OUR LEGAL HERITAGE

S >> S. A. Reilly, Attorney >> OUR LEGAL HERITAGE

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Men began weaving cloth, which formerly had been done by women.
Some of the cloth was exported.

The weavers guild of London received a charter by the King in
1155, the first granted to any London craft: "Know that I have
conceded to the Weavers of London to hold their guild in London
with all the liberties and customs which they had in the time of
King Henry [I], my grandfather; and that none may intermeddle
with the craft within the city, nor in Southwark, nor in other
places pertaining to London except through them and except he be
in their guild, otherwise than was accustomed to be done in the
time of King Henry, my grandfather ...So that each year they
render thence to me two marks [26s.8d.] of gold at the feast of
St. Michael. And I forbid that any shall do injury or contumely
to them on this account under penalty of 10 pounds [200s.].
Witness T[homas], Chancellor, and Warinus, son of Gerard,
Chamberlain, at Winchester." The liberties obtained were: 1) The
weavers may elect bailiffs to supervise the work of the craft, to
punish defaulters, and to collect the ferm [amount owed to the
King]. The bailiffs were chosen from year to year and swore
before the mayor of London to do and keep their office well and
truly. 2) The bailiffs may hold court from week to week on pleas
of debt, agreements, covenants, and minor trespasses. 3) If any
of the guild members are sued in any other court on any of the
above pleas, the guild may challenge that plea to bring it to
the guild court. 4) If any member is behind in his share of the
payment to the King, the bailiffs may distrain his loom until he
has paid this.

Paying an annual payment freed the weavers from liability to
inconsequent royal fines. Failure to make this payment promptly
might have led to loss of the right, hence the rigorous penalty
of distraint upon the looms of individual weavers who fell into
arrears.

The weavers' guild punished members who used bad thread in their
weaving or did defective weaving by showing the default to the
mayor, with opportunity for the workman to make entreaty, and
the mayor and twelve members of the guild then made a verdict of
amercement of 1/2 mark [6s. 8d.] and the workman of the cloth
was also punished by the guild bailiffs according to guild
custom.

The weavers' guild tradition of brotherliness among members meant
that injury to a fellow weaver incurred a severe penalty. If a
weaver stole or eloigned [removed them to a distance where they
were unreachable] any other weaver's goods falsely and
maliciously, then he was dismissed from the guild and his loom
was taken by the guild to fulfill his portion of the annual
payment to the King. The weavers were allowed to buy and to sell
in London freely and quietly. They had all the rights of other
freemen of the city.

Thus from the middle of the 1100s A.D., the weavers enjoyed the
monopoly of their craft, rights of supervision which ensured a
high standard of workmanship, power to punish infractions of
their privileges, and full control of their members. In this
they stand as the prototype of English medieval guilds. These
rights represented the standard which all bodies of craftsmen
desired to attain. The right of independent jurisdiction was
exceptional.

On the north side of the city was a great forest with fields and
wells where students and other young men from the city took
walks in the fresh evening air. Vendors on the river bank sold
cooked fish caught from the river and wine from ships and wine
cellars.

London's chief magistrate was the port-reeve, who was appointed
by the King, until 1191. Then the port-reeve was replaced by a
mayor, who was elected yearly by the city wards. Each ward was
headed by an alderman and there were city sheriffs and
councilors. The mayors were typically rich merchant princes.
There were three ways to become a citizen of London: being the
son of a citizen, apprenticeship in a craft for seven years, and
purchase of citizenship. London growth led to its replacing
Winchester as the capital. Over its history, it generally chose
or elected its own mayor every year. (This was not a popular
election.) But there were many periods when royal authority was
asserted over it.

St. Barthomew hospital was established in London for the care of
sick pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury.

Trading was facilitated by the stabilization of the amount of
silver metallic content of the English coinage, which was called
"sterling" [strong] silver. The compass assisted the navigation
of ships and London became a major trading center for foreign
goods from many lands.

