THE ENGLISH NATION UNDER HENRY II
Society in England during Henry’s reign might be considered as arranged
in three groups: (1) The Military Class, with the king at its head,
ranging from the semi-independent earl to the humble tenant of some
fraction of a knight’s fee. (2) The Merchants and Traders--dwellers in
cities and seaports, from the wealthy councillor to the humble
apprentice. (3) The Peasantry--the comfortable yeoman, the farm
labourer, whose theoretical lack of freedom often sat but lightly upon
him, and the hired servants. From this third class the two superior
classes were completed. They formed the nameless ranks of archers and
foot soldiers who bore the brunt of many a battle, and, unprotected by
coat of mail or prospect of ransom, paid forfeit for defeat with their
lives, and they were the hardy sailors, serving the merchants in time of
peace, but ever ready to convert their ships into men-of-war. It might
seem that the clergy should form a fourth class, but they really fall
into the same three divisions as the laity. The prelates and
dignitaries, holding their lands by military service and bound to
provide so many knights for the king’s army, sometimes leading their
troops in person; then, opposed to these sons of the Church Militant,
the monks and canons of the religious orders, intent on the business of
religion, not wholly averse to trading spiritual for material blessings,
and displaying some skill in laying up treasure in this life as well as
for the next; and finally the poor, but not always honest, parish
priests and unattached clerks, the hardest workers and the worst paid,
little above the secular peasantry from whose ranks they sprang, their
many virtues unrecorded and the excesses of their unworthy members
pilloried. If a fourth group did exist it consisted of the officials,
blending the characteristics of clerks, soldiers, and merchants--men
prepared at a moment’s notice to hear pleas, superintend the purchase
and despatch of stores, or take command of a force of soldiers.
The king’s supremacy in his court was indisputable; his greatest nobles
were proud to serve him, and quick to resent any infringement of their
rights of service. Thus the Earl of Arundel, hereditary chief butler,
returning from a long journey just as the two kings, Henry and Louis,
were sitting down to dinner, strode into the hall, flung off his cloak
and seized the royal goblet from the acting butler, who resisting, the
powerful earl knocked him down and presented the wine on bended knee to
his royal master, explaining apologetically to the French king that it
was his privilege and that the deputy butler ought to have withdrawn
without protest. So also, at a later date, William de Tancarville,
chamberlain of Normandy, forcibly possessed himself of the basin and
ewer which another courtier was carrying to the king. Yet was Henry the
most accessible of men; out of doors he suffered his subjects to crowd
round him and speak to him freely, in his court he was almost always
ready to give informal audience to all who sought him, and it was only
at the very door of his bedchamber that a messenger would be challenged.
Men of wit, such as Walter Map, the cynical canon of St. Paul’s, might
break in on his conversation with a humorous or sarcastic comment
unrebuked, and Henry could even take in good part the public reprimand
addressed to him by an obscure monk of his neglected priory of Witham.
The English court under Henry attracted scholars of European fame, and
on the lighter side of literature we find the king encouraging Gerald de
Barri, the proto-journalist, listening amusedly to his anecdotes and
bantering him, giving money to “Maurice the story-teller”
(_fabulatori_), and replying with mock seriousness to the heroics
purporting to be addressed to him by King Arthur.
If his nobles did not share the king’s literary tastes they were at
least in tune with him on the subject of sport. Hunting and hawking were
the recreations of the English and Norman nobility, and in his devotion
thereto Henry yielded to none of his subjects. The keepers of his hounds
formed not the most insignificant part of his retinue; hawks were
procured for him from Norway and from Ireland and passed as presents
between himself and foreign princes; when he went out of England,
whether for peaceful cause or war, his hawks and hounds and huntsmen
followed him. His sons also, like all the magnates of their days, were
devotees of the chase, but the two elder found greater pleasure in the
sport of war, and the young King Henry in particular shone as the patron
of the tournament. The gradual repression of private warfare, at least
between the smaller lords, had deprived life of much of its excitement,
and the more warlike spirits sought to counteract what they no doubt
considered the softness and degeneracy of the age by the institution of
tournaments, a species of private war cleansed of personal rancour and
lacking the disastrous consequences to lands and tenants involved by the
real thing. To picture the tournament of this date as resembling the
formal and chivalrous jousting in the lists of later centuries would be
completely misleading. For the most part the frequenters of these
meetings were landless men, younger sons and needy adventurers, intent
solely, or at least mainly, on making money by the capture of opponents,
whose chargers and armour then became their own, and whose bodies might
be held to ransom. It was no shame for ten to set on one, and William
the Marshal, one of the most brilliant of these adventurers and the
instructor of the young king, gained praise by the skill with which he
let his adversaries exhaust themselves before he flung his forces upon
them. This same Marshal, who went with another knight on a pot-hunting
expedition during which they accounted for 103 knights, besides extra
chargers, on one occasion saw one of the opposing knights thrown by his
horse and lying on the ground, disabled with a broken thigh; rushing out
of the tent where he was dining he picked up the injured man and bore
him back into the tent, handing him over a prisoner to his companions
“to pay their debts with.” In this particular instance there was no
doubt an element of rough humour, but the whole spirit of the tournament
was practical and unromantic, though fame and glory were sought at the
same time as wealth, and the Marshal would have set a higher value upon
his reputation for skill and courage than upon the fund of ready money
for which he was remarkable at a time when steel and silver were rarely
found together.
The spirit of the tournament pervaded the field of battle, and so far as
the knightly combatants were concerned their chief aim was to capture
and hold to ransom their adversaries rather than to kill them. Such lust
of slaughter as they felt was satisfied at the expense of the
unfortunate infantry, drawn from the ranks of the peasants and yeomen
and not worth ransoming. After a desperate and decisive battle the
chroniclers will recount a long list of knights captured, but it is rare
indeed that any are recorded to have fallen in battle, and on such rare
occasions it was usually by the hand of a common foot soldier or by a
chance arrow. It was precisely this tradition of the respect due to
gentle blood that made the Norman knights so useless against the Welsh
or Irish, who ignored their gentility and fought to kill.
Henry’s genius for organisation found scope in military matters as
elsewhere. During the reigns of the Saxon kings the _fyrd_ or national
militia, theoretically consisting of all the able-bodied male
population, was always liable to be called out in time of war, and this
liability had remained in force after the Conquest. Under William the
Conqueror the country had been parcelled out into estates, great and
small, the tenants of which held by the service of supplying a fixed
quota of knights, in no way proportionate to the size or value of the
estate, to serve in the royal army for forty days when required. It has
been already pointed out that Henry II. encouraged the system of
commuting personal service for a money payment, and in order to
ascertain the exact amount of service due he caused a general return to
be made by his military tenants in 1166. They were required to state how
many knights they were bound to find, and as there were two ways of
providing for these knights, either by granting them land in return for
their services when required or by hiring them as occasion demanded, a
distinction was to be drawn between the knights enfeoffed and those
chargeable on the demesnes. A further distinction was to be made
between those knights already enfeoffed at the time of the death of
Henry I. and those of newer feoffment. In many cases the greater barons
had enfeoffed more knights than they were bound to supply, probably for
the most part during Stephen’s reign, with the intention of augmenting
their own private forces, and Henry claimed that they should pay scutage
on this larger number of knights instead of on their original quota, a
claim which was strenuously resisted.
For the re-organisation of the national forces an Assize of Arms was
issued in England in 1181. Every holder of a knight’s fee or of rents
and property to the value of sixteen marks was to keep a coat of mail, a
helmet, a shield, and a lance; the owner of property worth ten marks
should have a hauberk, an iron headpiece, and a lance, and all burgesses
and the whole body of freemen should have a quilted jacket (_wambais_),
an iron headpiece, and a lance. These arms were never to be parted with,
but to descend from father to son; but in order to render the supply
more accessible it was ordered that no burgess should keep more arms
than his statutory quota, and if he had others should give or sell them
to those that required them; at the same time Jews were forbidden to
retain coats of mail and hauberks, presumably the most expensive
portions of the outfit. From the absence of any mention of horses it has
been assumed by some writers that all these troops were expected to
fight on foot, but this is undoubtedly an error; presumably the
provision of a horse was left to the discretion of the soldier, and
practically the whole of the first class and a large proportion of the
second would have been mounted men. Another noteworthy omission is that
of the bow; some thirty years later the holder of property worth twenty
shillings was required to provide a bow and arrows, but at this time it
would seem that the bow was regarded as unworthy of a freeman and its
use confined to the villein soldiers.
The justices itinerant were to publish this assize in the different
county courts and to make it known that any defaulter would pay for his
fault with his body and by no means escape with fine or forfeiture. At
the same time the justices were to hold inquiries by juries of freemen
of good standing as to the persons in the several hundreds and boroughs
who held property worth sixteen marks or ten marks, to draw up lists of
such persons and to swear them to the observance of the assize.
The final article of the Assize of Arms directed that no one should buy
or sell any ship to be taken away from England, or export timber. In
this decree we have evidence of Henry’s comprehension of the value of a
strong navy to the country. In speaking of a strong navy it must not be
supposed that any royal force of fighting ships existed or was even
contemplated at this time. Such naval organisation as existed was almost
entirely confined to the federation of the Cinque Ports. The origin and
early history of this federation is very obscure, but it seems clear
that Hastings and Dover and probably the other three ports of Sandwich,
Hythe, and Romney, were bound together by the possession of common
privileges and common responsibilities in the reign of Edward the
Confessor. Hastings was the undoubted head of this group of ports and
the first to acquire privileges at the royal court and in connection
with the herring fishery at Yarmouth which were afterwards extended to
the other members. When the title of the Cinque Ports was assumed has
not yet been discovered, but it was clearly established by the beginning
of the reign of Henry II., as in 1161 we find a payment of £34, 17s. to
the ships of “the five ports” which conveyed treasure across the
channel. As one main division of the English fleet employed in the
expedition against Lisbon in 1147 was referred to as the “Hastingenses,”
almost certainly alluding to the ships of the allied ports, it would
seem that the title was first officially recognised under Henry II. The
bonds of union were still so loose that the separate ports and their
affiliated members received separate charters. One of these, of quite
uncertain date, issued by Henry at Westminster, confirmed to the
“barons” of Hastings their privileges at court, exemption from customs
and other dues, and the foreshore rights of “strand and den” at
Yarmouth, in return for the provision of twenty ships for fifteen days
when required. Henry also granted similar exemptions to the two
“ancient towns” of Rye and Winchelsea, affiliating them to Hastings, to
whose quota of twenty ships they were to send two; they were further
exempted from the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts and might be
impleaded only in the same manner as the barons of Hastings and of the
Cinque Ports. This privilege of a separate court was clearly of early
date, as in another charter given during the first six years of Henry’s
reign to the men of Hythe he ordered that they should not plead
elsewhere than they were used to do, namely at the Shipway.
As a result of grants and confirmations of privileges the king could
rely at need upon a force of some sixty ships. The ships themselves were
the ordinary fishing and trading vessels of the channel ports, small but
seaworthy, easily converted into fighting ships by the erection of
wooden fore and stern castles and manned by hardy and experienced
sailors. But for all their experience the little ships with their single
square sail were not very manageable in a storm and the tale of
shipwrecks was large. When used for transport purposes it would seem
that about a hundred soldiers could be carried by each vessel. The
Cinque Port vessels were bound to carry a crew of twenty-one, but this
was apparently an exceptional complement, as in the levy of ships for
the Irish expedition of 1171 the average crew was twelve men and a
master, such crews being carried by the thirty-six ships from Norfolk
and Suffolk, the seven from Dorset and Somerset, six from Devon, two
from London, and one from Herefordshire; on the other hand the
twenty-eight ships supplied by Gloucestershire averaged only six men,
but eight from Sussex nineteen, and two from Hampshire twenty-two
apiece. During the troubles of 1173 most of the ships which were “sent
to Sandwich to meet the ships of the Cinque Ports” carried crews of
twenty or upwards, and the two vessels from Colchester carried sixty
seamen between them. Probably the numbers were raised at this time in
anticipation of attack, as we find that an extra force of from ten to
twenty men was put on board the king’s yacht each time it crossed with
treasure this year. This royal yacht was the only vessel permanently
retained in the king’s service, naval forces being collected as required
from the Cinque Ports and other coast towns, though there were at
Southampton certain private ship-owners whose vessels were so often
chartered for national service that they might almost be held to have
constituted a miniature royal navy in embryo.
Southampton was at this time the chief mercantile port of England,
pre-eminent for its valuable wine trade, thanks alike to the natural
advantages of its situation relative to Normandy and the wine-exporting
districts of the west, and to its proximity to the royal city of
Winchester. Although London had already outdistanced Winchester in
wealth the latter was still the home of the treasury, the rival of
Westminster as the king’s official residence, and a leading centre of
trade. The great fair of St. Giles drew merchants from all over England
and from foreign lands to Winchester, to sell their fine worked stuffs
to the king’s purveyors for his royal robes or to buy the coarse woollen
cloth of local manufactures, for Winchester with its gilds of weavers
and fullers was a great seat of the cloth industry, most of its products
being the coarse “burrell” cloth of which two thousand ells were
purchased and sent to Ireland in 1171 for the troops. A cheaper and
coarser cloth seems to have been made in Cornwall, as on several
occasions Cornish “burrells” in large quantities were bought for the
king’s almoner. The output of English cloth was altogether more
remarkable for quantity than quality; gilds of weavers existed in 1156
at Winchester, London, Lincoln, Oxford, Huntingdon, and Nottingham, all
being of sufficient importance to pay yearly to the king from 40s. to
£6, but their productions were for the most part poor and coarse, with
the notable exception of the scarlet cloths of Lincoln, which are found
fetching the prodigious price of 6s. 8d. the ell. So far as there were
exceptions to the general lack of quality they were no doubt due to
foreign, especially to Flemish, influence. At the time of the expulsion
of the Flemings after the rebellion of 1173 there are numerous entries
on the Pipe Rolls recording seizures of wool and woad belonging to
Flemings; the dyers of Worcester are recorded as owing £12 to the
king’s Flemish enemies, and there is other evidence to show the presence
of these skilled clothworkers throughout the country.
