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THE TRIAL BY COMBAT
OF
HENRY DE ESSEX AND
ROBERT DE MONTFORT
AT
READING ABBEY.
By the same Author :
" A History of Reading Abbey."
" The Rise and Fall of Reading Abbey."
" The First and Last Abbots of Reading."
" Hugh II., Eighth Abbot of Reading."
" Sumer is icumen in."
" The Marriage of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster
at Reading Abbey."
' The Shrine of St. James at Reading Abbey."
' King Henry Beauclerc and Reading Abbey."
" A Guide to Reading Abbey."
Etc., etc.
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Hbe Sdal b£ Combat
of
Ifoeni'E oe lEssey anb
IRobert be /Ihontfoct
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By
JAMIESON B. HURRY, M.A., M.D.
With Frontispiece. A"
LON7DON: ELLIOT STOCK
7 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G.
1919
R
l\
ti
Gbis IDolume
WAS PUBLISHED IN CONNECTION
WITH THE PRESENTATION TO THE
READING ART GALLERY OF A
PICTURE ENTITLED " THE TRIAL
BY COMBAT OF HENRY DE ESSEX
AND ROBERT DE MONTFORT AT
READING ABBEY, A.D. 1163."
1
ICbe
trial by combat of Henry de Essex and Robert
de Montfort, which Jocelin of Brakelond has re-
corded in his " Chronicle " and which Carlyle has
immortalised in " Past and Present," forms a
dramatic incident in the annals of the " noble and royal
monastery of Reading," and will be held in perpetual remem-
brance by those who are interested in that famous home of
religion and learning.
This trial appeals also to a larger public, since it illustrates
an extraordinary development in the administration of justice
in the Middle Ages, and thus possesses an importance for the
sociologist, the historian and the jurist.
Lastly, the fate of Henry de Essex shows how conscience
makes cowards of us all, and appeals to all persons and ages ;
it points a moral and adorns a tale.
J.B.H.
Contents.
PAGE
The Prologue ... ... ... ... 5
I . Henry de Essex ... ... ... ... 7
II. Robert de Montfort n
III. The Battle of Coleshill 13
IV. Ordeals 15
V. The Trial by Combat ... 18
VI. The Monk at Reading Abbey ... ... ... 23
The Epilogue ... ... ... ... 25
Notes ... ... ... ... ... ... 27
Index ... ... ... ... ... ... 30
^frontispiece.
The Trial by Combat.
1
be
1
combatants form the dramatis personce of the
famous " trial by combat " which forms the subject
of this Essay. The scanty details of their history
that have survived may be gathered together in brief
biographical sketches.
Henry de Essex was a man " held in high esteem amongst
the great men of the realm, a man of much account, of noble
birth, conspicuous by deeds of arms, the King's standard-
bearer, and feared by all on account of his power." Such is
the description given by Jocelin of Brakelond in his famous
" Chronicle." '
The founder of the family of de Essex was Robert
Fitz-Wimark — a Norman noble who settled in England in the
days of Edward the Confessor. He was a great favourite of
the King, who died supported in his arms, in the presence of
the Queen " the Lady Eadgyth," Dux Haraldus (afterwards
King Harold) and Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury, a
group which appears in the Bayeux Tapestry.2 His common
title was Robert the Staller (Regalis Palatii Stabilitor), and he
held the office of Sheriff of Essex.
Just before the battle of Hastings Robert Fitz-Wimark
despatched a message to William of Normandy, urging the
folly of risking a pitched battle with Harold who was advancing
to meet him at the head of 100,000 men. Had the advice of
Robert Fitz-Wimark been followed the whole history of
England might have been changed.
At the death of Robert, his son Sweyne assumed the
affix " de Essex," and is so styled again and again in the Essex
Domesday. Sweyne was a great landowner and according to
Domesday held fifty-five lordships in Essex, apart from
properties in Suffolk and Hants. He built the castle of
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY
Rayleigh, called in Domesday Riganea? and was succeeded by
his son Robert de Essex who founded Prittlewell Priory, near
Southend.
Henry de Essex, son and heir of Robert de Essex, survived
him as Baron of Rayleigh.4 He was a warden of the Cinque
Ports and restored Saltwood Castle near Hythe, an ancient
edifice stated to be of Roman origin.5 His mother, named
Gunnor, a Bigod by birth, survived her husband. Henry de
Essex is represented to-day by the Baroness Berners.
Henry de Essex appears in history as a witness of the
Charter of King Stephen (c. A.D. 1140), by which Geoffrey
of Mandeville was created first Earl of Essex. Subsequently
he witnessed several other Charters of King Stephen, as well
as some of those granted by the Empress Maud to the Earls
of Oxford and of Essex.6
In 1154 he was appointed to the office of Royal Constable
or Constabularius Regis, a position of great dignity in the
time of Henry I. and his successors ; the Constable was
practically a quartermaster-general of the Court and of the
army,7 and generally found with the garrison in the castle or
with the army in the field.8
Essex also held the important post of Royal Standard-
Bearer to King Henry II. — a post apparently associated with
that of Royal Constable.
In 1156 Essex was entrusted with important judicial
duties, while the King was absent on the Continent, and
England was left to the management of Earl Robert of
Leicester and Richard of Lucy, the judiciars. At this period
a general visitation of the country by itinerant justices was
introduced, and Essex heard pleas in eight of the Southern
Counties, being accompanied in the case of two counties
(Essex and Kent) by the Chancellor, Thomas Becket, who
for the first time appeared in the character of a judge.9
When King Henry undertook his expedition into North
Wales in 1 157, Essex accompanied the King, and it was during
this expedition that took place the dramatic incident at the
HENRY D E ESSEX
Battle of Coleshill, so pregnant with his future destiny. The
details of this incident will be dealt with in Section III.
