lay some stress, for it
has been generally supposed that this style was reserved for the Great
Justiciary, the _alter ego_ of the king himself.[340]
In his learned observations on the "obscurities" of the style
"_justitia_ or _justitiarius_," Dr. Stubbs writes that "the _capitalis
justitia_ seems to be the only one of the body to whom a determinate
position as the king's representative is assigned in formal documents"
(i. 389). It was probably the object of Geoffrey, when he secured this
particular style, to obtain for himself all the powers vested in "the
king's representative," and so to provide against his supersession by a
justiciar claiming in that capacity.
Let us now examine the witness of the charter to the differentiation of
the sheriff (_vicecomes_) and the justice (_justitia_), for that is the
development which its terms involve.
Dr. Stubbs points out that, under the Norman kings, "the authority of
the sheriff, when he was relieved from the company of the ealdorman, ...
would have no check except the direct control of the king" (i. 272); and
Gneist similarly observed that "After the withdrawal of the eorl, the
Anglo-Saxon shir-gerefa became the regular governor of the county, who
was henceforth no longer dependent upon the eorl, but upon the personal
orders of the king, and upon the organs of the Norman central
administration" (i. 140). And for a period of transition between the two
systems, the Anglo-Saxon and the late Norman, the sheriff not only
presided, in his court, as its sole lay head, but also in a dual
capacity. Dr. Stubbs, it is true, with his wonted caution, does but
suggest it as "probable that whilst the sheriff in his character of
sheriff was competent to direct the customary business of the court, it
was in that of _justitia_ that he transacted special business under the
king's writ."[341] But Gneist treats of him, under a separate heading,
in his capacity of "royal justiciary" (i. 142). It is from this dual
position that there developed, by specialization of function, two
distinct officers, the sheriff (_vicecomes_) and the justice
(_justicia_). This is the development which, as yet, has been somewhat
imperfectly apprehended.
The centralizing policy of Henry I., operating through the _Curia
Regis_, has, I need hardly observe, been admirably explained by Dr.
Stubbs. He has shown how two methods were employed to attain the end in
view: the one, to call up certain pleas from the local courts to the
_curia_; the other, to send down the officers of the _curia_ to sit in
the local courts.[342] In the latter case, the royal officer
("justicia") appeared as the representative of the central power of
which the _Curia Regis_ was the exponent. Thus, there were, again, for
the county court two lay presidents, but they were now the sheriff, as
local authority, and the justice, who represented the central. Such an
arrangement was, of course, a step in advance for the Crown, which had
thus secured for itself, through its justice, a footing in the local
courts.[343] But with this arrangement neither side was able to rest
satisfied. Broadly speaking, if I may be allowed the expression, the
Crown sought to centralize the sheriff, and to exclude the local
element; the feudatories would fain have localized the justice, and so
have excluded the central. Thus, before the close of Henry's reign, he
had actually employed on a large scale the officers of his _curia_ as
sheriffs of counties, and "by these means," as Dr. Stubbs observes, "the
king and justiciar kept in their hands the reins of the entire judicial
administration" (i. 392).[344] The same policy was faithfully followed
by his grandson, a generation later, on the occasion of the inquest of
sheriffs (1170), when, says Dr. Stubbs, "the sheriffs removed from their
offices were most of them local magnates, whose chances of oppression
and whose inclination towards a feudal administration of justice were
too great. In their place Henry instituted officers of the Exchequer,
less closely connected with the counties by property, and more amenable
to royal influence, as well as more skilled administrators—another step
towards the concentration of the provincial jurisdiction under the
_Curia Regis_."[345]
This passage enables us to see how essentially contrary to the policy of
the Crown were the provisions of Geoffrey's charter. It not only
feudalized the local shrievalty by placing it in the hands of a feudal
magnate, and, further still, making it hereditary, but it seized upon
the centralizing office of justice, and made it as purely local, nay, as
feudal as the other.
But let us return to the point from which we started, namely, the
witness of Geoffrey's charter to the differentiation of the sheriff and
the justice. It proves that the sheriff could no longer discharge the
functions of "a royal justiciary," without a separate appointment to
that distinct office. When we thus learn how Geoffrey became both
sheriff and justice of Essex, we can approach in the light of that
appointment the writ addressed "Ricardo de Luci Justic' et Vicecomiti de
Essexa," on which Madox relies for Richard's tenure of the post of chief
justiciary.[346] It may be that Richard's appointment corresponded with
that of Geoffrey. But whatever uncertainty there may be on this point,
there can be none on the parallel between Geoffrey's charter and that
which Henry I. granted to the citizens of London. Indeed, in all
municipal charters of the fullest and best type, we find the functions
of the sheriff and the justice dealt with in the same successive order.
