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@lli!|lMllMli!IMIMIMHEIHillMlBl
^ Harvard College
Library
FROH TBB FUND BEQUEATHED BY
Archibald Gary Coolidge
Clais o/ 1387
DIBECTOR OF THE UNIVBHSITV UBBAST
HMHi^lMIMI^IMMlM^fPPIMHtil
A
DESCRIPTION
OF
THE CLOSE ROLLS
IN THE
TOWER OF LONDON
DESCRIPTION
OF
IN
THE TOWER OF LONDON;
WITH
AN ACCOUNT
OF
THE EARLY COURTS OF LAW AND EQUITY,
AND VARIOUS
$i0tQrtcaI 3IHu0tratioti0.
By THOMAS DUFF'US HARDY, F. S. A.
OF THE INNER TEMPLE.
PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION.
MDCCCXXXIII.
re^ss.^. 5
\y
^''^^^^^ z*'^^
London:
Printed by Oeorob Eyre and Andrew SpomswooDB*
Printers to the King's most Excellent Mqjesty.
TO
CHARLES PURTON COOPER, Esq.,
A.M., LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A., M.R.I.A.,
BARRISTER AT LAW,
AND
SECRETARY TO THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE PUBLIC
RECORDS OF THE KINGDOM.
Sir,
It is not singular that I should
dedicate these pages to an individual whose i
energies have been so eminently displayed in
promoting the objects of that Commission by
whose authority and under whose auspices the
Close Rolls have been published.
In so doing, I might have satisfied myself
simply by inscribing it as a mark of my gra-
titude and respect. Other considerations,
however, impel me to say a few words.
Sensible as I am that the Publication is
to be attributed mainly to your exertions, I
am unwilling that this impression of the
Introductory Observations and Historical Illus-
a3
( vi )
trations prefixed to the first Volume should
be circulated without an acknowledgment, that
to your zeal in the promotion of historical
inquiries, and the promulgation of authentic
materials illustrative of the history and laws
of your country, the Public is indebted for
whatever may be found valuable by future
historians in the Volume to which the remarks
contained in the following sheets refer*
For myself I have only to hope that the
Editorial part of the Work may not be found
to have been executed in any manner dis-
creditable to the recommendation which placed
it in my hands, nor to His Majesty's Com-
missioners, who have honoured me with their
confidence.
I remain.
Sir,
Your very obedient Servant,
Thos. Duffus Hardy.
Record Office, Tower.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The following pages contain the Intro-
duction prefixed to the First Volume of The Close
Rolls, printed and recently published by order of
His Majesty^s Commissioners for Public Records.
The Editor's motive for printing in a separate
volume a limited number of copies for private distri-
bution, may be briefly stated.
The Work itself is one that will not fall into
the hands of general readers, and from its size and
necessary cost, to a certain extent does not come
within the means of many individuals to whom an
account of those valuable and important documents
and the subjects incidentally connected with them,
might be interesting. To such persons the Editor
trusts the information contained in his prefatory ob-
servations will not be found unacceptable in the
present form, his sole aim being to induce a more
extended acquaintance with the nature of the Close
Rolls, and to forward the objects of the Commission
by rendering the publication more generally known.
1st July 1833.
TABLE
OF SOMK OF
THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS.
Abbreviations, explanation of, 74 to 77*
table of, 78 to 85.
Adultery, illustration of the law of, 125, 126.
Alexander, King of Scotland, robes worn by him at his knight-
hood and marriage, 159, 160.
Alexander of St. Albans, Royal Letter to the Pope con-
cerning, 147, 148.
Arts, illustrations of, 177 to 182.
Attestations, remarks on, 60, 61, 64 to 74.
Brevia.
Decursu, 127, 128.
De ventre inspiciendo, 123 to 125.
Cancellations, Deletions, and Interlineations, observa-
tions on, 49 to 62.
Chancellor, The Lord, his station in the Concilium Regis,
106.
• singular instance of the exercise of his duty in cutting a
clause from an act of parliament, 49, 50.
Charter Rolls, nature of, 30.
Close Rolls, origin and description of, 1 to 22.
the official calendars of, ordered to be printed, 6 to 9.
• Tjrrreirs statement and arguments concerning, 9 to 14«
X TABLE.
Coh'EOHVRCHy Peter de, architect of London Bridge, notice re-
lating to, 167.
Commodities, prices of, 173 to 175.
Concilium Regis, distinguished from the Commune Concilium^
96 to 98.
its jurisdiction, 98 to 121.
Contrabreve or Counterwrit, explanation of, 39.
Deletions, v. Cancellations.
Description and origin of the Close Rolls^ 1 to 22,
Duplicates of the early Chancery Rolls, remarks on, 35 to 49.
Ecclesiastical Law, illustrations of, 131 to 134.
Elianore, sister of Arthur Duke of Brittany, notices relative
to her imprisonment, 139 to 146.
Enrolments, origin of, 23 to 31.
modes of, practised by the Courts of Exchequer and
Chancery, 30, 31.
Equitable Jurisdiction, remarks on the origin of, 88 to 121.
Erasures and Interlineations^ Laws of the Romans relating
to, 53, 54.
Estreat, explanation of, 39.
Excerpt A Historic a, necessity of preserving peculiarities in
Records exemplified by an article in, 55.
Falsifying, remarks on, 129, 130.
Fine Rolls, nature of, 30.
Gibbets, notice of erection of, 187.
History, illustrations of, 135 to 190.
Interlineations, r. Cancellations and Erasures.
Jews, persecution of, 188.
Kings* Reigns, observations on the commencements of, 135
to 137.
Knights, their robes and insignia, 158 to 161.
TABLE. xi
Law, Courts of, remarks on, 85 to 88.
Laws illustrated by instruments on the Close Rolls, 121 to
184.
Leprosy, illustration of the law of, 12% 12S.
Liberate Rolls, nature of, 15.
Louis, Prince of France, entries relating to, 156 to 158.
Marginal Notes of the Close Rolls, observations on, 62 to 64'.
Navy, entries relative to maritime afiairs, 161 to 164'.
Norman Rolls, nature of, 15.
Origina1.ia, v. Estreat.
Original Writs, remarks on, 126 to 129.
Paris, Mathew, some of his narrations corroborated by entries
on the Close Rolls, 138, 139, 147 to 149, 164, 165.
Patent Rolls, nature of, 30.
the series conunences in the 3d of John, 2.
Peculiarities in Records, remarks on the necessity of pre-
serving, 54 to 60.
Pensions, and presents to Nurses of the Royal Family, 182 to
184.
Pipe Rolls, nature of, 16.
Plan of Publication of the Close Rolls, 31 to 85.
Political Economy with regard to Ireland, 187.
Portsmouth Dockyard, probable origin of, 162.
Prices of provisions and commodities, 173 to 175.
Prisoners, treatment of, 184 to 186.
Queen of England, attendance on, at dinner, 188.
Regnal Years, observations on, 135 to 137.
Robes for the King and Queen, 160, 161.
and insignia of Knights, v. Knights.
Royal Diversions^ entries relating to, 167 to 171-
xii TABLE.
Royal Kitchens, notices of two, 189, 190.
Scotland, King of, v. Alexander.
SuBPCENA, Origin of the writ of, 117 to 120.
Teste meipso and Teste Rege, remarks on the formules of,
67 to 74.
Tyrrell, James, his statement and arguments concerning the
Close Rolls, 9 to 14.
Wages of Soldiers and Artificers, 175, 176.
Will and Testament, 130, 131.
Writs, v» Brevja, Contrabreve, Original, and Subpcena.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
TO
THE CLOSE ROLLS.
iHE Records intituled RoTULI LiTTERARUM Origin
Clausarum, or Close Rolls, are a series of description
Parchment Rolls commencing with the sixth closb^lls.
year of the reign of King John, Anno Domini
1204, on which are recorded or enrolled all
Mandates, Letters, and Writs of a private
nature. They are denominated Close, in con-
tradistinction to another series of Rolls called
Patent. The entries registered on the Close
Rolls are Letters addressed in the King's name
to individuals, for special and particular pur-
poses, and were folded, or closed up^ and sealed
on the outside with the Great Seal : it is
chiefly in these particulars that they differ
from the Letters Patent^ which were addressed
to all the King's liege subjects, and not
folded up, but had the Great Seal attached
B
A
DESCRIPTION
OF
THE CLOSE ROLLS
IN THE
TOWER OF LONDON.
2 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Origin at the bottoiD, and are enrolled on the Patent
AND
Description RoUs.^
OF THE
Close Rolls.
The value and importance of the " Close
Rolls** have long been acknowledged by all
who have consulted them ; but the want of
Calendars and Indexes has prevented the mis-
cellaneous matter recorded on them from being
generally known and appreciated.
The Close Rolls are of infinite variety
and importance, both in a public and private
point of view. They illustrate in an eminent
degree the Policy and History as well of foreign
nations as of this country, in the thirteenth,
fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, the bio-
raphy of the Princes and other illustrious per-
sonages of the times ; and elucidate the Laws,
particular and general, the prerogatives of the
Crown, the power and influence of the Clergy
and Nobility, and the relative condition of the
people, as well morally as politically. When
it is remembered that these Records contain
the commands of the Sovereign upon all matters,
J The series of Patent Rolls commences in the third
year of the reign of King John. It may be inferred from
the words " Jias literas nostras Jieri fedmus patentes^' which
occur towards the conclusion of the patents on the first
Patent Roll now in existence, that there was an evident
distinction between the Patent and Close Writs.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION* 3
fhether of a domestic or pubUc nature, many omioiic
of which were intimately connected with the Description
. , OF THE
first interests of the Empire ; namely, treaties Close rolls.
and other diplomatic correspondence between
the Kings of England, France, Germany, and
the Heads of other States, exhibiting undoubted
evidence, in various forms, relating to feudal
and other property, the titles, genealogies, alii-
ances, special rights, and privileges enjoyed by
most of the ancient families of the realm, and
by innumerable other individuals, their historical
value must be at once apparent.
A glance at the following enumeration of
subjects, taken promiscuously from documents
contained in this Volume, but which is far from
being full or complete, may afford, however,
a more impressive idea of their miscellaneous
nature, and importance.
In reference to the King and his royal
rights and authority may be included articles
concerning the Royal Prerogative, Crown Re-
venue, Deodands, Treasure Trove, Gold and
Silver Mines, Donationes Regis, Fines for Trans-
gressions, Royal Parks and Forests, Magna
Charta, the Charter of the Forest, the Royalties
of Hunting and Hawking, Economy of the
Royal Household, Royal Marriages, Robes
and Dresses, Jewels, Coins, Aurum Reginae or
B 2
4 GENERAL INTRODUCTION*
Origibt Queen's Gold, Tournaments^ Levying of Annies,
Description King's Messengers, Naval and Military Affairs,
o* The ^^
Close Rolls. Homagc, Fealty, Knights' Service, Aids and
Marriages, Duels, Bail and Pardons, Protections,
Truces, public and private Letters to and from
the King upon State Affairs, Scutage, Talliage,
Livery of Lands, Assignments of Dower, Royal
Presents to distinguished Individuals, &c.
Connected with the Courts of Law will be
found matters relating to Politics and Laws, the
Chancellor of England, Deliveries of the Great
Seal, Jurisdiction of the Courts of Chancery,
King's Bench, and Exchequer, Wardship of
Minors, Custody of Idiots and Lunatics, Ap-
pointments of Justices of the Peace, Eschea-
• tors and Coroners, the Privy Council and Sum-
mons to the Councils, Ordinances, Books,
Records, &c. Under Ecclesiastical Affairs, the
subjects of Divorce, Adultery, Alimony, Pray-
ers, Masses, Papal Bulls, Knights Hospitallers
and Templars, &c. will occur. In illustration
of the Introduction and Progress of Trades
and Manufactures various entries will be found
respecting Repairs of Palaces, Public Build--
ings, and Bridges, &c. ; — the Arts — Pictures^
Paintings, Costume, &c.
It must consequently be evident that the
Investigator of English History will find a rich
and inexhaustible fund of materials, from the
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. /
Close*, and Charter Rolls, to be printed, of Origin
the same size as the Rolls and Journals of Description
Parliament/' Close rolls.
By the general Report of the Commis-
sioners to the King, dated 24th March 1802,
it appears that, in pursuance of the preceding
order, progress had been made in transcribing
for the Press the then existing Office Calendars ;
and by another Report of the date of 24th March
1803, further progress was stated to have been
made in transcribing them for the Press ; and
the Commissioners, in this Report, state to His
Majesty, that they had ordered the Official
Calendars of the Close Rolls at the Tower to
be printed forthwith ; inserting therein such of
the articles contained in a selection referred
to in the Resolution of the Board of the 25th
of June 1802.^ But by the Report in the fol-
1 The Office Calendars of the Close Rolls consist of
only eight quarto Volumes, commencing with the reign of
Henry III., and ending with that of Edward IV. ; and in
these not more than one instrument out of a hundred is
noticed. To the Rolls of the reign of King John there
was neither index or calendar, until within a few years
since, when an admirable one was completed by Henry
Petrie Esq., the present Keeper of the Records ; and which
is as useful and valuable as a calendar can be made.
2 Mr. Robert Lemon, chief clerk in the Record Office
in the Tower, had, in obedience to an order made 22d July
1800, been employed in making a selection of treaties, ne-
B 4
g GESTERAL DrTRflDCCTIOer.
omiGn loming jeaa^ beam^ dale the 9idi Mardi \9M^
DsscKimos it appears diat the printiiig of the Calendars
OF TBM
Close roua to the Oose R<As was postponed until thej had
been rendered more complete. No further
stepSy however, seem to have been taken for
completing those Cal^idars, thoi^h a jdan for
that purpose had been submitted to them by
William Illingw<»th £sq^ then Dqmtjr Keeper
of the Records, tiban whom, fitun his practical
knowledge and acquaintance with the contents
of the Rolls themselves, no person could be
more competent to judge of their value and
utility. Mr. IDingworth's plan was not carried
into effect, owing, perhaps, to the Commissioners
being impressed with an opinion that other works
w^ere more immediately deserving of their con-
sideration. Notwithstanding, however, a con-
stant demand for these documents, the Com-
missioners did not think it advisable to pro-
ceed with the completion of the OflBce Calen-
dars, and their contents remained unavailable
to the Public, until the present Commission was
formed, when no sooner was the attention of
gociations, and other instrumeDts of state, for a Supple-
ment then intended to be printed to Rymer's Foedera,
and which he completed towards the close of the year
1801. On the 25th of June 1802, " it was resolved by the
Board, that such part of the list of the instruments on the
Close Rolls as shall not be fit for insertion in the Supple-
ment to Rymer's Foedera, be inserted in the Calendar to the
Close Rolls."
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 9
the Secretary drawn to these Rolls by the Editor \ ^^]^^^
than he became so fully impressed with a con- Dbscbiption
*/ MT OF THB
viction of their legal and historical value, that Closb rolls.
he immediately recommended to the Board to
carry into effect the plan of publication sug-
gested, and now effected. To this recommen-
dation, therefore, the world in general and his-
torians and antiquaries in particular, are in-
debted for these valuable illustrations of the
history, laws, manners, and customs of the
periods to which they refer.
The most ancient of these Close Rolls now
extant is that of the sixth of King John, Anno
Domini 1204 ; but whether there were any
anterior to that period, there is no direct evi-
dence upon which to determine ; nor is there
perhaps sufficient reason to assert that there
were none, though the strongest evidence now
to be obtained seems rather to sanction such
an assertion. On this point it is, however,
proper to state what Tyrrell, a most inde-
fatigable and laborious writer, has urged in
his Bibliotheca Political, where he says, that
Brady (to whom he is violently opposed) alleges,
that all the Close Rolls of the reigns of John
1 See An Account of the most important Public
Records of Great Britain, &c. 2 vols. 8vo., by C. P. Cooper
Esq. Vol. i. page 409.
2 Bibliotheca Politica. By James Tyrrell Esq. Fol.
1718, p. 372.
10 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
ii
^AND^^ and Henry III. are extant in the Tower ; *^ which
Description « jg a great mistake/* says Tyrrell, *' for I have
Close Rolls. <^ had a friend who has given me a note of
^* what Close Rolls are still extant in those
" reigns, and what are lost, which you may
*' here see. To begin with King John : pray
*^ observe that all tRe Close Rolls of the first
five years of his reign are gone ; and so they
are in the 9th ^ 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th;
for certainly there were some in those as
well as in the succeeding years. In th^
next place, till the 18th ^ there is but one
" Roll left of each year ; but then there are
** three, and after that but one or two in a year
" to the very end. Now pray tell me how we
" can be assured that there was not more thaa
" one Roll in every precedent year, as well a$
" in the 15th. The like I may say for the
" reign of Henry III., which though I grant
*^ are more entire than those of King John>
** there being some left us of every year but
*^ the 23d, yet they are but a few, and for the
** greatest part but one in each year; never
*^ but two in any year in all this long reign,
" unless it be in the 39th, in which there are
" four, which is very strange that in so busy
*^ a time as most of this reign was there should
1 This a mistake : the Close Roll for the 9th is still
extant, see p. 84 et seq.
2 Evidently an error for the 15th.
GENERAL INTROOU«riOM. 11
" be no more Rolls left ; and therefore it seems Oriotm
AND
" very probable that at least half are lost" Dbscriptiok
This statement of Tyrrell contained in
the first part of Mr. Freeman's answer to
Mr. Meanwell (for his work is constructed in
dialogue), that the Close Rolls for the five first
years of the reign of King John were gone or
lost, is true only to this extent, that there are
none now in existence ; though there is, more-
over, in favour of his assertion the fact, that of
every description of Rolls in the Inventory of
Richard II.* there are but 75 altogether assigned
to the reign of King John : though that Inven.
tory does not particularize the number of Rolls
of each description. At present there are only
66 Rolls altogether of the reign of John, and
if the number of Close Rolls wanting be
added, namely 9, to the number at present
OF THE
Closb Rolls.
'
^ ^^ Haec Indentura facta inter dominum Willielmum
deBurstall clericum nuper custodem Rotulorum Cancel-
lariae domini Regis et dominum Johannem de Waltham
nunc custodem Rotulorum prsedictorum, testatur quod
prsfatus dominus Willielmus prstextu cujusdam brevis
ipsius domini Regis eidem domino Willielmo directi
liberavit praedicto domino Johanni officium praedictum ac
Rotulos Memoranda et alias evidentias subscripta dictum
officium tangentia videlicet, sexaginta et quindecim Rotulos
in duabus bagis de tempore Regis Johannis/' &c. '^ Data
London, nono die Septembris anno regni Regis Ricardi
secundi post conquestum quinto." Ex vet* membrana in
arcL Turr^Lcmd.
12 GENBRAL INTRODUCTION.
Origin known, they will together produce 75, the num-
Description bcF Stated to be in existcncc whcD the Inventory
OF THE*
Close Rolls, was made. But then this is supposing that the
whole series of other Rolls are perfect, namely,
the Patent, Fine, and other Rolls, which is not
the case, for each series of Rolls is imperfect
for other years of this reign. Thus, for the
12th year of the reign of John, there is only
one Roll^ namely, a Prestita Roll ; and for the
11th and 13th years of that reign there are no
Rolls at all now extant : the conclusion from
which is, that there was no earlier series of
Rolls than that of which we are now in posses-
sion ; namely, the Charter Rolls, commencing
with the 1 St, the Patent with the 3d, and the
Close and Fine with the 6th years of King John's
reign. The instruments on the Charter Rolls
were perhaps the first species of Royal Diplo-
mas enrolled, and that by reason of their great
importance. The plan of recording Charters
being found of considerable advantage, Letters
Patent were also afterwards recorded, and then
Letters Close ^ ; and it is not at all improbable
1 In support of this inference it may be remarked, that
Treaties and other Public Protocols, such as were afterwards
entered upon the Close or Patent Rolls, according to their
nature, are found to be enrolled on the backs (technicallj'
called phe « Dors'') of the Charter Rolls for the first and
second years of John's reign ; and that Diplomas of thir
sort are not to be found entered on Charter Rolls since the^
GENERAL INTRODU(;jION. 13
that the nine Rolls missing may have belonged orioiw
to the 11th, 12th, and 13th years of John's Description
reign, but by some accident have been lost Closr rolls.
For otherwise how is it that no registration of
Charters or Letters Close for either of those
years exists ?
The other points which seem to embar-
rass Tyrrell are easily answered. He says,
**that till the 18th/' doubtless a typographical
en-or for the 15th, " there is but one Roll left
" of each year, and then there are three, and
'* aflter that but one or two in a year to the
" very end ;'* and asks " how he can be assured
" that there was not more than one Roll in
" every precedent year, as well as the 15th ?"
The answer is simply this : every Roll, when
there is only one for a year, is perfect in itself;
that is, it commences with the day of the Ascen-
sion (from which day the regnal year of John
was computed), and ends the day before the
following Ascension Day : but when the trans-
actions of one year were so extensive as, by
registration of the same, to make one Roll too
bulky, the Roll was then divided into two parts
commeD cement of Close or Patent Rolls ; the Dors of the
Patent or Close Rolls, according to their nature, being the
place used for such entries ; where those here alluded to
Would also doubtless have been registered had such species
of Rolls been then in existence^
14
far the sake of c umcnk nce ^ ; and this was
the case as to the RoDs of the loth and l6th
jeais of that reign ; the entzies of business
perfonned in those rears being too great in
qoantitj to be admissible upoo one BjM, it was
divided into two parts, aae for the first, and the
other for the last six nnrndis of the year ; and
these parts, with cx^es <^ the same (which it
was then the jvactice to make), complete the
number of three for each of those years.^
The same reascming may be iq[)plied to the
reign of Henry 'IIL
From the title of the Close Roll of the 6th
of John, it may also be inferred to be ihe^st
of that species of Roll, for it is observable that
this is not styled a Close Roll^ nor is that spe-
cific title applied to this description of RcXL
until we come to the Roll of the 8th year of]
1 Great inequality in the quantity of registration it
different years must necessarily have resulted from thti
rapid and irregular movements of a sovereign like King]
John, whose indolence and other vicious habits must havtj
frequently interrupted and delayed legal process of everyJ
kind, and consequently occasioned at one time a pauci^^j
and at another time an accumulation of business.
2 A slight variation in this respect must be admitted
as regards the Roll of the 15th year, the third part
that Roll being the Justiciary's Roll, when the King was it
Poictou.
^ ** Rotulus terrarum datarum et commissarum el
denariorum et quietantionum anno regni Johannis sexto/'
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 15
that reign ^ though the entries recorded on Origin
ibose of the 6th and 7th years of the same i>«8ciiiptioh
•^ OF THB
reign are precisely similar to those of the 8th ; Close rolls.
and it might have happened that the classifica-
tion of the Chancery Rolls had not, till that
period, assumed the form it afterwards bore ;
for many of the entries on the early Close
Rolls more properly belong to that series of
entries found on the Fine and Liberate ^ Rolls,
all of which may be considered as branches of
the Close Rolls.^
The documents on the early Rolls are
invariably written in corrupted Latin, and being
full of abbreviations, with many of the letters
1 Rotulus Litterarum Clausarum anni regni Regis
Johannis octavi.
2 On the LUferate Rolls are recorded precepts directing
the payment of sums of money ; and also orders to sheriffs
to deliver possession of lands or goods which had been
extended.
^ The entries on the Norman Rolls of the 2nd and 6th
of John, calendared in Carte's Gascon and French Rolls,
torn. i. p. 24*1, et seq. are also Rolls of a close nature. It ap-
pears, however, from Carte's Catalogue, that the matters
recorded on them relate wholly to Normandy ; but this is
not the fact, more than one half of the instruments having
relation, not only to other parts of our then ultra-marine
dominions, but also to this country, which are omitted. It
may not be irrelevant here to state, that the Norman
Contrabrevia Roll of the 4th of John had, by some means
or other, escaped Carte's notice ; and that lately another
Nomian Roll, of the 5th of John, has been discovered^
which also, of course, is not noticed in Carte's work.
16
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Origin
AND
bearing a strong resemblance to each other,
DESCRIPTION it is by reference to the context alone that many
OF THE •' •
Close Rolls, words can be decyphcred. TTie handwriting
prevalent in England at this period was deno-
minated Norman, or the Monastic hand ; partly
allied to the elegant Saxon, and partly to the
Lombardic. A great difference may, however,
be observed between this and the Chancery
hand of the same period, both as it regards
the shape of the letters and the frequent oc-
currence of abbreviations, the latter' being
more careless and cursive. TTie great simi-
larity of the n to the m, of in to wi, of the / to
the c, and of the f to the ^, often renders it
a matter of some difficulty to determine on
which to fix ; but sometimes the distinction
is clearly apparent ; and, doubtless, as a differ-
ence must always have been intended, it may^
when imperceptible, have been occasioned by
the carelessness of the scribe. More instancea
of this distinction are to be found on the
Pipe Rolls ^ than on the Chancery Rolls, for
1 The handwritings of the Exchequer Rolls are more
analogous to the Monastic than to the Chancery hand.
2 The Pipe Rolls, or the Great Rolls of the Pipe,
sometimes called the '^ Rotuli Annales/* contain many Ixa*
portant entries respecting the revenue and property of the
Crowni and afford the most minute particulars of its terri-
torial possessions, whether ancient demesne, or otherwise*
All the fiscal accounts are there recorded; and though
these Rolls were not originally intended for any other than
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. IJ
the most unpractised eye may in the former origin
<letennine, at a glance, what are the letters des^ri^iok
intended; but on the latter, where the dis- close iTolls.
tinction is less remarkable, the context can
^lone enable the transcriber to determine what
must be the proper word required to complete
the sense.
Great ambiguity prevails in the proper
names of persons and places which occur on
the Close Rolls ; for these were either Latinized
or Gallicized, whenever it was possible to do
so, according to the fancy of the scribe, or
the degree of knowledge which he happened
to possess. Thus, he rendered into Latin or
French a Norman or Saxon appellation, just as
he happened to prefer the one to the other.
Consequently, to express one and the same
name, we sometimes find it written BoscuSy at
other times Bois ; for De Alneto elsewhere will
be found Dauney ; for Beaumarshy De Bello
Marisco ; and for Beaupre^ De Bello prato.
Whitchurch is sometimes written De Albo Mo-
nastertOy sometimes Blancmuster or BlauncrmiS'
tier. Again, Malus Catulus is sometimes con-
financial affairs, yet in the early Rolls much curious matter,
nowhere else to be found, is recorded ; and even private
Charters were, before the commencement of the Chancery
registration, entered thereon.
C
18 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
OmioiN verted into Malckeeriy at other times into Machel;
AND '
dbscbiption 2)e Monte alto into Mould or Montalt ; De
or THE ,
Close Rolls. Sancta Barbara into Senbarb or Stmbard. Even
when the unaltered name is preserved in the
ancient vernacular language, still, owing either
to the unsettled and changeable orthography of
those times ^ or to the undistinguishable junc-
1 The same name, in being pronounced by a German^
an Italian, a Frenchman^ a Norman, or an Englishman,
inevitably became subjected to a variation in its sound;
consequently, if a scribe were writing from oral instruction,
be must have been very apt to spell the name falsely, being
guided by the manner in which the word was articulated,
and not according to its proper orthography ; and this is
probably the reason why proper names are often disfigured
by additions, retrenchments, or changes of letters ; to say
nothing of mis-spellings which may have been owing to the
negligence or inadvertence of the writers.
But these defects of an unsettled and imperfect or>
thography were not peculiar or confined to English di*
plomas, as the following testimonies, gathered from most
distinguished diplomatic writers, will show.
** Nee qffendere quempiam debety vbi svbindi in tini
eddemque chartd orthographuB diversUas observcUury maximt
in nominiims propriis; quippe veteres sud scribendi methods
uH de unifbrmiiate nihil cur abant*' Gudencjs. Cod. Diplom*
Prefat. p. 15.
'' Scriptores diplamatum ac chartarum pagemium medk
avo nanUna propria personarum aqtie ac locarum diversimodi
ac distori^ scepe el nonnunqtuun in tmo eodemque documeM
vario referunL** Hergott. Genealogia Diplomatica gentis
Habsburgicse Prolegomen. p. 8.
^ Voila encore au IV Steele^ non simplement une orAih
graphcy mais une construction difirentCj en mains d^une Ugne:
eicela r^sM eh dxverses pieces. L'orthographe des nomsd
des mots barbares ou dirivis des tongues itrangeres n*€tt pai
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 19
tion of the letters i, n, m. and m, in the same Origin
' ' AND
wordy it is extremely difficult to ascertain the description
OF THE
true reading ; one document frequently exhibit- close roll*.
ii^ material variations in the spelling of the same
name, and to such a degree, that a person, not
&miliar with the almost countless modifications
of English nomenclature, would scarcely be able
to recognize the modem name from seeing it
as it was anciently written. It is therefore
necessary to guard the Reader from conclud-
ing, when he sees a proper name, or any other
word, spelt in various ways, or in a different
maimer to that in which he has been accus-
tomed to see it, that such word has therefore
been mistaken by the Editor, or that it is a
typographical error. At pages 42 and 46 the
Isame name is spelt in four different ways ;
Resaham, Roffham^ Refharrij and Besham ; and
yet the letters are so completely formed, and
80 incapable of being mistaken, as to admit no
doubt of the propriety of literally following the
text The only conclusion, therefore, to be
drawn is, that the clerk (whether he copied
from the original writ, or whether he composed
from oral instruction,) must in either case have
been guilty of carelessness. At page 79 is an
entry relative to W°». de Wrotham, Archdeacon
twins incertaine dans les sikcles stdvans.** Nouveau Trait£
de Diplomatique, par deux Religieux Ben^dictins. Paris,
1765, 6 vols, in 4^^ torn, v, p. 508.
C 2
20
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Origin of u Cant.'* (Canterbury), evidently a mistake
bBscRiPTioN for Tant. (Taunton) ; and this is a very curious
OF THE ^^ , , _
Close Rolls, instance of a name being misread in the Original,
for the clerk who wrote the Patent Rolls also
misread this identical name, which has led Le
Neve into the error of making William de
Wrotham succeed Henry de Sandford in the
Archdeaconry of Canterbury ' ; whereas Sand-
ford continued Archdeacon of the latter place
until the year 1227, when he was preferred to
the Bishoprick of Rochester. The name of
Cha worth, de Cadurcis, is spelt not less thafi
twelve different ways. Limintun Meant/ is
written for Ltwunton Meavy : here the letters
cannot be mistaken, as dots are put over both
of the letters i. At pages 241, 242, and 244
the same names are spelt in three different
ways ; as thus : — John Moriston of Tyrqford^
John Ay St on of Tyrefeld, and John Merston
Tynefeld : and many similar instances could bej
adduced.
Though much more might have been
tempted from a desire to assist the Reader, hi
the Editor indulged in conjectures, yet so man]
and so well founded, are the objections to E(
tonal surmises and emendations, that he has il
1 Fasti Ecclesise Anglicanse, p. II. by John LeNi
fol. 1716.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 91
this publication adhered strictly to the Record, Origin
and printed every document exactly as it there Dbscriptiok
appears ; but, wherever the names could be close rolls.
sufficiently identified, they have been arranged
in the several Indexes, in so conspicuous a
manner as to leave no room for mistake. To-
pographers and County Historians must, how-
ever, be aware, that it is next to an impossi-
bility for any person to be perfectly acquainted
with such a variety of proper names as are
contained in this volume ; and though much
labour has been bestowed upon all the means of
correcting and of avoiding errors, yet the Editor
is fully aware that, in defiance of the most
zealous care, some possibly still remain. They
ought not, however, to be ascribed to inattention
or negligence ; and, by observing a simple rule,
they can easily be rectified. Such errors are
those which regard the letters m, n, v, w, occur-
ring in groupes of four, five, six, or more up-
right strokes of the pen, undistinguishable by
any peculiarity to guide the eye to their proper
signification. Whenever a cluster of these
letters appears together, and the name is con-
sequently doubtful, count the number of these
]^ upright parallel strokes requisite in composing
the name presumed to be the right one, allow-
ing three strokes for an m, and two each for
the supposed w, v, or w, and observe whether
the printed name is found to correspond ; as
c 3
a:
r
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Origin jn Mimican, which has sometimes been printed
Description MuTiican^ from the letters bearing that appear-
closb Rolls, ance. Here it will be seen that the number
of upright parallel strokes necessary to com-
pose the first part of either of those names,
written thus — ^^^MAAMytoAx j is eight ; and as
clusters like these, of several upright parallel
strokes, frequently occur, the diflSculty of deter-
mining upon the right reading may easily be
conceived.