About 5% of the knights were literate. Wealthy men sent their
sons to school in monasteries to prepare them for a livelihood
in a profession or in trade or to the town of Oxford, whose
individual teachers had attracted disciples for a long time.
These schools grew up around St. Mary's Church, but had not been
started by the church as there was no cathedral school in
Oxford. Oxford had started as a burh and had a royal residence
and many tradesmen. It was given its basic charter in 1155 by
the King. This confirmed to it all the customs, laws and
liberties [rights] as those enjoyed by London. If became a model
charter for other towns.

Bachelors at Oxford studied the arts of grammar, rhetoric, and
logic, and then music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy,
until they mastered their discipline and therefore were
authorized to teach it. Teaching would then provide an income
sufficient to support a wife. The master of arts was analogous to
the master craftsman of a guild. From 1190, the civil law was
studied, and shortly thereafter, canon law. Later came the study
of medicine. The use of paper supplemented the use of parchment
for writing. Irregular edged paper was made from linen, cotton,
straw, and/or wood beaten to a pulp and then spread out over a
wire mesh to dry.

In this era, the English national race and character was formed.
Stories of good King Arthur were popular and set ideals for
behavior and justice in an otherwise barbaric age where force
was supreme. His last battle in which he lay wounded and told a
kinsman to rule in his place and uphold his laws was written in
poem ("Layamon's Brut"). Romantic stories were written and read
in English.

The only people distinguishable as Anglo-Saxon by their look and
speech were manor villeins who worked the farm land, who
composed over half the population. Intermarriage had destroyed
any distinction of Normans by look or speech alone. Although the
villeins could not buy their freedom or be freed by their lord,
they became less numerous because of the preference of
landholders for tenants motivated to perform work by potential
loss of tenure. Also, the Crown's protection of all its subjects
in criminal matters blurred the distinction between free and
unfree men.

The boroughs were dominated by lords of local manors, who usually
had a house in the borough. Similarly, burgesses usually had
farmland outside the borough. Many boroughs were granted the
right to have a common seal for the common business of the town.
Each borough was represented by twelve reputable burgesses. Each
vill was represented by a reeve and four reputable men. Certain
towns sponsored great seasonal fairs for special goods, such as
cloth. Less than 5% of the population lived in towns. Some
windmills were used.

London guilds of craftsmen such as weavers, fullers, bakers,
loriners (makers of bit, spurs, and metal mountings of bridles
and saddles), cordwainers (makers of leather goods such as
shoes), pepperers, and goldsmiths were licensed by the King, for
which they paid him a yearly fee. There were also five Bridge
Guilds (probably raising money for the future construction of
London Bridge in stone) and St. Lazarus' Guild. The wealthy
guilds, which included the goldsmiths, the pepperers, and three
bridge guilds had landholding members who had been thegnes or
knights and now became a class of royal officials: the King's
minters, his chamberlain, his takers of wines, his collectors of
taxes.

Sandwich was confirmed in its port rights by this charter:
"Henry II to his sheriff and bailiffs of Kent, greeting. I will
and order that the monks of the Holy Trinity of Canterbury shall
have fully all those liberties and customs in Sandwich which
they had in the time of King Henry my grandfather, as it was
adjudged in pursuance of his command by the oath of twelve men of
Dover and twelve men of Sandwich, to wit, that the aforesaid
monks ought to have the port and the toll and all maritime
customs in the same port, on either side of the water from
Eadburge-gate as far as markesfliete and a ferry-boat for
passage. And no man has there any right except they and their
ministers. Wherefore I will and firmly command you and the men
of Sandwich that ye cause the aforesaid monks to have all their
customs both in the port and in the town of Sandwich, and I
forbid any from vexing them on this account." "And they shall
have my firm peace."

Henry gave this charter to the town of Bristol in 1164: "Know ye,
that I have granted to my burgesses of Bristol, that they shall
be quit both of toll [a reasonable sum of money or portion of
the thing sold, due to the owner of the fair or market on the
sale of things tollable therein. It was claimed by the lord of
the fee where the fair or market was held, by virtue of a grant
from the Crown either ostensible or presumed] and passage [money
paid for crossing a river or for crossing the sea as might be
due to the Crown] and all custom [customary payments] throughout
my whole land of England, Normandy, and Wales, wherever they
shall come, they and their goods. Wherefore I will and strictly
command, that they shall have all their liberties and
acquittances and free customs fully and honorable, as my free
and faithful men, and that they shall be quit of toll and
passage and of every other customs: and I forbid any one to
disturb them on this account contrary to this my charter, on
forfeiture of ten pounds [200s.]."