The striking thought to be drawn from this is that the feudatories and
the towns, though their interests were opposed _inter se_, presented to
the Crown the same attitude and sought from it the same exemptions. In
proof of this I here adduce three typical charters, arranged in
chronological order. The first is an extract from that important charter
which London obtained from Henry I., the second is taken from Geoffrey's
charter, and the third from that of Richard I. to Colchester, which I
quote because it contains the same word "justicia," and also because it
is, probably, little, if at all, known.
CHARTER OF HENRY I. TO LONDON.
"Ipsi cives ponent _vicecomitem_ qualem voluerint de se ipsis, _et
justitiarium_ qualem voluerint de se ipsis ad custodiendum placita
coronæ meæ et eadem placitanda; et nullus alius erit Justitiarius super
ipsos homines Londoniarum."
CHARTER OF THE EMPRESS TO GEOFFREY.
"Concedo ei et heredibus suis ... _vicecomitatum_ Essexie. Et ut sit
Capitalis _Justicia_ ... de placitis et forisfactis que pertinuerint ad
coronam meam, ita quod non mittam aliam Justiciam super eum in comitatu
illo," etc.
CHARTER OF RICHARD I. TO COLCHESTER.
"Ipsi ponant de se ipsis _Ballivos_ quoscunque voluerint et _Justiciam_
ad servanda placita Coronæ nostræ et ad placitanda eadem placita infra
Burgum suum et quod nullus alius sit inde Justicia nisi quem
elegerint."
Here we have the two offices similarly distinct throughout. We have also
the _ballivi_, representing to the town what the _vicecomes_ represents
to the shire, a point which it is necessary to bear in mind. The
"bailiff," so far as the town was concerned, stood in the sheriff's
shoes. So also did the "coroner" (or "coroners") in those of the
justice. Indeed, at Colchester, two "coroners" represented the "justice"
of the charter. I cannot find that Dr. Stubbs calls attention to the
fact of this twin privilege, the fact that exemption from the sheriff
and from the justice went, in these charters, hand in hand.
Lastly, we should observe that though, in these charters, the clause
relating to the sheriff precedes that which relates to the justice, yet,
conversely, in the enumeration of those to whom a charter is directed,
"justices" are invariably, I believe, given the precedence of
"sheriffs." This, which would seem to have passed unnoticed, may have an
important bearing. Ordericus, in a famous passage (xi. 2) describing
Henry's ministers, tells us how the king
"favorabiliter illi obsequentes de ignobili stirpe illustravit, de
pulvere, ut ita dicam, extulit, dataque multiplici facultate _super_
consules et illustres oppidanos exaltavit.... Illos ... rex, cum de
infimo genere essent, nobilitavit, regali auctoritate de imo erexit, in
fastigio potestatum constituit, ipsis etiam spectabilibus regni
principibus formidabiles effecit."
Observe how vivid a light such a passage as this throws upon the clause
in Geoffrey's charter:—
"Non mittam aliam Justiciam _super_ eum in Comitatu illo, nisi ita sit
quod aliquando mittam aliquem de paribus suis qui audiat cum illo quod
placita mea juste tractentur."
The whole clause breathes the very spirit of feudalism. It betrays the
hatred of Geoffrey and his class for those upstarts, as they deemed
them, the royal justices, who, clad in all the authority of the Crown,
intruded themselves into their local courts and checked them in the
exercise of their power. Henceforth, in the courts of the favoured earl,
the representative of the Crown was to make his appearance not
regularly, but only now and then ("aliquando"); moreover, when he came,
he was to figure in court not as the superior ("super eum"), but as the
colleague ("cum illo") of the earl; and, lastly, he was not to belong to
the upstart ministerial class: he was to be one of his own class—of his
"peers" ("de paribus suis").
As an illustrative parallel to this clause, I am tempted to quote a
remarkable charter, unnoticed, it would seem, not only by our
historians, but even by Mr. Eyton himself. The Assize of Clarendon, a
quarter of a century (1166) after the date of our charter to Geoffrey,
contained clauses specially aimed against such exemption as he sought.