In the following year he again accompanied his sovereign
to France and rendered valuable services during the quarrels
with the King of France, especially in connection with the
expedition against the city of Toulouse, the capture of which
would have extended Henry's dominions to the Mediterranean
and the Rhone. The city was defended both by the Count
of St. Gilles and by his brother-in-law King Louis VII. of
France.
King Henry at first contemplated laying siege to the city
and was strongly urged in this direction by his Chancellor
Thomas and his officers, who pointed out what a splendid
opportunity there was of at one blow capturing the city as
well as King Louis, Count Raymond Berengar IV. of Bar-
celona and all their troops. King Henry, however, feeling
that such an act would be a breach of the obligations and
fealty which he owed to Louis as his suzerain, turned a deaf
ear to all appeals, and, accompanied by the King of Scots and
all his host, retreated towards his own dominions.
Although Toulouse was abandoned, Henry captured
most of the neighbouring country, and would have retained
his conquests but for his great barons, who refused to under-
take the task of protecting these territories against Raymond
and Louis unless the King himself remained to support them.
Only two faithful ministers accepted the duty : Thomas the
Chancellor and Henry de Essex, the Constable, who rendered
distinguished service. Their head-quarters were fixed at
Cahors whence they put down every attempt at rising against
Henry II. 's authority.
Unhappily the great and proud Henry of Essex had a
dark side to his nature, which Carlyle has described in his
inimitable style :
" Henry Earl of Essex, Standard-bearer of England,
had high places and emoluments ; had a haughty high soul,
yet with various flaws, or rather with one many-branched
flaw and crack, running through the texture of it. For
example, did he not treat Gilbert de Cereville in the most
shocking manner ? He cast Gilbert into prison ; and,
with chains and slow torments, wore the life out of him
there. And Gilbert's crime was understood to be only that
of innocent Joseph : the Lady Essex wras a Potiphar's Wife,
and had accused poor Gilbert ! Other cracks, and branches
of that widespread flaw in the Standard-bearer's soul we
could point out : but indeed the main stem and trunk of all
is too visible in this, That he had no right reverence for
the Heavenly in Man, — that far from showing due reverence
to St. Edmund, he did not even show him common justice.
While others in the Eastern Counties were adorning and
enlarging with rich gifts St. Edmund's resting-place, which
had become a city of refuge for many things, this Earl of
Essex flatly defrauded him, by violence or quirk of law, of
five shillings yearly, and converted said sum to his own
poor uses ! Nay, in another case of litigation, the unjust
Standard-bearer, for his own profit, asserting that the cause
belonged not to St. Edmund's Court, but to his in Lailand
Hundred, ' involved us in travellings and innumerable
expenses, vexing the servants of St. Edmund for a long
tract of time.' In short, he is without reverence for the
Heavenly, this Standard-bearer ; reveres only the Earthly,
Gold-coined ; and has a most morbid lamentable flaw in
the texture of him. It cannot come to good." I0
Little is known in regard to Essex's family. He appears
to have left two sons, Henry and Hugh.11 The elder of these,
Henry of Essex, Junior, was a witness to a Charter granted
c. 1156 by Henry II. to Richard Talbot of some land in the
Manor of Linton in Herefordshire. Both of these sons were
knights.
10
F
/ /
11
IRobert 6e /Ifcontfort.
EW biographical details are known of the second
combatant, Robejt de Montfort, a kinsman of Henry
de Essex and his equal in birth and power. Dugdale
speaks of him as " an eminent nobleman."
Robert de Montfort was descended from the Hugh de
Montfort who accompanied William the Conqueror over
from Normandy and was present at the Battle of Hastings.
His pedigree is given by Dugdale, although considerable
doubt attaches to some of the entries.12
In the first year of Henry II. 's reign, he took his uncle
Waleran, the Earl of Mellent, at a conference held near
Bernay. The next recorded event appears to be the accusa-
tion of treachery brought against Henry de Essex at the Battle
of Coleshill. The details of the judicial duel resulting from
this charge are given in Section V.
Robert de Montfort also gave to the monks of Thorney the
moiety of the Church of Wenge in the County of Rutland, and
to the monks of Bermondsey the tithes of Langfort, Bodeny,
Wikes and Nacheton. He also appears as a witness to a
Charter given either in February or March 1158 by Henry II.
at Woodstock, conferring a barony on William Malduit.13
Robert de Montfort next appears in history as taking part
in the wars of 1173 between King Henry and Raymond of
Toulouse aided by the younger Henry.
In the 1 2th century, there were two famous houses in
France bearing the name of Montfort, both of them destined
to figure in the annals of English history. The more famous
of the two was that of Almeric and Bertrada : the other with
which we are more closely concerned was the house of
Montfort on the Risle, represented by Robert de Montfort.14
ii
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY
Both these houses were conspicuous in the earlier risings of
the feudal baronage against the repressing policy of William
and Henry I. Both houses were represented among the
partizans of the young King against Henry II. in 1173,
Robert de Montfort being amongst them.
Robert de Montfort's sister Adeline became the wife
of Robert de Vere (as recorded in the Pipe Roll of 1130),
who thus became possessed of the honour of Haughley
(" Hagenet "), and with it the office of Constable, in which
capacity Robert de Vere figures among the witnesses to
Stephen's Charter of Liberties in 1136. The same office of
Constable was subsequently held by Henry de Essex, and
Round suggests that possibly the accusation of treason later
on was partly due to a grudge on the part of the descendant
of the dispossessed line against the existing possessor of the
fief.15
12
r ' r
III
ttbe Battle of (lolesbill.