John, when he was an earl and before he became King, granted
these liberties to Bristol about 1188:

1) No burgess may sue or be sued out of Bristol.

2) The burgesses are excused from the murder fine (imposed by the
King or lord from the hundred or town where the murder was
committed when the murderer had not been apprehended).

3) No burgess may wage duel, unless sued for death of a stranger.

4) No one may take possession of a lodging house by assignment
or by livery of the Marshall of the Earl of Gloucester against
the will of the burgesses (so that the town would not be
responsible for the good behavior of a stranger lodging in the
town without first accepting the possessor of the lodging house).

5) No one shall be condemned in a matter of money, unless
according to the law of the hundred, that is, forfeiture of 40s.

6) The hundred court shall be held only once a week.

7) No one in any plea may argue his cause in miskenning.

8) They may lawfully have their lands and tenures and mortgages
and debts throughout my whole land, [from] whoever owes them
[anything].

9) With regard to debts which have been lent in Bristol, and
mortgages theremade, pleas shall be held in the town according
to the custom of the town.

10) If any one in any other place in my land shall take toll of
the men of Bristol, if he does not restore it after he is
required to, the Prepositor of Bristol may take from him a
distress at Bristol, and force him to restore it.

11) No stranger-tradesman may buy within the town from a man who
is a stranger, leather, grain, or wool, but only from a burgess.

12) No stranger may have a shop, including one for selling wine,
unless in a ship, nor shall sell cloth for cutting except at the
fair.

13) No stranger may remain in the town with his goods for the
purpose of selling his goods, but for forty days.

14) No burgess may be confined or distrained any where else
within my land or power for any debt, unless he is a debtor or
surety (to avoid a person owed a debt from distraining another
person of the town of the debtor).

15) They shall be able to marry themselves, their sons, their
daughters and their widows, without the license of their lords.
(Lords had the right of preventing their tenants and mesne lords
and their families from marrying without his consent.)

16) No one of their lords shall have the wardship or the disposal
of their sons or daughters on account of their lands out of the
town, but only the wardship of their tenements which belong to
their own fee, until they become of age.

17) There shall be no recognition [acknowledgement that something
done by another person in one's name had one's authority] in the
town.

18) No one shall take tyne [wooden barrel with a certain quantity
of ale, payable by the townsmen to the constable for the use of
the castle] unless for the use of the lord Earl, and that
according to the custom of the town.

19) They may grind their grain wherever they may choose.

20) They may have their reasonable guilds, as well or better than
they had themin the time of Robert and his son William [John's
wife's grandfather and father, who were earls of Gloucester when
the town and castle of Bristol were part of the honor of
Gloucester].

21) No burgess may be compelled to bail any man, unless he
himself chooses it, although he may be dwelling on his land.

We have also granted to them all their tenures, messuages, in
copses, in buildings on the water or elsewhere to be held in
free burgage [tenant to pay only certain fixed services or
payments to his lord, but not military service (like free
socage)]. We have granted also that any of them may make
improvements as much as he can in erecting buildings anywhere on
the bank and elsewhere, as long as the borough and town are not
damaged thereby. Also, they shall have and possess all waste
land and void grounds and places, to be built on at their
pleasure.

Newcastle-on-Tyne's taxes were simplified in 1175 as follows:

"Know ye that I have granted and by this present charter have
confirmed to my burgesses of Newcastle upon Tyne, and to all
their things which they can assure to be their own, acquittance
from toll and passage and pontage and from the Hanse and from
all other customs throughout all my land. And I prohibit all
persons from vexing or disturbing them therein upon forfeiture to
me."

We grant to our upright men on Newcastle-on-Tyne and their heirs
our town of Newcastle-on-Tyne with all its appurtances at fee
farm for 100 pounds to be rendered yearly to us and our heirs at
our Exchequer by their own hand at the two terms, to wit, at
Easter 50 pounds and at Michaelmas 50 pounds, saving to us our
rents and prizes and assizes in the port of the same town.