Referring to these clauses, Dr. Stubbs writes:—
"No franchise is to exclude the justices.... In the article which
directs the admission of the justices into every franchise may be
detected one sign of the anti-feudal policy which the king had all his
life to maintain."[347]
But the clauses in question, though their sweeping character fully
justifies this description,[348] contrast strangely with the humble,
almost apologetic, charter in which Henry II., immediately afterwards,
announces that he is only sending his "justicia" into the patrimony of
St. Cuthbert "by permission" of the bishop, and as a quite exceptional
measure, not to be taken again. It throws, perhaps, some new light on
the character and methods of the king, when we find him thus stooping,
in form, to gain his point in fact.
"Henricus Rex Angl' et Dux Normann' et Aquitan' et Comes Andegav',
justiciariis Vicecomitibus et omnibus ministris suis de Eborac'sir et de
Nordhummerlanda salutem. Sciatis quod consilio Baronum meorum,[349] et
Episcopi Dunelmensis licencia, mitto hac vice in terram sancti Cuthberti
justiciam meam, quæ[350] videat ut fiat justicia secundum assisam meam
de latronibus et murdratoribus et roboratoribus;[351] non quia velim ut
trahatur in consuetudinem tempore meo vel heredum meorum, sed ad tempus
hoc facio, pro prædicta necessitate; quia volo quod terra beati
Cuthberti suas habeat libertates et antiquas consuetudines, sicut unquam
melius habuit. T. Gavfrido Archiepiscopo [_sic_] Cant. Ric. Arch.
Pictav. Comite Gaufrido, Ricardo de Luci. Apud Wodestoc."[352]
The first charter of the Empress has now been sufficiently discussed. It
was, of course, his possession of the Tower that enabled Geoffrey to
extort such terms, the command of that fortress being essential to the
Empress, to overawe the disaffected citizens.
[248] "Itaque multæ fuit molis Londoniensium animos permulcere posse,
ut, cum hæc statim post Pascha (ut dixi) fuerint actitata, vix paucis
ante Nativitatem beati Johannis diebus imperatricem reciperent" (p.
748).
[249] "Galfridus de Mandevilla firmavit Turrim Londoniensem. Idibus Maii
Albericus de Ver Londoniis occiditur" (M. Paris, _Chron. Major._, ii.
174).
[250] _Ibid._
[251] _The Early History of Oxford_, cap. x.
[252] "Ad Radingum infra Rogationes veniens, suscipitur cum honoribus,
hinc inde principibus cum populis ad ejus imperium convolantibus"
(_Cont. Flor. Wig._, 130).
[253] _Add. Chart._ (Brit. Mus.), 19,576; _Arch. Journ._, xx. 289;
_Journ. B. A. A._, xxxi. 389.
[254] "Reginaldo _comite_ filio regis." He had attested, as we have
seen, an Oxford charter (_circ._ March 24) as Reginald "filius regis"
simply. This would seem to fix his creation to _circ._ April, 1141 (see
p. 68).
[255] "Roberto fratre ejus."
[256] We obtain incidentally, in another quarter, unique evidence on
this very point. There is printed in the _Cartulary of Ramsey_ (Rolls
Series), vol. ii. p. 254, a precept from Nigel, Bishop of Ely, to
William, Prior of Ely, and others, notifying the agreement he has made
with Walter, Abbot of Ramsey:—"Sciatis me et Walterum Abbatem de
Rameseia consilio et assensu dominæ nostræ Imperatricis et Episcopi
Wynton' Apost' sedis legati aliorumque coepiscoporum meorum scilicet
Linc', Norwycensis, Cestrensis, Hereford', Sancti Davidis, et Roberti
Comitis Gloecestrie, et Hugonis Comitis et Brienni et Milonis ad
voluntatem meam concordatos esse. Quapropter mando et præcipio sicut me
diligitis," etc., etc. This precept, in the printed cartulary, is dated
"1133-1144." These are absurdly wide limits, and a little research
would, surely, have shown that it must belong to the period in which the
Empress was triumphant, and during which the legate was with her. This
fixes it to March-June, 1141. Independent of the great interest
attaching to this document as representing a "concordia" in the court of
the Empress during her brief triumph, it affords in my opinion proof of
the _personnel_ of her court at the time. Five of the seven bishops
mentioned were, as observed in the text, in regular attendance at her
court, and we may therefore, on the strength of this document, add those
of "Chester" and Norwich, as visiting it, at least, on this occasion. So
with the laity. Three of the four magnates named (of whom Miles had not
yet received the earldom of Hereford) were her constant companions, so
that we may safely rely on this evidence for the presence at her court
on this occasion of Hugh, Earl of Norfolk.
[257] _Journ. B. A. A._, xxxi. 389. Note that in this case Seffrid,
Bishop of Chichester, appears as a witness, doubtless because he had
been Abbot of Glastonbury, to which abbey the charter was granted.