1
quarrel between Henry of Essex and Robert of
Montfort originated in a famous incident which
occurred during Henry II.'s first Welsh war, i.e.
A.D. 1157. The English King had for some years
been seeking an excuse for interfering in Welsh affairs and
eventually found his opportunity in the domestic quarrels of
the Welsh princes. Owen Gwyneth, prince of North Wales,
had confiscated the estates of his brother Cadwallader and
banished him from the country. Thereupon Cadwallader
took refuge at the English Court and implored Henry's
assistance in the recovery of his lands. Apart from such
persuasion Henry was tempted into war both by a desire for
glory and by the hope of recovering territories which had
formerly been tributary to England.
Accordingly a Council was held at Northampton in
July, at which orders were issued for an expedition into North
Wales. The force employed was the usual feudal levy, but
instead of calling out the whole body of knights to serve their
legal term of forty days, Henry required every two knights
throughout England to join in equipping a third — no doubt
for a threefold term of service. By this expedient he obtained
a force sufficient for his purpose, and guarded against the risk
of its breaking up before the completion of its task.
The invasion of Wales was both by land and sea. The
English forces assembled near Chester, on Saltney Marsh,
and were joined by Madoc Ap Meredith, prince of Powys,
while the Welsh forces under Gwyneth with his three sons
were entrenched at Basingwerk. The King, with his youthful
daring, set off at once by way of the sea coast, hoping to surprise
the Welsh. But Owen's sons were on the watch and suddenly
attacked the foe in the narrow passage of Coleshille,16 where
they had secretly hidden a powerful ambuscade. The
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY
English, entangled in the woody, marshy ground, were easily
routed by the nimble light-armed Welsh. Suddenly a cry was
heard " The King is slain," as a result of which Henry of
Essex, the hereditary Standard-bearer of England, dropped
the Royal Standard and fled in terror.17 King Henry, how-
ever, soon showed himself alive, rallied his troops and cut his
way through the ambush with such vigour that Owen judged
it prudent to withdraw from Basingwerk, and seek a safer
retreat amongst the hills round Snowdon.
Henry pushed on to Rhuddlan, and there fortified the
castle. Meanwhile a great fleet under the command of Madoc
Ap Meredith had sailed for Anglesey, where a few troops
were landed, who ravaged the country and even plundered
the churches. Indeed so outrageous was their conduct that
the incensed islanders combined to attack the invaders as
they were returning to their ships overloaded with spoils, and
cut them to pieces.
The troops that had remained on board were so terrified
at the fate of their comrades that they forthwith sailed back to
Chester, only to hear on their arrival that the war was over.
Owen, afraid of being hemmed in between the English army
and the fleet, had sued for peace, reinstated his banished
brother, done homage to King Henry, and given hostages for
his future loyalty. As the South Wales princes were all
vassals of North Wales, Owen's submission was equivalent
to a formal acknowledgment of Henry's rights as lord
paramount over the whole country, and the King was techni-
cally justified in boasting that he had brought the whole of
Wales under his jurisdiction.
Essex appears to have been acquitted by his Sovereign of
dishonourable conduct, since he was intrusted with an
important command in the subsequent expedition against
Toulouse.18
IP
©rbeals.
BY the ordeal or Dei judiciitm was meant in the Middle
Ages a miraculous decision as to the justice or
otherwise of an accusation or a claim, such ordeals,
in which the most solemn rites of religion were
associated with the public administration of justice, being
generally accepted as conclusive evidence of guilt or innocence.
In a people just emerging from ignorance and barbarism,
the ordinary rules of evidence as accepted to-day were too
complex to be appreciated, even if the magistrates possessed
the necessary power of discrimination and execution. Some
shorter and simpler process was required ; especially was
some sign that appealed to the senses likely to carry con-
viction. Still better if such sign indicated in the popular
imagination the interference of the Deity. What better
evidence indeed could be desired as to the truth or otherwise
of an accusation? How could an omniscient Deity, without
whose knowledge not even a sparrow falls to the ground,
remain indifferent if solemnly invoked by his own priests and
worshippers !
Thus in course of time such ordeals became recognised
by the legislature and regulated with minute exactitude.
The accuser first of all swore to the truth of the charge, while
the accused attested his innocence by oath. Then followed
the necessary preparations for the ordeal. These included
fasting, prayer, priestly adjuration and the administration of
the Holy Communion with the words " Corpus hoc et sanguis
Domini nostri Jhesu Christi sit tibi ad probationem hodie,"
may this body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ prove thee
innocent or guilty this day.10
In Anglo-Saxon times the ordeal took one of four forms :
i. The accused was required to eat the corsnet or cake
of barley bread, while the priest prayed that, if guilty, the
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY
accused might tremble and look pale, and that, when he at-
tempted to chew, his jaws might be fixed and the bread ejected
from his mouth.
2. In the ordeal of immersion the accused was stripped
of his clothes, and his hands tied crosswise to his feet. Then
a cord was fastened round his waist, and he was slowly lowered
into a pool. If he sank, he was pronounced innocent ; if he
had the misfortune to float, his guilt was clear and he was
handed over to justice.
3. For the ordeal of hot water a fire was kindled under a
cauldron of water in a remote part of the church, and a stone
or piece of iron placed at the bottom. Meanwhile the priest
chanted the Litany. As soon as the water reached boiling
point the accused plunged his naked arm into the cauldron
and brought out the stone or iron. The arm was immediately
wrapped in a clean cloth and sealed with the seal of the
church. After three days the seal was broken and the bandage
unwound ; if the skin had perfectly healed, the accused was
adjudged innocent.
