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diff --git a/old/61331-0.txt b/old/61331-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e8b4bc6..0000000 --- a/old/61331-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,21734 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Saxons in England, Vol 2 (of 2), by -John Mitchell Kemble - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: The Saxons in England, Vol 2 (of 2) - A History of the English Commonwealth till the Period of - the Norman conquest - -Author: John Mitchell Kemble - -Editor: Walter de Grey Birch - -Release Date: February 6, 2020 [EBook #61331] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, MWS and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Superscripted -characters are indicated with the ‘^’ (e.g. Serg^t). - -Footnotes, which were numbered consecutively on each page, have been -re-sequenced to be unique within the text. They have been repositioned -to follow the paragraph where they are referenced. - -Depending on your font, the Tironian shorthand ‘et’, used in Anglo-Saxon -passages and which resembles ‘7’, may not display properly. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. - - THE - SAXONS IN ENGLAND. - - A HISTORY OF - THE ENGLISH COMMONWEALTH - TILL THE PERIOD OF - THE NORMAN CONQUEST. - - - BY - JOHN MITCHELL KEMBLE, M.A., F.C.P.S., - - MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AT MUNICH, AND OF THE ROYAL - ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AT BERLIN, - FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF HISTORY IN STOCKHOLM, AND OF THE - ROYAL SOCIETY OF HISTORY IN COPENHAGEN, - ETC. ETC. ETC. - - ----------------------- - - “Nobilis et strenua, iuxtaque dotem naturae sagacissima gens Saxonum, ab - antiquis etiam scriptoribus memorata.” - - ----------------------- - - A NEW EDITION, REVISED BY - WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH, F.R.S.L., - - _Senior Assistant of the Department of Manuscripts in the British - Museum, Honorary Librarian of the Royal Society of Literature, Honorary - Secretary of the British Archæological Association, etc._ - - - VOLUME I. - - - LONDON: - BERNARD QUARITCH, 15 PICCADILLY. - 1876. - -[Illustration: - - PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, - RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. -] - - - - - CONTENTS. - - VOL. II. - - BOOK II. - - THE PRINCIPLES AND PROGRESS OF THE CHANGE IN ENGLAND. - - CHAPTER Page - - I. Growth of the Kingly Power 1 - - II. The Regalia or Rights of Royalty 29 - - III. The King’s Court and Household 104 - - IV. The Ealdorman or Duke 125 - - V. The Geréfa 151 - - VI. The Witena Gemót 182 - - VII. The Towns 262 - - VIII. The Bishop 342 - - IX. The Clergy and Monks 414 - - X. The Income of the Clergy 467 - - XI. The Poor 497 - - APPENDIX. - - - A. The Dooms of the City of London 521 - - B. Tithe 545 - - C. Towns 550 - - D. Cyricsceat 559 - - THE - SAXONS IN ENGLAND. - - ------------------------------------ - - - - - BOOK II. - THE PRINCIPLES AND PROGRESS OF THE CHANGE IN ENGLAND. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - GROWTH OF THE KINGLY POWER. - - -The object of the First Book was generally to give a clear view of the -principles upon which the original settlement of the Anglosaxons was -founded. But as our earliest fortunes are involved in an obscurity -caused by the almost total absence of contemporary records, and as the -principles themselves are not historically developed in all their -integrity, at least in this country, many conclusions could only be -arrived at through a system of induction, by comparing the known facts -of Teutonic history in other lands, or at earlier periods, by tracing -the remnants of old institutions in their influence upon society in an -altered, and perhaps somewhat deteriorated, condition, and lastly by -general reasoning derived from the nature of society itself. This Second -Book is however devoted to the historical development of those -principles, in periods whereof we possess more sufficient record, and to -an investigation of the form in which, after a long series of -compromises, our institutions slowly and gradually unfolded themselves, -till the close of the Anglosaxon monarchy. The two points upon which -this part of the subject more particularly turns, are, the introduction -of Christianity, and the progressive consolidation and extension of the -kingly power; and round these two points the chapters of this Book will -naturally group themselves. It is fortunate for us that the large amount -of historical materials which we possess, enables us to follow the -various social changes in considerable detail, and renders it possible -to let the Anglosaxons tell their own story to a much greater extent -than in the first Book. - -In the course of years, continual wars had removed a multitude of petty -kings or chieftains from the scene; a consolidation of countries had -taken place; actual sovereignty, grounded on the law of force, on -possession, or on federal compacts, had raised a few of the old dynasts -above the rank of their fellows; the other nobles, and families of royal -lineage, had for the most part submitted to the law of the comitatus, -swelling the ranks, adorning the court, and increasing the power of -princes who had risen upon their degradation; and at the commencement of -the seventh century, England presented the extraordinary spectacle of at -least eight independent kingdoms, of greater or less power and -influence, and, as we may reasonably believe, very various degrees of -civil and moral cultivation. In the extreme south-eastern corner of the -island was the Kentish confederation, comprising in all probability the -present counties of Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Surrey, and Sussex, whose -numerous kings acknowledged the supremacy of Æðelberht, the son of -Eormanríc, a prince of the house of Æscings, originally perhaps a Sussex -family, but who claimed their royal descent from Wóden, through Hengist, -the first traditional king of Kent. Under this head three of the eight -named kingdoms were thus united; but successful warlike enterprise or -the praise of superior wisdom had extended the political influence of -the Æscing even to the southern bank of the Humber. Next to Sussex, -along the southern coast, and as far westward as the border of the Welsh -in Dorsetshire or Devon, lay the kingdom of the Westsaxons or Gewissas, -which stretched northward to the Thames and westward to the Severn, and -probably extended along the latter river over at least a part of -Gloucestershire: this kingdom, or rather confederation, comprised all or -part of the following counties; Hampshire with the Isle of Wight, a -tributary sovereignty; Dorsetshire, perhaps a part of Devonshire, -Wiltshire, Berkshire, a portion of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and -Middlesex, up to the Chiltern Hills. Eastanglia occupied the extreme -east of the island, stretching to the north and west up to the Wash and -the marshes of Lincoln and Cambridgeshire, and comprehending, together -with its marches, Norfolk and Suffolk, and part at least of Cambridge, -Huntingdon, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. Mercia with its dependent -sovereignties occupied nearly all the remaining portion of England east -of the Severn and south of the Humber, including a portion of -Herefordshire, and probably also of Salop, beyond the western bank of -the former river: while two small kingdoms, often united into one, but -when separate, called Deira and Bernicia, filled the remaining space -from the Humber to the Pictish border, which may be represented by a -line running irregularly north-east from Dumbarton to Inverkeithing[1]. -In the extreme west the remains of the Keltic populations who had -disdained to place themselves under the yoke of the Saxons, still -maintained a dangerous and often threatening independence: and Cornwall -and Devon, North and South Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, -perhaps even part of Northumberland, still formed important fortresses, -garrisoned by this hardy and unsubjugated race. Beyond the Picts, -throughout the north of Scotland, and in the neighbouring island of -Ireland, were the Scots, a Keltic race, but not so nearly allied as the -Cornish, Cymric and Pictish tribes. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - There is not much positive evidence on this subject: but perhaps the - following considerations may appear of weight. The distinctive names - of Water in the two principal Keltic languages of these islands, - appear to be _Aber_ and _Inver_: the former occurs frequently in - Wales, the latter never: on the other hand, Aber rarely, if ever, - occurs in Ireland, while Inver does. If we now take a good map of - England and Wales and Scotland, we shall find the following data. - - In Wales: - - Aber-avon, lat. 51° 36´ N., long. 3° 47´ W. - Abergavenny, lat. 51° 49´ N., long. 3° 2´ W. - Abergwilli, lat. 51° 52´ N., long. 4° 17´ W. - Aberystwith, lat. 52° 25´ N., long. 4° 4´ W. - Aberfraw, lat. 53° 12´ N., long. 4° 28´ W. - Abergele, lat. 53° 20´ N., long. 3° 38´ W. - - In Scotland: - - Aberlady, lat. 56° 0´ N., long. 2° 52´ W. - Aberdour, lat. 56° 3´ N., long. 3° 17´ W. - Aberfoil, lat. 56° 20´ N., long. 4° 21´ W. - Abernethy, lat. 56° 19´ N., long. 3° 18´ W. - Aberbrothie (Arbroath), lat. 56° 33´ N., long. 2° 35´ W. - Aberfeldy, lat. 56° 37´ N., long. 3° 51´ W. - Abergeldie, lat. 57° 3´ N., long. 3° 6´ W. - Aberchalder, lat. 57° 6´ N., long. 4° 46´ W. - Aberdeen, lat. 57° 8´ N., long. 2° 5´ W. - Aberchirdir, lat. 57° 34´ N., long. 2° 37´ W. - Aberdour, lat. 57° 40´ N., long. 2° 11´ W. - - In Scotland: - - Inverkeithing, lat. 56° 2´ N., long. 3° 23´ W. - Inverary, lat. 56° 15´ N., long. 5° 4´ W. - Inverarity, lat. 56° 36´ N., long. 2° 54´ W. - Inverbervie, lat. 56° 52´ N., long. 2° 21´ W. - Invergeldie, lat. 57° 1´ N., long. 3° 12´ W. - Invernahavon, lat, 57° 1´ N., long. 4° 9´ W. - Invergelder, lat. 57° 2´ N., long. 3° 15´ W. - Invermoriston, lat. 57° 12´ N., long. 4° 40´ W. - Inverness, lat. 57° 28´ N., long. 4° 13´ W. - Invernetty, lat. 57° 29´ N., long. 1° 48´ W. - Invercaslie, lat. 57° 58´ N., long. 4° 36´ W. - Inver, lat. 58° 9´ N., long. 5° 10´ W. - - The line of separation then between the Welsh or Pictish, and the - Scotch or Irish Kelts, if measured by the occurrence of these names, - would run obliquely from S.W. to N.E., straight up Loch Fyne, - following nearly the boundary between Perthshire and Argyle, trending - to the N.E. along the present boundary between Perth and Inverness, - Aberdeen and Inverness, Banff and Elgin, till about the mouth of the - river Spey. The boundary between the Picts and English may have been - much less settled, but it probably ran from Dumbarton, along the upper - edge of Renfrewshire, Lanark and Linlithgow till about Abercorn, that - is along the line of the Clyde to the Frith of Forth. - ------ - -It is probable enough that the princes who presided over these several -aggregations of communities, had their traditional or family alliances -and friendships, as well as their enmities, political and personal, and -that some description of public law may consequently have grown up among -them, by which their national intercourse was regulated. But we cannot -suppose this to have been either very comprehensive or well defined. -Least of all can we find any proof that there was a community of action -among them, of a systematic and permanent character. A national -priesthood, and a central service in which all alike participated, had -any such existed, might have formed a point of union for all the races; -but there is no record of this, and, I think, but little probability of -its having been found at any time. If we consider the various sources -from which the separate populations were derived, and the very different -periods at which they became masters of their several seats; their -constant hostility and the differences of language[2] and law; above all -the distance of their settlements, severed by deep and gloomy forests, -rude hills, unforded streams, or noxious and pestilential morasses, we -can hardly imagine any concert among them for the establishment of a -common worship; it is even doubtful—so meagre are our notices of the -national heathendom—whether the same gods were revered all over England; -although the descent of all the reigning families from Wóden would seem -to speak for his worship at least having been universal. Again, there is -reason to doubt that the priesthood occupied here quite so commanding a -position as they may have enjoyed upon the continent, partly because the -carelessness or hatred of the British Christians refused to attempt the -conversion of their adversaries[3], and thus afforded no opportunity for -a reaction or combined effort at resistance on the part of the Pagans; -and partly because we cannot look for any very deep rooted religious -convictions in the breast of the wandering, military adventurer, removed -from the time-hallowed sites of ancient, local worship, and strongly -tempted to “trow upon himself,” in preference to gods whose powers and -attributes he had little leisure to contemplate. The words of Coifi, a -Northumbrian high-priest, to Eádwini, do at any rate imply a feeling on -his part, that his position was not so brilliant and advantageous as he -thought himself entitled to expect; and the very expressions he uses, -implying a very considerable degree of subordination to the king of one -principality[4], are hardly consistent with the hypothesis of a national -hierarchy, which must have assumed a position scarcely inferior to that -of the sovereigns themselves. Finally, I cannot believe that, had such -an organization and such a body existed, there would be no trace of the -opposition it must have offered to the introduction of the new creed: -some record there must have been of a triumph so signal as that of -Christianity under such circumstances; and the good believers who lavish -miracles upon most inadequate occasions, must have given us some -well-authenticated cases by which the sanctity of the monk was -demonstrated to the confusion of the pagan. The silence of the Christian -historian is an eloquent evidence of the insignificant power of the -heathen priesthood. - ------ - -Footnote 2: - - In the very early periods the Saxon inhabitants of different parts of - England would probably have found it difficult to understand one - another. - -Footnote 3: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. i. 22. “Qui, inter alia inenarrabilium scelerum - facta, quae historicus eorum Gildas flebili sermone describit et hoc - addebant, ut nunquam genti Saxonum sive Anglorum secum Brittaniam - incolenti verbum fidei praedicando committerent.” - -Footnote 4: - - “Tu vide, rex, quale sit hoc quod nobis modo praedicatur: ego autem - tibi verissime quod certum didici, profiteor, quia nihil omnino - virtutis habet, nihil utilitatis, religio illa quam hucusque tenuimus; - nullus enim tuorum studiosius quam ego culturae deorum nostrorum se - subdidit, et nihilominus multi sunt qui ampliora a te beneficia quam - ego, et maiores accipiunt dignitates, magisque prosperantur in omnibus - quae agenda vel adquirenda disponunt. Si autem dii aliquid ualerent me - potius iuvare vellent, qui illis impensius servire curavi.” Beda, H. - E. ii. 13. That Coifi is a genuine Northumbrian name, and not that of - a Keltic druid, is shown in a paper on Anglosaxon surnames, read - before the Archæological Institute at Winchester by the author in - 1845. - ------ - -Much less can we admit that there was any central political authority, -recognized, systematic and regulated, by which the several kingdoms were -combined into a corporate body. There is indeed a theory, respectable -for its antiquity, and reproduced by modern ingenuity, according to -which this important fact is assumed, and we are not only taught that -the several kingdoms formed a confederation, at whose head, by election -or otherwise, one of the princes was placed with imperial power, but -that this institution was derived by direct imitation from the custom of -the Roman empire: we further learn that the title of this high -functionary was Bretwalda, or Emperor of Britain, and that he possessed -the imperial decorations of the Roman state[5]. When this discovery was -first made I know not, but the most detailed account that I have seen -may be given from the, in many respects, excellent and neglected work of -Rapin. He tells us[6]:— - -“The Saxons, Jutes, and Angles, that conquered the best part of Britain, -looking upon themselves as one and the same people[7], as they had been -in Germany, established a form of government, as like as possible to -what they had lived under in their own country. They formed their -Wittena-Gemot, or assembly of wise men, to settle the common affairs of -the seven kingdoms, and conferred the command of their armies upon one -chosen out of the seven kings, to whom, for that reason no doubt, some -have given the title of Monarch, on pretence of his having the -precedence and some superiority over the rest. But to me that dignity -seems rather to have been like that of Stadtholder of the United -Provinces of the Low Countries. There was however some difference -between the Saxon government in Britain and that in Germany. For -instance, in Germany the governor of each province entirely depended on -the General Assembly, where the supreme power was lodged; whereas in -Britain, each king was sovereign in his own dominions. But -notwithstanding this, all the kingdoms together were, in some respects, -considered as the same state, and every one submitted to the resolutions -of the General Assembly of the Seven Kingdoms, to which he gave his -consent by himself or representative.... A free election, and sometimes -force, gave the Heptarchy a chief or monarch, whose authority was more -or less, according to their strength[8]. For though the person invested -with this office had no right to an unlimited authority, there was -scarce one of these monarchs but what aspired to an absolute power.” - ------ - -Footnote 5: - - Palgrave, Anglos. Commonw. i. 562 _seq._ The Roman part of the theory - is very well exploded by Lappenberg, who nevertheless gives far too - much credence to the rest. - -Footnote 6: - - Vol. i. p. 42 of Tindal’s translation. - -Footnote 7: - - This seems very doubtful, at least until lapse of years, commerce, and - familiar intercourse had broken down the barriers between different - races. - -Footnote 8: - - In the second edition of Tindal’s Rapin there is a print representing - the Kings of the Heptarchy in council. The president, Monarch or - Bretwalda, is very amusingly made larger and more ferocious than the - rest, to express his superior dignity! - ------ - -This description has at least the advantage of detail and of -consistency, even though it should unfortunately lack that of truth; but -most of those who in more modern times have adopted the hypothesis, -refrain from giving us any explanation of the fact it assumes: they tell -us indeed the title, and profess to name those who successively bore it, -but they are totally silent as to the powers of this great public -officer, as to the mode of his appointment, the manner in which he -exerted his authority, or the object for which such authority was found -necessary. I must frankly confess that I am unable to find any evidence -whatever in favour of this view, which appears to me totally -inconsistent with everything which we know of the state and principles -of society at the early period with which we have to deal. In point of -fact, everything depends upon the way in which we construe a passage of -Beda, together with one in the Saxon Chronicle, borrowed from him, and -the meaning which history and philology justify us in giving to the -words made use of by both authors. As the question is of some -importance, it may as well be disposed of at once, although only two -so-called Bretwaldas are recorded previous to the seventh century. - -Modern ingenuity, having hastily acquiesced in the existence of this -authority, has naturally been somewhat at a loss to account for it; yet -this is obviously the most important part of the problem: accordingly -Mr. Sharon Turner looks upon the Bretwalda as a kind of war-king, a -temporary military leader: he says[9],— - -“The disaster of Ceawlin gave safety to Kent. Ethelbert preserved his -authority in that kingdom, and at length proceeded to that insulary -predominance among the Anglosaxon kings, which they called the -Bretwalda, or the ruler of Britain. Whether this was a mere title -assumed by Hengist, and afterwards by Ella, and continued by the most -successful Anglosaxon prince of his day, or conceded in any national -council of all the Anglosaxons, or ambitiously assumed by the Saxon king -that most felt and pressed his temporary power,—whether it was an -imitation of the British unbennaeth, or a continuation of the Saxon -custom of electing a war-cyning, cannot now be ascertained.” - ------ - -Footnote 9: - - Hist. Angl. Sax. bk. iii. ch. 5, vol. i. p. 319. - ------ - -To this he adds in a note:— - -“The proper force of this word Bretwalda cannot imply conquest, because -Ella the First is not said to have conquered Hengist or Cerdic; nor did -the other Bretwaldas conquer the other Saxon kingdoms.” - -Again he returns to the charge: in the eighth chapter of the same book, -he says[10]:— - -“Perhaps the conjecture on this dignity which would come nearest the -truth, would be, that it was the Walda or ruler of the Saxon kingdoms -against the Britons, while the latter maintained the struggle for the -possession of the country,—a species of Agamemnon against the general -enemy, not a title of dignity or power against each other. If so, it -would be but the war-king of the Saxons in Britain, against its native -chiefs.” - ------ - -Footnote 10: - - Hist. Angl. Sax. i. 378. - ------ - -Lappenberg, adopting this last view, refines upon it in detail: he -believes the Bretwalda to have been the elected generalissimo of the -Saxons against the Welsh or other Keltic races, and that as the tide of -conquest rolled onwards, the dignity shifted to the shoulders of that -prince whose position made him the best guardian of the frontiers. But -this will scarcely account to us for the Bretwaldadom of Ælle in Sussex, -Æðelberht in Kent, or Rǽdwald in Eastanglia; yet these are three -especially named. Besides we have a right to require some evidence that -there ever was a common action of the Saxons against the Britons, and -that they really were in the habit of appointing war-kings in England, -two points on which there exists not a tittle of proof. Indeed it seems -clear to me that a piece of vicious philology lurks at the bottom of -this whole theory, and that it rests entirely upon the supposition that -_Bret_walda means Ruler of the _Britons_, which is entirely erroneous. -Yet one would think that on this point there ought to have been no doubt -for even a moment, and that it hardly required for its refutation the -philological demonstration which will be given. Let us ask by whom was -the name used or applied? By the Saxons: but surely the Saxons could -never mean to designate themselves by the name _Bret_, Britain; nor on -the other hand could a general against the Britons be properly called -their _wealda_ or king, the relation expressed by the word _wealda_ -being that of sovereignty over subjects, not opposition to enemies. - -Moreover, if this British theory were at all sound, how could we account -for the title being so rarely given to the kings of Wessex, and never to -those of Mercia, both of whom were nevertheless in continual hostile -contact with the Welsh, and of whom the former at least exercised -sovereign rights over a numerous Welsh population dispersed throughout -their dominions? Again, why should it have been given to successive -kings of Northumberland, whose contact with the British aborigines, even -as Picts, was not of any long continuance or great moment[11]? Above -all, why should it not have been given to Æðelfríð, who as Beda tells us -was the most severe scourge the Kelts had ever met with[12]? But there -are other serious difficulties arising from the nature of the military -force which, on any one of the suppositions we are considering, must -have been placed at this war-king’s disposal: is it, for example, -conceivable, that people whose military duty did not extend beyond the -defence of their own frontiers, and who even then could only be brought -into the field under the conduct of their own shire-officers, would have -marched away from home, under a foreign king, to form part of a mixed -army? still more, that the comites of various princes, whose bond and -duty were of the most strictly personal character, could have been -mustered under the banner of a stranger[13]? Yet all this must be -assumed to have been usual and easy, if we admit the received opinions -as to the Bretwalda. We should also be entitled to ask how it happened -that Wulfhere, Æðelbald, Offa, Cénwulf, the preeminently military kings -of the Mercians, should have refrained from the use of a title so -properly belonging to their preponderating power in England, and so -useful in giving a legal and privileged authority to the measures of -permanent aggrandizement which their resources enabled them to take? - ------ - -Footnote 11: - - I am not aware of the Picts, Peohtas, having ever been numbered among - the Bretwealhas. - -Footnote 12: - - Hist. Eccl. i. 34. “Nemo enim in tribunis, nemo in regibus plures - eorum terras, exterminatis vel subiugatis indigenis, aut tributarias - genti Anglorum, aut habitabiles fecit.” - -Footnote 13: - - Nearly the only instance recorded of a mixed army, is that of Penda at - Winwedfeld; but it does not appear that this consisted of anything - more than the Comitatus of various chieftains personally dependent - upon, or in alliance with, himself. We do not learn that οἰOswiu’s - victory gave him any rights over the freemen in Eastanglia, which - could hardly have been wanting had the Eastanglian _hereban_ or _fyrd_ - served under Penda. - ------ - -Another supposition, that this dignity was in some way connected with -the ecclesiastical establishment, the foundation of new bishoprics[14] -or the presidency of the national synods, seems equally untenable; for -in the first place there were Bretwaldas before the introduction of -Christianity; and the intervention of particular princes in the -foundation of sees, without the limits of their own dominions, may be -explained without having recourse to any such hypothesis; again, the -Church never agreed to any unity till the close of the seventh century -under Theodore of Tarsus; and lastly the presidency of the synods, which -were generally held in Mercia[15], was almost exclusively in the hands -of the Mercian princes, till the Danes put an end to their kingdom, and -yet those princes never bore the title at all. In point of fact, there -was no such special title or special office, and the whole theory is -constructed upon an insufficient and untenable basis. - ------ - -Footnote 14: - - Lappenberg seems to connect these ideas together. - -Footnote 15: - - The synods were mostly held at Cealchýð or at Clofeshoas. The first of - these places is doubtful: all that can be said with certainty, is, - that it was not Challock in Kent, as Ingram supposes: the Saxon name - of that place was Cealfloca. I entertain little doubt that Clofeshoas - was in the county of Gloucester and hundred of Westminster. - ------ - -It will be readily admitted that the fancies of the Norman chroniclers -may at once be passed over unnoticed; they are worth no more than the -still later doctrines of Rapin and others, and rest upon nothing but -their explanation of passages which we are equally at liberty to examine -and test for ourselves: I mean the passages already alluded to from Beda -and the Saxon Chronicle. Let us see then what Beda says upon this -subject. He speaks thus of Æðelberht[16]:— - -“In the year of our Lord’s incarnation six hundred and sixteen, which is -the twenty-first from that wherein Augustine and his comrades were -despatched to preach unto the race of the Angles, Æðelberht, the king of -the men of Kent, after a temporal reign which he had held most -gloriously for six and fifty years, entered the eternal joys of the -heavenly kingdom: who was indeed but the third among the kings of the -Angle race who ruled over all the southern provinces, which are -separated from those of the north by the river Humber and its contiguous -boundaries; but the first of all who ascended to the kingdom of heaven. -For the first of all who obtained this empire was Ælli, king of the -Southsaxons: the second was Caelin, king of the Westsaxons, who in their -tongue was called Ceaulin: the third, as I have said, was Æðilberht, -king of the men of Kent: the fourth was Redwald, king of the -Eastanglians, who even during the life of Æðilberht, obtained -predominance for his nation: the fifth, Aeduini, king of the race of -Northumbrians, that is, the race which inhabits the northern district of -the river Humber, presided with greater power over all the populations -which dwell in Britain, Britons and Angles alike, save only the men of -Kent; he also subdued to the empire of the Angles, the Mevanian isles, -which lie between Ireland and Britain: the sixth Oswald, himself that -most Christian king of the Northumbrians, had rule with the same -boundaries: the seventh Osuiu, his brother, having for some time -governed his kingdom within nearly the same boundaries, for the most -part subdued or reduced to a tributary condition the nations also of the -Picts and Scots, who occupy the northern ends of Britain.” - ------ - -Footnote 16: - - Hist. Eccl. ii. 5. - ------ - -Certainly, it must be admitted that the exception of the Men of Kent, in -the case of Eádwini, is a serious blow to the Bretwalda theory. I have -used the word _predominance_, to express the _ducatus_ or _leadership_, -of Beda, and it is clear that such a leadership is what he means to -convey. But in all the cases which he has cited, it is equally clear -from every part of his book, that the fact was a merely accidental one, -fully explained by the peculiar circumstances in every instance: it is -invariably connected with conquest, and preponderant military power: a -successful battle either against Kelt or Saxon, by removing a dangerous -neighbour or dissolving a threatening confederacy, placed greater means -at the disposal of any one prince than could be turned against him by -any other or combination of others; and he naturally assumed a right to -dictate to them, _iure belli_, in all transactions where he chose to -consider his own interests concerned. But all the facts in every case -show that there was no concert, no regular dignity, and no regular means -of obtaining it; that it was a mere fluctuating superiority, such as we -may find in Owhyhee, Tahiti, or New Zealand, due to success in war, and -lost in turn by defeat. On the rout of Ceawlin, the second Bretwalda, by -the Welsh, we learn that he was expelled from the throne, and succeeded -by Ceólwulf, who spent many years in struggles against Angles, Welsh, -Scots and Picts[17]: according to Turner’s and Lappenberg’s theory, he -was the very man to have been made Bretwalda; but we do not find this to -have been the case, or that the dignity returned to the intervening -Sussex; but Æðelberht of Kent, whose ambition had years before led him -to measure his force against Ceawlin’s, stepped into the vacant -monarchy. The truth is that Æðelberht, who had husbanded his resources, -and was of all the Saxon kings the least exposed to danger from the -Keltic populations, was enabled to impose his authority upon his brother -kings, and to make his own terms: and in a similar way, at a later -period, it is clear that Rædwald of Eastanglia was enabled to deprive -him of it. I therefore again conclude that this so-called Bretwaldadom -was a mere accidental predominance; there is no peculiar function, duty -or privilege anywhere mentioned as appertaining to it; and when Beda -describes Eádwini of Northumberland proceeding with the Roman _tufa_ or -banner before him, as an ensign of dignity, he does so in terms which -show that it was not, as Palgrave seems to imagine, an ensign of -imperial authority used by all Bretwaldas, but a peculiar and remarkable -affectation of that particular prince. Before I leave this word -_ducatus_, I may call attention to the fact that Ecgberht, whom the -Saxon Chronicle adds to the list given by Beda, has left some charters -in which he also uses it[18], and that they are the only charters in -which it does occur. From these it appears that he dated his reign ten -years earlier than his _ducatus_, that is, that he was _rex_ in 802, but -not _dux_ till 812. Now it is especially observable that in 812 he had -not yet commenced that career of successful aggression against the other -Saxon kingdoms, which justified the Chronicler in numbering him among -those whom Camden and Rapin call the Monarchs, and Palgrave the Emperors -of Britain. He did not attack Mercia and subdue Kent till 825: in the -same year he formed his alliance with Eastanglia: only in 820 did he -ruin the power of Mercia, and receive the submission of the -Northumbrians. But in the year 812 he did move an army against the -Welsh, and remained for several months engaged in military operations -within their frontier: there is every reason then to think that the -_ducatus_ of Ecgberht is only a record of those conquests over his -British neighbours, which enabled him to turn his hand with such -complete success against his Anglosaxon rivals; and thus that it has no -reference to the expression used by Beda to express the factitious -preponderance of one king over another. Let us now inquire to what the -passage in the Saxon Chronicle amounts, which has put so many of our -historians upon a wrong track, by supplying them with the suspicious -name Bretwalda. Speaking of Ecgberht the Chronicler says[19], “And the -same year king Ecgberht overran the kingdom of the Mercians, and all -that was south of the Humber; and he was the eighth king who was -Bretwalda.” And then, after naming the seven mentioned by Beda, and -totally omitting all notice of the Mercian kings, he concludes,—“the -eighth was Ecgberht, king of the Westsaxons.” - ------ - -Footnote 17: - - Chron. Sax. an. 591, 597. - -Footnote 18: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 1038, 1039, 1041. - -Footnote 19: - - Chron. Sax. an. 827. - ------ - -Now it is somewhat remarkable that of six manuscripts in which this -passage occurs, one only reads Bretwalda: of the remaining five, four -have Bryten-walda or-wealda, and one Breten-anweald, which is precisely -synonymous with Brytenwealda. All the rules of orderly criticism would -therefore compel us to look upon this as the right reading, and we are -confirmed in so doing by finding that Æðelstán in one of his -charters[20] calls himself also “Brytenwealda ealles ðyses -ealondes,”—ruler or monarch of all this island. Now the true meaning of -this word, which is compounded of _wealda_, a ruler, and the adjective -_bryten_, is totally unconnected with Bret or Bretwealh, the name of the -British aborigines, the resemblance to which is merely accidental: -_bryten_ is derived from _breótan_, to distribute, to divide, to break -into small portions, to disperse: it is a common prefix to words -denoting wide or general dispersion[21], and when coupled with _wealda_ -means no more than an extensive, powerful king, a king whose power is -widely extended. We must therefore give up the most attractive and -seducing part of all this theory, the name, which rests upon nothing but -the passage in one manuscript of the Chronicle,—and that, far from equal -to the rest in antiquity or correctness of language: and as for anything -beyond the name, I again repeat that we are indebted for it to nothing -but the ingenuity of modern scholars, deceived by what they fancied the -name itself; that there is not the slightest evidence of a king -exercising a central authority, and very little at any time, of a -combined action among the Saxons; and that it is quite as improbable -that any Saxon king should ever have had a federal army to command, as -it is certainly false that there ever was a general Witena gemót for him -to preside over. I must therefore in conclusion declare my disbelief as -well in a college of kings, as in an officer, elected or otherwise -appointed, whom they considered as their head. The development of all -the Anglosaxon kingdoms was of far too independent and fortuitous a -character for us to assume any general concert among them, especially as -that independence is manifested upon those points particularly, where a -central and combined action would have been most certain to show -itself[22]. - ------ - -Footnote 20: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1110. “Ongolsaxna cyning ⁊ brytænwalda ealles ðyses - iglandæs;” and, in the corresponding Latin, “Rex et rector totius - huius Britanniae insulae.” an. 34. - -Footnote 21: - - The following words compounded with _Bryten_ will explain my meaning - to the Saxon scholar: _Bryten-cyning_ (exactly equivalent to - _bryten-wealda_), a powerful king. Cod. Exon. p. 331. _Bryten-grund_, - the wide expense of earth. Ibid. p. 22. _Bryten-ríce_, a spacious - realm. Ibid. p. 192. _Bryten-wong_, the spacious plain of earth. Ibid. - p. 24. The adjective is used in the same sense, but uncompounded, - thus; _breotone bold_, a spacious dwelling. Cædm. p. 308. - -Footnote 22: - - I allude more particularly to the introduction of Christianity, the - enactment of laws, the establishment of dioceses, and military - measures against the Britons. In two late publications, Mr. Hallam has - bestowed his attention upon the same subject, and with much the same - result. His acute and well-balanced mind seems to have been struck by - the historical difficulties which lie in the way of the Bretwalda - theory, though he does not attach so much force as I think we ought, - to its total inconsistency with the general social state of Anglosaxon - England in the sixth and seventh centuries, or as seems justly due to - the philological argument. He cites from Adamnan a passage in these - words: “(Oswald) totius Britanniae imperator ordinatus a deo.” But - these words only prove at the utmost that Adamnan attributed a certain - power to Oswald, connected in fact with conquest, and implying - anything but consent, election or appointment, by his fellow-kings. - And Mr. Hallam himself inclines to the belief that the title may have - been one given to Oswald by his own subjects, rather than the - assertion of a fact that he truly ruled over all Britain. He conceives - that the three Northumbrian kings, having been victorious in war and - paramount over the minor kingdoms, were really designated, at least - among their own subjects, by the name Bretwalda, or ruler of Britain, - and “totius Britanniae imperator,”—an assumption of pompous titles - characteristic of the vaunting tone which continued to increase down - to the Conquest. (Supplemental Notes to the View of the Middle Ages, - p. 199 _seq._) This however is hardly consistent with Beda and the - Chronicle. The only passage in its favour is that of Adamnan, and this - is confined to one prince. Adamnan however was a Kelt, and on this - account I should be cautious respecting any language he used. Again, I - am not prepared to admit the probability of a territorial title, at a - time when kings were kings of the people, not of the land. But most of - all do I demur to the reading Bretwalda itself, which rests upon the - authority neither of coins nor inscriptions, and is supported only by - one passage of a very bad manuscript; while it is refuted by five much - better copies of the same work, and a charter: I therefore do not - scruple to say that there is no authority for the word. In all but - this I concur with Mr. Hallam, whose opinion is a most welcome support - to my own. - ------ - -But although I cannot admit the growth of an imperial power in any such -way, I still believe the royal authority to have been greatly -consolidated, and thereby extended, before the close of the sixth -century. It is impossible, for a very long period, to look upon the -Anglosaxon kingdoms otherwise than as camps, planted upon an enemy’s -territory, and not seldom in a state of mutual hostility. All had either -originated in, or had at some period fallen into, a state of military -organization, in which the leaders are permitted to assume powers very -inconsistent with the steady advance of popular liberty; and in the -progress of their history, events were continually recurring which -favoured the permanent establishment and consolidation of those powers. -Upon all their western and northern frontiers lay ever-watchful and -dangerous Keltic populations, the co-operation of whose more inland -brethren was always to be dreaded, and whose attacks were periodically -renewed till very long after the preponderance of one crown over the -rest was secured,—attacks only too often favoured by the civil wars and -internal struggles of the Germanic conquerors. Upon all the eastern -coasts hovered swarms of daring adventurers, ready to put in practice -upon the Saxons themselves the frightful lesson of piracy which these -had given the Roman world in the third and fourth centuries, and ever -welcomed by the Keltic inhabitants as the ministers of their own -vengeance. The constant state of military preparation which was thus -rendered necessary could have no other result than that of giving a vast -preponderance to the warlike over the peaceful institutions; of raising -the practised and well-armed comites to a station yearly more and more -important; of leading to the multiplication of fortresses, with their -royal castellans and stationary garrisons; nay—by constantly placing the -freemen under martial law, and inuring them to the urgencies of military -command—of finally breaking down the innate feeling and guarantees of -freedom, and even of materially ruining the cultivator, all whose energy -and all whose time were not too much, if a comfortable subsistence was -to be wrung from the soil he owned. It is also necessary to bear in mind -the power derived from forcible possession of lands from which the -public enemy had been expelled, and which, we may readily believe, -turned to the advantage, mostly if not exclusively, of the king and his -nobles. No wonder then if at a very early period the Mark-organization, -which contained within itself the seeds of its own decay, had begun to -give way, and that a systematic _commendation_, as it was called, to the -adjacent lords was beginning to take its place. To the operation of -these natural causes we must refer the indisputable predominance -established by a few superior kings before the end of the sixth century, -not only over the numerous dynastic families which still remained -scattered over the face of the country, but also over the free holders -in the gá or scýr. - -To these however was added one of still greater moment. The introduction -of Christianity in a settled form, which finally embraced the whole -Saxon portion of the island, dates from the commencement of the seventh -century. Though not unknown to the various British tribes, who had long -been in communication with their fellow-believers of Gaul and, according -to some authorities[23], of Rome, it had made but little progress among -the German tribes, although a tendency to give it at least a tolerant -hearing had for some time been making way among them[24]. But in 595 -Pope Gregory the Great determined upon giving effect to his scheme of a -missionary expedition to Britain, which he had long revolved, had at one -time determined to undertake in person, and had relinquished only as far -as his own journey was concerned, in consequence of the opposition -manifested by the inhabitants of Rome to his quitting the city. Having -finally matured his plan, he selected a competent number of monks and -ecclesiastics, and despatched them under the guidance of Augustine, with -directions to found an episcopal church among the heathen Saxons. The -progress and success of this missionary effort must not be treated of -here; suffice it to say that, one by one, the Teutonic kingdoms of the -island accepted the new faith, and that before the close of the first -century from the arrival of Augustine, the whole of German England was -united into one church, under a Metropolitan, who accidentally was also -a missionary from Rome[25]. - ------ - -Footnote 23: - - See Schrödl, Erste Jahrhund. der Angl. Kirche, 1840, p. 2, notes. If - the assertion of Prosper Tyro is to be trusted, that Celestine sent - Germanus into Britain as his vicar, _vice sua_, the relation must have - been an intimate one. See also Nennius, Hist. cap. 54. Neander however - declares against the dependence of the British church upon Rome, and - derives it from Asia Minor. Alg. Geschichte der Christ. Relig. u. - Kirche, vol. i. pt. 1. p. 121. The question has been treated in late - times as one of bitter controversy. - -Footnote 24: - - This may be inferred from Gregory’s letters to Theódríc and Theódbert - and to Brunichildis. “Atque ideo pervenit ad nos Anglorum gentem ad - fidem Christianam, Deo miserante, desideranter velle converti, sed - sacerdotes e vicino negligere,” etc.; again: “Indicamus ad nos - pervenisse Anglorum gentem, Deo annuente, velle fieri Christianam; sed - sacerdotes, qui in vicino sunt, pastoralem erga eos sollicitudinem non - habere.” Bed. Op. Minora, ii. 234, 235. - -Footnote 25: - - Theodore of Tarsus. - ------ - -Strange would it have been had the maxims of law or rules of policy -which these men brought with them, been different from those which -prevailed in the place from which they came. Roman feelings, Roman views -and modes of judging, the traditions of the empire and the city, the -legislation of the emperors and the popes,—these were their sources both -of opinion and action. The predominance of the kings must have appeared -to them natural and salutary; the subordination of all men to their -appointed rulers was even one of the doctrines of Christianity itself, -as taught by the great apostle of the gentiles, and recommended by the -example of the Saviour. But the consolidation and advancement of the -royal authority, if they could only form a secure alliance with it, -could not but favour their great object of spreading the Gospel among -populations otherwise dispersed and inaccessible: hence it seems -probable that all their efforts would be directed to the end which -circumstances already favoured, and that the whole spiritual and -temporal influence of the clergy would be thrown into the scale of -monarchy. Moreover the clergy supplied a new point of approach between -our own and foreign courts: to say nothing of Rome, communication with -which soon became close and frequent, very shortly after their -establishment here, we find an increased and increasing intercourse -between our kings and those of Gaul; and this again offered an -opportunity of becoming familiar with the views and opinions which had -flowed, as it were, from the imperial city into the richest and happiest -of her provinces. The strict Teutonic law of wergyld, they perhaps could -not prevail to change, and to the last, the king, like every other man, -continued to have his price; but the power of the clergy is manifest -even in the very first article of Æðelberht’s law, and to it we in all -probability owe the ultimate affixing of the penalty of death to the -crime of high-treason,—a marvellous departure from the ancient rule. -Taking all the facts of the case into account, we cannot but believe -that the introduction of Christianity, which not only taught the -necessity of obedience to lawful authority, but accustomed men to a more -central and combined exercise of authority through the very spectacle of -the episcopal system itself, tended in no slight degree to perpetuate -the new order which was gradually undermining and superseding the old -Mark-organization, and thus finally brought England into the royal -circle of European families[26]. - ------ - -Footnote 26: - - Æðelberht of Kent married a Frankish princess, so did Æðelwulf of - Wessex. Offa of Mercia was engaged in negotiations for a nuptial - alliance with the house of Charlemagne, and several Anglosaxon ladies - of royal blood found husbands among the sovereign families of the - Continent. - ------ - -The chapters of the present Book will be devoted to an investigation of -the institutions proper to this altered condition, to the officers by -whom the government of the country was conducted, from the seventh to -the eleventh centuries, and to the general social relations which thus -arose. If in the course of our investigation it should appear that a -gradually diminishing share of freedom remained to the people, yet must -we bear in mind that the old organization was one which could not keep -pace with the progress of human society, and that it was becoming daily -less suited to the ends for which it first existed; that in this, as in -all great changes, a compromise necessarily took place, and mutual -sacrifices were required; after all, that we finally retained a great -amount of rational and orderly liberty, full of the seeds of future -development, and gained many of the advantages of Roman cultivation, -without paying too high a price for them, in the loss of our -nationality. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - THE REGALIA, OR RIGHTS OF ROYALTY. - - -In the strict theory of the Anglosaxon constitution the King was only -one of the people[27], dependent upon their election for his royalty, -and upon their support for its maintenance. But he was nevertheless the -noblest of the people, and at the head of the state, as long as his -reign was felt to be for the general good, the keystone and completion -of the social arch. Accordingly he was invested with various dignities -and privileges, enabling him to exercise public functions necessary to -the weal of the whole state, and to fill such a position in society as -belonged to its chief magistrate. Although his life, like that of every -other man, was assessed at a fixed price,—the price of an æðeling or -person of royal blood,—it was further guarded by an equal amount, to be -levied under the name of _cynebót_, the price of his royalty; and the -true character of these distinctions is clear from the fact of the first -sum belonging to the family, the second to the people[28]. - ------ - -Footnote 27: - - The names by which the King is commonly known among most of the - Germanic nations are indicative of his position. From Þeód, the - people, he is called þeóden: from his high birth (cyne nobilis, and - cyn genus, i.e. generosus a genere), he is called Cyning: from Dryht, - the troop of comites or household retainers, he is Dryhten: and as - head of the first household in the land, he is emphatically Hláford: - his consort is seó Hlǽfdige, the Lady. His poetical and mythical names - need not be investigated on this occasion. - -Footnote 28: - - Be Wergyldum, Norðleóda laga, § 1. Myrcna laga, § 1. Thorpe, i. 186, - 190: “Se wer gebirað magum ⁊ seó cynebót ðám leódum.” - ------ - -His personal rights, or royalties, consisted in the possession of large -domains which went with the crown[29], a sort of τεμενος, which were his -own property only while he reigned, and totally distinct from such -private estates as he might purchase for himself; in short his Woods and -Forests, which the Crown held under the guarantee and supervision of the -Witena gemót. Also, in the right to receive _naturalia_, or voluntary -contributions in kind from the free men, which gradually became depraved -into compulsory payments. Of these the earliest mention is by -Tacitus[30], who tells us that it was the custom, voluntarily and -according to the power of the people, to present their princes with -cattle and corn, which was not only a mark of honour but a substantial -means of support; and the annals of the Frankish kings abound with -instances of these presentations, which generally took place at the -great meetings of the people, or Campus Madius[31]. His further -privileges consisted in the right to receive a portion of the fines -payable for various offences, and the confiscation of offenders’ estates -and chattels; in various distinctions of dress, dwelling, and the like; -above all, in the maintenance of a standing army of comrades, called at -a late period Húscarlas or household troops. It was for him to call -together the Witena gemót or great council of the realm, whenever -occasion demanded, and to lay before them propositions touching the -general welfare of the state; in concurrence also with them, to extend -or amend the existing legislation. At the same time I do not find that -he possessed the power of dismissing these counsellors when he thought -he had had enough of their advice, or of preventing them from meeting -without his special summons: in which two rights, when injudiciously -exercised, the historian finds the key to the downfall of so many -monarchies. As general conservator of the public peace, both against -foreign and domestic disturbers, the king could call out the _fyrd_, an -armed levy or militia of the freemen, proclaim his peace upon the -high-roads, and exact the cumulative fines by which the breach of it was -punished. He was also the proper guardian of the coinage; and, in some -respects, the fountain of justice, seeing that he might be resorted to, -if justice could not be obtained elsewhere. We may also look upon him -as, at least to a certain degree, the fountain of honour, since he could -promote his comrades, thanes or ministers to higher rank, or to posts of -dignity and power. All these various rights and privileges he possessed -and exercised, by and with the advice, consent and licence of his Witena -gemót or Parliament. It is desirable to consider the various details -connected with this subject, in succession, and to illustrate them by -examples from Anglosaxon authorities. - ------ - -Footnote 29: - - Æðelred about 980, gives the following reasons for a grant made by him - to Abingdon. During the lifetime of Eádgar, this prince had given to - the monastery certain estates belonging to the appanage of the princes - of the blood, “_terras ad regios pertinentes filios_:” these, on - Eádgar’s death and Eádweard’s accession, the Witena gemót very - properly claimed and obtained, handing them over to Æðelred, then - prince royal: “quae statim terrae iuxta decretum et praeceptionem - cunctorum optimatum de praefato sancto coenobio violenter abstractae, - _meaeqae ditioni, hisdem praecipientibus, sunt subactae_: quam rem si - iuste aut iniuste fecerint, ipsi sciant.” All the crown lands thus - fell to Æðelred, he having no children at his brother Eádweard’s - death: “et _regalium_ simul, et _ad regios filios pertinentium, - terrarum_ suscepi dominium.” Having now scruples of conscience about - interfering with his father’s charitable intentions, he gave the - monastery an equivalent out of his own private property,—“_ex mea - propria haereditate_.” Cod. Dipl. No. 3312. - -Footnote 30: - - Germ. xv. - -Footnote 31: - - See Domesday, _passim_. Cnut commanded to put an end to these - compulsory demands: no man was to be compelled to give his reeves - anything towards the king’s feormfultum, against his will, under a - heavy penalty, but the king was to be provided for out of the royal - property. Cnut, § 70. Thorpe, i. 412. If Phillips is right in - supposing the Fóster of Ini’s law (§70. Thorpe, i. 146) to be this - burthen, heavy charges lay upon the land in the eighth century. - Angels. Recht. p. 87. But I doubt the application in this particular - case. See also, Anon. Vita Hludov. Imp. § 7; Pertz, ii. 610, 611; - Annal. Laurish. 753; Ann. Bertin. 837; Pertz, i. 116, 430, and - Hincmar. Inst. Carol. ibid. ii. 214. _Aids_ and _benevolences_ have - acquired a notoriety in English history which will not be forgotten - while England survives: but the prerogative lawyers had ancient - prescription to back them. On the whole subject see Grimm, Rechtsalt. - p. 245. Eichhorn, § 171. vol. i. p. 730 _seq._ - ------ - -Although under a Christian dispensation the king could no longer be -considered as appertaining to a family exclusively divine, yet the old -national tradition still aided in securing to him the highest personal -position in the commonwealth. He had a wergyld indeed, but it far -exceeded that of any other class: nor was it in this alone that his -paramount dignity was recognized, but in the comparative amount of the -fines levied for offences against himself, his dependents or his -property. And as the principle of all Teutonic law is, that the amount -of _bót_ or compensation shall vary directly with the dignity of the -party leased, the high tariff appointed for royalty is evidence that the -king really stood at the summit of the social order, and was the first -in rank and honour, whatever he may have been in power. This is equally -apparent in the earliest law, that of Æðelberht, as in Eádweard the -Confessor’s, the latest. Thus, if he called his Leóde, _fideles_ or -thanes, to him, and they were injured on the way, a compensation double -the ordinary amount could be exacted, and in addition a fine of fifty -shillings to the king[32]. And so likewise, if he honoured a subject by -drinking at his house, all offences, then and there committed, were -punishable by a double fine[33]. Theft from him bore a ninefold, from a -ceorl or freeman only a threefold, compensation[34]. His mundbyrd or -protection was valued at fifty shillings; that of an eorl and ceorl at -twelve and six respectively[35]: this applied to the cases where a man -slew another in the king’s tún, the eorl’s tún, or the ceorl’s edor[36]; -and to the dishonour of his maiden-serf, which involved a fine of fifty -shillings, while the eorl’s female cupbearer was protected only to the -amount of twelve, the ceorl’s to that of six shillings[37]. His -messenger or armourer, if by chance they were guilty of manslaughter, -could only be sued for a mitigated wergyld, by which they, though -probably unfree, were placed upon a footing of equality with the -freeman[38]. His word, like that of a bishop, was to be -incontrovertible, that is, no oath could be tendered to rebut it[39]. He -that fought in the king’s hall, if taken in the act, was liable to the -punishment of death, or such doom as the king should decree[40]: the -king’s burhbryce, or violence done to his dwelling, was valued at 120 -shillings, an archbishop’s at 90, a bishop’s or ealdorman’s at 60, a -twelfhynde man’s at 30, a syxhynde’s at 15, but a ceorl’s or freeman’s -only at 5; and these sums were to be doubled if the militia was on -foot[41]. His borhbryce, or breach of surety, and his mundbyrd or -protection were raised by Ælfred to five pounds, while the archbishop’s -was valued at three, the bishop’s or ealdorman’s at two pounds[42]. He -could give sanctuary to offenders for nine days[43], and peculiar -privileges of the same kind were extended to those monasteries which -were subject to his farm or _pastus_[44]. His geneát or comrade, if of -the noble class, could swear for sixty hides of land[45]. His -horsewealh, the Briton employed in his stables, was placed on an equal -footing with the freeman, at a wergyld of 200 shillings[46]; and even -his godson had a particular protection[47]. Lastly, high-treason, by -compassing the king’s death, harbouring of exiles, or of the king’s -rebellious dependents, was made liable to the punishment of death[48]. - ------ - -Footnote 32: - - Æðelb. i. § 2. This enactment has been supposed to be the foundation - of one of those privileges of Parliament, which we have seen solemnly - discussed on a late occasion. - -Footnote 33: - - Æðelb. i. § 3. - -Footnote 34: - - Ibid. § 4, 9. - -Footnote 35: - - Ibid. § 8, 15. - -Footnote 36: - - Ibid. § 5, 13. - -Footnote 37: - - Ibid. § 10, 14, 16. - -Footnote 38: - - Æðelb. § 7, 21. - -Footnote 39: - - Wihtr. § 16. The position and privileges of the clergy at this very - early period, and especially in Kent, were very exalted. Æðelberht - places the king only on the footing of a priest, in respect to his - stolen property. Æðelb. § 1. But this grave error was remedied as - society became better consolidated, although to the very last the - clergy were left in possession of far too much secular power. - -Footnote 40: - - Ini, § 6. Ælf. § 7. - -Footnote 41: - - Ini, § 45. Ælfr. § 40. - -Footnote 42: - - Ælfr. § 3. Cnut, ii. § 59. - -Footnote 43: - - Æðelst. iii. § 6; iv. § 4; v. § 4. - -Footnote 44: - - Ælfr. § 2. - -Footnote 45: - - Ini, § 19. - -Footnote 46: - - Ini, § 33. - -Footnote 47: - - Ibid. § 76. - -Footnote 48: - - Ælf. § 4. Cnut, ii. § 58. - ------ - -The political position of the king, at the head of the state, was -secured by an oath of allegiance taken to him, by all subjects of the -age of twelve years[49], the ealdormen in the shires, the geréfan in the -various districts or towns, summoned his witan and the legal period of -majority among the Germans, for public purposes. In this capacity he -appointed named the members of their body[50]. In this capacity he was -empowered to inflict fines upon the public officers, and even private -individuals, for such neglect of duty as endangered the public -interests: these fines were paid under the title of the king’s -oferhýrnes, literally his _disobedience_: thus, if a man when summoned -refuse to attend the gemót; if a geréfa refuse to do justice, when -called upon, or to put the law in execution against offenders[51], and -in other similar cases where the whole framework of society requires the -existence of a central support, having power to hold its scattered -elements together, and in their places. - ------ - -Footnote 49: - - “Imprimis ut omnes iurent in nomine Domini, pro quo sanctum illud - sanctum est, fidelitatem Eádmundo regi, sicut homo debet esse fidelis - domino suo, sine omni controversia et seditione, in manifesto, in - occulto, in amando quod amabit, nolendo quod nolet.” Eádm. iii. § 1. - Thorpe, i. 252. “And it is our will, that every man above twelve years - of age, make oath that he will neither be a thief, nor cognizant of - theft.” Cnut, ii. § 21. Thorpe, i. 388. “Omnis enim duodecim annos - habens et ultra, in alicuius frithborgo esse debet et in decenna; - sacramentumque regi et hæredibus suis facere fidelitatis, et quod nec - latro erit, nec latrocinio consentiet.” Fleta, lib. i. cap. 27. § 4. - This was the basis upon which the associations of freemen among the - Anglosaxons entered into their alliances, offensive and defensive, - with their kings. Charlemagne caused an oath to be taken to himself as - emperor, by all his subjects above twelve years old. Dönniges, p. 3. - The Hyldáð or oath of fealty is given in the Anc. Laws, i. 178. The - dependent engages to love all the lord loves, and shun all that he - shuns: these are the technical terms throughout Europe. The king - himself took a corresponding oath to his people. We still have the - words of that which was administered by Dúnstán to Æðelred at - Kingston. - - “Ðis gewrit is gewriten, stæf be “This writing is copied, letter for - stæfe, be ðám gewrite ðe Dúnstán letter, from the writing which - arcebisceop sealde úrum hláforde æt archbishop Dúnstán delivered to our - Cingestúne á on dæg ðá hine man lord at Kingston on the very day - hálgode tó cinge, and forbeád him when he was consecrated king, and - ælc wedd tó syllanne bútan ðysan he forbad him to give any other - wedde, ðe he úp on Cristes weofod pledge but this pledge, which he - léde, swá se bisceop him dihte. ‘On laid upon Christ’s altar, as the - ðǽre hálgan Þrynnesse naman, Ic bishop instructed him. ‘In the name - þreo þing beháte cristenum folce of the Holy Trinity, three things - and me underþeóddum: án ærest, ðæt do I promise to this Christian - ic Godes cyrice and eall cristen people, my subjects: first, that I - folc mínra gewealda sóðe sibbe will hold God’s church and all the - healde: óðer is, ðæt ic reáflác and Chistian people of my realm in - ealle unrihte þing eallum hádum true peace: second, that I will - forbeóde: þridde, þæt ic beháte and forbid all rapine and injustice to - bebeóde on eallum dómum riht and men of all conditions: third, that - mildheortnisse, ðæt ús eallum I promise and enjoin justice and - ærfaest and mildheort God þurh ðæt mercy in all judgements, whereby - his écean mittse forgife, se lifað the just and merciful God may give - and rixað.’”—Reliq. Ant. ii. 194. us all his eternal favour, who - liveth and reigneth!’” - - It is worth while to compare with this the coronation oath of king - Eirek Magnusson, of Norway, which we learn from the following valuable - document of July 25th, 1280. - - “Pateat universis tam clericis quam laicis per regnum Norwegie - constitutis presens scriptum visuris vel audituris quod anno domini - m^o. cc^o. lxxx^o. in festo sancti Suithuni Bergio in ecclesia - cathedrali magnificus princeps et nobilis dominus . Eiricus dei gracia - rex Norwegie illustris filius domini Magni quondam regis coram - reverendo patre et venerabili domino Johanne secundo divina - miseracione . Nidrosiensi archiepiscopo qui eum coronando in regem - coronam capiti eius inposuit . ipsiusque suffraganeis et multis - clericis et laicis qui presentes fuerant . tactis ewangeliis - iuramentum prestitit in hunc modum . Profiteor et promitto coram deo - et sanctis eius a modo pacem et iusticiam ecclesie dei . populoque - mihi subiecto observare . pontificibus et clero . prout teneor . - condignum honorem exhibere . secundum discrecionem mihi a deo datam . - atque ea que a regibus ecclesiis collata ac reddita sunt . sicut - compositum est inter ecclesiam et regnum . inviolabiliter conservare . - malasque leges et consuetudines perversas precipue contra - ecclesiasticam libertatem facientes abolere et bonas condere prout de - concilio fidelium nostrorum melius invenire poterimus . þæt jatta ek - gudi ok hans helgum mannum . at ek skal vardvæita frid ok rettyndi - hæilagre kirkiu ok þui folki sem ek er overðugr ivir skipaðr . - Byscopum ok lærdom mannum skal ek væita vidrkvæmelega soemd efter þui - sem ek er skyldugr . ok gud giæfr mer skynsemd til . ok þa luti halda - obrigðilega . sem af konunggum ero kirkiunni gefner . ok aftr fegner - sua sem samþykt er millum kirkiunnar ok rikissens . Rong log ok illar - siðueniur einkanlega þær . sem mote ero hæilagrar kirkiu frælsi af - taka ok betr skipa, eftir þui sem framazt faam ver raad til af varoni - tryggastu mannum . Cum igitur ante coronacionem dicti regis dubitacio - fuerit . de regis iuramento . volens predictus pater ne huiusmodi - dubitacio rediviva foret in posterum precavere. utile quippe etenim - est eam rem cognitam esse que ignorata vel dubia possit occasionem - litigii ministrare . iuramentum seu professionem factam a domino rege - . ad perpetuam memoriam . presentibus literis duxit inserendam . et ad - pleniorem rei evidenciam sigillum suum apposuit una cum sigillis - venerabilium partum . domini Andree Osloensis . Jorundi Holensis . - Erlendi Ferensis . Arnonis Skalotensis . Arnonis Stawangrensis . Nerue - Bergensis . Thorfinni Hamarensis suffraganeorum Nidrosiensis ecclesie - . Actum viii. Kal. Augusti loco et anno supradictis.”—Diplomatarium - Norwegicum, No. 69. p. 62. - - It is very uncertain at what time the custom of coronation, and - _unction_, by the hands of the clergy, commenced. The usurpation which - Pipin ventured and Pope Zachary lent himself to, which Charlemagne - repeated and Pope Leo confirmed, may have acted as a valuable - precedent, especially as the power of the King was sufficient to - justify the claim of the Pope. Thirty years later (A.D. 787), the - English bishops put forward the somewhat bold claim to be, with the - _seniores_ populi, electors of the king: “Duodecimo sermone sanximus; - Ut in ordinatione regum nullus permittat pravorum praevalere assensum; - sed legitime reges a sacerdotibus et senioribus populi eligantur, et - non de adulterio vel incoestu procreati; quia sicut nostris temporibus - ad sacerdotium, secundum Canones, adulter pervenire non potest, sic - nec Christus domini esse valet, et rex totius regni, et haeres - patriae, qui ex legitimo non fuerit connubio generatus.” Conc. - Calcuth. Legat. Spelm. p. 296. No doubt from their position in the - Witena gemót, and the authority which they derived from their birth as - well as station, they always played an important part in the elections - of kings, but not quite so leading a part in the eighth century as - they here attempt to claim. The Diplomatarium Norwegicum supplies an - interesting illustration of the above-cited canon, in a dispensation - issued by Pope Innocent IV. (A.D. 1246) to Haakon Haakonson, from the - disqualification of illegitimate birth: “Cum itaque clare memorie - Haquinus, Norwegie rex pater tuus, te, prout accepimus, solutus - susceperit de soluta, nos tuam celsitudinem speciali benevolentia - prosequentes, ut huiusmodi non obstante defectu ad regalis solii - dignitatem et omnes actus legitimos admittaris, nec non quod heredes - tui legitimi tibi in dominio et honore succedant, fratrum nostrorum - communicato consilio, tecum auctoritate apostolica dispensamus.” No. - 38, p. 30. This was not however considered a valid ground of objection - among the Anglosaxons, if the personal qualities of the prince were - such as to recommend him. From the words used by William of Malmesbury - we might infer that as late as the time of Æðelstán, the functions of - the bishops at the coronation were confined to anathematizing those - who would not be obedient subjects, but that the nobles performed the - actual coronation: he cites the following lines from an earlier - author, and one apparently contemporaneous with Æðelstán himself:— - - “Tunc iuvenis nomen regni clamatur in omen, - Ut fausto patrias titulo moderetur habenas: - Conveniunt proceres et componunt diadema, - Pontifices pariter dant infidis anathema.” - De Gest. ii. § 133. - - That Harold crowned himself is an old story; but it is very certain - that whatever he did, was done with the full consent of the Witena - gemót. - -Footnote 50: - - See hereafter the several chapters Ealdorman, Geréfa and Witena gemót. - -Footnote 51: - - The principal cases will be found in the following passages of the - Laws: Eádw. § 1. Æðelst. i. § 20, 22, 26; iii. § 7; iv. §1, 7; v. § - 11. Eádm. iii. § 2, 6, 7. Eádg. i. § 4; ii. § 7, etc. - ------ - -The maintenance of the public peace is the first duty of the king, and -he is accordingly empowered to levy fines for all illegal breaches of -it, by offences against life, property or honour[52]: in very grave -cases of continued guilt, he is even entrusted with the right of -banishing and outlawing offenders, whose wealth and family connexions -seem to place them beyond the reach of ordinary jurisdictions[53]. Where -the course of private war is to be settled by the legal compensations, -it is the king’s peace which is established between the contending -parties, the relatives and advocates of the slayer and the slain[54]. -And in accordance with these principles, we find the kings’s peace -peculiarly proclaimed upon the great roads which are the highways of -commerce and means of internal communication, and the navigable streams -by which cities and towns are supplied with the necessary food for their -inhabitants[55]. And hence also he was allowed to proclaim his peace -over all the land at certain times and seasons; as, for eight days at -his coronation, and the same space of time at Christmas, Easter and -Whitsuntide. He might also, either by his hand or writ, give the -privileges of his peace to estates which would otherwise not have -possessed it, and thus place them upon the same footing of protection as -his own private residences[56]. The great divisions of the country, that -is the shires, could only be determined by the central power: it is -therefore provided that these shall be in the especial right of the -king: “Divisiones scirarum regis proprie cum iudicio quatuor chiminorum -regalium sunt[57].” And to the end of maintaining peace, it appears to -me that the king must also have been the authority to whom, at least in -theory, it was left to settle the boundaries even of private estate; -which on the conversion of folcland into bócland, he did, generally by -his officers, but sometimes in person[58]. - -Footnote 52: - - Hloðh. § 9, 11, 12, 13, 14. Ælf. § 37. Æðelst. i. § 1; iii. § 4; v. § - 5. - -Footnote 53: - - Æðelst. iii. § 3; iv. § 1. - -Footnote 54: - - Eád. Gúð. § 13. Eádm. ii. § 1, 6, 7. - -Footnote 55: - - Eád. Conf. § 12. Cross roads and small streams are not in the king’s - peace, but that of the county. - -Footnote 56: - - This peace was called the King’s Handsell, “cyninges handsealde gríð.” - The extent to which his peace extended around his dwelling, that is, - within the verge of the court, has been noticed in the fourth chapter - of the First Book. The right subsisted throughout the Middle Ages and - yet subsists, though differently motived and measured. The king’s - handsealde gríð was by Æðelred’s law made bótless, that is, had no - settled compensation. Æðelr. iii. § 1. - -Footnote 57: - - Eádw. Conf. § 13. - -Footnote 58: - - “Æðelingawudu, Colmanora and Geátescumbe belong to these twenty hides, - which I myself, now rode, now rowed, and widely divided off, for - myself, my predecessors, and those that shall come after me, for an - eternal separation, before God and the world.” Eádred. an. 955. Cod. - Dipl. No. 1171. “Now I greet well my relative Mygod of Wallingford, - and command thee in my stead [on mínre stede] to ride round the land - to the saint’s hand.” Eádw. Conf., Cod. Dipl. No. 862. The force of - the word _berídan_ is very difficult to convey in words, but still - perfectly obvious. Another difficulty arises from the word _stede_, - which is properly masculine, but here given as a feminine. I think it - impossible that it should mean _stéde_, a mare (i. e. on my mare), and - prefer the supposition either that _stede_ had changed its gender, or - that the copy of the charter is an incorrect one. - ------ - -But the great machinery for keeping peace between man and man, is the -establishment of courts of justice, and a system by which each man can -have law, by the consent and with the co-operation of his neighbours, -without finding it necessary to arm in his own defence. It has been -shown in the First Book, that such means did exist in the Mark and Gá -courts; and that for nearly all the purposes of society, it is -sufficient and advisable that justice should be done within the limits -and by the authority of the freemen. A centralized system however brings -modifications with it, even into the administration of justice. If, as I -believe, the original king was a judge, who superinduced the warlike -upon his peaceful functions, we can easily see how, with the growth of -the monarchy, the judicial authority of the king should become extended. -I cannot doubt that, in the historical times of the Anglosaxons, the -king was the fountain of justice; by which expression I certainly do not -mean that every suit must be commenced in one of the superior courts, or -by an original writ, issuing out of the royal chancery[59], but that the -king was looked upon as the authority by whom the judges were supported -and upheld, who was to be appealed to, if no justice could be got -elsewhere, and who had the power to punish malversation in its -administration by his officers. - ------ - -Footnote 59: - - There are cases nevertheless which seem to favour the supposition that - a similar power was ultimately lodged in the king and, at least - occasionally, exercised. - ------ - -We may leave the tale of Ælfred’s hanging the unjust judges to the same -veracious chapter of history as records his invention of trial by jury: -but it is obvious, from the words of his biographer, that he assumed -some right to direct them in the exercise of their functions. He there -appears not to have waited until complaints were made of their -maladministration; but to have adopted the Frankish and Roman custom of -dispatching _Missi_ or royal commissioners into the provinces subject to -his rule, in order to keep a proper check upon the proceedings of the -public officers of justice. Asser says,—and I record his words with the -highest respect and admiration of Ælfred’s real and great deserts,—that -“he investigated with great sagacity the judgments given throughout -almost all his region, which had been delivered when he was not present, -as to what had been their character, whether they were just, or unjust. -And if he detected any injustice in such judgments, he, either in -person, or by people in his confidence, mildly enquired why the judges -had given such unjust decisions, whether through ignorance, or through -malversation of another kind, as fear, or favour, or hope of gain. And -then, if the judges admitted that they had so decided, because they knew -no better in the premises, he would gently and moderately correct their -ignorance and folly, and say: ‘I marvel at your insolence, who, by God’s -gift and mine, have taken upon yourselves the ministry and rank of wise -men, but have neglected the study and labour of wisdom. Now it is my -command that ye either give up at once the administration of those -secular powers which ye enjoy, or pay a much more devoted attention to -the studies of wisdom.’” - -A certain pedantry is obvious enough in all this story, which, taken -literally, under the circumstances of the time, is merely childish. -Still, as Asser, though he may not entirely represent the facts of this -period[60] in their true Germanic sense, does very likely represent some -of the king’s private wishes and opinions, this, among other passages, -may serve to show why, in spite of his great merits, Ælfred once in his -life had not a man to trust to in his realm. Let us look at the matter a -little more closely. In the many kingdoms and districts which by -conquest or inheritance came under the Westsaxon rule, various customary -laws had prevailed[61]. It is very natural that judgments given in -accordance with these customs should often appear inconsistent and -discordant to a body of men collected from different parts of the realm. -Asser is therefore very probably in the right, when he says: “The nobles -and non-nobles alike were frequently at variance in the meetings of the -comites and praepositi, [that is, in the Witena gemóts,] so that -scarcely any one would admit the decisions of the comites and praepositi -[that is, in the shire, hundred and burhmót] to be correct.” But it is -also probable that he misstates or overstates the extent of the royal -power, when he continues: “But Ælfred, who for his own part knew that -some injustice arose thereby, was not very willing to meddle with the -decision of this judge or that; although he was compelled thereunto both -by force of law and by stipulation[62].” - ------ - -Footnote 60: - - I may here say once for all, that I see no reason to doubt the - authenticity of Asser’s Annals, or to attribute them to any other - period than the one at which they were professedly composed. - -Footnote 61: - - Ælfred himself mentions the Kentish, Mercian and Westsaxon laws. The - Danes had another. Peculiarities of the Northangle and Southangle laws - are also noticed. - -Footnote 62: - - By the contract entered into with his people: but when? when they - first elected him? or when they restored him to his throne? - ------ - -For in fact the king was the authority to be resorted to in the last -instance; not because he could introduce a system of jurisprudence -founded upon Roman Decretals or Alaric’s Breviary,—which his favourite -advisers would probably have liked much better than his ealdormen, -præfects and people,—but because he could lend the aid of the state to -enforce the judgments of the several courts, or even compel the courts -to give judgment, by reason of the central power which he wielded as -king. As long however as the courts themselves were willing to decide -causes brought before them, which the people assembled in the gemóts -did, under the presidency and direction of the customary officers, the -king had no right to interfere: and even to appeal to the king until -justice had been actually denied in the proper quarter was an offence -under the Saxon law, punishable by fine[63]. In short, under that law, -the people were themselves the judges, and helped the geréfa to find the -judgment, be the court what it might be. The king’s authority could give -no more than power to execute the sentence. It is remarkable enough that -while Asser speaks of the instruction and correction which Ælfred -administered to his judges, he does not even insinuate that their -decisions were reversed,—a fact perfectly intelligible when we bear in -mind that these decisions were not those of judges in our sense of the -word, and as the Mirror plainly understood them, but of the people in -their own courts, finding the judgment according to customary law. It -would have been a very different case had the courts been the king’s -courts; and in those where the class called king’s thanes stood to right -either before the king himself, or the king’s geréfa, it is possible -that Ælfred may have interfered. This he had full right to do, inasmuch -as these thanes were exclusively his own sócmen, and must take such law -as he chose to give them[64]. Indeed the words of Asser seem -reconcileable with the general state of the law in Ælfred’s time only on -the supposition that he refers to these royal courts or þeningmanna -gemót; for the king could never have been expected to be present at -every shire- or hundred-mót, and yet Asser says he diligently -investigated such judgments as were given when he was not present, -almost all over his region. This only becomes probable when confined to -the administration of justice in the several counties in his own royal -courts, and by his own royal reeves, in whose method of proceeding he -was at liberty to introduce much more extensive alterations at pleasure, -than he could have done in the customary law of the shires or other -districts. - ------ - -Footnote 63: - - “And let him that applies to the king before he has prayed for justice - as often as it behoveth him [that is, made the legal number of formal - applications to the shiremoot, etc.] pay the same fine as the other - should had he denied him justice.” Æðelst. i. 1. § 3. Thorpe, i. 200. - Eádgar, ii. § 2. Thorpe, i. 266. “And let no one apply to the king, - unless he cannot get justice within his hundred: but let the - hundred-gemót be duly applied to, according to right, under penalty of - the wíte, or fine.” Cnut, ii. § 17. Thorpe, i. 384 _seq._ Similarly - Will. Conq. i. § 43. Thorpe, i. 485. It is impossible to believe that - Ælfred possessed a right which later and much more powerful kings did - not. - -Footnote 64: - - “And let no one have sócn over a king’s thane save the king himself.” - Æðelr. iii. § 11. Thorpe, i. 296. - ------ - -If however justice was entirely denied in the shire or hundred, then, -_iure imperii_, the king had the power of interfering: and as it seems -clear that such a case could only arise from the influence of some great -officer being exerted to prevent the due course of law, it follows that -the only remedy would lie in the king’s power to repress him; either by -removing him from his office, if one derived from the crown, or _iure -belli_, putting him down as a nuisance to the realm[65]. - ------ - -Footnote 65: - - If the ealdorman connive at theft, or at the escape of a thief, he is - to forfeit his office. Ini, § 36. Thorpe, i. 124. If a geréfa do so, - he shall forfeit all he hath. Æðelst. i. § 3. If he will not put the - law in execution, he shall lose his office. Æðelst. i. 26; v. § 11. - Eádg. ii. § 3. Thorpe, i. 200, 212, 240, 266. - ------ - -In the later times of the Anglosaxon monarchy, a more immediate -interference of the king in the administration of justice is -discernible. It consists in what might be called the commendation of -suits to the notice of the proper courts: and this, which was done by -means of a writ or _insigel_, probably at first took place only in the -case where a sócman of the king was impleaded in the shiremoot touching -property subject to its jurisdiction, in fact where one party was a free -landowner, the other in the king’s service or sócn; where of course the -first would not stand to right in the royal courts, but before his peers -in the shire or hundred[66]. There is no mention in the laws of the -Insigel or Breve[67], but the charters give some evidence of what has -been averred. In a very important record of the time of Æðelrǽd -(990-995) these words occur[68]:— “This writing showeth how Wynflǽd led -her witness at Wulfamere before King Æðelrǽd; now that was Sigeríc the -archbishop, and Ordbyrht the bishop, and Ælfríc the ealdorman, and -Ælfðrýð the king’s mother: and they all bore witness that Ælfríc gave -Wynflǽd the land at Hacceburnan, and at Brádan-felda in exchange for the -land at Deccet. Then at once the king sent by the archbishop and them -that bore witness with him, to Leófwine, and informed him of this. But -he would consent to nothing, but that the matter should be brought -before the shiremoot. And this was done. Then the king sent by Ælfhere -the abbot, his _insigel_ to the gemót at Cwichelmeshlǽw, and greeted all -the Witan who were there assembled,—that is, Æðelsige the bishop, and -Æscwig the bishop, and Ælfríc the abbot, and all the shire, and bade -them arbitrate between Leófwine and Wynflǽd, as to them should seem most -just[69].” - ------ - -Footnote 66: - - There is an instance where the parties to a suit were similarly - circumstanced. The matter was brought into the king’s þeningmanna - gemót in London, and there decided in favour of the plaintiff, a - bishop. But the defendant was not satisfied, and carried the cause to - the shire, who at once claimed jurisdiction and exercised it too, - coming to a decision diametrically opposite to that of the þeningmen - or _ministri regii_. It seems to have been a dirty business on the - part of the bishop of Rochester, and the freemen of Kent so treated - it, in defiance of the King’s Court. Cod. Dipl. No. 1258. The document - is so important, that it appears desirable to give it at full length. - “Thus were the lands at Bromley and Fawkham adjudged to king Eádgár in - London, through the charters of Snodland, which the priests stole from - the bishop of Rochester and secretly sold for money to Ælfric the son - of Æscwyn: and the same Æscwyn, Ælfric’s mother, had previously - granted them thither. Now when the bishop found the books were stolen - he made earnest demand for them. Meanwhile Ælfric died, and he (the - bishop) afterwards sued the widow so long that in the king’s - thanes-court the stolen books of Snodland were adjudged to him, and - damages for the theft, thereto; that was in London, and there were - present Eádgár the king, archbishop Dúnstán, bishop Æðelwold, bishop - Ælfstán and the other Ælfstán, Ælfhere the ealdorman and many of the - king’s witan: then they adjudged the books to the bishop for his - cathedral: so all the widow’s property stood in the king’s hand. Then - would Wulfstán the geréfa seize the property to the king’s hand, both - Bromley and Fawkham; but the widow sought the holy place and the - bishop, and surrendered to the king the charter of Bromley and - Fawkham: and the bishop bought the charters and the land of the king - at Godshill, for fifty mancuses of gold, and a hundred and thirty - pounds, through intercession and interest: afterwards the bishop - permitted the widow the usufruct of the land. During this time the - king died; and then Bryhtríc the widow’s relative began, and compelled - her, so that they took violent possession of the land [brúcon ðára - landa on reáfláce]. And they sought Eádwine the ealdorman, who was - God’s adversary, and the folk, and compelled the bishop to restore the - books on peril of all his property: he was not allowed to enjoy his - rights in any one of the three things which had been given him in - pledge by all the _leódscipe_, neither his plea, his succession, nor - his ownership. This is the witness of the purchase: Eádgár the king, - Dunstan the archbishop, Oswald the archbishop, bishop Æðelwold, bishop - Æðelgar, bishop Æscwig, bishop Ælfstán, the other bishop Ælfstán, - bishop Sideman, Ælfðrýð the king’s mother, Osgar the abbot, Ælfhere - the ealdorman, Wulfstan of Delham, Ælfric of Epsom, and the leading - people [dúgúð folces] of West Kent, where the land and lathe lie.” - Here I take it the þeningmen or _servientes regis_ and the leódscipe - (leudes) are identical and opposed to the _Folc_ who under “God’s - adversary” Eádwine made the bishop disgorge his plunder. We see who - they were; Dunstan and various bishops, ealdorman Ælfhere and several - of the king’s witan. This is the only instance I have been able to - discover of anything approaching to a _curia regis_ apart from the - great Witena gemót. There are, no doubt, several cases where the king - appears to have been applied to in the first instance, by one of the - parties; but in all of them trial subsequently was had before the - shiremoot. It is natural that agreements should have been made by - consent, before the king as arbitrator, and these were probably - frequent among his intimate councillors, friends and relatives: but - they were not trials, nor did they settle the litigation as a - judgement of the courts would have done. Such arbitrements were also - made by the ealdorman, who like the king received presents for his - good offices. The advantage gained was this; both parties were - satisfied, without the danger of trying the suit, which entailed very - heavy penalties on the loser, amounting sometimes to total forfeiture. - The disadvantage was that there was no _ge-endodu spræc_ or finished - plea, and consequently the award was sometimes violated, when either - party thought this could be done with impunity. - -Footnote 67: - - Excepting a very indefinite expression in the Law of Henry the First, - § 13. - -Footnote 68: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 693. Cwichelmeshlǽw, now Cuckamsley or Cuckamslow - Hills, in Berkshire; these run east and west and probably cut off the - north-western portion of the county, forming the watershed from which - the Ock and Lambourn descend on opposite sides. The exact spot of the - gemót was probably near a mound which is now called Scutchamfly - Barrow, and which is very plainly marked in the Ordnance Map, nearly - due north of West Ilsey. - -Footnote 69: - - The lands are Bradfield, Hagborne and Datchet, in Berks and Bucks. - Wulfamere I am unable to identify. At all events, had the matter been - cognizable in a superior court of the king’s, Leófwine could not have - carried his point of having it brought to trial before the shiremoot - in Berkshire, which he clearly did against the king’s wish. - ------ - -There can be no mistake about the fact; but it does not amount to a -proof that the cause could not have been settled without this formality: -both parties to it were of the highest rank; but if the king’s -arbitration were refused, the title to the land at Bradfield could -legally be tried only in the county of Berkshire in which it lay. -Something similar may have been intended by the notice which occurs in -the record of another shiregemót (held about 1038 at Ægelnóðes stán in -Herefordshire) where it is said that Tófig Prúda came thither _on the -kings errand_[70]. - ------ - -Footnote 70: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 641. - ------ - -PARDON.—When judgment was pronounced, it appears that in certain cases, -at least, the king possessed the power to stay execution and pardon the -offender,—an exertion of the royal prerogative which one feels pleasure -in thus referring to so ancient a period. The necessary evidence is -supplied in many passages of the Laws[71]. - ------ - -Footnote 71: - - “If a man fight or draw weapon in the king’s hall and be taken in the - act, he shall lie at the king’s mercy, to slay or pardon him.” Ælf. § - 7. Ini, § 6. Thorpe, i. 66, 106. “The ealdorman who connives at theft - shall forfeit his office, unless the king pardon him.” Ini, § 36. - Thorpe, i. 124. See also Æðelst. v. 1. § 4, 5, Eádm. § 6. Eádg. ii. § - 7. Æðelr. iii. § 16; vii. § 9. Thorpe, i. 230, 250, 268, 298, 330. - -ESCHEAT AND FORFEITURE.—As the royal power became consolidated, and the -great struggle between centralization and local independence assumed the -new form of offences against the state, the nature of punishments became -somewhat changed. The old pecuniary fines were found insufficient to -repress disorder, and forfeiture to the king was resorted to, as a -measure of increased severity. The laws proclaim this in the case of -various breaches of the public peace: in treason Ælfred’s witan decreed -not only the punishment of death, but also confiscation of all the -possessions[72]: in addition to the capital penalty which was incurred -by fighting in the king’s house, forfeiture of all the chattels was -decreed by Ini[73]. If a lord maintained and abetted a notorious thief, -he was to forfeit all he had[74]. And if he neglected the fines -provided, and would break the public peace either by thieving or -supporting thieves, it was provided that the public authorities should -ride to him, that is make war upon him, and despoil him of all he had, -whereof half was to go to the king, half to the persons who took part in -the expedition[75]. But the charters supply numerous instances of -forfeiture in consequence of crime, where the bóclands as well as the -chattels are seized into the king’s hand; though in the case of folcland -it is possible that the king could not claim the forfeiture without a -positive grant of the witan. About 900, Helmstán having been guilty of -theft, Eánwulf, the king’s geréfa at Tisbury seized all his chattels to -the king’s hand[76]: he held only lǽnland, and that could not be -forfeited by him; but the words made use of show, that had it been his -own bócland, it would not have escaped. We have an instance of a thane -forfeiting lands to the king for adultery[77], although he only held -them on lease from the bishop of Winchester; and in like manner, a lady -was deprived of her estate for incontinence[78]. In 966 the bishop of -Rochester having obtained judgment and damages against a lady, for -forcible entry upon his lands (reáflác), the sheriff of Kent seized her -manors of Fawkham and Bromley; all her possessions being forfeited to -the king[79]: lastly in various instances of theft, treason, and -maintenance of ill-doers, we learn that their lands were forfeited to -the king[80]. - ------ - -In a case of intestacy, where there were no legal heirs, the king was -allowed to enter upon the lands of Burghard, probably because he had -been a royal geréfa[81]. And in the ninth century, Wulfhere, an -ealdorman, having deserted his duchy, his country and his lord, without -license, his lands were adjudged as forfeit to the king[82]. It would -seem however that the mere neglect to cultivate or inhabit the land -involved its confiscation to the king’s hand[83], which may have been -confined to folcland. - ------ - -Footnote 72: - - Ælf. § 4. Thorpe, i. 62. - -Footnote 73: - - Ini, § 6. Thorpe, i. 106. - -Footnote 74: - - Æðelst. i. § 3. Thorpe, i. 200. - -Footnote 75: - - Æðelst. i. § 20. Thorpe, i. 210; see also § 26. Thorpe, i. 214. - Æðelst. iii. § 3. Thorpe, i. 218; iv. § 1; v. § 1, 5. Eádm. ii. § 1, - 6. Eádg. Hund. § 2, 3. Eádg. i. § 4. Æðelr. v. § 28, 29; vi. § 35, 37: - vii. § 9; ix. § 42. Cnut, ii. § 13, 58, 67, 78, 84. Thorpe, i. 220, - 228, 230, 248, 250, 258, 264, 310, 312, 324, 330, 350, 382, 408, 410, - 420, 422. - -Footnote 76: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 328. “Eánwulf the reeve ... took all he owned at - Tisbury ... and the chattels were adjudged to the king, because he was - the king’s man: and Ordláf took to his own land, because it was his - lǽn that he sat upon: that he could not forfeit.” - -Footnote 77: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 601, 1090. - -Footnote 78: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1295. “Quae portio terrae cuiusdam foeminae fornicaria - praevaricatione mihimet vulgari subacta est traditione.” Æðelred, an. - 1002. - -Footnote 79: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1258. “Ða stód ðáre wydewan áre on ðæs cynges handa: ðá - wolde Wulfstán se geréfa niman ða áre tó ðæs cynges handa, Brómleáh ⁊ - Fealcnahám.” - -Footnote 80: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 579, 1112. “Quo mortuo praedicta mulier Ælfgyfu alio - copulata est marito, Wulfgat vocabulo; qui ambo crimine pessimo iuste - ab omni incusati sunt populo, causa suae machinationis propriae, de - qua modo non est dicendum per singula, propter quam vero machinationem - quae iniuste adquisierunt iuste perdiderunt.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1305. The - exile of Wulfgeat is mentioned by the Chronicle and Florence, an. - 1006. Again, “Nam quidam minister Wulfget vulgari relatu nomine - praefatam terram aliquando possederat, sed quia inimicis regis se in - insidiis socium applicavit, et in facinore inficiendo etiam legis - satisfactio ei defecit, ideo haereditatis suberam penitus amisit, et - ex ea praedictus episcopus praescriptam villulam, me concedente, - suscepit.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1310. “Has terrarum portiones Ælfríc - cognomento Puer a quadam vidua Eádfléd appellata violenter abstraxit, - ac deinde cum in ducatu suo contra me et contra omnem gentem meam reus - existeret, et hae quas praenominavi portiones et universae quas - possederat terrarum possessiones meae subactae sunt ditioni, quando ad - synodale conciliabulum ad Cyrneceastre universi optimates mei simul in - unum convenerunt, et eundem Ælfricum maiestatis reum de hac patria - profugum expulerunt, et universa ab illo possessa michi iure - possidenda omnes unanimo consensu decreverunt.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1312. - “Emit quoque praedictus vir Æðelmarus a me, cum triginta libris, - duodecim mansiones de villulis quas matrona quaedam nomine Leoflǽd - suis perdidit ineptiis et amisit.” Cod. Dipl. No. 714. “Hoc denique - rus cuiusdam possessoris Leofricus onomate quondam et etiam nostris - diebus paternae haereditatis hire fuerat, sed ipse impie vivendo, hoc - est rebellando meis militibus in mea expeditione, ac rapinis insuetis - et adulteriis multisque aliis nefariis sceleribus semet ipsum condempn - avit simul et possessiones.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1307. “Erat autem eadem - villa cuidam matronae, nomine Æðelflǽde, derelicta a viro suo, obeunte - illo, quae etiam habebat germanum quendam, vocabulo Leófsinum, quem de - satrapis nomine tuli, ad celsioris dignitatis dignum duxi promovere, - ducem constituendo, scilicet, eum, unde humiliari magis debuerat, - sicut dicitur, ‘Principem te constituerunt, noli extolli,’ et caetera. - Sed ipse hoc oblitus, cernens se in culmine maioris status sub rogatu - famulari sibi pestilentes spiritus promisit, superbiae scilicet et - audaciae, quibus nichilominus ipse se dedidit in tantum, ut - floccipenderet quin offensione multimoda me multoties graviter - offenderet; nam praefectum meum Æficum, quem primatem inter primates - meos taxavi, non cunctatus in propria domo eius eo inscio perimere, - quod nefarium et peregrinum opus est apud christianos et gentiles. - Peracto itaque scelere ab eo, inii consilium cum sapientibus regni mei - petens, ut quid fieri placuisset de illo decernerent; placuitque in - commune nobis eum exulare et extorrem a nobis fieri cum complicibus - suis: statuimus etiam inviolatum foedus inter nos, quod qui - praesumpsisset infringere, exhaereditari se sciret omnibus habitis, - hoc est, ut nemo nostrum aliquid humanitatis vel commoditatis ei - sumministraret. Hanc optionis electionem posthabitam nichili habuit - soror eius Æðelflǽd omnia quae possibilitatis eius erant, et - utilitatis fratris omnibus exercitiis studuit explere, et hac de causa - aliarumque quamplurimarum exhaeredem se fecit omnibus.” Cod. Dipl. No. - 719. - - The murder of Æfic is mentioned in the Chronicle, an. 1002, where he - is called heáhgeréfa. - -Footnote 81: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1035. But not if he had legal heirs. See Cnut, ii. § - 71. Thorpe, i. 412. In this case the king could claim only the Heriot, - a custom retained even by the Normans. “Item si liber homo intestatus - decesserit, et subito, dominus suus nihil se intromittet de bonis - suis, nisi tantum de hoc quod ad ipsum pertinuerit, scilicet quod - habeat suum Heriettum.” Fleta, ii. cap. 57, § 10. - -Footnote 82: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1078. - -Footnote 83: - - Hist. Eliens. i. 1. “Sicque postea per destitutionem, regiae sorti, - sive fisco, idem locus additus est.” See also vol. i. p. 302, note 2. - ------ - -FINES.—It is hardly necessary to enter into any great detail respecting -the fines which were imposed for various offences against the state, and -which were levied by the public officers to the king’s use. The laws -abound with examples: it may in general be concluded that the proceeds -were nearly absorbed by the cost of collection, and that little remained -to the king when the portions of the ealdorman and geréfa had been -deducted. But still these fines require a particular notice, because -they are especially enumerated by Cnut among the rights of his crown. He -says:—“These are the rights which the king enjoys over all men in -Wessex: that is, Mundbryce, and Hámsócne, Foresteal, Flýmena fyrmð, and -Fyrdwíte, unless he will more amply honour any one, and concede to him -this worship[84].” In Mercia, he declares himself entitled to the same -rights[85], and also by the Danish law, that is in Northumberland and -Eastanglia,—with the addition of Fihtwíte, and the fine for harbouring -persons out of the Fríð or public peace[86]. These evidently belong to -him in his character of conservator of that peace: Mundbryce is breach -of his own protection: Hámsócn is an aggravated assault upon a private -dwelling: Foresteal here, the maintenance of criminals and interference -to prevent the course of justice: Flýmena fyrmð, the comforting and -supporting of outlaws or fugitives: Fyrdwíte, the penalty for neglecting -to attend, or for deserting, the armed levy when duly proclaimed: -Fihtwíte is the penalty for making private war. These regalia he could -grant to a subject if such were his pleasure. But they are far from -exhausting the catalogue of his rights: he possessed many others, which -were either honourable or profitable, and were by him alienated in -favour of his lay or clerical favourites. - ------ - -Footnote 84: - - Cnut, ii. § 12. Thorpe, i. 382. - -Footnote 85: - - Cnut, ii. § 14. Thorpe, i. 384. - -Footnote 86: - - Cnut, ii. § 15. Thorpe, i. 384. - ------ - -TREASURE TROVE.—The first of these is Treasure-trove, which was, in all -probability, of considerable importance and value: it is designated in -Anglosaxon charters by the words “ealle hordas búfan eorðan and binnan -eorðan,” and frequently occurs in the grants to monastic houses. In very -early and heathen periods various causes combined to render the burial -of treasure common. It was a point of honour to carry as much wealth -with one from this world to the next as possible; and it was a -recognized duty of the comites and household of a chief to sacrifice at -his funeral, whatever valuable chattels they might have gained in his -service. We may infer from Beówulf[87] that a portion at least of the -treasure he gained by his fatal combat with the firedrake was to -accompany him in the tomb. Some of it was to be burnt with his body, but -some, according to the practice of the pagan North, to be buried in the -mound raised over his ashes[88]. - - Hí on beorg dydon They put into the mound - beág ⁊ beorht siglu, rings and bright gems, - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - forléton eorla gestreón they let earth hold - eorðan healdan, the gains of noble men, - gold on greóte, gold in the dust, - ðǽr hit nú gen lífað where it doth yet remain - eldum swá unnýt useless to men - swá hit ǽror wæs. even as before it was[89]. - ------ - -Footnote 87: - - Beow. l. 6016 _seq._: compare l. 5583 _seq._ - -Footnote 88: - - Ibid. l. 6320. - -Footnote 89: - - See the account of the burial of Haraldr Hilditavn in the Fornald. - Savg. i. 387. “Ok áðr enn havgrinn væri aptr lokinn, þá biðr Hríngr - Konúngr til gánga allt stórmenni ok alla Kappa, ok við voru staddir, - at kasta í havginn stórum hríngum ok góðum vápnum, til sæmdr Haraldi - Konúngi Hilditavn; ok eptir þat var aptr byrgði havgrinn vandliga.” - Brynhildr caused the jewels which her father Buðli had given her, to - be burnt with herself and Sigurðr. Sigurd, evid. iii. 65. - ------ - -When we consider the truly extraordinary number of mounds or _heathen -burial-places_ which are mentioned in the boundaries of Saxon charters, -we cannot doubt that large quantities of the precious metals were thus -committed to the earth. To this superstitious cause others of a more -practical nature were added. In all countries where from want of -commerce and convenient internal communication, or from general -insecurity, there is no profitable investment for capital, hoarding is -largely resorted to by those who may chance to become possessed of -articles of value: we need go no further than Ireland or France for an -example, where one of the most striking signs of the prevalent -barbarism, is the concealment of specie and plate, often -underground[90]. And in cases of sudden invasion, especially by enemies -who had not the habit of sparing religious houses, the earth may have -been resorted to as the safest depository of treasure which it was -impossible to transport[91]. William of Malmesbury attributes to the -fears of the Britons the accumulations which he says were frequently -discovered in his own day[92], and there can be little doubt that this -even among the Saxons tended to increase the quantity of gold and silver -withdrawn from general use. It may have been partly the conviction of -the mischief resulting to society from this habit,—by which gold was -made “eldum swá unnýt swá hit ǽror wæs,”—that caused the very frequent -and strong expression of blame which we find in Anglosaxon works applied -to those who bury treasure, and apparently also to treasure-hunters. It -may be that it was thought impious to violate even the heathen sanctuary -of the dead; at all events, the popular belief was encouraged that -buried treasure was guarded by spells, watched by dragons[93], and -loaded with a curse which would cleave for ever to the discoverer: -hidden gold is in fact always represented as _heathen_ gold, which, we -may readily suppose, could only be purified from its mischievous -qualities by passing through the hands of the universal purifiers in -such cases, the clergy. Strictly however the king was the proper owner -of all treasure-trove, and where the lord of a manor obtained the right -to appropriate it to himself, it could only be by grant from the -representative of the whole state[94]. Probably the sovereigns were not -quite so superstitious as the bulk of their subjects, and certainly they -were much better able to defend their own rights than the simple -landowners in the rural districts. Still in a very great number of cases -they granted away their privilege; probably finding it easier and more -profitable to give it up to those who would have used it, without a -grant, than to undergo the trouble of detecting and punishing them for -taking it unpermitted into their own hands. - ------ - -Footnote 90: - - In Ireland this is so common as to have caused the existence of what - we may call a professional class of treasure-seekers, whose idle, - gambling pursuit is in admirable harmony with the Keltic hatred for - honest, steady labour. - -Footnote 91: - - To this cause may be attributed the hoards discovered within a few - years at Cuerdale, Hexham, and other places on the borders; and some - perhaps of the numerous _finds_ at Wisby and in Gothland. - -Footnote 92: - - “Partim sepultis thesauris, quorum plerique in hac aetate defodiuntur, - Romam ad petendas suppetias ire intendunt.” Gest. Reg. i. § 3. It is - well worth the consideration of our antiquarians who have devoted - pains and money to the opening of barrows, how far the notorious - searches which have been made for treasure in these repositories, by - successive generations of Saxons, Danes and Normans, may have - interfered with the _original_ disposition of sepulchral mounds, - cairns and cromlechs. The legend of Gúðlác supplies a Saxon instance - of the highest antiquity. “Wæs ðǽr on ðám ealande sum hláw mycel ofer - eorðan geworht, ðone ylcan men iúgeara for feos wilnunga gedulfon and - brǽcon: ðá was ðǽr on óðre sídan ðæs hláwes gedolfen swylíc mycel - wæterseáð wǽre.” Cap. 4. Godw. Ed. p. 26. - -Footnote 93: - - Beów. l. 6100. In the North it is difficult to find a hoard without a - dragon, or a dragon without a hoard. - -Footnote 94: - - Concealment of treasure-trove is a grave offence, inasmuch as it - immediately touches the person and dignity of the king: “De - inventoribus thesauri occultati inventi, haec quidem graviora sunt et - maiora, eo quod personam regis tangunt principaliter. Sunt etiam - crimina aliquantulum minora ... sicut haec; de homicidiis causalibus - et voluntariis,” _seq._ Fleta, lib. 1. cap. 20. § 1, 2, 3 _seq._, - where this offence is assimilated to high-treason, and classed above - all offences against individuals, including murder, rape, arson and - burglary. - ------ - -PASTUS or CONVIVIUM, _Cyninges feorm_.—One of the royal duties was to -make, in person or by deputy, periodical journeys through the country, -progresses, in the course of which the king visited different districts, -proclaimed his peace, confirmed the rights and privileges of the freemen -or free communities, and heard complaints against the officers of the -executive, if such had arisen during the exercise of their functions. -This, which on its first occurrence immediately after his election was -known in Germany by the name of the _Einritt ins land_, or -_Landbereisung_[95], was probably connected with the principle of the -king’s being the proper guardian of the boundaries: and in the period -when the people had lost the power of electing their king at a general -meeting, it may have served the purpose of giving them an opportunity of -becoming acquainted with the person of their ruler. It is difficult to -say when the system of progresses entirely ceased; but there can be no -doubt that it subsisted in one form or another till a very late period -in England. Under the Anglosaxon law it was by no means a matter of -amusement or caprice, but of positive duty, on the part of the king; and -Royalty _in eyre_ was a necessary condition of a state of society which -would have rejected as a ludicrous tyranny the pretension of any one -city to be the central deposit of all the powers and machinery of -government. The kings of the Merwingian race in France, who probably -retained something of an old priestly character, made these circuits in -the celebrated chariot drawn by oxen, which later and ill-informed -writers have imagined was a sign of their degradation, instead of their -dignity[96]. Of this particular part of the ceremony no trace remains in -England, and it is probable that as occasion served, the king either -rode on horseback, circumnavigated, or was towed or rowed along the -navigable rivers[97]. On these occasions particularly, he had a right to -claim harbour and refection for himself and a certain number of his -suite in various places, principally religious houses. These claims, -which answer in many respects to the _procuratio_ of the ecclesiastical -law, were gradually extended so as to include the royal commissioners or -_Missi_, and in many cases became a fixed charge upon the lands, whether -the king actually visited them or not[98]. Very many of the charters -granted to monasteries record the exemption from them, purchased at a -heavy price by prelates, from his avarice or piety[99]. And as the king -himself gradually ceased to undertake these distant and fatiguing -expeditions, and entrusted to his special messengers the task of seeing -and hearing for him, so they in time established a claim to harbourage -and reception in the same places. This was extended to all public -officers going on the king’s affairs, called Angelcynnes men, Fæsting -men, Rǽde fasting, and the like: to all messengers dispatched on the -public service from one kingdom to another, while there were several -kingdoms; and very probably to those who carried communications from the -ealdormen to the king, when one rule comprehended all the several -districts. And not only for those who travelled on important affairs of -state, and who were very often persons of high birth and distinguished -station, but even for certain servants of the royal household were these -claims enforced. The huntsmen, stable-keepers and falconers of the court -could demand bed and board in the monasteries, where they were often -unwelcome guests enough: and this royal right, no doubt frequently used -by the ealdorman or sheriff as an engine of oppression, was also bought -off at very high prices. - ------ - -Footnote 95: - - For a full account of this see Grimm, Rechtsalt. p. 237. - -Footnote 96: - - See Grimm, Rechtsalt. p. 262. - -Footnote 97: - - I have little doubt that, when Beda speaks of the pomp with which - Eádwini of Northumberland was accustomed to ride, he refers to this - ceremony. Hist. Eccl. ii. 16. The well-known tales of Eádgár, rowed by - six kings on the Dee, and Cnut at Ely, will at once occur to the - reader: but has it never occurred to him to ask what Eádgár could - possibly be doing at the one place, or Cnut at the other? See Will. - Malm. Gest. Reg. ii. § 148. The same author tells us of Eádgár: “Omni - aestate, emensa statim Paschali festivitate, naves per omnia littora - coadunari praecipiebat; ad occidentalem insulae partem cum orientali - classe, et illa remensa cum occidentali ad borealem, inde cum boreali - ad orientalem remigare consuetus; pius scilicet explorator, ne quid - piratae turbarent. Hyeme et vere, per omnes provincias equitando, - iudicia potentiorum exquirebat, violati iuris severus ultor; in hoc - iustitiae, in illo fortitudini studens; in utroque reipublicae - utilitatibus consulens.” Gest. Reg. ii. § 156. Flor. Wig. an. 975. - “Cum _more assueto_ rex Cnuto regni fines peragrarat.” Hist. Rames. - Eccl. (Gale, iii. 441.) - -Footnote 98: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 143. “Necnon et trium annorum ad se pertinentes - pastiones, id est sex convivia, libenter concedendo largitus est.” - Probably they were in arrear, and Offa excused them: but they could - not have been in arrear unless they were payable any under - circumstances; that is, whether the king visited the monastery or not. - I take this to be a standing tax, known under the name of Cyninges - feorm, the king’s farm: it was probably commuted for money, and after - a time rendered certain as to amount. In 814 Cénwulf released the - Bishop of Worcester from a _pastus_ of twelve men which he was bound - to find at his different monasteries, and the exemption was worth an - estate of thirteen hides. Cod. Dipl. No. 203. - -Footnote 99: - - See Vol. I. p. 294, _seq._ Examples may be found in almost every other - page of the Codex Diplomaticus. See also Hist. Rames. Eccl. 85. - ------ - -PALFREYS.—Somewhat allied to this was the king’s right to claim the -service of horses or palfreys, for the carriage of effects from one -royal vill to another, or for the furtherance of his messengers or the -public servants[100]. This, which in Hungary still subsists under the -name of Vorspann, was a heavy burthen, as it tended to withdraw horses -from agricultural labour, at the moment when they were most wanted; and -it is to be feared that they were, on this pretext, only too often taken -from the harvesting of the bishop or abbot and his tenants, to secure -that of the ealdorman. This therefore is frequently compounded for, at a -dear rate, under the expression of freedom _a parafrithis_ or -_paraveredis_[101]. - ------ - -Footnote 100: - - “Faciebant servitium regis cum equis vel per aquam usque ad - Blidbeream, Reddinges, Sudtone, Besentone: et hoc facientibus dabat - praepositus mercedem non de censu regis, sed de suo.” Domesd. Berks. - Many of these burthens are summed up in a charter of liberties granted - by Eédweard of Wessex at Taunton, to Winchester: “Erat namque antea in - illo supradicto monasterio pastus unius noctis regi, et octo canum, et - unius caniculari pastus, et pastus novem noctium accipitrariis regis, - et quidquid rex vellet inde ducere usque ad Curig vel Willettun [Curry - and Wilton in Somerset] cum plaustris et equis, et si advenae de aliis - regionibus advenirent, debebant ducatum habere ad aliam regalem villam - quae proxima fuisset in illorum via.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1084. The - Vorspann in Hungary, which is a right to a peasant’s horses on the - production of an order from the county authorities, is generally a - convenience to himself as well as the traveller, who does not object - to pay for much better accommodation than he could obtain from the - ordinary posting establishment. But it is nevertheless a remnant of - barbarism which we may now hope to see vanish, together with every - other obstacle to free communication, under the management of that - most patriotic and enlightened gentleman Count Stephen Szechenji. - -Footnote 101: - - On the complaint of the clergy of the diocese of Cremona, the emperor - Lothaire decided that _they_ were not bound to supply waggons and - horses for his service. Böhm. Reg. Karol. No. 544. - ------ - -VIGILIA.—Another right which the king claimed was that of having proper -watch set over him when he came into a district. This, called Vigilia -and Custodia in the Latin authorities, is the Heáfodweard, or _Headward_ -of the Saxons. It extended also to the guard kept for him on his hunting -excursions[102]; and coupled with it was his claim to the assistance of -a certain number of men in the hunt itself, either as beaters or -managers of the nets in which deer were taken[103]. - ------ - -Footnote 102: - - “Homines de his terris custodiebant regem apud Cantuariam vel apud - Sandwic per tres dies, si rex illuc venisset.” Domesd. Kent. “Quando - rex iacebat in hac civitate, servabant eum vigilantes duodecim homines - de melioribus civitatis. Et cum ibi venationem exerceret, similiter - custodiebant eum cum armis meliores burgenses cabalos habentes.” - Domesd. Shropsh. “Isti debent vigilare in curia domini, cum praesens - fuerit.” Chartul. Evesh. f. 24. - -Footnote 103: - - “Qui monitus ad stabilitionem venationis non ibat quinquaginta solidos - regi emendabat.” Domesd. Berks. - ------ - -Sǽweard or coast-guard was also a royal right, performed by the tenants -of those landowners whose estates lay contiguous to the sea. The -miserable condition to which England was frequently reduced, by the -systematic incursions of Scandinavian invaders, rendered this a very -important duty, even in spite of the efforts of successive kings who -early comprehended the destinies of this nation, and entrusted her -defence to maritime armaments. It seems probable that various ports on -the coast of Kent and Norfolk may have been particularly charged with -this burthen, and that the _butsecarlas_ or shipmasters were held bound -to supply craft on emergencies, or even for a regular system of -patrolling. In this may have lain the foundation of the privileges -enjoyed by the Cinque Ports, and similar coast towns, even before the -Norman conquest. - -ÆDIFICATIO.—It was further a royal right to claim the aid even of the -freemen towards building and fencing the residence or fortress of the -king: a certain amount of personal labour was thus demanded of them, in -analogy with the _trinoda necessitas_ from which no estate could -possibly be relieved. This kind of _corvée_ was no doubt performed by -tenants whom the landowners settled on their estates, but really was due -from the landowners themselves, except where their estates of bócland -had been expressly freed from the royal burthens. Where the royal vill -was also a district fortification, not even this general exception -relieved the bóclands; fortifications being especially reserved in every -charter, as well as building and repair of bridges. - -WRECK.—Doubts have been started upon the subject of wreck, which do not -appear well founded: it is true that circumstances of suspicion attach -to the documents upon which the arguments pro and con were based in the -time of Selden; but we are now in possession of further evidence, of a -nature to remove all difficulty. I have no hesitation in including -Wreck, both jetsam and flotsam, among the Regalia, which were granted -not only to ecclesiastical corporations, but even to private landowners. -The History of Ramsey[104] states that Eádweard the Confessor, whereby -he might show a profitable love to the place, bestowed upon it -Ringstede[105] with the adjacent liberty, and all that the sea cast up, -which is called _Wreck_. We have yet the charter by which this grant is -supposed to have been made[106], and it is very explicit upon the -subject. After conveying lands and other possessions in Huntingdonshire, -he proceeds to give several places, tenements or rents, on the coast of -Norfolk and the Wash, at Wells, and Branchester, etc. In the last-named -place, he adds, “cum omni maris proiectu, quod nos anglicè shipwrec -appellamus.” He further adds, “de meo iure quod mihi soli competebat, -absque ullius reclamatione vel contradictione ista addidi: inprimis -Ringested, cum omnibus ad se pertinentibus, et cum omni maris eiectu, -quod shipwrec appellamus,” etc. Now, although the authenticity of this -charter, in its present form may be open to question, this fact does not -of itself justify us in at once concluding against the privilege claimed -under it. On the other hand the recognized right of the king throughout -the Norman times, and the total absence of any opposition to its -exercise, are _primâ facie_ evidence of its having resided in the crown -before the Conquest[107]. Naufragium and Algarum maris are distinctly -stated to be rights of the crown, in the laws of Henry the First[108], -and we can give examples from other Saxon charters whose genuineness is -beyond dispute. The Saxon Chronicle under the date 1029 records a grant -made by Cnut to Christchurch, Canterbury, of the haven of Sandwich. The -passage is defective, but enough of it remains to prove that it refers -to an original document, of which very early copies are still in our -possession[109]. In this he says:— - -“Concedo eidem aecclesiae ad victum monachorum portum de Sanduuíc et -omnes exitus eiusdem aquae, ab utraque parte fluminis cuiuscumque terra -sit, a Pipernæsse usque ad Mearcesfleóte, ita ut natante nave in -flumine, cum plenum fuerit, quam longius de navi potest securis parvula -quam Angli vocant _Tapereax_ super terram proici, ministri aecclesiae -Christi rectitudines accipiant, ... Si quid autem in magno mari extra -portum, quantum mare plus se retraxerit, et adhuc statura unius hominis -tenentis lignum quod Angli nominant _spreot_, et tendentis ante se -quantum potest, monachorum est. Quicquid etiam ex hac parte medietatis -maris inventum et delatum ad Sanduuíc fuerit, sive sit vestimentum, sive -rete, arma, ferrum, aurum, argentum, medietas monachorum erit, alia pars -remanebit inventoribus.” - ------ - -Footnote 104: - - Hist. Rams. 106. - -Footnote 105: - - There are two places of this name on the coast of the Wash near - Burnham Market in Norfolk. The one intended is most probably Ringstead - St. Andrew’s. - -Footnote 106: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 809. - -Footnote 107: - - See Bracton, ii. 5. § 7. Westm. i. cap. 4. Stat. Praerog. Reg. cap. - 11. Also 17. Edw. II. cap. 11. Rot. Chart. 20. Hen. III. m. 3. and 14. - Edw. III. m. 6. Pat. 42. Hen. III. m. 1. dorso. See also Sir W. - Stamford, Expos. King’s Prerog. fol 37, b. - -Footnote 108: - - Leg. Hen. I. 10. § 1. Ducange reads _laganum_ for _algarum_. - -Footnote 109: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 737, where it is printed both in Latin and Saxon. - ------ - -These words are quite wide enough to carry _wreck_, although this be not -distinctly stated by name. But Eádweard the Confessor furnishes us with -still further evidence. In a writ addressed by him to Ælfwold bishop of -Sherborne, earl Harold, and Ælfred the sheriff of Dorsetshire, he -says[110]: “Eádweard the king greets well Bishop Ælfwold, earl Harold, -Ælfred the sheriff and all my thanes in Dorsetshire: and I tell you that -Urk my húscarl is to have his strand, over against his own land, freely -and well throughout, up from sea, and out on sea, and whatsoever may be -driven to his strand, by my full command.” - ------ - -Footnote 110: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 871. - ------ - -In this, as in many other cases, the principle seems to be, that that -which has no ostensible owner is the property of the state, or of the -king as its representative; and hence, in the later construction of the -law of _wreck_, it was necessary that an absolute abandonment should -have taken place, before wreck could be claimed. If there were _life_ on -board, even a dog, cat, or lower animal, there could legally be no -wreck, and this provision of the law has very often led to the -perpetration of the most savage murders, as a precaution lest any living -creature, by reaching the strand, should defeat the avarice of its -barbarous owners. From the little evidence we can now recover, of the -Saxon practice, this limitation does not appear to have existed. - -MINT.—The coinage has always in every country been numbered among the -regalia, and this land appears to make no exception. Although the Witena -gemót, in conjunction with the king, exercise a general superintendence -over this most important branch of the public affairs, still certain -details remain which belong to the king exclusively. The number of -moneyers generally in the various localities, the necessity of having -one standard over all the realm, the penalties for unfaithful discharge -of the moneyer’s duty, or for fraudulently imitating the money of the -state, and similar enactments, might be determined by the great council -of the realm; but the coin bore the image and superscription of the -king, he received a description of _seigneuriage_ upon delivery of the -dies, and he changed the coin when it seemed to require renovation or -improvement. Thus we learn that Eádgár called in the old, and issued a -new coinage, in the year 975, because it had become so clipped as to -fall far short of the standard weight[111]: and in the Domesday record, -the dues payable to the king on each change of die are noticed[112]. It -seems clear that this royal right had been assumed by private -individuals, or granted to them, like other royalties, previous to the -time of Æðelrǽd: that prince enacted not only that there should be no -moneyers beside the kings, but also that their number should be -altogether diminished[113]; by which we may suppose that it was his -intention to do away with the mints which the bishops had before -possessed legally[114] in various towns, and which from the passages -cited out of Domesday book, evidently continued to subsist, in spite of -the provisions of the Council of Wantage. But if the coins themselves -are to be trusted, we may conclude that on some occasions this right had -been granted by the crown to others than the clergy. One piece still -bears the name and head of Cyneðrýð, probably Offa’s queen[115]; and -another with the impress of Hereberht, was probably coined by a Kentish -duke. Both these cases, which are in themselves doubtful, are a hundred -years earlier than Æðelrǽd’s law, above quoted. - ------ - -Footnote 111: - - Matt. Westm. an. 975. - -Footnote 112: - - “Ibi erant duo monetarii; quisque eorum reddebat regi unam marcam - argenti, et viginti solidos, quando moneta vertebatur.” Domesd. - Dorset. “Septem monetarii erant ibi; unus ex his erat monetarius - episcopi. Quando moneta vertebatur, dabat quisque eorum octodecim - solidos pro cuneis recipiendis, et ex eo die quo redibant usque ad - unum mensem, dabat quisque eorum regi viginti solidos, et similiter - habebat episcopus de suo monetario. In civitate Wirecestre habuit rex - Edwardus hanc consuetudinem. Quando moneta vertebatur, quisque - monetarius dabat XX solidos ad Londoniam, pro cuneis monetae - accipiendis.” Domesd. Worcester. See also Domesd. Hereford. - -Footnote 113: - - Æðelr. iii. § 8; iv. § 9. Thorpe, i. 296, 303. - -Footnote 114: - - Æðelst. i. § 14. Thorpe, i. 206. - -Footnote 115: - - Or perhaps his relative, the abbess of Bedford, for it is difficult to - conceive how during coverture, the queen could have coined, and proof - is wanting that she was ever regent of his kingdom. - ------ - -MINES.