[258] See above, p. 66.
[259] "Proficiscitur inde cum exultatione magna et gaudio, et in
monasterio Sancti Albani cum processionali suscipitur honore, et jubilo"
(_Cont. Flor. Wig._, 131).
[260] "Apud sanctum Albanum" (Duchy of Lancaster: Royal Charters, No.
16; _Journ. B. A. A._, xxxi. 388).
[261] "Adeunt eam ibi cives multi ex Londoniâ, tractatur ibi sermo
multimodus de reddenda civitate" (_Cont. Flor. Wig._, 131).
[262] "Imperatrix, ut prædiximus, habito tractatu cum Londoniensibus,
comitantibus secum præsulibus multis et principibus, secura properavit
ad urbem, et apud Westmonasterium cum processionali suscipitur
honorificentiâ." (_ibid._).
[263] _i.e._ Hyde Park Corner, as it now is. See, for this custom, the
_Chronicles of the Mayors of London_, which record how, a century later
(1257), upon the king approaching Westminster, "exierunt Maior et cives,
_sicut mos est_ ad salutandum ipsum usque ad Kniwtebrigge" (p. 31). The
Continuator (p. 132) alludes to some such reception by the citizens
("cum honore susceperunt").
[264] "Videns itaque David rex multa competere in imperatricis neptis
suæ promotionem, post Ascensionem Domini ad eam in Suthangliam profectus
est: ... Venit itaque rex ad neptem suam, plurimosque ex principibus sibi
acquiescentes habuit ut ipsa promoveretur ad totius regni fastigium"
(_Sym. Dun._, ii. 309). As he did not join her till after her election,
I have taken this latter phrase as referring to her coronation (see p.
80). Cf. p. 5, _n._ 5.
[265] "Vix paucis ante Nativitatem beati Johannis diebus."
[266] "Cives ... Imperatricem ... favorabiliter susciperunt undecimo
[_al._ Sexto] Kal. Maii."
[267] See the _Liber de Antiquis Legibus_: "Tandem a Londonensibus
expulsa est in die Sancti Johannis Bapt." So also Trivet.
[268] "Ibique aliquantis diebus ... resedit" (p. 131).
[269] "[Legatus] rem exanimans, præscriptam factionem invenit,
fautoribusque ipsius dignâ animadversione interdixit ne Willelmum in
Episcopum nisi canonicâ electione susciperent. Ipsi quoque Willelmo
interdixit omnem ecclesiasticam communionem, si Episcopatum susciperet
nisi Canonice promotus. Actum id in die S. Johannis Baptistæ. Pactus
erat Willelmus ab Imperatrice baculum et annulum recipere; et data hæc
ei essent, nisi, facta a Londoniensibus dissentione, cum omnibus suis
discederet _ipso die_ a Londonia Imperatrix."—Continuatio Historiæ
Turgoti (_Anglia Sacra_, i. 711). This passage further proves (though,
indeed, there is no reason to doubt it) that the legate remained in
London till the actual flight of the Empress. It also illustrates their
discordance.
[270] "Literas Imperatricis directas ad Capitulum, quarum summa hæc
erat: Quod vellet Ecclesiam nostram de Pastore consultam esse, et
nominatim de illo quem Robertus Archidiaconus nominaret, et quod de illo
vellet, et de alio omnino nollet. Quæsitum est ergo quis hic esset.
Responsum est quod Willelmus" (_ibid._). This has, of course, an
important bearing on the question of episcopal election. Strong though
the terms of her letter appear to have been, the Empress here waives the
right, on which her father and her son insisted, of having the election
conducted in her presence and in her own chapel, and anticipated the
later practice introduced by the charter of John.
[271] _Add. MSS._, 31,943, fol. 97. So too fol. 115: "After June 24,
1141, when the Empress was received in London; before July 25, when Milo
was created Earl of Hereford."
[272] Mandate to Sheriff of Essex in favour of William fitz Otto
(_Journ. B. A. A._, xxxi. 387). It is possible that the charter to
Christ Church, London (_ibid._, p. 388), may also belong to this
occasion; but, even if so, it is of no importance.
[273] A charter to Roger de Valoines. See Appendix G.
[274] _Journ. B. A. A._, pp. 384-386.
[275] The portions which are wanting in the charter and which are
supplied from my transcript will be found enclosed in brackets.
[276] Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and William the chancellor are omitted
altogether, and Ralph _Lovell_ becomes Ralph _de London_. Dugdale has,
of course, misled Mr. Birch.