There is another cause of confusion, upon
which a remark is necessary. Hitherto, in Pub-
lications of Records, words ending in tio^ &c.
have, with much impropriety, been invariably
spelt with a c, instead of the t. That mode is
here pursued, wherever it had the appearance of
c, butfio/ otherwise; for a manifest difierence
is often perceptible, in the early Rolls, between
the two letters, especially in words where c and
. t stand in juxta-position ; for instance, in rce»
turn and rettatus^ &c. Again, there are casei
wherein the t occurs by itself, in substitution |
for which a c is so decidedly inadmissible, thi
the Editor has not adopted it, but it is not
probable that an occasional error may be foui
to arise from the diflSculty of always distinguisl
ing between the c and ^, from the great sii
larity in the formation of those two letters b^
some scribes.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 23
ORIGIN OF ENROLMENTS.
The custom of recording documents on origin of
1 /• • ENROLMENTi.
Rolls of parchment, though of very ancient
date, commenced, nevertheless, at a period
subsequent to the Conquest; for no vestige
can be traced of such a system during the
Anglo-Saxon dynasty.^ "Apud Anglo-Saxones/*
says Hickes, ^ " etiam mos erat leges Regum
> Transfers of property and legal grants were regis-
tered by the Anglo-Saxons in the *^ Land-boc/' and in the
vacant leaves of Mass-books, ** In membranis liturgicis con-
tractus suos scribendi mos apud Anglo-Saxones fuit ;*' and
these registrations, though received as evidence in courts
of justice, were not, however, o^^Jcio/ registers preserved for
that purpose in the King's Court ; nor could there have
been then any judicial records, as all the juridical proceed-
ings were conducted by oral pleadings, and determined in
a plain and simple manner, in the Folkmotes of the several
districts. These were not officially recorded; although
upon special occasions, it appears that the decision of the
Wittena-gemote was made out *' sederUe curidy* with the
names of the principal persons present subscribed to it, and
a memorandum afterwards entered, in perpetuam ret memo"
riam, on the blank leaf of some missal, ^' Mos erat apud
Anglo-Sax ones in libros, qui in Coenobiorum bibliothecis
asservati erant, tanquam in tabulas publicas, acta curiarum
communium referre et emptiones, venditiones, donationes,
&€.** The testimony, nevertheless, of these proceedings,
for legal purposes, was allowed only to be received in the
Hundred or County Courts in which the trial had taken
place.
2 Linguarum Veterum Septentrionalium Thesaurus,
Epist, Dissert, tom. i. p. 29- 3 vols. fol. 1705.
C 4
24f GENERAL INTRODUCTION^
Origin of
Enrolments.
latas in codicibus monasteriorum, tanquam in
tabulas publicas referendi.'* It may be assumed
that, had such a plan been then in operation,
the same would have been adopted by the
Conqueror, to perpetuate the survey * of the
kingdom which he caused to be made, and
for the preservation of which he evinced so
much zeal and anxiety. As to the precise
time when the use of Rolls, for the entry of
matters of business, Jirsi begariy there is still
considerable doubt; Antiquaries are much di-
1 This important territorial survey has been supposed
by some persons to have been originally written in the form
of a Roll, in consequence of a passage in Ingulphus, an
historian contemporary with the Conqueror, who, speaking
of this survey, says, " Ipse Rotulus vocatur Rotulus Wm*
UmuBy et ab Anglicis pro sua generalitate, omnia tene-
menta totius terrae integrae continente, Domesdei cognomi-
natur ; talem Rotulum et multum similem ediderat quondam
Rex Alfredusy qui quidem Rotulus WintonuB vocatus est,
quia disponebatur apud Wintoniam conservandus.* Th^
word Rotulus must not, however, be understood to signify
simply and exclusively a Roll, for it is synonimous with
the word Liber. Vide Dufresne, sub voce Rotulus ; where
" Veteres volumen, recentiores Grasci ElXtirafioy appellarunt^
nostri RooUe et RoUe^ Germani RodeL Ejusmodi porro
chartarumvolumina inter magistratuum insignia in utri usque
Imperii Notitia conspiciuntur, ut inde liceat conjicere^
horum usum ea tempestate obtinuisse, hoc est, circa tem:
pora Theodosii junioris, in quae acta judicaria referebant
licet etiam codicibus, qui et hie effinguntur, uterentur."
Durandus, lib. 1. Ration, cap. 3. num. 11. ait; Prophetai
et Apostolos depingi solere cum Rotulis vel Libris. Iti
Baldricus Burguliensis Abbas Rohdum pro Libra dixit;
torn. iv. Historim Francorum.
GEN£RA(L INTRODUCTION. 25
vided in opinion on the subject, and indeed, Origin or
it is difficult, if not impossible to ascertain, with
any degree of certainty, the exact period of its
commencement.
The Author of the Dialogus de Scaccario *
asserts that the Rotuli Annales of King Henry
I. were then remaining in the Exchequer ^ ; and
Alexander de Swerford, Archdeacon of Shrews-
bury, who was a clerk in the Exchequer in the
third year of the reign of Henry HI., and the
compiler of the lied Book, states, that he had
seen some of them ^ but that he knew of no
one who had seen any of so early a period as
that of the Conqueror,^ That no Rolls of a
date antecedent to that of the 18th Henrv I. *
1 Madox has satisfactorily proved, in his Disceptatio
EpistolariSf addressed to Lord Halifax, prefixed to the
DialoguSf that Richard Fitz Nigel, Bishop of London, and
Treasurer to Richard L, was the author of that work, and
liot Gervaise of Tilbury, to whom it had been generally
ascribed.
2 '< Servabatur per plures annos ad Scaccarium lex
hujus solutionis : unde frequenter in veteribus Annalibus
Rotulis Regis illius invenies scriptum," he. Dialog* de Scac,
lib. L cap. 7. (p. 20.)
3 '' Licet ejusdem (Henrici L) paucos inspexerim
annales." Lib. Rub. fol. 47. col. 2.
4 « Nee annalia sua (R. Willielmi L) temporibus meis
a quibusdam visa sunt." Lib, Rub. fol. 47 a.
^ This Roll has generally been supposed to belong to
the fifth year of the reign of Stephen ; but Madox has
conclusively proved that it belonged to that of Henry I.
Treating of it in his Disceptatio Epistolaris de Magnp
26 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Origin of ^re now in cxistencc is certjun. It may,
Enkolments. «^ '
therefore, be presumed, that the practice of
enrolling prevailed shortly after the Conquest.
That the making of Enrolments was first
practised in that branch of the Curia Regis
called the Exchequer, there can be little or
no doubt ; that such practice was introduced
by the Normans is also admitted : and it may
be assumed, that the advantages resulting from
this method of preserving the memory of public
transactions became so apparent, as, in all pro-
bability, to induce the officers of the other
branches of the Curia Regis to adopt a similar
plan of perpetuating the transactions and oc-
currences of their respective departments.
Madox, in endeavouring to account for the
origin of Chanceiy Enrolments, which differ in
their form and mode from those of the Ex-
chequer, seems to think, that the acts of Chaiv*
Rotulo Scaccariiy he says " Hactenus, Amplissime Bai%
tanquam in lance libravi subjectam materiam in trei
quasstiones divisam ; primam, utrum vetus hie Rotulus A
Regis Henrici IL ; secundam, an R. Stephani ; tertian^
an R. Henrici L Libramenti istius hie est effectus ; majof =
rationis pondus in tertiam qusestionem reeidit: nempt
Rotulum ilium ad Henrici 7. tempera oportere referril
utrum autem ad annum decimum octavum, an aliufll
quempiam annum dominationis illius Regis, periti judicent,'
&c. Prynne, who carefully examined the contents of thil
Roll, pronounces it to be of-the 18th Henry I. Pryfmt4$
Auro Eegincs, in Append, p. 5.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 27
eery, at the end of the twelfth century, beinir o*ioiw <>»
so interwoven with those of the Exchequer, and
the busmess of both being principally directed
Wards ascertaining and preserving Uie rights
f the King, was owing to both these Courts
aving been held together in the same place,
nd to the Chancellor having been in the habit
f affixing the Great Seal to all instruments
romiscuously, whether appertaining to one
!ourt or to the other ^ ; but as soon as the
!hancery, which was the Secretarial depart-
lent of the Curia Regis, came to be separated
•cm the Exchequer, and to be held in a differ-
nt place, (which happened towards the latter
1 ** Cancellarius, sicut in Curia sic ad Scaccarium
agnu8 est : adeo ut sine ipsius consensu vel consilio nil
agnum fiat, vel fieri debeat. Verum hoc habet officium
im residet ad Scaccarium, ad ipsum pertinet custodia
^ilji Regii, quod est in Thesauro, sed inde non recedit nisi
im praecepto Justitise ab inferiore ad superius Scaccarium
Thesaurario vel Camerario defertur, ad explenda solum
igotia Scaccarii. Quibus peractis in loculum mittitur, et
cuius a Cancellario consignatur, et sic Thesaurario tra-
tur custodiendus. Item, cum necesse fuerit, signatus sub
anium oculis Cancellario ofiertur ; nunquam ab ipso vel
I alio alias ofierendus. Item ad ipsum pertinet Rotuli qui
t de Cancellaria, custodia per suppositam personam ; et
}ut viris magnis visum est de omni scriptura Rotuli Can-
illarius seque tenetur ut Thesaurarius, excepto duntaxat
: hoc, quod scribitur in thesauro receptum: licet enim
ID praescribat ut Thesaurarius conscribit tamen etsi ille
raverit, licet ipsi vel Clerico ejus Thesaurarium cum
odestia corripere, et quid debeat suggerere*" DicU. de
cacc. lib. 1. cap. 5.
28
Orioin of
i^bolmbnts.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
part of the reign of Richard I.,*) that then it
became necessary to adopt a more particular
mode of recording and distinguishing the several
acts of that Court, the business of which had
very materially increased since the two offices
of Chancellor and Chief Justiciary were filled
by pne and the same person.^
Great inconvenience had been felt in the
reign of Richard I. from the want of proper
memoranda whereby it could be ascertained
what Charters had previously been granted^^
under the Great Seal, to individuals j which
was, perhaps, another motive for settling some
regular mode of registration ; for many persons
were obliged, at a great expence, to get those
Charters renewed which had been passed undar
1 The cause of the separation of thie two CourtB il
conjectured by Madox, and with great probability, to haNrj
been this : that during the time of Richard I., being out
the kingdom, William de Longchamp, the High Justiciarrj
and Chancellor, was, by the power and intrigues of
King*s brother, John Earl of Mortain, deprived of
office of Chief Justiciary ; and although he for some timt]
continued to be Chancellor, he did not attend and act at 1*
Exchequer as theretofore, by which means the business
the Chancery, which had previously been transacted at
Exchequer, was then done at another place. HisL
p. 132.
3 ^^ Willielmus verd Eliensis obtinuit Justitiariam
magno flumine ad plagam Australem, usque ad mare
licanum, cum sigillo Regis et Turri Londinensi.^
Par. 1 10.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 29
the Great Seal, lost off the Isle of Cypras.* o»»o»^ <>'
For this there would have been no occasion
iad such Charters been registered by the King's
Chancellor.^
1 When Master Roger Malus Catulus (Malchien), Vice
Chancellor to Richard I., was drowned off the Isle of
Cjrprus, and the King's Great Seal was lost, the King
ordered all Charters to be newly sealed, as appears by the
testimony of contemporary historians. ^* Deinde veniens
(Ricardus) in Normanniam (annol 194)molestd tulit quicquid
foctmn fuerat de supradictis treugis, et imputans Cancellario
sue hoc per eum fuisse factum, abstulit ab eo sigillum suum,
et fecit sibi novum sigillum fieri, et mandavit per singulas
terras, qudd nihil ratum foret, quod fuerat per vetus sigillum
suum ; turn quia Cancellarius ille operatus fuerat inde minus
discrete qu^m esset necesse, tum quia sigillum illud per-
ditum erat, quando Rogerus Malus catulus, vice cancel-
larius suus, submersus erat in mari ante insulam de Cipro ;
et prscepit Rex quod omnes, qui chartas habebant, venirent
ad novum sigillum suum ad chartas suas renovandas."
Barton AngUcarum scriptores post JBedamy 1596. p> 425.
^ Duffi buscise perierunt in quibus multi milites, et ser-
virates, de familia Regis submersi sunt ; inter quos, proh
dolor ! Magister Rogerus Malus catulus, vice cancellarius
Regis, submersus est, et sigillum Regis, quod gestabat in
collo ejus suspensum, inveniebatur.'' Hoveden, p. 393.
^ In corroboration of the opinion that Chancery enrol-
ments were not in existence prior to the reign of John,
one or two instances may be deemed sufficient. It has
been alleged that Richard I., on pretence of his seal
being carried out of his kingdom, and lost at sea, com-
pelled all persons who^ prior to that accident, had obtained
Grants from him, to renew them under the new seal ; a
Charter which Richard had granted having been destroyed,
a jury was impanelled for th^ purpose of ascertaining the
particulars of that grant; and then a new Charter was
made out according to their verdict, which stated the
contents of the old one ; a procedure which would not have
30 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Origin of The consequence of tiie separation of the
Enkolmsnts.
Chancery from the Exchequer was the organi-
zation or classification of the different acts whidi
passed under the Great Seal, each of which wan*
entered upon a distinct Roll appropriated to
instruments of its peculiar class ; and hence the
origin of the Patent \ Close, Charter ^ Fine^
and other Rolls.
The mode of joining or fastening the
membranes of the various Rolls together was,
been adopted had any enrolment of the first of these
Charters been then in being, as such enrolment would hate
been as good evidence as the Charter itself. Again, the
Charter granted to Alan Basset in the sixth, was in the nintk
year of the same reign confirmed under the new seal* **U
erat tenor cartas nostras in primo sigillo nostro, quod quit
aliquando perditum fuit, et dum capti essemus in Ak*|
mannia in aliena potestate constitutum, mutatum est, huji
autem,'' &c. Had there been Rolls of Grants in existendj
at that time, Richard could not have imposed upon
subjects heavy fines for the renewal of those Chartersi ftr
the reasons already stated.
1 The Patent Rolls contain Grants of Offices, Lani
Privileges, and Immunities: Restitutions of Temp<
of Bishops, Abbots, and other Ecclesiastical pern
Grants, Confirmations of Grants made to Corporate b<
Grants in fee-farm. Special Liveries, Patents of Creation,
3 The Charter Rolls contain Royal Grants to Citii
Boroughs, and Corporations: Grants of Markets, Fail
Free Warrens, &c.
3 The Fine Rolls contain general Liveries of li
holden in capite of the Crown, Writs of ^* diem clai
extremum," Fines paid for Alienation, for Relief, **
licenti^ concordandi,'* ** pro exoneratione militum,** &c
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 31
perhaps, purposely invented to distinguish them ^'^^'^,^
&om the Rolls of the Exchequer and those of
the Curia Regis. In the Chancery Rolls the
membranes are sewed together consecutively,
making one continuous Roll ; whereas, in those
)f the Exchequer and Curia Regis, each mem-
)rane is fastened or filed at the top with a
ilip of parchment, leaving the ends loose. The
ame manner of making up the Rolls is, at this
lay, peculiar to each of the two Courts.*
PLAN OF THIS PUBLICATION.
This Work presents the whole of the plan ofthi»
n Tfc n ^ • t 1 - 1 ' Publication.
Llose Rolls of the penod to which it ex-
tends, as it was considered that a mere Calendar
would be but imperfect and unsatisfactory,
1 Many opinions have prevailed as to the preference
of the modes of enrolment practised by each Court. The
Holls of the Exchequer are not so convenient for reference
tt those of the Chancery, whilst they are more exposed
to laceration and other injury, owing to the ends of each
^ banging loose and unprotected ; and although, when
tb Chancery Rolls arrive at any great bulk, there is an
inconvenience, and, perhaps, some wear occasioned by
^iog and uncoiling the membranes, to which the Ex-
fiequer Rolls are not subject, nevertheless the form used
Jtt the Chancery is better calculated for the preservation
^the documents entered on the membranes'; a reason
^ch is decisive for giving it the preference.
32
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan of this and that an Abstract of them would be scarcely
more useful, inasmuch as it is impossible to
predetermine what may or may not, to par-
ticular individuals and for special purposes,
be important ; added to which is the con-
sideration that of many of the entries on
these Rolls no further abridgment could be
effected, as the enrolling clerk had himself |
abridged the Original Mandates, so that there
is hardly a word but what is in some way
of real importance, not merely to the sens^
but as tending to determine the object and
bearing of the document ; no useless wordll
being employed. Moreover, it has been proved
by actual trial, that documents so short as the
generality of those contained in the Close Rolls
can be copied in much less time than would]
necessarily be occupied in abstracting them,
expert writer being able to copy a docum<
very nearly as fast as he can decypher it;
whereas, for the purpose of abstracting it,
must indispensably first read the docume
through, next, he must make himself familil
with its various points and bearings, and th<
he will have to consider the most concise
explicit way of forming the abstract. Add<
to all this, there is a difficulty, not so si
as it may appear, in reducing into a more a
pendious form matter that has already undergo
the process of curtailment, and which by
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. dS
)ridffment would be subiected to the danirer ^^" ®' ™"
° ^ •^ ^ Publication.
' omitting some expression which possibly
ght alter the purport or embarrass the sense
the whole instrument.
In being furnished with a transcript of
5 documents themselves, the Reader can
Fer no disappointment ; for it often happens
t what is deemed worthless by some, may
held by others to be of the greatest value ;
: can he have any anxiety to see the Origi-
s, instigated by the possibility of discovering
ae different reading, or other matter which
i escaped the notice and proper attention of
I abstracter. So important, indeed, has it
3n thought for every document to be printed
the most correct manner, that in many in-
nces obliterations of whole sentences have
3n retained (though marked as effiiced in the
iginal) as essential to the meaning, it being
possible without them thoroughly to under-
nd the document in which they occur, as
5 scribe appears frequentiy to have erased
irds fatal to the sense, forgetting at the
>ment the structure of the sentence ; and,
Qsequently, unless the effacement or oblitera-
n had been retained, the instrument must
ve appeared to be incapable of rational con-
uction ; whereas, by exhibiting it to the
eader whole and entire, he is enabled to ascer-^
D
34 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
p^wcIt^n! *^^ ^^ ^^^ meaning. For these reasons it has
been deemed expedient to give a complete and
literal transcript ; in short, as close ^fac-simik
of the Originals as modem types would admit
No eflSicement or obliteration has, however,
been preserved where it was evidently a mere
clerical error, or where the sense of the doca«
ment is not obviously affected by it.
Wherever the sense of a document happens
to be obscure from the omission of a wor^
and no doubt can exist as to the word whid|{
ought to have been inserted, it has been thougfal|
advisable to supply such word ; but wherevei'|
this has happened, the deficiency (whether
a word, or of any other accidental omissioii|)'j
has invariably been printed within crotchets
way of parathesis. In cases where a duplii
of the Roll has been found, the deficiency
been supplied from that source, still, however^
exhibiting it within crotchets, for the pui
of enabling the Reader to satisfy himself
noUiing has been inconsiderately inserted
way of conjecture. It is only necessary
add, that in no case whatever has the lib
been taken of altering or amending a wi
when wrong from either clerical or grammati^
error, such inaccuracies being denoted by
underline, to indicate that such error did m
escape attention.
i GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 35
Duplicates. — Of most of the early Patent, 5^^» ^f this
./ ' PUBLICATIOlf.
xine, and Close Rolls in the Tower there are
some termed Duplicates ; but this term or deno-
mination must not be understood in the usual
[neaning of a Duplicate or Counterpart made
ind authenticated at the same time with its
3riginal, for these Duplicates may either have
)een so made, or be merely Copies transcribed
it the distance of five or ten years, or other
ndefinite period, subsequently to the making
ip of their Originals. Of such Duplicate Rolls
here are now extant only fourteen of the class
railed Close Rolls, namely, those of the 15th,
l6th, 17th, and 18th years of the reign of King
Tohn, and of the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th,
^th, 8th, 9th, and 10th years of the reign of
lenry III. The reason of Copies having been
nade of the Rolls of those years in particular,
md not of any Rolls either of an antecedent
)r of a subsequent period, has not yet been dis-
covered ; but that these Duplicates or Copies
^nnot be considered as contemporaneous with
heir Originals, but rather that they must be
leemed to have been made somewhat later,
hough evidently within a few years of the
Originals, may be reasonably inferred. There
in a distinctive character about some of the
Copies, which mark a manifest difference be-
ilween them and the Originals; though, in
[legard to many, a difference would only perhaps
D 2
36 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan of thi» 1,6 Derceivcd bv persons possessed of a familiar
Publication. r ,/ r r
acquaintance with ancient muniments* Upon
a carefiil examination and comparison of the
Original with the Copy, there will, however^
always be found some material particulars^
which clearly distinguish the Original from the
Copy.
Of these characteristic particulars a few
instances are here submitted : —
Firstly. The Instruments on the Copies
are somewhat abridged by the non-insertion of I
certain technical phrases; for instance, in th^
Originals, the precepts which begin with the
words, or similar thereto, " Rex dilecto etJideB\
suo Willielmo Brewery^* will sometimes be found
in the Copy reduced to " Rex Willielmo Brewer!
Again, many well-known phrases and clauser;
of frequent occurrence, even when entered
length in the Originals, are not unfrequently ex- ^
pressed in the Copies by an " &c.,** as the clausafj
^* Quia volumus et Jirmiter prcecipimuSf^' anC]
^^Quamdiu Regi placuerit,** which will often
found abbreviated in the Copy to « * Quiay 4^.?
** QuamdiUf S^.**
Secondly. When the writer of the Orij
Roll has fallen into a grammatical error,
omitted a word important to the sense, sm
error or omission is often, though not alwayi
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 37
Mjnd to have been corrected in the Copy, pro- ^^^^ »' this
ibly from the copiest of the latter having
tected the blunder^ and feeling an unwilling-
ss to perpetuate what could only embarrass
5 reader.
Thirdly. All documents cancelled on the
iginal Rolls are, without exception, excluded
•m the Copy.
Fourthly. When a mandate has by accident
t been entered on the Original Roll, such
indate is sometimes copied on a slip of parch-
jnt, and sewed to the Roll at the place where
Lndates of the same date occur, the slip so
ached being in general a verbatim copy of
s mandate as it was originally dispatched.
the Copies, these mandates are introduced in
sir proper places, but abridged in the same
mner as the other documents. If, however,
entry be left out in the Copy, which is of
ry frequent occurrence, it is never added by
nexing a slip to the Roll, but is introduced
any place where there happened to be room
r its insertion, without regard to the chrono-
rical arrangement ; and occasionally the omis-
ms are not even supplied.
Fifthly. The proper names of persons and
ices are generally more correct in the Original
in in the Copy.
D 3
38
Flax of this
PlTBLICATIOV.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
#
Sixthbf. The handwriting and appearance
of the Original Rolls are very distinct frcnn
those of the Copies. In the former, several
autographs are perceptible, and the entries are n
all properly separated. But on the Copies, the
entries are written in one hand, and are much
crowded together, so closely, indeed, that oi)|i
some of these RoUs the commencement of each
document cannot easily be discovered. |j
Seoenthhf. On the Originals are to be seen
divers symbols and characters, some of which
were evidently intended as private memorands
for the use of tiie scribe. A few of these hav«
been inserted in this Volume, because it is ob^j
vious that some particular meaning was attached
to them. These must not, however, be depended;
upon as general guides, for there does not sees
to have been, for the same class of instrumentig
any peculiarly appropriated mark ; on the coot]
trary, they are most frequently dissimilar hi
their forms, and apparently depended only of
the fancy or caprice of the scribe.^ SooMj^j
indeed, of these characters seem to have bt
the production of the fancy of the clerk&^j
On the Copies, however, none of these mj
or devices are to be found.
1 To have given Rpecimens of such marks in
would have been almost impracticable, and could only
been effected at an enormous expense.
2 See pp. 264^. 281. 315.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 39
Eighthly. On the Original RoU memoranda ^^^,^;[;™
mUar to the following frequently occur:
Hinc mittenda sunt contrahreoia^^ &c.^ These
ords are never to be found on the Copies, but
leir meaning is tJiis : they form a memorandum
\x the Chancery clerk, reminding him that all
le counter-writs preceding such memorandum
ad been estreated and transmitted to the £x-
bequer ; and that all similar writs, after such
lemorandum, remained to be estreated.^
1 According to Madox, the word Contrabreve, occur-
ig in the margin of a Roll, signifies that a Counter-writ
as made out at the same time with the Original, and sent
to the Exchequer, in order that the treasurer of the Ex*
lequer might be able to check the various accounts of the
ieri£&, and other persons, rendered into the Exchequer ;
\x instance, if the King wanted any thing to be purchased,
ther for his own use, or as a present to any one, he issued
mandate out of Chancery, commanding some sheriff or
rmer to procure the thing wanted, for which the sum laid
It would be allowed to him at the Exchequer, when his
:count was given in. Upon this, a Copy of the mandate
as sent into the Exchequer, in order that the treasurer
light be certified of the truth of the statement of the
leriff; and when such writ issued, the scribe made this
lark against the entry, to signify that a Copy of that docu-
lent was to be sent into the Exchequer.
2 An Estreat is an extract or copy of a document
arolled, either on the Patent, Close, or Fine Rolls, relat-
ig to fines, fee farms, &c. ; that is, when a grant was
lade, wherein any sum of money was reserved or to be
mdered to the Crown, a notice of the same was sent into
le Exchequer, in order that the treasurer might know what
ims of money he had to expect. Such Records, or Es-
'eats, when they got into the Exchequer, were then deno-
linated " Originalia,**
D 4
40 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan of this Ninthly. Some of the entries on the Origi-
Publication. ^ ^
nal Rolls are written in cursive and stragglings
hands ; in others, some of the letters are much*
blotted ; and in several of these instances, the
scribes of the Copies have left spaces for such
words as they were unable to decypher. A
remarkable instance of this occurs on the Close
Roll 15th of John, Part 1, at the end of mem*
brane 3, where there is a very considerable
obliteration, which appears to be contempo*
raneous. On the Copy of the Close Roll 15th
John, Part 3, the scribe seems to have been
unable, or he did not chuse to take the trouble
of decyphering two instruments which happened
to be greatly effaced, and consequently he has
left a space on the Roll for them. The greater
part of these two documents has, however, been
recovered. The instances of misreadings and
inattention on the part of the Chancery scribei
seem, therefore, to afford irrefragable proof that
what have been hitherto denominated ** dupli»
cates,'' ought not to be so considered in the
sense of authenticated counterparts, but mer^.j
as copies of the Original Rolls, made up at a
period, though perhaps but a few years, sub-
sequently to that which must be assigned to
the Originals. That such is the fact must be
acknowledged by all who are well versed ia
ancient writings, upon a careful comparison of
the two sets of Rolls with each other.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 41
Every one of these Transcript Rolls has ^^nofthis
•^ *^ ^ Publication.
jen compared with its Original, and* in no
le case whatever have they been found to
»ntain more than the Original ^ ; but, on the
mtrary, many instruments are inscribed on
le Originals, which, through inadvertence, have
3en excluded from the Copies. The Tran-
iripts have, notwithstanding, been of great
jrvice in many cases, especially when some
art of the Original Roll has been ef&ced.
a all such cases, wherever a passage or a
ord could not be made out in the Original,
16 deficiency has been supplied from the Copy,
ut is printed between two crotchets, thus
]. It should be remarked that in the
higinal Rolls most of the final membranes
ave been miscalled the Jirstj and being much
icerated and defaced, rendered a reference to
be Copies ^ in such instances necessary, which
ives therefore an additional value to them j
ut it has neither been deemed necessary, nor
xpedient to notice and perpetuate all the differ-
nt modes of spelling words, or other trifling
eviations from the Original, which undoubtedly
1 Excepting where additions have been made to such
!opy subsequently to the period when the Copy itself was
lade ; and of all such additions particular notice has been
iken.
2 Many of the documents in the late edition of the
cedera have been transcribed from the Copies> instead of
iie Originals.
42 GEM£RA1< iirrRODucnoN.
viLAMowTMiB deteTiOTSLte to a certain extent the value of the
Publication.
Copy, 4)ut can only have arisen from errors or
oversight on the part of the transcriber. I^
indeed, both were Copies, instead of one being
the Original, and the other a Copy, then the
variations of the two might be worthy of notice.
The portion of this Volume which refers
to the Close Roll of 15th of John, Part 2, has
been wholly printed from a Copy, and because
from its general appearance, combined with in*
temal evidence, it was not thought entitled to
be considered, as it hitherto has been, an Origi-
nal Roll, a notice to that effect has been placed
at its commencement^ in page 143. The £diUMr
having here ventured to advance an opinion of
his own, it is proper to guard the Reader from
ascribing to it more value and importance than •
fairly belongs to it ; for although such opinion
is founded on what appears to him to be in*
controvertible proof, a question may hereafter
be raised in Courts of Law concerning the pro«
priety of admitting in evidence office copies
taken from the Roll in question, on the plea
of its not being an Original Record.
It is also necessary to draw attention to*
wards that portion of this Volume which relatei
to the Rolls of the 8th of Henry III. They
consist of one Original Roll, divided into two
GEN£RAL INTRODUCTION. 43
Parts^ and one Copy of the "whole. The latter J*-^" ®' *■"
'*^*^ Publication.
part of the Original Roll was, however, only — —
discovered by mere accident whilst this work
was printing, amongst the Fine Rolls ; and it
having been considered as a Fine Roll for up-
wards of two centuries, it has, of course, during
that period been missing from its proper place
amongst the Original Close RoUs.^ The recent
^ It may not be uninteresting to explain the way in
which this error is supposed to have originated, and of
the reasons why it was not sooner discovered.
It seems that the last or concluding membrane of the
Duplicate Fine Roll for the 8th year of Henry III. {with the
Ude cf the same written both upon its intus and its dorsum)
had, by some accident, become detached from the said
Yme Roll, and by mistake been sewed on to the end of the
final membrane of that 2d part of the Original Close RoU
for the same year recently found ; that about two centuries
ago, when the Rolls in the Tower were newly covered or
furnished with wrappers, and also inventoried, the name and
date of each Roll being respectively indorsed on its cover
or wrapper, upon such occasion the title as it appeared upon
such membrane of the Fine Roll so attached to the Close
Roll first attracting the notice of the persons employed in
the performance of that duty, the same title was by
them transferred to the cover or wrapper of the Close
Roll in question, giving it, from that time, the appear-
ance and character of a Fine Roll ; and that, having been
80 marked, it was inventoried by those persons whose
names are subscribed at the bottom of each reign : viz.
John Borough (Garter), Aug. Vincent (Windsor Herald),
and Geo* Robson; but if the Indenture made in the 5th
year of the reign of King Richard II. noticed at p. 11, can
he implicitly relied on, it would seem that the confusion
of these Rolls had taken place before that time, for two
Close Rolls and three Fine Rolls are therein assigned to
44 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
mw OF THIS discovery not having been made until after the
Publication. -^ o
latter part of the Roll for the 8th of Henry IIL
was printed, as appears at page 612, that part
was of course transcribed from the Copi/ of
the Roll for that year. This fact will be
found stated in a note at page 633, referring
the Reader to the explanation here given:
it has therefore occasioned the necessity of
printing the latter part of the Original RoU
itself^ which, though chiefly a repetition erf
what had been given before, was nevertheless
the only satisfactory way in which the varia-
tions of the two could be clearly and fully
shewn ; and the circumstance is not, perhaps,
to be regretted, since it will afford a general
exemplification of the differences which have
here been attempted to be described as exist*
ing between Original Rolls and their Copies.
The two Rolls of the 9th Henry III. present
a very remarkable anomaly, as each consists of
a portion both of the Original and of the Copy.
This fact (only ascertained by a laborious cA
lation) rendered it excessively difficult to decide
upon the course best to be pursued in printiiig
the 8th year of Henry IIL, whereas it now appears thil
there are only two Fine and three Close Rolls for that yeaii>
That the discovery should only now be accidental)^
made need not create much surprise, the F'ine Holis beii^
but partially available to the Public from their want of
Calendars and Indexes.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 45
m ^ ; for to print both Rolls would be attended ^i^,cI«oN!
h a useless expence ; Part 2 being, as far as
mbrane 17, only a copy of Part 1, as far as
mbrane 4, with the exception of one or two
fling alterations, which are apparently subse-
ent emendations : these, however, are all
ticed. Nevertheless, about two thirds of one
mbrane (where the change of Rolls took
ice) has been printed twicCy not only in order
at it may be shewn in what manner this
igular mistake originated, but also as the
St means of exhibiting all the matter that
curs on the two Rolls.
The probable way of accounting for the
regularity seems to be this :
Supposing Part 1 and Part 2 to have been
ade up at the same time, and that Part 1 was
first the Original Roll, and was continued
be so as far as membrane 4 ; then, it seems
at, by some mistake, the writs were for a time
rongly enrolled on Part 2 instead of Part 1 j
id that the error was not discovered for
me time afterwards, when it was attempted ta
I rectified by enrolling on the dorsum of Part 1
lose instruments which had been entered
^ mistake on the intvs of Part 2 ; but this
— __ — . ■ — ■ \
^ These Rolls of the 9th of Henry III. commence the
icond volume of this work.
