Transcriber's Note.

Apparent typographical errors have been corrected. The use of hyphens has been rationalised.

Notices of other books in the series, of related works, and press reviews of the series, have been moved to the end of the text.

BELL'S ENGLISH HISTORY SOURCE BOOKS

General Editors: S. E. Winbolt, M.A., and Kenneth Bell, M.A.

THE ANGEVINS AND
THE CHARTER
(1154-1216)

THE BEGINNING OF ENGLISH LAW, THE INVASION
OF IRELAND AND THE CRUSADES

BY
S. M. TOYNE, M.A.
HEADMASTER OF ST. PETER'S SCHOOL, YORK
LATE ASSISTANT MASTER AT HAILEYBURY COLLEGE

LONDON
G. BELL AND SONS, LTD.
1913

INTRODUCTION

This series of English History Source Books is intended for use with any ordinary textbook of English History. Experience has conclusively shown that such apparatus is a valuable—nay, an indispensable—adjunct to the history lesson. It is capable of two main uses: either by way of lively illustration at the close of a lesson, or by way of inference-drawing, before the textbook is read, at the beginning of the lesson. The kind of problems and exercises that may be based on the documents are legion, and are admirably illustrated in a History of England for Schools, Part I., by Keatinge and Frazer, pp. 377-381. However, we have no wish to prescribe for the teacher the manner in which he shall exercise his craft, but simply to provide him and his pupils with materials hitherto not readily accessible for school purposes. The very moderate price of the books in this series should bring them within the reach of every secondary school. Source books enable the pupil to take a more active part than hitherto in the history lesson. Here is the apparatus, the raw material: its use we leave to teacher and taught.

Our belief is that the books may profitably be used by all grades of historical students between the standards of fourth-form boys in secondary schools and undergraduates at Universities. What differentiates students at one extreme from those at the other is not so much the kind of subject-matter dealt with, as the amount they can read into or extract from it.

In regard to choice of subject-matter, while trying to satisfy the natural demand for certain "stock" documents of vital importance, we hope to introduce much fresh and novel matter. It is our intention that the majority of the extracts should be lively in style—that is, personal, or descriptive, or rhetorical, or even strongly partisan—and should not so much profess to give the truth as supply data for inference. We aim at the greatest possible variety, and lay under contribution letters, biographies, ballads and poems, diaries, debates, and newspaper accounts. Economics, London, municipal, and social life generally, and local history, are represented in these pages.

The order of the extracts is strictly chronological, each being numbered, titled, and dated, and its authority given. The text is modernised, where necessary, to the extent of leaving no difficulties in reading.

We shall be most grateful to teachers and students who may send us suggestions for improvement.

S. E. Winbolt.

Kenneth Bell.

NOTE TO THIS VOLUME
(1154-1216).

I have to acknowledge, with thanks to Messrs. Chatto & Windus, permission to reprint two extracts from Jocelin de Brakelond from their edition in the King's Classics; to the Clarendon Press, Oxford, permission to reprint passages from Mr. Orpen's translation of the Song of Dermot. The history of this period necessitates a rather large proportion of statutes, but the liveliness of style in the Dialogus de Scaccario and the interesting nature of its contents will, I hope, be considered to be sufficient excuse for the number of extracts from that one source.

S. M. T.

Haileybury, January 1913.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE ANGEVINS AND
THE CHARTER

(1154-1216)

PART I. STATUTES 1154-1216

CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON, 1164.

Source.—Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. Henderson. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.

1. If a controversy concerning advowson and presentation of Churches arise between laymen, or between laymen and clerks, or between clerks, it shall be treated of and terminated in the court of the lord King.

3. Clerks charged and accused of anything, being summoned by the Justice of the King, shall come into his court, about to respond there for what it seems to the King's Court that he should respond there; and in the ecclesiastical court for what it seems he should respond there; so that the Justice of the King shall send to the Court of the Holy Church to see in what manner the affair will there be carried on. And if the clerk shall be convicted, or shall confess, the Church ought not to protect him further.

4. It is not lawful for his archbishops, bishops and persons of the kingdom to go out of the kingdom without the permission of the lord King. And if it please the King and they go out, they shall give assurance that neither in going, nor in making a stay, nor in returning, will they seek the hurt or harm of King or kingdom.

6. Laymen ought not to be accused unless through reliable and legal accusers and witnesses in the presence of the bishop, in such wise that the archdean do not lose his right nor anything which he ought to have from it.

7. No one who holds of the King in chief, and no one of his demesne servitors, shall be excommunicated, nor shall the lands of any one of them be placed under an interdict, unless first the lord King, if he be in the land, or his Justiciar, if he be without the kingdom, be asked to do justice concerning him.

9. If a quarrel arise between a clerk and a layman or between a layman and a clerk concerning any tenement which the clerk wishes to attach to the church property, but the layman to a lay fee: by the inquest of twelve lawful men, through the judgement of the Chief Justice of the King, it shall be determined in the presence of the Justice himself, whether the tenement belongs to the Church property or to the lay fee.

10. Whoever shall belong to the city or castle or fortress or demesne manor of the lord King, if he be summoned by the archdean or bishop for any offence for which he ought to respond to them, and he be unwilling to answer their summonses, it is perfectly right to place him under the interdict: but he ought not to be excommunicated until the chief servitor of the lord King of that town shall be asked to compel him by law to answer the summonses.

12. When an archbishopric is vacant, or a bishopric, or an abbey, or a priory of the demesne of the King, it ought to be in his hand: and he ought to receive all the revenues and incomes from it, as demesne ones. And, when it comes to providing for the church, the lord King should summon the more important persons of the Church, and, in the lord King's own chapel, the election ought to take place with the assent of the lord King and with the counsel of the persons of the kingdom whom he had called for this purpose. And there, before he is consecrated, the person elected shall do homage and fealty to the lord King as to his liege lord, for his life and his members and his earthly honours, saving his order.

