OUR LEGAL HERITAGE

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When the land was all divided out, the barons had about 3/7 of it
and the church 2/7. The King retained 2/7, including forests for
hunting, for himself and his household, on which he built many
royal castles and hundreds of manor houses throughout the
nation. He built the White Tower in London. He and his household
slept on the upper floors and there was a chapel on the second
floor and a dungeon below the first floor for prisoners. The
other castles were often built at the old fortification burhs of
Alfred. Barons and earls had castle-guard duty in them. William
was constantly moving about the land from castle to castle,
where he entertained his magnates and conducted public business,
such as deciding disputes about holding of land. Near these
castles and other of his property, he designated many areas as
royal hunting forests. Anyone who killed a deer in these forests
was mutilated, for instance by blinding. People living within
the boundaries of the designated forestland could no longer go
into nearby woods to get meat or honey, dead wood for firing, or
live wood for building. Swineherds could no longer drive pigs
into these woods to eat acorns they beat down from oak trees.
Making clearings and grazing livestock in the designated
forestland were prohibited. Most of the nation was either wooded
or bog at this time.

London was a walled town of one and two story houses made of mud,
twigs, and straw, with thatched roofs. There were churches, a
goods market, a fish market, quays on the river, and a bridge
over the river. Streets probably named by this time include
Bread Street, Milk Street, Honey Lane, Wood Street, and
Ironmonger Lane. Fairs and games were held outside the town
walls in a field called "Smithfield". The freemen were a small
percentage of London's population. There was a butchers' guild,
a pepperers' guild, a goldsmiths' guild, the guild of St.
Lazarus, which was probably a leper charity, the Pilgrims' guild,
which helped people going on pilgrimages, and four bridge
guilds, probably for keeping the wooden London Bridge in repair.
Men told the time by sundials, some of which were portable and
could be carried in one's pocket. London could defend itself,
and a ringing of the bell of St. Paul's Church could shut every
shop and fill the streets with armed horsemen and soldiers led
by a soldier port-reeve.

William did not interfere with landholding in London, but
recognized it's independence as a borough in this writ:
"William the King greets William, Bishop of London, and Gosfrith
the portreeve, and all the burgesses of London friendly. Know
that I will that you be worthy of all the laws you were worthy
of in the time of King Edward. And I will that every child shall
be his father's heir after his father's day. And I will not
suffer any man to do you wrong. God preserve you."

So London was not subjected to the Norman feudal system. It had
neither villeins nor slaves. Whenever Kings asserted authority
over it, the citizens reacted until the King "granted" a charter
reaffirming the freedoms of the city and its independence.

William's reign was a time of tentative expedients and simple
solutions. He administered by issuing writs with commands or
prohibitions. These were read aloud by the sheriffs in the
county courts and other locations. Administration was by the
personal servants of his royal household, such as the
Chancellor, steward, butler, chamberlain, and constable. The
constable was in charge of the knights of the royal household.
Under pressure from the ecclesiastical judges, William replaced
the death penalty by that of the mutilation of blinding,
chopping off hands, and castrating offenders. Castration was the
punishment for rape. But these mutilations usually led to a slow
death by gangrene.

The Normans used the Anglo-Saxon concepts of jurisdictional
powers. Thus when William confirmed "customs" to the abbot of
Ely, these were understood to include the following: 1) sac and
soke - the right to hold a court of private jurisdiction and
enjoy its profits, 2) toll - a payment in towns, markets, and
fairs for goods and chattel bought and sold, 3) team - persons
might be vouched to warranty in the court, the grant of which
made a court capable of hearing suits arising from the transfer
of land, 4) infangenthef - right of trying and executing thieves
on one's land, 4) hamsocne, 5) grithbrice - violation of the
grantees' special peace, for instance that of the sheriff, 6)
fihtwite - fine for a general breach of the peace, 7) fyrdwite -
fine for failure to appear in the fyrd [national militia].

Every shire had at least one burh, or defensible town. Kings had
appointed a royal moneyer in each to mint silver coins for local
use. On one side was the King's head in profile and on the other
side was the name of the moneyer. When a new coinage was issued,
all moneyers had to go to London to get the new dies. William's
head faced frontally on his dies, instead of the usual profile
used by former Kings.