—Mines and minerals are also among the regalia of a German king, -and were so in England. The cases which principally come under our -observation in the charters are salt-works and lead-mines; but in a -document of the year 689, which however is not totally free from -suspicion, Osuuini of Kent grants to Rochester a ploughland at Lyminge -in Kent, in which he says there is a mine of iron[116]. In 716, Æðelbald -of Mercia granted certain salt-works near the river Salwarpe at Lootwíc -in Worcestershire, in exchange however for others to the north of the -river[117]. In the same year he granted a hid of land in Saltwych, _vico -emptorio salis_, to Evesham[118]. In 732, Æðelberht of Kent gave abbot -Dun a quarter of a ploughland at Lyminge, where there were salt-works, -that is evaporating pans[119], and added to it a grant of a hundred -loads of wood per annum, necessary to the operation. In 738 Eádberht of -Kent includes salt-works in a grant to Rochester[120], and similarly in -812, 814, Coenuulf, in grants to Canterbury[121]. In 833 Ecgberht gave -salt-works in Kent, and a hundred and twenty loads of wood from the -weald of Andred, to support the fires[122]. Three years later Wigláf of -Mercia confirmed the liberties of Hanbury in Worcestershire, with all -its possessions, including salt-wells and lead-works[123]. In 863, -Æðelberht granted salt-works in Kent to Æðelred, with four waggons going -for six weeks into the royal forest[124]. In 938, Æðelstán gave to -Taunton three híds of land, and salt-pans[125]. - ------ - -Footnote 116: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 30. So likewise I imagine the ísengráfas (eisengruben) - of Cod. Dipl. No. 1118 to be iron-mines. - -Footnote 117: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 67. “Aliquam agelli partem in qua sal confici solet ... - ad construendos tres casulos et sex caminos ... sex alios ... caminos - in duobus casulis, in quibus similiter sal conficitur, vicarios - accipiens.” - -Footnote 118: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 68. - -Footnote 119: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 77. “Quarta pars aratri ... sali coquendo accommoda.... - Et insuper addidi huic donationi ... in omni anno centum plaustra - onusta de lignis ad coquendum sal.” - -Footnote 120: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 85. - -Footnote 121: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 199, 201. - -Footnote 122: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 234. “Et in eodem loco sali coquenda iuxta Limenae, et - in silva ubi dicitur Andred, centum viginti plaustra ad coquendum - sal.” - -Footnote 123: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 237, “Cum putheis salis et fornacibus plumbis.” - -Footnote 124: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 288. “Unamque salis coquinariam, hoc est án - sealternsteall, and ðer cota to, in ilia loco ubi nominatur Herewíc, - et quatuor carris transductionem in silba regis sex ebdomades a die - Pentecosten hubi alteri homines silbam cedunt, hoc est in regis - communione.” - -Footnote 125: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 374. (cf. 1002). “Et tres [mansas] in loco qui Cearn - nuncupatur ad coquendam salis copiam.” In 854, Æðelwulf mentions - _salinaria_ in a grant to the same place. Cod. Dipl. No. 1051. - ------ - -The king in all these cases had possessed a right to levy certain dues -at the pans or the pit’s mouth, upon the waggons as they stood, and upon -the load being placed in them: these dues were respectively called the -wǽnscilling and seámpending, literally _wainshilling_ and _loadpenny_, -and were entirely independent of the rent which might be reserved by the -landlord for the use of the ground, whether he were the king or a -private person. And immunity from these dues might also be granted by -the crown, and was so granted. In 884, Æðelred, duke of Mercia, who -acted as a viceroy in that new portion of Ælfred’s kingdom, and -exercised therein all the royal rights as fully as any king did in his -own territories, gave Æðelwulf five híds at Humbleton, and licence to -have six salt-pans, free from all the dues of king, duke or public -officer, but still reserving the rights of the landlord[126]. But the -same prince, about the same period, when conferring various royalties -upon the cathedral of Worcester, retained the king’s dues at the pans in -Saltwíc[127]. - ------ - -Footnote 126: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1066. “Ego Æðelred, divina largiente gratia principatu - et dominio gentis Merciorum subfultus, donatione trado Æðelwulfo - terrain quinque manentium in loco qui dicitur Hymeltun ... salisque - coctionibus, id est, sex vascula possint praeparari salva libertate, - sine aliquo tributo dominatoris gentis praedictae, sive ducum, - iudicumve et praesidum, id est statione sive inoneratione plaustrorum, - nisi solo illi qui huic praedictae terrae Hymeltune dominus existat - ... ut haec traditio, sive in terra praedicta, sive in vico salis, - absque omni censu atque tributo perpetualiter libera permaneat.” - -Footnote 127: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1075. “Bútan ðæt se wægnscilling and se seámpending - gonge tó ðæs cyninges handa, swá he ealning dyde æt Saltwíc:” except - that the wainshilling and loadpenny (“statio et inoneratio - plaustrorum”) shall go to the king’s hand, as they always did, at - Saltwíc. - ------ - -The peculiar qualities of salt, which make it a necessary of life to -man, have always given a special character to the springs and soils -which contain it. The pagan Germans considered the salt-springs holy, -and waged wars of extermination for their possession[128]; and it is not -improbable that they may generally have belonged to the exclusive -property of the priesthood. If so, we can readily understand how, upon -the introduction of Christianity, they would naturally pass into the -hands of the king: and this seems to throw light upon the origin of this -royalty, which Eichhorn himself looks upon as difficult of -explanation[129]. Many of the royal rights were unquestionably inherited -from the pagan priesthood. - ------ - -Footnote 128: - - Tacit. Ann. xiii. 57. “Eadem aestate inter Hermunduros Cattosque - certatum magno praelio, dum flumen gignendo sale fecundum et - conterminum vi trahunt, super libidinem cuncta armis agendi religione - insita, eos maxime locos propinquare coelo, precesque mortalium a deis - nusquam propius audiri.” - -Footnote 129: - - Deut. Staatsr. ii. 426. § 297. - ------ - -MARKET.—The grant of a market, with power to levy tolls and exercise the -police therein, was also a royalty, in the period of the consolidated -monarchy; and to this head may be added the right to keep a private beam -or steelyard, _trutina_ or _tróne_, yard-measure, and bushel. Of these -the charters supply examples. The last-named rights were purchased in -857 by bishop Alhhun of Worcester, from Burgred, who, as king of Mercia, -disposed of them to him, with a small plot of land in London. The price -paid was sixty shillings, or a pound, to Ceólmund, the owner of the -land, a like sum to the king, and an annual rent of twelve shillings to -the latter[130]. Thirty-two years later, Ælfred and Æðelred of Mercia -gave another small plot in the same city to Werfrið, also bishop of -Worcester. He was to have a steelyard, and a measure, both for buying -and selling, or for his own private use. And if any of his people dealt -in the street or on the bank where the sales took place, the king was to -have his toll: but if the bargain was struck within the bishop’s -_curtis_, he was to have the toll[131]. - ------ - -Footnote 130: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 280. “Habeat intus liberaliter modium et pondera et - mensura[m], sicut in porto mos est ad fruendum.” - -Footnote 131: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 316. “Et intro urnam et trutinam ad mensurandum in - emendo sive vendendo ad usum, sive ad necessitatem propriam et liberam - omnimodis habeat.... Si autem foris vel in strata publica seu in ripa - emptorali quislibet suorum mercaverit, iuxta quod rectum sit, - thelonium ad manum regis subeat: quod si intus in curte praedicta - quislibet emerit vel vendiderit, thelonium debitum ad manum episcopi - supramemorati reddatur.” - ------ - -In 904 Eádweard gave a market in Taunton to the bishop of Winchester, -with the toll therefrom arising, by the name of “ðæs túnes cýping”[132]: -and a few years earlier Æðelred of Mercia granted half the market-dues -and fines at Worcester to the bishop of that city[133]. The Frankish -emperors possessed and exercised the same right[134]. The strict law of -the Anglosaxons, which treated all strangers with harshness, was -unfavourable to the chapmen or pedlars, who in thinly-peopled countries -are relied upon to bring markets home to every one’s door: and it must -be admitted that, where internal communication is yet imperfect, -stringent measures are necessary to guard against the disposal of goods -improperly obtained. The details of these measures belong to another -part of this work, but it is necessary to call attention here to the -endeavour on the part of the authorities, to confine all bargaining as -much as possible to towns and walled places[135]: the small tolls -payable on these occasions to the proper officers were a reasonable -sacrifice for the sake of a certificate of fair dealing, and the assured -warranty of what the Saxon law calls _unlying_ witnesses. The king, as -general conservator of the peace, had this royalty, and, as we have -seen, granted it in various towns to those who would be able and willing -to perform the duties which it implied. - ------ - -Footnote 132: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1084. “Praedictae etiam villae mercimonium, quod - anglicè ðæs túnes cýping appellatur, censusque omnus civilis sanctae - dei aecclesiae in Wintonia civitate, sine retractionis obstaculo cum - omnibus commodis aeternaliter deserviat.” - -Footnote 133: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1075. - -Footnote 134: - - See Böhmer, Regest. Karol. Nos. 439, 628, 700, 2065, 2078. - -Footnote 135: - - Eádw. § 1. Æðelst. i. § 10, 12, 13; iii. § 2; v. § 10. Eádm. i. § 5. - Eádg. Sup. § 6. Æðelb. i. § 3. Cnut, ii. § 24. Eádw. Conf. § 38. Wil. - Conq. i. § 45; iii. § 10, 11. - ------ - -TOLL.—Closely connected with this are tolls, which, here as well as in -Germany, the king claimed in harbours, and upon transport by roads and -by navigable streams[136], and which he either remitted altogether in -favour of certain favoured persons or empowered them to take; thus, in -the first instance, creating for them a commercial monopoly of the -greatest value, by enabling them to enter the market on terms of -advantage. As early as the eighth century we find Æðelbald of Mercia -granting to a monastery in Thanet, exemption from toll throughout his -kingdom for one ship of burthen[137], remitting to Milræd, bishop of -Worcester, the dues upon two ships, payable in the port of London[138], -and to the bishop of Rochester the toll of one ship, whether his own or -another’s, in the same port[139]. And the grant to St. Mildðrýð in -Thanet was confirmed for himself, and increased by Eádberht of Kent in -761, and extended to London, Fordwíc and Seorre[140]; and if the actual -ship to which this privilege was attached should become unseaworthy -through age, or perish by shipwreck, a new one was to receive the same -favour. - ------ - -Footnote 136: - - See Böhmer, Regest. Karol. Nos. 7, 14, 28, 31, 67, 71, 83, 89, 97, - 111, 163, 206, 217, 220, 227, 231, 240, 252, 260, 272, 283, 288, 304, - 308, 398, 415, 461, 463, 559, 561, 564, 566, 586, 592, 593, 605, 652, - 693, 739, 787, 837, 885, 1528, 2067, 2073. These charters contain full - particulars relative to the levy, release and grant of tolls in the - Frankish empire. - -Footnote 137: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 84. “Navis onustae transvectionis censum qui a - theloneariis nostris tributaria exactione impetitur, perdonans - attribuo; ut ubique in regno nostro libera de omni regali fiscu et - tributo maneat.” - -Footnote 138: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 95. “Ðá forgeofende ic him álýfde alle nédbade twégra - sceopa ða ðe ðǽr ábædde beóð fram ðám nédbaderum in Lundentúnes hýðe; - ond næfre ic né míne lastweardas né ða nédbaderas geþristlǽcen ðæt heó - hit onwenden oððe ðon wiðgǽn.” See similar exemptions in Cod. Dipl. - Nos. 97, 98, 112. - -Footnote 139: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 78. “Indico me dedisse ... unius navis, sive illa - propria ipsius, sive cuiuslibet alterius hominis sit, incessum, id est - vectigal, mihi et antecessoribus meis iure regio in portu Lundoniae - usque hactenus conpetentem.” And this was confirmed a century later by - Berhtwulf of Mercia. - -Footnote 140: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 106. After mentioning one ship, relieved from toll in - London, he continues: “Alterius vero ... omne tributum atque vectigal - concedimus, quod etiam a thelonariis nostris iuste impetitur publicis - in locis, qui appellantur Forduuíc et Seorre.” - ------ - -A common privilege in charters of liberties is Tol, but this probably -refers rather to a right of taking it upon sales within the -jurisdiction, than properly to dues levied on transport. Such however -are occasionally mentioned as matter of grant. Eádmund Irensída, -conveying lands which had belonged to Sigeferð (whose widow he had -married), includes toll upon water-carriage among his rights[141]. Cnut -gave the harbour and tolls of Sandwich to Christchurch Canterbury[142], -together with a ferry. This right, under Harald Haranfót, was attempted -to be interfered with by the abbot of St. Augustine’s, who even at last -went so far as to dig a canal in order to divert the channel of trade; -but the monks of Christchurch nevertheless succeeded in retaining their -property[143]. These examples, although not very numerous, are -sufficient to show that the Anglosaxon kings fully possessed the right -of levying and granting toll, as well as exemption from its payment; and -they are sufficiently confirmed by Domesday and the laws of the kings -themselves[144]. - -Footnote 141: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 726. “Ita habeant sicut Siuerthus habuit in vita, in - longitudine et in latitudine, in magnis et in modicis rebus, campis, - pascuis, pratis, silvis, theloneum aquarum, piscationem in paludibus.” - -Footnote 142: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 737. “Eorum est navicula et transfretatio portus, et - theloneum omnium navium, cuiuscunque sit et undecumque veniat, quae ad - praedictum portum et ad Sanduuíc venerint.” - -Footnote 143: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 758. The story is altogether so good, and so well told, - that it may be given here entire. - - “This writing witnesseth how Harold the king caused Sandwich to be - ridden about to his own hand: and he kept it for himself well nigh a - twelvemonth, and at any rate fully two herring-seasons, all against - God’s will, and against the Saints’ who lie at Christchurch, as it - turned out ill enough for him afterwards. And during this time there - went Ælfstán the abbot of St. Augustine’s, and got, with his lying - flatteries and his gold and silver, all secretly from Steorra who was - the king’s redesman, a right to the third penny of the toll at - Sandwich. Now when archbishop Eádsige and all the brotherhood at - Christchurch learnt this, they took counsel together, that they should - send Ælfgár, the monk of Christchurch, to king Harold. Now the king - lay at Oxford very ill, so that his life was despaired of; and there - were with him Lýfing, bishop of Devonshire, and Tancred the monk. Then - came the messenger from Christchurch to the bishop; and he forth at - once to the king, and with him Ælfgár the monk, Osweard of - Harrietsham, and Tancred; and they told the king that he had deeply - sinned against Christ, in ever daring to take back anything from - Christchurch which his predecessors had given: and then they told him - about Sandwich, how it had been ridden about to his hand. There lay - the king and turned quite black in the face at their tale, and swore - by God Almighty and all his saints to boot, that it never was either - his rede or his deed, that Sandwich should be taken from Christchurch. - So it was plain enough that it was other peoples’ and not king - Harold’s contrivance: and to say the truth, Ælfstán the abbot’s - counsel was with the men who counselled it out of Christchurch. Then - king Harold sent Ælfgár the monk back to archbishop Eádsige and all - the monks at Christchurch, and gave them God’s greeting and his own, - and commanded that they should have Sandwich, into Christchurch, as - fully and wholly as they had ever had it in any king’s day, both in - rent, in stream, on strand, in fines, and in everything which any king - had ever most fully possessed before them. Now when abbot Ælfstán - heard of this, he came to archbishop Eádsige and begged his support - with the brotherhood, about the third penny: and away they both went - to all the brotherhood and begged the Convent that abbot Ælfstán might - be allowed the third penny of the toll, and he to give the Convent ten - pounds. But they refused it altogether throughout, and said it was no - use asking: and withal archbishop Eádsige backed him much more than he - did the Convent. And when he could not get on in this way, he asked - leave to make a wharf over against Mildðrýð’s acre, opposite the ferry - (?) to keep, but all the Convent decidedly refused this: and - archbishop Eádsige left it all to their own decision. Then abbot - Ælfstán set to, with a great help, and let dig a great canal at - Hyppeles fleót, hoping that craft would lie there, just as they did at - Sandwich: however he got no good by it; for he laboureth in vain who - laboureth against Christ’s will. So the abbot left it in this state, - and the Convent took to their own, in God’s witness, and Saint Mary’s, - and all the Saints’ who rest at Christchurch and Saint Augustine’s. - This is all true, believe it who will: abbot Ælfstán never got the - third penny at Sandwich in any other way. God’s blessing be with us - all now and for ever more! Amen.” - -Footnote 144: - - The following is the tariff of tolls levied at Billingsgate. Æðelr. - iv. § 2. “De telonio dando ad Bylingesgate. Ad Billingesgate, si - advenisset una navicula, unus obolus telonei dabatur: si maior et - haberet siglas, unus denarius. Si adveniat ceól vel hulcus, et ibi - iaceat, quatuor denarios ad teloneum. De navi plena lignorum, unum - lignum ad teloneum. In ebdomada panum telonium tribus diebus, die - dominica, et die Martis et die Jovis. Qui ad pontem venisset cum uno - bato, ubi piscis inesset, ipse mango unum obolum dabat in telonium, et - de una maiori nave, unum denarium. Homines de Rotomago, qui veniebant - cum vino vel craspice, dabant rectitudinem sex solidorum de magna - navi, et vicesimum frustum de ipso craspice. Flandrenses et - Ponteienses et Normannia et Francia, monstrabant res suas et - extolneabant. Hogge et Leodium et Nivella, qui per terras ibant, - ostensionem dabant et teloneum. Et homines Imperatoris, qui veniebant - in navibus suis, bonarum legum digni tenebantur, sicut et nos. Praeter - discarcatam lanum et dissutum unctum et tres porcos vivos licebat eis - emere in naves suas; et non licebat eis aliquod foreceápum facere - burhmannis; et dare telonium suum, et in sancto Natali Domini duos - grisengos pannos, et unum brunum, et decem libras piperis, et - cirotecas quinque hominum, et duos caballinos tonellos aceto plenos, - et totidem in Pascha: de dosseris cum gallinis, una gallina telonei, - et de uno dossero cum ovis, quinque ova telonei, si veniant ad - mercatum. Smeremangestre, quae mangonant in caseo et butiro, - quatuordecim diebus ante Natale Domini, unum denarium, et septem - diebus post Natale, unum alium.” - ------ - -FOREST.—It may be doubted whether the right of Forest was at any time -carried among the Saxons to the extent which made it so hateful a means -of oppression under the Norman kings; but there can be no question that -it was one of the royalties. In every part of Germany the _bannum -Forestae_ or _Forstbann_ was so[145], and even to this day is as much an -object of popular dislike in some districts as it ever was among our -forefathers. In countries which depend much upon the immediate produce -of the soil for support, hunting is not a mere amusement to be purchased -or rented by the rich as a luxury, but a very necessary means of -increasing the supply of food; and where coal-mines have not been -worked, the forest alone or the turf-heap can furnish the means of -securing warmth, as indispensable a necessary of life as bread or flesh: -we have seen moreover that it was essential to the comfort of a Saxon -family to possess a right of masting cattle in the neighbouring woods. - ------ - -Footnote 145: - - Eichhorn, Deut. Staatsr. i. 813, § 199. - ------ - -In the original division of the lands large tracts of forest may have -fallen to the king’s share, which he could dispose of as his private -property. Much of the folcland also may have been covered with wood, and -here and there may have lain sacred groves not included within the -limits of any community[146]. It is not unreasonable to suppose that all -these were gradually brought under the immediate influence and authority -of the king; and that when once the royal power had so far advanced as -to reduce the scír-geréfa to the condition of a crown officer, the -shire-marks or forests would also become subject to the royal -_ban_[147]. That very considerable forest rights still continued to -subsist in the hands of the free men, in their communities, may be -admitted, and is evidence of the firm foundation for popular liberty -which the old Mark-organization laid. But even in these, the possession -was not left totally undisturbed, and the public officers, the king, -ealdorman and geréfa appear to have gradually made various usurpations -valid. - ------ - -Footnote 146: - - “Lucos et nemora consecrant.” Tac. Germ. ix. - -Footnote 147: - - As early as 825 we find questions of pasture contested by the - swángeréfa as an officer of the ealdorman. Cod. Dipl. No. 219. The - scírholt mentioned in this document would seem to have been the - shire-forest or public wood of the county; hence probably a royal - ban-forest, subject to the royal officer, the ealdorman. - ------ - -Over his private forests the king naturally exercised all the rights of -absolute ownership; and as his _ban_ ultimately implies this, at least -in theory, it becomes difficult to distinguish those which he dealt with -as _dominus fundi_, from those in which he acted _iure regali_. That he -reserved the vert and venison in some of them, and _preserved_ with a -strictness worthy of more enlightened ages, is clear from the severe -provisions of Cnut’s Constitutiones de Foresta[148]. According to this -important document, the forest law was as follows. In every county there -were to be four thanes, whose business it was, under the title of -Head-foresters, _primarii forestae_, to hold plea of all offences -touching the forest, and having the _ban_ or power of punishing for such -offences. Under them were sixteen lesser thanes, but gentlemen, whose -business it was to look after the vert and venison; and these had -nothing to do with the process in the forest court. To each of the -sixteen were assigned two yeomen, who were to keep watch at night over -the vert and venison, and do the necessary menial services: but they -were freemen, and even employment in the forest gave freedom. All the -expenses of these officers were defrayed by the king, and he further -supplied the outfit of the several classes: to the head-foresters, -yearly, two horses, one saddled, a sword, five lances, a spear, a shield -and two hundred shillings of silver: to the second class, one horse, one -lance, one shield and sixty shillings: to the yeomen, a lance, a -cross-bow and fifteen shillings. All these persons were quit and free of -all summonses, county-courts, and military dues: but the two secondary -classes owed suit and surface to the court of the _primarii_ (Swánmót), -which held plea and gave judgment in their suits: in those of the -_primarii_ themselves, the king was sole judge. The court of the Forest -was to be held four times a year, and was empowered to administer the -triple ordeal, and generally to exercise such a jurisdiction as belonged -only to the higher and royal courts. The persons of the head-foresters -were guarded by severe penalties; violence offered to them was punished -in a free man with loss of liberty, in a serf with loss of the hand; and -a second offence entailed the penalty of death. - ------ - -Footnote 148: - - See these in Thorpe, i. 426. - ------ - -The offences against the forest-law were various and of very different -degrees: the _ferae forestae_ were not nearly so sacred as the _ferae -regales_, and as for the _vert_, it was of so little regard that the law -hardly contemplated it, always excepting the breaking the king’s chace. -To hunt a beast of the forest (_fera forestae_), either voluntarily or -intentionally, till it panted, was punished in a free man by a fine of -ten shillings: in one of a lower grade[149], by a fine of twenty: in a -serf, by a flogging. But if it were a royal beast (_fera regalis_) which -the English call a stag, the punishments were to be respectively, one -and two years servitude, and for the serf, outlawry. If they killed it, -the free man was to lose _scutum libertatis_[150], the next man his -liberty, and the serf his life. Bishops, abbots and barons were not to -be vexed with prosecutions for hunting, except they killed stags: in -that case they were liable to such penalty as the king willed. Besides -the beasts of the forest, the roebuck, hare and rabbit were protected by -fines. Wolves and foxes were neither beasts of the forest nor chace, and -might be killed with impunity, but not within the bounds of the forest, -as that would be a breaking of the chace; nor was the boar considered a -beast of venery. No one was to cut brushwood without permission of the -_primarius_, under a penalty; and he that felled a tree which supplied -food for the beasts, was to pay a fine of twenty shillings over and -above that for breaking the chace. Every free man might have his own -vert and venison on his own lands, but without a chace; and no man of -the middle class (_mediocris_) was to keep greyhounds. A gentleman -(_liberalis_[151]) might, but he must first have the knee-sinew cut in -presence of the head-forester, if he lived within ten miles of the -forest: if his dogs came within that distance, he was to be fined a -shilling a mile: if the dog entered the precincts of the forest, his -master was to pay ten shillings. Other kinds of dogs, not considered -dangerous, might be kept without mutilation; but if they became mad and -by the negligence of their masters went wandering about, heavy fines -were incurred. If found within the bounds of the forest, the fine was -two hundred shillings: if such a rabid dog bit a beast of the forest, -the fine rose to twelve hundred: but if a royal beast was bitten, the -crime was of the deepest dye. - ------ - -Footnote 149: - - _Illiberalis_; perhaps a freedman, or a free man not a landowner. The - distinctions here are _liber_, _illiberalis_, _servus_. - -Footnote 150: - - This must denote _gentry_, something more than mere freedom. - -Footnote 151: - - The _mediocris_ is defined as twýhynde, the _liberalis_ as twelfhynde. - § 33, 34. - ------ - -Such is the forest legislation of Cnut, and its severity is of itself -evidence how much the power of the king had become extended at the -commencement of the eleventh century. It is clear that he deals with all -forests as having certain paramount rights therein, and it seems -probable that this organization was intended to be established all over -England. Still it is observable that he gives certain rights of hunting -to all his nobles, reserving only the stags to himself, and that he -allows every freeman to hunt upon his own property, so that he does not -interfere with the royal chaces[152]. We may however infer that at an -earlier period the matter was not regarded so strictly. A passage has -been already cited[153] where Ælfred implies that a dependent living -upon lǽnland could support himself by hunting and fishing, till he got -bócland of his own. The bishops possessed the right in their -forests—whether _proprio iure_ or by royal grant, I will not venture to -decide—as early as the ninth century[154], and still retained it in the -tenth[155]. And while the communities were yet free it is absurd to -suppose that they allowed any one to interfere with this pursuit, so -attractive to every Teuton, so healthy, so calculated to practise his -eye and limbs for the sterner duties of warfare, and so useful to -recruit a larder not over well stored with various or delicate viands. - ------ - -Footnote 152: - - This regulation was very likely forced upon him by his Witan, inasmuch - as it is also recorded in his laws, § 81. “Every one shall be entitled - to his hunting both in wood and field, upon his own property. And let - every one forego my hunting: take notice where I will have it - untrespassed upon, on penalty of the full wíte.” - -Footnote 153: - - See Vol. I. p. 312. - -Footnote 154: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1086. Bishop Denewulf gave Ælfred forty hides at - Alresford, loaded with various conditions: among them, that his men - should be ready “ge tó ripe ge tó hunt[n]oðe,” that is at the bishop’s - harvest and hunting. - -Footnote 155: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1287. Oswald bishop of Worcester, stating the terms on - which he let the lands of his see, includes among them the services of - his tenants at his hunting: “Sed et venationis sepem domini episcopi - [clearly _a park_] ultronei ad aedificandum repperiantur, suaque, - quandocumque domino episcopo libuerit, venabula destinent venatum.” - ------ - -However this may have been with the game, it is certain that the most -important privileges were those of masting swine, and cutting timber or -brushwood in the forests[156]. Grants to this effect are common, and it -is plain that a considerable quantity of woods were in the hands of -corporations, and even of private individuals, as well as of the Crown. -How they came into private hands is not clear; some perhaps by bargain -and sale, some by inheritance, some by grant, some no doubt by -usurpation. The most powerful markman may at last have contrived to -appropriate to himself the ownership of what woodland remained, though -he was still compelled to permit the hereditary axe to ring in the -forest[157]; and all experience shows that both here and in Germany -monasteries were often founded in the bosom of woods, granted for -religious purposes, out of what perhaps had once endowed an earlier -religion, and which supplied at once building materials, fuel and -support for cattle[158]. But even in these, it seems that the king, the -duke and the geréfa interfered, claiming a right to pasture certain -numbers of their own swine or cattle in them, and to give this privilege -to others. - ------ - -Footnote 156: - - The importance of pannage or masting was such as to cause the - introduction of a clause guarding it, in the Charta de Foresta,—a - document considered by our forefathers as hardly less important than - Magna Charta itself: see § 9. Domesday usually notes the amount of - pannage in an estate, and Fleta (Bk. ii. cap. 80) thinks it necessary - to devote a chapter to the subject. - -Footnote 157: - - The Oldsaxons in Westphalia called a distinguished class of persons - Erfexe, or Hereditary axes, from their right to hew wood in the Mark. - Möser (Osnab. i. 19) gives an erroneous derivation for this name, but - Grimm corrects him: Deut. Rechtsalt. 504. - -Footnote 158: - - “Dunhelmum veniens, locum quidem natura munitum, sed non facile - habitabilem invenit, quoniam densissima eum silva totum occupabat,” - etc. Transl. Sci. Cuðb. Bed. Hist. vol. ii. p. 302. The earliest - grants of land on which these establishments were placed, usually - state the land to be _silva_ or _silvatica_. - ------ - -In 845, Æðelwulf gave pasture to Badonoð for his cattle with the king’s -beasts, apparently in the pastures of the town of Canterbury[159]. In -855, the same king gave his thane Dun a tenement in Rochester, together -with two waggon-loads of wood from the king’s forest, and common in the -marsh[160]. In 839 he licensed for Dudda two waggons to the common wood, -probably Blean[161]; in 772, Offa granted lands to Abbot Æðelnoð, and -added a perpetual right of pasture and masting in the royal wood, -together with licence for one goat to go with the royal flock in the -forest of Sænling[162]. Numerous other examples are supplied by the -charters, which may be classed under the following heads: first, royal -forests, as Sænling, Blean, Andred and the like, called _silvae -regales_, and in which the king granted timber, common of mast and -pasture or estovers: secondly, forest appertaining to cities and -communities (ceasterwara-weald, burhwara-weald, _silva communis_), in -which the king granted commons: thirdly, small woods, appurtenant to and -part of estates, but not named, and the enjoyment of which is conveyed -in the general terms of the grant, as _terram cum communibus -utilitatibus, pascuis, pratis, silvis, piscariis_, etc.: lastly, private -forests or commons of forest specially named as appurtenant to -particular estates, or given by favour of the king to the tenant of -those estates. To all these heads ample references will be found in the -note below[163]. His right to deal at pleasure with the _silvae regales_ -requires no particular notice, but the grants of pasture and timber in -the forests of cities and communities[164] can only be explained by the -assumption of a paramount royalty in the Crown. And that this was -exercised in the private forests of monasteries, also appears from -exemptions sometimes purchased by them. In 706, Æðelweard of the Hwiccas -consented to confine his right of pasture to one herd of swine, and that -only in years when mast was abundant, in the forests belonging to -Evesham; and he released them from all claims of princes and officers, -except this one of his own[165]. Similarly, with regard to timber, -Ecgberht in 835 gave an immunity to Abingdon, against the claim of king -or prince, to take large or small wood for his buildings from the -forests of the monastery[166]. This right of the king to timber for -public purposes was maintained and claimed till the time of the -rebellion, and was a fertile source of malversation and extortion[167]. - ------ - -Footnote 159: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 259. - -Footnote 160: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 276. “Et decem carros cum silvo (_sic_) honestos in - monte regis, et communionem marisci quae ad illam villam antiquitus - cum recto pertinebat.” - -Footnote 161: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 241. “Duobusque carris dabo licentiam silfam ad illas - secundum antiquam consuetudinem et constituidem (_sic_) in aestate - perferendam in commune silfa quod nos saxonicae in geménnisse - dicimus.” - -Footnote 162: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 119. “Et ad pascendum porcos et pecora, et iumenta in - silva regali aeternaliter perdono; et unius caprae licentiam in silva - quae vocatur Saenling ubi meae vadunt.” - -Footnote 163: - - Royal forests in which common of pasture, or timber is given by the - king. Cod. Dipl. Nos. 77, 107, 108, 201, 207, 234, 239, etc. Civic and - common forests in which the king makes similar grants. Cod. Dipl. Nos. - 96, 160, 179, 190, 198, 216, 219, etc. Private forests, conveyed in - general terms of the grant. Cod. Dipl. Nos. 16, 17, 27, 32, 35, 36, - 80, 83, 85, etc. Private forests particularly defined as appurtenant. - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 80, 89, 138, 152, 161, 165, 187, 214, etc. - -Footnote 164: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 47, 86, 96, etc. - -Footnote 165: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 56. “Excepto eo, ut si quando in insula eidem ruri - pertinente proventus copiosior glandis acciderit, uni solummodo gregi - porcorum saginae pastus regi concederetur; et praeter hoc nulli, neque - principi, neque praefecto, neque tiranno alicui, pascua - constituantur.” This right of the king’s was called _Fearnleswe_: “Et - illam terram ... liberabo a pascua porcorum regis quod nominamus - Fearnleswe.” Cod. Dipl. No. 277. - -Footnote 166: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 236. “Silva quoque omnis quae illi aecclesiae et - suburbanis eius suppetit, in omnibus causis sit libera, et non secetur - ibi ad regis vel principis aedificia aliqua pars materiae grossi vel - gracilis, sed ab omnibus defensa et libera maneat.” Compare Böhm. Reg. - Karol. Nos. 387, 1157, 1598. - -Footnote 167: - - From a speech of Lord Bacon’s against the abuses of purveyors, it - appears that those who were to purvey timber for the king, even as - late as the reign of James the First, used to extort money by the - threat of felling ornamental trees in the avenues or grounds of - mansion-houses. Barrington, Anc. Stat. p. 7, note. - ------ - -STRANGER.—To the king belonged also the protection of all strangers -within his realm, and the consequent claim to a portion of their -wergyld, and their property in case of death, a _droit d’aubaine_. This -was a natural deduction from the principles of a period and a state of -society in which every man’s security was founded upon association -either with relatives or guildsmen: and as no one could have these in a -foreign mark,—the associations being themselves in intimate connection -with the territory,—it is obvious that the public authorities alone -could exercise any functions in behalf of the solitary chapman. As -general conservator of the peace, these necessarily fell to the king; -but the duties and advantages which he thus assumed became in turn -matter of grant, and were conferred by him upon other public persons or -corporations. - -The laws declare the king, earl and bishop to be the relatives and -guardians of the stranger[168]; and the charters show that the -consequent gains were alienated by him at his pleasure. In 835, Ecgberht -gave the inheritance of Gauls and Britons, and half their wergyld, to -the monastery at Abingdon[169]. Among these strangers, the Jews were -especially mentioned. Anglosaxon history has not indeed recorded any of -those abominable outrages upon this long-suffering people which fill the -annals of our own and other countries during the middle ages; but there -can be no doubt that a false and fanatical view of religion, if not -their way of life and their accumulations, must have ever marked them -out for persecution. Eichhorn has justly characterized the feeling which -prevailed respecting them in all parts of Europe[170], and has remarked -to the honour of the Popes that they were the first to preach toleration -and command the attempt at conversion. But the utility of the Jewish -industry especially in thinly peopled countries, and their importance as -gatherers of capital, were ever engaged in a struggle against bigotry; -hence the Jews could generally obtain a qualified protection against all -but sudden outbreaks of popular fury. As these latter had mostly other -deep-seated causes, the ruling classes may sometimes have seen without -regret the popular indignation vent itself in a direction which did not -immediately endanger themselves: but as a general rule, the Jews enjoyed -protection, and were made to pay dearly for it. Both parties were -gainers by the arrangement. Among the Saxons this could not be -otherwise, for it was impossible for a Jew to be in a hundred or tithing -as a freeman; and he would probably have had but little security in the -household and following of an ordinary noble. The readiest and most -effective plan was to place him, wherever he might be, especially under -the king’s mundbyrd. Accordingly the law of Eádweard the Confessor -declares the king to be protector of all Jews[171], and this right -descended to his Norman successors. Similarly as the clergy relinquished -their mǽsceaft or bond of kin, on entering into orders, the king became -their natural mundbora[172]. - ------ - -Footnote 168: - - “If any one wrong an ecclesiastic or a foreigner, in anything touching - either his property or his life, then shall the king, or the earl - there in the land [_i. e._ among the Danes] or the bishop of the - people be unto him as a kinsman and protector: and let compensation be - strictly made, according to the deed, both to Christ and the king; or - let the king among the people severely avenge the deed.” Eádw. Guð. § - 12. Thorpe, i. 174. See also Ranks. § 8. Æðelr. ix. § 33. Cnut, ii. § - 40. Hen. I. x. § 3; lxxv. § 7. - -Footnote 169: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 236. “Similiter de haereditate peregrinorum, id est - Gallorum et Brittonum et horum similium, aecclesiae reddatur. Praetium - quoque sanguinis peregrinorum, id est _wergyld_, dimidiam partem rex - teneat, dimidiam aecclesiae antedictae reddant.” - -Footnote 170: - - Deut. Staatsr. i. 422, § 297. He cites an instruction of Margrave - Albrecht of Brandenburg an. 1462, which contains this Christian-like - provision:—“When a Roman emperor and king is crowned, he has a right - to take all they possess throughout his realm, yea and their lives - also, and to slay them, until only a little number of them be left, to - serve as a memorial.” Kings and populations, without being heads of - the holy Roman empire, assumed a similar right only too often. - -Footnote 171: - - Eádw. Conf. § 25. “Sciendum est quod omnes Judaei, ubicunque regno - sint, sub tutela et defensione regis ligie debent esse. Neque aliquis - eorum potest subdere se alicui diviti sine licentia regis; quia ipsi - Judaei et omnia sua regis sunt. Quod si aliquis detinuerit illos vel - pecuniam eorum, rex requirat tanquam suum proprium, si vult et - potest.” - -Footnote 172: - - Cnut, ii. § 40. Thorpe, i. 400. - ------ - -BRIDGE.—It is probable that no one could build a bridge without the -royal licence, though I am not aware of any instance in the Saxon times: -but I infer this from grants of the Frankish emperors and kings to that -effect[173]. It is possible that this may have depended upon the -circumstance that toll would be taken by the owner of such a bridge; but -we may believe that other reasons concurred with this, and that the -bridge originally had something of a holy character, and stood in near -relation to the priesthood[174]. - ------ - -Footnote 173: - - Böhm. Reg. Karol. Nos. 88, 680, 1931. - -Footnote 174: - - It has already been noticed as remarkable that Pontifex, the - bridge-builder, should be the name for the priestly class. There are - many superstitions connected with bridges, and the spirit of the - bridge even to this day, in Germany, demands his victims as inexorably - as the spirit of the river. Deut. Mythol. p. 563. The passage in - Schol. Ælii Aristid. which speaks, according to a modern emendation, - of Palladia in connection with bridges, is hopelessly corrupt. But - Servius, Æneid, ii. 661, says the Athenian Pallas was called γεφυρῖτις - (not γεφυρίστης as the copies have), and this is confirmed by the - Interp. Virgil, published by Mai, where from her position on a bridge - the goddess is called γεφυρῖτις Ἀθηνᾶ. Pherecydes (No. 101) and - Phylarchus (No. 79) both appear to refer to this, if indeed the - proposed readings can be admitted. See Fragm. Hist. Græc. pp. 95, 356. - There was in very early times a _gens_ of γεφυραῖοι at Athens, but I - do not know if they had any priestly functions. They had the worship - of Δημήτηρ Ἄχαια, and were Cadmæans who had immigrated into Attica; - from among them sprung Harmodius and Aristogeiton. - ------ - -CASTLE.—In like manner we may doubt whether the kings did not gradually -draw into their own hands the right to have fortified houses or castles, -which we find them possessing in the Norman times, and which they -extended to their adherents and favourites by special licence. In -mediæval history, the fortification of their houses by the inhabitants -of a city is the very first result of the establishment of a Communa, -commune or free municipality; and the destruction of such fortifications -the first care of the victorious count, bishop or king upon his triumph -over the _outrecuidance_ of the burghers[175]. The clearest instance of -the royal licence to a subject is a grant of Æðelræd and Æðelflæd to the -bishop of Worcester, about 880, which recites that they built a burh or -fortress for him, in his city, probably to defend his cathedral in those -stormy days of Danish ravage[176]. In very early times there may have -been fortresses belonging to private persons; this may be inferred from -names of places such as Sulmonnes burh, _Sulman’s castle_; and under the -later Anglosaxon kings, various great nobles may have obtained the -privilege of fortifying their own residences, as for example we read of -Pentecost’s castle and Rodberht’s castle under Eádweard the -Confessor[177], an example very likely to have been followed by the -powerful chieftains of Godwine’s, Sigeweard’s and Leófríc’s families; -but the cases were probably few. Of course fortresses built and -garrisoned by the king for the public defence are quite another matter: -these were imperial, and to their construction, maintenance and repair, -every estate throughout the land, whether of folcland or bócland, was -inevitably bound, not even excepting the demesne lands of the king -himself or of the ecclesiastical corporations. - -Footnote 175: - - Thierry, Lettres sur l’Hist. de France, p. 272. “Ainsi élevés de la - triste condition de sujets taillables d’une abbaye au rang d’alliés - politiques d’un des plus puissants seigneurs, les habitans de Vézelay - cherchèrent à s’entourer des signes extérieurs qui annonçaient ce - changement d’état. Ils élevèrent autour de leurs maisons, chacun selon - sa richesse, des murailles crénelées, ce qui était alors la marque de - la garantie du privilége de liberté. L’un des plus considérables parmi - eux, nommé Simon, jeta les fondements d’une grosse tour carrée, comme - celle dont les restes se voient à Toulouse, à Arles, et dans plusieurs - villes d’Italie. Ces tours, auxquelles la tradition joint encore le - nom de leur premier possesseur, donnent une grande idée de - l’importance individuelle des riches bourgeois du moyen âge, - importance bien autre que la petite considération dont ils jouirent - plus tard sous le régime monarchique. Cet appareil seigneurial n’était - pas, dans les grandes villes de commune, le privilége exclusif d’un - petit nombre d’hommes, seuls puissants au milieu d’une multitude - pauvre: Avignon, au commencement du treizième siècle, ne comptait pas - moins de trois cents maisons garnies de tours.” - - This last fact rests upon the authority of Matthew Paris. On the - defeat of the Commune, the order was given to raze their - fortifications. The king himself, Louis le Jeune (A.D. 1155), - distinctly decreed in the sentence which he pronounced against them, - that within a given time the towers, walls and enclosures with which - they had fortified their houses should be demolished. But the burghers - had no such intention; “ces signes de liberté leur étaient plus chers - que leur argent;” and they continued to resist even after the Pope - himself had written to the king of France to demand the execution of - the decree. At length however the Abbot of Vézelay took the matter - into his own hands. “Il fit venir, des domaines de son église, une - troupe nombreuse de jeunes paysans serfs, qu’il arma aussi bien qu’il - put, et auxquels il donna pour commandants les plus déterminés de ses - moines. Cette troupe marcha droit à la maison de Simon, et ne trouvant - aucune résistance, se mit à démolir la tour et les murailles - crénelées, tandisque le maître de la maison, calme et fier comme un - Romain du temps de la république, était assis au coin du feu avec sa - femme et ses enfants. Ce succès, obtenu sans combat, décida la - victoire en faveur de la puissance seigneuriale, et ceux d’entre les - bourgeois qui avaient des maisons fortifiées donnèrent à l’abbé des - otages, pour garantie de la destruction de tous leur ouvrages de - défense. ‘Alors,’ dit le narrateur ecclésiastique, ‘toute querelle fut - terminée, et l’Abbaye de Vézelay recouvra le libre exercice de son - droit de juridiction sur ses vassaux rebelles.’” Ibid. pp. 291, 292. - -Footnote 176: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1075. - -Footnote 177: - - Chron. Sax. 1052. “Ða geáxode Rotberd arcebisceop ⁊ ða Frencisce ðæt, - genamon heora hors ⁊ gewendon, sume west tó Pentecostes castele, sume - norð tó Rodberhtes castele.” However these were foreigners, a culpable - complaisance towards whom is a grievous stain upon Eádweard’s - otherwise amiable, though weak, character. - ------ - -ROADS and CANALS.—There is no very clear evidence respecting roads and -canals, licence to make which was a subject of grant by the Frankish -emperors[178]. But except as regarded the great roads which were -especially the king’s, and the cross roads, which were the county’s, it -is probable that there was no interference on the part of the state. -Every landowner must have had the privilege of making private paths, -large or small at his pleasure, by which access could be given to -different parts of his own property. We do occasionally find roads -mentioned by the name of the owners, and a common service of the -settlers on an estate was the liability to assist in making a new road -to the farm or mansion[179]. In an instance already cited we have seen -an abbot of St. Augustine’s digging a canal with the object of diverting -traffic from the haven of Sandwich. It may unhesitatingly be asserted -that he claimed this right under his general power as a landlord, and -not by any special grant for the purpose: this is evident from the whole -tenour of the narrative. - ------ - -Footnote 178: - - Böhm. Deg. Karol. Nos. 248, 316. - -Footnote 179: - - Rect. Sing. Pers. Thorpe, i. 432. - ------ - -PORTS.—Ports and Havens were, however, essentially royalties, and, as we -have seen, could be granted to religious houses. They were naturally in -the king’s hand, for this reason: in the early times of which we treat, -the stranger is looked upon as an enemy, and every one who does not -belong to the association for the maintenance of peace, is _primâ facie_ -out of the peace altogether. This applies to sailors, as well as -travelling chapmen who wander from mark to mark or county to county; and -it applied with peculiar force to England after her coasts became -exposed to repeated invasions from the North. Still as England could not -subsist without foreign commerce, and early became alive to that great -principle of her existence, a system of what we may call navigation laws -was established. The bottoms of friendly powers were of course received -upon terms of reciprocal favour, but even strange ships had the -privilege of safety if they made certain harbours, designated for that -purpose. At the treaty of Andover, in 994, Æðelræd and his witan agreed, -that every merchant-ship that voluntarily came into port should be in -the peace; and even if it were driven into port (whether by force or by -stress of weather is not specified), and there were a friðburh, asylum, -or building in the peace, in which the men took refuge, they and their -ship and cargo should enjoy the peace[180]. It is hardly to be doubted -that the king had the power of declaring what ports should be gefriðod -or in the peace; and as this privilege would necessarily draw many -advantages to any harbour that possessed it, we can reasonably conclude -that it was made a source of profit, both by the king and those to whom -he might think fit to grant it. - ------ - -Footnote 180: - - Æðelr. ii. § 2. Thorpe, i. 284. - ------ - - -WARDSHIP and MARRIAGE.—Wardship and Marriage appear to have been -royalties; we must however believe them to have been confined to the -children and widows of the thanes or comites, and to be a deduction from -the principles of the Comitatus itself. - -In the secular law of Cnut there is a series of provisions, extending -from the 70th to the 75th clause, which can only be looked upon in the -light of alleviations, and which in the 70th clause the king himself -declares so to be. From the nature of the relief thus afforded, we may -infer that the royal officers had exercised their powers in a manner -oppressive to the subject. Accordingly the king and his witan proceed to -regulate the voluntary nature of the _feormfultum_, the legal amount of -heriot, the descent of property in the case of intestacy, and the -kings’s guardianship of the same; they protect the widow and heirs -against vexatious suits, by providing that they shall not be sued, if -the lord and father had remained undisturbed, and lastly they regulate -what appear to me to be the rights of wardship and marriage. - -“And let every widow remain for a twelvemonth without a husband; then -let her do her pleasure. But if within the year she choose a husband, -let her forfeit the _morgengyfu_ and all the property she had through -her first husband, and let her nearest kin take the land and property -she had before. And let the husband be liable in his _wer_ to the king, -or to whomsoever he may have granted it. And even if she have been taken -by force, let her forfeit her possessions, unless she be willing to go -home again from the man, and never become his again.... And let no one -compel either woman or maiden to him whom she herself mislikes, nor for -money sell her, unless the suitor will give something of his own good -will[181].” - ------ - -Footnote 181: - - Cnut, ii. § 74, 75. - ------ - -This of itself does not imply the royal right of marriage; but it -becomes much more significant, when we learn that estates had been given -to influential nobles, for their intercession with the king, on behalf -of profitable alliances: then, the circumstances, combined together, -seem to imply that Cnut desired to reform the miserable condition in -which he found England, in the hope, no doubt, by such reform to -consolidate his own power. The evidence of what may almost be called -purchasing a marriage—though not in the truly gross and vulgar sense of -such purchases among those whom writers of romances represent as the -_chivalrous_ Normans,—is supplied by the monk of Ramsey: the instance -dates from the middle of the tenth century. In mentioning an estate of -five hides at Burwell, the chronicler adds: “This is the estate which—as -we find in the very ancient English charters referring to it—a certain -man named Eádwine, the son of Othulf, had in old times granted to -archbishop Oda, as a reward for his pains and trouble in bringing king -Eádred to consent, that Eádwine might have leave to marry the daughter -of a certain Ulf, whom he desired[182].” This Ulf does not, I believe, -occur among the signitaries to any of the charters, unless the name -represent some one of the many Wulfgárs or Wulfláf’s of the time: but -still we must suppose him to have been a person of consideration, since -a large estate was given for his daughter’s marriage. In the absence of -all details we cannot form any clear decision as to the royal right in -this respect, though the balance of probability seems to me to incline -to the view that the king had some right of wardship and marriage over -the children and widows of his own thanes or sócmen. This seems to lie -in the very nature of their relative position. With the widow or child -of a free man, it is of course not to be imagined that the king could -interfere; but in the time of Eádred there were probably not many free -men whose wealth rendered interference worth the trouble. - ------ - -Footnote 182: - - “Pro mercede solicitudinis et laboris, quo regem Ædredum ad consensum - inflexerat, ut ei liceret filiam cuiusdam viri Ulfi; quam - concupiverat, maritali sibi foedere copulare.” Hist. Rames. cap. 23. - ------ - -HEREGEATWE. HERIOT.—The general nature of Heriot has been explained in -the First Book: it was there shown that it arose from the theory of the -_comes_ having been originally armed by the king, to whom upon his death -the arms reverted: and in imitation of this, Best-head or Melius -catallum, distinguished in our law as Heriot-custom, was shown to have -arisen. But whatever may have been its origin or early amount,—and its -earliest amount was no doubt unsettled, depending upon the will of the -chief who might take all or some of his thanes’ chattels at his -pleasure,—in process of time it became assessed at a fixed amount, -according to the rank of the person from whose estate it was paid. The -law of Cnut[183] which determined this amount was probably only a -re-enactment, or confirmation of an older custom, and appears to have -been introduced to put an end to disputes upon the subject; it declares -as follows:— - -“Let the heriots be as fits the degree. An earl’s as belongs to an -earl’s rank, viz. eight horses, four saddled, four unsaddled, four -helmets, four coats-of-mail, eight spears, eight shields, four swords -and two hundred mancuses of gold. From a king’s thane, of those who are -nearest to him, four horses, two saddled, two unsaddled; two swords, -four spears, four shields, a helmet, a coat-of-mail and fifty mancuses -of gold. From a medial thane, a horse equipped, and his arms; or his -healsfang in Wessex, and in Mercia and Eastanglia two pounds. Among the -Danes, the heriot of a king’s thane who has his sócn[184] is four -pounds: if he stand in nearer relation to the king, two horses, one -equipped, a sword, two spears, two shields and fifty mancuses of gold. -And from a thane of the lower order, two pounds.” - ------ - -Footnote 183: - - Cnut, ii. § 72. Thorpe, i. 414. - -Footnote 184: - - A baronial court. - ------ - -The following are examples of heriots paid both before and after the -time of Cnut. - -The estate of Ðeódrǽd bishop of London and Elmham, about 940, paid, four -horses the best he had, two swords the best he had, four shields, four -spears, two hundred marks of red gold, two silver cups, and his lands at -Anceswyrð, Illingtún and Earmingtún[185]. - ------ - -Footnote 185: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 957. - ------ - -In 946-956, the estate of Æðelwald the ealdorman paid four horses, four -spears, four swords, four shields, two rings each worth one hundred and -twenty mancuses, two rings each worth eighty mancuses (in all four -hundred mancuses) and two silver vessels[186]. - ------ - -Footnote 186: - - Ibid. No. 1173. - ------ - -About 958, Ælfgár gave the king two swords with belts, three steeds, -three shields, three spears, and two rings each worth fifty mancuses of -gold[187]. - ------ - -Footnote 187: - - Ibid. No. 1223. - ------ - -The heriot of Beorhtríc, about 962, was, four horses, two equipped, two -swords and belts, a ring worth eighty mancuses of gold, a sword of the -same value, two falcons, and all his stag-hounds[188]. - ------ - -Footnote 188: - - Ibid. No. 492. - ------ - -The great duke Ælfheáh of Hampshire, 965-971, gave to Eádgár, who had -married his cousin Ælfðrýð, duke Ordgár’s daughter, the following -property: it is hard to say how much of it was heriot: six horses with -their trappings, six swords, six spears, six shields, one sword worth -eighty mancuses of gold, one dish of three pounds, one cup of three -pounds, three hundred mancuses of gold, one hundred and twenty hides of -land at Wyrð, and his estates at Cóchám, Dæchám, Ceóleswyrð, -Incgeneshám, Æglesbyrig and Wendofra[189]. - ------ - -Footnote 189: - - Ibid. No. 593. - ------ - -Æðelríc, in 997, paid two horses, one sword and belt, two shields, two -spears, and sixty marks of gold[190]. - ------ - -Footnote 190: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 699. This is very nearly the exact heriot. Æðelríc, who - was no friend to the king, probably meant to give him no doit more - than he could legally claim. - ------ - -Archbishop Ælfríc, 996-1006, devised to the king, as his heriot, sixty -helmets, sixty coats-of-mail, and his best ship with all her tackle and -stores[191]. - ------ - -Footnote 191: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 716. - ------ - -Ælfhelm paid four horses, two equipped, four shields, four spears, two -swords, and one hundred mancuses of gold[192]. - ------ - -Footnote 192: - - Ibid. No. 967. - ------ - -Wulfsige paid two horses, one helmet, one coat-of-mail, one sword, one -spear twined with gold[193]. - ------ - -Footnote 193: - - Ibid. No. 979. - ------ - -The majority of these cases belong to periods previous to Cnut’s -accession, but they seem to imply an assessment very similar to his own. -And in this view of the case, where the payment had become a settled -amount due from persons of a particular rank, it became possible for -women to be charged with it, which we accordingly find. In 1046 Wulfgýð -commences her will by desiring that her right heriot may be paid to the -king[194]: Æðelgyfu in 945 gave the king thirty mancuses of gold, two -horses and all her dogs[195]: Ælflǽd left him by will her lands at -Lamburnan, Ceólsige and Readingan, four rings worth two hundred mancuses -of gold, four palls, four cups, four drinking-horns and four -horses[196]: and lastly queen Ælfgyfu in 1012 left the king, six horses, -six shields, six spears, one cup, two rings worth one hundred and twenty -mancuses each, and various lands[197]. Taken in connection with the case -of Wulfgýð, these bequests appear very like heriots. The heriots -mentioned in Domesday agree with the details given above, and serve to -show that the right had undergone no material alteration till the time -of the Confessor[198]. That the Best-head or Melius catallum was paid to -the king by his unfree tenants, as well as to other lords, is probable, -but we have no instance of it[199]. By the law of Cnut, the widow was to -have a reasonable time for payment of the heriot, and it was altogether -remitted to the family of him who fell bravely fighting in the field -before the presence of his lord. - ------ - -Footnote 194: - - Ibid. No. 782. - -Footnote 195: - - Ibid. No. 410. - -Footnote 196: - - Ibid. No. 685. - -Footnote 197: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 721. - -Footnote 198: - - Domesd. Berks. “Tanias vel miles regis dominicus moriens pro - relevamento dimittebat regi omnia arma sua, et equum unum cum sella, - unum sine sella. Quod si essent ei canes vel accipitres, - praesentabantur regi, ut si vellet, acciperet.” - -Footnote 199: - - Fleta, ii. cap. 57, § 1, 2. “Imprimis autem debet quilibet qui - testaverit dominum suum de meliori re quam habuerit recognoscere, et - postea aecclesiam de alia meliori, et in quibusdam locis habet - aecclesia melius animal de consuetudine, in quibusdam secundum vel - tertium melius, et in quibusdam nihil: et ideo observanda est - consuetudo loci.” § 2. “Item de morte uxoris alicuius viri, dum vir - superstes fuerit, de toto grege communi secundum melius averium, quasi - de parte sua: sed hoc non nisi de permissione et gratia viri.” This - Melius catallum, Bestehaupt or Best-head was in fact a servile due: - but in this sense it was an alleviation; for strictly speaking the - lord could take the whole inheritance of his unfree tenant. In 1252 - Margaret Countess of Flanders gave this alleviation to the serfs of - the crown: “Tous les serfs demeurant en Flandre, sous la justice - propre de la comtesse, furent affranchis de servitude en 1252, à - charge de payer par homme trois deniers, et par femme un denier - annuellement; et le droit qu’elle avait à la moitié des meubles en - catteux des serfs morts, fut reduit au meilleur cattel, [melius - catallum] autre que maison ou bête de somme.” Warnkönig. Hist. Fland. - i. 259. On this subject generally see Nelson, Lex Maneriorum, p. 154. - ------ - -It appears from what has been said in this chapter that the kings were -provided very sufficiently with the means of maintaining their dignity: -the benefactions which they were enabled to make out of the folcland -relieved their private estates from the burthen of supporting the -thanes, clerical and lay, who flocked to their service. Still there must -have been a constant drain upon their possessions; and many of the -regalia became lost to the crown by successive alienations. It is true -that they were generally purchased at a high price, but in this case the -king who sold them was the only gainer: he secured considerable sums for -himself, but he impoverished all his successors to a much greater -amount. The loans for which we occasionally find him indebted to his -prelates, show how completely at times the crown had been pillaged, as -well as who were the principal sharers in the plunder. The attempt to -draw in lands and privileges which had once been alienated, was -questionable in policy and harsh to the innocent holders; but it does -not always seem to have been viewed impartially even by those least -concerned; we may however now express our conviction that in many cases -the alienations themselves had been made improperly and without -sufficient authority; and, that if it was hard upon an abbot or bishop -to lose what his predecessor had gained, it was very hard upon a king to -be without what _his_ predecessor had unjustly and often illegally -squandered. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - THE KING’S COURT AND HOUSEHOLD. - - -The Anglosaxon Court appears to have been modelled upon the same plan as -that of the Frankish Emperors: our documents do not however permit us to -judge whether this was the case before a sufficient intercourse had -taken place to render a positive imitation probable. - -It is not at all unlikely that, from the very first establishment of the -Comitatus, the possession of those household offices was coveted, which -brought the holder into closer personal connection with the prince: and -more or less of dependence could be of little moment with those who had -erected into a system the voluntary sacrifice of the holiest of all -possessions, their freedom of action. Hence we can readily account for -the assumption by men nobly born of offices about the royal person, -which were at first directly and immediately menial[200]. Nor, as the -opportunities of personal aggrandisement through favouritism or -affection were multiplied, does it seem strange to us that these offices -should assume a character of dignity and real power, which, however -little in consonance with their original intention, yet made them -objects of ambition with the wealthy and the noble. We do not any longer -wonder at the struggles of dukes and barons for the offices of royal -cupbearer at a coronation, or Steward or Chamberlain of the Household, -because time and the attribution of judicial or administrative functions -have given those offices a distinction which at the outset they did not -possess: and we see without surprise the electors of Germany personally -serving at his table the member of their body whom they had invested -with imperial rank; and, when they fixed the throne hereditarily in him, -providing for the succession in their own families of Butlers, Stewards, -Marshals or Chancellors of the empire. - ------ - -Footnote 200: - - Speaking of the Pincerna regis Æðelstani, one of the great officers of - the Household, in the early part of the tenth century, William of - Malmesbury says, “Itaque cum forte die solenni vinum propinaret,” etc. - Gest. Reg. § ii. 139. - ------ - -As the progress of society drew larger and larger numbers of men into -the circle of princely influence, and, by withdrawing them from the -jurisdiction of the free courts, rendered a systematic establishment of -the Lord’s court more necessary, the officers who were charged with the -superintendence of the various royal vassals, rose immeasurably in the -social scale. Thus the Major Domus or Mayor of the palace, at first only -a steward, who had to regulate the affairs of the Household, gradually -assumed the management of those of the kingdom, and ended by placing on -his own head the crown which he had filched from his master’s. So was it -with the rest. - -The four great officers of the Court and Household in the oldest German -kingdoms are the Chamberlain, the Marshal, the Steward and the Butler. - -The names by which the Chamberlain was designated are Hrægel þegn, -literally thane or servant of the wardrobe, Cubicularius, Camerarius, -Búrþegn, perhaps sometimes Dispensator, and Thesaurarius or Hordere. It -is difficult to ascertain his exact duties in the Anglosaxon Court, but -they probably differed little from those of the corresponding officer -among other German populations, and there is reason to compare those of -the Frankish Cubicularius with the functions of the Comites sacrarum -largitionum and rerum privatarum of the Roman emperors. Hence we may -presume that he had the general management of the royal property, as -well as the immediate regulation of the household[201]. In this capacity -he may have been the recognized chief of the cyninges túngeréfan or -king’s bailiffs, on the several estates; for we find no traces of any -districtual or missatic authority to whom these officers could account. -At the same time it appears that this officer was not what we now call -the Lord Great Chamberlain, but rather the Lord Chamberlain of the -Household, and that more than one officer of the same rank existed at -the same time[202]. Hence we can hardly suppose that the dignity of the -office was comparable to that of the Lord Chamberlain at present, with -the great and various powers and duties which are now committed to that -distinguished member of the Court. Among the nobles who held this office -I find the following named:— - - Ælfríc thesaurarius, under Ælfred, 892[203]. - - Æðelsige camerarius, ... Eádgár, 963[204]. - - Leófríc hræglþegn, ... Æðelred, 1006[205]. - - Eádríc dispensator regis, ... Hardacnut, - 1040[206]. - - Hugelinus camerarius, ... Eádweard, 1044[207]. - - cubicularius ... Eádweard, 1060[208]. - - stiweard, ... Eádweard[209]. - - búrþegn ... Eádweard[210]. - -The Marshal (among the Franks Marescalcus, and Comes stabuli) was -properly speaking the Master of the Horse, and had charge of everything -connected with the royal equipments, in that department. But as he -gradually became the head of the active and disposable military force of -the palace, he must be looked upon rather as the general of the -Household troops. It was thus that the high military dignity of -Constable, or Grand Marshal, by degrees developed itself. This office -was held by nobles of the highest rank, and frequently by several at -once,—a sufficient explanation of a fact which otherwise would appear -strange, viz. that we never find the royal power endangered by that of -this influential minister. The Anglosaxon titles are Steallere and -Horsþegn, Stabulator and Strator régis. We have no evidence of the -existence of the office before the close of the ninth century, and it -might therefore be imagined that it was introduced into England after -the establishment of the family of Ecgberht had familiarized our -countrymen with the Frankish court and its customs, did we not find it -as an essential institution in all German courts, of all periods. Among -the Anglo-Saxon Marshals the following names occur:— - - Ecgwulf strator regis: cyninges horsþegn, an. 897[211]. - Ðored steallere, about 1020[212]. - Ésgár steallere, 1044-1066[213]. - Robert filius Wimarc steallere[214]. - Ælfstán steallere[215]. - Eádgár steallere, 1060-1066[216]. - Raulf steallere, 1053-1066[217]. - Bondig steallere, 1060-1066[218]. - stabulator[219]. - Eádnóð steallere[220]. - Lýfing steallere[221]. - Ælfred regis strator, 1052[222]. - Osgod Clapa steallere, 1047[223]. - -The Steward, usually called Dapifer or Discifer regis, answered to the -Seneschal of the Franks (the Truchsess of the German empire); his -especial business was to superintend all that appertained to the service -of the royal table, under which we must probably include the -arrangements for the general support of the household, both at the -ordinary and temporary residences of the king. His Anglosaxon name was -Discþegn, or thane of the table; and I find the following nobles -recorded as holding this office:— - - Eata dux et regis discifer, under Offa, 785[224]. - Wulfgár discifer, ... Eádwig, 959[225]. - Æðelmǽr discþegn, ... Æðelred, 1006[226]. - Raulf dapifer, } ... Eádweard, 1060[227]. - Ésgar dapifer, } - Atsur regis dapifer, } ... Eádweard, 1062[228]. - Yfing regis dapifer, } ... - ------ - -Footnote 201: - - Eichhorn, i. 197. § 25, b. Eichhorn argues the first from a passage in - Greg. Turon. vii. 24. The latter portion of the Chamberlain’s duties - is defined by Hincmar of Rheims, § 22. “De honestate vero palatii, seu - specialiter ornamento reguli, necnon et de donis annuis militum, - absque cibo et potu, vel equis, ad Reginam praecipue, et sub ipsa ad - Camerarium pertinebat: et sollicitudo erat, ut tempore congruo semper - futura prospicerent, ne quid, dum opus esset, defuisset. De donis vero - diversarum legationum ad Camerarium aspiciebat.” - -Footnote 202: - - “Cubicularios regis duos.” Will. Malm., ii. § 180. - -Footnote 203: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 320. - -Footnote 204: - - Ibid. No. 1246. - -Footnote 205: - - Ibid. No. 715. - -Footnote 206: - - Flor. Wig. an. 1040. - -Footnote 207: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 771, 810. - -Footnote 208: - - Ibid. No. 809. - -Footnote 209: - - Ibid. No. 899, very doubtful. - -Footnote 210: - - Ibid. No. 904. - -Footnote 211: - - Flor. Wig. an. 897. Chron. Saxon, _cod. an._ - -Footnote 212: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1328. - -Footnote 213: - - Ibid. Nos. 771, 828, 855, 864. - -Footnote 214: - - Ibid. Nos. 771, 822, 828, 859, 871, 904, 956, 1338. - -Footnote 215: - - Ibid. No. 773. - -Footnote 216: - - Ibid. No. 809. - -Footnote 217: - - Ibid. Nos. 822, 956, 1338. - -Footnote 218: - - Ibid. No. 822. - -Footnote 219: - - Ibid. No. 945. - -Footnote 220: - - Ibid. No. 845. - -Footnote 221: - - Ibid. Nos. 956, 1338. - -Footnote 222: - - Flor. Wig. an. 1052. - -Footnote 223: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1047. - -Footnote 224: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 149. - -Footnote 225: - - Ibid. No. 1224. - -Footnote 226: - - Ibid. No. 715. - -Footnote 227: - - Ibid. No. 808. - -Footnote 228: - - Ibid. No. 813. - ------ - -In the year 946 Florence tells us of a dapifer regis, whom he does not -name. The queen and princes of the blood had also a similar officer for -the management of their households. In 1060 we read of Godwine, reginae -dapifer[229], and Æðelred’s son Æðelstán had a Discþegn named -Ælfmǽr[230]. High as this office was, we yet cannot expect to find in it -that overwhelming power wielded in later times by the Seneschal or -Dapifer Angliae,—a power which might easily have converted the -Grandmesnils and De Montforts into the Ebroins or Pepins of a newly -established dynasty, and after their fall was wisely retained in the -royal family by our kings. We have now, as is well known, only a Lord -High Steward, or Major domus, on particular occasions, for which he is -especially created: but the Lord Steward of the Household is an officer -of great power and high dignity in the Court of our kings. A Major domus -regiae occurs, as far as I know, but once in our Ante-Norman history, -and may there probably denote only the dapifer or seneschal: he is -mentioned by Florence, an. 1040, as “Stir, major domus ... magnae -dignitatis vir”; but we hear nothing more of him, or of any such -influence as the corresponding high officer exercised in the Frankish -court. The title Regiae procurator aulae, borne by the great Esgár, whom -we have also seen among the Marshals, may very likely only refer to his -office of dapifer[231], which, from the list given above, it will be -evident that he held. - ------ - -Footnote 229: - - Ibid. No. 813. - -Footnote 230: - - Ibid. No. 722. - -Footnote 231: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 813. - ------ - -The last great officer is the Pincerna, in Germany the Schenk or -Buticularius,—the Butler. What his particular duties were, beyond his -personal service at the royal board, and no doubt his general -superintendence of the royal cellars, we cannot now discover; but the -office was one of the highest dignity, and was held by nobles of the -loftiest birth and greatest consideration. Óslác, a direct descendant -from the royal Jutish blood of Stuff and Wihtgár, was the pincerna of -king Æðelwulf; and by this prince’s daughter, “femina nobilis ingenio, -nobilis et genere,”—his first wife Ósburh,—Æðelwulf became the father of -Ælfred[232]. The Anglosaxon name of this officer may have been Byrele, -or Scenca, but I am not aware of its occurrence. The following are among -the Pincernae mentioned. - - Dudda pincernus, about 780[233]. - Sigewulf pincerna, 892[234]. - Æðelsige pincerna, 959[235]. - Wulfgár pincerna, 1000[236]. - Wigod regis pincerna, 1062[237]. - -The queen, as she had a dapifer, had also a pincerna: in 1062, Herdingus -is reported to have held that office[238]. - -There can be no doubt that these offices were entirely Palatine or -domestic, that is that they were household dignities, and did not -appertain to the general administration. Only when the spirit and -feeling of the comitatus had completely prevailed over the older free -organization, did they rise into an importance which, throughout the -course of mediæval history, we find continually on the increase. They -were the grades in the comitatus of which Tacitus himself speaks, which -depended upon the good pleasure of the prince: and with the power of the -prince their power and dignity varied. The functionaries who held them -were the heads of different departments to which belonged all the -vassals, _leudes_ or _fideles_ of the king: and as by degrees the -freemen perished away, and every one gladly rushed to throw himself into -a state of thaneship, the trusted and familiar friends of the prince -became the most powerful agents of his administration: till the feudal -system having seized on everything, converted these court-functions also -into hereditary fiefs, and rendered their holders often powerful enough -to make head against the authority of the crown itself. As long as a -vestige of the free constitution remained, we hear but little of the -court offices: what they became upon its downfall is known to every -reader of history. It seems to me improbable that Godwine, or Harald, or -Leófríc or Sigeward should ever have filled them: these men were -ealdormen or dukes, geréfan, civil and military administrators; but not -officers of the royal household, powerful and dignified as these might -be. It is probable that the first and most important of their duties was -the administration of justice to the king’s sócmen in their various -departments; from which in later times were clearly derived the -extensive powers and attributions of the several royal courts: but as -the intimate friends and cherished counsellors of the king, they must -have possessed an influence whose natural tendency was to complete that -great change in the social state, which causes of a more general -nature,—increasing population, commerce and the disturbance of foreign -and civil discord,—were hurrying relentlessly onward. - ------ - -Footnote 232: - - Asser, an. 849. - -Footnote 233: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 148. - -Footnote 234: - - Ibid. No. 320. - -Footnote 235: - - Ibid. No. 1224. - -Footnote 236: - - Ibid. No. 1294. - -Footnote 237: - - Ibid. No. 813. - -Footnote 238: - - Ibid. No. 813. - ------ - -In various situations of trust and authority, either by the side of -these officers, or subordinated to them, we find a number of other -persons under different titles. Among these are the clergymen who acted -as clerks or notaries in the imperial chancery. The Frankish court -numbered among its members a functionary of the highest rank, and always -a clergyman, from the very necessity of the case, who went by the name -of Apocrisiarius, Archicapellanus, Capellanus[239], or at an earlier -period, of Referendarius[240]; at a later again, of Archicancellarius, -because he had a subordinate officer or deputy commonly called the -Cancellarius. He was the head of those whose business it was to prepare -writs and other legal instruments, and who went by the general names of -Notarii or Tabelliones[241]. In a state which admitted of what are now -called Personal laws, that is, where each man might be judged, not -according to the law of the place in which he was settled, but that of -his parents, that under which he was born,—where Frank, Burgundian, -Alaman and Roman might claim each to be tried and judged by Frankish, -Burgundian, Alamanic or Roman law respectively, whatever might be the -prevalent character of the territory in which he was domiciled,—such an -officer was indispensable. The administration of the customary, -unwritten law of the Teutonic tribes might have been left to Teutonic -officers; but what was to be done when a Provincial claimed the -application to his case of the maxims and provisions of Roman -jurisprudence? What was to be done when a collision of principles and a -conflict of laws took place, and must be provided for? A clergyman, -whose own nation, whatever it might be, merged in the Roman _per -clericalem honorem_[242], must necessarily become a principal officer of -a state which numbered both Romans and clergymen among its subjects; and -hence the Apocrisiarius had a seat in the Carolingian parliament[243], -as well as in the Council of the Household, and ultimately became the -principal minister for the affairs of the clergy[244]. But no such -necessity existed in England, where there was no system of conflicting -laws, and where the use of professional notaries was unknown[245], and I -therefore see no _à priori_ probability of there having been any such -officer as the Referendarius or Apocrisiarius in our courts. Nor till -the reign of Eádweard the Confessor is there the slightest historical -evidence in favour of such an office[246]: under this prince however, -whose predilection for Norman customs is notorious, it is not improbable -that some change may have taken place in this respect, and that a -gradual approximation to the continental usage may have been found. The -occurrence therefore of a Cancellarius, Sigillarius and Notarius among -his household does not appear matter of great surprise, and may be -admitted as genuine, if we are only careful not to confound the first -officer with that great functionary whom we now call the Lord High -Chancellor of the realm. We are told that, among his innovations, -Eádweard attempted to introduce the use of seals; the uniform tenor of -his writs certainly renders it not improbable that he had also notaries -or professional clerks, and I can therefore admit the probability of his -having appointed some faithful chaplain to act as his chancellor, that -is, to keep his seal,—though not yet used for public instruments,—and to -manage the royal notarial establishment. There are many persons named as -royal chaplains; some, whose successive appointments to bishoprics -appeared to our simple forefathers to encroach too much upon the proper -and canonical mode of election. Among them are the following:— - - Eádsige capellanus, 1038[247] - Stigandus capellanus, 1044[248]. - Heremannus capellanus, 1045[249]. - Wulfwig cancellarius, Eádweard, 1045[250]. - Reginboldus sigillarius, ... ... [251]. - Reginboldus cancellarius, Eádweard, 1045[252]. - Ælfgeat notarius, ... ... [253]. - Petrus capellanus, ... ... [254]. - Baldwinus capellanus, ... ... [255]. - Osbernus capellanus, ... ... [256]. - Rodbertus capellanus, ... ... [257]. - Heca capellanus, 1047[258]. - Ulf capellanus, 1049[259]. - Cynesige capellanus, 1051[260]. - Wilhelmus capellanus, 1051[261]. - Godmannus capellanus, 1053[262]. - Gisa capellanus, 1060[263]. - -Footnote 239: - - Hincmar. § 32. - -Footnote 240: - - “Qui referendarius ideo est dictus, quod ad eum universae publicae - deferentur conscriptiones, ipseque eas annulo regis, sive sigillo ab - eo sibi commisso muniret seu primaret.” Aimo. Gest. Franc. iv. 41. - Eichhorn, i. 194, note f. § 25, b. - -Footnote 241: - - “Apocrisiario sociebatur summus cancellarius, qui a secretis olim - appellabatur, erantque illi subiecti prudentes et intelligentes ac - fideles viri, qui praecepta regia absque immoderata cupiditatis - venalitate scriberent, et secreta illius fideliter custodirent.” - Hincmar. § 16. Eichhorn, _loc. cit._ - -Footnote 242: - - “Landulfus et Petrus clericus germani, ... qui professi sumus ex - natione nostra legem vivere Langobardorum, sed ego Petrus clericus per - clericalem honorem lege videor vivere Romana.” Lupi. p. 223, cited by - Savigny, Röm. Recht. i. 120. - -Footnote 243: - - Hincmar. § 16, 19, 21. Döninges, Deut. Staatsr. p. 24 _seq._ - -Footnote 244: - - Eichhorn, § 25, b. i. 195. - -Footnote 245: - - “Quoniam tabellionum usus in regno Angliae non habetur.” Mat. Paris, - Hen. III. - -Footnote 246: - - In Cod. Dipl. Nos. 3, 4, an Angemundus referendarius is mentioned, but - these two charters are glaring forgeries. - -Footnote 247: - - Flor. Wig. an. 1038, Abp. Canterbury. - -Footnote 248: - - Ibid. an. 1044, Abp. Canterbury. - -Footnote 249: - - Ibid. an. 1045, Bp. Ramsbury. - -Footnote 250: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 779. - -Footnote 251: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 810. - -Footnote 252: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 813, 824, 825, 891. - -Footnote 253: - - Ibid. No. 825. - -Footnote 254: - - Ibid. Nos. 813, 825. - -Footnote 255: - - Ibid. No. 813. - -Footnote 256: - - Ibid. No. 825. - -Footnote 257: - - Ibid. No. 825, Abp. Canterbury. - -Footnote 258: - - Flor. Wig. an. 1047, Bp. Selsey. - -Footnote 259: - - Ibid. an. 1049, Bp. Leicester. - -Footnote 260: - - Ibid. an. 1051, Abp. York. - -Footnote 261: - - Ibid. an. 1051, Bp. London. - -Footnote 262: - - Ibid. an. 1053. - -Footnote 263: - - Ibid. an. 1060, Bp. Wells. - ------ - -Eádweard’s queen Eádgyfu and her brother Harald had also their -chaplains; Walther, afterwards bishop of Hereford[264], and Leófgár who -preceded him in the same see[265], and who, being probably of the same -mind as his noble and warlike lord, was no sooner a bishop than “he -forsook his chrism and rood, his spiritual weapons, and took to his -spear and sword,” and so going to the field against Griffin the Welsh -king, was slain, and many of his priests with him. The establishment of -chaplains in the royal household is, of course, of the highest -antiquity; it is probable that they were preceded there by Pagan -priests, and formed a necessary part of the royal comitatus in all -ages[266]. - ------ - -Footnote 264: - - Ibid. an. 1060. - -Footnote 265: - - Ibid. an. 1050, Chron. 1056. - -Footnote 266: - - “Desiderante rege [Alchfrið] ut vir tantae eruditionis ac religionis - sibi specialiter individuo comitatu sacerdos esset et doctor.” Beda, - H. E. ii. 19. - ------ - -Among the royal officers was also the Pedissequus or as he is sometimes -called Pedessessor, whose functions I cannot nearer define, unless he -were a king’s messenger. The following instances occur:—Æðelheáh -pedessessor, who appears to have been a duke[267]: Bola pedisecus[268]: -Ælfred pedisecus[269]. Eástmund pedisecus[270]. In Beówulf, Hunferð the -orator is said to _sit_ at the king’s _feet_, “ðe æt fótum sæt freán -scyldinga.” (l. 994.) - ------ - -Footnote 267: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 196, 199, 207. - -Footnote 268: - - Ibid. No. 220. - -Footnote 269: - - Ibid. No. 227. - -Footnote 270: - - Ibid. No. 281. - ------ - -In the year 1040, Hardacnut’s _carnifex_ or executioner is described as -a person of great dignity[271]. Other titles are also enumerated, some -of which appear to denote offices in the royal household: thus we find -Radulfus aulicus[272], Bundinus palatinus[273], Deórmód -cellerarius[274], Wiferð claviger[275], Leófsige signifer[276], Ælfwine -sticcere[277], Æðelríc bigenga[278]. It is uncertain whether the -following are to be considered as regular members of the court, or -whether their presence was merely accidental, on a particular occasion: -Brihtríc and Ælfgár, consiliarii[279], Ælfwig[280] and Cyneweard[281] -praepositi, Godricus tribunus[282], Aldred theloniarius[283]. Nor is it -absolutely demonstrable that those who claimed consanguinity with the -king formed part of his household, although they probably made their -connexion valid as a recommendation to royal favour. “The king’s poor -cousin[284]” seems at all events to have taken care that his light -should shine before men, as we learn from the signatures, Ælfhere ex -parentela regis[285], Leófwine propinquus regis[286], Hesburnus regis -consanguineus[287], Rodbertus regis consanguineus[288], and similar -entries. - ------ - -Footnote 271: - - “Ælfricum Eboracensem archiepiscopum, Godwinum comitem, Stir majorem - domus, Thrond suum carnificem, et alios magnae dignitatis viros, - Lundoniam misit.” Flor. Wig. an. 1040. - -Footnote 272: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 813. - -Footnote 273: - - Ibid. No. 813. - -Footnote 274: - - Ibid. No. 320. - -Footnote 275: - - Ibid. No. 346. - -Footnote 276: - - Ibid. No. 346. - -Footnote 277: - - Ibid. No. 799. - -Footnote 278: - - Ibid. No. 745. - -Footnote 279: - - Ibid. No. 811. - -Footnote 280: - - Ibid. Nos. 792, 793, 800. - -Footnote 281: - - Ibid. Nos. 792, 800. - -Footnote 282: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 945. - -Footnote 283: - - Ibid. No. 218. - -Footnote 284: - - Shaksp. Hen. IV. Pt. ii. sc. 2. - -Footnote 285: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 436. - -Footnote 286: - - Ibid. No. 436. - -Footnote 287: - - Ibid. No. 813. - -Footnote 288: - - Ibid. No. 813. - -But no such doubt applies to the household troops, or immediate -body-guard of the king. These are commonly called Húscarlas, by the -Anglosaxon writers, and continued to exist under that name after the -Norman conquest. Lappenberg has very justly looked upon them as a kind -of military gild, or association, of which the king was the master[289]. -I doubt whether they were organized as a separate force before the time -of Cnut; but it is certain that under that prince and his Danish -successors they attained a definite and settled position. It is probable -that this resulted from the circumstances under which he obtained the -crown of England, and that the institution was not known to his Saxon -predecessors: as an invader, not at all secure of his tenure, and -surrounded by nobles whose previous conduct offered but slight guarantee -of their fidelity, it became absolutely necessary to his safety to -organize his own peculiar force in such a way as to secure the readiest -service if occasion demanded it. This was the object of the Witherlags -Ret, by which the privileges and duties of the Húscarlas were settled. -Of this law Lappenberg observes:—“With greater probability may be -reckoned among the earlier labours of Cnut, the composition of the -Witherlags Ret, a court- or gild-law, framed for his standing army, as -well as for the body-guards of his jarls. As the greater part of his -army remained in England, the Witherlags Ret was there first -established, and as the introduction of strict discipline among such a -military community must precede all other ameliorations in the condition -of the country, the mention of this law in its history ought not to be -omitted[290]. The immediate military attendants of a conqueror always -exercise vast influence, and these originally Danish soldiers -(thingamenn, thingamanna lith, by the English called Húscarlas) have at -a later period, both as bodyguards of the king and of the great vassals, -acted no unimportant part in the country. They were armed with axes, -halberds and swords inlaid with gold, and in purpose, descent and -equipment corresponded to the Warangian guard (Wæringer), in which the -throne of the Byzantine emperors found its best security. In Cnut’s time -the number of these mercenaries was not very great,—being by some -reckoned at three thousand, by others at six thousand[291]—but they were -gathered under his banner from various nations, and consequently -required the stricter discipline. Even a valiant Wendish prince, -Gottschalk, the son of Udo, stayed long with Cnut in England, and gained -the hand of a daughter of the royal house[292]. Cnut himself appears -rather as a sort of grand-master of this military gild, than as its -commander, and it is said that, having in his anger slain one of the -brotherhood in England, he submitted himself to its judgment in their -assembly (stefn) and paid a ninefold compensation[293]. The degrading -epithet of ‘nithing’ applied to an expelled member of the gild, is an -Anglosaxon word, which at a later period occurs in a way to render it -extremely probable that the gild-law of the royal house-carls was in -existence after the Norman conquest[294].” - ------ - -Footnote 289: - - Thorpe’s Lappenberg, ii. 202, and his references to Suen Aggonis, - Hist. Legum Castrens. Regis Canuti Magni, c. iv. ap. Langebek, iii. - 146; ii. 454, note _d._ Palgrave, ii. p. ccclxxxi. Ellis, Introd. - Domesd. i. 91; ii. 151 _seq._ - -Footnote 290: - - This observation requires to be taken with some caution. The - Witherlags Ret was a private and bye-law, not a public law, and had - little to do with the public law, except in as far as it connected the - conquering force by closer bonds, and secured their energetic action - as a body, upon emergency. It was devised to keep the household troops - together, not to apply in any way to their public relation towards the - Saxons. Its influence was therefore only such as derived mediately - from the fact of its maintaining the king at the head of a select - _prætorian_ cohort,—important occasionally, but always accidental. - There is no evidence that the great men of England, the Godwines, or - Leófrics, were ever Húscarlas, or that the leaders of this force were - ever Ealdormen or Geréfan. In fact it was the king’s “Army-club,” and - had neither constitutional place nor recognized power. The Húscarlas - were probably very like what the Mousquetaires and Gardes-de-corps - were in France before the first Revolution, and what the Lifeguards, - Leib-regimente, Guardia Real, and so on, have been in other states of - Europe; nor altogether unlike the Garde Impériale of Napoleon. - -Footnote 291: - - Three thousand men, all disciplined, all well-armed, all united by the - certainty that the struggle must be for life or death, formed a force - morally, if not physically and numerically, superior to any that could - be brought against them on a sudden. Such a body were amply secure in - a state which could only set on foot a clumsy and reluctant militia. - They were, in fact, nearly the only professional soldiers,—and as yet - there had been no Rocroy, Sempach or Morgarten. - -Footnote 292: - - Adam Bremen. ii. 48, 59; iii. 21. - -Footnote 293: - - Suen Aggon. i. cap. 10. - -Footnote 294: - - Sax. Chron. 1049. Will. Malm. lib. iv. de Willelmo Secundo, an. 1088 - (Hardy’s ed. ii. 489). But Lappenberg’s conclusion is not justified by - the premises, for Niðing, which Mat. Paris declares to have been so - especially an Anglosaxon word as to be untranslatable, was probably in - use as a term of supreme contempt, long before the establishment of - the Húscarlas in England and long after their disbanding. - ------ - -The details of this law are of the most stringent description, -regulating even the minutest points of social intercourse. Its extreme -punishment was expulsion; but expulsion was nearly equivalent to death, -situated as the Húscarlas were expected to be, among a hostile -population. And though the offending brother had his election, whether -he would retire from the gild by sea or land, yet the circumstances -which attended his ejection were not those of mercy or alleviation. To -the seashore, the whole body of his ancient comrades were to accompany -him; then launching him in a boat, with oars or sails, they were to -commit him to his fortune: henceforth he was not only a stranger but an -enemy, an outlaw: if stress of weather or other accident brought him -back to the shore, he might be fallen upon and slain without remorse or -retribution. Or if he chose to retire by land, he was to be led to the -nearest wood, and there to be watched till his form was lost in the -darkness of the thickets: three successive shouts were then to be -raised, to warn him of the direction in which his gild-brothers lay in -wait. If then, through the devious error of the forest he returned into -their presence, his life was forfeit. To insult, injure or dishonour a -brother was an offence punished with the utmost severity; and if three -of the Húscarlas concurred in accusing one of the body, there was -neither denial nor exculpation allowed; the penalty followed inevitably. -Such severe regulations as these fully explain their object; and it -seems to have been successfully attained, for we are told that, at least -during the life of Cnut, the penalties were never once incurred or -enforced[295]. - -Footnote 295: - - Except in his own case, where they were incurred, but not enforced. - The story (found in great detail in Saxo-Grammaticus, book x.) seems - exaggerated; but nevertheless it is easy to see that the strict - application of the law to the king would have caused the destruction - of the whole system. As they could not do without Cnut, and had no law - whereby to judge him, save the one whose application in his case was - impossible, they suffered him to assess his own penalty. He paid nine - times the wergyld of the brother he had slain. - -From the collocation of names among the witnesses to a very important -charter of 1052-1054, we may infer that the Stealleras or Marshals were -the commanding officers of the Húscarlas[296]. We cannot doubt that they -did really exercise an important personal influence in England, although -they filled no recognized position under the law: it is probable that -they were reckoned as thanes or ministers, as far as their wergyld and -heriot were concerned; but we have no evidence of this, and I should not -dispute the assertion that from first to last they had a law of their -own,—a personal right,—that they were not generally or originally -landowners, and that their institution was a modified revival of the -system of the Comitatus in its strictest form. But upon these points we -cannot decide. It is very rarely that we find the Húscarlas acting as -witnesses to charters, which perhaps may lead to the inference that they -were not members of the Witena gemót[297]: but in 1041 we are told that -Hardacnut sent two of his Húscarlas, Feader and Turstan, to collect an -unpopular tax, and that a sedition was raised against them in Worcester, -which was not suppressed till the force of several counties, under the -most celebrated leaders of the day, was brought against the city[298]. - -Footnote 296: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 956. After the testimonies of the king, queen, - archbishops, bishops, earls, and abbots, we have, “And on Esgáres - stealres, and on Raulfes stealres, and on Lifinges stealres, and on - ealra ðæs kynges húscarlan.” Then follow the subscriptions of - chaplains and others. - -Footnote 297: - - But Wulfnoð a húscarl is mentioned, Cod. Dipl. No. 845, and Urk, a - húscarl in No. 871, both as grantees. So again Þurstán húscarl, a - holder of land in Middlesex. Cod. Dipl. No. 843. - -Footnote 298: - - Flor. Wig. an. 1041. - ------ - -In a charter of the Confessor, we find the word Húscarl translated by -“praefectus palatinus[299],”—a title which scarcely seems applicable to -all the members of a body numbering six, or even three, thousand men: -but, however this may be, we must not confound these _praefecti -palatini_ with the other, earlier _praefecti_ who occur in Anglosaxon -history[300]: these are clearly only geréfan or reeves, and have nothing -to do with the especial body of household troops. - ------ - -Footnote 299: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 843. - -Footnote 300: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 746, 751, 762, 767. - ------ - -It remains only to add that, in imitation of the king, the great nobles -surrounded themselves with a body-guard of Húscarlas[301], who probably -stood in the same relation to their lord, as he did to the king: in -short the institution is only a revival of the Comitatus, described in -the First Book, and must have gone through a similar course of -development. Nay, the details which have reached us of the later -establishment may possibly throw light upon the earlier, and serve to -explain some of the peculiarities which strike us in the account of -Tacitus. This difference indeed there is, that in the later form the -king and the comites unite in a definite bond, with respective, -stipulated rights; in the earlier form, the comites attach themselves to -the king, without stipulation or reserve, although no doubt under the -protection of a customary and recognized, although unwritten, law. - ------ - -Footnote 301: - - Florence of Worcester, speaking of the revolt of the Northumbrians - against their duke Tostig, in 1065, says: “Eodem die primitus illius - Danicos húscarlas Amundum et Ravensueartum, de fuga retractos, extra - civitatis muros, ac die sequente plus quam cc. viros ex curialibus - illius in boreali parte Humbrae fluminis peremerunt.” an. 1065. One - manuscript of the Saxon Chronicle thus relates these events: “And sona - æfter ðison gegaderedon ða þegenas hi ealle on Eoforwícscyre ⁊ on - Norðhymbralande togædere, ⁊ geútlagedan heora eorl Tosti, ⁊ ofslógon - his hírédmenn ealle ðe hig mihten tócumen.” But another says: - “Tostiges eorles húskarlas ðar ofslógon, ealle ða ðe hig geáxian - mihton.” Hírédmen are _familiares_, those who live in the house, or - form part of the house or family; and this seems the original and - strict definition of the húscarl. - ------ - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - THE EALDORMAN OR DUKE. - - -It is of much less importance to a people, what its constitution is, -than what is its administration; nothing can be easier than to make what -are called charters, and it is a rhetorical commonplace to talk of -resting under a constitution, the growth of ages: but no nation rests, -or ever did rest, under the one or the other. The source of a nation’s -comfort,—of its success in realizing the great principle of the mutual -guarantee of peace, lies in the administration of what is called its -constitution, in the skill with which it has devised its machinery of -government, in the balance of power which it represents in the election -of its instruments. We shall therefore pass now to the members of the -Anglosaxon administration. - -The dignity next in importance to the royal, is that of the Ealdorman or -Duke. - -The proper Anglosaxon name for this officer, as ruler and leader of an -army, is Heretoga, in Old-german Herizohho, and in modern German, -Herzog,—a word compounded of _Here_ an army, and _toga_ a leader[302]. -It is in this sense only that Tacitus appears to understand the word -Dux, when he tells us that dukes (i. e. generals) are chosen for their -valour, in contradistinction to kings, who are recommended by their -birth. But inasmuch as the ducal functions in the Anglosaxon polity were -by no means confined to service in the field, the peculiar title of -Heretoga is very rarely met with, being for the most part replaced by -Ealdorman or Aldorman, which denotes civil as well as military -preeminence. The word Heretoga accordingly is nowhere found in the Saxon -Chronicle, or in the Laws, except in one late passage interpolated into -the collection called the Laws of Eádweard the Confessor, and to the -best of my remembrance it is found but once in the Charters[303]. From a -very extensive and careful comparison between the titles used in -different documents, it appears that Latin writers of various periods, -as Beda, the several compilers of Annals, and the writers of charters, -have used the words Dux, Princeps and Comes, in a very arbitrary manner -to denote the holders of one and the same office. It is indeed just -possible that the grant of peculiar and additional privileges may have -been supposed to make a distinction between the duke and the prince, as -the charters appear to show something like a system of promotion at -least among the Mercian nobility, the same person being found to sign -for some time as dux, and afterwards as princeps. In consequence of this -confusion, it is necessary to proceed with very great caution the moment -we leave contemporaneous history, and become dependent upon the -expressions of annalists long subsequent to the events described: for -strictly and legally speaking, the words count, duke and prince express -very different ranks and functions. - ------ - -Footnote 302: - - In this sense the Sax. Chron. translates the word _duces_ applied by - Beda to Hengest and Hors, by _heretogan_: an. 448. - -Footnote 303: - - It occurs however in the document called “Institutes of Polity:” - Thorpe, ii. 319: but these can hardly be considered authority for a - strict _legal_ use of words. - ------ - -The pure Anglosaxon authorities however are incapable of making any such -blunder or falling into any such confusion: where Simeon of Durham, -Florence of Worcester, Æðelweard, Henry of Huntingdon, nay even Beda -himself, use Consul, Princeps, Dux and Comes, the Saxon Chronicle and -the charters composed in Saxon have invariably Ealdorman. A few -instances, down to the time of Cnut, when a new organization, and with -it a new title, was adopted, will make this clear[304]. - ------ - -Footnote 304: - - Beorht ealdorman. Chron. an. 684. Dux. Beda, iv. 26. Flor. 684. - 699. - Æðelhun 750. Dux. Æðelw. ii. Flor. 750. Consul. - H. Hunt. iv. - Beorhtfríð 710. Præfectus. Flor, 710. - Cumbra 755. Dux. Æðelw. ii. 17. Flor. 755. - Consul. H. Hunt. iv. - Ósríc 755. Dux. Æðelw. ii. 17. Flor. 784. - Beorn 780. Patricius. Sim. D. 780. Consul et - justiciarius. H. Hunt. iv. - Æðelheard 794. - Wor 800. - Æðelmund 800. Dux. Flor. 800. Consul. H. Hunt. - iv. - Weohstán 800. Dux. Flor. 800. Consul. H. Hunt. - iv. - Heábyrht 805. Comes. Flor. 805. - Eádbyrht 819. - Burghard 822. Dux. Flor. 822. - Muca 822. Dux. Flor. 822. - Wulfheard 823. Dux. Flor. 823. Consul. H. Hunt. - iv. - Ealdormen 825. Duces. Flor. 825. - Dudda 833. - Ósmód 833. - Wulfheard 837. Dux. Flor. 837. - Æðelhelm 837. Dux. Flor. 837. - Herebyrht 838. Dux. Flor. 838. - Eánwulf 845. Dux. Flor. 845. - Ósríc 845. Dux. Flor. 845. - Ceorl 851. Comes. Flor. 851. - Ealhhere 851, 853. Comes. Flor. 851, 853. - Æðelheard 852. - Hunberht 852. Comes. Flor. 852. - Huda 853. Comes. Flor. 853. - Ósríc 860. Comes. Flor. 860. - Æðelwulf 860, 871. Comes. Flor. 860, 871. - Æðelred 886. Comes. Flor. 886. Dux. Flor. 894. - Æðelhelm 886, 894, 898. Dux. Flor. 894. - Beocca 888. Dux. Flor. 889. - Æðelwold 888. Dux. Flor. 889. - Æðelred 894. Dux. Flor. 894. - Æðelnóð 894. Dux. Flor. 894. - Ceólwulf 897. Dux. Flor. 897. - Beorhtwulf 897. Dux. Flor. 897. - Wulfred 897. - Æðelred 901. - Æðelwulf 903. Dux. Flor. 903. - Sigewulf 905. Dux. Flor. 905. - Sigehelm 905. Comes. Flor. 905. - Æðelred 912. Dominus et subregulus. Flor. 912. - Ælfgár 946. - Ordgár 965. Dux. Flor. 964. - Ælfhere 980, 983. Dux. Flor. 979. - Æðelmǽr 982. Dux. Flor. 982. - Eádwine 982. Dux. Flor. 982. - Ælfríc 983, 985, 992, 993. Dux. Flor. 983. - Birhtnóð 991. Dux. Flor. 991. - Æðelwine 992. Dux. Flor. 992. - Æðelweard 994. Dux. Flor. 994. - Leófsige 1002. Dux. Flor. 1002. - Ælfhelm 1006. Dux. Flor. 1006. - Eádríc 1007, 1009, 1012, 1015, 1016. Dux. Flor. - in an. - Æðelmǽr ealdorman 1013. Comes. Flor. 1013. - Ælfríc 1016. Dux. Flor. 1016. - Godwine 1016. Dux. Flor. 1016. - Æðelwine 1016. Dux. Flor. 1016. - - The same thing is observable in the charters: thus Óswulf Aldormon, - Cod. Dipl. No. 226, but “Dux et princeps Orientalis Canciae,” No. 256. - Again the nobleman who in the body of the charter No. 219 is called - Eádwulf ealdorman, signs himself among the witnesses, Eádwulf Dux. - ------ - -The word _ealdor_ or _aldor_ in Anglosaxon denotes princely dignity -without any definition of function whatever. In Beówulf it is used as a -synonym for cyning, þeóden and other words applied to royal personages. -Like many other titles of rank in the various Teutonic tongues, it is -derived from an adjective implying age, though practically this idea -does not by any means survive in it, any more than it does in the word -Senior, the origin of the feudal term Seigneur[305]; and similarly the -words “ða yldestan witan,” literally the eldest councillors, are used to -express merely the most dignified[306]. - ------ - -Footnote 305: - - The Roman _Senatus_, the Greek γερουσία, the ecclesiastical - πρεσβύτεροι are all examples of a like usage. - -Footnote 306: - - Chron. Sax. an. 978. - ------ - -If we compare the position and powers of the ealdorman with those of the -duke on the continent, we shall find several points of difference which -deserve notice. In the imperial constitution of the German states, as it -was modified and settled by Charlemagne, the duke was a superior officer -to the comes, count or graf, and a duchy for the most part comprehended -several counties, over which the duke exercised an immediate -jurisdiction[307]. Occasionally no doubt there were counties without -duchies, and duchies without counties, that is where the duke and count -were the same person: sometimes the dukes were hereditary dynasts, -representing sovereign families which had become subject to the empire -of the Franks, and who continued to govern as imperial officers the -populations which either by conquest or alliance had become incorporated -with it; such were the dukes in Bavaria and Swabia. In other cases they -were generals, exercising supreme military power over extensive -districts committed to their charge, and mediately entrusted with the -defence and government of the Markgraviats or border-counties which were -established for the security of the frontiers. The variable, and very -frequently exceptional, position of these nobles or ministerials, while -it renders it difficult to give an accurate description of their powers -which shall be applicable to all cases, often accounts for the events by -which we are led to recognize modern kingdoms in the ancient duchies, -and to trace the derived and mediate authority down to its establishment -as independent royalty. - ------ - -Footnote 307: - - I refer generally here to the doctrines of Eichhorn, Staats- und - Rechtsgesch. i. 460. etc.; and to the works of the great German - authors who have treated this subject and others connected with it, - more especially to Dönniges, Deutsches Staatsrecht, p. 96 _seq._ - ------ - -But this state of things which was possible in an empire comprising a -vast extent of lands held by tribes of different descent, language, and -laws, and often hostile to one another, was not to be expected in a -country like England. Neither were the districts here sufficiently -large, nor in general was the national feeling in those districts -sufficiently strong, to produce similar results. Strictly speaking, -during what has been loosely termed the Heptarchy, the various kingdoms -or rather principal kingdoms bore a much greater resemblance to the -Frankish duchies, and the small subordinate principalities to the -counties; and could we admit the existence of a central authority or -Bretwaldadom, we should find a considerable resemblance between the two -forms: but this is in fact impossible: the kings, such as they were, -continued to enjoy all the royal rights in their limited districts; and -the dukes remained merely ministerial officers, of great dignity indeed, -but with well-defined and not very extensive powers. The rebellion of a -duke in English seems nearly as rare as it is frequent in German -history. We may therefore conclude that the Anglosaxon Ealdorman in -reality represented the Graf or Count of the Germans, before the powers -of the latter had been seriously abridged by the imperial constitution -of the Carlovings, by the growing authority of the duke, the Missus or -royal messenger and the bishop. And this will tend to explain the -comparatively subordinate position of the geréfa, who answers, in little -more than name, to the Graphio or Graf. - -In the Anglosaxon laws we find many provisions respecting the powers and -dignity of the ealdorman, which it will be necessary to examine in -detail. It is highly probable that different races and kingdoms adopted -a somewhat different course with respect to them,—a course rendered -inevitable by the connection of the ealdorman with territorial -government. The laws of the Kentish kings do not make any mention of -such an officer: the ceorl, eorl and king are the only free classes -whose proportionable value they notice; and if there were ealdormen at -all, they were comprised in the great caste of eorls or nobles by birth, -even as Æðelberht’s law uses _eorlcund_, that is of earl’s rank, as a -synonym for _betst_, that is the best or highest rank[308]. In the law -of Eádríc and Hlóðhere, though various judicial proceedings are referred -to, we hear nothing of the ealdorman: suit is to be prosecuted at the -king’s hall[309], before the stermelda[310], or the wícgeréfa[311], but -no other officer is mentioned; probably because at this period, the -little kingdoms into which Kent itself was divided, supplied ample -machinery for doing justice, without the establishment of ealdormen for -that or any other purpose. The law of Wihtræd has no provision of the -sort, and it is remarkable that in the proem to his dooms, which a king -always declares to be made with the counsel, consent and license of his -nobles, the word _eádigan_, the wealthy or powerful, twice occurs[312], -but not the word _ealdormen_. I therefore think it probable that Kent -had no such officers at the commencement of the eighth century[313]. - ------ - -Footnote 308: - - “Mund ðǽre betstan widuwan eorlcundre, fiftig scillinga gebéte.” For - the mund of a widow of the highest class, that is of earl’s degree, be - the bót fifty shillings. Æðelb. § 75. Thorpe, i. 20. - -Footnote 309: - - Eád. Hlóð. § 5. Thorpe, i. 28. - -Footnote 310: - - Eád. Hlóð. § 7, 16. Thorpe, i. 30, 34. - -Footnote 311: - - Eád. Hlóð. § 16. Thorpe, i. 34. - -Footnote 312: - - Leg. Wiht. Thorpe, i. 36. - -Footnote 313: - - I do not think the expression of the Sax. Chron. an. 568 can be - considered to contradict this. The ealdormen recorded there are merely - princes in a general sense: as are Cerdíc and Cyneríc named an. 495, - just as the same Chronicle an. 465 mentions twelve Welsh ealdormen. So - also in 653, Peada the king of the Southangles is called aldorman. The - Kentish charters in which we find Hamgisilus, _dux_, and Graphio, - _comes_, are impudent forgeries. Cod. Dipl. Nos. 2, 3, 4. - ------ - -In general Beda uses the words _tribunus_ or _praefectus_ to express the -authority of a royal officer either in the field or the city: with him -_comes_ represents the old and proper sense of the king’s comrade, as we -find it in Tacitus, and _dux_ is applied in the Roman sense to the -leader or captain of a _corps d’armée_. But it is possible that in one -passage he may have had something more in view, where he states that -after the death of Peada, that is in 661, the dukes of the Mercians, -Immin, Eaba and Eádberht rebelled against Osuuiu of Northumberland and -raised Wulfhere to his father’s throne[314]; and he goes on to say that, -having expelled the princes,—“principibus eiectis,”—whom the foreign -king had imposed upon them, they recovered both their boundaries and -their liberty. It is every way probable both that the Mercian dukes and -Northumbrian princes mentioned in this passage were fiscal and -administrative, not merely military officers[315]. Not much later than -this we find dukes in Wessex[316] and Sussex[317]; and from this period -we can follow the dukes with little intermission till the close of the -genuine Anglosaxon rule with Eádmund Irensída. - ------ - -Footnote 314: - - Beda, H. E. iii. 24. - -Footnote 315: - - The forged foundation charter of Peterborough mentions the following - ealdormen: Immin, Eádberht, Herefrið, Wilberht, Abon.—Chron. Sax. 657. - Cod. Dipl. No. 986. - -Footnote 316: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 31, 54, 987, etc. - -Footnote 317: - - Ibid. No. 994. Beda, H. E. iv. 13. - ------ - -From the time of Ini of Wessex we have the means of tracing the -institution with some certainty; and we may thus commence our enquiry -with the first years of the eighth century, nearly one hundred years -before Charlemagne modified and recast the German empire. At first the -ealdormen are few in number, but increase as the circuit of the kingdom -extends; we can thus follow them in connection with the political -advance of the several countries, till we find at one time no less than -three dukes at once in Kent, and sixteen in Mercia. This number attended -a witena gemót held by Coenwulf in the year 814. - -The reason of this was, that the ealdorman was inseparable from a shire -or gá: the territorial and political divisions went together, and as -conquest increased or defeat diminished the number of shires comprised -in a kingdom, we find a corresponding increase or diminution in the -number of dukes attendant upon the king. Ælfred decides that if a man -wish to leave one lord and seek another, (hláfordsócn, a right possessed -by all freemen,) he is to do so with the witness of the ealdorman whom -he before followed in his shire, that is, whose court and military -muster he had been bound to attend[318]: and Ini declares that the -ealdorman who shall be privy to the escape of a thief shall forfeit his -shire, unless he can obtain the king’s pardon[319]. The proportionably -great severity of this punishment arises, and most justly so, from the -circumstance of the ealdorman being the principal judicial officer in -the county, as the Graf was among the Franks. The fiftieth law of Ini -provides for the case where a man compounds for offences committed by -any of his household, where suit has been either made before the -king-himself or the king’s ealdorman[320]. He was commanded to hold a -shiremoot or general county-court twice in the year, where in company of -the bishop lie was to superintend the administration of civil, criminal -and ecclesiastical law: Eádgár enacts[321],—“Twice in the year be a -shiremoot held; and let both the bishop of the shire and the ealdorman -be present, and there expound both the law of God, and of the world:” -which enactment is repeated in nearly the same words by Cnut[322]. And -this is consistent with a regulation of Ælfred, by which a heavy fine is -inflicted upon him who shall break the public peace by fighting or even -drawing his weapon in the Folcmoot before the king’s ealdorman[323]. In -the year 780 we learn from the Saxon Chronicle that the high-reeves or -noble geréfan of Northumberland burned Beorn the ealdorman to death at -Seletún[324]: but Henry of Huntingdon records the same fact with more -detail: he says[325],—“The year after this the princes and chief -officers of Northumberland burned to death a certain _consul_ and -justiciary of theirs, because he was more severe than was right:” from -which it would appear not only that this ealdorman had been guilty of -cruelty and oppression in the exercise of his judicial functions, but, -from the hint of Simeon, also that the king acquiesced in his -punishment. We have occasional records in the Saxon charters which show -that the shiremoot for judicial purposes was presided over by the -ealdorman of the shire. In 825 there was an interesting trial touching -the rights of pasture belonging to Worcester cathedral, which the public -officers had encroached upon: it was arranged in a synod held at -Clofeshoo, that the bishop should give security to the ealdorman and -witan of the county, to make good his claim on oath, which was done -within a month at Worcester, in the presence of Háma the woodreeve, who -attended on behalf of Eádwulf the ealdorman[326]. Another very important -document records a trial which took place about 1038 in Herefordshire: -the shiremoot sat at Ægelnóðes stán, and was held by Æðelstán the -bishop, and Ranig the ealdorman in the presence of the county -thanes[327]. Another but undated record of a shiremoot held at Worcester -again presents us with the presidency of an ealdorman, Leófwine[328]. - ------ - -Footnote 318: - - Leg. Ælfr. § 37. Thorpe, i. 86. - -Footnote 319: - - “Gif he ealdormon síe, þolie his scíre, búton him cyning árian wille.” - Log. Ini, § 36. Thorpe, i. 124. - -Footnote 320: - - Thorpe, i. 134. - -Footnote 321: - - Eádgar, ii. § 5. Thorpe, i. 268. - -Footnote 322: - - Cnut, Sec. § 18. Thorpe, i. 386. And so in the Frankish law the graff - or count was to hold his court together with the bishop. Dönniges, p. - 29. - -Footnote 323: - - Ælfr. § 38. Thorpe, i. 86. - -Footnote 324: - - Chron. Sax. an. 780. - -Footnote 325: - - Hen. Hunt, book iv. “Anno autem hunc sequente principes et praepositi - Nordhumbre quendam consulem et justiciarium suum, quia rigidior aequo - extiterat, combusserunt.” This seems like a judicial execution, not a - mere act of popular vengeance. Simeon however says, “Osbald et - Æðelheard duces, congregate exercitu, Bearn patricium Elfuualdi regis - in Seletune succenderunt ix Kal. Jan.,” which can hardly be anything - but what is referred to in the entry of the preceding year, where - Simeon says of Ælfwald, “Erat enim rex pius et iustus, ut sequens - demonstrabit articulus.” Sim. Gest. Reg. an. 779, 780. - -Footnote 326: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 219. - -Footnote 327: - - Ibid. No. 755. - -Footnote 328: - - Ibid. No. 898. - ------ - -It is thus clear that the ealdorman really stood at the head of the -justice of the county, and for this purpose there can be no doubt that -he possessed full power of holding plea, and proceeding to execution -both in civil and criminal cases. The scírmen, scírgeréfan or sheriffs -were his officers, and acted by his authority, a point to which I shall -return hereafter. That the executive as well as the judicial authority -resided in the ealdorman and his officers seems to me unquestionable: -Ælfred directs that no private feud shall be permitted, except in -certain grave cases, but that if a man beleaguers his foe in his own -house, he shall summon him to surrender his weapons and stand to trial. -If the complainant be not powerful enough to enforce this, he is to -apply to the ealdorman (a mode of expression which implies the presence -of one in every shire), and on his refusal to assist, resort may be had -to the king[329]. For this there was also good reason: the ealdorman in -the shire, like the Frankish graf, was the military leader of the -_hereban_, posse comitatus or levy _en masse_ of the freemen, and as -such could command their services to repel invasion or to exercise the -functions of the higher police: as a noble of the first rank he had -armed retainers, thanes or comites of his own; but his most important -functions were as leader of the armed force of the shire. Throughout the -Saxon times we read of ealdormen at the head of particular counties, -doing service in the field: thus in 800 we hear of a battle between the -Mercian ealdorman Æðelmund with the Hwiccas, and the Westsaxon Weoxstán -with the men of Wiltshire[330]: in 837, Æðelhelm led the men of Dorset -against the Danes[331]: in 845 Eánwulf with the men of Somerset, and -Osríc with the men of Dorset, obtained a bloody victory over the same -adversaries[332]: in 853 a similar fortune attended Ealhhere with the -men of Kent, and IIuda with them of Surrey, the latter of whom had -marched from their own county into Thanet, in pursuit of the enemy[333]. -In 860, Osríc with his men of Hampshire, and ealdorman Æðelwulf with the -power of Berkshire, gave the Danes an overthrow in the neighbourhood of -Winchester[334]; in 905 the men of Kent with Sigewulf and Sigehelm their -ealdormen were defeated on the banks of the Ouse[335]: lastly in 1016, -we find Eádríc the ealdorman deserting Eádmund Irensída in battle with -the Magesætan or people of Herefordshire[336],—a treason which -ultimately led to the division of England between Eádmund and Cnut, and -later to the monarchy of the latter. Everywhere the ealdorman is -identified with the military force of his shire or county, as we have -already seen that he was with the administration of justice. - ------ - -Footnote 329: - - Leg. Ælfr. § 42. Thorpe, i. 90. - -Footnote 330: - - Chron. Sax. an. 800. - -Footnote 331: - - Ibid. an. 837. - -Footnote 332: - - Ibid. an. 845. - -Footnote 333: - - Ibid. an. 853. - -Footnote 334: - - Ibid. an. 860. - -Footnote 335: - - Ibid. an. 905. - -Footnote 336: - - Ibid. an. 1016. Other instances of ealdormen as military leaders, but - without reference to particular localities, may be found in the Chron. - Sax. under the years, 684, 699, 710, 823, 825, 838, 851, 871, 894, - 992, 993, 1003, etc., and in all the annalists. - ------ - -The internal regulation of the shire, as well as its political relation -to the whole kingdom, were under the immediate guidance and supervision -of the ealdorman: the scírgeréfa or sheriff was little more than his -deputy: it is not to be doubted that the cyninges geréfan, wícgeréfan -and túngeréfan were under his superintendence and command, and it would -almost appear as if he possessed the right to appoint as well as control -these officers: at all events we find some of them intended by the -expression “ðæs ealdormonnes gingran,” literally the ealdorman’s -subordinate officers; Ælfred having affixed a severe punishment to the -offence of breaking the peace of the folcmoot, in the ealdorman’s -presence, continues: “If anything of this sort happen before a king’s -ealdorman’s subordinate officer, or a king’s priest, let the fine be -thirty shillings[337].” - ------ - -Footnote 337: - - Leg. Ælfr. § 38. Thorpe, i. 86. - ------ - -In the year 995 certain brothers, apparently persons of some -consideration, having been involved in an accusation of theft, a -tumultuary affray took place, in which, amongst others, they were slain: -the king’s wícgeréfan in Oxford and Buckingham permitted their bodies to -be laid in consecrated ground: but the ealdorman of the district, on -being apprised of the facts, attempted to reverse the judgment of the -wic-reeves[338]. It would therefore appear that these officers were -subordinated to his authority. The analogy which we everywhere trace -between the ealdorman and the graf, induces the conclusion that the -former was the head fiscal officer of the shire; and that, in this as in -all other cases, the scírgeréfawas his officer and accounted to him. - ------ - -Footnote 338: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1289. - ------ - -The means by which his dignity was supported were, strictly speaking, -supplied by the state: they consisted in the first place of lands within -his district[339], which appear to have passed with the office, and -consequently to have been inalienable by any particular holder: but he -also derived a considerable income from the fines and other moneys -levied to the king’s use, his share of which probably amounted to -one-third[340]. But as it invariably happened that the ealdorman was -appointed from among the class of higher nobles, it is certain that he -always possessed large landed estates of his own[341], either by -inheritance or royal grant: moreover it is probable that among a people -in that stage of society in which we find the Saxons, voluntary -offerings to no small amount would find their way into the spence or -treasury of so powerful an officer: no one ever approaches a Pacha -without a present. One form of such gratuities we can trace in the -charters; I mean the grant of estates either for lives or perpetuity, -made by the clergy in consideration of support and protection; thus in -855, we find that Ealhhun, bishop of Worcester, and his chapter gave -eleven hides of land to duke Æðelwulf and Wulfðrýð, his duchess, for -their lives, on condition that he would be a good and true friend to the -monastery, and protector of its liberties[342]. Fifty years later, in -904, Werfrið and the same chapter granted to duke Æðelred, his duchess -and their daughter, a vill in Worcester and about 132 acres of arable -and meadow land, for three lives, with reversion to the see, on -condition that they would be good friends and protectors to the -chapter[343]. It is likewise probable that even if no settled, legal -share of the plunder were his of right, still his opportunities of -enriching himself in his capacity of general were not inconsiderable: he -must for instance have had the ransom of all prisoners of any -distinction, or the price of their sale. And lastly in his public -capacity he must always have had a sufficient supply of convict as well -as voluntary labour at command, to ensure the profitable cultivation of -his land, and the safe keeping of his flocks and herds. There cannot be -the slightest doubt that he also possessed all the regalia in his own -lands whether public or private, and that thus, wreck, treasure-trove, -fines for harbouring of outlaws, and many other bóts or legal -amerciaments passed into his hands. There are even slight indications -that he, like many of the bishops, possessed the right to coin money; -and in every case, he must have had the superintendence of the royal -mint, and therefore probably the forfeiture of all unlicensed moneyers. -In addition to all this, we cannot doubt that his power and influence -pointed him out as the lord who could best be relied upon for protection -and favour; and we may therefore conclude that commendation of estates -to him was not unusual, from all which estates he would receive not only -recognitory services, and yearly _gafol_ or rent in labour and produce, -but in all probability also fines on demise or alienation. - ------ - -Footnote 339: - - I cannot otherwise account for the mention of “ðæs ealdormonnes lond, - ðæs ealdormonnes mearc, gemǽro,” etc. which so often occur. The - boundaries of charters not being accidental and fluctuating, but - permanent, it follows that “the alderman’s mark” was so also. - -Footnote 340: - - “Dovere reddebat 18 libras, de quibus denariis habebat rex Edwardus - duas partes et comes Goduinus tertiam.” Domesd. Chenth. Whether all - the estates of folcland were charged with payments to the duke is - uncertain, but yet this is probable. The monastery lands appear to - have been so; for in 848 Hunberht, ealdorman, prince or duke of the - Tonsetan, released the monastery of Bredon from all payments - heretofore due from that monastery to himself, or generally to the - princes of that district. Cod. Dipl. No. 261. Again in 836, Wigláf of - Mercia granted to the monastery at Hanbury perfect freedom and - exemption from all demands, known and unknown, save the three - inevitable burthens: the ealdormen Sigered and Mucel, whose rights - were thus diminished, were indemnified, the first with a purse of six - hundred shillings in gold, the second with three hundred acres at - Croglea. Cod. Dipl. No. 237. - -Footnote 341: - - The highest rank, that is the ealdorman’s, appears to have implied the - absolute possession of land to the amount of 40 hides, or 1200 acres. - See Hist. Eliens. ii. 40: “Sed quoniam ille 40 hidarum terrae dominium - minime obtineret, licet nobilis esset, inter proceres tunc nominari - non potuit,” etc. The charters show what large estates were devised by - many of these ealdormen. - -Footnote 342: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 279. - -Footnote 343: - - Ibid. No. 339. - ------ - -Thus the position which his nobility, his power and his wealth secured -to the ealdorman was a brilliant one. In fact the whole executive -government may be considered as a great aristocratical association, of -which the ealdormen were the constituent members, and the king little -more than the president. They were in nearly every respect his equals, -and possessed the right of intermarriage with him[344]: it was solely -with their consent that he could be elected or appointed to the crown, -and by their support, co-operation and alliance that he was maintained -there. Without their concurrence and assent, their license and -permission, he could not make, abrogate or alter laws: they were the -principal witan or counsellors, the leaders of the great gemót or -national inquest, the guardians, upholders and regulators of that -aristocratical power of which he was the ultimate representative and -head. The wergyld and oath of an ealdorman were in proportion to this -lofty position: at first no doubt, he ranked only with the general class -of nobles in this respect, and the Kentish law does not distinguish him -from them: but at a later period, when the aristocratical hierarchy had -somewhat better developed itself, we find him rated on the same level -with the bishop, and above the ordinary nobles. From the chapter -concerning wergylds[345], we find that the Northumbrian law rated the -ealdorman at something more than thirty times the value of the ceorl, -while in Mercia we hear only of thanes or twelve-hynde men, worth six -times the ceorl or two-hynde man: and in Kent the eorl seems to have -exceeded the ceorl by three times only. - ------ - -Footnote 344: - - This would follow from their original nobility, which made them of - equal birth with the king: but there is a case which seems to show - that the rank itself of ealdorman sufficed to give this privilege. - Eádríc ealdorman of Mercia, who is said to have been of low - extraction, married a sister of Cnut; and Eádweard the Confessor had a - daughter of earl Godwine to wife. The other case was common: “And - Æðelflǽd æt Domerhamme, Ælfgáres dohtor ealdormannes, wæs ðá his - cwen,” _i. e._ Eádmund’s. Chron. Sax. an. 946. “Eádgár cyning genam - Ælfðrýðe him tó cwene; heó wæs Ordgáres dohtor ealdormannes.” Chron. - Sax. 965. The Anglosaxon kings were in fact very rarely married to - foreign princesses, though several of their beautiful daughters found - husbands on the continent. - -Footnote 345: - - Thorpe, i. 187. An ealdorman or bishop = 8000 thryms: a ceorl only - 266. - ------ - -But the value of the wergyld was not the only measure of the ealdorman’s -dignity. His oath bore the same proportion to that of the ceorl, and I -think we may assume that this relative proportion was maintained -throughout all ranks. The law respecting oaths declares that the oath of -a twelve-hynde shall be equal to those of six ceorlas, because if one -would avenge a twelve-hynde it can be fully done upon six ceorlas, and -his wergyld is equal to their six[346]. His house was in some sort a -sanctuary, and any wrong-doer who fled to it had three days’ -respite[347]; if any one broke the peace therein, he was liable to a -heavy fine[348]; his burhbryce, or the mulct for violation of his -castle, was eighty shillings[349], which however the law of Ælfred -reduces to sixty[350]; for a breach of his borh or surety, and his -mundbyrd or protection, a fine of two pounds was imposed[351]; his -Fihtwíte, or the penalty imposed upon the man who drew sword and fought -in his presence, was one hundred shillings[352], which was increased to -one hundred and twenty if the offence was committed in the open court of -justice[353]. The only person who enjoys a higher state, beside the -king, is the archbishop; and this pre-eminence may probably have once -been due to the heathen high-priest; just as, indeed, the equality of -the bishop and ealdorman may have been traditionally handed down from a -period when the priesthood and the highest nobility formed one body. -There is no very distinct intimation of any peculiar dress or decoration -by which the ealdorman was distinguished, but he probably wore a beáh or -ring upon his head, the fetel or embroidered belt, and the golden hilt -which seems to have been peculiar to the noble class. The staff and -sword were probably borne by him as symbols of his civil and criminal -jurisdiction. - ------ - -Footnote 346: - - Thorpe, i. 182. - -Footnote 347: - - Leg. Æðelst. iii. § 6, but seven days Æðelr. vii. § 5; iv. 4. - -Footnote 348: - - Leg. Ini, § 6. - -Footnote 349: - - Leg. Ini, § 45. - -Footnote 350: - - Leg. Ælfr. § 40. - -Footnote 351: - - Ibid. § 3. Leg. Cnut, Sec. § 69. Æðelr. vii. § 11. - -Footnote 352: - - Leg. Ælfr. § 15. Æðelr. vii. § 12. - -Footnote 353: - - Leg. Ælfr. § 38. - ------ - -The method then by which this rank was attained becomes of some -interest. And first it is necessary to inquire whether it was hereditary -or not; whether it was for life, or only _durante beneplacito_, or -_benemerito_. That it was not strictly hereditary appears in the -clearest manner from the general fact that the appointments recorded in -the Chronicle and elsewhere are given to nobles unconnected by blood -with the last ealdorman. There are very few instances of an ealdorman’s -rank being held in the same county by a father and son in succession. -This occurred indeed in Mercia, where in 983 Ælfríc succeeded his father -Ælfhere: Harald followed Godwine in his duchy, and at the same period, -Leófríc and Sigeweard succeeded in establishing a sort of succession in -their families. But when this did take place, it must be looked upon as -a departure from the old principle, and as a thing which in practice -would have been carefully avoided, during the better period of -Anglosaxon history, for which the feeble reign of Æðelred offers no fair -pattern. Under his weak and miserable rule the more powerful nobles -might venture upon usurpations which would have been impossible under -his father. And Cnut’s system of administration was favourable to the -growth of an hereditary order of dukes. A further examination of our -history shows that in general the dignity was held for life; we very -rarely, if ever, hear of an ealdorman removed or promoted from one shire -to another, and the entries in the Chronicle as well as the signatures -to the charters attest that many of their number enjoyed their dignity -for a very large number of years, in spite of the chances of an active -military life. But we do find, and not unfrequently, that ealdormen have -been expelled from their offices for treason and other grave offences. -In the later times of Æðelred, when traitorous dealings with the Danish -enemy offered the means of serving private or family hostility, the -outlawry of the ealdorman who led the different conflicting parties in -the state was common, and similar events accompanied the struggles of -Godwine’s party against the family of Mercia, for the conduct of public -affairs in England[354]. But at a much earlier period we hear of -ealdormen losing their offices and lands: in 901, Eádweard gave to -Winchester ten hides at Wiley, which duke Wulfhere had forfeited by -leaving his king and country without licence[355]. - ------ - -Footnote 354: - - See the Chronicle _passim_. - -Footnote 355: - - “Ista vero praenominata tellus primitus fuit praepeditus a quodam - duce, nomine Wulfhere, et eius uxore, quando ille utrumque et suum - dominum regem Ælfredum et patriam ultra iusiurandum quam regi et suis - omnibus optimatibus iuraverat sine licentia dereliquit. Tunc etiam, - cum omnium iudicio sapientium Gewissorum et Mercensium, potestatem et - haereditatem dereliquit agrorum.