Ranulph, earl of Chester, made grants to his burgesses of
Coventry by this charter: "That the aforesaid burgesses and
their heirs may well and honorably quietly and in free burgage
hold of me and my heirs as ever in the time of my father and
others of my ancestors they have held better more firmly and
freer. In the second place I grant to them all the free and good
laws which the burgesses of Lincoln have better and freer. I
prohibit and forbid my constables to draw them into the castle
to plead for any cause, but they may freely have their portimote
[leet court] in which all pleas belonging to me and them may be
justly treated of. Moreover they may choose from themselves one
to act for me whom I approve, who a justice under me and over
them may know the laws and customs, and keep them to my counsel
in all things reasonable, every excuse put away, and may
faithfully perform to me my rights. If any one happen to fall
into my amercement he may be reasonably fined by my bailiff and
the faithful burgesses of the court. Furthermore, whatever
merchants they have brought with them for the improvement of the
town, I command that they have peace, and that none do them
injury or unjustly send them into court. But if any foreign
merchant shall have done anything improper in the town that same
may be regulated in the portimote before the aforesaid justice
without a suit at law."

Henry confirmed this charter of the earl's by 1189 as follows: I
have confirmed all the liberties and free customs the earl of
Chester granted to them, namely, that the same burgesses may
well and honorably hold in free burgage, as ever in the time of
the father of the beforesaid earl, or other of his ancestors,
they may have better or more firmly held; and they may have all
the laws and customs which the citizens of Lincoln have better
and freer [e.g. their merchant guilds; all men brought to trade
may be subject to the guild customs and assize of the town;
those who lawfully hold land in the town for a year and a day
without question and are able to prove that an accuser has been
in the kingdom within the year without finding fault with them,
from thence may hold the land well and in peace without
pleading; those who have remained in the town a year and a day
without question, and have submitted to the customs of the town
and the citizens of the town are able to show through the laws
and customs of the town that the accuser stood forth in the
kingdom, and not a fault is found of them, then they may remain
in peace in the town without question]; and that the constable of
the aforesaid earl shall not bring them into the castle to plead
in any case. But they may freely have their own portmanmote in
which all pleas appertaining to the earl and to them may be
justly treated of. Moreover they may choose one from themselves
to act for the earl, whom I approve, who may be a justice under
the earl and over them, and who to the earl may faithfully
perform his rights, and if anyone happen to fall into the earl's
forfeiture he shall be acquit for 12 pence. If by the testimony
of his neighbors he cannot pay 12 pence coins, by their advice
it shall be so settled as he is able to pay, and besides, with
other acquittances, that the burgesses shall not provide anything
in corrody [allowance in food] or otherwise whether for the
said earl or his men, unless upon condition that their chattels
shall be safe, and so rendered to them.

Furthermore, whatever merchants they have brought with them for
the improvement of the town they may have peace, and none shall
do them injury or unjustly send them into suit at law. But if
any foreign merchant has done anything improper in the town that
shall be amended [or tried] in the portmanmote before the
aforesaid justice without a suit. And they who may be newcomers
into the town, from the day on which they began to build in the
town for the space of two years shall be acquit of all charges.

Mercantile privileges were granted to the shoemakers in Oxford
thus: "Know ye that I have granted and confirmed to the corvesars
of Oxford all the liberties and customs which they had in the
time of King Henry my grandfather, and that they have their
guild, so that none carry on their trade in the town of Oxford,
except he be of that guild. I grant also that the cordwainers who
afterwards may come into the town of Oxford shall be of the same
guild and shall have the same liberties and customs which the
corvesars have and ought to have. For this grant and
confirmation, however, the corvesars and cordwainers ought to
pay me every year an ounce of gold."