[277] Appended (as the "Degrees of England") to Gibson's well-known
edition of the _Britannia_ (1772), vol. i. p. 125.
[278] Second edition, p. 647.
[279] Appendix V., p. 1 (ed. 1829).
[280] Page 164.
[281] "Ego Matildis filia regis Henrici et Anglorum domina do et concedo
Gaufredo de Magnavilla pro servicio suo et heredibus suis post eum
hereditabiliter ut sit Comes de Essexia, et habeat tertium denarium
Vicecomitatus de placitis sicut Comes habere debet in comitatu suo"
(Camden).
[282] Mr. Birch reads "tenuit bene," omitting the intervening words.
[283] Mr. Birch for "eandem terram" (_rectius_ "turrem") conjectures
"illam".
[284] Mr. Birch conjectures "Preterea."
[285] Newport (the name hints at a market-town) was ancient demesne of
the Crown. It lay about three miles south-west of (Saffron) Walden.
[286] There was still a toll bridge there in the last century. For table
of tolls and exemptions, see Morant's _Essex_.
[287] Apparently, the high road on the left bank, and the way on the
right bank, of the Cam.
[288] Neither this market nor this fair are, it would seem, to be traced
afterwards.
[289] Mr. Birch conjectures "vigiliam."
[290] This was presumably a grant of the borough of Maldon (_i.e._ the
royal rights in that borough), though Peverel's fee in Maldon was an
escheat at the time. The proof of this is not only that it is here
described as a "borough" (_burgus_), but also that its annual value was
to be deducted from the sheriff's ferm, which could only be the case if
it formed part of the _corpus comitatus_, _i.e._ was Crown demesne. In
Domesday, Peverel's fee in Maldon was valued at £12, and the royal manor
at £16 ("ad pondus"), though it had been £24. It was probably the latter
which Henry II. granted to his brother William as representing ("pro")
£22 ("numero") (see Pipe-Rolls).
[291] Depden, three miles south of Walden. It had formed part, at the
Survey, of the fief of Randulf Peverel.
[292] Catlidge, according to Morant.
[293] Mr. Birch conjectures "tenentibus ibidem pro."
[294] Bonhunt, now part of Wickham Bonhunt, adjoining Newport. It had
been held by Saisselinus at the Survey. In 1485 it was held of the
honour of Lancaster.
[295] Mr. Birch conjectures "ipse habuit."
[296] This, apparently, refers to Depden, as forming part of Peverel's
fief, which had been an escheat, in the king's hands, as early as 1130
(_Rot. Pip._, 31 Hen. I.).
[297] Hasculf de Tany was ancestor of the Essex family of Tany, of
Stapleford-Tany, Theydon Bois, Elmstead, Great Stambridge, Latton, etc.
He appears repeatedly in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I. (pp. 53, 56, 58,
60, 99, 152), when he was in litigation with William de Bovill and
Rhiwallon d'Avranches.
[298] "Graelengus" is proved to be identical with "Graelandus de
Thania," the Essex tenant-in-capite of 1166, by Stephen's second charter
(Christmas, 1141), which gives his holding as 7½ fees, the very amount
at which he returns it in his _Carta_ (see p. 142). But his
contemporary, Graeland "fitz Gilbert" de Tany, on the Pipe-Rolls of
Henry II., was probably so styled for distinction, being a son of
Gilbert de Tany who figures on the Essex Pipe-Roll of 1158.
[299] Compare the phrase "superplus militum" in _Rot. Pip._ 31 H. I. (p.
47).
[300] "Predictis;" "ei quod omnia;" "et sint inforciata" (Mr. Birch).
[301] Bushey in Hertfordshire. Part of Mandeville's Domesday fief.
[302] Mr. Birch reads "pertinuerunt."
[303] "Pertinuit"—Mr. Birch's conjecture.
[304] "Quod aliquando"—Mr. Birch's conjecture.
[305] Mr. Birch reads "placito hac teneat."
[306] Mr. Birch reads "tre mee."
[307] Mr. Birch conjectures "ponantur in (placitum)."
[308] Mr. Birch conjectures "Baldewino Comite Devonie."
[309] On Robert Arundell, see Yeatman's _History of the House of
Arundel_, p. 49 (where too early a date is suggested for this charter),
and p. 105 (where it is implied that he was a tenant of the Earl of
Gloucester). He occurs repeatedly in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I., and
again in the Westminster charters (1136) of Stephen. (See Appendix C.)