William held and presided over his council three times a year, as
was the custom, at Easter, Christmas, and Whitsuntide. This was
an advisory council and consisted of earls, greater barons,
officers of the King's household, archbishops, and bishops. It's
functions were largely ceremonial. William's will was the motive
force which under lay all its action. When it was administering
royal justice, it was called the Royal Court. The justiciar was
the head of all legal matters and represented the King in his
absence from the realm. The Treasurer was responsible for the
collection and distribution of revenue. The Chancellor headed
the Chancery and the chapel.

Sheriffs became powerful figures as the primary agents for
enforcing royal edicts. They collected the royal taxes, executed
royal justice, and presided over and controlled the hundred and
shire courts. They also took part in the keeping of castles and
often managed the estates of the King. Most royal writs were
addressed to the sheriff and shire courts. They also led the
shire militia in time of war or rebellion.

Royal income came from customary dues, profits of coinage and of
justice, and revenues from the King's own estates. For war, a
man with five hides of land was required to furnish one
heavy-armed horseman for forty days service in a year. A threat
of a Viking invasion caused William to reinstitute the danegeld
tax. To impose this uniformly, he sent commissioners to conduct
surveys by sworn verdicts of appointed groups of local men. A
detailed survey of land holdings and the productive worth of
each was made in 1086. The English called it the "Doomsday Book"
because there was no appeal from it.

The survey revealed, for instance, that one estate had "on the
home farm five plough teams: there are also 25 villeins and 6
cotters with 14 teams among them. There is a mill worth 2s. a
year and one fishery, a church and four acres of meadow, wood
for 150 pigs and two stone quarries, each worth 2s. a year, and
two nests of hawks in the wood and 10 slaves." This estate was
deemed to be worth 480s. a year.

Laxton "had 2 carucates of land [assessed] to the geld. [There
is] land for 6 ploughs. There Walter, a man of [the lord]
Geoffrey Alselin's has 1 plough and 22 villeins and 7 bordars [a
bordar had a cottage and a small amount land in return for
supplying small provisions to his lord] having 5 ploughs and 5
serfs and 1 female serf and 40 acres of meadow. Wood [land] for
pannage [foraging by pigs] 1 league in length and half a league
in breadth. In King Edward's time it was worth 9 pounds; now [it
is worth] 6 pounds."

Ilbert de Laci has now this land, where he has twelve ploughs in
the demesne; and forty-eight villani, and twelve bordars with
fifteen ploughs, and three churches and three priests, and three
mills of ten shillings. Wood pastures two miles long, and one
broad. The whole manor five miles long and two broad. Value in
King Edward's time sixteen pounds, the same now.

That manor of the town of Coventry which was individually held
was that of the Countess of Coventry, who was the wife of the
earl of Mercia. "The Countess held in Coventry. There are 5
hides. The arable land employs 20 ploughs. In the demesne lands
there are 3 ploughs and 7 ploughs. In the demesne lands there are
3 ploughs and 7 bondmen. There are 50 villeins and 12 bordars
with 20 ploughs. The mill there pay[s] 3 shillings. The
woodlands are 2 miles long and the same broad. In King Edward's
time and afterwards, it was worth 22 pounds [440 s.], now only
11 pounds by weight. These lands of the Countess Godiva Nicholas
holds to farm of the King."

The survey shows a few manors and monasteries owned a salt-house
or salt-pit in the local saltworks, from which they were
entitled to obtain salt.

This survey resulted in the first national tax system of about
6s. per hide of land.

The survey also provided William with a summary of customs of
areas. For instance, in Oxfordshire, "Anyone breaking the King's
peace given under his hand and seal to the extent of committing
homicide shall be at the King's mercy in respect of his life and
members. That is if he be captured. And if he cannot be
captured, he shall be considered as an outlaw, and anyone who
kills him shall have all his possessions. The King shall take
the possessions of any stranger who has elected to live in
Oxford and who dies in possession of a house in that town, and
without any kinfolk. The King shall be entitled to the body and
the possessions of any man who kills another within his own
court or house excepting always the dower of his wife, if he has
a wife who has received dower.

The courts of the King and barons became schools of chivalry
wherein seven year old noble boys became as pages or valets,
wore a dagger and waited upon the ladies of the household. At
age fourteen, they were advanced to squires and admitted into
more familiar association with the knights and ladies of the
court. They perfected their skills in dancing, riding, fencing,
hawking, hunting and jousting. Before knighthood, they played
team sports in which one team tried to put the other team to
rout. A knight usually selected a wife from the court at which
he grew up.