4. For the ordeal by hot iron an iron weighing from one
to three pounds was placed on hot coals just as Mass was
begun. At the last collect the iron was removed from the
fire, when the accused seized it in his hand, carried it for a
measured distance equal to nine of his own feet and threw it
down. The treatment of the burn and the indications of
guilt or innocence were the same as in the ordeal by hot water.
After the Norman Conquest a fifth form of ordeal was
introduced which had hitherto been unknown to the Anglo-
Saxons, viz. the ordeal of the judicial duel or trial by combat.
By William the Conqueror's legislation all these forms
of ordeal appear to have been recognised. The old law of
England retained its primary place, while Norman law was
introduced for exceptional cases, and at first for the benefit
of Frenchmen only. But by degrees the trial by battle became
fashionable,20 even in cases where only Englishmen were
concerned, and all the original Norman minutiae were re-
tained. This form of ordeal embodied some of the features
16
ORDEALS
of chivalry and doubtless appealed to a people of a warlike
spirit more than did the earlier ordeals so closely associated
with priestcraft.
By the middle of the twelfth century the trial by battle
had become the fashionable form of ordeal, and was the one
adopted to settle the dispute between Henry of Essex and
Robert of Montfort. For the defeated there was no appeal
from what was regarded as judicium Dei. Vae victo.
We may well feel amazed at the folly of our ancestors in
pronouncing a man guilty unless cleared by a miracle, and in
expecting that the laws of Nature would be suspended by
Providence in order to save an innocent man. Such combats
declared no impartial judgment but the might of the strongest,
and often ended in a way clearly contrary to justice. Never-
theless such ordeals were sanctioned and approved both by
the Crown, the Church and the people. To-day we know
better than to believe that Heaven unquestionably gives
victory to the innocent party ; else the martyrs of the Church
would be proved guilty by their death. Later on indeed
these ancient ordeals were condemned by the Church, and
gradually went out of use, while the trial by battle lived on,
surviving in the Statute Book long after it had been forgotten
in practice, till it was formally abolished in the year 1819.
Y>
ZIbe TErial b Combat.
NOT far from the River Gate of the "Royal and
Noble Monastery of Reading " is situate an eyot
bathed by the " silver streaming Thames,"
amongst green pastures dotted with sheep and
cattle, and sparkling with cowslips, kingcups and buttercups.21
To the North and the South rise gentle hills enclosing the
valley of the Thames and formerly fringed with forests
stretching for many miles up and down the river. Above this
eyot towered the massive walls of King Henry Beauclerc's
foundation, which kept watch and ward over the village of
Radingia nestling under its shadow. There dwelt the brethren
whom William of Malmesbury eulogizes as " a noble pattern
of holiness and an example of unwearied and delightful
hospitality." Over its portals hovered the Angel of Mercy
administering relief from a never failing treasury to the poor,
the sick, the pilgrim, the leper. Ever within the sacred
aisles rose the glorious service of praise to the Almighty and
of intercession for the sins of mankind . This eyot has won
an immortal place in history as the scene of a duel a entrance.
The charge of treason which Robert of Montfort brought
against Henry of Essex referred to the incident during the
battle of Coleshill, which has already been described. King
Henry took no notice of the alleged act of treachery at the time,
apparently attributing it to sudden terror and not to wilful
or criminal misconduct. But so odious an accusation, in-
volving a capital crime, proved too serious to be permanently
overlooked, and as each party accused the other, King Henry
decreed that the truth must be elucidated by a trial by combat.
On March 31, 1163, King Henry presided over the Curia
Regis held at Windsor at which Robert of Montfort formally
appealed Henry of Essex of treachery at the battle of Coleshill
six years before. In the quaint phraseology of the period
18
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT
hoc offert probare versus eum per corpus suum, " he offers to
prove the same by his own body." Essex on the other hand
protested his innocence, and hoc offert defender e per corpus
suum, " he offers to rebut the charge by his own body."
Whereupon consideratum est quod duellum sit inter eos et
Henricus del vadium defendendi se et Robertus probandi, " it
was decided that there should be a duel between them, and
that Henry would give a pledge that he would defend himself
and that Robert would prove his charge." Veniant tali
die armati, " let them come armed on such a day." 22
Gloves were then exchanged as a symbol of plighted
faith and of the challenge and acceptance, while the parties
found " wads " or pledges, i.e. neighbours became bail for
their due appearance. This giving of "wads" was described
as vadiare bellum, " to wage battle," whence is derived the
name " wager of battcl " by which the judicial combat was
known to English law.23
The King appointed that the trial by battle should take
place on April 8th at Reading, to which town he himself pro-
ceeded, accompanied by the great nobles of the realm.
From all points of the compass flock crowds of sightseers.
Some would be lodged at the Hospitium of St. John, some in
the humble cottages of Radingia ; others doubtless brought
tents and pitched them under the willows bordering the
Thames.
Our authority for the duel is the story told by Essex
himself in the Abbey of Reading to Abbot Samson of St.
Edmundsbury, who doubtless rejoiced in such a tribute to the
glorious King and martyr Edmund.
Carlyle retells the tale in a stirring passage and shews
how the unjust Standard-Bearer becomes a lamed soul which
cannot fight.
" And it came to pass, while Robert de Montfort
thundered on him manfully with hard and frequent strokes,
and a valiant beginning promised the fruit of victory, Henry
of Essex, rather giving way, glanced round on all sides ;
and lo, at the rim of the horizon, on the confines of the
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY
River and land, he discerned the glorious King and Martyr
Edmund, in shining armour, and as if hovering in the air ;
looking towards him with severe countenance, nodding his
head with a mien and motion of austere anger. At St.
Edmund's hand there stood also another Knight, Gilbert
de Cereville, whose armour was not so splendid, whose
stature was less gigantic ; casting vengeful looks at him.