For foreign trade, statistics, and even such details as would permit of
broad generalisations, are lacking. There was no imposition of customs
for revenue purposes by the central authorities; each town, whether
seaport or inland market, had its own schedule of customs and _octroi_
dues, but they were only under the control of the Crown in so far that
the king could by charter exempt persons from the payment of such dues
throughout the realm. Such exemptions were amongst the most valued
franchises of the barons of the Cinque Ports, the men of a few
privileged boroughs, and the tenants of certain great religious houses.
A trading privilege of particular interest for its bearing upon the
development of London under Norman influence was the right of the
citizens of Rouen to a port or anchorage in the Thames close to the city
walls, which was confirmed to them by Henry II. in 1174. A still more
striking instance of the connection of two ports was Henry’s grant of
Dublin to the burgesses of Bristol, assuring to them a virtual monopoly
of the Irish trade, which they appear to have previously shared with
Chester, the monopoly of the Irish trade with Normandy being in the same
way assured to Rouen. As a whole Henry’s policy towards the towns and
trading communities, especially in the earlier years of his reign, was
liberal and encouraging; we find him granting the customs of York to
the burgesses of Scarborough in 1155, the liberties of London and
Winchester to the men of Gloucester, and the customs of Lincoln to the
burgesses of Coventry at a later date; gilds merchant and trade gilds
were confirmed in their privileges at Oxford, Nottingham, Lincoln, and
elsewhere, and the formation of others licensed. With the growth of
trade other unauthorised gilds sprang up, and in 1180 no fewer than
nineteen such “adulterine” gilds were reported in London alone, five of
them being connected with London Bridge, the famous stone bridge built
in 1176. Of these London gilds the only four definitely identified with
special trades were those of the goldsmiths, spicers, butchers, and
clothworkers, the others being, no doubt, social and religious societies
of a less specialised composition.
Side by side with the growth of manufactures developed the exploitation
of the mineral wealth of England. The lead mines of Derbyshire,
Yorkshire, and Shropshire were being worked, and the valuable
silver-bearing lead mines of Carlisle, which were farmed in 1158 for 100
marks, were bringing in 150 marks at the end of the reign, having
fluctuated between 500 marks in 1166 and no yield at all after the
border wars of 1173-4. At the other end of the kingdom were the rich tin
mines of Cornwall and Devon. Iron was worked in the northern counties
and to some extent in Northamptonshire, but the industry had not yet
attained any degree of importance in the Weald of Sussex and Kent, and
the Forest of Dean enjoyed a practical monopoly of the southern iron
trade. Tin was undoubtedly exported to the Continent, lead we read of as
sent by King Henry for the use of the monks of Clairvaux; but it is
doubtful whether it was to any extent an article of commerce, and iron
was almost certainly not exported.
By a curious inversion of later practice the chief exports from England
in early times were the raw materials of wool and hides and a certain
amount of food stuffs. Amongst the latter were no doubt cheeses, which
had already found a market in Flanders in the eleventh century, and
possibly ale, for which England, and especially Kent, was celebrated. In
1168 we find fifty-three hogsheads of ale sent to the king in Normandy,
and that this drink was appreciated by foreigners we may conclude from
its having occupied so prominent a part amongst the gifts which Becket
carried with him on his famous embassy to the French court. While ale
was the national drink, no small quantity of wine was grown in England,
vineyards existing in the southern counties from Kent to Hereford, and
at least as far north as Cambridgeshire, and references to cider are
also numerous.
The preference given to cider over Kentish ale was one of the charges of
luxury brought by Gerald de Barri against his monastic entertainers at
the cathedral priory of Christchurch, Canterbury. How far the
accusations of excess, in food and in other matters, brought by Gerald
and by Walter Map against the monks, and in particular against those of
the Cistercian order, could be sustained is a question difficult to
answer. Both men bore personal grudges against the Cistercians, both
preferred a scandalous story or a witty jest to strict accuracy, and
Gerald especially was utterly unscrupulous in the abuse of his enemies.
At the same time some of the little details in the stories told seem to
support their accuracy, and there is evidence that in many cases abuses
had crept in and ascetic ideals been relaxed with a rapidity which is
astonishing when it is remembered that Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder
of the order, had died only the year before Henry ascended the throne.
One of Gerald’s tales relates how an abbot of one of the English
Cistercian houses hospitably regaled the king, not knowing him, with a
drinking bout, initiating him into the mysteries of “Pril” and “Vril,”
the private toasts, or drinking cries, used in the monastery in place of
the secular “Washeil” and “Drinkheil,” and how Henry, when the abbot
subsequently came to court, welcomed him with “Pril” and made him repeat
the performance, to his utter confusion and the intense amusement of the
nobles. The possibility of this being a true story is increased when we
read in the Cistercian annals a generation later that in 1215 the Abbot
of Beaulieu was deposed because he behaved outrageously at table,
drinking hilariously, in the presence of three earls and forty knights,
and that, two years later, the Abbot of Tintern drank ceremoniously
(_solemniter_) with bishops and monks. Of the purely English order of
Gilbertines, whose founder, Gilbert of Sempringham, died in 1181, Gerald
speaks favourably, though deprecating their system of double convents
for nuns and canons, but it is only of the austere Carthusians and
Grammontanes that he writes with whole-hearted commendation. That his
praise was justified is confirmed by the exceptional favour shown to
these two orders by Henry, who troubled little about other religious,
save the nuns of Fontevrault and the military order of the Templars.
Gluttony and drunkenness were indeed vices in their addiction to which
the English, both clergy and laity, compared unfavourably with their
Welsh and Irish contemporaries. William Fitz-Stephen, in his famous
description of London, gives “the immoderate drinking of fools” as one
of the two “plagues” of the city. The degree of luxury then prevalent at
table is indicated by his account of the public cook-shop on the river
bank near the wine wharves, where every variety of fish, flesh, and
fowl, roast meat, baked meat, stew and pasty was ever preparing. Hither
ran the servants of those upon whose empty larders unexpected guests had
descended; here was store sufficient to satisfy an army of knights or a
band of pilgrims; here an epicure might call for sturgeon, woodcock, or
ortolan. It was a gay, busy, prosperous city, ships of all nations
loading and unloading, crowds chaffering with the merchants and
tradesmen, whose stalls were congregated according to kind; here the
booths of the goldsmiths, and here a street of cloth merchants; here the
grocers, and here a row of cutlers, while through the narrow, irregular
streets, scattering purchasers and loafers, would pass the retinue of
some prelate or baron on the way to his town house. Then there was the
weekly excitement of the horse fair held outside the city walls on the
flat fields of Smithfield; every one was there, come to buy, to sell, or
to look on, and there were horses to suit every conceivable want, at
least if you accepted the word of their owners; here were ambling nags,
unbroken colts, of whose heels you had better be careful, stately
chargers, sturdy pack horses, mares with their foals, cart horses,
driving horses, horses innumerable. But the fun really began when, with
a sudden shouting, the crowd parted hastily and left a clear course down
which thundered the chargers in mad race, scarcely needing the shouts
and spurring of their boy jockeys to urge them to their utmost effort.
And then there were the holidays, when the fields outside the city were
thronged with students, chaffing each other and lampooning their
teachers with apt Latinity, young nobles from the court at Westminister,
and apprentices from the city, while their elders looked on and grew
younger with excitement as they watched them cock-fighting,
ball-playing, or tilting; and as the day wore on the girls would come to
the fore and there would be song and dancing until the moon rose. Or the
scene would shift to the river, where the boys, standing in the bows of
a boat, would tilt at a shield suspended above the water and win either
the applause or more often the laughter of the watchers on the bridge
and in the riverside houses by their efforts to maintain their balance
and avoid a ducking. And then in the winter, when the marshes were
covered with ice, bone skates were in demand, and tilting on skates
warmed the blood even if it was responsible for rather a large number of
broken heads and limbs. For those who were too old, too timid, or too
dignified for such boisterous sports there were the pleasures of hunting
and hawking over the great preserves belonging to the city in
Hertfordshire, Middlesex, and Kent. A gay city, but one whose gaiety was
only too often suddenly checked by an outbreak of fire, the second of
Fitz-Stephen’s “plagues.” With their wooden hovels, wooden booths, and
primitive open hearths the English towns were constant sufferers from
fire. Becket’s parents had been impoverished by a succession of fires,
and in one year, 1161, London, Canterbury, Winchester, and Exeter were
devastated; next year the booths of St. Giles’ fair at Winchester were
burnt with all the merchandise in them, and in 1180 a fire beginning at
the mint destroyed the greater part of the unfortunate town of
Winchester; Glastonbury was burnt in 1184 and Chichester in 1187; and
these are only instances recorded for the magnitude of destruction
wrought; smaller outbreaks must have been of continual occurrence.
The description of London, _mutatis mutandis_, would apply sufficiently
well to other towns of the period, though in many of the smaller
boroughs the mercantile element must be almost eliminated and a large
agricultural element introduced to render the picture even tolerably
faithful. But when we get outside the walls of the towns we meet with
quite a different state of affairs. Here and there a castle or the chief
seat of some powerful landowner would present us with a building of some
architectural importance, but in far the greater number of cases the
chief house, the manor, would be a barn-like structure of one storey,
the main feature of which would be the hall, or living room, with the
massive beams of its open roof blackened by the smoke from the fire
burning on an open hearth in the centre of the hall. The chamber, or
sleeping apartment, a similar but smaller room connected with the first
by a lobby or vestibule, would possibly be partitioned into cubicles
either by lath and plaster walls or by cloth hangings. The kitchen, with
brew-house, wash-house, dairy and other offices, where such existed,
might form part of the main buildings or be in a block by themselves,
and there would be one or two barns, with cart-houses, stables,
cow-sheds, hen-houses, pig-styes and the miscellaneous appurtenances of
a farm. The roofs of the various buildings would be thatched and the
windows unglazed, closed with wooden shutters; on the floor would be a
layer of rushes, not too frequently renewed, and one or two trestle
tables, some benches and stools; a cupboard and possibly a couple of
massive chests would pretty nearly exhaust the catalogue of the
furniture, save for the wooden platters and bowls, buckets and barrels
in the kitchen. Near the manor house as a rule would stand the church,
massive and dark, its walls adorned with crudely realistic paintings and
its stonework enriched with the strong, barbaric mouldings of the
period, and hard by, overshadowed by the tithe barn, would be the house
of the parish priest, little superior to the clusters of mud huts in
which the peasantry contrived to exist.
To obtain a true estimate of the position of the peasantry at this time
it is essential to grasp the entirely different standard of life then
prevalent. Comfort and happiness are mainly matters of comparison, and
at a time when the country gentleman was content with a simplicity which
a modern artisan would scorn the labourer might well see no discomfort
in conditions against which an Irish peasant would protest. A condition
of servitude was no great burden in itself to those upon whose
imaginations the theoretical beauty of liberty had not dawned. The
gradations between free and bond were so fine that it required a skilled
lawyer to draw the line that separated them, and in practice many
freemen were worse off than the average villein. If villeinage legally
bound the tenant to perform irksome service for his lord it morally
bound the lord to provide for his tenant. At the same time the services
exacted from the villein were arduous; in theory they were unlimited,
but in practice custom had already fixed their nature in most manors.
Striking a rough average, we may say that a villein as a rule had to
work for his lord one day in each week for every five or ten acres that
he held, and in addition to put in a number of extra days during the
busy and critical weeks of harvest and further occasional days for
ploughing, harrowing, and sowing. Then there were occasions when he
might be called upon to help in thatching the farm buildings, carting
manure, repairing hedges, carrying farm produce to market or fetching
salt, or such local requirements as the drying and salting of herrings.
For many of these extra services he had some return in the shape of a
meal at the lord’s cost, but the demands upon his time were heavy and
would have left him little opportunity to cultivate his own small
holding if he had no sons or others to assist him.
The lot of the people, villein, landowner, and burgess had improved
under the wise rule of Henry, and even the great lords, if shorn of
their power, were safe from the attacks of rivals and secure of their
possessions so long as they remained loyal. The seeds of the English
Constitution had been sown. The English nation, which had been nursed,
in part unwittingly, by Henry, was to discover its own existence under
his successors when his foreign policy failed and the connection between
Normandy and England was severed. The relations between Church and State
were settled upon a firm basis, and if the supremacy of the State, for
which Henry had fought, had to be abandoned, the Catholic Church in
England developed a consciousness of nationality and remained
independent of Rome in a degree quite exceptional when compared with the
Church on the Continent. As the effects of Henry’s policy were either
evanescent and negligible or enduring, and in the latter case easy to
trace, it is not hard to estimate the significance of his reign, but to
obtain a just estimate of the man himself is more difficult. For the
more intimate details we are largely dependent upon men who either bore
him ill-will or, more rarely, were writing in a spirit of flattery, but
putting the evidence together we see a strong, clear-headed man,
controlling his emotions but occasionally clearing off accumulations of
irritation and annoyance by tremendous outbursts of mad rage; a
methodical man with a keen sense of justice, but arbitrary and
unscrupulous; a skilled general who never engaged in warfare if it
could be avoided; a keen and restless sportsman with a sense of humour
and a passion for literature; a free-thinking adulterer with a genuine
appreciation of purity and true religion; a king who could manage the
affairs of half-a-dozen principalities but could not rule his own house;
an acute judge of men, who lavished affection and benefits upon
ungrateful and unworthy sons; a mass of contradictions; in other words,
an entirely human man.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
RECORDS
For the whole period covered by the reign of Henry II. the English
national archives are fortunate in the possession of the unique series
of Pipe Rolls. On these annual account rolls were entered in detail the
issues of all the counties, escheats, vacant sees and other lands farmed
for the Crown. The details of these payments, including “relief” paid by
the heirs of deceased tenants in chief, amercements for innumerable
offences and other miscellaneous information, are most valuable to the
genealogist, topographer, and constitutional historian, but of greater
value to the general historian are the balancing items of money expended
by the sheriffs upon building operations, hiring ships, provisioning
troops, entertaining members of the royal family or ambassadors from
foreign courts, and in a hundred other different ways. From these it is
possible in many cases to follow the king’s movements, while often the
details given throw a cold, impartial light, corroborative or
corrective, upon the prejudiced or distorted statements of the
chroniclers. Of the corresponding Pipe Rolls for Normandy only that for
1180 and a fragment for 1185 have survived.