These incidents of land tenure began (but were not firmly
established until the reign of Henry II). Each tenant, whether
baron or subtenant, had to pay an "aid" in money for ransom if
his lord was captured in war, for the knighthood of his lord's
eldest son, and for the marriage of his lord's eldest daughter.
Land could be held by an heir only if he could fight. The eldest
son began to succeed to the whole of the lands in all military
tenures. An heir of a tenant had to pay a heavy "relief" on
succession to his estate. If there was a delay in proving
heirship or paying relief, the lord would hold the land and
receive its income in the meantime, often a year. If an heir was
still a minor or female, he or she passed into his lord's
wardship, in which the lord had guardianship of the heir and
possession of the estate, with all its profits. A female heir was
expected to marry a man acceptable to the lord. The estate of an
heiress and her land was generally sold to the highest bidder.
If there were no heirs, the land escheated to the lord. If a
tenant committed felony, his land escheated to his lord.

Astrologers resided with the families of the barons. People went
to fortune tellers' shops. There was horse racing, steeple
races, and chess for recreation. Girls had dolls; boys had toy
soldiers, spinning tops, toy horses, ships, and wooden models.

The state of medicine is indicated by this medical advice brought
to the nation by William's son after treatment on the continent:

"If thou would have health and vigor Shun cares and avoid anger.
Be temperate in eating And in the use of wine. After a heavy meal
Rise and take the air Sleep not with an overloaded stomach And
above all thou must Respond to Nature when she calls."

Many free sokemen were caught up in the subjugation by baron
landlords and were reduced almost to the condition of the unfree
villein. The services they performed for their lords were often
indistinguishable. They might also hold their land by villein
tenure, although free as a person with the legal rights of a
free man. The free man still had a place in court proceedings
which the unfree villein did not.

William allowed Jewish traders to follow him from Normandy and
settle in separate sections of the main towns. They loaned money
for the building of castles and cathedrals. Christians were not
allowed by the church to engage in this usury. The Jews could
not become citizens nor could they have standing in the local
courts. Instead, a royal justiciar secured justice for them. The
Jews could practice their own religion. Only Jews could wear
yellow.

William was succeeded as King by his son William II, who imposed
on many of the customs of the nation to get more money for
himself.

The Law

The Norman conquerors brought no written law, but affirmed the
laws of the nation. Two they especially enforced were:

Anyone caught in the act of digging up the King's road, felling a
tree across it, or attacking someone so that his blood spilled
on it shall pay a fine to the King.

All freemen shall have a surety who would hand him over to
justice for his offenses or pay the damages or fines due. Also,
the entire hundred was the ultimate surety for murder and would
have to pay a "murdrum" fine.

William made these decrees:

No cattle shall be sold except in towns and before three
witnesses.

For the sale of ancient chattels, there must be a surety and a
warrantor.

No man shall be sold over the sea. (This ended the slave trade at
the port of Bristol.)

The death penalty for persons tried by court is abolished.

Judicial Procedure

"Ecclesiastical" courts were created for bishops to preside over
issues concerning the cure of souls and criminal cases in which
the ordeal was used. When William did not preside over this
court, an appeal could be made to him.

The hundred and shire courts now sat without a bishop and handled
only "civil" cases. They were conducted by the King's own
appointed sheriff. Only freemen and not bound villeins had
standing in this court.

William held court or sent the justiciar or commissioners to hold
his Royal Court [Curia Regis] in the various districts. The
commissioner appointed groups of local men to give a collective
verdict upon oath for each trial he conducted. A person could
spend months trying to catch up with the Royal Court to present a
case.

William allowed, on an ad hoc basis, certain high-level people
such as bishops and abbots and those who made a large payment,
to have land disputes decided by an inquiry of recognitors.

A dispute between a Norman and an English man over land or a
criminal act could be decided by trial by battle. Each combatant
first swore to the truth of his cause and undertook to prove by
his body the truth of his cause by making the other surrender by
crying "craven" [craving forgiveness]. The combatants used
weapons like pick-axes and shields. Presumably the man in the
wrong would not fight as well because he was burdened with a
guilty conscience. Although this trial was thought to reflect
God's will, it favored the physically fit and adept person.