This he seeing with his eyes, remembered that old crime
brings new shame. And now wholly desperate, and chang-
ing reason into violence, he took the part of one blindly
attacking, not skilfully defending. Who w^hile he struck
fiercely was more fiercely struck ; and so, in short, fell
down vanquished, and it was thought slain. As he lay
there for dead, his kinsmen, Magnates of England, be-
sought the King, that the Monks of Reading might have
leave to bury him."24
Under the care of the monks he recovered and eventually
joined that famous community of brethren.
As a result of his defeat Henry "of Essex was outlawed
and his great fief was added to the Crown demesne.25
Let us attempt to reconstitute the scene of this historic
duel, as represented in Mr. Harry Morley's picture now
hanging in the public Art Gallery at Reading.
The frontispiece to this booklet, reproduced from the
picture, gives a general impression of the scene, although
owing to the absence of colour much of the vividness of
the original is lost. Imagine then an eyot in the Thames,
long, low and narrow, separated from either bank by
enough water to make any effort by partisans to interrupt
the combat difficult, nay impossible, without boats or barges.
All craft of any size would be secured by the King and Abbot,
and presumably moored alongside the island under armed
guard.
A barrier surrounds the lists, for the occasion was suffi-
ciently near the days of the Norse " holmgang n and
" enhazelled fields " of battle to have been influenced by
early traditions. Commanding the lists are two daises at the
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT
western end, the taller one for the King, the lower for the
Abbot, screened from the weather by '' baudekins " and
surrounded by royal guards.
King Henry II. is seated on his dais, with the nobles of
his court on his left. To his right sits Roger, Abbot of Reading,
surrounded by monks.
In the sky above are seen St. Edmund with starved
Gilbert de Cereville by his side. At a table immediately in
front of the King sits the clerk of the court, while just behind
him are two sergeants of the King armed with billhooks,
acting as a body-guard. Near to the clerk of the court is seen
the priest ready to assist the defeated combatant. Beyond
the group of monks is the tent of Montfort with a crowd of
supporters, while on the left of the picture and in the fore-
ground are the tent and supporters of Essex. Beyond the
river in the distant background rises the Abbey church, with
a huge central tower and west front.
Within the lists are seen the two combatants : Henry de
Essex, wounded and defeated, has fallen to the ground,
having lost both shield and sword, while his adversary Robert
de Montfort stands lost in wonder at the unexpected turn of
events.
At judicial duels principals almost certainly fought on foot ;
the only record makes no allusion to horses, while the site in
the Thames makes it difficult to believe that horses were used.
The genius of our race had already begun to assert itself, and
throughout the whole of the Middle Ages Englishmen at almost
every battle of importance fought on foot.
These combats of men armed cap-a-pie were tests of
endurance and of hardihood. Thus in Mallory's Morte
a" Arthur knights butt one another like rams, and wrestle and
thump until one or other is thrown. Such contests between
well armed and well matched combatants might last for hours,
and at times men died of exhaustion with scarcely a wound.
So long as a combatant kept his temper down and his
shield up there was little chance of injury, the conical steel
cap, well wadded with wash leather, deadening the blows
above the shoulders, while the long curved shield covered
its bearer from chin to knee.
21
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY
Occasionally, as when Essex saw the apparition of the
martyr King and Saint and of his dead victim, some inward
pang stung a fighter to impatience and provoked him to bring
the long hours of foining and " tracing " to a swift conclusion.
Then he would throw his shield over his shoulder, grasp his
sword in both hands, and, holding his dagger between his
teeth, strive to beat down his enemy's guard and force his way
in to closer grips. The risk was extreme. If his foe warily
retreated and avoided his weighty strokes, or received them
on his buckler the exhaustion of the effort left the attacker at
the mercy of the attacked, who would set about him briskly
and inflict some wounds before he could rearrange his shield.
Such seems to have been the issue of the duel in question.
The uncontrolled fury of Essex exhausted itself in frantic
strokes and rushes while de Montfort calmly awaited the
moment for attack, and speedily finished the struggle by a
few disabling wounds.
At the word of the King, the priest is admitted into the
hitherto jealously guarded enclosure, and, kneeling beside
the fallen man, makes his submission known, or in case of need
administers extreme unction.
In the picture the King is seen robed in a fur-lined mantle with a long
tunic, his head being covered with the cap of a Count of Anjou and Norman
crown.
The Abbot and monks are seen wearing black Cluniac habits. St.
Edmund is shewn with a crown mounted with crosses, a coat of scale armour,
a sword and arrows, the arrows being his saintly attribute. The line round
his neck denotes that he was beheaded.
Gilbert de Cereville, a person of less importance than St. Edmund, is
represented of smaller stature ; his emaciation recalls one of Essex's crimes.
Both combatants are wearing coats of chain mail, hoods and leg pieces,
with round helmets, gloves and surcoats ; they are armed with sword and
shield.
The period of the duel corresponds roughly with the transition from the
long kite-shaped shield, to the shorter triangular form. Essex's shield belongs
to the latter type which was carried on the fore-arm, and is charged " arg,
a fesse dancette gu " ; the charge is repeated in his surcoat. Montfort
carries a shield of the older pattern which was held by thrusting the whole
arm through the shield. This shield is charged " bendy often or az." ; the
same device appears on the surcoat.
22
PI
ILbe /Iftonfe at IReabing Hbbe\>.
A SLOW and mournful procession might be seen on the
evening of April 8th, 1163, as the wounded and
unconscious Essex was borne on his shield from the
scene of battle to the famous monastery which the
great Henry Beauclerc had founded about forty years ago.
Doubtless the King with his nobles, Abbot Roger with his
brethren and the victorious Robert of Montfort joined in the
procession which wended its way through the River Gateway,
past the famous Hospitium and round the North side of the
splendid Abbey church which was nearly ready for its
" Hallowing " in the following year by Archbishop Becket.