A large number of royal _Charters_ of this period have survived and are
of great value to the antiquary, though, for the most part, they yield
little to the general historian. The _Calendars of Charter Rolls_, Mr.
Round’s _Calendar of Documents preserved in France_, and the _Monasticon
Anglicanum_ contain the most important collections of these charters.
With practically no exceptions the charters of Henry II. are undated
and can only be assigned to their years by a careful examination of the
attesting signatures, but M. Leopold Delisle in a series of articles in
the _Bibliothèque de l’École des Chartes_ (1906-1908) claims that the
charters prior to 1173 can be at once distinguished from those of later
date by the absence from the king’s title of the formula _Dei gratia_,
which is invariably found from 1173 onwards. This theory has been
disputed, but the weight of evidence is in favour of M. Delisle.
Surveys of the manors and churches belonging to the canons of St.
Paul’s, made in 1181 (printed in the _Domesday of St. Paul’s_ by the
Camden Society), and of the possessions of the Knights Templars in 1185
(Exch. K. R., Misc. Books, vol. 16) are of interest for the light thrown
upon land tenure and agricultural life in general, and further
particulars can be gleaned from the many monastic cartularies, printed
and manuscript, which exist. Most important, perhaps, of all this class
of records is the “Boldon Book,” an elaborate survey of the possessions
of the see of Durham in 1183, which has been fully treated by Dr.
Lapsley in the _Victoria History of the County of Durham_.
_The Red Book of the Exchequer_, which has been printed in the Rolls
Series, contains the important returns of knights’ fees made in 1166 and
the “Constitutio Domus Regis,” an account of persons composing the
king’s household, their wages and perquisites, originally compiled in
the reign of Henry I., but equally applicable to the court of Henry II.
CHRONICLES
For the acts of Henry prior to his accession we are mainly dependent
upon the concise records of the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ and Henry of
Huntingdon, with the valuable addition of the more detailed _Gesta
Stephani_.
For the general history of the reign the _Chronicles_ of Robert of
Torigny, Abbot of Mont St. Michel, down to 1186, in which year he died,
and the _History_ of William of Newburgh are two of the most reliable
sources. From 1170 onwards we have the valuable aid of the _Gesta
Henrici_, known by the name of Abbot Benedict of Peterborough, which is
incorporated in the _Chronicles_ of Roger of Hoveden. The works of Ralph
de Diceto, Dean of St. Paul’s, and of Gervase of Canterbury are for the
most part compilations based upon other writers, but each contain a few
facts not found elsewhere. The _Annales Monastici_ and other monastic
chronicles printed in the Rolls Series and the _Annales Angevines_
(_Collection de Textes_) supply a few occasional details of local events
and serve to corroborate the more important works.
The bulk of the literature concerned with the Becket controversy has
been collected in the seven volumes of Canon J. C. Robertson’s
_Materials for the History of Thomas Becket_ in the Rolls Series. These
contain the _Lives_ by William of Canterbury, including a long list of
Miracles, Benedict of Peterborough, John of Salisbury, continued by Alan
of Tewkesbury, William Fitz-Stephen, Herbert of Bosham, Edward Grim and
two anonymous biographers, and also over eight hundred _Letters_
connected with the controversy. Some light is thrown on the contemporary
estimate of Becket by the Latin metrical chronicle, _Draco Normannicus_,
attributed to Etienne of Rouen and written before Becket’s martyrdom had
conferred upon him exemption from criticism.
Welsh affairs are recorded in the _Annales Cambriæ_ and the more
detailed _Brut y Tywysogion_, and much light is thrown upon them by the
_Descriptio Cambriæ_ and the _Itinerarium Cambriæ_ of Gerald de Barri
(“Giraldus Cambrensis”). The same writer’s _Topographia Hibernica_ gives
an interesting but inaccurate account of Ireland, and his _Expugnatio
Hiberniæ_ recounts the conquest of Ireland by Richard “Strongbow,” Earl
of Pembroke, and his companions. Another and more reliable account of
the conquest is given in the Norman poem, _The Song of Dermot and the
Earl_ (ed. G. H. Orpen, 1891); it appears to have been based upon
materials supplied by Morice Regan, secretary to King Dermot. In
addition to these sources we have, for Irish history, the _Annals of the
Four Masters_ and the _Annals of Loch Cé_.
Jordan Fantosme has left us a spirited Norman poem on the war between
England and Scotland in 1173-4, including the capture of the Scottish
king, at which he was present. Another poem, _Guillaume le Maréchal_
(ed. P. Meyer, Société de l’Histoire de France), throws considerable
light upon Henry’s later years, as does the _De Principis Instructione_
of Gerald de Barri and the _Vita Hugonis_, or Life of St. Hugh of
Lincoln.
On the legal and constitutional side we have Glanville _De Legibus_, a
formulary compiled by the justiciar about the end of Henry’s reign, and
the _Dialogus de Scaccario_ of Richard Fitz-Neal, an elaborate account,
historical and technical, of the exchequer.
In the matter of illustrating the life of the times first place must be
accorded to Gerald de Barri, who exhibits in a unique degree the
qualifications of a journalist; clever, humorous, plucky, possessing
immense self-confidence, a fund of quotations, a love of “purple
patches” and an eloquence of abuse worthy of his Welsh extraction, he
continually enlivens his pages with personal anecdotes, usually
scandalous. With him may be classed Walter Map, Archdeacon of Oxford,
witty and sarcastic. The _Maréchal_ poem, already mentioned, throws some
light on the life of the nobles, more especially of the younger landless
men, whose chief delight was in the tournament. The inner life of a
monastery is shown with singular fidelity in the _Chronicle_ of Jocelin
of Brakelond, monk of Bury St. Edmunds, and a few details of the general
life of the people may be gleaned from the writings of Alexander
Neckam.
MODERN WRITERS
The reign of Henry II. has been treated by Lord Lyttleton, and more
recently by Miss Norgate and by Mrs. J. R. Green. The period is also
covered by the third volume of Sir J. Ramsay’s solid and scholarly
_History of England_. Mr. Eyton in his _Household and Itinerary of Henry
II._ endeavoured to trace the movements of the restless king from day to
day and to assign to definite occasions his undated charters. Complete
success in such a task is not to be expected, but although there are a
number of mistakes, especially in the dating of charters, the work is
monumental and most valuable to the student. Finally, mention may be
made of Mr. Round’s various papers in _Geoffrey de Mandeville_, _Feudal
England_, and _The Commune of London_.
APPENDIX
ITINERARY OF HENRY II
This itinerary is based upon Eyton’s monumental work, the sources being,
first, the definite statements of the chroniclers; secondly, the
evidence of records, more particularly the Pipe Rolls, which prove the
presence of the king at certain places in the course of the year but do
not as a rule give an exact date; and thirdly, royal charters, which can
be dated within certain limits by the names of the witnesses. Where the
name of a place is given with a date in brackets, it indicates that the
place was visited during the year under which it appears, but that the
exact date is problematic. In cases where charters given at a particular
place can be assigned with reasonable probability, but not with
certainty, to a particular year, the place name is put in brackets.
1154
December 7 Barfleur
” 8 Coast of Hampshire
(Henry lands)
Winchester
” 19 Westminster
(coronation)
” 25 Bermondsey
1155
January 13 Oxford
[January, [Northampton]
February, York
March] Scarborough
[Lincoln]
[Peterborough]
[Thorney]
[Ramsey]
Nottingham
March [c. 27] London
April 10 Wallingford
[May, June] Cleobury
Wigmore
Bridgnorth
July 7 Bridgnorth
[July, August, [Worcester]
September] [Salisbury]
September 20 Winchester
[October, Cricklade
November, Woodstock
December] Windsor
December 25 Westminster
1156
January 2-10 Dover
” [11-31] Wissant
[St Omer]
February 2 Rouen
” 5 near Gisors
[February-August] Anjou
Mirebeau, in
Poitou
Chinon, in
Touraine
Loudun, in
Touraine
[September 1] Saumur
[October] Limoges
December 25 Bordeaux
1157
[January-March] Normandy
April [c. 8] Barfleur
Southampton
London
[May] Ongar
May 19 Bury St.
Edmunds
” 23-28 Colchester
[June] [Thetford]
[Norwich]
July 17 Northampton
[July] The Peak
Chester
[August] North Wales
December 13 Gloucester
” 25 Lincoln
1158
[January] Carlisle
[February, [Blythe]
March] [Nottingham]
The Peak
April 20 Worcester
[April-August] [Evesham]
[Tewkesbury]
Gloucester
Wells
Cheddar
Brill
Clarendon
[Westminster]
Brockenhurst
Winchester
August 14 Portsmouth
(Henry
crosses to
Normandy)
[August] near Gisors
September 8 Argentan
[September] Paris
September 29 Avranches
October [c. 9] Nantes
[October] Thouars
[November] Le Mans
November 23 Mont St.