[310] Robert Malet also was a west-country baron. He figures in
connection with Warminster in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I., and is among
the witnesses to the Westminster charters (1136), being there styled
"Dapifer" (see Appendix C.). The _carta_ of the Abbot of Glastonbury
(1166) proves that he was the predecessor of William Malet, _dapifer_ to
Henry II.
[311] Another west-country baron. He was one of the rebels of 1138, when
he held Castle Carey against the king (_Hen. Hunt._, p. 261; _Ord.
Vit._, v. 310; _Gesta_, p. 43). According to Mr. Yeatman, he was son of
"William Gouel de Percival, called Lovel," Lord of Ivry (_History of the
House of Arundel_, p. 136). He is however wrongly termed by him "Robert
(_sic_) Lovel" on p. 268. He witnessed an early charter of the Empress
to Glastonbury (_Journ. B. A. A._, xxxi. 390).
[312] Ralph Paynell had instigated the Earl of Gloucester's raid on
Nottingham the previous September (_Cont. Flor. Wig._, 128), and was one
of the rebels in 1138, when he held Dudley against the king (_ibid._,
110). He was presumably identical with the "Rad[ulfus] Paen[ellus]" of
1130 (_Rot. Pip_, 31 Hen. I.). He witnessed the charter to Roger de
Valoines (see p. 286), and three other charters of the Empress (_Journ.
B. A. A._, xxxi. 391, 395, 398), including the creation of the earldom
of Hereford (25 July, 1141).
[313] Walchelin Maminot had been among the witnesses to the above
Westminster charters of (Easter) 1136, but had held Dover against the
king in 1138 (_Ord. Vit._, v. 310). when Ordericus (v. 111, 112) speaks
of him as a son-in-law of Robert de Ferrers (Earl of Derby). He
witnessed the charter to Roger de Valoines (see p. 286), and five other
charters of the Empress (_Journ. B. A. A._, xxxi. 388, 391, 394 _bis_,
398), including the creation of the earldom of Hereford (25 July 1141),
and he appears in the Pipe-Rolls and other records under Henry II. from
1155 to 1170.
[314] Robert, natural son of Henry I. by Edith (afterwards married to
Robert d'Oilli of Oxford), and uterine brother, as Mr. Eyton observes
(_Addl. MSS._, 31,943, fol. 115), "to Henry d'Oilli of Hook-Norton." He
appears in connection with Devonshire in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I.,
and is probably identical with Robert "brother" of Earl Reginald of
Cornwall (_vide ante_, p. 82). He is mentioned as present (as "Robert
fitz Edith") at the siege of Winchester, a few weeks later (_Sym. Dun._,
ii. 310), and he was among the witnesses to the Empress's charters
(Oxford, 1142) to the earls of Oxford and of Essex, and to her charter
(Devizes) to Geoffrey de Mandeville the younger (_vide post_). He
subsequently witnessed Henry II.'s charter (? 1156) to Henry de Oxenford
(_Cart. Ant._ D., No. 42). See also _Liber Niger_. Working from
misleading copies, Mr. Eyton wrongly identifies this Robert "filius
Regis," as a witness to three charters of the Empress, with a Robert
fitz Reg_inald_ (de Dunstanville) (_History of Shropshire_, ii. 271).
[315] Robert fitz Martin occurs in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I. in
connection with Dorset. Dugdale and Mr. Eyton (_Addl. MSS._, 31,943,
fol. 90) affiliate him as son of a Martin of Tours, who had established
himself in Wales. He witnessed two other charters of the Empress
(_Journ. B. A. A._, xxxi. 391, 395), both of them at Oxford. A son of
his (filius Roberti filii Martini) held five knights' fees of
Glastonbury Abbey in 1166.
[316] Robert fitz Hildebrand witnessed the Empress's second charter to
Geoffrey with that to the Earl of Oxford (_vide post_). See for his
adultery, treason, and shocking death (? 1143), _Gesta Stephani_, pp.
95, 96, where he is described as "virum plebeium quidem, sed militari
virtute approbatum." He is also spoken of as "vir infimi generis, sed
summæ semper malitiæ machinator" (_ibid._, p. 93). He is affiliated by
the editors of Ordericus (Société de l'Histoire de France) as "Robert
fils de Herbrand de Sauqueville" (iii. 45, iv. 420), where also we learn
that he had refused to embark upon the White Ship. He was perhaps a
brother of Richard fitz Hildebrand, who held five fees from the Abbot of
Sherborne and five from the Bishop of Salisbury in 1166.