At last the Infirmary, the infirmatorium monachorum,
was reached where the precious burden was deposited and
entrusted to the Infirmarian. The grievous wounds received
from the mighty blows of de Montfort would be carefully
dressed with salves made from herbs grown in the adjacent
herb-garden. Amid the peaceful surroundings of the In-
firmary, Essex doubtless soon regained consciousness. As
soon as he had sufficiently recovered from his wounds he was
doubtless clothed in the habit and cowl of a monk and en-
trusted to the master of the novices, who would teach him the
practices of the religious life.
At the end of the novitiate, a day was appointed for the
taking of vows, after which solemn ceremony the candidate
received the kiss of peace as a token of his reception
into the full charity of brotherhood.
It was a strange fate that converted the famous Royal
Constable, the hereditary Standard-Bearer of England, into one
of the brethren of Reading Abbey ! The gleaming helmet,
hauberk, lance and shield were exchanged for the black Cluniac
robe and cowl, the military pomp and excitement of tourna-
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY
ments and court life for the peaceful, studious life of a monk,
the blare of the trumpet for the chants of the choir, the
service of the king for the service of the King of kings.
Doubtless it was true of his new life as of the old that
milicia est vita hominis super terram, " the life of man upon the
earth is a warfare." But the new warfare was against the
world, the flesh and the devil, to be fought with spiritual
weapons. What memories of his past life must have crowded
upon him as he joined in the services of the Church, or minis-
tered to the lepers in the hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, or
entertained the pilgrims in the noble Hospitium of St. John.
The lesson, however, seems to have been well learned since, in
Jocelin's words, " he wiped out the blot upon his previous
life under the regular life, and in his endeavours to cleanse
the long week of his dissolute life by at least one purifying
sabbath so cultivated the studies of his virtues as to bring
forth the fruit of happiness."
24
ITbe Epilogue.
IF historical associations rank amongst the most precious
possessions of a community, Reading may indeed be
counted as amongst the most favoured of towns. Her
annals are inextricably interwoven with the religious,
political and social history of the British nation. Her citizens
have played a worthy part in the building up of England.
May her past achievements prove a perpetual stimulus to
high ideals of civic life and civic work !
Happily— in spite of medieval vandalism and modern
cupidity — Reading retains memorials and institutions which
recall the many centuries that have passed since the beginnings
of Radingia, and serve to illustrate for the rising generation
the development of education, of art, of science, of industry,
of music, of poetry. All such memorials and institutions
should be preserved with jealous affection, since they form
instructive object lessons for both young and old.
It is no small privilege to be able to linger on the spot
where in 1136 King Henry Beauclerc was laid to rest, where
in 1164 the great Archbishop Becket dedicated the Abbey
Church to the worship of God for ever and ever, where in
1 185 Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, kneeled before Henry
of Anjou imploring him to undertake a crusade in order to
rescue Jerusalem from Saladin, where ca. 1240 the musical
though anonymous monk wrote down " Sumer is icumen in >:
for our perpetual delight, where in 1359 John of Gaunt was
married to his fair cousin Blanche of Plantagenet in the
presence of Edward the Third, and where in 1539 the last
Abbot of Reading, Hugh Faringdon, was martyred pro
Christo et ecclesia.
The spot especially associated with the memory of the
trial by combat is the little green eyot still bathed by the
silvery Thames, which was once stained by the blood of Henry
25
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY
of Essex. Who can think of that eyot without recalling the
days when so-called justice was administered by the barbarity
of a duel a entrance ? Strange that our forefathers could have
tolerated such a brutal arbitrament between right and wrong.
In the particular trial by combat beneath the shadow of
Reading Abbey right doubtless triumphed. But there is not
always a St. Edmund hovering in the air, " nodding his head
with a mien and motion of severe anger " against the guilty
party.
The absurdity of such a judicial system is indeed
apparent when it is remembered that rich men were actually
allowed to hire an expert champion to fight for them ; thus
wras the poor man heavily handicapped in his appeal for justice.
The strongest arm or the deepest pocket usually won the day.
Well it is that those days have gone for ever. During the
seven hundred and fifty years that have elapsed since the
trial by combat in 1163, the administration of justice has made
vast strides. Then too often might was right. Happily we
may boast to-day, with at any rate some approximation to
truth, that la legge e uguale per tutti, "the law is the same for
all."
26
IFlotes.
1 " Chronica Jocelini de Brakelonda," ed. by Rokewood, p. 50 ;
" Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond," ed. by Clarke, p. 102.
2 For further details cf. Freeman, " Norman Conquest " (1869), III.,
p. 9 ; (1876), V., 734 ; J. H. Scott, The family of " de Essex," Berks, Bucks
and Oxon. ArchaeoL J., Vol. XXIV. (1918), p. 63 ; Fowke, " The Bayeux
Tapestry," p. 48 (PI. XXXII.).
3 Cf. " Rayleigh Castle," by E. B. Francis, " Transactions of the Essex
Archaeological Society" Vol. XII.
1 According to Dugdale, Henry de Essex had a brother Hugh de Essex,
who resided at Rivenhall, a manor forming part of the estate of his grand-
father Sweyne de Essex. It is in the descendants of this Hugh that the
family continued to survive in the male line for nearly 500 years. The last
representative of this line was Sir William Essex, Baronet (created Nov. 25,
1611) of Bewcott or Beckett House, near Shrivenham, Berks, whose daughter
Lovise, or Louise, Essex, on the death of her brother Col. Charles Essex,
slain at the Battle of Edgehill, 1642, became his representative. With the
descendants of this lady rests the honour of representing this branch of the
family at the present day.