46 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan of thw being fouiid to be impracticable. Part 1, as the
Publication. ^ * ^ ^
Original Roll, was brought to a hasty termiiMU
tion, and Part 2 continued as the Original RolL
This supposition is suggested for the following
reasons ; viz. Grammatical errors in Part 1 have
been corrected in Part 2. — Other trifling errors
of grammar in Part 1 have been unconsciously
repeated in Part 2. — A few unimportant wordst
not to be found in Part 1, are inserted in Part 2»
with an intention of assisting the sense ; and
in one or two instances, it is plain that the
scribe of Part 2 has committed an error in in-
serting such words, the same being in nowise
necessary, but rendering the passage in some
degree more obscure. — There are several errors
in Part 2 not to be found in Part 1 : and inter*
*
lineations and subsequent alterations in Part 1
appear not as such, but properly placed in line,
in Part 2. — Many words of doubtful construc-
tion in Part 1 have been misunderstood and
mis-spelt in Part 2. — On membrane 20 of Part 1
there is an unfinished mandate to H. de
Neville, which, being there cancelled, is not
to be found on Part 2. — A Liberate Writ, cm
the same membrane 20, in Part 1, has been
left out in Part 2. — On membrane 19 of Part 1
is the Clause of ^\Hinc mittenda sunt^* ^.
(one of the best criteria whereby to distinguish
the Original from the Copy), which is not in*
serted in Part 2. — On same membrane 19, Part 1»
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 47
in a Writ of " Computate.^* an entire sentence ^^^^ o* this
"* Publication.
of 33 words is not to be found in Part 2. — On •
membrane 18, Part 1, a clause in a Writ ad-
iressed to the Sheriff of Bedford is omitted in -
Part 2. — On the same membrane is a Writ of
^ Computate '* for the Bishop of Norwich, which
s omitted in Part 2. — On membrane 8, Part 1,
mother instrument occurs, also omitted in Part 2.
— On membrane 6, Part 1, is a long memo-
randum, which does not appear in Part 2 ; and
there are no less than 12 cancelled instruments
>n Part 1, which are entirely left out in Part 2.
The foregoing instances are however only
I few amongst many which can be produced as
proofs of Part 1 not having been copied from
Part 2, but the contrary; for, otherwise, if Part 2
be considered as the Original, and Part 1 as the
Copy, how are those entire instruments to be
accounted for which are to be found in Parti,
but are not noticed in Part 2 ?
It seems to have been a very early custom
in England to make Duplicates or Transcripts
of the most valuable Records, doubtless with
a view of perpetuating their contents in the
event of the Originals being lost or destroyed.
Thus it is believed by many, that there were
two copies of Domesday Book ; one preserved
at Westminster, and the other at Winton;
^veral ancient authors having alluded to sucb
48 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
PukK OF THIS
Pim.ICATIOK.
copies ^, of which only one is now knowir to
be in existence. Several copies were also made
of the Great Charter of Heniy L which he
granted at the commencement of his reign, and
deposited in the principal monasteries of the
Kingdom. The Pipe Rolls of the Exchequer
were likewise in duplicate ; and Henry 11., for
still greater security, and to prevent fraudf
ordered a third copy to be made of each Rdl,
which third copy he placed under the direction
of Master Thomas Bnin.^ Several copies rf
Magna Carta are also now kno¥ni to have bea
1 The History of the Foundation of Burton Abbcj
gives a description of land, more than once, ^ ut habeCoP
in libro de Domusdie, apud Wmbmiam et WestmmattenimT
Rudbome speaks of two copies of the Survey, '^ Eodem
tempore factus est magnus Liber qui habitus est in thesaurs
Westmonxukriiy et alius in thesauro Ecclesis CatfaedraKi
WyntcmuBy vocatus Domysday.** See more upon this sub*)
ject in Ellis's elaborate Introduction prefixed to Domesdaji
p. 104. ^ Ce fameux livre de cens, dress6 par ordre df
Guillaume L, et qui comprend la description de toult
I'Angleterre, ne fut pas seulement d6pos6 dans le trtel,
royal ; on en tira encore deux copies authentiques, doot
Tune fut conserv6e dans les archives de Westminster, et
Pautre dans celles de TEglise Cath^drale de Winchester*^
Nouv. Trait, tom. 1. p. 107> j
2 Porro in capite quarti sedilis quod opponitur JjM^'
ticiariis, residet Magister Thomas cognomento Bruni^'l
Hujus ad scaccarium non vilis est auctoritas. Magnut
enim et validum fidei ejus et discretionis est argumentun^
quod a tarn excellentis ingenii Principe electus est, ut j9fvNkf
antiqttam canstietudinem tertium habeat Rohdum^ in quo Regitt
jura Regisque secreta conscribat. IHal. de Scace, lib. 1<
cap. 6. . . >
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 49
ade and deposited in safe custody. The pi-anofthis
* •' Publication .
istom of making Copies of the Rolls seems,
wever, to have fallen into desuetude some
ae in the 11th year of the reign of Heniy III.
Cancellations, Deletions, and Inter-
NEATiONS. — Cancellations of whole instru-
ents are very frequent on the early Rolls^ and
has been here considered necessary to insert
em in their proper places in the text.
The cancelling of the Enrolments of Letters
itent and of Charters, which had passed under
e Great Seal, was, according to Lord Coke,
Inst. 88., the highest office belonging to the
[lancellor's jurisdiction. This dictum of Lord
>ke can only, however, be applied to a can-
llation by judgment, and not to a cancella-
>n of course ; the Jbrmer of which signifies,
at, when Letters Patent or Charters have been
^judged to be void, the Chancellor is the per-
n who condemns and cancels them * ; and the
1 The following extract from the Lords Journals, vol. i.
. 4>83-4, affords a singular instance of the Lord Chancel-
's exercise of his duty in cutting a clause from an act of
rliament :
Die Veneris, videlicet, 4® Januarii, I &2 Ph» & Mary, 1554.
*^ Hodi^ allatse sunt h Domo Communi tres bill^e
larum
** Prima, &c.
** Secunda, &c.
'* Tertia, Repealing all statutes, articles, and pro-
isions made against the See Apostolick of Rome since
E
50
^^OF T«s laiier, that when a docnment has been writttt
PCBLICATIO^r. '
on a wrong rc^ or entered m a year to which it
does not belcMig^ or when the perscm foririiom the
writ was intended nerer recerred it, the canodU
lation was made of coifrse, bv the perscm finding
out such error, without anj other authority.
Cancellations of enrolmaii^ when propedjfj
executed, are made by drawing lines througb,
the entry lattice-uise^ Smm whence they take^j
their name ; but ari^'iia/ instruments are sel(
cancelled in that manner. The most usual
of cancelling an original instrument was tO|
make irregular incisures in the parchment,
various forms, transversely through the writii^{
the 20Ui year of KiDg Henir the Eighth; and for the
blishment of all spiritual and ecclesiastical possesaiont
hereditaments conTeyed to the laity; with two new
▼isoes added thereto by the Commons ; and also a reqiuik
that the two clauses, containing nineteen lines, and colt
ceming the Bishops of Ixmdon, &c., and the Lords
worthe, &c., should be clearly put out. Whereof one
the provisoes, for the manner of the penning thereof
misliked to the house, another to the same effect wai
manded to be drawn, which being three times read,
agreed unto by the whole house, except the Vii
Mountacute and the Bishops of London, CoTen%.
Licher, was sent down to the Commons, where beiog
thrice read and agreed unto, it was brought up again, as
Act fully assented unto by both houses ; nor the said
teen lines were not razed nor taken out of the Act ; but
Chancellor, in the sight of all the Lords, with a knife,
them, saying these words, ' / now do righify Ae qffiet 4f\
Chancellor: '
« w^ ■ • •*
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 51
3metimes in the curvilinear, sometimes in the ^^^^ of this
enticulated, and at other times in an undu-
ited form ; but none of these modes are ever
lopted in cancellations of enrolments.
There are, indeed, but few instances of
irolments being cancelled without some reason
3ing stated upon the face of the Roll ; such
; " quia superiics, " " quia inferius** meaning
lat the entry cancelled occurred higher up or
war down on the Roll. Again, " quia in
'^tulo Finiumy* " quia in Rotulo Patentium,^*
lat is, the same entry belonged to the series of
ine or Patent Rolls, as its nature required,
here accordingly it may be found ; also '^ quia
yn kabet*' signifies, because the person for
hom the writ was intended had never received
.* A few instances are, however, to be met
1 On the Close Roll of the 12th of Henry HI. memb. 3»
document was cancelled, and the reason assigned for its
»Dg so is rather curious, *' quia Episcopus noluit iUud breve
roitilaru" Who the Bishop was does not appear, but
ere is no doubt that it was the Bishop of Chichester, at
lat time Chancellor ; for no Bishop, in his spiritual capa-
ty, could, it is presumed, have had any right to forbid
16 enrolment of an instrument ; and yet if the Chancellor
s meant, it seems strange that he should have refused the
irolment in his spiritual and not in his temporal character.
t any rate, it argues a power not supposed to exist, — the
ght of an officer to refuse the just demand of an indivi«
laly without a good and sufficient reason assigned for such
fusal ; and if such reason could have been given, why was
e same omitted to be set forth on the Roll ?
E 2
52
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
ft.AN OF THIS ^th of cancellations without causes assifinied >
Publication. o f
but these are, without exception, the effects of
clerical errors, which may be attributed to the
clerk, who^ in attempting to abstract a mandate^
and having probably committed some mistake^
thought it better to cancel what he had done,
and begin de novo. Sometimes only a sentence^
a phrase, or even a word in the middle of an
instrument is cancelled on the RoUs.^
It has been before observed^ that, with
exceptions of merely clerical and literal error^j
cancellations of every kind have been carefuUj
noticed : interlineations^ and other emem
introduced above deletions^ have likewise beenj
marked in the text when written in a diffc
hand to that employed on the rest of the doco*j
ment, or where the colour of the ink dc
+j
1 It may not be knovm to all, that tjrpe used in
latioDs is thereby rendered unfit to be employed again,
that this is the case even for cancellation itself, such
being by one operation of this kind completely d
and destroyed. It is for this reason that the form of
cellation first resorted to in this Volume was afte:
altered. In the beginning of the Work, and as far as
21, it may be perceived, that the cancellations were
in a manner similar to that in use upon the Roll ; but
quantity of type having been thus sacrificed, and
difficulties presenting themselves in accomplishing the
by that mode, without any likelihood of producing
mate satisfaction, the same was abandoned altOj
and the method adopted which commences at page 21,
which has been subsequently persevered in.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 53
not correspond with that used in the body of ^^^^^'^^^^
* •' Publication.
the instrument^ thereby showing the alterations
or interpolations to be of a subsequent period ;
in all such cases they have been most scrupu-
lously preserved.
These explanations may appear unnecessary
to persons who are not aware of the inferences
which are sometimes to be drawn from pecu-
liarities in records ; but when it is considered
that many important historical facts are depen-
dent upon, and have been established by a
nice observance of such points, it must be
allowed that a sufficient excuse is presented
for the care and labour which have been be-
stowed upon this Work.
By the laws of the Romans, their scribes
were obliged to mention all erasures and inter-
lineations occurring in the manuscript tran-
scribed.* That rule has been practised in this
as well as in other countries.^ There are now
1 Vide Ulpien, Dig. lib. 28. tit. 4. 1. 1.
3 Breve quidem Regis in se nullam debet continere
fidflitatem, nee aliquem errorem; apparere debet vel in
piim& 8ui figura non vitiosum; maximd si fuerit patens
siTe apertura, quia originalia qusdam sunt clausa et
qiuedam aperta ; et sive aperta sive clausa, apparere debent
non abrasa nee abolita : Et si inveniatur abrasio, tunc refert
qiio loco, d quo, et quando : quo loco, viz., utrum in nar-
. radone facti vel juris; si autem in narratione facti, cadet
coram Justitiario quia suspectum, facta enim et noniina
matari non -debent, sed jura ubique scribi possunt : fi quo,
E 3
I
54 G£NEBAL INTRODUCTION.
plakofthis extant many Charters which notice erasures
PCBLICATIOX. •'
and interlineations thus, ^^ propria manu scrip»
una cum hUerlineaturis et rasuris Jactis in die-
tionibus septem^ et de iis mihi constat ad plenum,
quia propria manu feci** * Again, ** rasuroi
factors in ociavd lined + sub eodem signo Jideliter
approbo ;** ^ also, " rasura ex auctoritate regid^
in quartd lined a Jine, facta est de prascepto
domini canceUarii nobis facto, et ita rasura k
originali ibidem**^ In the Augmentation Office
is an original deed containing an erasure^ yn&
the following memorandum written at the bottOii|
of it, '* ilia rasura facta Jiiit ante consi^
onem** In a grant also to Catharine Swynefoflj
by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, theft j
is a clause erased^ which is stated to have been
done by command of the Duke himself, ^ irj
mandaio domini J* ^
Three curious examples of the necessity
printing Records in the most literal mamu
may be stated:
1 he first of these may be found in an arti<
utrum videlicet per clericum CanceUarii cui authoritas
fuerit, vel ausu temerario per alium, sicut clericum Ji
tiarii vel Vicecomitis ad procurationem alicujus partis,
casu oranes agentes et consentientes tanquam falsaxii
antur. FleUij lib. 2. cap. 13. Sdden.EdU, p. 76.
1 Nouv. 'i'rait6, torn. 4. p. 461.
2 Nouv. Traite, torn. 4. p. 461.
3 Nouv. Traite, torn. 4. p. 462.
4 Vide Keg. in Due Lane, tempore Ric. IL
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 55
by Sir Harris Nicolas in the Excerpta Histo- ^^^^ op this
•^ ^ Publication,
&ICA \ where the following remarks occur : —
** It has been generally considered that the
instrument by which the Beauforts were legiti-
mated, contains a special exception with respect
to the Royal dignity ; but a very remarkable
feet has been recently discovered on the subject.
The Patent, as originally granted^ contains no
such reservation^ nor was it introduced into the
copy which was entered on the Rolls of Par-
liament when it received the sanction of the
legislature; but when Henry IV. exemplified
and confirmed the grant of Richard II. to the
Earl of Somerset, in 1407, the words " excepta
dignitate regali " appear to have been added to
the enrolment of the grant on the Patent Roll,
for those words occur on it as an interlineation^
and, from the difference in the colour of the
ink, are presumed to have been inserted at a
subsequent period, though the hand is very
1 Excerpta Historica, or Illustrations of English
History, 8vo., 1830, p. 157. A publication undertaken and
begun by an able and spirited individual, (Samuel Bent-
ky Esi]^.) who, at great pecuniary sacrifice, and accompanied
by laborious exertions, made an attempt to advance the
; cause and promote the true interests of historical literature,
in presenting to the Public documents hitherto inedited,
m illustration of English History ; and it is to be regretted
that a work of such promise and value to a literary Public
ihould have been stopped at the conclusion of the first volume
firom the want of support sufficient even to indemnify him
from heavy pecuniary loss.
E 4
56 6£N£RAL ISTRODLCTIOK.
PLAxoirtflis nearly the same. In the exemplification by
Heniy IV., in 1497^ the words are inserted^ and
the following explanation of the drcmnstance
is probably not &i firom the troth. Henry IV.
was the son of John of Craunt, and finding that
the grant to his father's children, by Catharim
Swynefbrd, might authorize them to assert a chum
to the throne on the failure of his own issue, as
representatives of the line of Lancaster, pro-
bably thought it prudent to prevent such an
occurrence, by assuming a power which would
now be held illegal, of adding a reservation to
the grant of his predecessor, and obliging one
of the grantees to receive a confirmation of that
grant with the exception introduced into it, as
if it had formed part of the original document
It escaped Henry, however, that the grant had
become an act of Parliament ; and even if he
had a right of his own authority to qualify ft
former grant, he could not interpolate a statute ;
so that, in a legal view, the addition to the Patent
of the 20th of Richard II. on the Patent Roll
is of no effect/*
The next instance, in confirmation of tbe
necessity of noticing most of the peculiaritiei
in Diplomas, occurs in a work which has jmtj
appeared, on the subject of the ancient depen^i
dency of Scotiand upon England ^ ; wh<
k
1 Vindication of the ancient independence of Scotfamfrj
by John Allen, 1833.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 57
le Author, Mr. Allen, has established the fact ^^^ »» ™»^
' Public ATio n.
►r which he contends, namely, " the non-de-
^ndence of that kingdom upon England." In
iscussing that point, Mr. Allen brings forward
1 interesting piece of evidence of the artifice
r Edward I., who, at the sacrifice of honesty
id good faith, ordered an erasure to be made
n the Roll \ and clearly had something in-
jrted which was not previously there.
The last of the three instances alluded to
( a mistake into which Dr. Lingard has been
etrayed by the omission of Rymer, who cer-
linly did not always attend with sufficient care '
J the peculiarities of Records. That Historian,
1 an elaborate discourse on the impropriety
•f placing faith in the attestations of diplomas,
fientiohs two writs, tested at different places,
►y Richard II,, on the same day. " In April
399 (says he), Richard II., with his army,
iras on his road to Ireland.* On the 27th of
hat month we have a writ, Teste JRege, at
1 Close Roll 6 Edw. 1. m. 5. d. For a full statement
•f this curious fact, see pages 15, 16, and 17 of the
Vindication.
3 Here Doctor Lingard is in error, for Richard II.
ras at Westminster from the 1st day of April 1399 until
he 23d of the same month. On that day the King went
o Windsor Castle, where he remained till the 25th of April,
rhence he returned to Westminster, and stayed there until
lie 1st of the next month, May, on which day he left
London, on the Irish expedition 8<i fatal to him. His route.
58
GENERAL INTRODUCTION;
Plan of this Bristol, whcrc he really was ; and anothe
Publication. j ^
the same day. Teste Rege, at Westminj
where the Chancellor was;*' and for th
quotes Rymer^ torn. 8, p. 81. This has th
pearance of authority, which seems at first
unassailable* On reference, however, to
as collected from attestations on the Close and Patent
was as follows :
A«R*R«
A.D. May
22Ric.II.
1399.
I
Westminster.
2
Oxford.
3
Uncertain.
4
Gloucester.
5
Gloucester.
The Chronicles of this reign say that Ri
V
is in perfect accordance with the route
described, for as the attestations do no
tify where he was on the 6th and 7th, il
fairly be concluded that he was thei
\»
those two days.
8
Caerdiff.
9
Caerdiff. Then to Cowbiidge.
10
Uncertain.
11
Morgan. Then to Swansea.
12
Swansea.
IS
Uncertain.
24
Carmarthen.
15
Haverford.
16
Haverford. Back to Carmarthen.
17
Haverford.
18
Haverford.
19-
Haverford. Then to Pembroke. The
Carmarthen.
20
Haverford.
21
Haverfprd.
22
Haverford. Then to Pembroke. Thei
23
Haverford.
24
Haverford.
25
Haverford.
26
Haverford.
27
Milford Haven.
28
Haverford and Milford Haven.
29
Sailed for Ireland.
SO
31
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 59
Patent Roll of the 22d Richard 11. , Part 3, plan of this
Publication.
m. 26, from which Rymer has printed the docu-
ment in question, these words appear in the
margin, " vac' q* al* in a*' xxj^, which en-
tirely destroy the inference drawn by the His-
torian, and show that the entry upon which he
relies was cancelled ; and for the reason that it
properly belonged to the preceding year. Upon
the Roll for that year the same is to be found ^
and consequently its being recorded again on
1 Rot. Pat. 21 Ric. U. p. 3. m. 1. The document in
question is a grant of an annuity of 100 marks to Sir
Walter Styward of Scotland and Isabella his wife, at the
end of which is the following notice : — ^^ £t memorandum
quod Dominus Rex concessit istam annuitatem die Mercurii
proximo ante Dominicam in Ramis Palmarum anno regni
ipsius Regis viceslmo primo &c £t praecepit idem Domi-
nus Rex Magistro Edmundo Stafford Episcopo Exon. can-
cellario suo ut litteras patentes faceret praefatis Waltero
et Isabellas super annuitate praedicta in forma praedicta.*'
The enrolment of this patent is attested at Bristol on
the 27th of April, which is evidently a clerical error, as
the above memorandum proves. Palm Sunday in the year
1S98 fell on the Slst day of March, and the Wednesday
next before was of course the 27th, on which day the King
was at Bristol, on his route to London from Shrews-
bury, where he had been holding a parliament, the sessions
of which began 29th January 1398.
The clerk in Chancery did not, as it seems, receive
the Chancellor's order to issue the patent until the end of
Richard's 21st regnal year, for it is almost the last instru-
ment on the Rolls of that year. The whole membrane
upon which this patent is entered exhibits no little confu-
sion as to dates, and it is not one mistake alone which the
enrolling clerk has evidently committed. In the instance
here quoted he has substituted April for March.
60 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
plakofthis the Roll for the year succeeding was a mis-
take. It IS not here intended to cast a shadow
of blame upon Dr. Lingard on account of this
error into which he has unconsciously faUen;
for it must not be expected that such men as
Dr. Lingard can spare the time, or submit with
patience to the drudgery, of wading through
dust and cobwebs for hours, and sometimes
days, in examining records, for the purpose of
arriving at facts which ought to have been pre-
pared ready for their hands.
It is here seen that so simple, and, as it
might seem at first sight to some persons, so
unimportant a matter as the mere " Teste " of a
writ is often of the utmost consequence, and
that in many cases, by the means of attestations,
circumstances and occurrences transmitted to
posterity by our ancient chroniclers and histo*
rians may be verified.
On the subject of attestations, as afiect-
ing historical data, it is necessary to enter into
some further explanation. Excepting in casei
of mere clerical inaccuracy, which can alwayi
be detected by an inspection of the writs pre-
ceding and following, the attestation of a Cfua^
teTf of a Letter Patent j or of a Letter Close may
always be relied upon as the best evidence
of where the King was on any particular day.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 61
This remark applies until about the reign of plan of this
Richard II. ; but after that period this rule
must not be implicitly confided in, and for
this reason, that the Court of Chancery in the
preceding reign had become stationary, no longer
following in attendance ^pon the person of the
King ; and even in the reign of Richard II. it
oflen happened that a writ which had passed
for some weeks under the Privy Seal, owing to
some fortuitous occurrence, did not find its
way into Chancery immediately; and many
letters issued in one month are found to have
been enrolled in the following, most commonly*
however, bearing their proper date in the enrol-
ment ; but then there are many instances where
the clerk has erroneously dated the enrolment of
such letters, as of the day upon which he en-
rolled them, instead of the day upon which they
were officially issued. This occasioned in after
times no little confusion, which the Stat 18
Henry VI. cap. 1. was made to rectify, by enact-
ing " That of every warrant hereafter sent to
the Chancellor of England, the day qf the date
of the delivery qf the same to the Chancellor
shall be entered of record in the Chancery^ and
that the Chancellor do cause Letters Patent to
be made upon the same warrant, bearing date
the day qf the said delivery into Chancery ^ and
not before f in anywise.'* From that time, there-
fore, this statute prevents reliance upon the at-
62 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
ft^w OF THIS testations of writs on the Rolls in evidence of
Publication.
the place where the King was at any given time.
Neither can it be admitted that Judicial
Writs are evidence of the King's presence, as
they are not intended to convey any such idea.
Of the peculiar interest which sometimes
attaches to matters of this nature, it may be
adduced as an instance, that by the attestation
of a writ we are assured of the fact, that Sang
John was personally present at Rouen * on the
very day whereon Prince Arthur is said to have
disappeared from thence, and, according to the
opinions of most writers, was murdered by his
uncle ^ ; nor can it be denied, that the circum-
stance of his being actually there in person at
that very time, does certainly sanction the tra-
ditional and historical belief generally enter*
tained on that subject.
Marginal Notes. — The Marginal Notes
on the earlier Close Rolls of the reign of John,
being but comparatively few, are in the beginning
of this Volume printed in italics j upon the spaces
which separate the documents from each other.
1 Vide the Itinerarium Johannis Regis Anglise^
piled from the Attestations of Records, and published in
the Archseologia vol. 22.
2 ** Arthurus subito evanuit, modo fere omnibus igno-
ratOi utinam non ut fama refert invida." Matt. I^urii*
<' Ut Rex Johannes suspectus haberetur ab omnibus quod
ilium manu propria peremisset." Ibid. p. 145-
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 63
Tiis plan was originally fixed upon for the pi-akofthis
*^ o ./ r Publication.
urpose of saving the additional cost of print-
\g them in the margin, but as towards the
ose of the reign they were found to occur
ore frequently, a new method was pursued,
\ at page 204i, where such notes will be seen
T the first time inserted in italics, at the begin-
ng of each document. As, however, a dis-
jreeable effect, and some degree of confusion
► the eye, was produced by this arrangement,
; the commencement of the reign of Henry
[I. a brace or bracket was added thereto,
hich renders the whole completely clear and
telligible, and removes all possibility of con-
bunding such marginal references with the
txt. Wherever such notices contain the par-
cular reason for which an instrument was
incelled, they are placed immediately after the
itry so cancelled, and are printed in italics.
On account of the confused appearance
hich would have arisen from placing words or
nnbols of this form, gf ^, on the spaces
etween the documents, it was considered best
) dispose of them in this Work immediately
fler the entries to which they relate. This
Ian has removed much of the deformity which
1 Fullj described and explained at page 39 of this Intro-
jction, under the article on Duplicates.
t>4 GENERAL IXTROOUCTION.
Fi^AvoFTHis would othennse have <^nded the eye, and
PUBLICATIOX. ^
has been persisted in to the end of the Volume.
The peculiar appearance of the maiginal
notes, corroborated bj other evidence^ seemi
to imply that thej were not written at the
same time with the entries to which they refer;
though in all probability not later than six
months afterwards. It is not unlikely, wfaea
the estreating clerk examined the Roll for the
purpose of extracting the documents of a fiscv
nature, (in the ordinary performance of hil
duly to send copies of the same to the £i&
chequer^) that he then made these maiginiL
notes, as guides, for his own convenience.
Attestations. — ^Before any Royal Charten
or Letters, whether Patent or Close, become
operative, it is requisite to their validity^ ibltj
the Great Seal of England should be attacheij
to them ; and it was one of the principal dutiei '
of the Chancellor, in all cases, to affix till]
same ^ ; for, until that act is performed, thi]
' The practice of giving authority to diplomas by
is supposed to have been introduced into England
Edward the Confessor, he having learnt the same (ron
cousin William Duke of Normandy, during a visit to
latter. Nevertheless it does not appear to have been
rally adopted in England until after the Norman Conqoflrtl
though Sir Edward Coke, 1 Inst. 7. imagines authentii
by seal to be of greater antiquity. But the instances!
produces of Rex Edwin, in ^S^y viz. Ego
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 05
iDstrument is wholly ineffective ; and even if plan ov this
iT^- oiT. 1-r rfc Publication.
toe rnvy Seal directing such Letters Patent to
issue be not followed by the Patent itself in
the .life-time of the grantee, the authority for
creating such Letters Patent becomes inopera-
tive. But, before the act of sealing took place,
the Chancellor necessarily required some proof
of the authenticity of the order he received,
as an indemnity for his act of ratification, and
that he might know to whom to refer. This, it
is submitted, is the reason of the appearance of
so many other attestations besides those of the
Sovereign, which are found to have been in use
throughout the reign of King John and during
the minority of King Henry HI. Those persons,
however, whose names appear as subscribing
donumproprio sigillo confirmavi, a,nd Ego Elfwintis
WmUnC ecclesicB Divinus speculator proprium sigillumc
OCPRES8I, cannot be relied upon as warranting such a con-
clusion, the word sigili,um> before the Conquest} having
been used in the same sense with signum. On this sub-
ject^ vide SpdmaUi sub vocibus sigiUum and signum^ and
Madox^ Formulare Anglicanum Diss. 27. The celebrated
charter of Ofia, under seal^ preserved in the Royal Library
at Paris, is by many persons supposed to be a counterfeit
or forgery. The opinion, however, that the use of seals in
confirming charters was introduced in this country by the
Confessor seems to be somewhat shaken by a recent dis-
covery, made by some workmen whilst digging a bank
sear Winchester, of a seal bearing the inscription *^ Sigil-
him ^Ifrid Al^ and supposed to have belonged to Alfric
Earl of Mercia, who flourished in the reign of King
Ethelred.
66 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan of thw witnesses weic ffenerally persons high in autho-
Publication. ^ "^ * *^ ^
rity, or holding some important trust in the
Royal household. According to the nature of
the mandate, so we find the attestation. Juri*
dical mandates were attested by the King or the
High Justiciary ; and mandates relating to the
economy of the Royal household were either
witnessed by the King, the Chamberlain, the
Steward, or by the chief of the department to
which the document more especially related;
but during these early periods no certain rule
can be laid down. At the close of many of
the documents are memoranda, such as 'per
Radulphum Clericumj per Petrum de Rupibm^
&c., meaning that those persons had given the
instructions to the Chancellor, who thereupon.]
issued precepts, whether Close or Patent, as
the case required. Per breve signifies that the
instructions given were by letter ; per ipsum
Regent^ that the order was given by the
himself, verbally ; per eundem, per eosdem^
the same person or persons who attested the
mandate had also given the order.
The Kings of England, previous to the
cession of the House of Plantagenet, sell
performed the act of attesting their own dip]
mas, and when they did so, it was accori
to no fixed rule. Sometimes, in confirmatii
of the act, they made the sign of a
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. Qj
before their names ; and sometimes they ab- ^^^^ of this
Pl7BLiICA.TION
stained from taking any active part in the ratifi-
cation, otherwise than by their presence ; the
usual ratification being generally made either
by one, two, three, or more witnesses, as Teste^
Galfirido de Bosco, &c., or Hits testibus ^ or Tes-
HbuSy WiJUelmo Archiep^o Ebor*, Johanne de
Segrccoe^ &c. Sometimes the Chancellor was the
only attesting witness. But it was not until the
reign of Richard I. that the Kings of England
^nerally attested their own diplomas.
Henry II. was the first who introduced into
I royal diploma the formule of Teste meipso.
The introduction of this formule into English
liplomas has been attributed to Richard I. by
Mabillon^ and other diplomatic writers. But
1 The phrase of Hiis testibus in royal diplomas is pecu-
iar to that species designated as charters, and continued
u> be the ratifying formule until charters were merged into
letters patent in the 12th year of the reign of James I.
2 ** Lapsu temporis inventa est ab Anglicanis Regibus
3ompendiosior via, ut non aliis testibus, qu^m teste Rege
ipso litteras qftasdam suas roborarent. Hujusce ritus origi-
Qem Richardo Primo antiquiorem esse non puto, cujus
Richardi complures litterae hac formula. Teste meipso, vel
consimili prseditse reperiuntur apud Roger um Hoveden
(Fol. S75. 377. 380. 386. 413. 422. 445.) Ejusmodi formula
Tesie meipso^ Testibus nobis ipsis, seu Teste Rege, propagata
est ad Richardi successores Johannem, Henricum, Edwardos
tres, aliosque Reges subsequentes, qui in recognoscendis,
leu restituendis vetustis instrumentis» eamdem formulam
nurd adhibuerunt. At in concedendis privilegiiS) aliis-
F 2
68 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan op this the eruditc Authors of the Nouveau Traits
Publication.
have clearly proved that Henry II. ^ often used
it ; and, indeed, they give an instance of the
use of the same by Henry L^ The formula of
__ f
que Utteris quantivis momenti in posterum Talituris* ab
ilia abstinere solent, immd permultos testes laudant 8«b
hac formula His testibus aut simili. Aliquando verd sohur
testem advocabant Cancellarium.*' Mab. de Be Diplomaiiot,
vii. p. 159.
1 Lobin. Hist, de Bret. torn. ii. p. 394.
2 Nouveau Trait6, torn. v. p. 829. There is on dw
Patent Roll, 20Edw. IV. part 1. m.4., an inspeximus clur-
ter of this King, confirming a charter said to be grantdi
to the Priory of Armethwayt by William the Conquero^
where the formule '^ Teste meipso " occurs. No omb
however, who has any skill in documentary evidence* C9
fail to perceive instantly that Edward had confiimed*
direct forgery, for who can produce an original
of the Conqtieror worded in the style of the one reCenvl
to?