[317] As the closing names vary somewhat in the two transcripts, I give
both versions:—
DUGDALE MS.
"Rad Lond' et Rad' painel et W. Maminot et Rob' fil. R. et Rob' fil.
Martin et Rob' fil Heldebrand' apud Westmonasterium."
ASHMOLE MS.
"Rad lovell et Rad Painell et W. Maminot et Roberto filio R. et Roberto
filio Martin Roberto filio _Haidebrandi apud Oxford_."
The three last words are added in a different hand, and "Oxford"
appears to have been substituted for "Westmr" by yet another hand.
[318] William de Moiun (Mohun) had attested _eo nomine_ the charter to
Glastonbury (_Journ. B. A. A._, xxxi. 389; _Adam de Domerham_) which
probably passed soon after the election of the Empress (April 8) at
Winchester (see p. 83). He now attests, among the earls, as "_Comite_
Willelmo de Moion." This fixes his Creation as April-June, 1141.
Courthope gives no date for the creation, and no authority but his
foundation charter to Bruton, in which he styles himself "Comes
Somersetensis." Dr. Stubbs, following him, gives (under "dates and
authorities for the empress's earldoms") no date and no further
authority (_Const. Hist._, i. 362). Mr. Maxwell Lyte, in his learned and
valuable monograph on _Dunster and its Lords_ (1882), quotes the _Gesta
Stephani_ for the fact "that at the siege of Winchester, in 1140, the
empress bestowed on William de Mohun the title of Earl of Dorset" (p.
6). But Winchester was besieged in (August-September) 1141, not in 1140,
and though the writer does speak of "Willelmus de Mohun, quem comitem
ibi statuit Dorsetiæ" (p. 81), this charter proves that he postdates the
creation, as he also does that of Hereford, which he assigns to the same
siege (cf. pp. 125, _n._, 194). Mr. Doyle, with his usual painstaking
care, places the creation (on the same authority) "before September,
1141" (which happens, it will be seen, to be quite correct), and assigns
his use of the above style ("comes Somersetensis") to 1142. See also, on
this point, p. 277 _infra_.
[319] See p. 143.
[320] The grant of the earldom of Hereford to Miles of Gloucester.
[321] "Erecta est autem in superbiam intolerabilem ... et omnium fere
corda a se alienavit" (_Hen. Hunt._, 275).
[322] "Interpellavit dominam Anglorum regina pro domino suo rege capto
et custodiæ ac vinculis mancipato. Interpellata quoque est pro eadem
causa et a majoribus seu primoribus Angliæ; ... at illa non exaudivit
eos" (_Cont. Flor. Wig._, 132).
[323] All this, however, is subject to the assumption that this charter
passed at Westminster. That assumption rests on Dugdale's transcript and
his statement to that effect in his _Baronage_. There is nothing in the
charter (except, of course, the above difficulty) inconsistent with this
statement, which is strongly supported by the Valoines charter; but,
unfortunately, the transcript I have quoted from gives _Oxford_ as the
place of testing. But, then, the word (_vide supra_) appears to have
been added in a later hand, and may have been inserted from confusion
with the Empress's _second_ charter to Geoffrey, which did pass at
Oxford. Still, there is no actual reason why this charter may not have
passed at Oxford, though its subject makes Westminster, perhaps, the
more likely place of the two. Personally, I feel no doubt whatever that
Westminster was the place.
[324] See p. 42.
[325] See Appendix H: "The Tertius Denarius."
[326] _Const. Hist._, i. 362.
[327] This, however, raises the question of comital rights, on which see
pp. 143, 169, 269, and Appendix H.
[328] Cf. William of Malmesbury: "Hi prædia, hi castella, postremo
quæcunque semel collibuisset, petere non verebantur."
[329] See also Mr. S. R. Bird's valuable essay on the Crown Lands in
vol. xiii. of the _Antiquary_. He refers (p. 160) to the "extensive
alienations of these lands during the turbulent reign of Stephen, in
order to enable that monarch to endow the new earldoms."
[330] "Quod auferat de summâ firma vicecomitatus quantum pertinuerit ad
Meldonam et Niweport que ei donavi."
[331] _Select Charters._
[332] _Const. Hist._, i. 326, 327.
[333] _Domesday Studies_, vol. i. (Longmans), 1887.
[334] It is in this case alone, in the Empress's charter, that we can
compare the value with that in Domesday. The charter grants it "pro xl
solidis." In Domesday we read "Tunc et post valuit xl solidos. Modo lv"
(ii. 93).