Michael
[November, Avranches
December] Bayeux
Caen
Rouen
December 25 Cherbourg
1159
[? April] Blaye in
Guienne
Poitiers
May 21-23 Bec Hellouin
” 24 Rouen
June 6-8 Hilliricourt
” 24 Poitiers
” 30 Perigueux
July 1-3 Agen
” [c. 5] Auvillards
July-September Toulouse
[c. 26]
[October] Uzerche
Limoges
Beauvais
[November] Guerberoi
Estrepagny
December 25 Falaise
1160
Normandy
July Neufmarché
November 2 Neufbourg
December 25 Le Mans
1161
Normandy
March 1 Mortimer-en-Lions
[March] [Lions-la-Forêt]
Le Mans
[May, June] The Vexin
near Chateaudun
July-August Châtillon (? on
10 the Garonne)
[October] Fréteval
December 25 Bayeux
1162
February 25 Rouen
[March] Lillebone
Fécamp
[April] Rouen
[May] Falaise
Normandy
[September] Choisi on the
Loire
[December] Barfleur
December 25 Cherbourg
1163
January 25 Southampton
[February] Oxford
Salisbury
March 3-6 London
” 8 Westminster
” 17 Canterbury
” 19 Dover
” 31 Windsor
April Reading
Wallingford
[May] Wales
[June] Carlisle
York
Northampton
July 1 Woodstock
[July, August] London
Windsor
October 1, 2 Westminster
[October- Northampton
December Lincoln
The Peak
Gloucester
Oxford
December 25 Berkhampstead
1164
January 13-28 Clarendon
[March] Porchester
Woodstock
April 12 London
” 19 Reading
c. August 24-c. Woodstock
September 10
September 14 Westminster
October 6-20 Northampton
December 24-26 Marlborough
1165
[February] [Westminster]
[March] Normandy
April 11 Gisors
” [15] Rouen
May Southampton
Surrey
Rhuddlan
Basingwerk
[July] Shrewsbury
Oswestry
[August] Powys
Chester
[September- Westminster
December] Woodstock
December 25 Oxford
1166
February Clarendon
March [c. 20] Southampton
[April] Maine
Alençon
Roche-Mabille
April 24 Angers
May 10-17 Le Mans
June 1 Chinon
” 28 near Fougères
July 12-14 Fougères
[August, Rennes
September] Rédon
Combour
Dol
Mont St Michel
Thouars
[October, Caen
November] Touques
Rouen
Caen
November 18 Tours
” 20 Chinon
December 25 Poitiers
1167
January Guienne
February, March Gascony
April Auvergne
May Normandy
June 4 The Vexin
[July] Chaumont
[August] The Vexin
Rouen
September Brittany
October [Valognes]
Caen
November 26-December 4 Argentan
[December] Le Mans
December 25 Argentan
1168
January Poitou
[March] Normandy
April 7 Pacey
May Brittany
Vannes
Porhoet
Cornouaille
June Dinan
St. Malo
Heddé
” 24 Bécherell
Tinténiac
” 25 Leon
[July] La Ferté Bernard
[August Ponthieu
September] Brueroles
Neufchâtel
Norman frontier
[October] Perche
December 25-31 Argentan
1169
January 1 Argentan
” 6 Montmirail
March St. Germain-en-Laye
Poitou
[April] St. Machaire
May-July Gascony
August Angers
” 15 Argentan
” 23, 24 Damfront
” 31 Bayeux
September 1, 2 Bur-le-Roi
” 3-October Rouen
November 16 St. Denis
” 18 Montmartre
December 25 Nantes
1170
January Brittany
February 2 Séez
” [c. 25] Caen
March 3 Portsmouth
April 5 Windsor
” [c. 10] London
June 11 London
” 14, 15 Westminster
” [c. 24] Portsmouth
Barfleur
” [c. 30] Falaise
[July] Argentan
July 6 La Ferté Bernard
” 20, 22 Vendome near
Fréteval
August La Mote Garnier,
near
Damfront
September Roque Madour
October Tours
” 12 Amboise
Chaumont
Chinon
[November] Loches
November 23 Mont Luçon
” 26 Bourges
December 21 Bayeux
” 25 Bur-le-Roi
” 31 Argentan
1171
January 1-February [c. 10] Argentan
February [c. 11-25] Pont Orson
[March, April] [Brittany]
May 2-16 Pont Orson
[June, July] Normandy
Valognes
August 2 Portsmouth
” [c. 5] Winchester
September [c. 8] Welsh border
” 25 Pembroke
” 27 St. David’s
” 29-October 15 Pembroke
” 16 Milford Haven
” 17-31 Waterford
November 6 Cashel
” 11-December 31 Dublin
1172
January, February Dublin
March, April 1-16 Wexford
April 17 Portfinnan
” [19] Haverfordwest
” 21 Pembroke
” 22 Cardiff
April 23 Newport
” 24 Talacharn
May [c. 12] Portsmouth
Barfleur
” 16 Gorram, in
Maine
” 17 Savigny
” 21 Avranches
[June-August] Brittany
September [c. 29] Caen
[December] Le Mans
” 25-31 Chinon
1173
[January] Montferrand,
in Auvergne
February 21-28 Limoges
March [c. 1] Vigeois
” 5 Chinon
” 7 Alençon
” [c. 10] Gisors
April 4 St. Barbe
” 8 Alençon
April-June Rouen
[June, c. 25] Northampton
July Rouen
August 6, 7 Conches
” 8 Bréteuil,
Conches
” 9 Verneuil
” 10 Damville
” [c. 12-20] Rouen
” 22-29 Dol
September 8-15 Le Mans
” 25, 26 Gisors
[November] Anjou
November 30 Vendome
December 25 Caen
1174
January-April Normandy
April 30 Le Mans
May 12 Poitiers
[May] Saintes
June 11 Ancenis
” 24 Bonneville
July 7 Barfleur
” 8 Southampton
” 12, 13 Canterbury
” 14-17 Westminster
” 20, 21 Huntingdon
” 24, 25 Seleham
” [27] Brampton
” 31 Northampton
August 8 Portsmouth
Barfleur
” 11-14 Rouen
September 8 Gisors
” c. 22 Poitiers
” 30 Mont Louis,
near Tours
[October] Falaise
December [c. 1] Falaise
” 8 Valognes
” 25 Argentan
1175
January Anjou
February 2 Le Mans
” 24 Gisors
” 26 Rouen
March Anjou
” 25 Caen
April 1 Bur-le-Roi
” [c. 3] Valognes
” 13 Cherbourg
” 22 Caen
May 8 Barfleur
” 9 Portsmouth
” 18 Westminster
” 28 Canterbury
June 1 Reading
[June] Woodstock
June 24 Oxford
” 29 Gloucester
July 1-8 Woodstock
” 9 Lichfield
August 1 Nottingham
” 10 York
[September] [Stamford]
[Northampton]
London
Windsor
October 8 Windsor
” 31 Winchester
November Windsor
” 26 Eynsham
” c. 30 Winchester
December 25-31 Windsor
1176
January 26 Northampton
March 14 London
April 4 Winchester
May 25 Westminster
” [c. 30] Winchester
[June-August] Clarendon
Ludgershall
Titgrave
Marlborough
Geddington
Nottingham
Feckenham
Bridgnorth
[Shrewsbury]
August 15 Winchester
September 21 Winchester
” 28 Windsor
October, c. 9 Feckenham
” 17 Cirencester
November 12 Westminster
December 24,25 Nottingham
1177
January, c. 15 Northampton
” 20 Windsor
February 2 Marlborough
” 22 Winchester
March 9 Windsor
” 13 Westminster
” [c. 20] Marlborough
April 17 Reading
” 21 Canterbury
” 22 Dover
” 23, 24 Wye
” c. 26 London
May 1 Bury St. Edmunds
” 2 Ely
May Geddington
Windsor
Oxford
” 22 Amesbury
” 29 Winchester
June [c. 10] London
” 11 Waltham
” 12 London
” c. 16 Woodstock
July 1 Winchester
” 9 Stokes, near
Portsmouth
” 10-17 Stanstead, in
Westbourne
July c. 17-August 15 Winchester
August 18 Portsmouth
” 19 Caplevic
September [c. 1] Ivry
” 11 Rouen
” 21 Near Ivry
” 25 Nonancourt
[October] Verneuil
Alençon
Argentan
Berri
” 9 Châteauroux
La Châtre
Limousin
Berri
[November] Graszay
Grammont
December 25 Angers
1178
March 19 Bec-Hellouin
April 9 Angers
July 15 “Dighesmut,”
on English
coast
[July] Canterbury
London
August 6 Woodstock
December 25 Winchester
1179
[January-March] Winchester
Windsor
Gloucester
April 1 Winchester
” 10 Windsor
August 23 Dover
Canterbury
” 26 Dover
” 27 Westminster
[October] Windsor
Worcester
December 25 Nottingham
1180
[January] Oxford
[April] Reading
April [15] Portsmouth
Alençon
” 20 Le Mans
[May] Chinon
June 28 Gisors
[July-September] Quillebœuf
Bonneville
Argentan
Caen
Bur-le-Roy
Valognes
Cherbourg
Tenchebray
Damfront
Mortain
Gorron
Lions-la-Forêt
Driencourt
Falaise
September c. 29 Gisors
December 25 Le Mans
c. 31 Angers
1181
[March] [Ivry]
Grammont
March 5 Valasse
April 5 Chinon
April 27 near Nonancourt
[May] Barfleur
[July] Gisors
July 26 Cherbourg
Portsmouth
[August] Canterbury
Nottingham
Pontefract
York
Knaresborough
Richmond
Lichfield
Feckenham
September 6 Evesham
” 12 Winchester
December 25 Winchester
1182
January 6 Marlborough
[February] [Arundel]
February 21, 22 Bishops Waltham
March, c. 10 Portsmouth
Barfleur
[March-May] Senlis
Poitou
Grammont
St. Yriez
Pierre Buffière
June 24 Grammont
July 1 Perigueux
” c. 6 Limoges
December 25 Caen
1183
January 1 Le Mans
[February] Limoges
Aixe
March 1 Limoges
” 8 Poitiers
March Angers
Mirebeau
April 17-June 24 Limoges
Le Mans
July 3 Angers
December 6 Gisors
” 25 Le Mans
1184
[January-May] Limoges
Evreux
Rouen
June, c. 5 Choisi
” 10 Wissant
Dover
” c. 12 Canterbury
” c. 13 London
July 22 Worcester
” c. 25 Winchester
August 5 Reading
” 16 Woodstock
” c. 21 Dover
Canterbury
London
October 21-23 Windsor
December 1-13 Westminster
” 14 Canterbury
” 15,16 London
” 25 Windsor
” c. 31 Guildford
1185
January 1-6 Winchester
” 25 Melkesham
[February] Chipping
Campden
March [c. 10] Nottingham
” 17 Reading
” 18 Clerkenwell
Westminster
” 31 Windsor
April 10-16 Dover
” 16 Wissant
” 21 Rouen
May 1 Vaudreuil
November 7 Aumâle
” 9 Belvoir
December 25 Damfront
1186
[February] Gisors
March 10, 11 Gisors
April 27 Southampton
” c. 30 Merewell
Winchester
May 25 Eynsham
Oxford
July 1 Northampton
” 15 Feckenham
[July] Carlisle
September 5 Woodstock
” 9-14 Marlborough
October 20 Reading
November 30 Amesbury
December 25, 26 Guildford
1187
January 1 Westminster
February 10 Chilham
” 11 Canterbury
” 14-17 Dover
” 17 Wissant
February 18 Hesdin
” 19 Driencourt
” c. 20 Aumâle
April 5 Gué St. Remy,
near Nonancourt
June 23 Châteauroux
August 28 Alençon
[September] Angers
Brittany
Montreleis
[November] Bur-le-Roy
December 25 Caen
1188
January c. 4 Barfleur
” 13-21 Gisors
” 23 Le Mans
” c. 25 Alençon
” 29 Dieppe
” 30 Winchelsea
[February] Oxford
Northampton
” 11 Geddington
Bury St.
Edmunds
” 29-March 1 Clarendon
[Cirencester]
[March-April] Kingston-on-Thames
[March-April] Winchester
Woodstock
June 5 London
” 14 Geddington
July 10 Portsea
” 11 Barfleur
” [12] Alençon
” 16-18 Gisors
” 30 Mantes
September Ivry
October [c. 1] [Gisors]
” 7 Châtillon
November 18 Bonmoulins
December Guienne
” 25 Saumur
1189
February 1-3 Le Mans
March 20 Le Mans
May 19 Le Mans
June 4-9 La Ferté
Bernard
” 10-12 Le Mans
” 12 Frenelles
” 18 Savigny
July 3 Azay
” 4 Colombier
” 5, 6 Chinon: death
of King
Henry
INDEX
Aaron of Lincoln, Jew, 200
Abacus, the, 206
Abbeys, vacant. _See_ Monasteries, vacant
Abergavenny, 36
Abraham, the Jew, 199
Adelisa, Queen, 95
Adrian IV., Pope, 17, 22-23, 46;
Bull Laudabiliter, 114
Advowsons, 67, 178
Ælnoth, 146
Agen, 243
Aids, 203-5;
Sheriff’s. _See_ Sheriff’s aid
Aixe, 249
Alais, French Princess, 49, 152, 164-65, 168-69, 172
Alais of Savoy, 125
Ale, 226
Alençon,171, 244, 246, 248-49, 251
Alexander III., Pope, 46-47, 79-82, 85-87, 89-90,
94, 101-2, 114-15, 122-23, 158
Allington Cast., 145
Alnwick, 140;
Cast., 134
Amadour, St., 161
Amboise, 92, 245;
Cast., 127
Amesbury, 154, 248, 250
Anagni, Cardinal John of. _See_ John of Anagni
Ancenis, 247
Angers, 244, 248-51
Anglesea, 32
Anglo-Saxon Chron., 237
Angus, Earl of, 140
Anjou, 24, 136, 168, 242, 246-47
---- Fulk, Count of, 2
---- Geoff., Count of, 2-7
---- Geoff. of (d. 1158), 8-9, 16, 24, 44, 204;
Hamelin of. _See_ Warenne, Hamelin of;
Will. of, 16, 22, 62-63, 99
_Annales Angevines_, 238
_Annales Cambriæ_, 238
_Annales Monastici_, 238
_Annals of Loch Cé_, 239
_Annals of the Four Masters_, 239
Appleby, Cast., 131, 137, 147
Aquitaine, 8, 163
Ard-Righ (Irish King), 103
Argentan, 101, 242, 245-49
Arms, Assize of, 218-19
Army, 217-19;
Mercenaries (_see_ Mercenaries);
Scutage (_see_ Scutage)
Arnulf, Bishop of Lisieux. _See_ Lisieux
Arques, 7
Arson, 189
Arundel, 249;
Cast., 131
---- Earl of, 16, 49, 66, 79-80, 127, 135, 213
---- Joscelin of, 95
Aumâle, 250-51
---- Count Will. of, Earl of Yorkshire, 19-20, 131
Aumône, Phil., Abbot of, 65
Auvergne, 47, 93, 172, 244-46
Auvillard, 243
Avalon, Hugh of. _See_ Lincoln, St. Hugh, Bishop of
Avranches, 122, 242-43, 246
Axholme, Cast., 130, 139, 145
Aymary, Phil., 208
Azai, 171, 251
Baillol, Bern. de, 140;
Joscelin de, 83
Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, 163
---- Archd., 55
Bamborough, 136
Bampton, Hon. of, 202
Bandinelli, Cardinal Roland. _See_ Alexander III., Pope
Bangor, Bpric., 30
Bannow, 107
Baptism, Irish custom, 113
Bar, Count of, 141
Barcelona, Raymond Berenger, Count of. _See_ Raymond Berenger
Barfleur, 8, 122, 137, 142, 241-42, 245-47, 249, 251
Barre, Rich., 102
Barri, Gerald de (Giraldus Cambrensis), 38, 106, 166, 214, 226-27, 238-39;
Rob. de, 106
Basingwerk, 31-33, 37, 244
Bath, Bpric., 201
---- Reynold, Bp. of (Archd. of Salisbury), 128
Battle, Walter de Lucy, Abbot of, 52
Battle-axe, the Irish, 103
Bayeux, 88, 243, 245-46
Beauchamp, Hugh de, 132;
William, 6
Beaumont, Ermengarde of. _See_ Ermengarde, Queen of Scotland;
Rich., Visct. of, 164
Beauvais, 46, 243
Bec Hellouin, 243, 248
Bécherell, 245
Becket, Gilb., 54-55;
Mary. _See_ Berking, Mary, Abbess of;
Maud, 54-55;
Roese, 138;
Thos., Archb. of Canterbury. _See_ Canterbury, Thos. Becket, Archb. of
Belvoir, 250
Bennington, Keep, 146
Berenger, 87
Berkeley, Rog., 6
Berkhamstead, 244;
Cast., 131;
Hon. of, 57, 65, 72
Berking, Mary (Becket), Abbess of, 139
Bermondsey, 17, 241
Berry, 167, 248
Berwick, 134;
Cast., 144
Berwyn, Mts. of, 37
Beverley, Provostship, 57
Big, Raymond the. _See_ Raymond the Big
Bigot, Bigod, Hugh, Earl of Norfolk. _See_ Norfolk;
Rog. le, 135
Bishoprics, vacant. _See_ Sees, vacant
Bisset, Manser, 6
Blaye in Guienne, 243
Blois, 159
---- Count of (1188), 8, 47, 101, 127, 167
---- Hen. of. _See_ Winchester, Hen. Bp. of;
Steph. of. _See_ Stephen, King
Blythe, 242
Bohun, Engelger de, 96;
Humph. de, 128, 134-35
Boldon Book, 237
Bonmoulins, 8, 168, 251
Bonneville, 125, 137, 247, 249
Bordeaux, 242
Bosham, Herb. of, 74, 76, 78, 238
Boston, 77
Boulogne, county of, 62
---- Eustace of. _See_ Eustace of Boulogne;
Mary, Ctss. of, 62, 77;
Matthew (of Flanders), Count of, 62, 127, 132;
Will., Count of. _See_ Warenne, Will., Earl of
Bourges, 246
Bourton, 4
Bowes Cast., 131
Boxley, Abbot of, 99
Brabantine mercenaries, 27, 132, 142
Brackley Cast., 145
Brackelond, Jocelin of, 239
Brakespere, Nich. _See_ Adrian IV., Pope
Brampton, 247
Braose, Phil. de, 118;
Will. de, 153
Breifny, 105
Breteuil, 246;
Cast., 132
Breton, Rich. le, 96, 99
Bridgnorth, 242, 247;
Cast., 22
Brightwell Cast., 10
Brill, 242
Bristol, 9, 105, 112, 119;
Cast., 146;
Dublin granted to, 224
Brittany, 24, 44, 47-49, 132-33, 144, 245-46, 251
---- Conan, Count of, 24, 44, 49, 66, 144;
Geoff., Count of (d. 1158). _See_ Anjou, Geoff. of;
Geoff., Count of (d. 1186). _See_ Geoffrey, son of Hen. II;
Hoel, Count of, 24
Broc, Randulf, Ranulf de, 76, 82-83, 93, 135;
Rob. de, 95, 97, 99
Brockenhurst, 242
Broi, Phil. de, 63-64
Brough-under-Stanemore, 137
Brueroles, 245
Brut-y-Tywysogion, 238
Bungay, Cast., 130, 141
Burgundy, Dk. of, 171
Bur-le-Roi, 95, 124, 245-47, 249, 251
Burrell, a cloth, 223
Bury St. Edmunds, 11, 24, 135, 242, 248, 251
Cadwalader, Welsh prince, 26, 33, 36
Caen, 243-47, 249, 251
Caereinion Cast., 38
Caerleon on Usk, Cast., 112
Cahaignes, Ralf de, 199
Cahors, 46, 57
Calculating board. _See_ Abacus
Cambridge, Cast., 131
---- Earldom, 127
Cambridgeshire, 11, 226
Canterbury, 59, 94, 162, 243, 247-50;
Becket’s murder, 95-100;
Cast., 131;
Christ Church Priory, 52, 138, 227;
fire at, 11, 61, 230;
Henry II.’s penance at, 138;
moneyers, 208;
pilgrimages to, 157-58;
St. Augustine’s Abbey, 203
---- Archbpric., 16, 52, 74, 90, 201
---- Bald., Archb. of, 162, 166;
Rich., Archb. of, 128-29, 149, 162;
Theobald, Archb. of, 11, 15, 50, 54-57;
Thos. Becket (St.), Archb. of, Bibliography, 238;
burial, 99-100;
canonisation, 129;
as chancellor, 15, 46, 50-51, 57-58;
consecration as archb., 50-54;
early life, 54-56;
French embassy, 41-43;
Henry II.’s penance at tomb of, 138;
murder, 95-99, 122-24, 153;
pilgrimages to shrine of, 156-58;
struggle with the king, 58-95, 197
---- Geoff. Ridel, Archd. of. _See_ Ely, Geoff. Ridel, Bp. of;
Walt., Archd., 56.