}Rex omnibus ad qM^
&c. salutem. Iii9eii>.
mus literas patentes domini Willielmi quondam B/^
Angliae progenitoris nostri factas in hsec verba.
mus Dei gratia Rex Angliae et Dux Normanniae onudtal
suis Christi fidelibus prsesentes literas inspecturis salutflir;
Sciatis quod nos ex mero motu nostro et intuitu cariMb
fundavimus construximus et imperpetuum ordinavimnf
puram et perpetuam elemosinam unam domum et
terium Nigrarum Monialium ordinis Sancti Benedict!
honore Jesu Christi ac Beatse Mariae Virginis pro
progenitorum nostrorum et omnium Christianorum
situatur juxta aquam vocatam Croglyn' in comitatu
briae. Etiam dedimus et concessimus Monialibus il
duas acras terras super quas praedicta domus et
terium situantur. Et etiam dedimus et concessimus
Monialibus tres carucatas terrae et decern acras prati
omnimodis communis boscis et vastis eisdem tribos
GENERAL INTRODUCTION,
69
te meipso, -peculisLT to the English diplomas, planopthw
been used by the Kings of England from
s quovismodo pertinentibus jacentes juxtamonasterium
lictum. Etiam dedimus et concessimus eisdem Moni-
LS et successoribus suis imperpetuum ducentas et
ecim acras terras existentes infra forestam nostram
gilwod' jacentes ex parte boriali cujusdam aquae vocatae
wadelyn* cum omnibus boscis proficuis et commodi-
us super easdem existentibus sive unquam postmodum
;entibus. Etiam concessimus eisdem Monialibus com-
im pasturara cum omnibus animalibus suis pro se et
ibidem tenentibus per totam forestam nostram de
wod' capiendo ibidem sufficienter maeremium pro om-
s suis edificiis quandocumque et quotiens necesse fuerit
deliberationem forestariorum nostrorum sive eorum
; ibidem existentium. Et etiam concessimus et con-
kvimus eisdem Monialibus et successoribus suis quen-
annuum redditum quadraginta solidorum annuatim
ipiendum imperpetuum de tenementis nostris in villa
'a de Karlile solvendum eisdem Monialibus et succes-
•us suis per manus custodis nostri villas de Karlile
lictae ad festa Pentecostes et Sancti Martini in yeme
equales portiones. Et etiam concedlmus pro nobis
aeredibus nostris quod praedictae Moniales tenentes et
iervientes liberi sint de tolneto pacando per totum
um nostrum Angliae pro aliquibus bestiis sive rebus
uscumque per eas sive eorum aliquem tenentem seu
entem imposterum emendis. Et etiam concedimus et
irmavimus quod monasterium et domus praedicta cum
lictis tribus carucatis duabus acris terrae cum decern
prati in omnibus libera sint et habeant omnes libertates
simili modo sicut conceditur nostro monasterio de
tmynstr' absque vexatione molestatione sive aliqua in-
tatione seu lesione aliquorum vicecomitum escaetorum
vrorum seu aliquorum ministrorum seu ligeorum nos-
im quorumcumque. Et etiam concedimus eisdem
ialibus communam pasturam cum animalibus suis infra
m et communam de Aynstaplyth cum liberis introitibus
F 3
Publication,
70 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan op this ^jj^t perfod to the present. The same forraule
Publication. *^ *^
appears also, by the enrolments, to have been
used by the High Justiciary of England; but
the Editor has seen only one original mandate,
and that a judicial writ, wherein the clause
^^ Teste meipso " is to be found ; and if an
opinion founded upon a solitary instance maj
be regarded, it is submitted, that in most of the
instances where this formule has been inserted,
it has been done by clerical inadvertence ; for
in an original precept, where the attesting
et exitibus. Necnon concedimus quod praedictse Monialci
liberae sint per totam terram suam pro quibuscumque te- p
nentibus et liberam habeant warennam tarn pro lettis cuii-
arum nostrarum quam in aquis boscis terris plains seu metil
suis eidem monasterio spectantibus seu quovismodo perti-
nentibus. Habenda et tenenda et occupanda omnia et ail
gula praedicta recitata prsefatis Monialibus et successoribai
suis imperpetuum de nobis et haeredibus nostris in piinm
et perpetuam elemosinam spontanea ita voluntate et c»
cessione as hert may it thynk or ygh may it se« b
cujus rei testimonium has literas nostras fieri fecimoi:
patentes. Teste me ipso apud Westmonasterium sexto dk
mensis Januarii anno regni nostri secundo. Nos antai
literas praedictas ac omnia et singula in eisdem conteMl!
rata habentes et grata ea pro nobis et haeredibus nottdii,
quantum in nobis est acceptamus approbamus et diledi
CM I
nobis in Christo Isabellas nunc Priorissae dicti monastem,
juxta aquam vocatam Croglyn' in dicto comitatu CumbiUj
situati et ejusdem loci Monialibus et successoribuf ifl
ratificamus et confirmamus prout literas praedictae rationdi'|
liter testantur. In cujus, &c. Teste Rege apud Wert-|
monasterium xx^, die Junii.
Pro dimidio marcae soluto in hanaperio."
Rot. Pat. 20 Edw. IV. p. 1. m.4b
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 71
ause is Teste G. Fir Petri Justic' AngV^ the
rolment of the same precept is erroneously
itten " Teste meipso ;** and as one instance of
L error can be produced, it is nqt unfair to
sume that similar inaccuracies might have
len committed upon other occasions.
The anomaly of using the words Rex^ S^c.
id Teste meipso may be considered as an ad-
tional evidence of the want of accuracy in
e enrolling clerks. Throughout the reign of
)hn nearly all the documents are abbreviated
; their commencement, and the style and
ties of the King either curtailed or excluded,
le words Rex, &c. being substituted. The
erk, however, not adhering to any uniformity
I his abbreviations, has in many instances com-
litted a grammatical error, by neglecting to
lake a corresponding change in the attestation
) agree with the address : thus, in those docu-
lents tested by the King, he has preserved the
""este meipso instead of Teste Rege^ whereby
le first part of the document is in the third
erson, whilst the conclusion is in the first.
The formule of Teste Rege has caused much
iscussion amongst diplomatic writers, both
Dnglish and foreign, which has been owing to
heir not properly understanding that clause.^
Plan of this
Publication.
1 « La Formule Teste Rege qui temiine les lettres
atentes des Rois d'Angleterre, est quelquefois exprim^
F 4
72 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan OP THIS MabiUon, and the Authors of the Nouveau
Publication.
Traite, assert that some of the English Mo-
narchs, amongst their various modes of attes-
tation, used the formule Teste Rege. Rymer's
Fcedera and the diplomatic treatises of other
English antiquaries have been the means <^
betraying these authors into this mistake ; for
|>ar ces deux siglis, T. R. Les actes de Henri HI* finitsort
encore par ' Teste m^ipso apud Westmonasteriuniy 19 die
Octobris.* " Nouv. Traits, torn. vi. page 32.
*^ Les Rois d*Angleterre se donnent eux seuls, ou Fob
de leurs ofiBciers, pour t^moins dans leurs inandemensel
leurs chartes peu importantes. La formule Teste mdpto «t
ordinairement jointe k la date ; mais le sceau, qui seal
donne Tautenticite k ces lettres royaux, n*est point anoDC&
Le recueil de Rymer fournit une multitude de pidcet ci
cette forme. Mais les trait^s et les actes de cons^quenoi
sont attest^s par un nombre de t^moins, dont les noma pri-
c^des de la formule ' Testibus, &c.* Jean Sans-terre anonei
de plus sa bulle d*or dans Facte, par lequel, comme Taml
il fait hommage avec serment au Pape Innocent UL 8pri|
avoir remis sa couronne entre les mains de Pandolfe» I^glt
du S. Si^ge. Henri IIL se sert de la formule suivante^ fk
il n*est point par] 6 du sceau royal : ^ In cujus rd teHimom
has litteras nostras vobis mittimus patentes' " Nouv. Traitft
tom. vi. page 21.
** Edward IV. premier Roi d*Angleterre de la mails*
d' York couronn6 k Westminster le 20 Juin 1461, commenoe
souvent ses diplomes par ces formules : < Rex omnibus al
quos praesentes, &c. salutera. Sciatis quod, &c. Rex ad
perpetuam rei memoriam.' Edouard V. proclam^ Bai
d*Angleterre Fan 1483 emploie le mdme style: ^ Bex
bus ad qtiosy Sfc. salutem. Sciatis quod degratid nostrd
ac ex certd scientid et mero moiu nostris concessimusy SfC. D^
nostro sub privato sigiUo apud Turrim nastram Londomtk
duodecimo die Junii, anno regni nostriprimoS " Nouv. Trait4
tom. vi. page 87.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 73
which no blame ought to be attached to them, ^^^^ °^ ^=*^
o ' Publication.
since they had not the opportunity of obtaining
access to the original instruments. The occa-
sion of their error is easily explained. All
original documents commence with the name,
style, and title of the Sovereign, as Henricus^
Dei gratidy Rex Anglice, DonUntcs HibernicBy
Duj: NormannicB, AquitanicBj et Comes Andegavice.
tThe enrolling clerks or chancery scribes, either
with a view of saving their own labour or the
skins upon which they wrote, (for they were
obliged to procure the latter themselves,^) in-
stead of writing the King's name and titles at
full length, contented themselves with intro-
ducing the same into the first entry on the
Roll ^ only, and afterwards with limiting all the
B^ subsequent entries to Rea:, ^c. To make the
* concluding part of the document agree with
^ the commencement, they substituted the formule
* Teste Rege for Teste meipso ; yet, strange as it
may appear, the form of the rest of the instru-
ment was suffered to remain unaltered, and con-
sequently was not in accordance with the pre-
1 " Scriptor iste de proprio an de fiscollotulos invenit?"
^ asks the scholar in the Dialogus de Scaccario, to which
•j the master answers ; " In termino iste Sancti Michaelis
■^ 5 solidos de fisco recipit, et scriptor Cancellariae alios nihil-
^1 (Nnuius 5 ex quibus ad utrumque Rotulum, et ad summoni-
"^^ tiones ad receptas inferioris Scaccarii membranas inveniunt.**
^1 2 This was not a universal, although a general custom.
74 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan of this yious chaDfi^es : sincc the document began and
Publication. *=* ^
ended in the third, whilst the body of the
same was expressed as in the first person^, as
Rea:, <§pc., concessmtcSy S^x., Teste Rege. This
fact is unnoticed by Rymer, Madox, or Casley ;
and it is therefore not surprising that foreign
diplomatists should have been mislead, when
it is considered that the only data firom which
they drew their conclusions were selected from
the Fcedera and the Monasticon, the Editors of
which two works have not made a distinction
between Original Instruments and their Enrol-
ments.
Abbreviations. — Without some explana-
tion of the Abbreviations used in this work,
1 King Richard the First was the first English Monardt
who adopted the plural number, Nos» His predeceaMO
used the first person singular, JEgo. Ruddiman, in tlM
preface to Anderson*s <' Selectus Diphmatum et NumUmakm
ScatuB Tkesaurtis" p. SI, on the question whether the #
ploma whereby Malcomb did homage to Edward the Cor
fessor be not spurious, advances in proof of its being ft;
forgery^ << Qudd in hoc Milcolumbus, de se loquensy pIunEl
numero utatur, qui mos nondum apud Angliae aut SoodBl
Reges erat introductus : inter Anglos quippe Ricardml'
inter Scotos vero Alexander II. ; qui pluralem de se solii lft*|
quentes adhibuerint, primi reperiuntur ; quorum utrumqaiJ
Milcolumbus 3 centum minimum annos prsecessit." Nichll*
son, author of the English Historical Library, part 3, psg^li
is of opinion, that King John was the first English Moiiareb|
who used the plural number : this opinion, howeveri i
contradicted by the existence of several original chartlflj
of King Richard I. wherein that Sovereign makes use
the plural number throughout, except in his attestation.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 75
headers in general would find great difficulty ^an of this
o o ./ Publication,
in understanding many of the entries ; espe-
dally as the ancient style of punctuation rather
obscures than elucidates the construction. A
few general rules are therefore indispensable for
:he assistance of those who wish to acquire a
cnowledge of this peculiar species of literature.
^. Table will also be given of the Abbreviations
)f such words as invariably occur in one form.
The most usual mode of abbreviating words
s to retain some of the letters of which such
v^ords consist, and to substitute certain marks
or symbols in place of those left out.
The Abbreviations most common are a
right line thus (-), and a curve, approaching the
form of the Greek circumflex accent, thus ( '^ ),
placed horizontally over a letter. The ^rst of
these marks, over a vowel, in the middle or at
the end of a word, denotes that one letter is
wanting, as in vedat for vendanty bonu for
bonuniy terra for terrartiy &c. ; and the latter ,
when seen above or through a letter, either
in the middle or at the end of a word, signi-
fies the omission of more than one letter ; but
the number of letters wanted is left to be
ascertained by the Reader, as in aia for anima^
air for aliter^ alia for animaUa^ ablaco for ablatio,
Wintofi for Wintonia^ nob for nobis, mand for
76 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
PuBricAwoN ^wawdfl/Mw, &c. A straight line through a cor-
sonant also denotes the omission of one or
more letters, as in v6b for vobist qd for qmdf
&c.
Several symbols have positive and fixed
significations. Thus, the character J alwm
stands for er or re, as the sense requires, as rra
for lerraf pdictus for prcedictus^
A straight or a curved line through the let-
ter p thus p p, stands for per^ por, and par.
The curved line through the same letter p de-
notes pro.
This character 3, at the end of a word,
signifies us^ as omnib} for omnibus, and likewise
ety as deb} for debet.
The figure ^, represents rum, raSy rcSi
riSj and ram^ as eo^ for eorum, lib|^ for Ufmu
or libris, Windeso]^ for Windesores, Alieno^ for
Alienoram, ancesso^ for antecessorum and ant^
cessoris.
Etiam is thus denoted &^ and que, qtua^ and
quod thus q^.
The character represented in tjrpe by the
figure of 9, is sometimes called the c cursive, or
c reversed. When found at the commencement
1 The diphthong was not in use at this period, bit
sometimes at the end of a word, is represented by a chft'
racter similar to the French 9 ; thus, terre for terra.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION* 77
r a word this character signifies com or corty as ^^^^ o' this
^ ^ ^ Publication.
nitto for committOj gvicto for convicto ; but
aced in the middle or at the end of a word, a
;tle out of the line, it signifies uSf as De^ for
^euSy reb^ for rebuSy Aug^ti for Augusti. It
so occasionally stands for ost and o^, as p^
H for posty and p^quam for postquam.
The word est is abridged either by a hori-
^ntal line or by the Greek circumflex accent
etween two points thus f , + .
Points or Dots, placed after letters, are
Iso signs of abbreviations, as di. et fi. for dilectus
fJideUsy e. for est, plurib. for pluribus^
Two points, thus ( • • ) or (f), serve as marks
►f transposition, as ^ Magnus " Albertus, for
tlbertus Magnics.
For the word et is substituted a character
bus V
A small superior letter denotes an omis-
ion, of which such letter forms a part, as over
i*us for prius, V for tibiy q°s for qicos, q* for quiy
cc.
^ A point placed under a letter shows that such letter
I redundant. It was a very common mode of making a
eletion of a letter, or of a word, instead of disfiguring the
ice of the document with obliterations.
. 2 Xn very early times . it was represented by a figure
omething resembling the numeral 7» thus, 7*
78
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan of this
Publication.
Xps, Xpc, Xpo, Xpi, all stand for Chris
and its different cases. ^
The Abbreviations following have def
and explicit significations :
a a an, am, ate ante.
aimus animus, libra
libram.
3. a« annus and its cases*
a* au atitem.
a aut.
an ante.
ana antea.
aia aie ai aio aninuif
animigy animif animo.
aial animal.
aiai animalis.
ailia animalia.
a^^ aliarum, aliguarum.
am® amodo.
anq^ antequam.
a ap apd apz^(2.
aq a j^z^ and its cases.
at a/z'ttf and its cases.
air aliter.
abnia absentia.
abne absolutione.
asSu assensii.
a^d aliquid.
aplox apostolorum.
apli^ am;?/iz«.
Arepc Areps archie}
pus.
appne appellatiane.
adh adhuc.
ag^ agitur*
b b &er, 6t5, 05 li
libertate, Merl
Merleberge^ nob f
vob voits.
b' b*e bte beata.
bi dea^t.
bapf baptiste.
bn i^n^.
br ftra?^ owd iVs cas^i
bre bfi bf la 6r«?^, i
c cer, cr^.
c cum.
c^io crastino.
^ In sacred words the Latins retained the Greek le
Jesus is generally written IH2 or *i}(| abbreviations of
is> xs> for Christus^ &c.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
79
a,
capitulum.
causa,
isas.
e coam communa^
luncey commiinam.
communu
lis commune^ corn-
is,
)e contra dictione.
ont* 9* 9t* contra,
ntrario,
)^" conventu.
computate^ com-'
bitury Sfc.
* concessa.
ctijus,
mparet.
pt^br 9^bre 9'*bria
rabrevCiControbrevey
robrevia.
^ citra,
ijuslibet.
vitas,
ericus.
De^ Deus.
?r, de^ denarius and
:ases.
imus.
itur.
)avid.
dd dedit.
dina divina,
diiir dicuntur,
dca dkta.
dcs dictus.
dco dicto.
dns dne dni dno domi"
nus and its cases.
d} debet.
di^ dt dicit or dicunt.
dent dicunt.
don*^ donee.
dre dicei^e.
dilone dilatione.
di. dilectus and its cases.
dilcus dilectus.
dilco dilecto.
e 9 y f f«/.
9et ^55^/.
9et essent.
em ^2<m, sometimes ^;iim.
ecca ecclesia.
ecctiam ecclesiam.
ecctia& ecclesiarum.
effcs effcu effectuSj effectu.
eta etia elemosina.
etari^ elemosinarius.
£pc £ps Episcopus.
Epo Epi Episcqpo, Epis-
copi.
eq*lr equaliter*
ex* ^jr/ra.
Plan of this
Publication.
80
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan of this
PUBLICi^TION.
excoTa excommunicaia.
ex® exemplOi excepto.
f i Jieru
f. fm festum.
fo fe$tO'
ics tea tco icm Jactus
and its cases.
fta f tas falsa J falsas.
(re /acere and fratre*
fr ff is ffes fre frem ff m
frater and its cases.
feia feie feias femina and
its cases*
Pa (isijeriay^gura.
fit fs^lius.
for* format foresta.
g* igitur.
gra gras grm gratia and
its cases.
g* erga.
g*vam gravamen.
gta gloria.
go er^o.
gSatr gSalit generaliter,
gnia genera.
g*?in gratum.
ti ^/c, A^c, Aoc.
h^ Attic, AttT, A/c, Amc.
ii^^q^ hucusque.
ti^ A2{;tt5, hujusmodi.
lii^ hujusmodi.
huj^ hujusmodi.
huj^ceoi hujuscemodi.
heat habeat.
hre habere.
heo habeo.
huit huisti habuitf habui
hrnt habuerunt.
hitu habitu.
ho. homo and its cases.
ti} hi habet.
heV habetur.
hri haberi.
tiuisse habuisse.
ties hcereSi habes.
holm hdiu bom hominu
1 in.
* in^a, iVa, f7/a.
b ibm ibidem.
d i(2m, f7/ttd^ iefe(7.
g' igitur.
S ille and its cases,
f. primo.
h inde.
nf* infra.
nf ^ inferius.
nspr insup insuper.
ido i^^o.
pe ipse*
pa ipsa.
pm ipsum.
po ipso.
pos rpsos.
plus ipsius.
1 i* iVa.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
61
f
•
m> mihiy met*
1 item.
mr mater ^magtster^martyr.
1 imperpetuum.
mre matre.
incurrat.
mris matrisy martyris.
interdictum*
mtr mulier.
iteresse.
iiiirs mulieres.
erum.
mitm multum.
\terim.
mitiptr mtdtipliciter.
idcirco.
m® mod modo.
endce.
mo*^ monemurj nuroemury
Sfc.
m'x* maxima.
Memo^ Memorandum.
harissime.
harissimo.
ibi'a and its cases.
n enim^ non.
linia licentia.
h. n. nostri.
tiiie legitime.
ncce necesse.
•
neccla necessaria.
iter.
n^ nee.
era.
nc nu;7c.
teras.
nect ''^?z^^-
"^rcB.
teris*
and licet.
n' wm, nemini.
n!ta ;2u//a.
nm numerum»
•
n^n necnon.
marca.
nob nob} ^062*5.
sericordia, miser ia.
nobc nob3c nobiscum.
itrimonio.
nola nomina.
ateria.
noie nomine.
lateriam.
noium nominum.
indi.
noiati nominatim.
trie.
n^o^ nihilominus
ledietate, \
nr noster.
G
Plan of this
Publication.
82
G£N£RAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan of this
Publication.
nra nostra.
nri nostri,
nro nostra.
nram nostram.
nrm nostrum.
no nuo numero.
nego negotio.
neq^q^ nequaquam.
o ob obolus and its cases.
ob obiit.
occo occasio*
occoe occone occasioned
om omnis and its cases.
oe OTTin^.
oes omnes.
OS omneSi omnis.
dia omnia.
oim dium omnium.
dib} omnibus.
oio omnino.
diode omnimode.
op* oportet,
oppoio opposito,
opp* opportuna,
obtonib} oblationibus.
p per i par ^ por.
p pro.
p jw^, ^«.
p* jor/.
p* prima.
p* persona.
p*tr personaUter,
pp propter.
p^us p*^ priusj primus.
pb3 prcebet.
pcci peccati.
pd pdic? prcedicttis <
2/5 ca5^5.
pdca prcedicta.
pdcas pradictas.
pdcm prtedictum.
pdco prcedicto.
pdcos pradictos.
pr pater.
pri pa/ri.
pris patris.
pta plura.
ptma plurima.
ptes plures.
ptia placita.
pnt possint and possun
p^ p^t p05/.
p^m p^tmod postmodu
p® primo.
p**ea postea.
PP P*P i^^/?^
ppli populi.
ppo poptdo.
priam patriam.
pronat^ patronatus.
P3 p* patet, potest.
pstate p^tate potestate*
phre prohibere.
psbr presbiter.
GENERAL INTftODUCTION.
83
'oinde.
i" prvximOi proxima.
qiice^ quod, quern.
, quia, quod.
/, quern.
uasi.
I.
im.
as*
is.
).
lOS.
ando, quo7iiam.
loniam, quem^ quo-
h.
quomodo*
quomodolibet
uolihet.
uoque.
lilibet.
'uilms.
id^ quod.
quoddam.
juodlibet.
\asi.
le quale,
iorum.
1 quisquam.
ia.
quicunque.
quicquid.
q*ten^ quatenus,
q^ppt quapropien
^ Bex afid its cases.
rone ratione.
relq reliqua.
rnsL regina.
roi rationi.
ronabilit roabitr rationa--
biliter.
XX res rerum.
rspcu respechi,
ret® retro.
rfid} respondet.
rnsum responsum.
rns'^us responsurus.
r. regni.
S. Sanctus and Us cases.
.s. scilicet.
s. sunt.
§. solidus and its cases.
s^ supra, secunda.
S^I Sabbati.
Scs Sanctus.
Sci Sancti.
Scis Sanctis.
Scos Sanctos.
sat saK sattm salutem.
sb sub.
Sbt^ subtus.
s^ sic.
sic 5201^.
Plan of this
Publication.
G 2
48
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Plan OF this
Publication.
6^' sicui,
Smptr simpliciter.
singla singula,
sn sine.
SI sive.
snia sententia,
S0I3 solet,
spale speciale,
sptr specialiter.
sps spiritus.
sup 5t(pfr.
sem^ 5^772^/.
seq*^ sequitur.
s^ sibi,
sittr similiter.
signicas significas*
sig^sti significasti.
s^ 52/n^«
sv sive.
S3 set pro sed,
SI3 scilicet.
T. teste and its cases.
TT. /^Ytt/i or /zVttZo.
? /^.
t^a ^r/fl.
tat /a/is, taliter,
tatr taliter.
{n tamen, tantum.
{m tantum*
t^ tunc.
ic tunc.
tuc ^nr.
tpre tempore.
tempre tempore.
tepib3 temporibus.
tec tecum.
ten tenementum and
cases.
t3 ^^72^.
ten* ^en^^.
t^ ^i6/.
tmm° tantummodo.
?r ^^rra and i/s ca5«.
t'i turri.
u. t^^.
u^ vbi.
un unde.
vba verba.
val3 vaZf/.
vl rrf.
v° vero.
v°. quinto.
V' videtur.
vr vester.
vfa vestra.
vre vestrce.
vri vestri.
vfo vestro.
vrm vestrum.
u& uter^tdrum.
utrq^ uterque and its c
GENERAL INTRODUCTIOKT.
85
i uxor.
LIS iixoris.
T; et.
SE etiam.
3 t/5, sometimes et.
Plan OF THIS
Publication.
decern.
J) /A, Saxon.
^ decima.
f m, ^5, w.
/^ Xc XS Xps Christus.
& rum.
pi Christi.
t ^s^.
po Christo.
T erorre.
piani Ckristiani,
1c. f^ cetera.
\ quadragesima.
6 M, Saxon.
COURTS OF LAW.
Before it is attempted to show in what
inner ancient and modern laws may be illus-
ted by instruments in this Volume, it is
sirable to take a short view of the constitu-
n of different Courts of Judicature existing
the period to which such instruments refer.
Courts of
Law.
The permanent Courts of Civil and Crimi-
l Jurisdiction were the Aula or Curia Regis \
1 The primitive signification of the words " Curia Regis'*
s the Hall or Court of the King's Palace, where he
ivened his subjects for the discussion of public affairs.
¥as afterwards used to denote the meetings there con-
led. All assemblies there held, whether for legislative
judicial purposes, also bore that designation. It does
seem, however, to be confined to the limited significa-
a assigned to it by some, as being merely the King's
G 3
86
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts of
Law.
which afterwards became the modern King's
Bench ^ — the Court of Common Pleas ^ — the
itinerant Courts of the Justices in Eyre^ — the
Court of Chancery — the Court of Exchequer*
— and the ancient County and other Anglo-
Saxon Courts. These courts, with the excep-
tion of those of Anglo-Saxon foundation, which
were falling rapidly into comparative desuetude,
formed component parts of the primitive Curia
Regis, from which they had just been separated.
The reason of the division of the Curia Regis
Select Council, or Supreme Court of Justice. AU national
councils, whether convoked for justice or advice, were
styled the Curia Regis ; even in the reign of Henry IL,
who is supposed to have been the original institutor o£Ak
high court of justice, which he ordered to be holdcB
within, or rather to be a component part of it*.
1 '< Habet Rex plures curias in quibus diversae actioofil
terminantur, et illarum curiarum habet unam proprian^
sicut Aulam Regiam, et justitiarios capitales qui propria!
causas regias terminant, et aliorum omnium per querekuBb
vel per privilegium, seu libertatem/* Bract, lib. iii. cap. 7*
fol.l05*>.
2 '' Habet Rex etiam curiam, et justitiarios in banet
residentes, qui cognoscant de omnibus placitis de qiiibai
aucthoritatem habent cognoscendi, et sine warranto jurif*
dictionem non habent nee coertionem.** Brad. lib. ^
fol. 105^
3 *' Justitiae (errantes) faciant omnes justitias et redi'
tudines spectantes ad dominum Regem et ad coronam snaia;
nisi tarn grandis sit querela, quod non possit deduct fiA
domino Rege, vel talis quam justitise ei reponent pro dnfai-
tatione sua, vel ad illos qui in loco ejus erunt."
p. 549. no. 40, 50.
•* See Madox Hist, of Exchequer.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 87
into separate courts seems to have been owing ^^^^aw ^^
totheextensive jurisdiction which this supreme
court had acquired, and which became incon-
venient and oppressive : the necessities which
induced such division will be obvious on con-
sidering its legislative and juridical powers.*
In the Curia Regis were discussed and tried
all pleas immediately concerning the King and
the Realm ; and suitors were allowed, upon
payment of fines, to remove their plaints from
inferior jurisdictions of Anglo-Saxon creation
into this court, by which a variety of business
was wrested from the ignorance and partiality
of lower tribunals, to be more confidently
^ submitted to the decision of judges of high
reputation. Some plaints were also removed
4 into the Curia Regis by the express order of
^ the King ; others by the justices itinerant,
■? who not unfrequently felt themselves incompe-
f tent to decide upon difficult points of law.
Matters of a fiscal nature, together with the
* business performed by the Chancery, were also
\ transacted in the Curia Regis. Such a quan-
tity of miscellaneous business was at length
found to be so perplexing and impracticable,
not only to the officers of the Curia Regis, but
4
i
I
1 The division of the Curia Regis is believed to have
taken place at the latter end of the reign of King Richard I.
See note ^ at p. 28. of this Introduction.
88
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts of
Law.
also to the suitors themselves, that it became
absolutely necessary to devise a remedy for the
increasing evil. A division of that court into
distinct departments was the consequence, and
thenceforth pleas touching the Crown, together
with common pleas ^ of a civil and criminal
nature, were continued to the Curia Regis;
plaints of a fiscal kind were transferred to the
Exchequer; and for the Court of Chancery
were reserved all matters unappropriated to
the other courts.
Equitable
Jurisdiction.
Equitable Jurisdiction. — The origin of
the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery as a
court of equity still remains in comparative
obscurity. Much has, indeed, been written
on the subject ; but little in reality has been
done towards a satisfactory settlement of that
question. The nature and limits of this Intro*
duction do not admit of many details on the
point ; nor is this a proper place for the insti-
tution of inquiries relative to the first introduc-
tion and gradual rise of all and each of the
vast and extraordinary powers of the present
Court of Chancery, branching, as they do, into
J The Court of Common Pleas was by the xvij. chillier
of Magna Carta separated from the Curia Regis and nuidl
stationary : '* communia placita rum sequantur curiam notiftKB
sed teneantur in aliqtw certo hco^ See 2 Inst. 22. Mados*f
Hist, of Excheq. Spelm. Glos. Tit. Justitiarius.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
89
jurisdictions so various and extensive. It is
here proposed only to take a cursory view of
^ its history as a court of equity ; suggesting to
I those who wish, for information on the subject
some of the sources from which materials may
be collected for the purpose, without entering
' into an investigation of the peculiarities which
■ distinguish it from a court of common law.
The Court of Chancery, as a court of
equity began to decide causes about the reign
of Edward the Third, and continued to do so
for at least three centuries, " secundum cequum
€t honumi^ and not according to precise and
predetermined rules (as is now the practice
of that Court ^), for neither Glanville, the
Courts of
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdiction.
1 '* Plusieurs siecles meme apres 1 'installation des
Chanceliers dans leurs fonctions judiciaires, ils n'avaient
que tres rarement I'occasion de les exercer ; de sorte que,
sans inconvenient, ils pouvaient etre, en m^me temps,
ecclesiastiques, et quelquefois meme militaires, ce qui est
arriv^. La cour etant encore dans son enfance, les debats
judiciaires n'avaient point produit cc recueil de regies et de
decisions qui aujourd*hui doivent guider les juges dans
leurs arrets, et dont T^tude et la pleine connaissance leur
soDt indispensables. Les Chanceliers de cette 6poque
etaient encore libres de decider les causes suivant les
principes de T^quit^ naturelle ; car ce n*est que dans le
milieu du dix-septieme siecle que les maximes et usages
des tribunaux d*^quit6 commencerent a devenir une science.**
Lettres sur la Cour de la ChanceUerie cTAngleterrey et sur
quelques points de la Jurisprudence Anglaise^ pp. 62 — 72.
Par C. P. Cooper, Avocat Anglais. Paris Edit, 1 830.
90]
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts op
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdiction.
Mirror, Bracton, Briton, Fleta, nor the " Diver*|)|^
site des Courtes/' ever allude to it as a coi
of equity.^ The earliest mention of a distioi
betwixt equity and common law is believed
be in Bracton, lib. ii. c. 7** where that wril
places equity in contra-distinction to strict lawjj
but in Glanville, who preceded him some yean
there is not the remotest allusion to any thiDg
of the kind. The fountain of justice and equitf
was, in his as in all preceding time^ held to be
in the Sovereign, who took an oath at the
coronation to dispense to his subjects tBqwm]
et rectam justitiam ; that is, the King boi
himself to distribute to every individual in
realm both justice and equity, or as it is morel
commonly expressed, to temper justice witk
mercy. But this, in all cases, and in his oim
proper person, it was obviously impossible firj
him to do ; he, therefore, of necessity,
obliged to delegate the administration of jastj
tice, in various departments, to ministers aod^
officers chosen and deputed by him to fiilfl^
the duties respectively belonging to each of]
such departments, but whose powers and modes
of practice were defined and circumscribed i
within the limits of positive and admitted lain
and regulations. Hence arose the necessity and
formation of separate and distinct courts of hw.