5 Camden, " Britannia," ed. by Gough, I., p. 364.
6 Eyton, " Court and Itinerary of King Henry II." Cf. Index s. Con-
stabularii Regis. Charters granted by Essex are rare. One or two are
printed in the " Colchester Cartulary."
7 J. H. Round, " The King's Serjeants and Officers of State," p. 76.
Carlyle (" Past and Present," Ch. XIV.) speaks of Henry de Essex and Robert
tie Montfort as Earls, but gives no evidence of such a dignity.
8 The office of Constable under Henry I. and Stephen was held by
Robert de Vere who gained this office by his marriage with Adeline the
daughter of Hugh de Montfort and sister of Robert de Montfort, as recorded
in the Pipe-Roll of 1130. She also brought him, with that office, the great
" Honour of Hagenet " (i.e. Haughley, co. Suffolk), held at the time of
Domesday by Hugh de Montfort, who was also of note in Kent. After Henry
de Essex's forfeiture, this " Honour " was known in the hands of the Crown
as " Honor Constabulariae," apparently indicating that it carried with it the
constableship. Cf. Round, " The King's Serjeants," p. 81 ; " Geoffrey de
Mandeville," p. 326.
9 Stubbs, " Constitutional History " (1897), Vol. I., p. 491.
10 " Past and Present," Ch. XIV.
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY
11 Dugdale, " The Baronage of England," Vol. I., p. 463. The Alice of
whom Dugdale speaks as the wife of Henry de Essex was probably the wife
of one Robert de Essex, possibly a young brother. Round, " Geoffrey de
Mandeville," p. 391.
12 According to Dugdale (" The Baronage of England, Vol. I., p. 407)
Hugh de Montfort was a son of a Norman, Thurstan de Bastenbergh, and
after the Conquest was appointed with William Fitz-Osberne and Odo,
Bishop of Bayeux, to administer justice throughout the whole Kingdom. For
these services he was awarded several Lordships in Kent, Essex, Suffolk and
Norfolk, including Saltwood near Hythe. Eventually he lost his life in a
duel with Walcheline de Ferrers, leaving a son and heir Hugh (II.).
Hugh (II.) by his first wife had two sons — Robert and Hugh (III.).
Robert became general of the army under King Rufus, but was subsequently
charged with disloyalty to King Henry I. Eventually he obtained permission
to go to Jerusalem, leaving all his possessions to the King. He presented to
the Abbey of Bee the churches of Montfort, Appeville and Froulencourt, that
of Appeville being in the canton of Montfort sur Risle. Both he and his
brother Hugh are stated by Dugdale to have died on a pilgrimage without
issue. Dugdale apparently means without male issue, since he goes on to say
that Robert left a daughter by a second wife, who married Gilbert de Gant,
and left a son called Hugh, who assumed the name of Hugh de Montfort (IV.)
after his mother, " who was so great an inheritrix."
Hugh (IV.) married Adeline, daughter of Robert, the Earl of Mellent,and
joined with her brother Waleran and other supporters of William son of Robert
Curthose in a conspiracy against King Henry I. in the year 1124. Eventually
these conspirators crossed over into Normandy where Hugh was taken prisoner
together with his brother-in-law Waleran, and kept for many years in prison.
He left two sons, Robert who defeated Henry de Essex in the trial by
battle, and Thurston, together with two daughters, one of whom was named
Adeline.
X3 Eyton, " Court and Itinerary of Henry II.," p. 34.
J4 Norgate, " England under the Angevin Kings," Vol. II., p. 138.
'5 " G. de Mandeville," p. 327.
16 Coleshille, i.e. the " coal hill," according to Giraldus Cambrensis ;
also called Consilt. According to F. M. Stenton the exact site of the Flint-
shire Coleshill is not known. It was, however, remembered in the i4th
century and formed a stage on the main road from Chester to Comvuy laid
down in the Gough Road Map in the Bodleian Library.
17 According to Lord Lyttleton Henry of Essex himself uttered the cry.
" History of King Henry II," Vol. II., p. 384. For further details of the
battle, cf. Lloyd, " A History of Wales," Vol. II., p. 498.
18 If Henry of Essex really displayed cowardice, it seems strange that the
fact was hushed up for six years. Salzmann thinks it more probable that Robert
based his accusation on some flying rumour and that the result of the duel
TV O T E S
was unjust, than that King Henry should have condoned the Constable's
cowardice and allowed him to continue in honour at his court. L. F. Salzmann,
" Henry II." (1914), p. 32.
19 J. Lingard, " The Anglo-Saxon Church," Vol. II., p. 133.
20 Freeman, " Norman Conquest " (1876), Vol. V., p. 873.
21 The island still termed " De Montfort Island " lies just below Caver-
sham Bridge.
22 This form of words appears frequently in Bracton's Note Book, ed.
by F. W. Maitland, passim. According to Hutton (St. Thomas of
Canterbury, p. 127) Robert de Montfort on the night before the duel kept
vigil at the Soissons shrine of St. Drausius, the saint who renders combatants
invincible. The distance from Soissons to Reading proves that there is
some error in the date.
23 Neilson, " Trial by Combat," p. 37.
24 " Past and Present," Ch. XIV. It is interesting to compare St.
Edmund's apparition with his appearance to King Swein in 1016. Cf.
J. B. Mackinlay, St. Edmund, King and Martyr, p. 179.
25 Amongst Henry de Essex's possessions was Saltwood which had been
granted by the Conqueror to Hugh de Montfort. It was recovered by
Lanfranc in the great placitinu on Pennenden Heath, was thereafter held by
the Montforts from the archbishop as two knights' fees, was so held by Henry
de Essex as their successor and seized by the Crown upon his forfeiture.