---- Gerv. of, 238;
Will. of, 238
Caplevic, 248
Cardiff, 246;
Cast., 34
Cardigan Cast., 37
Cardigan, dist. of, 33, 35
Carlisle, 6, 40, 127, 242-43, 250;
Cast., 131, 134;
mines, 202, 225;
siege, 136-37, 139
Carmarthen, 34
Carrick Cast., 110-11
Carthusians, 154, 228
Cashel, 246;
Council of, 113-14
Castile, King of, 150
Castles in England, 12, 18-19, 130-31, 145-46, 210;
in Ireland, 118;
in Wales, 28
Ceiriog, valley of the, 36
Champigny, 136
Chancellor, 183
Chastel, Hugh de, 135
Châteaudun, 243
Châteauroux, 164, 167, 248, 251
Châtillon, 167, 243, 251
Chaumont, 48, 245
Cheddar, 242
Cheeses, English, 226
Cherbourg, 44, 243, 247, 249
Chester, 25-26, 37, 242, 244;
Cast., 130;
Irish trade, 224
---- Hugh, Earl of, 66, 126, 130, 132-33, 138, 144;
Ralph, Earl of, 6, 21
Cheyney, Will., 11, 49, 199
Chichester Cast., 131;
fire of (1187), 231
---- Hilary, Bp. of, 52, 65, 73, 75, 79, 82;
Joscelin, Bp. of, 128
Chilham, 250;
Cast., 131
Chinon, 24, 82, 125, 165, 167, 171-72, 242, 244-46, 249, 251
Chipping Campden, 250
Chirk, 36
Choisi-on-the-Loire, 243, 250
Church, the English, 60-61, 63-69, 128, 149-50, 193, 212-13, 234.
_See_ also Clarendon, Constitutions of, and Ecclesiastical Courts
---- the Irish, 113-15
---- the Welsh, 30
Churches, 232;
advowsons. _See_ advowsons;
lands granted to, 179
Cider, 226
Cinque Ports, 219-22, 224
Cirencester, 9, 248, 251
Cistercians, 227
Clare, Earl of, 34, 63, 141
---- Rich. of, Earl of Pembroke. _See_ Pembroke
Clarendon, 210, 242, 244, 247, 251;
Assize of, 182-85,187;
Constitutions of, 66-67, 79-81, 86, 89, 122, 177-82;
Council of, 65-69
Cleobury, 242;
Cast., 21
Clerical courts. _See_ Ecclesiastical courts
Clerkenwell, 250
Clifford, Rosamund (Fair Rosamund), 152;
Walt., 33
Clipston, 210
Clondalkin moor, 108
Cloth trade, 147, 223
Cock-fighting, 230
Cogan, Miles de, 108-11, 118;
Rich. de, 111
Coinage, 207-9
Colchester, 24, 222, 242;
Cast., 131
Cologne, Archb. of, 49
Colombier, 171, 251
Combour, 244
Conan, Count of Brittany. _See_ Brittany
Conches, 132, 246
Connaught, King of, 118, 120
Consillt, 31
Constable of England, office, 32
Constance (of Brittany), 144
---- Queen of France, 41
---- French princess. _See_ St. Gilles, Constance, Ctss. of
Constantin, Geoff. de, 130
Constantinople, 150
Constitutional history, 175-93
Conway, 32
Cork, King of, 120
Cornhill, Gerv. of, 93
Cornouaille, 245
Cornwall, cloth manuf., 223;
tin mines, 225
---- Reynold, Earl of, 16, 34, 66, 68, 118, 127, 133, 135, 152
Coronation, 15-17, 41, 51-52, 90-91, 123-24
Coudre, Simon de, 86
Courcy, John de, 116, 121;
Rob. de, 31
Court Christian. _See_ Ecclesiastical courts
Courtmantel, nickname of Hen. II., 173
Coventry, 225
Craon, Maur. de, 173
Cressi, Hugh de, 135
Cricklade, 4, 242
Crioill, Sim. de, 97
Crook, 113
Crowmarsh, 10-11
Crown demesnes, grants of, 18-19, 195
Crusade, 83, 153, 160-61, 163, 165-66, 169, 172, 200
Cumberland, 25
Cumin, John, 83
Customs dues, 224-25
Cynan, Welsh prince, 31
Damfront, 245, 249-50
Damville, 246
Danegeld, 203
David, King of Scotland, 6
---- Scottish prince, 127, 130
---- ap Owain, Welsh King, 31 128, 142
Dean, Forest of, 226
Debts, pleas of, 178
_De Legibus_, 239
Demetia. _See_ Wales, South
_De Principis Instructione_, 239
Derby, Ferrers, Earl of. _See_ Ferrers, Earl
Derbyshire lead mines, 225
Dermot MacMurrogh, King of Leinster, 104-9, 239
Dervorgille, Irish queen, 105
_Descriptio Cambriæ_, 238
Devizes, 6
Devon tin mines, 225
_Dialogue de Scaccario_, 239
Diceto, Ralph de, 238
Dieppe, 251
Dighesmut, 248
Dinan, 245
Dives, Will. de, 127
Dol, 132-33, 244, 246
Domfront, 87
Donnell Kavanagh, Irish prince, 107
Dover, 12, 23, 49, 59, 93, 220, 242-43, 248-50;
Cast., 127, 131, 210
Dover, Prior of, 99;
Rich., Prior of. _See_ Canterbury, Rich., Archb. of
_Draco Novmannicus_, 238
Drausius, St., 82
Drax, Cast., 18
Driencourt, 249-51;
Cast., 131
Drunkenness, 227-28
Dublin, 108-10, 112, 115-17, 224, 246
Duel, judicial, 190-91
Duffield Cast., 130
Dundonuil, 108
Dunham Cast., 130
Dunstable, 12
Dunstanville, ----, 66
Dunstaple, 63
Dunwich, 139
Durham Cast., 130, 141
---- Hugh Puiset, Bp. of, 90, 128, 130, 134, 146, 203
Dynevor, 35
Eastry, 77
Ecclesiastical courts, 60-61, 63-71, 149, 178-82
Edinburgh Cast., 144, 164
Eleanor (dau. of Hen. II.), Queen of Castille, 150
---- (of Aquitaine), Queen of England, 7-8, 24, 40-41,
44-45, 125, 138, 149, 163
Ely, 248;
Bpric., 201
---- Geoff., Ridel, Bp. of (Archd. of Canterbury), 72, 84, 87, 92-93, 128;
Nigel, Bp. of, 195
Emelin Cast., 142
---- dist., 142
Emma, Queen of North Wales, sister of Hen. II., 142
England, Church of. _See_ Church, the English
Epernon Cast., 46
Ermengarde (of Beaumont), Queen of Scotland, 164
Ernald the armourer, 36
Essex, Geoff. de Mandeville, Earl of, 25, 66;
Will. de Mandeville,
Earl of, 96, 127, 153, 171
---- Hen. of, Constable of England, 16, 31-32
Estrepagny, 243
Eu, Count of, 66, 72, 126
Eustace of Boulogne, son of King Stephen, 6-7, 11, 45, 56
---- Master, 55
Eva, Irish princess, 106, 108
Evesham, 11, 242, 249
Evreux, 250;
Bp. of, 102, 124
---- Count of, 46, 126, 151
Exchequer, 194-95, 206-7, 237, 239
Excommunication, 67, 181
Exeter, fire of (1161), 230
---- Bp. of, 52
Exports, 226
_Expugnatio Hiberniæ_, 238
Eye, Hon. of, 57, 65, 72
Eynesford, Will. of, 63, 72
Eynsham, 247, 250
Falaise, 91, 144, 156, 243, 245, 247, 249;
Cast. of, 136
Fantosme, Jordan, 239
Farms (firmæ) of counties and honours, 196
Faye, Ralph de, 125-26
Fécamp, 243
Feckenham, 247-50
Ferns, 109
Ferrers, Earl, 66, 126, 130, 142, 145, 176
Final concords. _See_ Fines
Finance, 194-211, 236
Fines, payments, 198-202
---- (final concords), 186-87
Fires, 230
Firmæ. _See_ Farms
Fitz-Audelin, Will., 114, 118
Fitz-Bernard, Rob., 113, 116-17
Fitz-Count, Brian, 10
Fitz-Ercenbald, Will, 202
Fitz-Gerald, Dav., Bp. of St. David’s. _See_ St. David’s;
Maur., 107;
Warin, 16
Fitz-Godebert, Rich., 106
Fitz-Harding, Rob., 105
Fitz-Henry, Meiler, 106, 110, 116
Fitz-Herbert, Herb., 118;
Will., 118
Fitz-John, Eustace, 31;
Will., 96
Fitz-Neal, Rich., 239
Fitz-Nigel, Will., 97
Fitz-Peter, Sim., 63-64, 66
Fitz-Richard, Rog., 134
Fitz-Stephen, Rob., 37, 106, 110-11, 113, 116-18;
Will., 74-75, 228, 238
Fitz-Urse, Reynold, 96-98
Flanders, Count of, 12, 16, 59, 62, 77, 127, 131-32,
139, 150, 153, 159, 162, 167, 171;
Ctss. of, 12;
Matthew of. _See_ Boulogne, Matthew, Count of
Flemeng, Steph. le, 119
Flemings;
banishment, 146-47;
clothworkers, 223-24;
heretics, 83;
mercenaries, 17, 119, 136;
in rebellion of the young king, 134-36,139, 141;
Welsh colony, 17
Foliot, Gilb., Bp. of London (Bp. of Hereford). _See_ London;
Rob., Bp. of Hereford. _See_ Hereford
Fontevrault Abbey, 154, 173
Forest laws, 147-49, 188, 205
Forest, Assize of the, 191-93
Forgery, 189
Fornham-St. Geneveve, battle of, 117, 135
Fougères, 244
---- Ralph of, 132-33, 144
_Four Masters, Annals of the._ See _Annals of the Four Masters_
Framlingham Cast., 130, 135, 141, 146
Frank pledges, 185
Frascati, 102
Frederic I., Emperor, 41, 46, 80-81, 150, 159
Freeholds, actions concerning, 190;
succession to, 189-90
Frenelles, 251
Fresnai, 170
Fréteval, 91, 243
Fugitive criminals, 185
Fyrd, 217
Galloway, 164, 204
Gaols, 185
Gascony, 244-45
Geddington, 166, 247-48, 251
Geoffrey, son of Hen. II.;
birth, 45;
Brittany acquired, 49, 144;
death, 121, 164;
marriage, 49, 144;
quarrels with Richard, 160, 163;
rebellion, 126, 133
---- illegitimate son of Hen. II. (Bp. of Lincoln),
128, 139, 156, 170-71, 173
Gerard, heretic, 83
_Gesta Henrici_, 238
---- _Stephani_, 237
Gilbertines, 228
Gilds, 223, 225
Giraldus Cambrensis. _See_ Barri, Gerald de
Gisors, 44, 47, 117, 129, 133, 143, 164-65, 242, 244, 246-47, 249-51;
elm of, 165, 167
Glamorgan, 34
Glanville, Ranulph de, 119, 140, 146, 186, 239
Glastonbury Abbey, 201, 231
Glendalough, 107
Gloucester, 119, 225, 242, 244, 247-48;
Cast., 21, 146
---- Rob., Earl of, 3-4;
Will Earl of, 5, 33-34, 72, 127, 146, 151;
Ctss. of, 34
---- Isabel. _See_ Isabel (of
Gloucester), wife of King John
Godred, King of Man, 41
Godstow Abbey, 152
Gorram, 246
Gorron, 249
Gospatric, son of Orm, 137, 147
Gower, 34
Grammont, 248-49;
monastery of, 160, 228
Grand Assize, the, 190
Grantham, 77
Graszay, 248
Gratian, Cardinal, 87
Gravelines, 78
Grim, Edw., 98, 238
Groby Cast., 130, 142, 145
Grosmont, 36
Gruffudd, of South Wales, 33
Guerberoi, 243
Gué St. Remy, 251
Guienne, 49, 243-44, 251
Guildford, 250
_Guillaume le Maréchal_, 239
Gundeville, Hugh de, 96
Guy, King of Jerusalem, 165
Gwynedd, Owain, King of North Wales. _See_ Owain Gwynedd
Harbottle, fortress, 137
Harcourt, Ivo de, 199
Hasculf Torkil’s son, 108, 111-12
Hastings, 220-21;
Cast., 131
---- Rich, de, 68
Haughley Cast., 135
Haverfordwest, 246
Haverholme, 77
Hawking, 214-15
Heddé, 245
Henry V., Emperor, 1
Henry I., King of England, 2-3, 33, 191
Henry II., arms of, 173;
Becket controversy, 50-102, 138, 140, 153-54;
birth, 3;
children of, _see_ Geoffrey, Henry, Joan, John, Maud, Richard, William;
coronation, 16, 41;
death, 173;
description of, 14-15, 213-14, 234-35;
England acquired by, 4-13, 25;
financial policy, 194-211;
foreign policy, 40-49, 150-53, 158-59, 164-72;
Ireland in reign of, 23, 103-21;
itinerary, 241-51;
legal and constitutional work, 175-93;
marriage, 8;
military organisation under, 217-19;
navy of, 219-22;
rebellion against, 19-22, 122-44, 160-62, 167-72;
Welsh wars of, 26-39
Henry, son of Henry I., 33
---- son of Hen. II., King, at Avranches, 123;
Becket and, 51, 65, 96;
birth, 21;
Brittany under, 49;
coronation, 51, 90, 124;
court at Bur-le-Roi, 124;
death, 161-62;
fealty sworn to, 22, 51;
French King aided by, 159;
marriage, 42, 44, 47;
rebellion, 116, 125-44;
tournaments, 215;
war with Richard, 160
---- Dk. of Saxony, 49, 150, 159
---- (of Blois), Bp. of Winchester. _See_ Winchester