1 See 2 Inst. 552. 4 Inst. 82.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
91
hich, by degrees, were brought into use, and
hich, in the King's name, and by his authority,
spensed justice to the people, according to
listing laws. But inasmuch as enacted and
>sitive laws must in their nature be limited
ther to general maxims, or to provisions adapted
id applicable only to particular circumstances,
lere could not but happen, in almost constant
iccession, a variety of cases so new and unfore-
en in their bearing and construction as to
Imit of no proper or adequate remedies being
)plied to them by these ordinary courts, if
ley proceeded according to the existing and
(tablished law, the rigor of which was found
) operate in a manner both oppressive and
DJust. It was therefore necessary, in many in-
ances, to have recourse to the King, who
eing the fountain both of justice and equity,
ad the power of affording relief in all such
ifficulties, according as it might appear to him
) be reasonable, just, and merciful.^ This
;ads to considerations of the common modes
Courts of
Law.
Equitable
JurUtUction*
^ <^ II n y a pas de doute que la juri diction exerc6e
laintenant par le Chancelier pour mitiger la s6v6rit^ du
roic commun a toujours fait partie de la loi d*Angleterre.
.utrefois c*etait le Roi en personne, assist^ du Chancelier
: d'autres oflficiers de la couronne, qui exercjait cette juri-
iction sur la requete des parties, lorsqu'elles reclamaient
)ntre les decisions des juges." Lettres sur la Caur de la
'hancellerie dAngkterre, par C. P. Cooper, p. 182. Paris
diL 1830.
92
Courts of
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdiction,
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
of administering justice during the period' to
which this Volume especially refers, in order to
trace the gradual steps of equitable jurisdiction
which were trodden first by the King himself
in his character of dispenser of justice.
Antecedent to the reign of Henry II. the
administration of justice had been permitted
to flow through many different channels; for
instance, through those of the County Courts^
of the Hundred Courts, and of the Courts Baron*
So many courts of judicature (though one of
the great excellencies of Anglo-Saxon contriv*
ance, inasmuch as justice might thus be said to
be rendered almost at the door of every mem*
ber of the community) were nevertheless un-
suitable to the habits and prejudices of the
Norman invaders, accustomed as the latter were
to more imposing forms, and to a species
jurisprudence much more subtle and refined
in its distinctions than that in use with
Saxons.
From this multiplicity of judicatures
naturally followed many and great inconvenP'
ences, uncertainties, and, in no ^mall number dt\
instances, debasements of the laws, owing equally^
to the number of tribunals as to the ignorant
and partiality of the judges ; notwithstanding^
that the eldermen, from whom such judges were
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
93
ected, were supposed to be the wisest and
>st discreet persons of those divisions over
ich each of them respectively presided.
;nry I., however, seeing such inconveni-
:es arise, and such venality in practice, for
5 purpose of controlling this growing evil,
lained^ that not only should the freeholders
the county attend these courts, but that also
5 bishops, barons, and others of a certain rank
iding in the respective districts, should be
istant in their attendance at the same. This
nmandwasfor some time scrupulously obeyed,
t, like other salutary regulations, it soon fell
disuse. The consequence of this neglect
the part of the Norman nobility was, that
business of any moment was thenceforth con-
::ted upon principles almost wholly founded
factious and interested motives; and as it
en happened that those who presided were
many instances parties as well as judges in
ir own cause, the decisions of the court
re often partial and unjust. All this took
ce, notwithstanding redress could have been
1 by obtaining a writ of false judgment before
King or Chief Justiciary, in which case
judgment, if found to be unjust or oppres-
3, was annulled, reversed, or abated, and the
ties found to be in the wrong from such
isions heavily amerced.
co/urts of
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdictiaru
94
GENERAJL INTBODUCTION.
COU&T8 OF
Law.
Equkable
Juritdkiion.
TlnSy nevertheless^ did not prove to be aa
effectual and sufficient remedy ; and other meAt!
sures were taken, in the year II76 \ to put 9
stop to such irregular and nefarious proceeds:
ings ; when men, versed and experi^iced i^j
the laws and constitution of the realm, weie^
app(Hnted as itinerant justices ^^ to go on Gip*|
cuits through every part of the kingdom, and tQ
hear and determine pleas, as well civil and cck
minal, as pleas of the crown, arising within libftj
several divisions respectively assigned to thei|i6;>
1 22d Henry U.
2 It must not be inferred that the institution of itinov
ant justices originated in the Council at Northampton k
the year 1176, for there is unquestionable evidence, th0
Pipe Roll in the Exchequer, that there had been il
justices, to hear and determine civil and criminal pleas, jl]
the eighteenth year of the reign of King Henry the Fink]
It is to this monarch that the introduction of such ji
into England is to be attributed, consequential to a ss
institution in France by Louis le Gros, and imparted by
to King Henry. These justices, however, appear to
been discontinued during the intestine commotioniiB in
reign of King Stephen : the glory, therefore, of fixing i
the English constitution so useful an improvement
to Henry the Second, by whom it was revived and
settled at the Council of Northampton. The error, li
which Sir Matthew Hale has fallen, of supposing
original appointment of justices itinerant to have
place at this Council, seems to have arisen in conseqai
of their being first mentioned in our ancient chroi
under the year 1176, whereas only a new division of
kingdom into six circuits was then settled, and justiodl
appointed thereto.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
95
An ordinance of such importance as this,
id emanating from a prince jso wise as Henry II.,
id a direct tendency to restrain the oppres-
>ns of the barons, and to protect the gentry
id common people in the enjoyment of their
yhts and liberties ; and still, if parties felt
emselves aggrieved, either from the rigor or
iperfection of the law itself, or by the misjudg-
ent or venality of the itinerant justices, a door
^ left open for redress, by the removal of
air plaints, upon the payment of trifling fines,
to the King's Court, where justice with equity
IS supposed to reside.
Courts op
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdiction.
The court of judicature which sat in Curia
egis, or the King^s Courts is also presumed
have been instituted by the same Prince, in
>nsequence of complaints made to him of the
trtiaUty of his Justkice resiant in his court ;
e number of whom he reduced from eighteen
five, and enacted ** quod ilU quinque audirent
mes clamores regni et rectum facerent ; et
u)d a Curia Regis non recederent, sed ibi ad
idiendum clamores hominum remanerent ; ita ut,
aliqiui qucestio inter eos venirety quoeper eos ad
lem duci non posset ; auditui regi prcesentaretur^
sicut ei^ et sapientioribus regni placerety ter-
Inaretur.
99 1
1 Benedic. Abbas. 266.
96
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts of
Law.
EqmLable
Junsdiaion.
Hence it will appear that not only was a
permanent court of justice established in the
King's Court, but also that a still higher tribunal
was brought into use — that of the King m
Council^ J to whom the justices of the first were*
to appeal in cases of difficulty; and this is
presumed to be the first germ or semblance
of a court of equity. This Concilium Regu
must not, however, be confounded with the
Commune Conciliunu The business of the fir-
mer was to assist the King in determining and
legislating upon the nicer and more intricate
points of law, to guide the opinions and judg-
ment of the Monarch, and to assist him in the
performance and discharge of Us duties.^ The
latter was the Court de morCy held at the three
great festivals of the year, composed of "aflj
the great men over all England, archbishops
and bishops, abbots and earls, th^ns and
cniths ^" an assembly, in fact, the same (wiA
1 The Concilium Regis consisted of the Chancellor, tbe I
Treasurer, and Barons of the Exchequer, the Judges of
either Bench, the itinerant Justices, and Justices of Aniiei
the great officers of state, and such of the dignified dergf
as it pleased the King to summon,
2 It is said that King Henry, at leisure hours» Mk
every day in his own house, secum habens CcmHeSy
proceres, et vavasores, to hear and determine
Cotton. Posth. fol. 48. Madox, fol. 68. Lambard's Ardi-
ion. 144. 165.
^ Saxon Chron. 190.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
97
some improvements) as the Saxon Wittenage-
mote, which made laws and imposed taxes, and
advised the King in the administration of
justice. This National Assembly or Common
Council of the Realm has, it is submitted,
been confounded, in a Report made by a
Committee of the House of Lords appointed
to inquire into the nature and dignity of a Peer
of the Realm \ with the King's Council.^ That
Committee assumes, that the King^s Select
Council was also the Commune Concilium de more,
which assembled, as before stated, three times
Br year. That each member of the Select
Council was, in his individual capacity, also
part of the Common Council, will scarcely
admit of a doubt ; and it is also certain, that
the Concilium Regis did not merge into the
more numerous assembly, or Commune Con-
cilium, but continued, for upwards of three
centuries, a separate and independent body,
exercising its judicial and peculiar functions,,
until the Court of Chancery came, in course
Courts of
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdiction.
1 Ordered to be printed 25th May 1820. Folio.
2 A refutation of this dictum of the Lords Committee,
as well as of other doctrines equally untenable, may be
found in the Edinburgh Review for March 1821, in an
elaborate article entitled " History of the English Legisla-
ture.*' It is however unquestionable that the reports of
that Committee are replete with information of the highest
order, and evince a most extensive display of research
and learning.
H
98
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
coukts of
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdiction.
of time^ to supersede it, from the people finding
it more expeditious and satisfactory for theux
to address their petitions to the Chancellor'
direct, knowing that to that high officer thejr
would ultimately be referred.
An inspection of the numerous entries
relative to this subject^ occurring in the Close
Rolls, will make this clear, by showing the exact
jurisdiction and peculiar functions of the Select
Council ; viz. that it was always about the
King, attended upon him in all his expedi-
tions, and followed him in all his progresses
through the kingdom — that petitions were
constantly referred to it — that remedies were
provided by it, without delay — and that
doubtful and intricate points of law were there
discussed and determined, without waiting^
the stated meetings of the Common Council^ (X
convoking an extraordinary assembly. Such •
jurisdiction as is here described would have
been not only ill adapted to the constitution,
but incompatible with the nature of an assem*
bly like that of the Common Council of the
Realm, meeting together but three times a
year ; but instances of the jurisdiction of the
Select Council are, of course, more numeroiu
during the minority of Henry III. than in the
reign of his father, and^ perhaps, the great in*
fluence and positive jurisdiction which it afteF?
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
99
^ards assumed may have chiefly arisen during
[enry's nonage.
Whenever, then, there appears to have been
ly difficult point of law, or case which the
>mmon law was unable to reach, the same
as discussed before and by the Select Council,
hich, prior to the institution of Parliament,
as doubtless the highest tribunal in the king-
jm. " There was lodged in it,*' says Sir Mat-
lew Hale, " the plenitude of all civil jurisdic-
on/* ^ Various entries on the Close Rolls, to
3 found in this Volume, exhibit convincing
roofs of this assertion ; for in many instances
ley show that the Council was possessed of
idicial power to order the issuing of writs
ut of Chancery for the redress of grievances,
ad that it often commented severely on the
ecision of other courts ; also, that it often
roceeded to the execution of justice in the
rst instance, without the assistance or advice
f the other branches of government ^ ; and it
Courts of
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdiction,
1 Hale, on the Jurisdiction of the House of Lords,
.96.
2 The Council had an absolute jurisdiction over all
16 proceedings pending in the Courts below ; wherein if
ly litigant felt himself aggrieved he applied for redress to
\t Council^ in the same manner as he would have applied
> the King, before the latter committed his prerogative of
ittributing justice and equity to his Council. And here
is to be remarked, that for some time after the authority
f the Council had been recognized, petitions still con*
H 2
100
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts of
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdiction,
might well have such absolute and extensive
powers of jurisdiction, since, as Sir Matthew Hale
says, '* it was not only composed of the wisdom
of the nation, but also that the great officen
of state, the Chancellor, Treasurer, Justices of
each Bench, and Barons of the Exchequer were
all active members of it, assisting with their
knowledge and advice, the less experienced.''
i:
t
li
ii
2
I
t
d
>
The ej:act jurisdiction of this Council maj;
however, be pretty well ascertained from sevenl
entries on the Close Rolls, and from petitioni
addressed to it, with the answers of the Council
as written on such petitions^ of which the origi-
nals are still to be found in the Tower; as
" sue otCommonLaw^' — *' sue in the Ejcchequer^
— " sue in Chancery " — "a writ on the subject
shall he dispatched out of Chancery *^ -^^^ the
King will consider '* — " a remedy shall be pro^
vided,*' &c.
Here it may be as well to particularize
the nature of some of the matters, both of law
i
tinued to be addressed to the King, as the fountain of jiudoe
and equity, but these petitions were all referred to thft
Council ; that assembly handed them over to the Chaneel-I
lor ; '' le Chancdier s'etaitarrog^ le droit dejurididUm
reserve au Roi et son conseil *;*' and thus the equitable ji
diction of that high officer of state soon began to be acknoVKJ
ledged, and by degrees, in course of time, to b€
established.
* Lettrcs sur la Cour dc la Chancellerie d' Angleterre^ p. 164
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
101
and fact, of which this Council took cognizance,
and to prove that it had a direct jurisdiction
over all the proceedings of the courts below S
with the power of reversing any judgment of
those courts founded in error.^ Of this nature
are the following: Whenever the Council thought
it expedient to have the advice and assistance
of any particular persons, whether barons,
bishops, or others, the Chancellor, by order
of the Council, issued writs of summons to
such persons, according to circumstances^;
and if any information was required, writs and
commissions emanating from the Council were
dispatched out of Chancery'*, and the inquisi-
tions made by virtue of such writs being pre-
sented to the Council, instructions upon the
matter at issue were thereupon delivered, as
the case required.* Conventions, recognizances,
bails, and agreements were also made before
the Council.^ Oaths, vouchers, and protesta-
courts op
Law.
Eqvi'able
Jurisdiction.
I Vide page 549. 2 Vide page 54f9.
8 Vide pages 387. 405.
4 Vide pages 549. 551. 55^.
6 Vide pages 363. 404. 565. 584. 631.
« Vide pages 320. 361. 554. 584. 596. 608. By an
entry at page 527) it seems that the Council was not, how-
ever, always unanimous in opinion, but proceeded to a
division on some subjects; '< in forma in qud mqjor pars
concUii nostri consensu cum tdUmo tradatum Juisset apud
London' de eodem negoiioJ'*
H 3
102
GENERAL INTRODUCTIOK.
Courts or
IiAW.
Eftdtable
JurwOction,
tions were also made before it.^ Orders for
payments of money were issued firom it'
Judgment was given in matters tried before it
upon petition.^ Persons were ordered to ap-
pear before the Council to show why thejr
opposed the execution of the King's precepts;
and, so also^ persons aggrieved to state their
complaints j and the aggressors were commanded
to appear and answer the charges preferred
against them."^ On one occasion the Justices
in Eyre for the county of Sussex, and the Chan-
cellor, were commanded to put in respite the
pleas of the Crown in the Cinque Ports " nt
interim provideatur a Concilio Regis ubi et
coram quibus placita ilia teneri debeant.^^
It is declared by the King that earls and
barons should only be amerced before the
Council.^ Justice was dispensed before the
Council upon allegations of any violation of
a truce ^ ; and the Council seems to have taken
1 Vide pages 477. 479. 487. 600.
2 Vide pages 480. (bis.) 549.
3 Vide pages 403. 404. 405. 406. 415. 569.
4 Vide pages 358. 361. 406. 639.
6 Vide page 406. « Vide pages 383. 387.
7 '< The Eang to the bailiffs of Dover^ greetiogi
Know ye that when we lately sent our Nuncios to the
King of France to prorogue the truce between us and Yaa^
a discussion having arisen relative to the interceptions made
upon the King of France's men in England during the truce
agreed upon between Philip, formerly King of France^and
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
103
in active part in matters relating to the govern-
nent and juridical proceedings of Ireland \ as
iog John our father, and afterwards between the same
log of France and us; and in like manner of the in-
rceptions made upon our men of England in the do-
Inion of the King of France ; it was there by our said
iincios provided, that the King of France should send into
igland all persons of his land who had any complaints to
^e of like interceptions, and together with them some
screet men and lawyers^ to be at London on Monday
!xt after the approaching Epiphany, to receive justice
ereupon, before us and our Council. And therefore we
mly command you, all excuse, hindrance, and delay set
ide, to be at London on the aforesaid day, before us
id our Council, to answer for yourselves respecting the
ce interceptions, and have there such, &c. of whom com-
aint is made for the interceptions aforesaid, and all other
arsons of your bailiwick of whom ye shall be able to
icertain whether during those truces they intercepted
ly thing, as ye wish to hold harmless yourselves and
lem ; and make known to all persons of your bailiwick
pon whom any interception has been made in the land of
le King of France, during the same truces, that they may
3 there to show in what and by whom the interception
as made upon them in the King of France s land, that
istice therein may be exhibited to them ; and have there
lis writ. Witness ourself at London, on the 12th day of
ecember. Before Hubert de Burgh, Chief Justiciary, and
le Bishops of Bath and Salisbury."
In like manner it is written to the other bailiffs named
. a schedule attached to the Roll, which also contains the
mies of those whom the respective bailiffs are to cause to
)pear at the day aforesaid.
1 Vide pages 527. 532. 549. 551. 554^. 584-. 629. For
uch valuable information relating to the ancient usages
id legislative establishments introduced into Ireland, see
A view of the Legal Institutions, Honorary Hereditary
offices and Feudal Baronies established in Irelandi during
H 4
Courts of
Law.
EquUabk
Jurisdiction,
104
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts op
Law.
Equitable
Jurisdiction,
well as in watching and determining the pre*
rogatives of the Crown.
Sufficient having been said to excite at-
tention to the variety of information to be ob-
tained from the Close Rolls in illustration of
the nature of the English Constitution, it now
remains only to inquire how the Chancellor
came subsequently to exercise that equitable
jurisdiction, which it appears, for such a length
of time, belonged alone to the Council. In
such attempt any thing like an essay on the
office and dignity of the Chancellor is far from
being meditated : it is merely designed to
show how that immense power, which first
resided in the breast of the King alone, was
afterwards transferred from him to the Council,
and eventually from the Council ^ to the
Chancellor.
the reign of Henry the Second," by William Lynch esq^
8vo. 1830.
1 After the equitable jurisdiction of the Court of Chan-
cery was established, the ancient Council by degrees be-
came extinct, in consequence of the greater part of its afo-
cations devolving upon the Chancellor. The modem Pri?y'
Council appears to have grown out of the Concilium Regk,
or ancient Council, about the reign of Richard the Second.
No petition, however, at all approximating to the modem
form has been found addressed to the Privy Council of
so early date as Richard the Second. Elsynge, in his
work intituled " The manner of holding Parliaments in Eng*
land," page 287, says, that in the time of Henry the Fourth.
there were few petitions directed to the King in Coun(A
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 105
It has been proved, by the passage quoted ^^^Yw^'
rom Benedict Abbas, at page 95 of this Intro- —
action, that when Henry established a judicial jurisdiction.
ibunal in the Curia Regis, he reserved to
tnself the prerogative of finally deciding the
wr, and of calling to his assistance, when need-
I, the Concilium sapient ium regni. This power
IS, however, no part of the ambition of
me of his successors, whose inclinations and
irsuits were directed more to the acquirement
glory by military achievements, than by the
:ercise of their legislative faculties. The
javy and responsible duties of supreme judge
ere therefore cheerfully, it may be supposed,
signed to others, who, distinguished for their
tainments in learning and general knowledge,
ere better qualified for a proper discharge of
lat important office. To the Select Council
lis trust was confided. The private Confessor \
X there were some addressed to the King alone. The
ison of this is obvious ; the ancient Council, as a Court of
juity, had, at that time, almost ceased to exist, or rather
had been superseded by the Privy Council. Petitions
ire, however, addressed to the King for some time after
B Court of Chancery had become a Court of Equity ; such
titions were, however, always handed over to the Chan-
Uor to execute.
1 Tliough early writers on the office of Chancellor
ite that he was originally the King s chief Chaplain and
mfessor, yet there are no public instruments which confer
It title on him. There are, however, several entries on the
rliament Roll relating to the King's Confessor, then evi-
ntly distinct from the Chancellor. These entries occur in
e reigns of Edward III., Richard II., and Henry IV.
106
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts of
Law.
Eqtatable
Jurisdiction,
Chancellor ^ and the Chief Clerk of the Kinft
would, as may naturally be presumed, be at
the head of this learned assembly ; and beings
at least in the early periods of English history,:!
the King's Confessor, he was deemed to be
1 The Chancellor of England at this time had no dit*
tinct court of judicature in which he presided, but he
acted together Mdth the Justiciary and other great officerit
in matters of the revenue, at the Exchequer, and smne*
times in the counties, upon circuits. The Great Seal beny
in his custody, he supervised and sealed the writs and pie*
cepts that issued in proceedings pending in the King's Court
and in the Exchequer. He also supervised all charten
which were to be sealed with that seal. Mr. Madoz ob«
serves that he was usually a bishop or prelate, because be
was looked upon €ls chief of the King^s chapel*, wbicb
under his special care. In the Council his rank was
high ; it seems that he had the principal direction ml
conduct of all foreign affairs, performing most of that biui-
ness which is now done by the secretaries of state.
* Anciently public archives were preserved in churches and
religious places. The Greeks paid particular attention to the
of their records. The temple of Delos was, according to Faii8aiiia% Ai
general repository of records ; and part of the Areopagus and the
of Minerva were also devoted by the Athenians for the custody
public instruments. (Reflexions sur F Etude de Vancienne Histoiref torn. fA
p. 260.) The Romans were not less zealous in the preservadon of IM
records thanjthe Greeks, and their most precious archives weve df
posited in their temples. {Eckhard Schediasma de Tabular, Andg* B. ZfL
p. 25.) This custom of preserving records in sacred places was ftOovrf
in the middle ages, and it is not improbable that the King's ebiqpil wm
used for that purpose, and hence it was that the Chancellor^ as pimii*
ing over the royal chapel, came to be so much connected with jojA
diplomas and archives. ** Fungebantur antique Cancellariatus dlgBiHli^
viri tantum Ecclesiastici et Episcopi, qui praeterea curam gerebont Bi^
capellas, repositaque illic monumenta (rotulos et recorda Tocaiil) tmA
custodiil tuebantur." ** Cancellarii dignitas est, ut secundus i Refi ii
regno habeatur, ut altera parte sigilli regii (quod et ad ejus pertinet SM*
todiam) propria signet mandatfli ut capcUa Ilegia in illius sit diiqpOMCioM
et cura." Sjielm, Gloss,
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
107
ore intimately acquainted with his inclina-
ons and wishes.^ Hence he was called the
*eeper of the King's conscience.^ To him,
len, the Council properly applied for aid^ in-
ruction, and advice upon any occasion of
^verity or defect in the law ; and here may be
BTceived the origin of one of the principal
nployments of the Chancellor, that of provid-
ig remedies for grievances not cognizable by
atute or common law; or which grew out
f new or peculiar circumstances, to which
either the one nor the other was altogether
pplicable.^ In order to obtain relief in such
ases recourse was had to a petition to the
ang, which was commonly directed to him
I Council ; but to investigate and decide upon
ich petitions occasioned an overwhelming
eight of business. To remedy which, an or-
nance was made in the eighth year of the
Courts or
Law.
Equiiable
Jurisdiction*
1 ** £t Turketulum, Athelstano, Eadmundo, et Edredo
$gibu8 necnon eorum patri Edwardo senior! Cancella-
im fiiisse indicat Ingulphus : etiam consiliarium primum,
ecipuum, et a secretis familiarissimum.'* Spelm. Gloss.
2 Selden, Office of Lord Chancellor, sec. S.
• From the Court of Chancery issue, not only man-
tory and remedial writs, but also original writs. The
ter were contrived or adapted to the special case of the
[tor, and upon these were founded the proceedings of
e King's Bench and Common Pleas. Many other writs,
iative to suits commenced or depending in other courts,
ue out of this court, many of which are not returnable
:o Chancery.
108
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts op
XiAW.
Equitable
Jurisdiction.
reign of Edward I,^ wherein (after reciting that
great inconveniences had arisen from the mul-
titude of petitions laid before the King, th<s
greatest part whereof might be dispatched by
the Chancellor and the justices,) it was ordered^
that all petitions, prior to their being presented
to the Council, should first be discussed befcm
each of the judicial ofBcers at the head of that
department to which those petitions respec-
tively and properly belonged ; and if the
matter were of such importance, or of grate
and favour, so that the Chancellor and othen
could not administer relief without the Kioj^
that then such petitions should be brougbt
before the King in Council, by the hands of the
Chancellor, to abide his (the King's) and their
decision.^
Thus it is evident that to the Chancellor
had already been assigned the important dutf
of attendmg to and judging of the merit of
petitions. That he was always attendant on
the King is proved by the statute 28th Ed- 1
ward !• c. 5., ordaining that the Chancellor and]
other wise men of the law should always be|
near the King^, to assist him with their advice {
1 Rot. Claus. 8 Edw. I. m. 6. in dorso in ced* et R^j
Pla. Pari. U2.
2 Claus. 8 Ed. I. m. 6. in dorso in ced.
« See 2 Inst. 551. 552. Lambard's Archion. 7a 10^ I
131.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
cases of difficulty and need. When, there-
•re, the Court of Chancery ceased to be
nbulatory, (which was in the commencement
• the reign of Edward the Third,) and be-
ime fixed in a settled and appointed place,
le King and his Council, from that time,
ere necessarily deprived of the ready and
amediate assistance of the Chancellor, who
id theretofore taken such an active and im-
3rtant part in advising on and devising reme-
les for such causes of complaint as were laid
jfore them.^ The Council was consequently
jliged, from that time forward, in cases of
3ed, to send to the Chancellor ; and hence
is, that after this period the petitions are
\en indorsed with the answer of the Coun-
1, expressed thus, ** Adeat in Cancellaria^*
Sequatur in Cancellaria.^^
109
Courts of
Law.
Equitable
Juritdiction.
The commencement of the Chancellor's
jparate and independent equitable jurisdiction
lost probably took place about the 22d year
f the reign of Edward III.^ A writ addressed
1 According to Fleta, lib. ii. cap. 13. pp.75, 76, one
r the principal duties of the Chancellor was to hear and
icamine petitions and complaints, and to afford the peti-
oners due remedy by writ, according to the merits of the
ase.
- Lord Coke has stated that there was not any mention
1 the books, &c. of a Court of Equity before the reign of
lenry V. Sec 2d Inst. 551.
110
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts or
Law.
Eqyaiable
Jurwlictum*
to the sheri£& of London, entered on the Close
Rolls, as of that year, p. 3. m. 2. in dorso, ii
almost conclusive on this point : '' Rex Vice-
comitibus London, salutem. Quia circa divem
negotia nos et statum regni nostri Aiigfi»
concementia sumus indies multipliciter occo*
pati, Voluraus quod quilibet negotia tarn com
munem legem regni nostri Anglic quam gratiam
nostram specialem concementia penes nosmet-
ipsos habens exnunc prosequenda, eadem n^otiay
videlicet, negotia ad cobumunem legem pena
venerabilem virum electum Cantuariensem catjfir'
matum Cancellarium nostrum, per ipsum exf^
dienda, et. alia negotia de gratia nostra coh*
CEDENDA penes eundem Cancellarium, seu dU»
turn clericum nostrum custodem sigilli nostri prh
vati prosequantur ; ita quod ipsi vel eorum alter
petitiones negotiorum quse per eos, nobis incon-
sultis, expediri non poterunt, una cum avisi^
mentis suis inde ad nos transmittant vel trans-
mittat, absque alia prosecutione penes nos inde
facienda, ut hiis inspecds ulterius praefato Can*
cellario, seu custodi inde significemus vdOe
nostrum ; et quod nuUus alius hujusmodi negotia
penes nosmetipsos de castero prosequatur, vobii
praecipimus quod statim visis praesentibus pne-
miss omnia et singula in Civitate praedicta in
locis ubi expedire videritis pub lice proclamad
faciatis in forma praedicta. Et hoc nullatenui
omittatis. Teste Rege apud Langele xxiiij.
die Januarii. per ipsum Regem."
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Ill
The words " et alia negotia de gratia
wstra concedenda penes eundem Cancellarium **
seem to have first laid the basis on which the
equitable jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery
was built, for previously the granting of matters
of grace and favour was peculiar to the King
alone * ; but this enabled the Chancellor to pro-
ceed in suits *^ secundum cequum et bonumJ*
llthough the Chancellor had, prior to this
ime, taken the most active, and perhaps the
irincipal part in administering cequam et rec-
am justitiam ; he does not appear previously
o have been the only responsible person, nor
o have had for such exercise of judgment
md authority a positive appointment from the
Kong ; Mr. George Jeremy, in his elaborate
xeatise of the Equity Jurisdiction of the Court
)f Chancery, says, " Although the Chancery,
ind the name of the high oflScer who presided
iierein, are mentioned in many early statutes,
it is not until the latter portion of the reign
of Edward the Third that a statute is met with
which can be considered to give any sanction
or even to bear any reference to the peculiar
or equity part of his jurisdiction. By the S6th
Courts or
Law.
Equitable
Juiisdiction.
1 The following passage on the Close Rolls shows that
in the reign of Henry III. a distinction was evidently drawn
between common law and equity. " Sciatis etiam quod
WUlidmo de London uncle nobis mandastis nihil Jierifademus
oer Dei oratiam nisi quod justum fuerit et consomum
SQUITATI.**
112
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Coumrs or
JjJLW.
Enable
JuTudictkn-
Edward III. c. 9-» which forms part of a capitu-
lary of very comprehensive articles granted by]
the King with the assent of Parliament, it
enacted, * that if any man feel aggrieved con-.j
trary to any of the articles above written, orj
others contained in divers statutes^ and willj
come into the Chancery, or any for him, and
thereof make complaint, he shall presently there
have remedy by force of the said articles and;
statutes, without elsewhere pursuing to have!
remedy.' Although this provision cannot be]
considered to have laid the foundation of
extraordinary jurisdiction of the Chancellor,
might, according to the liberal interpretatii
of those times, have been regarded as haviif]
conferred upon him a more extensive and t
better sanctioned authority than he had previ-
ously any right to exercise ; but whether \k\
jurisdiction were assumed or delegated, it ii
obvious that when once established, the moie
diligently he and his officers exerted their inge*
nuity in the framing of new writs to the coaitsj
of law, the more confined would be the oppor-
tunity or necessity of his extending it; anditj
is a matter of fact, that after the reign of this
monarch the number of the writs to the courts
of law was little, if at all, increased," ^
1 A Treatise on the Equity Jurisdiction of the EE||j
Court of Chancery, p. 20, by George Jeremy esq.,
8vo. 1828.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
113
I That the Chancellor, however, did, from
this time forward, proceed to exercise a juris-
; diction in matters of equity, is evident from
a petition atddressed to him in the S8th Ed-
ward III. \ and that the powerful and compli-
€ated machinery of equitable jurisdiction, as
Courts ot
Law.
1 Au Chaunceller n're seign' le Roi :f monstre William
de Middelton' p'sone del esglise de Hamme Preston q' come
h disme garbe de totes man's des bleedz cressantz dedeinz
sa dite paroche de Hamme Preston' a lui app'tinent & de
co'e droit deivent app'tenir :f nientmeins le Dean de Wym-
bume mynstre ad acroche a lui p' usurpacion la disme garbe
de iiij^. acres de waste t're de novel assart dedeinz sa dite
paroche a la value de xl. s . p' an en disheretison de sa dite
esglise t s^ quey le dit William ad sui en consistoire levesq'
de Salesbury dev's Henry Bodyn & Wauter Caperon qi
occupieront la dite disme garbe en noun dudit Dean p' avoir
restitucion de mesme la disme garbe j et p' ce q' la chapelle
de Wymburne mynstre est la franche chapelle n're seign*" le
Roi & exempt de jurisdiction de ordinarie mande feust
pliibicion hors de la Chauncellerie au dit evesq' & son
official qils ne deussent riens attempter en p'judice de n're
s' le Roi ne de sa dite tranche chappelle :f p' quey le dit
official ad s'sys daler avant en la dite cause t p' quey le dit
William prie a v're g*ciouse seign'ie q* vous pleise ordiner
remedie q' sa dite esglise ne soit disherite encontre co'e
droit.
In dorso. — Me*^ q'd xxiij. die April' anno regni Regis
£. t'cij t*cesimo octavo tam Will's de Middelton infrascript*
in p'pria p*sona sua q^m Decanus de Wymbourmynstre p*
Joh'em Tamworth attorn' suu' venerunt in cancellar' R'
apud Westm' ^ & de assensu eor'dem datus est eis dies in
eadem cancellar* in quindena S'c'e Trinitatis p'x' futur' ad
faciend' & recipiend' de contends in ista petic'o*e quod cur'
d'ni Regis considerav'it. MisoeL Petit in Turr. Lond.
5S Ed. III.
EqttUable
JuritdteHon.
114
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts of
Law.