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1078. - ------ - -But if the dignity of ealdorman did not descend by regular succession, -are we to conclude that it was attained by popular election? Such is the -doctrine of the laws commonly attributed to Eádweard the Confessor. In -these we are thus told:— - -“There were also other authorities and dignities established throughout -all the provinces and countries, and separate counties of the whole -realm aforesaid, which among the Angles were called Heretoches, being to -wit, barons, noble, of distinguished wisdom, fidelity and courage: but -in Latin these were called _ductores exercitus_, leaders of the army, -and among the Gauls, Capital Constables, or Marshals of the army. They -had the ordering of numerous armies in battle, and placed the wings as -was most fitting, and to them seemed most conducive to the honour of the -crown and the utility of the realm. Now these men were elected by common -counsel for the general weal, throughout all the provinces and -countries, and the several counties, in full folkmote, as the sheriffs -of the provinces and counties ought also to be elected: so that in every -county there was one heretoch elected to lead the array of his county, -according to the precept of our lord the king, to the honour and -advantage of the crown of the realm aforesaid, whenever need should be -in the realm[356].” - ------ - -Footnote 356: - - Thorpe, i. 456. - ------ - -To this doctrine I deeply regret that I cannot subscribe. Whatever -remembrance of the earliest periods and their traditions may have lurked -in the mind of the writer, I am compelled to say that his description is -not applicable to any period comprehended in authoritative history. A -real election of a duke or ealdorman by the folcmót may have been known -to the Germans of Tacitus, but I fear not to those who two centuries -later established themselves in England. There cannot, I imagine, be the -slightest doubt that the ealdormen of the several districts were -appointed by the crown, with the assent of the higher nobles, if not of -the whole witena gemót. But it is also probable that in the strict -theory of their appointment, the consent of the county was assumed to be -necessary; and it is possible that, on the return of the newly appointed -ealdorman to his shire, he was regularly received, installed and -inaugurated by acclamation of the shire-thanes, and the oath of office -administered in the shiremoot, whose co-operation and assent in his -election was thus represented. Whatever may have been his original -character, it seems certain that at no time later than the fifth century -could the ealdorman have been the people’s officer, but on the contrary -that he was always the officer of that aristocratical association of -which the king was the head[357]. - ------ - -Footnote 357: - - As the king and his witan could unquestionably depose or remove the - ealdorman, we can scarcely doubt their power to appoint him. - ------ - -Still I do not think that in general the choice of the witan could be a -capricious or an unconditional one. There must have been in every shire -certain powerful families from whose members alone the selection could -be made; the instincts of all aristocracies, as well as the analogy of -other great Anglosaxon dignities, render it certain that the -ealdormannic families, as a general rule, retained this office among -themselves, although the particular one from which the officer should at -any given time be taken were left undecided, for the determination of -the Witan. It was almost necessary policy to place at the head of the -county one of the most highly connected, trustworthy, powerful and -wealthy of its nobles,—less necessary, however usual, _now_ than then, -when the functions of the Lord Lieutenant and the High Sheriff were -united in the same person. It even appears probable, although the -difficulty of tracing the Anglosaxon pedigrees prevents our asserting it -as a positive fact, that the ducal families were in direct descent from -the old regal families, which became mediatized, to use a modern term, -upon the rise of their more fortunate compeers. We know this to have -been the case with Æðelred, duke and viceroy of Mercia under Ælfred and -Eádweard. In the ninth century we find Oswulf, ealdorman of East Kent, -calling himself “Dei gratia dux;” and Sigewulf and Sigehelm, who appear -in the tenth also among the dukes of Kent, were very probably -descendants of Sigeræd, a king of that province. - -The new Constitution introduced by Cnut reduced the ealdorman to a -subordinate position: over several counties was now placed one eorl, or -earl, in the northern sense a jarl, with power analogous to that of the -Frankish dukes. The word ealdorman itself was used by the Danes to -denote a class, gentle indeed, but very inferior to the princely -officers who had previously borne that title: it is under Cnut, and the -following Danish kings that we gradually lose sight of the old -ealdormen; the king rules by his earls and his Húscarlas, and the -ealdormen vanish from the counties. From this time the king’s writs are -directed to the earl, the bishop and the sheriff of the county, but in -no one of them does the title of the ealdorman any longer occur; while -those sent to the towns are directed to the bishop and the portgeréfa or -præfect of the city. Gradually the old title ceases altogether except in -the cities, where it denotes an inferior judicature, much as it does -among ourselves at the present day. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - THE GERÉFA. - - -The most general name for the fiscal, administrative and executive -officer among the Anglosaxons was Geréfa, or as it is written in very -early documents geróefa[358]: but the peculiar functions of the -individuals comprehended under it, were further defined by a prefix -compounded with it, as scírgeréfa, the reeve of the shire or sheriff: -túngeréfa the reeve of the farm or bailiff. The exact meaning and -etymology of this name have hitherto eluded the researches of our best -scholars, and yet perhaps few words have been more zealously -investigated[359]: if I add another to the number of attempts to solve -the riddle, it is only because I believe the force of the word will -become much more evident when we have settled its genuine derivation; -and that philology has yet a part to play in history which has not been -duly recognized. One of the oldest and most popular opinions was that -which connected the name with words denoting seniority; thus, with the -German adjective _grau_, Anglosaxon _grǽg_, grey. There was however -little resemblance between geréfa and grǽg, the Anglosaxon forms, and -the whole of this theory was applicable only to the Latino-Frankish form -graphio, or gravio. The frequent use of words denoting advanced age, as -titles of honour,—among which ealdor _princeps_, senior _seigneur_, ða -yldestan _primates_, and many others, will readily occur to the -reader,—favoured this opinion, which was long maintained: but especially -in Germany, it has been entirely exploded by Grimm in his -Rechtsalterthümer[360], and proof adduced that there cannot be the -slightest connection between _graf_ and _grau_. - ------ - -Footnote 358: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 235. The Chronicle even calls Cæsar’s Tribune, - Labienus, geréfa. - -Footnote 359: - - The laws of Eádweard the Confessor show at how early a period the word - was unintelligible. “Greve autem nomen est potestatis; apud nos autem - nichil melius videtur esse quam praefectura. Est enim multiplex nomen; - greve enim dicitur de scira, de wæpentagiis, de hundredo, de burgis, - de villis: et videtur nobis compositum esse e grið anglice, quod est - _pax_ latine, et _ve_ latine, videlicet quod debet facere grið, i. e. - pacem, ex illis qui inferunt in terram ve, i. e. miseriam vel - dolorem.... Frisones et Flandrenses comites suos meregrave vocant, - quasi majores vel bonos pacificos; et sicut modo vocantur greves, qui - habent praefecturas super alios, ita tunc temporis vocabantur - eldereman, non propter senectutem, sed propter sapientiam.” Cap. - xxxii. - -Footnote 360: - - Page 753. Gloss. _in voc._ Grafio. - ------ - -More plausibility lay in the etymology of geréfa adopted by Spelman; -this rested upon the assumption that geréfa was equivalent to gereáfa, -and that it was derived from reáfan, to plunder; this view was -strengthened by the circumstance of the word being frequently translated -by _exactor_, the levying of fines and the like being a characteristic -part of a reeve’s duties. But this view is unquestionably erroneous: in -the first place geréfa could not have been universally substituted for -the more accurate ggereáfa, which last word never occurs, any more than -on the other hand does réfan for reáfan. Secondly, an Anglosaxon geréfa, -if for gereáfa, would necessarily imply a High-dutch garaupjo, a word -which we not only do not find, but which bears no sort of resemblance to -krávo and grávo which we do find[361]. Lambarde’s derivation of geréfa -from gereccan, _regere_, may be consigned to the same storehouse of -blunders as Lipsius’s _graf_ from γράφειν. Again, as words compounded -with _ge-_ and ending in _-a_, often denote a person who participates -with others in something expressed by the root, geréfa has been -explained to be one who shares in the roof, _i. e._ the kings roof: and -this has been supported by the fact that graf is equivalent to _comes_, -and that at an early period the comites are found occupying the places -of geréfan. But a fatal objection to this etymon lies in the omission of -the _h_ from geréfa, which would not have been the case had hróf really -been the root. Grimm says, “I will venture another supposition. In old -High-dutch rávo meant _tignum_, _tectum_ (Old Norse rǽfr, _tectum_), -perhaps also _domus_, _aula_; garávjo, girávjo, girávo, would thus mean -_comes_, _socius_, like gistallo, and gisaljo, gisello (Gram. ii. -736)[362].” There is however a serious objection to this hypothesis: -were it admitted, the Anglosaxon word must have been gerǽfa, not geréfa -for geróefa, that is, the vowel in the root must have been a long ǽ, not -a long é, springing out of and representing a long ó. I am naturally -very diffident of my own opinion in a case of so much obscurity, and -where many profound thinkers have failed of success; still it seems to -me that geréfa may possibly be referable to the word róf, _clamor_, róf, -_celeber_, _famosus_, and a verb rófan or réfan, _to call aloud_: if -this be so, the name would denote _bannitor_, the summoning or -proclaiming officer, him by whose summons or proclamation the court and -the levy of the freemen were called together; and this suggestion -answers more nearly than any other to the nature of the original office: -in this sense too, a reeve’s district is called his mánung, -_bannum_[363]. In this comprehensive generality lay the possibility of -so many different degrees of authority being designated by one term; so -that in the revolutions of society we have seen the German markgraf and -burggraf assuming the rank of sovereign princes, while the English -borough-reeve has remained the chief magistrate of a petty corporation, -or the pinder of a village has been designated by the title of a -hogreeve. - ------ - -Footnote 361: - - Grimm seems to think the word was originally Frankish, and only - borrowed by the Alamanni, Saxons, and Scandinavians. Rechtsalt. p. - 753. I am disposed to claim it for the Frisians and Saxons as well as - the Franks. - -Footnote 362: - - Rechtsalt. p. 753. - -Footnote 363: - - Æðelst. v. 8. § 2, 3, 4. - ------ - -Whatever were the original signification of the word, I cannot doubt -that it is of the highest antiquity, as well as the office which it -denotes. In all probability it was borne by those elected chiefs who -presided over the freemen of the Gá in their meetings, and delivered the -law to them in their districts[364]. Throughout the Germanic -constitutions, and especially in this country, the geréfa always appears -in connexion with judicial functions[365]: he is always the holder of a -court of justice: thus:—“Eádweard the king commandeth all the reeves; -that ye judge such just dooms, as ye know to be most righteous, and as -it in the doombook standeth. Fear not, on any account, to pronounce -folkright; and let every suit have a term, when it may be fullfilled, -that ye may then pronounce.” Again:—“I will that each reeve have a gemót -once in every four weeks; and so act that every man may have his right -by law; and every suit have an end and a term when it shall be brought -forward.” - ------ - -Footnote 364: - - “Eliguntur in iisdem conciliis et principes, qui iura per pagos - vicosque reddunt.” Tac. Germ. xii. Some tribes may have called these - _principes_ by one name, some by another: ealdorman, ǽsaga, lahmon, - are all legitimate appellations for a geréfa. - -Footnote 365: - - Leg. Eádw. i. § 1. Thorpe, i. 158. Leg. Eádw. i. § 2. Thorpe, i. 160. - Leg. Eádw. i. §. 11. Thorpe, i. 164. See also Inst. Polity, § xi. - Thorpe, ii. 318. - ------ - -Upon this point it is unnecessary to multiply evidence, and I shall -content myself with saying that wherever there was a court there was a -reeve, and wherever there was a reeve, he held some sort of court for -the guidance and management of persons for whose peaceful demeanour he -was responsible. From this it is to be inferred that the geréfan were of -very different qualities, possessed very different degrees of power, and -had very different functions to perform, from the geréfa who gave law to -the shire, down to the geréfa who managed some private landowner’s -estate. It will be convenient to take the different classes of geréfan -_seriatim_, and collect under each head such information as we can now -obtain from our legal or historical monuments. - -HEÁHGERÉFA.—In general the word coupled with geréfa enables us to judge -of the particular functions of the officer; but this is not the case -with the heáhgeréfa or _high reeve_, a name of very indefinite -signification, though not very rare occurrence. It is obvious that it -really denotes only a reeve of high rank, I believe always a royal -officer; but it is impossible to say whether the rank is personal or -official; whether there existed an office called the heáhgeréfscipe -(highreevedom) having certain duties; or whether the circumstance of the -shire- or other reeve being a nobleman in the king’s confidence gave to -him this exceptional title. I am inclined to believe that they are -exceptional, and perhaps in some degree similar to the Missi of the -Franks,—officers dispatched under occasional commissions to perform -functions of supervision, hold courts of appeal, and discharge other -duties, as the necessity of the case demanded; but that they are not -established officers found in all the districts of the kingdom, and -forming a settled part of the machinery of government. In this -particular sense, our judges going down upon their several circuits, -under a commission of jail delivery, are the heáhgeréfan of our day. - -We are told in the Saxon Chronicle that in the year 778, Æðelbald and -Heardberht of Northumberland slew three heáhgeréfan, namely Ealhwulf the -son of Bosa, Cynewulf and Ecga: and the immediate consequence of this -appears to have been the expulsion of Æðelred, and the succession of -Ælfwold to the throne of Northumberland. These high-reeves were -therefore probably military officers of Æðelred, and Simeon of Durham, -in recording the events of the same year calls them dukes, _duces_. - -Again, in 780, Simeon mentions Osbald and Æðelheard as dukes, but the -Chronicle calls them heáhgeréfan.[366] - ------ - -Footnote 366: - - The instances cited are Northumbrian, and it is remarkable that the - chapter on Wergylds, § 4, reckons the heáhgeréfa as a separate rank, - having a high wergyld, but inferior to that of the ealdorman. I am - much inclined to think that these were sheriffs. - ------ - -In a preceding chapter I have shown that the _dux_ is properly -equivalent to the ealdorman, but this can hardly have been the case with -the heáhgeréfa. Again, in 1001, the Chronicle mentions three -high-reeves, Æðelweard, Leófwine and Kola, and apparently draws a -distinction by immediately naming Eádsige, the king’s reeve, not his -high-reeve. In 1002 the Chronicle again mentions Æfíc, a high-reeve, who -though a great favourite of the king, certainly never attained the rank -of a duke or ealdorman, or, as far as we know, ever performed any public -administrative functions. He was a minion of Æðelred’s, but not an -officer of the Anglosaxon state. - -SCÍRGERÉFA OR SHERIFF.—The Scírgeréfa is, as his name denotes, the -person who stands at the head of the shire, _pagus_ or county: he is -also called Scírman or Scírigman[367]. He is properly speaking the -holder of the county-court, scírgemót or folcmót, and probably at first -was its elected chief. But as this geréfa was at first the people’s -officer, he seems to have shared the fate of the people, and to have -sunk in the scale as the royal authority gradually rose: during the -whole of our historical period we find him exercising only a concurrent -jurisdiction, shared in and controlled by the ealdorman on the one hand -and the bishop on the other. The latter interruption may very probably -have existed from the very earliest periods, and the heathen priest have -enjoyed the rights which the Christian prelate maintained: but the -intervention of the ealdorman appears to be consistent only with the -establishment of a central power, exercised in different districts by -means of resident superintendents, or occasional commissioners -especially charged with the defence of the royal interests. In the -Anglosaxon legislation even of the eighth century, the ealdorman is -certainly head of the shire[368]; but there is, as far as I know, no -evidence of his sitting in judgment in the folcmót without the sheriff, -while there is evidence that the sheriff sat without the ealdorman. -Usually the court was held under the presidency of the ealdorman and -bishop, and of the scírgeréfa, who from his later title of vicecomes, -vicedominus, was probably looked upon as the ealdorman’s deputy,—a -strange revolution of ideas. The shiremoot at Ægelnóðes stán in the days -of Cnut was attended by Æðelstán, bishop of Hereford, Ranig the -ealdorman, Eádwine his son, Leófwine and Ðurcytel the white, Tofig the -king’s _missus_ or messenger, and Bryning the scírgeréfa[369]. But in a -celebrated trial of title to land at Wouldham in Kent, where archbishop -Dunstán himself was a party concerned, the case seems to have been -disposed of by Wulfsige the shireman or sheriff alone[370]. The bishop -of Rochester, being in some sort a party to the suit, could probably not -take his place as a judge, and the ealdorman is not mentioned at all. -Again in an important trial of title to land at Snodland in Kent, there -is no mention whatever of the ealdorman: the king’s writ was sent to the -archbishop; and the sheriff Leófríc and the thanes of East and West Kent -met to try the cause at Canterbury[371]. It may then be concluded that -the presence of the sheriff was necessary in any case, while that of the -ealdorman might be dispensed with[372]. By the provisions of our later -kings it appears that the scírgemót or sheriff’s court for the county -was to be holden twice in the year, and before this were brought all the -most important causes, and such as exceeded the competence of the -hundred[373]. - ------ - -Footnote 367: - - Leg. Ini, § 8. Æðelst. v. c. 8. § 2, 3, 4. Æðelwine scírman. Cod. - Dipl. No. 761, but Æðelwine scírgeréfa. Ibid. No. 732. Wulfsige preóst - scírigman; and Wulfsige se scírigman. Ibid. No. 1288. Ufegeát - scíreman. Ibid. No. 972. Leófríc scíresman. Ibid. No. 929. - -Footnote 368: - - Leg. Ini, § 36. - -Footnote 369: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 755. - -Footnote 370: - - Ibid. No. 1288. - -Footnote 371: - - Ibid. No. 729. - -Footnote 372: - - The law of Æðelstán, i. § 12 (Thorpe, i. 206) assumes the presence of - the reeves in the folcmót as a matter of course; but this does not - particularise the shire-reeves, though these are probably included in - the general term. See also Æðelst. iv. § 1. Thorpe, i. 220. - -Footnote 373: - - Leg. Eádg. ii. 5. Cnut, ii. 18. Thorpe, i. 268, 386. - ------ - -But the judicial functions of the scírgeréfa were by no means all that -he had to attend to. It is clear that the execution of the law was also -committed to his hands. The provisions of the council of Greatanleah -conclude with these words:—“But if any of my reeves will not do this, -and care less about it than we have commanded, let him pay the fine for -disobeying me, and I will find another reeve who will do it[374];” where -reference is generally made to all the enactments of the council. And -the same king requires his bishops, ealdormen and reeves (the principal -shire-officer) to maintain the peace upon the basis laid down in the -Judicia civitatis Londoniae, that is to put in force the enactments -therein contained, on pain of fines and forfeiture[375]. In pursuance -also of this part of their duty, they were commanded to protect the -abbots on all secular occasions[376], and to see the church dues -regularly paid; viz. the tithes, churchshots, soulshots and plough -alms[377]. And Eádgár, Æðelred and Cnut arm them with the power to levy -for tithe and inflict a heavy forfeiture upon those who withhold -it[378]. It is also very clear from several passages in the Laws that -the sheriff might be called upon to witness bargains and sales, so as to -warrant them afterwards if necessary. Æðelstán enacts[379]:—“Let no man -exchange any property, without the witness of the reeve, or the -mass-priest, or the landlord, or the treasurer, or some other credible -man:” and though the scírgeréfa is not particularly mentioned here, it -is obvious that he is meant, for a subsequent law of Eádmund, following -this enactment of Æðelstán, directs that no one shall bargain or receive -strange cattle without the witness of the highest reeve (“summi -praepositi”), the priest, the treasurer or the port-reeve[380]. He was -further to exercise a supreme police in his county: it is declared by -Æðelred[381],—“If there be any man who is untrue to all the people, let -the king’s reeve go and bring him under surety, that he may be held to -justice, to them that accused him. But if he have no surety, let him be -slain, and laid in the foul,”—that is, I presume, not buried in -consecrated ground. - ------ - -Footnote 374: - - Æðelst. i. § 26. So again Æðelst. iii. § 7; iv. § 1. Thorpe, i. 212, - 219, 222. - -Footnote 375: - - Æðelst. v. § 11. Thorpe, i. 240. - -Footnote 376: - - “And the king enjoins the reeves in every place to protect the abbots - in all their worldly needs, as best ye may.” Æðelred, ix. § 32. - Thorpe, i. 346. - -Footnote 377: - - Æðelst. i. Introd. Thorpe, i. 194, 196. - -Footnote 378: - - Eádg. i. § 3. Æðelr. ix. § 8. Cnut, i. § 8. Thorpe, i. 262, 342, 366. - -Footnote 379: - - Æðelst. i. § 10. Thorpe, i. 204. - -Footnote 380: - - Eádm. iii. § 5. Thorpe i. 253. This law uses the word _ordalii_, which - I believe to be an error for _hordere_, as in Æðelstán’s law, and have - rendered it accordingly. - -Footnote 381: - - Leg. Æðelr. i § 4. Thorpe, i. 282. - ------ - -From this also it appears probable that the geréfa was the officer to -conduct the execution of criminals in capital cases, as he remains to -this day; but as far as I remember, there is no instance of this duty -recorded. The regulations respecting mints and coinage seem also to show -that this part of the public service was under the superintendence of -the scírgeréfa[382]. As the principal political officer, and chief of -the freemen in the shire, it was further his duty to promulgate the laws -enacted by the king and his witena gemót, and take a pledge from the -members of the county, to observe these: and it is to be concluded that -this was solemnly done in the county-court[383]. - ------ - -Footnote 382: - - Cnut, ii. § 8. Thorpe, i. 380. - -Footnote 383: - - Æðelst. v. § 10. Thorpe, i. 238. - ------ - -The scírgeréfa was also the principal fiscal officer in the county. It -was undoubtedly his duty to levy all fines that accrued to the king from -offenders, and to collect such taxes as the land paid for public -purposes. We have unhappily no _pipe-rolls_ of the Anglosaxon period, -which would have thrown the greatest light upon the social condition of -England; but we have a precept of Cnut, addressed to Æðelríc the sheriff -of Kent, and the other principal officers and thanes of the county, -commanding that archbishop Æðelnóð shall account only as far as he had -done before Æðelríc became sheriff, and ordering that in future no -sheriff shall demand more of him[384]. From this it appears that even -the lands of the archbishop himself were not exempt from the sheriff’s -authority in fiscal matters, although there can be little doubt that at -this period the prelate had a grant of sacu and sócn, or complete -immunity from the sheriff’s power in judicial questions. And we shall -have little difficulty in admitting that, if he possessed this authority -in the case of the archbishop, he exercised it in that of other less -distinguished landowners. It has been already shown that the king -possessed certain profitable rights in, and received contributions from, -the estates of folcland in private hands: these were exercised and -collected by the scírgeréfa. It is probable that the zeal of this -officer had sometimes overstepped the bounds of the law, and induced him -to burthen the free landowner for the benefit of the crown; for we find -Cnut enacting[385]: “This is the alleviation which it is my pleasure to -secure to all the people, of that which hath heretofore too much -oppressed them. First, I command all my reeves that they justly provide -for me on my own, and maintain me therewith; and that no man need give -them anything, as farm-aid, unless he choose. And if after this any one -demand a fine, let him be liable in his wergyld to the king.” - ------ - -Footnote 384: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1323. This writ is directed in the usual form, to the - archbishop, the bishop of Rochester, the abbot of St. Augustine’s, the - sheriff and the thanes of Kent. - -Footnote 385: - - Cnut. ii. § 70. Thorpe, i. 412. _Feorm_ is the king’s farm or support: - and _feormfultum_ a benevolence in aid of the same. It had become - compulsory in some cases, and this is what Cnut forbids. - ------ - -The law then goes on to regulate the king’s rights in case of intestacy, -the amount of heriot payable by different classes, the freedom of -succession in the wife and children, and the freedom of marriage both -for widow and maiden. And as all these laws, numbered respectively from -§ 70 to 75, appear to be dependent upon one another, and to form a -chapter of alleviations by themselves, I conclude that the sheriffs had -been guilty of exaction in confiscating the estates of intestates, -demanding extravagant heriots and reliefs, and imposing fines for -licence to marry,—extortions familiar enough under the Norman rule. It -was moreover the sheriff’s duty to seize into the king’s hands all lands -and chattels belonging to felons, which would, in the event of a -conviction become forfeit to the crown: of this we have instances. About -A.D. 900, one Helmstán was guilty of theft; Eanwulf Penhearding, who was -then sheriff, immediately seized all the property he had at Tisbury, -except the land which Helmstán could not forfeit, as it was only -Ordláf’s lǽn or _beneficium_[386]. At the close of the tenth century, -Æscwyn a widow had become implicated in the theft of some title-deeds by -her own son: judgment was given against her in one of the royal courts, -whereby all her property became forfeited to the king: Wulfstán the -sheriff of Kent accordingly seized Bromley and Fawkham, her manors[387]. -There is of course every probability that the sheriff was charged with -certain disbursements, required by the public service, and that he -rendered a periodical account both of receipts and expenditure, to the -officers who then represented the royal exchequer; but upon this part of -the subject we are unhappily without any evidence. - ------ - -Footnote 386: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 328. - -Footnote 387: - - Ibid. No. 1258. - ------ - -The sheriff was naturally the leader of the militia, posse comitatus, or -levy of the free men, who served under his banner, as the different -lords with their dependents served under the royal officers, the church -vassals under the bishop’s or abbot’s officer, and all together under -the chief command of the ealdorman or duke. It was his business to -summon them, and to command them in the field, during the period of -their service: and he thus formed the connecting link between the -military power of the king and the military power of the people, for -purposes both of offence and defence. - -In the earliest periods, the office was doubtless elective, and possibly -even to the last the people may have enjoyed theoretically, at least, a -sort of concurrent choice. But I cannot hesitate for a moment in -asserting that under the consolidated monarchy, the scírgeréfa was -nominated by the king, with or without the acceptance of the -county-court, though this in all probability was never refused[388]. The -language of the laws which continually adopt the words, _our_ reeves, -where none but the sheriffs are intended, clearly shows in what relation -these officers stood to the king: and as the latter indisputably -possessed the power of removing, he probably did not want that of -appointing them[389]. On one occasion indeed Æðelstân distinctly -declares, that if his sheriffs neglect their duty, _he_, the king, will -find others to do it[390]. The means by which the dignity of the sheriff -was supported are similar to those noticed in the case of the ealdorman. -He received a proportion of the fines payable to the king: he was, we -may presume, always a considerable landowner in the shire; indeed, -several of those whom we know to have held the office, were amongst the -greatest landowners in their respective districts[391]. It is even -possible that there may have been some provision in land, attached to -the office, for I meet occasionally with such words as geréf-land, -geréf-mǽd, where the form of the composition denotes, not the land or -meadow of some particular sheriff, but of the sheriff generally. As -leader of the _shire-fyrd_ or armed force, the geréfa would have a share -of the booty; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that his influence -and good-will were secured at times by the voluntary offerings of -neighbours and dependents. - ------ - -Footnote 388: - - In the Council of Baccanceld, Wihtred is made to say:—“It is the duty - of kings to appoint eorls and ealdormen, scírgeréfan and doomsmen.” - Chron. Sax. an. 694. “Illius autem est comites, duces, optimates, - principes, praefectos, iudices saeculares statuere.” Cod. Dipl. No. - 996. The charter is an obvious forgery, but it shows the tendency of - opinion in the Anglosaxon times. - -Footnote 389: - - In some of the writs addressed to the shires, the place properly - filled by the scírgeréfa is given to noblemen of the king’s household, - as Eádnóð steallere in Hampshire. Cod. Dipl. No. 845. Esgár steallere - in Hertfordshire, Kent and Middlesex. Nos. 827, 843, 864. Rodbeard - steallere in Essex. No. 859. I believe these persons to have been - really the sheriffs, but to have been named by their familiar, and in - their own view, higher designations, as officers of the court. - -Footnote 390: - - Conc. Greatanl. Æðelst. 1. § 26. - -Footnote 391: - - Tofig Pruda, whom we recognize as scírgeréfa in Somersetshire, is - elsewhere described as “vir praepotens.” See Flor. Wig. an. 1042. - ------ - -The writs of the kings, touching judicial processes, and other matters -connected with the public service, were directed to the ealdorman, -bishop and sheriff of the district, as a general rule. From these writs, -which are numerous in the eleventh century, we learn some of the names -of the gentlemen who filled the office at that period: and as those -names are not without interest I have collected from such documents as -we possess a list of sheriffs for different counties. - - Berks Cyneweard[392]. - Gódric[393]. - Devonshire Hugh the Norman[394]. - Dorsetshire Ælfred[395]. - Essex Leófcild[396]. - Rodbeard steallere[397]. - Hampshire Eádsige[398]. - Eádnóð steallere[399]. - Herefordshire Ælfnóð[400]. - Bryning[401]. - Osbearn[402]. - Ulfcytel[403]. - Hertfordshire Ælfstán[404]. - Esgár steallere[405]. - Huntingdonshire Ælfríc[406]. - Cyneríc[407]. - Kent Æðelríc[408]. - Æðelwine[409]. - Esgár steallere[410]. - Leófríc[411]. - Osweard[412]. - Wulfsige preóst[413]. - Wulfstán[414]. - Lincolnshire Osgód[415]. - Middlesex Ælfgeát[416]. - Esgár steallere[417]. - Ulf[418]. - Norfolk Eádríc[419]. - Norfolk and Suffolk Tolig[420]. - Northampton Marleswegen[421]. - Norðman[422]. - Somersetshire Godwine[423]. - Tofig[424]. - Tauid or Touid[425]. - Suffolk Ælfríc[426]. - Tolig[427]. - Warwickshire Uua[428]. - Wiltshire Eánwulf Penhearding[429]. - Worcestershire Leófríc[430]. - ------ - -Footnote 392: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 948. - -Footnote 393: - - Ibid. No. 840. - -Footnote 394: - - Flor. Wig. an. 1008. - -Footnote 395: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 871. - -Footnote 396: - - Ibid. Nos. 788, 869, 870. - -Footnote 397: - - Ibid. No. 859. - -Footnote 398: - - Ibid. No. 1337. - -Footnote 399: - - Ibid. No. 845. - -Footnote 400: - - Chron. Sax. 1056. - -Footnote 401: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 755. - -Footnote 402: - - Ibid. No. 833. - -Footnote 403: - - Ibid. No. 802. - -Footnote 404: - - Ibid. No. 945. - -Footnote 405: - - Ibid. No. 864. - -Footnote 406: - - Ibid. No. 903. - -Footnote 407: - - Ibid. No. 906. - -Footnote 408: - - Ibid. Nos. 1323, 1325. - -Footnote 409: - - Ibid. Nos. 731, 732. - -Footnote 410: - - Ibid. No. 827. - -Footnote 411: - - Ibid. No. 929. - -Footnote 412: - - Ibid. Nos. 847, 854. - -Footnote 413: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1288. This is contrary to the provision of archbishop - Ecgberht’s Poenitential, iii. § 8: he says that a priest or deacon - ought not to be a geréfa, or a wícnere, or to have any concern with - secular business. “Nis nánum mæsse-preóste álýfed ne diacone, æt hí - geréfan beón né wícneras, né ymbe náne worldbysgunga ábysgode beón, - búton mid ðǽre ðe hig tó getitolode beóð.” Thorpe, ii. 198. Perhaps - however Ecgberht’s rule was construed to mean private, not public, - geréfan, when in process of time it might become useful to have the - assistance of priests learned in the law, as judges; especially as in - the tenth century the importance of missionary labours was less - strongly felt than in the eighth. - -Footnote 414: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1258. - -Footnote 415: - - Ibid. No. 1319. - -Footnote 416: - - Ibid. No. 858. - -Footnote 417: - - Ibid. No. 855. - -Footnote 418: - - Ibid. No. 843. - -Footnote 419: - - Ibid. No. 785. - -Footnote 420: - - Ibid. Nos. 853, 875, 880, 881, 883, 908, 911. - -Footnote 421: - - Ibid. Nos. 806, 808. - -Footnote 422: - - Ibid. Nos. 863, 904. - -Footnote 423: - - Ibid. Nos. 834, 835, 836, 838. - -Footnote 424: - - Ibid. No. 821. - -Footnote 425: - - Ibid. Nos. 837, 839, 917, 926, 976. - -Footnote 426: - - Ibid. Nos. 832, 842. - -Footnote 427: - - Ibid. Nos. 874, 905. - -Footnote 428: - - Ibid. No. 493. - -Footnote 429: - - Ibid. No. 328. - -Footnote 430: - - Ibid. Nos. 757, 898, 923. - ------ - -It is possible that increased research may extend this list of sheriffs, -and much to be regretted that our information is so scanty as it is. We -have no means of deciding whether the office was an annual one, or how -its duration was limited. The Kentish list shows that the clergy were -neither exempt nor excluded from its toils or advantages: and the -position of Wulfsige the priest and sheriff recalls to us the earlier -times when priest and judge may have been synonymous terms among the -nations of the north[431]. I now proceed to a third class, the - ------ - -Footnote 431: - - “Si iudex vel sacerdos reperti fuerint nequiter iudicasse,” etc. Leg. - Visigoth, ii. c. l. § 33. - ------ - -CYNINGES GERÉFA, or Royal Reeve.—There is some difficulty with regard to -this officer, because in many cases where the cyninges geréfa is -mentioned, it is plain that the scírgeréfa is meant. For example, Ælfred -twice mentions the cyninges geréfa as sitting in the folcmót and -administering justice there[432], which is hardly to be understood of -any but the sheriff. However it is consistent with the general -principles of Teutonic society that as there was a scírgeréfa to do -justice between freeman and freeman, so also there should be a cyninges -geréfa, before whom the king’s tenants should ultimately stand to right, -and who more particularly administered the king’s sacu and. sócn in his -own private lands. To this officer, under the ealdorman, would belong -the investigation of those causes which the king’s manorial courts could -not decide: perhaps he might possess some sort of appellate -jurisdiction: and it cannot be doubted that it was his duty to -superintend the management of the king’s private domains, and to lead -the array of the king’s private tenants in the general levy. It is -therefore not unlikely that this officer may be identical with the -heáhgeréfa already noticed. But in many cases where a king’s reeve is -mentioned, and where we cannot understand the term of the scírgeréfa, it -is clear that a wícgeréfa or burh- or túngeréfa are intended, and that -they are called royal officers merely because the wíc, burh or tún -happened to be royal property. The Chronicle under the year 787 mentions -a geréfa who was slain by the Northmen:—“This year king Beorhtríc took -to wife Eádburh, king Offa’s daughter: and in his time first came three -ships of Northmen from Hæretha land. And then the geréfa rode to the -place, and would have driven them to the king’s tún, for he knew not who -they were: and there on the spot they slew him. These were the first -Danish ships that ever sought the land of the English.” - ------ - -Footnote 432: - - “Gif mon on folces gemóte cyninges geréfan ge-yppe eofot,” etc. § 22. - “And gebrengen beforan cyninges geréfan on folcgemóte ... gecýðe in - gemótes gewitnesse cyninges geréfan.” § 34. See also Æðelred, iii. § - 13. Cnut, ii. § 8, 33. Thorpe, i. 76, 82, 380, 396. In Cod. Dipl. No. - 789, appears a king’s reeve Wulfsige: but is not this the same - Wulfsige as we find sheriff of Kent at the same period? - ------ - -Now Florence of Worcester under the same date tells us that this officer -was “regis praepositus,” that is, a king’s reeve: and Henry of -Huntingdon improves him into a sheriff[433], “praepositus regis illius -provinciae:” Æðelweard however, who is obviously much better acquainted -with the details of the story than his Norman successors, records that -this officer’s name was Beadoheard, and that he was the royal burggrave -in Dorchester[434]. - ------ - -Footnote 433: - - Hen. Hunt. lib. iv. - -Footnote 434: - - Æðelw. lib. iii. “Exactor regis, iam morans in oppido, quod Dorceastre - nuncupatur.” Gaimar calls him a “un senescal al rei:” l. 2069. - ------ - -In 897 again we hear of the death of Lucemon, in battle against the -Danes: the Chronicle calls him “ðæs cyninges geréfa:” but Henry of -Huntingdon, “praepositus regalis exercitus[435],” which may merely mean -the officer appointed to lead the _royal_ force, that is a king’s reeve -in the sense which I have attempted to establish on a preceding page. -Other king’s reeves mentioned, are Ælfweard, (Chron. Sax. an. 1011), and -Ælfgár (Cod. Dipl. No. 693). - ------ - -Footnote 435: - - Hen. Hunt. lib. v. - ------ - -It may admit of doubt whether in the parts of England which were subject -to Danish rule, and only re-annexed to the Westsaxon crown by conquest, -the same institutions prevailed as in the rest of the country. In the -laws of Æðelred[437] we hear of a king’s reeve in the Wapentake and in -the community of the Five Burgs. These are not sheriffs; the former -rather resembling the Hundred-man; the latter a Burhgeréfa, but with -extended powers, perhaps approaching those of a sheriff, or the -Northumbrian heáhgeréfa already alluded to in this chapter. - ------ - -Footnote 437: - - Æðelr. iii. § 1, and iii. § 3. Thorpe, i. 292, 294. - ------ - -THE BURHGERÉFA.—In a fortified town, which I take to be the strict -meaning of _burh_, there was an officer under this title. We know but -little of his peculiar powers; but there is every reason to conclude -that they were similar to those of other geréfan, according to the -circumstances in which he was placed. If the town were free, it is -possible that he may have been the popular officer, a sort of sheriff -where the town is itself a county. But this is improbable, and it is -much more likely that the burhgeréfa was essentially a royal officer, -charged with the maintenance and defence of a fortress. Such a one I -take Badoheard to have been in Dorchester; similarly we hear of Godwine, -praepositus civitatis Oxnafordi[438], Æðelwig praepositus in -Bucingaham[439], and Wynsige also praepositus in Oxnaforda[439], Osulf -and Ylcærðon both praepositi in Padstow[440]; and finally Ælfred, the -reeve of Bath[441]. It was this officer’s duty to preside in the -burhgemót, which was appointed to be held thrice in the year[442], and -he was most likely the representative of the towns-people, so far as -these were unfree, in the higher courts. It is also probable that he was -their military leader, and that he was expected to be present at sales -and exchanges in order to be able to warrant transactions, if impeached. -Lastly he was to see that tithes were duly rendered from his -fellow-citizens[443]. From a very interesting document just now -cited[444], it may be inferred that he possessed considerable power in -his district, and that persons of rank and wealth were clothed with the -office. We there find the reeves of Buckingham and Oxford granting the -rites of Christian burial to some Saxon gentlemen who had perished in a -brawl brought on by an attempt at theft; and the intervention of the -king himself seems to have been necessary to prevent the execution of -their decree. The burhgeréfa may perhaps be said to have had some of the -rights of the Aedile and Praetor urbanus under the old, or those of the -duumvir under the later, provincial constitution of Rome. Still he seems -to have been in some degree subject to the supervision of the ealdorman. -I have sometimes thought that he might be compared in part with the -Burggraf, in part with the Vogt of the German towns under the Empire; -but unfortunately we know too little of our ancient municipal -constitution to enable us to carry out this enquiry. We have no means -now of ascertaining the duration of his office, the nature of his -appointment, or the actual extent of his powers. - ------ - -Footnote 438: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 950. - -Footnote 439: - - Ibid. No. 1289. - -Footnote 440: - - Ibid. No. 981. - -Footnote 441: - - Chron. Sax. an. 906. - -Footnote 442: - - Leg. Eádg. ii. § 5. - -Footnote 443: - - Æðelst. i. § 1. Thorpe, i. 194. - -Footnote 444: - - See Note 439 - ------ - -PORTGERÉFA.—The Portgeréfa is in many respects similar to the -Burhgeréfa: but as it appears that _Port_ is applied rather to a -commercial than a fortified town, there are differences between the two -offices. In some degree these will have depended upon the comparative -power, freedom and organization of the citizens themselves, and I can -readily believe that the portreeves of London were much more important -personages than the burhreeves of Oxford or Bath. In the smaller towns, -it is probable that the court of the portreeve was a sort of pie-powder -court; but in the larger, it must have had cognizance of offences -against the customs laws, the laws affecting the mint, and the general -police of the district. As a general rule I imagine the portgeréfa to -have been an elective officer: perhaps in the large and important towns -he required at least the assent of the king. In London he holds the -place of the sheriff, and the king’s writs are directed to the earl, the -bishop and the portreeve[445]. There are two cities in which we hear of -portreeves, viz. London and Canterbury: in the former we have -Swétman[446], Ælfsige[447], Ulf[448], Leófstán[449], and the great -officer of the royal household, Esgár the steallere[450], which alone -would be sufficient evidence of the importance attached to the post. In -Canterbury we read of Æðelred[451], Leofstán[452], and Gódric[453], -occupying the same station. Again we have Ælfsige portgeréfa in -Bodmin[454], and Leófcild portgeréfa in Bath[455]. It is worthy of -remark that the two, Ælfsige and Leófstán, served the office together in -London, and that Ulf also occurs as sheriff of Middlesex. In the smaller -towns especially it must have been a principal part of the portreeve’s -duty to witness all transactions by bargain and sale[456]. A portion of -his subsistence at least was probably derived from the proceeds of -tolls, and fines levied within his district. - ------ - -Footnote 445: - - Cod. Dipl. vol. iv. _passim_. There is not the slightest reason to - suppose that there ever was a special ealdorman of London, as Palgrave - imagines. The city was governed by Portreeves, usually two at once, - until long after the Conquest, when it obtained mayors, like many - other towns. - -Footnote 446: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 857, 861. - -Footnote 447: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 856. - -Footnote 448: - - Ibid. No. 872. - -Footnote 449: - - Ibid. Nos. 857, 861. - -Footnote 450: - - Ibid. No. 872. - -Footnote 451: - - Ibid. No. 929. - -Footnote 452: - - Ibid. No. 799. - -Footnote 453: - - Ibid. No. 789. - -Footnote 454: - - Ibid. No. 981. - -Footnote 455: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 933. This evidence that the officer in Bath was a - portreeve and not a burhreeve may suggest the possibility of those - persons whom I have cited under the former head, belonging rather to - the present one. The Latin _praepositus civitatis_ will denote either - one or the other office, and indeed it is difficult to prove any - difference between them by direct testimony. - -Footnote 456: - - Leg. Eádw. § 1. Thorpe, i. 158. Eádm. iii. § 5. Thorpe, i. 253. - Æðelst. i. § 12. Thorpe, i. 206. - ------ - -WÍCGERÉFA.—The Wícgeréfa was a similar officer, in villages, or in such -towns as had grown out of villages without losing the name of a village. -I presume that he was not concerned with the freemen, but was a kind of -steward of the manor, and that his dignity varied with the rank of his -employer and the extent of his jurisdiction. However there is so much -difficulty in making a clear distinction between Port and Wíc, that we -find wícgeréfa applied to officers who ruled in large and royal cities. -Thus the Saxon Chronicle mentions Beornwulf under the title of Wícgeréfa -in Winchester[457], whom Florence in the same year calls Praepositus -Wintoniensium. And in the laws of Hloðhere and Eádríc[458], the same -title is given to the king’s officer in London, Cyninges wícgeréfa. In -general I should be disposed to construe the word strictly as a -village-reeve, and especially in any case where the village was not -royal, but ducal or episcopal property. Many places may indeed have once -been called by the name of _Wíc_ which afterwards assumed a much more -dignified appellation, together with a much more important social -condition. - ------ - -Footnote 457: - - Chron. Sax. an. 897. - -Footnote 458: - - § 16. Thorpe, i. 34. - ------ - -TÚNGERÉFA.—The Túngeréfa is literally the reeve of a tún, enclosure, -farm, vill or manor: and his authority also must have fluctuated with -that of his lord. He is the _villicus_ or bailiff of the estate, and on -the royal farms was bound to superintend the cultivation, and keep the -peace among the cultivators. In London he appears to have been -subordinate to the portgeréfa, and was probably his officer[459]; it was -his business to see that the tolls were paid. Ælfred commands, in case a -man is committed to prison in the king’s tún, that the reeve shall feed -him, if necessary[460]. This I suppose to be the túngeréfa, the officer -on the spot who would be responsible for his security. So Eádgár forbids -his reeves to do any wrong to the other men of the tún, in respect to -the tracking of strange cattle[461]. Here the túngeréfa represents the -king, among the class that would in earlier times have formed a court of -free markmen. That the túngeréfa was the manager of a royal estate -appears plainly from an ordinance of Æðelstán, respecting the doles or -charities which were to issue from the various farms’ domain[462]. “I -Æðelstán, with the consent of Wulfhelm my archbishop, and all my other -bishops and God’s servants, command all you my reeves, within my realm, -for the forgiveness of my sins, that ye entirely feed one poor -Englishman, if ye have him, or that ye find another. From every two of -my farms, be there given him monthly one amber of meal, and one shank of -bacon, or a ram worth four pence, and clothing for twelve months every -year. And ye shall redeem one wíteþeów: and let all this be done for the -Lord’s mercy, and for my sake, under witness of the bishop in whose -diocese it may be. And if the reeve neglect this, let him make -compensation with thirty shillings, and let the money be distributed to -the poor in the tún where this remains unfulfilled, by witness of the -bishop.” - ------ - -Footnote 459: - - Æðelr. iv. § 3. - -Footnote 460: - - Ælfr. § 1. Thorpe, i. 61. - -Footnote 461: - - Eádg. Supp. § 13. Thorpe, i. 276. - -Footnote 462: - - Æðelst. i. § 1. Thorpe, i. 196. - ------ - -Lastly, in the law of Æðelred[463] I find the Tungravius, decimates -homines, and presbyter charged with the care of seeing certain alms -bestowed and fasts observed; which seems to denote a special authority -exercised by the Túngeréfa together with the heads of the tithings. The -geréfa in a royal vill may easily have been a person of consideration: -if the Æðelnóð who in 830 was reeve at Eastry in Kent[464], were such a -one, we find from his will that he had no mean amount of property to -dispose of. - ------ - -Footnote 463: - - Æðelr. viii. § 2. Thorpe, i. 338. - -Footnote 464: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 191. - ------ - -SWÁNGERÉFA.—The Swángeréfa, as his name denotes, was reeve of that -forest-court which till a late period was known in England as the -_swainmoot_. It was his business to superintend the swánas or swains, -the herdsmen and foresters, to watch over the rights of pasture, and -regulate the use which might be made of the forests. It is probably one -of the oldest constitutional offices, and may have existed by the same -name at a time when the organization in Marks was common all over -England. From a trial which took place in 825, we find that he had the -supervision of the pastures in the shirewood or public forest[465], and -from this also it appears that he was under the immediate -superintendence and control of the ealdorman. The extended organization -which the swána gemót attained under Cnut, may be seen in that prince’s -Constitutions de Foresta[466]. It is probable that there were -Holtgeréfan and Wudugeréfan, holtreeves and woodreeves among the Saxons, -having similar duties to those of the Swángeréfa, but I have not yet met -with these names. They are, I believe, by no means extinct in many parts -of England, any more than the Landreeve, a designation still current in -Devonshire, and probably elsewhere. - ------ - -Footnote 465: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 219. - -Footnote 466: - - Thorpe, i. 426. - ------ - -WEALHGERÉFA.—The last officer whom I shall treat of particularly is the -Wealhgeréfa or Welsh-reeve. This singular title occurs in an entry of -the Saxon Chronicle, _anno_ 897. “The same year died Wulfríc, the king’s -horse-thane, who was also Wealhgeréfa.” There can be no dispute as to -the meaning of the word, but the functions of the officer designated by -it are far from clear. It denotes a reeve who had the superintendence of -the Welsh; but the question where this superintendence was exercised is -a very important one. If in the king’s palace, Wulfríc was set over a -certain number of unfree Britons, _laeti_ or even serfs, as their judge -and regulator: or he may have had the superintendence of property -belonging to Ælfred in Wales, which is somewhat less probable: or lastly -he may have been a margrave, whose mission it was to watch the Welsh -border, and defend the Saxon frontier against sudden incursions. This I -think the least probable of all, inasmuch as I find no traces of -margraves (mearcgeréfan) in Anglosaxon history. On the contrary the -marches in this country seem to have been always committed to the care -of a duke or ealdorman, not a geréfa. Wulfríc’s rank however, which was -that of a mariscalcus or marshal, is not inconsistent with so great and -distant a command. On the whole therefore I am disposed to believe that -he was a royal reeve to whose care Ælfred’s Welsh serfs were committed, -and who exercised a superintendence over them in some one or in all of -the royal domains. - -The geréfa was not necessarily a royal officer: on the contrary we find -bishops, ealdormen, nay simple nobles with them upon their -establishment. Of course the moment an immunity of sacu and sócn existed -upon any estate, the lord appointed a geréfa to hold his court and do -right among his men, as the scírgeréfa held court for the freemen in the -shire. And if any proof of this were necessary, we might find it in the -title _socnereve_ (sócne geréfa) which occurs at page 12 of the valuable -book known as ‘Liber de antiquis Legibus,’ but which would have been -much more justly entitled Annals of the Corporation of London. We may be -assured that in every vill belonging to a bishop or a lay lord, in every -city where there was a cathedral or a castle, there was found a -bisceopes or an ealdormannes geréfa, as the case might be, performing -such functions for the prelate or the noble, as the king’s geréfa -exercised for him; and if there were an immunity, performing every -function that the royal officer performed. Thus in some towns I can -conceive it very possible that the king’s, ealdorman’s and bishop’s -reeves may have met side by side and exercised a concurrent -jurisdiction: and as the bishop’s geréfa must have led his armed -retainers, (at least whenever it pleased the prelate to remember the -canons of his church,) this officer may be compared to the Vogt, -Advocatus, Vice-dominus or Vidame, who fulfilled that duty on the -continent. The bishop’s reeve is empowered by the king to aid the -sheriff in the forcible levy of tithe[467]; he is recognised in the law -of Wihtrǽd as an intermediary between a dependent of the bishop and the -public courts of justice[468]; the thane’s or nobleman’s reeve was -allowed on various occasions to act as his attorney: the great landowner -was admonished to appoint reeves over his dependents, to preserve the -peace and represent them before the law; and lastly so necessary a part -of a nobleman’s establishment is the geréfa considered to be, that Ini -enacts[469], “whithersoever a noble journeys, thither may his reeve -accompany him.” Of course in many cases these geréfan would be merely -stewards[470], but in nearly all we must consider them to have been -judges in various courts of greater or less importance, public or -private as it might chance to be. This one original character -distinguishes all alike; whether it be the scírgeréfa of a county-court, -the burhgeréfa of a corporation, the swángeréfa of a woodland moot, the -mótgeréfa[471] of _any court_ in which plea could be holden, or the -túngeréfa of a vill or dependent settlement, the ancient steward of a -manorial court. - ------ - -Footnote 467: - - Æðelr. i. § 1. Cnut, ii. § 30. - -Footnote 468: - - Wihtr. § 22. Thorpe, i. 43. - -Footnote 469: - - Ini. §63. - -Footnote 470: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 931. - -Footnote 471: - - “Swá ðæt nán scírgeréfa oððe mótgeréfa hæbbe ǽnige sócne oððe mót, - búton ðæs abbudes ágen hǽse ⁊ unne.” Cod. Dipl. No. 841. The law of - Eadweard which commands the reeve to hold his court once a month, and - which can only apply to the hundred, makes it probable that as the - scírgeréfa was in some places called scírman, so the hundred-man may - in some places have been called hundred-geréfa: I have already alluded - to the geréfa in the Wapentake; and the law of Eadweard the Confessor - (§ 31) shows that in the counties where there were Triðingas or - Ridings, there existed also a Triðing-geréfa. - ------ - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - THE WITENA GEMÓT. - - -The conquest of the Roman provinces in Europe was accomplished by -successive bands of adventurers, ranged under the banners of various -leaders, whom ambition, restlessness or want of means had driven from -their homes. But the conquest once achieved, the strangers settled down -upon the territory they had won, and became the nucleus of nations: in -their new settlements they adopted the rules and forms of institutions -to which they had been accustomed in their ancient home, subject indeed -to such modifications as necessarily resulted from the mode of the -conquest, and their new position among vanquished populations, generally -superior to themselves in the arts of civilized life. If we carefully -examine the nature of these ventures, we shall I think come to the -conclusion that they were carried on upon what may be familiarly termed -the joint-stock principle. The owner of a ship, the supplier of the -weapons or food necessary to set the business on foot, is the great -capitalist of the company: the man of skill and judgment and experience -is listened to with respect and cheerfully obeyed: the strong arms and -unflinching courage of the multitude complete the work: and when the -prize is won, the profits are justly divided among the winners, -according to the value of each man’s contribution to the general -utility[472]. But in such voluntary associations as these, it is clear -that every man retains a certain amount of free will, that he has a -right to consult, discuss and advise, to assent to or dissent from the -measures proposed to be adopted: even the council of war of such a band -must differ very much from what in our day goes by that name; where a -few officers of high rank decide, and the mass of the army blindly -execute their plans. It cannot then surprise us that in such cases -everything should be done with the counsel, consent and leave of the -associated adventurers. The bands were then not too numerous for general -consultation: there was no fear lest treachery or weakness should betray -the plans to an enemy: the necessities of self-preservation guaranteed -the faith of every individual; for, camped among hostile and exasperated -populations, ignorant of their tongue, and remote from them in manners, -the German straggler, captive or deserter could look forward to nothing -save a violent death or a life of weary slavery. Mutual participation in -danger must have given rise to mutual trust. - ------ - -Footnote 472: - - This is not hypothetical or imaginary. The settlements in Iceland were - positively made upon this principle, and by it the subsequent - divisions of the land were regulated. - ------ - -Again the principle upon which the settlement of the land was effected, -was that of associations for common benefits, and a mutual guarantee of -peaceful possession[473]. Each man stood engaged to his neighbour, both -as to what he would himself avoid, and as to what he would maintain. The -public weal was the immediate interest of every individual member of the -state; it came home to him at every instant of his life, directly, -pressing him either in his property, his freedom or his peace, not -through a long and accidental chain of distant causes and results. -Moreover in an association based upon the individual freedom of the -associates, each man had a right to guard the integrity of the compact -to which he was himself a party; and not only a right, but a strong -interest in exercising it, for in proportion to the smallness of the -state, is the effect which the conduct of any single member may produce -upon its welfare. But wherever free men meet on equal terms of alliance, -the will of the majority is the law of the state. If the minority be -small it must submit, or suffer for rebellion: if large, and capable of -independent action and subsistence, it may peaceably separate from the -majority, renounce its intimate alliance, and emigrate to new -settlements, where it may at its own leisure, and in its own way, -develop its peculiar views of polity, leaving to fortune or to the gods -to decide the abstract question of right between itself and its -opponents. How then is the will of the majority to be ascertained? Where -the number of citizens is small, the question is readily answered: by -the decision of a public meeting at which all may be present. - ------ - -Footnote 473: - - The Acts, if we may so call them, of an Anglosaxon parliament, are a - series of _treaties of peace_, between all the associations which make - up the state; a continual revision and renewal of the alliances - offensive and defensive, of all the free men. They are universally - mutual contracts for the maintenance of the frið or peace. Those who - chose to do so, might withdraw from this contract, but they must take - the consequence. The witan had no money to vote, except in very rare - and extreme cases; consequently their business was confined to - regulating the terms on which the frið could be maintained. - ------ - -Now such public meetings or councils we find in existence among the -Germans from their very first appearance in history. The graphic pen of -Tacitus has left us a lively description of their nature and powers, and -in some degree their forms of business. He says[474],—“In matters of -minor import, the chiefs take counsel together; in weightier affairs, -the whole body of the state: but in such wise, that the chiefs have the -power of discussing and recommending even those measures, which the will -of the people ultimately decides. They meet, except some sudden and -fortuitous event occur, on fixed days, either at new or full moon.... -This inconvenience arises from their liberty, that they do not assemble -at once, or at the time for which they are summoned, but a second or -even a third day is wasted by the delay of those who are to meet. They -sit down, in arms, just as it suits the convenience of the crowd. -Silence is enjoined by the priests, who, on these occasions, have even -the power of coercion. Then the king, or the prince, or any one, whom -his age, nobility, his honours won in war or his eloquence may authorise -to speak, is listened to, more through the influence of persuasion than -the power of command. If his opinion do not please them, they reject it -with murmurs: if it do, they dash their lances together. The most -honourable form of assent is adoption by clashing of arms. It is lawful -also to bring accusations, and prosecute capitally before the council. -The punishment varies with the crime. Traitors and deserters they hang -on trees; cowards, the unwarlike, and infamous of body they bury alive -in mud and marsh, with a hurdle cast over them: the difference of the -penalty has this intention as it were, that crimes should be made -public, but infamous vices hidden, while being punished.... In the same -councils also, princes are elected, to give law in the shires and -villages. Each has a hundred comrades from among the people, both to -advise him and add to his authority. They transact no business either of -a public or private nature, without their weapons. But it is not the -custom for any one to begin wearing them, before the state has approved -of him as likely to be an efficient citizen. Then, in the public meeting -itself, either one of the chiefs, or his father or a kinsman, decorates -the youth with a shield and javelin. This is their _Toga_; this is the -first dignity of their youth: before this they appear part of a -household,—after it, of a state.” - ------ - -Footnote 474: - - Germ. xi. xii. xiii. - ------ - -Such then was the nature of a Teutonic parliament as Tacitus had learnt -that it existed in his time; nor is there the least doubt that he has -described it most truly. And such were all the popular meetings of later -periods, whether shiremoots, markmoots, or the great _placita_ of -kingdoms, folkmoots in the most extended sense of the term. Such, at -least in theory, and to a great extent in practice, were the meetings of -the Franks under the Merwingian kings, and even under the Carolings. It -will not be uninteresting or without advantage to compare with this -account the description which Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, gives of -the institution as recognised and organized by Charlemagne, a prince by -nature not over well disposed to popular freedom, and by circumstances -placed in a situation to be very dangerous to it[475]. - ------ - -Footnote 475: - - What follows is abstracted from Hincmar, Epistola de ordine Palatii, - as cited and commented upon by Dönniges, p. 74, etc. - ------ - -Charlemagne held Reichstage or Parliaments twice a year, in May and -again in the autumn, for the general arrangement of the public business. -The earlier of these was attended by the principal officers of state, -the ministers as we should call them, both lay and clerical, the -administrators of the public affairs in the provinces, and other persons -engaged in the business of government. These, who are comprehended under -the titles of Maiores, Seniores, Optimates, may possibly have had the -real conduct of the deliberations; but there is no doubt that the -freemen were also present, first because the general armed muster or -Hereban took place at the same time,—the well-known Campus Madius or -Champ de Mai,—and partly because we know that all new capitularies added -to the existing law were subjected to their approval[476]. We may -therefore conclude that they were still possessed of a share in the -business of legislation, although it may have only amounted to a right -of accepting or rejecting the propositions of others. The king had his -particular curia, court or council, the members of which were chosen -(“eligebantur”), though how or by whom we know not, from the laity and -the clergy: probably both the king and the people had their share in the -election. The Seniores, according to Hincmar, were called “propter -consilium ordinandum,” to lead the business; the Minores, “propter idem -consilium suscipiendum,” to accept the same; but also “interdum pariter -tractandum,” sometimes to take a part also in the discussions, “and to -confirm them, not indeed by any inherent power of their own, but by the -moral influence of their judgment and opinion.” - ------ - -Footnote 476: - - “Ut populus interrogetur de capitulis quae in lege noviter addita - sunt. Et postquam omnes consenserint, subscriptiones suas in ipsis - capitulis faciant.” Pertz, iii. 115, § 19. - ------ - -The second great meeting comprised only the seniores and the king’s -immediate councillors[477]. It appears to have been concerned with -questions of revenue as well as general policy. But its main object was -to prepare the business and anticipate the necessities of the coming -year. It was a deliberative assembly[478] in which questions afterwards -to be submitted to the general meeting were discussed and agreed upon. -The members of this council were bound to secrecy. When the public -business had been concluded, they formed a court of justice and of -appeal, for the settlement of litigation in cases which transcended the -powers or skill of the ordinary tribunals[479]. - ------ - -Footnote 477: - - Hincmar, c. 30. - -Footnote 478: - - These persons were in the strictest sense of the word προβούλοι, and - their acts προβουλεύματα. No doubt their body comprised the principal - officers engaged in the administration of the State. - -Footnote 479: - - Hincmar, c. 33. - ------ - -The general councils were held, in fine weather, in the open air, or, if -occasion required, in houses devoted to the purpose. The ecclesiastics -and the magnates, for so we may call them, sat apart from the multitude; -but even they had separate chambers, in which the clergy could -deliberate upon matters purely ecclesiastical, the magnates upon matters -purely civil: but when the object of their enquiry was of a mixed -character, they were called together[480]. Before these chambers the -questions were brought which had been prepared at the preceding meeting, -or arose from altered circumstances: the opinion of the members was -taken upon them, and when agreed to they were presented to the king, who -agreed or disagreed in turn, as the case might be. While the new laws or -administrative regulations were under discussion, the king, unless -especially invited to be present at the deliberations, occupied himself -in mixing with the remaining multitude, receiving their presents, -welcoming their leaders, conversing with the new comers, sympathizing -with the old, congratulating the young, and in similar employments, both -in spirituals and temporals, says Hincmar[481]. When the prepared -business had been disposed of, the king propounded detailed -interrogatories to the chambers, respecting the state of the country in -the different districts, or what was known of the intentions and actions -of neighbouring countries; and these having been answered or reserved -for consideration, the assembly broke up. When any new chapters, hence -called Capitula, had been added to the ancient law or folkright, special -messengers (_missi_) were dispatched into the provinces to obtain the -assent and signatures of the free men, and the chapters thus ratified -became thenceforth the law of the land. Is it unreasonable to suppose -that the proposals of the princes were also presented to the assembled -freemen, the _reliqua multitudo_, in arms upon the spot, and that in the -old German fashion they carried them by acclamation? - ------ - -Footnote 480: - - “Sed nec illud praetermittendum, quomodo, si tempus serenum erat, - extra, sin autem intra, diversa loca distincta erant; ubi et hi - abundanter segregati semotim, et caetera multitudo separatim residere - potuissent, prius tamen caeterae inferiores personae interesse minime - potuissent. Quae utraque seniorum susceptacula sic in duobus divisa - erant, ut primo omnes episcopi, abbates, vel huiusmodi - honorificentiores clerici, absque ulla laicorum commixtione - congregarentur; similiter comites vel huiusmodi principes sibimet - honorificabiliter a caetera multitudine primo mane segregarentur, - quousque tempus, sive praesente sive absente rege, occurrerent. Et - tunc praedicti Seniores more solito, clerici ad suam, laici vero ad - suam constitutam curiam, subselliis similiter honorificabiliter - praeparatis, convocarentur. Qui cum separati a caeteris essent, in - eorum manebat potestate, quando simul, vel quando separati residerent, - prout eos tractandae causae qualitas docebat, sive de spiritalibus, - sive de saecularibus, seu etiam commixtis. Similiter, si propter - aliquam vescendi [? noscendi] vel investigandi causam quemcunque - vocare voluissent, et [? an] re comperta discederet, in eorum - voluntate manebat.” Hincmar, c. 35. - -Footnote 481: - - “Interim vero, quo haec in regis absentia agebantur, ipse princeps - reliquae multitudini in suscipiendis muneribus, salutandis proceribus, - confabulando rarius visis, compatiendo senioribus, congaudendo - iunioribus, et caetera his similia tam in spiritalibus, quamque et in - saecularibus occupatus erat. Ita tamen, quotienscunque segregatorum - voluntas esset, ad eos veniret,” etc. Hincmar, c. 35. - ------ - -While the district whose members attend the folkmoot is still small, -there is no great inconvenience in this method of proceeding. In the -empire of Charlemagne attendance upon the Campus Madius, whether as -soldier or councillor must have been a heavy burthen. Nor can we -conceive it to have been otherwise here, as soon as counties became -consolidated into kingdoms, and kingdoms into an empire. In a country -overrun with forests, intersected with deep streams or extensive -marshes, and but ill provided with the means of internal communication, -suit and service even at the county-court must have been a hardship to -the cultivator; a duty performed not without danger, and often -vexatiously interfering with agricultural processes on which the hopes -of the year might depend. Much more keenly would this have been felt had -every freeman been called upon to attend beyond the limits of his own -shire, in places distant from, and totally unknown to him: how for -example would a cultivator from Essex have been likely to look upon a -journey into Gloucestershire[482] at the severe season of -Christmas[483], or the, to him, important farming period of Easter? What -moreover could he care for general laws affecting many districts beside -the one in which he lived, or for regulations applying to fractions of -society in which he had no interest? for the Saxon cultivator was not -then a politician; nor were general rules which embraced a whole kingdom -of the same moment to him, as those which might concern the little -locality in which his alod lay. Or what benefit could be expected from -his attendance at deliberations which concerned parts of the country -with whose mode of life and necessities he was totally unacquainted? -Lastly, what evil must not have resulted to the republic by the -withdrawal of whole populations from their usual places of employment, -and the congregating them in a distant and unknown locality? If we -consider these facts, we shall find little difficulty in imagining that -any scheme which relieved him from this burthen and threw it upon -stronger shoulders, would be a welcome one, and the foundation of a -representative system seems laid _à priori_, and in the nature of things -itself. To the rich and powerful neighbour whose absence from his farms -was immaterial, while his bailiffs remained on the spot to superintend -their cultivation; to the scírgeréfa, the ealdorman, the royal reeve, or -royal thane, familiar with the public business, and having influence and -interest with the king; to the bishop or abbot, distinguished for his -wisdom as well as his station; to any or all of these he would be ready -to commit the defence of his small, private interests, satisfied to be -virtually represented if he were not compelled to leave the business and -the enjoyments of his daily life[484]. - -Footnote 482: - - Easter and Christmas were usual times for the meetings of the Witan, - and during the Mercian period, Cloveshoo was frequently the place - where they assembled. Doubts have been lavished, upon the situation of - this place, which I do not share. In 804 Æðelríc the son of Æðelmund - was impleaded respecting lands in Gloucestershire, and stood to right - at Cloveshoo. Now it is clear that trial to those lands could properly - be made only in the hundred or shire where they lay; and as the - brotherhood of Berkeley were claimants, and the whole business - appertained to _Westminster_, I am disposed to seek Cloveshoo - somewhere in the hundred of that name in the county of Gloucester, and - therefore not far from Deerhurst, Tewksbury and Bishop’s Cleeve; not - at all improbably in Tewksbury itself, which may have been called - Clofeshoas, before the erection of a noble abbey at a later period - gave it the name it now bears. Cod. Dipl. No. 186. - -Footnote 483: - - These were usual periods for holding the gemót. “Actum Wintoniae in - publica curia Natalis Christi, in die festivitatis sancti Sylvestri,” - etc. Cod. Dipl. No. 815. The old folcmót probably met three times in - the year at the unbidden Ðing or _placitum_: so did the followers of - the first Norman kings at least, and it is remarkable enough that the - barons at Oxford should have returned to this arrangement, 42 Hen. - III. anno 1258. “Fait a remembrer qe lez xxiiii ount ordeignez qe - trois parlementz seront par an, le primere az octaues de seint Michel, - le seconde lendimayn de le chaundelour, le tierce le primer iour de - Juyn ceste asauoir trois semayns deuant le seint Johan; et a ces troiz - parlementz vendront lez conseillours le roi eluz tut ne seyent il pas - mandez pur vere lestat du roialme, et pur treter les communes - busoignes du reaume et del roi ensement et autrefoitz ensembleront - quant mester sera par maundement le roi.” Prov. Oxon., Brit. Mus., - Cotton MS., Tiberius B. iv. folio 213. According to the later custom - Parliaments were to be, at least, annual, and were frequently admitted - so to be by law, until the Tudor times. See 5 Ed. II. an. 1311. “Nous - ordenoms qe le Roy tiegne Parlement vne foiz par an ou deux fois se - mestre soit, et ceo en lieu convenable,” etc.: which ordinance of the - Lords was passed into an act of Parliament 4 Ed. III. cap. 14. Some - years later the Commons petitioned the same king, that for redress of - grievances and other important causes, “soit Parlement tenuz au meinz - chescun an en la seson que plerra au Roy.” Rot. Parl. 36 Ed. III. n. - 25. To which the king answered that the ancient statute thereupon - should be held. This petition the Commons found it necessary to repeat - fourteen years later, “qe chescun an soit tenuz un Parlement,” etc.: - to which the answer was, “Endroit du Parlement chescun an, il y aent - estatuz et ordenances faitz les queux soient duement gardez et tenuz.” - Rot. Parl. 50 Ed. III. n. 186: and the same thing took place at the - accession of Richard the Second. Rot. Parl. 1 Ric. II. n. 95. 2 Ric. - II. n. 2. Triennial parliaments were, I believe, first agreed to by - Charles the First. - -Footnote 484: - - The establishment of the Scabini or Schöffen in the Frankish empire - was intended to relieve the freemen from the inconvenience of - attending gemóts, which the counts converted into an engine of - extortion and oppression. - ------ - -On the other hand, to whom could the king look with greater security, -than to the men whose sympathies were all those of the ruling caste; -many of whom were his own kinsmen by blood or marriage, more of whom -were his own officers; men, too, accustomed to business, and practically -acquainted with the wants of their several localities? Or how, when the -customs and condition of widely different social aggregations were to be -considered and reconciled, could he do better than advise with those who -were most able to point out and meet the difficulties of the task? Thus, -it appears to me, by a natural process did the folkmót or meeting of the -nation become converted into a witena gemót or meeting of councillors. -Nor let it be imagined by this that I mean the king’s councillors only: -by no means; they were the witan or councillors of the nation, members -of the great council or inquest, who sought what was for the general -good, certainly not men who accidentally formed part of what we in later -days call the king’s council, and who might have been more or less the -creatures of his will: they were leódwitan, þeódwitan, general, popular, -universal councillors: only when they chanced to be met for the purpose -of advising him could they bear the title of the cyninges þeahteras or -cyninges witan. Then no doubt the Leódwitan became ðæs cyninges witan -(_the_ king’s, not king’s, councillors) because without their assistance -he could not have enacted, nor without their assistance executed, his -laws. Let it be borne in mind throughout that the king was only the head -of an aristocracy which acted with him, and by whose support he reigned; -that this aristocracy again was only a higher order of the freemen, to -whose class it belonged, and with many of whose interests it was -identified; that the clergy, learned, active and powerful, were there to -mediate between the rulers and the ruled; and I think we shall conclude -that the system which I have faintly sketched was not incapable of -securing to a great degree the well-being of a state in such an early -stage of development as the Saxon Commonwealth. At what exact period the -change I have attempted to describe was effected, is neither very easy -to determine nor very material. It was probably very gradual, and very -partial; indeed it may never have been formally recognised, for here and -there we find evident traces of the people’s being present at, and -ratifying the decisions of the witan. Much more important is it to -consider certain details respecting the composition, powers and -functions of the witena gemót as we find it in periods of ascertained -history. The documents contained in the Codex Diplomaticus Ævi Saxonici -enable us to do this in some degree. In that collection there are -several grants which are distinctly stated to have been made in such -meetings of the witan, by and with their consent, and the signatures to -which may be assumed to be those of members present on the occasion. -Among these we find the king, frequently the æðelings or princes of the -blood, generally the archbishops and all or some of the bishops and -abbots; all or some of the dukes or ealdormen; sometimes priests and -deacons; and generally a large attendance of milites, ministri or -thanes, many of whom must unhesitatingly be asserted to be royal -officers, geréfan and the like, in the shires[485]. From one document it -is evident that the sheriffs of all the counties were present[486]: and -in a few cases we meet with names accompanied by no special designation. -Now it appears that a body so constituted would have been very competent -to advise for the general good; and I do not scruple to express my -opinion that under such a system the interests of the country were very -fairly represented; especially as there were then no parliamentary -struggles to make the duration of ministries dependent upon the counting -up of single votes; and contests for the representation of counties or -boroughs would have been as much without an object in those days, as -they are important in our own; above all, since there was then no -systematic voting of money for the public service. - ------ - -Footnote 485: - - It has always been a question of deep interest in this country, what - persons were entitled to attend the Gemót: and in truth very important - constitutional doctrines depend upon the answer we give to it. The - very first and most essential condition of truth appears to me, that - we firmly close our eyes to everything derived from the custom of - Parliaments, under the Norman, the Angevine or the English kings: the - practice of a nation governed by the principles of Feudal law, is - totally irreconcileable with the old system of personal relations - which existed under the earlier Teutonic law. The next most important - thing is, that we use no words but such as the Saxons themselves used: - the moment we begin to talk of Tenants in capite, Vavassors, Vassals, - and so forth, we introduce terms which may involve a _petitio - principii_, and must lead to associations of ideas tending to an - erroneous conclusion. One of these fallacies appears to me to lie in - the assertion that a landed qualification was required for a member of - the Witena gemót. One of the most brilliant, if not the most accurate, - commentators on our constitutional history, Sir F. Palgrave, has - raised this question. According to his view no one could be a member - of that singular body which he supposes the Anglosaxon Parliament to - have been, unless he had forty híds of land, four thousand acres at - least according to the popular doctrine. But this whole supposition - rests upon a series of fine-drawn conclusions, in my opinion, without - sound foundation, and totally inconsistent with every feeling and - habit of Saxon society. The monkish writer of the history of Ely—a - very late and generally ill-informed authority—says that a lady would - not marry some suitor of hers, because not having forty híds he could - not be counted among the Proceres; and this is the whole basis of this - parliamentary theory,—_proceres_ being assumed, without the slightest - reason, to mean members of the witena gemót,—and the witena gemót to - be some royal council, some Curia Regis, and not at all the kind of - body described in this chapter. I confess I cannot realize to myself - the notion of an Anglosaxon woman nourishing the ambition of seeing - her husband a member of Parliament. The passage no doubt implies that - a certain amount of land was necessary to entitle a man to be classed - in a certain high rank in society: and this becomes probable enough as - we find a landed qualification partially insisted on with regard to - the ceorl who aspired to be ranked as a thane. But this is a negative - condition altogether: it is intended to repress the pretensions of - those who, in spite of their ceorlish birth, assumed the weapons and - would, if possible, have assumed the rights of thanes. In the Saxon - custumal, called “Ranks,” it is said:—“And if a thane throve so that - he became an eorl, he was thenceforth worthy of eorl-right.” Thorpe, - i. 192. On this the learned editor of the Ancient Laws and Institutes - observes:—“It is to this law that the historian of Ely seems to allude - in the following passage, and not to any qualification for a seat in - the witena gemót, as has been so frequently asserted. ‘Habuit (sc. - Wulfricus abbas) enim fratrem Gudmundum vocabulo, cui filiam - praepotentis viri in matrimonium coniungi paraverat, sed quoniam ille - quadraginta hidarum terrae dominium minime obtineret, licet nobilis - esset [that is, a thane] inter proceres tunc nominari non potuit, eum - puella repudiavit.’ Gale, ii. c. 40. If we refer to the Dooms of Cnut, - c. 69, we shall see that the heriots of an eorl and of a lesser thane - were in the proportion of from one to eight,—a rule which may have - been supposed to have arisen from a somewhat similar relation between - the quantities of their respective estates; and as the possession of - five hides conferred upon a ceorl the rights of a thane, the - possession of forty (5 × 8) in all probability raised a thane to the - dignity of an eorl.” This opinion is only a confirmation of that which - I had myself formed on similar grounds long before Mr. Thorpe’s work - was published: and it was apparently so understood by Phillips before - either of us wrote. See Angels. Recht. p. 114, note 317, Göttingen, - 1825. - -Footnote 486: - - Leg. Æðelst. v. § 10. - ------ - -Among the charters from which we derive our information as to the -constituent members of the gemót, one or two appear to be signed by the -queen and other ladies, always I believe, ecclesiastics of rank and -wealth. I do not however, on this account, argue that such women formed -parts of the regular body. In many cases it is clear that when a grant -had been made by the king and his witan, the document was drawn up, and -offered for attestation to the principal persons present or easily -accessible. When the queen had accompanied her consort to the place -where the gemót was held, or when, as was usual, the gemót attended the -king at one of his own residences to assist in the hospitalities of -Christmas and Easter, it was natural that the first lady of the land -should be asked to witness grants of land, and other favours conferred -upon individuals: it was a compliment to herself, not less than to him -whom she honoured with her signature. But I know no instance where the -record of any solemn public business is so corroborated; nor does it -follow that the document which was drawn up in accordance with the -resolution of a gemót should necessarily be signed in the gemót itself. -It may have been executed subsequently at the king’s festal board, and -in presence of the members of his court and household. The case of -abbesses, if not disposed of by the arguments just advanced, must be -understood of gemóts in which the interests of the monastic bodies were -concerned. Here it is possible that ladies of high rank at the head of -nunneries may have attended to watch the proceedings of the synod and -attest its acts. Again, where the gemót acted as a high court of -justice, which often was the case, a lady who had been party to a cause -might naturally be called upon to sign the record of the judgment. The -instances however in which the signatures of women occur are very rare. - -Although the members of the gemót are called in Saxon generally by the -name of _witan_[487], they are decorated with very various titles in the -Latin documents. Among these the most common are Maiores natu, -Sapientes, Principes, Senatores, Primates, Optimates, Magnates, and in -three or four charters they are designated Procuratores patriae[488], -which last title however seems confined to the thanes, geréfan or other -members below the rank of an ealdorman. In the prologue to the laws of -Wihtrǽd they are called ða eádigan, for which I know no better -translation than the Spanish _Ricos hombres_, where the wealth of the -parties is certainly not the leading idea. But whatever be their titles -they are unquestionably looked upon as representing the whole body of -the people, and consequently the national will: and indeed in one -charter of Æðelstán, an. 931, the act is said to have been confirmed -“tota plebis generalitate ovante,” with the approbation of all the -people[489]; and the act of a similar meeting at Winchester in 934, -which was attended by the king, four Welsh princes, two archbishops, -seventeen bishops, four abbots, twelve dukes, and fifty-two thanes, -making a total of ninety-two persons, is described to have been executed -“tota populi generalitate[490].” On one occasion a gemót is mentioned of -which the members are called the king’s heáhwitan, or high -councillors[491]: it is impossible to say whether this is intended to -mark a difference in their rank. If it were, it might be referred to the -analogy of the autumnal meetings in Charlemagne’s constitution, but -nothing has yet been met with to confirm this hypothesis, which, in -itself, is not very probable. - ------ - -Footnote 487: - - I write _wita_ not _wíta_. The vowel is short, and the noun is formed - either upon the plural participle of _wítan_ to know, or upon a noun - _wit_, _intellectus_, previously so formed. The quantity of the vowel - is ascertained by the not uncommon spelling weota, where eo = ĭ (see - Cod. Dipl. No. 1073), and the occurrence in composition of the form - _uta_, which is consonant to the analogy of wudu, wuduwe, wuce for - wĭdu, wĭduwe, wĭce, but excludes the possibility of a long í. - -Footnote 488: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 361, 1102, 1105, 1107, 1108. - -Footnote 489: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1103. - -Footnote 490: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 364. - -Footnote 491: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1009. - ------ - -The largest amount of signatures which I have yet observed is 106, but -numbers varying from 90 to 100 are not uncommon, especially after the -consolidation of the monarchy[492]. In earlier times, and smaller -kingdoms, the numbers must have been much less: the gemót which decided -upon the reception of Christianity in Northumberland was held in a -room[493], and Dunstan met the witan of England in the upper floor of a -house at Calne[494]. Other meetings, which were rather in the nature of -conventions, and were held in the presence of armies, may have been much -more numerous and tumultuary,—much more like the ancient armed folkmoot -or the famous day which put an end to the Merwingian dynasty among the -Franks[495]. - ------ - -Footnote 492: - - See Cod. Dipl. Nos. 353, 364, 1107. There is one document signed by - 121 persons (Cod. Dipl. Nos. 219, 220), but I have some doubt whether - all the signitaries were members of the gemót. - -Footnote 493: - - Beda, H. E. ii. 13. - -Footnote 494: - - Chron. Sax. an. 978. - -Footnote 495: - - Such perhaps was the gemót which after Eádmund írensída’s death - elected Cnut sole king of England, or that in which Earl Godwine and - his family were outlawed. - ------ - -That the members of the witena gemót were not elected, in any sense -which we now attach to the word, I hold to be indisputable: elective -witan ceased together with elective scírgeréfan or ealdormen[496]. But -in a system so elastic as the Saxon, it is conceivable that an -ealdorman, bishop or other great wita may have occasionally carried with -him to the gemót some friend or dependent whose wisdom he thought might -aid in the discussions, or whom the opinion of the neighbourhood -designated as a person well calculated to advise for the general good,—a -slight trace, but still a trace, of the ancient popular right to be -present at the settlement of public business. To this I attribute the -frequent appearance of priests and deacons, who probably attended in the -suite of prelates, and would be useful assessors when clerical business -was brought before the council. Generally, I imagine, the witan after -having once been called by writ or summons, met like our own peers, as a -matter of course, whenever a parliament was proclaimed; and that they -were summoned by the king, either _pro hac vice_, or generally, can be -clearly shown. Æðelstán, speaking of the gemóts at Greatanleá, Exeter, -Feversham and Thundersfield, says that the consultations were made, -before the archbishop, the bishops, and the witan present, _whom the -king himself had named_: “Swá Æðelstán cyng hit gerǽed hæfð, ⁊ his -witan, ǽrest æt Greátanleá, ⁊ eft æt Exanceastre, ⁊ syððám æt Fæfreshám, -⁊ feorðan síðe æt Ðunresfelda, beforan ðám arcebiscope, ⁊ eallum ðám -bisceopan, ⁊ his witum, ðe se cyng silf namode, ðe ðǽron wǽron[497].” -How these appointments took place is not very material, but as the witan -were collected from various parts of England, it is not unreasonable to -suppose that it was by the easy means of a writ and token, _gewrit and -insigel_. The meeting was proclaimed some time in advance, at some one -of the royal residences[498]. - ------ - -Footnote 496: - - This is not altogether devoid of strangeness, because we know that - among the Oldsaxons of the continent there was a regulated system of - elective representatives, including even those of the servile class. - Hucbald, in his life of Lebuuini, tells us: “In Saxonum gente priscis - temporibus neque summi coelestisque regis inerat notitia, ut digna - cultui eius exhiberetur reverentia, neque terreni alicuius regis - dignitas et honorificentia, cuius regeretur providentia, corrigeretur - censura, defenderetur industria: sed erat gens ipsa, sicuti nunc usque - consistit, ordine tripartito divisa. Sunt denique ibi, qui illorum - lingua _edilingi_, sunt qui _frilingi_, sunt qui _lassi_ dicuntur, - quod in latina sonat lingua, nobiles, ingenuiles atque serviles. Pro - suo vero libitu, consilio quoque, ut videbatur, prudenti, singulis - pagis principes praeerant singuli. Statuto quoque tempore anni semel - ex singulis pagis, atque ab eisdem ordinibus tripartitis, singillatim - viri duodecim electi, et in unum collecti, in media Saxonia secus - flumen Wiseram et locum Marklo nuncupatum, exercebant generale - concilium, tractantes, sancientes et propalantes communis commoda - utilitatis, iuxta placitum a se statutae legis. Sed etsi forte belli - terreret exitium, si pacis arrideret gaudium, consulebant ad haec quid - sibi foret agendum.” Pertz, Monum. ii. 361, 362. - -Footnote 497: - - Æðelst. v. § 10. Thorpe, i. 240. - -Footnote 498: - - “Ðonne beád mon ealle witan tó cynge, and man sceólde ðonne rǽdan, hú - man ðisne eard werian sceólde.” Chron. an. 1010. _Beódan_ is to - _proclaim_. - - See also Chron. Sax. 1048. Hist. Eliens. 1, 10, etc. - ------ - -The proper Saxon name for these assemblies was witena gemót[499], -literally the meeting of the witan; but we also find, micel gemót, the -great meeting; sinoðlíc gemót, the synodal meeting; seonoð, the synod. -The Latin names are concilium, conventus, synodus, synodale -conciliabulum, and the like. Although synodus and seonoð might more -properly be confined to ecclesiastical conventions, the Saxons do not -appear to have made any distinction; probably because ecclesiastical and -secular regulations were made by the same body, and at the same time. -But it is very probable that the Frankish system of separate houses for -the clergy and laity prevailed here also, and that merely ecclesiastical -affairs were decided by the king and clergy alone. There are some acts -in which the signatures are those of clergymen only, others in which the -clerical signatures are followed and, as it were, confirmed by those of -the laity; and in one remarkable case of this kind, the king signs at -the head of each list, as if he had in fact affixed his mark -successively in the two houses, as president of each[500]. - -Footnote 499: - - “And se cyng hæfde ðǽr on morgen witena gemót, ⁊ cwæð hine útlage.” - Chron. Sax. an. 1052. “And wæs ðá witena gemót.” Ib. an. 1052. “Ða - hæfde Eádwerd cyning witena gemót on Lundene.” Ib. an. 1050. - -Footnote 500: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 116. It is probable that even in strictly - ecclesiastical synods, the king had a presidency at least, as head of - the church in his dominions. In Willibald’s life of Boniface we are - told:—“Regnante Ini, Westsaxonum rege, subitanea quaedam incubuerat, - nova quadam seditione exorta, necessitas, et statim synodale a - primatibus aecclesiarum cum consilio praedicti regis servorum Dei - factum est concilium; moxque omnibus in unum convenientibus, - saluberrima de hac recenti dissentione consilii quaestio inter - sacerdotales aecclesiastici ordinis gradus sapienter exoritur, et - prudentiori inito consultu, fideles in Domino legatos ad - archiepiscopum Cantuariae civitatis, nomine Berchtwaldum, destinandos - deputarunt, ne eorum praesumptione aut temeritati adscriberetur, si - quid sine tanti pontificis agerent consilio. Cumque omnis senatus et - universus clericorum ordo, tam providenti peracta conlatione, - consentirent, confestim rex cunctos Christi famulos adlocutus est, ut - cui huius praefatae legationis nuntium inponerent, sciscitarent,” etc. - Pertz, ii. 338. - -A more important question for us is, what were the powers of the witena -gemót? It must be answered by examples in detail. - -1. _First, and in general, they possessed a consultative voice, and -right to consider every public act, which could be authorised by the -king._ This has been attempted to be denied, but without sufficient -reason. Runde, who is one of the upholders of the erroneous doctrine on -this subject, appeals to the introduction of Christianity into Kent, -which he perhaps justly declares to have been made without the assent of -the witan[501]. But it does not at all follow that the first reception -of Augustine by Æðelberht is to be considered a public act, or that it -had any immediate consequences for the public law. Nor is it certain -that at a later period, a meeting of the witan may not have ratified the -private proceeding of the king. Æðelberht, who had some experience of -Christianity from the doctrine and practice of his Frankish consort -Beorhte, may have chosen to trust to the silent, gradual working of the -missionaries, without courting the opposition of a heathen witena gemót, -till assured of success: his court were already accustomed to the sight -of a Christian bishop and clergy in Beorhte’s suite, and Augustine with -his company might easily pass for a mere addition to that department of -the royal household. Indeed Augustine himself does not appear to have -been at all ambitious of martyrdom, and probably preferred trying the -chances of a gradual progress to a stormy and perhaps fatal collision -with a body of barbarians, led by a pagan and rival priesthood. The -words of Beda therefore can prove nothing in the matter, except indeed -what is most important for us, viz. that Æðelberht at first refused to -interfere as king, that is, would not make a public question of -Augustine’s mission[502]. But Runde seems to have forgotten that -Æðelberht’s laws, which must be dated between 596 and 605, do most -emphatically recognise Christianity and the Christian priesthood; and as -Beda declares him to have enacted these laws “cum consilio -sapientum[503],” we shall hardly be saying too much if we affirm that -the introduction of Christianity was at least ratified by a solemn act -of the witan. Runde’s further remarks upon the conversion of -Northumberland seem to prove that he really never read through the -passages he himself cites, so completely do they refute his own -arguments[504]. - ------ - -Footnote 501: - - Runde, Abhandlung vom Ursprung der Reichsstandschaft der Bischöfe und - Aebte. Gött. 1775, p. 35, etc. - -Footnote 502: - - Hist. Eccl. i. 26. - -Footnote 503: - - Ibid. ii. 5. - -Footnote 504: - - See Phillips, Geschichte des Angelsächsischen Rechts. Gött. 1825, p. - 71. - ------ - -2. _The witan deliberated upon the making of new laws which were to be -added to the existing folcriht[505], and which were then promulgated by -their own and the king’s authority[506]._ Beda, in a passage just cited, -says of Æðelberht:—“Amongst other benefits which consulting, he bestowed -upon his nation, he gave her also, with the advice of his witan, decrees -of judgments, after the example of the Romans: which, written in the -English tongue, are yet possessed and observed by her[507].” And these -laws were enacted by their authority, jointly with the king’s. The -Prologue to the law of Wihtrǽd declares:—“These are the dooms of -Wihtrǽd, king of the men of Kent. In the reign of the most clement king -of the men of Kent, Wihtrǽd, in the fifth year of his reign, the ninth -indiction[508]. the sixth day of the month Rugern, in the place which is -called Berghamstead[509], where was assembled a deliberative convention -of the great men[510]; there was Brihtwald the high-bishop[511] of -Britain, and the aforenamed king; also the bishop of Rochester; the same -was called Gybmund, he was present; and every degree of the church in -that tribe, spake in unison with the obedient people[512]. There the -great men decreed, with the suffrages of all, these dooms, and added -them to the lawful customs of the men of Kent, as hereafter is said and -declared[513].” - -Footnote 505: - - Hloðhære and Eádríc, kings of the men of Kent, _augmented_ the laws - which their forefathers had made before them, by these dooms. Prol. to - Leg. Hloð. et Ead. Thorpe, i. 26. See also the Prologue to Wihtrǽd’s - laws in the text. - -Footnote 506: - - This is the case throughout the Teutonic legislation, where there is a - king at all. “Theodoricus rex Francorum, cum esset Cathalaunis, elegit - viros sapientes, qui in regno suo legibus antiquis eruditi erant: ipso - autem dictante, iussit conscribere legem Francorum, Alemannorum et - Baiuvariorum,” etc. Eichhorn, i. 273. “Incipit Lex Alamannorum, quae - temporibus Hlodharii regis (an. 613-628) una cum principibus suis, id - sunt xxxiii episcopis, et xxxiv ducibus, et lxii comitibus, vel - caetero populo constituta est.” Eichhorn, i. 274, note a. “In Christi - nomine, incipit Lex Alamannorum, qui temporibus Lanfrido filio - Godofrido renovata est. Convenit enim maioribus natu populo - allamannorum una cum duci eorum lanfrido vel citerorum populo adunato - ut si quilibet,” etc. About beginning of eighth century. Eichhorn. i. - 274, note c. The Breviarium of Alaric the Visigoth (an. 506) was - compiled by Roman jurists, but submitted to an assembly of prelates - and noble laymen. In the authoritative rescript which accompanies this - work, it is said the object was, “Ut omnis legum Romanarum, et antiqui - iuris obscuritas, adhibitis sacerdotibus ac nobilibus viris, in lucem - intelligentiae melioris deducta resplendeat.... Quibus omnibus - enucleatis atque in unum librum prudentium electione collectis, haec - quae excerpta sunt, vel clariori interpretatione composita, - venerabilium Episcoporum, vel electorum provincialium nostrorum - roboravit adsensus.” Eichhorn, i. 280, note bb. Gundobald the - Burgundian, whose laws must have been promulgated before 515, says - that he was aided by the advice of his optimates. Again he says, - “Primum habito consilio comitum, procerumque nostrorum,” etc. - Eichhorn, i. 265, note c. - -Footnote 507: - - Hist. Eccl. ii. 5. He cites a passage which identifies these dooms - with those which yet go under Æðelberht’s name. - -Footnote 508: - - A.D. 696. The month is unknown, but probably in autumn. - -Footnote 509: - - Now Berstead, near Maidstone, in Kent, certainly not Berkhampstead in - Hertfordshire, as Clutterbuck affirms in his history of that county. - -Footnote 510: - - “Eádigra geþeahtendlíc ymcyme.” See Thorpe, i. 36, note c. - -Footnote 511: - - Archbishop of Canterbury. - -Footnote 512: - - The people subject to their charge. Were the people, that is, the - freemen, present at this gemót in their divisions as parishes or - ecclesiastical districts? - -Footnote 513: - - Thorpe, i. 36. - ------ - -The prologue to the laws of Ini establishes the same fact for Wessex; he -says,—“Ini, by the grace of God, king of the Westsaxons, with the advice -and by the teaching of Cénred, my father, and of Hedde my bishop, and -Ercenwold my bishop, with all my ealdormen, and the most eminent witan -of my people, and also with a great assemblage of God’s servants[514], -have been considering respecting our soul’s heal, and the stability of -our realm; so that right law, and right royal judgments might be settled -and confirmed among our people; so that none of our ealdormen, nor of -those who are subject unto us, should ever hereafter turn aside these -our dooms[515].” - ------ - -Footnote 514: - - The clergy especially. - -Footnote 515: - - Thorpe, i. 102. - ------ - -And this is confirmed in more detail by Ælfred. This prince, after -giving some extracts from the Levitical legislation, and deducing their -authority through the Apostolical teaching, proceeds to engraft upon the -latter the peculiar principle of bót or compensation which is the -characteristic of Teutonic legislation[516]. He says,—“After this it -happened that many nations received the faith of Christ; and then were -many synods assembled throughout all the earth, and among the English -race also, after they had received the faith of Christ, of holy bishops, -and also of their exalted witan. They then ordained, out of that mercy -which Christ had taught, that secular lords, _with their leave_, might -without sin take for almost every misdeed—for the first offence—the bót -in money which they then ordained; except in cases of treason against a -lord, to which they dared not to assign any mercy; because Almighty God -adjudged none to them that despised him, nor did Christ, the son of God, -adjudge any to him that sold him unto death: and he commanded that a -lord should be loved like oneself[517]. They then, in many synods, -decreed a bót for many human misdeeds; and in many synod-books they -wrote, here one doom, there another. - ------ - -Footnote 516: - - Ælfred makes a marked exception in the case of treason, and repeats it - in strong terms in § 4 of his laws, “be hláford syrwe.” These despotic - tendencies of a great prince, nurtured probably by his exaggerated - love for foreign literature, may account to us for the state of utter - destitution in which his people at one time left him. His strong - personality, and active character, coupled with the almost miraculous, - at any rate most improbable, event, of his ascending the throne of - Wessex, may have betrayed him in his youth into steps which his - countrymen looked upon as dangerous to their liberties. Nothing can - show Ælfred’s antinational and un-Teutonic feeling more than his - attributing the system of bóts or compensations to the influence of - Christianity. - -Footnote 517: - - This is Mr. Thorpe’s version, i. 59. But the words may be as strictly - construed, “should be loved like _himself_,” viz. God. - ------ - -“Then I, Ælfred the king, gathered these together, and commanded many of -those which our forefathers held, and which seemed good to me, to be -written down; and many which did not seem good to me, I rejected by the -counsel of my witan, and commanded them in other wise to be holden; but -much of my own I did not venture to set down in writing, for I knew not -how much of it might please our successors. But what I met with, either -of the time of Ini my kinsman, or of Offa, king of the Mercians, or -Æðelberht who first of the English race received baptism, the best I -have here collected, and the rest rejected. I then, Ælfred king of the -Westsaxons, showed these to all my witan, and they then said, that it -liked them well so to hold them.” - -The laws of Eádweard like those of Hloðhere and Eádríc have no proem: -next in order of time are those of Æðelstán. The council of Greatley -opens with an ordinance which the king says was framed by the advice of -Wulfhelm, archbishop of Canterbury and his other bishops: no other witan -are mentioned. Now it is remarkable enough that this ordinance refers -exclusively to tithes, and other ecclesiastical dues, and works of -charity. But the secular ordinances which follow conclude with these -words: “All this was established in the great synod at Greátanleá; in -which was archbishop Wulfhelm, with all the noblemen and witan whom -Æðelstán the king [commanded to] gather together[518].” - ------ - -Footnote 518: - - Thorpe, i. 214. - ------ - -The witan at Exeter, under the same king, are much more explicit as to -their powers: in the preamble to their laws, they say: “These are the -dooms which the witan at Exeter decreed, with the counsel of Æðelstán -the king, and again at Feversham, and a third time at Thundersfield, -where the whole was settled and confirmed together[519].” - ------ - -Footnote 519: - - Ibid. i. 207. - ------ - -The concurrence of these witan is continually appealed to in the Saxon -laws which follow[520], and which are supplementary to the three gemóts -mentioned. But in a chapter (§ 7) concerning ordeals, the regulation is -said to be by command of God, the archbishop and all the bishops, and -the other witan are not mentioned; probably because the administration -of the ordeal was a special, ecclesiastical function. Again in the -Judicia Civitatis Londoniae the joint legislative authority of the king -and the witan is repeatedly alluded to[521]. - ------ - -Footnote 520: - - Æðelst. iv. Thorpe, i. 220, 224. - -Footnote 521: - - Æðelst. v. § 10, 11, 12. Thorpe, i. 238, 240. - ------ - -Eádmund commences his laws by stating that he had assembled a great -_synod_ in London at Easter, at which the two archbishops, Oda and -Wulfstan, were present, together with many bishops and persons of -ecclesiastical as well as secular condition[522]. And having thus given -the authority by which he acted, he proceeds to the details of his law, -which he again declares to have been promulgated, after deliberation -with the council of his witan, ecclesiastical and lay[523]. The council -of Culinton, held under the same prince, commences thus: “This is the -decree which Eádmund the king and his bishops, with his witan, -established at Culinton, concerning the maintenance of peace, and taking -the oaths of fidelity.” - ------ - -Footnote 522: - - Thorpe, i. 244. - -Footnote 523: - - Ibid. i. 246. - ------ - -Next comes Eádgár, whose law commences in these words: “This is the -ordinance which Eádgár the king, with the counsel of his witan, -ordained, to the praise of God, his own honour, and the benefit of all -his people[524].” - ------ - -Footnote 524: - - Ibid. i. 262; see also pp. 270, 272, 276. - ------ - -In like manner, Æðelred informs us that his law was ordained, “for the -better maintenance of the public peace, by himself and his witan at -Woodstock, in the land of the Mercians, according to the laws of the -Angles[525].” In precisely similar terms he speaks of new laws made by -himself and his witan at Wantage[526]. In a collection of laws passed in -1008, under the same prince, we find the following preamble[527]: “This -is the ordinance which the king of the English, with his witan, both -clerical and lay, have chosen[528] and advised;” and every one of the -first five paragraphs commences with the same solemn words, viz. “This -is the ordinance of our lord, and of his witan,” etc. - ------ - -Footnote 525: - - Ibid. i. 280. - -Footnote 526: - - Ibid. i. 292. - -Footnote 527: - - Ibid. i. 304. - -Footnote 528: - - The word _ceósan_, to elect or choose, is the technical expression in - Teutonic legislation for ordinances which have been deliberated upon. - ------ - -But far more strongly is this marked in the provisions of the council of -Enham, under the same miserable prince. These are not only entitled, -“ordinances of the witan[529],” but throughout, the king is never -mentioned at all, and many of the chapters commence, “It is the -ordinance of the witan,” etc. If it were not for one or two enactments -referring to the safety of the royal person, and the dignity of the -crown, we might be almost tempted to imagine that the great councillors -of state had met, during Æðelred’s flight from England, and passed these -laws upon their own authority, without the king. The laws of 1014 -commence again with the words so often repeated in this chapter[530], -and such also usher in the very elaborate collection which Cnut and his -witan compiled at Winchester[531]. - ------ - -Footnote 529: - - Thorpe, i. 314, 316, 318. - -Footnote 530: - - Ibid. i. 340, 342, 350. - -Footnote 531: - - Ibid. i. 358, 376. - ------ - -Now I think that any impartial person will be satisfied with these -examples, and admit that whoever the witan may have been, they possessed -a legislative authority, at least conjointly with the king. Indeed of -two hypothetical cases, I should be far more inclined to assert that -they possessed it without him, than that he possessed it without them: -at least, I can find no instance of the latter; while I have shown that -there was at least a probability of the former: and even Æðelred himself -says, twice: “Wise in former days were those secular witan[532] who -first added secular laws to the just divine laws, for bishops and -consecrated bodies; and reverenced for love of God holiness and holy -orders, and God’s houses and his servants firmly protected.” Again[533]: -“Wise were those secular witan who to the divine laws of justice added -secular laws for the government of the people; and decreed bót to Christ -and the king, that many should thus, of necessity, be compelled to -right.” - ------ - -Footnote 532: - - Woroldwitan. Æðelr. vii. § 24. Thorpe, i. 334. - -Footnote 533: - - Æðelr. ix. § 36. Thorpe, i. 348. - ------ - -Is it not manifest that he, like Ælfred, really felt the legislative -power to reside in the witan, rather than in the king? - -3. _The witan had the power of making alliances and treaties of peace, -and of settling their terms._ - -The defeat of the Danes by Ælfred, in 878, was followed, as is well -known, by the baptism of Guðorm Æðelstán, and the peaceful establishment -of his forces in portions of the ancient kingdoms of Mercia, Essex, -Eastanglia and Northumberland. The terms of this treaty, and the -boundaries of the new states thus constituted were solemnly ratified, -perhaps at Wedmore[534]; the first article of this important public act, -by which Ælfred obtained a considerable accession of territory, runs -thus[535]: “This is the peace that Ælfred the king, and Gyðrum the king, -and the witan of all the English nation, and all the people that are in -Eastanglia, have all ordained and confirmed with oaths, for themselves -and for their descendants, born and unborn, who desire God’s favour or -ours. First, concerning our land-boundaries,” etc. In like manner the -treaty which Eádweard entered into with the same Danes, is said to have -been frequently (“oft and unseldan”) renewed and ratified by the -witan[536]. - ------ - -Footnote 534: - - Chron. Sax. an. 878. Asser, _in anno_. - -Footnote 535: - - Thorpe, i. 152. - -Footnote 536: - - Thorpe, i. 166. - ------ - -We still have the terms of the shameful peace which Æðelred bought of -Olafr Tryggvason and his comrades in 994. The document, which was -probably signed at Andover[537], commences with the following words: -“These are the articles of peace and the agreement which Æðelred the -king and all his witan have made with the army which accompanied Anlaf, -and Justin and Guðmund, the son of Stegita[538].” - ------ - -Footnote 537: - - Chron. Sax. an. 994. - -Footnote 538: - - Thorpe, i. 284. - ------ - -Many other instances might be cited, as for example the entry in the -Chronicle, anno 947, where it is stated that Eádred made a treaty of -peace with the witan of Northumberland at Taddenes scylf, which was -broken and renewed in the following year: but further evidence upon this -point seems unnecessary[539]. - ------ - -Footnote 539: - - See Chron. Sax. an. 1002, 1004, 1006, 1011, 1012. The solemn partition - of the kingdom between Eádmund írensída and Cnut was effected by the - witan, at Olney in Gloucestershire. Chron. Sax. an. 1016. - ------ - -4. _The witan had the power of electing the king._ - -The kingly dignity among the Anglosaxons was partly hereditary, partly -elective: that is to say, the kings were usually taken from certain -qualified families, but the witan claimed the right of choosing the -person whom they would have to reign. Their history is filled with -instances of occasions when the sons or direct descendants of the last -king have been set aside in favour of his brother or some other prince -whom the nation believed more capable of ruling: and the very rare -occurrence of discontent on such occasions both proves the authority -which the decision of the witan carried with it, and the great -discretion with which their power was exercised. Only here and there, -when the witan were themselves not unanimous, do we find any traces of -dissensions arising out of a disputed succession[540]. On every fresh -accession, the great compact between the king and the people was -literally, as well as symbolically, renewed, and the technical -expression for ascending the throne is being “gecoren and áhafen tó -cyninge,” elected and raised to be king: where the _áhafen_ refers to -the old Teutonic custom of what we still at election times call chairing -the successful candidate; and the _gecoren_ denotes the positive and -foregone conclusion of a real election. Alfred’s own accession is a -familiar instance of this fact: he was chosen, to the prejudice of his -elder brother’s children; but the nation required a prince capable of -coping with dangers and difficulty, and Asser tells us that he was not -only received as king by the unanimous assent of the people, but that, -had he so pleased, he might have dethroned his brother Æðelred and -reigned in his place[541]. His words are: “In the same year (871) the -aforesaid Ælfred, who hitherto, during the life of his brother, had held -a secondary place, immediately upon Æðelred’s death, by the grace of -God, assumed the government of the whole realm, with the greatest -goodwill of all the inhabitants of the kingdom; which indeed, even -during his aforesaid brother’s life, he might, had he chosen, have done -with the greatest ease, and by the universal consent; truly, because -both in wisdom and in all good qualities he much excelled all his -brothers; and moreover because he was particularly warlike, and -successful in nearly all his battles[542].” - -Footnote 540: - - I speak now of periods subsequent to the consolidation of the - monarchy: while England was full of kinglets, disputes were not - infrequent. Northumberland and Wessex (previous to Beorhtríc’s - alliance with Offa) furnish examples. But here the competitors were - numerous, and the witan themselves split into parties, generally - maintaining the interests of _different_ royal families. - -Footnote 541: - - Asser, an. 871. - -Footnote 542: - - Simeon of Durham uses equally strong terms on the occasion. “Ælfredus - a ducibus et a praesulibus totius gentis eligitur, et non solum ab - ipsis, verumetiam ab omni populo adoratur, ut eis praeesset, ad - faciendam vindictam in nationibus, increpationes in populis.” An. 871. - ------ - -Not one word have we here about his nephews, or any rights they might -possess: and Asser seems to think royalty itself a matter entirely -dependent upon the popular will, and the good opinion entertained by the -nation of its king. I shall conclude this head by citing a few instances -from Saxon documents of the intervention of the witan in a king’s -election and inauguration. - -In 924, the Chronicle says: “This year died Eádweard the king at -Fearndún, among the Mercians ... and Æðelstán was chosen king by the -Mercians, and consecrated at Kingston.” - -Florence of Worcester, an. 959, distinctly asserts that Eádgar was -elected by all the people of England,—“ab omni Anglorum populo electus -... regnum suscepit.” - -In 979, the Chronicle again says: “This year Æðelred took to the -kingdom; and he was soon after consecrated king at Kingston, with great -rejoicing of the English witan.” - -In 1016, the election of Eádmund írensída is thus related: “Then befel -it that king Æðelred died ... and then after his death, all the witan -who were in London, and the townsmen, chose Eádmund to be king.” Again -in 1017: “This year was Cnut elected king.” - -In 1036 again we have these words: “This year died Cnut the king at -Salisbury ... and soon after his decease there was a gemót of all the -witan (‘ealra witena gemót’) at Oxford: and Leófríc the eorl, and almost -all the thanes north of the Thames, and the _lithsmen_ in London chose -Harald to be chief of all England; to him and his brother Hardacnut who -was in Denmark.” This election was opposed unsuccessfully by Godwine and -the men of Wessex. - -The Chronicle contains a very important entry under the date 1014. Upon -the death of Swegen, we are told that his army elected Cnut king: “But -all the witan who were in England, both clerical and lay, decided to -send after king Æðelred[543]; and they declared that no lord could be -dearer to them than their natural lord, if he would rule them more -justly than he had done before. Then the king sent his son Eádweard -hither, with his messengers, and commanded them to greet all his -people[544]; and he said that he would be a loving lord to them, and -amend all those things which they all abhorred; and that everything -which had been said or done against him should be forgiven, on condition -that they all, with one consent and without deceit, would be obedient to -him. Then they established full friendship, by word and pledge on either -side, and declared every Danish king an outlaw from England for ever.” - ------ - -Footnote 543: - - He had fled to Normandy. - -Footnote 544: - - Leóde and leódscipe, the words used in the Chronicle, _may_ possibly - mean only the great officers or ministerials, the Frankish _Leudes_. - But the balance of probability is in favour of its representing _the - whole people_: leódscipe, which is the reading of the most - manuscripts, having a more general sense than leóde. - ------ - -Cnut nevertheless succeeded; but after the extinction of his short-lived -dynasty, we are told that all the people elected Eádweard the Confessor -king. “1041. This year died Hardacnut.... And before he was buried, all -the people elected Eádweard king, at London.” Another manuscript -reads:—“1042. This year died Hardacnut, as he stood at his drink.... And -all the people then received Eádweard for their king, as was his true -natural right.” - -One more quotation from a manuscript of the Saxon Chronicle shall -conclude this head:—“1066. In this year was hallowed the minster at -Westminster on Childermas-day (Dec. 28th). And king Eádweard died on the -eve of Twelfth-day, and he was buried on Twelfth-day in the newly -consecrated church at Westminster. And Harald the earl succeeded to the -kingdom of England, even as the king had granted it unto him, and men -also had elected him thereto. And he was consecrated king on -Twelfth-day.” - -The witan of England had met to aid in the consecration of Westminster -Abbey, and, as was their full right, proceeded to elect a king, on -Eádweard’s decease. - -5. _The witan had the power to depose the king, if his government was -not conducted for the benefit of the people._ - -It is obvious that the very existence of this power would render its -exercise an event of very rare occurrence. Anglosaxon history does -however furnish one clear example. In 755, the witan of Wessex, -exasperated by the illegal conduct of king Sigeberht, deposed him from -the royal dignity, and elected his relative Cynewulf in his stead. The -fact is thus related by different authorities. The Chronicle[545] says -very shortly:—“This year, Cynewulf and the witan of the Westsaxons -deprived his kinsman Sigeberht of his kingdom, except Hampshire[546], -for his unjust deeds.” - ------ - -Footnote 545: - - Chron. Sax. an. 755. - -Footnote 546: - - Perhaps his own, ancestral kingdom. Does not all this look very much - as if Wessex was still only a confederation of petty principalities, - with one elective and paramount head? - ------ - -Florence tells the same story, but in other words[547]:—“Cynewulf, a -scion of the royal race of Cerdic, with the counsel of the Westsaxon -_primates_, removed their king Sigeberht from his realm, on account of -the multitude of his iniquities, and reigned in his place: however he -granted to him one province, which is called Hampshire.” - ------ - -Footnote 547: - - Flor. Wig. an. 755. - ------ - -Æðelweard[548], whose royal descent and usual pedantry conspire to make -his account of the matter somewhat hazy, says:—“So, after the lapse of a -year from the time when Sigeberht began to reign, Cynewulf invaded his -realm and took it from him; and he drew the _sapientes_ of all the -western country after him, apparently, on account of the irregular acts -of the said king,” etc. - ------ - -Footnote 548: - - Æðelw. an. 755, lib. ii. c. 17. - ------ - -The fullest account however of the whole transaction is given by Henry -of Huntingdon[549], who very frequently shows a remarkable acquaintance -with Saxon authorities which are now lost, but from which he translates -and quotes at considerable length. These are his words:—“Sigeberht, the -kinsman of the aforesaid king, succeeded him, but he held the kingdom -for a short time only: for being swelled up and insolent through the -successes of his predecessor, he became intolerable even unto his own -people. But when he continued to ill-use them in every way, and either -twisted the laws to his own advantage, or turned them aside for his -advantage, Cumbra, the noblest of his ealdormen, at the petition of the -whole people, brought their complaints before the savage king. Whom, for -attempting to persuade him to rule his people more mercifully, and -setting his inhumanity aside to show himself an object of love to God -and man, he shortly after commanded to be put to an impious death: and -becoming still more fierce and intolerable to his people, he aggravated -his tyranny. In the beginning of the second year of his reign, Sigeberht -the king continuing incorrigible in his pride and iniquity, the princes -and people of the whole realm collected together; and by provident -deliberation and unanimous consent of all he was expelled from the -throne. But Cynewulf, an excellent young prince, of the royal race, was -elected to be king[550].” - ------ - -Footnote 549: - - Hen. Hunt. Hist. Ang. lib. iv. - -Footnote 550: - - “Sigebertus rex, in principio secundi anni regni sui, cum - incorrigibilis superbiae et nequitiae esset, congregati sunt proceres - et populus totius regni, et provida deliberatione, et unanimi consensu - omnium expulsus est a regno. Kinewulf vero, iuvenis egregius de regia - stirpe oriundus, electus est in regem.” - ------ - -I have little doubt that an equally formal, though hardly equally -justifiable, proceeding severed Mercia from Eádwig’s kingdom, and -reconstituted it as a separate state under Eádgar[551]; and lastly from -Simeon of Durham we learn that the Northumbrian Alchred was deposed and -exiled, with the counsel and consent of all his people[552]. - ------ - -Footnote 551: - - Flor. Wig. an. 957. - -Footnote 552: - - “Eodem tempore, Alcredus rex, consilio et consensu omnium suorum, - regiae familiae principum destitutus societate, exilio imperii mutavit - maiestatem.” Sim. Dun. an. 774. Other Germanic tribes did the same - thing. “Sed cum Aldoaldus eversa mente insaniret, de regno eiectus - est.” Paul. Diae. Langob. iv. 43. Among the Burgundians, “generali - nomine rex appellatur Hendinos, et _ritu veteri_, potestate deposita - removetur, si sub eo fortuna titubaverit belli, vel segetum copiam - negaverit terra.” Amm. Marc. xxxiii. 