---- of Pisa, Cardinal, 47, 51
Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. _See_ Jerusalem
Hereford Cast., 21
---- Archd. of, 168
---- Gilb. Foliot, Bp. of. _See_ London, Gilb. Foliot, Bp. of;
Rob. Foliot, Bp. of (Archd. of Lincoln), 128;
Rob. of Melun, Bp. of, 65, 81
---- Rog., Earl of, 6, 21
Herefordshire, vineyards, 226
Heretics, 83
Hertford Cast., 131
---- Earl of, 66, 151
Hesdin, 251
Hilliricourt, 243
Holy Trinity, Feast of. _See_ Trinity Sunday
Houses, 231-32
Hoveden, Rog. of, 238
Howel, Welsh prince, 112
Hugh (of Lincoln), St. _See_ Lincoln,
Hugh, Bp. of
Huitdeniers, Osbern, 55
Humet, Rich, de, 16, 96
Humez, Will, de, 132
Hunting, 214-15
Huntingdon, 247;
Cast., 130, 137, 139, 141, 145;
weavers, 223
---- Earldom, 25, 127, 139
---- Hen. of, 237
Hussey, Hen., 6
Hythe, 220-21
Ilchester, Rich. of. _See_ Winchester, Rich.
of Ilchester, Bp. of (Archd. of Poitiers)
Industries. _See_ Trade and Industries
Interdict, 67, 88-89, 101-2, 152
Ipres, Will. of, 17
Ipswich, 11
Ireland, bibliography, 238-39;
conquest, 16, 22-23, 104-21;
description, 103-4;
trade with, 224
Irish Church. _See_ Church, the Irish
Iron industry, 225-26
Isabel (of Gloucester), wife of King John, 151
_Itinerarium Cambriæ_, 238
Itinerary of Hen. II., 241-51
Ivry, 248-49, 251;
Conference at, 152-53
Jedburgh Cast., 144
Jerusalem, fall of, 165;
King of, 41, 165
---- Heraclius, Patriarch of, 162-63
Jews, 199-200, 218
Joan (dau. of Hen. II.), Queen of Sicily, 150-51
John (son of Hen. II.), besieged at Châteauroux, 164;
birth, 49;
grants to, 144;
Ireland under, 118-21;
marriage schemes for, 125, 151-52, 169;
Norman castles reserved for, 171;
rebellion, 172;
war with Richard, 163, 170
---- of Anagni, Card., 169
---- the Wode, 111-12
Jordan, castellan at Malmesbury, 10
Jorweth ap Owain, 112
Jorwerth the Red, 36-37
Jousts. _See_ Tournaments
Jury, trial by. _See_ Trial by jury
Justices, itinerant, 182-84, 189
Justiciar, 183
Kavanagh, Donnell, Irish prince. _See_ Donnell
Kenilworth Cast., 131
Kent, 127, 226
Kildare, 116
Kingston-on-Thames, 251
Kirkby Cast., 145
Knaresborough, 249;
Cast., 99
Knight service, 217-18
La Châtre, 248
Lacy, Hugh de, 116-18, 120-21, 132
La Ferté Bernard, 168, 245, 251
La Haye, 136
La Haye, Ralph de, 139
L’Aigle, Richer of, 8, 55, 66
La Mote Garnier, 245
Laudabiliter, Bull, 114-15
Lauder Cast., 130
Lead mines, 225-26
Legal codes, 177-93
Legge, Rob., 97
Leicester, 131, 133, 142;
Cast., 130-31, 133, 142, 145
---- Ctss. Peronelle of, 135-36;
Rob., Earl of (d. 1168), 6, 15-16, 66, 68, 75-76, 126;
Rob., Earl of (d. 1190), 126-27, 130, 132-36, 138, 144, 146-47
Leicestershire, Bertram de Verdon, Sheriff of. _See_ Verdon
Leinster, 104, 106, 109, 111, 116-17
Le Mans, 44, 166, 168-70, 174, 243-47, 249-51
Lenton Priory, 21
Leon, 245
Les Andelys, 48
Lesnes, priory of, 158
Lichfield, 247, 249
Liddel fortress, 137
Lillebonne, 243
Limerick, 117-18;
King of, 120
Limoges, 125, 160, 242-43, 246, 249-50
Limousin, 248
Lincoln, 21, 77, 241-42, 244;
aid paid by, 203-4;
Cast., 131;
cath., 56;
local tradition, 40;
weavers, 223
---- Bpric. of, 201
---- Bp. of, 63-64, 199, 203;
Geoffrey, Bp. of. _See_ Geoff., illegitimate son of Hen. II.;
St. Hugh (of Avalon), Bp. of, 154-57, 239
---- Rob. Foliot, Archd. of. _See_ Hereford, Rob. Foliot, Bp. of
---- Aaron of, Jew. _See_ Aaron of Lincoln
Lions la-Forêt, 243, 249
Lisbon expedition, 220
Lisieux, Archd. of, 74, 102
---- Arnulf, Bp. of, 65, 82, 102, 122, 128
Llandaff, Archd. of, 114
---- bpric., 30
Llantilis, 36
Llewellyn, Alexander, 73
_Loch Cé, Annals of._ _See Annals of Loch Cé_
Loches, 245
London, 12, 21, 129, 242-45, 247-48, 250-51;
aid paid by, 203;
Bridge, 225;
Fitz-Stephen’s account of, 228-31;
gilds, adulterine, 225;
Rouen’s trading privilege, 224;
St. Mary le Strand, ch., 56;
St. Paul’s Cath., 56, 87;
Tower, 57, 131;
weavers, 223
---- bpric., 52
---- Gilb. Foliot, Bp. of (Bp. of Hereford), 50,
54, 59, 65, 74-75, 79, 81, 87, 90, 93-94, 102, 138
Longchamp, Will., 168
Loudun, 24, 125, 242
Louis VII., King of France;
alliances with Hen. II., 13, 44, 152-53;
Becket protected, 79, 86, 89, 101;
death, 158;
Hen. II.’s homage to, 24;
marriages, 7-8, 41, 47;
pilgrimage to
Canterbury, 157-58;
rebellions against Hen. II. supported, 124-26, 132-33, 136, 142-43;
wars with Hen. II., 6-9, 46-49
Luci, Rich. de, appointed justiciar, 16;
at Council of Clarendon, 66;
death, 158;
defeat near Oxford, 11;
election to see of Canterbury held, 52;
excommunication of, 82, 87;
nicknames, 84, 128;
renounces allegiance to Becket, 78;
writ suspending forest laws produced, 148;
young king’s rebellion resisted, 127-28, 133-34
Ludgershall, 247
Lusignan, Geoff. de, 126;
Guy de, 126, 165
MacDonnchadh, King of Ossory, 111
Mackelan, 107
MacMurrogh, Dermot, King of Leinster. _See_ Dermot
Madog of Powys, 36
Maine, 24, 168, 244, 246
Malannai, 143
Malcolm, King of Scotland, 25, 40-41, 45
Malmesbury Cast., 9
Malory, Ansketil, 142
Malzeard Cast., 130, 139, 145
Man, Isle of, 41
Mandeville, Earl Will. de. _See_ Essex, Will, de Mandeville, Earl of
Manor-houses, 231-32
Mantes, 7, 167, 251
Manuel, Emperor of Constantinople, 150
Map, Walt. _See_ Oxford, Walt. Map, Archd. of
Marchers, Lords, 28, 38-39
Marches, Hugh de Mortimer, lord of the. _See_ Mortimer
Margaret, Queen (French princess), 41-42,
44, 47, 90-91, 124, 138, 157, 164
Mark, 207
Marlborough Cast., 144, 244, 247-50;
Council at, 81
Marshal, John the, 70-71, 75;
Will. the, 127, 129, 161, 168-70, 173, 215-16
Martel, 161
Mary, dau. of King Stephen. _See_ Boulogne, Mary, Ctss. of
Masci, Hamo de, 130, 145, 147
Matthew, Master, 4
Matthew of Flanders. _See_ Boulogne, Matthew, Count of
Mauclerc, Hugh, 99
Maud, Empress, 1-5, 18, 23, 48, 50, 81, 85
---- Dchss. of Saxony, dau. of Hen. II., 24, 49, 80
Maurienne, Hub., Count of, 125, 151
Mauvoisin, Will., 96
Meath, 116
Melkesham, 250
Melun, Rob. of. _See_ Hereford, Rob. of Melun, Bp. of
Mercenaries, 17, 27, 36, 45, 119, 129, 132, 136, 142, 194
Merewell, 250
Merionethshire, 37
Merton Priory, 55
Meulan, Count of, 126
Miles, son of the Bp. of St. David’s, 106
Milford Haven, 112, 119, 246
Militia, 217-19
Mines, 225-26
Mirabeau, 24, 125, 242, 250
Monasteries, 226-28, 239;
vacant, 149, 178, 201
Money, 207-9
Moneyers, 208
Money-lending, 199-200
Mont Dieu, Prior of, 86
Montferrand, 125, 246
Montfort Cast., 46
---- Hugh de, 32;
Rob. de, 31-32
Montgomery, 36
Mont Louis, 247
---- Lucon, 246
Montmartre, 89, 245
Montmirail, 86, 245
Montmorency, Hervey de, 106, 108, 117
Montreleis, 251
Mont St. Michel, 243-44
Montsoreau, 9
Morgan, Welsh prince, 29
Morin, Ralph, 97
Mortain, 127, 249
Mort d’Ancestor, Assize of, 190
Mortimer, Hugh de, lord of the Welsh marches, 21-22, 199
Mortimer-en-Lions, 243
Morville, Moreville, Hugh de, 96, 98-99, 137;
John de, 137;
Rich. de, 130, 137, 140
Mountsorel Cast., 130, 142
Mowbray, Rog., 126, 130, 136, 139-40, 142, 145
Munfichet, Gilb., 141
Munster, 111, 117-18
Murder, amercement for, 199;
punishment of clerks for, 150
Mutilation, 184, 189
Nantes, 24, 44, 242, 245
Nant Pencarn, stream, 34
Navarre, King of, 150
Navy, 219-22
Néaufles Cast., 47
Neckam, Alex., 239
Nest, Welsh princess, 33
Neufbourg, 243
Neufchâtel, 245;
Cast., 47
Neufmarché, 46, 243
Nevers, Bp. of, 89
Newburgh, Will. of, 238
Newcastle, 140;
Cast., 131, 134
Newnham, 112
Newport, 246
Nonancourt, 248-49, 251
Norfolk, Hugh Bigot, Earl of, deprived of castles, 25;
excommunicated, 87;
fine paid, 199;
high steward, 16;
in rebellion of the young king, 126, 130, 134-36, 139, 141;
re-created earl, 20
Norham Cast., 130, 141
Normandy, 4, 6-7, 23, 171, 242-47
Northallerton Cast., 130, 141, 146
Northampton, 20, 25, 65, 130, 141, 241-44, 246-48, 250-51;
aid paid by, 203;
battle at, 142;
Council
of, 70-77;
St. Andrew’s Priory, 73
Northampton, Earl of, 127, 139
---- Assize of, 189
Northamptonshire, iron industry, 225
Northumberland, 25, 127, 133-34
---- Hen., Earl of, 6
North Wales. _See_ Wales, North
Norway, 41
Norwich, 242;
aid paid by, 203-4;
capture of, 139;
Cast., 24, 131
---- Bp. of, 67, 151
Nottingham, 21, 147, 241-42, 247-50;
Cast., 131, 144, 210;
plundered, 11;
sack of, 142;
weavers, 223
Novel Disseisin, Assize of, 185-86, 189
O’Brien, King of Munster, 111
O’Conor, Roderic, Irish Ard-Righ. _See_ Roderic O’Conor;
Turlogh, Irish Ard-Righ. _See_ Turlogh
Octavian. _See_ Victor III., Pope
O’Dempsey, 116
Odrone, Pass of, 110
Offaly, 116
Offelan, 107
Ongar, 242
Ordeal of battle, _see_ Duel, judicial;
of water, 184
Oreford Cast., 131
Orewell, 139
O’Rourke, Tiernan, King of Breifny. _See_ Tiernan
Ossory, King of, 107, 111
Oswestry, 36, 244
Otford, Ch., 56
O’Toole, 107;
Lawr., Archb., 108-9
Otto, Cardinal, 84
Owain Cyveliog, Welsh prince, 36-37
---- Gwynedd, King of North Wales, 26, 29, 31-33, 35-38
Oxford, 12, 19, 65, 241, 243-44, 247-51;
battle, 11;
Cast., 131, 210;
weavers, 223
---- Walt. Map, Archd. of, 214, 227, 239
---- Aubrey de Vere, Earl of, 23
Oxford, John of. _See_ Salisbury, John of Oxford, Dean of
Pacey, 8, 167, 245
Pagham, man., 70
Painel, Gerv., 145, 147
Paris, 43-44, 242
Patric, Will., 132
Pavia, Cardinal Will. of. _See_ William
Paynel, Fulk, 202
Peak, The, 25, 131, 242, 244
Peasantry, 212, 232-33
Pembroke, 112-13, 246
---- Eva, Ctss. of. _See_ Eva, Irish princess;
Gilb., Earl of, 4;
Rich., Earl of, 49, 106, 108-12, 116-18
Pembrokeshire, 35
Pencader, 34
Penny, silver, 207
Perche, 245
---- Count of, 48
Périgueux, 243, 249
Peterborough, 241;
abbey, 21
---- Abbot Benedict of, 238
Pevensey Cast., 4, 24, 55
Peverel, Will., 21
Philip II., Augustus, King of France; 157-59, 162-69, 171-72
Pierre Buffière, 249
Pipe Rolls, 236
Pisa, Cardinal Henry of. _See_ Henry
Planches, 85
Plinlimmon, Mts. of, 34
Poer, Rob. le, 118;
Will. le, 119
Poitiers, 243-44, 247, 250
---- Richd. of Ilchester, Archd. of.