Round, " Geoffrey de Mandeville," p. 326. Cf. also Eyton, " Court and
Itinerary of King Henry II.," p. 254.
29
H
Abbey of Bee
,, of Reading
Abbot Hugh Faringdon
Roger
,, Samson
Adeline de Montfort
Anjou, Henry of
Archbishop Becket
,, Lanfranc
Stigand...
Basingwerk . . .
Bastenbergh, Thurstan de
" Baudekins "
Bayeux, Odo, Bishop of
,, Tapestry
Bee, Abbey of
Becket, Thomas
Berengar, Count Raymond
Berners, Baroness
Brakelond, Jocelin of
C
Cadwaller
Cahors
Carlyle, Thomas
Caversham
Cereville, Gilbert de
Chester
Coleshille,
Consilt
Constable, office of
Corsnet
Curia Regis . . .
Curthose, Robert
ID
PAGE
PAGE
28
Domesday Book
7,8,27
18-23, 26
Drausius, St.
29
don
25
Duel, judicial ... 16,
18, 19, 21
... 21,23
Dux Haraldus
7
19
12
B
... 22, 25
••• 23,25
on
Eadgyth, the Lady ...
7
"^ Earl, title of, wrongly applied 27
Edmund, St. ... 10,
19-22, 26
Edmundsbury, St. ...
19
Edward III., King ...
25
Essex, Charles
27
Earl of
8
an de
... 13, 14
28
Henry de
7, pas si HI
... 21
Henry de,Jnn.
IO
) Of
28
Hugh de
IO
•j
Lady ...
IO
1
28
Lovise
27
Robert de
8
, 9> 23, 25
Sheriff of ...
7
/monci
9
8
Sir William ...
27
r
... 7,25
Sweyne de
... 7,27
Jf
Faringdon, Abbot Hugh
25
13
Ferrers, Walcheline de
28
9
Fitz-Wimark, Robert
7
9, !9, 27
29
IO, 2O-2
(3
13
9, ii,
I3,l8,28
Gant, Gilbert de
28
28
Gaunt, John of
25
"8,9,
12,23, 27
Gilbert de Cereville ...
IO, 2O-2
15
Gloves, exchange of ...
19
18
Gunnor
8
28
Gwyneth, Owen
... 13, 14
3C
INDEX
1b
Hagenet, Honour of ... 12, 27
Hastings, battle of ... 7
Haughley, Honour of ... 12, 27
Henry I., King ... 8,23,25
,, II., King ... 8, passim
„ de Essex ... 7, passim
„ de Esssex , Jun . ... i o
Heraclius ... ... ... 25
" Holmgang," Norse ... 20
Honour of Haughley ... 12,27
Hospitium of St. John 19, 23, 24
Hot iron, ordeal by ... ... 16
,, water, ordeal by ... 16
Hugh de Essex ... ... 10
,, de Montfort 28,29
Malduit, William
Mallory
Malmesbury, William of
Mandeville, Geoffrey de
Maud, Empress
Mellent, Earl of
Meredith, Madoc Ap
Montfort, Church of
„ Island
Hughde...
,, Robert de
,, sur Risle ...
Morley, H.
M or te <f Arthur
1 1
PAGE
II
21
18
28
'28
*9
28,29
, passim
11,28
20
21
Immersion, ordeal by
Infirmary, the
Island, de Montfort
16
23
29
Normandy, William of ... 7
Northampton, Council at ... 13
Judicial duel
Judicium Dei
Ik
King Edward III.
Harold
Henry I.
Henry II.
Louis VI I. ...
Rufus
Stephen
Swein
William I.
X
Lailand Hundred
Lanfranc, Archbishop
Leicester, Robert of
Linton, Manor of
Louis VII., King
Lovise Essex
Lucy, Richard of
16, 18, 19, 21
... 15. 17
25
7
8,23,25
8, passim
9
28
... 8, 12
29
n, 12, 16, 29
IO
29
8
IO
9
27
Odo, Bishop
Ordeals
Oxford, Earl of
Pennenden Heath
Plantagenet, Blanche of
Prittlewell Priory
1R
Radingia
Rayleigh, Baron of ...
,, Castle
Raymond of Toulouse
Reading
,, Abbey
Riganea
Risle, Montfort sur ...
Rivenhall
28
l6
29
25
18, 19, 25
ii
... 19,25
18-23, 26
8
... 11,28
27
INDEX
Robert de Essex
,, de Montfort
Roger, Abbot
Round, J. H.
Ruddlan
Rufus, King
St. Drausius
,, Edmund ...
,, Edmundsbury
,, Gilles, Count of
,, Mary Magdalene Hospital
Saladin
Saltwood
Samson, Abbot
Scots, King of
Soissons
Standard-Bearer, Royal
Stenton, F. M.
Stephen, King
Stigand, Archbishop
" Sumer is icumen in '
PAGE
PAGE
8
Swein, King
29
1 1 , passim
Sweyne de Essex
... 7,27
... 21, 23
... 12,27
TT
H
28
Talbot, Richard
10
Thorney, monks of ...
II
Thurstan de Bastenbergh
28
Toulouse
9, n, 14
29
Trial by combat
16, 18, 26
10, 19-22, 26
19
D
9
ospital 24
Vere, Robert de
12
25
8, 28, 29
TRH
19
9
" Wads," the giving of
I9
29
" Wager of battel "
19
... 8-10,
Walcheline de Ferrers
28
14. 19,23
Waleran
... 11,28
28
Wales, expedition into
8, 13, H
... 8,12
William I., King n,
12, 16, 29
7
Windsor, Curia at
18
' ... 25
Woodstock, Charter given
at ii
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