A guild merchant for wool dominated and regulated the wool trade
in many boroughs. In Leicester, only guildsmen were permitted to
buy and sell wool wholesale to whom they pleased or to wash
their fells in borough waters. Certain properties, such as those
near running water, essential to the manufacture of wool were
maintained for the use of guild members. The waterwheel was a
technological advance replacing human labor whereby the cloth was
made more compact and thick, "fulled". The waterwheel turned a
shaft which lifted hammers to pound the wet cloth in a trough.
Wool packers and washers could work only for guild members. The
guild fixed wages, for instance to wool wrappers and flock
pullers. Strangers who brought wool to the town for sale could
sell only to guild members. A guildsman could not sell wool
retail to strangers nor go into partnership with a man outside
the guild. Each guild member had to swear the guildsman's oath,
pay an entrance fee, and subject himself to the judgment of the
guild in the guild court, which could fine or suspend a man from
practicing his trade for a year. The advantages of guild
membership extended beyond profit in the wool trade. Members
were free from the tolls that strangers paid. They alone were
free to sell certain goods retail. They had the right to share in
any bargain made in the presence of a guildsman, whether the
transaction took place in Leicester or in a distant market. In
the general interest, the guild forbade the use of false weights
and measures and the production of shoddy goods. It maintained a
wool-beam for weighing wool. It also forbade middlemen from
profiting at the expense of the public. For instance, butchers'
wives were forbidden from buying meat to sell again in the same
market unless they cooked it. The moneys due to the King from
the guilds of a town were collected by the town reeve.

A baron could assemble an army in a day to resist any perceived
misgovernment by a King. Armed conflict did not interfere much
with daily life because the national wealth was still composed
mostly of flocks and herds and simple buildings. Machinery,
furniture, and the stock of shops were still sparse. Life would
be back to normal within a week.

Henry wanted to check this power of the barons. So he restored
the older obligation of every freeman to serve in defense of the
realm, which was a military draft. At the King's call, barons
were to appear in mail suit with sword and horse, knights in
coat of mail with shield and lance, freeholders with lance and
hauberk [coat of armor], burgesses and poorer freemen with lance
and helmet, and such as millers with pike and leather shirt. The
master of a household was responsible for every villein in his
household. Others had to form groups of ten and swear obedience
to the chief of the group. This was implemented in a war with
France.

However, the nobility who were on the borders of the realm had to
maintain their private armies for frequent border clashes. The
other nobility now tended towards tournaments with mock battles
between two sides.

A new land tax replaced the Danegeld tax. Freeholders of land
paid taxes according to their plowable land ("hidage", by the
hide, and later "carucage", by the acre). It was assessed and
collected for the King by knights with little or no
remuneration. The villein class, which in theory included the
boroughs, paid a tax based on their produce ("tallage").
Merchants were taxed on their personal property, which was
determined by an inquest of neighbors. Clergy were also taxed.
This new system of taxation increased the royal income about
threefold.

At the end of this period was the reign of King John, a short
man. After his mother Eleanor's death, John ruled without her
influence. He had a huge appetite for money. He imposed levies
on the capital value of all personal and moveable goods. (This
idea was taken from the tenth of rents and income from moveable
goods which had been imposed for King Richard II's crusade to
recover Jerusalem. It began the occasional subsidies called
"tenths and fifteenths" from all people on incomes from
moveables.) He sold the wardships of minors and the marriages of
heiresses to the highest bidder, no matter how base. He appointed
unprincipled men to be both sheriff and justice, enabling them
to blackmail property holders with vexatious writs and false
accusations. Writs were withheld or sold at exorbitant prices.
Crushing penalties were imposed to increase the profits of
justice. The story of Robin Hood portrays John's attempt to gain
the crown prematurely while Richard was on the Crusades to
recover Jerusalem for Christendom. In 1213, strong northern
barons refused a royal demand for scutage, arguing that the
amount was not within custom or otherwise justified. John's
heavy-handed and arbitrary rule quickly alienated all sectors of
the population. They joined the barons to pressure him to sign
the Magna Carta correcting his abuses. For instance, since John
had extracted many heavy fines from barons by personally
adjudging them blameworthy in disputes with others, the barons
wanted judgment by their peers under the established law of the
courts. In arms, the barons confronted John demanding that he
sign the Magna Carta correcting his abuses, which he did.

The Law

The peace of the sheriff still exists for his shire. The King's
peace may still be specially given, but it will cease upon the
death of the King.

Law required every good and lawful man to be bound to follow the
hue and cry when it was raised against an offender who was
fleeing. The village reeve was expected to lead the chase to the
boundary of the next jurisdiction, which would then take the
responsibility to catch the man.

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