Equitable
Jtunadiction,
afterwards displayed, had been set in motion
by this proclamation is clearly to be collected
from the petition of the Commons in the 7th of
Richard 11.^ which prayeth, " que desormes
nule comision soit directe hors de la Chancel-
lerie, ne lettere de prive seal, pur destourber
la possession d'aucum liege le Roy, sanz due
proces & respons du partie, & especialment
quant la partie est prest de faire ce que la Ley
demande, &c/' the answer to which petitLon
was, " Ceux qi se sentent grevez monstrent
lour grevance en especial a Chanceller, qi lour
purvoiera de remede, &c/' In the 13th year of
the same King, the Commons pray, that " neither
the Chancellor, nor any other person, may make
any ordinance against the common law, or an-
cient custom of the realm, and the statutes
already made, or to be made in this present It
parliament, but that the Common Law may rail Ic
impartially for all the people ; and that no judg-
ment given shall be annulled without due pro-
cess of law." The reply was as evasive as tihe V
generality of royal answers to petitions were at I
that period : ^< Soit use come ad este use devant m
ces hures, issint que la Regalie du Roi scity
sauve. Et si ascun soi sente greve, monstrd en
especial, et droit luy serra fait."^ And by another
(
« Rot. Pari. 7 Ric. XL vol. iii. p. 162, 163.
2 Rot. Pari. 13 Ric. II. vol. iii. p. 266, 267.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
115
petition in the same year, *' the Commons prayed
that none of the King's lieges be made to come
by writ Quibicsdam certis de causis, nor by any
other such writ, to appear before the Chancellor
or the King's Council to answer any matter for
which remedy might be obtained at Common
Law, &c., on penalty to the Chancellor of one
hundred pounds, to be levied to the use of the
King, arid the clerk who wrote the writ to lose
his oflSce in the Chancery, and never to be
placed in any other office in the Chancery."
To which petition the King made answer, " Le
Roy voet sauver sa Regalie, come ses proge-
nitouFS ont faitz devant luy.*** The answers were
doubtless equivalent to a negative, as no statute
was made thereupon ; and it is evident that the
Commons did not gain any thing by their peti-
tions, as appears by the act 17th Richard II.
cap. 6., which, reciting that people were com-
Cou&TS or
Law.
EquitaUe
Jurudidioru
1 In the 15th of Richard IL two petitions were ad-
dressed to the King and the Lords of parliament, the answer
to each of which was the same; ^' Soit ceste peticion
mandez en la Chancellerie, et le Chanceller par auctorite
du Parlement face venir les parties devant luy en la dite
Chancellerie, et illoeqez la matire en ceste peticion compris
diligeauraent vieue et examine, et oiez les resons dune
parte et daucre, outre soit fait par auctorite de Parlement
ce que droit et reson et bone foy et bone conscience de-
mandent en le cas.'* JR^. ParL vol. iii. p. 297* From the
above words it is evident that the Chancellor exercised
equitable jurisdiction as well by Royal authority as by that
of the parliament.
i2
116
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Covmrs or
Law.
Equitable
Juritdiction,
pelled to come before the King^s Council, or into
Chancery J by writs grounded on untrue sugges-
tions^ enactSf that the Chancellor for the time
being, presently after such suggestions be duly
found and proved to be untrue, shall have power
to award and ordain damages, according to his
discretion, to him who is so unduly troubled as
aforesaid. This statute merely gives the Chan-
cellor power to award damages to such as were
compelled to come before him in Chancery by
writs grounded on untrue suggestions. The
untrue suggestions here mentioned, which seem
to have been the causes of so much animadver-
sion, were false allegations made by persons
applying to the Chancery for writs of subpcBnBi
upon which the Chancellor granted writs return-
able before himself, instead of making the same
returnable in the Courts of Common Law;
<< paront les loialx liges du Roialme sont .toi>
cenousement travaillez et vexez, &c. sanz le*
coverir ent avoir de lour damages et coustages.**
It has been suggested^ that bills and petitions
addressed to the Chancellor ^ were first filed in
^ See Cooper on the Public Records, vol. i. p. 457*
2 Many valuable and curious specimens of ancient UUs
and petitions addressed to the Chancellor during the reigiis
of Richard IL, Henry V., Henry VI., Edward IV,, and
Richard III., are prefixed to the first and second yolumei
of the Calendars of Chancery proceedings in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, published by direction of the Record
Commission.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 117
the seventeenth of Richard II., in consequence ^^r^ ^'
of this statute.
The equitable jurisdiction of the Court of
Chancery made rapid advancement during the
reigns of Richard the Second and the three
succeeding Sovereigns, though many attempts
were made to subvert it, all of which, however,
proved ineffective. That portion of equitable
interference which appeared the most obnoxious
to the people, was the writ of subpcenUy now
the leading and principal process of an Equity
Court. The general distaste exhibited by the
Commons in their petitions during several years
after the first use of this writ is remarkable,
and their feelings on the subject may be esti-
mated by the uncourteous way they speak of
the framer of the writ. " Item priont les Com-
munes que come plusours gentz de vostre
roialme soy sentent graundment grevez de ceo
que vos briefs appelles briefs sub pena^ et certis
de causiSy faitz et suez hors de vostre Chaun-
celerie et Escheqer, des matiers determinables
par vostre commune ley, que unques ne fiirent
grauntez ne usez devaunt le temps le darrein
Roy Richard, que Johan Waltham * nadgairs
1 Though John de Waltham has been handed down
to posterity by the parliament of the 3d Hen. V. as the first
framer of the much -condemned writ of subpcena^ yet there
is reason to believe that it did not originate with him, but
IS
.E^nitaMr
118 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
c<^KTs OF Evesque de Salesbirs, de sa subtiltee fist trover
et commencier tiel novelrie encountre la fourme
jurudiuwu de la commune ley de vostre roialme^ si bien
a tres graunde perde et arrerisment des profitz
que duissent sourder a vous soveraigne seigneur
en voz courtes, &c. £t en outre^ que si bien
la peyne contenue en tieux briefs patentz, ccmie
tout la proces d'ycelles, soient voidez et tenoz
pur null ; et si ascuns tieux briefs appellez 91A
pendy et certis de causis, et Quia datum est nolns
intelUgif soient suez hors de vos ditz courtz,
encontre cest ordinance en temps a venir, que
mesmes les briefs et tout la proces dependants
sur ycelles, soient tout outrement voidez et
tenuz pur null/* The answer of the King was
^' Le Roy soy avisera,^ '* which shows that the
that he merely modified and augmented a writ somewhat
similar in its effects, and which was very prevalent in the
reign of Edward III. Numerous entries on the Close Rolls
of the reign of that King are to be found, which show that
parties became surety, ** sub pcena centum librarum de terrif
et catallis suis ad opus regis levandis," that defendants
should be in the Court of Chancery at a fixed day ; and
on the Close Roll of 37 £dw. III. it appears that, upon
petition exhibited, the defendants were commanded " qudd
essent in Cancellaria Regis ad certum diem ubicumque tunc
foret ad ostendendum si quid pro se haberent vel dicere
scirent quare,&c. et ad faciendum ulterius.quod curia con*
sideraret, &c, et quia praedicti defendentes qui de essendo in
Cancellaria praedicta ad diem praedictum sufficienter prs-
muniti fuerunt in eadem Cancellaria ad diem ilium solem-
niter vocati non venerunt," the sheriff* was commanded to
levy distress on the land in dispute.
» Rot. Pari. 3 Hen. V. vol. iv. p. 84.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
119
writ of subposna was esteemed, by those who
knew its value, too eflBcacious a mode of effecting
justice, to be subverted without sufficient cause.
The Commons, however, presented another
petition on the subject, in the ninth of Henry
the Fifth, which was not more successful in its
results than the former one : " Soit il advisee
par le Roi. Et dureront tres toutz les ordinances
suisditz tanque a le Parlement proscheinement
a tenir,^ " was the equivocal and unsatisfactory
answer. King Henry the Fifth did not, how-
ever, live to convoke another Parliament, nor
did the Commons rest satisfied, but they again
petitioned the Parliament, holden in the name
of the young King, to put a restriction on the
equitable jurisdiction of the Chancery. The
answer given to this petition was ^* soit Pestatut
ent fait Pan xvij. del regne du Roi Richard
Secounde gardez et mys en due execution.*'
Notwithstanding this positive answer of the Par-
liament, the Commons renewed their remon-
strances in the fifteenth of Henry the Sixth :
" Also prayen the Communes })at for asmuche
as divers persones have been gretly vexed and
greved by writtes subpena purchased for maters
determinables be the commune lawe of this
lande, to J)e grete harmes of the persones so
vexed, and in subversion and lettying of the
Courts or
Law.
EquitalJe
JurisdictWH.
1 Rot. Pari. 9 Hen. V. vol. iv. p. 156.
I4
120
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Courts or
Law.
Egtdtuble
JurisdicHolU
saide commune lawe/' &c. To this petition the
following answer was given, *^ J)e King will that
the statuits made })erof be duely kept after the
forme and effect of ]>e same ; and y no writ of
sub pena be grauntid hereafter till seurtee be
founde to satisfie ]>e paitie so vexed and greved
for his damages and expenses, if it so be ]>at the
matier may not be made goode which is con-
tenyd in the byll/' ^ It may be inferred that
this statute satisfied the Commons, or else ihej
found it useless to make further remonstrance»
against the increasing power of equitable juris-
diction; and in the seventh of Edward IV., when
Robert Kirkham, Master of the Rolls, had the
Great Seal delivered to him by the King, the
following memorandum was entered on the Close
Roll ^ of that year : " And, over this, the King
willed and commanded there and thanne that all
manere of maters, to be examyned and discussed
in the Court of Chauncery, should be directed
and determined accordyng to equite and con-
science, and to the old cours and laudable cus-
tume of the same Court, so that if in any such
maters any difficultie or quesfion of lawe happen
to ryse, that he herein take th* advis and coun^
sel of sume of the Kynges justices, so that
right and justice may be duely ministred to every
man*
ff
1 Stat, of Realm, 15 Hen. VL c. 4.
2 Rot. Claus. 7*^d. IV. m. 12. in dorso.
'4
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
From this time tiie jurisdiction of the Court
: Equity went on smoothly, and the Chancellor
sdly acquired additional power and importance,
"ansacting every thing vice nomine et loco Itegis\
nd deciding causes by the rules of his own con-
dence ; in fact, he had become sole judge in
oatters of equity, and almost possessed potes-
atem ahsolutam ; but Mr. Jeremy is of opinion
liat the Chancellor's power in all its important
functions was not finally determined until the
reign of James I.
121
CovBTs or
Law.
Equitable
Jwrisdietion-
LAWS.
Laws.
Having attempted a brief description of
the early Courts of Law and Equity, it may be
necessary to show in what manner a reference
to the instruments in this Volume may be made
available in explaining and illustrating old laws
ind law maxims, and for this purpose a few
lubjects have been selected to draw attention
the species of legal matter found in the Close
tolls.
1 The first occurrence of these words is in the patent
P the first of Henry VL9 granted by the advice and assent
r the King's Council in Parliament, which created Thomaa
ishop of Durham, Chancellor.
122
LzFROST. — On the sotgect of tins
some disease, litde has been stated either in
histories, chronicles, or laws. GlanviHe
no mention of leprosr; and Thelaall, in It
des Briefs orighutU^ lib. 1. cap. % njs ** Je
aj lea e ascun de nostres lines q lepras^
ascun impediment pur home de user actioo^
en Bracton, mes il sembleroit b<xie leasoOyq:
ne suyroit en propre person^ eins touz foifi
attorney, si come la ley est que il sena
a communione popul'. Les parols de
sont tiels ; lib. 5. tract. 5. cap. 20. 421 :
etiam exceptio tenenti ex persona
peremptoria propter morbum petentis int
bilem, et corporis deformitatem : at si
leprosus fuerit, et tarn deformis qudd
eum sustinere non possit, et ita quod a conuniiF
nione gentium sit separatus^ talis quidem plad
tare non potest, nee haereditatem petere," &C.
Amongst the Normans, leprosy was an ink
pediment to succession \ when any person im
solemnly adjudged to be afiiicted with that diik
temper by sentence of the church- ; but Bractoii
I <' Celuy qui est jug6 et separ6 pour maladie de lept
ne peut succeder, et neanmoins il retient llieritage qal
avoit lors qu'il fut rendu, pour en jouyr par usufruit
qu'il est vivant, sans le pouvoir aliener." La CbtCfAoMi
Normandiey Art, 274.
'^ La Coustume de Norm. p. 308.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 123
ys, that with us in England, though it be an ^^^" '
fexception to a plaintiff, on account of the danger
the disease being spread incurred by his ap-
nce in the courts of law, yet it is not an
pediment to descent ; and my Lord Coke says,
^9 Inst.,) that ^^ a leper may be heir to another."
Riotwithstanding these high authorities, it may,
nliowever, be inferred from an entry at page 1 of
Wfliis Volume, that according to the ancient law
■%)£ England, leprosy in England, as in France,
•'was an impediment to descent. It appears that
Ml grant made by a person after he fell sick of
f^the leprosy was void : " The King, &c. to the
•heriff of Somerset, greeting. We command
you to give to Geoffry de St. Martin seizin of
f the lands which belonged to William of New-
f march, in your bailiwick. For we have com-
. mitted to him the custody thereof, so that he
" answer for them to us at our exchequer ; and
if he (William of Newmarch) have given away
; any of his lands after he fell sick of the leprosy,
cause the same to be restored to his barony.
Witness, &c." In the Abbreviatio Placitorum,
' page 9, leprosy was pleaded and allowed, in the
- reign of King John, and the land thereupon
adjudged from a leprous brother to the sister.
Breve de ventre inspiciendo. — The ear-
liest entry on this subject upon record occurs
in a document presented in this Volume at
124 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
^ '^^^ ' page 435. The intent of this writ was to previ
a supposititious heir from being set up to
prejudice of the heir presumptive, and wai]
granted to such heir presumptive against
widow of the deceased, through whom the j
perty descended, upon suspicion of her
ing herself with child, according to the rule
law set forth in the Registrum Brevium, made'
for the benefit and safety of right heirs, contn^
partus suppositos.^
That the practice of the species of dec^j
tion here alluded to was frequently attem]
in those times is evident from the numerott'
regulations devised for the purpose of preventiiig.
the success of such attempts ; and the seventh
1 The words are these : ** Nota quod si qub habcMJ
haereditatem duxerit aliquam in uxorem, et postea moriatar
ille sine hserede de corpore suo exeunte, per quod hflereditai
ilia fratri ipsius defuncti descendere debeat, et uxor
dicit se esse pregnantem de ipso defuncto chxn noD fl^j
habeat frater et haeres ejus breve de ventre inspiciendof
'' It seemeth,*' says Lord Coke, page 8 ^, by Bracton (Iib.i;^
fo. 69.) and Fleta (lib. i. c. 14.) " that this writ doth lie ^'
uxor alicujus in vita viri sui se pregnantem finxit cdm
sit, vel post mortem viri sui se pregnantem fecit, ciim
sit de viro suo mortuo, ad exhseredationem veri haeredit &ۥ
ad querelam veri haeredis per praeceptum domini Regis, Ac! ^
which is to be understood according to the rule of the^
Registr. ; when a man, having lands in fee simple,
and his wife soon after marrieth again, and feigns hi
with child by her former husband, in this case, though shli
be married, the writ ' de ventre inspiciendo' doth lie***
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 125
ise in Magna Charta, namely, *^ that the ^;^-
ow should remain * in capitali mestcagio mariti
per quadraginta dies post obitum mariti sui^* "
ugh doubtless intended for the benefit of the
low, yet, nevertheless, says Barrington, in
observations on the statute, it was to prevent
iipposititious child ; and in the laws of Hoel
a (p. 164) it appears that the anxiety to pre-
it this imposition was greater still : *' Fceminaj
V se pregnantem qffirmaverit tempore mortis
riti suij in domo ejus manebii, donee constiterit
nm pregnans fuerit vel non ; et tunCy si non
rit pregnanSy mtdctam solvat trium vojccarumy
domum et fundum hceredi relinqicat.^* If the
iow, upon due examination, were, however
md to be enceinte, she was to be kept under
traint until delivered ; but if not found to
pregnant, then the presumptive heir was to
forthwith admitted to the inheritance. Upon
nparison, the entry at page 435 of this Volume
il be found to agree in most particulars with
5 writ in the Registrum Brevium. See also
5 entry in the Abbreviatio Placitorum, 26th
jnry IIL p- 119.
Adultery. — Being only an offence of spi-
aal cognizance, it was never criminal in this
mtry, either by common or statute law, except
ring the time of the Protectorate, when to
nmit adultery and fornication was made
126 GEXERAL OiTEODUCTIOir.
^^^^ felony 9 in both man and womaiiy without ben
of clergy.'
Bv the laws of Solon, if a man deted
another in the act of adulteiy with his vi
he was allowed to kill him upon the spot;
likewise bj the Roman law^ when the adulte
was found in the husband's own house : it i
also the same among the Goths. With us, he
ever, such slaying is not ranked in the dan
justifiable homicide, as in cases of fbfd
rape, but in that of manslaughter.-
A curious case of adultery may be noti(
at page 126, whence it appears that the husbi
inflicted summary punishment, for which ofiei
he was not held as cognizable at law^ because
had prohibited the adulterer from coming to
house.
Original Writs. — It has been alrei
stated that one of the principal duties of
1 This borders on the severity of a law in SicOj,
^' si quis cum volente et acquiescenie vidua stuprum com
seritj fiammis vUrtcOms exuretur.* Vide Const. Sic p. !
Concerning the punishment of women taken in adull
in France, see some instances in La Coustume de Normmn
p. 402. Also see the case of a woman banished out of
town of Calais for adultery, by the law and custom of I
place, in the RegUtrum^ p. 551.
2 Black. Com. vol. iv. p. 191.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 127
[Zlhancellor was to frame original writs and man- laws.
lates, according as the circumstances which the
i^ases submitted to him by the King demanded,
U> relieve suitors who found the existing law, as
administered, oppressive; or wherein the law
flid not provide a proper or suflScient remedy.^
tn process of time, however, the framing of
^nits became a matter of so much certainty that
liardly any case could arise for which an estab-
lished precedent could not be found to give the
specific redress required. From several instances
in this Volume it appears that new forms of
"writs were frequently ordered to be used for
the future, without any reason assigned, as at
^age 32, " Hoc breve de ccetero erit de cursu.**
^ Again, new forms were adopted, without any
'remark, as at page 114, for in that entry letters
•are substituted for the names of the parties.
New forms again occur, without any other notice
than the word forma^ as at p. 210. These and
' similar entries cannot, however, but be deemed
'important, because they show that the Officina
brevium was at that time in existence.^ The
1 On the subject of the Chancellor, John of Salidwry
says, in his Polt/craticon, written about the year 1170,
** Hie est, qui leges regni cancellat iniquas,
£t mandata pii principis sequa facit."
3 It is evidently implied, by the statute of Westmin-
ster 2, IS Edward I. c.24<, that the Q^^'na^rmtim had been
%ome time established, for in that statute it is provided that
128 GEXERAL INTRODUCTION.
i«Aws. entrj at page 32 is an eail j specimen of those
writs intituled ^< de cursu^ which were issued
out of Chancery upon the applicant finding
pledges, and swearing that he had a true cause
of action. It was in consequence of this assump-
tion of authority on the part of the ChanceUor,
which was considered as exceeding the duties
of his office, that it was provided by the Council
at Oxford, in the year 1258, that the Chancellcv \
was not to have the power of issuing any other
S
^ et quotieoscumque decstero erenerit in Cancellaru quod
in uno casu reperitur breve et in consimili casu cadente nb
eodem jure et simili indigente remedio concordent deiici
de Cancellaria in brevi faciendo vel attenninent qoaerentei
in proximo parliamento et scribant casus in qoibus conccr-
dare non possunt et referant eos ad proximum pariiameDtna
et de consensu jurisperitorum fiat breve ne contiiigat de-
caetero quod curia diu deficiat quaerentibus in justitia pa>-
quirenda.** Upon consulting the BBgisbrum de Ckmedlanit
better known as the Regigtrum Brevntm^ it will be Ibiml
that remedies were to be had for almost every speciet of
wrong that could be committed, by suing for a writ spe*
cially adapted to the case. Hence Blackstone argues, tttf
with a little accuracy on the part of the clerks of Chanceij,
and a little liberality on that of the judges, by extendiig
rather than narrowing the remedial effects of the writ, the
provision of the statute of Westminster might have eSec-
tually answered all the purposes of an equity court, except
that of obtaining a discovery by the oath of the defendant
This was also the opinion of Fairfax, a very learned judgp
in the time of Edward IV. '^ Le subpcena " (says he) ** w
serroU my cy soventement tue come il est ore^ si nous
mons Hels actions sur les cctseSy et fnainteinoums la
de ceo courts et dauter courts'' Year Book, 21 Edward !▼•
p. 23.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 129
writs than such as were by the du-ect command ^^^s.
of the King or of his Council.^
Falsifying. — The crime of falsifying^ may
be divided into several species, as relating to
false charters, false measures, false money, and
others.^ From instruments in pages 15 and 32
it appears that William Scrubz being convicted,
** per feloniam quam fecit de falsificatione sigilli
Regis^* all his lands were escheated to the
Crown ; at page 367, that William Kocaine had
^ven security " quod stabit recto in curia Regis
de Jalsis cdrtis et fakis sigillis et aJiis de quibus
rettattcsjicit et imprisonatus.^*
" It should be observed,** says Glanville,
" that if a person be convicted of falsifying a
charter it becomes necessary to distinguish
whether it be a royal ^ or a private one ; be-
cause, when convicted of the offence, the party
shall, in the former caste, be condemned as in
1 Anna!. Burt. 413.
2 Vide Bract. 119 N Fleta, lib. i. c. 22. Britton. c. 4.
3 Vide Glan. lib. xiv. c. ?•
^ Of the King's charters Bracton says, *^ neither the
justices nor private individuals can dispute nor inter-
pret them if a doubt arise, but recourse must be had to die
\ King himself; and if the charters be defective^ through
j rasure, or from a false seal being attached to them, it is
I better and safer to decide the matter in the King's
■ presence.'*
K
130 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
^^^^* the crime of • leese Majesty ;' but in the latter
the convict is to be dealt with in a milder man-
ner." The case of Scrubz may be placed under
the first of these heads ; that of Kocaine under
the second.
Will and Testament. — filackstone says,
that in England the power of bequeathing
is coeval with the first rudiments of law \ far
we have no traces or memorials of any time
when it did iiot exist. There seems to be no
doubt of lands having been devisable by will
before the Conquest ^ ; but upon the introductioD
of military tenures a restraint upon devising
lands (except those holden in socage) took
place, as ' it was one of the qualities of feudsi
that the feudatory could not alien or dispose of
his feud ; neither could he devise it by wilL*
Since the Conquest the common law had
given to every one a right to dispose of personal
property, but no estate greater than for a term
of years could be disposed of by will. The
restraints upon alienation by mU continued for
some centuries after the restraint on olienB^
tion by deed had been removed ; and it wa»
not till the reign of Henry VIII. that lands
1 Vol. ii. p. 491.
2 Wright on Tenures, p. 172. 3 jbid. p. 20.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 131
re permitted to be disposed of by will ^ ; and ^^^^'
: till the Restoration^ that the power of de-
ing real property became valid, which was
rasioned by the conversion of all lands (ex-
it some copyholds) into socage tenure.
From a mandate in page 1 69 it appears that
rum could not devise land which he had of the
ng^s gift : by which it evidently is intended
mean lands holden in capite, which before
5 statute of Quia Emptores could not be de-
ed without the consent of the chief lord of
3 fee. The words are these : " Rea: domino
Winton* Episcopo Justiciario Anglice, S^c^
andamus wbis quod tenertfaciatis testamentum
Ice de Gurdun quod Jecit de rebus suis mo-
Ibus et omnibus aliis in AngUd secundum
positionem testamenti excepta terra quam de
no nostro habuit.** (Vide p. 169.)
Many other documents will be found eluci-
tory of testamentary laws and customs.
Ecclesiastical Law. — Instruments illus-
itive of matters and causes liable to eccle-
istical cognizance are of frequent occurrence
this Volume : the following is not unworthy
attention, as being a curious instance of the
1 By 32 Hen. VIII. c 1. all socage lands were made
irisable^ and two thirds of land held by military tenure
K 2
13S GENERAL JNTRODUCTION.
^A^»- Eciiesiaslical Court having exceeded its power j
in the 8th of Hen. III., by appealing to the
Court of Rome in a case of bastardy, and for
which it appears to have received a severe re-
buke from the King.
" The King to the Archbishop of DubliOi
Justiciary of Ireland, greeting. In reply to the
charge we lately gave you, to write to us again
in what manner you had proceeded in the cause
of Nicholas de Felda^ who sued the abbot and
canons of St. Thomas at Dublin, before oar
judges in our court, for two carucates of land^
with their appurtenances, in Kebedheri, by an
assize of mort d'ancestor, but against whom,
before the said judges, the bar of bastanfy
having been objected, it was by the same judges
referred to you in the Ecclesiastical Court to
pronounce upon his bastardy or legitimacy,—
you declare to us by your letters, that as he
sued for the sai^ land in the Civil Court, by
our letters of mort d'ancestor, against the afore-
mentioned abbot and canons, and the bar of
bastardy having been objected to him, you
have therefore proceeded no further in that
court. And, moreover, that the afore-mentioned
Nicholas, by mandate from our judges, beinf
willing to prove his legitimacy before you in the
Ecclesiastical Court, produced his witnesses,
aod their attestations being declared, after long-
— ^X. . ../
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 133
continued controversies and altercations as well laws.
on the part of the abbot as of the same NichoIas>
when you were proceeding to give final judg-
ment, two girls appeared, who were in their
minority, and were the daughters of Richard
de la Feld, father of the aforesaid Nicholas, and
appealed to you not to proceed in giving judg-
ment, since this would manifestiy be converted
to their prejudice, in as much as they would be
precluded from seeking elsewhere the inherit-
ance claimed, neither could they be reUeved
by putting it in its former state. Whereupon,
deferring to that appeal, by the advice of pru-
dent men, as you say, you transmitted the cause
to the Pope, drawn out as it had been discussed
before you ; at which we are greatly astonished,
and not without just cause provoked, that, not-
withstanding the said Nicholas's legitimacy was
made fully evident to you by the production
of the witnesses and their declared attestations,
you should nevertheless, because of the appeal
of the girls aforesaid, who were in no wise con-
cerned nor even mentioned in the assize referred
to, nor was either of them a party to the suit,
have therefore put off pronouncing final judg-
ment, and improperly, as it were declining our
trial, have wished to refer to a foreign dignity
what was within our jurisdiction, and apper-
tained to our dignity alone to determine, thereby
setting a most pernicious precedent. And fur-
K 3
I Si GENERAL INTRODrCnC»r.
Laws. ther, eveo if the afoiesaid Nichcibs had obtuiied
possession of the land aforesaid hj the ssud
assize, the benefit of petiticm for the inheiitance
was clearlj open to the aforesaid giris^ in our
court, by writ of right, espedallj as by our
letters of mort d'ancestor the qnesticm was of
the possession, and not of the property ; and
in the case offered for your consideratioiii
nothing more belonged to your authority than
to admit the proofs of the said Nicholas's 1^
timacy, and then to send him back to our judgesi
with your letters testimoniaL Bj the advice^
therefore, of our 'Magnates' and * Ildeles*
assisting us, we command and firmly enjoin
you, notwithstanding the appeal premised, not
on that account to delay your judgment, remit-
ting him (the said Nicholas), with your letters
testimonial, to our judges, in order that they
may, in the imparlance to be argued before
them, be enabled to exhibit to him plenitude
of justice, according to the laws and customB
of our land of Ireland. Witness H. &c. (Hubert
de Burgh, Chief Justice of England) at
Gloucester, on the 10th day of November/
p. 629.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION^ 135
Illustrations
OF History.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF HISTORY-
Commencements of the Kings* Reigns. —
t does not appear to have been the ancient
iractice of the English Constitution at the
lecease of a King to consider his successor as
SCing until he had been inaugurated : the modern
aw maxim is that the King never dies, which
iupposes that in England there can be no inter-
egnum *, the next heir succeeding as King im-
nediately upon the throne becoming vacant,
ting John did not assume the regal dignity
ind prerogatives until he had been crowned,
Jthough his brother Richard had been dead
1 This is not in accordance with what is laid down as
aw in Dyer and Anderson, which is " that the King, who
i heir or successor to the deceased King, may write him-
elf as King and begin his reign the same day that his pro-
;enitor or predecessor dies/' Since the accession of
Cdward I. there has been no interregnum. ^* The Crown
las always been claimed, though not constantly enjoyed,
ly right of blood ;'* and from the precedents adduced and
tpinions taken at the accession of James I. it was declared
o be the law of England, *' that there can be no inter-
egnum within the same.'* (Howdts State TrialSf vol. ii.
). 626.) *' It is now therefore an established maxim of
:onstitutional law, that immediately on the death of the
King the right of the Crown is vested in his heir, who com-
mences his reign from that moment.'* AUen on Prerogative,
p. 49. Black. Com. vol. i. p. 96. TyrrelPs BibUotheca Poll-
^«%p.l69.
K 4
ut^.rr^ixr,'^^ opvarck rf seren week« - before tbc oonxiatioo
took pbic^; ; and the reign of Henry III., like
that of fail hxher^ was reckoned fiom the daj
of faLi eDtfaronemem.^ Tbe accesaon (^ Ed-
ward L was held to be npon the day of
recognition, and not apon the day of his fiuhei's
demUe, which happened four days previously'
Tfie fact that all the Rolls of Chancery, nameljr.
1 Richard L died on the 6di of April 1190. Kiig
John wu crovned on the ?7th of the ftrflowiog Ht^,
which waf Asceiuion Daj, and his regnal year was amt
puled from one Ascension Daj to the next ; conseqaendy
ftome of the years of his reign exhibit an increase of seia
weeks more than others^ owing to the day of his cotobs-
tion being that of a moTcable feast, wiiich of course some-
times felJ earlier or later, as Easter happened.
2 Henry IIL was not elected king till the feast of
Saint Simon and Saint Jude; and his coronation took
place on the following day, though John had been thes
dead since the eighteenth. ** II est remarquable qu'oi
ne commen^a a dater du regne de ce prince que dn jonf
de son couronnement, comme il est marqu^ dans le Livie
Uouge de TEchiqiiier. * Notandum ' y est-il dit, * quol
data Regis Henri ci filii Johannis mutavit* in festo Apostolo-
rum Simonis ct Judse, videlicet, 28^ die mensis Octobris.'"
/JArt de verifier les Dates.
s «< Anno Domini MoCCoLXXlJo mense Novembri obiit
dornifius ilenricus illustris Rex Anglise, anno vero regni
Miii L\U*'f incepto in festo Apostolorum Symonis et Jade
proximo prfficcdcnte.
" Anno Domini MoCCoLXXIIo mense Novembri in
fcHto beati Edmundi incepit regnare Edwardus illustris Bex
AiigliflL* post scpulturam Henrici patris sui." Ex
Mumh. in Turr* Lond.
* Hiii word in tliu original Record appears to be tnUtavU for initi
wUtnit*
I
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 137
the Patent, Charter, Close, and Fine Rolls, ili^iistrations
^ OF History.
commence the regnal year of each Kmg agree-
ably to this mode of computation supports this
hypothesis ; and, moreover, it does not appear
that any of the early English Monarchs exer-
cised any act of sovereign power, or disposed
of public affairs, till after their election or coro-
nation. These few examples appear to be un-
deniable proofs, that the fundamental laws and
constitutions of this kingdom, based on the
Anglo-Saxon custom, were, at that time, against
an hereditary succession, unless by common
consent of the whole realm : however, ** the
Crown of England (says Allen ^) has been for
ages hereditary, and it has been long a settled
principle of English law, that on the death of
the King his royal dignity descends immediately
to his successor. That principle is not now to
be controverted. It has been sanctioned by the
practice of many centuries, and is become a
fundamental maxim of constitutional law.'*
The Close Rolls have been stated to abound
in information concerning the condition of
society ; it belongs, however, to the historian
to select and apply such instruments as may
correct the errors and prejudices of previous
writers. With the view of testing the integrity
and comparative merits of the elder historians
1 Inquiry into the Rise and Growth of the Royal
Prerogative in Eugland, by John Allen, p. 46.
138 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
iLLrsraATiojrs jmj chroniclcTS, a few entries, and those of
OF HisToay. ' '
minor importance, have been selected fixim the
Close Rolls; because, if it be shown that those
writers have detailed with exactness and accu-
racy trifling and unimportant events, thej
become more entitled to confidence in their
narrations of matters of greater moment.
It is related by MatthewFaris, that ^ Eodem
anno (1222) sexto idus Februarii, audita sunt
tonitrua terribilia ; ex quorum collisione fulmen
exiliens," &c. Again^ ** in eodem anno in die
exaltatiouis Sanctse Crucis, per totam Angliam
mugierunt horrenda tonitrua; et sequuta est
inundatio pluviarum, cum turbine, et impeta
ventorum : quae tempestas, cum aeris intem-
perie, usque ad purificationem Beatse Maris
perseverans multis et maxime colonis, moleeta
fuit." And again, " Eodem etiam anno (129S)
in festo Sancti Andreas Apostoli audita sunt
tonitrua per totam Angliam generalia ; que
ecclesias et ecclesiarum turres, domos et aedifida^
castronun muros, et propugnacula subvertenmt"
All of which is corroborated by the Close Roll
of the seventh year of King Henry III. which
contains numerous entries concerning the ravages
and destruction occasioned by tempests and
impetuous hurricanes, whereby houses and hugd
forest trees were blown to the ground.