London had its own traditions. All London citizens met at its
folkmoot, which was held three times a year to determine its
public officers, to raise matters of public concern, and to make
ordinances. It's criminal court had the power of outlawry as did
the shire courts. Trade, land, and other civil issues were dealt
with by the Hustings Court, which met every Monday in the
Guildhall. The city was divided into wards, each of which was
under the charge of an elected alderman [elder man]. (This was
not a popular election.) The aldermen had special knowledge of
the law and a duty to declare it at the Hustings Court. Each
alderman also conducted wardmoots in his ward and decided
criminal and civil issues between its residents. Within the
wards were the guilds of the city.

William made the hundred responsible for paying a murder fine for
the murder of any of his men, if the murderer was not
apprehended by his lord within a few days. The reaction to this
was that the murderer mutilated the corpse to make identification
of nationality impossible. So William ordered
that every murder victim was assumed to be Norman unless proven
English. This began a court custom in murder cases of first
proving the victim to be English.

The Royal Court decided this case: "At length both parties were
summoned before the King's court, in which there sat many of the
nobles of the land of whom Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances, was
delegated by the King's authority as judge of the dispute, with
Ranulf the Vicomte, Neel, son of Neel, Robert de Usepont, and
many other capable judges who diligently and fully examined the
origin of the dispute, and delivered judgment that the mill
ought to belong to St. Michael and his monks forever. The most
victorious King William approved and confirmed this decision."

Chapter 5

The Times: 1100-1154

King Henry I, son of William of Normandy, furthered peace between
the Normans and native English by his marriage to a niece of
King Edward the Confessor called Matilda. She married him on
condition that he grant a charter of rights undoing some
practices of the past reigns of William I and William II. Peace
was also furthered by the fact that Henry I had been born in
England and English was his native tongue. Private wars were now
replaced by mock battles.

Henry was a shrewd judge of character and of the course of
events, cautious before taking action, but decisive in carrying
out his plans. He was faithful and generous to his friends. He
showed a strong practical element of calculation and foresight.
He was intelligent and a good administrator. He had an efficient
intelligence gathering network and an uncanny knack of detecting
hidden plans before they became conspiratorial action. He made
many able men of inferior social position nobles, thus creating
a class of career judges and administrators in opposition to the
extant hereditary aristocracy. He loved books and built a palace
at Oxford to which he invited scholars for lively discussion.

Queen Matilda served as regent in Henry's absence. She was
literate and a literary patron. Her compassion was great and her
charities extensive. She founded a care-giving hospital and had
new roads and bridges built.

Henry issued charters restoring customs which had been
subordinated to royal impositions by previous Kings, which set a
precedent for later Kings. His coronation charter describes
certain property rights he restored after the oppressive reign
of his brother.

"Henry, King of the English, to Samson the bishop, and Urse of
Abbetot, and to all his barons and faithful vassals, both French
and English, in Worcestershire, greeting.

[1.] Know that by the mercy of God and by the common counsel of
the barons of the whole kingdom of England I have been crowned
king of this realm. And because the kingdom has been oppressed
by unjust exactions, I now, being moved by reverence towards God
and by the love I bear you all, make free the Church of God; so
that I will neither sell nor lease its property; nor on the death
of an archbishop or a bishop or an abbot will I take anything
from the demesne of the Church or from its vassals during the
period which elapses before a successor is installed. I abolish
all the evil customs by which the kingdom of England has been
unjustly oppressed. Some of those evil customs are here set
forth.

[2.] If any of my barons or of my earls or of any other of my
tenants shall die his heir shall not redeem his land as he was
wont to do in the time of my brother [William II (Rufus)], but
he shall henceforth redeem it by means of a just and lawful
'relief`. Similarly the men of my barons shall redeem their
lands from their lords by means of a just and lawful 'relief`.

[3.] If any of my barons or of my tenants shall wish to give in
marriage his daughter or his sister or his niece or his cousin,
he shall consult me about the matter; but I will neither seek
payment for my consent, nor will I refuse my permission, unless
he wishes to give her in marriage to one of my enemies. And if,
on the death of one of my barons or of one of my tenants, a
daughter should be his heir, I will dispose of her in marriage
and of her lands according to the counsel given me by my barons.
And if the wife of one of my tenants shall survive her husband
and be without children, she shall have her dower and her
marriage portion [that given to her by her father], and I will
not give her in marriage unless she herself consents.