5. - ------ - -6. _The king and the witan had power to appoint prelates to vacant -sees._ - -As many of the witan were the most eminent of the clergy, and the people -might be fairly considered to be represented by the secular members of -the body, these elections were perhaps more canonical than the Frankish, -and assuredly more so than those which take place under our system by -_congé d’élire_. The necessary examples will be found in the Saxon -Chronicle, an. 971, 995, 1050. But one may be mentioned at length. In -959 Dúnstán was elected archbishop of Canterbury “consilio -sapientum[553].” - ------ - -Footnote 553: - - “Dehinc beatus Dunstanus, Æthelmi archiepiscopi ex fratre nepos, - Glæstaniæ abbas, post Huicciorum et Londoniensium episcopus, ex - respectu divino et sapientum consilio, primae metropolis Anglorum - primas et patriarcha.” Flor. Wig. an. 959. - ------ - -7. _They had also power to regulate ecclesiastical matters, appoint -fasts and festivals, and decide upon the levy and expenditure of -ecclesiastical revenue._ - -The great question of monachism which convulsed the church and kingdom -in the tenth century, was several times brought before the consideration -of the witan, who, both clerical and lay, were very much divided upon -the subject. This perhaps is a sufficient reason why no formal act of -the gemót was ever passed on the subject, and the solution of the -problem was left to the bishops in their several cathedrals: but no -reader of Saxon history can be ignorant that it was frequently brought -before the gemót, and that it was the cause of deep and frequent -dissensions among the witan[554]. The festival days of St. Eádweard and -St. Dúnstán were fixed by the authority of the witan on the 15th Kal. -April and 14th Kal. June respectively[555]; and the laws contain many -provisions for the due keeping of the Sabbath, and the strict -celebration of fasts and festivals[556]. The levying of church-shots, -soul-shots, light-alms, plough-alms, tithes, and a variety of other -church imposts, the payment of which could not be otherwise legally -binding upon the laity, was made law by frequently repeated chapters in -the acts of the witan: these are much too numerous to need -specification. They direct the amount to be paid, the time of payment, -and the penalties to be inflicted on defaulters: nay, they actually -direct the mode in which such payments when received should be -distributed and applied by the receivers[557]. They establish, as law of -the land, the prohibitions to marry within certain degrees of -relationship: and lastly they adopt and sanction many regulations of the -fathers and bishops, respecting the life and conversation of priests and -deacons, canons, monks and religious women. On all these points it is -sufficient to give a general reference to the laws, which are full of -regulations even to the minutest details. - ------ - -Footnote 554: - - Flor. Wig. an. 975, says, “Et in synodo constituti, se nequaquam ferre - posse dixerunt, ut monachi eiicerentur de regno.” - -Footnote 555: - - Æðelr. v. § 16. Cnut, i. § 17. Thorpe, i. 310, 370. - -Footnote 556: - - For example, Cnut, i. § 14, 15, 16. Thorpe, i. 368, etc. - -Footnote 557: - - For example, Æðelr. ix. § 6. Thorpe, i. 342. Æðelr. vi. § 51. Thorpe, - i. 328, etc. - ------ - -8. _The king and the witan had power to levy taxes for the public -service._ - -I have observed in an earlier chapter of this work that the estates of -the freeman were bound to make certain settled payments. These may at -some time or other have been voluntary, but there can be no doubt that -they did ultimately become compulsory payments. They are the cyninges -gafol, payable on the hide, and may possibly be the cyninges útware, and -cyninges geban of the laws, the _contributions directes_ by which a -man’s station in society was often measured. Now in the time of Ini, we -find the witan regulating the amount of this tax or gafol, in barley, at -six pounds weight upon the hide[558]. Again, under the extraordinary -circumstances of the Danish war under Æðelred, when it became almost -customary to buy off the invaders, we find them authorising the levy of -large sums for that purpose[559], and also for the maintenance of -fleets[560]: these payments, once known by the name of Danegeld, and -which in 1018 amounted to the enormous sum of 82,500 pounds[561], were -after thirty-nine years’ continuance finally abolished by Eádweard[562]. - ------ - -Footnote 558: - - Ini, § 59. Thorpe, i. 140. Wyrhta like the factus (= Mansus) of the - Franks appears to be the Mansio or Hide. But the amounts do not - concern us at present. - -Footnote 559: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1006. The sum raised was thirty-six thousand pounds. - Chron. an. 1012. In this year forty-eight thousand pounds were paid. - -Footnote 560: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1008. A ship from every three hundred hides; and a - helmet and coat-of-mail from every eight hides,—a very heavy amount of - shipmoney. - -Footnote 561: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1018. - -Footnote 562: - - Ibid. an. 1052. - ------ - -9. _The king and his witan had power to raise land and sea forces when -occasion demanded._ - -The king always possessed of himself the right to call out the ban or -armed militia of the freemen: he also possessed the right of commanding -at all times the service of his comites and their vassals: but the armed -force of the freemen could only be kept on foot for a definite period, -and probably within definite limits. It seems therefore that when the -pressure of extraordinary circumstances called for more than common -efforts, and the nation was to be urged to unusual exertions, the -authority of the witan was added to that of the king; and that much more -extensive levies were made than by merely calling out the _hereban_ or -_landsturm_. And this particularly applies to naval armaments, which -were hardly a part of the constitutional force, at all events not to any -great extent[563]. Accordingly we find in the Chronicle that the king -and the witan commanded armaments to be made against the Danes in 999, -and at the same time directed a particular service to be sung in the -churches. We learn distinctly from another event that the disposal of -this force depended upon the popular will: for when Svein, king of the -Danes, made application to Eádweard the Confessor for a naval force in -aid of his war against Magnus of Norway, and Godwine recommended -compliance, we find that it was refused because Earl Leófríc of -Coventry, and all the people, with one voice opposed it[564]. - ------ - -Footnote 563: - - The Butsecarls or shipmen of the seaports may possibly have been - obliged to find shipping and serve on board. - -Footnote 564: - - Flor. 1047, 1048. Compare Chron. Sax. _in an. cit._ - ------ - -10. _The witan possessed the power of recommending, assenting to, and -guaranteeing grants of lands, and of permitting the conversion of -folcland into bócland, and vice versâ._ - -With regard to the first part of this assertion, it will be sufficient -to refer to any page of the Codex Diplomaticus Ævi Saxonici: it is -impossible almost to find a single grant in that collection which does -not openly profess to have been made by the king, “cum consilio, -consensu et licentia procerum,” or similar expressions. And the -necessity for such consent will appear intelligible when we consider -that these grants must be understood, either to be direct conversions of -folcland (fiscal or public property) into bócland (private estates), -beneficiary into hereditary tenure; or, that they contain licences to -free particular lands from the ancient, customary dues to the state. In -both cases the public revenue, of which king and witan were fiduciary -administrators, was concerned: inasmuch as nearly every estate, -transferred from folcland to bócland, became just so much withdrawn from -the general stock of ways and means. Only in the case where lands were -literally exchanged from one category into the other, did the state -sustain no loss. Of this we have evidence in a charter of the year -858[565]. The king and Wulfláf his thane exchanged lands in Kent, -Æðelberht receiving an estate of five plough-lands at Mersham and giving -five plough-lands at Wassingwell. The king then freed the land at -Wassingwell in as ample degree as that at Mersham had been freed; that -is, from every description of service, or impost, except the three -inevitable burthens, of military service, and repair of fortifications -and bridges. And having done so, he made the land at Mersham, folcland, -i. e., imposed the burthens upon it. - ------ - -Footnote 565: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 281. - ------ - -That this is a just view of the powers of the witan in respect to the -folcland, further appears from instances where the king and the witan, -on one part, as representatives of the nation for that purpose, make -grants to the king in his individual capacity. In 847, a case of this -kind occurred: Æðelwulf of Wessex obtained twenty hides of land at Ham, -as an estate of inheritance, from his witan[566]. The words used are -very explicit: “I Æðelwulf, by God’s aid king of the Westsaxons, with -the consent and licence of my bishops and my princes, have caused a -certain small portion of land, consisting of twenty hides, to be -described by its boundaries, to me, as an estate of inheritance.” And -again: “These are the boundaries of those twenty hides which Æðelwulf’s -senators granted to him at Ham.” We learn that Offa, king of the -Mercians, had in a similar manner caused one hundred and ten hides in -Kent to be given to him and his heirs as an estate of bócland[567], -which he had afterwards left to the monastery at Bedford. And this is a -peculiarly valuable record, because it was only by conquest that Offa -and his witan could have obtained a right to dispose of lands beyond the -limits of his own kingdom. Between 901 and 909 the witan of the -Westsaxons booked a very small portion of land to Ælfred’s son Eádweard, -for the site of his monastery at Winchester[568]. In 963 we have another -instance: Eádgár caused five hides to be given him at Peatanige as an -estate of inheritance. The terms of the document are unusual: he says, -“I _have_ a portion of land,” etc., but he frees it from all burthens -but the three, and renders it heritable. The rubric says: “This is the -charter of five hides at Peatanige, which are Eádgár’s the king’s, -during his day and after his day, to have, or to give to whom it -pleaseth him best[569].” Again in 964, the same prince gave to his wife -Ælfðrýð ten hides at Aston in Berkshire, as an estate of inheritance, -“consilio satellitum, pontificum, comitum, militum[570].” It is obvious -that in all these cases the grants were made out of public land, and -were not the private estates of the king. - ------ - -Footnote 566: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 260. - -Footnote 567: - - Ibid. No. 1019. - -Footnote 568: - - Ibid. No. 1087. - -Footnote 569: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1246. “Aliquam terrae particulam [h]abeo, id est - quinque mansas ... æt Peatanige, quatinus bene perfruar, ac - perpetualiter possideam, vita comite, et post me cuicunque voluero - perhenniter haeredi derelinquam in aeternam haereditatem,” etc. - -Footnote 570: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1253. - ------ - -11. _The witan possessed the power of adjudging the lands of offenders -and intestates to be forfeit to the king._ - -This power applied to bócland, as well as folcland, and was exercised in -cases which are by no means confined to the few enumerated in the laws. -Indeed the latter may very probably refer to nothing but the chattels or -personal property of the offender; while the real estate might be -transferred to the king, by the solemn act of the witan. A few examples -will make this clear. - -Ælfred, condemned for treason or rebellion against Æðelstán, lost his -lands by the judgment of the witan, who bestowed them upon the -king[571]. In 1002 a lady forfeited her lands for her incontinence; the -king became seised of them, obviously by the act of the gemót, for he -calls it _vulgaris traditio_[572]. Again, the lands of certain people -which had been forfeited for theft, are described as having been granted -to the king, “iusto valde iudicio totius populi, seniorum et -primatum[573].” - ------ - -Footnote 571: - - Ibid. No. 1112. - -Footnote 572: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1295. - -Footnote 573: - - Ibid. No. 374. - ------ - -The case of intestacy is proved by a charter of Ecgberht in 825. He gave -fifteen hides at Aulton to Winchester, and made title in these words. -“Now this land, a very faithful reeve of mine called Burghard formerly -possessed by my grant: but he afterwards dying childless, left the land -without a will, and he had no survivors: and so the land with all its -boundaries was restored to me, its former possessor, by judicial decree -of my _optimates_[574].” - ------ - -Footnote 574: - - Ibid. No. 1035. - ------ - -Other examples may be found in the quotations given in page 52 of this -volume; to which I may add a case of forfeiture for suicide[575]. - ------ - -Footnote 575: - - The charter which furnishes the evidence of this fact will appear in - the seventh volume of the Codex Diplomaticus. It is in the archives of - Westminster Abbey, and its date is the time of Eádgár. [The death of - Mr. Kemble in 1857 prevented the publication of this seventh volume.] - ------ - -12. _Lastly, the witan acted as a supreme court of justice, both in -civil and criminal causes._ - -The fact of important trials being decided by the witena gemót is -obvious from a very numerous list of charters recording the result of -such trials, and printed in the Codex Diplomaticus. It is perfectly -unnecessary to give examples; they occur continually in the pages of -that work. The documents are in great detail, giving the names of the -parties, the heads of the case, sometimes the very steps in the trial, -and always recording the place and date of the gemót, and the names of -those who presided therein. - -The proceedings of the witan as a court of criminal jurisprudence, are -well exemplified in the case of earl Godwine and his family daring their -patriotic struggle for power with the foreign minions of Eádweard, and -the northern earls, the hereditary enemies of their house. Eustace the -count of Boulogne, then on a visit to Eádweard, having with a small -armed retinue attempted violence against some of the inhabitants of -Dover, was set upon by the townsmen, and after a severe loss hardly -succeeded in making his escape. He hastened to Gloucester, where -Eádweard then held his court, and laid his complaint before the king. -Godwine, as earl of Kent, was commanded to set out with his forces, and -inflict summary punishment upon the burghers who had dared to maltreat a -relative of the king. But the stern old statesman saw matters in a very -different light: he probably found no reason to punish the inhabitants -of one of his best towns, for an act of self defence, especially one -which had read a severe lesson to the foreign adventurers, who abused -the weakness of an incapable prince, and domineered over the land. He -therefore flatly refused, and withdrew from Gloucester to join his sons -Harald and Swegen who lay at Beverston and Langtree with a considerable -power. The king being reinforced by a well-appointed contingent from the -northern earldoms, affairs threatened to be brought to a bloody -termination. The conduct of Godwine and his family had been represented -to Eádweard in the most unfavourable colours, and the demand they made -that the obnoxious strangers should be given up to them, only aggravated -his deep resentment. However for a time peace was maintained, hostages -were given on either side, and a witena gemót was proclaimed, to meet in -London, at the end of a fortnight, September 21st, 1048. On the arrival -of the earls in Southwark, they found that a greatly superior force from -the commands of Leofríc, Sigeward and Raulf awaited them: desertion -thinned their numbers, and when the king demanded back his hostages, -they were compelled to comply. Godwine and Harald were now summoned to -appear before the gemót and make answer to what should be brought -against them. They demanded, though probably with little expectation of -obtaining, a safe conduct to and from the gemót, which was refused; and -as they very properly declined under such circumstances to appear, five -days were allowed them to leave England altogether. - -It is probable that the strictly legal forms were followed on this -occasion, although the composition of the gemót was such that justice -could not have been done. The same observation will apply to another -witena gemót holden in London, after Godwine’s triumphant return to -England, though with a very different result. Before this assembly the -earl appeared, easily cleared himself of all offences laid to his -charge, and obtained the outlawry and banishment from England of all the -Frenchmen whose pernicious councils had put dissension between the king -and his people. Other examples might be given of outlawry, and even -heavier sentences, as blinding, if not death, pronounced by the high -court of the witan. But as these are all the result of internal -dissensions, they resemble rather the violence of impeachments by an -irresistible majority, than the calm, impassive judgments of a judicial -assembly[576]. - ------ - -Footnote 576: - - At a gemót in 1055, earl Ælfgár was outlawed. At a gemót in 1066 at - Oxford, earl Tostig was outlawed, etc. - ------ - -Such were the powers of the witena gemót, and it must be confessed that -they were extensive. Of the manner of the deliberations or the forms of -business we know little, but it is not likely that they were very -complicated. We may conclude that the general outline of the proceedings -was something of the following order. On common occasions the king -summoned his witan to attend him at some royal vill, at Christmas, or at -Easter, for festive and ceremonial as well as business purposes. On -extraordinary occasions he issued summonses according to the nature of -the exigency, appointing the time and place of meeting. When assembled, -the witan commenced their session by attending divine service[577], and -formally professing their adherence to the catholic faith[578]. The king -then brought his propositions before them, in the Frankish manner[579], -and after due deliberation they were accepted, modified, or rejected. -The reeves, and perhaps on occasion officers specially designated for -that service[580], carried the chapters down into the several counties, -and there took a _wed_ or pledge from the freemen that they would abide -by what had been enacted. This last fact, important to us in more -respects than one, is substantiated by the following evidence. Toward -the close of the Judicia Civitatis Londoniae (cap. 10), passed in the -reign of Æðelstán, and subsidiary to the acts of various gemóts held by -him, we find:—“All the witan gave their pledges together to the -archbishop at Thundersfield, when Ælfheáh Stybb and Brihtnóð, Odda’s -son, came to meet the gemót by the king’s command, that each reeve -should take the pledge in his own shire, that they would all hold the -frið, as king Æðelstán and the witan had counselled it, first at -Greátanleá, and again at Exeter, and afterwards at Feversham, and the -fourth time at Thundersfield,” etc. - ------ - -Footnote 577: - - See vol. i. p. 145 note. - -Footnote 578: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1019. - -Footnote 579: - - I conclude this from the Prologue to Ælfred’s Laws. - -Footnote 580: - - The Franks and the church were familiar with such officers, who under - the name of _Missi_ were dispatched into the provinces for special - purposes. Perhaps the Ælfheáh and Brihtnóð mentioned in the Judicia - Civitatis were the Missi who were to be employed on this commission. - ------ - -We have also a very remarkable document addressed to the same king, -apparently upon receipt of the acts of the council at Feversham, by the -men of Kent, denoting their acceptance of the same. They commence by -saying:—“Dearest! Thy bishops of Kent, and all the thanes of Kentshire, -earls and churls[581], return thanks to thee their dearest lord, for -what thou hast been pleased to ordain respecting our peace, and to -enquire and consult concerning our advantage, since great was the need -thereof for us all, both rich and poor. And this we have taken in hand, -with all the diligence we could, by the aid of those witan [_sapientes_] -whom thou didst send unto us,” etc[582]. - ------ - -Footnote 581: - - Mr. Hallam, in his Supplemental Notes, p. 229, remarks upon this - important document: “It is moreover an objection to considering this a - formal enactment by the witan of the shire, that it runs in the names - of ‘thaini, comites et villani.’ Can it be maintained that the ceorls - ever formed an integrant element of the legislature in the kingdom of - Kent? It may be alleged that their name was inserted, though they had - not been formally consenting parties, as we find in some parliamentary - grants of money much later. But this would be an arbitrary conjecture, - and the terms ‘omnes thaini,’ etc. are very large.” - - If the ceorls ever did form an integral part of the legislature in the - kingdom of Kent, the whole question is settled. But I do not - contemplate the thanes in Kent acting here as a legislative body: that - is, I do not believe Æðelstán’s witan in Wessex to have passed a law, - and then his witan in Kent to have accepted or continued it. I believe - his witan from all England to have made certain enactments, which the - proper officers brought down to the various shires, and in the - shiremoots there took pledge of the shire-thanes that they accepted - and would abide by the premises; just as in the case quoted on the - preceding page. And this is the more striking because there is every - reason to suppose that the witena gemót whose acts the shire-thanes of - Kent thus accepted was actually holden at Feversham in that county. - But it is further to be observed that the document we possess is a - late Latin translation of the original sent to Æðelstán: I will - venture to assert that in that original the words used were, “ealle - scírþegnas on Cent, ge eorl ge ceorl,” or perhaps “ge twelfhynde ge - twihynde.” Again, there is no reason to suppose that the ceorls did - _not_ form an integrant part of the shiremoot, the representative of - the ancient, independent legislature. A full century later than the - date of the council of Feversham, they continued to do so in the same - kingdom or, at that period, earldom: and it will be readily admitted - that during those hundred years the tendency of society was not to - increase the power or improve the condition of the ceorl. Between 1013 - and 1020 we thus find Cnut addressing the authorities in Kent (Cod. - Dipl. No. 731):—“Cnut the king sends friendly greeting to archbishop - Lýfing, bishop Godwine, abbot Ælfmǽr, Æðelwine the sheriff, Æðelríc, - and all my thanes, both twelve-hundred and two-hundred men,—ealle míne - þegnas twelfhynde and twihynde:”—in other words, both eorl and ceorl, - nobilis and ignobilis, or as the witan of Æðelstán have it, in the - Norman translation, comites et villani. The nature of Cnut’s writ, - which is addressed to the authorities of the county, the archbishop - and sheriff, shows clearly that the thanes in question are not those - royal officers called cyninges þegnas—who could never be two-hundred - men—but the scírþegnas. These are of frequent occurrence in Anglosaxon - documents. The scírgemót at Ægelnóðes stán (about 1038) was attended - by Æðelstán the bishop, Ranig the ealdorman, Bryning the sheriff and - all the thanes in Herefordshire. Cod. Dipl. No. 755. A sale by Stigand - was witnessed by all the scírþegnas in Hampshire; that is, it was a - public instrument completed in the shiremoot. Cod. Dipl. No. 949. - Again a grant of Stigand was witnessed about 1053 by various - authorities in Hampshire, including Eádsige the sheriff and all the - scírþegnas. Cod. Dipl. No. 1337: and similarly a third of the same - prelate, Cod. Dipl. No. 820. About the same period Wulfwold abbot of - Bath makes title to lands, which he addresses to bishop Gisa, Tofig - the sheriff and all the thanes of Somersetshire. Cod. Dipl. No. 821. - In the year 1049, Ðurstán granted lands at Wimbush by witness of a - great number of persons, among whom are Leófcild the sheriff and all - the thanes of Essex. Cod. Dipl. No. 788: and about the same time - Gódríc bought lands at Offham, in a shiremoot at Wii, before all the - shire. Cod. Dipl. No. 789. Lastly, Leófwine bought land, by witness of - Ulfcytel the sheriff and all the thanes in Herefordshire. Cod. Dipl. - No. 802. The relation of these thanes to the gódan men or dohtigan men - (good men, doughty men, boni et legales homines, Scabini, - Rachinburgii, etc.) will be examined in a subsequent Book, when I come - to treat of the courts of justice: but I will here add one example, - which is illustrative of the subject of this note. The - marriage-covenants of Godwine, arranged before Cnut, by witness of - archbishop Lyfing and others, including Æðelwine the sheriff, and - various Kentish landowners, are stated to be in the knowledge - (geenǽwe) of every _doughty man_ in Kent and Sussex (where the lands - lay) both thane and churl. Cod. Dipl. No. 732. There was nothing - whatever to prevent a man from being a scírþegn, whether eorlcund or - ceorlcund, as long as he had land in the scír itself: without land, - even a cyninges þegn could certainly not be a scírþegn. It is true - that a man might be of síðcund rank, that is noble, without owning - land (see Leg. Ini, § 51), and there were king’s thanes who had no - land (Æðelst. v. § 11); but such a one could assuredly not represent - himself in the scírgemót. There is a common error which runs through - much of what has been admitted on this subject: the ceorl is - universally represented in a low condition. This is not however - necessarily the case: some ceorls, though well to do in the world, may - have preferred their independence to the conventional dignity of - thaneship. We may admit, as a general rule, that the thanes were a - wealthier class than the ceorls; indeed, without becoming a thane, a - ceorl had little chance of getting a grant of folcland or bócland, but - some of them may have, through various circumstances, inherited or - purchased considerable estates: as late as the year 984, I find an - estate of eight hides (that is 264 acres according to my reckoning) in - the possession of a _rusticus_, obviously a ceorl:—“Illud videlicet - rus quod Æðeríc quidam rusticus prius habuisse agnoscitur.” Cod. Dipl. - No. 1282. - -Footnote 582: - - Thorpe, i. 216. Æðelstán complains on another occasion that the oaths - and _weds_ which had been given _to the king and his witan_ were all - broken: “quia iuramenta et vadia, quae regi et sapientibus data - fuerunt, semper infracta sunt et minus observata quam Deo et saeculo - conveniant.” Æðelst. iii. § 3. Thorpe, i. 218. Again: Æðelstán the - king makes known, that I have learned that our peace is worse kept - than is pleasing to me, or as was ordained at Greatley; and my witan - say that I have borne with it too long.... Because the oaths, and - weds, and _borhs_ are all disregarded and broken which on that - occasion were given, etc. Æðelst. iv. § 1. Thorpe, i. 220. - ------ - -It is plain from the preceding passage that the witan gave their _wed_ -to observe, and cause to be observed, the laws they had enacted[583]. -Eádgár says, “I command my geréfan, upon my friendship, and by all they -possess, to punish every one that will not perform this, and who by any -neglect shall break the _wed_ of my witan.” This seems to imply that the -people were generally bound by the acts of the witan, and their pledge -or _wed_; and if it were so, it would naturally involve the theory of -representation. But this deduction will not stand. - ------ - -Footnote 583: - - Conc. Wihtbordes stán. Eádg. Supp. § 1. Thorpe, i. 272. - ------ - -The whole principle of Teutonic legislation is, and always was, that the -law is made by the constitution of the king, and the consent of the -people[584]: and we have seen one way in which that consent was -obtained, viz. by sending the _capitula_ down into the provinces or -shires, and taking the _wed_ in the shiremoot. The passage in the text -seems to presuppose an interchange of oaths and pledges between the king -and witan themselves; and even those who had no standing of their own in -the folcmót or scírgemót, were required to be bound by _personal_ -consent. The lord was just as much commanded to take oath and pledge of -his several dependents (the hired men, _familiares_, or people of his -household), as the sheriff was required to take them of the free -shire-thanes[585]. Of course this excludes all idea of representation in -our modern sense of the word, because with us, promulgation by the -Parliament is sufficient, and the constituent is bound without any -further ceremony by the act of him whom he has sent in his own place. -But the Teutons certainly did not elect their representatives as we -elect ours, with full power to judge, decide for, and bind us, and -therefore it was right and necessary that the laws when made should be -duly ratified and accepted by all the people. - ------ - -Footnote 584: - - “Lex consensu populi fit, et constitutione regis.” Edict. Pistense. - an. 864. Pertz, iii. 490, § 6. - -Footnote 585: - - Æðelst. v. § 11. Thorpe, i. 240. - ------ - -Although the dignified clergy, the ealdormen and geréfan, and the þegnas -both in counties and boroughs, appear to have constituted the witena -gemót properly so called, there is still reason to suppose that the -people themselves, or some of them, were very often present. In fact a -system gradually framed as I suppose that of our forefathers to have -been, and indebted very greatly to accident for its form, must have -possessed a very considerable elasticity. The people who were in the -neighbourhood, who happened to be collected in arms during a sitting of -the witan, or who thought it worth while to attend their meeting, were -very probably allowed to do so, and to exercise at least a right of -conclamation[586],—a right which must daily become rarer, as the freemen -gradually disappeared, and the number of landowners, dependent upon and -represented by lords, as rapidly increased. In conclusion a few passages -may be cited, which seem to render it probable that the people, when on -the spot, did take some part in the business, as I have already -mentioned with respect to the Frankish levies in the Campus Madius of -Charlemagne. But it must also be borne in mind that such a case ought to -be looked upon as accidental, rather than necessary, and that a meeting -of the witan did not require the formality of an acceptance by the -people on the spot, to render its acts obligatory. It was enough that -the thanes of the gemót should pass, and the thanes of the scír accept -the law. Indeed it could not be otherwise; for as the heads of all the -more important social aggregations of the free, and the lords whose men -were represented by them even in courts of justice, were the members of -the gemót, their decisions must have been, strictly considered, the real -decisions of the _populus_, or franchise-bearing people. - ------ - -Footnote 586: - - There is evidence of their doing this on a somewhat less solemn - occasion, though perhaps it was a shiremoot. Æðelstán, a duke, booked - land to Abingdon, by witness of bishop Cynsige, archbishop Wulfhelm, - Hroðweard, and other prelates. The boundaries were solemnly led, and - then the assembled bishops and abbots excommunicated any one who - should dispossess the monastery: and all the people that stood round - about cried “So be it! So be it!” “And cwæð ealle ðæt folc ðe ðǽr - embstód, Sý hit swá. Amen. Amen.” “Et dixit onmis populus qui ibi - aderat, Fiat, Fiat. Amen.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1129. - ------ - -Beda, relating the discussion which took place respecting the -celebration of Easter, and which was held in the presence of Oswiu and -Alhfrið of Northumberland, and Wilfrið’s successful defence of the Roman -custom, adds: “When the king had said these words, all who sat or stood -around assented: and abandoning the less perfect institution, they -hastened to adopt what they recognized as a better one[587].” Again the -deposition of Sigeberht is stated to have taken place in an assembly of -the _proceres_ and _populus_, the princes and people of the whole -realm[588]. A doubtful charter of Ini, A.D. 725, is said to be consented -to “cum praesentia populationis[589],” by which words are meant either -the witan or the people of Wessex. In 804 Æðelríc’s title-deeds were -confirmed before a gemót at Clofesho: the charter recites that -archbishop Æðelheard gave judgment, with the witness of king Cóenwulf -and his _optimates_, before all the synod or meeting: whence it is clear -that others were present besides the _optimates_ or witan strictly so -called[590]. On the 28th of May 924 a gemót was held at Winchester, -“tota populi generalitate,” as the charter witnesses[591], and in 931 -another at Worðig, “tota plebis generalitate[592].” Æðelstán in 938 -declares that certain lands had been forfeited for theft, by the just -judgment of all the people, _and_ the Seniores and Primates; and that -the original charters were cancelled by a decree of all the people[593]. - ------ - -Footnote 587: - - Hist. Eccl. iii. c. 25. - -Footnote 588: - - Hen. Hunt. lib. iv. - -Footnote 589: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 73. - -Footnote 590: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 186. - -Footnote 591: - - Ibid. No. 364. - -Footnote 592: - - Ibid. No. 1103. - -Footnote 593: - - “Iusto valde iudicio totius populi, et seniorum et primatum,” etc. - “Ideoque decretum est ab omni populo,” etc. Cod. Dipl. No. 374. - ------ - -But whether expressions of this kind were intended to denote the actual -presence of the people on the spot; or whether _populus_ is used in a -strict and technical sense—that sense which is confined to those who -enjoy the full franchise, those who form part of the πολιτευμα,—or -finally whether the assembly of the witan making laws is considered to -represent in our modern form an assembly of the whole people,—it is -clear that the power of self-government is recognized in the latter. - -In order to facilitate reference to the important facts with which this -chapter deals, I have added to it a list of witena gemóts, with here and -there a few remarks upon the business transacted in them. They do not -nearly exhaust the number that must have been held, but still they form -a respectable body of evidence; and we may perhaps be justly surprised, -not that so little, but that so much has survived. We need not lament -that the present forms and powers of our parliament are not those which -existed a thousand years ago, as long as we recognize in them only the -matured development of an old and useful principle. We shall not appeal -to Anglosaxon custom to justify the various points of the Charter; but -we may still be proud to find in their practice the germ of institutions -which we have, throughout all vicissitudes, been taught to cherish as -the most valuable safeguards of our peace as well as our freedom. Truly -there are few nations whose parliamentary history has so ample a -foundation as our own. - - - THE WITENA GEMÓTS OF THE SAXONS. - - ---------- - -ÆÐELBERT OF KENT, A.D. 596-605.—The promulgation of the laws of -Æðelberht took place during the life of Augustine. This fixes their date -between 596, when he arrived in England, and 605, when he died. Beda -tells us that these laws were enacted by the advice of the witan, “cum -consilio sapientium[594].” We may therefore conclude that a gemót was -held in Kent for the purpose: and from the contents of the laws -themselves, it is obvious that the Roman clergy filled an important -place therein. They had probably stepped into the position of the Pagan -priesthood, and improved it. - ------ - -Footnote 594: - - Hist. Eccl. ii. 5. - ------ - -EÁDUUINI OF NORTHUMBERLAND, A.D. 627.—The first witena gemót of which we -have any detailed record was holden in 627, near the city of York, -wherein no less important business was discussed than the desertion of -Paganism and reception of Christianity, by the people of Northumberland. -From Beda[595] we learn that this step was not ventured without the -gravest deliberation; and that Eáduuini had taken good care to sound the -most influential of his nobles, before he called a public meeting to -decide upon the question. Indeed the parts in this great drama appear to -have been arranged beforehand. The interesting account given by -Beda[596] is to this effect. Eáduuini had determined to embrace -Christianity, but still he was not contented, or would not venture, to -do this alone. He wished to extend the blessings of the new faith to his -subjects; perhaps also to avoid the difficulties which might result from -his conversion, while the rest of the people remained pagans. To the -exhortations of the missionary Paulinus he rejoined, “suscipere quidem -se fidem quam docebat, et velle, et debere ... verum adhuc cum amicis, -principibus et consiliariis suis, sese de hoc collaturum esse dicebat; -ut si illi eadem cum illo sentire vellent, omnes pariter in fonte vitae -Christo consecrarentur. Et annuente Paulino, fecit ut dixerat. Habito -enim cum sapientibus consilio, sciscitabatur singillatim ab omnibus, -qualis sibi doctrina haec eatenus inaudita, et novus divinitatis qui -praedicabatur cultus videretur.” The chief of his priests, Cóefi, -immediately commenced an attack upon the ancient religion, and was -followed by other nobles, one of whose speeches, the earliest specimen -of English parliamentary eloquence, is yet on record[597]. “His similia -et caeteri maiores natu ac regis consiliarii, divinitus admoniti, -prosequebantur.” Paulinus was now invited to expound at greater length -the doctrines which he recommended. At the close of his address Cóefi -declared himself a convert, and proposed the destruction of the ancient -fanes. Eáduuini now professed himself a Christian, and in turn demanded -whose duty it was to profane the pagan altars. This Cóefi at once -assumed to himself, and taking the most conspicuous means to demonstrate -to the people (who, the historian says, thought him mad,) his apostasy -from the old creed, hurled his lance into the sacred enclosure, and -commanded its immediate destruction. The scene of this daring act was -Godmundingahám, not far from the British Delgovitia, and now Godmundham -or Goodmanham. The king then as speedily as possible, “citato opere,” -built a wooden basilica in the city of York, in which he was solemnly -baptized on the twelfth of April, being Easter-day. And thus, says the -historian, Eáduuini became a Christian, “cum cunctis gentis suae -nobilibus ac plebe perplurima[598].” - ------ - -Footnote 595: - - Ibid. ii. 9. - -Footnote 596: - - Ibid. ii. 13. - -Footnote 597: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. ii. 13. - -Footnote 598: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. ii. 14. - ------ - -WULFHARI OF MERCIA, A.D. 657.—In this year a witena gemót was probably -held for the endowment and consecration of Saxwulf’s monastery at -Peterborough. This the king is stated to have done by the advice, and -with the consent, of all the witan of his kingdom, both clerical and -lay[599]. The charter in the Saxon Chronicle is a late forgery, but -throws no well-grounded doubt upon the fact. - ------ - -Footnote 599: - - Chron. Sax. an. 657. Cod. Dipl. No. 984. - ------ - -ÓSUUIU OF NORTHUMBERLAND, A.D. 662.—A meeting was held this year at -Streoneshalh, to bring about uniformity of Paschal observance, tonsure, -and other ecclesiastical details. It was presided over by Osuuiu and -Alhfrið[600]. - ------ - -Footnote 600: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. iii. 25. - ------ - -ECGBERHT OF KENT, A.D. 667.—A gemót was probably held in Kent, and -Wighard was elected archbishop of Canterbury[601]. - ------ - -Footnote 601: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. iii. 29. - ------ - -ARCHBISHOP THEODORE, A.D. 673.—In this year was held the synod or gemót -of Hertford[602]. Beda has preserved its ecclesiastical acts. The -seventh provision is an important one, viz. that similar meetings should -be held twice in every year. But this appearing inconvenient, it was -agreed that there should be one, on the first of August yearly at -Clofeshoas. - ------ - -Footnote 602: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. iv. 5. Chron. Sax. an. 673. - ------ - -ARCHBISHOP THEODORE, A.D. 680.—In this year was held the gemót at -Hǽðfeld, in the presence of the kings of Northumberland, Mercia, -Eastanglia and Kent. Its ecclesiastical acts are preserved[603]: they -are particularly directed against the heresy of Eutyches. But there was -a witena gemót at the same time probably to sanction the decision of the -clergy. - ------ - -Footnote 603: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. iv. 17. Chron. Sax. an. 675, 680. Cod. Dipl. No. - 991. - ------ - -ECGFRIÐ OF NORTHUMBERLAND, A.D. 684.—There was a gemót at Twyford, on -the river Alne, and Cúðberht was elected bishop of Hexham[604]. - ------ - -Footnote 604: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. iv. 28. Cod. Dipl. No. 25. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED OF MERCIA, A.D. 685.—A gemót was held on the thirtieth of July -at Berhford, now Burford in Gloucestershire. Berhtwald the subregulus -and Æðelred were probably both present[605]. - ------ - -Footnote 605: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 26. - ------ - -WIHTRAED OF KENT, A.D. 696.—Immediately upon Wihtraed’s accession[606] -he held a great council, “mycel consilium,” or gemót of his witan, to -settle the ecclesiastical and secular difficulties which had arisen -during the civil wars of his predecessors and his own struggle for the -throne. The gemót was held at Beorganstede, now Berstead in Kent. Its -acts are extant in the laws which yet go under Wihtraed’s name[607]. -Another gemót of Wihtraed’s, said by the Chronicle[608] to have been -held in 694 at Baccanceld, now Bapchild, in Kent, confirmed the -liberties of the Kentish clergy. - ------ - -Footnote 606: - - The Saxon Chronicle, which often errs in its dates by two years, puts - this in 694. But the year 696 is ascertained by the indiction, which - was the ninth. - -Footnote 607: - - Thorpe, i. 36. - -Footnote 608: - - Chron. Sax. an. 694. Cod. Dipl. No. 996. - ------ - -INI OF WESSEX, A.D. 704.—A witena gemót was held by Ini at Eburleáh, in -which, with the consent of his witan, he gave certain privileges to the -monasteries of Wessex[609]. Its acts were signed by the principes, -senatores, iudices and patricii present. We learn also from a charter of -Aldhelm[610], that before 705, a council had been held upon the banks of -the river Woder, which is possibly the “synodus suae gentis” mentioned -by Beda[611]. - ------ - -Footnote 609: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 50, 51. - -Footnote 610: - - Ibid. No. 54. - -Footnote 611: - - Hist. Eccl. v. 18. - ------ - -ÓSRAED OF NORTHUMBERLAND, A.D. 705.—Upon the death of Aldfrið in 705, a -gemót was held upon the banks of the Nidd, and after long debates bishop -Wilfrið was restored to his see and possessions[612]. - ------ - -Footnote 612: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. v. 19. - ------ - -A.D. 710.—In this year a gemót appears to have been held, in which -Sussex was erected into a separate see, and severed from the diocese of -Winchester[613]. - ------ - -Footnote 613: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. v. 18. - ------ - -ARCHBISHOP NÓÐHELM, A.D. 734-737.—Difficulties having arisen about the -possession and patronage of certain monasteries, the case was referred -to and decided by a synod, “sancta sacerdotalis concilii synodus,” which -must have met between 734-737. It seems to have been purely -ecclesiastical, and its acts are signed only by the bishops who were -present[614]. Yet as its judgment involved a question of property, and -title to lands, I presume that the case was laid before a mixed gemót, -sitting very possibly in different chambers. If so, the record we have -is that of the clerical house only. - ------ - -Footnote 614: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 82. - ------ - -ÆÐELBALD OF MERCIA, A.D. 742.—In this year a great council, “magnum -concilium,” was held at Clofeshoas, under Æðelbald, and Cúðbeorht, -archbishop of Canterbury. It took into consideration the state of the -church; but it was clearly a witena gemót, and its acts are signed by -clerks and laymen indifferently[615]. - ------ - -Footnote 615: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 87. - ------ - -ÆÐELBALD OF MERCIA, A.D. 749.—A witena gemót was held at Godmundes leáh -in this year. Ecclesiastical liberties were again provided for[616]. - ------ - -Footnote 616: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 99. - ------ - -A.D. 755.—A witena gemót in Wessex must have been held in this year, for -the deposing of Sigebeorht and election of Cynewulf to the throne[617]. - ------ - -Footnote 617: - - Chron. Sax. an. 755. Flor. Wig. 755. Æðelw. ii. 17. Hen. Hunt. lib. - iv. See the remarks in the text, p. 219 _seq._ of this volume. - ------ - -OFFA OF MERCIA, A.D. 780.—A gemót called “synodale conciliabulum” was -held this year at Brentford. It transacted various business of a secular -character[618]. - ------ - -Footnote 618: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 139, 140, 143. - ------ - -A.D. 782.—A gemót was held at Acleáh, now Ockley in Surrey[619]. - ------ - -Footnote 619: - - Chron. Sax. an. 782. - ------ - -OFFA OF MERCIA, A.D. 785.—In this year was held the stormy synod of -Cealchýð, in which the province of Canterbury was partitioned; and the -archbishopric of Lichfield founded[620]. It was clearly a witena gemót; -as Offa caused his son Ecgferhð to be elected king by the meeting. - ------ - -Footnote 620: - - Chron. Sax. an. 785. Flor. Wig. 785. - ------ - -A.D. 787.—In this year there was another gemót; “synodalis conventus,” -at Ockley[621]. - ------ - -Footnote 621: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 151. - ------ - -OFFA OF MERCIA, A.D. 788.—A gemót was held at Cealchýð[622]. And in the -same year; according to the Chronicle and Florence[623]; but one year -sooner according to Simeon Dunelmensis[624], was held the synod of -Pincanhealh in Northumberland. - ------ - -Footnote 622: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 153. - -Footnote 623: - - Chron. Sax. an. 788. Flor. Wig. 788. - -Footnote 624: - - Sim. Dunelm. 787. - ------ - -OFFA OF MERCIA, A.D. 789.—In this year another gemót was held at -Cealchýð, where a good deal of secular business was transacted[625]. In -the second document cited in the note it is called “pontificale -conciliabulum,” and this charter is signed only by the king and the -bishops. - -Another gemót is also said to have been held at Ockley[626]; but the -known error of two years in the dates of the Chronicle may make us -suspect that this really met in 791. - ------ - -Footnote 625: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 155, 156, 157. - -Footnote 626: - - Chron. Sax. an. 789. - ------ - -OFFA OF MERCIA; A.D. 790.—A great gemót was held this year in London; on -Whitsunday[627]. - ------ - -Footnote 627: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 159. - ------ - -OFFA OF MERCIA, A.D. 793.—A gemót at Cealchýð, called “conventus -synodalis”[628]. Also about this time a gemót at Verulam, “concilium -episcoporum et optimatum,”[629] - ------ - -Footnote 628: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 162. - -Footnote 629: - - Rog. Wend. i. 257. - ------ - -OFFA OF MERCIA, A.D. 794.—A gemót at Clofeshoas, called “synodus,” and -“concilium synodale”[630]. - ------ - -Footnote 630: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 164, 167. - ------ - -ECGFERHÐ OF MERCIA, A.D. 796.—A gemót at Cealchýð, called probably in -consequence of Offa’s death, and for reformation of affairs in the -church[631]. - ------ - -Footnote 631: - - Chron. Sax. an. 796. Cod. Dipl. Nos. 172, 173. - ------ - -CÉNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 798.—A gemót, called “synodus,” the place of -which is not known. The business recorded is merely secular[632]. Before -the signatures occur the words: “Haec sunt nomina episcoporum ac -principum qui hoc mecum in synodo consentientes subscripserunt.” The -signatures comprise the names of several laics,—a plain proof that the -word _synodus_ is not confined to ecclesiastical meetings. Another, or -perhaps the same, at Baccanceld, Bapchild, in Kent, where the clergy -made a declaration of liberties[633]. Another and very solemn one at -Clofeshoas[634]. - ------ - -Footnote 632: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 175. - -Footnote 633: - - Ibid. No. 1018. - -Footnote 634: - - Ibid. No. 1019. - ------ - -CÉNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 799.—A gemót of the witan was held this year at -Colleshyl, probably Coleshill in Berkshire[635]. - ------ - -Footnote 635: - - Ibid. No. 176. - ------ - -CÉNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 799-802.—Between these two years there was a -gemót, called “synodale conciliabulum,” at Cealchýð, in which secular -business was transacted. The signature of the king to one of its acts is -double; first at the head of the clergy, and then again at the head of -the lay nobles[636]. - ------ - -Footnote 636: - - Ibid. No. 116. Another act, Ibid. No. 1023. - -CÉNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 803.—In the year 803 was held a memorable synod -at Clofeshoas, which lasted from the ninth till the twelfth of October. -Affairs of great importance were discussed. The principal object of the -meeting was to restore the ancient splendour of Canterbury by the -abrogation of the archiepiscopal see at Lichfield, and further to secure -the liberties of the church. We have two solemn acts, dated on the -twelfth of October[637]: the signatures are exclusively those of -clerics. The second of those documents deserves the highest attention, -as the signatures may be taken to represent the members of a full -convocation of the clergy, called for a most important purpose. But it -is nevertheless certain that a general meeting of the witan took place -at the same time, for on the sixth of October they heard and determined -causes relating to landed property, and various laymen signed the -acts[638]. Moreover an archbishopric established by a witena gemót could -only be abrogated by another,—not by a mere assemblage of clergymen, -however dignified and influential they might be. - ------ - -Footnote 637: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 185, 1024. - -Footnote 638: - - Ibid. Nos. 183, 184. - ------ - -CÉNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 804.—There was a “synodus” in this year at -Clofeshoas, the nature of the business transacted in which and before -whom transacted, appears from these words following[639]:—“Anno ab -incarnatione Christi 804, indictione duodecima, ego Æðelríc filius -Æðelmundi cum conscientia synodali invitatus ad synodum, et in iudicio -stare, in loco qui dicitur Clofeshoh, cum libris et ruris, id est, æt -Westmynster, quod prius propinqui mei tradiderunt mihi et donaverunt, -ibi Æðelheardus archiepiscopus mihi regebat atque iudicaverat, cum -testimonio Coenwulfi regis, et optimatibus eius, coram omni synodo, -quando scripturas meas perscrutarent, ut liber essem terram meam atque -libellos dare quocumque volui.” He had been regularly summoned to appear -before the synodus, as a court of justice. - ------ - -Footnote 639: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 186. - ------ - -CÉNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 805.—A witena gemót was held at Ockley, a -favourite locality[640]. - ------ - -Footnote 640: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 190. - ------ - -CÉNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 810.—Another gemót, “sancta synodus,” sat at -Ockley, and decided a lawsuit between Æðelhelm, and Beornðryð, the widow -of Óswulf, duke of Kent[641]. - ------ - -Footnote 641: - - Ibid. No. 256. - ------ - -CÉNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 811.—A great gemót, “concilium pergrande,” was -held this year in London[642]. In the same year a great gemót was -collected at Wincelcumbe, Winchcomb in Gloucestershire, for the -dedication of Cénwulf’s new abbey there[643]. - ------ - -Footnote 642: - - Ibid. Nos. 196, 220. - -Footnote 643: - - Ibid. No. 197. Chron. MS. Wincelc. an. 811. - ------ - -CÉNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 815.—In this year a gemót assembled at -Cealchýð[644]. - ------ - -Footnote 644: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 208. - ------ - -BEORNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 824.—At a meeting held this year at -Clofeshoas, there attended a considerable number of laymen, as well as -prelates: the gemót however is called “pontificate et synodale -conciliabulum[645].” In 824 there was also a gemót of Wessex at Ockley -in Surrey. Ecgberht gave Meon to Wulfward his praefectus or geréfa. The -act is signed by four geréfan[646]. - ------ - -Footnote 645: - - Ibid. No. 218. - -Footnote 646: - - Ibid. No. 1031. - ------ - -BEORNWULF OF MERCIA, A.D. 825.—A gemót was held also at Clofeshoas in -825; this is called “sionoðlíc gemót”[647], and it is stated that there -were assembled the bishops, ealdormen, and all the weotan of the nation: -one act of this gemót[648] declares it to have consisted of the king, -bishops, abbots, dukes, “omniumque dignitatum optimates, -aecclesiasticarum vel saecularium personarum[649].” The acts of this -council are signed by no less than one hundred and twenty-one persons, -of whom ninety-five are clerical, embracing all ranks from bishops to -deacons. But one reason for this large attendance is, that as some cases -of disputed title were to be decided by the gemót, these monks and -clerks attended in order to make oath to the property in dispute. - ------ - -Footnote 647: - - Ibid. No. 219. - -Footnote 648: - - Ibid. No. 220: see also No. 1034. - -Footnote 649: - - In some Saxon original, no doubt, “and eal dúgoð, ge cyriclíces ge - woroldlíces hádes.” - ------ - -ECGBERHT OF WESSEX, A.D. 826.—In 825 Ecgberht had taken the field -against the Welsh. He seems to have made various grants while _in -hoste_. These were afterwards confirmed and reduced to writing by a -gemót held in 826 at Southampton[650]. - ------ - -Footnote 650: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 1035, 1036, 1038. - ------ - -ECGBERHT OF WESSEX and ÆÐELWULF OF KENT, A.D. 838.—In this year there -was a council at Kingston, under these kings, Ceólnóð the archbishop, -and the prelates of his province. Secular affairs of great importance -were settled on this occasion, and a regular treaty of peace and -alliance agreed between the Kentish clergy and the kings[651]. At first -this was signed only by Ceólnóð and the clergy; but for further -confirmation it was taken to king Æðelwulf at the royal vill of Wilton, -and there executed by the king, his dukes and thanes. Another document -exists in which the clergy of Winchester enter into similar engagements -with the kings[652]. - ------ - -Footnote 651: - - Ibid. No. 240. - -Footnote 652: - - Ibid. No. 1044. - ------ - -ÆÐELWULF OF WESSEX, A.D. 839.—The treaty mentioned in the last article -was read in a council of all the southern bishops, held at Astra[653]. - ------ - -Footnote 653: - - Ibid. No. 240. - ------ - -ÆÐELWULF OF WESSEX, ÆÐELSTÁN OF KENT, A.D. 844.—A gemót at Canterbury, -attended by the kings, the archbishop, the bishop elect of Rochester, -“cum principibus, ducibus, abbatibus, et cunctis generalis dignitatis -optimatibus[654].” - ------ - -Footnote 654: - - Ibid. No. 256. - ------ - -ÆÐELWULF OF WESSEX, A.D. 851.—The very questionable authority of Ingulph -mentions a witena gemót this year at Cyningesbyrig[655]. - ------ - -Footnote 655: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 265. - ------ - -BURHHRED OF MERCIA, A.D. 853.—This year, the Chronicle says[656], a -formal application was made by the Mercian king Burhhred and his witan -for military aid, in order to the subjugation of the Northern Britons. -This seems to imply a regular meeting in Mercia. - ------ - -Footnote 656: - - Chron. Sax. an. 853. - ------ - -ÆÐELWULF OF WESSEX, A.D. 855.—In this year there was a gemót at -Winchester[657]. - ------ - -Footnote 657: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 275. - ------ - -BURHHRED OF MERCIA, A.D. 868.—In this year the Mercian witan applied to -those of Wessex for aid against the Danes. We may conclude that gemóts -were held both in Mercia and Wessex[658]. - ------ - -Footnote 658: - - Chron. Sax. an. 868. - ------ - -A.D. 866-871.—We learn from king Ælfred himself that there was a witena -gemót at Swínbeorh in some year between these limits, wherein the -successions to lands, among the members of the royal family, were -settled, and placed under the guarantee of the witan[659]. - ------ - -Footnote 659: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 314. - ------ - -ÆLFRED OF WESSEX, A.D. 878.—In this year there was a gemót, very -probably at Wedmore[660], where the Dane Guðorm made his submission to -Ælfred, and where the articles of peace between the Saxons and Danes -were settled[661]. - ------ - -Footnote 660: - - Chron. Sax. an. 878. Flor. Wig. 878. - -Footnote 661: - - Thorpe, i. 152 _seq._ - ------ - -ÆLFRED OF WESSEX, A.D. 880-885.—A gemót sat at Langandene between these -two years, and the affairs of Ælfred’s family were again considered. The -validity of king Æðelwulf’s will was admitted, and Ælfred’s settlement -of his lands guaranteed[659]. - -ÆÐELRED, DUKE OF MERCIA, A.D. 883.—In this year the witan of Mercia met -at Risborough, under Æðelred their duke[662]: an interesting -circumstance, inasmuch as it shows that the union with Wessex did not -abrogate the ancient rights, or interfere with the independent action of -the Mercian witan. - ------ - -Footnote 662: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1066. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, DUKE OF MERCIA, A.D. 888.—This gemót was held at Saltwíc in -Worcestershire, to consult upon affairs both ecclesiastical and secular. -The witan assembled from far and near[663]. - ------ - -Footnote 663: - - Ibid. Nos. 327, 1068. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, DUKE OF MERCIA, A.D. 896.—Another gemót of the Mercians was -held this year at Gloucester, whose interesting acts are yet -preserved[664]. - ------ - -Footnote 664: - - Ibid. No. 1073. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, DUKE OF MERCIA, A.D. 878-899.—At a gemót held between these -years, and very likely at Worcester, Æðelred and Æðelflǽd commanded a -burh or fortification to be built for the people of that city, and the -cathedral to be enlarged. The endowments and privileges which are -granted by the instrument are extensive and instructive[665]. - ------ - -Footnote 665: - - Ibid. No. 1075. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD OF WESSEX, A.D. 901.—The death of Ælfred, and Eádweard’s -election probably caused an assembly of witan at Winchester in this -year[666], and it is likely that we still possess one of its acts[667]. -This is the more probable because Æðelwald, Eádweard’s cousin, disputed -the succession, and not only seized upon the royal vill of Wimborne, -which he is said to have done without the consent of the king and his -witan, but broke into open rebellion, and after being acknowledged king -in Essex, joined the Danes in Northumberland, and perished in an -unsuccessful battle against his countrymen. - ------ - -Footnote 666: - - Chron. Sax. an. 901. - -Footnote 667: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1087. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, DUKE OF MERCIA, A.D. 904.—In this year a Mercian gemót was -held, and duke Æðelfrið obtained permission to have new charters -written, his own having perished by fire[668]. And a gemót of the -Westsaxon witan was held at the king’s hunting-seat of Bicanleáh[669]. -About the same period a gemót of Wessex was held at Exeter by -Eádweard[670]. - ------ - -Footnote 668: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 338. - -Footnote 669: - - Ibid. Nos. 1082, 1084. - -Footnote 670: - - Leg. Eádw. § 4. Thorpe, i. 162. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD OF WESSEX, A.D. 909.—A gemót of Wessex was held in 909: its -acts are signed by fifty of the witan[671]. - ------ - -Footnote 671: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1091. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD OF WESSEX, A.D. 910.—A gemót was held in Wessex this year[672]. -And there appears to have been another at Aylesford in Kent, in which -the witan gave judgment in the suit between Góda and queen Eádgyfu[673]. - ------ - -Footnote 672: - - Ibid. No. 1096. - -Footnote 673: - - Ibid. No. 499. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD OF WESSEX, A.D. 911.—In this year a gemót was probably held, in -which terms of peace were offered to the Danes in Northumberland[674]. -But this may possibly be only the last-named gemót in 910, as we know -that Eádweard was in Kent in 911. - ------ - -Footnote 674: - - Chron. Sax. an. 911. - ------ - -ÆÐELSTÁN, A.D. 925 or 926.—About this date a gemót was held by Æðelstán -at Ham near Lewes, and the suit between Góda and Eádgyfu was again -decided by public authority[675]. - ------ - -Footnote 675: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 499. - ------ - -ÆÐELSTÁN, A.D. 928.—A solemn gemót was held this year at Exeter[676]. - ------ - -Footnote 676: - - Ibid. No. 1101. - ------ - -ÆÐELSTÁN, A.D. 930.—In this year the gemót met at Nottingham. It was -attended by three Welsh princes, the archbishops and sixteen bishops, -thirteen dukes, twelve thanes, twelve untitled persons, “et plures alii -milites quorum nomina in eadem carta inseruntur.” There are fifty-eight -signatures[677]. - ------ - -Footnote 677: - - Ibid. No. 352. - ------ - -ÆÐELSTÁN, A.D. 931.—In this year several gemóts were held. First, one at -Luton in Bedfordshire, signed by 106 persons[678]. One at Worðig, “cum -tota plebis generalitate[679].” One at Colchester[680], and one at -Wellow in Wilts[681]. - ------ - -Footnote 678: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 353. - -Footnote 679: - - Ibid. No. 1103. - -Footnote 680: - - Ibid. No. 1102. - -Footnote 681: - - Ibid. No. 1105. - ------ - -ÆÐELSTÁN, A.D. 932.—There was a gemót at Amesbury, said to be attended -by the dukes, bishops, abbots and “patriae procuratores”[682]. Also one -at Middleton, in which the same words occur: the signatures amount to -ninety, and comprise four Welsh princes, nineteen archbishops and -bishops, fifteen dukes, four abbots, and forty-seven ministri or -thanes[683]. - ------ - -Footnote 682: - - Ibid. No. 361. - -Footnote 683: - - Ibid. Nos. 1107, 1108. - ------ - -ÆÐELSTÁN, A.D. 934.—A gemót was held in London on the seventh of -June[684]; but on the twenty-eighth of May there was a great meeting at -Winchester, “tota populi generalitate.” The total number of names is -ninety-two[685]. Again on the twelfth of September, the king was at -Buckingham, and there held a gemót, “tota magnatorum generalitate[686].” - ------ - -Footnote 684: - - Ibid. No. 361. - -Footnote 685: - - Ibid. No. 364. - -Footnote 686: - - Ibid. No. 365. - ------ - -ÆÐELSTÁN, A.D. 935.—On the twenty-first of September in this year there -was a gemót at Dorchester, “tota optimatum generalitate[687],” - ------ - -Footnote 687: - - Ibid. Nos. 367, 1112. - ------ - -ÆÐELSTÁN, A.D. 937.—A gemót was held, “archiepiscopis, episcopis, -ducibus et principibus Anglorum insimul pro regni utilitate -coadunatis[688].” - ------ - -Footnote 688: - - Ibid. No. 1113. - ------ - -An undated charter of Æðelstán[689] records a meeting of witan at -Abingdon: a grant was made to the abbey. The archbishop, bishops and -abbots present solemnly excommunicated any one who should disturb the -grant; to which all the people present exclaimed, “So be it! Amen.” “Et -dixit omnis populus qui ibi aderat, Fiat, Fiat. Amen.” “And cwæð ealle -ðæt folc ðe ðǽr embstód, Sy hit swá. Amen. Amen.” - ------ - -Footnote 689: - - Ibid. No. 1129. - ------ - -Gemóts of Æðelstán’s, the dates of which are uncertain, were held at -Witlanburh[690], Greátanleá[691], Fevershám[692], Thundersfield[693], -and Exeter[694]. - ------ - -Footnote 690: - - Thorpe, i. 240. - -Footnote 691: - - Ibid. i. 194. - -Footnote 692: - - Thorpe, i. 216. - -Footnote 693: - - Ibid. i. 217. - -Footnote 694: - - Ibid. i. 220. This however may have been in 926, when Æðelstán was in - that city. - ------ - -EÁDMUND, before A.D. 946.—This prince held at least two gemóts, one at -London, one at Culintún, but in what years is uncertain[695]. - ------ - -Footnote 695: - - Leg. Eádm. Thorpe, i. 244, 252. - ------ - -EÁDRED, A.D. 946.—This year there was a gemót at Kingston, and king -Eádred was crowned[696]. - ------ - -Footnote 696: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 411. - ------ - -EÁDRED, A.D. 947.—In this year there was at least one witena gemót, in -which the terms of peace with the Northumbrian witan were arranged[697]. -There were others also in Mercia, and I have little doubt that all the -charters bearing that date in the Codex Diplomaticus are really acts of -such meetings. - ------ - -Footnote 697: - - Chron. Sax. an. 947. - ------ - -EÁDRED, A.D. 948.—In this year the witan of Northumberland having -elected a king Eirik, Eádred marched into their country and plundered -it; upon which they again made a formal submission to him[698]. - ------ - -Footnote 698: - - Chron. Sax. an. 948. - ------ - -Between 960-963.—In one of these years a gemót was held, but the place -is unknown, and Eádgyfu ultimately succeeded in putting an end to the -pretensions of Goda’s family[699]. - ------ - -Footnote 699: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 499. - ------ - -EÁDGÁR, A.D. 966.—A gemót in London[700]. - ------ - -Footnote 700: - - Ibid. No. 528. - ------ - -EÁDGÁR, A.D. 968.—A gemót was held at some place unknown[701]. - ------ - -Footnote 701: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 1265, 1266. - ------ - -EÁDGÁR, A.D. 973.—A great gemót was held in St. Paul’s church, -London[702]. - ------ - -Footnote 702: - - Ibid. No. 580. - ------ - -EÁDGÁR, A.D. 977.—After Easter (April 8th), there was held a great -gemót, “ðæt mycele gemót,” at Kirtlington in Oxfordshire[703]. - ------ - -Footnote 703: - - Chron. Sax. an. 977. - ------ - -EÁDGÁR, A.D. 978.—In this year was held the celebrated gemót at Calne in -Wiltshire, when the floor gave way and precipitated the witan to the -ground[704]. There was another gemót at Ceodre, now Cheddar in -Somersetshire[705]. - ------ - -Footnote 704: - - Ibid. an. 978. - -Footnote 705: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 598. - ------ - -In addition to these Eádgár held at least two gemóts, one at Andover in -Hants, one at a place called Wihtbordesstán, which we cannot now -identify. In both of these meetings laws were passed[706]. - ------ - -Footnote 706: - - Thorpe, i. 272. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 979.—A gemót was held at Kingston for the coronation of -Æðelred[707]. - ------ - -Footnote 707: - - Chron. Sax. an. 979. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 992.—In this year there were probably several witena -gemóts for the prosecution of the Danish war[708]. - ------ - -Footnote 708: - - Ibid. an. 992. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 993.—In this year there was at least one gemót at -Winchester[709]. - ------ - -Footnote 709: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 684. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 994.—A witena gemót met this year at Andover[710]. - ------ - -Footnote 710: - - Chron. Sax. an. 994. Ll. Æðelr. 11. Thorpe, i. 284. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 995.—A gemót at Ambresbyrig, now Amesbury, where Ælfríc -was elected archbishop of Canterbury in the place of Sigeríc[711]. There -seems to have been another meeting in the same year, one of whose acts -we still possess[712]. - ------ - -Footnote 711: - - Chron. Sax. an. 995. - -Footnote 712: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 692. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 996.—In this year a gemót was held at Cealchýð[713]. - -Footnote 713: - - Ibid. No. 696. - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 997.—This year a gemót was held in the palace at Calne: -“collecta haud minima sapientium multitudine, in aula villae regiae quae -nuncupative a populis Et Calnæ vocitatur[714].” A few days later we find -the gemót assembled at Waneting or Wantage; and here they promulgated -laws which we yet possess[715]. There is a charter also, passed at this -gemót[716]. A previous gemót of uncertain year had been held at -Brómdún[717], and another at Woodstock[718]. - ------ - -Footnote 714: - - Ibid. No. 698. - -Footnote 715: - - Thorpe, i. 292. - -Footnote 716: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 698. - -Footnote 717: - - Thorpe, i. 280, 294. - -Footnote 718: - - Ibid. i. 280. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 998.—A gemót was held this year in London[719]; and -another apparently at Andover[720], where conditions of peace were -ratified with Anláf or Olaf Tryggvason[721]. - ------ - -Footnote 719: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 702. - -Footnote 720: - - Chron. Sax. an. 998. - -Footnote 721: - - Thorpe, i. 284. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 999.—At least one gemót was held this year, to concert -measures of defence against the Danes[722]. - ------ - -Footnote 722: - - Chron. Sax. an. 999. - ------ - -A.D. 996-1001.—Between these years there was a gemót at Cócham, now -Cookham in Berks, which was attended by a large assemblage of thanes -from Wessex and Mercia, both of Saxon and Danish descent[723]. - ------ - -Footnote 723: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 704. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1002.—In this year the witan met and paid tribute to the -Danes[724]. We have still an evident act of such a gemót in this -year[725]. - ------ - -Footnote 724: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1002 - -Footnote 725: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 707. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1004.—In this year a meeting of the Eastanglian witan, -under earl Ulfcytel, took place. From the description I do not think it -could have been an ordinary scírgemót. It shows, at any rate, that the -witan were resident in the shires, and not permanently attached to the -royal person or household[726]. - ------ - -Footnote 726: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1004. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1006.—Another gemót was held this year, somewhere in -Shropshire, for the melancholy and shameful purpose of buying peace from -the Danes[727]. - ------ - -Footnote 727: - - Ibid. an. 1006. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1008.—A gemót was held, one of whose acts we have -still[728]. - ------ - -Footnote 728: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1305. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1009.—In this year we are told that the king and his -heáhwitan met; but the place is unknown[729]. - ------ - -Footnote 729: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1009. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1010.—In this year a gemót was proclaimed, to concert -measures of defence against the Danes[730]. “Ðonne beád man eallan witan -tó cynge, and man sceólde ðonne rǽdan hú man ðisne eard werian sceólde.” - ------ - -Footnote 730: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1010. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1011.—A gemót was again held for the shameful purpose of -buying peace[731]. - ------ - -Footnote 731: - - Ibid. an. 1011. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1012.—At Easter (April 13th) there was a great meeting at -London, and tribute was paid to the Danes[732]. - ------ - -Footnote 732: - - Ibid. an. 1012. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1014.—In this year was holden that important gemót, -perhaps we might say convention, which has been mentioned in the text; -when the witan, upon the death of Swegen, consented again to receive -Æðelred as king, upon promises of amendment[733]. - ------ - -Footnote 733: - - Ibid. an. 1014. - ------ - -ÆÐELRED, A.D. 1015.—In this year was the great gemót of Oxford, “ðæt -mycel gemót,” and Sigeferð and Morcar the powerful earls of the north -were slain[734]. - ------ - -Footnote 734: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1015. - ------ - -It is uncertain in what years we must place the promulgation of -Æðelred’s laws[735], at Enham, and Haba[736]; and others without date or -place. - ------ - -Footnote 735: - - Thorpe, i. 314. - -Footnote 736: - - Thorpe, i. 366. - ------ - -EÁDMUND ÍRENSÍDA, A.D. 1016.—In this year there must have been various -meetings of the witan, if tumultuous and armed assemblages can claim the -name of witena gemóts at all. The witan in London elected Eádmund king; -and there was a meeting at Olney, near Deerhurst, where the kingdom was -partitioned[737]. - ------ - -Footnote 737: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1016. - ------ - -A.D. 1016-1020.—Probably between these years was the great gemót at -Winchester, in which Cnut promulgated his laws[738]. - ------ - -Footnote 738: - - Thorpe, i. 358. - ------ - -CNUT, A.D. 1020.—In this year was a great gemót at Cirencester[739]. - ------ - -Footnote 739: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1020. - ------ - -HARALD HARANFOT, A.D. 1036.—Upon the death of Cnut, there was a gemót at -Oxford, and Harald was elected king[740]. - ------ - -Footnote 740: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1036. - ------ - -HARDACNUT, A.D. 1042.—In this year there was probably a gemót at -Sutton[741]. And another on Hardacnut’s death, when all the people chose -Eádweard the Confessor to be king[742]. - ------ - -Footnote 741: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 765, 766. - -Footnote 742: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1042. At Gillingham. Will. Malm. i. 332, § 197. “Nihil - erat quod Edwardus pro necessitate temporis non polliceretur, ita, - utrinque fide data, quicquid petebatur sacramento firmavit. Nec mora - Gillingcham congregato concilio, rationibus suis explicitis, regem - effecit (Godwinus) hominio palam omnibus dato: homo affectati leporis, - et ingenue gentilitia lingua eloquens, mirus dicere, mirus populo - persuadere quae placerent. Quidam auctoritatem eius secuti, quidam - muneribus flexi, quidam etiam debitum Edwardi amplexi.” - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1043.—A witena gemót was held at Winchester, April 3rd, -and Eádweard was crowned[743]. - ------ - -Footnote 743: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1043. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1044.—There was a gemót, “generale concilium,” in London; -the only business recorded is the election of Manni, abbot of -Evesham[744]; but there is a charter[745]. - ------ - -Footnote 744: - - Flor. Wig. an. 1044. - -Footnote 745: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 776, 777. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1045.—There seems to have been a gemót this year[746]. - ------ - -Footnote 746: - - Ibid. Nos. 779, 783. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1046.—A gemót, the place of which is unknown[747]. - ------ - -Footnote 747: - - Ibid. No. 786. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1047.—On the 10th of March this year there was “mycel -gemót” in London[748]. - ------ - -Footnote 748: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1047. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1048.—A gemót sat on the 8th of September at -Gloucester[749]; and on the 21st of September, another met in London, -and outlawed the family of earl Godwine. - ------ - -Footnote 749: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1048. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1050.—There was a great gemót in London[750]. - ------ - -Footnote 750: - - Ibid. an. 1050. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1052, 1053.—A gemót, place unknown[751]. - ------ - -Footnote 751: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 799. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1055.—A gemót in London[752]. - ------ - -Footnote 752: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1055. - ------ - -EÁDWEARD, A.D. 1065.—There was a great gemót at Northampton[753], -Another was held at Oxford on the 28th of October[753], and lastly at -Christmas in London[753]. At this Eádweard dedicated Westminster Abbey, -and dying on the 5th of January, 1066, the assembled witan elected -Harald king. - ------ - -Footnote 753: - - Ibid. an. 1065. - ------ - -Having now completed this list, which must be confessed to be but an -imperfect one, I do not scruple to express my belief that every charter -in the Codex Diplomaticus, which is not merely a private will or private -settlement, is the genuine act of some witena gemót: and that we thus -possess a long and interesting series of records, enabling us to follow -the action of the Saxon Parliaments from the very cradle of our -monarchy. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - THE TOWNS. - - -We have now arrived at that point of our enquiry at which it behoves us -to bestow our attention upon the origin and growth of towns among the -Anglosaxons; and to this end we shall find it expedient to carry our -researches to a still earlier period, and investigate, though in a -slight degree, the condition of their British and Roman predecessors in -this respect. At first sight it would seem natural to suppose that where -a race had long possessed the outward means and form of civilization,—a -race among whom great military and civil establishments had been -founded, who had clustered round provincial cities, the seats of a -powerful government, and whose ports and harbours had been the scenes of -active commerce,—there need be little question as to the origin of towns -and cities among those who conquered and dispossessed them. It might be -imagined that the later comers would have nothing more to do than seize -upon the seats from which they had expelled their predecessors, and -apply to their own uses the established instruments of convenience, of -wealth or safety. Further enquiry however proves that this induction -would be erroneous, and that the Saxons did not settle in the Roman -towns. The reason of this is not difficult to assign: a city is the -result of a system of cultivation, and it is of no use whatever to a -race whose system differs entirely from that of the race by whom it was -founded. The Curia and the temple, the theatre and thermae, house joined -to house and surrounded by a dense quadrangular wall, crowding into a -defined and narrow space the elements of civilization, are -unintelligible to him whose whole desire centres in the undisturbed -enjoyment of his éðel, and unlimited command of the mark. The buildings -of a centralized society are as little calculated for his use as their -habits and institutions: as well might it have been proposed to him to -substitute the jurisdiction of the _praetor urbanus_ for the national -tribunal of the folcmót. The spirit of life is totally different: as -different are all the social institutions, and all the details which -arise from these and tend to confirm and perpetuate them. - -Nevertheless we cannot doubt that the existence of the British and Roman -cities did materially influence the mode and nature of the German -settlements; and without some slight sketch of the growth and -development of the former, we shall find it impossible to form a clear -notion of the conditions under which the Anglosaxon polity was formed. - -If we may implicitly trust the report of Caesar, a British city in his -time differed widely from what we understand by that term. A spot -difficult of access from the trees which filled it, surrounded with a -rampart and a ditch, and which offered a refuge from the sudden -incursions of an enemy, could be dignified by the name of an _oppidum_, -and form the metropolis of Cassivelaunus[754]. Such also among the -Slavonians were the _vici_, encircled by an _abbatis_ of timber, or at -most a paling, proper to repel not only an unexpected attack, but even -capable of resisting for a time the onset of practised forces: such in -our own time have been found the stockades of the Burmese, and the Pah -of the New Zealander: and if our skilful engineers have experienced no -contemptible resistance, and the lives of many brave and disciplined men -have been sacrificed in their reduction, we may admit that even the -_oppida_ of Cassivelaunus, or Caratac or Galgacus, might, as fortresses, -have serious claims to the attention of a Roman commander. But such an -_oppidum_ is no town or city in the sense in which those words are -contemplated throughout this chapter: by a town I certainly intend a -place enclosed in some manner, and even fortified: but much more those -who dwell together in such a place, and the means by which they either -rule themselves, or are ruled. I mean a metaphysical as well as a -physical unit,—not exclusively what was a collection of dwellings or a -fortification, but a centre of trade and manufacture and civilization. - ------ - -Footnote 754: - - Bell. Gall. v. 21. Caesar stormed it, and had therefore good means of - knowing what it was. His further information was probably derived from - his British ally Comius. Strabo gives a very similar account: πόλεις - δ’ αὐτων εἰσιν οἱ δρυμοι’· περιφράξαντες γὰρ δένδρεσι καταβεβλημένοις - εὐρυχωρῆ κύκλον καλυβοποιοῦνται, καὶ τὰ βοσκήματα κατκσταθμέυουσιν, οὐ - πρὸς πολὺν χρόνον. lib. iv. - ------ - -If the Romans found none such, at least they left them, in every part of -Britain. The record of their gradual and successive advance shows that, -partly with a politic view of securing their conquests, partly with the -necessary aim of conciliating their soldiery, they did establish -numerous _municipia_ and _coloniae_ here, as well as military stations -which in time became the nuclei of towns. - -It is however scarcely possible that Caesar and Strabo can be strictly -accurate in their reports, or that there were from the first only such -towns in Britain as these authors have described. It is not consonant to -experience that a thickly peopled and peaceful country[755] should long -be without cities. A commercial people[756] always have some settled -stations for the collection and interchange of commodities, and fixed -establishments for the regulation of trade. Caesar himself tells us that -the buildings of the Britons were very numerous, and that they bore a -resemblance to those of the Gauls[757], whose cities were assuredly -considerable. Moreover a race so conversant with the management of -horses as to use armed chariots for artillery, are not likely to have -been without an extensive system of roads, and where there are roads, -towns will not long be wanting. Hence when, less than eighty years after -the return of the Romans to Britain, and scarcely forty after the -complete subjugation of the island by Agricola, Ptolemy tells us of at -least fifty-six cities in existence here[758], we may reasonably -conclude that they were not all due to the efforts of Roman -civilization. - -Footnote 755: - - “Hominum est infinita multitudo.” Bell. Gall. v. 12. Εἶναι δὲ καὶ - πολυάνθρωπον τὴν νῆσον ... βασιλεῖς τε καὶ δυνάστας πολλοὺς ἔχειν, καὶ - πρὸς ἀλλήλους κατὰ τὸ πλεῖστον εἰρηνικῶς διακεῖσθαι. Diodor. Sicul. v. - 21. - -Footnote 756: - - Οὐενέτοι ... χρώμενοι τῷ ἐμπορίῳ. Strabo, lib. iv. - -Footnote 757: - - “Creberrima aedificia, fere Gallicis consimilia.” Bell. Gall. v. 12. - -Footnote 758: - - Ptolemy at the commencement of the second century (_i. e._ about A.D. - 120) mentions the following πόλεις, which surely are _towns_:— - - District. Towns. │ District. Towns. - - Novantae Loucopibia. │Parisi Petuaria. - Rhetigonium. │Ordovices Mediolanium. - Selgovae Carbantorigum. │ Brannogenium. - Uxelum. │Cornabii Deuana. - Corda. │ Viroconium. - Trimontium. │Coritavi Lindum. - Damnii Colania. │ Rhage. - Vanduara. │Catyeuchlani Salenae. - Coria. │ Urolanium. - Alauna. │Simeni Venta. - Lindum. │Trinoantes Camudolanum. - Victoria. │Demetae Luentinium. - Otadeni Curia. │ Maridunum. - Bremenium. │Silures Bullaeum. - Vacomagi Banatia. │Dobuni Corinium. - Tameia. │Atrebatii Nalkua. - The Winged Camp. │Cantii Londinium. - Tuesis. │ Darvenum. - Venicontes Orrhea. │ Rhutupiae. - Texali Devana. │Rhegni Naeomagus. - Brigantes Epeiacum. │Belgae Ischalis. - Vinnovium. │ The Hot Springs. - Caturhactonium. │ Venta. - Calatum. │Durotriges Dunium. - Isurium. │Dumnonii Voliba. - Rhigodunum. │ Uxela. - Olicana. │ Tamare. - Eboracum. │ Isca. - Camunlodunum. │ - ------ - -Caesar says indeed nothing of London, yet it is difficult to believe -that this was an unimportant place, even in his day. It was long the -principal town of the Cantii, whom the Roman general describes as the -most polished of the inhabitants of Britain; and as we know that there -was an active commercial intercourse between the eastern coast of -England and Gaul, it is at least probable that a station, upon a great -river at a safe yet easy distance from the sea, was not unknown to the -foreign merchants who traded to our shores[759]. One hundred and sixteen -years later it could be described as a city famous in a high degree for -the resort of merchants and for traffic[760]: but of these years one -hundred had been spent in peace and in the natural development of their -resources by the Britons, undisturbed by Roman ambition; and we have -therefore ample right to infer that from the very first Cair Lunden had -been a place of great commercial importance. The Romans on their return -found and kept it so, although they did not establish a colonia there. -The first place which received this title with all its corresponding -advantages was Camelodunum, probably the British Cair Colun, now -Colchester in Essex[761]. - ------ - -Footnote 759: - - It is clear that Caesar was not greatly harassed in his march towards - the ford of the Thames near Chertsey; and if, as is probable, his - advance disarmed the Cantii generally, or compelled the more warlike - of their body to retire upon the force of Cassivelaunus, concentrated - on the left bank of the river, we can understand what would otherwise - seem a very dangerous movement,—a march into Surrey, leaving London - unoccupied on the right flank. Thus it seems to me that the fact of - Caesar’s not noticing the city may be more readily explained by its - not lying within the scope of his manœuvres, than by its not - existing in his time. And indeed it is probable that just here some - portion of his memoirs has been lost: for in the nineteenth chapter of - the fifth book, he distinctly says: “Cassivelaunus, _ut supra - demonstravimus_, omni deposita spe contentionis,” etc.; but nothing - now remains in what we possess, to which these words can possibly be - referred. Caesar’s Commentaries were the private literary occupation - of the great soldier in peaceful times, and we cannot attribute this - contradiction in his finished work to carelessness. - -Footnote 760: - - “At Suetonius mira constantia medios inter hostes Londinium perrexit, - cognomento quidem coloniae non insigne, sed copia negotiatorum et - commeatuum maxime celebre.” Tacit. Ann. xiv. 33. “Not a colonia,” - seems to me equivalent to saying, a British city.—Twenty years after - the return of the Romans to Britain, _seventy thousand_ citizens and - allies perished during Boadicea’s rebellion in London, Verulam and - Colchester. (Ibid.) - -Footnote 761: - - This was long supposed to be Maldon, but it seems difficult to resist - Mannert’s reasoning in favour of Colchester. See Geograph. der Griech. - u. Röm. p. 157. - ------ - -As the settlement of the nations, and their reduction under a -centralizing system, followed the victories of the legions, municipia -and coloniae arose in every province, the seats of garrisons and the -residences of military and civil governors: while as civilization -extended, the Britons themselves, adopting the manners and following the -example of their masters, multiplied the number of towns upon all the -great lines of internal communication. It is difficult now to give from -Roman authorities only a complete list of these towns; many names which -we find in the _itineraria_ and similar documents, being merely -post-stations or points where subordinate provincial authorities were -located; but the names of fifty-six towns have been already quoted from -Ptolemy, and even tradition may be of some service to us on this -subject[762]. Nennius sums up with patriotic pride the names of -thirty-four principal cities which adorned Britain under his -forefathers, and many of these we can yet identify: amongst them are -London, Bristol, Canterbury, Colchester, Cirencester, Chichester, -Gloucester, Worcester, Wroxeter, York, Silchester, Lincoln, Leicester, -Doncaster, Caermarthen, Carnarvon, Winchester, Porchester, Grantchester, -Norwich, Carlisle, Chester, Caerleon on Usk, Manchester and -Dorchester[763]. To these from other sources we may add Sandwich, Dover, -Rochester, Nottingham, Exeter, Bath, Bedford, Aylesbury and St. Alban’s. - ------ - -Footnote 762: - - In the third century Marcianus reckons, unfortunately without naming - them, fifty-nine celebrated cities in Britain: ἔχει δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔθνη - λγ, πόλεις ἐπισήμους νθ, ποτάμους ἐπισήμους μ, ἀκρωτήρια ἐπίσημα ιδ, - χερσόνησον ἐπίσημον ἕνα, κόλπους ἐπισήμους ε, λίμενας ἐπισήμους γ. - Marcian. Heracleot. lib. i. Nor will this surprise us when we bear in - mind that about this period the Britons enjoyed such a reputation for - building as to find employment in Gaul. “Civitas Aeduorum ... - plurimos, quibus illae provinciae redundabant, accepit artifices,” - etc. Eumen. Const. Paneg. c. 21. - -Footnote 763: - - Henry of Huntingdon copies Nennius and aids in the identification. - Asser adds to the list Nottingham, in British Tinguobauc, and Cair - Wisc now Exeter. The Saxon Chronicle records Anderida, Bath, Bedford, - Leighton, Aylesbury, Bensington and Eynesham. Among the places - unquestionably Roman may be named Londinium, Verulamium, Colonia, - Glevum (Gloucester), Venta Belgarum (Winchester), Venta Icenorum - (Norwich), Venta Silurum (Cair Gwint), Durocornovium or Corinium - (Cirencester), Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester), Eboracum (York), Uxella - (Exeter), Aquæ Solis (Bath), Durnovaria (Dorchester), Regnum - (Chichester), Durocovernum (Canterbury), Uriconium (Wroxeter) and - Lindum (Lincoln). - ------ - -Whatever the origin of these towns may have been, it is easy to show -that many of them comprised a Roman population: the very walls by which -some of them are still surrounded, offer conclusive evidence of this; -while in the neighbourhood of others, coins and inscriptions, the ruins -of theatres, villas, baths, and other public or private buildings, -attest either the skill and luxury of the conquerors, or the aptness to -imitate of the conquered[764]. But a much more important question -arises; viz. how many of them were ruled freely, like the cities of the -old country, by a municipal body constituted in the ancient form: what -provision, in short, the Romans made or permitted for the education of -their British subjects in the manly career of citizenship and the -dignity of self-government[765]. - ------ - -Footnote 764: - - The walls of Chichester still offer an admirable example in very - perfect condition. The remains at Lincoln and Old Verulam enable us to - trace the ancient sites with precision, and in the immediate - neighbourhood of the latter town the foundations of a large theatre - are yet preserved. The plough still brings to light the remains of - Roman villas and the details of Roman cultivation throughout the - valley of the Severn. It is impossible here to enumerate all the - places where the discovery of coins, inscriptions, works of art and - utility or ruins of buildings attest a continued occupation of the - site and a peaceful settlement. Many archæological works, the result - of modern industry, may be beneficially consulted; and among these I - would call particular attention to the Map of Roman Yorkshire, - published by Mr. Newton, with the approbation of the Archæological - Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. - -Footnote 765: - - The following lines contain a very slight sketch of the municipal - institutions of a Roman city. It is not necessary to burthen the - reader’s attention with the deeper details of this special subject. A - general reference may be given to Savigny’s Geschichte des Römischen - Rechts, the leading authority on all such points. - ------ - -The constitution of a provincial city of the empire, in the days when -the republic still possessed virtue and principle, was of this -description, at all events from the period of the Social, Marsic or -Italian war, when the cities of Italy wrested isopolity, or at least -isotely, from Rome. The state consisted of the whole body of the -citizens, without distinction, having a general voice in the management -of their own internal affairs. The administrative functions however -resided in a privileged class of those citizens, commonly called -_Curiales_, _Decuriones_, _Ordo Decurionum_ (or sometimes _Ordo_ alone), -and occasionally _Senatus_. They were in fact to the whole body of the -citizens what the Senatus under the Emperors was to the citizens of -Rome[766], and their rights and privileges seem in general to have -varied very much as did those of the higher body. They were hereditary, -but, when occasion demanded an increase of their numbers, self-elected. -Out of this college of Decuriones the _Magistratus_ or supreme executive -government proceeded. In the better days I believe these were always -freely chosen for one year, by the whole community, but exclusively from -among the members of the Ordo: and after Tiberius at Rome transferred -the elections from the Comitia to the Senate, the Decuriones in the -provinces may have become the sole electors, as they were the only -persons capable of being elected. The Magistratus had the supreme -jurisdiction, and were the completion of the communal system: they bore -different names in different cities, but usually those of Duumviri or -Quatuorviri, from their number. Sometimes, but very rarely, they were -named Consules. In fact the general outline of this constitution -resembled as much as possible that of Rome itself, which was only the -head of a confederation embracing all the cities of Italy. - ------ - -Footnote 766: - - If we adopt an old legal phrase, the Decuriones were _cives optimo - iure_, or full burghers; the rest of the citizens were _non optimo - iure_, not full burghers, not having a share in the advantages - possessed by the members of the corporation. - ------ - -A somewhat similar arrangement was introduced into the cities of the -various countries which, under the name of provinces, were brought -within the influence of the Roman power: only that in these the communal -organization was throughout subordinated to the regulation and control -of the Consularis, the Legatus, Procurator, and other officers military -and fiscal, who administered the affairs of the province. A principal -point of distinction between the free communities of Italy and the -dependent provincial corporations lay in this: that in the latter, the -magistrates were indeed elected by the Ordo or Curia, but upon the -nomination of the Roman governor: their jurisdiction in suits was -consequently very limited, while political functions were for the most -part confined to the civil and military officers of the empire. - -As long as the condition of the imperial city itself was tolerably easy, -and the provinces had not yet been flooded with the vice, corruption and -misery which called for and rendered possible the victories of the -barbarians, the condition of the provincial decurions was on the whole -one of honour and advantage. They formed a kind of nobility, a class -distinguished from their fellow-citizens by a certain rank and -privileges, as they were assuredly also distinguished from them by -superior wealth: they resembled in fact an aristocracy of county -families at this day, with its exclusive possession of the magistrature -and other local advantages. On the other hand they were responsible for -the public dues, the levies, the annona or victualling of forces, the -_tributum_ or raising of the assessed taxes; and thus they were rendered -immediately subject to the exactions of the fiscal authorities, and -especially exposed to the caprice and illegal demands of the Roman -officials[767]—a class universally infamous for tyrannical extortion in -the provinces: and in yet later times, when the land itself frequently -became deserted, through the burthen of taxation and exaction[768], they -were compelled to undertake the cultivation of the relinquished estates, -that the fiscus might be no loser. Gradually as the bond which held the -fragments of the empire together was loosened, and as limb after limb -dropped away from the mouldering colossus, the condition of a Decurion -became so oppressive that it was found necessary to press citizens by -force into the office: some committed suicide, others expatriated -themselves, in order to escape it. The state was obliged to forbid by -law the sale of property for the purpose of avoiding it; freemen went -into the ranks, or subjected themselves to voluntary servitude, as a -preferable alternative; nay at length vagabonds, people of bad -character, even malefactors, were literally condemned to it[769]. This -tends perhaps more than any fact to prove the gradual ruin of the -municipal as well as the social fabric, and the miserable condition of -the provinces under the later emperors. - ------ - -Footnote 767: - - Tacitus gives us an insight into some of the gratuitous insults and - vexations inflicted upon the British provincials, while he describes - the reforms introduced by Agricola into these branches of the public - service. “Ceterum animorum provinciae prudens, simulque doctus per - aliena experimenta, parum profici armis, si iniuriae sequerentur, - causas bellorum statuit excidere.... Frumenti et tributorum exactionem - aequalitate munerum mollire, circumcisis, quae in quaestum reperta, - ipso tributo gravius tolerabantur: namque per ludibrium adsidere - clausis horreis, et emere ultro frumenta, ac vendere pretio - cogebantur: devortia itinerum et longinquitas regionum indicebatur, ut - civitates a proximis hybernis in remota et avia deferrent, donec, quod - omnibus in promtu erat, paucis lucrosum fieret.” Tac. Agric. xix. The - same grave historian attributes the fierce insurrection under Boadicea - to the tyrannous conduct of the Legati and Procuratores of the - province, and the insolent conduct of their subordinates. “Britanni - agitare inter se mala servitutis, conferre iniurias et interpretando - accendere: ‘nihil profici patientia, nisi ut graviora, tanquam ex - facili tolerantibus, imperentur: singulos sibi olim reges fuisse, nunc - binos imponi: e quibus Legatus in sanguinem, Procurator in bona - saeviret. Aeque discordiam Praepositorum, aeque concordiam subiectis - exitiosam, alterius manus, centuriones alterius, vim et contumelias - miscere. Nihil iam cupiditati, nihil libidini exceptum.” Tac. Agric. - xv. It is obviously with reference to the same facts that he describes - the Britons as peaceable and well disposed to discharge the duties - laid upon them, if they are only spared insult. Tac. Agric. xiii. - Xiphilinus, who though a late writer is valuable inasmuch as he - represents Dio Cassius, describes some of the intolerable atrocities - which drove the Iceni into rebellion, destroyed Camelodunum and - Verulamium, and led in those cities and in London to the slaughter of - nearly seventy thousand citizens and allies. Deep as was the wrong - done to the family of Prasutagus, he is no doubt right in attributing - the general exasperation mainly to the confiscation of the lands which - Claudius Caesar had granted to the chiefs, and which the procurator - Catus Decianus attempted to call in. Πρόφασις δὲ τοῦ πολέμου ἑγένετο ἡ - δήμευσις τῶν χρημάτων (publicatio bonorum), ἅ Κλαύδιος τοῖς πρώτοις - αὐτῶν ἐδεδώκει· καὶ ἔδει καὶ ἐκεῖνα, ὥς γε Δεκιανὸς Κάτος ὁ τῆς νήσου - ἐπιτροπεύων ἔλεγεν, ἀναπόμπιμα γενέσθαι. Boadicea is made to declare - that they were charged with a poll-tax, so severely exacted that an - account was required even of the dead: οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ τελευτῆσαι παρ’ - αὐτοῖς ἀζήμιόν ἐστιν, ἀλλ’ ἴστε ὅσον καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν τελεοῦμεν· - παρὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἄλλοις ανθρώποις καὶ τοὺς δουλεύοντας τισιν ὁ - θάνατος ἐλευθεροῖ, Ῥωμαίοις δὲ δὴ μόνοις καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ζῶσι πρὸς τὰ - λήμματα. These accusations put into the mouths of the personages - themselves, must not be taken to be exaggerated statements without - foundation: they are the confessions of the historians, which - sometimes perhaps they lacked courage to make in another form. The - sudden and violent calling in of large sums which Seneca had forced - upon the British chiefs in expectation of enormous interest, was - another cause of the war: διά τε οὖν τοῦτο, καὶ ὅτι ὁ Σενέκας χιλίας - σφίσι μυριάδας ἄκουσιν ἐπὶ χρησταῖς ἐλπίσι τόκων δανείσας, ἔπειτ’ - ἀθρόας τε ἅμα αὐτὰς καὶ βιαίως εἰσέπρασσεν. The Roman mortgages in - Britain were enormous, yet easily explained. The procurator made an - extravagant demand: the native state could not pay it; but the - procurator had a Roman friend who would advance it upon good security, - etc. Similar things have taken place in _Zemindaries_ of later date - than the British. For the references above see Joan. Xiphil. Epitome - Dionis, _Nero_ vi. - -Footnote 768: - - This not only appears from the digests, but from numerous merely - incidental notices in the authors of the time. The population were - crowded into cities, and the country was deserted. This was not the - result of a healthy manufacturing or commercial movement, but of a - state of universal distraction and insecurity. Had the cultivation of - the land ceased through a prudent calculation of political economy, we - should not have heard of compulsory tillage. - -Footnote 769: - - Savigny, Röm. Recht. i. 23 _seq._ - ------ - -However, in the better days of Vespasian, Trajan and the Antonines we -are not to look for such a state of society; and in the provinces, the -Ordo, though exposed to many harsh and painful conditions, yet held a -position of comparative dignity and influence. I have compared them to a -county aristocracy, but there is perhaps a nearer parallel, for in the -Roman empire it is difficult to distinguish the county from the town. -The position of the Decurions can hardly be made clearer than by a -reference to the Select (that is self-elected) Vestries of our great -metropolitan parishes before the passing of Sir John Hobhouse’s Acts; or -to the town-councillors and aldermen of our country-towns, before the -enactment of the Municipal Corporations’ Bill. Whoso remembers these -bodies with their churchwardens on the one hand, their mayors, -borough-reeves and aldermen on the other,—their exclusive jurisdiction -as a magistracy,—their exclusive possession of corporation property, -tolls, rents and other sources of wealth,—their private rights in the -common land, held by themselves or delegated to their _clients_,—their -custody of the public buildings, and sole management of civic or -charitable funds,—their patronage as trustees of public -institutions,—their franchise as electors,—their close family alliances, -and the methods by which they contrived to recruit their diminished -numbers, till they became a very aristocracy among a people of -commoners[770],—whoso, I say, considers these phænomena of our own day, -need have little difficulty not only in understanding the condition of a -Decurion in the better days of the Roman empire: but, if he will cast -his thought back into earlier ages, he may find in them no little -illustration of the nature, rights and policy of the Patriciate, under -the Republic. - ------ - -Footnote 770: - - Cives optimo iure, optimates, senatus, patricii, rachinburgi, boni - homines,—these are all more or less equivalent terms. - ------ - -Other cities of a less favoured description were governed directly as -præfectures, by an officer sent from Rome, who centred in himself all -the higher branches of administration: in these cities the functions of -the Ordo were greatly curtailed; little was left them but to attend to -the police of the town and markets, the determination of trifling civil -suits, the survey of roads or buildings; and, in conjunction with the -heads of the guilds (“collegia opificum”) the vain and mischievous -attempt to regulate wages and prices. On the other hand a few cities had -what was called the Jus Italicum, or right to form a free corporation, -in every respect identical with those of the cities of Italy, that is to -say identical in plan with that of Rome itself. The provinces of the -Roman empire must have contained many of these privileged states which -thus enjoyed a valuable pre-eminence over their neighbours, the reward -of public services: but history has been sparing of their names, and in -western Europe, three only, Cologne, Vienne and Lyons are particularly -mentioned[771]. In all the cities which had not this privilege, after -the close of the fourth century we find a particular officer called the -Defensor, who was not to be one of the curiales, who was to be elected -by the whole body of the citizens and not by the curiales only, and who -must therefore be looked upon in a great degree as the representative of -the popular against the aristocratic element, as the support of the -Cives against the Senatus and Duumvir. In the cities of Gaul, the -bishops for the most part occupied this position, which necessarily led -to results of the highest importance, from the peculiar relation in -which it placed them to the barbarian invaders[772]. From all these -details it appears that very different measures of municipal freedom -were granted under different circumstances. - ------ - -Footnote 771: - - Savigny, Röm. Recht. i. 53. - -Footnote 772: - - The Bishops were the most valuable allies of Clovis in his aggressive - wars. Without their co-operation that savage Merwing would perhaps - never have established the Frankish pre-eminence in the Gauls. - ------ - -We have considered the general principles of Roman provincial -government, and we now ask, how were these applied in the case of -Britain? The answer is much more difficult to give than might be -imagined. Wealthy as this country was, and capable of conducing to the -power and well-being of its masters, it seems never to have received a -generous, or even fair treatment from them. The Briton was to the last, -as at the first, “penitus toto divisus orbe Britannus,” and his land, -always “ultima Thule,” was made indeed to serve the avarice or ambition -of the ruler, but derived little benefit to itself from the rule. -“Levies, Corn, Tribute, Mortgages, Slaves”—under these heads was Britain -entered in the vast _ledger_ of the Empire. The Roman records do not -tell us much of the details of government here, and we may justly say -that we are more familiar with the state of an eastern or an Iberian -city than we are with that of a British one. A few technical words, -perfectly significant to a people who, above all others, symbolized a -long succession of facts under one legal term, are all that remain to -us; and unfortunately the jurists and statesmen and historians whose -works we painfully consult in hopes of rescuing the minutest detail of -our early condition, are satisfied with the use of general terms which -were perfectly intelligible to those for whom they wrote, but teach us -little. “Ostorius Scapula reduced the hither Britain to the form of a -province[773],”—conveyed ample information to those who took the -institutions of the Empire for granted wherever its eagles flew abroad: -to us they are nearly vain words, a detailed explanation of which would -be valuable beyond all calculation, for it would contain the secret of -the weakness and the sudden collapse of the Empire. But what little we -can gather from ancient sources does not induce us to believe that -Britain met with a just or enlightened measure of treatment at the hands -of her victors. Violence on the one hand, seduction on the other, were -employed to destroy the spirit of resistance, but we do not learn that -submission and docility were rewarded by the communication of a fair -share of those advantages which spring from peace and cultivation. -Agricola, whose information his severe and accomplished son-in-law must -be considered to reproduce, tells us that, on the whole, the Britons -were not difficult subjects to rule, as long as they were not insulted -by a capricious display of power: “The Britons themselves are not -backward in raising the levies and taxes, or filling the offices[774], -if they are only not exposed to insult in doing it. Insult they will not -submit to; for we have beaten them into obedience, but by no means yet -into slavery.” In this peaceable disposition Agricola saw the readiest -means of producing a complete and radical subjection to Rome; and on -this basis he formed his plan of rendering resistance powerless. He -entirely relinquished the forcible method of his predecessors and -applied himself to break down the national spirit by the spreading of -foreign arts and luxuries among the people; judging rightly that the -seductive allurements of ease and cultivation would ere long prove more -efficient and less costly instruments than the constant and dangerous -exercise of military coercion. “Those who did not deeply sound the -purposes of men, called this civilization; but it was part and parcel of -slavery itself[775].” Temples there were, fora, porticoes, baths and -luxurious feasts, Roman manners and Roman vices, and to support them -loans, usurious mortgages and ruin. But we seek in vain for any evidence -of the Romanized Britons having been employed in any offices of trust or -dignity, or permitted to share in the really valuable results of -civilization: there is no one Briton recorded of whom we can confidently -assert that he held any position of dignity and power under the imperial -rule: the historians, the geographers, nay even the novelists (who so -often supply incidental notices of the utmost interest), are here -consulted in vain; nor in the many inscriptions which we possess -relating to Britain, can we point out one single British name. The -caution of Augustus and Tiberius had from the first detected the -difficulties which would attend the maintenance of the Roman authority -in Britain: the feeling at home was, that it would be much more -profitable to raise a small revenue in Gaul upon the British exports and -imports, than to attempt to draw tribute from the island, which would -require a considerable military force for its collection[776]. During -their administration therefore the island was left undisturbed; and even -after Claudius had relinquished this wise moderation, and engaged the -Roman arms in a career of unceasing struggles, Nero felt anxious to -abandon a conquest which promised little to the state and could only be -maintained by the most exhausting efforts. That this reasonable object -was defeated in part by the vanity of the Romans themselves is -probable[777]: but a more cogent reason is to be found in the interests -of the noble usurers, of which we have seen so striking an example in -the philosophical Seneca. Against such motives even the moderation and -justice of an Agricola could avail but little: and after his recall and -disgrace by Domitian, it is easy to imagine that the Roman officials -here would not be too anxious by their good government to attain a -dangerous popularity. Selfish and thoroughly unprincipled as the Roman -government was in all its dependencies, it is little to be thought that -it would manifest any unusual tenderness in this distant, unprofitable -and little known possession: and I think we cannot entertain the least -doubt that the condition of the British aborigines was from the first -one of oppression, and was to the very last a mere downward progress -from misery to misery. But such a system as this—ruinous to the -conquered, and beneficial even to the conquerors only as long as they -could maintain the law of force—had no inherent vitality. It rested upon -a crime,—a sin which in no time or region has the providence of the -Almighty blessed,—the degradation of one class on pretext of benefiting -another. And as the sin, so was also the retribution. The Empire itself -might have endured here, had the Romans taught the Britons to be men, -and reconstituted a vigorous state upon that basis, in the hour of ruin, -when province after province was torn away from the city, and the curse -of an irresponsible will in feeble hands was felt through every quarter -of the convulsed and distracted body. But the Britons had been taught -the arts and luxuries of cultivation that they might be enervated. -Disarmed, except when a jealous policy called for levies to be drafted -into distant armies,—congregated into cities on the Roman plan, that -they might forget the dangerous freedom of their forests,—attracted to -share and emulate the feasts of the victors, that they might learn to -abhor the hard but noble fare of a squalid liberty,—supported and -encouraged in internal war, that union might not bring strength, and -that the Roman slave-dealer might not lack the objects of his detestable -traffic,—how should they develop the manly qualities on which the -greatness of a nation rests? How should they be capable of independent -being, who had only been trained as instruments for the ambition, or -victims to the avarice, of others? To crown all, their beautiful -daughters might serve to amuse the softer hours of their lordly masters; -but there was to be no _connubium_, and thus a half-caste race -inevitably arose among them, growing up with all the vices of the -victors, all the disqualifications of the vanquished. Nor under such -circumstances can population follow a healthy course of development, and -a hardy race be produced to recruit the power and increase the resources -of the state. No price is indeed too great to pay for civilization,—the -root of all individual and national power; but mere cultivation may -easily be purchased far too dearly. It is not worth its cost if it is -obtained only by the sacrifice of all that makes life itself of value. - ------ - -Footnote 773: - - “Consularium primus Aulus Plautius praepositus, ac subinde Ostorius - Scapula, uterque bello egregius: redactaque paulatim in formam - provinciae proxima pars Britanniae.” Tac. Agric. xiv. - -Footnote 774: - - Agric. xiii. Offices under the Empire were _honores_ or _munera_: the - former, places of dignity and some power, duumvirates and the like: - the latter, places of much labour and great responsibility, coupled - with but little distinction. The condition of a decurion already - described will give some notion of a _munus_; and it is a painful - thing to find Tacitus implying that the _munera_ were troublesome and - repulsive offices at so early a period; for this is clearly his - meaning: he evidently intends to compliment the Keltic population on a - disposition to behave well, if their Roman task-masters will only be - content not to add insult to injury. The case would be nearly parallel - if we made Heki a petty constable, and then held him responsible when - a New-Zealand outlaw stole a sheep or burnt out a missionary. - -Footnote 775: - - “Sequens hyems saluberrimis consiliis absumpta: namque, ut homines - dispersi ac rudes, eoque in bella faciles, quieti et otio per - voluptates adsuescerent, hortari privatim, adiuvare publice, ut - templa, fora, domus exstruerent, laudando promtos et castigando - segnes: ita honoris aemulatio pro necessitate erat. Iam vero principum - filios liberalibus artibus erudire, et ingenia Britannorum studiis - Gallorum anteferre, ut qui modo linguam Romanam abnuebant, eloquentiam - concupiscerent. Inde etiam habitus nostri