Matthew Paris says, at page 161, " Eodem
tempore (1211) Reginaldus Comes Bononias vir
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. ISQ
renuus et in arte militari probatissimus k Phi- ii-LusTaATioNs
* OF History.
ppo Rege Francorum de comitatu suo injuste
Kpulsus et bonis omnibus privatus est^ &c.
!omes vero Reginaldus in Angliam veniens^
Rege Johanne honorifice susceptus est/* This
tatement is corroborated by three or four
atries \ which prove that Reginald Dammartin}
!ount of Bologne, was in England at that
tne, and did homage to King John at London
1 Ascension Day, and that he had a grant of
veral manors ; a fact which is ample evidence
* an honorable reception and of royal favor.
Most of the contemporary historians relate,
at King John, in the year 1202, during the
?ge of Mirabel Castle in Poictou, made
isoners of his nephew Arthur Duke of Brit-
ay and the Princess Elianor his sister, called
e " Beauty of Brittany.'* Arthur is sup-
«ed to have been murdered by his uncle, and
' Elianor it is stated that she was imprisoned
Bristol Castle for forty years ; the incarcera-
)n of that young and guiltless Princess is one
' the many actions of King John, for which
s memory has been deservedly stigmatized,
he entries on the Close Rolls relating to the
•incess Elianor confirm the narrations of the
onkish writers as to her imprisonment, though
1 Videpp. 116. 129. 130.133.
140 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
illustbatioxs at the same time they show that she was not in
OF HllTORT* •'
want of the necessaries of life, as has been
alleged by some modern historians, but on the
contrary that she enjoyed many indulgences.
Elianor is said to have possessed a high and
invincible spirit, and to have constantly insisted
on her right to the Crown ^, which, perhaps, was
the reason of her being kept under restraint
during the whole of her life-time. If the Crown
of England was at that period considered as
hereditary, she had a priority of right to her
uncle, and consequently to King Henry ; but
if it was an established law in England, as ap-
pears by the Close Roll 13th Henry IH,, that
" non est conmetudo vel lex in terra nosin
AngUce quod Jilia fratris aUcigus primogemi
fratrem juniorem patri suo succedentem hart'
ditarie super hcereditate sua possit vel debei
impetere ^," then it would seem that King Hemj
need have had no apprehension of her being
able legally to deprive him of the Crown. A
iew of the instruments relating to this illustrious
Prisoner are here inserted ; the others are, how-
ever, exceedingly interesting, and well worthy
of attention, not only as concerning a Princess
of whom little has been written, but as illus-
trative of the domestic economy of that period.
1 General History of England by James I\frreH
voLiii. p.915. Fol. 1700.
2 Rot. Claus. IS Hen. HI. m. 15. in dorse.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
141
The Mayor of Winchester is commanded ^o^^Hi^xoInr*'*
to send in haste to the King, for the use of his
niece Elianor and the two daughters of the
King of Scotland ^, robes of dark green, namely,
tunics and supertunics, with capes of cambric,
and fur of miniver, and twenty-three yards of
good linen cloth j also, for the use of the King's
niece, one good cap of dark brown, furred with
miniver, and one hood for rainy weather, for
the use of the same ; besides robes of bright
green for the use of her three waiting maids,
namely, tunics and supertunics, and cloaks,
with caps of miniver or rabbit skins, and furs
of lamb's-skin ; and thin shoes for the use of
the daughters of the King of Scotland, the
King's niece, and her three waiting maids ; and
also, for the use of the King's niece, one saddle
with gilded reins ; and the mayor is to come
himself, with all the above articles, to Corf
there to receive the money for the cost of the
^ame. — 6th July, 15 John. Page 144.
1 About the year 1209 King John marched toward
Scotland with a powerful army, but when the Scottish King
was informed of his approach, being aware of the cruelty
of John's disposition, he grew alarmed, and made an ad-
vance to treat for peace ; by the mediation of friends of
both kingdoms this was at length effected upon these
terms; namely, that the King of Scotland should pay to
the King of England 1,100 marks of silver, and moreover
that his two daughters should be delivered to him as hos-
tages, for the better securing of the peace. Math. Paris^
p. 158. Edit. Par.
14€ GENERAL DmoDrcnox.
iixrffimATion fhc maTor and reeves of Winchester are I
or HllTOBT. ^
ordered to send, without delay, to Coff coi^
stabulary, for the use of the King's niec^ a
beautiful saddle, with scarlet ornaments and
gilded reins. — 9th Aug.,15 Jdin. Pn^^ 150.
The maTor and reeres of Winchester are
commanded to send to the Queen, the King'i
niece, and the two daughters of the King of
Scotland, who are at Corf^ certain robes, csp^
and other things necessary for their vestment^
as Robert de Vipont will inform them by ha
letters patent. — 29th Jan., lo John. Page 157*
Peter de Maulay is commanded to procure
for the Sling's niece, who is in the custody cf
Robert de Vipont, one scarlet robe, namely, i
cloak, and a tunic with cendal, and another
for the wife of Robert de Vipont; and ako^
for the King's niece, some good and fine lina
cloth, enough to make four or five chemiM
and four sheets, not, however, of the King^
finest cloth, but rather, if they have none suited
for this except the King's finest doth, to pm^
chase it as good as they can with the King^i
money ; and she is also to have two pair of
boots delivered to her by the messenger of
Robert de Vipont, the bearer of this order.—
15th July, 16 John. Page 168.
The barons of the Exchequer are ordered
to make allowance to Peter de Maulay of 7,000
marksi demanded of him as part of his fine
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 143
nade with King John for having married illustrations
^ ^ OF History.
[sabella daughter and heiress of Robert de
rumeham, which he had laid out on the works
of Corf Castle, and in expenses consequent upon
the custody of Elianor the King's cousin, the
custody of the daughters of the King of Scot-
land, and the custody of Richard, the King's
brother ; and also in the expences incurred by
King John at divers times at Corf, after Louis,
he French King's son, had landed in England.
Witness Hubert de Burgh, &c. — 5 Hen. 3.
'^age 466.
The treasurer and chamberlains are ordered
3 pay to Andrew Bukerel ^6 14*3. 2rf. which
e laid out, by the King's command, in the fol.
>wing articles ; namely, a silken couch, price
?1 10s. Irf., and delivered to John de Cundi
or the use of Elianor the King's cousin, and
Isabella daughter of the King of Scotland j
wo coverlets of fine linen, price £2 2s. Id.,
ikewise for their use ; and six yards and a half
)f scarlet, price ^1 3^., to make two coverlets,
ilso for the use of the same ; and in six yards
md a half of dark green, price thirteen shillings,
to make a robe for the use of their waiting maid ;
3ne fur of lamb's-skin, price four shillings, for
the use of the same waiting maid ; and forty
(rards of linen cloth, price twenty-one shillings,
for the use of the same Elianor and Isabella
—8th Dec, 6 Hen. 3. Page 485.
144 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
^^owu^^Y.* '^^ treasurer and chamberiains are ordered
lo pay out of the treasury to Master Joha
de Beauchamp, the physician who administmied
medicine to the King's cousin Elianor when
sick, three marks^ to purchase a palfrey in the
room of the palfrey which he had lost in re-
turning from Corf to London. — 13th June^
6 Hen. S. Page 483.
The sheriff of Gloucester is ordered to
cause necessaries to be provided for the Eiog^i
cousin Elianor, and her two waiting maids, who!
are staying by the King's order in Gloucester
Castle, and for Walter de St. Audoen^ Richard
de Landa, and Gilbert de GreinvUle, the keepen
of the same Elianor, with their six horses and
eight men, together with the domestic establisb-
ment of the same Elianor, as long as they sbj {
there by the King's order ; and the cost incurred
for this is to be accounted to him at the £xclie-
quer. Gloucester, 7th Aug., 6 Hen. 3. Pap
507.
The sheriffs of London are ordered to kE
Ralph Musard have five ounces of silk for the
use of Elianor, the King's cousin. 19th Aug.
6 Hen. 3. Page 509.
The barons of the Exchequer are to allow
in the sheriff of Gloucester's account jfll7i|
which he laid out in the expences of the King^l
cousin Elianor, staying in Gloucester Castle lif
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 145
the King's order; namely, ten shillings a day Ili-ustrations
from the eve of St. Peter ad Vincula, in the
sixth year of the King's reign, until the feast of
St. Benedict next before the Annunciation of
the Blessed Mary, in the seventh year, both days
inclusive. Gloucester, 21st March, 7 Hen. 3.
Page 538.
Whilst Elianor was in Gloucester Castle,
one of her keepers, Walter de St. Audoen, was
taken dangerously ill, and thereupon the King
dispatched his beloved and faithful Robert
Lovel to assist the others, namely, Ralph Mu-
sard, Richard de Landa, and Matthew de
Wallop, assigned for her custody, commanding
them to admit him into the castle and tower,
so that he himself might have free ingress and
egress to and from the tower, but that his suite
should remain without in the castle, and to act
upon his advice in case of the death of the
said Walter, or in any other emergency. And
at the same time the King sent thither for the
garrison and safeguard of the said castle, ten
servants on horse and four crossbow-men on
foot, ordering such and so many of the cross-
bow-men as the said Robert should name to lie
every night within the two gates of the tower,
and the said servants to remain day and night
without in the castle. 15th May, 7 Hen. S.
Page 546.
L
146 CTSERAL isnumucnam.
iLUT^wATtt^Tn jii^ barons of the Exchequer are ordered
to account to the sherifT oi Gloacester certam
sums of money expended by him in ^0¥es»
boot?^ sflk, and other necessaries for the use
of Elianor, the King's couan; and also £li
which he laid out by the King's order, in die
erpences of the same Elianor, during a period
of twenty-six days ; viz. £rom Sunday the morroir
of St John the Baptist, in the seventh year of
the King's reigu, untfl Thursday the feast of
St. Margaret, both days inclusive. — Cirencesfier,
23d July, 7 Hen. 3. Page 533.
The King to Peter de Orivall, greeting.
We command you to let Ttllliam our tailor
have of our money, which is in your custody,
j£^10 to discharge the expences of our cousifi
Elianor at Marlborough; let him also have
two marks for the use of four foot servants
staying in our castle at Marlborough, for the
custody of the same Elianor. — - 20th Aug^
7 Hen. S. Page 560.
The treasurer and chamberlains are to pqr
out of the treasury to Robert Lovel, the bearer
of the order, ^10 to defray the expences of the
King's cousin Elianor. — 13th Nov., 8 Hen. S.
Page 575.
The sheriffs of London are ordered to let
Robert Lovel have one frail of figs, and aiK
other of almonds, for the use of the Kingli
J
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 147
cousin Elianor.— 13th Nov., 8 Hen. 3. Page i«.i-'«»»a'">''s
' ° OF History.
575.
Matthew Paris has noticed in his Chronicle
one Master Alexander, who had been a cele-
brated expounder of divinity at Paris, and whose
adulatory sermons had been greatly instrumental
in moving the King to cruelty. By endeavour-
ing to prove that it did not belong to the Pope
to interfere with the secular power of Princes,
and other such discourses, Master Alexander
succeeded in insinuating himself into especial
grace and favour with the King, and obtained
many rich benefices : upon this being made
known to the Pope, and after reconciliation
had taken place between King John and his
Holiness, Master Alexander was turned out of
his livings. Whether Matthew Paris's narration
of this be correct it is difficult to determine ;
but that the Pope had been exasperated against
Master Alexander, and that an attempt to de-
precate his wrath was made by King John, is
evident by the following letter :
To the Most Holy Lord and Father Inno-
cent, High Priest by God's grace, John, by
the same grace. King, &c. Be it known unto
your Holiness, that the lies which were put
upon Master Alexander of Saint Albans, our
clerk, were circulated only by the breath of
envy ; wherefore it may be aptly said, without
l2
r/x. r.^aiar. 'r>7 ^ie J-^wian. people, opoa Moaef
r'-.r v.e Echiootar-. ▼ oman . inii RmL £ar the
.Se-7?^n C?iurche* -, »o was no less Tnrfirtpd i^oh
Ma.^?er Ale^cander bv trie dazuiooiB lalible.
And it iA for thij we devoatl y so^pliate yoB^
HotT Father, if the sane Master Alpiramfcr
f^hould chance to present himsetf st the ftet cf
yofir Holinea'^ to voochsafe, iix God's sake md
Of in, to ^hew him all hamanitT, acc mdii ^ to
thie manifoldness of toot mercy. — From the
New Temple, London^ 23d of Aprils l6tli John,
A. IX 1215.
The following account giTcn by Matthew
I'aris of an enormous fish washed upon the
Norfolk coast^ in the year Vioo^ is corroborated
by an entry on the Close Rolls.
I ^' And Miriam and Aaron spake against Mosefl, be-
cause of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married ; ftr
he ha<l married an Ethiopian woman.** Numben^ chi^zS.
^ The allusion to St. Paul suffering persecution for the
8<;ven Churches is evidently the blunder of some monkiA
writer, not so well acquainted with Scripture history aa witk
the traditions of his church. The apostle had no otJier con-
nection with the Seven Churches than as having been the
fdu rider of some of them. It was John the apostle whob
particularly in the last year of his long life, had the genenl
Miiporintendance of the Seven Churches of the Lesser Aria;
and who, during that superintendance, was banished to Ptt*
nioH, und from thence addressed to them the short epistte
ill the KcvclatioDS.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION, 149
In the same year, from the feast of St. Va- illustrations
^ OF History.
lentine until the following month, the winds
continued to rage most violently, accompanied
by torrents of rain day and night, without ces-
sation, raising such a tempest both by sea and
land as had never been known before ; and at
the same time there was thrown up by the rage
and turbulence of the waves an enormous sea-
monster, which was washed on shore within the
diocese of Norwich, and killed, as it was ima-
gined, by the violence of the motion. It was
in size much larger than a whale, and yet it was
not supposed to be a whale ; however, the fat
from the belly of this monster enriched the whole
neighbourhood round. Matth. Paris, p. 606.
The sherijff of Norfolk is commanded to
cause to be sold at the best price he can get,
by the view and testimony of honest and lawful
men, the great and monstrous fish which was
lately caught upon the land of a certain boy,
who is a ward of the bishop of Norwich, as it
is reputed, and which the same bishop claims
as his wreck by reason of the wardship of the
same, and safely to keep the money received
therefrom, that he may have it at Westminster
before the King and his council in three weeks
of Easter, in order that what of right ought to
be done herein be then done. Witness the
King at Westminster, 19th Feb. — Rot. Claus.
39 Hen. III. m. 16.
l3
;,,^--^T,.-r...- ^-. -13^ jj^gjm rsnsasd. rr jfl. wnsBB tint
— •- the 7en2uir7 aii: -msiiae it =ie x:?aK qAob ut
ftat& are :;> zft rxkcned imon^ rne fin&s <£
p^icy in die earij gericca :f onr
rV>4ir>wi2ur inatriTnenp ir*f «gtrg m die
apprintxenci is. ±e r^m gringp c^ indik cf
ii:;ch oh%6r7aicuxi:§« izui rher at the sh
iihonr the dec^nLbadoD. at the Kin^ to
redrew tf> the agzriered in ^agnait chb rf
injustice. The nrm azid cncnplafffgt ktts ti
tl'ie Chascelior . iriio was also loid pahtif cf
lAirham, proves that Henry w:» not ^^'t^''"**
c^ good coanaeflors, who woe wilfiiig to ve
mild means before they proceeded to eutad f c
measures* In the letter to the Josliciarjr rf
Ireland the King expresses his astomsfamai
and ]ncredulit\' at the grieTous complaints oiged
against the Justiciary^ and his determination to
take matters seriously in hand, unless the Jos-
ticiary desist from his illegal attempts. In thit
addressed to Hubert de Burgh, the Chief Jos-
ticiary of England, the King appeals to Us
justice and honour^ but does not accuse him of
any malversation.
The King to the bishop of Durham, his
Chancellor', greeting. We some time since
wrote to you respecting the prior of DuiliaiDi
' Kichard de Marisco, consecrated 2 July 1217*
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 151
commanding^ you to restore to him the cart- iu-wstrations
*^ •' OP History.
horses upon his lands, and his servants also^
whom you have caused to be taken ; and
although in the aforesaid mandate it was in-
serted, that unless you obeyed it, we could by
no means fail to render justice to hun, yet has
the same prior again returned to us, grievously
complaining that you refuse to do any thing
for him in that respect. Howbeit, for the espe-
cial and loving favour in which you stand with
us, we have been again induced to exhort your
discretion, as effectually as we are able, com-
manding you to deliver his men and cattle
aforesaid within a month from St. Michaers
day, and in the interval to suspend all dispute
and quarrels which have arisen and grown up
between you on this subject j for, as he has
offered us security in our court to prosecute
his imparlance against you upon the wrongful
capture and detention of his men and cattle
aforesaid, we have appointed him that day in
our court, as in justice we are compelled to
do ; nor can we further pass it over, if at this
our repeated command you refuse to deliver
his men and cattle aforesaid, but we must ex-
tend our hands on this occasion to your lands
and effects out of Haliwaresok, much as it will
grieve and trouble us. Witness Hubert de
Burgh, our Justiciary, at Cirencester, on the
22d of July, 7 Hen. 3. Page 569.
l4
152 GENERAL INTRODUCTIO'tT.
Illustrations xhc King to the archbishoD of Dublin,
OF History. *^ ^
Justiciary of Ireland, greeting. We have been
informed by the representation of our good men
of Dublin of certain things respecting you, at
which we are much astonished, and indeed they
seem so strange and surpassing all belief, that
as yet we are unwilling to give credit to them ;
namely, that you are endeavouring to acquire
for your people exemption from talliages and
aids, notwithstanding that they are partakers of
the liberties which our citizens of Dublin enjoy,
and share in common with them the advantages
of a reciprocal commerce : also, that your cleigy-
shall have their pleas relating to the lay fees,
which they have purchased within the bounds
of the city aforesaid, tried in the ecclesiastical
court : also, that if any servant of the clergy,
even though he be a layman, have any com-
plaint against one of our citizens, such citizen
is thereupon drawn into plea in that court to
answer and obey the law ; and on the contraiyi
if one of your people, being a layman, has in
aught transgressed against any of our citizen!^
that such citizen shall come into your court,
there to seek and accept of justice : a-lso, if any
baker dwelling in your land be attached for
making bread of false weight, or any other per-
son for a similar trespass, and be even con-
victed thereof before our bailiffs, you thereupon
seek to have redress in your court, and demand
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 153
the same trespasser, free and discharged from illustrations
^ ^ ^ OF History.
the hands of our bailiffs, and to be dealt with - —
according to your pleasure : also, that you have
caused a certain pillory to be erected on our
highway, drawing within your fee and jurisdic-
tion that which is known to appertain to us,
contrary to our royal dignity, to which such
jurisdiction, as well in our cities and towns of
England as of Ireland, is acknowledged to be-
long : also, that religious houses shall plead in
the court christian concerning lands given, sold,
or delegated to them : also, that you pass over,
without correction, the encroachments which
religious houses make upon the city aforesaid :
Now all these things are indeed manifestly re-
pugnant to our right and dignity, and are con-
trary to the custom anciently enjoyed in all
cities, towns, and places throughout our realm ;
and they are so much the more grievous and
offensive to us, and cast the greater blemish
on your fame, in proportion , to the extent of
power we have reposed in you as our repre-
sentative in our kingdom of Ireland, to main-
tain our rights and deal out justice to others ;
so much so, that had any other person attempted
the like, it would have fallen to you yourself)
by the power confided to you, to have imposed
a severe punishment upon him : We therefore
firmly and strictly command you to let your
loyalty to us, and your regard for your own
l;J4 ^Eyira.1 r. izrraoDircTnaw;.
•'»•' ••^'-'^■'»''*» nr>noiir. rs^HxaxzL von in tntoze mm tiie
neither makiiur inch, atseomis vutuouii^
ferliu; uhem a> be made bv adses ae
or dae he assured rhan we ihaH tafa& ibe
^htxj^xaIj in hand, bang in no wise
allow .mch thing:!) to gain streagtiL
Wltnew Hubert de Borgfa, ic at tbeX
of I>>ndoii, %th ot Aogost, 7 Hoi. 3L
Henrv, fay the grace of God, Kiii^ of Eng-
land, Lr>rd of Ireland, Dnke of XoniiaiidTad{
Arfiiitain, Earl of Anjoa, to Hubert de Bm^
JnxtidsLry of England, greeting. We
having given an order ^ that such seizin
be given you of the marsh between Wiggenhbk
and Wells and Hakebech and Tilnej and Tcr-
rington, as jou had when last you sailed ftr
Poictou in the service of King John oar fitflier;
but because we are given to understand ftr
certain that Eustace, formerly bishop of Eljf
was seized of the aforesaid marsh on the day of
hjs deaths and that the church of Ely has
always since been seized thereof; and as it there-
fore seems to our Council that the form of our
aforesaid order was unreasonable^ we command
you, as our justiciary, to restore without delay
to the church of Ely seizin of the marsh in
■ 2d December 1217. ^ Died 16 John.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 155
estion, notwithstanding our said order by iiAimmATfoi«
iiich you entered upon the seizin thereof;
d since to you especially it belongs to main-
and cherish justice^ do you so demean
rourself in this behalf that you may not set
A& example, or be yourself the occasion^ of
jpnjuring others. Witness the Earl of Pembroke,
at Worcester, 14th March, 2Hen.3, A.D. 1218.
Page 37s.
There has prevailed among historians a dif-
ference of opinion as to the probability of Prince
Louis having received from our government a
sum of money for restoring the hostages he had
taken from the barons^ upon the treaty of peace
being concluded in the September of the year
1218. The French historians relate that a large
sum of money was secured to him on that occa-
I sion, " which," says Tyrrell, " is certainly false,
•* for Louis was so far from standing upon terms,
*^ that he was glad to agree upon any condi-
' " tions ; and as for hostages, there could be
** nothing due from the King on that account,
" but from the barons, his enemies, whose rela-
" tions they were ; but our writers do not men-
" tion any money paid for them, and therefore
" it is most likely they were delivered gratis,
^* though they are not particularly mentioned.''
The following instrument seems corroborative
of the statement of the French writers, which,
f
156 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations if TyiTell had been awoTe of, he would perhaps
have formed a different opinion.
The King to GeoflBy de M ariscis, Justiciaiy
of Ireland, greeting. Whereas we before com-
manded you to come to us into England to dof
homage to us, and certify us respecting the state
of our land of Ireland, we are greatly astonished
that you have not yet come ; and therefore we
command you a second time, all delay and ez-
cuses set aside, to come to us into England be-
fore the approaching Easter, in the second yen
of our reign, to do your homage to us, and to
treat with us, through our *^ fideles ** of cor
Council, respecting the state of our land afore-
said. And since we owe a heavy debt to Loui%
the French King's son, by agreement made be-
tween us, that he would depart out of our realms
which at length the Lord hath marvelloudj
and mercifully procured ; and are moreover
indebted to his Holiness the Pope in an annual
tribute of 300 marks, due to him from our king-
dom of Ireland, which yet remains to be paid
for the last two years ; it would greatly relieve
us, and much advance the tranquillity of our
realm, if our faithful people and bailifis would
afford all the assistance they were able to pro-
vide us with money ; and therefore we command
and entreat you to come, as aforesaid, and bring
with you as much money as you can, so demean-
ing yourself in this respect that we may have
GENERAL INTRODUCTION^ 157
cause to commend your honesty and zeal ; for illustrations
, . , OF History,
if you should be induced to act otherwise, con-
siderable loss and grievance might accrue to us
and our realm on this account. Witness the Earl
of Pembroke, at Exeter, 12th Feb., 2 Hen. 3.
Page 376. see also page 4^65.
Immediately after Louis's departure the
legate dispatched inquisitors over every part
of England to suspend all ecclesiastics whom
they found to have been in the slightest degree
favourable to the cause of Louis, of whatever
rank or dignity they might be ; and after de-
priving them of all their benefices, he distributed
the same among his own clerks. The bishop of
Lincoln, upon his return to England, paid 1000
marks to the Pope, and 100 more to the Legate,
for the recovery of his bishoprick ; and many
other bishops, and the rest of the clergy, fol-
lowing his example, were compelled to purchase
the Legate's favour by the payment of large
sums of money. It seems, however, from the
following proclamation, which is not noticed in
any of the contemporary chronicles, that several
of the clergy, being perhaps unwilling to submit
to this species of imposition, chose rather to
remain in excommunication than to purchase
absolution on such degrading terms.
The King to the sheriffs of Kent [and
of Essex], greeting. We order you, without
158
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations delay, to cause proclamation to be made throud
OF History, ...
out your bailiwick, that all the clergy who wi
excommunicated because they were adherents
Louis or his favourers, and have not yet receivedi
absolution, shall depart our realm before Midlent
next, in the second year of our reign ; and that
aU who are found in England after the aforesaid
term shall be taken ; and whomsoever of the
clergy that you shall find in your bailiwick B&a
that term abiding in excommunication on the
account aforesaid, do you take and safely keep
until we give you further order thereupon.—^
18th Feb., 2 Hen. 3. Page 377.
The order of knighthood was a dignily
which formerly added a lustre to the higheit
degree of nobility, and was esteemed even bf
Princes and Kings themselves. The ceremonf'
of creating a knight was generally performed is
the royal palace, and robes of different coloiiii
were given to the intended objects of that rojiN
mark of distinction. The following entry gives
an account of the robes presented to a knight
on his receiving the order :
The King to the sheriff of SouthamptoOi
greeting. We order you to allow Thomas Es-
turmy, our valet, a scarlet robe ', with a doak
^ William of Malmsbury, in his account of Athelstan'f
being knighted by King Alfred, his grandfather^ mentioBi
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 159
i* fine linen, and another robe of green or illustrations
^^ OF History.
rown, and a saddle, and a pair of reins, and a
ioak for wet weather, and a couch ^ and a pair
F linen sheets, as he is to be made a knight.
The robes and other knightly insignia pre-
inted by King Henry III. to Alexander the
)ung King of Scotland, when he knighted him
York 2, in the year 1251, is thus described
I the Close Roll of that year ; ^
Edward of Westminster is commanded to
ocure immediately a handsome sword^ and
abbard of silk, the hilt to be of silver and
3II ornamented, and also a handsome belt, on
hich to hang the same ; the sword is to be sent
York by Christmas-day, that the King may
jcorate Alexander the illustrious King of Scot-
nd therewith, in his belt of knighthood \ &c.
e giving him a sword and a rich belt, with a crimson or
urlet robe, as the ensigns of knighthood. Malmdf* de
esds Reg. Angl. 1. ii. c. 6.
1 It was usual for the person who was to be knighted
watch all the previous night in the church, and the
luch was given for him to rest on.
2 « Anno Domini MCClii. qui est annus regni domini
egis Henrici trigesimus quintus^ fuit idem dominus Rex
I Natal e Domini apud Eboracum, ut filia sua Margareta,
late jam, Alexandro Regi Scotiss matrimonio copularetur,
nuptiae, ut inter tantas personas decuit, celebrarentur."
to. Par. 554. Paris Edit.
3 Claus. 36 Hen. 3.
4 << Die igitur Natalis Domini, dominus Rex Anglis
Itlieo apud Eboracum donavit militari Regem Scoti® et
l60 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations John dc Summercotes and the Kine^s tail
OF History. ^ ^
are commanded to make, without delay, a cosi
couch, and to send it to the King at York,
present to the illustrious King of Scotland c
Christmas-day :
And, Edward of Westminster is coo
manded to procure immediately a pair of siivi
gilt spurs, with fastenings of silk, and to let tl
King have them at York on Christmas-day, fi
the use of Alexander King of Scotland, &c.
The orders for the dresses worn by tJ
King and Queen of England at the marriaj
ceremony of the Princess Margaret with ti
King of Scotland, the day after he was knighte
are as follows :
" Concerning Robesfor ^ I. de Sumercote and Rog
the use of the King >the tailor are command
and Queen. J to get made, without deb
four robes of the best brocade which they c
procure, namely, two for the King's use, m
two for the Queen's, with orfraies, and gei
of various colours ; the tunics are to be of sc^
brocade than the mantles and the supertmiic
and the mantles are to be furred with ennii
cum eo tyrones fecit viginti. Qui omnes vestibus predc
et excogitatis, sicut in tarn celebri tyrocinio decuit, on
bantur :*' and see Rot. Pat. 36 Hen. III. m. IS. and Fcedc
New Ed. vol. i. part 1. p. 279.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 161
, Slid the supertunics with miniver : the King re- Ili-ustrations
^, ^ OF History,
^Uires that the aforesaid robes, elegantly made,
;| should be at York by Chrisjtmas.'*
The same are commanded to get, besides
the two robes which the King ordered for his own
use, three robes with " Quejnitisis " (^devices)
made for the Queen's use, namely, one robe of
the best violet-coloured brocade they can pro-
cure, with three small leopards in the front, and
three others behind ; and two robes of other
cloth, the best that can be procured. And these,
seemly and elegantly made, are to be at York by
Christmas.
The instruments on the Close Rolls respect-
ing maritime affairs are very numerous, and
exhibit many interesting particulars of the naval
force kept for the defence of the realm and for
the security of the British seas. At page 33
tlie number of ships attached to each of the
principal ports is stated, together with the names
of their commanders ; and there are several
notices confirmatory of the fact, that the Cinque
Ports were obliged to find fifty-two ships for
fifteen days, at their own charge, for the ser-
vice of the state. The materials used for ship-
building, and the tonnage and dimensions of
ships and galleys, are described, some as being
capable of. carrying eight or ten horses, and
M
162 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrationb others of a different description, large enongk
OF HiBTO&T. .
to admit of twenty oars. From an instrument
at page 117 it may be inferred that the first
establishment of a dock-yard at Portsmouth took
place in the reign of King John ; viz.
The King to the sheriff of Southampton,
&c. We order you, without delay, by the view
of lawful men, to cause our docks ^ at Ports-
mouth to be inclosed with a good and strong
wall, in such manner as our beloved and fidtfa^
ful WiUiam archdeacon of Taunton will tell you,
for the preservation of our ships and galleys;
and likewise to cause penthouses to be made to
the same walls, as the same archdeacon will also
tell you, in which all our ships' tackle may
be safely kept : and use as much dispatch ai
you can, in order that the same may be com-
pleted this summer, lest in the ensuing winter
our ships and galleys and their rigging should
incur any damage by your default. And when I
we know the cost, it shall be accounted to you. I
—20th May, 14 John, A.D. 1212. Page 117
The King to Geoffry de Nevill, and the
mayor of Angouleme, and Ralph de Fay, and
\
^|a
I << Exclusa. Locus in flumine ssep^ coarctatus pitct"
tionis gratia; alias wera alias clausura dictus. Et eCiam
exclusa, id quo in stagnis et fossatis aquae retinentnr ci
emittuntur, Anglic^, * a sluice ;* exclusae prsetered dicuntar
aditus in Italiam per angustias Alpium." Spdm.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 163
the soldiers and mariners of their company, it^osrtiAnovs
*^ •' ' OP History.
jc We command you, together with GeoflTiy
^de Lucy and WiUiam de Wika, and our sailors,
[to arrest and take into our hands all ships coming
from Poictou, which you may fall in with in your
voyage, and send them safely to us in England,
with all the chattels found in them ; and take
such counsel for guarding them that we may
in nowise be deceived. — 20th May, 14 John.
Page 117.
The archdeacon of Taunton is ordered to
send immediately to the King, at the Tower of
Juondon, all the cloth which came to Portsmouth
in the three ships which were captured by the
King's sailors in the port of Barfleur, and sent
to Portsmouth.
The King to William archdeacon of Taun-
ton, &c. Know ye that we have given to our
dear brother William earl of Salisbury the ship
called the Countess, which was captured by our
sailors. And therefore we command you to let
him have the same. — 20th May, 14 John. Page
117-
The King to William archdeacon of Taun-
ton, &c. Know ye that we have given to our
beloved R. de Mariscis, archdeacon of Northum-
berland, and W. Briwer, two of the ships, with
all their apparel, which our sailors captured.
And therefore we command you to retain to
M 2
I64f GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations q^^ ^^q jh^ ^^3^ ^f thoSC shipS, and ffivC t^j
OF History. *^ ' o . j
second best to Richard de Mariscis, and the
third best to W. Briwer, with all their apparel
— 2d June, 14 John. Page 118.