_See_ Winchester, Richd. of Ilchester, Bp. of
Poitou, 8, 48-49, 137, 144, 160, 163, 242, 245, 249
Pomeray, Jolland de la, 118
Pontefract, 249
Ponthieu, 245
---- Count of, 48, 126
Pontigny, 81-83
Pont l’Evêque, Rog. of, Archb. of York. _See_ York
---- Orson, 246
Porchester, 244;
Cast., 131
Porhoet, 245
Port, Ad. de, 136, 140, 202
Portfinnan, 246
Portsea, 251
Portsmouth, 90, 122, 242, 245-49
Portugal, King of, 162
Pound (in money), 207-9
Powys, 27, 36, 244
Prendergast, Maur., 106-8, 111, 117
Prestatyn, Cast., 38
Preuilly, 136
Prices, 209
Prudhoe Cast., 131, 139
Puiset, Bp. Hugh. _See_ Durham, Hugh Puiset, Bp. of
Quency, Rob. de, 116
Quillebœuf, 249
Quincy, Saer de, 96
Radnor, 34
Ramsey, 21, 241
Rastel, Rog., 119
Raymond Berenger, Count of Barcelona, 45
---- the Big, 108-10, 117-18
Reading, 31-32, 243-44, 247-50;
Cast., 10
_Red Book of the Exchequer_, 237
Redon, 244
Regan, Morice, 106, 108, 239
Relief, a death duty, 201-2
Rennes, 244
Reynold, Archd. of Salisbury, Bp. of Bath. _See_ Bath
Rheims, Archb. of, 150, 171
---- Council of (1148), 56
Rhuddlan, 32-33, 35-36, 38, 244
Rhys (ap Gruffudd), King of South Wales, 33-38, 106, 112, 128, 142
---- Gwrgant ap, 29
Richard I., son of Henry II., besieged at Châteauroux, 164;
birth, 40;
cross assumed by, 166;
Hen. II.’s fortune dissipated, 211;
King, 173;
marriage scheme, 49, 152, 164, 168;
rebellions, 126, 133, 137, 143-44, 165, 168-72;
wars with brothers,
160, 163;
war with Philip of France, 166-67;
war with Toulouse, 166
Richard, Prior of St. Martin’s. _See_ St. Martin’s, Rich., Prior of
---- Strongbow, 127, 238
Richmond (Yorks.), 249;
Cast., 131
---- Conan, Earl of. _See_ Brittany, Conan, Count of
Ridel, Geoff., Bp. of Ely--Archd. of Canterbury. _See_ Ely
Robert, Duke of Normandy, 1
Rochelle, la, 162
Roche Mabille, 244
Rochester, 95;
Cast., 127, 131
---- Bp. of, 52, 90
Rochfort Cast., 46
Roderic O’Conor, Irish Ard-Righ, 107-10, 113, 115
Roger, Archb. of York. _See_ York
Romney, 69, 220
Romsey, Mary, Abbess of. _See_ Boulogne, Mary, Ctss. of
Roquemadour, 161, 245
Rosamund, Fair. _See_ Clifford, Rosamund
Rotrou, Archb. _See_ Rouen, Rotrou, Archb. of
Rouen, 44, 129, 131, 133, 152, 242-48, 250;
siege, 142-43;
surrender to Geoff. of Anjou, 4;
trading privilege in London, 224
---- Rotrou, Archb. of, 81, 89, 102, 124
---- Etienne of, 238
Roxburgh Cast., 144
Rufus, Guy, 154
Rye, 221
Sackville, Nigel de, 93
Saintes, 137, 217
St. Alban’s Abbey, 176
St. Asaph, bpric., 30
St. Barbe, 246
St. David’s, 113, 115, 246
St. David’s, bpric., 30
St. David’s, Dav. Fitz-Gerald, Bp. of, 113
St. Denis, 245
St. Edmunds, Abbot of, 199
St. Germain-en-Laye, 245
St. Giles, fair of, Winchester, 223
St. Gilles, 151
St. Gilles, Count of, 45;
Ctss. of, 45
St. Hilaire, Hasculf de, 127, 132
St. John, John, 6
St. Machaire, 245
St. Malo, 245
St Martin’s, Rich., prior of, 94
St. Mary of Wigford, ch., 40
St. Michael’s Mount, 44
St. Omer, 242;
St. Bertin, Mon., 77-78
St. Omer, Otes, or Tostes, de, 68, 141
St. Yriez, 249
Saladin, 165
---- tithe, 166
Salisbury, 242-43
---- Reynold, Archd. of. _See_ Bath, Reynold, Bp. of
---- Bp. of, 67, 87, 90, 93-94, 102
---- John of Oxford, Dean of, 80, 83-84, 93-94, 102
---- Earl of, 6, 66, 127
---- John of, 22-23, 238
Saltwood, 95, 99;
Cast., 96, 145
---- Hon. of, 93
Sandwich, 93, 220, 222
Sarthe R., 169
Saumur, 242, 251
Savigny, 122, 246, 251
Savoy, 125
Saxony, Hen., Dk. of. _See_ Henry
Scandinavians, 108, 111-12
Scarborough, 60, 225, 241;
Cast., 20
Scotland, vassalage to England, 144;
war with, 134, 136, 139-40, 239
Scutage, 204-5, 217-18
Sees, vacant, 149, 178, 201
Séez, 245;
Bp. of, 82
Selby, 147
Selby, Fulk of, 147;
Will. of, 147
Seleham, 141, 247
Sempringham, Gilb. of, 228
---- Priory, 77
Senlis, 249
Sens, 69, 79, 87
Sens, Archb. of, 101-2
Sheriffs, 184-85, 187-88, 196-98, 206-7
Sheriff’s aid, 61-62, 197-98
Ships, 219, 221
Shipway, The, 221
Shrawardine, 36
Shrewsbury, 244, 247
Shropshire lead mines, 225
Sicily, 150-51
Silver mines, 202, 225
Skating, 230
Skenfrith, 36
Smithfield horse fair, 229
Society during the reign, 212-35
Soissons, 82
_Song of Dermot and the Earl_, 239
Son of Orm, Gospatric. _See_ Gospatric
Southampton, 58, 222, 242-44, 247, 250;
Cast., 131
South Wales. _See_ Wales, South
Spalding Priory, 21
Stamford, 247;
Cast., 11
Stanstead, 248
Stephen, King, agreement with Hen. II., 12;
death, 13;
forests relinquished by, 191;
grants by, 17-19;
Henry II.’s war with, 3-6, 9-11;
Lincoln tradition defied, 40;
money, 207;
revenues, 195
Stirling Cast., 144
Stockport Cast., 130
Stokes, 248
Strongbow. _See_ Richard Strongbow
Stuteville, Rob. de, 128, 140, 146;
Rog. de, 134, 136
Surrey, Hamelin, Earl of, _see_ Warenne, Hamelin, Earl of;
Will., Earl of, _see_ Warenne, Will., Earl of
Talacharn, 246
Tallies, 207
Tamworth, Ralph of, 83-84
Tancarville, Will. de, 126, 214
Tenants-in-chief, ecclesiastical, 178;
excommunication of, 67, 181
Tenchebray, 249
Tewkesbury, 242
---- Alan of, 238
Theobald, Archb. of Canterbury. _See_ Canterbury
Thetford, 242;
Cast., 145
Thirsk Cast., 130, 139, 142, 145
Thomas of Canterbury, St. _See_ Canterbury, Thos. Becket, Archb. of
Thomond, King of, 118
Thorney, 241;
Abbey, 21
Thouars, 44, 242, 244
Tiernan O’Rourke, King of Breifny, 105, 112
Tin mines, 225-26
Tinténiac, 245
Titgrave, 247
_Topographia Hibernica_, 238
Torigny, Rob. of, 237
Torkil’s son, Hasculf. _See_ Hasculf
Toulouse, 45-46, 57, 204, 243
---- Count of, 166
Touques, 244
Touraine, 168, 242
Tournaments, 215-16
Tours, 171, 244-45, 247
---- Steph. of, 169
Tracy, Will. de, 96, 98
Trade and industries, 222-26
Tregoz, Rob., 127
Trenchemer, Will., 32
Trial by jury, 179-80, 190-91
Trihan, Will., 173
Trinity Sunday, 53
Turlogh O’Conor, Irish Ard-Righ, 105
Turville, Geoff. de, 145
Tutbury Cast., 130, 142, 145
Tyre, Archb. of, 165
Ugoccione, Cardinal, 149
Ullerwood Cast., 130
Ulster, 113, 116, 121
Umfraville, Odinell (al), de, 128, 139-40
Urban III., Pope, 121, 165
Usurers. _See_ Money-lending
Uzerche, 243
Vagabonds, 185
Valasse, 249
Valognes, 245-47, 249
Vannes, 245
Vaudreuil, 250
Vaux, Hub. de, 6;
Rob. de, 134, 137, 139
Vendome, 245-46
Venedotia. _See_ Wales, North
Verdon, Bertram de, 146
Vere, Aubrey de, Earl of Oxford. _See_ Oxford
Verneuil, 132, 246, 248
Vesci, Will. de, 128, 134, 136, 140
Vexin, the, 7, 243-44;
Norman, 47
Vézelay, 172;
abbey of, 82
Victor III., anti-Pope, 46, 80-81
Viel, John le, 176
Vigeois, 246
Villeins, 233;
ordination of, 67
_Vita Hugonis_, 239
Vivian, Cardinal, 87
Wales, bibliography, 238;
Church, _see_ Church, the Welsh;
crusade preached in, 166;
description, 26-30;
mercenaries, 45, 48, 142;
wars in, 30-39, 51, 112
---- North (Venedotia), 27, 242
---- South (Demetia), 27, 106
Wallingford, 10, 22, 242-43;
Cast., 10, 131
Waltham, 248
---- Bishops, 249
---- Abbey, 153-54
Walton, 134;
Cast., 131, 134, 146
Wareham, 6, 9
Warenne, Hamelin, Earl, 62, 76, 127;
Isabel, Ctss., 62;
Will., Earl, 11-14, 24, 62
---- Reynold de, 49, 93
Wark, 136;
Cast., 131, 134
Warkworth Cast., 134
Warwick Cast., 11, 131
---- Earl of, 6;
Gundreda, Ctss. of, 11;
Ctss. of, 202
Waterford, 108, 110-13, 116-20, 246;
synod of, 114-15
Weavers, 223
Wells, 242
Welsh Church. _See_ Church, the Welsh;
mercenaries. _See_ Wales, mercenaries; wars
Westbourne, 248
Westminster, 23, 51, 150, 241-45, 247-50;
Abbot of, 199;
Council at (1163), 64
Westmoreland, 25, 127, 134
Weston Cast., 145
Wexford, 107, 110-13, 115-18, 246
Wigmore, 242;
Cast., 21
William (the Lion), King of Scotland
(1173), 127, 133-34, 136-37, 139-40, 143-44, 164, 166
---- King of Sicily, 150
---- son of Henry II., 22
---- grandson of Hen. II., 157
---- son of Rob. of Normandy, 1
---- son of King Stephen. _See_ Warenne, Will., Earl of
---- of Pavia, Cardinal, 47, 84
Winchelsea, 221, 251
Winchester, 12, 22, 94, 124, 166, 241-42, 246-51;
Cast., 131;
description, 222-23;
fires, 230-31
---- bpric., 201
---- Hen., Bp. of, 3, 11, 22, 52, 56-57, 71, 73, 95, 112, 203;
Rich. of Ilchester, Bp. of (Archd. of Poitiers), 80, 83, 87, 128, 137
Windsor, 242-45, 247-50;
Cast., 131
Wine trade, 222, 226
Wisbeach, Cast., 131
Wissant, 93, 242, 250
Witham Priory, 154-55, 214
Woodstock, 35, 40, 105, 155, 164, 192, 197, 210, 242, 244, 247-48, 250-51
Wool, 226
Worcester, 41, 223, 242, 249-50;
Cast., 131
---- Bp. of, 79, 102, 124, 162
Wurzburg, 80
Wye, 248
Yarmouth, 220
York, 146-47, 241, 243, 247, 249;
aid paid by, 203;
Cast., 131
---- archbpric., 74, 201
---- Rog. of Pont l’Evêque, Archb.