honor et frequens toga: - paullatimque discessum ad delinimenta vitiorum, porticus et balnea et - conviviorum elegantiam: idque apud imperitos humanitas vocabatur, cum - pars servitutis esset.” Tac. Agric. xxi. “Quaedam civitates Cogidumno - regi donatae ... vetere ac iam pridem recepta populi Romani - consuetudine, ut haberet instrumenta servitutis et reges.” Agric. xiv. - -Footnote 776: - - Strabo calculated it at not less than one legion, the cost of which - establishment could hardly fail to swallow up all the profit. Νυνὶ - μέντοι τῶν δυναστῶν τινες τῶν αὐτόθι, πρεσβεύσεσι καὶ θεραπείαις - κατασκευασάμενοι τὴν πρὸς Καίσαρα τὸν Σεβαστὸν Φιλίαν, ἀναθήματα τε - ἀνέθηκαν ἐν τῷ Καπετωλίῷ, καὶ οἰκείαν σχεδόν τι παρεσκεύασαν τοῖς - Ῥωμαίοις ὅλην τὴν νῆσον· τέλη τε οὔπως ὑπομένουσι βαρέα τῶν τε - εἰσαγομένων εἰς τὴν Κελτικὴν ἐκεῖθεν καὶ τῶν ἐξαγομένων ἐνθένδε (ταῦτα - δ’ ἐστὶν ἐλεφάντινα ψάλια, καὶ περιαυχένια, καὶ λυγγούρια, καὶ ὑαλᾶ - σκεύη, καὶ ἄλλος ῥῶπος τοιοῦτος) ὥστε μηδὲν δεῖν φροιρᾶς τῆς νήσου· - τοὐλάχιστον μὲν γὰρ ἑνὸς τάγματος χρήζοι ἂν καὶ ἱππικοῦ τινος, ὥστε - καὶ φόρους ἀπάγεσθαι παρ’ αὐτῶν· εἰς ἴσον δὲ καθίστατο πᾶν τὸ ἀνάλωμα - τῆ στρατιᾷ τοῖς προσφερομένοις χρήμασιν· ἀνάγκη γὰρ μειοῦσθαι τὰ τέλη - φόρων ἐπιβαλλομένων, ἅμα δὲ καὶ κινδύνους ἀπαντᾶν τινας, βιὰς - ἐπαγομένης. Geogr. lib. iv. cap. 5, § 3. - -Footnote 777: - - “Augendi propagandique imperii neque voluntate ulla neque spe motus - unquam, etiam ex Britannia deducere exercitum cogitavit: nec nisi - verecundia, ne obtrectare parentis gloriae videretur, destitit.” - Sueton. vi. 18. - ------ - -Such, upon the severest and most impartial examination of the facts -which we possess, seems to me to have been the condition of the British -population under the Romans. No otherwise can we even plausibly account -for the instantaneous collapse of the imperial authority: it fell, with -one vast and sudden ruin, the moment the artificial supports upon which -it relied, were removed. Had Britain not been utterly exhausted by -mal-administration, had there remained men to form a reserve, and -resources to victual an army, the last commander who received the -mandate of recall, would probably have thrown off his allegiance, and -proclaimed himself a competitor for empire. Many tried the perilous -game; all lost it, because the country was incapable of furnishing the -means to maintain a contest: and in the meanwhile, the Saxons proceeded -to settle the question in their own way. As such a state of society -supplied no materials for the support of the Roman power, so it -furnished no elements of self-subsistence when that power was removed; -when that hour at length arrived, the possibility of which the -overweening confidence in the fortune of the city had never condescended -to contemplate. Before the eyes of all the nations, and amidst the ruins -of a world falling to pieces in confusion, was this awful lesson written -in gigantic characters by the hand of God—that authority which rules -ill, which rules for its own selfish ends alone, is smitten with -weakness, and shall not endure. It was then that a long-delayed, but not -the less awful retribution burst at last upon the enfeebled empire. Goth -and Vandal, Frank and Sueve and Saxon lacerated its defenceless -frontiers; the terrible Attila—the Scourge of God—ravaged with impunity -its fairest provinces; the eternal city itself twice owed its safety to -the superstition or the contemptuous mercy of the barbarians whose -forefathers had trembled at its name even in the depths of their forest -fastnesses; the legions, unable to maintain themselves, and called—but -called in vain—to defend a state perishing by its own corruptions, left -Britain exposed to the attack of fierce and barbarous enemies that -thronged on every side. Without arms and discipline, and what is far -more valuable than these, the spirit of self-reliance and faith in the -national existence, the Britons perished as they stood: bowing to the -inevitable fate, they passed only from one class of task-masters to -another, and slowly mingled with the masses of the new conquerors, or -fell in ill-conducted and hopeless resistance to their progress. - -The Keltic laws and monuments themselves supply conclusive evidence of -the justice of these general observations. Throughout all the ages -during which these populations were in immediate contact with Rome, not -a single ray of Keltic nationality is able to penetrate. It is only -among the mountains of the Cymri, a savage race, as little subjugated by -the Romans, as even to this moment by ourselves, that a trace of that -nationality is to be found. There indeed, guarded by fortresses which -nature itself made impregnable, the heartblood of Keltic society was -allowed to beat; and the barbarians whom policy affected or luxury could -afford to despise, grew up in an independence, features of which we can -still recognize in their legal and poetical remains. The pride of the -invaders might be soothed by the erection of a few castra, or praesidia -or castella in the Welsh marches; the itinerary of an emperor might -finish in a commercial city on the Atlantic; but in Wales the Romans had -hardly a foot of ground which they did not overshadow with the lines of -their fortresses; and to the least instructed eye, the chain of -fortified posts which guard every foot of ground to the east of the -Severn tells of a contemplated retreat and defence upon the base of that -strong line of entrenchments. - -And yet how insufficient are the laws and triads of the Cymri in point -of mere antiquity! Let us do all honour to the praiseworthy burst of -Keltic patriotism which has revived in our day: let us even concede that -some few of the triads may carry us back to the sixth century: yet the -earliest Cymric laws of which the slightest trace can be discovered, are -those of Hywel in the tenth. And even, if with a courteous desire to do -justice to the subject, we admit the historical existence of the -fabulous Dynwall and fabulous Marcia[778], who has even insinuated that -a single sentence of their codes survive; or that, if even if such -existed, they had currency a single foot to the eastward of the Severn? -Who can imagine that such laws ever had authority beyond the boundaries -of a solitary sept, more fortunate than the rest, inasmuch as its record -has not, like those of others, perished? - ------ - -Footnote 778: - - We may leave those, if any such there be, who still think Geoffrey of - Monmouth an authority, to cite his proofs that Dynwall Moelmwd - flourished four centuries before Christ; and that the Mercian laws of - Offa, quoted by Ælfred, were those of the British, princess Marcia. - ------ - -More directly to the purpose is the information we derive from Gildas, -whose patriotism is beyond suspicion, and whose antiquity gives his -assertions some claim to our respect[779]. He tells us that on the final -departure of the Romans, including the _armatus miles_, _militaires -copiae_, and _rectores immanes_ (by which last words he may possibly -intend the civil officers called _rectores provinciarum_), Britain was -_omnis belli usu penitus ignara_, utterly ignorant of the practice of -war[780]: the island was consequently soon overrun by predatory bands of -Picts and Scots whose ravages reduced the inhabitants to the extremest -degree of misery: and these incursions were followed at no great -interval of time by so violent a pestilence that the living were hardly -numerous enough to bury the dead[781]. Then having briefly noticed the -savage invasion of the Saxons, and a defeat which he says they sustained -at Bath, and which is supposed to have been given them by Arthur in the -year 520, he thus continues: “But not even now, as before, are the -cities of my country inhabited; deserted and destroyed, they lie -neglected even unto this day: for civil wars continue, though foreign -wars have ceased[782].” We can easily imagine that a nation in anything -like the state which Gildas describes, might suffer severely from the -brigandage of banditti in the interior; and on the frontier, from raids -and forays of the Picts and Scots. Attacks which even the disciplined -soldiery of Rome found it necessary to bridle by means of such -structures as the walls of Hadrian, Antonine and Severus, must have had -terror enough for a disarmed and disheartened population; nor is it in -the least degree improbable that the universal disorder, the withdrawal -of the legions and some new immigration of Teutonic adventurers set in -motion populations, which in various parts of the country had hitherto -rested quietly under the nominal control of the Roman arms. But still it -is not without surprise that we notice the absence of all evidence that -the Britons even attempted to maintain the cities the Romans had left -them, or to make a vigorous defence behind their solid fortifications, -inexpugnable one would think by rude undisciplined assailants. It is -true, we are told that in half a century England had gone entirely out -of cultivation, and that the land had again become covered with forests -which alone supplied food for the inhabitants[783]: but if this were -really the case—and it is not entirely improbable—it can only have had -the effect of driving the population into the cities. That these were to -a great extent still standing in the fifth century is certain, since -Gildas, in the sixth, represents them as deserted and decaying; that the -Saxons found them yet entire is obvious; in the tenth and twelfth -centuries their ancient grandeur attracted the attention of observant -historians[784]; and even yet their remains testify to the astonishing -skill and foresight of their builders. I cannot therefore but believe -that Britain really was, as described, disarmed and disheartened, and -most probably so depopulated as to be incapable of any serious defence: -a condition which throws a hideous light upon the nature of the Roman -rule and the practices of Roman civilized life. - ------ - -Footnote 779: - - Gildas probably wrote within two centuries of the time when the Romans - left Britain. Two hundred years it is true offer a large margin for - imagination, especially when it is Keltic, and employed about national - history: but Gildas’s report, credible in itself, is confirmed by - other evidence. - -Footnote 780: - - Gild. Hist. xiv. - -Footnote 781: - - Ibid. xxii. - -Footnote 782: - - Gild. Hist. xxvi. Foreign wars, those of the Britons and Saxons;—Civil - wars, those of the Britons among themselves; perhaps those of the - Saxon kings. - -Footnote 783: - - “Nam laniant seipsos mutuo, nec pro exigui victus brevi sustentaculo - miserrimorum civium latrocinando temperabant: et augebantur extraneae - clades domesticis motibus, quo et huiusmodi crebris direptionibus - vacuaretur omnis regio totius cibi baculo, excepto venatoriae artis - solatio.” Gild. xix. Half a century in an unexhausted soil is ample - time to convert the most nourishing district into thick brushwood and - impervious _bush_. Beech and fir, which, though said by Strabo to be - not indigenous, must have been plentiful in the fifth century, do not - require fifty years to become large trees: the elm, alder and even oak - are well-sized growths at that age. Even thorn, maple and bramble with - such a course before them are very capable of making an imposing - wilderness of underwood. - -Footnote 784: - - Æðelweard says of the Romans: “Urbes etiam atque castella, necnon - pontes plateasque mirabili ingenio condiderunt, quae usque in - hodiernam diem videntur.” Chron. lib. i. And William of Malmesbury - argues how greatly the Romans valued Britain from the vast remains of - their buildings extant when he wrote. “Romani Britanniam ... magna - dignatione coluere; ut et in annalibus legere, et in veterum - aedificiorum vestigiis est videre.” Gest. Reg. lib. i. cp. 1. The - following is his account of the state in which the island was left: - “Ita cum tyranni nullum in agris praeter semibarbaros, nullum in - urbibus praeter ventri deditos reliquissent, Britannia omni patrocinio - iuvenilis vigoris viduata, omni exercitio artium exinanita, - conterminarum gentium inhiationi diu obnoxia fuit. Siquidem, e - vestigio, Scottorum et Pictorum incursione multi mortales caesi, - villae succensae, urbes sub-rutae, prorsus omnia ferro incendioque - vastata; turbati insulani, qui omnia tutiora putarent quam praelio - decernere, partim pedibus salutem quaerentes fuga in montana - contendunt, partim sepultis thesauris, quorum plerique in hac aetate - defodiuntur, Romam ad petendas suppetias intendunt.” Gest. Reg. lib. - i. cap. 2, 3. But Rome had then enough to do to defend herself, for - those were the days of Alaric and Attila. The emptying the island of - all the fighting men by Maximus is a very ancient fiction. Archbishop - Usher makes him carry over to the continent thirty thousand soldiers, - and one hundred thousand _plebeii_, which have settled in Armorica. - Antiq. Eccles. Brittan. pp. 107, 108. We may admit the number of the - soldiery; the Roman force, with the levies, probably amounted to as - many. But who were the _plebeii_? Beda gives a similar account of the - condition of Britain: “Exin Brittania, _in parte_ Brittonum, omni - armato milite, militaribus copiis universis, tota floridae iuventutis - alacritate, spoliata, quae tyrannorum temeritate abducta nusquam ultra - domum rediit, praedae tantum patuit, utpote omnis bellici usus prorsus - ignara.” Hist. Eccl. i. 12. cf. Gild. xiv. - ------ - -It is highly improbable that any large number of the Roman towns -perished during the harassing period within which the Pictish invasions -fall, at all events by violent means. The marauding forays of such -barbarians are not accompanied with battering trains or supported by the -skilful combinations of an experienced commissariat: wandering banditti -have neither the means to destroy such masonry as the Romans erected, -the time to execute, nor in general the motive to form such plans of -subversion. One or two cities may possibly have fallen under the furious -storm of the Saxons, and Anderida is recorded to have done so: more than -this seems to me unlikely: Keltic populations have generally been found -capable of making a very good defence behind walls, in spite of the -ridiculous accounts which Gildas gives of their ineffectual resistance -to the Picts[785]. The Roman cities perished, it is true, but by a far -slower and surer process than that of violent disruption; they crumbled -away under the hand of time, the ruinous consequences of neglect, and -the operation of natural causes, which science finds no difficulty in -assigning. We may believe that the gradual impoverishment of the land -had driven the population to crowd into cities, even before the retreat -of the legions; and that the troublous era of the tyrants[786] -completely emptied the country into the towns. But even if we suppose -that citizens remained and, what is rather an extravagant supposition, -that they remained undisturbed in their old seats, we shall find that -there are obvious reasons why they could not maintain themselves -therein. There are conditions necessary to the very existence of towns, -and without which it is impossible that they should continue to endure. -They must have town-lands, and they must have manufactures and trade: in -other words they must either grow bread or buy it: but to this end they -must have the means of safe and ready communication with country -districts, or with other towns which have this. It matters not whether -that communication be by the sea, as in the case of Tyre and -Carthage[787]; over the desert, as at Bagdad and Aleppo; down the river -or canal, along the turnpike road, or yet more compendious railway: easy -and safe communication is the condition _sine qua non_, of urban -existence. - ------ - -Footnote 785: - - According to him, the Britons suffered the Picts to pull them off the - wall with long-hooks. “Statuitur ad haec in edito arcis acies, segnis - ad pugnam, inhabilis ad fugam, trementibus praecordiis inepta, quae - diebus ac noctibus stupido sedili marcebat. Interea non cessant - uncinata nudorum tela, quibus miserrimi cives de muris tracti solo - allidebantur.” Gild. xix. Beda copies this statement almost verbatim. - Hist. Eccl. i. 12. - -Footnote 786: - - Britain was at last, even as at first, _fertilis tyrannorum_: and in - the agony which preceded her dissolution more so than ever. Aurelius - Ambrosius, if a Briton at all, is said to have been born of parents - _purpura induti_: and this is possible at a period when it was unknown - to contemporary writers whether a partizan were _imperator_ or only - _latrunculus_. But I suspect that there were not many Britons of rank, - or importance in any way, in the fifth century, in those parts of the - island where the Romans held sway. - -Footnote 787: - - Athens, though shut up within her walls, felt little inconvenience - from the loss of her corn-fields and vegetable gardens, while her - fleet still swept the Ægean. She fell only when she lost the dominion - of the sea, and with it the means of feeding her population. - ------ - -Let us apply these principles to the case before us. Even supposing that -Gildas and other authors have greatly exaggerated the state of rudeness -into which the country had fallen, yet we may be certain that one of the -very first results of a general panic would be the obstruction of the -ancient roads and established modes of communication. It is certain that -this would be followed at first by a considerable desertion of the -towns; since every one would anxiously strive to secure that by which he -could feed himself and his family; in preference to continuing in a -place which no longer offered any advantages beyond those of temporary -defence and shelter. The retirement of the Romans, emigration of wealthy -aborigines, general discomfort and disorganization of the social -condition, and ever imminent terror of invasion, must soon have put a -stop to those commercial and manufacturing pursuits which are the -foundation of towns and livelihood of townspeople. Internal wars and -merciless factions which ever haunt the closing evening of states, -increased the misery of their condition; and a frightful pestilence, by -Gildas attributed to the superfluity of luxuries, but which may far more -probably be accounted for by the want of food, completed the universal -ruin. - -Still even those who fled for refuge to the land, could find little -opportunity of improving their situation: there was no room for them in -an island which was thenceforward to be organized upon the Teutonic -principles of association. The Saxons were an agricultural and pastoral -people: they required land for their alods,—forests, marshes and commons -for their cattle: they were not only dangerous rivals for the possession -of those estates which, lying near the cities, were probably in the -highest state of cultivation, but they had cut off all communication by -extending themselves over the tracts which lay between city and city. -But they required serfs also, and these might now be obtained in the -greatest abundance and with the greatest security, cooped up within -walls, and caught as it were in traps, where the only alternative was -slavery or starvation[788]. Nor can we reasonably imagine that such -spoils as could yet be wrested from the degenerate inhabitants were -despised by conquerors whose principle it was that wealth was to be won -at the spear’s point[789]. - ------ - -Footnote 788: - - “Sic enim et hic agente impio victore, immo disponente iusto iudice, - proximas quasque civitates agrosque depopulans, ab orientali mari - usque ad occidentale, nullo prohibente, suum continuavit incendium, - totamque prope insulae pereuntis superficiem obtexit. Ruebant - aedificia publica simul et privata, passim sacerdotes inter altaria - trucidabantur, praesules cum populis, sine ullo respectu honoris, - ferro pariter et flammis absumebantur; nec erat qui crudeliter - interemptos sepulturae traderet. Itaque nonnulli de miserandis - reliquiis, in montibus comprehensi acervatim iugulabantur; alii fame - confecti procedentes manus hostibus dabant, pro accipiendis - alimentorum subsidiis aeternum subituri servitium, si tamen non - continuo trucidarentur: ali transmarinas regiones dolentes petebant; - alii perstantes in patria pauperem vitam in montibus, silvis vel - rupibus arduis, suspecta semper mente, agebant.” Beda, Hist. Eccl. i. - 15. See also Gildas, xxiv. xxv. - -Footnote 789: - - “Mit géru scal man geba infahan,” with the spear shall men win gifts. - Hiltibrants Lied. - ------ - -No doubt the final triumph of the Saxons was not obtained entirely -without a struggle: here and there attempts at resistance were made, but -never with such success as to place any considerable obstacle in the way -of the invaders. Spirit-broken, and reduced both in number and -condition, the islanders gradually yielded to the tempest; and with some -allowance for the rhetorical exaggeration of the historian, Britain did -present a picture such as Beda and Gildas have left. Stronghold after -stronghold fell, less no doubt by storm (which the Saxons were in -general not prepared to effect) than by blockade, or in consequence of -victories in the open field. The sack of Anderida by Aelli, and the -extermination of its inhabitants, is the only recorded instance of a -fortified city falling by violent breach, and in this case so complete -was the destruction that the ingenuity of modern enquirers has been -severely taxed to assign the ancient site. But when we are told[790] -that Cúðwulf, by defeating the Britons in 571 at Bedford, gained -possession of Leighton Buzzard, Aylesbury, Bensington and Ensham, I -understand it only of a wide tract of land in Bedfordshire, -Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire, which had previously been dependent -upon towns in those several districts[791], and which perished in -consequence. Again when we are told[792] that six years later Cúðwine -took Bath, and Cirencester and Gloucester, the statement seems to me -only to imply that he cleared the land from the confines of Oxfordshire -to the Severn and southward to the Avon, and so rendered it safely -habitable by his Teutonic comrades and allies. Thirty years later we -find Northumbria stretching westward till the fall of Cair Legion became -necessary: accordingly Æðelfrið took possession of Chester. Its present -condition is evidence enough that he did not level it with the ground, -or in any great degree injure its fortifications. - ------ - -Footnote 790: - - Chron. Sax. - -Footnote 791: - - It seems difficult to take these statements _au pied de la lettre_. - How could Cúðwulf possibly have manœuvred such a force as he - commanded, so as to fight at Bedford, if, as we must suppose, he - marched from Hampshire or Surrey? How in fact could he ever reach - Bedford, leaving Aylesbury in his rear, Bensington and Ensham on his - left flank, if those places were capable of offering any kind of - resistance? If they were so, we must admit that the Britons richly - merited their overthrow. - -Footnote 792: - - Chron. Sax. an. 577. - ------ - -The fact has been already noticed that the Saxons did not themselves -adopt the Roman cities, and the reason for the course they pursued has -been given. They did not want them, and would have been greatly at a -loss to know what to do with them. The inhabitants they enslaved, or -expelled as a mere necessary precaution and preliminary to their own -peaceable occupation of the land: but they neither took possession of -the towns, nor did they give themselves the trouble to destroy -them[793]. They had not the motive, the means or perhaps the patience to -unbuild what we know to have been so solidly constructed. Where it -suited their purpose to save the old Roman work, they used it for their -own advantage: where it did not suit their views of convenience or -policy to establish themselves on or near the old sites, they quietly -left them to decay. There is not even a probability that they in general -took the trouble to dismantle walls or houses to assist in the -construction of their own rude dwellings[794]. Boards and rafters, much -more easily accessible, and to them much more serviceable, much more -easy of transport than stones and bond-tiles, they very likely removed: -the storms, the dews, the sunshine, the unperceived and gentle action of -the elements did the rest,—for desolation marches with giant strides, -and neglect is a more potent leveller than military engines. Clogged -watercourses undermined the strong foundations; decomposed stucco or the -detritus of stone and brick mingled in the deserted chambers with -drifted silt, and dust and leaves; accumulations of soil formed in and -around the crumbling abodes of wealth and power; winged seeds, borne on -the autumnal winds, sunk gently on a new and vigorous bed; vegetation -yearly thickening, yearly dying, prepared the genial deposit; roots -yearly matting deepened the crust; the very sites of cities vanished -from the memory as they had vanished from the eye; till at length the -plough went and the corn waved, as it now waves, over the remains of -palaces and temples in which the once proud masters of the world had -revelled and had worshipped. Who shall say in how many unsuspected -quarters yet, the peasant whistles careless and unchidden above the pomp -and luxury of imperial Rome! - ------ - -Footnote 793: - - Müller, in his treatise on the Law of the Salic Franks, expresses the - opinion that the German conquerors always destroyed the cities which - they found. But the arguments which he adduces appear to me - insufficient in themselves, and to be refuted by the obvious facts of - the case. See his Der Lex Salica alter und Heimath, p. 160. The - passages in Tacitus (Germ. xvi.) and Ammianus (xvi. 2) only prove that - the Germans did not themselves like living in cities, which no one - disputes. - -Footnote 794: - - This was left for later and more civilized times; witness St. Alban’s - massive abbey, one of the largest buildings in England, constructed - almost entirely of bond-tiles from ancient Verulam. Caen stone would - probably have been easier got and cheaper: but labour-rents must never - be suffered to fall in arrear. It is the only rent which cannot be - fetched up. Old Verulam was first dismantled because Ealdred, a Saxon - abbot, in the tenth century found its cellars and ruined houses - offered an asylum to bad characters of either sex: so runs the story. - ------ - -Many circumstances combined to make a distinction between the cities of -Britain and those of the Gallic continent. The latter had always been in -nearer relation than our own to Rome: they had been at all periods -permitted to enjoy a much greater measure of municipal freedom, and were -enriched by a more extensive commercial intercourse. England had no city -to boast of so free as Lugdunum, none so wealthy as Massilia. Even in -the time of the Gallic independence they had been far more advanced in -cultivation than the cities of the Britons, and in later days their -organization was maintained by the residence of Roman bishops and a -wealthy body of clergy. Nor on the other hand do the Franks appear to -have been very numerous in proportion to the land, a sufficient amount -of which they could appropriate without very seriously confining the -urban populations: many of these still retained their communications -with the sea: and, lastly, before the conquerors, slowly advancing from -Belgium through Flanders, had spread themselves throughout the populous -and wealthy parts of Gaul, their chiefs had shown a readiness to listen -to the exhortation of Christian teachers, to enter into the communion of -the Church, and recognize its rights and laudable customs. So that in -general, whether among the Lombards in Italy, the Goths in Aquitaine, or -the Franks in Neustria, there was but little reason for a violent -subversion, or even gradual ruin, of the ancient cities. In these the -old subsisting elements of civilization were still tolerated, and -continued to prevail by the force of uninterrupted usage. More happy -than the demoralized and dispossessed inhabitants of Britain, the Roman -provincials under the Frankish and Langobardic rule were still numerous -and important enough to retain their own laws, and the most of their own -customs. Skilful in the character of counsellors or administrators, -wealthy and enterprising as merchant-adventurers, dignified and -influential as forming almost exclusively the class of the clergy, they -still retained their old seats, under the protection of the conquerors: -and thus, for the most part their cities survived the conquest, and -continued under their ancient character, till they slowly gave way at -length in the numerous civil or baronial wars of the middle ages, and -the frequent insurrections of the urban populations in their struggle -for communal liberties. - -It is natural to imagine that when once the Saxons broke up from their -peaceful settlements and commenced a career of aggression, they would -direct their marches by the great lines of roads which the Roman or -British authorities had maintained in every part of the island. They -would thus unavoidably be brought into the neighbourhood of earlier -towns, and be compelled to decide the question whether they would attack -and occupy them, or whether they would turn them and proceed on their -march. If the views already expressed in this chapter be correct, it is -plain that no very efficient resistance was to be feared by the -invaders: they could afford to neglect what in the hands of a population -not degraded by the grossest misgovernment would have offered an -insuperable obstacle. But the locality of a town is rarely the result of -accident alone: there are generally some conveniences of position, some -circumstances affecting the security, the comfort or the interests of a -people, that determine the sites of their seats: and these which must -have been nearly the same for each successive race, may have determined -the Saxons to remain where they had determined the Britons or Romans -first to settle. Yet even in this case, and admitting Saxon towns to -have gradually grown up in the neighbourhood of ancient sites, there is -no reason to suppose that either the kings or bishops made their -ordinary residences in them; and thus in England, a very active element -was wanting to the growth and importance of the towns, which we find in -full force in other Roman provinces. In truth both king and bishop -adopted for the most part the old Teutonic habit of wandering from vill -to vill, from manor to manor, and in this country the positions of -cathedrals were as little confined to principal cities as were the -positions of palaces. This is not entirely without strangeness, -especially in the case of the earliest bishops, seeing that we might -reasonably expect Roman missionaries to choose by preference buildings -ready for their purpose, and of a nature to which they had been -accustomed in Italy. Gregory had himself recommended that the heathen -temples should if possible be hallowed to Christian uses; and even if -Christian temples were entirely wanting, which we can scarcely imagine -to have been the case[795], there were yet basilicas in Britain, even as -there had been in Rome, which might be made to serve the purposes of -churches. Nevertheless, whatever we do read teaches us that in general, -on the conversion of a people, structures of the rudest character were -erected even upon the sites of ancient civilization: thus in York, -Eádwine caused a church of wood to be built in haste, “citato opere,” -for the ceremony of his own baptism: thus too in London, upon the -establishment of the see, a new church was built—surely a proof that -Saxon London and Roman London could not be the same place. It is indeed -probable that the missionaries, yet somewhat uncertain of success, and -not secure of the popular good-will, desired to fix their residences -near those of the kings, for the sake both of protection and of -influence; and thus, as the kings did not make their settled residence -in cities whether of Saxon or Roman construction, the sees also were not -established therein[796]. - ------ - -Footnote 795: - - We know that it was not the case in Canterbury. Queen Beorhte’s bishop - and chaplain, Liuthart, had restored a ruined church, and officiated - there before the arrival of Augustine. - -Footnote 796: - - York supplies a striking example of the facts stated in this chapter. - In the ninth century a Danish army pressed by the Saxons took refuge - within its entrenchments. The Saxons determined to attack them, seeing - the weakness of the wall: as Asser says, “Murum frangere instituunt, - quod et fecerunt; non enim tunc adhuc illa civitas firmos et - stabilitos muros illis temporibus habebat.” An. 867. It seems quite - impossible that this should refer to the Roman city of York. - ------ - -The town of the Saxons had however a totally independent origin, and one -susceptible of an easy explanation. The fortress required by a simple -agricultural people is not a massive pile with towers and curtains, -devised to resist the attacks of reckless soldiers, the assault of -battering-trains, the sap of skilful engineers, or the slow reduction of -famine. A gentle hill crowned with a slight earthwork, or even a stout -hedge, and capacious enough to receive all who require protection, -suffices to repress the sudden incursions of marauding enemies, -unfurnished with materials for a siege or provisions to carry on a -blockade[797]. Here and there such may have been found within the -villages or on the border of the Mark, tenanted perhaps by an earl or -noble with his comites, and thus uniting the characters of the mansion -and the fortress: around such a dwelling were congregated the numerous -poor and unfree settlers, who obtained a scanty and precarious living on -the chieftain’s land; as well as the idlers whom his luxury, his -ambition or his ostentation attracted to his vicinity. Here too may have -been found the rude manufacturers whose craft supplied the wants of the -castellan and his comrades; who may gradually and by slow experience -have discovered that the outlying owners also could sometimes offer a -market for their productions; and who, as matter of favour, could obtain -permission from the lord to exercise their skill on behalf of his -neighbours. Similarly round the church or the cathedral must bodies of -men have gathered, glad to claim its protection, share its charities and -aid in ministering to its wants[798]. I hold it undeniable that these -people could not feed themselves, and equally so that food would find -its way to them; that the neighbouring farmer,—instead of confining his -cultivation to the mere amount necessary for the support of his -household or the discharge of the royal dues,—would on their account -produce and accumulate a capital, through which he could obtain from -them articles of convenience and enjoyment which he had neither the -leisure nor the skill to make. In this way we may trace the growth of -barter, and that most important habit of resorting to fixed spots for -commercial and social purposes. In this process the lord had himself a -direct and paramount interest. If he took upon himself to maintain -freedom of buying and selling, to guarantee peace and security to the -chapmen, going and coming, he could claim in return a slight recognition -of his services in the shape of toll or custom. If the intervention of -his officers supplied an easy mode of attesting the _bona fides_ of a -transaction, the parties to it would have been unreasonable had they -resisted the jurisdiction which thus gradually grew up. So that on all -accounts we may be assured that the lord encouraged as much as possible -the resort of strangers to his domain. In the growing prosperity of his -dependents, his own condition was immediately and extensively concerned. -Even their number was of importance to his revenue, for a -capitation-tax, however light, was the inevitable condition of their -reception. Their industry as manufacturers or merchants attracted -traffic to his channels. Lastly in a military, political and social -view, the wealth, the density and the cultivation of his -burgher-population were the most active elements of his own power, -consideration and influence. What but these rendered the Counts of -Flanders so powerful as they were throughout the middle ages? Let it now -be only considered with what rapidity all these several circumstances -must tend to combine and to develop themselves, as the class of free -landowners diminishes in extent and influence and that of the lords -increases. Concurrent with such a change must necessarily be the -extension of mutual dependence, which is only another name for traffic, -and, as far as this alone is concerned, a great advance in the material -well-being of society. It is difficult to conceive a more hopeless state -than one in which every household should exactly suffice to its own -wants, and have no wants but such as itself could supply. Fortunately -for human progress, it is one which all experience proves to be -impossible. There is no principle of social ethics more certain than -this, that in proportion as you secure to a man the command of the -necessaries of life, you awaken in him the desire for those things which -adorn and refine it. And all experience also teaches that the attempt of -any individual to provide both classes of things for himself and within -the limits of his own household, will totally fail; that time is wanting -to produce any one thing in perfection; that skill can only be attained -by exclusive attention to one object; and that a division of labour is -indispensable if society is to be enabled to secure, at the least -possible sacrifice, the greatest possible amount of comforts and -conveniences. The farmer therefore raises, stores and sells the -abundance of the grain which he well knows how to gain from his fields; -and, relinquishing the vain attempt to make clothes or hardware, -ornamental furniture and articles of household utility or elegance, nay -even ploughs and harrows,—the instruments of his industry,—purchases -them with his superfluity. And so in turn with his superfluity does the -mechanic provide himself with bread which he lacks the land, the tools -and the skill to raise. But the cultivator and the herdsman require land -and space: the mechanic is most advantageously situated where numbers -concentrate, where his various materials can be brought together cheaply -and speedily; where there is intercourse to sharpen the mind; where -there is population to assist in processes which transcend the skill or -strength of the individual man. The wealth of the cultivator, that is, -his superabundant bread, awakens the mechanic into existence; and the -existence of the mechanic, speedily leading to the enterprise of the -manufacturer, and the venture of the distributor, broker, merchant, or -shopman, ultimately completes the growth of the town. It is unavoidable -that the first mechanics—beyond the heroical weapon-smith on the one -hand, and on the other the poor professors of such rude arts as the -homestead cannot do without,—the wife that spins, the husbandman that -hammers his own share and coulter—should be those who have no land; that -is, in the state of society which we are now considering,—the unfree. It -is a mere accident that they should gather round this lord or that, on -his extensive possessions, or that they should seek shelter, food and -protection in the neighbourhood of the castle or the cathedral: but -where they do settle, in process of time the town must come. - ------ - -Footnote 797: - - Ida built Bebbanburh, Bamborough, which was at first enclosed by a - hedge, and afterwards by a wall. Chron. Sax. an. 547. - -Footnote 798: - - The growth of a city round a monastery is well instanced in the case - of Bury St. Edmund’s. The following passage is cited from Domesday - (371, b) in the notes to Mr. Rokewode’s edition of Jocelyn de - Brakelonde. “In the town where the glorious king and martyr St. Edmund - lies buried, in the time of king Edward, Baldwin the abbot held for - the sustenance of the monks one hundred and eighteen men; and they can - sell and give their land; and under them fifty-two _bordarii_, from - whom the abbot can have help; fifty-four freemen poor enough; - forty-three living upon alms; each of them has one _bordarius_. There - are now two mills and two store-ponds or fish-ponds. This town was - then worth ten pounds, now twenty. It has in length one leuga and a - half, and in breadth as much. And it pays to the geld, when payable in - the hundred, one pound. And then the issues therefrom are sixty pence - towards the sustenance of the monks; but this is to be understood of - the town as it was in the time of king Edward, if it so remains; for - now it contains a greater circuit of land, the which was then ploughed - and sown; where, one with another, there are thirty priests, deacons - and clerks, twenty-eight nuns and poor brethren who pray daily for the - king and all Christian people; eighty less five bakers, brewers, - seamsters, fullers, shoemakers, tailors, cooks, porters, serving-men; - and these all daily minister to the saint, and abbot and brethren. - Besides whom there are thirteen upon the land of the reeve, who have - their dwellings in the same town, and under them five _bordarii_. Now - there are thirty-four persons owing military service, taking French - and English together, and under them twenty-two _bordarii_. Now in the - whole there are three hundred and forty-two dwellings in the demesne - of the land of St. Edmund, which was arable in the time of king - Edward.” Chron. Joc. de Brakelonde, pp. 148, 149 (Camden Society). - Similarly Durham and other towns grew up around cathedrals. - ------ - -The conditions under which this shall constitute itself are many and -various. For a long while they will greatly depend upon the original -circumstances which accompanied and regulated the settlement. When a -great manufacturing and commercial system has been founded, embracing -states and not petty localities only, it is clear that petty local -interests will cease to be the guiding principles: but this state of -things transcends the limits of a rude and early society. The liberties -of the first cities must often have been mere favours on the part of the -lords who owned the soil, and protected the dwellers upon it. Later -these liberties were the result of bargains between separate powers, -grown capable of measuring one another. Lastly, they are necessities -imposed by an advanced condition of human associations, in which the -wishes, objects and desires of the individual man are hurried -resistlessly away by a great movement of civilization, in which the vast -attraction of the mass neutralizes and defeats all minor forces. It -would indeed be but slight philosophy to suppose that any one set of -circumstances could account for the infinite variety which the history -of towns presents: though there are features of resemblance common to -them all, yet each has its peculiar story, its peculiar conditions of -progress and decay; even as the children of one family, which bear a -near likeness to each other, yet each has its own tale of joy and -sorrow, of smiles and tears, of triumph and failure. Yet there is -probably no single element of urban prosperity more potent than -situation, or which more pervasively modifies all other and concurrent -conditions of success. Let the most careless observer only compare -London, Liverpool and Bristol, I will not say with Munich or Madrid, but -even with Warwick, Stafford or Winchester. If royal favour and court -gaieties could have made cities great, the latter should have -flourished; for they were the residences of the rulers of Mercia and -Wessex, the scenes of witena gemóts, of Christmas festivals and Easters -when the king solemnly wore his crown; while the _ceorls_ or _mangeras_ -of Brigstow and Lundenwíc were only cheapening hides with the -Esterlings, warehousing the foreign wines which were to supply the royal -table, or bargaining with the adventurer from the East for the incense -which was to accompany the high mass in the Cathedral. But Commerce, the -child of opportunity, brought wealth; wealth, power; and power led -independence in its train. - -Against the manifold relations which arose during the gradual -development of urban populations, the original position of the lord -could not be maintained intact. It is indeed improbable that in any very -great number of cases, the inhabitants of an English town long continued -in the condition of personal serfage. The lords were too weak, the -people too strong, for a system like that of the French nobles and their -towns ever to have become settled here; nor had our city populations, -like the Gallic provincials, the habit and use of slavery. The first -settlers on a noble’s land may have been unfree; serfs and oppressed -labourers from other estates may have been glad to take refuge among -them from taskmasters more than ordinarily severe; but in this unmixed -state they did not long remain. There is no doubt that freemen gradually -united with them under the lord’s protection or in his alliance; that -strangers sojourned among them in hope of profits from traffic; and -hence that a race gradually grew up, in whom the original feelings of -the several classes survived in a greatly modified form. To this, though -generally so difficult to trace step by step in history, we owe the -difference of the urban government in different cities,—distinctions in -detail more frequent than is commonly supposed, and which can be -unhesitatingly referred to the earliest period of urban existence, if -not in fact, at least in principle,—institutions representing in a -shadowy manner the distant conditions under which they arose, and for -the most part separated in the sharpest contrast from the ordinary forms -prevalent upon the land. - -The general outline of an urban constitution, in the earlier days of the -Saxons, may have been somewhat of the following character. The freemen, -either with or without the co-operation of the lord, but usually with -it, formed themselves into associations or clubs, called _gylds_. These -must not be confounded either on the one side with the Hanses (in -Anglosaxon Hósa), i. e. trading guilds, or on the other with the guilds -of crafts (“collegia opificum”) of later ages. Looking to the analogy of -the country-gylds or Tithings, described in detail in the ninth chapter -of the First Book, we may believe that the whole free town population -was distributed into such associations; but that in each town, taken -altogether, they formed a compact and substantive body called in general -the _Burhwaru_, and perhaps sometimes more especially the _Ingang -burhware_, or “burgher’s club[799].” It is also certain from various -expressions in the boundaries of charters, as “Burhware mǽd,” “burhware -mearc,” and the like, that they were in possession of real property as a -corporate body, whether they had any provision for the management of -corporation revenues, we cannot tell; but we may unhesitatingly affirm -that the gylds had each its common purse, maintained at least in part by -private contributions, or what we may more familiarly term _rates_ -levied under their bye-laws. These gylds, whether in their original -nature religious, political, or merely social unions, rested upon -another and solemn principle: they were sworn brotherhoods between man -and man, established and fortified upon “áð and wed,” oath and pledge; -and in them we consequently recognize the germ of those sworn communes, -_communae_ or _communiae_[800], which in the times of the densest -seigneurial darkness offered a noble resistance to episcopal and -baronial tyranny, and formed the nursing-cradles of popular liberty. -They were alliances offensive and defensive among the free citizens, and -in the strict theory possessed all the royalties, privileges and rights -of independent government and internal jurisdiction. How far they could -make these valid, depended entirely upon the relative strength of the -neighbouring lord, whether he were ealdorman, king or bishop. Where they -had full power, they probably placed themselves under a geréfa of their -own, duly elected from among the members of their own body, who -thenceforth took the name of Portgeréfa or Burhgeréfa, and not only -administered justice in the burhwaremót or husting, on behalf of the -whole state, but if necessary led the city trainbands to the field. Such -a civic political constitution seems the germ of those later liberties -which we understand by the expression that a city is a county of -itself,—words once more weighty than they now are, when privilege has -become less valuable before the face of an equal law. Nevertheless there -was once a time when it was no slight advantage for a population to be -under a portreeve or sheriff of their own, and not to be exposed to the -arbitrary will of a noble or bishop who might claim to exercise the -comitial authority within their precincts. Such a free organization was -capable of placing a city upon terms of equality with other constituted -powers; and hence we can easily understand the position so frequently -assumed by the inhabitants of London. As late as the tenth century, and -under Æðelstán, a prince who had carried the influence of the crown to -an extent unexampled in any of his predecessors, we find the burghers -treating as power to power with the king, under their portreeves and -bishop: engaging indeed to follow his advice, if he have any to give -which shall be for their advantage; but nevertheless constituting their -own sworn gyldships or commune, by their own authority, on a basis of -mutual alliance and guarantee, as to themselves seemed good[801]. - ------ - -Footnote 799: - - The “Ingang burhware” may possibly be only a selected portion of the - population; as, for example, the richer inhabitants, a special - burgher’s club. The argument in the text is no way affected by the - pre-eminence of some particular association among the rest, and an - “Ingang burhware,” even if a distinct thing, only proves the existence - of a “burhwaru” besides. However it is probable that there was a - general disposition to admit as many members as possible into - associations whose security and influence would greatly depend upon - their numbers. - -Footnote 800: - - The word _communa_ occurs at almost every page of the ‘Liber de - antiquis Legibus,’ to express the whole commonalty of the city of - London. Glanville himself uses _communa_ and _gyldae_ as equivalent - terms. “Item si quis nativus quiete per unum annum et unum diem in - aliquâ villâ privilegiatâ manserit, ita quod in eorum _communiam_, - scilicet _gyldam_, tanquam civis receptus fuerit, eo ipso a villenagio - liberabitur.” Lib. v. cap. 5. The reader may consult with advantage - Thierry’s history of the Communes in France, in his ‘Lettres sur - l’histoire de France,’ a work which has not received in this country - an attention at all commensurate to its merits, or comparable to that - bestowed upon his far less sound production the ‘Conquête de - l’Angleterre par les Normands.’ At the same time it would be an error - to apply the example of the French Communes to our own or those of - Flanders, which had frequently a very different origin. See Warnkönig, - Hist. de Flandre, par Gheldolf: Bruxelles, 1835, particularly vol. ii. - with its valuable appendixes. - -Footnote 801: - - This truly interesting and important document will be found in an - appendix to this Book. In fact the principle of all society during the - Saxon period is that of free association upon terms of mutual - benefit,—a noble and a grand principle, to the recognition of which - our own enlightened period is as yet but slowly returning. - ------ - -The rights of such a corporation were in truth royal. They had their own -alliances and feuds; their own jurisdiction, courts of justice and power -of execution; their own markets and tolls; their own power of internal -taxation; their personal freedom with all its dignity and privileges. -And to secure these great blessings they had their own towers and walls -and fortified houses, bell and banner, watch and ward, and their own -armed militia. - -Such too were the rights which, in more than one European country, the -brave and now forgotten burghers of the twelfth century strove to wring -from the territorial aristocracy that hemmed them in; when ancient -tradition had not lost its vigour, though liberty had been trampled -under the armed hoof of power. If we admire and glory in these true -fathers of popular freedom, firm in success, unbroken by -defeat,—steadfast in council, steadfast in the field, steadfast even -under the seigneurial gibbet and in the seigneurial dungeon,—let us yet -give our meed of thanks to those still older assertors of the dignity of -man, duly honouring the gyldsmen of the tenth century, who handed down -their noble inheritance to the less fortunate burgesses of the twelfth. -Few pictures from the past may the eye rest upon with greater pleasure -than that of a Saxon portreeve looking down from his strong gyld-hall -upon the well-watched walls and gates that guard the populous market of -his city[802]. The fortified castle of a warlike lord may frown upon the -adjacent hill; the machicolated and crenelated walls of the cathedral -close, with buttress and drawbridge, may tell of the temporal power and -turbulence of the episcopate; but in the centre of the square stands the -symbolic statue which marks the freedom of jurisdiction and of -commerce[803]; balance in hand, to show the right of unimpeded traffic; -sword in hand, to intimate the _ius gladii_, the right to judge and -punish, the right to guard with the weapons of men all that men hold -dearest. - ------ - -Footnote 802: - - “Ealdredesgate et Cripelesgate, _i. e._ portas illas, observabant - custodes.” Inst. London. § 1. Thorpe, i. 300. - -Footnote 803: - - In the cities of the Roman empire with Jus Italicum a statute of - Marsyas or Silenus was erected in the forum. Servius ad Æneid. iv. 58. - “Patrique Lyæo.—Urbibus libertatis est deus, unde etiam Marsyas, - minister eius, per civitates in foro positus, libertatis indicium est; - qui erecta manu testatur nihil urbi deesse.” So also Æneid, iii. 20. - The reader of Horace will remember the Marsyas in the Forum as - symbolizing the magistrate’s jurisdiction. Whether the Germanic - populations derived their pillar, figure or statue from the Roman - custom seems uncertain: certain however it is that the Rolandseule, - the pillar or figure of Orlando, (and, as is sometimes said, of - Charlemagne) denotes equally “nihil urbi deesse.” - ------ - -Again, no brighter picture than the present; when, drawing a veil over -the miserable convulsions of a nearly millennial struggle, we can -contemplate the mayor of the same town wandering with a satisfied eye -over the space where those old walls once stood, but which now is -covered with the workshop, the manufactory or the house, the reward of -patient, peaceful industry. Looking to the hill, crowned with its -picturesque ruin, he sees the mansion of a noble citizen united with -himself in zealous obedience to an equal law,—the peer who in the -higher, or the burgess who in the lower house of parliament, consults -for the weal of the community, and derives his own value and importance -most from the trust reposed in him by his fellow-townsmen. We can now -contemplate this peaceful magistrate (elected because his neighbours -honour his worth and the character won in a successful civic career,—not -because he is a stout man-at-arms, or tried in perilous adventure,) when -turning again to the ruined defences of the old cathedral, he sees -streets instinct with life, where the ditch yawned of yore, walls -picturesque with the ivy of uncounted ages, now carved out into quaint, -prebendal houses; and while he admires the beauty of their architecture, -wonders why the gates of cathedral closes should have been so strongly -built, or bear so unnecessary a resemblance to fortresses. Still in the -market-place stands the belfry, once dreaded by the neighbouring tyrant: -but its bell calls no longer to the defence of a city, which now fears -no enemy. The tenant of its dungeon is no more a turbulent man-at-arms, -or well-born hostage: the dignity of the prisoner rises no higher than -that of a petty market-pilferer, and the name of the belfry itself is -forgotten in that of the “cage.” Over the flesh- or fish-stalls perhaps -yet stands the mysterious statue, inherited from earlier times, but -without the meaning of the inheritance. The sword and balance are still -there, but it is no longer Marsyas or Silenus or Orlando: flowing robes -and bandaged eyes have transformed it into a harmless allegory; and -where the warlike citizen, whose privileges were maintained with sweat -and blood, erewhile looked upon it as the symbol—if not the talisman—of -freedom, his modern successor, as his humour leads him, wonders whether -_Justice_ were ever wanting in that place, or smiles to think that her -eyes are closed to the petty tricks of temporary stall-keepers. - -Beyond all price indeed is this privilege of quiet inherited from our -earnest forefathers, and great the debt of gratitude we owe to those -whose wisdom laid, whose courage and patience maintained, its deep -foundations. - -Yet not in all cases can we draw so favourable a picture of the -condition of an Anglosaxon town: in many of them, the unfree dwelt by -the side of the freemen in their gylds, under the presidency of their -lord’s geréfa. And where the number of the unfree was greatly -preponderant, and the power of the lord proportionally increased, we -cannot but believe that the freemen themselves were too often deprived -of their most cherished privileges. Without going quite so far as the -custom in some mediæval towns, where the air itself was emphatically -said to be loaded with serfage,—where slavery was epidemic[804],—it is -but too evident that in many places, the free settlers, while they -retained their wergyld and perhaps other personal rights, must yet have -been subject like their neighbours to servile dues and works, and -compelled to attend the lord’s court. Let us only imagine a case which -was probably not uncommon; where the lord, with his own numerous unfree -dependents, occupied the post of the king’s burggeréfa, the bishop’s or -abbot’s _advocatus_, and forced himself as their geréfa upon the free. -What refuge could there be for these, if he determined to assimilate his -various jurisdictions, and subject all alike to the convenient machinery -of a centralized authority? They might in vain declare, as did the -Northumbrians of old, that “free by birth and educated as freemen, they -scorned to submit to the tyranny of any duke,” or count or geréfa,—but -what remedy had they, when once the defence of the mutual guarantee was -removed? Theoretically of course they were _cyre-lif_, that is, they -could go away and choose a lord elsewhere: but we may fairly doubt -whether they could practically do this. New connexions are not easily -formed in a state which enjoys but little means of intercommunication: -what would be sacrificed now without regret, assumes a very -disproportionate importance at a period when accumulation is slow, and -acquisition difficult: nor could the expatriated chapman securely remove -his valuables from one place to another; or even legally withdraw from -the district where he felt himself aggrieved, without the consent of the -very officer from whose unjust exactions he desired to escape. Under -such circumstances of difficulty, it is to be supposed that, like the -prædial freemen on the country estates, they were reduced to make the -best bargain that they could; in other words, that they ultimately -submitted to the customs of the place. - ------ - -Footnote 804: - - “Die Luft macht eigen.” - ------ - -Moreover there may have been then, as there frequently were in the -twelfth century, a plurality of lords each having _ban_ or jurisdiction -in particular localities[805], each having different customs to enforce, -separate and conflicting interests to further, and a separate armament -to dispose of. Often, as we pursue the history of mediæval cities, do we -find king, count, and bishop, with perhaps one or more barons or -castellans, claiming portions of the town as subject in totality or -shares to their several jurisdictions, imposing heavy capitation-taxes -on their own dependents, establishing hostile tolls or tariffs to the -injury of internal traffic, warring with one another, from motives of -pride or hate, ambition or avarice, and dragging their reluctant quotas -of the city into internecine hostilities, ruinous to the interests of -all. And then, if strong enough, among them all subsists a corporation -of burgesses, perhaps a turbulent mob of handicrafts, distributed in -gylds or mysteries, with their deacons, common-chests, banners, and -barricades:—freer than the old serfs were, but unfree still as regards -the corporation: for the full burgesses have made alliances with the -nobles, have enrolled the nobles as burgesses in their _Hanse_, and have -become themselves an aristocracy as compared with the democracy of the -crafts. Or the corporation of freemen may have elected a noble -_advocatus_, _Vogt_ or Patron, to be the constable of their castle, and -to lead their militia against his brethren by birth and rivals in -estate. Or they may have coalesced with the crafts in a bond of union -for general liberation:—unhappily too rare a case, for even those old -burgesses sometimes forgot their own origin, and blundered into the -belief that liberty meant privilege[806]. - ------ - -Footnote 805: - - _Banlieu_, banni leuca, or according to some etymologists, banni - locus. - -Footnote 806: - - Slight as this sketch is, it may serve to throw some light upon the - fortunes of the Flemish and Italian cities. Dönniges gives a most - interesting and instructive account of Regensburg in very early times, - with its three fortified quarters,—the Count’s (Palatium, Pfalz or - Imperial _banlieu_), the Bishop’s, and the Burghers’ or Merchants’ - quarter. Deut. Staatsr. p. 250, _seq._ - ------ - -The misery and mischief of this state of things were not so prominent -among the Anglosaxons, because the subdivision of powers was much less -than where the principles of feudality prevailed, and the lords and -castellans were not numerous. Nor were the guarantees which the tithings -and gyldships offered, and which were secured by the popular election of -officers, at any time entirely devoid of their original force. History -therefore records no instances of such painful struggles as marked the -progress of the continental cities, or even of our own subsequent to the -Norman conquest. But we are nevertheless not without examples of towns -in which the powers of government were unequally divided: where the -king, the bishop and the burgesses, or the king and bishop alone, shared -in the civil and criminal jurisdiction. In these the burh, properly so -called, or fortification, often formed part of the city walls, or -commanded the approaches to the market. In it sat the royal burhgeréfa -and administered justice to the freemen; while the unfree also appeared -in his court, and became gradually confounded with the free in his sócn -or jurisdiction. On the other hand the bishop, through his sócnegeréfa, -judged and taxed and governed his own particular dependents: unless the -power of the king had been such as to unite all the inhabitants in one -body under the authority of the royal thane who exercised the palatine -functions. Even in the burgmót of the freemen did the royal and -episcopal reeves appear as assessors, to watch over the interests of -their respective employers, and add a specious, but little suspected, -show of authority to the acts of the corporation. - -We are still fortunately able to give some account of the growth of -various English towns, which seem to have arisen after the close of the -Danish wars, and the successive victories of Ælfred’s children, Eádweard -king of Wessex, and Æðelflǽd, duchess of Mercia. - -By the treaty of peace between Ælfred and Guðorm, a very considerable -tract of country in the north and east of England was surrendered to the -latter and his Scandinavian allies. It is clear that from very early -periods this district had contained important cities and fortresses, but -many of these had probably perished during the wars which expelled the -Northumbrian and Mercian kings, and finally reduced their territories -under the arms of the Danish invaders. The efforts of Ælfred had indeed -succeeded in saving his ancestral kingdoms of Wessex and Kent, and by -the articles of Wedmor he had become possessed of a valuable part of -Mercia, between the Severn, the Ouse, the Thames and the Watling-street. -To the east and north of these lines however, the Scandinavians had -settled, dividing the lands, for the most part denuded of their Saxon -population, or occupied by Saxons who had submitted to the invader and -made common cause with him, against a king of Wessex to whom they owed -no allegiance. The Eastanglians and a portion of the Northumbrians had -adopted the kingly form of government; but there were still independent -populations in those districts following their national Jarls, and in -the North was a powerful confederation of five Burghs or cities, which -sometimes included seven, comprising in one political unity, York, -Lincoln, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Stamford and Chester[807]. The -power of the Scandinavians however was frittered away in internal -quarrels, and those two children of Wessex, Eádweard and his -lion-hearted sister, determined upon carrying into the country of the -Pagans the sufferings which they had so often inflicted upon others. A -career of conquest was commenced from the west and the south; place -after place was cleared of the intruding strangers, by men themselves -intruders, but gifted with better fortune; the Scandinavians were either -thrown back over the Humber, or compelled to submit to Saxon arms; and -the country wrested from them was secured and bridled by a chain of -fortresses erected and garrisoned by the victors. - ------ - -Footnote 807: - - The “Five Burghs” were Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and - Stamford. Chester and York could only be joined in a more distant - alliance, but still when there was a common action among them, they - were called the “Seven Burghs.” - ------ - -In the course of this victorious career we learn that Æðelflǽd erected -the following fortresses[808]:—In 910, the burh at Bremesbyrig: in 912, -those at Scargate and Bridgnorth: in 913, those at Tamworth and -Stafford: in 914, those at Eddisbury and Warwick: in 915, the fortresses -of Cherbury, Warborough and Runcorn. In 917 she took the fortified town -of Derby; and in 918, Leicester: and thus, upon the submission of York, -in the same year, broke up the independent organization of the “Seven -Burhs.” - ------ - -Footnote 808: - - These statements are taken from the Saxon Chronicle, Florence of - Worcester, Simeon, and other authorities, under the years quoted. For - the sake of illustration I have added in the Appendix a list of - Anglosaxon towns, whose origin we have some means of tracing. - ------ - -The evidences of Eádweard’s activity are yet more numerous. The -following burhs or towns are recorded to have been built by him. In 913, -the northern burh at Hertford, between the rivers Mimera, Benefica and -Lea: a burh at Witham, and soon after another on the southern bank of -the Lea. In 918, he constructed burhs, or fortresses, on both sides of -the river at Buckingham. In 919 he raised the burh on the southern bank -of the Ouse at Bedford. In 921 he fortified Towchester with a stone -wall; and in the same year he rebuilt the burhs at Huntingdon and -Colchester, and built the burh at Cledemouth. The following year he -built the burh on the southern bank of the river at Stamford, and -repaired the castle of Nottingham. In 923 he built a fortress at -Thelwall, and repaired one at Manchester. In 924 he built another castle -at Nottingham, on the south bank of the Trent, over against that which -stood on the northern bank, and threw a bridge between them. Lastly he -went to Bakewell in Derbyshire, where he built and garrisoned a burh. - -A large number of these were no doubt merely castles or fortresses, and -some of them, we are told, received stipendiary garrisons, that is -literally, king’s troops, contradistinguished on the one hand from the -free landowners who might be called upon under the _hereban_ to take a -turn of duty therein, and on the other from the unfree tenants, part of -whose rent may have been paid in service behind the walls. But it is -also certain that the shelter and protection of the castle often -produced the town, and that in many cases the mere sutler’s camp, formed -to supply the needs of the permanent garrison, expanded into a -flourishing centre of commerce, guarded by the fortress, and nourished -by the military road or the beneficent river. It is also probable enough -that on many of their sites towns, or at least royal vills, had -previously existed, and that the population whom war and its concomitant -misery had dispossessed, returned to their ancient seats, when quiet -seemed likely to be permanently restored. - -It cannot be doubted that those who were already congregated, or for the -sake of security or gain did afterwards collect in such places, were -subject to the authority of the burhgeréfa or castellan, and that thus -the burh by degrees became a Palatium or Pfalz in the German sense of -the word. In truth _burh_ does originally denote a castle, not a town; -and the latter only comes to be designated by the word, because a town -could hardly be conceived without a castle,—a circumstance which favours -the account here given of their origin in general. - -It is certain that the free institutions which have been described in an -earlier part of this chapter, could not be found in towns, the right to -which must be considered to have been based on conquest, or which arose -around a settlement purely military. In such places we can expect to -find no mint, except as matter of grant or favour: if there was watch -and ward, it was for the fortress, not the townsmen: toll there might -be—but for the lord to receive: jurisdiction,—but for the lord to -exercise: market,—but for the lord to profit by: armed militia,—but for -the lord to command. Yet while the lord was the king, and the town was, -through its connexion with him, brought into close union with the -general state, its own condition was probably easy, and its civic -relations not otherwise than beneficial to the republic. In such -circumstances a town is only one part of a system; nor is a royal -landlord compelled to rack the tenants of a single estate for a fitting -subsistence: the shortcoming of one is balanced by the superfluity of -other sources of wealth. The owner of the small flock is ever the -closest shearer. But even on this account, when once the towns became -seigneurial, their own state was not so happy, nor was their relation to -the country at large beneficial to the full extent. But all general -observations of this character do not explain or account for the -separate cases. It is clear that everything which we have to say upon -this subject will depend entirely upon what we may learn to have been -the character of any particular person or class of persons at any given -time. The lord or Seigneur may have ruled well; that is, he may have -seen that his own best interests were inseparably bound up with the -prosperity, the peace and the rational freedom of his dependents; and -that both he and they would flourish most, when the mutual well-being -was guarded by a harmonious common action, founded upon the least -practicable sacrifice of individual interests. Thus he may have -contented himself with the legal capitation-tax, or even relinquished it -altogether: he may have exacted only moderate and reasonable tolls, -trusting wisely to a consequent increase of traffic, and rewarded by a -rapid advance in wealth and power: he may have given a just and generous -protection in return for submission and alliance; have supported his -townsmen in their public buildings, roads, wharves, canals, and other -laudable undertakings. Nay, when the re-awakened spirit of -self-government grew strong, and the whole mighty mass of mediæval -society heaved and tossed with the working of this all-pervading leaven, -we have even seen Seigneurs aiding their serf-townsmen to swear and -maintain a “Communa,”—that institution so detested and savagely -persecuted by popes, barons and bishops,—so hypocritically blamed, but -so lukewarmly pursued by kings, who found it their gain to have the -people on their side against the nobles[809]. - ------ - -Footnote 809: - - History furnishes notable instances of what has been put here merely - hypothetically. The earls of Flanders were honourably distinguished - among all the European potentates by the liberal manner in which they - treated their subjects. The appendix to this chapter contains some of - the earliest charters which they granted to their towns, and these - fully explain the wealth, power and happiness of Flanders in the - twelfth and thirteenth centuries. And notwithstanding what I have said - in the text, and which is justified by the conduct of the bishops in - some parts of Europe, it must be admitted that the clergy were - generally just and merciful lords, as far as the material well-being - of their dependents was concerned. The German proverb says: “’Tis good - to live under the crozier.” - ------ - -But unhappily there is another side to the picture: the lord may have -ruled ill, and often did so rule, for class-prejudices and short-sighted -selfish views of personal interest drove him to courses fatal to himself -and his people. When this was the case, there was but one miserable -alternative, revolt, and ruin either for the lord, the city, or both,—in -the former case possibly, in the latter always and certainly a grievous -loss to the republic. But before this final settlement of the question, -how much irreparable mischief, how much of credit and confidence shaken, -of raw material wasted and destroyed, of property plundered, of security -unsettled, of internecine hostility engendered, class set against class, -family against family, man against man! Verily, when we contemplate the -misery which such contests caused from the twelfth to the fifteenth -centuries, we could almost join in the cry of the Jacquerie, and wish, -with the prædial and urban serfs of old, that the race of Seigneurs had -been swept from the face of the earth; did we not know that gold must be -tried in the fire, that liberty could grow to a giant’s stature only by -passing through a giant’s struggles. - -But from this painful school of manhood it pleased the providence of the -Almighty to save our forefathers; nor does Anglosaxon history record -more than one single instance of those oppressions or of that -resistance, which make up so large and wretched a portion of the history -of other lands[810]. Suffering enough they had to bear, but it was at -the hands of invading strangers, not of those who were born beneath the -same skies and spake with the same tongue. The power of the national -institutions was too general, too deeply rooted, to be shaken by the -efforts of a class; nor does it appear that that class itself attempted -at any time an undue exercise of authority. One ill-advised duke did -indeed raise a fierce rebellion by his misgovernment; but even here -national feeling was probably at work, and the Northumbrians rose less -against the bad ruler, than the intrusive Westsaxon: the interests of -Morcar’s family were more urgent than the crimes of Tostig. Yet these -may have been grave, for he was repudiated even by those of his own -class, and the strong measure of his deprivation and outlawry was -concurred in by his brother Harald. - ------ - -Footnote 810: - - Even under the Norman kings, the condition of this country seems to - have been comparatively easy. Its darkest moments were during the wars - of Stephen and Henry Plantagenet. The position then assumed by the - seigneurs or castellans and its results are thus well described by an - old chronicler:—“Sane inter partes diu certatum est, alternante - fortuna; sed tunc quodammodo remissiores motus esse coeperunt: quod - tamen Angliae non cessit in bonum, eo quod tot erant reges quot domini - castellorum, habentes singuli numisma proprium et more regis subditos - iudicantes. Et quia magnates terrae sic invicem excellere satagebant, - eo quod nullus in alterum habebat imperium, mox inter se disceptantes - rapinis et incendiis clarissimas regiones corruperunt, in tantum quod - omne robur panis fere deperiit.” Walt. Hemingburh, vulgo Gisseburne, - i. 74. “Castella quippe studio partium per singulas provincias - surrexerant crebra; erantque in Anglia tot quodammodo reges, vel - potius tyranni, quot castellorum domini, habentes singuli percussuram - proprii numismatis, et potestatem dicendi subditis regio more iura.” - Annal. Trivet. 1147, p. 25. The contemporary Saxon chronicler gives - the most frightful account of the tyrannous exactions of the - castellans, and the tortures they inflicted on the defenceless - cultivators. And this miserable condition of the country is only too - obvious in the words with which the contemporary author of the life of - Stephen commences his work. Gest. Stephani, p. 1 _seq._ Nor can this - surprise us, when we learn that at this period not less than eleven - hundred and fifteen castles had been built in England. Rog. Wendov. - an. 1153, Coxe’s edit. ii. 256. - ------ - -In addition to the natural mode by which the authority of a lord became -established in a town built on his demesne, the privileges of lordship -were occasionally transferred from one person to another. Like other -royalties, the rights of the crown over taxation, tolls or other -revenues, might be made matter of grant. The following document -illustrates the manner in which a portion of the seigneurial rights was -thus alienated in favour of the bishop of Worcester. It is a grant made -by Æðelrǽd and Æðelflǽd to their friend Werfrið, about the end of the -ninth century[811]. - ------ - -Footnote 811: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1075. - ------ - -“To Almighty God, true Unity and holy Trinity in heaven, be praise and -glory and rendering of thanks, for all his benefits bestowed upon us! -Firstly for whose love, and for St. Peter’s and the church at Worcester, -and at the request of Werfrið the bishop, their friend, Æðelrǽd the -ealdorman and Æðelflǽd commanded the _burh_ at Worcester to be built, -and eke God’s praise to be there upraised. And now they make known by -this charter that of all the rights which appertain to their lordship, -both in market and in street, within the byrig and without, they grant -half to God and St. Peter and the lord of the church; that those who are -in the place may be the better provided, that they may thereby in some -sort easier aid the brotherhood, and that their remembrance may be the -firmer kept in mind, in the place, as long as God’s service is done -within the minster. And Werfrið the bishop and his flock have appointed -this service, before the daily one, both during their lives and after, -to sing at matins, vespers and ‘undernsong,’ the psalm De Profundis, -during their lives; and after their death, Laudate Dominum; and every -Saturday, in St. Peter’s church, thirty psalms, and a mass for them -whether alive or dead. Æðelrǽd and Æðelflǽd proclaim, that they have -thus granted with good-will to God and St. Peter, under witness of -Ælfred the king and all the _witan_ in Mercia; excepting that the -wain-shilling and load-penny[812] are to go to the king’s hand, as they -always did, from Saltwíc: but as for everything else, as -_landfeoh_[813], _fihtwite_, _stalu_, _wohceápung_, and all the customs -from which any fine may arise, let the lord of the church have half of -it, for God’s sake and St. Peter’s, as it was arranged about the market -and the streets; and without the marketplace, let the bishop enjoy his -rights, as of old our predecessors decreed and privileged. And Æðelrǽd -and Æðelflǽd did this by witness of Ælfred the king, and by witness of -those witan of the Mercians whose names stand written hereafter; and in -the name of God Almighty they abjure all their successors never to -diminish these alms which they have granted to the church for God’s love -and St. Peter’s!” - ------ - -Footnote 812: - - There can be no doubt that Wǽnscilling, written erroneously in the MS. - þægnsilling, is what is meant by _statio_ et _inoneratio plaustrorum_ - in another charter. Cod. Dipl. No. 1066. It is custom or toll upon the - standing and loading of the salt-waggons. See p. 71 of this volume. - -Footnote 813: - - _Landfeoh_, land-fee, probably a recognitory rent for land held under - the burh or city. _Fihtwíte_, fine for brawling in the city. _Stalu_, - fine or mulct for theft. _Wohceápung_, fine for buying or selling - contrary to the rules of the market. - ------ - -A valuable instrument is this, and one which supplies matter for -reflection in various ways. The royalties conveyed are however alone -what must occupy our attention here. These are, a land-tax, paid no -doubt from every hide which belonged to the jurisdiction of the -burhgeréfa, and which was thus probably levied beyond the city walls, in -small outlying hamlets and villages, which were not included in any -territorial hundred, but did suit and service to the burhmót. And next -we find the lord in possession of what we should now call the police, -inflicting fines for breaches of the peace, theft, and contravention of -the regulations laid down for the conduct of the market. And this market -in Worcester was not the people’s, but the king’s, seeing that not only -are the bishop’s rights, beyond its limits, carefully distinguished, but -that Æðelred grants half the customs within it, that is, half the tolls -and taxes, to the bishop. In this way was an authority established -concurrent with the king’s or duke’s, and exercised no doubt by the -biscopes geréfa, as the royal right was by the cyninges or ealdormannes -burhgeréfa. Nor were its results unfavourable to the prosperity of the -city: there is evidence on the contrary that in process of time, the -people and their bishop came to a very good understanding, and that the -Metropolis of the West grew to be a wealthy, powerful and flourishing -place: so much so that, when in the year 1041 Hardacnut attempted to -levy some illegal or unpopular tax, the citizens resisted, put the royal -commissioners to death, and assumed so determined an attitude of -rebellion, that a large force of _Húscarlas_ and _Hereban_, under the -principal military chiefs of England, was found necessary to reduce -them. Florence of Worcester, who relates the occurrence in detail[814], -says that the city was burnt and plundered. From his narrative it seems -not improbable that the whole outbreak was connected with the removal of -a popular bishop from his see in the preceding year. - ------ - -Footnote 814: - - 1041. “Hoc anno rex Anglorum Hardecanutus suos huscarlas misit per - omnes regni sui provincias ad exigendum quod indixerat tributum. Ex - quibus duos, Feader scilicet et Turstan, Wigornenses provinciales cum - civibus, seditione exorta, in cuiusdam turris Wigornensis monasterii - solario, quo celandi causa confugerant, quarto Nonas Maii, feria - secunda peremerunt. Unde rex ira commotus, ob ultionem necis illorum, - Thurum Mediterraneorum, Leofricum Merciorum, Godwinum Westsaxonum, - Siwardum Northimbrorum, Ronum Magesetensium, et caeteros totius - Angliae comites, omnesque ferme suos huscarlas, cum magno exercitu ... - illo misit; mandans ut omnes viros, si possint, occiderent, civitatem - depraedatam incenderent, totamque provinciam devastarent. Qui, die - veniente secundo Iduum Novembrium, et civitatem et provinciam - devastare coeperunt, idque per quatuor dies agere non cessaverunt: sed - paucos vel e civibus vel provincialibus ceperunt aut occiderunt, quia - praecognito adventu eorum, provinciales quoque locorum fugerant. - Civium vero multitudo in quandam modicam insulam, in medio Sabrinae - fluminis sitam, quae Beverege nuncupatur, confugerant; et munitione - facta, tam diu se viriliter adversus suos inimicos defenderunt, quoad - pace recuperata, libere domum licuerit eis redire. Quinta igitur die, - civitate cremata, unusquisque magna cum praeda rediit in sua; et regis - statim quievit ira.” Flor. Wig. 1041. - ------ - -There is another important document of nearly the same period as the -grant to Werfrið, by which Eádweard the son of Ælfred gave all the royal -rights of jurisdiction in Taunton to the see of Winchester[815]. He -freed the land from every burthen, except the universal three, whether -they were royal, fiscal, comitial or other secular taxations: he granted -that all the bishop’s men, noble or ignoble, resiant upon the aforesaid -land, should have every privilege and right which was enjoyed by the -king’s men, resiant in his royal fiscs[816], and that all secular -jurisdiction should be administered for the bishop’s benefit, as fully -as it was elsewhere executed for the king’s. Moreover he attached for -ever to Winchester the market-tolls (“villae mercimonium, quod anglice -ðæs túnes cýping adpellatur”), together with every civic _census_, tax -or payment. Whatsoever had heretofore been the king’s was henceforth to -belong to the bishop of Winchester. And that these were valuable rights, -producing a considerable income, must be concluded from the large -estates which bishop Denewulf and his chapter thought it advisable to -give the king in exchange, and which comprised no less than sixty hides -of land in several parcels. The bishops, it is to be presumed, -henceforth governed Taunton by their own geréfa, to whom the grant -itself must be construed to have conveyed plenary jurisdiction, that is -the _blut-ban_ or _ius gladii_, the supreme criminal as well as civil -justice. - ------ - -Footnote 815: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1084. Anno 904. - -Footnote 816: - - Lands held immediately of the king, and administered by his own - officers. People resident about the royal vills. - ------ - -These examples will suffice to show in what manner seigneurial rights -grew up in certain towns, and how they were exercised. From the account -thus given we may also see the difference which existed between such a -city and one founded originally upon a system of free gylds. These -associations placed the men of London in a position to maintain their -own rights both against king and bishop, and indeed it is evident from -the ‘Judicia Civitatis’ itself, that the bishops united with the -citizens in the establishment of their free communa under Æðelstán. We -are not very clearly informed what was the earliest mode of government -in London; but, from a law of Hloðhære, it is probable that it was -presided over by a royal reeve, in the seventh century. The sixteenth -chapter of that prince’s law provides that, when a man of Kent makes any -purchase in Lundenwíc, he is to have the testimony of two or three -credible men, or of the king’s wícgeréfa[817]. In the ninth century, -when Kent and its confederation had passed into the hands of the royal -family of the Gewissas, London may possibly have vindicated some portion -of independence. It had previously lain within the nominal limits at -least of the Mercian authority[818]: but the victories of Ecgberht and -the subsequent invasions of the Northmen destroyed the Mercian power, -and in all likelihood left the city to provide for itself and its own -freedom. We know that it suffered severely in those invasions, but we -have slight record of any attempt to relieve it from their assaults, -which might imply an interest in its welfare, on the part of any -particular power. In the year 886 however, we learn, Ælfred, victorious -on every point, turned his attention to London, whose fortifications he -rebuilt, and which he re-annexed to Mercia, now constituted as a duchy -under Æðelred[819]. On the death of this prince, Eádweard seized Oxford -and London into his own hands, and it is reasonable to suppose that he -governed these cities by burhgeréfan of his own[820]. But very shortly -after we find the important document, which I have already mentioned, -the so-called ‘Judicia Civitatis,’ or Dooms of London, which proves -clearly enough the elasticity of a great trading community, the -readiness with which a city like London could recover its strength, and -the vigour with which its mixed population could carry out their plans -of self-government and independent existence. Henceforward we find the -citizens for the most part under portgeréfan or portreeves of their -own[821], to whom the royal writs are directed, as in counties they are -to the sheriffs. We must not however suppose that at this early period -constitutional rights were so perfectly settled as to be beyond the -possibility of infringement. Circumstances, whose record now escapes us, -may sometimes have occurred which abridged the franchise of particular -cities: we cannot conclude that the Portgeréfa was always freely elected -by the citizens; for in some places we hear of “royal” portreeves[822], -from which it may be argued either that the king had made the -appointment by his own authority, or, what is far from improbable, that -he had concurred with the citizens in the election. Moreover the -direction of writs to noblemen of high rank, even in London, seems to -imply that, on some occasions, either the king had succeeded in seizing -the liberties of the city into his own hand, or that the elected -officers were sometimes taken from the class of powerful ministerials, -having high rank and station in the royal household[823]. Where there -existed clubs or gylds of the free citizens, we may also believe that -similar associations were established by the lords and their dependents, -either as a means of balancing the popular power, or at least of sharing -in the benefits of an association which secured the rights and position -of the free men; and thus, the same document which reveals to us the -existence of the “Ingang burhware” or “burghers’ club” of Canterbury, -tells us also of the “Cnihta gyld,” or “Sodality of young nobles” in the -same city[824]. - ------ - -Footnote 817: - - Leg. Hloð. § 16. Thorpe, i. 34. - -Footnote 818: - - Asser considers London to belong locally to Essex: he states that the - Danes plundered it in 851. Vit. Ælfr. _in anno_. Berhtwulf of Mercia - made an unsuccessful attempt to relieve it; so that it must be - considered to have been a Mercian town at that period. Later it seems - to have been left to itself, till Ælfred restored it in 886. - -Footnote 819: - - “Gesette Ælfred cyning Lundenburg ... and he ða befæste ða burg - Æðerede aldormen tó healdanne.” Chron. Sax. an. 880. “Eodem anno - Ælfred, Angulsaxonum rex, post incendia urbium, stragesque populorum, - Londoniam civitatem honorifice restauravit, et habitabilem fecit: quam - generi suo Æðeredo, Merciorum comiti, commendavit servandam.” Asser, - Vit. Ælf. an. 886. In 880 the Danes wintered at Fulham, and may then - have ruined London, if they had not done so before. - -Footnote 820: - - Chron. Sax. an. 912. - -Footnote 821: - - Swétman, portgeréfa. Cod. Dipl. No. 857. Ælfsige, ibid. Nos. 858, 861. - Ulf. ibid. No. 872. The first mayor of London was elected probably in - 1187. See Lib. de Ant. Legib. p. 1 _seq._ - -Footnote 822: - - “Cyninges geréfa binnan port,” the king’s reeve within the city. Leg. - Æðelst. iii. § 7; iv. § 3. Canterbury appears to have had both a - cyninges geréfa and a portgeréfa. The signatures of both these - officers are appended to the same instrument. Cod. Dipl. No. 789. - -Footnote 823: - - The document De Institutis Londoniae, which is considered to date from - the time of Æðelræd, that is the commencement of the eleventh century, - gives the fine for burhbryce to the king; and inflicts a further bót - of thirty shillings, for the benefit of the city, if the king will - grant it, “si rex hoc concedat nobis.” Inst. Lond. § 4. Thorpe, i. - 301. - -Footnote 824: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 293. - ------ - -Two points necessarily arrest our attention in considering the case of -every city; the first of these is the internal organization, on which -the freedom of the inhabitants itself depends: the second is the -relation the city stands in to the public law, that is to say, its -particular position toward the state. The Anglosaxon laws do contain a -few provisions destined to regulate the intercourse between the -townspeople and the country: for example we may refer to the laws which -regulate the number of mints allowed to each city. In the tenth century -it was settled that each burh might have one,—and from this very fact it -is clear that “burh” was then a legal term having a fixed and definite -meaning,—while a few cities were favoured with a larger number. The -names of the places so distinguished are preserved, and from the -regulations affecting them in this respect we may form a conclusion as -to their comparative importance. Under Æðelstân we find the following -arrangement:—At Canterbury were to be seven moneyers; four for the king, -two for the bishop, one for the abbot. At Rochester three; two for the -king, one for the bishop. At London eight. At Winchester six. At Lewes, -Hampton, Wareham, Exeter and Shaftsbury, two moneyers to each town. At -Hastings, Chichester, and at the other burhs, one to each town[825]. - ------ - -Footnote 825: - - Leg. Æðelst. i. § 14. Thorpe, i. 206. - ------ - -It is right to observe that all these places are in Æðelstán’s peculiar -kingdom, south of the Thames, and that his legislation takes no notice -of the Mercian, Eastanglian or Northumbrian territories. But half a -century later, it was ordered that no man should have a mint save the -king, and that any person who wrought money without the precincts of a -burh, should be liable to the penalties of forgery. The inconvenience of -this was however too great, and by the ‘Instituta Londoniae,’ each -principal city (“summus portus”) was permitted to have three, and every -other burh one moneyer[826]. - ------ - -Footnote 826: - - Leg. Æðelr. iii. § 8, 16; iv. § 5, 9. Thorpe, i. 296, 298, 301, 303. - ------ - -Again, the difficulty of guarding against theft, especially in respect -to cattle, the universal vice of a semi-civilized people,—led to more -than one attempt to prohibit all buying and selling except in towns; and -this of itself seems to imply that they were numerously distributed over -the face of the country. But this provision, however beneficial to the -lords of such towns, was too contrary to the general convenience, and -seems to have been soon relinquished as impracticable. The enactments on -the subject appear to have been abrogated almost as soon as made[827]: -but the machinery by which it was proposed to carry their provisions -into effect are of considerable interest. In each burh, according to its -size, a certain number of the townspeople were to be elected, who might -act as witnesses in every case of bargain and sale,—whom both parties on -occasion would be bound to call to warranty, and whose decision or -_veredictum_ in the premises would be final. It was intended that in -every larger burh (“summus portus”) there should be thirty-three such -elective officers, and in every hundred twelve or more, by whose witness -every bargain was to be sanctioned, whether in a burh or a wapentake. -They were to be bound by oath to the faithful discharge of their duty. -The law of Eádgár says: “Let every one of them, on his first election as -a witness, take an oath that, neither for profit, nor fear, nor favour, -will he ever deny that which he did witness, nor affirm aught but what -he did see and hear. And let there be two or three such sworn men as -witnesses to every bargain[828].” - ------ - -Footnote 827: - - Leg. Eádw. § 1. Æðelst. i. § 12, 13; iii. § 2; v. § 10. Thorpe, i. - 158, 206, 218, 240. - -Footnote 828: - - Leg. Eádgár. Supp. § 3, 4, 5. Thorpe, i. 274. - ------ - -The words of this law seem to imply that the appointment was to be a -permanent one; and it is only natural to suppose that these “geǽðedan -men,” _jurati_, or jurors, would become by degrees a settled urban -magistracy. We see in them the germ of a municipal institution, a sworn -corporation, assessors in some degree of the geréfa or the later -mayor[829]. They were evidently the “boni et legales homines,” the -“testes credibiles,” “ða gódan men,” “dohtigan men,” and so forth, of -various documents, the “Scabini,” “Schoppen” or “Echevins,” so familiar -to us in the history of mediæval towns, which had any pretensions to -freedom. They necessarily constituted a magistracy, and gradually became -the centre round which the rights and privileges of the municipality -clustered. - ------ - -Footnote 829: - - “Hoc anno [A.D. 1200] fuerunt xxv electi de discretioribus civitatis, - et iurati pro consulendo civitatem una cum Maiore.” Lib. de Antiq. - Legib. _in anno_. - ------ - -It is to be regretted that we have so little record of the internal -organization of these municipal bodies, which must nevertheless have -existed during the flourishing period of the Anglosaxon rule. Of -Ealdormen in the towns, and in our modern sense, there naturally is, and -could be, no trace: that dignity was very different from anything like -the geréfscipe of a city, however wealthy and influential this might be: -but the ‘Instituta Londoniae’ mention one or two subordinate officers: -in these, beside the Portgeréfa, Burhgeréfa or Wícgeréfa,—names which -all appear to denote one officer, the “praepositus civitatis,”—we are -told of a Túngeréfa, who had a right to enquire into the payment of the -customs[830]; and also of a Caccepol, catch-poll or beadle, who appears -to have been the collector[831]. - ------ - -Footnote 830: - - Inst. Lond. § 3. Thorpe, i. 301. - -Footnote 831: - - Ibid. - ------ - -The archæologist, not less than the historian, has reason to lament -that no remains from the past survive to teach us the local -distribution of an Anglosaxon town. Yet some few hints are -nevertheless supplied which enable us to form a faint image of what it -may have been. It is probable that the different trades occupied -different portions of the area, which portions were named from the -occupations of their inhabitants. In the middle ages these several -parts of the city were often fortified and served as strongholds, -behind whose defences, or sallying forth from which, the crafts fought -the battle of democracy against the burgesses or the neighbouring -lords. We have evidence that streets, which afterwards did, and do -yet, bear the names of particular trades or occupations, were equally -so designated before the Norman conquest, in several of our English -towns. It is thus only that we can account for such names as -Fellmonger, Horsemonger and Fleshmonger, Shoewright and Shieldwright, -Tanner and Salter Streets, and the like, which have long ceased to be -exclusively tenanted by the industrious pursuers of those several -avocations. Let us place a cathedral and a guildhall with its belfry -in the midst of these, surround them with a circuit of walls and -gates, and add to them the common names of North, South, East and -West, or Northgate, Southgate, Eastgate and Westgate Streets,—here and -there let us fix the market and its cross, the dwellings of the bishop -and his clergy, the houses of the queen and perhaps the courtiers, of -the principal administrative officers and of the leading -burghers[832],—above all, let us build a stately fortress, to overawe -or to defend the place, to be the residence of the geréfa and his -garrison, and the site of the courts of justice,—and we shall have at -least a plausible representation of a principal Anglosaxon city. Much -as it is to be regretted that we now possess no ancient maps or plans -which would have thrown a valuable light upon this subject, yet the -guidance here and there supplied by the names of the streets -themselves, and the foundations of ancient buildings yet to be traced -in them, coupled with fragmentary notices in the chroniclers, do -sometimes enable us to catch glimpses as it were of this history of -the past. The giant march of commercial prosperity has crumbled into -dust almost every trace of what our brave and good forefathers looked -upon with pardonable pride: but the principles which animated them, -still in a great degree regulate the lives of us their descendants; -and if we exult in the conviction that our free municipal institutions -are the safeguard of some of our most cherished liberties, let us -remember those to whom we owe them, and study to transmit unimpaired -to our posterity an inheritance which we have derived from so remote -an ancestry. - ------ - -Footnote 832: - - The not unfrequent occurrence of such names as Kinggate, Queengate and - Bishopgate Street, imply something of this kind: for we cannot suppose - such names to have been assigned capriciously or without sufficient - cause. It is likely that the streets so called led to the dwellings - and were literally the property of the several parties: that is, that - offences committed upon them belonged to the several jurisdictions. - ------ - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - THE BISHOP. - - -Whatever variety of form the heathendom of the Anglosaxons may have -assumed in different districts, we are justified in asserting that a -sacerdotal class existed, and that there were different grades of rank -within it. We hear of priests, and of chief priests; and it is not -unnatural to conclude that to the latter some pre-eminence in dignity, -if not in power, was conceded over their less-distinguished colleagues. -Similarly, the necessities of internal government and regulation, and -the analogy of secular administration, had gradually supplied the -Christian communities with a well-organized system of hierarchy, which -commencing with the lower ministerial functions, passed upward through -the presbyterate, the episcopal and metropolitan ordinations, and found -its culminating point and completion in the patriarchates of the eastern -and western churches. The paganism of the Old World, which admitted the -participation of different classes in the public rites of religion, if -it did not cause, could at least easily reconcile itself to, this -systematic division. Our own heathen state is not well known enough to -enable us to affirm as much of our forefathers; but the immediate -foundation of an episcopal church in all the newly-converted Teutonic -countries, seems to show that no difficulty existed or was apprehended -as to its ready reception. In England, as elsewhere, the introduction of -Christianity was immediately followed by the establishment of bishops. -But it is necessary to draw a distinction between the effects of this -establishment in England and in various parts of the continent. As we -pursue the inquiries which necessarily meet us in investigating the -history of conversion in the West, we are led to a remarkable fact, viz. -that the power of the Roman see was, generally speaking, most -substantially founded by the efforts and energy of Teutonic prelates; -while a much more steady opposition to its triumph was offered by the -provincials who usually filled the episcopal office in the cities of -Gaul. - -The apparent strangeness of this however soon vanishes, when we consider -the many grounds upon which the Gallic churches contested the immediate -supremacy of Rome. The archbishop of Vienne long claimed the patriarchal -authority in Gaul, upon the same grounds as the bishops of Rome and -Constantinople claimed it in those cities[833]. Many of the provincial -churches boasted an antiquity hardly inferior to the Roman, and a -foundation not less illustrious; many had shown in persecution and -suffering a spirit of Christian perseverance and a steadfastness of -faith, which the City itself had not exceeded in her own hour of trial. -Above all, there continued to exist a vigorous nationality in Gaul, -however oppressed and bridled by the energy of the Frankish conquerors, -especially in Neustria or the northern portion of modern France. To this -spirit of nationality, based upon ancient descent and long familiarity -with the civilization of the Roman empire, and fed in turn by a great -amount of material prosperity, we must refer the complete dissolution of -the Carolingian empire itself, and the establishment of the counts of -Paris as kings in the western districts of that unwieldy body. - ------ - -Footnote 833: - - Hüllmann, ‘Origine de l’organisation de l’Eglise au Moyen Age,’ p. 30. - ------ - -It is true that the Western Church did not lay definite claim to any -such total independence as Cyprian vindicated for his African -communities: the good offices and arbitration of St. Peter’s successor -were sought in disputed and doubtful cases, even if we cannot admit of -positive appeals to the Roman curia: the bishops of Burgundy, Provence -and Spain, early found that union with the oldest and most respected -church of the West offered an important defence of orthodoxy threatened -by the Arian and semi-Arian dogma of the barbarians who had wrested -those fine provinces from the empire: and the popes were not unwilling -to encourage a tendency which helped to realize the idea of a -pre-eminence in their church over all the Christian communities.[834] -The institution of Missi, or special commissioners, was familiar: they -adopted it, and at a very early period we find papal vicars exercising -some sort of authority in Gaul, and perhaps even in Britain. - ------ - -Footnote 834: - - This was strongly asserted by Romanus against Cyprian, and never lost - sight of by the Roman controversialists, whatever opposition it - encountered in other churches. But while Rome really was the first - city of the world, it was consonant to the analogy of the other - episcopal relations that her prelate should claim the primacy. The - founding it either on St. Peter’s peculiar principality, or on - pretended decrees of the Roman emperors, was quite a different thing, - and an afterthought. - ------ - -The conversion of Clovis to the orthodox faith, instead of that which he -might have learned from his Arian neighbours, was not only a source of -power and importance to the Catholic bishops of Gaul, but ultimately of -the greatest moment to the bishop of Rome. We must admit that under the -Merwingian kings, the popes enjoyed some authority and great -consideration in Gaul, though not enough to endanger the independence -and freedom of the Gallican church: but under the family of Pipin they -necessarily occupied a very different position. For during the earlier -years of the imperial constitution, Rome was a city, and its bishop to a -certain extent an officer, of the empire, and the power and influence of -the popes was advanced by the Frankish emperor as best might suit his -own purposes. It is assuredly not true that under Charlemagne those -bishops ventured upon any of the usurpations which they succeeded in -substantiating under later emperors. - -During the reign of Hluduuig indeed, a pious but weak prince, they -obtained various concessions which in process of time bore fruit of -power[835]. It was reserved for later days to witness the triumph of -Roman independence through the combination of communal with priestly -tendencies. This combination first darkly arose when the nationality of -Rome itself burst forth, encouraged by the vigour with which the bishop -made head against the invading Saracens in Italy, supported the orthodox -prelates of the southern kingdoms, Arles, Burgundy and Spain against -Arian dukes and governors, and regulated the internal affairs of the -city, neglected by its Frankish patricians and missi. At this time too -Rome had no competitor: Africa had fallen, Constantinople had abdicated -her imperial position, the cities and the sees of the East had vanished -together; Rome—at least one of the oldest—was now unquestionably the -most powerful of the Christian churches. She had all the prestige of the -old empire, and all the support of the new one which she had helped to -found upon the ruins of the old. - ------ - -Footnote 835: - - But, as yet, no independence. Pope Paschal in 823, being accused by - the Romans of participation in various homicides, Hluduuig sent his - Missi,—Adalung a presbyter and abbot, and Hunfrid duke of Rhætia (or - Coire) to investigate the affair. Paschal appeared before them, and - cleared himself by oath. “Qui supradictus Pontifex cum iuramento - purificavit se in Lateranensi patriarchio coram supradictis legatis et - populo Romano, cum episcopis 34, et presbyteris et diaconibus - quinque.” Thegan. Vit. Hludov. Imp. Pertz, ii. 597. - ------ - -But this gradual advance and this commanding power could not at first -have been contemplated. It is a common error to suppose that great -results, which seem necessarily produced by a long series of combined -causes, have from the first been prepared and foreseen. The spectator in -his own struggle after a logical unity rejects the accidental and -accessory facts, to fix his eyes upon the apparently essential -development; and supposes everything to have been grasped together, -because his intellect cannot conceive the whole variety of occurrences -without so grasping them. The relations of Rome with the Franks were -hardly the consequence of any deliberate or well-considered plan. The -Frankish kings had been selected as patrons merely because they could -afford the protection which was looked for in vain from Constantinople, -or indeed any other quarter; and had Italy not been overrun by Germanic -invaders of various race, from whose power there seemed no refuge, save -in other and still more barbarous Germanic defenders, the Western empire -might never have been restored: but when once it was so restored,—from -the moment when Pope Leo and the Roman municipality agreed to place the -command of the city, and the rights of the ancient Caesars, in the hands -of a barbarian king,—but one capable of appreciating and securing all -the advantages of his great position,—Rome itself became not only -identified with the new views, but necessary to their fulfilment[836]. -Had the new emperor been a Roman, or had he selected Rome as his -residence, and thus made it the local as well as real and political -centre of his power, the Papacy would probably never have attained its -territorial authority. But the Frankish king remained true to the habits -of his people and of his predecessors, resided in peaceful times at -Ingleheim or Aix la Chapelle, and spent years in wandering from one -royal vill to another, or in the duties of active warfare upon the -several confines of his empire; and thus the government of the eternal -city practically fell into the hands of Frankish officers, dukes, missi, -counts palatine, and ministerials, who gradually proved no match for the -enlightened skill, unwearied diplomacy and increasing power of the -pontiffs, the Roman aristocratic families, and the resuscitated -municipality: yet the popes had hardly succeeded in attaining to a -complete independence of the German Caesars, when the son of Hugues, -called Capet, expelled the last Caroling from the soil of France; though -in the course of a policy long inexorably pursued, they had gone far to -prepare for a dismemberment of the empire which was to be of more -important consequence to the world than even that separation[837]. In -956—the year in which Eádwig, the mark of monkish calumny, came to the -throne of England, the Patrician Octavian, son of Alberic of Spoleto, -and through him grandson of the scandalous Marozia, caused himself to be -elected Pope; and thus united the highest worldly and spiritual -authorities in the city, concentrating in his own person all the rights -both of the empire and the papacy[838]. - ------ - -Footnote 836: - - No sooner was Charlemagne crowned as emperor by Leo III. (Dec. 20th, - 800) than he caused an oath of fidelity to be administered to all his - subjects who were above the age of twelve years. See on this subject - Dönniges, p. 2, etc. He thus obtained all the rights of the ancient - emperors over the church and the Roman provincials, in addition to the - powers as a German king, which in his vigorous hands assumed a - consistency and compass unknown to his predecessors. Charlemagne - required all the aid of the Pope against the great Frankish families, - who might have given him a mayor of the palace, as they had given his - own progenitors to the Merwingian kings. The following important - passage will show in what spirit he considered the imperial authority - which he had assumed, “A.D. 802. Eo anno demoravit domnus Caesar - Carolus apud Aquis palatium quietus cum Francis sine hoste; sed - recordatus misericordiae suae de pauperibus, qui in regno suo erant et - iustitias suas pleniter [h]abere non poterant, noluit de infra palatio - pauperiores vassos suos transmittere ad iustitias faciendum propter - munera, sed elegit in regno suo archiepiscopos et reliquos episcopos - et abbates cum ducibus et comitibus, qui iam opus non [h]abebant super - innocentes munera accipere, et ipsos misit per universum regnum suum, - ut ecclesiis, viduis et orfanis et pauperibus, et cuncto populo - iustitiam facerent. Et mense Octimbrio congregavit universalem synodum - in iam nominato loco, et ibi fecit episcopis cum presbyteris seu - diaconibus relegi universos canones quas sanctus synodus recepit, et - decreta pontificum, et pleniter iussit eos tradi coram omnibus - episcopis, presbyteris et diaconibus. Similiter in ipso synodo - congregavit universos abbates et monachos qui ibi aderant, et ipsi - inter se conventum faciebant, et legerunt regulam sancti patris - Benedicti, et eam tradiderunt sapientes in conspectu abbatum et - monachorum; et tunc iussu eius generaliter super omnes episcopos, - abbates, presbyteros, diaconos seu universo clero facta est, ut - unusquisque in loco suo iuxta constitutionem sanctorum patrum, sive in - episcopatibus seu in monasteriis aut per universas sanctas ecclesias, - ut canonici, iuxta canones viverent, et quicquid in clero aut in - populo de culpis aut de negligentiis apparuerit, iuxta canonum - auctoritate emendassent; et quicquid in monasteriis seu in monachis - contra regulam sancti Benedicti factum fuisset, hoc ipsud iuxta ipsam - regulam sancti Benedicti emendare fecissent. Sed et ipse imperator, - interim quod ipsum synodum factum est, congregavit duces, comites et - reliquo christiano populo cum legislatoribus, et fecit omnes leges in - regno suo legi, et tradi unicuique homini legem suam, et emendare - ubicumque necesse fuit, et emendatam legem scribere, et ut iudices per - scriptum iudicassent, et munera non accepissent; sed omnes homines, - pauperes et divites, in regno suo iustitiam habuissent.” Annal. - Lauresham, xxv. Pertz, i. 38. In the theory of that great man, the - imperial title was no empty name. - -Footnote 837: - - A.D. 987. See Dönniges, p. 197 _seq._ Thierry, Lettres sur l’Histoire - de France, let. xii. - -Footnote 838: - - Since A.D. 924 there had been in fact no Emperor of Germany, and the - empire itself might seem to have been resolved anew into its original - and discordant elements. From the year 904, when the elder Theodora - succeeded in placing Sergius the Third upon the papal throne, the - faction of that profligate woman and her daughters had completely - disposed of all the dignities of the city, and the bed of the - Theodoras or Marozia was the best introduction to the Chair of St. - Peter. - ------ - -Three hundred and sixty years earlier, Gregory, then bishop of Rome, had -despatched a missionary adventure to this country. - -The zeal of modern polemics has dealt more hardly with Gregory than -justice demands[839]. Who shall dare to attribute to him, or to any -other man, entire freedom from human error, or total absence of those -faults which, for the very happiness of man, are found to chequer the -most perfect of human characters? But even if we admit that he shared, -to not less than the usual degree, in the weakness and selfishness of -our nature, it is impossible to withhold the meed of our admiration from -the man whose intellect could combine, whose prudence could direct, and -whose courage could cope with, all the details of a conversion such as -that of Saxon England. Let us only consider the circumstances under -which he found himself placed at home, and we shall the better -comprehend the power of mind which could devise and execute the vast -design of a spiritual colonization, a transplantation of religion as it -were from Rome the centre, to Britain the extreme, the least known, and -most barbarous point of the ancient empire[840]. Temporal as well as -spiritual ruler of the city, abandoned by those miserable intriguers who -inherited from the emperors nothing but their title and their vices, and -pressed on every side by the vigorous advance of the Langobardic arms, -it was Gregory’s fate or fortune to pass in the midst of political -excitement a life which he had hoped to devote to pious meditation. But -he possessed a character capable of moulding itself to all the -exigencies of his situation; whether reluctantly or not, he flung -himself into the gap, and comprehended, with a perfect singleness of -insight, that to whom belongs the post of greatest honour, on him lies -also the burthen of the greatest toil and greatest danger. By turns -soldier, captain, negotiator, and priest,—now wielding the pen to -instruct, now the sword to protect or to chastise,—now pouring -passionate exhortations from his pulpit, now providing for the resources -of his commissariat, or superintending the builders engaged on the -material defences of his walls,—we see in him one of those men whom -troublous times have often educated to cope with themselves, and whose -names have thus justly become the very landmarks and pivots of history. - ------ - -Footnote 839: - - See Soames, Anglos. Church, p. 40 _seq._, and Latin Church during - Anglos. Times, p. 12 _seq._, 19 _seq._ On the other side, Schrödl, Das - erste Jahrhundert der Englischen Kirche, p. 10 _seq._ - -Footnote 840: - - It must not be forgotten that the Southerns shuddered at the Saxons, - as the most savage and barbarous of all the Germanic tribes. However - unjust the opinion might be, it was the fashionable one at Rome. - ------ - -A great writer, who sometimes suffers his hostility against Christianity -and its professors to outweigh the calmer judgment of the historian, has -left us this graphic account of the condition of Rome at the end of the -sixth century[841]. - ------ - -Footnote 841: - - Gibbon, Dec. and Fall, chapter 45. - ------ - -“Amidst the arms of the Lombards, and under the despotism of the Greeks, -we again inquire into the fate of Rome[842], which had reached, about -the close of the sixth century, the lowest period of her depression. By -the removal of the seat of empire, and the successive loss of the -provinces, the sources of public and private opulence were exhausted; -the lofty tree, under whose shade the nations of the earth had reposed, -was deprived of its leaves and branches, and the sapless trunk was left -to wither on the ground. The ministers of command and the messengers of -victory no longer met on the Appian or Flaminian Way, and the hostile -approach of the Lombards was often felt and continually feared. The -inhabitants of a potent and peaceful capital, who visit without an -anxious thought the garden of the adjoining country, will faintly -picture in their fancy the distress of the Romans; they shut or opened -their gates with a trembling hand, beheld from the walls the flames of -their houses, and heard the lamentations of their brethren, who were -coupled together like dogs, and dragged away into distant slavery beyond -the sea and the mountains. Such incessant alarms must annihilate the -pleasures and interrupt the labours of a rural life; and the Campagna of -Rome was speedily reduced to the state of a dreary wilderness, in which -the land is barren, the waters are impure, and the air is infectious. -Curiosity and ambition no longer attracted the nations to the capital of -the world: but if chance or necessity directed the steps of a wandering -stranger, he contemplated with horror the vacancy and solitude of the -city, and might be tempted to ask, Where is the senate, and where are -the people? In a season of excessive rains, the Tiber swelled above its -banks, and rushed with irresistible violence into the valleys of the -seven hills. A pestilential disease arose from the stagnation of the -deluge, and so rapid was the contagion, that fourscore persons expired -in an hour in the midst of a solemn procession, which implored the mercy -of heaven[843]. A society in which marriage is encouraged and industry -prevails, soon repairs the accidental losses of pestilence and war; but -as the far greater part of the Romans was condemned to hopeless -indigence and celibacy, the depopulation was constant and visible, and -the gloomy enthusiasts might expect the approaching failure of the human -race[844].” - ------ - -Footnote 842: - - “The passages of the Homilies of Gregory, which represent the - miserable state of the city and country, are transcribed in the Annals - of Baronius, A.D. 590, No. 16; A.D. 595, No. 2. etc.” - -Footnote 843: - - “The inundation and plague were reported by a deacon, whom his bishop, - Gregory of Tours, had despatched to Rome for some relics. The - ingenious messenger embellished his tale and the river with a great - dragon and a train of little serpents.” Greg. Turon. lib. x. cap. 1. - -Footnote 844: - - “Gregory of Rome (Dialog. l. ii. c. 15) relates a memorable prediction - of St. Benedict. ‘Roma a gentilibus non exterminabitur sed - tempestatibus, coruscis turbinibus et terrae motu in semetipsa - marcescet.’ Such a prophecy melts into true history, and becomes the - evidence of the fact after which it was invented.” - ------ - -It was in the midst of scenes such as these that Gregory found time to -organize the mission of Augustine to Britain. In the absence of definite -information, derived from his own account, or the relations of his -friends and contemporaries, it is impossible to penetrate the motives -which led the pontiff to this step. They have been variously interpreted -by the zeal of opposing historians, who have construed them by the light -of their own prejudices, in favour of the conflicting interests of their -respective churches. Nor, with such insufficient means, do we attempt to -reconcile their differences: human motives are rarely unmixed, rarely -all good or all evil: it is possible that there may be some truth in all -the conflicting views which have been taken of this great act; that -while an earnest missionary spirit, and deep feeling of responsibility, -led the Pope to carry the blessings of an orthodox Christianity to the -distant and benighted tribes of Britain, he may have contemplated—not -without pardonable complacency—the growth of a church immediately -dependent upon his see for guidance and instruction. It may be that some -lingering whispers of vanity or ambition spoke of the increase of wealth -or dignity or power which might thus accrue to the patriarchate of the -West. Nay, who shall say that, looking round in his despair upon Rome -itself and the disject members of its once mighty empire, he may not -even have thought that England, inaccessible from its seas, and the -valour of its denizens, might one day offer a secure refuge to the last -remains of Roman faith and nationality, and their last, but not least -noble, defender? - -To the pontiff and the statesman it was not unknown that the Britannic -islands were occupied by two populations different alike in their -descent and in their fortunes; the elder and the weaker, of Keltic -blood; the younger and the conquering race, an offshoot of that great -Teutonic stock, whose branches had overspread all the fairest provinces -of the empire, and had now for the most part adopted something of the -civilization, together with the profession, of Christianity. He was -aware that commercial intercourse, nay even family alliances, had -already connected the Anglosaxons with those Franks, who, in opposition -to the Arian Goths, Burgundians and Langobards, had accepted the form of -faith considered orthodox by the Roman See[845]. The British church, he -no doubt knew, in common with others which claimed to have been founded -by the Apostles[846], still retained some rites and practices which had -either never been sanctioned or were now abandoned at Rome: but still -the communion of the churches had been maintained as well as could be -expected between such distant establishments. British bishops had -appeared in the Catholic synods[847], and the church of the Keltic -aborigines reverenced with affectionate zeal the memory of the -missionaries whom it was the boast of Rome to have sent forth for her -instruction or confirmation in the faith[848]. On the other hand, it had -reached the ears of the Pope, that the Germanic conquerors themselves -yearned for the communication of the glad tidings of salvation; that -tolerance was found in at least one court,—and that, one of -preponderating influence; while an unhappy instinct of national hatred -had induced the British Christians to withhold all attempts to spread -the Gospel among their heathen neighbours[849]. - ------ - -Footnote 845: - - “I cannot bear to see the finest provinces of Gaul in the hands of - those heretics,” cried Clovis, with all the zeal of a new convert. The - clergy blessed the pious sentiment, and the orthodox barbarian was - rewarded with a series of bloody victories, which mainly tended to - establish the predominance of the Frank over all the other elements in - Gaul. - -Footnote 846: - - If traditions could be construed into good history, Britain was - abundantly provided with apostolical converters: Joseph of Arimathea, - Aristobulus, one of the seventy, St. Paul himself, have all had their - several supporters. Nay even St. Peter has been said to have visited - this island: Ἔπειτα [ὁ Πέτρος] ... εἰς βρεττανίαν παραγίνεται· Ἔνθα δὴ - χειροτριβήσας καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ἀκατοναμάτων ἐνθῶν εἰς τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ - πίστιν ἐπισπασάμενος ... ἐπιμείνας τὲ τοῖς ἐν βρεττανὶᾳ ἡμέρας τινὰς, - καὶ πολλοὺς τῷ λόγῳ φωτίσας τῆς χάριτος, ἐκκλησίας τε συστησάμενος, - ἐπισκόπους τε καὶ πρεσβυτέρους καὶ διακόνους χειροτονήσας, δωδεκάτῳ - ἔτει τοῦ Καίσαρος αὖθις εἰς Ῥώμην παραγίνεται. Menolog. Graec. xvi. - Mart. - -Footnote 847: - - At Arles in 314, Sardica in 347, and Rimini in 359. - -Footnote 848: - - Not to speak of Ninian, Palladius and Patricius, we may refer to - Germanus of Auxerre, who is stated to have been sent as Papal Vicar to - England, to arrest the progress of Pelagianism, at the beginning of - the fifth century. Schrödl asserts this in the broadest terms: “Auf - Bitten der Britischen Bischöfe, und gesendet von Pabst Cölestin, - besuchte der Bischof Germanus von Auxerre in der Eigenschaft eines - päbstlichen Vicars, zweimal Britannien,” etc. Erste Jahrh. p. 2. - Lingard is somewhat less decided: he says, “Pope Celestine, at the - representation of the deacon Palladius, commissioned Germanus of - Auxerre to proceed in his name to Britain,” etc. Ang. Church, i. 8. - Both these authors refer to Prosper, in Chron. _anno_ 429. “Papa - Coelestinus Germanum Autisiodorensem episcopum _vice sua_ mittit, et - deturbatis haereticis Britannos ad Catholicam fidem dirigit.” Prosper - was not only a contemporary of the facts he relates, but at a later - period actually became secretary to Celestine: his authority therefore - is of much weight. Still it is observable that Beda, in his relation, - does not attribute the mission of Germanus to the Pope. He says, that - the Britons having applied for aid to the prelates of Gaul, these held - a great synod, and _elected_ Germanus and Lupus to proceed to England. - Hist. Eccl. i. 17. Beda’s account is taken from the life of Germanus - written by Constantius of Lyons, about forty years after the bishop’s - death. He says as little of the Vicariate in his account of the second - mission. However, even supposing Prosper, whose means of judgment were - certainly the best, to be right, it only follows that Celestine - dispatched Germanus as his Vicar, but not that the British prelates - formally received him in that capacity. It does not seem to me that - the passage contains any satisfactory proof that the Roman See enjoyed - a _right_ of appointing Vicars in England at the period in question, - however it may have desired, or tried practically, to establish one. - -Footnote 849: - - Beda, II. E. i. 22. - ------ - -Under these circumstances, in the year 596, at the very moment when the -ancient metropolis of the world seemed on the point of falling under the -yoke of the Langobards, Augustine and his forty companions set out to -carry the faith to the extreme islands of the West,—a deed as heroic as -when Scipio marched for Zama, and left the terrible Carthaginian -thundering at the gates of the city. Furnished with letters of -introduction to facilitate their passage through Gaul, where they were -to provide themselves with interpreters, and where, in the event of -success, Augustine was to receive episcopal consecration, the -adventurers finally landed in Kent, experienced a gentle reception from -Æðelberht, and obtained permission to preach the faith among his -subjects. In an incredibly short space of time—if we may credit the -earliest historian of the Anglosaxon church—their efforts were crowned -with success in the more important districts of the island; Canterbury, -Rochester and London received the distinction of episcopal sees; swarms -of energetic missionaries from Rome, from Gaul, from Burgundy, followed -on their track, eager to aid their labours, and share their triumph; and -at length the Keltic Scots themselves, emulous of their successes, or -awakened, though late, to a sense of their own culpable neglect, entered -vigorously upon the vacant field, and preached the Gospel to the pagan -tribes north of the Humber, and in the central provinces of England. The -progress of the new creed was not, however, one unchequered triumph: in -Wales and Scotland the embittered Kelts refused not only canonical -submission to the missionary archbishop, but even Catholic communion -with his neophytes[850]. In Eastanglia, Essex, nay Kent itself, apostacy -followed upon the death of the first converted kings; while Wessex -remained true to its ancient paganism; and Penda of Mercia, tolerant of -Christianity although himself no Christian, was dangerous through his -very indifference, his ambition, and the triumphs of his arms over -successive Northumbrian princes. Still the great aim of Gregory was not -to be vain, and despite kings and peoples, nay even despite the -faintheartedness and “little faith” of the missionaries, the work of -conversion did go on and prosper, until it embraced every portion of the -island, and every part of England made at least an outward profession of -Christianity. - ------ - -Footnote 850: - - “Scottos vero per Daganum episcopum in hanc, quam superius - memoravimus, insulam (sc. Britanniam) et Columbanum abbatem in Gallis - venientem, nihil discrepare a Brittonibus in eorum conversatione - didicimus. Nam Daganus episcopus ad nos veniens, non solum cibum - nobiscum, sed nec in eodem hospitio quo vescebamur, sumere voluit.” - Such is the account Laurentius, Mellitus and Justus give in their - epistle to the Scottish prelates themselves. Beda, Hist. Eccl. ii. 4. - And the Keltic example is answered in an equally intolerant spirit by - Theodore:—“Qui ordinati sunt Scottorum vel Brittonum episcopi, qui in - Pascha vel tonsura catholicae non sunt adunati aecclesiae, iterum a - catholico episcopo manus impositione confirmentur. Licentiam quoque - non habemus _eis poscentibus_ chrisma vel eucharistiam dare, nisi ante - confessi fuerint velle nobiscum esse in unitate aecclesiae. Et qui ex - eorum similiter gente, vel quicumque de baptismo suo dubitaverit, - baptizetur.” Cap. Theod. Thorpe, ii. 64. See also Canones Sancti - Gregorii, cap. 145. Kunstmann, Poenit. p. 141. - ------ - -No sooner had the new creed found a reception among the Saxons than the -establishment of bishoprics followed in every separate kingdom. The -intention of Gregory had been to appoint two metropolitans, each with -twelve suffragan bishops, one having his cathedral in London, the other -in York. But political events prevented the execution of this plan: -Canterbury retained the primacy of the greater part of England, and -(except during a very few years) the rule over all the bishops on this -side the Humber; while York, after receiving an archbishop in the person -of Paulinus, remained for nearly a century after his death under a -bishop only; and never succeeded in establishing more than four -suffragan sees, which were finally reduced to two. This state of things -naturally sprang from the circumstances under which the conversion took -place. Had England been subject to one central power, or had the -relinquishment of paganism taken place simultaneously in the several -districts, a general system might have been introduced whose leading -features might have been in accordance with Gregory’s desire; but this -was not the case. The work of conversion was subject to many -difficulties which could not have been appreciated at Rome. The pope had -probably but sparing knowledge of the relations which existed between -the Anglosaxon kingdoms, and how little concert could be expected from -their scattered and hostile rulers. Nor could he have anticipated a -jealous and sullen resistance on the part of the Keltic Christians, -which was perhaps not altogether unprovoked by the indiscreet -pretensions of Augustine[851]. But the first bishops were in fact -strictly missionaries,—as much so as the bishop of New Zealand among the -Maori,—heads of various bodies of voluntary adventurers, who at their -own great peril bore the tidings of salvation to the pagan inhabitants -of distant and separate localities. Prudence indeed dictated the -propriety of commencing with those whose authority might tend to secure -their own safety, and whose example would be a useful confirmation of -their arguments; whose own religious convictions also were less likely -to be of a settled and bigotted character than those of the villagers in -the Marks. Christianity, which in its outset commenced with the lowest -and poorest classes of society, and slowly widened its circuit till it -embraced the highest, thus reversed the process in England, and -commenced with the courts and households of the kings. - ------ - -Footnote 851: - - This seems to follow from the relation of what passed at Augustine’s - interview with the Welsh prelates. At the same time we should judge - very unwisely were we to believe missionary jealousies confined to the - nineteenth century. In the distracted state of the British the bishops - were almost the only possessors of a legal authority; and it is not at - all probable that they would have looked with equanimity on those who - came with an open proposal of subordination, even had it been - unaccompanied with circumstances wounding to their self-love. - ------ - -Accordingly the conversion of a king was generally followed by the -establishment of a see, the princes being apparently desirous of -attaching a Christian prelate to their comitatus, in place of the Pagan -high-priest who had probably occupied a similar position. Considerations -of personal dignity, not less than policy, may have led to this result: -the lurking remains of heathen superstition may not have been without -their weight: whatever were the cause, we find at first a bishopric -co-extensive with a kingdom[852]. But this was obviously an insufficient -provision in the larger districts, as Christianity continued its -triumphant course, and towards the close of the seventh century, -Theodore, the first archbishop who succeeded in uniting all the English -church under his authority, finally accomplished the division of the -larger sees. From this period till the ninth century, when the invasions -of the Northmen threw all the established institutions into confusion, -the English sees appear to have ranked in the following order[853]:— - -Province of Canterbury.—1. Lichfield. 2. Leicester. 3. Lincoln. 4. -Worcester. 5. Hereford. 6. Sherborne. 7. Winchester. 8. Elmham. 9. -Dummoc. 10. London. 11. Rochester. 12. Selsey. - -Province of York.—1. Hexham. 2. Lindisfarn. 3. Whiterne. - ------ - -Footnote 852: - - Kent is probably only an apparent exception. Rochester can hardly have - been otherwise than the capital of a subordinate kingdom. - -Footnote 853: - - I neglect temporary changes, such as that of John at Beverley, Birinus - at Dorchester, etc., and confine myself to the settled and usual - location of the sees, and what appears to have been the established - order of their precedence. One of the most solemn ecclesiastical acts - on record, namely that of archbishop Æðelheard’s synod at Clofeshoo, - in 803, by which the integrity of the see of Canterbury was restored, - was signed by the following prelates in the order in which they stand, - and which usually prevails in the rest of the charters:— - - 1. Æðelheard, archbishop of Canterbury. - 2. Aldwulf, bishop of Lichfield. - 3. Werenberht, bishop of Leicester. - 4. Eádwulf, bishop of Sidnacester (Lincoln). - 5. Deneberht, bishop of Worcester. - 6. Wulfheard, bishop of Hereford. - 7. Wigberht, bishop of Sherborne. - 8. Ealhmund, bishop of Winchester. - 9. Alhheard, bishop of Elmham. - 10. Tidfrið, bishop of Dunwich. - 11. Osmund, bishop of London. - 12. Wermund, bishop of Rochester. - 13. Wihthun, bishop of Selsey.—Cod. Dipl. No. 1024. - - The archbishop of York, and his suffragans, it appears, did not care - to attend a synod which restored his rival of Canterbury to a - predominant authority in England. - ------ - -Thus, inclusive of Canterbury and York, there were seventeen sees. At a -later period some of these perished altogether, as Lindisfarn, Hexham, -Whiterne and Dummoc; while others were formed, as Durham for -Northumberland, Dorchester for Lincoln; and in Wessex, Ramsbury -(Hræfnesbyrig, Ecclesia Corvinensis) for Wilts, Wells for Somerset, -Crediton for Devonshire, and during some time, St. Petroc’s or Padstow -for Cornwall. - -The earliest bishops among the Saxons were necessarily strangers. Romans -occupied the cathedral thrones of Canterbury, Rochester and London, and -for a while that of York also. Northumberland next passed for a short -time under the direction of Keltic prelates,—Scots as they were then -called,—who held no communion with the Romish missionaries. Felix, a -Burgundian, but not an Arian, evangelized Eastanglia; Birinus, a Frank, -carried the faith to Wessex. But as these men gradually left the scene -of their labours, which must have been much increased by the difficulty -of teaching populations who spoke a strange language, by means of -interpreters, their Saxon pupils addressed themselves to the work with -exemplary zeal and earnestness; it was very soon found that the island -could supply itself with prelates fully equal to all the duties of their -position; and to a mere accident was the English church indebted at the -end of the seventh century for a foreign metropolitan, in the person of -Theodore of Tarsus. Although we may reasonably suppose the traditions of -the heathen priesthood not to have been without some weight, we must not -conclude that these alone will account for the number of noble -Anglosaxons whom, from the earliest period, we find devoting themselves -to the service of the church, and clothed with its highest dignities. It -must be admitted that nowhere else did Christianity make a deeper or -more lasting impression than in England. Not only do we see the high -nobles and the near relatives of kings among the bishops and -archbishops, but kings themselves—warlike and fortunate kings—suddenly -and voluntarily renouncing their temporal advantages, retiring into -monasteries, and abdicating their crowns, that they may wander as -pilgrims to the shrines of the Apostles in Rome. We find princesses and -other high-born ladies devoting themselves to a life of celibacy, or -separating from their husbands to preside over congregations of nuns: -well descended men cannot rest till they have wandered forth to carry -the tidings of redemption into distant and barbarous lands; a life of -abstinence and hardship, to be crowned by a martyr’s death, seems to -have been hungered and thirsted after by the wealthy and the -noble,—assuredly an extraordinary and an edifying spectacle among a race -not at all adverse to the pomps and pleasures of worldly life, a -spectacle which compels us to believe in the deep, earnest, -conscientious spirit of self-sacrifice and love of truth which -characterized the nation. - -The complete organization of the ecclesiastical power in England appears -to have been effected by Theodore, who is distinctly affirmed to have -been the first prelate whose authority the whole church of the Angles -consented to admit[854]. There is reason to suppose that this was not -accomplished without some difficulty, for it involved the division of -previously existing dioceses, and the consequent diminution of -previously existing power and influence. Theodore, like Augustine, had -been despatched from Rome to England, under very peculiar circumstances. -After the death of Deusdedit, archbishop of Canterbury, a difficulty -appears to have arisen about the election of a successor, in consequence -of which the see remained for some time without an occupant[855]. At -length however Oswiú of Northumberland and Ecgberht of Kent undertook to -put a period to a state of affairs which must have caused grave -inconveniences[856], and accordingly they took, with the election and -consent of the church, a presbyter of the late archbishop, named -Wigheard, and sent him to Rome for consecration. It is most remarkable -that we hear nothing of any co-operation on the part of Wessex in this -step, or of the powerful king of Mercia, Wulfhere, who had succeeded in -establishing the independence of his country against all the efforts of -Oswiú himself. Shortly after his arrival in Rome Wigheard died, and -after some correspondence with the English kings, Vitalian undertook to -provide a prelate for the vacant see[857]. Various difficulties being -finally overcome, his choice fell upon Theodore of Tarsus, who -accordingly was despatched to England with the power of an archbishop, -and solemnly enthroned at Canterbury in 668. - ------ - -Footnote 854: - - “Isque primus erat in archiepiscopis, cui omnis Anglorum aecclesia - manus dare consentiret.” Beda, II. E. iv. 2. - -Footnote 855: - - Deusdedit died Nov. 28th, 664. The Saxon Chronicle and Florence assign - 667 as the date of Wigheard’s mission, but this is hardly reconcilable - with the facts of the case, and appears to be an erroneous calculation - founded on the circumstance that the see was vacant three years, and - that Theodore arrived only in 668. Some time must have elapsed from - Wigheard’s departure for Rome, until the interchange of letters - between Oswiú and Pope Vitalian, and the completion of the - negotiations which resulted in Theodore’s appointment. - -Footnote 856: - - The want of an archbishop to give canonical ordination to bishops, - seems to have forced itself upon their notice. “Hunc antistitem - ordinandum Romam miserunt; quatenus accepto ipso gradu - archiepiscopatus, catholicos per omnem Britanniam aecclesiis Anglorum - ordinare posset antistites.” Beda, H. E. iv. 29. It was at all events - a good argument, though the difficulty was one which Gaul had often - arranged. - -Footnote 857: - - This event has naturally been discussed with very different views. The - Roman Catholics construe it to imply a recognized right in the Roman - See: the Protestants look upon it as rather a piece of skilful - manœuvring on the part of the Pope. Lappenberg (i. 172) says: “The - death of Wigheard was taken advantage of by the Pope to set over the - Anglosaxon bishops a primate devoted to his views.” “This opportunity - was not lost upon Italian subtlety. Vitalian, then Pope, determined - upon trying whether the Anglosaxons would receive an archbishop - nominated by himself.” Soames, Anglos. Church, p. 78. Against this, of - course, Lingard has expatiated in his Hist. and Antiq. i. 75. He - attributes the selection of Theodore to a _request_ of the two kings, - and adds in a note: “That such was their request is certain. Beda - calls Theodore, who was selected by Vitalian, ‘the archbishop asked - for by the king’—episcopum quem petierant a Romano pontifice (Bed. iv. - c. 1)—and ‘the bishop whom the country had anxiously sought’—doctorem - veritatis, quem patria sedula quaesierat. Id. Op. Min. p. 142. - Vitalian, in his answer to the two kings, reminds them that their - letter requested him to choose a bishop for them in the case of - Wigheard’s death—‘secundum vestrorum scriptorum tenorem.’ Bed. iii. - 29. Certainly these passages must have escaped the eye of Mr. Soames, - who boldly, and without an atom of authority for his statement, - ascribes the choice of a bishop by Vitalian to Italian subtlety.” Mr. - Churton in his Early English Church, p. 67, inclines also to this - view, which is again combated by Soames in his Latin Church, etc. p. - 80 _seq._; but this author with a happy skill which he sometimes - manifests of not seeing disagreeable data, says nothing of the “_quem - petierant_ a Romano pontifice.” Yet in these words lies the matter of - the whole dispute. It certainly does not appear from Vitalian’s - letter, that any such contingency as Wigheard’s death was provided for - by the kings; this is in itself extremely improbable, and the - assertion is an evidence of Lingard’s rashness where the interests of - his party are concerned. But is it not on the other hand very probable - that more letters passed between the kings and the pope than are now - recorded? that Vitalian announced Wigheard’s death, and that the - kings, conscious of the difficulty of coming to any second settlement - in such a state of society as their own (especially as they were but - two of four very equally poised authorities), fairly asked him to - solve the problem for them? I greatly doubt the strict adherence to - canonical forms of election in the seventh century; and indeed - throughout the history of the English church it appears that the kings - dealt very much at their own pleasure in the appointment of bishops. - It could hardly be otherwise with a clergy dispersed through so many - heterogeneous fractions as then made up England: and if it is now much - to be desired that the appointment by the central authority should - spare the church the scandal which might ensue from the canonical - election of bishops—strictly construed—(for acted upon strictly it - never has been under any orderly and strong government, since - Christianity began), it was much more necessary then, when the clergy - belonged to hostile populations. That central authority was royalty, - recognized wherever found. - ------ - -Hitherto there had been churches in England; henceforward there was a -church,—and a body of clergy existing as a central institution, in spite -of the separation and frequent hostility of the states to which the -clergy themselves belonged. No doubt the common rank and interests of -the bishops, as well as the necessity for canonical consecration had -from the first produced some sort of union among them. But from the time -of Theodore we find at least the southern prelates assembling in -provincial synods, under the direction of the metropolitan, to declare -the faith as it was found among them, establish canons of discipline and -rules of ecclesiastical government, and generally to make such -arrangements as appeared likely to conduce to the well-being of the -church, without regard to the severance of the kingdoms. To these -synods, which though not holden twice a year in accordance with -Theodore’s plan, and indeed with the ancient canons of the church, were -yet of frequent occurrence, the bishops repaired, accompanied by some of -their co-presbyters and monks, and when the business before them was -completed, returned to promulgate in their dioceses the regulations of -the council, and spread among their clergy the news of what was doing in -other lands for the furtherance of the Gospel. - -The respectful deference paid to the Roman See was thus naturally -converted into a much closer and more intimate relation. Saxon England -was essentially the child of Rome; whatever obligations any of her -kingdoms may have been under to the Keltic missionaries,—and I cannot -persuade myself that these were at all considerable,—she certainly had -entirely lost sight of them at the close of the seventh and the -commencement of the eighth centuries. Her national bishops, as the Kelts -and disciples of the Kelts have been unjustifiably called, had either -retired in disgust, like Colman, or been deposed like Winfrið, or -apostatized like Cedd. It was to Rome that her nobles and prelates -wandered as pilgrims; it was the interests of Rome that her missionaries -preached in Germany[858] and Friesland; it was to her that the -archbishops elect looked for their pall[859]—the sign of their dignity: -to the Pope her prelates appealed for redress, or for authority: in the -eighth century we find one pope sanctioning the formation of a third -archiepiscopal see, in defiance of the metropolitan of Canterbury; and -in the first year of the ninth century we find this new arrangement -abrogated by the same authority. Lastly it was England that gave to Rome -Wilfrið and Willibrord and Adelberht, Boniface and Willibald, Anselm and -Becket and Robert of Winchelsea. - ------ - -Footnote 858: - - Boniface found an ancient church even in Germany. Vit. Bonif. Pertz, - ii. 341. He rendered it a papal one. It is no doubt difficult to - imagine how it could have been originally anything else; but at all - events his efforts brought it back into subjection to the Vatican. - “D’abord les églises de la Grand Bretagne et de l’Allemagne, fondées - par les missionaires du pape, furent toutes rattachées et subordonnées - à l’épiscopat Romain. C’est surtout Saint Boniface, le fondateur de - l’église Allemande, mort en 755, qui reserra cette union. Ou diminua - partout les métropolitains, et les simples évêques devinrent plus - indépendans par leurs rapports directs avec Rome.” Warnkönig, Hist. du - Droit Belgique, p. 163. The spirit in which Boniface considered his - mission, which he himself calls _apostolicae sedis legatio_ (Vita, - Pertz, ii. 342) is apparent from the correspondence with Pope Gregory - III. in 731. “Denuo Romam nuntii eius venerunt, sanctumque sedis - Apostolicae pontificem adlocuti sunt, eique prioris amicitiae foedera, - quae misericorditer ab antecessore suo, Sancto Bonifatio eiusque - familiae conlata sunt, manifestaverunt; sed et devotam eius in futurum - humilitatis apostolicae sedi subiectionem narraverunt, et ut - familiaritati ac communioni sancti pontificis atque totius sedis - apostolicae ex hoc devote subiectus communicaret, quemadmodum edocti - erant, praecabantur. Statim ergo sedis apostolicae Papa pacificum - profert responsum, et suam sedisque apostolicae familiaritatis et - amicitiae communionem tam sancto Bonifatio quam etiam sibi subiectis - condonavit, sumptoque archiepiscopatus pallio, cum muneribus - diversisque sanctorum reliquiis legatos honorifice remisit ad - patriam.” Pertz, ii. 345. With such provocation, the Popes would - indeed have acted an unwise part in not availing themselves of the - ready service of their Anglosaxon converts! - -Footnote 859: - - Mr. Soames very cursorily says: “Augustine received about the same - time from Gregory the insidious compliment of a pall. He was charged - also to establish twelve suffragan bishops, and to select an - archbishop for the see of York. Over this prelate, who was likewise to - have under his jurisdiction twelve suffragan sees, he had a personal - grant of precedence. After his death the two archbishops were to rank - according to priority of consecration.” Anglosax. Church, p. 55. The - language, thus most carefully selected, is intended to meet any - argument which might be derived from the despatch of the pallium, in - token of assumption of authority by the Pope. But there can be little - doubt, whatever its original character may have been, that this - distinction was both intended and accepted as a mark of the - archiepiscopal dignity, and as conveying powers which without it could - not be exercised. This was obviously the way Beda understood it, and - Gregory meant it to be understood. In his answers to Augustine’s - questions, one of which referred to the relations which were to - subsist between the Gallican and English churches, the pope thus - refuses to give his missionary any authority over the continental - bishops:—“In Galliarum episcopis nullam tibi auctoritatem tribuimus; - quia ab antiquis praedecessorum meorum temporibus pallium Arelatensis - episcopus accepit, quem nos privare auctoritate percepta minime - debemus.” Hist. Eccl. i. 27. And in a subsequent letter to Augustine - the same pope writes:—“Et quia nova Anglorum aecclesia ad omnipotentis - Dei gratiam, eodem Domino largiente et te laborante, perducta est, - usum tibi pallii in ea ad sola missarum solemnia agenda concedimus: - _ita ut_ per loca singula duodecim episcopos ordines, qui tuae - subiaceant ditioni, quatenus Lundoniensis civitatis episcopus semper - in posterum a synodo propria debeat consecrari, atque honoris pallium - ab hac sancta et apostolica, cui Deo auctore deservio, sede precipiat. - Ad Eburacam vero civitatem te volumus episcopum mittere, quem ipse - iudicaveris ordinare; ita duntaxat, ut si eadem civitas cum finitimis - locis verbum Dei receperit, ipse quoque duodecim episcopos ordinet, et - metropolitani honore perfruatur; _quia_ ei quoque, si vita comes - fuerit, pallium tribuere Domino favente disponimus.” Beda, Hist. Eccl. - i. 29. On which Beda remarks:—“Misit etiam litteras in quibus - significat se ei pallium direxisse, simul et insinuat qualiter - episcopos in Britannia constituere debuisset.” Thirty years later, - Pope Honorius sent palls both to Paulinus of York and Honorius of - Canterbury, with letters to Eádwini of Northumberland; in these he - says:—“Duo pallia utrorumque metropolitanorum, id est Honorio et - Paulino direximus, ut dum quis eorum de hoc saeculo ad Auctorem suum - fuerit arcessitus, in loco ipsius alter episcopum ex hac nostra - auctoritate debeat subrogare.” Hist. Eccl. ii. 17. The reason of this - Beda tells us was the inconvenience of going to Rome for - archiepiscopal ordination:—“Ne sit necesse ad Romanam usque civitatem - per tam prolixa terrarum et maris spatia pro ordinando archiepiscopo - semper fatigari.” Hist. Eccl. ii. 18. We learn from Honorius’s letter - to the archbishop of Canterbury, that this alleviation was granted at - the petition of the English kings and prelates:—“Et tam iuxta vestram - petitionem, quam filiorum nostrorum regum, vobis per praesentem - nostram praeceptionem, vice beati Petri apostolorum principis, - auctoritatem tribuimus, ut quando unum ex vobis Divina ad se iusserit - gratia vocari, is qui superstes fuerit, alterum in loco defuncti - debeat episcopum ordinare. Pro qua etiam re singula vestrae dilectioni - pallia pro eadem ordinatione celebranda direximus, ut per nostrae - praeceptionis auctoritatem possitis Deo placitam ordinationem - efficere: quia ut haec vobis concederemus, longa terrarum marisque - intervalla, quae inter nos ac vos obsistunt, ad haec nos condescendere - coegerunt.” Hist. Eccl. ii. 18. The archiepiscopate in York ceased - after Paulinus’s expulsion till 735, when it was restored, king - Eádberht having succeeded in obtaining a pall for his brother - Ecgberht. The short chronicle appended to Beda says:—“Ecgberhtus - episcopus, accepto ab apostolica sede pallio, primus post Paulinum in - archiepiscopatum confirmatus est; ordinavitque Fridubertum et - Friduwaldum episcopos.” See also Chron. Sax. an. 735; Sim. Dunelm. an. - 735. The following archbishops are recorded to have received their - palls from Rome:— - - Canterbury:— Tátwine. Sim. Dun. an. 733. - - Nóðhelm. Chron. Sax. an. 736. Flor. Wig. an. 736. - - Cúðberht. Rog. Wend. i. 227. an. 740. - - Eánberht. Chron. Sax. an. 764. Flor. Wig. an. 764. - - Wulfred. Chron. Sax. an. 804. Flor. Wig. an. 804. Rog. - Wend. an. 806. - - Ceólnóð. Chron. Sax. an. 831. Flor. Wig. an. 831. - - York:— Ecgberht. an. 745. Rog. Wend. i. 228. - - Alberht. Sim. Dun. an. 773. - - Eánbald I. Chron. Sax. an. 780. Flor. Wig. an. 781. Sim. Dun. - an. 780. - - Eánbald II. Chron. Sax. an. 797. Sim. Dun. an. 797. - - Oswald. Flor. Wig. an. 973. - - At some period however, which our chroniclers do not note, the custom - arose for the archbishop not to receive, but to fetch his pallium. The - following cases are recorded:— - - Canterbury:— Ælfsige. Flor. Wig. an. 959. - Dúnstán. Flor. Wig. an. 960. - Sigeríc. Chron. Sax. an. 990. - Ælfríc. Chron. Sax. an. 995. - Ælfheáh. Chron. Sax. an. 1007. - Æðelnóð. Chron. Sax. an. 1022. Flor. Wig. an. 1022. - Rodbyrht. Chron. Sax. an. 1048. - - York:— Ælfríc. Chron. Sax. an. 1026. Flor. Wig. an. 1026. - Aldred. Rog. Wend. i. 502. an. 1061. - - Wendover states that when Offa determined to erect Lichfield into an - archbishopric, he sent to Pope Adrian for a pall; and that the pall - was accordingly dispatched, Rog. Wend. i. 138. - - The avarice of the Roman See was thus fed fat: but the inconveniences - were felt to be so intolerable, that in 1031 Cnut made them the - subject of an especial remonstrance to the Pope. In his letter to the - Witan of England he says, writing from Rome:—“Conquestus sum iterum - coram domino papa et mihi valde displicere causabar, quod mei - archiepiscopi in tantum angariabantur immensitate pecuniarum quae ab - eis expetebatur, dum pro pallio accipiendo, secundum morem, - apostolicam sedem peterent; decretumque est ne ita deinceps fieret.” - Epist. Cnut. apud Flor. Wig. 1031. The question is not whether the - Roman See had a right to make a demand, but whether—usurpation or - not—it was acquiesced in and admitted by the Anglosaxon church; and on - that point there can be no dispute. - ------ - -Although these facts will not suffice to establish that sort of -dependence _de iure_, which zealous Papal partizans have asserted as the -normal condition of the English church, they do indisputably prove that -the example, advice and authority of the See of Rome were very highly -regarded among our forefathers. It was impossible that it should be -otherwise; and there is not the slightest doubt that—despite the Keltic -clergy—the Anglosaxon church looked with affection and respect to Rome -as the source of its own being. Respect and high regard were paid to -Rome in Gaul long before Theodore; but not such submission as our -countrymen, less acquainted no doubt with their danger, were zealous to -pay. Indeed, when we consider the position of the Roman See towards the -North of Europe, during the interval from the commencement of the -seventh till that of the ninth century, we can scarcely escape from the -conclusion that England was the great basis of papal operations, and the -ποῦ στῶ from which Rome moved her world. In the ninth century a -continental author calls the English “maxime familiares apostolicae -sedis[860],” and in the tenth century it was unquestionably England that -made the greatest progress, even if it did not take the initiative with -regard to the revival of monachism and the great question of clerical -celibacy. In short, throughout, the most energetic and successful -missionaries of Rome were Englishmen. - ------ - -Footnote 860: - - “Unde remur, aliquos venerabiles viros aut de Britannia, id est gente - Anglorum, qui maxime familiares apostolicae sedis semper existunt,” - etc. Gest. Abb. Fontanellens. Pertz, ii. 289. - ------ - -But England nevertheless retained in some sense a national church. Many -circumstances combined to ensure a very considerable amount of -independence in this country. On the continent of Europe the prelates -and clergy whom the invasions of the barbarians found established in the -cities were, in fact, Roman provincials; and this character continued -for a very long time to modify their relations toward the conquerors: in -Britain, either Christianity was never widely and generally spread, or -it retreated before the steady advance of the pagan Saxons. It is -remarkable that we nowhere hear of the existence of Christian churches -before Augustine, except in the territory exclusively British, and in -the household of Æðelberht’s Frankish queen, the latter an exception of -little moment. - -But no sooner do the first missionary prelates vanish from the scene, -than we find them replaced by Saxons belonging to the noblest and most -powerful families, and thus connecting the clergy with the state by that -most close and intimate tie which forms the strongest and least -objectionable security for both. Berhtwald, the eighth archbishop of -Canterbury, was a very near relative of the Mercian king Æðelred; -Aldhelm was closely connected with the royal family of Wessex; and even -down to the Conquest we find the scions of the royal and noble houses -occupying distinguished stations in the ministry of the Church. It is -obvious how much this near and intimate association with the national -aristocracy must have tended to diminish the evils of a separate -institution, having some kind of dependence upon a foreign centre; and -when to this it is added that the principal clergy, as ministers of -state and members of the Witena gemót, had a clear and distinct interest -in the maintenance of good government, and a personal share in its -administration, we can easily understand why the clergy were, generally -speaking, kept better within bounds in England than in other -contemporaneous states[861]. Guilty of extravagancies the clergy were -here, no doubt, as elsewhere; but on the whole their position was not -unfavourable to the harmonious working of the state; and the history of -the Anglosaxons is perhaps as little deformed as any by the ambition and -power, and selfish class-interests of the clergy[862]. On the other hand -it cannot be denied that in England, as in other countries, the laity -are under the greatest obligations to them, partly for rescuing some -branches of learning from total neglect, and partly for the counterpoise -which their authority presented to the rude and forcible government of a -military aristocracy. Ridiculous as it would be to affirm that their -influence was never exerted for mischievous purposes, or that this -institution was always free from the imperfections and evils which -belong to all human institutions, it would be still more unworthy of the -dignity of history to affect to undervalue the services which they -rendered to society. If in the pursuit of private and corporate -advantages they occasionally seemed likely to prefer the separate to the -general good, they did no more than all bodies of men have done,—no more -than is necessary to ensure the active co-operation of all bodies of men -in any one line of conduct. But, whatever their class-interests may from -time to time have led them to do, let it be remembered that they existed -as a permanent mediating authority between the rich and the poor, the -strong and the weak, and that, to their eternal honour, they fully -comprehended and performed the duties of this most noble position. To -none but themselves would it have been permitted to stay the strong hand -of power, to mitigate the just severity of the law, to hold out a -glimmering of hope to the serf, to find a place in this world and a -provision for the destitute, whose existence the state did not even -recognize. That the church of Christ does not necessarily and -indispensably imply that form of ministration or constitution called -Episcopal, is certain; but on the other hand let us not listen too -readily to the doctrine which represents episcopacy as inconsistent with -Christianity. To put it only on the lowest grounds, there is great -convenience in it; and though there are no peculiar priests under the -Christian dispensation, it is very useful that there should be persons -specially appointed and educated to perform functions necessary to the -moral and religious training of the people, and superior officers -charged with the inspection over those persons. It would be difficult -for the State to ascertain the condition of its members, as regards the -most important of all considerations,—their moral capability of -obedience to the law,—without such a body of recognized ministers and -recognized inspectors. Accordingly the Anglosaxon State at once -recognized the Bishops as State officers. - ------ - -Footnote 861: - - Every wise and powerful government has treated with deserved - disregard the complaint that the “Spouse of Christ” was in bondage. - In this respect our own country has generally been honourably - distinguished. Boniface—himself an Englishman, papal beyond all his - contemporaries—laments that no church is in greater bondage than the - English,—a noble testimony to the nationality of the institution, - the common sense of the people, and the vigour of the State. - -Footnote 862: - - Though monks are not strictly speaking the clergy, so many prelates - and presbyters were bound by monastic vows in this country, that I - might be supposed to have fallen into confusion here, and forgotten - the troubles of Eádwig’s reign. But it will be seen hereafter that I - attach little credit to the exaggerations of the monkish authors - respecting those events, and believe their clients to have done much - less mischief than they themselves have recorded, or than their modern - antagonists have credited. - ------ - -The circumstances under which the establishment of Christianity took -place naturally threw a great power of superintendence and interference -into the hands of the kings: from the beginning we find them taking a -very active part both in the formation of sees, the appointment of -bishops, and other public measures touching the government of the church -and—within this—the relation of the clergy to the state. The privileges -and rights conceded to the clerical body were granted by the king and -his witan, and enjoyed under their guarantee; and down to the last -moment of the Anglosaxon monarchy we find the episcopal elections or -appointments to have been controlled by them. Indeed as the clergy, the -people and the state may be said to have been duly represented by the -Witena gemót, an episcopal election made by them appears to possess in -all respects the genuine character of a canonical election: and in times -when there were no parliamentary struggles to make single votes -valuable, there seems no reason whatever to question that this mode was -found satisfactory. The loose manner in which the early writers mention -the appointment of the bishops, hardly permits us to draw any very -definite conclusions; yet it would seem natural that, where the whole -missionary work depended upon the goodwill of the king, the latter, with -or without his council, would exercise a paramount authority in all -matters of detail. Accordingly, though we do meet with instances in -which the free election of prelates may be assumed, we do far more -frequently find them both appointed and displaced by the mere act of the -royal will[863]. The case of Wessex in the seventh century is -instructive. Ægilberht, a Frank, had succeeded Birinus, the first -missionary bishop; but, from some cause or other, he lost the favour of -the king[864], who proposed to divide his diocese, which was too large -in fact for one prelate, and to appoint Wini, a native Westsaxon, to the -second see. Ægilberht then withdrew from England in disgust, and the -king committed the undivided bishopric to Wini: but on some subsequent -misunderstanding, this bishop was expelled from Wessex, and afterwards -_purchased_ the see of London from Wulfhari, king of the Mercians. -Coinwalh then applied for and obtained another bishop from Gaul in the -person of Liuthari or Lothaire, Ægilberht’s nephew. Equally great -irregularities seem to have been admitted in respect to the Northumbrian -sees in the time of Wilfrið; and indeed throughout the Anglosaxon -history it appears that the ruling powers, that is the king and the -witan, did in fact succeed in retaining the nomination of the bishops in -their own hands[865]. I have already mentioned instances of episcopal -nominations by the witena gemót[866], and called attention to the -significant fact of so many royal chaplains promoted to sees[867]. It is -difficult no doubt to withstand a royal recommendation, and though in -the case of the Anglosaxon prelates this does not always seem to have -ensured the canonical virtues, it perhaps very sufficiently supplied -their want. After the appointment or election had thus been made, it was -usual for the bishop elect to make his profession of faith to his -metropolitan; then to receive episcopal consecration from him, assisted -by such of his suffragans as he thought fit. He then most likely -received seizin of the temporalities in the usual way by royal writ. The -following is the instrument issued in 1060, for the temporalities of the -see of Hereford, on the appointment of Walther, queen Eádgyfu’s Lorraine -chaplain. “Eadwardus rex saluto Haroldum comitem et Osbearnum, et omnes -meos ministros in Herefordensi comitatu amicabiliter. Et ego notifico -vobis quod ego concessi Waltero episcopo istum episcopatum hic vobiscum, -et omnia universa illa quae ad ipsum cum iusticia pertinent infra portum -et extra, cum saca et cum socna, tam plene et tam plane sicut ipsum -aliquis episcopus ante ipsum prius habuit in omnibus rebus. Et si illic -sit aliqua terra extra dimissa quae illuc intus cum iustitia pertinet, -ego volo quod ipsa reveniat in ipsum episcopatum, vel ille homo ipsam -dimittat eidem in suo praetio, si quis ipsam cum eo invenire possit. Et -ego nolo ullum hominem licentiare quod ei de manibus rapiat aliquam suam -rem quam ipse iuste habere debet, et ego ei sic concessi[868].” - ------ - -Footnote 863: - - See on this subject Lingard, Anglos. Church, i. 89 _seq._ His view - seems upon the whole satisfactory, and conformable to truth. - -Footnote 864: - - Lingard attributes this to the intrigues of Wini, whose simoniacal - bargain for the see of London does certainly not give a favourable - impression of his character. “The influence of the stranger was - secretly undermined by the intrigues of Wini, a Saxon ecclesiastic, - who possessed the advantage of conversing with the king in his native - tongue.” Anglos. Church, i. 90. But Beda says nothing of this: he - merely hints that Coinwalh was disgusted with the difficulties which - arose from Ægilberht’s ignorance of the Anglosaxon language. The whole - transaction is thus related in the Hist. Eccl. iii. 7:—“Cum vero - restitutus esset in regnum Coinwalch, venit in provinciam de Hibernia - pontifex quidam nomine Agilberctus, natione quidem Gallus, sed tunc - legendarum gratia Scripturarum in Hibernia non parvo tempore - demoratus, coniunxitque se regi, sponte ministerium praedicandi - adsumens: cuius eruditionem atque industriam videns rex rogavit eum, - accepta ibi sede episcopali, suae genti manere pontificem. Qui - precibus eius adnuens, multis annis eidem genti sacerdotali iure - praefuit. Tandem rex, qui Saxonum tantum linguam noverat, pertaesus - barbarae loquelae, subintroduxit in provinciam alium suae linguae - episcopum vocabulo Uini, et ipsum in Gallia ordinatum: dividensque in - duas parochias provinciam, huic in civitate Venta, quae a gente - Saxonum Uintancestir appellatur, sedem episcopalem tribuit; unde - offensus graviter Agilberctus, quod hoc ipso inconsulto ageret rex, - rediit Galliam, et accepto episcopatu Parisiacae civitatis, ibidem - senex et plenus dierum obiit. Non multis autem annis post abcessum - eius a Britannia transactis, pulsus est Uini ab eodem rege de - episcopatu; qui secedens ad regem Merciorum, vocabulo Uulfheri, emit - pretio ab eodem sedem Lundoniae civitatis, eiusque episcopus usque ad - vitae suae terminum mansit.” Wessex then remained for some time - without a bishop, till Coinwalh sent to Ægilberht and invited him to - return. The Frankish prelate replied that he could not desert his - church and see, but recommended his nephew Lothaire, as a proper - person to be ordained to Wessex: and he was accordingly consecrated by - Theodore: “Quo honorifice a populo et a rege suscepto, rogaverunt - Theodorum, tunc archiepiscopum Doruvernensis ecclesiae, ipsum sibi - antistitem consecrari.” Hist. Eccl. iii. 27. See also Will. Malm. de - Gest. Pontif. lib. ii. - -Footnote 865: - - Throughout every difficulty the English kings never lost sight of this - part of their prerogative, often as they were deceived in its - exercise. A writer of the twelfth century very justly calls it “the - custom of the realm.” “Cum autem _iuxta regni consuetudinem_, in - electionibus faciendis potissimas et potentissimas habeat partes,” - etc. Pet. Blesensis, Ep. de Henrico II. An. Trivet. 1154. p. 35. - -Footnote 866: - - Page 221 of this volume. - -Footnote 867: - - Page 115 of this volume. - -Footnote 868: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 833. - ------ - -As this is obviously, indeed professedly, a Latin translation, I subjoin -copies of the similar writs issued on the occasion of Gisa’s appointment -to the see of Wells[869]. - ------ - -Footnote 869: - - Gisa was a chaplain of the king, and also of Lotharingen or Lorraine. - ------ - -“✠ Eadward king grét Harold erl and Aylnóð abbot and Godwine schýre -réuen and alle míne þeynes on Sumerseten frendlíche; and ich kýðe eów -ðæt ich habbe geunnen Gisan mínan préste ðes biscopríche hér mid eów and -alre ðare þinge ðás ðe ðǽr mid richte tógebyrað, on wóde and on felde, -mid saca and mid sócna, binnon porte and bútan, swó ful and swó forð swó -Duduc biscop oð ány biscop hit firmest him tóforen hauede on ællem -þingan. And gif hér áni land sý out of ðám biscopríche gedon, ich wille -ðæt hit cume in ongeæn óðer ðæt man hit ofgo on hire gemóð swó man wið -him bet finde mage. And ich bidde eóu allen ðæt ge him fulstan tó dríuan -Godes gerichte lóck huer hit neod sý and he eówwer fultumes biðurfe. And -ich nelle nánne man geðefien ðæt him úram honde teó ánige ðáre þinge ðás -ðe ich him unnen habben[870].” - ------ - -Footnote 870: - - The same in Latin. “✠ Eádwardus rex Haroldo comiti, Ailnodo abbati, - Godwino vicecomiti, et omnibus ballivis suis Somersetae, salutem! - Sciatis nos dedisse Gisoni presbytero nostro episcopatum hunc apud vos - cum omnibus pertinentiis, in bosco et plano, et saca et socna, in - villis et extra, ita plene et libere in omnibus sicut episcopus - Dudocus aut aliqui praedecessorum suorum habuerunt; et si quid inde - contra iustitiam fuerit sublatum, volumus quod revocetur, vel quod - aliter ei satisfaciat. Rogamus etiam vos ut auxiliari eidem velitis ad - Christianitatem sustinandam si necesse habuerit, nolumus autem ut - ullus hominum ei auferat aliquid eorum quae ei contulimus.” Cod. Dipl. - No. 835. - ------ - -“✠ Eadward king grét Harold erl, and Aylnóð abbot, and Godwine and -ealle míne þeines on Sumerseten frendlíche; ich queðe eóu ðæt ich wille -ðæt Gyse biscop beó ðisses biscopríches wrðe heerinne mid eóu. And álch -ðáre þinge ðe ðás ðár mid richte tógebyrað binnan porte and bután, mid -saca and mid sócna, swó uol and swó uorð swó hit éni biscop him tóuoren -formest haueð on ealle þing. And ich bidde eóu alle ðæt ge him beón on -fultome Cristendóm tó sprekene, lóc whar hit þarf sý and eówer fultumes -beðurfe eal swó ich getrowwen tó eów habben ðat ge him on fultume beón -willen. And gif what sý mid unlage out of ðán biscopríche geydón sý hit -londe óðer an oððer þinge ðár fulstan him uor mínan luuen ðæt hit in -ongeyn cume swó swó ge for Gode witen ðat hit richt sý. God eú ealle -gehealde[871].” - ------ - -Footnote 871: - - The same in Latin. “✠ Eádwardus rex Haroldo comiti, Ailnodo abbati, - Godwino, et omnibus ballivis suis Sumersetac, salutem! Significamus - vobis nos velle quod episcopus Giso episcopatum apud vos possideat cum - omnibus dictum episcopatum in villis et extra de iure contingentibus, - cum saca et socna, adeo plene et libere per omnia sicut ullus - episcoporum praedecessorum suorum unquam habebat. Rogamus etiam vos ut - coadiutores ipsius esse velitis ad fidem praedicandam et - Christianitatem sustinendam pro loco et tempore, sicut de vobis - fideliter confidimus vos velle id ipsum. Et si quid de dicto - episcopatu sive in terris sive in aliis rebus contra iustitiam fuerit - sublatum, adiuvetis eum pro amore nostro ad restitutionem, prout - iustum fuerit habendam. Conservet vos Dominus.” Cod. Dipl. No. 838. - ------ - -The metropolitans themselves were to receive consecration from one -another, in order that the expense and trouble of going to Rome might be -avoided: but during the abeyance of the archiepiscopate of York, the -prelate elect of Canterbury appears to have been sometimes consecrated -in Gaul, sometimes by a conclave of suffragan bishops at home: thus in -731 Tátwine was consecrated at Canterbury by Daniel, Ingwald, Aldwine -and Aldwulf, the respective bishops of Winchester, London, Worcester and -Rochester[872]; and Pope Gregory the Third either made or acknowledged -this consecration to be valid by the transmission of a pall in 733. We -have no evidence by whom the consecrations were performed, in many -cases, but it is probable that the old rule was adhered to as much as -possible. In 1020, Æðelnóð was consecrated to Canterbury by archbishop -Wulfstán: the ceremony took place at Canterbury on the 13th of -November[873] in that year: and since in many cases the ordination of -archbishops is mentioned without any details, but yet as preliminary to -their going to Rome for their palls, it is likely that the chroniclers -tacitly assumed the custom of reciprocal functions in Canterbury and -York to be too well known to require description. - ------ - -Footnote 872: - - Flor. Wig. an. 731. - -Footnote 873: - - Chron. Sax. an. 1020. - ------ - -When the nomination or election by the king and his witan had taken -place, it is probable that a royal mandate was sent to the metropolitan, -to perform the ceremony of consecration. We have yet the instrument by -which Wulfstán of York certifies to Cnut the performance of this duty in -the case of archbishop Æðelnóð[874]: the archbishop says:—“Wulfstán the -archbishop greets Cnut his lord, and Ælfgyfu the lady, humbly: and I -notify to you both, dear ones, that we have done as notice came from you -to us respecting bishop Æðelwold, namely that we have now consecrated -him.” He then prays that the new prelate may have all the rights and -dues granted to him, which have been usual, and enjoyed by his -predecessors: which perhaps is to be understood as a formal demand that -the temporalities may be properly conferred upon him. There can be no -manner of doubt as to the meaning of the word _swutelung_, which I have -rendered by _notice_, and Lingard by _order_[875]: it is a legal -notification, and the technical word in a writ is _swutelian_. But I do -not believe that Cnut was any more imperative in this matter than his -predecessors had been. An Anglosaxon archbishop would never have found -it a very safe thing to neglect a royal command by ancient right[876]. - ------ - -Footnote 874: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1314. “✠ Wulfstán arcebisceop grét Cnut cyning his - hlaford, and Ælfgyfe ða hlǽfdian eádmódlíce; and ic cýðe inc leóf ðæt - we habbað gedón swá swá ús swutelung fram eów com æt ðám biscop - Æðelnóðe, ðæt we habbað hine nú gebletsod. Nú bidde ic for Godes lufon - and for eallan Godes hálgan ðæt gewitan on Gode ðam æðe and on ðám - hálgan háde, ðæt he mote beón ðǽre þinga wyrðe ðe óðre beforan wǽron, - Dúnstán ðe gód wæs, and mænig óðer; ðæt ðes mote beón eall swá rihta - and gerysna wyrðe ðæt inc byð bám þearflíc for Gode, and eác - gerysenlíc for worolde.” - -Footnote 875: - - Hist. and Antiq. i. 94. His whole account is well worth attention. - -Footnote 876: - - We have but one instrument:—granted. But what proportion have we of - instruments respecting matters which are entirely beyond doubt? - Supposing a royal mandate of consecration had issued on the election - of every bishop, between 802, when Ecgberht came to the throne, and - 1066, there would have been once in existence 36 archiepiscopal and - 224 episcopal writs, or a total of 260. But during the same period, in - the 32 counties south of the Humber there would have been held 25,344 - shiremoots or county-courts. I will deduct one half of this number to - meet all conceivable accidents. Of the 12,672, of which beyond a doubt - records once existed, we still possess _three_ or at the utmost _four_ - instruments: but do we on that account doubt that shiremoots were - held? When we look at these ratios of 1 : 260 and 4 : 12,672, we find - the authority for the writ of consecration more than ten times as - great as that for the existence of shiremoots. - ------ - -The bishops were in fact officers of the administration, and whatever -importance their ecclesiastical functions may have possessed, their -civil character was not of less moment. It is abundantly obvious that -men of such a class, possessing nearly a monopoly of what learning -existed, would be necessarily called to assist in the national councils, -and would be very generally employed in the diplomatic intercourse with -foreign countries: few persons of equal rank would have been competent -to conduct a negotiation carried on in writing: and there is no doubt -that their high position in the universal institution of the church -rendered them at that period the fittest persons to manage those affairs -which concerned the general family of nations. Moreover a close alliance -always existed in England between the aristocracy and the clergy: -faithful service of the altar, like faithful service of the state, gave -rank and dignity and privileges; and the ecclesiastical authority and -influence of the bishop, as well as his habits of business, and general -aptitude to advance the interests of the crown, frequently designated -him to discharge the somewhat indefinite, but weighty, duties of what we -now call a prime minister. Administration is in truth of such far -greater importance than constitution, that we can readily see how -greatly the social welfare of England did in reality depend upon this -class, to whom so much of administrative detail was committed: and it -was truly fortunate for the country that the clerical profession was one -that a gentleman could devote himself to without disparagement, and -therefore embraced so many distinguished members of the ruling class. - -The civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions were, it is well known, not -separated in England until after the Conquest. William the Norman was -the first to establish that most questionable division, the consequences -of which were often so bitterly felt by his successors. Previous to his -reign the bishop had been the assessor of the ealdorman in the scírgemót -or county-court, and ecclesiastical causes, except such as were reserved -for the decision of the episcopal synods, were subjected, like those of -the laity, to the judgment of the scírþegnas or shire-thanes: thus even -probate of wills was given in the county-court. This participation of -bishops in the administration of justice, useful and necessary in the -early ages of Christianity, was very probably derived from the functions -of their heathen predecessors, the priests of the ancient gods. The old -Germanic _placita_ were held, as is well known, under the presidency of -the priests, and these were courts of law as well as courts of -parliament. In fact there is no reason whatever to doubt that, long -before the introduction of Christianity, the public pleadings were -opened with religious ceremonies, and that the course of procedure was -regulated by religious ideas[877]. The gods were present,—to secure the -peaceful administration of justice, to sanction the finding of the -freemen, to give a holy character to the act of _doing right_ between -man and man,—to terrify the perjurer and the criminal,—perhaps to -justify the extreme penalty of the law in extreme cases; for it is -probable that to the gods alone could the life of a great wrongdoer be -offered, as an atonement to the Law, of which God is the root and -guardian. The institution of the ordeal by which it was superstitiously -supposed that the Almighty would reveal the hidden truth or falsehood of -men, further tended to connect, first the pagan and afterwards the -Christian priesthood with the administration of justice. In that most -solemn appeal to the omniscience and justice of God, the clergy -necessarily took the prominent part; and although we cannot believe that -they always resisted the temptation offered by that most strange juggle, -it may charitably be asserted that their intervention not rarely saved -the innocent from the penal consequences of an uncertain and painful -test. - ------ - -Footnote 877: - - “Omnis itaque concionis illius multitudo ex diversis partibus coacta, - primo suorum proavorum servare contendit instituta, numinibus - videlicet suis vota solvens ac sacrificia.” Hucbald. Vit. Lebwini, - cap. xii. - ------ - -I have remarked in an earlier chapter[878] upon the union of the -sacerdotal with the judicial power: at a very early stage of human -society, the functions of the priest and the judge seem in general to -have been inseparable; nor were they separated in fact upon the -introduction of Christianity. In the very commencement of our æra, when -the church really did exist as a brotherhood under the guidance of the -first disciples, it was most natural that all contentions between -members of the body should be settled by the arbitration of the whole -church, or such as represented it. Litigation before the ordinary -tribunals of the state, even could such have been resorted to by -Christians, was little consonant with the doctrine of charity which was -to prevail among the members of one mystical body, founded on almighty -Love. Accordingly St. Paul himself[879] expressly forbids the disciples -to carry their contentions before the secular authorities, implying that -it is their duty to bring them to the consideration of their -fellow-believers, that they may be amicably settled, in the spirit of -forbearance and Christian moderation. And as persecution gradually -threatened the terrified community, this course became unavoidable: it -was impossible for the Christian to submit to the pagan forms of the -tribunals, yet to refuse these was to proclaim the adoption of a -proscribed and illegal association. The establishment of a hierarchy -among the Christians themselves supplied some remedy for this -difficulty, and it was soon decided that the disputes of the brotherhood -were to be brought before the presbyter or bishop as a judge,—a course -which in itself was natural in countries where the Romans had permitted -the existence of some authority in the national tribunals, and had not -insisted upon dragging every cause before their own officers. The -peculiar situation of the Christians themselves as citizens of a new -state—viz. the religious state—tended to consolidate this system. -Christianity took cognizance of motives, of acts entirely beyond the -reach of mere human law, and the community claimed a right to judge of -the internal as well as the external state of its members. Immorality, -not cognizable by any positive law, was a proper subject for the -animadversion of a body whose duty it was to exclude from communion all -who pertinaciously refused to perform the duties of their profession. It -was thus that a twofold jurisdiction became lodged in the church,—and in -the bishop or presbyter, as its representative in each particular -locality,—long before the reception of Christianity among the -_religiones licitae_ transformed the customs of an obscure sect into -recognised laws of the empire. But no sooner had the terms of the great -alliance been arranged, than the state hastened to give the imperial -sanction to what had hitherto been merely the bye-laws of a sodality: -and the decisions of a council, if confirmed by the assent of the -emperor, were at once raised to the rank of imperial laws. Thus the -council of Carthage in 397 had threatened with excommunication any -clergyman who should pursue another before the secular tribunals; and -this decree, repeated in 451 by the fourth general Council—that of -Chalcedon—had received the sanction of Marcianus, and become part of the -law of the Roman empire. The jurisdiction of the bishops in the affairs -of the clergy was thus rendered legal; but it was at a later period -extended so as to include a much wider sphere. Justinian not only -commanded all causes in which monks were concerned to be referred to the -bishop of the diocese, but made him the only legal channel of -proceedings even in cases where laymen had claims against the -clergy[880]. - ------ - -Footnote 878: - - Volume i. page 146. - -Footnote 879: - - 1 Corinthians vi. 1-7. - -Footnote 880: - - Novel. § 83. - ------ - -Arbitration by the bishop had thus grown up into a custom, at first -absolutely necessary, and afterwards always desirable, in a society like -the Christian. Accordingly Constantine permitted all contentions to be -so settled. But it was a rule of Roman law that there could lie no -appeal whatever from a voluntary arbitration; and in pursuance of this -rule, in the year 408, Arcadius and Honorius decreed that the sentences -of bishops should be without appeal[881]. In this manner was the -ecclesiastical jurisdiction founded in the Greek and Roman empires. - ------ - -Footnote 881: - - Dönniges, Deut. Staatsr. p. 48 _seq._ - ------ - -Happily for ourselves, this could not be admitted without modification -in the Germanic states. Had it indeed been so, every trace of -independence would long since have perished, and the whole civilized -world have found itself subject to the principles and regulations of an -effete scheme of jurisprudence. The antagonism of the Germanic customary -right it was that saved us from the consequences which must have -followed the universal prevalence of maxims elaborated by another race, -and sprung out of a different social condition. It was the conflict of -the Roman and Ecclesiastical laws with those of the Teutonic victors -that produced that modified system of relations, under which, by the -blessing of Providence, civilization has been maintained, the general -well-being of mankind advanced, and human society firmly established -throughout Europe, on a basis susceptible of progressive, perhaps -illimitable improvement. Useful as a counter-check to the somewhat -disruptive system of the Germans, the Roman and Ecclesiastical laws have -yet never been able to destroy the nationality, or abridge the freedom, -of our races; while they have tended to give consistency and method to -our own customs, and to reduce into form and harmony what, but for them, -might have been liable to fall asunder from its own internal vigour. -Like the centripetal and centrifugal forces, they have balanced one -another, and held our social state together as one majestic and -consistent whole. - -The method of doing justice between man and man, which was the very -foundation-stone of the Teutonic polity, was in direct opposition to the -doctrines of Roman jurists and the practice of the church. Justice went -out from among the people themselves, not from the king or the bishop. -The people spoke both as to fact and law, the ancient customary law; nor -did they at any time allow their relations as Christians to abrogate the -older rights they had possessed as citizens, where the exercise of these -was clearly compatible with the recognition of the former. In respect to -their religion, they duly submitted to the ecclesiastical authority, -made confession, performed penance, and hearkened to advice tendered by -qualified functionaries; but they nevertheless still met in their folk- -and shire-moots to hold plea, declare folk-right, and superintend its -execution by their national officers. Not even to the clergy themselves -did they accord an immunity from the universal duties of freemen: and -although they may have been disposed to acquiesce in the claim to be -quit of personal military service, they never excused suit and service -to the popular courts. Only when the relation of a cleric to his -superior was that of an unfree man to his lord, did the state release -him from this duty, or rather did the state hold him unworthy of this -privilege. - -The existence of such a body as the English clergy could not possibly be -ignored. As organized agents of a system which professed to exercise a -right of rule over the most secret desires and motives of men,—as -students distinguished by their knowledge, or remarkable for their -piety,—as landlords, in the enjoyment of great wealth, and chiefs of -numerous dependents,—lastly as advisers and ministers of the ruling -class, or intermediaries in the intercourse with foreign states,—they -formed a power whose claims to attention could not be neglected. But -their social position itself was that which brought them continually in -relation with the other aggregates of freemen, and they were therefore -called upon to take their place with other landowners, lords, or -ministerials in the popular councils. - -With all their attachment to the customary law and the national -franchises, the Anglosaxons never lost sight of the fact that -Christianity had introduced new social relations: they were ready to -admit that there was now a godcund or _divine_ as well as woroldcund or -_secular_ right; and in the exposition of the former they were willing -to follow the guidance of those who professed to make it their especial -study. Moreover the system of Anglosaxon jurisprudence depended very -much upon the trustworthy character of witnesses, and the ordination of -the clergy was justly taken to have imposed upon them the obligation of -a peculiar truthfulness. The testimony of members of their class became -therefore a very important thing in the sight of the _moot-thanes_ who -might have disputed points to settle, or who, in mixed causes, might -shrink from doing wrong to the venerable body by too strict an -application of the principles by which themselves were bound. Lastly, as -there was a merciful tendency among the people to have disputes settled -by arbitration and on equitable grounds, rather than by the strict rules -of law, the clergy, whose jurisdiction extended to the motives of -Christians rather than the mere acts of citizens, were valuable -intermediaries between contending parties. The dignity of the class—the -_honor clericalis_—was cheerfully recognised, the wisdom and goodness of -the body acknowledged, and the propriety of being to a great degree -guided by the experience and enlightenment of their leaders, readily -conceded. Accordingly the bishop became an inseparable assessor of the -Frankish count and of the Anglosaxon ealdorman in their respective -courts[882]. - ------ - -Footnote 882: - - See Leg. Eádg. ii. § 5. Cnut, ii. § 18. - ------ - -The duties of a bishop as the officer of a state, and -contradistinguished from his merely ecclesiastical functions, were to -assist in the administration of justice between man and man, to guard -against perjury, and to superintend the administration of the ordeals; -further to take care that no fraud was committed by means of unjust -measures, to which end he was made the guardian of the standards, and -the judge of what work might be demanded from the serf; above all, to -watch over the maintenance of the peace, and the upholding of divine as -well as secular law[883]. The canons of the church did indeed prohibit -the presence of bishops on trials which might involve the penalties of -death or mutilation; and even the Constitutions of Clarendon, the object -of which was to place the clergy on their proper and ancient footing -towards the other members of the church and state, recognised this -exemption[884]: but there is little reason to suppose that it was -regarded by the Anglosaxons; indeed the popular courts had no power to -pass sentences of so deep a dye, until long after the custom of the -bishop’s presence therein had been established too firmly to be -questioned. It was otherwise among the Franks, and we may perhaps -attribute this to the strong nationality of the Frankish clergy, which -indisposed them to claim their canonical immunity. - ------ - -Footnote 883: - - The ‘Institutes of Ecclesiastical Polity’ are very explicit upon these - points. They say:—“To a bishop belongs every direction, both in divine - and worldly things. He shall, in the first place, inform men in - orders, so that each of them may know what it properly behoves him to - do, and also what they have to enjoin to secular men. He shall ever be - [busied] about reconciliation and peace, as he best may. He shall - zealously appease strifes and effect peace, with those temporal judges - who love right. He shall in accusations direct the _lád_, so that no - man may wrong another, either in oath or ordeal. He shall not consent - to any injustice, or wrong measure, or false weight; but it is fitting - that every legal right (both ‘burhriht’ and ‘landriht’) go by his - counsel and with his witness: and let every burgmeasure, and every - balance for weighing be, by his direction and furthering, very exact; - lest any man should wrong another, and thereby altogether too greatly - sin.... It behoves all Christian men to love righteousness, and shun - unrighteousness; and especially men in orders should ever exalt - righteousness, and suppress unrighteousness: therefore should bishops, - together with temporal judges, so direct judgments, that, as far as in - them lies, they never permit any injustice to spring up there.... By - the confessor’s direction, and by his own measure, it is justly - fitting that the thralls work for their lords over all the district in - which he shrives. And it is right that there be not one measuring-rod - longer than another, but all regulated by the confessor’s measure; and - let every measure in his shrift-district, and every weight, be, by his - direction, very rightly regulated: and if there be any dispute, let - the bishop arbitrate.” Thorpe, ii. 312 _seq._ - -Footnote 884: - - “Archiepiscopi, episcopi et universae personae regni, qui de rege - tenent in capite, habeant possessiones suas de rege sicut baroniam, et - inde respondeant iusticiariis et ministris regis, et sequantur et - facient omnes consuetudines regias; et sicut caeteri barones, debent - interesse iudiciis curiae regis quousque perveniatur ad diminutionem - membrorum vel ad mortem.” Rog. Wend. _anno_ 1164. Coxe, ii. 301. - ------ - -Another exemption which the bishops properly possessed, seems also to -have been often neglected in this country,—that namely of personal -service in the field. No doubt, all over Europe, as soon as the bishops -became possessed of lands liable to the _hereban_, or military muster, -they, like other lords, were compelled to place their armed tenants on -foot, for the public service, when duly required: but their levies were -mostly commanded by officers specially designated for that purpose and -known under the names of _advocati_, _vicedomini_, or _vidames_; being -in general nobles of power and dignity who assumed or accepted the -exercise of the bishop’s royalties, the management of his estates, the -administration and execution of his justice, and a remunerative share of -his revenues and patronage. In Saxon England, however, we do not meet -with these officers; and though it is probable that the bishop’s geréfa -was bound to lead his contingent under the command of the ealdorman, yet -we have ample evidence that the prelates themselves did not hold their -station to excuse them from taking part in the just and lawful defence -of their country and religion against strange and pagan invaders[885]. -Too many fell in conflict to allow of our attributing their presence on -the field merely to their anxiety lest the belligerents should be -without the due consolations of religion; and in other cases, upon the -alarm of hostile incursions, we find the levies stated to have been led -against the enemy by the duke and bishop of the district. - ------ - -Footnote 885: - - As late as 43 Edw. III. A.D. 1369, on an alarm of invasion, orders - were given to arm and array the clergy, as well as laity. Rym. Foed. - vi. 631. - ------ - -Attention has been called in another chapter to the fact that the -bishops did not universally (or indeed usually), make their residences -in the principal cities[886]. A remarkable distinction thus arose -between themselves and the prelates of Gaul and Germany. The latter, -strong in the support of the burgesses, and identified with the urban -interests, found means to consolidate a power which they used without -scruple against the king when it suited their convenience, or which -enabled them to extort from him the grant of offices that virtually -rendered them independent of his authority. This was generally effected -through the bishop’s obtaining the county, that is becoming the count, -and thus exercising the palatine power in his city, as well as that -which he might already possess _iure episcopii_, and as _defensor urbis_ -or patron of the municipality. This, rare indeed under Charlemagne, but -not uncommon in the times which preceded and followed him, can at least -not be proved to have taken place in England before the Conquest[887]. -There is indeed one instance which might seem at first sight to -contradict this assertion, but which upon closer investigation rather -confirms it. We learn that certain thieves, having attempted a -sacrilegious entry into the church of St. Eádmund, and being -miraculously delivered into the hands of the authorities, were put to -death by the orders of Ðeódred, then bishop of London and of -Eastanglia[888]. This event took place after the conquest of the -last-named province by Æðelstán, who about 930 drove the Danes from it -or reduced them under his own power. At that time it appears uncertain -whether the conquered kingdom had been duly arranged and settled, or -whether any ealdorman had been appointed to govern it. If not, we must -imagine that Ðeódred, the only constituted authority on the spot, acted -at his own discretion in a case of urgency, without absolutely -possessing the legal power to do so; that the act was in short one of -those examples of what in modern times we understand by the term -Lynch-law, that law which men are obliged to administer for themselves -in the absence of the regular machinery of government. But it is further -observable that, according to the terms of the legend itself, these -thieves were taken _in the manner_, and consequently liable to capital -punishment without any trial at all[889]; this justice we may suppose -Ðeódred to have executed, and to its summary character we may attribute -the regrets he expressed on the subject at a later time. It is also -possible to account for the act by supposing that even at this early -period the bishop possessed his sacu and sócn in the demesne of St. -Eádmund, and that he proceeded to execute his thieves by his right as -lord of the sócn: but there is no clear proof that the immunity did -exist before the time of Cnut, and I therefore incline to the second -explanation as the most probable. But if Ðeódred did not act in -pursuance of possessing the comitial power, we may safely say that there -is no evidence whatever of any Saxon bishop having exercised it[890]. As -assessor to the ealdorman, the bishop was especially charged to attend -to the due levy of tithe and other church imposts; but this was clearly -because he had a direct interest in the law that decreed their punctual -payment, and was certain not to connive at any neglect in its execution, -which the ealdorman out of favour or carelessness might possibly have -been disposed to do. - ------ - -Footnote 886: - - The Normans adopted a different custom. Many of the cathedrals were - transferred from obscure sites to the cities which they now adorn, by - the first Norman bishops. - -Footnote 887: - - After the Conquest it did take place: Walcher bishop of Durham was - made also count of the same in 1075, upon the capture of Earl Wælþeóf. - Hist. Dunelm. Eccl. lviii. (lib. iii. cap. xxiii. p. 208). As late as - the time of Richard the First, we find a successor of Walcher, Hugo de - Pusac, purchasing the same county of the king, _anno_ 1189. Ric. - Divisiens. p. 8. One year later, Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury - suspended Hugo, bishop of Coventry, because “contra dignitatem - episcopalis ordinis, officium sibi vicecomitatus usurpaverat.” Rog. - Wend. an. 1190. Coxe, iii. 18. - -Footnote 888: - - “Hic fecit suspendi latrones volentes infregisse aecclesiam Sancti - Eadmundi, qui tamen erant miraculose impediti.” Chron. de Passione S. - Edmundi, cited by Wharton. Ep. et Dec. Lond. p. 29. See also Will. - Malm. Gest. Pont. lib. ii. - -Footnote 889: - - William of Malmesbury seems to allude to this point, when he says of - St. Eádmund: “Latrunculos, noctu sacram aedem expilare aggressos, - invisis loris in ipsis conatibus irretivit; formoso admodum - spectaculo, quod praeda praedones tenuit, ut nec coepto desistere, nec - inchoata valerent perficere.” Gest. Reg. i. 366, § 213. - -Footnote 890: - - By the law of Eádweard the Confessor, “cyricbryce” belonged to the - bishop. “Si quis sanctae aecclesiae pacem fregerit, episcoporum tum - est iusticia.” Leg. Eád. Conf. § vi. But this seems a different thing - altogether, and to be a violation of the “grið” only. - ------ - -But a still higher authority was placed in the hands of the bishop, -derived in fact from the assumed pre-eminence of the ecclesiastical over -the secular power. If the geréfa would not do justice, and maintain the -peace in the land, then the bishop was especially commanded to enforce -the fines which the king and his witan had apportioned to that officer’s -offence[891]. It was no doubt argued that no geréfa would be found bold -enough to incur the danger of offering violent resistance to the sacred -person of the prelate; and even the ealdorman, who might have set the -king at defiance, would tremble to encounter the substantial terrors of -excommunication and a laborious penance. - ------ - -Footnote 891: - - “But if any of my reeves will not do this, and care less about it than - we have decreed, then let him pay my _oferhyrnes_ [that is the fine - for _disobedience_], and I will find another, who will. And let the - bishop exact the _oferhyrnes_ of the reeve in whose district it may - be.” Leg. Æðelst. i. § 26. Thorpe, i. 212. Again: “And let the judge - that giveth wrong judgment to another, pay to the king a _bót_ of one - hundred and twenty shillings; unless he will venture to prove on oath - that he knew no better. And let him forfeit his thaneship for ever, - unless he can redeem it from the king, as he may be willing to permit. - And let the bishop of the shire exact the _bót_ into the king’s hand.” - Leg. Eádg. ii. § 3. Thorpe, i. 266. - ------ - -The high station occupied by the bishop in the social hierarchy is -proved by the amount of his wergyld and of the fines assigned to -offences against his honour, his person, and his property. Although the -bishop and the presbyter are in fact but of one order in the church, yet -the state found it convenient to place the former on much the higher -scale. In the “North-people’s law” an archbishop is reckoned upon the -same footing as an æðeling or prince of the blood, at fifteen thousand -thrymsas, and a bishop upon the same footing as an ealdorman at eight -thousand. The breach of a bishop’s surety or protection, like the -ealdorman’s, rendered the offender liable to a fine of two pounds, which -in the case of an archbishop rose to three[892]. He that drew weapon -before a bishop or ealdorman was to be mulcted in one hundred shillings, -before an archbishop, in one hundred and fifty[893]. Under Ini the -violence done to a bishop’s dwelling, and the seat of his jurisdiction, -was to be compensated with one hundred and twenty shillings, while the -ealdorman’s was protected by a fine of only eighty: in this the -episcopal dignity was placed upon a level with that of the king -himself[894]. Similarly Wihtrǽd had declared his mere word, without an -oath, to be like the king’s, incontrovertible. - ------ - -Footnote 892: - - Leg. Ælfr. § 3. Cnut, ii. § 59. Thorpe, i. 62, 408. In this last - passage, as in the North-people’s law of wergyld, the archbishop’s and - æðeling’s borh and mundbryce are reckoned alike at three pounds. So - also Ll. Æðelr. vii. § 11. Thorpe, i. 330. - -Footnote 893: - - Leg. Ælf. § 15. Æðelr. vii. § 12. Thorpe i. 70, 332. - -Footnote 894: - - Leg. Ini, § 45. Thorpe, i. 130. This overrated estimate is corrected - by Ælfred, who settles the sums thus: king, one hundred and twenty - scill.; archbishop, ninety scill.; bishop and ealdorman, sixty scill. - Leg. Ælf. § 40. Thorpe, i. 88. - ------ - -The ecclesiastical functions of the bishops were here the same as -elsewhere. To them belonged the ordination of priests and deacons, the -hallowing of chrism, the ceremonies of confirmation, the consecration of -churches and churchyards, nuns and monks; they had a right to regulate -the lives and conversation of their clergy, to superintend the monastic -foundations, and in general to watch that every detail of the -ecclesiastical establishment was duly regarded and maintained. In their -peculiar synods they could frame canons of discipline, to be enforced in -the several dioceses. They were the receivers-general of all -ecclesiastical revenue, which they distributed to the inferior clergy -under their government, according to certain specified regulations; -providing out of the common fund for the due maintenance of the priests, -the buildings, and minor accessories required for decent celebration of -the rites of religion.[895] - ------ - -Footnote 895: - - Leg. Wihtr. § 16. Thorpe, i. 40. - ------ - -But the most important of their functions was that which is technically -called _iurisdictio fori interni_, their jurisdiction in matters of -conscience, their dealing with the motives and feelings, rather than the -acts of men. This—which practically they exercised through the several -presbyters who were, for the general convenience, dispersed over the -face of the country,—was the true source of their power, and measure of -their social influence. Positive law deals only with the actions of men, -and then only when they are perfected or completed: religion regulates -the inward impulses from which those actions spring, and its authority -extends both before and beyond them: intention, not act, is its proper -province. But the secret intentions and motives of men are known -perfectly to God alone; the man himself may, and often does possess but -an indistinct and fallacious notion of his own impulses; and as it is in -these, rather than in the acts which are their results, that the essence -of guilt lies, the Christian was taught to unbosom himself to one of -more experienced and disciplined feelings;—one whose profession was to -console the distracted sinner, and who, on genuine repentance, was -empowered to announce the glad tidings of reconciliation with God. -Confession of sins was the mode pointed out by the founder of the -church, to obtain the blessings of almighty mercy; but how were the -ignorant, the obstinate, or the despairing to know the right manner of -such confession? How could they know in what form confession was -effectually to be made to God? How could they, plunged in sin and -foulness, dare to approach the source of all purity and holiness? What -hope could the grovelling outcast have of being admitted to the throne -of his glorious King, even for the purpose of renouncing his state of -rebellion and apostasy? But the glorious King was a merciful sovereign, -who had commissioned certain of his servants, reconciled sinners -themselves, to be intermediaries between his own majesty and the -terror-stricken offender: they had been sent forth armed with full power -to receive the submission which the guilty feared to offer to Himself in -person, furnished with instructions as to the exact mode in which the -satisfactory propitiation was to be made. These commissioners were the -especial body of the clergy,—the successors and representatives of the -Levitical Priests under the Law,—the offerers of the sacrifices,—to whom -the spirit of God had been exclusively communicated in the ceremony of -their ordination, and who thereby became possessors of the divine -authority, to bind and loose, to forgive sins on earth and in the world -to come. The clergy therefore undertook to direct the suffering and -heart-broken outlaw to the throne of peace. Again, as the merely human -preacher of atonement possessed of himself no means of ascertaining the -genuineness of repentance, a system of penances was established which -might serve as a test of the penitent’s earnestness: and too soon a -miserable error grew up that, by submitting to self-inflicted -punishments, the sinner might diminish the weight of the penalties which -he had earned in a future state. But he might exceed or fall short of -the just measure, if not duly weighed and apportioned by those who were -in possession of the divine will in that respect: men had even without -their own knowledge become holy and justified by their works of -self-abasement and humiliation and charity: such men might exceed the -necessary limit of penance and mortification:—happily for the sinner and -the saint, the priest had a code of instructions at hand by which the -difficulties in all cases could be readily adjusted. - -These codes of instructions, known by the names of Confessionalia, -Poenitentialia, Modus imponendi Poenitentiam, and the like, were -compiled by the bishops, to whom the _iurisdictio fori interni_ was -exclusively competent, as soon as the episcopal system became firmly -settled. The presbyter exercised it only as the bishop’s vicar, when it -became inconvenient for the penitent to visit a distant cathedral or -metropolis. The episcopal right was open to every bishop: each one -might, if he dared, embody his own ideas on the subject in a code, which -would derive its authority from conformity to the recognised customs of -the church, the personal reputation of its author, and the general -acceptance by his episcopal peers throughout the world. The differing -circumstances of differing states of society required skilful adaptation -of general rules; and therefore any bishop who felt in his conscience -that he was qualified for the task, might bring the light of his wisdom -to the consideration of this weighty matter, and make such regulations -as to himself seemed good, for the management of his own -diocese,—certain that, if the blessing of God rested upon his -endeavours, his views would be widely circulated and adopted by his -neighbours. There is perhaps no more melancholy evidence in existence of -the vanity and worthlessness of human endeavours than the celebrated -works which thus arose in various parts of Europe; and nothing can -demonstrate more strikingly the folly and wickedness of squaring and -shaping the unlimited mercy of God by the rule and measure of mere human -intelligence. With the contents of these Poenitentials we have of course -not here to deal; but I am bound to say that I know of no more fatal -sources of antichristian error, no more miserable records of the -debasement and degradation of human intellect, no more frightful proofs -of the absence of genuine religion. It was the evil tendency of those -barbarous early ages not to be satisfied with the simple promises of -divine mercy, and faith was clouded and confused by the crowd of -incongruous images which were raised between itself and its all-glorious -object. At one time terrified by the consciousness of sin, at another -deluded by the cheap hope of ceremonial justification, the human race -eagerly rushed to multiply the means of salvation, and franticly -rejoiced in the establishment of a host of mediators between themselves -and their crucified Redeemer, between the frightened but unconverted -sinner, and his offended Lord and Maker. The pure Word of God was not -then, as it now is, accessible to every reader; and those whose duty it -was to proclaim what the mass of men could not obtain access to -themselves, had erred into a devious labyrinth of traditions, through -which the weary wayfarer circled and circled in endless, objectless -gyrations, at every turn more distant only from the goal he pursued. -Pure and good were no doubt the objects sought by Cummian, and Theodore -and Ælfríc, and pious the spirit in which they wrought; but the -foundation of their house was upon sand, and when the rains fell and the -tempests roared around it vanished in a moment from before the sight of -God and man, never to be reconstructed, even until the closing of the -ages. - -The sources of revenue by which the bishops supported their temporal -power will be considered in a subsequent chapter: it is enough that we -find them to have been amply endowed with fitting means, in every part -of Europe. During the Anglosaxon period, poverty and self-denial were -not the characteristics of the class, however they may have -distinguished certain members of the body. Nor will the philosophical -enquirer see cause for regret in this: far more will he rejoice in the -establishment of any system which tends to draw closer the bonds of -intercourse between the clerical and lay members of the church, which -leads to the identification of their worldly as well as their eternal -interests, and unites them in one harmonious work of praise and -thanksgiving, one active service of worship and charity and love, before -the face of Him in whom they are united as one holy priesthood. It is -the separation of the clergy from the laity, as a class, to which the -world owes so many ages of misery and error; and to the comparative -union of both orders in the church, we may perhaps attribute the general -quiet which, in these respects, characterized the Anglosaxon polity. On -these points of separation I shall also have something to say hereafter; -but for the present one more subject alone remains to be treated of in -this chapter, the last but not least remarkable function of the -episcopal authority and power. By far the most important point of the -public ecclesiastical jurisdiction,—for the _iurisdictio fori interni_ -is quite another thing,—lay in the questions of marriage, which were -especially reserved for the bishop’s cognizance. The prohibitions which -the clergy enforced were obviously unknown to the strict Teutonic law, -which permitted considerable licence in these respects. From Tacitus we -learn that a sort of polygamy was not unknown on the part of the -princes; it was probably looked upon as a useful mode of increasing the -alliances of the tribe[896],—the only conceivable ground on which it -could have been allowed by a race so strict in the observance of -marriage. We do not know within what degrees the Germans permitted -unions which the Roman clergy considered incestuous, but we do know that -Gregory considered a relaxation of the strict rule necessary to the -success of Augustine in Britain; that he gave the missionary positive -instructions upon the subject, and, when blamed by his episcopal brother -of Messina for this concession, justified his course by the danger which -he apprehended for his plan of conversion, if the prejudices of the -Saxons on so vital a point were too hastily shocked[897]. From these -directions of Gregory we learn not only that the marriage of first -cousins was common, but—what is much more surprising—that the marriage -with a father’s widow was so likewise. Nor can we doubt this, when we -not only find recorded cases of its occurrence, but when we have a -Teutonic king distinctly affirming it to be the legal custom of his -people: in the sixth century Ermengisl king of the Varni can say, “Let -Radiger my son marry his step-mother, even as our national custom -permits[898];” and therefore when we find Beda speaking of a similar -marriage, and declaring Eádbald to have been “fornicatione pollutus tali -qualem nec inter gentes auditam Apostolus testatur, ita ut uxorem patris -haberet[899],” or Asser on another such occasion saying that it was -“contra Dei interdictum, et Christianorum dignitatem, nec non et contra -omnium Paganorum consuetudinem,” we can only suppose that they either -did not know, or that they deemed it advisable not to recognise, the -ancient heathen practice. - ------ - -Footnote 896: - - “Nam prope soli barbarorum singulis uxoribus contenti sunt, exceptis - admodum paucis, qui non libidine, sed ob nobilitatem plurimis nuptiis - ambiuntur.” Tac. Germ. xviii. - -Footnote 897: - - See Felix’s letter, Bed. Op. Min. ii. 239. He not only expresses his - own surprise, but adds that other clergymen had been greatly disturbed - by Gregory’s departure from the rule of the church: “non modicum - murmur super hac re nobiscum versatur.” Gregory replies in some - detail, and especially says: “Quod autem scripsi Augustino, Anglorum - gentis episcopo, alumno videlicet, ut recordaris, tuo, de - consanguinitatis coniunctione, ipsi et Anglorum genti, quae nuper ad - fidem venerat, ne a bono quod coeperat metuendo austeriora recederet, - specialiter et non generaliter caeteris me scripsisse cognoscas.” Bed. - Op. Min. ii. 242. The following are the directions referred - to:—“Quinta interrogatio Augustini. Usque ad quotam generationem - fideles debeant cum propinquis sibi coniugio copulari? et novercis et - cognatis si liceat copulari coniugio? Respondit Gregorius. Quaedam - terrena lex in Romana republica permittit ut, sive frater et soror, - seu duorum fratrum germanorum, vel duarum sororum filius et filia - misceantur; sed experimento didicimus ex tali coniugio sobolem non - posse succrescere, et Sacra Lex prohibet cognationis turpitudinem - revelare. Unde necesse est ut iam tertia vel quarta generatio fidelium - licenter sibi iungi debeat; nam secunda, quam praediximus, a se omni - modo debet abstinere. Cum noverca autem miscere grave est facinus, - quia et in Lege scriptum est, ‘Turpitudinem patris tui non - revelabis’.... Quia vero sunt multi in Anglorum gente qui, dum adhuc - in infidelitate essent, huic nefando coniugio dicuntur admixti, ad - fidem venientes admonendi sunt ut se abstineant et grave hoc esse - peccatum cognoscant.” The correspondence with Felix apparently refers - to further regulations on the subject which are no longer found in the - copies of Gregory’s answers to Augustine. - -Footnote 898: - - Ῥαδίγερ δὲ ὁ παῖς ξυνοικιζέσθω τῇ μητρυιᾷ τὸ λοιπὸν τῇ αἰτοῦ, καθάπερ - ὁ πάτριος ἡμῖν ἐφίησι νόμος. Procop. Bel. Got. iv. 20. - -Footnote 899: - - Hist. Eccl. ii. 5. The words of St. Paul, here referred to, are in 1 - Cor. v. 1. Asser, Vit. Ælf. 858. The very words of Beda himself seem - to prove that Eádbald’s marriage was closely connected with - heathendom,—perhaps was intended to be a public profession of it. He - says that the king, being terrified by Laurentius’s account of a - miraculous vision he had had, “anathematizato omni idolatriae cultu, - abdicato connubio non legitimo, suscepit fidem Christi, et baptizatus - aecclesiae rebus quantum valuit, in omnibus consulere et favere - curavit.” Hist. Eccl. ii. 6. In fact the politics of that day seem - generally to have consisted in the apostasy of a converted king’s - successor. The heathen priests could hardly be expected to yield quite - without a struggle. The cases are curious enough to merit a detailed - record. What the age of Æðelberht’s second wife may have been is - unknown to us; but there is some probability that Æðelwulf’s marriage - was never really consummated, that it was never a marriage at all. - Judith can hardly have been more than twelve when Æðelwulf married - her, and within two years he died. - ------ - -In both the cases referred to, the obvious scandal was put a stop to by -the separation of the parties[900],—Eádbald being evidently led to this -step by superstitious fears, rather than submitting to an episcopal -authority exercised by Laurentius. It is certainly strange in the case -of Æðelbald, if there really were a separation, that we hear nothing of -the interference of the Church to produce so important an event. - ------ - -Footnote 900: - - Eádbald’s divorce is recorded, as we have seen, by Beda. Æðelbald’s - rests on much less sure authority,—that only of Matthew Westminster, - and Rudborne, Annal. Winton. Judith, after her return to France, - eloped with Baldwin of Flanders, to whom she bore Matilda, William the - Conqueror’s wife. See Warnkönig, Hist. Fland. i. 144. - ------ - -We learn that by degrees the time arrived at which the clergy thought -themselves strong enough to insist upon a stricter observance of the -canonical prohibitions, and various instances are on record where their -intervention is mentioned, to separate persons too nearly connected by -blood. It is probable that many more of these are intended than we -actually know; for unhappily the monkish writers are over-fond of using -strong expressions both of praise and blame, and not rarely fling -_pellex scortum_ and _concubina_ at the heads of women who were for all -that, legally speaking, very honest wives. One celebrated case has -obtained a worldwide reputation,—that of Eádwig, the details of whose -unhappy fate will probably for ever remain a mystery. Political -calculations, and unreconciled national jealousies were in all -probability the mainsprings of the events of his troublous life; but -that which lends it all its romance—his separation from Ælfgyfu—was the -act of a prelate determined upon upholding the ecclesiastical law of -marriage. It is to be regretted that we do not know the exact degree of -relationship between the royal victims. It may have been too close, in -the eyes of the stricter clergy; yet we cannot close our eyes to the -fact that it was long acquiesced in by the English nobles; nor, had -Eádwig shown himself more pliant to the pretensions of Dúnstán, might we -ever have heard of it at all. History, deprived of all its materials, -will here fail to do even late justice to the sufferers; but it will not -fail to stamp with its enduring brand the brutal conduct of their -persecutors[901]. However conscientious may have been the intentions of -archbishop Oda, it is to be lamented that a stain of barbarous cruelty -attaches to his memory, for the part he took in this transaction. It he -found it inevitable, after two years of wedded life further to humiliate -his already humbled sovereign, by insisting upon the removal of his -young consort, it was not necessary to disfigure her with hot -searing-irons, or on her return from exile to put her to a cruel death. -The asceticism of the savage churchman seems here to have been -embittered by even less worthy considerations. - ------ - -Footnote 901: - - There cannot be the slightest doubt that Ælfgyfu was Eádwig’s wife, or - that she was separated from him on the ground of too near - consanguinity. The charter, Cod. Dipl. No. 1201, which is in every - respect an authentic document, mentions her as “Ælfgyfu, ðæs cynges - wíf,” the king’s wife; and this, in addition to herself, was witnessed - by her mother Æðelgyfu, by four bishops, and by three principal - noblemen of the court. If that charter be not genuine, there is not - one genuine in the whole Codex Diplomaticus, and I cannot see the - shadow of a reason to question it, as Lingard has done. The reader - will probably be glad to see it, as it occurs in _two_ manuscripts, - the Cotton MSS. Claud. B. vi. fol. 54. and C. ix. fol. 112, one copy - being in the original Saxon, the other a statement in Latin drawn up - from it. - - “Ðis is seó gerǽdnes ðe Byrhtelm - biscop and Æðelwold abbud hæfdon - ymbe hira landgehwerf: ðæt is ðonne - ðe se biscop gesealde ða hída æt - Cenintúne intó ðǽre cyricean æt - Abbendúne tó écan yrfe; and se - abbud gesealde ðæt seofontyne hýda - æt Crydanbricge ðán biscope tó - écnesse, ge on lífe ge æfter lífe; - and hí eác ealra þinga gehwyrfdon - ge on cwican ceápe ge on óðrum, swá - swá hí betwihs him gerǽddon. And - ðis wæs Eádwiges leáf cyninges; and - ðis syndon ða gewitnessa. Ælfgifu - ðæs cininges wíf, and Æðelgyfu, ðæs - cyninges wífes módur, Ælfsige - biscop, Osulf biscop, Coenwald - biscop, Byrhtnóð ealdorman, Ælfheáh - cyninges discþegn, Eádríc his - bródur.” - - “This is the agreement that bishop Byrhthelm and abbot Æðelwold made - about their exchange of lands: that is then, that the bishop gave the - hides at Kennington to the church at Abingdon for an eternal - inheritance; and the abbot gave the bishop the seventeen hides at - Crida’s bridge, for ever both during life and after life: and they also - exchanged every thing upon the lands, both live stock and other, as - they agreed between them. And this was by leave of king Eádwig; and - these are the witnesses: Ælfgyfu the king’s wife, and Æðelgyfu, the - king’s wife’s mother, bishop Ælfsige, bishop Oswulf, bishop Coenwald, - Byrhtnoð the ealdorman, Ælfheáh the king’s dapifer, Eádríc his - brother.” - - The Latin abstract of this important document is as follows:—“Dominus - autem abbas Æðelwoldus commutationem eiusdem terrae, id est Cenintun, - concedente eodem rege, egit apud Brihtelmum episcopum. In cuius - vicissitudine ipse episcopus accepit illam villam quae appellatur - Crydanbricge. Testes autem fuerunt huius commutationis Ælfgifa regis - uxor, et Æðelgifa mater eius, Ælfsige episcopus, Osulfus episcopus, - Kenwald episcopus, et multi alii.” The date of this document is 956, - in which year Eádwig came to the throne, and therefore certainly - subsequent to the coronation, the celebrated scene of Dúnstán’s - insolence. The prelates and nobles present were Ælfsige bishop of - Winchester, Oswulf bishop of Ramsbury, Cénwald bishop of Worcester, - Byrhthelm bishop of London, Æðelwald then abbot of Abingdon and - afterwards the celebrated bishop of Winchester—the Father of the - Monks, as he was called; Byrhtnóð the ealdorman an equally decided - patron of the monastic order; Ælfheáh no less a man than the dapifer - regis, or seneschal of Eádwig’s house. This then was not a thing done - in a corner, and the testimony is conclusive that Ælfgyfu was Eádwig’s - queen. It is also beyond doubt that, in the year 958, Oda separated - Eádwig from his wife on the ground of their being too nearly related: - one of the MSS. of the Saxon Chronicle says clearly, “Her on ðissum - geare Oda arcebiscop tótwǽmde Eádwi cyning and Ælfgyfe, forðám ðe hí - wǽron tó gesybbe.” Chron. Sax. an. 958. And Florence of Worcester, - drawing from an independent authority, but evidently confused by the - slanderous tales which had been spread of Eádwig, confirms the - Chronicle, saying:—“Sanctus Odo Doruberniae archiepiscopus regem - Westsaxonum Eádwium et Ælfgivam, vel quia, ut fertur, propinqua illius - extitit, vel quia illam sub propria uxore adamavit, ab invicem - separavit.” Flor. Wig. an. 958. William of Malmesbury speaks of her as - “uxor, proxime cognata” (Gest. Reg. § 147, i. 223), but soon after - calls her _ganea_ and _pellex_ in choice monkish style. Wendover and - Paris are even more insolent in their phraseology, but still there is - the unlucky admission of a marriage:—“Huic [sc. Eádwig] quaedam mulier - inepta, licet natione praecelsa [certainly very high birth indeed if - Ælfgyfu was too near a relative of the king] cum adulta filia per - nefandum familiaritatis lenocinium adhaerebat, ut sese vel filiam suam - sub coniugali titulo sociaret.” Wendov. i. 404. They go on to - insinuate that there was an improper familiarity between the king and - both the women. With this I am not at all concerned: Eádwig may have - been a disorderly young prince, as there have been other disorderly - young princes,—as his much-belauded brother Eádgar _was_ in the - highest degree. The ladies _may_ have been more than commonly - depraved. But it may be observed that our general experience is not in - favour of a wife’s permitting her husband to be guilty of lascivious - conduct towards another woman in her presence, or of a married - daughter’s conniving at her husband’s irregularities with her own - mother. Not a word have we of this disgusting insinuation in the - Chronicle, or Florence,—himself a monk,—or Æðelweard, or Huntingdon: - and the two latter speak of Eádwig in terms very far removed from - those in which the adherents of Dúnstán’s cause have chosen to - characterize him:—“Quin successor eius Eáduuig in regnum, qui et, prae - nimia etenim pulchritudine, Pancali sortitus est nomen a vulgo - secundi. Tenuit namque quadriennio per regnum amandus.” Æðelw. - Chronic. iv. 8. “Rex autem praedictus Edwi non illaudabiliter regni - infulam tenuit. Edwi rex anno regni sui quinto cum in principio regni - eius decentissime floruerit, prospera et laetabunda exordia mors - immatura perrupit.” Hen. Hunt. lib. v. We must be excused for - preferring this sort of record to the interested exaggerations of such - biographers as Bridferð, whom the remainder of his work proves to have - been either a very weak and credulous person or a very great rogue, - or—as not unfrequently happens—perhaps both at once. - ------ - -The history of mediæval Europe show’s with what awful effect this -tremendous power was wielded by unscrupulous popes and prelates, -whenever it suited their purposes not to connive at marriages which, -according to their teaching, were incestuous. But amidst the striking -cases on record—the cases of kings and nobles—we look in vain for a true -measure of the misery which these prohibitions must have entailed upon -the humbler members of society, who possessed neither the influence to -compel nor the wealth to purchase dispensations from an arbitrary and -oppressive rule. The sense and feeling of mankind at once revolt against -restrictions for which neither the law of God, nor the dictates of -nature supply excuse, and which resting upon a complicated calculation -of affinity, were often the means of betraying the innocent and ignorant -into a condition of endless wretchedness. But they were invaluable -engines of extortion, and instruments of malice; they led to the -intervention of the priest with the family, in the most intolerable -form; they furnished weapons which could be used with almost -irresistible effect against those whom nothing could reach but the tears -perhaps and broken heart of a beloved companion. And therefore they were -steadily upheld till the great day of retribution came, which involved -so many traditions of superstition and error, so many engines of -oppression and fraud, in one common and undistinguishing ruin: τὰ πρὶν -δὲ πελώρια νῦν ἀϊστοῖ—things mighty indeed have perished away from the -world; but thrice blessed was the day which left us free and unshackled -to pursue the noblest and purest impulses of our human nature. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - THE CLERGY AND MONKS. - - -The almost total absence of documentary evidence leaves us in great -doubt as to the condition of the church in England previous to the -organization brought about by Theodore. It is nevertheless probable that -it followed in all essential points the course which characterized other -missionary establishments. The earliest missionaries were for the most -part monks; but Augustine was accompanied by clerics also[902], and in -every case the conversion of a district was rapidly followed by the -establishment of a cathedral or a corresponding ecclesiastical -foundation. These were at first central stations, from which the -assembled clergy sallied forth to visit the neighbouring villages and -towns, and preach the tidings of salvation: the necessities of daily -provision, the attainment of greater security for their persons, the -mutual aid and consolation in the perils and difficulties of their task, -all supplied motives in favour of a cœnobitical mode of life: monks -and clerics were confounded together through the circumstances of the -adventure in which they shared; nay the very administration of those -rites by which the imagination of the heathen Saxons was so strongly -worked upon, could only be conducted on a sufficiently imposing scale by -an assemblage of ecclesiastics. To this must be added the protection to -be derived from settling on one spot, in the immediate neighbourhood of -a royal vill, and under the safeguard of the royal power: for though the -residences of kings were rarely in cities, yet their proximity offered -much more secure guarantees than the outlying villages and clearings in -the mark; even as the general tendencies of courtly life were likely to -present fewer points of opposition than the characteristic bigotry of -heathen, _i. e._ rural populations. This combination of circumstances -probably led at an early period to that approximation between the modes -of life of monks and clerks, which at the close of the eighth century -Chrodogang succeeded in enforcing in his archbishopric of Metz, but -which had been attempted four centuries earlier by Eusebius of -Vercelli[903]. Both the Roman and Scottish missionaries followed the -same plan, which indeed appears to be the natural one, and to have been -generally adopted on all similar occasions, whether in ancient Germany, -in Peru or in the most modern missions of Australia or New Zealand. In -Beda’s Ecclesiastical History, which in these respects no doubt was -founded upon ancient and contemporary records, we frequently read of -prelates leaving their monasteries (by which general name churches as -well as collections of monks are designated) to preach the Gospel and -administer the rite of baptism in distant villages[904]. But this system -had also inconveniences of no slight character; the distance of the -converts from the church, the necessity for daily superintendence and -continual exhortation on the part of the preacher, the very danger and -fatigue of repeated journeys into rude, uncultivated parts of the -country, must have soon forced upon the clergy the necessity of -providing other machinery than they as yet possessed. The multiplication -of centres of instruction was the first and greatest point to be -ensured; whereby a more constant intercourse between the neophyte and -the missionary might be attained. This had long been secured in other -countries by the appointment of single presbyters to reside in single -districts, under the general direction of the bishop; or, where -circumstances required it, by the settlement of several presbyters under -an archipresbyter or archpriest, who was responsible for the conduct of -his companions. And as the district of the bishop himself commonly went -by the name of a diocese or parish, both these terms were applied to -denote the smaller circuit within which the presbyter was expected to -exert himself for the propagation of the faith, and the due performance -of the established rites, and to perform such functions as had been -entrusted to the ministers of the faithful, for the better management of -the ecclesiastical affairs of the congregation. The custom of the -neighbouring countries of Gaul offered sufficient evidence of the -practicability of such an arrangement, which had long been in use in -older established churches: we may therefore readily suppose that so -beneficial a system would be adopted with all convenient speed in -England. As long as the possessions of the clergy were confined to a -small plot whereon their church was built, and while they depended for -support upon the contributions in kind which the rude piety of their new -converts bestowed, the bishops could naturally not proceed to plant -these clerical colonies of their own authority: though, as soon as they -became masters of vills and manors and estates of their own, they -probably adopted the plan of sending single presbyters into them, partly -to discharge the clerical duties of their station, partly to act as -stewards, administrators or bailiffs of the property, the proceeds of -which were paid over to the episcopal church, and laid out at the -discretion of the bishop[905]. But the zeal of the people could here -assist the benevolent objects of the clergy. The inconvenience of having -a distance to traverse in order to attend the ministrations of religion, -the desire to aid in the meritorious work of the conversion, the earnest -hope to establish a peculiar claim upon the favour of Heaven, nay -perhaps even the less worthy motives of vanity and ambition, disposed -the landowner to raise a church upon his own estate for the use of -himself and his surrounding tenants or friends. From a very early period -this disposition was cultivated and encouraged; and the bishops -relinquished the patronage of the church to the founder, reserving of -course to themselves the canonical subjection and consecration of the -presbyter who was ordained to the title. During the seventh century this -had become common in the Frankish empire, and Theodore followed, or -introduced, the same rule in this country[906]. Whether under this -influence or not, we find churches to have so arisen during his -government of the English sees, whose sole archbishop he was. Beda -incidentally mentions the dedication by John of Beverley of churches, -for Puch and Addi, two Northumbrian noblemen, and these were no doubt -private foundations[907]. We still possess various regulations of -Theodore, and of nearly contemporary prelates, which refer to such -separate churches, proving how very general they had become, and how -strictly they required to be guarded against the avarice or other -unworthy motives of the founders, and the simoniacal practices both of -priest and layman. In the thirty-eighth chapter of his Capitula[908] we -find the following directions:—“Any presbyter who shall have obtained a -parish by means of a price, is absolutely to be deposed, seeing that he -is known to hold it contrary to the discipline of ecclesiastical rule. -And likewise, he who shall by means of money have expelled a presbyter -lawfully ordained to a church, and so have obtained it entirely for -himself; which vice, so widely diffused, is to be remedied with the -utmost zeal. Also it is to be forbidden both to clerks and laics, that -no one shall presume to give any church whatever to a presbyter, without -the licence and consent of the bishop.” These churches frequently were -granted to abbeys or to the bishops themselves; and in the latter case -they were served by priests especially appointed thereunto from the -cathedral[909]. At this early period when tithes were not demandable as -matter of right, and when the founders of these churches were already -betraying a tendency to speculate in church-building, by claiming for -themselves the _altare_ or produce of the voluntary oblations of the -faithful, the bishops found it necessary to insist that every church -should be endowed with a sufficient glebe or estate in land: the amount -fixed was one hide, equivalent to the estate of a single family, which, -properly managed, would support the presbyter and his attendant clerks. -Archbishop Ecgberht rules[910]: “Ut unicuique aecclesiae vel una mansa -integra absque alio servitio attribuatur, et presbyteri in eis -constituti non de decimis neque de oblationibus fidelium nec de domibus, -neque de atriis vel hortis iuxta aecclesiam positis, neque de -praescripta mansa, aliquod servitium faciant, praeter aecclesiasticum: -et si aliquod amplius habuerint, inde senioribus suis, secundum patriae -morem, debitum servitium impendant.” And this regulation, though -probably already established by custom, obtained the force of law in the -Frankish empire, by a constitution of Hludwich in 816[911]. This -glebe-land the bishop seems not to have been able to interfere with, so -as to alienate it from the particular church, in favour of another, even -when both churches were within his own subjection[912]. - -Footnote 902: - - “Clerici extra sacros ordines constituti.” Beda, H. E. i. 27. Gregory - contemplated the marriage and separate dwelling of these persons. But - for a long time it is improbable that any such arrangement could take - place. Augustine separated his monks from the canons who had - accompanied him (the presbyters he was to obtain in the neighbouring - countries of Gaul: see Gregory’s Epistles to Theodoric and Theodbert, - and to Brunhild; Bed. Op. Min. ii. 234, 235), placing the latter in - Christchurch, Canterbury. See Lingard, Ang. Sax. Church, i. 152, 153. - But this sort of separation cannot have been always practicable. The - Scottish missionaries were not all monks. Beda, H. E. iii. 3. - -Footnote 903: - - Neander, Gesch. der Relig. u. Kirche, i. 322; ii. 553. Lingard, Aug. - Sax. Church, i. 150. Chrodogang’s institution is thus described by - Paulus in his Gest. Episc. Mettens. “Hic clerum adunavit, et ad instar - coenobii intra claustrorum septa conversari fecit, normamque eis - instituit, qualiter in ecclesia militare deberent; quibus annonas - vitaeque subsidia sufficienter largitus est, ut perituris vacare - negotiis non indigentes, divinis solummodo officiis excubarent.” - Pertz, ii. 268. Chrodogang’s rule is preserved in Labbé, Concil. vii. - 1444. Harduin, Concil. iv. 1181. See Eichhorn, Deut. Staatsr. i. 760, - § 179. It is in many respects similar to the rule of Benedict of - Nursia, upon which it appears to have been modelled. - -Footnote 904: - - “Quadam autem die dum parochiam suam circuiens, monita salutis omnibus - ruribus, casis et viculis largiretur, nec non etiam nuper baptizatis - ad accipiendam Spiritus sancti gratiam manum imponeret,” etc. Beda, - Vit. Cuthb. c. 29. This however is perhaps rather to be considered as - an episcopal visitation. But there is abundant evidence that at first - the custom was such as the text describes. It is said thus of Aidan, - the Scottish bishop in Northumberland: “Erat in villa regia non longe - ab urbe de qua praefati sumus [i. e. Bamborough]. In hac enim habens - aecclesiam et cubiculum, saepius ibidem diverti ac manere, atque inde - ad praedicandum circumquaque exire consueverat: quod ipsum et in aliis - villis regis facere solebat, utpote nil propriae possessionis, excepta - aecclesia sua et adiacentibus agellulis, habens.” Beda, H. E. iii. 17. - This was a small wooden church, and certainty never a cathedral. But - the early custom of the Scottish church in Northumberland is further - described by Beda: and one can only lament that it was not much longer - maintained: for his own words show that he is contrasting it with the - custom of his own times, nearly a century later; he says: “Quantae - autem parsimoniae, cuiusque continentiae fuerit ipse [i. e. Colman] - cum praedecessoribus suis, testabatur etiam locus ille quem regebant, - ubi abeuntibus eis, excepta aecclesia, paucissimae domus repertae - sunt; hoc est, illae solummodo, sine quibus conversatio civilis esse - nullatenus poterat. Nil pecuniarum absque pecoribus habebant. Si quid - enim pecuniae a divitibus accipiebant, mox pauperibus dabant. Nam - neque ad susceptionem potentium saeculi, vel pecunias colligi vel - domus praevideri necesse fuit, qui nunquam ad aecclesiam nisi - orationis tantum, et audiendi verbi Dei causa veniebant.... Tota enim - fuit tunc solicitudo doctoribus illis Deo serviendi, non saeculo; tota - cura cordis excolendi non ventris. Unde et in magna erat veneratione - tempore illo religionis habitus; ita ut ubicunque clericus aliquis aut - monachus adveniret, gaudentur ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus - exciperetur: etiam si in itinere pergens inveniretur, adcurrebant, et - flexa cervice vel manu signari, vel ore illius se benedici gaudebant; - verbis quoque horum exhortatoriis diligenter auditum praebebant. Set - et diebus Dominicis ad aecclesiam, sive ad monasteria certatim, non - reficiendi corporis, sed audiendi sermonis Dei gratia confluebant: et - si quis sacerdotum in vicum forte deveniret, mox congregati in unum - vicani, verbum vitae ab illo expetere curabant. Nam neque alia ipsis - sacerdotibus aut clericis vicos adeundi, quam praedicandi, baptizandi, - infirmos visitandi, et, ut breviter dicam, animas curandi causa fuit: - qui in tantum erant ab omni avaritiae peste castigati, ut nemo - territoria ac possessiones ad construenda monasteria, nisi a - potentibus saeculi coactus acciperet. Quae consuetudo per omnia - aliquanto post haec tempora in aecclesiis Nordanhymbrorum servata - est.” Bed. H. E. iii. 26. Of Ceadda we learn that after his - consecration as bishop of York, he was accustomed, “oppida, rura, - casas, vicos, castella, propter evangelizandum, non equitando, sed - apostolorum more pedibus incedendo peragrare.” Ibid. iii. 21. About - the same period we learn from Beda, that Cuthbert used to make - circuits for the purpose of preaching: “Erat quippe moris _eo tempore_ - populis Anglorum, ut veniente in villam clerico vel presbytero, cuncti - ad eius imperium verbum audituri confluerent.” Ibid. iv. 27. The words - _eo tempore_ also show that in Beda’s time this custom was no longer - observed, which is naturally explained by the existence of - parish-churches. The custom of itinerant preachers in the west of - England is also noted about the same period, viz. 680. “Cum vero - aliqui, sicut illis regionibus moris est, praesbyteri sive clerici - populares vel laicos praedicandi causa adiissent, et ad villam - domumque praefati patrisfamilias venissent,” etc. Vit. Bonifac. Pertz, - ii. 334. - -Footnote 905: - - If a bishop found it convenient to build a church out of his own - diocese, the ecclesiastical authority remained to the bishop in whose - diocese it was built. “Si quis episcopus in alienae civitatis - territorio aecclesiam aedificare disponit, vel pro agri sui aut - aecclesiastici utilitate, vel quacunque sui opportunitate, permissa - licentia, quia prohiberi hoc votum nefas est, non praesumat - dedicationem, quae illi omnimodis reservanda est in cuius territorio - aecclesia assurgit; reservata aedificatori episcopo hac gratia, ut - quos desiderat clericos in re sua videre, ipsos ordinet is cuius - territorium est; vel si iam ordinati sunt, ipsos habere acquiescat: et - omnis aecclesiae ipsius gubernatio ad eum, in cuius civitatis - territorio aecclesia surrexit, pertinebit. Et si quid ipsi aecclesiae - fuerit ab episcopo conditore conlatum, is in cuius territorio est, - auferendi exinde aliquid non habeat potestatem. Hoc solum aedificatori - episcopo credidimus reservandum.” Concil. Arelat. iii. cap. xxxvi. - A.D. 452. - -Footnote 906: - - Elmham says of Theodore:—“Hic excitavit fidelium voluntatem, ut in - civitatibus et villis aecclesias fabricarentur, parochias - distinguerent, et assensus regios his procuravit, ut siqui - sufficientes essent, super proprium fundum construere aecclesias, - eorundem perpetuo patronatu gauderent; si inter limites alterius - alicuius dominii aecclesias facerent, eiusdem fundi domini notarentur - pro patronis.” Such churches had nevertheless at first not the full - privileges of parish-churches. The twenty-first canon of the Council - of Agda decreed: “Si quis etiam extra parochias, in quibus est - legitimus ordinariusque conventus, oratorium in agro habere voluerit, - reliquis festivitatibus, ut ibi missas teneat, propter fatigationem - familiae, iusta ordinatione permittimus. Pascha vero, Natale Domini, - Epiphania, Ascensionem Domini, Pentecosten, et Natalem sancti Johannis - Baptistae, vel si qui maximi dies in festivitatibus habentur, non nisi - in civitatibus, aut in parochiis teneant. Clerici vero, si qui in - festivitatibus quas supradiximus, in oratoriis, nisi iubente aut - permittente episcopo, missas facere aut tenere voluerint, a communione - pellantur.”