[335] See an illustration of this principle, some years later, in the
_Chronicle of Ramsey_ (p. 287): "Sciatis me concessisse Abbati de
Rameseia ut ad firmam habeat hundredum de Hyrstintan reddendo inde
quoque anno quatuor marcas argenti, quicunque sit vicecomes ita ne
vicecomes plus ab eo requirat."
[336] "Die quâ dedi Manerium illud [de Meldonâ] Comiti Theobaldo."—
Westminster Abbey Charters (Madox's _Baronia_, p. 232, note).
[337] _Const. Hist._, i. 260. See my articles on the "Introduction of
Knight Service into England" in _English Historical Review_, July and
October, 1891, January, 1892. See also Addenda (p. 439).
[338] The lands were granted "pro tanto quantum inde reddi solebat," and
the knights' service (of Graaland de Tany) "pro tanto servicii quantum
de feodo illo debent," which amount is given in Stephen's charter as 7½
knights' service (as also in the _Liber Niger_).
[339] "Et si quid defuerit ad C libratas perficiendas, perficiam ei in
loco competenti in Essexiâ aut in Hertfordescirâ aut in Cantebriggscirâ
... et totum superplus istorum xx. militum ei perficiam in prenominatis
tribus comitatibus."
[340] Dr. Stubbs writes: "From the reign of Henry I. we have distinct
traces of a judicial system, a supreme court of justice, called the
Curia Regis, presided over by the king or justiciary, and containing
other judges also called justiciars, the chief being occasionally
distinguished by the title of 'summus,' 'magnus,' or 'capitalis'"
(_Const. Hist._, i. 377). But, in another place, he points out, of the
Great Justiciar, Roger of Salisbury, that "several other ministers
receive the same name [_justitiarius_] even during the time at which he
was actually in office; even the title of _capitalis justitiarius_ is
given to officers of the _Curia Regis_ who were acting in subordination
to him" (i. 350). Of this he gives instances in point (i. 389). On the
whole it is safest, perhaps, to hold, as Dr. Stubbs suggested, that the
style "capitalis" was not reserved to the Great Justiciar alone till the
reign of Henry II. (i. 350).
[341] _Const. Hist._, i. 389, _note_.
[342] See Appendix I.
[343] I cannot quite understand Gneist's view that "A better spirit is
infused into this portion of the legal administration by the severance
of the farm-interest (_firma_) from the judicial functions, which was
effected by the appointment of royal _justitiarii_ in the place of the
_vicecomes_. The reservation of the royal right of interference now
develops into a periodical delegation of matters to criminal judges" (i.
180). It is probable that this eminent jurist has a right conception of
the change, and that, if it is obscured, it is only by his mode of
expression. But, when arguing from the laws of Cnut and of Henry, as to
pleas "in firma," he might, if one may venture to say so, have added the
higher evidence of Domesday. There are several passages in the Great
Survey bearing upon this subject, of which the most noteworthy is, I
think, this, which is found in the passage on Shrewsbury:—"Siquis pacem
regis manu propria datam scienter infringebat utlagus fiebat. Qui vero
pacem regis a vicecomite datam infringebat, C solidos emendabat, et
tantundem dabat qui Forestel vel Heinfare faciebat. _Has iii
forisfacturas_ habebat in dominio rex E. in omni Angliâ extra firmas"
(i. 152).
[344] See Appendix I: "Vicecomites" and "Custodes."
[345] _Select Charters_, 141.
[346] Foss's _Judges_, i. 145.
[347] _Const. Hist._, i. 470.
[348] "Nulli sint in civitate vel burgo vel castello, vel extra, nec in
honore etiam de Walingeford, qui vetent vicecomites [_sic_] intrare in
terram suam vel socam suam." Strictly speaking, this refers to sheriffs,
but _à fortiori_ it would apply to the king's "justicia."
[349] The Assize of Clarendon describes itself as passed "de consilio
omnium baronum suorum."
[350] Notice the "justicia ... quæ videat," as answering to the
"aliquis ... qui audiat" in Geoffrey's charter.
[351] These are the words of the Assize itself, which deals throughout
with "robatores," "murdratores," and "latrones."
[352] This charter is limited, by the names of the witnesses, to
1163-1166. It can only, therefore, refer to the Assize of Clarendon,
which conclusion is confirmed by its language. It must consequently have
been granted immediately after it, before the king left England in
March. Observe that the two last witnesses are the very justices who
were entrusted with the execution of the Assize, and that "Earl
Geoffrey," by the irony of fate, was no other than the son and successor
of Geoffrey de Mandeville himself.