of, 52, 56, 65, 69, 74, 79, 90-91, 93-94, 149, 158, 203
---- Lefwin of, 199
Yorkshire, lead mines, 225
---- Earl of. _See_ Aumâle, Will., Ct. of
Yvor the Little, 33-34
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
at Paul’s Work, Edinburgh
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Later writers, anxious to depreciate Henry II. even to the extent
of making him illegitimate, and his mother a bigamist, retailed a
legend to the effect that the Emperor Henry V. had not died at this
time, but had retired secretly into a monastery: Giraldus Cambrensis,
_Op._ viii. 300.
[2] Mr. Round (_Feudal England_, 491-4) rejects the “Invasion of 1147,”
of which the only mention is the account given in the _Gesta Stephani_,
and considers that the events recorded relate to Henry’s visit in
1149. He is undoubtedly right in pointing out that the chronicler
confused Henry’s unwarlike cousin, Earl William of Gloucester, with his
loyal uncle, Earl Robert, making the latter refuse to give that help
which, had he then been living, he would certainly have rendered to
the utmost of his ability. On the other hand, what we know of Henry’s
visit to England in 1149 is quite inconsistent with the wretched fiasco
described in the _Gesta_, and when Mr. Round argues that “the statement
that Henry applied for help to his mother by no means involves ...
her presence in England at the time,” it is difficult to follow his
argument. Had Henry applied for money to any one outside England it
would presumably have been to his father, and, moreover, in 1149 the
empress could not have been in straitened circumstances.
[3] See list of witnesses to charter executed at Devizes on 13th April,
1149: _Sarum Charters_ (Rolls Ser.), 16.
[4] The connection between Louis and Eleanor was very distant, but
a literal observance of the Canon Law would have invalidated the
marriages of half the nobility of Europe.
[5] It is not quite certain when Richard de Luci was associated with
the Earl of Leicester in the justiciarship, but the earl was clearly
Chief Justiciar until his death in 1168, and may have held the superior
position by priority of appointment.
[6] Nicholas Brakespere, the only Englishman to attain the papacy, was
elected pope and took the title of Adrian IV. in December 1154.
[7] Roger of Hoveden mentions in particular the Yorkshire castle of
Drax as one of the last of many destroyed by Stephen.
[8] After his description of Earl William’s great castle of
Scarborough, William de Neuburgh adds that when in course of time it
fell into decay, King Henry rebuilt it. It is rather surprising to find
how soon this occurred, but the Pipe Roll for 1159 shows £111 spent
“on the works of the castle of Scardeburc,” and £70 spent on the works
of the “tower” (_turris_), a term which Mr. Round has shown to imply a
keep. Next year £94, 3s. 4d. was spent on the keep, and the following
year £107, 6s. 8d. on the castle.
[10] The claim of the popes to the sovereignty over islands was based
upon the forged “Donation” of Constantine.
[11] This payment of 500 marks, entered under Essex on the lost Pipe
Roll for the first year of Henry II., is copied into the _Red Book of
the Exchequer_.
[12] There are numerous references to the “nova terra” of Earl Warenne
on the Pipe Roll 4 Henry II.
[13] According to the _Brut y Tywysogion_ (p. 109), an English governor
on one occasion took certain action, “knowing the manners of the people
of the country, that they would all be killing one another.”
[14] Many of these were probably merely positions of advantage
strengthened with ditch and wooden stockade.
[15] See Round, _Commune of London_, 281.
[16] Details of these proceedings are to be found on the Pipe Rolls, 11
and 12 Henry II.
[17] In justice to Henry it must be remembered that the mutilation or
execution of hostages was the natural outcome of the rebellion of those
for whose good conduct they were sureties. A hostage who cannot be
punished for the sins of those whom he represents is merely a useless
expense to his keeper.
[18] The Pipe Roll, 12 Henry II., shows both these princes on good
terms with the English.
[19] The Pipe Roll for 8 Henry II. shows “60s. paid to William Cade for
gold for the crown of the king’s son, and for preparing the regalia,”
and the Roll for the twelfth year records the expenditure of 7s. “for
carrying the regalia of the king’s son into Normandy.” It would also
seem (see below, p. 91) that the pope issued a commission for the
Archbishop of York to crown the young prince.
[20] Gervase of Canterbury (_Opera_, i. 171) says that Thomas
instituted the feast of the Holy Trinity. It would seem that the Sunday
following Whitsunday was already sacred to the Trinity, but that he
gave to the feast a position which it had not held before in England,
and which it did not attain on the Continent till a much later date.
[21] The legend that the mother of Thomas was the daughter of a Saracen
emir into whose hands Gilbert Becket had fallen during a pilgrimage to
the Holy Land, and that, after helping Gilbert to escape, she followed
him to London, is of late date and absolutely without foundation.
[22] The actual salary of the chancellor was 5s. a day, but the
perquisites of the office, including the gifts which those who required
his favour had to make, were great. Becket himself was said, by Foliot,
to have paid “many thousand marks” for the office.
[23] Translation from one see to another, except in the case of
promotion to the primacy, was extremely rare, and almost unheard of, in
England at this time.
[24] A small point, not without significance as an indication of
character, is observable in the gradual degradation of the royal oath.
The Conqueror swore “by the splendour of God,” Henry “by the eyes of
God,” Richard “by the body” or “by the thighs of God,” and John “by the
feet,” or even “by the nails, of God.”
[25] Isabelle de Warenne had been the wife of William, son of King
Stephen, the cousin of William of Anjou. The connection being through
the Empress Maud there was no obstacle to her marriage, afterwards
effected, with Hamelin, the illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Anjou.
[26] Their names occur as owing these sums “pro plegio archiepiscopi”
on the Pipe Roll, 11 Henry II.
[27] The claim of the northern archbishops to have their cross carried
before them within the province of Canterbury was a continual source of
dispute for several centuries, leading to many undignified scenes.
[28] See Pipe Roll, 16 Henry II.
[29] See Pipe Roll, 12 Henry II.
[30] For a discussion of the authenticity of this letter of Pope
Adrian, see Round, _The Commune of London_, 171-200, and, on the other
side, Orpen, _Ireland under the Normans_, i. 312-8.
[31] This province had been previously offered to Herbert and William
Fitz-Herbert, half-brothers of Earl Reynold of Cornwall, and Jolland de
la Pomeray, but they had wisely declined the gift.
[32] The Pipe Roll, 19 Henry II., shows an expenditure of £32, 6s. 5d.
for the king’s maintenance at Northampton for four days; and it would
seem that he travelled without luggage, as over £72 was spent at the
same time on the outfit which the sheriff provided for the king. None
of the chroniclers notice this flying visit, but the evidence appears
to favour the end of June as the most probable date.
[33] All the authorities agree as to the rapidity of Henry’s dash to
Dol. Presumably he had with him only a small mounted escort.
[34] The Pipe Roll of 21 Henry II. shows a pension of 33s. 4d. paid to
her for the last quarter of the twentieth year. She seems to have died
in 1188, as the pension was then paid to her son John.
[35] “Fair Rosamund” was buried at Godstow Abbey, where the king set
up a wonderfully carved monument to her memory. As we find fifty marks
paid “for work at Godstow” in 1177, the first of a number of similar
payments, it is probable that she had been buried there the previous
year.
[36] She was apparently still alive in 1181, when a small allowance
was made her, the sum of 66s. 8d. paid “matri G. cancellarii ad eam
sustentandam” appearing amongst the charges on the bishopric of Lincoln.
[37] It is interesting to observe that Matthew Paris assigns to the
young king Henry a shield of arms,--per pale gules and sable, three
golden leopards; _Chron. Maj._ (Rolls Ser.), vi. 473. This bears every
mark of being an exceptionally early instance of differencing, and
makes it more than probable that Henry II. bore the red shield with the
three golden leopards, which has ever since been the arms of England.
[38] As for instance in the case of the disputed privileges of the
abbey of St. Alban’s, when his examination of their charters and his
comments thereon showed remarkable painstaking ability: _Gesta Abbatum
S. Albani_ (Rolls Ser.) i. 145-155. Another case, reported in still
greater detail, is the suit between the Bishop of Chichester and the
Abbot of Battle: _Chron. of Battle Abbey_ (ed. Lower), 78-115. For
an instance of the king’s appreciation of legal technicalities, see
_ibid._, 182.
[39] The Pipe Roll for 31 Henry II. records a fine of 500 marks imposed
on the Bishop of Durham for holding a plea touching the advowson of a
church in Court Christian.
[40] An instance of a difficult case being referred by the justiciar to
King Henry occurs in the _Chron. Mon. de Abingdon_ (Rolls Ser.), ii.
229.
[41] Instances of the blessing of the ordeal pits occur in the Pipe
Rolls. In 1166, for instance, 10s. was paid to two priests for blessing
the pits (_fossarum_) at Bury St. Edmunds, and in Wiltshire 5s. was
paid for preparing the pools (_polis_) for the ordeal of thieves, and
20s. to priests for blessing the same pools. As early as 1158 the
sheriff of Wiltshire accounted for making “the pools of the moneyers,”
and in 1175 in Hampshire there were payments made for “blessing the
ordeal pits (_fossis iuisse_), and the cost of doing justice on the
peasants who burnt their lord.”
[42] _Engl. Hist. Rev._, xxv. 709.
[43] The fragmentary return to the Inquest of Sheriffs made from the
Earl of Arundel’s lands in Norfolk has been printed as an appendix to
the _Red Book of the Exchequer_ in the Rolls Series, but was first
identified by Mr. Round.
[44] See Round, _Commune of London_, 229-233.
[45] In connection with the “sheriff’s aid” there is an interesting
entry in the _Chronicle of Abingdon_ (ii. 230), which relates that
a former abbot had granted the sheriff 100s. yearly to protect the
interests of the abbey’s tenants. The later sheriffs had continued to
draw the money while doing nothing for it, and Abbot Ingulf refused to
continue the payment, lest it should become established as a custom.
The matter was brought before King Henry, who gave his decision in the
abbot’s favour. The survey of the manors belonging to the canons of
St. Paul’s in 1181 shows that the payments due to the sheriff from the
different manors varied from 6d. to 4s. on the hide.
[46] The numerous references to Jews on the Pipe Rolls and in
contemporary chronicles have been brought together in Jacobs’ _The Jews
of Angevin England_. Examples of their dealings with monastic houses
may be found in Jocelin of Brakelond’s _Chronicle_, relating to St.
Edmund’s Abbey, and in the _Gesta Abbatum_ concerning St. Alban’s,
while an idea of their importance to the litigant in want of ready
money for legal expenses may be gathered from Richard of Anstey’s
famous story of the costs of his lawsuit (translated in Hall’s _Court
Life of the Plantagenets_), in which he accounts for some seventeen
different loans, amounting in all to £87, on which he paid £53 for
usury.
[47] The tally, the precursor of the counterfoil, was a wooden stick
on the edge of which the sum paid was indicated by a series of cuts
or notches, the various sizes of which indicated definite sums. The
stick being split parallel to its face, each party to the payment
retained one portion, with its edge thus significantly notched, and the
genuineness of either portion could at once be proved by putting the
two together, when the notches would be found to tally.