—Concil. Agathense, A.D. 506. cap. xxi. That there were at - this period parish-churches in Gaul, served by a single presbyter, - appears from other decisions usually attributed to this council, but - really published by the Council of Albon, held eleven years later. - They are in fact not found in the three oldest MSS. of the Concilium - Agathense. “Diacones vel presbyteri in parochia constituti de rebus - aecclesiae sibi creditis nihil audeant commutare, vendere vel donare, - quia res sacratae Deo esse noscuntur.... Quicquid parochiarum - presbyter de aecclesiastici iuris proprietate distraxerit, inane - habeatur. Presbyter, dum diocesim tenet, de his quae emerit ad - aecclesiae nomen scripturam faciat, aut ab eius quam tenuit aecclesiae - ordinatione discedat.” Concil. Epaonense. A.D. 517. As late as the - time of Eádgár a regulation was made in England as to the payment of - tithe by a landowner who happened to have a church with a churchyard - upon his estate. “If there be any thane who has a church with a - churchyard upon his bookland, let him give the third part of his tithe - to his church. But if any one have a church that has no churchyard, - let him give his priest what he will out of the nine parts,”—that is - out of what remains after the payment of his tithe to the cathedral - church. Eádg. i. § 2. Thorpe, i. 262. Probably there were many such - churches in existence, which had descended together with the estates - from the first founders, and whose owners could not agree with the - ecclesiastical authorities as to their liabilities. The right of - patronage was abused unfortunately at a very early period, both by - clerics and laymen, as we learn abundantly from the decrees of the - several provincial councils. - -Footnote 907: - - Beda, Hist. Eccl. v. 4, 5. - -Footnote 908: - - Thorpe, ii. 73. Kunstmann, Poenit. p. 121. - -Footnote 909: - - As early as 587, I find a grant of a parish-church to the monastery of - St. Peter at Lyons, by Gerart and his wife Gimbergia, on the ground of - their daughter being professed there: “propterea cedimus et donamus - nos vobis aliquid de rebus propriis iuris nostri ... hoc est ecclesia - de Darnas cum decimis et parochia.” Bréquigny, Dipl. Chartar. i. 83. - Bréquigny, Mabillon, and the editors of the Gallia Nova Christiana, - all concur in recognising the genuineness of this charter. - -Footnote 910: - - Excerpt. Ecgberhti, § 25. Thorpe, ii. 100. - -Footnote 911: - - “Volens etiam unamquamque aecclesiam habere proprios sumptus, ne per - huiusmodi inopiam cultus negligerentur divini, inseruit praedicto - edicto, ut super singulas aecclesias mansus tribueretur unus, cum - pensatione legitima et servo et ancilla.” Vita Hludovici Imp. Pertz, - ii. 622. The tenth chapter of Hludwich’s capitulary is drawn up in the - same words as Ecgberht uses, with the sole exception of the Frankish - _mansus_ for the English _mansa_, and it is therefore probable that - both drew from some common and early source; unless indeed we suppose - that the Frankish clergy thought the English custom worthy of - imitation. The proper name for this landed foundation is _dos - aecclesiae_, or as it is called in the Langobardic law (lib. iii. tit. - i. § 46), _mansus aecclesiasticus_. The result of this dotation is - very evident in the next following chapter of the above-quoted - capitulary, by which parish-churches are obviously intended. Cap. xi. - “Statutum est ut, postquam hoc impletum fuerit, unaquaeque aecclesia - suum Presbyterum habeat, ubi id fieri facultas providente episcopo - permiserit.” - -Footnote 912: - - “Non licet abbati, neque episcopo, terram aecclesiae convertere ad - aliam, quamvis ambae in potestate eius sint. Si mutare vult aecclesiae - terram, cum consensu amborum sit. Si quis vult monasterium suum in - alio loco ponere, cum concilio episcopi et fratrum suorum faciat, et - dimittat in priorem locum presbyterum ad ministeria aecclesiae.” - Capit. Theodori. Thorpe, ii. 64. - ------ - -But although many churches may have arisen in this manner, a large -proportion of which gradually found their way into the hands of bishops -and abbots, and although these last may have erected churches, as the -necessities of the case demanded, in the various districts over which -they exercised rights of property, the greater number of parish-churches -(_plebes_, _aecclesiae baptismales_, _tituli maiores_) had probably a -very different origin. It had been shown that in all likelihood every -Mark had its religious establishment, its _fanum_, _delubrum_, or -_sacellum_, as the Latin authors call them, its _hearh_, as the -Anglosaxon no doubt designated them[913]; and further, that the priest -or priests attached to these heathen churches had lands—perhaps freewill -offerings too—for their support. It has also been shown that a -well-grounded plan of turning the _religio loci_ to account was acted -upon by all the missionaries, and that wherever a substantial building -was found in existence, it was taken possession of for the behoof of the -new religion. Under such circumstances it would seem that nothing could -be more natural than the establishment of a baptismal church in every -independent mark that adopted Christianity, and that the substitution of -one creed for the other not only did not require the abolition of the -old machinery, but would be much facilitated by retaining it. It is in -this manner then that I understand the assertions of Beda and others, -that certain missionary prelates established churches _per loca_, such -churches being certainly not cathedrals[914] or abbey-churches. There -cannot be the least reason to doubt that parish-churches were generally -established in the time of Beda, less than half a century after the -period to which most of the instances in the notes refer[915]: and it is -not very probable that they were all owing to private liberality. In a -similar manner probably arose the numerous parish-churches which before -the close of the eighth century were founded, especially by the English -missionaries, on the continent of Europe[916]. Thus in the seventh -century in England the ecclesiastical machinery consisted of episcopal -churches served by a body of clerks or monks,—sometimes united under the -same rule, and a sufficient number of whom had the necessary orders of -priests, deacons and the like; probably also churches served by a number -of presbyters under the guidance of an archipresbyter or -archpriest[917], bearing some resemblance to our later collegiate -foundations; and numerous parish-churches established on the sites of -the ancient fanes in the marks, or erected by the liberality of kings, -bishops and other landowners on their own manorial estates. The wealthy -and powerful had also their own private chaplains, who performed the -rites of religion in their oratories[918], and who even at this early -period probably bore the name of handpreostas, by which in much later -times they were distinguished from the túnpreostas, village or parochial -priests[919]. - ------ - -Footnote 913: - - Besinga hearh, _fanum_ Besingorum. Cod. Dipl. No. 994. - -Footnote 914: - - For example, of the Scotch missionaries about the year 635, Beda - reports as follows: “Exin coepere plures per dies de Scottorum regione - venire Brittaniam, atque illis Anglorum provinciis quibus regnavit rex - Osuuald, magna devotione verbum fidei praedicare, et credentibus - gratiam baptismi, quicumque sacerdotali erant gradu praediti, - ministrare. Construebantur ergo aecclesiae per loca, confluebant ad - audiendum verbum populi gaudentes, donabantur munere regis - possessiones, et territoria ad instituenda monasteria.” Hist. Eccl. - iii. 3. Again in Essex, between 650 and 660: “Qui, [i. e. Ced] accepto - gradu episcopatus, rediit ad provinciam, et maiori auctoritate caeptum - opus explens, fecit per loca aecclesias, presbyteros et diaconos - ordinavit, qui se in verbo fidei et ministerio baptizandi adiuvarent, - maxime in civitate quae lingua Saxonum Ythancaestir appellatur; sed et - in illa quae Tilaburh cognominatur; quorum prior locus est in ripa - Pentae amnis, secundus in ripa Tamensis; in quibus collecto examine - famulorum Christi, disciplinam vitae regularis, in quantum rudes adhuc - capere poterant, custodire docuit.” Hist. Eccl. iii. 22. About 690, - Beda says of Cúðberht, “Plures per regiones illas aecclesias, sed et - monasteria nonnulla construxit.” H. E. iv. 28. And it is difficult to - understand the passage about to be cited of anything but heathen - temples in the marks, which the zeal of the bishop of Mercia, - Gearoman, converted into Christian churches, that is separate - parish-churches. A pestilence raged in Essex: one of its kings, - Sigheri, apostatized together with all his part of the people, “and - set about restoring their deserted temples, and adoring images.” To - correct this error, Wulfheri of Mercia, the superior king, sent his - bishop Gearoman: “qui multa agens solertia ... longe lateque omnia - pervagatus, et populum et regem praefatum ad viam iustitiae reduxit: - adeo ut relictis, sive destructis fanis arisque quas fecerant, - aperirent aecclesias, ac nomen Christi, cui contradixerant, confiteri - gauderent, magis cum fide resurrectionis in illo mori, quam in - perfidiae sordibus inter idola vivere cupientes.” Hist. Eccl. iii. 30. - This was in 665. - -Footnote 915: - - In his Poenitential he gives a general direction as to the penance of - the parish priest who loses his chrism. He says: “Qui autem in plebe - suo [_var._ suum] chrisma perdideret, et eam invenerit, xl dies vel - iii quadragesimas poeniteat.” Bed. Poenit. xxiv. Kunstm. Poenit. p. - 165. - -Footnote 916: - - “Cumque aecclesiarum esset non minima in Hassis et Thyringea multitudo - extructa, et singulis singuli providerentur custodes,” etc. Vit. - Bonif. Pertz, ii. 346. “Praefato itaque regni eius tempore, servus Dei - Willehadus per Wigmodiam aecclesias coepit construere, ac presbyteros - super eas ordinare, qui libere populis monita salutis, ac baptismi - conferrent gratiam.” Vit. Willehad. Pertz, ii. 381. “Aecclesias quoque - destructas restauravit, probatasque personas qui populis monita - salutis darent, singulis quibusque locis praeesse disposuit.” Ibid. - ii. 383. “Testes quoque aecclesiae quas per loca singula construxit, - testes et famulantium Dei congregationes quas aliquibus coadunavit in - locis.” Vit. Liutgari, Pertz, ii. 409. “Itaque more solito, cum omni - aviditate et sollicitudine rudibus Saxonum populis studebat in - doctrina prodesse, erutisque ydolatriae spinis, verbum Dei diligenter - per loca singula serere, aecclesias construere, et per eas singulos - ordinare presbyteros, quos verbi Dei cooperatores sibi ipsi - nutriverat.” Ibid. ii. 411. He also founded a church of canons, - “monasterium, sub regula canonica dominio famulantium,” which - afterwards became a cathedral. When Liutgar and his companions landed - on the little island of Helgoland, they destroyed the heathen temples - and built Christian churches. “Pervenientes autem ad eandem insulam, - destruxerunt omnia eiusdem Fosetis fana quae illuc fuere constructa, - et pro eis Christi fabricaverunt aecclesias.” Pertz, ii. 410. In like - manner Willibrord in Frisia established Christian churches on the - sites of the heathen fanes. “Simul et reliquias beatorum apostolorum - ac martyrum Christi ab eo sperans accipere, ut dum in gente cui - praedicaret, destructis idolis aecclesias institueret, haberet in - promptu reliquias sanctorum quas ibi introduceret; quibusque ibidem - depositis, consequenter in eorum honorem quorum essent illae, singula - quaeque loca dedicaret.” Beda, H. E. v. 11. Again, “Plures per - regiones illas aecclesias, sed et monasteria nonnulla construxit.” - Beda, H. E. v. 11. This was consonant with the wise advice of Pope - Gregory to Augustine, already cited vol. i. p. 332, note 2. - -Footnote 917: - - As late as the tenth century we read of an archipresbyter at the head - of a church at Ely. Hist. Eliensis, Ang. Sac. i. 603. - -Footnote 918: - - Æðelberht’s queen Beorhte had a chaplain, bishop Liuthart, previous to - the arrival of Augustine. Beda, H. E. i. 25. Paulinus was Æðelburge’s - chaplain before the conversion of Northumberland. Ibid, ii. 9. - Oidilwald king of Deira maintained Caelin, a brother of bishop Ced, in - his family; “qui ipsi et familae ipsius, verbum et sacramenta fidei, - erat enim presbyter, ministrare solebat.” Ibid. iii. 23. Lastly we - read of Wilfrið, that he was chaplain to Alchfrið of Northumberland, - “desiderante rege ut vir tantae eruditionis et religionis sibi - specialiter individuo comitatu sacerdos esset et doctor.” Ibid. v. 19. - -Footnote 919: - - The distinction is found in the Chron. Saxon, an. 870. The Saxon - handpreostas is translated in a Latin copy by _capellani clerici_; the - Saxon túnpreostas by _de villis suis presbyteri_. - ------ - -As early as the fifth century the fourth general council (Chalcedon, an. -451) had laid down the rule that the ecclesiastical and political -establishments should be assimilated as much as possible[920]; and as -the central power was represented by the metropolitans and the bishops, -so the subsidiary authorities had their corresponding functionaries in -the parish priests, priests of collegiate churches and their dependents. -We possess a curious parallel drawn by Walafrid Strabo in the earliest -years of the ninth century, on this subject. In his book De Exordiis -Rerum Aecclesiasticarum (cap. 31), he thus compares the civil and -ecclesiastical polities: “Porro sicut comites quidam Missos suos -praeponunt popularibus, qui minores causas determinent, ipsis maiora -reservent, ita quidam episcopi chorepiscopos habent. Centenarii qui et -centuriones et Vicarii, qui per pagos statuti sunt, Presbyteris Plebei, -qui baptismales aecclesias tenent, et minoribus praesunt Presbyteris, -conferri queunt. Decuriones et Decani, qui sub ipsis vicariis quaedam -minora exercent, Presbyteris titulorum possunt comparari. Sub ipsis -ministris centenariorum sunt adhuc minores qui Collectarii, -Quaterniones, et Duumviri possunt appellari, qui colligunt populum, et -ipso numero ostendunt se decanis esse minores. Sunt autem ista vocabula -ab antiquitate mutuata,” etc[921]. - ------ - -Footnote 920: - - “Si qua civitas potestate imperiali novata est aut innovatur, civiles - dispositiones et publicas aecclesiasticarum quoque parochiarum ordines - subsequantur.” Conc. Chalc. an. 451. This was an attempt to bring the - state generally into that condition which would have existed had the - church and the empire not been on terms of hostility when the church - first was founded. Had the heathen creed not stood in the way, from - the very first it is probable that the praefect of the city and the - mayor of the village would have been universally also the Episcopus - and Chorepiscopus of the community: but the χάρισμα κυβερνησέως and - χάρισμα διδασκαλίας would not then have united in the same hands. The - church assumed form and shape under pressure, and passed from a - molluscous into a vertebrated organization through its struggles to - resist persecution on the one hand and heresy on the other. When it - entered into its alliance with the state its outward constitution was - already completed. That alliance is not a metaphysical entity, but an - historical fact. - -Footnote 921: - - Let us arrange these offices tabularly:— - - _Secular._ _Ecclesiastical._ - - 1. Comes. 1. Episcopus. - - α. Missus. α. Chorepiscopus. (The - Archdeacon or the Rural - Dean.) - - 2. Centenarius. Centurio, or 2. Presbyter Plebei qui - Vicarius: qui per pagos baptismalem aecclesiam - constitutus est. habet, - - 3. Decurio et Decanus. 3. Minor Presbyter tituli. - - 4. Collectarius. Quaternio. - Duumvir. - - The count (in England Ealdorman) and bishop are on one line, and, if - we may anticipate a little for the sake of illustration, we may add - the Eorl of Cnut’s constitution on the one side, and the Metropolitan - on the other. The Missus of the count and the chorepiscopus (in - Strabo’s time yet existing, though less important than his city - brother) are on the second line; nevertheless the Missus partakes of - the comitial dignity, and the episcopal, though grudgingly, is still - vouchsafed to the chorepiscopus. Next in rank is the Centenarius or - president of the Hundred, the officer of the pagus: his equivalent is - the priest in a church where baptism is performed, the peculiar - distinctive of a parish-church. The Decurio or Decanus is on the same - footing as the German Capellanus or Kaplan, who is indeed ordained to - a title, but not with power to administer the sacraments. The Kaplan - is in truth generally attached to the parish-church—a sort of - curate,—and often succeeds to it. But how is it that the parallel can - be carried no further? Is it that the Deacon’s ordination was not - conclusive enough? Or were Collectarii and Duumviri, beadles, - tax-gatherers and bailiffs not dignified enough to compare with even - acolytes and vergers? - ------ - -Both in spiritual and in temporal matters, the clergymen thus dispersed -over the face of the country were accountable to the bishop, whose -_vicars_ they were taken to be, that is to say, in whose place (“quorum -vice”) they performed their functions. The “presbyteri plebei” or parish -priests had the administration of all the sacraments and rites, except -those reserved to the bishop,—such for instance as confirmation, -ordination, the consecration of churches, the chrism, and the like: -these were denied them, but they could baptize, marry, bury, and -administer the communion. And gradually, as matter of convenience, they -were invested with the internal jurisdiction, as it was called,—the -“iurisdictio fori interni,”—that is to say confession, penance and -absolution, but solely as representatives and vicars of the bishop[922]. - ------ - -Footnote 922: - - “De poentitentibus, ut a presbyteris non reconcilientur, nisi - praecipiente episcopo.—Ex concilio Africano.—Ut poenitentibus, - secundum differentiam peccatorum, episcopi arbitrio poenitentiae - tempora decernantur, et ut presbyter, inconsulto episcopo, non - reconciliet poenitentem, nisi absentia episcopi, necessitate - cogente.... Item, Ex concilio Cartaginensi de eadem re. Aurelius - episcopus dixit: ‘Si quisquam in periculo fuerit constitutus, et se - reconciliari divinis altaribus petierit, si episcopus absens fuerit, - debet utique presbyter consulere episcopum, et sic periclitantem eius - praecepto reconciliare: quam rem debemus salubri concilio roborare.’ - Ab universis episcopis dictum est: ‘Placet quod sanctitas vestra - necessaria nos instruere dignata est.’ Romani reconciliant hominem - intra absidem: Graeci nolunt. Reconciliatio penitentium in coena - Domini tantum est ab episcopo, et consummata penitentia: si vero - episcopo dificile sit, presbytero potest, necessitatis causa, praebere - potestatem, ut impleat.” Poen. Theodori. Thorpe, ii. 6. Aurelius of - Carthage died in 430. - ------ - -It was this gradual extension of the powers of the presbyter that -destroyed the distinction between the collegiate churches served by the -archpriest and his clergy, and the church in which a single presbyter -administered the daily rites of religion. The word _parochia_ which at -first had been properly confined to the former churches, became -generally applied to the latter, when the difference between their -spiritual privileges entirely vanished. - -In the theory of the early church, the whole district subject to the -rule of the bishop formed but one integral mass: the parochial clergy -even in spirituals were but the bishop’s ministers or vicars, and in -temporals they were accountable to him for every gain which accrued to -the church. This he was to distribute at his own discretion; it is true -that there were canons of the church which in some degree regulated his -conduct, and probably the presbyters of his cathedral, his witan or -council, did not neglect to offer their advice on so interesting a -subject. To him it belonged to assign the funds for the support of the -parochial clergy, out of the share which was commanded to be set apart -for the sustenance of the ministers of the altar: to him also it -belonged to apportion the share which was directed to be applied to the -repairs of the fabric of the churches in his diocese; and he also had -the immediate distribution of that portion which was devoted to the -charitable purposes of relieving the poor and ransoming the enslaved,—a -noble privilege, more valuable in rude days like those than in our -civilized age it could be, even had the sacrilegious hand of time not -removed it from among the jewels of the mitre. - -Occasionally, no doubt, the parochial clergy, though supported by their -glebe-lands, had reason to complain that the hospitality or charity of -the bishop, exceeding the bounds of the canonical division, left them -but an insufficient remuneration for their services: and more than one -council found it useful to impress upon the prelate the claims of his -less fortunate or deserving brethren[923]: but on the whole there can be -little question that piety on the one hand and superstition on the other -combined to supply an ample fund for the support of the clerical body; -and that what with free-will offerings, grants of lands, fines, rents, -tithes, compulsory contributions, and the sums paid in commutation of -penance, the clergy in England were at all times provided not only with -the means of comfort, but even with wealth and splendour. The sources -and nature of ecclesiastical income will form the subject of a separate -chapter. - ------ - -Footnote 923: - - “Et ideo quia Carpentoracte convenientes huiusmodi ad nos querela - pervenit, quod ea quae a quibuscumque fidelibus parochiis conferuntur, - ita ab aliquibus episcopis praesumantur, ut aut parum, aut prope - nihil, aecclesiis quibus collata fuerint relinquatur; ut si aecclesia - civitatis eius cui episcopus praeest, ita est idonea, ut Christo - propitio nihil indigeat, quidquid parochiis fuerit derelictum, - clericis qui ipsis parochiis deserviunt, vel reparationibus - aecclesiarum rationabiliter dispensetur,” etc. Concil. Carpentor. an. - 527. - ------ - -As a body the clergy in England were placed very high in the social -scale: the valuable services which they rendered to their -fellow-creatures,—their dignity as ministers and stewards of the -mysteries of the faith,—lastly the ascetical course of life which many -of them adopted, struck the imagination and secured the admiration of -their rude contemporaries. At first too, they were honourably -distinguished by the possession of arts and learning, which could be -found in no other class; and although the most celebrated of their -commentaries upon the Biblical books or the works of the Fathers, do not -now excite in us any very great feelings of respect, they must have had -a very different effect upon our simple progenitors. Whatever state of -ignorance the body generally may have fallen into in the ninth and tenth -centuries, the seventh and eighth had produced men famous in every part -of Europe for the soundness and extent of their learning. To them -England owed the more accurate calculations which enabled the divisions -of times and seasons to be duly settled; the decency, nay even -splendour, of the religious services were maintained by their skilful -arrangement; painting, sculpture and architecture were made familiar -through their efforts, and the best examples of these civilising arts -were furnished by their churches and monasteries: it is probable that -their lands in general supplied the best specimens of cultivation, and -that the leisure of the cloister was often bestowed in acquiring the art -of healing, so valuable in a rude state of society, liable to many ills -which our more fortunate period could, with ordinary care, escape[924]. -Their manuscripts yet attract our attention by the exquisite beauty of -the execution; they were often skilled in music, and other pursuits -which at once delight and humanise us. To them alone could resort be had -for even the little instruction which the noble and wealthy coveted: -they were the only schoolmasters[925]; and those who yet preserve the -affectionate regard which grows up between a generous boy and him to -whom he owed his earliest intellectual training, can judge with what -force such motives acted in a state of society so different from our -own. Moreover the intervention of the clergy in many most important -affairs of life was almost incessant. Marriage—that most solemn of all -the obligations which the man and the citizen can contract—was -celebrated under their superintendence: without the instruments which -they prepared no secure transfer of property could be made; and as -arbitrators or advisers, they were resorted to for the settlement of -disputed right, and the avoidance of dangerous litigation. Lastly, -although during the Anglosaxon period we nowhere find them putting -forward that shocking claim to consideration which afterwards became so -common—the being makers of their Creator in the sacrament of the -Eucharist,—we cannot doubt that their calling was supposed to confer a -peculiar holiness upon them; or that the _hád_, the orders, they -received, were taken to remove them from the class of common Christians -into a higher and more sacred sphere. - ------ - -Footnote 924: - - The extraordinary helplessness of early surgery is little appreciated - by us, nor are we duly grateful for the advance in that most noble - study which now secures to the lowest and poorest sufferer, - alleviations once inaccessible to the wealthiest and most powerful. An - example in point occurs to me in the case of Leopold, duke of Austria, - the captor of Coeur de Lion, in 1195. A fall from his horse produced a - compound fracture of the leg, which from the treatment it received - soon mortified. Amputation was necessary, and it was performed by the - duke himself, _holding an axe to the limb, which his chamberlain - struck with a beetle_. “Acciti mox medici apposuerunt quae expedire - credebant; in crastino vero pes ita denigratus apparuit, ut a medicis - incidendus decerneretur; et cum non inveniretur qui hoc faceret, - accitus tandem cubicularius eius, et ad hoc coactus, dum ipse dux - dolabrum manu propria tibiae apponeret, malleo vibrato, vix trina - percussione pedem eius abscidit.” Walt. Heming. i. 210. Wendov. iii. - 88. We feel no surprise that death followed such treatment, even - without the excommunication under which the savage duke laboured. - -Footnote 925: - - We do not sufficiently prize our own advantages, and the blessings - which the mercy of God has vouchsafed to us in this respect. But let - one fact be mentioned, which ought to arrest the attention of even the - least reflecting man. In the ninth century there was not a single copy - of the Old and New Testaments to be found in the whole diocese of - Lisieux. We learn this startling fact from a letter sent by Freculf, - its bishop, to Hrabanus Maurus. “Ad haec vestrae charitatis vigilantia - intendat, quoniam nulla nobis librorum copia suppeditat, etiamsi - parvitas obtusi sensus nostri vigeret: dum in episcopio, nostrae - parvitati commisso, nec ipsos Novi Veterisque Testamenti repperi - libros, multo minus horum expositiones.” Opera Hrabani. Ed. Colvener. - ii. 1. - ------ - -Great privileges were accordingly given to them in a social point of -view. They enjoyed a high wergyld, an increased mundbyrd, and a -distinguished secular rank. The weofodþegn or servant of the altar who -duly performed his important functions, was reckoned on the same footing -as the secular thane, woroldþegn, who earned nobility and wealth in the -service of an earthly master. The oaths of a priest or deacon were of -more force than those of a free man; and it was rendered easier for them -to rebut accusations by the aid of their clerical compurgators, than for -the simple ceorl or even þegn, and his gegyldan. - -It was nevertheless a wise provision that their privileges should not -extend so far as to remove them entirely from participation in the -general interests of their countrymen, or make them aliens from the -obligations which the Anglosaxon state imposed upon all its members. -Personal privileges they enjoyed, like other distinguished members of -the body politic, as long as their conduct individually was such as to -merit them; but they were not cut off entirely from the common burthens -or the common advantages: and this will not unsatisfactorily explain the -immunity which England long enjoyed, from struggles by which other -European states—and in later periods even our own—were convulsed to -their foundations. In their cathedrals and conventual churches, or -scattered through the parishes over all the surface of the land, but -sharing in the interests of all classes, they acted as a body of -mediators between the strong and the weak, repressing the violent, -consoling and upholding the sufferer, and offering even to the -despairing serf the hope of a future rest from misery and subjection. - -On the first establishment of conventual bodies we have seen that a -complete immunity had been granted from the secular services to which -all other lands were liable[926]; but that the inconvenience of this -course soon led to its abandonment. It is difficult to say whether this -immunity was at any time extended to the hide, “mansus aecclesiasticus,” -or “dos aecclesiae” of the parish-church: it is on the contrary probable -that it never was so extended; for no hint of the sort occurs in our own -annals or charters; and it is well known that the church lands among the -neighbouring Franks were subject, like those of the laity, to the -burthens of the state[927]. From every hide which passed into clerical -hands, the king could to the very last demand the _inevitable_ dues, -military service, repairs of roads and fortifications; and though it is -not likely that the parish priest was called upon to serve in person, it -is also not likely that he was excused the payment of his quota toward -the arming and support of a substitute in the field[928]. - ------ - -Footnote 926: - - Vol. i. 302. - -Footnote 927: - - Eichhorn, § 114. vol. i. 506. - -Footnote 928: - - Exemption from _munera personalia_ however was early claimed. - “Presbyteros, diaconos, etc. ... etiam personalium munerum expertes - esse volumus.” L. 6. C. de Episc. et Cleric. i. 3. Hence the king had - an interest in forbidding the ordination of a free man without his - consent. See the formulary in Marculfus, i. 10. See also the fourth - and eighth canons of the Council of Orleans, A.D. 511. and Eichhorn, - i. 484, 485. §§ 94, 96. From those we see that through ordination the - king might lose his rights over the freeman and the master over his - serf. Of the last case there cannot be the slightest doubt in England, - and I should imagine little of the first. - ------ - -Nor did the legislation of the Teutonic nations contemplate the -withdrawal of the clergy from the authority of the secular tribunals. -The sin of the clergyman might indeed be punished in the proper manner -by his ecclesiastical superior: penance and censure might be inflicted -by the bishop upon his delinquent brother; but the crime of the citizen -was reserved for the cognizance of the state[929]. - ------ - -Footnote 929: - - The great argument of the clergy in later times,—in the twelfth - century particularly, when all over Europe the attempt was made to - exempt them from secular jurisdiction,—“that no one ought to be - punished twice for the same offence,” had apparently not yet been - thought of. The penances of the church, by which the sinner was to be - reconciled to God, were still held quite distinct from the sufferings - by which he expiated his violation of the law. Theodore alleviates, - but does not remit, the penance of those whose guilt has bent their - heads to human slavery. Theod. Poen. xvi. § 3. See this argument - stated in the quarrel between Henry II. and Becket: “In contrarium - sentiebat archiepiscopus, ut quos exauctorent episcopi a manu laicali - postmodum non punirentur, quia bis in idipsum puniri viderentur.” Rog. - Wendov. an. 1164. vol. ii. 304. But this was a two-edged argument, as - its upholders soon found, when the laity on the same grounds claimed - exemption from secular punishment for offences committed upon the - persons of the clergy; justly urging, upon the premises, that they - were excommunicated for their acts, and ought not to be subject to a - second infliction. Accordingly in 1176, we find Richard archbishop of - Canterbury attempting to explain away what Becket had so vigorously - advanced: “Nec dicatur quod aliquis bis puniatur propter hoc in - idipsum, nec enim iteratum est, quod ab uno incipitur et ab altero - consummatur,” etc. See his letter to the bishops in An. Trivet. 1176. - p. 82 _seq._ We shall readily admit that the laity ought not to have - been let loose upon the clergy; but upon the same grounds we shall - claim the subjection of the clergy to the secular tribunals for all - secular offences. - ------ - -This had been the custom of the Franks, even while they permitted the -clergy, who belonged to the class of Roman provincials, to be judged by -the Roman law[930]: it was for centuries the practice in England, and -would probably so have remained had the error of the Conqueror in -separating the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions not prepared the -way for the troublous times of the Henries and Edwards. In the case of -manslaughter, Ælfred commands that the priest shall be secularised -before he is delivered for punishment to the ordinary tribunals[931]: -Æðelred[932] and Cnut[933] decree that he is to be secularised, to -become an outlaw and abjure the realm, and do such penance as the Pope -shall prescribe; and they extend this penalty to other grievous offences -besides homicide. Eádweard the elder enacts that if a man in orders -steal, fight, perjure himself or be unchaste, he shall be subject to the -same penalties as the laity under the same circumstances would be, and -to his canonical penance besides[934]. But the plainest evidence that -the clergy, even including the most dignified of their body, were held -to answer before the ordinary courts, is supplied by the many provisions -in the laws as to the mode of conducting their trials[935]. It could not -indeed be otherwise in a country where every offence was to be tried by -the people themselves. - ------ - -Footnote 930: - - Concil. Autisiodor. an. 578. can. 43. Concil. Matiscon. an. 581. can. - 7. “Quodsi quicunque index ... clericum absque causa criminali, id est - homicidio, furto aut maleficio, hoc [scil. iniuriam] facere fortasse - praesumpserit, quamdiu episcopo loci illius visum fuerit, ab - aecclesiae liminibus arceatur.” - -Footnote 931: - - “If a priest kill another man, let all that he had acquired at home be - given up, and let the bishop deprive him of his orders: then let him - be given up from the minster, unless the lord will compound for the - wergeld.” Ælf. § 21. - -Footnote 932: - - Leg. Æðelr. ix. § 26. Thorpe, i. 346. - -Footnote 933: - - Leg. Cnut, ii. § 41. Thorpe, i. 400. - -Footnote 934: - - Eád. Guð. § 3. Thorpe, i. 168. Yet immediately afterwards Eádweard - says: “If a man in orders fordo himself with capital crime, let him be - seized and held to the bishop’s doom.” Ibid. § 4. - -Footnote 935: - - See Leg. Wihtr. § 18, 19. Æðelr. ix. § 19-24, 27. Cnut, i. § 5; ii. § - 41. - ------ - -But the most effectual mode of separating the clergy from the other -members of the church yet remains to be considered. He that is permitted -to contract marriage, to enjoy the inestimable blessings of a home, to -connect himself with a family, and give the state dear pledges of his -allegiance, can never cease to be a citizen of that polity in which his -lot is cast. He can be no alien, no machine to be put in motion by -foreign force. Accordingly, although the celibacy of the clergy is a -mere point of discipline (and could therefore be dispensed with at once -were it desired[936]), it has always been pertinaciously insisted upon -by those whose interest it was to destroy the national feeling of the -clergy in every country, and render them subservient to one centralising -power. It is fitting that we enquire how far this was attempted in -England, and how far the attempt succeeded. - ------ - -Footnote 936: - - Whether it will ever be possible to surmount the difficulties which - environ this subject, may be doubted; but it cannot escape any one who - has enjoyed the intimacy of the more enlightened Roman Catholics, - whether cleric or laic, that a strong feeling exists in favour of a - change. In Bohemia and other Slavonic countries, yet in communion with - Rome, the celibacy of the clergy has ever been a stumbling-block and - stone of offence, and has done more than anything else to keep alive - old Hussite traditions. A few years ago so much danger was felt to - lurk in the question, that the Vienna censorship thought fit to - suppress portions of Palaczy’s History, which favoured the national - views. Nor has Germany, at almost any period, lacked thinkers who have - vigorously protested against a practice which they assert to have no - foundation in Holy Writ, and look upon as disastrous to the State. - ------ - -The perilous position of the early Christians, and especially of the -clergy, rendered it at least matter of prudence that they should not -contract the obligation of family bonds which must prove a serious -hindrance to the performance of their duties. It is therefore easily -conceivable that marriage should in the first centuries have been -discouraged among the members of this particular class. There was also a -tendency among the eastern Christians to engraft upon the doctrines of -the faith, those peculiar metaphysical notions which seem always to have -characterized the oriental modes of thought. The antagonism of spirit -and matter, the degraded—nay even diabolical[937]—nature of the latter, -and the duty of emancipating the spiritual portion of our being from its -trammels, were quite as prominent doctrines of some Christian -communities, as of the Brahman or Buddhist. The holiness of the priest -would, it was thought, be contaminated by his union with a wife; and -thus from a combination of circumstances which in themselves had no -necessary connexion, an opinion came to prevail that a state of celibacy -was the proper one for the ministers of the sacraments. It was at first -recommended, and then commanded, that those who wished to devote -themselves to the especial service of the church, should not contract -the bond of marriage. Even the married citizen who accepted orders was -admonished to separate himself from the society of his wife: and both -were taught that a life of continence for the future would be an -acceptable offering in the sight of God. It seems unnecessary to dilate -upon the fallacy of these views, or to point out the gross and degrading -materialism on which they are ultimately based. The historian, while he -laments, must to the best of his power record the aberrations of human -intelligence, under his inevitable conditions of place and time. - ------ - -Footnote 937: - - Some sects believed the δημιουργός to have been the devil himself; and - as the Saviour is declared to have made the world, identified Jesus - with Satan! Others entirely denied his human nature, on the ground - that the incarnation was a materialising of spirit. The ascetic - practices of the Eastern church had a similar origin. - ------ - -It is uncertain at what period this restriction was first attempted to -be enforced in the Western Church, but there are early councils which -notice the existence of a strong feeling on the subject[938]. In the -year 376 a Gallic synod excommunicated those who should refuse the -ministrations of a priest on the ground of his marriage[939]. But this -can only prove that at the time there were married priests, whether -living in continence or not, and that certain persons were scandalized -at them. I cannot admit, as some authors have done, that the Council -intended to make such marriages legal; on the contrary, it seems to me -that the intention of the canon is merely to assert the validity of the -sacraments, however unworthy might be the person by whom they were -administered[940]. But restrictions which wound the natural feelings of -men are vain: popes and councils may decree, but they cannot enforce -obedience, and it seems to me that on this particular subject they never -entirely succeeded in carrying out their views. All they did was to -convert a holy and a blessed connexion into one of much lower character, -and to throw the doors wide open to immorality and scandal. The efforts -of Boniface in Germany were particularly directed to this point[941], -and his biographer tells us on more than one occasion of his success in -destroying the influence of married priests. But it may be questioned -whether the same result attended the efforts of the Roman missionaries -in England. It seems to me, on the contrary, that we have an almost -unbroken chain of evidence to show that, in spite of the exhortations of -the bishops, and the legislation of the witan, those at least of the -clergy who were not bound to cœnobitical order, did contract -marriage, and openly rear the families which were its issue. From Eddius -we learn that Wilfrið bishop of York, one of the staunchest supporters -of Romish views, had a son[942]; he does not indeed say that this son -was born in wedlock, nor does any author directly mention Wilfrið’s -marriage: but we may adopt this view of the matter, as the less -scandalous of two alternatives, and as rendered probable by the absence -of all accusations which might have been brought against the bishop on -this score by any one of his numerous enemies. In a charter of -emancipation we find among the witnesses, Ælfsige the priest and his -son[943]: by another document a lady grants a church hereditarily to -Wulfmǽr the priest and his offspring, as long as he shall have any in -orders[944], where a succession of married clergymen is obviously -contemplated. Again we read of Godwine at Worðig bishop Ælfsige’s -son[945], and of the son of Oswald a presbyter[946]. Under Eádweard the -Confessor we are told of Robert the deacon and his son-in-law Richard -Fitzscrob[947], and of Gódríc a son of the king’s chaplain Gódman[948]. - ------ - -Footnote 938: - - “Placuit etiam ut si diacones aut presbyteri coniugati ad torum uxorum - suorum redire voluerint,” etc. Concil. Agathense, an. 506. Can. 9. - -Footnote 939: - - “Si quis secernat se a presbytero qui uxorem duxit, tanquam non - oporteat, illo liturgiam peragente, de oblatione percipere, anathema - sit.” Concil. Gangrense, an. 376. Can. 4. This provision was retained - by Burkhart of Worms in his collection of canons made in the eleventh - century. See Dönniges, Deut. Staatsr. p. 507. Schmidt, Gesch. der - Deutschen, IV Band, lib. 4. cap. 13. - -Footnote 940: - - This was at least the feeling in the eleventh century. Wendover speaks - in the following terms of the Council of Rome, celebrated by Gregory - the Seventh in 1074:—“Iste papa in synodo generali simoniacos - excommunicavit, uxoratos sacerdotes a divino removit officio, et - laicis missas eorum audire interdixit, novo exemplo et, ut multis - visum est, inconsiderato iudicio, contra sanctorum patrum sententiam, - qui scripserunt, quod sacramenta quae in aecclesia fiunt, baptisma, - chrisma, corpus Christi et sanguis, Spiritu invisibiliter cooperante, - eorundem sacramentorum effectum [habeant], seu per bonos, seu per - malos intra Dei aecclesiam dispensentur; tamen quia Spiritus Sanctus - mystice illa vivificat, nec bonorum meritis amplificantur, nec - peccatis malorum attenuantur. Ex qua re tam grave oritur scandalum, ut - nullius haeresis tempore sancta aecclesia graviori sit schismate - discissa, his pro iustitia, illis contra iustitiam agentibus; porro - paucis continentiam observantibus: aliquibus eam causa lucri ac - iactantiae simulantibus, multis incontinentiam periurio multipliciori - adulterio cumulantibus: ad haec, opportunitate laicis insurgentibus - contra sacros ordines, et se ab omni aecclesiastica subiectione - excutientibus, laici sacra mysteria temerant et de his disputant, - infantes baptizant, sordido aurium humore pro sacro chrismate utentes - et oleo, in extremo vitae viaticum Dominicum et usitatum aecclesiae - obsequium sepulturae a presbyteris uxoratis accipere parvipendunt; - decimas etiam presbyteris debitas igne cremant, corpus Domini a - presbyteris uxoratis consecratum pedibus saepe conculcant, sanguinem - Domini voluntarie frequenter in terram effundunt.” Wend. ii. 13. See - the Acts of this Council in Hardouin, vi. col. 1521 _seq._ In the - following year, 1075, the abbot of Pontoise was insulted and beaten in - a council held at Paris, for defending this decree of Gregory. - -Footnote 941: - - Boniface appears to have been quite as earnest in the eighth as - Dunstan was in the tenth century. We are told of him in Thuringia, - that in accordance with the instructions of the Apostolical Pontiff, - “senatores plebis totiusque populi principes verbis spiritalibus - affatus est; eosque ad veram agnitionis viam et intelligentiae lucem - provocavit, quam olim ante maxima siquidem ex parte pravis seducti - doctoribus perdiderunt; sed et sacerdotes ac presbiteros, quorum alii - religioso Dei se omnipotentis cultu incoluerunt, alii quidem - fornicaria contaminati pollutione castimoniae continentiam, quam - sacris servientes altaribus servare debuerunt, amiserant, sermonibus - evangelicis, quantum potuit, a malitiae pravitate ad canonicae - constitutionis rectitudinem correxit, ammonuit, atque instruxit.” - Pertz, ii. 341. “Quoniam cessante religiosorum ducum dominatu, - cessavit etiam in eis Christianitatis et religionis intentio, et falsi - seducentes populum introducti sunt fratres, qui sub nomine religionis - maximam haereticae pravitatis introduxerunt sectam. Ex quibus est - Torhtwine et Berhthere, Eanberhct et Hunræd, fornicatores et adulteri, - quos iuxta apostolum Dominus iudicavit Deus.” Pertz, ii. 344. These - seem all to have been Anglosaxons. - - “Et recedens, non solum invitatus Baguariorum ab Odilone duce, sed et - spontaneus, visitavit incolas; mansitque apud eos diebus multis, - praedicans et evangelizans verbum Dei; veraeque fidei ac religionis - sacramenta renovavit, et destructores aecclesiarum populique - perversores abigebat. Quorum alii pridem falso se episcopatus gradu - praetulerunt, alii etiam presbyteratus se officio deputabant, alii - haec atque alia innumerabilia fingentes, magna ex parte populum - seduxerunt. Sed quia sanctus vir iam Deo ab infantia deditus, iniuriam - Domini sui non ferens, supradictum ducem cunctumque vulgus ab iniusta - haereticae falsitatis secta et fornicaria sacerdotum deceptione - coercuit; et provinciam Baguariorum, Odilone duce consentiente, in - quattuor divisit parochias, quattuorque his praesidere fecit - episcopos, quos ordinatione scilicet facta, in episcopatus gradum - sublevant.” Pertz, ii. 346. - - “Domino Deo opitulante, ac suggerente sancto Bonifatio archiepiscopo, - religionis christianae confirmatum est testamentum, et orthodoxorum - patrum synodalia sunt in Francis correcta instituta, cunctaque canonum - auctoritate emendata atque expiata, et tam laicorum iniusta - concubinarum copula partim, exhortante sancto viro separata est, quam - etiam clericorum nefanda cum uxoribus coniunctio seiuncta ac - segregata.” Pertz, ii. 346. The anonymous author of the life of - Boniface tells of a bishop Gerold, who held the see of Mayence: he had - a son who succeeded him in the bishopric. Pertz, ii. 354. - -Footnote 942: - - “Sanctus Pontifex noster de exilio cum filio suo proprio rediens,” - etc. Vit. Wilfr. cap. 57. - -Footnote 943: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1352. - -Footnote 944: - - “Wulfmǽr preóst and his bearnteám.” Cod. Dipl. No. 946. - -Footnote 945: - - “Godwine æt Worðige, Ælfsiges bisceopes sunu.” Chron. Sax. an. 1001. - This however was not confined to England: we hear of more than one - Frankish bishop having children: for example, “Anchisus dux egregius, - filius Arnulfi, episcopi Mettensis.” Ann. Xantens. an. 647. Pertz, ii. - 219. See also Paul. Gest. Ep. Mettens. Pertz, ii. 264. [See also T. F. - Klitsche, “Geschichte des Cölibats,” etc. Augsb. 1830; J. A. Zaccaria. - Storia Polemica del Sagro celibato, Roma, 1774; and Suppl. to Engl. - Cyclop., Arts and Sciences, _art._ Celibacy.] - -Footnote 946: - - “Filius Oswaldi presbyteri.” Hist. Rams., cap. xlv. - -Footnote 947: - - “Robertum diaconem et generum eius, Ricardum filium Scrob.... quos - plus caeteris rex diligebat.” Flor. Wig. an. 1052. - -Footnote 948: - - “Godricum regis capellani Godmanni filium, abbatem constituit.” Flor. - Wig. an. 1053. - ------ - -It may no doubt be argued that in some of these instances the children -may have been the issue of marriages contracted before the father -entered into orders; but it is obvious that this was not the case with -all of them, nor is there any proof that any were so. On the other hand -we have evidence of married priests which it would be difficult to -reject. Florence speaks of the newly born son of a certain _presbytera_, -or priest’s wife[949]: I have already cited a passage from Simeon of -Durham which distinctly mentions a married presbyter[950], about the -year 1045: and the History of Ely records the wife and family of an -archipresbyter in that town[951]. Lastly we are told over and over again -that one principal cause for the removal of the canons or prebendaries -from the cathedrals and collegiate churches by Æðelwold and Oswald was -the contravention of their rule by marriage. - ------ - -Footnote 949: - - Flor. Wig. an. 1035. It is right to add that some MSS. of Florence - read _presbyteri_, not _presbyterae_. - -Footnote 950: - - See vol. i. 145. “At ille qui ipsa nocte cum uxore dormierat,” etc. - Sim. Dun. Eccl. Dun. cap. xlv. - -Footnote 951: - - “Mox ingens pestis arripuit domum illius sacerdotis; quae conjugem - eius ac liberos eius cita morte percussit, totamque progeniem funditus - extirpavit.” Hist. Eliens. Anglia Sacra, i. 603. - ------ - -The frequent allusion to this subject by the kings in various -enactments, serve to show very clearly that the clergy would not submit -to the restraint attempted to be enforced upon them. But we have a still -more conclusive evidence in the words of an episcopal charge delivered -by archbishop Ælfric. He says, “Beloved, we cannot now compel you by -force to observe chastity, but we admonish you to observe it, as the -ministers of Christ ought, and as did those holy men whom we have -already mentioned, and who spent all their lives in chastity[952].” It -is thus very clear that the clergy paid little regard to such -admonishments, unsupported by secular penalties. In this, as perhaps in -some other cases, the good sense and sound feeling of the nation -struggled successfully against the authority of the Papal See. In fact, -though spirituality were the pretext, a most abominable slavery to -materialism lies at the root of all the grounds on which the Roman -prelates founded the justification of their course. That they had -ulterior objects in view may easily be surmised, though these may have -been but dimly described and hesitatingly confessed, until Gregory the -Seventh boldly and openly avowed them. Had the Roman church ventured to -argue that the clergy ought to be separated entirely from the nation and -the state, nay from humanity itself, for certain definite purposes and -ends, it would at least have deserved the praise of candour; and much -might have been alleged in favour of this view while the clergy were -still strictly missionaries exposed to the perils and uncertainties of a -daily struggle. But, in an absurd idolatry of what was miscalled -chastity, to proscribe the noblest condition and some of the highest -functions of man, was to set up a rule essentially false, and literally -hold out a premium to immorality; and so the more reflecting even of the -clergy themselves admitted[953]. Whatever may have been the desire of -the prelates, we may be certain that not only in England, but generally -throughout the North of Europe, the clergy did enter into -quasi-marriages; and as late as the thirteenth century, the priests in -Norway replied to Gregory the Ninth by setting up the fact of -uninterrupted custom[954]. - ------ - -Footnote 952: - - Thorpe, ii. 376. - -Footnote 953: - - In 1102 archbishop Anselm excommunicated married priests, _sacerdotes - concubinarios_; Wendover, who records this act, expresses a doubt - about its prudence. “Hoc autem bonum quibusdam visum est, et quibusdam - periculosum, ne, dum munditias viribus maiores expeterent, in - immunditias labarentur.” Wend. ii. 171. The results at this day in - Ireland are well known, and the case is very similar in the Roman - Catholic part of Hungary. See Paget, Hungary and Transylvania, i. 114. - Shortly before the Reformation, the inconveniences arising from this - state of things were felt to be so intolerable, yet the danger to - society from a strict enforcement of the rule so great, that in some - parts of Europe the bishop licensed their priests so take concubines, - at a settled tariff, and further raised a sum upon each child born. - Erasmus relates that one bishop had admitted to him the issuing of no - less than twelve thousand such licenses in one year. In his diocese - the tax was probably light, the peasants sturdy, and the female - population more than ordinarily chaste. It was not unusual for the - English kings to compel the priests to redeem their _focariae_ or - concubines, which amounts to much the same thing. This occurred in the - years 1129 and 1208. See Wendover, ii. 210; iii. 223. - -Footnote 954: - - Gregory writes thus upon the subject to Sigurdr, archbishop of - Nidaros: “Sicut ex parte tua fuit propositum coram nobis tam in - diocesi quam in provincia Nidrosensi abusus detestandae consuetudinis - inolevit, quod videlicet sacerdotes inibi existentes matrimonia - contrahunt, et utuntur tanquam laici sic contractis. Et licet tu iuxta - officii tui debitum id curaveris artius inhibere, multi tamen - praetendentes excusationes frivolas in peccatis, scilicet quod felicis - recordationis Hadrianus papa praedecessor noster, tunc episcopus - Albanensis, dum in partibus illis legationis officio fungeretur, hoc - fieri permisisset, quanquam super hoc nullum ipsius documentum - ostendant, perire potius eligunt quam parere, longam super hoc - nichilominus consuetudinem allegando. Cum igitur diuturnitas temporis - peccatum non minuat sed augmentet, mandamus quatenus, si ita est, - abusum huiusmodi studeas extirpare, et in rebelles, si qui fuerint, - censuram aecclesiasticam exercere. Datum Viterbii, xvii Kal. Junii, - anno undecimo.” This is A.D. 1237. Diplom. Norweg. No. 19, vol. i. - pag. 15. - ------ - -In addition to the clergy who either in their conventual or parochial -churches administered the rites of religion to their flocks, very -considerable monastic establishments existed from an early period in -England. It is true that not every church which our historians call -_monasterium_ was really a monastic foundation, but many of them -undoubtedly were so; and it is likely that they supplied no small number -of presbyters and bishops to the service of the church. The rule of St. -Benedict was well established throughout the West long before Augustine -set foot in Britain; and although monks are not necessarily clergymen, -it is probable that many of the body in this country took holy orders. -Like the clergy the monks were subject to the control of the bishop, and -the abbots received consecration from the diocesan. Till a late period -in fact, there is little reason to suppose that any English monastery -succeeded in obtaining exemption from episcopal visitation: though on -the other hand it is probable that monasteries founded by powerful and -wealthy laymen did contrive practically to establish a considerable -independence. This is the more conceivable, because we cannot doubt that -a great difference did from the first exist between the rules adopted by -various congregations of monks, or imposed upon them by their patrons -and founders, until the time when greater familiarity with Benedict’s -regulations, and the customs of celebrated houses, produced a more -general conformity. - -One of the most disputed questions in Anglosaxon history is that -touching the revival of monkery by Dúnstán and his partizans. Its -supposed connexion with the tragical story of Eádwig, and the -dismemberment of England by Eádgár, have lent it some of the attractions -of romance; and by the monastic chroniclers in general, it has very -naturally been looked upon as the greatest point in the progressive -record of our institutions. Connected as it is with some of the most -violent prejudices of our nature, political, professional and personal, -it has not only obtained a large share of attention from ecclesiastical -historians of all ages, but has been discussed with great eagerness, not -to say acrimony, by those who differed in opinion as to the wisdom and -justice of the revival itself. Yet it does not appear to me to have been -brought to the degree of clearness which we should have expected from -the skill and learning of those who have undertaken its elucidation. -Neither the share which Dúnstán took in the great revolution, nor the -extent to which Æðelwold and Oswald succeeded in their plans, are yet -satisfactorily settled; and great obscurity still hangs both over the -manner and the effect of the change. - -Few things in history, when carefully investigated, do really prove to -have been done in a hurry. Sudden revolutions are much less common than -we are apt to suppose, and fewer links than we imagine are wanting in -the great chain of causes and effects. Could we place ourselves above -the exaggerations of partizans, who hold it a point of honour to prove -certain events to be indiscriminately right or indiscriminately wrong, -we should probably find that the course of human affairs had been one -steady and very gradual progression; the reputation of individual men -would perhaps be shorn of part of its lustre; and though we should lose -some of the satisfaction of hero-worship, we might more readily admit -the constant action of a superintending providence, operating without -caprice through very common and every-day channels. But it would have -been too much to expect an impartial account of the events which led to -the reformation of the Benedictine order in England; like Luther in the -fifteenth, Dúnstán must be made the principal figure in the picture of -the tenth century: throughout all great social struggles the protagonist -stalks before us in gigantic stature,—glorious as an archangel, or -terrible and hideous as Satan. - -The writers who arose shortly after the triumph of the Reformation have -revelled in this fruitful theme. The abuses of monachism,—not entirely -forgotten at the beginning of the seventeenth century,—its undeniable -faults, and the mischief it entails upon society,—judged with the -exaggeration which unhappily seems inseparable from religious polemics, -produced in every part of Europe a succession of violent and headlong -attacks upon the institution and its patrons, which we can now more -readily understand than excuse. But just as little can the calm, -impartial judgment of the historian ratify the indiscriminate praise -which was lavished by the Roman Catholics upon all whom the zeal of -Protestants condemned, the misrepresentations of fact by which they -attempted to fortify their opinions, or the eager credulity which they -showed when any tale, however preposterous, appeared to support their -particular objects. In later times the controversy has been renewed with -greater decency of language, but not less zeal. The champion of -protestantism is the Rev. Mr. Soames: Dr. Lingard takes up the gauntlet -on behalf of his church. It is no intention of mine to balance their -conflicting views as to the character and intentions of Dúnstán and his -two celebrated coadjutors; these have been too deeply tinged by the -ground-colour that lies beneath the outlines. But I propose to examine -the facts upon which both parties seem agreed, though each may represent -them variously in accordance with a favourite theory. - -It admits of no doubt whatever that monachism, and monachism under the -rule of St. Benedict, had been established at an early period in this -country[955]; but it is equally certain that the strict rule had very -generally ceased to be maintained at the time when Dúnstán undertook its -restoration. Many of the conventual churches had never been connected -with monks at all; while among the various abbeys which the piety or -avarice of individuals had founded, there were probably numerous -instances where no rule had ever prevailed, but the caprice of the -founders, who _iure dominii_ imposed such regulations as their vanity -suggested, or their industry gleaned from the established orders of -Columba, Benedict, and other credited authorities[956]. The chapters, -whatever their origin, had in process of time slid into that easy and -serene state of secular canons, which we can still contemplate in the -venerable precincts of cathedral closes. The celibacy of the clergy had -not been maintained: and even in the collegiate churches the presbyter -and prebendaries had permitted themselves to take wives, which could -never have been contemplated even by those who would have looked with -indulgence upon that connexion on the part of parish priests. Moreover -in many places, wealthy ease, power, a dignified and somewhat -irresponsible position had produced their natural effect upon the -canons, some of whom were connected with the best families of the state; -so that, in spite of all the deductions which must be made for -exaggeration on the part of the monkish writers, we cannot deny that -many instances of profligacy and worldly-mindedness did very probably -disgrace the clerical profession. It would be strange indeed if what has -taken place in every other age and country should have been unexampled -only among the Anglosaxons of the ninth and tenth centuries, or that -their monks and clergy should have enjoyed a monopoly of purity, -holiness and devotion to duty[957]. - -Footnote 955: - - Mr. Soames (Anglosax. Church, p. 179, third edit.) says that Dúnstán’s - monastery at Glastonbury was the first establishment of the kind ever - known in England, and Dúnstán the first of English Benedictine abbots. - Nothing can possibly be more inexact than this assertion. Biscop’s - foundation at Wearmouth was a Benedictine one. In an address to his - monks, he himself is represented to say:—“Ideo multum cavetote, - fratres, semper, ne secundum genus unquam, ne deforis aliunde vobis - Patrem quaeratis; sed iuxta quod Regula magni quondam abbatis - Benedicti, iuxta quod privilegii nostri continent decreta, in conventa - vestrae congregationis communi consilio perquiratis, qui secundum - vitae meritum et sapientiae doctrinam aptior ad tale ministerium - perficiendum digniorque probetur; et quemcunque omnes unanimae - charitatis inquisitione optimum cognoscentes eligeretis, hunc vobis, - accito episcopo, rogetis abbatem consueta benedictione formari.” Beda, - Vit. Bened. § 12. (Opera Minora, ii. 151.) The same author tells us of - abbot Céolfrið:—“Multa diu secum mente versans, utilius decrevit, dato - Fratribus praecepto, ut iuxta sui statuta privilegii, iuxtaque Regulam - sancti abbatis Benedicti, de suis sibi ipsi Patrem, qui aptior esset, - eligerent, etc.” Vit. Bened. § 16. (Op. Min. ii. 156.) The author of - the anonymous life of St. Cúðberht, which is earlier than that of - Beda, says of Cúðberht at Lindisfarne:—“Vivens ibi quoque secundum - sanctam Scripturam, contemplativam vitam in actuali agens, et nobis - regularem vitam primus componens constituit, quam usque hodie cum - Regula Benedicti observamus.” Anon. Cúðb. § 25. (Bed. Op. Min. ii. - 271.) At a still later period, viz. the close of the seventh century, - we learn that the monastery of Hnutscilling or Nursling in Hampshire - was a Benedictine one, and St. Boniface a Benedictine monk. His - contemporary biographer Willibald says:—“Maxime suo sub regulari - videlicet disciplina abbati, monachica subditus obedientia praebebat, - ut labore manuum cottidiano et disciplinali officiorum amministratione - incessanter secundum praefinitam beati Patris Benedicti rectae - constitutionis formam insisteret,” etc. Vit. Bonif. Pertz, ii. 336. - One can hardly imagine how Mr. Soames should suffer himself to be - misled by the exaggerations of Dúnstán’s monkish biographers: they are - of a piece with their whole story. That the rule had become very much - relaxed even in the Benedictine abbeys of this country is not to be - doubted: the same thing took place on the continent. Many had perished - in the Danish invasions; many had passed insensibly into the hands of - secular canons: and it is not at all improbable that in the middle of - the tenth century there was not a genuine Benedictine society left in - England. But this will certainly not justify the assertions of - Bridferð or Adelard, that Dúnstán was the first of English Benedictine - monks or abbots. “Et hoc praedicto modo saluberrimam sancti Benedicti - sequens institutionem, primus abbas Anglicae nationis enituit,” - (Bridferð. MS. Cott. Cleop. B. xii. fol. 72.)—“Monachorum ibi scholam - primo primus instituere coepit,”—(Adel. in Angl. Sacra, ii. 101 - _note_) are at the least grave mistakes: one desires to believe that - they are not something worse; but they warn us to be extremely - cautious how we admit the authority of their writers as to any facts - they may please to record. - -Footnote 956: - - On this point Beda speaks most explicitly: “Sunt loca innumera, ut - novimus omnes, in monasteriorum ascripto vocabulum, sed nihil prorsus - monasticae conversationis habentia.” Ep. Ecgb. § 10. “Quod enim turpe - est dicere, tot sub nomine monasteriorum loca hi, qui monachicae vitae - prorsus sunt expertes, in suam ditionem acceperunt, sicut ipse melius - nosti,” etc. Ibid. § 11. “At alii graviore adhuc flagitio, quum sint - ipsi laici et nullius vitae regularis vel usu exerciti, vel amore - praediti, data regibus pecunia, emunt sibi sub praetextu monasteriorum - construendorum territoria, in quibus suae liberius vacent libidini, et - haec insuper in ius sibi haereditarium edictis regalibus faciunt - ascribi, ipsas quoque litteras privilegiorum suorum, quasi veraciter - Deo dignas, pontificum, abbatum et potestatum seculi, obtinent - subscriptione confirmari. Sicque usurpatis sibi agellulis sive vicis, - liberi exinde a divino simul et humano servitio, suis tantum inibi - desideriis laici monachis imperantes deserviunt; immo non monachos ibi - congregant, sed quoscunque ob culpam inobedientiae veris expulsos - monasteriis alicubi forte oberrantes invenerint, aut evocare - monasteriis ipsi valuerint; vel certe quos ipsi de suis satellitibus - ad suscipiendam tonsuram, promissa sibi obedientia monachica, invitare - quiverint. Horum distortis cohortibus suas, quas instruxere, cellas - implent, multumque informi atque inaudito spectaculo, idem ipsi viri - modo coniugis ac liberorum procreandorum curam gerunt, modo - exsurgentes do cubilibus, quid intra septa onasteriorum geri debeat - sedula intentione pertractant.... Sic per annos circiter triginta, hoc - est ex quo Aldfrid rex humanis rebus ablatus est, provincia nostra - vesano illo errore dementata est, ut nullus pene exinde praefectorum - extiterit, qui non huiusmodi sibi monasterium in diebus suae - praefecturae comparaverit, suamque simul coniugem pari reatu nocivi - mercatus astrinxerit; ac praevalente pessima consuetudine, ministri - quoque regis ac famuli idem facere sategerint. Atque ita ordine - perverso innumeri sunt inventi, qui se abbates pariter et praefectos, - sive ministros, aut famulos regis appellant; qui, etsi aliquid vitae - monasterialis ediscere laici, non experiendo sed audiendo, potuerint, - a persona tamen illa ac professione, quae hanc docere debeat, sunt - funditus exsortes; et quidem tales repente, ut nosti, tonsuram pro suo - libitu accipiunt, suo examine de laicis non monachi sed abbates - efficiuntur.” Ibid. § 12, 13. (Bed. Op. Min. ii. 216, 218 _seq._) On - these and other grounds Beda earnestly impresses upon Ecgberht the - duty of founding the twelve bishoprics contemplated by Gregory in the - province of York, in order to multiply the means of ecclesiastical - supervision. But if this was the condition of the Northumbrian - monasteries in the year 734, the period of Northumbria’s greatest - literary eminence, what may we conclude to have been the condition of - similar establishments in less instructed parts of England, especially - after a century of cruel wars had relaxed all the bonds of civilized - society? We may not greatly admire monachism, or believe it useful to - a state; but we can hardly blame those, who, finding the institution - in existence, desire to make the men who are attached to it worthy and - not unworthy members of their profession. - -Footnote 957: - - In the often-cited letter to Ecgberht, Beda gives but a bad character - to some among the prelates of his time. He says: “Quod non ita loquor, - quasi te aliter facere sciam, sed quia de quibusdam episcopis fama - vulgatum est, quod ipsi ita Christo serviant, ut nullos secum alicuius - religionis aut continentiae viros habeant; sed potius illos qui risui, - iocis, fabulis, commessationibus, et ebrietatibus, caeterisque vitae - remissioris illecebris subigantur, et qui magis quotidie ventrem - dapibus quam mentem sacrificiis coelestibus pascant.” § 4 (Op Min. ii. - 209, 210). - ------ - -As we have seen already, it was only towards the end of the eighth -century that Chrodogang introduced a cœnobitical mode of life in the -cathedral of his archdiocese. Long before this time the great majority -of our churches had been founded; and among them some may possibly from -the first have been served by clergymen resident in their own detached -houses, and who merely met at stated hours to perform their duties in -the choir, living at other times apart upon their præbenda or allowances -from the general fund. But some of the cathedrals had been founded in -connexion with abbeys; and it is probable that a majority of these great -establishments were provided with some Rule of life, and demanded a -cœnobitical though not strictly monastic habit. This is too -frequently alluded to by the prelates of the seventh century, not to be -admitted. But whatever may have been the details in different -establishments, we may be certain that residence, temperance, soberness, -chastity, and a strict attendance upon the divine services were required -by the Rule of every society. Unfortunately these are restrictions and -duties which experience proves to have been sometimes neglected; nor can -we find any great improbability in the assertion of the Saxon Chronicle, -that the canons of Winchester would hold no rule at all[958]; or in the -accusations brought against them in the Annals of Winchester[959], and -in Wulfstán’s Life of Æðelwold[960], of violating every one of their -obligations. I do not see any reason to doubt the justice of the charge -made against some of their body by the last-named author, of having -deserted the wives they had taken, and living in open and scandalous -disregard of morality as well as canonical restraint. Wulfstán very -likely made the most of his facts, but it is to be remembered that he -was an eye-witness; and it is improbable that he should have been -indebted exclusively to his invention for charges so boldly made, so -capable of being readily brought to the test, and containing in truth -nothing repugnant to our experience of human nature. The canons of -Winchester, many of whom were highly connected, wealthy beyond those of -most other foundations, and established in the immediate vicinity of the -royal court, may possibly have been more than ordinarily neglectful of -their duties[961]; and they do appear in fact to have been treated in a -much more summary way than the prebendaries of other cathedrals; yet -perhaps not with strict justice, unless it can be shown that Winchester -was ever a monastic establishment, which, previous to Æðelwold, I do not -remember it to have been. Lingard who would have gratefully accepted any -evidence against the canons in the other cathedrals, confines himself to -Winchester; yet it strikes one as some confirmation of the general -charge, even against their brethren at Worcester, that among the -signatures to their charters so few are those of deacons and presbyters, -till long after Oswald’s appointment to the see. This, although the -silence of their adversaries allows us to acquit them of the -irregularities laid to the charge of the canons at Winchester, may lead -us to infer that they were not scrupulously diligent in fulfilling the -duties of their calling. - ------ - -Footnote 958: - - “Dráf út ða clerca of ða biscopríce, forðan ðæt hí noldon nán Regul - healdan.” Chron. Sax. an. 963. - -Footnote 959: - - “Clerici illi, nominetenus Canonici, frequentationem chori, labores - vigiliarum, et ministerium altaris vicariis suis utcumque sustentatis - relinquentes, et ab aecclesiae conspectu plerumque absentes septennio, - quidquid de praebendis percipiebant, locis et modis sibi placitis - absumebant. Nuda fuit aecclesia intus et extra.” An. Wint. p. 289. - -Footnote 960: - - “Erant Canonici nefandis scelerum moribus implicati, elatione et - insolentia, atque luxuria praeventi, adeo ut nonnulli eorum - dedignarentur missas suo ordine celebrare, repudiantes uxores quas - illicite duxerant, et alias accipientes, gulae et ebrietati iugiter - dediti.” Vit. Æðelw. p. 614. - -Footnote 961: - - The description of a secular clerk given by the anonymous author of - the Gesta Abbatum Fontanellensium, written in the ninth century, was - probably not exaggerated. He says of Wido, a relative of Charles - Martel, “Erat de saecularibus clericis, gladioque quem semispatium - vocant semper accinctus, sagoque pro cappa utebatur, parumque - aecclesiasticae disciplinae imperiis parebat. Nam copiam canum - multiplicem semper habebat, cum qua venationi quotidie insistebat, - sagittatorque praecipuus in arcubus ligneis ad aves feriendas erat, - hisque operibus magis quam aecclesiasticae disciplinae studiis se - exercebat.” It does not surprise us to learn that this prelate was - also “ignarus litterarum.” Pertz, i. 284, 285. - ------ - -We cannot feel the least surprise that Dúnstán desired to reform the -state of the church. The peculiar circumstances of his early years, even -the severe mental struggles which preceded and explain his adoption of -the monastic career, were eminently calculated to train him for a -_Reviver_; and Revival was the fashion of his day. Arnold earl of -Flanders[962] had lent himself with the utmost zeal to the reform of the -Benedictine abbeys in his territory, and they were the models selected -for imitation, or as schools of instruction, by other lands, especially -England so closely connected with Flanders by commerce and the alliances -of the reigning houses[963]. Yet with it all, Dúnstán does not appear to -have taken a very prominent part in the proceedings of the friends of -monachism,—certainly not the prominent part taken by Oswald or Æðelwold, -the last of whom merited the title of the “Father of Monks,” by the -attention he paid to their interests. In the archbishop’s own cathedral -at Canterbury, the canons were left in undisturbed possession of their -property and dignity, nor were monks introduced there by archbishop -Ælfríc till some years after Dúnstán’s death. And even this measure, -although supported by papal authority[964], was not final: it was only -in the time of Lanfranc that the monks obtained secure possession of -Christchurch. Dúnstán very probably continued throughout his life to be -a favourer of the Order, and merited its gratitude by giving it valuable -countenance and substantial protection against violence. But he was -assuredly not himself a violent disturber, casting all things divine and -human into confusion for the sake of a system of monkery. His recorded -conduct shows nothing of the kind. I believe his monkish and very -vulgar-minded panegyrists to have done his character and memory great -wrong in this respect; and that they have measured the distinguished -statesman by the narrow gauge of their own intelligence and desire. -Troublous no doubt were his commencements; and in the days of his -misery, while his mind yet tossed and struggled among the awful abysses -of an unfathomed sea in the fierce conflicts of his ascetic retirement, -where the broken heart sought rest and found it not, he may have given -credence himself to what he considered supernatural visitations -vouchsafed, and powers committed, to him. But when time had somewhat -healed his wounds, when the first difficulties of his political life -were surmounted, and he ruled England,—nominally as the minister of -Eádgár, really as the leader of a very powerful party among the -aristocracy,—there can be little doubt that the spirit of compromise, -which always has been the secret of our public life, produced its -necessary effect upon himself. Dúnstán was neither Richelieu nor -Mazarin, but the servant of a king who wielded very limited powers; he -had first attained his throne through a revolt, the pretext for which -was his brother’s bad government, and its justification,—the consequent -right of the people to depose him. Whatever may have been the -archbishop’s private leaning, he appears to have conducted himself with -great discretion, and to have very skilfully maintained the peace -between the two embittered factions; he perhaps encouraged Eádgár to -manifest his partiality for monachism by the construction or reform of -abbeys; he probably supported Oswald and Æðelwold by his advice, and by -preventing them from being illegally interfered with in the course of -their lawful actions; but as prime minister of England, he maintained -the peace as well for one as for the other, and there is no evidence -that any measure of violence or spoliation took place by his connivance -or consent. Neither the nation, nor the noble families whose scions -found a comfortable provision and sufficient support in the prebends, -would have looked calmly upon the unprovoked destruction of rights -sanctioned by prescription. But there is indeed no reason to believe -that violent measures were resorted to in any of the establishments, to -bring about the changes desired. Even in Winchester, where more -compulsion seems to have been used than anywhere else, the evicted -canons were provided with pensions. I strongly suspect that in fact they -did retain during their lives the prebends which could not legally be -taken from them, though they might be expelled from the cathedral -service and the collegiate buildings; and that this is what the monkish -writers veil under the report that pensions were assigned them. - ------ - -Footnote 962: - - Arnold died in 904, but his reforms began twenty years earlier. - However, between the years 912 and 942, Berno, and his still more - celebrated successor Odo, abbots of Cluny, had introduced a reform of - the Benedictine rule in a great number of monasteries. Flodoardus - calls Odo: “Dominus Odo, venerabilis abbas, multorum restaurator - monasteriorum, sanctaeque Regulae reparator.” See Pagi. Baron, ad an. - 942. This example was not lost upon Dúnstán. - -Footnote 963: - - “Baudouin le chauve, II^e comte de Flandre, s’empara, en 900, des deux - abbayes de St. Vaast et St. Bertin.... Dès l’année 944, - Arnould-le-vieux, rentré en possession de St. Vaast, entreprit la - réforme de ces abbayes, par les soins de St. Gérard de Brognes, qu’il - nomma abbé de St. Bertin. Il le chargea ensuite (probablement vers - 950) de celle des abbayes de St. Pierre et de St. Bavon à Gand, qu’il - avait également sous son pouvoir: Womare en fut nommé abbé. Ces - reformes, sans doute d’après la règle de Cluny, créé en 910 [read 912 - not 910], s’étendirent d’après la chronique de St. Bertin (Thes. - Anecd. iii. 552, 553), à dix-huit abbayes de l’ordre de Saint Benoit - (Chron. de Jean de Thielrode, édit. de M. Vanlokeren, p. 127). Les - moines qui refusèrent de s’y soumettre, furent expulsés de leurs - monastères: quelques-uns émigrèrent en Angleterre ou ailleurs.” - Warnkönig, Hist. Fland. ii. 338 _seq._ In 956 Dúnstán flying from - England, found hospitality and rest in one of these reformed houses, - that of Blandinium or St. Peter, at Ghent. - -Footnote 964: - - Chron. Sax. an. 995. Probably it never had been monastic from the very - time of Augustine: and the setting up a claim on the part of the - monks, derived from Augustine himself, was totally inadmissible. - ------ - -Dr. Lingard has very justly observed that Oswald, with all his zeal, -made no change whatever in his cathedral of York, which archdiocese he -at one time held together with Worcester; and that, generally speaking, -the new monasteries were either reared upon perfectly new ground, or on -ancient foundations then entirely reduced to ruins[965]. With regard to -Worcester, he says:—“Of Oswald we are told that he introduced monks in -the place of clergymen into seven churches within his bishopric; but -there is reason to believe that some of the seven were new foundations, -and that in some of the others the change was effected with the full -consent of the canons themselves. In his cathedral he succeeded by the -following artifice. Having erected in its vicinity a new church to the -honour of the Virgin Mary, he entrusted it to the care of a community of -monks, and frequented it himself for the solemn celebration of mass. The -presence of the bishop attracted that of the people; the ancient clergy -saw their church gradually abandoned; and after some delay, Wensine, -their dean, a man advanced in years and of unblemished character, took -the monastic habit, and was advanced three years later to the office of -prior. The influence of his example and the honour of his promotion, -held out a strong temptation to his brethren; till at last the number of -canons was so diminished by repeated desertions, that the most wealthy -of the churches of Mercia became without dispute or violence, by the -very act of its old possessors, a monastery of Benedictine monks[966]. -In what manner Oswald proceeded with the other churches we are ignorant; -but in 971 he became archbishop of York, and though he held that high -dignity during twenty years, we do not read that he introduced a single -colony of monks or changed the constitution of a single clerical -establishment, within the diocese. The reason is unknown.” - ------ - -Footnote 965: - - Hist. and Ant. Ang. Church, ii. 290, 294. This was certainly the case - with several of Æðelwold’s monasteries; and I regret to think that - many of the Saxon charters which pretend to the greatest antiquity - were forged on occasion of this revival, to enlarge the basis of the - restored foundations. - -Footnote 966: - - Eadmer, Vit. Oswald, p. 202. Ang. Sac. i. 542. Hist. Rames. p. 400. - ------ - -It might not unfairly be suggested either that the rights of the canons -were too well established to be shaken, or that experience had changed -his own mind as to the necessity of the alteration. High station, active -engagement with the details of business, increasing age, and a natural -mutual respect which grows with better acquaintance, may have convinced -Oswald that his youthful zeal had a little outrun discretion, and that -the canons in his province and diocese were not so utterly devoid of -claims to consideration as he once had imagined in his reforming -fervour. But the reader of Anglosaxon history will not fail to have -observed that the measured and in general fair tone of Dr. Lingard -differs very widely from that of early monkish chroniclers, and that he -himself attributes to Oswald a much less active interference than is -asserted by many protestant historians. That he is right I do not for a -moment doubt; for not only are the accounts of Oswald’s biographers -inconsistent with one another, and improbable, but we have very strong -evidence that the eviction of the canons from Worcester was not -completed in Oswald’s lifetime. We possess no fewer than seventy-eight -charters granted by his chapter, and these comprise several signed in -990 and 991, the years immediately preceding that in which he died[967]: -these charters are signed in part by presbyters and deacons, in part by -clerics, and there is but one signature of a monk[968], though there are -at least six _clerici_ who subscribe. Although from an examination of -the charters I entertain no doubt that several, if not all, the -presbyters and deacons were monks, still it is clear that a number of -the canons still retained their influence over the property of the -chapter till within a few months of Oswald’s decease. This prelate came -to his see in 960, and according to many accounts immediately replaced -the canons of Worcester by monks: all agree that he lost no time about -it, and Florence[969], himself a monk of that place, fixes his triumph -in the year 969. Consistently with this we have a grant of that -year[970], in which Wynsige the monk, and all the monks at Worcester are -named: we have a similar statement[971] in another document of 974: and -in subsequent charters monks are named. A good example occurs in a grant -of the year 977, to which are appended the names of eight monks[972]: -but coupled with these are also the names of sixteen clerics, exclusive -of a presbyter and deacon of old standing, whom the chapter had probably -caused to be ordained long before, to do the service for them. All at -once the addition _monachus_ to seven of these eight names vanishes, and -is replaced by _presbyter_ or _diaconus_. Henceforth the number of -_clerici_ gradually diminishes, but, as we have seen, is not entirely -gone in 991, the year before Oswald’s death. I do not believe that the -bishop had any power to expel the canons, and that he was compelled to -let them remain where they were until they died: but he perhaps could -prevent any but monks from being received in their places, and it is to -be presumed that he could refuse to admit any but monks to priests’ and -deacons’ orders. This, we may gather from the charters, was the plan he -pursued; and when we consider the dignity and power possessed by the -Anglosaxon priesthood, we shall confess that it was one which threw -every advantage into the scale of monachism. - ------ - -Footnote 967: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 674-678. - -Footnote 968: - - In Nos. 675, 678. In the other charters where this Leófwine occurs, he - is even called _clericus_, unless it were another person of the same - name. - -Footnote 969: - - An. 969. “S. Oswaldus, sui voti compos effectus, clericos Wigorniensis - aecclesiae monachilem habitum suscipere renuentes de monasterio - expulit; consentientes vero, hoc anno, ipso teste monachizavit, cisque - Ramesiensium coenobitam Wynsinum, magnae religionis virum, loco decani - praefecit.” - -Footnote 970: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 553. - -Footnote 971: - - Ibid. No. 586. - -Footnote 972: - - Ibid. No. 615. - ------ - -Had we similar means of enquiry, it is very probable that we should come -to the same conclusion with regard to other establishments from which -the canons are said to have been forcibly driven. However enough seems -to have been said, to prove that we must be very careful how we trust to -the random assertions of partizans either on one side or the other. Let -us be ready to condemn ecclesiastical tyranny and arrogance, wherever it -is proved to have disgraced the clerical profession; but let us not -forget that it is our duty to judge charitably. In the case which we -have now considered, I think we shall be disposed to acquit some men, -whose names fill a conspicuous place in Saxon history, of the violence -and folly which their own over-zealous partizans have laid to their -charge, and which have been used in modern times to embitter the -separation unfortunately existing between two great bodies of -Christians. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - THE INCOME OF THE CLERGY. - - -The means provided for the support of the clergy were various at various -periods, consisting sometimes merely of voluntary donations on the part -of the people, sometimes of grants of lands, or settled endowments, and -sometimes of fixed charges upon persons and property, recognized by the -state and levied under its authority: and after the secure establishment -of a Christian church in Britain, it is probable that all these several -sources of income were combined to supply its ministers with a decent -maintenance, if not even an easy competence. The grant of lands whereon -to erect a church or a monastery was generally calculated also to -furnish arable and pasture for the support of its inmates: for the -earliest clergy were in fact cœnobites, and lived in common, even if -they were not monks, and subject to the Benedictine or some other Rule. -It is not at all probable that the heathen priesthood should have been -without an adequate provision, whether in land or the free oblations of -the people, and very likely that their Christian successors profited by -the custom. As the piety or superstition of the masses increased the -landed possessions of the clergy, these not only could depend upon the -produce of their estates, but upon the rents in kind, in money or in -service, which they received from tenants or poor dependents. And from -early periods, either custom or positive law had established a right to -claim certain contributions at fixed periods of the year, or on -particular occasions; such were tithes of fruits of the earth, and young -of cattle; cyricsceat or first-fruits of seed, light-money, plough-alms, -and sáwlsceat or mortuary fees. The numberless grants of lands recorded -in the Codex Diplomaticus in favour of the clergy, dispense with the -necessity of entering at any length upon this head; but some more -detailed examination of the other church-dues is desirable, inasmuch as -they have been in some degree misunderstood by several writers who have -heretofore treated of them. In truth, it was comparatively difficult to -deal with these subjects, till the publication of all the Anglosaxon -laws and a very large body of the charters so greatly increased the -number of data upon which alone sound conclusions could be formed. - -The subject of tithe is surrounded with difficulty, not only from the -obscurity which belongs to its history, but still more from the nature -of the discussions to which it has given rise. That from periods so -early as to transcend historical record the clergy should have been -permitted universally to claim a tenth of all increase, does indeed seem -so startling a proposition, that we are little surprised at its having -met with angry opposition. It does not seem consonant to the general -experience of man that in all nations precisely the same mode should be -adopted of supporting any class of men; nor is it natural or easy to -believe that a missionary body, in constant danger of finding all their -efforts vain, should prevail at once to establish so serious a claim -against the income of their converts. - -Still there are various circumstances which tend to explain this process -and show how a general consent upon this subject did gradually prevail. -From the first moment when the clergy appear as a separate class from -the whole body of the faithful, they appear as a body formed upon the -plan and guided by the maxims of the Jewish hierarchy. While the church -was literally performing the command of the Saviour,—when those who had -anything, sold all they had and gave it to the poor, through the hands -of the Apostles,—there was no particular necessity to define very -closely the functions or the remuneration of the ministers; these gave -their services as others did their wealth, as an acceptable sacrifice to -the Giver of all good things. But when the number of the congregations -increased, when compromises were made, and more complicated duties were -imposed upon the ministers of the church, it was only reasonable that -some arrangement should be made for their support, and some rule imposed -for their direction. It was not too much to require that they should -devote their whole time and talents to the service of the congregation, -and that these in turn should relieve them from the necessity of daily -labour for subsistence. When the duty of teaching, as well as visiting -the sick, distributing the alms of the faithful, and providing for the -due celebration of the religious rites, principally devolved upon them, -it would have been as impolitic as unjust to have condemned them to -uncertainty or anxiety as to their daily bread. At a very early period -the voluntary oblations of the faithful were duly apportioned, and a -part devoted to the support of the clergy. But no one, I imagine, will -consider this to be a perfectly satisfactory mode of providing for the -ministers of the church: its inconveniences are daily manifested in our -own time, and would now probably not be submitted to at all, had -opposition not lent a dignity to the principle, and did the case present -any but the actual alternative. It nevertheless seems that for nearly -four hundred years this was the only mode of providing not only for the -maintenance of the clergy, but for the acts of charity which the -Christian congregations considered their especial duty[973]; although -perhaps here and there the wealthier or more pious communicants might -have charged their estates with settled payments at fixed times; or the -liberality of individuals might have presented estates to the church of -particular districts; or some imperfect system of funding might have -been adopted by the managers to equalise the otherwise irregular income -of various years. - ------ - -Footnote 973: - - “Till toward the end of the first four hundred [years] no payment of - them [_i. e._ tithes] can be proved to have been in use. Some - _opinion_ is of their being due, and _constitutions_ also, but such as - are of no credit. For the first, ’tis best declared by showing the - course of the church-maintenance in that time. So liberal in the - beginning of Christianity was the devotion of the believers, that - their bounty to the evangelical priesthood far exceeded what the tenth - could have been. For if you look to the first of the Apostles’ times, - then the unity of heart among them about Jerusalem, was such that all - was in common and none wanted, ‘and as many as were possessors of - lands or houses, sold them and brought the price of the things that - were sold, and laid it down at the Apostles’ feet, and it was - distributed unto every man, according as he had need[a].’And the whole - church, both lay and clergy, then lived in common as the monks did - afterward about the end of the first four hundred years as St. - Chrysostome notes[b] οὕτως, says he, οἱ ἐν τοῖς μοναστηρίοις ζῶσι νῦν - ὥσπερ τότε οἱ πιστοὶ, that is, ‘So they live now in monasteries as - then the believers lived.’ But this kind of having all things in - common scarce at all continued. For we see not long after in the - church of Antiochia (where Christianity was first of all by that name - professed) every one of the disciples had a special ability or estate - of his own[c]. So in Galatia and in Corinth where St. Paul ordained - that weekly offerings for the Saints should be given by every man as - he had thrived in his estate[d]. By example of these, the course of - monthly offerings succeeded in the next ages. These monthly offerings - given by devout and able Christians, the bishops or officers appointed - in the church received[e]; and carefully and charitably disposed them - on Christian worship, the maintenance of the clergy, feeding, - clothing, and burying their poor brethren, widows, orphans, persons - tyrannically condemned to the mines, to prison, or punished by - deportation into isles. They were called _Stipes_ (which is a word - borrowed from the use of the heathens in their collections made for - their temples and deities), neither were they exacted by canon or - otherwise, but arbitrarily given; as by testimony of most learned - Tertullian[f], that lived about CC years after Christ, is apparent: - ‘Neque pretio (are his words) ulla res Dei constat. Etiam si quod - arcae genus est, non de oneraria summa quasi redemptae religionis - congregatur, modicam unusquisque Stipem, menstruâ die, vel cum velit, - et si modo velit, et si modo possit, apponit. Nam nemo compellitur, - sed sponte confert. Haec quasi deposita pietatis sunt.’ And then he - shewes the employment of them in those charitable uses. Some authority - is[g], that about this time lands began also to be given to the - church. If they were so, out of the profits of them, and this kind of - offerings, was made a treasure; and out of that, which was increased - so monthly, was a monthly pay given to the priests and ministers of - the Gospel (as a salarie for their service), and that either by the - hand or care of the bishop, or of some elders appointed as Oeconomi or - Wardens. These monthly pays they called Mensurnae divisiones, as you - may see in St. Cyprian[h], who wrote, being bishop of Carthage, about - the year CCL, and, speaking familiarly of this use, calls the brethren - that cast in their monthly offerings, _fratres sportulantes_, - understanding the offerings under the word Sportulae, which at first - in Rome denoted a kind of running banquets distributed at great men’s - houses to such as visited for salutation, which being ofttimes also - given in money, the word came at length to signify both those - salaries, wages or fees which either judges[i] or ministers of courts - of justice received as due to their places, as also to denote the - oblations given to make a treasure for the salaries and maintenance of - the ministers of the church in this primitive age, and to this purpose - was it also used in later times[j]. But because that passage of St. - Cyprian, where he uses this phrase, well shows also the course of the - maintenance of the church in his time, take it here transcribed: but - first know the drift of his Epistle to be a reprehension of Geminius - Faustinus a priest his being troubled with the care of a wardship, - whereas such as take that dignity upon them, should, he says, be free - from all secular troubles like the Levites, who were provided for in - tithes. ‘Ut qui (as he writes[k]) operationibus divinis insistebant, - in nulla re avocarentur, nec cogitare aut agere saecularia - cogerentur.’ And then he adds: ‘Quae nunc ratio et forma in Clero - tenetur, ut qui in ecclesia Domini ad ordinationem clericalem - promoventur, nullo modo ab administratione divina avocentur, sed in - honore sportulantium fratrum, tanquam Decimas ex fructibus - accipientes, ab Altari et Sacrificiis non recedant, et die ac nocte - coelestibus rebus et spiritualibus serviant;’ which plainly agrees - with that course of monthly pay, made out of the oblations brought - into the Treasury; which kind of means he compares to that of the - Levites, as being proportionable. But hence also ’tis manifest, that - no payment of tithes was in St. Cyprian’s time in use, although some, - too rashly, from this very place would infer so much, those words - _tanquam Decimas accipientes_ (which continues the comparing of - ministers of the Gospel with the Levites) plainly exclude them. And - elsewhere also the same Father, finding fault with a coldness of - devotion that then possest many, in regard of what was in use in the - Apostles’ times, and seeing that the Oblations given were less than - usually before, expresses[l] their neglect to the church with, ‘ac - nunc de patrimonio nec Decimas damus:’ whence, as you may gather, that - no usual payment was of them, so withall observe in his expression, - that the liberality formerly used had been such, that, in respect - thereof, Tenths were but a small part: understand it as if he had - said, ‘but now we give not so much as any part worth speaking of.’ - Neither for aught appears in old monuments of credit, till near the - end of this first four hundred years, was any payment to the Church of - any tenth part, as a Tenth, at all in use.” Selden on Tithes, cap. iv. - p. 35 _seq._. - -Footnote a: - - Acts iv. 34. - -Footnote b: - - Hom. 11. in Acta. - -Footnote c: - - Acts xi. 29. - -Footnote d: - - 1 Cor. xvi. 2. Ockam, in Oper. xc dierum, cap. 107. - -Footnote e: - - Synod. Gangr. can. lxvi. - -Footnote f: - - Apologetic. cap. 39, 42. - -Footnote g: - - Urban, i. in Epist. c. 12, q. 1, c. 16, i. Sed et vide Euseb. Eccles. - Hist. lib. 9. cap. 9. Edict. Maximin. et lib. 10. cap. 5. Edict. - Constant. et in lib. 2. de vita Constantini, cap. 39. - -Footnote h: - - Cyprian, Epist. 27, 34: et vide Epist. 36, editione Pammeliana. - -Footnote i: - - Papinian. de Decurion. L 6. § 1. et C. _tit._ de Sportulis. Et vid. - Glossar. Græc. iuris in Σπορτουλα. - -Footnote j: - - Concil. Chalced. A.D. 451. in libell. Samuelis et al. contra Iban. et - videsis tom. 3. Concil. fol. 231. cap. 31. Edit. Binii penultima. - -Footnote k: - - Epist. 266. ed. Pammel. - -Footnote l: - - De Unitate Ecclesiae, § 23. - ------ - -The growing habit of looking upon the clergy as the successors and -representatives of the Levites under the Old Law, may very likely have -given the impulse to that claim which they set up to the payment of -tithes by the laity. But it is also probable that in course of time -tithes had actually been given to them among other oblations, and had so -helped to strengthen the application of the Levitical Law by an apparent -legal prescription. There is not the least reason to doubt that payments -of a tenth had been in very common use before the introduction of -Christianity, and among people who have a decimal system of notation, a -tenth is not an unlikely portion to be claimed as a royalty, a -recognitory service, or a rent. The emperors had royalties of a tenth in -mines: the landlords very frequently reserved a tenth in lands which -they put out on usufructuary tenure. These rents and royalties, like -other property, had been granted to the church. Again the piety of the -laity had occasionally remitted the tenths due upon the lands in the -holding of the clergy, which was in fact equivalent to a grant of the -tithe[974]. And lastly tithe being paid on some estates to the clergy as -landlords, there was a useful analogy, and colourable claim of right: -and thus sufficient authority was found in custom itself to corroborate -pretensions set up on grounds which could not be very satisfactorily or -safely demurred to, in the fourth and fifth centuries. - ------ - -Footnote 974: - - One of the clearest examples that occur to me at present is from a - capitulary of the Merwingian Chlotachari in 560. “Agraria, pascuaria, - vel decimas porcorum, aecclesiae, pro fidei nostrae devotione, - concedimus, ita ut actor aut decimator in rebus aecclesiae nullus - accedat: aecclesiae vel clericis nullam requirant agentes publici - functionem qui avi vel genitoris aut germani nostri immunitatem - meruerunt.” Pertz, iii. 3. This is clearly a remission of tithe due to - the king from lands held by the clergy, and bears some resemblance to - Æðelwulf’s celebrated release. - ------ - -But there is not the slightest proof that tithe of increase was demanded -as of right even in the fifth century, in all the churches; although a -growing tendency in that direction may be detected in the African and -the Western establishments. Nor does any general council exist -containing any regulation on the subject[975], till far later periods. -But in 567 the clergy at the synod of Tours for the first time -positively called upon the faithful to pay tithes[976], and eighteen -years later at the Council of Macon, the command was enforced, as a -return to a just and goodly custom which had fallen into desuetude, but -which had the sanction of “the divine law, specially taking care of the -interests of priests and ministers of churches.” The daringly false -assertions by which this usurpation was attempted to be justified are -recorded in the annexed note, if indeed the acts of this council are -genuine[977]: I have only to add that they were subscribed by forty-six -bishops, and the representatives of twenty more,—making a total of -sixty-six prelates, a number quite sufficient in the year 585 to gain -currency for any fabrication however impudent. The clergy however still -thundered in vain; nor was it till 779 that they succeeded in getting -legislative and state authority for their claim through the political -interests of the Frankish princes. The Capitulary of that year enacts -that every one shall give tithes, and that these shall be distributed by -the direction of the bishop[978]. - ------ - -Footnote 975: - - The earliest is the Council of Lateran, held by Calixtus II. in 1123. - The Council of Lateran, A.D. 1179, commanded that those who at the - peril of their souls retained property in tithes, should not, under - any pretence, transfer it to lay hands. But no general Council assumes - the payment of tithes to be due of common right to the parochial - Rector, before the Council of Lateran held by Innocent III. in 1215. - -Footnote 976: - - Epist. Episc. Prov. Turon. ad plebem Missa; Labbe. v. 868. Eichhorn, - §186. vol. i. 779 _seq._ - -Footnote 977: - - Conc. Matiscon. 585. can. 5. “Omnes igitur reliquas fidei causas, quas - temporis longitudine cognovimus deterioratas fuisse, oportet nos ad - statum pristinum revocare, ne nobis simus adversarii, dum ea quae - cognoscimus ad nostri ordinis qualitatem pertinere, aut non - corrigimus, aut, quod nefas est, silentio praeterimus. Leges itaque - divinae, consulentes sacerdotibus ac ministris aecclesiarum, pro - haereditatis portione omni populo praeceperunt decimas fructuum suorum - locis sacris praestare, ut nullo labore impediti, horis legitimis - spiritualibus possent vacare ministeriis. Quas leges Christianorum - congeries longis temporibus custodivit intemeratas; nunc autem - paulatim praevaricatores legum poene Christiani omnes ostenduntur, dum - ea quae divinitus sancita sunt, adimplere negligunt. Unde statuimus et - decernimus, ut mos antiquus a fidelibus reparetur, et decimas - aecclesiasticis famulantibus caeremoniis populus omnis inferat, quas - sacerdotes aut in pauperum usum, aut in captivorum redemptionem - praerogantes, suis orationibus pacem populo et salutem impetrent. Si - quis autem contumax nostris statutis saluberrimis fuerit, a membris - aecclesiae omni tempore separetur.” It must be confessed that Selden - has thrown very great doubts upon the authenticity of this canon of - the Council of Macon, and that it is of very questionable authority. - See his History of Tithes, cap. 5. p. 65. It is hardly consistent with - what Agobard of Lyons, who shortly after was bishop of the see itself - in which Macon lies, declares: “Iam vero de donandis rebus et - ordinandis aecclesiis nihil unquam in Synodis constitutum est, nihil a - sanctis patribus publice praedicatum. Nulla enim compulit necessitas, - fervente ubique religiosa devotione, et amore illustrandi aecclesias - ultro aestuante,” etc. Agob. Lugdun. de Dispensatione, etc. p. 276. - (Ed. Masson. Parisiis.) But as Eichhorn, who has deeply investigated - this subject, appears to differ here from Selden, I have cited this - Council on his responsibility, and with the more readiness, that it - rather opposes than confirms my own opinion. - -Footnote 978: - - “De decimis, ut unusquisque decimam donet, atque per iussionem - pontificis dispensentur.” Capit. 779, cap. 7. Pertz, iii. - ------ - -Ten years after the council of Macon had thus boldly announced its views -with regard to tithe, Augustine set out for England. - -The question as to the origin of tithes in England, as to its date, and -the authority on which the impost rested, has been much discussed, but -not altogether satisfactorily. Nevertheless when divested of the -extraneous difficulties with which polemical zeal, and selfish -class-interests have overwhelmed it, it does not seem incapable of a -reasonable solution. It is well known that the earliest legislative -enactment on the subject in the Anglosaxon laws is that of Æðelstán, -bearing date in the first quarter of the tenth century; and that nearly -every subsequent king recognized the right of the clergy to tithe, and -made regulations either for the levying or the distribution of it[979]. -But although this is the case, I entertain no doubt whatever that the -payment of tithe was become very general in England at an earlier -period. It is recognised in the articles of the treaty of peace between -Eádweard the elder and Guðorm, in A.D. 900 or 901, in such a way as to -assume its being a well-known and established due to the Church[980], -even though no legislative enactment on the subject can be shown in the -Codes of Ælfred, Ini or the Kentish kings[981]. The well-known tradition -of Æðelwulf’s granting tithe, throughout at least his kingdom of Wessex, -carries it back still half a century. But even this falls short of the -antiquity which we must assume for the custom, if we believe in the -genuineness of the ancient Poenitentials and Confessionals. In the -eighth century Theodore determines, in a work especially intended for -the instruction of the clergy, “Tributum aecclesiae sit, sicut est -consuetudo provinciae, id est, ne tantum pauperes in decimis, aut in -aliquibus rebus vim patiantur. Decimas non est legitimum dare, nisi -pauperibus et peregrinis[982].” - ------ - -Footnote 979: - - See Appendix to this volume. - -Footnote 980: - - “If any one withhold tithes, let him pay lahslít among the Danes, wíte - among the English.” Eád. Gúð. §6. Thorpe, i. 170. - -Footnote 981: - - Brompton says that Offa granted it, as far as Mercia was concerned, p. - 772. Certainly, in general, Brompton’s authority is not very great; - but I think that in this case he has probability on his side, if we - restrict the grant to Offa’s demesne lands, or to a release of a tenth - of the dues payable to the king on Folcland. A general enactment, - comprising the whole kingdom, would scarcely have been omitted in any - subsequent collection of laws. The law of Offa is indeed lost, but - some of its provisions probably survive in the legislation of later - kings. See Ælfr. Proem. Thorpe, i. 58. The absence of all mention of - tithe by Ælfred is not conclusive: he takes just as little notice of - cyricsceat, leohtsceat, sáwlsceat, and other payments which were - unquestionably claimed by the church. Eádweard’s treaty with Gúðorm, - though it does not define the parties from whom tithe was demandable, - treats subtraction of it as an offence punishable at law. - -Footnote 982: - - Capitula et Fragm. Theod. Thorpe, ii. 65. - ------ - -The Excerptions of Archbishop Ecgberht[983] contain a prohibition -against subtracting tithes from churches of old foundation, on pretence -of giving them to new oratories. And further, the following exhortation -respecting this payment[984]: “In lege Domini scriptum est: ‘Decimas et -primitias non tardabis offerre.’ Et in Levitico: ‘Omnes decimae terrae, -sive de frugibus, sive de pomis arborum, Domini sunt; boves, et oves, et -caprae, quae sub pastoris virga transeunt, quicquid decimum venerit, -sanctificabitur Domino.’ Non eligetur nec bonum nec malum, nec alterum -commutabitur. Augustinus dicit: Decimae igitur tributae sunt -aecclesiarum et egentium animarum. O homo, inde Dominus decimas expetit, -unde vivis. De militia, de negotio, de artificio redde decimas; non enim -eget Dominus noster, non proemia postulat, sed honorem.” The same -ancient authority thus also impresses upon priests the duty of -collecting and distributing the tithe[985]:—“Ut unusquisque sacerdos -cunctos sibi pertinentes erudiat, ut sciant qualiter decimas totius -facultatis aecclesiis divinis debite offerant. Ut ipsi sacerdotes a -populis suscipiant decimas, et nomina eorum quicumque dederint scripta -habeant, et secundum auctoritatem canonicam coram [Deum] timentibus -dividant; et ad ornamentum aecclesiae primam eligant partem; secundam -autem, ad usum pauperum atque peregrinorum, per eorum manus -misericorditer cum omni humilitate dispensent; tertiam vero sibimetipsis -sacerdotes reservent[986].” - ------ - -Footnote 983: - - Excerpt. Ecgberhti, No. 24. Thorpe, ii. 100. - -Footnote 984: - - Excerpt. Ecgberhti, Nos. 101, 102. Thorpe, ii. 111, 112. - -Footnote 985: - - Excerpt. Ecgberhti, Nos. 4, 5. Thorpe, ii. 98. - -Footnote 986: - - The custom of the Romish church, as is well known, divided every - oblation, or gain that accrued to the church from the contributions of - the faithful, into four parts,—one for the bishop, one for the poor, - one for the clergy, and one for the repairs of the fabric. Othlon, who - wrote the Life of St. Boniface in the twelfth century, thus appeals to - the universal custom of the church: “Quando quidem iuxta sanctorum - canonum decreta decimas in quatuor portiones dividentes, unam, sibi - [i. e. the bishops], alteram clericis, tertiam pauperibus, quartam - restaurandis aecclesiis tradiderunt? Numquid avaritiae suae tantummodo - consulentes, in distributione decimarum obliti sunt pauperum, - restaurationisque aecclesiarum, sicut modo, pro dolor! cernimus agi? - Canones enim sancti, ex quorum auctoritate exiguntur decimae, non - solum decimas dari, sed etiam inter varios aecclesiae usus distribui; - ut in urbibus quibuslibet et vicis Xenodochia habeantur, ubi pauperes - et peregrini alantur. Sed tam sanctum et tam necessarium praeceptum in - pluribus locis non solum minime curatur, sed etiam poene ignoratur. - Nam solummodo illud legitur, quod epicopis decimae sint tribuendae; - quid vero exinde agendum sit, vel si quidquam aliud curandum sit circa - monasteria, tam a clericis—miserabile dictu—quam a laicis destructa, - citraque iudicia religionis Christianae subversa, oblivioni seu - ignorantiae commendatur.” Pertz, ii. 358. In the commencement of the - seventh century, Gregory, in his rules for the government of the - newly-planted English church, directed Augustine to make not four but - three portions, inasmuch as he being a monk could have no separate - share of his own. He says: “Mos autem sedis apostolicae est ordinatis - episcopis praecepta tradere, ut in omni stipendio, quod accedit, - quatuor debeant fieri portiones: una videlicet episcopo et familiae - propter hospitalitatem atque susceptionem, alia clero, tertia - pauperibus, quarta aecclesiis reparandis. Sed quia tua fraternitas - monasterii regulis erudita, seorsum fieri non debet a clericis suis in - aecclesia Anglorum quae, auctore Deo, nuper adhuc ad fidem adducta - est, hanc debet conversationem instituere, quae initio nascentis - aecclesiae fuit patribus nostris; in quibus nullus eorum ex his, quae - possidebant, aliquid suum esse dicebat, sed erant eis omnia communia.” - Beda, H. E. i. 27. The original canon is in Gratian. Caus. 12. q. ii. - c. 30. Ed. Pithæi. fol. Paris, 1687, i. 240. Hence the directions of - the Anglosaxon prelates, and the regulation of Æðelred, as to a - threefold division. - ------ - -When we consider the growing tendency in the clergy to make payment of -tithe compulsory, the repeated exhortations of provincial synods to that -effect, and the universal ignorance of the people, we shall have little -difficulty in acknowledging that the English prelates laid a good -foundation for the custom of tithing, long before they succeeded in -obtaining any legal right from the State. In the course of three -centuries which preceded Eádweard’s reign they had ample time and -opportunity to threaten or cajole a simple-minded race into the belief -that they had a right to impose the levitical obligations upon them: in -the seventh century Boniface testifies to the payment of tithe in -England, nearly a century before the state enacted it in Germany: about -the same period Cædwealha of Wessex, though yet nominally a pagan, -tithed his spoils taken in war; and I have little doubt that at least -prædial tithe was almost universally levied long before the Witena gemót -made it a legal charge, though I cannot concur with Phillips in -believing that it was so decreed by Offa, or confirmed by Æðelwulf[987], -for the whole kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex. - ------ - -Footnote 987: - - Angelsäch. Recht. p. 251. He appeals only to Brompton, whose authority - is by no means conclusive. - ------ - -We will now return to Æðelwulf’s so-called grant, in which many of our -lawyers and historians have been content to see the legal origin of -tithing in this country[988]; but which I must confess appears to me to -have nothing to do with tithing whatever, in the legal sense of the -word. The reports of the later chroniclers need not be taken into -account; we may confine ourselves to the early and trustworthy sources, -whose assertions we are quite as likely to make proper use of as the -compilers of the fourteenth century. - ------ - -Footnote 988: - - This is Selden’s view, and Hume’s, and has been generally followed. - ------ - -Under date of the year 855, the Saxon Chronicle says. “This same year, -Æðelwulf booked the tenth part of his land throughout his realm, for -God’s glory and his own salvation.” Asser, who was no question well -acquainted with the traditions of Æðelwulf’s house, varies the -statement: “Eodem anno Æðhelwulfus praefatus venerabilis rex decimam -totius regni sui partem ab omni regali servitio et tributo liberavit, in -sempiternoque graphio in cruce Christi, pro redemptione animae suae et -antecessorum suorum, uni et trino Deo immolavit[989].” In this he is -followed verbatim by Florence of Worcester. Æðelweard, a direct -descendant of Æðelwulf, thus records the grant[990]: “In eodem anno -decumavit Æðulf rex de omni possessione sua in partem Domini, et in -universo regimine principatus sui sic constituit.” - ------ - -Footnote 989: - - _In anno_ 855. - -Footnote 990: - - Chronic. lib. iii. - ------ - -Simeon has:—“Quo tempore rex Ethelwulfus rex decimavit totum regni sui -imperium, pro redemptione animae suae et antecessorum suorum.” - -Huntingdon:—“Æðelwulfus decimo nono anno regni sui totam terram suam ad -opus aecclesiarum decumavit, propter amorem Dei et redemptionem sui.” - -Roger of Wendover and Matthew Paris, upon the authority of Æðelwulf’s -charter of 854, say:—“Eodem anno rex magnificus Athelwulfus decimam -regni sui partem Deo et Beatae Mariae et omnibus sanctis contulit, -liberam ab omnibus servitiis saecularibus exactionibus et tributis.” And -again in 857, speaking of Æðelwulf’s will:—“Pro utilitate animae suae et -salute, per omne regnum suum semper in decem hidis vel mansionibus -pauperem unum indigenam, vel peregrinum cibo, potu et operimento, -successoribus suis usque in finem saeculi post se pascere praecepit, ita -tamen ut si terra illa pecoribus abundaret et ab hominibus coleretur.” - -Malmesbury, who calls the charter of 854 “scriptum libertatis -aecclesiarum quod toti concessit Angliae,” thus describes its -effect:—“Ethelwulfus ... decimam omnium hidarum infra regnum suum -Christi famulis concessit, liberam ab omnibus functionibus, absolutam ab -omnibus inquietudinibus.” And in 857, with reference to Æðelwulfs -will:—“Semperque ad finem saeculi in omni suae haereditatis decima hida -pauperem vestiri et cibari praecepit.” - -These passages obviously relate to two several transactions, one which -took place in the year 854, before Æðelwulf’s visit to Rome, the second -in the year 857, after his return to England: and the Codex Diplomaticus -contains a series of documents referring to them[991]. A portion of -these fall under the description of Malmesbury, viz. that of “scriptum -libertatis aecclesiarum.” and as he cites one of them himself by that -title, it is certain that these are what he intends. Now this document, -after the usual proem, recites that Æðelwulf with the consent of his -witan, not only gave the tenth part of the lands throughout his realm to -holy churches, but granted to his ministers, appointed throughout the -same, to have in perpetual freedom, so that his donation might remain -for ever free from all royal and secular burthens: in consideration of -which the bishops agreed to a special service weekly for the king and -his nobles[992], every Saturday. - ------ - -Footnote 991: - - Cod. Dipl. Nos. 270, 271, 275, 276, 1048, 1050, 1051, 1052, 1053, - 1054, 1057. - -Footnote 992: - - The actual words are these:—“Ut decimam partem terrarum per regnum - nostrum, non solum sanctis aecclesiis darem verumetiam et ministris - nostris in eodem constitutis, in perpetuam libertatem habere - concessimus, ita ut talis donatio fixa incommutabilisque permaneat ab - omni regali servitio et omnium saecularium absoluta servitute.” These - are the expressions of Nos. 270, 271, 1050, 1054; which are - respectively dated at Wilton on the 22nd of April, 854, and convey - grants of separate lands to the thane Wigferð, to Malmesbury church, - to Glastonbury, and to the thane Hunsige, as appears by the statements - in the body of the charters, as well as by the endorsements, which are - to this effect:—No. 270. “Ista est libertas quam Æðelwulf rex suo - ministro Wiferðe in perpetuam haereditatem habere concessit, unum - cassatum in loco qui dicitur Heregearding hiwisc:” _Endorsed_, “Ðis - seondan æs landes bêc ðe Æðelwulf cyning Wiferðe his þegne salde.” - ------ - -Another class, and probably the most genuine, comprises the numbers 275 -and 1048; in these documents, which are also grants of immunity to the -clergy and to laics, the granting words are as follows:—“Quamobrem ego -Æðelwulfus rex Occidentalium Saxonum cum consilio episcoporum et -principum meorum, consilium salubre atque uniforme remedium affirmavi; -ut aliquam portionem terrarum haereditariam, antea possidentibus -gradibus omnibus,—sive famulis et famulabus Dei Deo servientibus, sive -laicis,—semper decimam mansionem, ubi minimum sit, tum decimam -partem,—in libertatem perpetuam perdonare diiudicavi; ut sit tuta et -munita ab omnibus saecularibus servitutibus, fiscis regalibus, tributis -maioribus et minoribus, sive taxationibus quae nos dicimus Wíterǽden; -sitque libera omnium rerum, pro remissione animarum et peccatorum -nostrorum, Deo soli ad serviendum, sine expeditione, et pontis -instructione et arcis munitione, ut eo diligentius pro nobis ad Deum -preces sine cessatione fundant, quo eorum servitutem saecularem in -aliqua parte levigamus.” In consideration of this alleviation the -grateful clergy were to perform on the Wednesday in every week the same -services as the first class of documents stipulates for the Saturday. It -is to be observed that the two documents of this particular class, -though the authority for them is of the lowest description, and the -dates are altogether suspicious, seem to be of a much more genuine -character as to the grant itself than the first class: there is a -certain satisfactory accuracy about the definition of Wíterǽden which is -in so far suggestive of an authentic original; and when we translate the -very bad Latin “sine expeditione,” etc. by the genuine “bútan fyrdfare,” -etc., we shall have the following reasonable account to give of the -proceedings. Æðelwulf, being humbled and terrified by the distresses of -wars and the ravages of barbarous and pagan invaders, devised as a -useful remedy thus; he determined to liberate from all those various -exactions and services which went by the general name of wíteræden, the -tenth part of the estates which, though hereditary tenure had grown up -in them, were still subject to the ancient burthens of folcland, whether -they were in the hands of laics or clergy; that where the estate -amounted to ten hides, one was to be free; where it was a very small -quantity, at all events a tenth was to be so enfranchised: and as the -greater part of this land either was in the hands of the clergy, or was -very likely ultimately to come there, he granted this charitable act of -enfranchisement that on these estates the holders might be the better -able to devote themselves to the service of God, all other service being -discharged, except indeed the inevitable three. This seems best to -accord with Asser’s assertion that the king sacrificed to God the -services which arose to himself over a tenth part of all his realm. Now -it is to be observed that this could not apply to booklands which -already possessed an exemption, but only to folcland, whether become -hereditary or not; nor could _regnum_ possibly mean territory, but royal -rights, for Æðelwulf had no _territory_ except his private estates; nor -could the “trinoda necessitas” be called a “regale servitium et -tributum.” These were the dues demandable by the king from folcland, and -could only be discharged by consent of the Wítan. The expression of -Simeon appears also to be susceptible of no other translation: when he -says the king tithed “totum regni sui imperium,” I can see no -territorial division in his words, but only that the king relinquished a -tenth part of those imperial rights which he had as king. - -A third class of documents however yet remains to be considered. In -these a clear division of lands is intended and is recorded. The first -of these in point of time are the Nos. 1051 and 1052, which bear the -suspicious dates of Easter in the year 854, the first indiction, and the -palace at Wilton: that is, with the exception of the indiction, the -dates of the first class of documents. These two charters declare that -Æðelwulf being determined by the advice of St. Swithin to tithe the -lands of all the realm that God had given him[993], increased the estate -which queen Friðogyð had granted to the church at Winchester, in -Taunton, by a certain amount of hides in various places. These are -followed by another of the same year, but with the proper indiction, -viz. the second, declaring that on the same occasion he gave other lands -to Winchester[994]; and in the succeeding year 855, we find him giving -an estate in Kent to Dun a minister or thane, “pro decimatione agrorum, -quam Deo donante, caeteris ministris meis facere decrevi.” I do not very -much insist upon giving one sense rather than another to this “_pro_ -decimatione,” and am ready to admit that it may mean, ‘in respect of the -general tithing of lands which I intend to make to yourself as well as -the rest of my thanes,’ or that it may be read, ‘in place of that -tithing of lands which I intend to make to the rest of my thanes, I give -you such and such a particular estate.’ We must not be very fastidious -with Æðelwulf’s Latin, especially as there is much reason to believe -that in this case it is a mere translation of what would have been far -more intelligible and trustworthy Saxon. - ------ - -Footnote 993: - - “Totius regni mihi a Deo collati decimans rura.” Nos. 1051, 1052. - -Footnote 994: - - “Quando decimam partem terrarum per omne regnum meum sanctis - aecclesiis dare decrevi,” etc. No. 1053. The Saxon version, whether it - were the original or only a translation, gives us the true sense of - this assertion: it runs thus:—“ðá ðá he teoðode gynd eall his - cynerice, ðone teoðan dǽl ealra his landa, mid his witena geþeahte, - into hálgum stowum,”—‘when throughout all his realm, he tithed the - tenth of all _his lands_ into holy places, by the counsel of his - witan.’ There was nothing to prevent Æðelwulf from giving a tenth or a - half of all his _own_ lands to whom he pleased. - ------ - -Trustworthy, however, I can hardly term the last document I have to -notice[995], Saxon though it be: this appears to be one of a very -suspicious series of instruments, prepared for the purpose of -corroborating some ancient claim on the part of Winchester, to have its -hundred hides at Chilcombe rated at _one_ hide only. It bears marks of -forgery in every line, and seems to have been made up out of some -history of Æðelwulf’s sojourn in Rome, but still is worth citing as -evidence of the tradition respecting tithe:—“In the name of him who -writeth in the book of life in heaven those who in this life please him -well, I Æðulf the king in this writ notify concerning the franchise of -Chilcombe, which Kynegils the king, who first of all the kings in Wessex -became a Christian, granted to his baptismal father Saint Birinus; and -which since then all the kings who have succeeded one another in Wessex -have enfranchised and advanced, although it never was reduced to writing -until the time of myself, who am the ninth king. Also I notify that I -established this franchise before Saint Peter in Rome, and the holy Pope -Leo, even so as it was settled between me and all my people, ere I went -to Rome, that is, that all the land comprised in this franchise shall -for ever be acquitted for one hide; because God’s possessions should -ever be more free than any worldly possession: and also my son Ælfred, -who went with me and was there consecrated king, pledged himself to the -Pope, both to further this franchise himself, and to urge his children -to the same, if God should grant him any. I also, before the same Pope, -tithed all the landed possessions which I had in England, to God, into -holy places for myself and for all my people: and in Rome with the -assistance and by the leave of the Pope, I wrought a minster for the -honour of God and to the worship of Saint Mary, his holy mother, and -placed therein a company of English, who ever both by night and day -shall serve God, for our people: and when I returned home I told all the -people what I had done in Rome. And they very earnestly thanked both God -and me for this, and all this pleased them well, and they said that with -their good will it should be so for ever. Now I implore, through the -holy Trinity and Saint Peter, and all the halidome that I visited in -Rome, both for myself and my people, that never either king or prince, -bishop or ealdorman, thane or reeve diminish what hath been established -with such witness: doubtless he that doth so will anger God and Saint -Peter, and all the saints that repose in the churches at Rome, and -miserably earn for himself the punishments of hell. Moreover, the -aforesaid holy Pope Leo laid God’s curse and Saint Peter’s, and all the -Saints’ and his own, on him that ever violates this; and also all this -people both ordained and laic did the like when I returned home and -announced this to them.” - ------ - -Footnote 995: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1057. - ------ - -If these data then be correct, Æðelwulf did three distinct things at -different times: he first released from all payments, except the -inevitable three, a tenth part of the folclands or unenfranchised lands, -whether in the tenancy of the church or of his thanes. In this tenth -part of the lands so burthened in his favour he annihilated the royal -rights, regnum or imperium; and as the lands receiving this privilege -were secured by charter, the Chronicle can justly say that the king -_booked_ them to the honour of God. A second thing he did, inasmuch as -he gave a tenth part of his own private estates of bookland to various -thanes or clerical establishments. And lastly, upon every ten hides of -his own land he commanded that one poor man, whether native born or -stranger, that is, whether of Wessex or some other kingdom, should be -maintained in food and clothing. It is unnecessary to waste words in -showing how utterly different all this really is from any grant of -tithe, and how entirely unfounded is the opinion that Æðelwulf made the -first legal enactment in behalf of tithe in this country. All that it -proves is, that Æðelwulf made a handsome endowment for the clergy, and -that a tenth part or a tenth person seemed to him to mark the proper -proportion between what he kept and what he gave up. It renders it -probable that the claim to tithe had already become familiar, since -Æðelwulf divided his land by ten; but it also shows that even the -Levitical tithe itself was misrepresented, if he believed this donation -of his to bear any resemblance to it. We may suppose the squire in a -country parish to have let the parson a house, and subsequently excused -him a tenth of the rent. This might be a very charitable act, and might -be done from very pure religious motives; but it would scarcely be -called tithe in the proper ecclesiastical sense of that word. This is -precisely what Æðelwulf did in Wessex. - -In addition to leohtsceat, or money paid to supply lights, sulhælmysse -or plough-alms, and sáwlsceat, a present made to the church where a -testator desired to rest, in consideration of religious services to be -performed for the good of his soul, there was a due commonly known under -the name of cyricsceat. It is not clear what was the nature of this -impost, and its amount is uncertain, as well as the persons who were -liable to its payment. But in all probability it was at first a -recognitory rent paid to the particular churches from estates leased by -them; not so much in the nature of a fair equivalent for the use of such -lands, but as a token of beneficiary tenure, in the spirit of the -following words:—“Solventes inde censum per singulos annos missis -rectorum praedicti monasterii, iv denarios in festivitate sancti Remigii -Confessoris, ne videamur eas ex proprio, sed iure beneficiario -possidere[996].” It is therefore not unusual to find this impost -particularly mentioned in church-leases, under the names of cyricsceat, -census aecclesiasticus, cyriclád, aecclesiae munus, and similar terms. -The true character of the payment appears from two very clear examples -which I shall quote at length. “That in truth may say the thane Ælfsige -Hunláfing in respect to his obtaining this land free from every burthen, -to himself and his heirs, except burhbót, bridge-work, and military -service, remembering to his _landlord_, cyricsceat, sáwlsceat and his -tithes[997].” This landlord was a bishop, in all probability, but he is -not named. - ------ - -Footnote 996: - - Schannat. Tradit. Fuldens. No. 452. So also in the Worcester Domesday, - Hemm. 500, 501. “De eodem manerio tenet Hugo de Grentesmaisnil - dimidiam hidam ad Lapeuuerte, et Baldewinus de eo; et fuit et est de - soca episcopi. De hac terra per singulos annos redduntur viii denarii - ad ecclesiam de Wirecestre, pro _circette_ et recognitione terre.” - -Footnote 997: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 433. - ------ - -In the year 902, Denewulf bishop of Winchester leased fifteen hides of -land to Beornwulf and his heirs, reserving a rent of forty-five -shillings yearly. “And every year let him assist in the bót of the -church[998] which that land belongeth to, in the same proportion as the -other folk do, each by the measure of his land; and let him justly pay -his cyricsceat, and perform his military service and bridge and fortress -work, as they do throughout all the folk[999].” - -Footnote 998: - - Hardly the repairs of the church, which were thus to be attended to - yearly; although in religious as in secular tenures, there can be no - doubt that the tenant was liable to be called upon to assist in the - repairs of the lord’s buildings. The distinction between “ðæt óðer - folc,” that is the other tenants, and “eal folc,” that is everybody - throughout the realm, is clear. - -Footnote 999: - - “And eác ǽlce geare fultumien tó ðǽre cyrican bote ðe ðet land tó hyrð - be ðém dæle ðe ðet óðer folc dó ǽlc be his landes meðe and ða - cyricsceáttes mid rihte ágyfe and fyrde and brycge and festergeweorc - hewe swá mon ofer eall folc dó.