The King to William archdeacon of Taun-
ton. Know ye that we have given to our beloved
and faithful E« archdeacon of Durham, and
Philip de Ulcot, one good ship of those which,
were captured by our sailors off the coast of
Normandy. And therefore we command you
to let them have that ship. — 9th July, 14 John^
A. D. 1212. Pageim.
Peter \ &c. to the sheriff of Norfolk and
Nicholas de Thorp, greeting. We order you
to cause a hundred men of Dunwich to be
chosen, fit to guard the sea-coast, and to per-
form this business with such secrecy, discretion,
and prudence, that the lord the King and ourself
may be enabled with good reason to commend
your labour. And the expence which you incut
for this shall be accounted to you at the Ex-
chequer. Witness ourself at Dunton, on the
5th of Sept., 16 John. Page 211.
Matthew Paris relates, that about the year
1237 the King's anger was again inflamed against
^ Peter de Rupibus, bishop of Winchester, lieuteDafll
of the kingdom while the King was abroad.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 165
Hubert de Burgh the earl of Kent, because ii-i'tTSTaATioNs
■ OF History.
Richard earl of Gloucester, while he was yet
?in his minority and a ward of the King, had
privately espoused Earl Hubert's daughter Mar-
garet, without the King's licence or consent;
for it was reported that Henry had sought a
matrimonial alliance with the young Earl of
Gloucester for a near relative of William elect
of Valentia, a Proven9ois by birth. At length,
however, Earl Hubert having asserted that he
had no knowledge of the affair, and that he
was guiltless of any participation in the act, a
reconciliation was effected, after much inter-
cession, and the royal indignation appeased by
the promise of a sum of money, Matth. Paris,
p. 299.
The following account of the transaction
occurs on the Close Roll of the 22d Hen* III. :
On Tuesday, the morrow of St. Michael,
Hubert de Burgh earl of Kent came to Eckles,
by the King's command; and the King, ad-
dressing him, demanded if he were then willing
to resign to him the marriage of Richard de
Clare, according to the promise he made at
Gloucester, when the King admitted him to his
peace, on his giving up all claim to the said
marriage ; but Hubert, on being called upon by
the King to fulfil his part of the agreement,
replied, that as he had not his counsel there
M 3
166
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations present he could Dot wcU make answer there-
OF History. *
unto ; and, after some delays, the Earl at length
came to Kennington, and there acknowledged,
that, after the reconciliation had taken place*
at Gloucester, the King sent for him in the
evening, and leading him up to the altar, said!
that he wished him to swear thereon never again
to mention the subject of Richard de Clare,
and this he swore^ nor ever after either spoke
thereof, or took any further measures respect*
ing it. But some of the nobles speaking witki
him on the subject of his daughter's marriage^
said, that as it had proceeded so far she onghtj
to be affianced; and then came the Countes
his wife, and fell at his feet, saying, that her
daughter had so far committed herself to Richard
de Clare that she could not be wedded to
another, and that her daughter could not, there-:
fore, be married then : however, from his wife^t
speech he could not be certain whether a mar-
riage had taken place between the said Richaidlj
and his daughter; and he said that his wiftw
told him that a marriage had been celebratedl
between them at St. Edmonds whilst the Ead
was besieged at Merton ; and on being asked]
how he interpreted the oath, he replied, tbiti:
the King understood it as meaning to Teaigvli
to him all claim to the marriage, and he VBoA
derstood it so too. And the Earl further ao-
knowledged that the King told him when be]
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. l67
made the oath that he should not have his ii'i-^sTBATidNs
OF History.
favour unless he did so. And the Earl after-
wards came and asked for a further day to cer-
tify himself fully, in order that on such day he
might positively resign the marriage if he could,
and if he were not able to do so, he would
make amends according to the judgment of his
peers ; and a day was appointed him, on a pro-
mise not to ask for further delay.
Peter de Colechurch, the celebrated archi-
tect of the first London Bridge built with stone,
is stated, in the Annals of Waverly, to have died
in the year 1205, and to have been buried on
the bridge.^ At page 49 of this Volume is an
entry, from which it may be inferred that Peter
de Colechurch was, at that time, just deceased.
A few of the numerous entries relating to
the royal diversions are selected, as showing the
partiality of our early monarchs to hawking and
the sports of the field.
^ During the demolition of old London bridge in the
year 1832, the remains of a body were discovered in clear-
ing away the chapel pier, and were probably those of Peter
de Colechurch, the original architect of the bridge, who
was here interred : the supposition is strengthened by the
fact that the place in which they were found was under
the lower floor of the chapel, in an inclosure built up in
small courses of free stone.
M 4
168 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations fhe Kinff to his beloved friend Walde*i
OF History. ^
mer^ by the grace of God, the illustrious King
of the Danes and Sclavonians, and duke aiid
lord of Holsace, sends greeting, and the affic-
tion of sincere love. We send into your land
our faithful Brien Hostiarius to purchase birds
for our use, and we most anxiously entreat your
love to be pleased to maintain him and those
who shall accompany him for that purpose, and
to suffer them to be under your safe conduct
and protection, so that we may be indebted to
you for this favour. And the ships which shall
convey our birds may come in security to Eng-
land to negotiate, according to the form of the
letters patent which we have caused to be made
thereupon.
In the same form a letter was addressed to
Absalon earl of Zealand, with this addition, that
if the same Brien should stand in need of money,
to let him have it, and the lord the King will
transmit to him by his messenger such moneys
when he pleases. Witness Peter lord bishop of
Winchester, at Lambeth, 2d Oct., 14th John.—
Page 132.
The King to John Fitz Hugh, &c. Wc
send to you, by William de Merc and R. de
Erleham, three girefalcons, and Gibbun the
girefalcon, than which we do not possess a
better, and one falcon gentle, commanding you
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. l69
"to receive them, and place them in the mewes, ii-i-ustrations
' r 'or History^
and provide for their food plump goats, and
'sometimes good hens ; and once every week let
*
them have the flesh of hares, and procure good
mastiffs to guard the mewes. And the cost
which you incur in keeping those falcons, and
the expences of Spark, the man of W. de Merc,
who will attend them, with one man and one
horse, shall be accounted to you at the Ex-
chequer. — 21st March^ 16 John. Page 192.
The King to the sheriff of Dorsetshire,
&c. We send to you our three girefalcons to
be mewed at Dorchester^ commanding you to
find whatever is required by Robin de Hauville,
their keeper, with his horse and man, and pro-
cure for him, for the food of the said girefalcons,
young pigeons and swine's flesh, and once a
week the flesh of fowl. And the cost, &c. shall
be accounted to you at the Exchequer. —
12th May, 14 John. Page 118.
The King to Philip Marc, sheriff of Not-
tingham, greeting. We send to you Thomas de
Weston, with our two girefalcons, namely, Blake-
man and the foolish falcon, and with three grey-
hounds, and Haukinus de Hauvill with le Refuse
our girefalcon, and two greyhounds, command-
ing you to let our aforesaid girefalcons be mewed
and well kept, and to find necessaries for the
aforesaid Thomas, with one horse and his groom^
170 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations and the aforesaid Haukinus, with one horse and
OF HiSTOKT. , 1 . M
his groom, during their stay with you ; and itlg
shall be accounted toyou at the Exchequer.— ^L
16th Feb., 4 Hen. 3. Page 412.
The King to the sheriff of Nottingham, It
greeting. We command you to find necessaries lii
for our beloved and faithful Walter de HauvOI li
during his stay with you at Northampton, to ll!
ensaim Blakeman our girefalcon, and to mab ||
him fly three or four times \ and it shall be
accounted to you at the Exchequer. — Slst Sept,
3 Hen. 3. Page 400.
Gilbert de Hauvill is commanded to let
Refuse, the King's girefalcon, which is under
the care of Ralph de Hauvill, fly with Blakeman,
the King's girefalcon, which is under bis care,
and to pay such diligent attention thereto as to
merit the King's thanks. — 10th Oct, 3 HeD.&
Page 401.
The King to Philip Marc, greeting. We
command you, upon sight hereof, to send to
us, in Gloucestershire, Gilbert de Hauvill, with
Blakeman our girefalcon, which he has had to
mew, and find him his reasonable expences in
going thither to us ; also discharge for him the
expences which he has incurred since his gir^
falcon began to fly after its moulting ; and it
shall be accounted to you at the Exchequer.—
5th Nov., 4 Hen. 3. Page 407.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 171
The King to William de Pratell, and the i^ustrationi
^ OP History.
bailiffs of Falk de Breaut of the Isle of Ely,
greeting. We command you to find, out of the
issues of the see of Ely, necessaries for Richard
the huntsman, who was with the Bishop of Ely,
and for his two horses and four grooms ; also
find for his fifteen greyhounds and twenty-one
hounds de mota their allowance of bread or
paste, as they may require it, and let them hunt
sometimes in the Bishop's chase for the flesh
upon which they are fed. — 13th March, 17 John.
Fage 253.
The King to Thomas de Samford, greeting.
We send to you Robert de Halingee, com-
manding you to find for him and Nicholas his
companion, with eight of our greyhounds, which
they have under their care, such necessaries as
they shall in reason require. — 13th March,
17 John. Page 253.
The seneschal of Angoulesme is commanded
to defray the reasonable expences of the King's
huntsmen, " valtrarii," and dogs and their keep-
ers ; and if they should take any fat stag, the
flitch or sides, haunches and flank are to be re-
served for the King's use ; and the tongue and
the lard are to be sent to the Queen. — 1214.
Page 169.
Prices, Wages, and Household Matters.
— It would seem, from the numerous payments
172 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
jllustrationb ordered to be made, and the innumerable man-
or HiSTO&T. ■'
dates for provisions, dresses, and other domestic
necessaries, that the wJioIe of the civil and privy
purse expenditure must have passed throu^
the Chancery, as the most minute expences and
allowances were never satisfied until the order
for payment had issued under the Great Seal
In process of time, however, when the business
transacted by the Chancery Court became more
important and defined in its nature, the exe-
cution of this species of business was transferred
to other departments.
From the account given in Fleta, (lib. 2.
cap. 14.) the author of which treatise was con-
temporary with Edward I., it appears that all
the civil, military, and domestic expences of
the Crown were liquidated in the department
called the Wardrobe. The description * of the
1 ^' Thesaurario [garderobae] cura expensarum Regii
et familiae suae committitur, qui cum clerico provido siU
associato pro contrarotulatore recordum habet, ut in hiii
quae officium suum contingunt. Officium autem thesaonru
garderobae est pecuniam, jocalia, et exenia Regi facta reci-
pere, recepta que Regis secreta custodire, et de receptif
expensas facere rationabiles, expensarumque particulas in-
breviare, et de particulis compotum reddere ad scaccarium
singulis annis in festo Sanctae Margaretae, absque sacramento
praestando, eo quod de concilio Regis est juratus, et unde
post debent distincte et aperte compotum reddere de om-
nibus receptis separatim per se in uno rotulo ; in alio autem
rotulo de expensis quotidianis de quibus seoescalluB audi-
i
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. I7S
office of Treasurer of the Wardrobe fully proves ii-i-^stration*
•^ *^ OF History.
that all the expenditure which, up to this period,
had passed through the Chancery, now devolved
upon the Wardrobe. The separation, it is con-
I jeetured, took place about the latter part of
[ the reign of Henry III., which may be inferred
from the omission (though not entirely so) of
similar entries to those which occur in the e^ly
part of his reign, as also in that of his pre-
decessor.
Prices, &c. — The prices of most commodi-
ties then in use may here be ascertained, and the
following are a few illustrative extracts.
JVineK — Cost of 50 tuns, 125 marks. Some-
verit compotum simul cum thesaurario et consocio suo ;
item de necessariis expensis, in quibus emptiones equorum,
cariagia, et plara alia continentur ; item de donis» item de
eleemosynis et oblationibus ; item de vadiis militum, item
de vadiis balistariorum, item de feodis forinsecis, item dc
praestitis vel accommodationibus. Item de expensis garde-
robse, in quibus emptioues pannorum, pelurse^ cerse, specie-
rum, telae et hujusmodi comprehenduntur, item de jocalibus,
item de expensis forinsecis, in quibus diversis onerantur in
compoto reddendo ; item de nunciis ; item de falconariis.**
{FletGr^Mb. ii. cap. 1 14. p. 78, ofSelden's Edition*)
J Hoveden relates, (pp. 796, 797,) that King John, on
his return to England in October 1200, ordered that wine
of Poictou should not be sold in this country for more than
205. per tun ; wine of Anjou for not more than 24*. per
tun ; and French wine for not more than 25*. per tun. By
retail, that Poictou wine should not be sold at above id, per
quart, and White wine not above (id. per. quart. But this
174 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
^^''hi^ory''^ times £^5. Wine of Gascony, 30^. per tun.
Wine of Aucerne, 2 and 3 J- marks per tun.
French wine, 2^ marks per tun.
Horses. — The prices of these animals vaiy
from ^14 to 5^50 Anjou.
Fat Hogs. (Bacones.) — Prices, from 25. to 4*.
each.
Wool — Price, jf6 155. per sack. Taking the
bad with the good, 6 marks per sack.
Salt. — Price, 10s. 4*d. per 8 quarters aad 1
bushel : occasionally varying from 2s. to S^
per quarter.
Waa:. — Price, from 5d. to 7d. per lb. Occa^
sionally 8d.
Corw.-^Price, varying according to its qualify;
generally fetching a high price ; prepare
tionably increased by hard winters^ or the
excessive drought of summers. It is some*
times problematical as to which coni if
meant, Bladum and Frumentvm appearing
to have been used s3nionimously9 thou|^
order, being found too strict, was afterwards mitiglfteA
and B.ed wine was allowed to be sold at 6<f. per 'qiuvb
White wine at M. (Ann. Burton, p. 257*) In the year \XR
an order was sent to the Barons of the Exchequer (vidt
p. 88 of this Work) to account to Regin. de ComhiU fo
ten tuns of wine " de Regula/' at 33^. per tun ; three tm
of wine of Aucerne, at 5 marks per tun ; eighteen tuns of
French wine at SS«. 4<f. per tun ; eight tuns of French wint
at S0«. per tun. French wine reckoned at 2^ per gaUoo;
Red wine at *2d. per gallon.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 17^
not SO in reality. From what can be col- ii-i-vsTmATioNj
•^ ^ OF History.
lected on this subject it, however, seems
that Wheat varied from Qs. to 9^- per quar-
ter ; Flour, from 5s. to 85. ; Barley , from
3s. 4fd. to 5s. per quarter.
A mow of Oats, ^4 13s. 4fd. Oats, 12rf.
per quarter.
A mow of Corn, £6 13s. 4f(L
A sack of Demesne Flour contained 1
quarter.
Prices of divers articles, too numerous for
mention here, may be seen at pp. 153. 156. 157.
i 160. 384. 39I- 412. 424, and elsewhere, in many
places.
Particulars regarding the economy of the
King's household as occur scattered through
various parts of this Work j and the sums of
money paid to artizans and workmen employed
in the King's business, as well as those to every
individual in oflSce, from the Chancellor to
the cook and scullion, are here most minutely
recorded.
s. d.
Of the King's Knights, '' Milites Re-
gis," each received - ' ^ ^ ^^
" Servientes adbinos equos"
each 1 —
'^ Servientes ad tres equos"
each 1 3 —
176 GENERAL INTRODUCTIONT.
Illustrations ^^ ^^
" Servientes equitum ad duos
equos** - - each
sometimes
" Arbalisters," or Crossbow-
men, when on foot, each
from - - . -
" Arbalisters, " with two
horses - - each 1 3 —
with one horse 7j—
" Servientes pedites'* each 3 —
(as appears at page 250. ^^ Sci-
entes quod tat est consuetudo
curie nre quod servientes
pedites non percipiant per
diem nisi tres denar.^*)
Sappers and Miners each 6 —
Sailors . - . each 3 —
The Esterman (Steersman ?) 7 —
Notices of wages due and payments made
to nuncios and messengers, sent with letters or
messages on the affairs of the King, are also very
numerous.
Messengers going from place to place in
England received 3d. per diem.
Persons employed upon missions out of the
country were paid accordingly. One who went
into Gascony had three shillings for his expences;
another, for going into Germany, had ^fiiur
marks.
GENERAI, INTRODUCTION. 177
Some of the foreffoinff entries are curious, Ii-i-ustbations
^ ° OF History.
as showing the intercourse and constant com-
munication then existing between this and
foreign countries, and may at the same time
lead to the elucidation of many points in history
relative to our connexion with the Continent.
Arts. — One or two items relating to the
arts in general will be here sufficient to excite
attention to numerous similar entries with which
the Rolls abound. At page 381 is a writ of
liberate, whereby the Treasurer of the Ex-
chequer was commanded to reimburse Walter,
the goldsmith who made the King's seal, the
five marks of silver used in making the same ;
he is also to have, for the workmanship, what
will content him ; and, at page 383, we find
that the said Waller^ whose surname appears to
have been ** de Ripa^^^ was content to receive
405. for the labour he had bestowed on that
^ork. The beauty and elegance of the seal
here alluded to still excites great admiration, on
account of the perfection of which it is a proof
the graphic art had attained in an age which has
been called barbarous.*
The low rate of remuneration which is said
to have contented Walter, the goldsmith, when
1 An engraving of this seal may be seen in the first
volume of the late edition of Rymer*s Foedera.
N
lyS GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
iLLusTmATio2C8 bfoufi^ht uito coDtTast with modem chaiees f
or HifiTomT. ^ ^ ^
similar works, leads us to reflect on the com*
parative value of labour in that age as op.
posed to the present ; but, in so doing, we must
not forget that money then bore a value, ac-
cording to the best calculations, about fifteen
times greater than it does at present. The shil-
lings of that day were three times the weight
they are now ; and yet a modem shilling would
at that time have bought about five times, ip
much as it will at present ; consequently^ cm
shiUing of the coin of Henry III. would pro- W
duce fifteen times as much as one of William IVJ r
Allowing this mode of computation to be jos^
if the 4f2s. received by Walter de Ripa be
multiplied by the number 3, to make up for the I*
difference in the weight of silver, and thai''
by 5, for the difference in the value of mone^
at the two periods, the whole will amount
to <^31 10s. of modem English money, as tbe
sum charged for such elaborate work, whea
artists were scarce, and no competition goii^
on. The same mode of computation is i^pK-
I Silver was then twenty pence per ounce. Twdfe
ounces, or a pound of silver, constituted a pound sterling*
A pound of silver in weight now makes three pounds ster-
ling ; and consequently as every shilling of that time wsi
in weight the twentieth part of a pound, it must have beat
equal in value to three shillings of this. Matt. Fsibt
p. 208.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 179
>
cable to the other prices of different articles i^i-ustrations
^ OF History.
^mentioned in this Work.
1 . It appears by various entries on the Close
Rolls of the reign of King Henry HI. that this
monarch was a great encourager of the arts,
r(and of painting in particular.
m
^. The Master of the Knights Templars is
i commanded to allow Henry of the Wardrobe,
'tne bearer of these letters, to have for the
Queen's use a certain great book which is in
the house of his order in London, written in
the French dialect, wherein are contained the
exploits of Antioch \ and of the Kings and
.others. — lyth May, 34 Hen. 8. And the fol-
lowing instrument probably explains for what
reason this book was wanted :
Edward of Westminster is commanded to
cause the History of Antioch to be painted
in the King's chamber in the Tower of London,
as Thomas Espemir shall direct him, and the
Xing will allow him the cost incurred therein*
— 5th June, 35 Henry 3.
^ Joseph of Exeter, called Josephus Lscanus, a Latin
poet of some note, wrote an heroic poem called the War of
Antioch, or the Third Crusade under King Richard. It
was probably a French translation of this poem that is here
alluded to.
N 2
180 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations ^\q SubieCt of the HistorV of Alltioch ap-
op History. *^ •' ^ ^ *
pears to have been a favourite one with King
Henry, for in the twenty-first year of his reign
he ordered the History of Antioch, with King
Richard's single combat, to be painted in a
chamber at his palace of Clarendon.
The King, in presence of Master William
the painter, a monk of Westminster, lately at
Winchester, contrived and gave orders for a
certain picture to be made at Westminster, in
the wardrobe where he was accustomed to wash
his face, representing the King who was rescued
by his dogs from the seditions which were plotted
against that King by his subjects ; respecting
which same picture the King addressed other
letters to you, Edward of Westminster ; and the
King commands Philip Luvel his treasurer, and
the aforesaid Edward of Westminster, to cause
the same Master William to have his costs and
charges for painting the aforesaid picture, with-
out delay ; and when he shall know the cost, he
will give them a writ of Liberate therefor.
Witness the King at Winchester, on the SOA
June. — 40 Hen. 3.
Otho the goldsmith is commanded, with-
out delay, to put aside the picture which was
begun to be painted in the King's great chamber
at Westminster, beneath the large historical
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.^ 181
paintinff of the same chamber, with the scrolls illustrations
^ ^ . OP History.
containing the figures and representations of
lions, birds, and other beasts, and to paint it
green, after the fashion of a curtain or hang-
ing, so that the effect of the great history may
be kept unimpaired. Witness the King at
Windsor, on 24th August — 34 Hen. 3. m. 7.
Edward of Westminster is commanded to
cause effigies of the apostles to be painted round
St. Stephen's Chapel, and the judgment-day on
the western side ; and in like manner to cause
the figure of the blessed Virgin Mary to be
painted on a tablet ; so that these may be ready
at the King's coming here. Witness the King
at Bridgwater, — 14th August, 34 Hen. 3.
Edward of Westminster is commanded to
order a banner to be made of white silk, and in
the centre of the banner there is to be a repre-
sentation of the crucifixion, with the efiigies of
the blessed Mary and St. John, embroidered in
orfraies, and on the top a star and a new moon
crescent ; and the said banner is to be got
ready by Easter. Also to search for a large
bough, if it can be procured, for the shrine of
St. Edward. — 11th March. Glaus. 35 Hen. 3.
m. 17.
Edward Fitz Otho is commanded to order
a bell to be made out of the metal which is
N 3
182 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
illcotrations in hig custodv, larffer than those which were
or HiSTOKT. "^ ^
made under his direction the year hefore ; and
if that metal he not sufficient to make it, to huj
in London or elsewhere as much metal as shall
be wanting, because the King does not wish any
of the old bells to be broken up on account of
any deficiency of metal ; and he is also to take
care that the bell be completed before St Ed-
ward's day. — Claus. 34 Hen. 3. m. 8.
Edward of Westminster is again can-
manded to get a bell made by the advice of
the founder, which, though not so large as the
great bell at Westminster, may nevertheleas cor-
respond therewith in tone. Also to have s
large cross placed in the nave of the church
at Westminster, and to buy two angels, repre-
senting the cherubim, to stand on each side of
the cross. — Claus. 35 Hen. 3. m. 19-
Miscellanea. — Pensions and Presents to
the Nurses of the Royal Family. — The King
to his Barons of the Exchequer, greeting*
Know ye that we have granted to William Mer-
chant, falconer, the Rent of £J in Chippehaai,
which Hodierna, the nurse of the lord King
Richard our uncle, had, to support himself
during our pleasure ; and therefore we conmiand
you to allow the same William so to have that
rent ^^f ^, charged in the account of the
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 183
sheriff of Wiltshire. — 26th April, 4 Hen. 3. I"U8tration<
■^ OP History.
JPage4}l6b. A similar order to the sheriff of
Wiltshire.
The King to the sheriff of Gloucester,
greeting. We order you, as we have elsewhere
ordered you, without let or difficulty, to pay to
our beloved Elena, our nurse, the alms which
the lord King John our father gave to her, to be
received out of your county, to wit, two-pence a
day ; and render to her Mdthout delay the
arrears thereof which are due to her, namely,
for three terms ; and you shall have it accounted
to you at the Exchequer. — 24th January,
2 Henry 3. Page 349.
The King to his barons of the Exchequer^
greeting. We command you, upon inspection
of our rolls of our Exchequer, to allow Eva, the
nurse of Richard our brother, to have the pay-
ments which you shall find by the inrolment that
she had by the hands of the sheriffs of Surrey*
Hertford, and London, by gift of the lord King
John our father, before the war raised between
the aforesaid King John our father and his
barons of England ; and likewise to pay her the
arrears which are due to her from the day on
which peace was concluded between us and
Louis.— 26th March, 2 Hen. 3. Page 356.
N 4
184 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
OF HiSTOKT.
Illustrations xhe mavor and recves of Winchester are
commanded to cause Christiana de Rumes»
nurse to the King's daughter Joane, to have
every day two-pence to support herself. —
9th Aug. 15 John. Tage 150.
The King to his barons of the Exchequer,
greeting. Know ye that we have given to
Margaret, the nurse of Isabella our sister, one
penny a day, to be received of our alms by the
hands of the sheriff of Hereford, as Roesia la
Custurere, deceased, was accustomed to receive
it by the hands of the same sheriff; and there-
fore we command you to allow the aforesaid
Margaret to have the same alms of one penny
a day, as is aforesaid. — 1 9th June, 3 Hen. 3.
Page 393.
The keepers of the King's wines at
Waltham are commanded to allow Alice, the
nurse of Edward the King's son, to have half a
cask of wine out of the King's wines which are
in their custody, as a presient from the King.
Witness the King at Winchester, on the 12th July.
—34 Henry 3.
Treatment of Prisoners. — The constable
of Bristol is commanded to mitigate the duresse
of Hugh Poinz, who is under his custody, still
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 185
taking care that his guard be good; and to ili-ustrations
° ^ ^ ^ o ' OP History.
allow his friends to bring him what succour
they please in food and clothing, so that he
be safely guarded. Witness the King at Ayles-
bury.— 1 6th Sept., 18 John. Fage 288.
The King to the sheriff of Oxford, greet-
ing. We order you to guard safely Gilbert de
Stanford, who is in our prison, so that he incur
no risk of his life ; and allow Amicia, the wife
of the same Gilbert, to have, without trouble,
his land of Ricot, with its appurtenances, to
support herself and her children therewith whilst
the said Gilbert is in our prison. Witness
Hubert de Burgh, the Justiciary, at Westminster.
—23d July, 3 Hen. 3. Page 397-
Prisoners allowed to go out of custody
to practice fencing, preparatory to a wager of
battle*
The King to the sheriff of Lincoln, greet-
ing. We order you, that if Walter de Stiveton,
taken and imprisoned at the Tower of London
for the death of William de Tillebroc, where-
upon duel is waged between the same Walter
and Roger de Chelvestun, who offers him chal-
lenge on this occasion, shall find you four and
twenty good and lawful men of your county,
who will undertake to have him before our
justices at Westminster, in eight days of
186 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations St. Michael, to fight that duel witb him, then]
OF History. n ^
to acx:ept for this such four and twenty good
and lawful men, and signify the same by your
letters to the constable of the Tower of Ixm
don, making known to him their names; and
we have commanded him, upon your signifying
this to him, to deliver from prison the aforesaid
Walter on the bail of the aforesaid lawful men,
in manner aforesaid. And the said constable is
commanded, upon receipt of the sheriflPs in-
structions by letter, informing him of his having
done as has been said, immediately to deliver
the aforesaid Walter from prison in the manner
prescribed; and in the meantime to keep the
same Walter in free prison, so that he may
live on his own resources, and learn to fence.
—25th July, 4 Hen. 3. Page 424. I
The King to the constable of Winchester,
&c. We command you to permit Sir Jordan
de Bianney, knight, whom you have in our
prison, to go out of custody twice a day, or
oftener, to fence, and in his place retain in
prison Oliver de Vaux until his return ; and 1
when he returns then permit the same Oliver to ■
depart and go where he will ; and as you love
all you possess, and your own body, do yoo
see that the same Jordan be safely kept. Wit-
ness ourself at Brockenborough. — 22d July,
9 John. Page 88.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 187
Erection qfGibbets.^-^HenTy, by the grace ^^^"history^^
of God, &c., to the sheriff of Middlesex,
greeting. We order you to cause to be made,
without any delay, in the place where the
gallows were formerly erected, that is to say,
at the Elms, (ad Ulmellos,) two good gibbets
of strong and excellent timber, for hanging
robbers and other malefactors ; and the cost
which you may incur for this shall be accounted
to you, by the view and testimony of lawful
men, at the Exchequer. Witness Hubert de
Burgh, our Justiciary, at St. Albans. — 22d May,
4 Hen. 3. Page 419.
Political Economy. — The King to Thomas
Fitz Anthony, greeting. We command you
not to suffer the men of Waterford, or any
other persons of our dominion, to prevent
Geoffry de Campvill, or our other barons of
England, from bringing freely and without let
into England their stock as well of com as
other things, for the improvement of our realm
of England.— 25th April, 2 Hen. 3. Page 359.
Articles ordered by the King. — The King
to Hubert de Burgh, &c. We command you
to send to us immediately, upon the sight of
these letters, of sulphur, of tallow, of gum, and
of pitch, each ten pounds, and four pounds of
quicksilver ; and if we stand in need of more
188 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
iLLusTRATioNB ^q providc US thcrcwith. Witness ourself at
OP History. ^
Roche-aux-Moines. — 23d July, l6th John.
Page 167.
Secrecy observed in moving the King^s trea-
sure. — The sheriff of Devon is ordered to find
a good and secure ship for the King's messen-
gers, whom he is sending to Poictou, to convey
his treasure thither, and to take care that such
ship be the first that goes, lest rumours be
divulged of the King's treasure before it arrives
in Poictou ; and the cost will be allowed at
the Exchequer. — 25th July, 9 John. And on
the 30th of July following the same sheriff is
ordered to procure such ship at the lowest
possible price. Page 89.
Persecution of the Jews. — The sheriff of
Norfolk and Suffolk is commanded to make
proclamation in the city of Norwich, and in
all the good towns of those counties, that no
christian woman shall henceforth serve the Jews
in nursing their young children, or in any other
oflice. Witness the King at Westminster,—
20th Nov. 19 Hen. 3.
Attendance on the Queen at dinner.-^'The
King to Ralph de Ralegh and GeoflBy de
Martigny. We send to you the two sons of
Richard de Umframville, namely, Odinell and
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 189
Robert, and command you to let them wait daUy II'I-^strations
•^ •'op History.
before the Queen at dinner. But their pre-
ceptor is not to come before the Queen. Let
them also sleep at night in the hall, and see
that they be honourably attended to. Witness
the King at Durham. — 3d Sept. 14 John.
A.D.1212. Page US.
Costly Drinks prepared for the King. — ^The
keepers of the King's wines at Winchester are
commanded to deliver to Robert de Monte
Passalano any quantity and quality of wine that
he may choose to have, to make therewith costly
and delicate drinks for the King. Witness the
King at Ludgershall. — 26th Nov. 34 Hen. 3.
Some of the entries relative to the build-
ing and repairing of the King's palaces, castles,
and houses, are extremely curious. In one, at
page 52, Ralph de Neville is there ordered to
have the King's kitchen at Clarendon covered
with shingles ^ and the King's houses there to
1 Cindula in orig., for Scindula or Scandula, ' a lath or
shingle.* <* Scindula est latus asser quo domus cooperitur.*'
Ducange* '* Tenuis lamina ex ligno fissili ad varios usus^ et
praesertim ad tecta domorum, a scandendoy quia in tectis ita
disponuntur scandulae ut alia aliam scandal. Sunt qui putant
non a scandendo, sed a scindendo duci, et scindula scribi
jubent.'* FacciolcUi* See also An Account of a survey of
the manor and forest of Clarendon, 1 Ed. I. 127% in the
Archaeologia, vol. xxv.
190 GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
Illustrations be properly repaired ; also to procure two new
kitchens to be built for cooking the King's
dinner^ one at Marlborough^ and another at
Ludgershall ; and in each kitchen to cause a
furnace to be erected large enoitgh to cook two
or three oa^en.
Godfrey de Lyston, the keeper of the
King's forest of Windsor, is commanded to give
from out of that forest to Gilbert the King's
carpenter at Windsor, as much timber as he
will require to repair the hall and chambers
in the upper castle of Windsor, where the
King's children were nursed. — 22d Jan.,
40 Hen. 3.
At page 95 is an entry which touches upon
a domestic custom, then, and long afterwards,
practised in this country. The Barons of the
Exchequer are ordered to account with Robert
de Leveland for what he had expended in
straWy and for the laymgjftne sand in the Sjng's
houses at Westminster, when the King dept
there on the Friday \ Saturday, and Sunday
next before the feast of All Saints, in the ninth
year of his reign.
1 The King was at Westminster on the 26th, 27th, and
28th of October 1207, the days here mentioned
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 191
The Editor cannot close this Introduction
thout acknowledging with thanks the zeal
d talent evinced by His Majesty's Printers
iring the progress of this Work through the
•ess.
Thomas Duffus Hardy.
KEcoRn Office Tower,
18th April 1833.
London : Printed by Gborob Eyre and Andrew Spottibwoode,
Printers to the King's most Excellent Majesty. 1833.
2044 010 551 481
This book should be returned to
the Library on or before the last date
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