[4.] If a widow survives with children under age, she shall have
her dower and her marriage portion, so long as she keeps her
body chaste; and I will not give her in marriage except with her
consent. And the guardian of the land, and of the children,
shall be either the widow or another of their relations, as may
seem more proper. And I order that my barons shall act likewise
towards the sons and daughters and widows of their men.

[5.] I utterly forbid that the common mintage [a forced levy to
prevent loss to the King from depreciation of the coinage],
which has been taken from the towns and shires, shall henceforth
be levied, since it was not so levied in the time of King Edward
[the Confessor, before the Norman conquest]. If any moneyer or
other person be taken with false money in his possession, let
true justice be visited upon him.

[6.] I forgive all pleas and all debts which were owing to my
brother [William II], except my own proper dues, and except
those things which were agreed to belong to the inheritance of
others, or to concern the property which justly belonged to
others. And if anyone had promised anything for his heritage, I
remit it, and I also remit all 'reliefs` which were promised for
direct inheritance.

[7.] If any of my barons or of my men, being ill, shall give away
or bequeath his movable property, I will allow that it shall be
bestowed according to this desires. But if, prevented either by
violence or through sickness, he shall die intestate as far as
concerns his movable property, his widow or his children, or his
relatives or one his true men shall make such division for the
sake of his soul, as may seem best to them.

[8.] If any of my barons or of my men shall incur a forfeit, he
shall not be compelled to pledge his movable property to an
unlimited amount, as was done in the time of my father [William
I] and my brother; but he shall only make payment according to
the extent of his legal forfeiture, as was done before the time
of my father and in the time of my earlier predecessors.
Nevertheless, if he be convicted of breach of faith or of crime,
he shall suffer such penalty as is just.

[9.] I remit all murder-fines which were incurred before the day
on which I was crowned King; and such murder-fines as shall now
be incurred shall be paid justly according to the law of King
Edward [by sureties].

[10.] By the common counsel of my barons I have retained the
forests in my own hands as my father did before me.

[11.] The knights, who in return for their estates perform
military service equipped with a hauberk [long coat] of mail,
shall hold their demesne lands quit of all gelds [money
payments] and all work; I make this concession as my own free
gift in order that, being thus relieved of so great a burden,
they may furnish themselves so well with horses and arms that
they may be properly equipped to discharge my service and to
defend my kingdom.

[12.] I establish a firm peace in all my kingdom, and I order
that this peace shall henceforth be kept.

[13.] I restore to you the law of King Edward together with such
emendations to it as my father [William I] made with the counsel
of his barons.

[14.] If since the death of my brother, King William [II], anyone
shall have seized any of my property, or the property of any
other man, let him speedily return the whole of it. If he does
this no penalty will be exacted, but if he retains any part of
it he shall, when discovered, pay a heavy penalty to me.

Witness: Maurice, bishop of London; William, bishop-elect of
Winchester; Gerard, bishop of Herefore; Henry the earl; Simon the
earl; Walter Giffard; Robert of Montfort-sur-Risle; Roger Bigot;
Eudo the steward; Robert, son of Haimo; and Robert Malet.

At London when I was crowned. Farewell."

Henry took these promises seriously, which resulted in peace and
justice. Royal justice became a force to be reckoned with by the
multiplication of justices. Henry had a great respect for
legality and the forms of judicial action. He became known as
the "Lion of Justice".

The center of government was a collection of tenants-in-chief
whose feudal duty included attendance when summoned and certain
selected household servants of the King. When it met for
financial purposes, Henry called it the Exchequer and it became
a separate body. It received yearly from the sheriffs of the
counties taxes, fines, treasure trove, goods from wrecks,
deodands, and movable property of felons, of persons executed,
of fugitives, and of outlaws due to the Crown. The payments in
kind, such as grain or manual services, from the royal demesnes
had been turned into money payments. This income from royal
estates was also received by the Exchequer and then commingled
with the other funds. Each payment was indicated by notches on a
stick, which was then split so that the payer and the receiver
each had a half showing the notches. The Chancellor managed the
domestic matters of the Crown's castles and lands. Henry brought
sheriffs under his strict control, free from influence by the
barons.

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