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1079. - ------ - -Between the years 879 and 909, the same bishop gave forty hides to -Ælfred, for his life. Upon these he reserved a rent of three pounds, -cyricsceats, cyricsceat-work, and the services of Ælfred’s men when -required at the bishop’s hunting and reaping[1000]. In like manner -Oswald reserved, in all the grants he made out of the church property at -Worcester, the church rights, that is to say, cyricsceat, toll, tax and -pannage, and also the services of the tenants at his hunting[1001]. -Lastly between the years 871 and 877, bishop Ealhfrið granting eight -hides for three lives to duke Cúðred, reserved bridge-work, military -service, eight cyricsceats, the mass-priest’s rights and -soulsceats[1002]. - ------ - -Footnote 1000: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1086. - -Footnote 1001: - - See vol. i. p. 518. App. E. - -Footnote 1002: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 1062. - ------ - -This cyricsceat then appears to have been originally a recognitory -service due to the lord from the tenant on church-lands. But it is very -clear that in process of time a new character was assumed for it, and it -was claimed of all men alike, as a due to the clergy. Here, again, the -Levitical legislation was taken to be applicable to the Christian -ministry. The Jews had been commanded to give first-fruits[1003], as -well as tithes; and if tithes belonged to the clergy by virtue of God’s -commandment, so did first-fruits also. These appear also to have been -called cyricsceat, and after a time became an established charge upon -the land of the freeman as well as the unfree. The earliest legislation -which we can discover, bearing unquestionably upon this point, is that -of Eádmund toward the middle of the tenth century[1004]; he strictly -commands payment of tithe, cyricsceat, and almsfee, and declares that he -who will not do it shall be excommunicated. By the time of Eádgár -however the matter seems to have been quite settled, and cyricsceat is -directed to be paid from the hearth of every freeman to the old -minster,—most likely to prevent a course similar to the arbitrary -consecration of tithes. And this remained a fixed charge upon the land -till the time of the Conquest, when it ceased to be generally paid, as -we may judge from the expressions of Fleta and other jurists[1005]; it -had passed in some cases into the hands of secular lords, with lands -alienated by the clergy, or taken from them. But in the time of Cnut it -was still paid as _primitiae seminum_, and it is not probable that his -successors altered his arrangements in this respect. - ------ - -Footnote 1003: - - Deut. xviii. 4. - -Footnote 1004: - - Leg. Eádm. i. § 2. Thorpe, i. 244. The earlier notices are Leg. Ini, § - 4, 61. Æðelst. i. Thorpe, i. 104, 140, 196. But these are not at all - conclusive, and would be equally applicable to the case of the - liability to this impost being confined to the tenants of the church. - Ini’s law only regulates the time at which the impost is to be paid, - and the particular estate from which it is due. Æðelstán confines - himself to commanding that his officers shall see the cyricsceat paid - at the proper times and to the proper places. - -Footnote 1005: - - “Churchesed certam mensuram bladi tritici signat, quam quilibet olim - sanctae Ecclesiae die sancti Martini, tempore tam Britonum quam - Anglorum, contribuerunt. Plures tamen magnates post Normannorum - adventum in Angliam, illam contributionem secundum veterem legem - Moysi, nomine Primitiarum dabant; prout in brevi regis Knuti ad summum - Pontificem transmisso continetur, in quibus illam contributionem - appellant Churchsed, quasi _semen ecclesiae_.” Fleta, i. 47, § 28. - “Chichesed, al. chircheomer, al. chircheambre:—un certein de blé batu - ke checun home devoit au tens de Bretuns e de engleis a le eglise le - iur seint Martin mes pus le venue de Normans si le priserent a lur vs - plusur seinourages, e le donerunt solum la veile lei Moysi, et nomine - primiciarum sicum lem troue en le lettres cnikt ke il envea a rome, e - est dit chirchesed quasi semen ecclesiae.” MS. Soc. Ant. lx. fol. 228, - b. This writ of Cnut to the Pope is not known to me, but we have a - letter addressed by him to his Witan from Rome, to which Fleta - probably alludes. “Nunc igitur præcipio et obtestor omnes meos - episcopos et regni praepositos, per fidem quam Deo et mihi debetis, - quatenus faciatis, ut antequam ego Angliam veniam, omnia debita, quae - Deo secundum legem antiquam debemus, sint soluta, scilicet eleemosynae - pro aratris, et decimae animalium ipsius anni procreatorum, et denarii - quos Romae ad sanctum Petrum debemus, sive ex urbibus sive ex villis, - et mediante Augusto decimae frugum, et in festivitate sancti Martini - _primitiae seminum_ ad ecclesiam sub cuius parochia quisque est, quae - Anglice _Circesceat_ nominantur.” Flor. Wigorn. ad. an. 1031. - ------ - -The liberality of the Anglosaxons was by no means confined to the grants -of land which they conferred upon the several churches, although it is -impossible to deny that these were most extravagant[1006]. At the same -time it is to be borne in mind that the clergy were always certain to -command a more than adequate supply of free and unfree labour; and that, -if their landed possessions thus increased their wealth to an -extraordinary degree, they also were the greatest contributors to the -general well-being through the superior excellence of their cultivation. -But the piety or the fears of the laity did not stop short at gifts of -land and serfs: jewels, cups, rings, crosses and caskets, money, -tapestry, and vestments, annual foundations of bread, wine, beer, honey, -and flesh, sometimes to enormous amounts, were devised by the will of -wealthy and penitent sinners: houses and curtilages, tolls and markets, -forests, harbours, fisheries, mines, commons of pasture and mast, flocks -and herds of swine, horses and oxen, testified to the liberality of -ealdormen and kings. Nor was the opportunity of investing their surplus -profitably always wanting: more than one mortgage is recorded, on terms -sufficiently favourable to the mortgagors; and loans on excellent -security, show that if the nobles knew where to find capitalists in -their need, the capitalist also knew very well how to turn his -facilities to good account. The necessity of providing out of these -large funds for the proper maintenance of the churches and the due -celebration of religious rites, can hardly be looked upon as a great -hardship; and although the demands of charity and the duties of -hospitality, may have seemed a heavy charge to the avaricious or the -selfish, we cannot but conclude, that no class of the community occupied -so dignified or so easy a position as the Anglosaxon clergy. The State, -fully aware of the value of their services, was not niggardly in -rewarding them. There was a ready acquiescence on the part of the laity -in the claims of the clergy to respect and trust; and, while these -continued to maintain a decent conformity to the duties of their -calling, we find a perfectly harmonious co-operation of all classes in -the church. Nor, amongst all the writings which the clergy—the only -writers—have left us, do we find any of those complaints and grievances, -which are apt to be made prominent enough when the members of that -powerful body believe their pretensions to be treated with less than due -consideration. The devoted partizan of Rome might choose to declare the -English church subject to such bondage as no other suffered; but, except -from quarrels of their own, the clergy never were exposed here to those -inconveniences which are unavoidable, upon any attempt on their part to -separate themselves from their fellow-members in the Christian -communion. - ------ - -Footnote 1006: - - The estate of Chilcombe alone, belonging to Winchester, is reckoned at - one hundred hides, or at least three thousand acres, which they - succeeded in getting rated to the public burthens at one hide only. - Cod. Dipl. No. 642. But the whole of their estates in Hampshire appear - from the same document to have comprised no less than five hundred and - seventy-eight hides, which at my very low estimate of the hide amount - to _seventeen thousand, three hundred and forty acres_,—a very pretty - provision for one Chapter. The amount of lands and chattels devised by - various prelates almost exceeds belief. - ------ - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - THE POOR. - - -There is hardly a question connected with the march of civilization more -difficult to answer satisfactorily than this: What is to be done with -the Poor? - -In our own day, when subdivision of labour has been carried to an -unheard of extent, when property follows the natural law of accumulation -in masses, and society numbers the proletarian as an inevitable unit -among its constituents, the question presents itself in a threatening -and dangerous form, with difficulty surrounding it on every side, and -anarchy scowling in the background, hardly to be appeased or vanquished. -But such circumstances as those we live under are rare, and almost -unexampled in history: even the later and depraved days of Roman -civilization offer but a very insufficient pattern of a similar -condition[1007]. Above all it would be difficult to find any parallel -for them in countries where land is abundant, and the accumulation of -property slow: there may be pauperism in New York, but scarcely in the -valley of the Mississippi. The cultivator may live hardly, poorly; but -he can live, and as increasing numbers gather round him and form a -market for his superfluous produce, he will gradually become easy, and -at length wealthy. It is however questionable whether population will -really increase very fast in an agricultural community where a -sufficient provision is made for every family, and where there is an -unlimited fund, and power of almost indefinite extension. On the -contrary, it seems natural under these circumstances that the proportion -between the consumers and the means of living should long continue to be -an advantageous one, and no pressure will be felt as long as no effort -is made to give a false direction to the energies of any portion of the -community. - ------ - -Footnote 1007: - - The Roman poor-law was, consequently upon the Roman imperial - institutions, of a strange, exceptional and most dangerous character. - The rulers literally fed the people: _panem et circenses_, food and - amusements; these were the relief which the wealthy and powerful - supplied, and if ever these were sparingly distributed, convulsions - and revolution were inevitable. The Λειτουργίαι, public dinners, and - other doles of a compulsory nature assisted the poorer among the - Athenians. (I have not cancelled this note, which was written long - before the events of February 1848 and their consequences had added - another pregnant example to the store of history.) - ------ - -But this cannot possibly be the case in a system which limits the amount -of the estate or hýd. Here a period must unavoidably arise where -population advances too rapidly for subsistence, unless a manufacturing -effort on an extensive scale is made, and made with perfect freedom from -all restraints, but those which prudence and well-regulated views of -self-interest impose. If want of rapid internal communication deprive -the farmer of a market, and compel him to limit his produce to the -requirements of his own family, there cannot be a doubt not only that he -will be compelled to remain in a stationary and not very easy position, -but that a difficulty will arise as to the disposal of a redundant -population. Many plans have been devised to meet this difficulty; a -favourite one has been at all times, to endeavour to find means of -limiting population itself, instead of destroying all restrictions upon -occupation. The profoundest thinkers of Greece, considering that a -pauper population is inconsistent with the idea of state, have -positively recommended violent means to prevent its increase[1008]: -infanticide and exposition thus figure among the means by which Plato -and Aristotle consider that full and perfect citizenship is to be -maintained. I have already touched upon some of the means by which our -forefathers attempted this regulation: emigration was as popular a -nostrum with them as with us: service in the comitatus, even servitude -on the land, were looked to as an outlet, and slavery probably served to -keep up something of a balance: moreover it is likely that a large -proportion of the population were entirely prevented from contracting -marriage: of this last number the various orders of the clergy, and the -monks must have made an important item. It is even probable that the -somewhat severe restrictions imposed upon conjugal intercourse may have -had their rise in an erroneous view that population might thus be -limited or regulated[1009]. But still, all these means must have -furnished a very inadequate relief: even the worn-out labourer, -especially if unfree, must have become superfluous, and if he was of -little use to his owner, there was little chance of his finding a -purchaser. What provision was made for him? - ------ - -Footnote 1008: - - Περὶ δὲ ἀποθέσεως καὶ τροφῆς τῶν γιγνομένων ἔστω νομος μηδὲν - πεπηρωμένον τρέφειν, διὰ δὲ πλῆθος τέκνων, ἐὰν ἡ τάξις τῶν ἐθῶν κωλύῃ, - μηδὲν ἀποτίθεσθαι τῶν γιγνομένων· ὥρισται γὰρ δὴ τῆς τεκνοποιΐας τὸ - πλῆθος. Arist. Polit. vii. c. 14. See also Plato, Leg. bk. 5. Ed. - Bekk. p. 739, 740, etc. Ed. Stalbaum, vol. vi. p. 131, etc. The - tendency of Aristotle’s ideas on the subject may be gathered from his - notion that the Cretans encouraged παιδεραστια, in order to check - population. I am informed upon good authority, that in the Breisgau, - and especially the See-Kreis of Baden, the younger children, or any - supposed surplus, are permitted to die, of want of food, in order that - the property (Bauerngut), amounting sometimes to 100 morgen or 66 - acres of land, may remain undivided. It is also certain that in other - parts of Europe, a woman who bears more than a certain settled number - of children is looked upon with contempt. - -Footnote 1009: - - The Pœnitentials recommend abstinence every Wednesday, Friday and - Sunday throughout the year: on all great fasts, high feasts and - festivals: during all penances, general or special: seven months - before and after parturition. - ------ - -The condition of a serf or an outlaw from poverty is an abnormal one, -but only so in a Christian community. In fact it seems to me that the -State neither contemplates the existence of the poor, nor cares for it: -the poor man’s right to live is derived from the moral and Christian, -not from the public law: so little true is the general assertion that -the poor man has a right to be maintained upon the land on which he was -born. The State exists for its members, the full, free and independent -citizens, self-supported on the land; and except as self-supported on -the land it knows no citizens at all. Any one but the holder of a free -hýd must either fly to the forest or take service, or steal and become a -þeóv. How the pagan Saxons contemplated this fact it is impossible to -say, but at the period when we first meet with them in history, two -disturbing causes were in operation; first the gradual loosening of the -principle of the mark-settlement, and the consequent accumulation of -landed estates in few hands; secondly the operation of Christianity. - -This taught the equality of men in the eye of God, who had made all men -brothers in the mystery of Christ’s passion. And from this also it -followed that those who had been bought with that precious sacrifice -were not to be cast away. The sin of suffering a child to die unbaptized -was severely animadverted upon. The crime of infanticide could only be -expiated by years of hard and wearisome penance; but the penance -unhappily bears witness to the principle,—a principle universally pagan, -and not given up, even to this day, by nations and classes which would -repudiate with indignation the reproach of paganism, though thoroughly -imbued with pagan habits. In the seventh century we read of the -existence of poor, and we read also of the duty of assisting them. But -as the State had in fact nothing to do with them, and no machinery of -its own to provide for them, and as the clergy were _ex officio_ their -advocates and protectors, the State did what under the circumstances was -the best thing to do, it recognized the duty which the clergy had -imposed upon themselves of supporting the poor. It went further,—it -compelled the freeman to supply the clergy with the means of doing it. - -In the last years of the sixth century, Gregory the Great informed -Augustine that it was the custom of the Roman church to cause a fourth -part of all that accrued to the altar from the oblations of the faithful -to be given to the poor; and this was beyond a doubt the legitimate -substitute for the old mode of distribution which the Apostles and their -successors had adopted while the church lurked in corners and in -catacombs, and its communicants stole a fearful and mysterious pleasure -in its ministrations under the jealous eyes of imperial paganism. As -soon however as the accidental oblations were to a great degree replaced -by settled payments (whether arising out of land or not[1010]), and -these were directed to be applied in definite proportions, we may -venture to say that the State had a poor-law, and that the clergy were -the relieving officers. The spirit of Gregory’s injunction is that a -part of _all_ that accrues shall be given to the poor; and this applies -with equal force to tithes, churchshots, bóts or fines, eleemosynary -grants, and casual oblations. In this spirit, it will be seen, the -Anglosaxon clergy acted, and we may believe that no inconsiderable fund -was provided for distribution. The liability of the tithe is the first -point upon which I shall produce evidence. The first secular notice of -this is contained in the following law of Æðelred, an. 1014:—“And -concerning tithe, the king and his _witan_ have chosen and said, as -right it is, that the third part of the tithe which belongs to the -church, shall go to the reparation of the church, and a second part to -the servants of God, and the third to God’s poor and needy men in -thraldom[1011].” - ------ - -Footnote 1010: - - “To shipmen it is commanded, like as it also is to husbandmen, that - they should give unto God the tenth part of all the increase upon - their stock, and moreover give alms from the nine parts that are their - own. And so is it commanded to every man that from the same craft - wherewith he provides for his body’s need, he provide for that of his - soul also, which is better than the body.” Ecc. Institutes. Thorpe, - ii. 432. “O homo, inde Dominus decimas expetit, unde vivis. De - militia, de negotio, de artificio redde decimas.” St. Augustine, cited - by Ecgb. Excerp. 102. Thorpe, ii. 112. - -Footnote 1011: - - Æðelred, ix. § 6. Thorpe, i. 342. This passage of Augustine is - referred to in the collection commonly attributed to Ed. Conf. And a - detailed enumeration is given of tithe: thus, the tenth sheaf of corn; - from a herd of mares, the tenth foal; where there are only one or two - mares, a penny per foal. Similarly of cows, the tenth calf or an - _obolus_ per calf. The tenth cheese, or the tenth day’s milk. The - tenth lamb, fleece, measure of butter, and pig. Of bees according to - the yearly yield: from groves and meadows, mills and waters, parks, - stews, fisheries, brushwood, orchards; the produce of all business, - and indeed of everything the Lord has given, the tenth part shall be - rendered. Thorpe, i. 445. - -But if positive public enactment be rare, it is not so with -ecclesiastical law, and the recommendations of the rulers of the -Anglosaxon church. The Poenitentials, Confessionals, and other works -compiled by these prelates for the guidance and instruction of the -clergy abound in passages wherein the obligation of providing for the -poor out of the tithe is either assumed or positively asserted. In the -‘Capitula et Fragmenta’ of Theodore, dating in the seventh century, it -is written, “It is not lawful to give tithes save unto the poor and -pilgrims[1012],” which can hardly mean anything but a prohibition to the -clergy, to make friends among the laity by giving them presents out of -the tithe; but which shows what were the lawful or legitimate uses of -tithe. Again he says[1013],—“If any one administers the xenodochia of -the poor, or has received the tithes of the people, and has converted -any portion thereof to his own uses,” etc. - ------ - -Footnote 1012: - - Cap. et Fragm. Theod. Thorpe, ii. 65. - -Footnote 1013: - - Ibid. Thorpe, ii. 80. These xenodochia were hospitals or almshouses. - ------ - -In the Excerptions of archbishop Ecgberht we find the following -canon:—“The priests are to take tithes of the people, and to make a -written list of the names of the givers, and according to the authority -of the canons, they are to divide them, in the presence of men that fear -God. The first part they are to take for the adornment of the church; -but the second they are in all humility, mercifully to distribute with -their own hands, for the use of the poor and strangers; the third part -however the priests may reserve for themselves[1014].” - ------ - -Footnote 1014: - - Excerp. Ecgb. Thorpe, ii. 98. - ------ - -In the Confessional of the same prelate we find the following -exhortation, to be addressed by the priest to the penitent:—“Be thou -gentle and charitable to the poor, zealous in almsgiving, in attendance -at church, and in the giving of tithe to God’s church and the -poor[1015].” - ------ - -Footnote 1015: - - Confes. Ecgb. Thorpe, ii. 132. - ------ - -In the canons enacted under Eádgár, but which are at least founded upon -an ancient work of Cummianus, there is this entry:—“We enjoin that the -priests so distribute the people’s alms, that they do both give pleasure -to God, and accustom the people to alms[1016];” to which however there -is an addition which can scarcely well be understood of anything but -tithe: “and it is right that one part be delivered to the priests, a -second part for the need of the church, and a third part for the poor.” - ------ - -Footnote 1016: - - Thorpe, ii. 256. - ------ - -The Canons of Ælfríc have the same entry, and the same mode of -distribution as those of Ecgberht: “The holy fathers have also appointed -that men shall pay their tithes into God’s church. And let the priest go -thither, and divide them into three: one part for the repair of the -church; the second for the poor; the third for God’s servants who attend -to the church[1017].” - ------ - -Footnote 1017: - - Thorpe, ii. 352. - ------ - -Thus according to the view of the Anglosaxon church, ratified by the -express enactment of the witan, a third of the tithe was the absolute -property of the poor. But other means were found to increase this fund: -not only was the duty of almsgiving strenuously enforced, but even the -fasts and penances recommended or imposed by the clergy were made -subservient to the same charitable purpose. The canons enacted under -Eádgár provide[1018], that “when a man fasts, then let the dishes that -would have been eaten be all distributed to God’s poor.” And again the -Ecclesiastical Institutes declare[1019]: “It is daily needful for every -man that he give his alms to poor men; but yet when we fast, then ought -we to give greater alms than on other days; because the meat and the -drink, which we should then use if we did not fast, we ought to -distribute to the poor.” - ------ - -Footnote 1018: - - Ibid. ii. 286. - -Footnote 1019: - - Ibid. ii. 437. - ------ - -So in certain cases where circumstances rendered the strict performance -of penance difficult or impossible, a kind of tariff seems to have been -devised, the application of which was left to the discretion of the -confessor. The proceeds of this commutation were for the benefit of the -poor. Thus Theodore teaches[1020]:—“But let him that through infirmity -cannot fast, give alms to the poor according to his means; that is, for -every day a penny or two or three.... For a year let him give thirty -shillings in alms; the second year, twenty; the third, fifteen.” - ------ - -Footnote 1020: - - Poenit. Thorpe, ii. 61: see also ii. 83. Tit. de incestis. - ------ - -Again[1021]:—“He that knows not the psalms and cannot fast, must give -twenty-two shillings in alms for the poor, as commutation for a year’s -fasting on bread and water; and let him fast every Friday on bread and -water, and three forties; that is, forty days before Easter, forty -before the festival of St. John the Baptist, and forty before -Christmas-day. And in these three forties let him estimate the value or -possible value of whatsoever is prepared for his use, in food, in drink -or whatever it may be, and let him distribute the half of that value in -alms to the poor,” etc. - ------ - -Footnote 1021: - - Thorpe, ii. 68. See also pp. 67, 69, 70, 134, 222. - ------ - -When we consider the almost innumerable cases in which penance must have -been submitted to by conscientious believers, and the frequent -hindrances which public or private business and illness must have thrown -in the way of strict performance, we may conclude that no slight -addition accrued from this source to the fund at the disposal of the -church for the benefit of the poor. Even the follies and vices of men -were made to contribute their quota in a more direct form. Ecgberht -requires that a portion of the spoil gained in war shall be applied to -charitable purposes[1022]; and he estimates the amount at no less than a -third of the whole booty. Again, it is positively enacted by Æðelred and -his witan that a portion of the fines paid by offenders to the church -should be applied in a similar manner: they say[1023], that such money -“belongs lawfully, by the direction of the bishops, to the buying of -prayers, to the behoof of the poor, to the reparation of churches, to -the instruction, clothing and feeding of those who minister to God, for -books, bells and vestments, but never for idle pomp of this world.” - ------ - -Footnote 1022: - - Poenit. Ecgb. Thorpe, ii. 232. - -Footnote 1023: - - Æðelr. vi. § 51. Thorpe, i. 328. - ------ - -More questionable is a command inculcated by archbishop Ecgberht, that -the over-wealthy should punish themselves for their folly by large -contributions to the poor[1024]: “Let him that collecteth immoderate -wealth, for his want of wisdom, give the third part to the poor.” - ------ - -Footnote 1024: - - Thorpe, ii. 232. - ------ - -Upon the bishops and clergy was especially imposed the duty of attending -to this branch of Christian charity, which they were commanded to -exemplify in their own persons: thus the bishops are admonished to feed -and clothe the poor[1025], the clerk who possessed a superfluity was to -be excommunicated if he did not distribute it to the poor[1026], nay the -clergy were admonished to learn and practise handicrafts, not only in -order to keep themselves out of mischief and avoid the temptations of -idleness, but that they might earn funds wherewith to relieve the -necessities of their brethren[1027]. Those who are acquainted with the -MSS. and other remains of Anglosaxon art are well-aware how great -eminence was attained by some of these clerical workmen, and how -valuable their skill may have been in the eyes of the wealthy and -liberal[1028]. - ------ - -Footnote 1025: - - Archbishop Ecgberht, from the Canons of the Council of Orleans: - “Episcopus pauperibus et infirmis, qui debilitate faciente non possunt - suis manibus laborare, victum et vestimentum, in quantum possibilitas - fuerit, largiatur.” Thorpe, ii. 105. - -Footnote 1026: - - Theod. Poen. xxv. § 6. - -Footnote 1027: - - Ecc. Inst. Thorpe, ii. 404. - -Footnote 1028: - - We know that Benedict Biscop received as much as eight hides of land - for one volume of geographical treatises, illustrated and illuminated. - Bed. Op. Min. 155. - ------ - -Another source of relief remains to be noticed: I mean the eleemosynary -foundations. It is of course well known that every church and monastery -comprised among its necessary buildings a xenodochium, hospitium or -similar establishment, a kind of hospital for the reception and -refection of the poor, the houseless and the wayfarer. But I allude more -particularly to the foundations which the piety of the clergy or laics -established without the walls of the churches or monasteries. Æðelstán -commanded the royal reeves throughout his realm to feed and clothe one -poor man each: the allowance was to be, from every two farms, an amber -of meal, a shank of bacon, or a ram worth fourpence, monthly, and -clothing for the whole year. The reeves here intended must have been the -bailiffs (villici, praepositi, túngeréfan) of the royal vills; and, if -they could not find a poor man in their vill, they were to seek him in -another[1029]. In the churches which were especially favoured with the -patronage of the wealthy and powerful, it was usual for the anniversary -of the patron to be celebrated with religious services, a feast to the -brotherhood and a distribution of food to the poor, which was -occasionally a very liberal one. In the year 832 we learn incidentally -what were the charitable foundations of archbishop Wulfred. He commanded -twenty-six poor men to be daily fed on different manors, he gave each of -them yearly twenty-six pence to purchase clothing, and further ordered -that on his anniversary twelve hundred poor men should receive each a -loaf of bread and a cheese, or bacon and one penny[1030]. - ------ - -Footnote 1029: - - Thorpe, i. 196. - -Footnote 1030: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 230. - ------ - -Oswulf, who was duke of East Kent at the commencement of the ninth -century, left lands to Canterbury charging the canons with doles upon -his anniversary: twenty ploughlands or about twelve hundred acres at -Stanstead were to supply the canons and the poor on that day with one -hundred and twenty wheaten loaves, thirty of pure wheat, one fat ox, -four sheep, two flitches, five geese, ten hens, ten pounds of cheese (or -if it happened to be a fastday, a weigh of cheese, fish, butter and eggs -_ad libitum_), thirty measures of good Welsh ale, and a tub of honey or -two of wine. From the lands of the brotherhood were to issue one hundred -and twenty _sufl_ loaves, apparently a kind of cake; while his lands at -Bourn were to supply a thousand loaves of bread and a thousand -_sufls_[1031]. Towards the end of the tenth century Wulfwaru devised her -lands to various relatives, and charged them with the support of twenty -poor men[1032]. About the same period Æðelstán the æðeling gave lands to -Ely on condition that they fed one hundred poor men on his anniversary, -at the expense of his heirs. - ------ - -Footnote 1031: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 226. I think these súfls must be _subflata_, raised or - leavened bread. The contrast afforded by the heavy black rye bread of - Westphalia—technically Pumpernickel—will serve to explain the term. In - the east of England still a kind of cakes are called _Sowls_, probably - Sufls. - -Footnote 1032: - - Cod. Dipl. No. 694. - ------ - -From what has preceded it may fairly be argued that at all times there -was a very sufficient fund for the relief of the poor, seeing that -tithe, penance, fine, voluntary contribution, and compulsory assessment -all combined to furnish their quota. It now remains to enquire into the -method of its distribution. - -The gains of the altar, whether in tithes, oblations, or other forms, -were strictly payable over to the metropolitan or cathedral church of -the district. The division of the fund was thus committed to the -consulting body of the clergy, and their executive or head; and the -several shares were thus distributed under the supervision and by the -authority of the bishop and his canons in each diocese. Private alms may -have remained occasionally at the disposal of the priest in a small -parish, but the recognized public alms which were the property of the -poor, and held in trust for them by the clergy, were necessarily managed -by the principal body, the clergy of the cathedral. To the vicinity of -the cathedral flocked the maimed, the halt, the blind, the destitute and -friendless, to be fed and clothed and tended for the love of God. In -that vicinity they enjoyed shelter, defence, private aid and public -alms; and as in some few cases the cathedral church was surrounded by a -flourishing city, they could hope for the chances which always accompany -a close manufacturing or retailing population. In this way the largest -proportion of the poor must have been collected near the chief church of -the diocese, on whose lands they found an easy settlement, in whose -xenodochia, hospitals and almshouses they met with a refuge, to whom -they gave their services, such as they were, and from whom they received -in turn the support which secular lords were unable or unwilling to -give: for the cathedral church being generally a very considerable -landowner, had the power of employing much more labour than the majority -of secular landlords in any given district. - -But it must not be imagined that the poor could obtain no relief save at -the cathedral: every parish-church had its share of the public fund, as -well as private alms, devoted to this purpose; and to the necessary -buildings of every parish-church, however small, a xenodochium belonged. -When now we consider the great number of churches that existed all over -England in the tenth century, a number which most likely exceeded that -now in being, and consequently bore a most disproportionate ratio to the -then population of the country,—when we further consider that the poor -were comparatively few (so that a provision was absolutely made for the -case where a pauper could not be found in a royal village), we shall -have no difficulty in concluding that relief was supplied in a very -ample degree to the needy. - -It does not necessarily follow, although in itself very probable, that -the claim to relief was a territorial one, that is that the man was to -have relief where he was born, lived or had gained a settlement by -labour. As some landowners, particularly in later times, especially -honoured certain churches with the grant of tithes consecrated to them, -it is possible that some paupers may have followed the convenient -precedent, and argued that whither the fund went, thither might the -recipients go also. And inasmuch as in many cases they would appear -under the guise of poor pilgrims, we can readily understand the immense -resort to particular shrines at particular periods, without overrating -the devotion or the superstition of the multitude. But all this might -have led to very serious consequences, had the facilities _really_ been -so great. In point of fact there were no facilities at all except for -such as were from age or infirmity incapable of doing any valuable -service. For among the Saxons the law of settlement applied inexorably -to all classes: no man had a legal existence unless he could be shown to -belong to some association connected with a certain locality, or to be -in the hand, protection and surety of a landed lord. Even a man of the -rank nearest the princes or ealdorman could not leave his land without -having fulfilled certain conditions; and the illegal migration of a -dependent man from one shire or one estate to another was punished in -the severest manner, in the persons of all concerned. He was called a -Flýma or fugitive, and the receiving or harbouring him was a grave -offence, punishable with a heavy fine, to be raised for the benefit of -the king’s officers in the shire the fugitive deserted, as well as that -wherein he was received[1033]. Even if the vigilance of the sheriffs and -ealdorman in two shires could be lulled, it was difficult to disarm the -selfishness of a landlord or an owner who thought the runaway’s services -of any value, or his price worth securing. A year and a day must elapse -ere the right abated from the “lord in pursuit,” for so was the lord -called over all Europe in the idioms of the several tongues[1034]; and -hence it cannot have been a very easy matter for any man to take -advantage of the poor-law, while it remained any one’s advantage to keep -him from falling into the state of pauperism: in other words, no man -whose labour still possessed any value would be so cast upon the world -as to have no refuge but what the church in Christian charity provided. -And this was the real and trustworthy test of destitution. If a man was -so helpless, friendless and useless that he could find no place in one -of the mutual associations, or in a lord’s family, it is clear that he -must become an outlaw as far as the State is concerned[1035]: he must -fly to the woods, turn serf or steal, or else commend himself as a -pauper to the benefits of clerical superintendence: but it is perfectly -obvious that none but the hopelessly infirm or aged could ever be placed -under such difficulty, in a country situated like England at any period -of the Saxon rule, and hence pauper relief was in practice strictly -confined to those for whom it was justly intended. The Saxon poor-law -then appears simple enough, and well might it be so: they had not tried -many unsuccessful and ridiculous experiments in œconomics, suffered -themselves to be misled by very many mischievous crochets, nor on the -whole did they find it necessary to make so expensive a protest against -bad commercial legislation as our poor-law has proved to us. But it is -not quite the simple thing it seems, and requires two elements for its -efficient working, which are not to be found at every period, namely a -powerful, conscientious clergy, and a system of property founded -exclusively upon the possession of land, and guarded by a compulsory -distribution of all citizens into certain fixed and settled -associations. - ------ - -Footnote 1033: - - Ælfr. § 33. “Be boldgetǽle.” - -Footnote 1034: - - In Germany the Nachfolgende, Nachjagende Herr. See Fleta i. cap. 7. § - 7, 8. - -Footnote 1035: - - The lordless man, of whom no right could be got, i.e. who being in no - sort of association, could neither support himself nor offer any - guarantee to society, was to be got into one by his family. If they - either could not or would not produce him at the folcmót and find a - lord for him, he became an outlaw, and any one might slay him. Leg. - Æðelstán. Thorpe, i. 200. The same prince decided that if any landless - man, who followed a lord in some other shire, should revisit his - family, they might receive him on condition of being answerable for - his offences. Thorpe, i. 204. But this seems to me to be the case - merely of a temporary visit, made of course with the knowledge and - permission of his lord. - ------ - -I have already called attention to the fact that it was usual, if not -necessary, on emancipating a serf, to provide for his subsistence. It is -however not improbable that, though such emancipated serfs remained for -the most part upon the land, and in the protection of their former lord, -they found some assistance from the poor fund, either directly from the -church, or indirectly through the private alms of the lord. - -To resume all the facts of the case:—the State did not contemplate the -existence or provide for the support of any poor: it demanded that every -man should either be answerable for himself in a mutual bond of -association with his neighbours; or that he should place himself under -the protection of a lord, if he had no means of his own, and thus have -some one to answer for him. If unfree, the State of course held him to -be the chattel of his owner, who was only responsible to God for his -treatment of him. He therefore who had no means and could find no one to -take charge of him was an outlaw, that is, had no civil rights of any -kind. - -But Christianity taught that there was something even above the State, -which the State itself was bound to recognize. It accordingly impressed -upon all communicants the moral and religious duty of assisting those of -their brethren whom the strict law condemned to misery; and the clergy -presented their organization as a very efficient machinery for the -proper distribution of alms. The voluntary oblations became in time -replaced by settled payments; but the law did not alter the disposition -which the clergy had adopted; it only recognized and sanctioned it; -first by making the various church payments compulsory upon all classes; -and secondly by enacting that the mode of distribution long prevalent -should be the legal one, in a secular as well as an ecclesiastical -obligation. And thus by slow degrees, as the State itself became -Christianized, the moral duty became a legal one; and the merciful -intervention of religion was allowed to supply what could not be found -in the strict rule of law. - -It is unnecessary here to enquire how the power of the clergy to assist -the poor was gradually diminished, by the arbitrary consecration or -total subtraction of tithe, and other ecclesiastical payments; or how -the burthen of supporting the poor, having become a religious as well as -a civil duty, was shifted from one fund to another. It is enough to have -shown how the difficulty was attempted to be met during the continuance -of the Anglosaxon institutions. Under the present circumstances of -almost every European state, it is admitted that no man is to perish for -want of means, while means anywhere exist to feed him: and but two -questions can be admitted, namely:—Who is really in want? and,—How is he -to be fed at the least possible amount of loss to others? This is as far -as the State will go. Religion, properly considered, imposes very -different duties, and very different tests: but public morality alone -ought to teach that where the State has interfered on one side, it must -pay the penalty on the other; and that where it has positively -prescribed the directions in which men shall seek their subsistence, it -is bound to indemnify those whom these restrictions have tended to -impoverish. Every Poor Law is a protest against some wrong done: and in -proportion to the wrong is the energy of the protest itself. Do not -interfere with industry, and it will be very safe to leave poverty to -take care of itself. It is quite possible to conceive a state of things -in which crime and poverty shall be really convertible ideas, but of -this the history of the world as yet has given us no example. - - - - - APPENDIX. - - - - - APPENDIX A. - THE DOOMS OF THE CITY OF LONDON. - - (Æðelstán V. Thorpe, i. 228, sq.) - -“This is the ordinance which the bishops and the reeves belonging to -London have ordained, and with weds confirmed, among our ‘frith -gegildas,’ as well eorlish as ceorlish, in addition to the dooms which -were fixed at Greatanlea and at Exeter and at Thunresfeld. - - “_This then is first._ - -“1. That no thief be spared over XII pence, and no person over XII -years, whom we learn according to folkright that he is guilty, and can -make no denial; that we slay him, and take all that he has; and first -take the ‘ceapgild’ from the property; and after that let the surplus be -divided into II: one part to the wife, if she be innocent, and were not -privy to the crime; and the other into II; let the king take half, half -the fellowship. If it be bócland or bishop’s land, then has the landlord -the half part in common with the fellowship. - -“2. And he who secretly harbours a thief, and is privy to the crime and -to the guilt, to him let the like be done. - -“3. And he who stands with a thief, and fights with him, let him be -slain with the thief. - -“4. And he who oft before has been convicted openly of theft, and shall -go to the ordeal, and is there found guilty; that he be slain, unless -the kindred or the lord be willing to release him by his ‘wer,’ and by -the full ‘ceap-gild,’ and also have him in ‘borh,’ that he thenceforth -desist from every kind of evil. If after that he again steal, then let -his kinsmen give him up to the reeve to whom it may appertain, in such -custody as they before took him out of from the ordeal, and let him be -slain in retribution of the theft. But if any one defend him, and will -take him, although he was convicted at the ordeal, so that he might not -be slain; that he should be liable in his life, unless he should flee to -the king, and he should give him his life; all as it was before ordained -at Greatanlea, and at Exeter, and at Thunresfeld. - -“5. And whoever will avenge a thief, and commits an assault, or makes an -attack on the highway; let him be liable in CXX shillings to the king. -But if he slay any one in his revenge, let him be liable in his life, -and in all that he has, unless the king is willing to be merciful to -him. - - “_Second._ - -“That we have ordained: that each of us should contribute IV pence for -our common use within XII months, and pay for the property which should -be taken after we had contributed the money; and that all should have -the search in common; and that every man should contribute his shilling -who had property to the value of XXX pence, except the poor widow who -has no ‘forwyrhta’ nor any land. - - “_Third._ - -“That we count always ten men together, and the chief should direct the -nine in each of those duties which we have all ordained; and [count] -afterwards their ‘hyndens’ together, and one ‘hynden-man’ who shall -admonish the X for our common benefit; and let these XI hold the money -of the ‘hynden,’ and decide what they shall disburse when aught is to -pay, and what they shall receive, if money should arise to us, at our -common suit; and let them also know that every contribution be -forthcoming which we have all ordained for our common benefit, after the -rate of XXX pence or one ox; so that all be fulfilled which we have -ordained in our ordinances, and which stands in our agreement. - - “_Fourth._ - -“That every man of them who has heard the orders should be aidful to -others, as well in tracing as in pursuit, so long as the track is known; -and after the track has failed him, that one man be found where there is -a large population, as well as from one tithing where a less population -is, either to ride or to go (unless there be need of more) thither where -most need is, and as they all have ordained. - - “_Fifth._ - -“That no search be abandoned, either to the north of the march or to the -south, before every man who has a horse has ridden one riding; and that -he who has not a horse, work for the lord who rides or goes for him, -until he come home; unless right shall have been previously obtained. - - “_Sixth._ - -“1. Respecting our ‘ceapgild’: a horse at half a pound, if it be so -good; and if it be inferior, let it be paid for by the worth of its -appearance, and by that which the man values it at who owns it, unless -he have evidence that it be as good as he says, and then let [us] have -the surplus which we there require. - -“2. An ox at a mancus, and a cow at XX, and a swine at X, and a sheep at -a shilling. - -“3. And we have ordained respecting our ‘theowmen’ whom men might have; -if anyone should steal him, that he should be paid for with half a -pound; but if we should raise the ‘gild,’ that it should be increased -above that, by the worth of his appearance, and that we should have for -ourselves the surplus that we then should require. But if he should have -stolen himself away, that he should be led to the stoning, as it was -formerly ordained; and that every man who had a man, should contribute -either a penny or a halfpenny, according to the number of the -fellowship, so that we might be able to raise the worth. But if he -should make his escape, that he should be paid for by the worth of his -appearance, and we all should make search for him. If we then should be -able to come at him, that the same should be done to him that would be -done to a Wylisc thief, or that he be hanged. - -“4. And let the ‘ceapgild’ always advance from XXX pence to half a -pound, after we make search; further, if we raise the ‘ceap-gild’ to the -full ‘angilde’; and let the search still continue, as was before -ordained, though it be less. - - “_Seventh._ - -“That we have ordained: let do the deed whoever may that shall avenge -the injuries of us all, that we should be all so in one friendship as in -one foeship, whichever it then may be; and that he who should kill a -thief before other men, that he be XII pence the better for the deed, -and for the enterprize, from our common money. And he who should own the -property for which we pay let him not forsake the search, on peril of -our ‘oferhyrnes,’ and the notice therewith, until we come to payment; -and then also we would reward him for his labour, out of our common -money, according to the worth of the journey, lest the giving notice -should be neglected. - - “_Eighth._ - -“1. That we gather to us once in every month, if we can and have -leisure, the ‘hynden men’ and those who direct the tithings, as well -with ‘bytt-fylling,’ as else it may concern us, and know what of our -agreement has been executed; and let these XII men have their refection -together, and feed themselves according as they may deem themselves -worthy, and deal the remains of the meat for the love of God. - -“2. And if it then should happen that any kin be so strong and so great, -within land or without, whether ‘XII hynde’ or ‘twy hynde,’ that they -refuse us right, and stand up in defence of a thief; that we all of us -ride thereto with the reeve within whose ‘manung’ it may be. - -“3. And also send on both sides to the reeves, and desire from them aid -of so many men as may seem to us adequate for so great a suit, that -there may be the more fear in those culpable men for our assemblage, and -that we all ride thereto, and avenge our wrong, and slay the thief, and -those who fight and stand with him, unless they be willing to depart -from him. - -“4. And if any one trace a track from one shire to another, let the men -who there are next take to it, and pursue the track till it be made -known to the reeve; let him then with his ‘manung’ take to it, and -pursue the track out of his shire, if he can; but if he cannot, let him -pay the ‘angylde’ of the property, and let both reeveships have the full -suit in common, be it wherever it may, as well to the north of the march -as to the south, always from one shire to another; so that every reeve -may assist another, for the common ‘frith’ of us all, by the king’s -‘oferhyrnes.’ - -“5. And also that everyone shall help another, as it is ordained and by -‘weds’ confirmed; and such man as shall neglect this beyond the march, -let him be liable in XXX pence, or an ox, if he aught of this neglect -which stands in our writings, and we with our ‘weds’ have confirmed. - -“6. And we have also ordained respecting every man who has given his -‘wed’ in our gildships, if he should die, that each gild-brother shall -give a ‘gesufel’ loaf for his soul, and sing a fifty, or get it sung -within XXX days. - -“7. And we also command our ‘hiremen’ that each man shall know when he -has his cattle, or when he has not, on his neighbour’s witness, and that -he point out to us the track, if he cannot find it within three days; -for we believe that many heedless men reck not how their cattle go, for -over-confidence in the ‘frith.’ - -“8. Then we command that within III days he make it known to his -neighbours, if he will ask for the ‘ceap-gild’; and let the search -nevertheless go on as it was before ordained, for we will not pay for -any unguarded property, unless it be stolen. Many men speak fraudulent -speech. If he cannot point out to us the track, let him show on oath -with III of his neighbours that it has been stolen within III days, and -after that let him ask for his ‘ceap-gild.’ - -“9. And let it not be denied nor concealed, if our lord or any of our -reeves should suggest to us any addition to our ‘frith-gilds’ that we -will joyfully accept the same, as it becomes us all, and may be -advantageous to us. But let us trust in God, and our kingly lord, if we -fulfil all things thus, that the affairs of all folk will be better with -respect to theft than they before were. If, however, we slacken in the -‘frith’ and the ‘wed’ which we have given, and the king has commanded of -us, then may we expect, or well know, that these thieves will prevail -yet more than they did before. But let us keep our ‘weds’ and the -‘frith’ as is pleasing to our lord; it greatly behoves us that we devise -that which he wills; and if he order and instruct us more, we shall be -humbly ready. - - “_Ninth._ - -“That we have ordained: respecting those thieves whom one cannot -immediately discover to be guilty, and one afterwards learns that they -are guilty and liable; that the lord or the kinsmen should release him -in the same manner as those men are released who are found guilty at the -ordeal. - - “_Tenth._ - -“That all the ‘witan’ gave their ‘weds’ altogether to the archbishop at -Thunresfeld, when Ælfeah Stybb and Brihtnoth Odda’s son came to meet the -‘gemot’ by the king’s command; that each reeve should take the ‘wed’ in -his own shire: that they would all hold the ‘frith’ as king Æthelstan -and his ‘witan’ had counselled it, first at Greatanlea, and again at -Exeter, and afterwards at Feversham, and a fourth time at Thunresfeld, -before the archbishop and all the bishops, and his ‘witan’ whom the king -himself named, who were thereat: that those dooms should be observed -which were fixed at this ‘gemot,’ except those which were there before -done away with; which was, Sunday marketing, and that with full and true -witness any one might buy out of port. - - “_Eleventh._ - -“That Æthelstan commands his bishops and his ‘ealdormen’ and all his -reeves over all my realm, that ye so hold the ‘frith’ as I and my -‘witan’ have ordained; and if any of you neglect it, and will not obey -me, and will not take the ‘wed’ of his ‘hiremen,’ and he allow of secret -compositions, and will not attend to these regulations as I have -commanded, and it stands in our writs; then be the reeve without his -‘folgoth’, and without my friendship, and pay me cxx shilling; and each -of my thanes who has land, and will not keep the regulations as I have -commanded, [let him pay] half that. - - “_Twelfth._ - -“1. That the king now again has ordained to his ‘witan’ at Witlanburh, -and has commanded it to be made known to the archbishop by bishop -Theodred, that it seemed to him too cruel that so young a man should be -killed, and besides for so little, as he has learned has somewhere been -done. He then said, that it seemed to him, and to those who counselled -with him, that no younger person should be slain than xv years, except -he should make resistance or flee, and would not surrender himself; that -then he should be slain, as well for more as for less, whichever it -might be. But if he be willing to surrender himself, let him be put into -prison, as it was ordained at Greatanlea, and by the same let him be -redeemed. - -“2. Or if he come not into prison, and they have none, that they take -him in ‘borh’ by his full ‘wer,’ that he will evermore desist from every -kind of evil. If the kindred will not take him out, nor enter into -‘borh’ for him, then let him swear as the bishop may instruct him, that -he will desist from every kind of evil, and stand in servitude by his -‘wer.’ But if he after that again steal, let him be slain or hanged, as -was before done to the elder ones. - -“3. And the king has also ordained, that no one should be slain for less -property than xii pence worth, unless he will flee or defend himself; -and that then no one should hesitate, though it were for less. If we it -thus hold, then trust I in God that our ‘frith’ will be better than it -has before been.” - - ------------------ - -The following Flemish Charters of Liberties seemed to me fitting to be -recorded here. They are taken from the ‘Piéces justificatives’ of -Warnkönig’s History of Flanders, vol. ii. - -I. _Première Charte ou_ Keure _de la ville de St. Omer, accordée par - Guillaume de Normandie, comte de Flandre, et confirmée par - Louis-le-Gros, roi de France. 14 Avril 1127._ - -“Ego Guillelmus Dei gratia Flandrensium Comes petitioni Burgensium -Sancti Audomari contraïre nolens, pro eo maxime quia meam de Consulatu -Flandriæ petitionem libenti animo receperunt, et quia honestius et -fidelius cæteris Flandrensibus erga me semper se habuerunt, lagas seu -consuetudines subscriptas perpetuo eis iuro concedo, et ratas manere -præcipio. - -“§ 1. Primo quidem ut erga unumquemque hominem, pacem eis faciam et eos -sicut homines meos sine malo ingenio manuteneam et defendam; rectumque -iudicium scabinorum erga unumquemque hominem, et erga me ipsum eis fieri -concedam; ipsisque scabinis libertatem, qualem melius habent scabini -terræ meæ constituam. - -“§ 2. Si quis Burgensium Sancti Audomari alicui pecuniam suam -crediderit, et ille cui credita est, coram legitimis hominibus et in -villa sua hereditariis sponte concesserit, quod si die constituta -pecuniam non persolverit, ipse vel bona eius, donec omnia reddat, -retineantur: si persolvere noluerit, aut si negaverit hanc conventionem, -et testimonio duorum Scabinorum, vel duorum iuratorum inde convictus -fuerit, donec debitum solvat, retineatur. - -“§ 3. Si quis de iure christianitatis ab aliquo interpellatus fuerit, de -villa Sancti Audomari alias pro iustitia exequenda, non exeat: sed in -eadem villa coram episcopo vel eius Archidiacono, vel suo presbytero, -quod iustum est clericorum, scabinorumque iudicio exequatur: nec -respondeat alicui, nisi tribus de causis; videlicet de infractura -ecclesiæ, vel atrii, de lesione clerici, de oppressione et violatione -feminæ: quod si de aliis causis querimonia facta fuerit coram iudicibus -et præposito meo hoc finiatur. Sic enim coram K. Comite et episcopo -Johanne statutum fuit. - -“§ 4. Libertatem vero, quam antecessorum meorum temporibus habuerunt eis -concedo. Scilicet quod nunquam de terra sua in expeditionem -proficiscentur, excepto si hostilis exercitus terram Flandriæ invaserit; -tunc me et terram meam defendere debebunt. - -“§ 5. Omnes qui Gildam eorum habent, et ad illam pertinent, et infra -cingulam villæ suæ manent, liberos omnes a teloneo facio, ad portum -Dichesmudæ et Graveningis; et per totam terram Flandriæ, eos liberos a -Sewerp facio. Apud Batpalmas teloneum, quale donant Atrebatenses, eis -constituo. - -“§ 6. Quisquis eorum ad terram imperatoris pro negotiatione sua -perexerit, a nemine meorum hansam persolvere cogatur. - -“§ 7. Si contigerit mihi aliquo tempore præter terram Flandriæ aliam -conquirere, aut si concordia pacis inter me et avunculum meum H. regem -Angliæ facta fuerit, in conquisita terra illa aut in toto regno Anglorum -eos liberos ab omni teloneo et ab omni consuetudine in concordia illa -recipi faciam. - -“§ 8. In omni mercato Flandriæ si quis clamorem adversus eos -suscitaverit iudicium scabinorum de omni clamore sine duello subeant; ab -duello vero ulterius liberi sint. - -“§ 9. Omnes qui infra murum sancti Audomari habitant et deinceps sunt -habitaturi, liberos a Cavagio hoc est a capitali censu, et de -advocationibus constituo. - -“§ 10. Pecuniam eorum quæ post mortem Comitis K. eis ablata est, et quæ -propter fidelitatem quam erga me habent adhuc eis detinetur, aut infra -annum reddi faciam, aut iudicio scabinorum institiam eis fieri concedam. - -“§ 11. Præterea rogaverunt regem Franciæ et Raulphum de Parona, ut -ubicumque in terram illorum venerint, liberi sint ab omni teloneo, et -traverso et passagio; quod et concedi volo. - -“§ 12. Communionem autem suam sicut eam iuraverunt permanere præcipio, -et a nemine dissolvi permitto, et omne rectum rectamque iustitiam sicut -melius stat in terra mea, scilicet in Flandria, eis concedo. - -“§ 13. Et sicut meliores et liberiores Burgenses Flandriæ ab omni -consuetudine liberos deinceps esse volo; nullum scoth, nullam taliam, -nullam pecuniæ suæ petitionem ab eis requiro. - -“§ 14. Monetam meam in Sancto Audomaro unde per annum XXX libras habebam -et quidquid in ea habere debeo, ad restaurationem damnorum suorum et -gildæ suæ sustentamentum constituo. Ipsi vero Burgenses monetam per -totam vitam meam stabilem et bonam, unde villa sua melioretur, -stabiliant. - -“§ 15. Custodes qui singulis noctibus per annum vigilantes castellum -Sancti Audomari custodiunt, et qui præter feodum suum et præbendam sibi -antiquitus constitutam in avena et caseis et in pellibus arietum, -iniuste et violenter ab unaquaque domo in eadem villa, scilicet ad -Sanctum Audomarum sanctumque Bertinum in natali domini panem unum et -denarium unum aut duos denarios exigere solent, aut pro hiis pauperum -vadimonia tollebant, nihil omnino deinceps præter feodum suum et -præbendam suam exigere audeant. - -“§ 16. Quisquis ad Niuverledam venerit, undecumque venerit, licentiam -habeat veniendi ad Sanctum Audomarum cum rebus suis in quacunque navi -voluerit. - -“§ 17. Si cum Boloniensium comite S. concordiam habuero, in illa -reconciliatione eos a Teloneo et Seuwerp apud Witsant et per totam -terram eius liberos esse faciam. - -“§ 18. Pasturam adiacentem villæ Sancti Audomari in nemori, quod dicitur -Lo, et in paludibus et in pratis et in bruera et in Hongrecoltra, usibus -eorum, exceptâ terrâ Lazarorum, concedo, sicut fuit tempore Roberti -Comitis Barbati. - -“§ 19. Mansiones quoque, quæ sunt in ministerio Advocati Sancti Bertini, -illas videlicet quæ inhabitantur, ab omni consuetudine liberas esse -volo: dabuntque singulæ denarios XII in festo Sancti Michælis, et de -brotban denarios XII et de byrban denarios XII. Vacuæ autem nihil -dabunt. - -“§ 20. Si quis extraneus aliquem Burgensium Sancti Audomari agressus -fuerit, et ei contumeliam vel iniuriam irrogaverit vel violenter ei sua -abstulerit, et cum hac iniuria manus eius evaserit, postmodum vocatus a -castellano vel uxore eius seu ab eius dapifero, infra triduum ad -satisfactionem venire contempserit aut neglexerit; ipsi communiter -iniuriam fratris sui in eo vindicabunt, in qua vindicta si domus diruta -vel combusta fuerit, aut si quispiam vulneratus vel occisus fuerit, -nullum corporis aut rerum suarum periculum, qui vindictam perpetravit, -incurrat, nec offensam meam super hoc sentiat vel pertimescat; si vero, -qui iniuriam intulit presentialiter tentus fuerit, secundum leges et -consuetudines villæ presentialiter iudicabitur et secundum quantitatem -facti punietur; scilicet oculum pro oculo, dentem pro dente, caput pro -capite reddet. - -“§ 21. De morte Eustachii de Stenford quicunque aliquem Burgensium -Sancti Audomari perturbaverit et molestaverit, reus proditionis et -mortis K. Comitis habeatur; quoniam pro fidelitate mea factum est, -quidquid de eo factum est; et sicut iuravi et fidem dedi, sic eos erga -parentes eius reconciliare et pacificare volo. - -“§ 25. Hanc igitur Communionem tenendam, has supradictas consuetudines -et conventiones esse observandas fide promiserunt et sacramento -confirmaverunt: Ludovicus rex Francorum, Guillelmus comes Flandriæ, -Raulphus de Parona, Hugo Candavena, Hosto Castellanus, et Guillelmus -frater eius, Robertus de Bethuna, et Guillelmus filius eius, Anselmus de -Hesdinio, Stephanus Comes Boloniensis, Manasses Comes Gisnensis, -Galterus de Lillers, Balduinus Gandavensis, Hiuvannus frater eius, -Rogerus Castellanus Insulensis, et Robertus filius eius, Razo de Gavera, -Daniel de Tenremot, Helias de Sensen, Henricus de Brocborc, Eustachius -advocatus, et Arnulphus filius eius, Castellanus Gandavensis, Gervasius -Petrus dapifer, Stephanus de Seningaham. Confirmatum est hoc privilegium -et a Comite Guillelmo et prædictis Baronibus istis fide et sacramento -sancitum, et collaudatum anno dominicæ Incarnationis MCXXVII, XVIII Kl. -Maii, feria V^a die festo Sancti Tiburtii et Valeriani.” - - II. _Additions et changemens faits à la_ Keure _précédente par le Comte - Thierri d’Alsace. 22 Août 1128._ - -“§ 1. Monetam quam Burgenses Sancti Audomari habuerant, Comiti liberam -reddiderunt eo quod eos benignius tractaret, et lagas suas eis libentius -ratas teneret: et insuper ut ceteri Flandrenses eidem sua incrementa -celerius redderent. - -“§ 2. Teloneum vero suum ab eodem in perpetuo censu receperunt, -quotannis C solidos dando. - -“§ 3. Si quis etiam eorum mortuo aliquo consanguineo suo, portionem -aliquam possessionis illius sibi obvenire credens et in comitatu -Flandriæ manens, cum eo, qui possessionem illam tenebit, vel partiri -infra annum neglexerit, vel eum super hoc per iudices et scabinos minime -convenerit; qui per annum integrum sine legitima calumnia tenuerit, -quiete deinceps teneat, et nulli super hoc respondeat. Si autem heres in -comitatu Flandriæ non fuerit, infra annum, quo redierit, cum possessore -agat supradicto modo: alioquin qui tenebit sine ulla inquietatione -teneat. Si autem herede aliquandiu peregre commorante, et cum redierit -portionem suam requirente, possidens se cum eo partitum esse dixerit, si -ille per quinque Scabinos probare falsum esse poterit, hereditas quæ eum -attingit ei reddetur: alioquin possidens per quatuor legitimos viros se -ei portionem suam dedisse probabit; et ita quietus erit. Quod si heres -infra annos discretionis fuerit, pater vel mater, si supervixerint, vel -qui eum manutenebit, portionem quæ illum attinget scabinis et aliis -legitimis viris infra annum obitus illius ostendat, et si eis visum -fuerit quod ille fideliter servare debeat, ei comittatur. Sin autem -iudicio et providentia illorum ita disponatur, ne heres damnum alioquod -patiatur; et cum ad annos discretionis venerit, et opportunum fuerit, -hereditate sua integre et sine aliqua diminutione investiatur. - -“§ 4. Item si quis alicui filium suum, vel filiam in matrimonio -coniunxerit, et filius ille, vel filia sine prole obierint, ad patrem et -matrem eorum si supervixerint, si autem mortui fuerint ad alios filios -eorum, vel filios filiorum redeat hereditas quæ pertinebat ad filium vel -filiam, quos aliis matrimonio copulaverant; et viventibus patre vel -matre eorum hereditas illa cum supradictis personis tantum dividatur: -mortuis autem illis propinquiores consanguinei illam, prout iustum est, -sortiantur. - -“Hanc igitur communionem tenendam, et supradictas institutiones et -conventiones esse observandas fide promiserunt et sacramento -confirmaverunt Theodoricus, Comes Flandriæ, Willelmus Castellanus Sancti -Audomari, Willelmus de Lo, Iwannus de Gandavo, Danihel de Tenramunda, -Raso de Gavera, Gislebertus de Bergis, Henricus de Broburc, Castellanus -de Gandavo, Gervasius de Brugis.—Præfati Barones insuper iuraverunt, -quod si Comes Burgenses Sancti Audomari extra consuetudines suas eiicere -et sine iudicio Scabinorum tractare vellet, se a comite discessuros et -cum eis remansuros, donec comes eis suas consuetudines integre -restitueret et iudicium Scabinorum eos subire permitteret. Actum anno -dominicæ Incarnationis MCXXVIII in octavis assumptionis Beatæ Mariæ.” - - III. _Charte de donation du fonds de la Gild-halle de St. Omer aux - Bourgeois de cette ville._ 1151. - -“Ego Theodoricus Dei patientia Flandrensium Comes, consensu uxoris meæ -Sibillæ, concedente ita quoque Philippo filio meo, terram in qua -Ghildhalla apud sanctum Audomarum in foro sita est, cum scopis et -adpenditiis suis tam ligneis quam lapideis, burgensibus eiusdem villæ -hereditario iure possidendam, et ad omnem mercaturam tam in appenditiis, -quam in Ghildhalla exercendam tradidi: hanc quoque libertatem eis -concessi, ut si quis in eam venerit, undecunque reus fuerit, in ipsa -domo iudici in eum manum non mittere licebit; ille autem sub cuius -custodia Ghildhalla tenetur, admonitus a iudice reum extra limen -Ghildhallæ conducens nisi fideiussione se defenderit, in præsentia -duorum scabinorum vel plurium eum iudici tradet: iudex vero eum in -potestate sua habens secundum quantitatem facti cum eo aget. Illud -quoque addidimus, quod alienus negotiator nusquam, nisi in prædicta domo -aut in appendiciis eius, vel in pleno foro merces suas vendendas exponat -aut vendat. Solis autem burgensibus in foro, in Ghildhalla, seu magis -velint, is propria domo sua, vendere liceat. - -“Quoniam autem humana omnia ex rerum et temporum varietate senescunt, -sigilli mei auctoritate et subscriptorum testimonio hoc corroboravi. -Walterus Castellanus sancti Audomari, Arnoldus Comes de Gisnes, Gerardus -Præpositus, Arnulphus de Arde, Henricus Castellanus de Brübborg, -Elenardus de Sinningehem, Hugo de Ravensberghe, Baldevinus de Bailgul, -Michael Iunior, Christianus de Aria, Guido Castellanus de Bergis, -Rogerus de Wavrin, Helinus filius eius.” - - IV. _Keure de Bruges._ Vers 1190. - -“Hæc est lex et consuetudo quam Brugenses tenere debent a comite -Philippo instituta. Si quis alicui vulnus fecerit infra pontem sanctæ -Mariæ, infra Botrebeika, infra usque ad domum Galteri Calvi, infra usque -ad domum Lanikini carpentarii, supra terram Balduini de Prat, infra -fossatum veteris molendini, et illud veritate scabinorum cognoscatur de -quacunque re factum sit, ad domum in qua ille manet, qui vulnus -imposuit, per scabinos et per iustitiam comitis submoncatur. Qui -submonitus, si scabinis se præsentet, veritate inquisita de illo qui -vulnus fecerit per sexaginta libras forefactum emendet, et si scabini -sciunt quod vulnus non fecerit, liber et in pace remanebit. Si die quâ -submonebitur se non præsentaverit, remanebat in forefacto sexaginta -librarum, et si scabini voluerint domum eius prosternere, poterunt et in -respectum ponere, sed ex toto condonare non possunt nisi voluntate -Comitis. - -“2. Si verò quis aliquem in domo suâ assiluerit, unde clamor factus sit, -scabini et iustitia domum ibunt inspicere: et si scabini poterunt -videre, assultum esse apparentem, ille de quo clamor factus est -submoneri debet; qui si scabinis se præsentaverit et illum intellexerint -assultum fecisse, LX libras amittet. Si vero cognoverint illum assultum -non fecisse, liber et in pace recedat. Si autem ad diem submonitionis -venire noluerit, domo ejus prostrata LX librarum reus erit. Quod si alii -assultui interfuerint, de quibus clamor factus non sit, si comes super -hoc veritatem scabinorum requisierit, scabini veritatem inquirere -debent, et quotquot veritate scabinorum de assultu tenebuntur, -unusquisque eorum LX librarum reus erit, ac si de eo clamor factus sit. -Si vero scabini nullum assultum agnoscere potuerunt ab ipsis super hoc -veritas est inquirenda. - -“3. Qui cum armis molutis infra præfinitos terminos aliquem fugaverit, -si veritate scabinorum convincatur forisfacto librarum LX tenebitur: si -aliquis assiliatur, quidquid ipse faciat in defendendo corpus suum nullo -tenebitur forisfacto. - -“4. Qui aliquem bannitum occiderit in hoc nullum facit forisfactum. - -“5. Quicumque testimonio scabinorum convictus fuerit de rapina, LX lib. -de forisfacto dabit et dampnum rapinæ restituet. - -“6. Qualemcunque concordiam bannitus faciat comiti, remanebit tamen -bannitus, donec viris Brugensibus ad opus castri LX solidos dederit. - -“7. Qui bannitum de forefacto LX libr. hospitio susceperit, veritate -scabinorum convictus LX libras amittet. - -“8. Qui aliquem fuste vel baculo percusserit, convictus a scabinis in -forisfacto X lib. incidit de quibus comes habebit V lib. Castellanus XX -sol. ille qui percussus est LX sol. et ad opus castri XX sol. - -“9. Qui pugno vel palma aliquem percusserit seu per capillos acceperit -inde per scabinos convictus LX sol. dabit unde XXX solidi comitis erunt, -percussi XV sol. castallani X sol. ad opus castri V sol. Qui aliquem per -capillos ad terram traxerit sive per lutum trahendo pedibus -conculcaverit, X lib. comiti dabit, maletractato XV solidos, Castellano -X sol. et ad castrum V solidos. - -“10. Qui vero alicui convitia dixerit, si testimonio duorum scabinorum -convincatur, illi cui convicia dixerit V solidos dabit, Iusticiæ XII -denarios. - -“11. Qui duobus scabinis aut pluribus inducias pacis, quæ treuiæ -dicuntur, de quâlibet discordiâ dare noluerit, illud emendabit per LX -lib. - -“12. Si dissensiones aut discordiæ aut guerræ aut aliquod aliud malum -inter probos viros oppidi exoriatur, unde ad aures scabinorum clamor -perveniat, salvo iure comitis, scabini illud componere et pacificare -poterunt. Qui verò compositionem vel pacem quam super hoc scabini -consolidaverint, sequi noluerit, forisfactum LX lib. incurret. - -“13. Qui ea dedixerit quæ scabini in iudicio vel testimonio -affirmaverint, LX lib. amittet, et unicuique scabinorum qui ab co -dedictus erit X libras dabit. - -“14. Quicumque per vim fœminam violaverit, si de eo veritate -scabinorum convincatur, eâdem pœnâ dampnabitur, quantâ a -prædecessoribus comitibus, tales malefactores dampnari solent in -Flandriâ. - -“15. Quicumque per malum in scabinos manum suam immiserit, si scabini -illud testificentur, LX libras dabit. - -“16. Præterea sciant omnes, quod vir de oppido Brugensi, cuiuscumque -forisfacti se reum fecerit, non amplius quam LX libr. amittere poterit, -nisi legitime per scabinos convictus fuerit de raptu, ut dictum est, vel -de latrocinio, vel de falsitate, vel nisi hominem occiderit. Qui verò -occiderit hominem, caput pro capite dabit, et omnia sua in potestate -comitis erunt absque omni contradictione, si de homicidio veritate -scabinorum teneatur. - -“17. Nemo infra præfinitos terminos manens infra muros castri gladium -ferat, nisi sit mercator vel alius qui gratiâ negocii sui per castrum -transeat. Si verò castrum intraverit causâ inibi morandi, gladium extra -in suburbio dimittat. Quod si non fecerit, LX solidos et gladium -amittet. Iusticiis vero comitis et ministris earum, quia pacem castri -observare debent, nocte et die infra castrum arma ferre licebit. Viris -etiam Brugensibus gladium portare et reportare licebit, dummodo castro -exeant festinanter. Si quis autem eorum moras faciendo, vel per castrum -vagando, gladium portaverit, LX solid. et gladium amittet. - -“18. Si scabini gratiâ emendationis villæ assensu iustitiæ comitis -bannum in pane et vino et cæteris mercibus constituerint, medietas eorum -quæ ex banno provenient, comitis erit, et altera medietas castellani et -oppidi. - -“19. Si mercator sive alius homo extraneus ante scabinos iustitiæ causâ -venerit, si illi, de quibus conqueritur presentes sint vel inveniri -possint infra tertium diem vel saltem infra octavum, plenariam ei -scabini iustitiam faciant iuxta legem castri. - -“20. Nemini in foro comitis stallos locare licebit, quod si locaverit et -veritate scabinorum super hoc convictus fuerit, LX solidos comiti dabit. - -“21. Si aliquis de infracturis castri coram scabinis falsum testimonium -portaverit si scabini illud cognoverint LX libras amittet. - -“22. Quando aliquis scabinus decedet, alius ei substituetur electione -Comitis non aliter. - -“23. Si scabinus testimonio scabinorum parium suorum de falsitate -convictus fuerit, ipse et omnia sua in potestate Comitis erunt. - -“24. Si Scabini a Comite vel a ministro Comitis submoniti, falsum super -aliqua re iudicium fecerint, veritate scabinorum Atrebatensium, sive -aliorum qui eandem legem tenent, comes eos convincere poterit; et si -convicti fuerint, ipsi et omnia sua in potestate comitis erunt. Quoties -verò super huiusmodi falsitate submoniti fuerint, nullatenus -contradicere poterunt, quin diem sibi a Comite praefixum teneant, -ubicumque Comes voluerit in Flandriâ. - -“25. De omnibus verò aliis causis ad Comitem pertinentibus, Brugis in -castello vel ante castellum placita tenebunt in praesentia Comitis vel -illius quem loco suo ad iustitiam tenendam instituerit. Instituto autem -ad eius submonitionem de omnibus tanquam Comiti respondebunt, quamdiù in -hoc servitio comitis erit. - -“Ad hoc nec scabini nec Brugenses aliquid addere, mutare, vel corrigere -poterunt, nisi per consilium Comitis vel illius quem loco suo ad -iustitiam tenendam instituerit. - - V. _Ordonnance du comte Philippe d’Alsace, sur les attributs des Baillis - en Flandre._ Vers 1178. - -“Hæc sunt puncta, quæ per universam terram suam Comes observari -præcepit. - -“§ 1. Primo qui hominem occiderit, caput pro capite dabit. - -“§ 2. Item baillivus Comitis poterit arrestare hominem qui forefecit -sine Scabinis donec ante Scabinos veniat, et per consilium eorum plegium -accipiat de forisfacto. - -“§ 3. Item si baillivus volens hominem arrestare, non potuerit et -auxilium vocaverit, qui primus fuerit, et baillivum non adiuverit in -forisfacto erit, sicut Scabini considerabunt; nisi forte ostendere quis -potuerit per Scabinos quod ille qui arrestandus erat, inimicus eius sit -de mortali faidâ; et tunc sine forisfacto erit licet baillivum non -adiuverit ad capiendum suum inimicum. - -“§ 4. Item baillivus Comitis erit cum Scabinis, qui eligent probos viros -villæ ad faciendas tallias et Assisas, sed cum talliabunt Scabini vel -Iudicia facient, vel inquisitiones veritatis, vel protractiones, non -intererit baillivus: aliis autem consiliis quæ ad utilitatem villæ -pertinebunt, baillivus intererit cum Scabinis, scriptum autem talliæ et -assisæ reddent Scabini baillivo, si postulaverit. - -“§ 5. Item baillivus accipiet forisfactum adiudicatum Comiti per -Scabinos, ubicumque illud invenerit extra ecclesiam et ubicumque accipi -debet per Scabinos. - -“§ 6. Item qui bannitum de pecuniâ receptaverit eâdem lege de pecuniâ -tenebitur quâ bannitus; et si fuerit capite bannitus qui receptatus est, -tunc receptans tenebitur de forisfacto LX lib. Quod si vir domi non -fuerit, et ejus uxor bannitum receptaverit, rediensque vir, tertiâ manu -proborum virorum iurare potuerit: quod bannitum in domam suam receptum -esse nescierit; sine forisfacto remanebit: si autem absentiâ mariti, -uxori prohibitum fuerit per Scabinos, ne bannitum receptet, de cætero -non poterit eum sine forisfacto receptare. - -“§ 7. Item de quindenâ in quindenam, habet comes, vel baillivus ex eius -parte, veritatem si voluerit. - -“§ 8. Item domus diruenda Judicio Scabinorum, post quindenam a scabinis -indultam, quandocunque Comes præceperit, aut baillivus eius, diruetur a -Communia villæ, campana pulsata per Scabinos: et qui ad diruendam domum -illam non venerit, in forisfacto erit, sicut Scabini considerabunt, nisi -talem excusationem habuerit, quæ Scabinis sufficiens videatur. - -“§ 9. Item pater non poterit forisfacere domum vel rem filiorum, quæ eis -ex parte matris contingit; nec filii poterunt forisfacere rem vel domum -patris, quæ ex parte patris venit. - -“§ 10. Item si homo per Scabinos domum suam sine scampo invadiaverit, -eam forisfacere non poterit, nisi salvo catallo eius, qui domum illam -vadet in vadio. - -“§ 11. Item fugitivus de aliquâ villâ pro debito, si in aliâ villâ -inventus fuerit, arrestabitur, et ad villam, de quâ fugerat, reducetur, -et iudicium Scabinorum illius villæ subire cogetur. - -“§ 12. Item si quis vulneratus fuerit, et videatur Scabinis’ quod non -sit vulneratus ad mortem, et postea de illo vulnere mortuus fuerit, -Scabini non erunt in forisfacto contra Comitem, qui minorem plegiaturam -acceperunt de eo qui cum vulneravit, quam si mortaliter fuisset -vulneratus.” - - ------------------ - -The following charters of the French communes are taken from M. -Thierry’s Lettres sur l’Histoire de France. - -I. _Charte de Beauvais._—“Tous les hommes domiciliés dans l’enceinte du -mur de ville et dans les faubourgs, de quelque seigneur que relève le -terrain où ils habitent, prêteront serment à la commune. Dans toute -l’étendue de la ville, chacun prêtera secours aux autres, loyalement et -selon son pouvoir. - -“Treize pairs seront élus par la commune, entre lesquels, d’après le -vote des autres pairs et de tous ceux qui auront juré la commune, un ou -deux seront créés majeurs. - -“Le majeur et les pairs jureront de ne favoriser personne de la commune -pour cause d’amitié, de ne léser personne pour cause d’inimitié, et de -donner en toute chose, selon leur pouvoir, une décision équitable. Tous -les autres jureront d’obéir et de prêter main forte aux décisions du -majeur et des pairs[1036]. - -Footnote 1036: - - Ann. de Noyon, t. ii. p. 805. - - Turbulenta conjuratio facta communionis (epistolæ Ivonis Carnotensis - episcopi, apud script. rer. franc., t. xv. p. 105). - - Cum primùm communia acquisita fuit, omnes Viromandiæ pares, et omnes - clerici, salvo ordine suo, omnesque milites, salvâ fidelitate comitis, - firmiter tenendam juraverunt. (Recueil des ordonnances des rois de - France, t. xi. p. 270.) - -“Quiconque aura forfait envers un homme qui aura juré cette commune, le -majeur et les pairs, si plainte leur en est faite, feront justice du -corps et des biens du coupable. - -“Si le coupable se réfugie dans quelque château fort, le majeur et les -pairs de la commune parleront sur cela au seigneur du château ou à celui -qui sera en son lieu; et si, à leur avis, satisfaction leur est faite de -l’ennemi de la commune, ce sera assez; mais si le seigneur refuse -satisfaction, ils se feront justice à eux-mêmes sur ses hommes. - -“Si quelque marchand étranger vient à Beauvais pour le marché, et que -quelqu’un lui fasse tort ou injure dans les limites de la banlieue; si -plainte en est faite au majeur et aux pairs, et que le marchand puisse -trouver son malfaiteur dans la ville, la majeur et les pairs en feront -justice, à moins que le marchand ne soit un des ennemis de la commune. - -“Nul homme de la commune ne devra prêter ni créancer son argent aux -ennemis de la commune tant qu’il y aura guerre avec eux, car s’il le -fait il sera parjure; et si quelqu’un est convaincu de leur avoir prêté -ou créance quoique ce soit, justice sera faite de lui, selon que le -majeur et les pairs en décideront. - -“S’il arrive que le corps des bourgeois marche hors de la ville contre -ses ennemis, nul le parlamentera avec eux si ce n’est avec licence du -majeur et des pairs. - -“Si quelqu’un de la commune a confié son argent à quelqu’un de la ville, -et que celui auquel l’argent aura été confié se réfugie dans quelque -château fort, le seigneur du château, en ayant reçu plainte, ou rendra -l’argent ou chassera le débiteur de son château; et s’il ne fait ni -l’une ni l’autre de ces choses, justice sera faite sur les hommes de ce -château. - -“Si quelqu’un enlève de l’argent à un homme de la commune et se réfugie -dans quelque château fort, justice sera faite sur lui si on peut le -recontrer, ou sur les hommes et les biens du seigneur du château, à -moins que l’argent ne soit rendu. - -“S’il arrive que quelqu’un de la commune ait acheté quelque héritage et -l’ait tenu pendant l’an et jour, et si quelqu’un vient ensuite réclamer -et demander le rachat, il ne lui sera point fait de réponse, mais -l’acheteur demeurera en paix. - -“Pour aucune cause la présente charte ne sera portée hors de la ville.” - -II. _Charter of the Commune of Laon._—“Nul ne pourra se saisir d’aucun -homme, soit libre, soit serf, sans le ministère de la justice. - -“Si quelqu’un a, de quelque manière que ce soit, fait tort à un autre, -soit clerc, soit chevalier, soit marchand indigène ou étranger, et que -celui qui a fait le tort soit de la ville, il sera sommé de se présenter -en justice par-devant le majeur et les jurés, pour se justifier ou faire -amende; mais s’il se refuse à faire réparation, il sera exclu de la -ville avec tous ceux de sa famille. Si les propriétés du délinquant en -terres ou en vignes sont situées hors du territoire de la ville, le -majeur et les jurés réclameront justice contre lui, de la part du -seigneur dans le ressort duquel ses biens seront situés; mais si l’on -n’obtient pas justice de ce seigneur, les jurés pourront faire dévaster -les propriétés du coupable. Si le coupable n’est pas de la ville, -l’affaire sera portée devant la cour del’évêque, et si, dans le délai do -cinq jours, la forfaiture n’est pas reparée, le majeur et les jurés en -tireront selon leur pouvoir. - -“En matière capitale, la plainte doit d’abord être portée devant le -seigneur justicier dans le ressort duquel aura été pris le coupable, ou -devant son bailli s’il est absent; et si le plaignant ne peut obtenir -justice ni de l’un ni de l’autre, il s’adressera aux jurés. - -“Les censitaires ne paieront à leur seigneur d’autre cens que celui -qu’ils le doivent par tête. S’ils ne le paient pas au temps marqué, ils -seront punis selon la loi qui les régit, mais n’accorderont rien en sus -à leur seigneur que de leur propre volonté. - -“Les hommes de la commune pourront prendre pour femmes les filles des -vassaux ou des serfs de quelque seigneur que ce soit, à l’exception des -seigneuries et des églises qui font partie de cet commune. Dans les -familles de ces dernières ils ne pourront prendre des épouses sans le -consentement du seigneur. - -“Aucun étranger censitaire des églises ou des chevaliers de la ville ne -sera compris dans la commune que du consentement de son seigneur. - -“Quiconque sera reçu dans cet commune, bâtira une maison dans le délai -d’un an, ou achetera des vignes, ou apportera dans la ville assez -d’effets mobiliers pour que justice puisse être faite, s’il y a quelque -plainte contre lui. Les main-mortes sont entièrement abolies. Les -tailles seront réparties de manière que tout homme devant taille paie -seulement quatre deniers à chaque terme et rien de plus, à moins qu’il -n’ait une terre devant taille, à laquelle il tienne assez pour consentir -à payer la taille.” - - -III. _Charter of the Commune of Amiens._—“Chacun gardera fidélité à son -juré et lui prêtera secours et conseil en tout ce qui est juste. - -“Si quelqu’un viole sciemment les constitutions de la commune et qu’il -en soit convaincu, la commune, si elle le peut, démolira sa maison et ne -lui permettra point d’habiter dans ses limites jusqu’à ce qu’il ait -donné satisfaction. - -“Quiconque aura sciemment reçu dans sa maison un ennemi de la commune et -aura communiqué avec lui, soit en vendant et achetant, soit en buvant et -mangeant, soit en lui prêtant un secours quelconque, ou lui aura donné -aide et conseil contre le commune, sera coupable de lèse-commune, et, à -moins qu’il ne donne promptement satisfaction en justice, la commune, si -elle le peut, démolira sa maison. - -“Quiconque aura tenu devant témoin des propos injurieux pour la commune, -si la commune en est informée, et que l’inculpé refuse de répondre en -justice, la commune, si elle le peut, démolira sa maison et ne lui -permettra pas d’habiter dans ses limites jusqu’à ce qu’il ait donné -satisfaction. - -“Si quelqu’un attaque de paroles injurieuses le majeur dans l’exercice -de sa juridiction, sa maison sera démolie, ou il paiera rançon pour sa -maison en la miséricorde des juges. - -“Que nul n’ait la hardiesse de vexer au passage, dans la banlieue de la -cité, les personnes domiciliées dans la commune, ou les marchands qui -viennent à la ville pour y vendre leurs denrées. Si quelqu’un ose le -faire, il sera réputé violateur de la commune et justice sera faite sur -sa personne ou sur ses biens. - -“Si un membre de la commune enlève quelque chose à l’un de ses jurés, il -sera sommé par le maire et les échevins de comparaître en présence de la -commune, et fera réparation suivant l’arrêt des échevins. - -“Si le vol a été commis par quelqu’un qui ne soit pas de la commune, et -que cet homme ait refusé de comparaître en justice dans les limites de -la banlieue, la commune, après l’avoir notifié aux gens du château où le -coupable a son domicile, le saisira, si elle le peut, lui ou quelque -chose qui lui appartienne, et le retiendra jusqu’à ce qu’il ait fait -réparation. - -“Quiconque aura blessé avec armes un de ses jurés, à moins qu’il ne se -justifie par témoins et par le serment, perdra le poing ou paiera neuf -livres, six pour les fortifications de la ville et de la commune, et -trois pour la rançon de son poing; mais s’il est incapable de payer, il -abandonnera son poing à la miséricorde de la commune. - -“Si un homme, qui n’est pas de la commune, frappe ou blesse quelqu’un de -la commune, et refuse de comparaître en jugement, la commune, si elle le -peut, démolira sa maison; et si elle parvient à le saisir, justice sera -faite de lui par-devant le majeur et les échevins. - -“Quiconque aura donné à l’un de ses jurés les noms de serf, récréant, -traître ou fripon, paiera vingt sous d’amende. - -“Si quelque membre de la commune a sciemment acheté ou vendu quelque -article provenant de pillage, il le perdra et sera tenu de le restituer -aux dépouillés, à moins queux-mêmes ou leurs seigneurs n’aient forfait -en quelque chose contre la commune. - -“Dans les limites de la commune, on n’admettra aucun champion gagé au -combat contre l’un de ses membres. - -“En toute espèce de cause, l’accusateur, l’accusé et les témoins -s’expliqueront, s’ils le veulent, par avocat. - -“Tous ces articles, ainsi que les ordonnances du majeur et de la -commune, n’ont force de loi que de juré à juré: il n’y a pas égalité en -justice entre le juré et le non-juré.” - -IV. _Charter of the Commune of Soissons._—“Tous les hommes habitant dans -l’enceinte des murs de la ville de Soissons et en dehors dans le -faubourg, sur quelque seigneurie qu’ils demeurent, jureront la commune: -si quelqu’un s’y refuse, ceux qui l’auront jurée feront justice de sa -maison et de son argent. - -“Dans les limites de la commune, tous les hommes s’aideront -mutuellement, selon leur pouvoir, et ne souffriront en nulle manière que -qui que ce soit enlève quelque chose ou fasse payer des tailles à l’un -d’entre eux. - -“Quand la cloche sonnera pour assembler la commune, si quelqu’un ne se -rend pas à l’assemblée, il payera douze deniers d’amende. - -“Si quelqu’un de la commune a forfait en quelque chose, et refuse de -donner satisfaction devant les jurés, les hommes de la commune en feront -justice. - -“Les membres de cette commune prendront pour épouses les femmes qu’ils -voudront, après en avoir demandé la permission aux seigneurs dont ils -relèvent; mais, si les seigneurs s’y refusaient, et que, sans l’aveu du -sien, quelqu’un prît une femme relevant d’une autre seigneurie, l’amende -qu’il paierait dans ce cas, sur la plainte de son seigneur, serait de -cinq sols seulement. - -“Si un étranger apporte son pain ou son vin dans la ville pour les y -mettre en sûreté, et qu’ensuite un différend survienne entre son -seigneur et les hommes de cette commune, il aura quinze jours pour -vendre son pain et son vin dans la ville et emporter l’argent, à moins -qu’il n’ait forfait ou ne soit complice de quelque forfaiture. - -“Si l’évêque de Soissons amène par mégarde dans la ville un homme qui -ait forfait envers un membre de cette commune, après qu’on lui aura -remontré que c’est l’un des ennemis de la commune, il pourra l’emmener -cette fois; mais ne le ramènera en aucune manière, si ce n’est avec -l’aveu de ceux qui ont charge de maintenir la commune. - -“Toute forfaiture, hormis l’infraction de commune et la vieille haine, -sera punie d’une amende de cinq sous.” - -It would be easy to add other examples of these early covenants between -the towns and their seigneurs: but enough seems to have been said, to -illustrate the line of argument adopted in the text. There is no single -point in all mediæval history of more importance than the manner in -which the towns assumed their municipal form; and none in which the -gradual progress of the popular liberties can be more securely traced. -But all these compromises imply a long apprenticeship to freedom before -the “master’s” dignity was attained: and great is the debt of gratitude -we owe to those whose sufferings and labour have enabled us to -understand and to record their struggles. - - APPENDIX B. - TITHE. - -The importance of this subject requires a full statement of details: the -following are all the passages in the Anglosaxon law which have -reference to this impost. - -“I Æðelstán the king, with the counsel of Wulfhelm, archbishop, and of -my other bishops, make known to the reeves in each town, and beseech -you, in God’s name, and by all his saints, and also by my friendship, -that ye first of my own goods render the tithes both of live stock and -of the year’s increase, even as they may most justly be either measured -or counted or weighed out; and let the bishops then do the like from -their own property, and my ealdormen and reeves the same. And I will, -that the bishop and the reeves command it to all who are bound to obey -them, so that it be done at the right term. Let us bear in mind how -Jacob the Patriarch spoke: ‘Decimas et hostias pacificas offeram tibi;’ -and how Moses spake in God’s law: ‘Decimas et primitias non tardabis -offerre Domino.’ It is for us to reflect how awfully it is declared in -the books: if we will not render the tithes to God, that he will take -from us the nine parts when we least expect; and, moreover, we have the -sin in addition thereto.” Æðelst. i. Thorpe, i. 195. - -There is a varying copy of this circular, or whatever it is, coinciding -as to the matter, but differing widely in the words. Thorpe, i. 195. The -nature of the sanction is obvious: it is the old, unjustifiable -application of the Jewish practice, which fraud or ignorance had made -generally current in Europe. The tithe mentioned by Æðelstán is the -prædial tithe, or that of increase of the fruits of the earth, and -increase of the young of cattle. - -The next passage is in the law of Eádmund, about 940. He says: “Tithe we -enjoin to every Christian man on his christendom, and church-shot, and -Rome-fee and plough-alms. And if any one will not do it, be he -excommunicate.” Thorpe, i. 244. - -“Let every tithe be paid to the old minster to which the district -belongs; and let it be so paid both from a thane’s _inland_ and from -_geneátland_, as the plough traverses it. But if there be any thane who -on his bookland has a church, at which there is a burial-place, let him -give the third part of his own tithe to his church. If any one have a -church at which there is not a burial-place, then of the nine parts let -him give his priest what he will.... And let tithe of every young be -paid by Pentecost, and of the fruits of the earth by the equinox ... and -if any one will not pay the tithe, as we have ordained, let the king’s -reeve go thereto, and the bishop’s, and the mass-priest of the minster, -and take by force a tenth part for the minster whereunto it is due; and -let them assign to him the ninth part; and let the eight parts be -divided into two, and let the landlord seize half, the bishop half, be -it a king’s man or a thane’s.” Eádg. i. § 1, 2, 3. Thorpe, i. 262. Cnut, -i. § 8. 11. Thorpe, i. 366. - -“This writing manifests how Eádgár the king was deliberating what might -be a remedy for the pestilence which greatly afflicted and decreased his -people, far and wide throughout his realm. And first of all it seemed to -him and his Witan that such a misfortune had been merited by sin, and by -contempt of God’s commandments, and most of all by the diminution of -that _need-gafol_ (necessary tax or rent or recognitory service) which -men ought to render to God in their tithes. He looked upon and -considered the divine usage in the same light as the human. If a geneát -neglect his lord’s _gafol_, and do not pay it at the appointed time, it -may be expected, if the lord be merciful, that he will grant forgiveness -of the neglect, and accept the _gafol_ without inflicting a further -penalty. But if the lord, by his messengers, frequently remind him of -his _gafol_, and he be obdurate and devise to resist payment, it is to -be expected that the lord’s anger will so greatly increase, that he will -grant his debtor neither life nor goods. Thus is it to be expected that -our Lord will do, through the audacity with which the people have -resisted the frequent admonition of their teachers, respecting the -_need-gafol_ of our Lord, namely our tithes and church-shots. Now I and -the archbishop command that ye anger not God, nor earn either sudden -death in this world, nor a future and eternal death in hell, by any -diminution of God’s rights; but that rich and poor alike, who have any -tilth, joyfully and ungrudgingly yield his tithes to God, according to -the ordinance of the witan at Andover, which they have now confirmed -with their pledges at Wihtbordesstán. And I command my reeves, on pain -of losing my friendship and all they own, to punish all that will not -make this payment, or by any remissness break the pledge of my witan, as -the aforesaid ordinance directs: and of such punishment let there be no -remission, if he be so wretched as either to diminish what is God’s to -his own soul’s perdition, or in the insolence of his mood to account -them of less importance than what he reckoneth as his own: for that is -much more his own which lasteth to all eternity, if he would do it -without grudging and with perfect gladness. Now it is my will that these -divine rights stand alike all over my realm, and that the servants of -God who receive the moneys which we give to God, live a pure life: that -so, through their purity, they may intercede for us with God; and that I -and my thanes direct our priests to that which the shepherds of our -soul’s teach us, that is, our bishops, whom we ought never to disobey in -any of those things which they declare to us in God’s behalf; so that -through the obedience with which we obey them for God’s sake, we may -merit that eternal life for which they fit us by their doctrine and the -example of their good works.” Eádgár, Suppl. Thorpe, i. 270 _seq._ Such -are the views of Eádgár under the influence of Dúnstán, Æðelwold and -Oswald. - -“And let God’s dues be willingly paid every year; that is, plough-alms -fifteen days after Easter, the tithe of young by Pentecost, and of the -fruits of the earth by Allhallows’ Mass, and Rome-fee by St. Peter’s -mass, and lightshot thrice a year.” Æðelr. v. § 11; vi. § 17; ix. § 9. -Cnut, i. § 8. - -“Et ut detur de omni caruca denarius vel denarium valens, et omnis qui -familiam habet, efficiat ut omnis hirmannus suus det unum denarium; quod -si non habeat, det dominus eius pro eo. Et omnino Thaynus decimet totum -quicquid habet.” Æðelr. viii. § 1. Thorpe, i. 336. - -“Et praecipimus, ut omnis homo, super dilectionem Dei et omnium -sanctorum, det Cyricsceattum et rectam decimam suam, sicut in diebus -antecessorum nostrorum stetit, quando melius stetit; hoc est, sicut -aratrum peragrabit decimam aeram. Et omnis consuetudo reddatur super -amicitiam Dei ad matrem nostram aecclesiam cui adiacet. Et nemo auferat -Deo quod ad Deum pertinet, et praedecessores nostri concesserunt.” -Æðelr. viii. § 4. Thorpe, i. 338. - -“And with respect to tithe, the king and his witan have chosen and -decreed, as right it is, that one third part of the tithe which belongs -to the church, go to the reparation of the church, and a second part to -God’s servants there; the third part to God’s poor and needy men in -thraldom.” Æðelr. ix. § 6. Thorpe, i. 342. - -“And be it known to every Christian man that he pay to the Lord his -tithe justly, ever as the plough traverses the tenth field, on peril of -God’s mercy, and of the full penalty, which king Eádgár decreed; that -is; If any one will not justly pay the tithe, then let the king’s reeve -go, and the mass-priest of the minster or the landlord, and the bishop’s -reeve, and take by force the tenth part for the minster to which it is -due, and assign to him the ninth part: and let the remaining eight parts -be divided into two; and let the landlord seize half, and the bishop -half, be it a king’s man or a thane’s.” Æðelr. ix. § 7, 8. Thorpe, i. -342. Cnut, i. § 8. Thorpe, i. 366. Leg. Hen. I. xi. § 2. Thorpe, i. 520. - -“De omni annona decima garba sanctae aecclesiae reddenda est. Si quis -gregem equarum habuerit, pullum decimum reddat; qui unam solam vel duas, -de singulis pullis singulos denarios. Qui vaccas plures habuerit, -vitulum decimum; qui unam vel duas, de singulis obolos singulos. Et si -de eis caseum fecerit, caseum decimum, vel lac decima die. Agnum -decimum, vellus decimum, caseum decimum, butirum decimum, porcellum -decimum. De apibus, secundum quod sibi per annum inde profecerit. -Quinetiam de boscis et pratis, aquis, molendinis, parcis, vivariis, -piscariis, virgultis, ortis, negotiationibus, et de omnibus similiter -rebus quas dederit Dominus, decima reddenda est; et qui eam detinuerit, -per iusticiam sanctae aecclesiae et regis, si necesse fuerit, ad -redditionem cogatur. Haec praedicavit sanctus Augustinus, et haec -concessa sunt a rege, et confirmata a baronibus et populis: sed postea, -instigante diabolo, ea plures detinuerunt, et sacerdotes qui divites -erant non multum curiosi erant ad perquirendas eas, quia in multis locis -sunt modo iiii vel iii aecclesiae, ubi tunc temporis non erat nisi una; -et sic inceperunt minui.” Eádw. Conf. § vii. viii. - -Such are all the passages in the Anglosaxon Laws, directing the levy and -distribution of the tithe. - - APPENDIX C. - TOWNS. - -The strict meaning of _burh_, appears to be _fortified place_ or -_stronghold_. It can therefore be applied to a single house or castle, -as well as to a town. There is a softer form _byrig_, which in the sense -of a town can hardly be distinguished from _burh_, but which, as far as -I know, is never used to denote a single house or castle. Rome and -Florence, and in general all large towns, are called Burh or Byrig. This -is the widest term. - -_Port_ strictly means an enclosed place, for sale and purchase, a -market: for “Portus est conclusus locus, quo importantur merces, et inde -exportantur. Est et statio conclusa et munita.” (Thorpe, i. p. 158.) - -_Wíc_ is originally _vicus_, a vill or village. It is strictly used to -denote the country-houses of communities, kings or bishops. - -_Ceaster_ seems universally derived from _castrum_, and denotes a place -where there has been a Roman station. Now every one of these conditions -may concur in one single place, and we accordingly find much looseness -in the use of the terms: thus, - -London is called Lundenwíc[1037], Hhoðh. § 16. Chron. 604: but -Lundenburh or Lundenbyrig, Chron. 457, 872, 886, 896, 910, 994, 1009, -1013, 1016, 1052. And it was also a port, for we find its geréfa, a -port-geréfa. Again York, sometimes Eoferwíc, sometimes Eoferwíc-ceaster -(Chron. 971) is also said to be a burh, Chron. 1066. Dovor is called a -burh, Chron. 1048; but a port, Chron. 1052. So again Hereford, in Chron. -1055, 1056, is called a port, but in Chron. 1055 also a burh. Nor do the -Latin chroniclers help us out of the difficulty; on the contrary, they -continually use the words _oppidum_, _civitas_, _urbs_ and even _arx_ to -denote the same place. - ------ - -Footnote 1037: - - “Forum rerum venalium Lundenwíc.” Vit. Bonif. Pertz, Mon. ii. 338. - ------ - -The Saxon Chronicle mentions the undernamed cities:— - -Ægeles byrig, now Aylesbury in Bucks. Chron. Sax. 571, 921. - -Acemannes ceaster or Baðan byrig, often called also Æt baðum or Æt hátum -baðum, the Aquae Solis of the Romans and now Bath in Somerset. This town -in the year 577 was taken from the British. The Chronicle calls it -Baðanceaster: see also Chron. 973. - -Ambresbyrig, now Amesbury, Wilts. Chron. 995. - -Andredesceaster. Anderida, sacked by Ælli. Chron. 495. Most probably -near the site of the present Pevensey: see a very satisfactory paper by -Mr. Hussey, Archæol. Journal, No. 15, Sept. 1847. - -Baddanbyrig, now Badbury, Dorset. Chron. 901. - -Badecanwyl, now Bakewell, Derby, fortified by Eádweard. Chron. 923. -Florence says he built and garrisoned a town there: “urbem construxit, -et in illa milites robustos posuit.” an. 921. - -Banesingtún, now Bensington, Oxf. Chron. 571, 777. - -Bebbanburh, now Bamborough in Northumberland. This place, we are told, -was first surrounded with a hedge, and afterwards with a wall. Chron. -642, 926, 993. Florence calls it “urbs regia Bebbanbirig.” an. 926. - -Bedanford, now Bedford. There was a burh here which Eádweard took in -919: he then built a second burh upon the other side of the Ouse. Chron. -919. Florence calls it “urbem.” an. 916. - -Beranbyrig. Chron. 556. - -Bremesbyrig. At this place Æðelflǽd built a burh. Chron. 910. Florence -says “urbem.” an. 911: perhaps Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, the Æt -Bremesgráfum of the Cod. Dipl. Nos. 183, 186. - -Brunanburh, Brunanbyrig, and sometimes Brunanfeld: the site of this -place is unknown, but here Æðelstán and Eádmund defeated the Scots. -Chron. 937. - -Brycgnorð, Bridgenorth, Salop. Here Æðelflǽd built a burh. Chron. 912: -“arcem munitam.” Flor. an. 913. - -Bucingahám, now Buckingham. Here Eádweard built two burhs, one on each -side of the Ouse. Chron. 918. Florence calls them “munitiones.” an. 915. - -Cantwarabyrig, the city of Canterbury. Dorobernia, ciuitas -Doruuernensis, the metropolis of Æðelberht’s kingdom in 597. Beda, H. E. -lib. i. c. 25. In the year 1011 Canterbury was sufficiently fortified to -hold out for twenty days against the Danish army which had overrun all -the eastern and midland counties, and was then only entered by -treachery. Flor. Wig. an. 1011. I have already noticed both king’s -reeves and port-reeves, the ingang burhware and cnihta gyld of -Canterbury. There can be little doubt that king, archbishop, abbot and -corporation had all separate jurisdictions and rights in Canterbury: see -Chron. 633, 655, 995, 1009, 1011. - -Cirenceaster, now Cirencester in Gloucestershire, the ancient -Durocornovum. Chron. 577, 628. - -Cissanceaster, now Chichester, the Roman Regnum. Chron. 895. - -Cledemúða. Here Eádweard built a burh. Chron. 921. - -Colnceaster, now Colchester in Essex, the first Roman Colonia, destroyed -by Boadicea. In 921 Colchester was sacked by Eádweard’s forces, and -taken from the Danes, some of whom escaped over the _wall_. In the same -year Eádweard repaired and fortified it. Chron. 921. “murum illius -redintegravit, virosque in ea bellicosos cum stipendio posuit.” Flor. -918. - -Coludesburh, Coldingham. Chron. 679. - -Cyppanham, Chippenham, Wilts. Chron. 878. - -Cyricbyrig, a city built by Æðelflǽd. Flor. 916. Cherbury. - -Deóraby, Derby, one of the Five Burgs taken by Æðelflǽd from the Danes. -Chron. 917, 941. A city with gates. Flor. 918. “civitas.” Flor. 942. - -Dofera, Dover in Kent. Chron. 1048, 1052. There was a fortified castle -on the cliff, which in 1051 was seized by the people of Eustace, count -of Boulogne, against the town. Flor. Wig. 1051. - -Dorceceaster, Dorchester, Oxon. Chron. 954, 971. For some time a -bishop’s see, first for Wessex, which was afterwards removed to -Winchester: afterwards for Leicester. - -Dorceceaster, Dornwaraceaster, Dorchester, Dorset. Chron. 635, 636, 639. - -Eádesbyrig, a place where Æðelflǽd built a burh. Chron. 914. Florence -says a town. an. 915. Eddisbury, Cheshire? - -Eligbyrig, Ely in Cambridgeshire. Chron. 1036. - -Egonesham, now Eynesham, Oxon. Chron. 571. - -Eoforwíc, Eoforwíc ceaster, now York; Kair Ebrauc, Eboracum; the seat of -an archbishop, a bishop, and again an archbishop. It seems to have been -always a considerable and important town. In the tenth century it was -one of the seven confederated burgs, which Æðelflǽd reduced. The -strength however which we should be inclined to look for in a city, -which once boasted the name of _altera Roma_, is hardly consistent with -Asser’s account of it. Describing the place in the year 867, he says: -“Praedictus Paganorum exercitus ... ad Eboracum ciuitatem migravit, quae -in aquilonari ripa Humbrensis fluminis[1038] sita est.” After stating -that Ælla and Osberht, the pretenders to the Northumbrian crown, became -reconciled in presence of the common danger, he continues: “Osbyrht et -Ælla, adunatis viribus, congregatoque exercitu Eboracum oppidum adeunt, -quibus advenientibus Pagani confestim fugam arripiunt, et intra urbis -moenia se defendere procurant: quorum fugam et pavorem Christiani -cernentes, etiam intra urbis moenia persequi, et murum frangere -instituunt: quod et fecerunt, non enim tunc adhuc illa civitas firmos et -stabilitos muros illis temporibus habebat. Cumque Christiani murum, ut -proposuerant, fregissent, etc.[1039]” We may infer from Asser himself -that the Saxon mode of fortification. was not strong: speaking of a -place in Devonshire, called Cynuit (which he describes as _arx_), he -says: “Cum Pagani arcem imparatam atque omnino immunitam, nisi quod -moenia nostro more erecta solummodo haberet, cernerent, non enim -effringere moliebantur, quia et ille locus situ terrarum tutissimus est -ab omni parte, nisi ab orientali, sicut nos ipsi vidimus, obsidere eam -coeperunt[1040].” York however continued to be an important town. It was -retaken by Æðelflǽd who subdued the Danes there; and again by Eádred in -950. At this time it appears to have been principally ruled by its -archbishop Wulfstán. For York, see Chron. 971, 1066, etc. - ------ - -Footnote 1038: - - He clearly considers the northern branch of the Humber, which we now - call the Ouse, to be the continuation of the river. - -Footnote 1039: - - Vit. Ælfr. an. 867. - -Footnote 1040: - - Vit. Ælfr. an. 878. - ------ - -Exanceaster, now Exeter, the Isca Damnoniorum or Uxella, of the Romans. -Chron. 876, 894, 1003. As the Saxon arms advanced westward, Exeter -became for a time the frontier town and market between the British and -the men of Wessex: in the beginning of the tenth century there appears -to have been a mixed population. But at that period[1041] Æðelstán -expelled the British inhabitants, and fortified the town: he drove the -Cornwealhas over the Tamar, and made that their boundary, as he had the -Wye for the Bretwealas. William of Malmesbury tells us: “Illos (i. e. -Cornewalenses) impigre adorsus, ab Excestra, quam ad id temporis aequo -cum Anglis iure inhabitarunt, cedere compulit: terminum provinciae suae -citra Tambram fluvium constituens, sicut aquilonalibus Britannis amnem -Waiam limitem posuerat. Urbem igitur illam, quam contaminatae gentis -repurgio defaecaverat, turribus munivit, muro ex quadratis lapidibus -cinxit[1042]. Et licet solum illud, ieiunum et squalidum, vix steriles -avenas, et plerumque folliculum inanem sine grano producat, tamen pro -civitatis magnificentia, et incolarum opulentia, tum etiam convenarum -frequentia, omne ibi adeo abundat mercimonium, ut nihil frustra -desideres quod humano usui conducibile existimes[1043].” Thus situated, -about ten miles from the sea, Exanceaster could not fail to become an -important commercial station; the Exa being navigable for ships of -considerable burthen, till in 1284, Hugh Courtenay interrupted the -traffic, by building a weir and quay at Topsham. It is probable that -Æðelstán placed his own geréfa in the city. But in the year 1003, queen -Emme Ælfgyfu seems to have been its lady; for it is recorded that -through the treachery of a Frenchman Hugo, whom she had made her reeve -there, the Danes under Svein sacked and destroyed the city, taking great -plunder[1044]. It was afterwards restored by Cnut; but appears to have -been still attached to the queens of England, for after the conquest we -find it holding out against William, under Gýð, the mother of Harald. - ------ - -Footnote 1041: - - Probably in 926. - -Footnote 1042: - - The author of the Gesta Stephani, a contemporary of Malmesbury, - declares that the city was “vetustissimo Cæsarum opere murata:” and - that its castle was “muro inexpugnabili obseptum, turribus Cæsarianis - incisili calce confectis firmatum,” p. 21. - -Footnote 1043: - - Will. Malm. Gest. Reg. lib. ii. § 134 (Hardy’s Ed. vol. i. p. 214); - see also Gest. Pontif. lib. ii. § 95 (Hamilton’s Ed. p. 201). - -Footnote 1044: - - Chron. Sax. 1003. - ------ - -Exanmúða, now Exmouth. Chron. 1001. - -Genisburuh, now Gainsborough. Chron. 1013, 1014. - -Glæstingaburh or Glæstingabyrig, now Glastonbury, Som. Urbs Glastoniae, -Chron. 688, 943. - -Gleawanceaster, now Gloucester; Kair glou, and the Roman Glevum. Urbs -Gloverniae, Glocestriae. A fortified city of Mercia. Chron. 577, 918. - -Hæstingas, now Hastings in Kent. A fortification, and probably at one -time the town of a tribe so called. Chron. 1066. It was reduced by Offa, -and probably ruined in the Danish wars of Ælfred and Æðelred. - -Hagustaldes hám or Hagstealdeshám, now Hexham in Northumbria: the -ancient seat of a bishopric. Chron. 685. - -Hamtún, now Southampton. Chron. 837. - -Hamtún, now Northampton, _quod vide_. - -Heanbyrig, now Hanbury in Worcest. Chron. 675. - -Heortford, now Hertford. Chron. 913. _urbs_. Flor. 913. - -Hereford, now Hereford. Chron. 918, 1055, 1066. - -Hrofesceaster, Durocobrevis, Hrofesbreta, now Rochester; a bishop’s see -for West Kent, probably once the capital of the West Kentish kingdom: a -strong fortress. Chron. 604, 616, 633, 644. Asser. 884. - -Huntena tún, now Huntingdon. Originally, as its name implies, a town or -enclosed dwelling of hunters; but in process of time a city. Chron. 921. -_civitas_. Flor. 918. - -Judanbyrig, perhaps Jedburgh. Chron. 952. - -Legaceaster, Kairlegeon, now Chester, a Roman city. Chron. 607; -deserted, Chron. 894; restored, Chron. 907. Flor. 908. - -Legraceaster, now Leicester. Chron. 918, 941, 943. _civitas_. Flor. 942. - -Lindicoln, the ancient Lindum, now Lincoln, the capital city of the -Lindissi; a bishop’s see: then one of the five or seven burhs. Chron. -941. _civitas_. Flor. 942. - -Lundenbyrig, Lundenwíc, Londinium, now London. The principal city of the -Cantii; then of the Trinobantes; Kair Lunden, Troynovant. Locally in -Essex, but usually subject to Mercian sovereignty. Towards the time of -the conquest more frequently the residence of the Saxon kings, and scene -of their witena gemóts. A strongly fortified city with a fortified -bridge over the Thames connecting it with Southwark, apparently its Tête -de pont. Chron. 457, 604, 872, 886, 896, 910, 994, 1009, 1013, 1016, -1052. - -Lygeanbyrig, now Leighton buzzard. Chron. 571. - -Maidulfi urbs, Meldumesbyrig, now Malmesbury in Wilts. Flor. 940. - -Mameceaster, now Manchester: “urbem restaurarent, et in ea fortes -milites collocarent.” Flor. 920. - -Mealdun, now Maldon in Essex. Chron. 920, 921. _urbs_; rebuilt and -garrisoned by Eádweard. Flor. 917. - -Medeshámstede: afterwards Burh, and from its wealth Gyldenburh: now -Peterborough. Chron. 913. - -Merantún, now Merton in Oxfordshire. Chron. 755. - -Middeltún, Middleton in Essex, a fortress built by Hæsten the Dane. -Chron. 893. - -Norðhamtún, more frequently Hámtún only, now Northampton: a town or -“Port,” burnt by the Danes under Svein. Chron. 1010. - -Norðwíc, now Norwich, a burh, burned by Svein. Chron. 1004. - -Oxnaford, Oxford: a burh in Mercia, taken into his own hands by Eádweard -on the death of Æðelflǽd. The burh was burnt by Svein. Chron. 1009. - -Possentesbyrig. Chron. 661. ? Pontesbury, co. Salop. - -Rædingas, now Reading: a royal vill, but, as many or all probably were, -fortified. Asser. 871. - -Runcofa, now Runcorn, _urbs_, Flor. Wig. 916. - -Sandwíc, now Sandwich, a royal vill, and harbour, whose tolls belonged -to Canterbury. Chron. 851. - -Scaroburh, now Salisbury, the ancient Kairkaradek. Chron. 552. - -Scærgeat, now Scargate, built by Æðelflǽd. Chron. 912; _arx munita_, -Flor. Wig. 913. - -Sceaftesbyrig, Shaftsbury, the seat of a nunnery founded by Ælfred. -Chron. 980, 982. - -Sceobyrig, now Shoebury in Essex; a fort was built there in 894 by the -Danes. Chron. 894. - -Seletún, perhaps Silton in Yorkshire. Chron. 780. - -Snotingahám, now Nottingham: the British Tinguobauc,or _urbs -speluncarum_. Asser. 868; Chron. 868, 922, 923, 941. There were two -towns here, one on each side the river. Flor. Wig. 919, 921; _civitas_, -Flor. Wig. 942. - -Soccabyrig, probably Sockburn in Durham. Chron. 780. - -Stæfford, now Stafford, a vill of the Mercian kings, fortified by -Æðelflǽd. Chron. 913; _arx_, Flor. Wig. 914. - -Stamford in Lincolnshire. Chron. 922, 941; _arx_ and _civitas_, Flor. -Wig. 919, 942. - -Sumertún, now Somerton in Oxfordshire, taken by Æðelbald of Mercia from -Wessex. Chron. 733. - -Súðbyrig, now Sudbury in Suffolk. Chron. 797. - -Swanawíc, probably Swanwick, Hants. Chron. 877. - -Temesford, Tempsford in Bedfordshire, a Danish fortress and town. Chron. -921. - -Tofeceaster, Towchester in Northampton. Chron. 921; _civitas_, Flor. -Wig. 918; walled with stone, Flor. ibid. - -Tomaworðig, now Tamworth in Staffordshire; a favourite residence of the -Mercian kings. Chron. 913, 922; fortified by Æðelflǽd; _urbs_, Flor. -Wig. 914. - -Wæringawíc, now Warwick. Chron. 914; _urbs_, Flor. Wig. 915. - -Weardbyrig, now Warborough, Oxford; _urbs_, Flor. Wig. 916. - -Wigingamere, probably in Hertfordshire. Chron. 951; _urbs_, Flor. Wig. -918; _civitas_, ibid. - -Wigornaceaster, Worcester, a fortified city. Chron. 922, 1041. - -Wihtgarabyrig, now Carisbrook. Chron. 530, 544. - -Wiltún, Wilton in Wiltshire. Chron. 1008. - -Wintanceaster, Winchester, the capital of Wessex, a fortified city. -Chron. 643, 648. - -Withám, now Witham in Essex; a city and fortress. Chron. 913; Flor. Wig. -914. - -Ðelweal, Thelwall in Cheshire, a fortress and garrison town. Chron. 923; -Flor. Wig. 920. - -Ðetford, now Thetford in Norfolk; a fortress and city. Chron. 952, 1004. - -It is not to be imagined that this list nearly exhausts the number of -fortresses, towns and cities extant in the Saxon times. It is only given -as a specimen, and as an illustration of the averments in the text. The -reader who wishes to pursue the subject, will find the most abundant -materials in the Index Locorum appended to Vol. VI. of the “Codex -Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici;” and to this I must refer him for any ampler -information. - - - - - APPENDIX D. - CYRICSCEAT. - - -I do not think it necessary to repeat here the arguments which I have -used elsewhere[1045], to show that Cyricsceat has nothing whatever to do -with our modern church-rates, or that these arose from papal usurpation -very long after the Norman Conquest. I can indeed only express my -surprise that any churchman should still be found willing to continue a -system which exposes the dignity and peace of the church to be disturbed -by any schismatic who may see in agitation a cheap step to popularity. -But as the question has been put in that light, it may be convenient for -the sake of reference to collect the principal passages in the laws and -charters which refer to the impost. They are the following:— - -“Be cyricsceattum. Cyricsceattas sýn ágifene be Seint Martines mæssan. -Gif hwá ðæt ne gelǽste, sý he scyldig LX scill. and be twelffealdum -ágyfe ðone cyricsceat.” Ine, § 4; Thorpe, i. 104. - -“Be cyricsceattum. Cyricsceat mon sceal ágifan tó ðæm healme and to ðæm -heorðe ðe se man on bið tó middum wintra.” Ine, § 61; Thorpe, i. 140. - -“And ic wille eác ðæt míne geréfan gedón ðæt man ágyfe ða cyricsceattas -and ða sáwlsceattas tó ðám stowum, ðe hit mid rihte tó gebyrige.” -Æthelst. i.; Thorpe, i. 196. - -“Be teoðungum and cyricsceattum. Teoðunge we bebeódað ǽlcum cristenum -men be his cristendóme, and cyricsceat, and ælmesfeoh. Gif hit hwá dón -nylle, sý he amansumod.” Eádm. i. § 2; Thorpe, i. 244. - -“Be cyricsceat. Gif hwá ðonne þegna sý, ðe on his bóclande cyrican -hæbbe, ðe legerstowe on sý, gesylle he ðonne þriddan dǽl his ágenre -teoðunge intó his cyrican. Gif hwá cyrican hæbbe, ðe legerstow on ne sý, -ðonne dó he of ðǽm nygan dǽlum his preost ðæt ðæt he wille. And gá ylc -cyricsceat intó ðæm ealdan mynster be ǽlcum frigan (h)eorðe.” Eádgár, i. -§ 1, 2; Thorpe, i. 262. - -“Neádgafol úres drihtnes, ðæt sýn úre teoðunga and cyricsceattas.” -Eádgár, Supp. § 1; Thorpe, i. 270. - -“And cyricsceat tó Martinus mæssan.” Æðelr. vi. § 18; Thorpe, i. 320. - -“And cyricsceat gelǽste man be Martinus mæssan, and seðe ðæt ne gelǽste, -forgilde hine mid twelffealdan, and ðám cyninge CXX scill.” Æðelr. ix. § -11; Thorpe, i. 342. - -“Et præcipimus, ut omnis homo super dilectionem dei et omnium sanctorum -det cyricsceattum et rectam decimam suam, sicut in diebus antecessorum -nostrorum stetit, quando melius stetit; hoc est, sicut aratrum -peragrabit decimam acram.” Æðelr. viii. § 4; Thorpe, i. 338. - -“De ciricsceatto dicit vicecomitatus quod episcopus, de omni terra quæ -ad ecclesiam suam pertinet, debet habere, in die festivitatis sancti -Martini, unam summam annonæ, qualis melior crescit in ipsa terra, de -unaquaque hida libera et villana; et si dies ille fractus fuerit, ille -qui retinuerit reddet ipsam summam, et undecies persolvat; et ipse -episcopus accipiat inde forisfacturam qualem ipse debet habere de terra -sua. De ciricsceatto de Perscora dicit vicecomitatus quod illa ecclesia -de Perscora debet habere ipsum ciricsceattum de omnibus ccc hidis, -scilicet de unaquaque hida ubi francus homo manet, unam summam annonæ, -et si plures habet hidas, sint liberæ; et si dies fractus fuerit, in -festivitate sancti Martini, ipse qui retinuerit det ipsam summam et -undecies persolvat, abbati de Perscora; et reddat forisfacturam abbati -de Westminstre quia sua terra est.” Cart. Heming. i. 49, 50. “De -ciricsceate. Dicit vicecomitatus quod de unaquaque hida terræ, libera -vel villana, quæ ad ecclesiam de Wirecestre pertinet, debet episcopus -habere, in die festo sancti Martini unam summam annonæ, de meliori quæ -ibidem crescit; quod si dies ille non reddita annona transierit, qui -retinuit annonam reddat, undecies persolvet, et insuper forisfacturam -episcopus accipiet, qualem et sua terra habere debet.” Ibid. 1, 308. - ------ - -Footnote 1045: - - A Few Historical Remarks upon the supposed Antiquity of Church-rates. - Ridgway, 1836. - ------ - -The only instance that I can find of this impost being noticed in the -Ecclesiastical Laws, or Recommendations of the Bishops and Clergy, is in -the Canons attributed to Eádgár:— - -“And we enjoin, that the priests remind the people of what they ought to -do to God for dues, in tithes and in other things; first plough-alms, xv -days after Easter; and tithe of young, by Pentecost; and of fruits of -the earth, by All Saints; and Róm-feoh (Peter-pence) by St. Peter’s -Mass; and Cyricsceat by Martinmass[1046].” - ------ - -Footnote 1046: - - Thorpe, ii. 256. - ------ - -“Nunc igitur praecipio et obtestor omnes meos episcopos et regni -praepositos, per fidem quam Deo et mihi debetis, quatenus faciatis, ut -antequam ego Angliam veniam, omnia debita, quae Deo secundum legem -antiquam debemus, sint soluta, scilicet eleemosynae pro aratris, et -decimae animalium ipsius anni procreatorum, et denarii quos Romæ ad -sanctum Petrum debemus, sive ex urbibus sive ex villis, et mediante -Augusto decimae frugum, et in festivitate sancti Martini _primitiae -seminum_ ad ecclesiam sub cuius parochia quisque est, quae Anglice -_Circesceat_ nominantur[1047].” - ------ - -Footnote 1047: - - Epist. Cnut. Flor. Wig. an. 1031. - ------ - -Oswald’s grants often contain this clause: “Sit autem terra ista libera -omni regi nisi aecclesiastici censi.” See Codex Dipl. Nos. 494, 498, -515, 540, 552, 558, 649, 680, 681, 682. But sometimes the amount is more -closely defined: thus in No. 498, two bushels of wheat. In No. 511 we -have this strong expression: “Free from all _worldly service_ -(weoruldcund þeówet), except three things, one is cyricsceat, and that -he (work) with all his might, twice in the year, once at mowing, once at -reaping.” And in No. 625 he repeats this, making the land granted free, -“ab omni _mundialium_ servitute tributorum, exceptis sanctae Dei -aecclesiae necessitatibus atque utilitatibus.” Again, “Et semper -possessor terrae illius reddat tributum aecclesiasticum, quod ciricsceat -dicitur, tó Pirigtúne; et omni anno unus ager inde aretur tó Pirigtúne, -et iterum metatur.”—Cod. Dipl. No. 661. “Sit autem hoc praedictum rus -liberum ab omni _mundiali_ servitio, ... excepta sanctae Dei basilicae -suppeditatione ac ministratione.”—Ibid. No. 666. - -The customs of Dyddanham[1048] impose upon the gebúr the duty of finding -the cyricsceat to the lord’s barn, but whether because the lord was an -ecclesiastic does not clearly appear. - ------ - -Footnote 1048: - - Now Tidenham in Gloucestershire, near the point where the Wye falls - into the Severn, nearly 2° 36´ west longitude from Greenwich. - ------ - -The important provisions of Denewulf’s and Ealhfrið’s charters have been -sufficiently illustrated in the text. - -After the conquest, Chirset or Chircettum, as it is called, was very -irregularly levied: it appears to have been granted occasionally by the -lords to the church, but no longer to have been a general impost: and -nothing is more common than to find it considered as a set-off against -other forms of rent-paying, on lay as well as ecclesiastical land. If -the tenant gave _work_, he usually paid no chircet: if he paid chircet, -his amount of labour-rent was diminished: a strong evidence, if any more -were wanted, that cyricsceat has nothing whatever to do with -church-rate. - - - - - THE END. - - - - - - - - - - - - - Printed by Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -On p. 152, a single footnote anchor is in the text (360); however two -notes appear at the bottom of the page. The first is unnumbered, and the -second has no anchor in the text. The unnumbered note is an accurate -reference to p. 753 of the 1854 German edition of Jacob Grimm’s _Deutsch -Rechalterthümer_ (2nd volume), and was obviously intended as footnote 1. -The second note, numbered ‘2’ in the original (“Gloss. _in voc._ -Grafio.”), has no anchor and no obvious reference. The two notes have -simply been combined. - -On p. 294, the last line of the page (‘the extermination of its -inhabitants, is the only re-’) was obviously misplaced to the top of the -page. It has been placed in the intended position. - -Minor lapses in the consistency of punctuation in citations have been -corrected with no further mention. - -Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, -and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the -original, not counting any embedded tables. Where a third reference is -employed, the reference is to the line within the designated footnote -(e.g. 166.1.1 refers to the first line in the first footnote on p. 166, -as printed). - - 4.1.10 Abergavenny, lat. 51° 49´ N., long. 3° 2´[ W.]> Added. - - 4.1.44 between Perth and Inverness[,] Added. - - 27.5 of becoming familiar w[t/i]th the views Replaced. - - 35.4.34 God’s church and all the Ch[r]istian people Inserted. - - 35.4.22 which archbishop D[u/ú]nstán delivered Replaced. - - 46.2.2 were simil[i]arly circumstanced Removed. - - 48.2 the time of Æðelr[æ/ǽ]d (990-995) Replaced. - - 50.1.4 unless the king pardon him.[”] Added. - - 51.2.4 that he could not forfeit.[”] Added. - - 52.2.27 sceleribus[ ]semet[ ]ipsum condempn[ ]avit Spaces - added. - - 102.3.19 p. 154[,/.] Replaced. - - 152.19 there cannot be the sligh[t]est connection. Inserted. - - 155.3 in connexion with judic[i]al functions Inserted. - - 157.12 In a prece[e]ding chapter Removed. - - 158.1.3 Wulfsige preóst sc[i/í]rigman Replaced. - - 162.21 before Æðelríc beca[em/me] sheriff Transposed. - - 203.2.3 head of the church in his dominio[u/n]s Inverted. - - 204.5 encircled by an _[abbatis]_ of timber _sic_: - abatis - - 233.2.47 witnessed by all the scírþ[e]genas in Hampshire Removed. - - 238.10 the Campus Ma[d]ius of Charlemagne Restored. - - 260.7.1 Chron. Sa[s/x]. an. 1048. Replaced. - - 273.1.16 [‘]nihil profici patientia _sic_ - - 273.1.24 the duties laid upon the[n/m] Replaced. - - 295.24 injure its forti[fi]cations Inserted. - - 310.9 we may more famil[i]arly term Inserted. - - 451.9 the eager credul[i]ty which they showed Inserted. - - 526.17 to meet the ‘gemot’ by the king’[s] command Added. - - 543.15 Tous les hommes habitant dans l’enc[ie/ei]nte Transposed. - - 543.30 un[e] femme relevant d’une autre seigneurie Added. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Saxons in England, Vol 2 (of 2), by -John Mitchell Kemble - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND *** - -***** This file should be named 61331-0.txt or 61331-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/3/3/61331/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, MWS and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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