14. A church or cemetery shall not, contrary to the King's justice detain the chattels of those who are under penalty of forfeiture to the King, for they (the chattels) are the King's, whether they are found within the churches or without them.

16. The sons of rustics may not be ordained without the consent of the lord on whose land they are known to have been born.

ASSIZE OF CLARENDON, 1166.

Source.—MS. in Bodleian Library.

1. In the first place the aforesaid King Henry, by the counsel of all his barons, for the preservation of peace and the observing of justice, has decreed that an inquest shall be made throughout the separate counties, and throughout the separate hundreds, through twelve of the more lawful men of the hundred, and through four of the more lawful men of each township, upon oath that they will speak the truth: whether in their hundred or in their township there be any man who, since the lord King has been King, has been charged or published as being a robber or murderer or thief: or any one who is a harbourer of murderers or robbers or thieves. And the Justices shall make this inquest by themselves, and the Sheriffs by themselves.

2. And he who shall be found through the oath of the aforesaid persons to have been charged or published as being a robber or murderer or thief, or a receiver of them, since the lord King had been King, shall be taken and shall go to the ordeal of water, and shall swear that he was not a robber or murderer or thief or receiver of them since the lord King has been King, to the extent of five shillings as far as he knows.

3. And if the lord of him who has been taken, or his steward or his vassals, shall, as his sureties, demand him back within three days after he has been taken, he himself, and his chattels, shall be remanded under surety until he shall have done his law.

9. And let there be no one within his castle or without his castle, nor even in the honour of Wallingford, who shall forbid the sheriffs to enter into his court or his land to take the view of frank-pledge; and let all be under pledges; and let them be sent before the sheriffs under free pledge.

10. And in the cities or burghs, let no one have men or receive them in his home or his land or his soc, whom he will not take in hand to present before the Justice if they be required: or let them be in frank-pledge.

12. And if any one shall be taken who shall be possessed of robbed or stolen goods, if he be notorious and have evil testimony from the public, and have no warrant, he shall not have law. And if he be not notorious, on account of the goods in his possession, he shall go to the water.[1]

14. The lord King wishes also that those who shall be tried and shall be absolved by the law if they be of very bad testimony and are publicly and disgracefully defamed by the testimony of many and public men, shall forswear the lands of the King, so that within eight days they shall cross the sea unless the wind detains them; and with the first wind which they shall have afterwards, they shall cross the sea; and they shall not return any more to England, unless by the mercy of the lord King: and there, and if they return, they shall be outlawed; and if they return they shall be taken as outlaws.

15. And the lord King forbids that any waif, that is vagabond or unknown person, shall be entertained anywhere except in the burgh, and there he shall not be entertained more than a night, unless he become ill there, or his horse, so that he can show an evident excuse.

20. The lord King forbids, moreover, that monks or canons or any religious house, receive any one of the petty people as monk or canon or brother, until they know of what testimony he is, unless he be sick unto death.

21. The lord King forbids, moreover, that any one in all England receive in his land or his soc or the house under him any one of that sect of renegades who were excommunicated and branded at Oxford. And if any one receive them, he himself shall be at the mercy of the lord King; and the house in which they have been shall be carried without the town and burned.

[1] The Judgment of Boiling Water.—"The priest shall sprinkle over them some of the water itself; and to those who are about to go into the judgement of God, to all of them, he shall give to drink of that same holy water. And when he shall have given it, moreover, he shall say to each one: 'I have given this water to thee or to you for a sign to-day.' Then pieces of wood shall be placed under the cauldron, and the priest shall say ... prayers when the water itself shall have begun to grow warm.—And he who puts his hand in the water for the trial itself, shall say the Lord's Prayer, and shall sign himself with the sign of the cross; and that boiling water shall hastily be put down near the fire, and the judge shall suspend that stone, bound to that measure, within that same water in the accustomed way: and thus he who enters to be tried by judgement shall extract it thence in the name of God himself. Afterwards with great diligence, his hand shall be thus wrapped up, signed with the seal of the judge, until the third day; when it shall be viewed and judged of by suitable men."—Historical Documents of the Middle Ages, p. 316. (Published by G. Bell & Sons.)

"THE KING'S OFFICERS AT FAULT."
THE INQUEST OF SHERIFFS, 1170.

Source.—MS. in Bodleian Library.

§ 5. Let an enquiry be made concerning the goods of those that fled on account of the Assize of Clarendon and of those that perished through that assize. Let it be known what was done and what left each hundred and vill and let it be written down exactly and in order. In like manner let an enquiry be made, whether any man was unjustly accused at that assize through bribery, malice, or any unjust cause.

§ 6. Let an enquiry be made concerning the aids for the marriage of the king's daughter. What left each hundred and vill, whether it be in revenue or pardons and to whom this money was given up and delivered.

§ 9. An enquiry shall be made, whether the sheriffs or any bailiffs whatsoever have returned anything of the goods they have taken and whether they have made their peace with men after they heard of the king's coming, in order to prevent a complaint coming from them to the lord king.

ASSIZE OF ARMS, 1181.

Source.—Roger de Hoveden, Vol. II., p. 261. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.

1. Whoever has a fiefdom of one knight, let him have a coat of mail, a helmet, a shield and a lance; and let every knight have as many coats of mail and helmets and shields and pikes as he has knights fiefdoms in his demesne.

3. Also let all burghers and the whole community of freemen have a doublet, an iron headpiece and a pike.

7. Let no Jew keep his coat of mail or his hauberk, but sell them or give them or get rid of them in some way, provided that they remain in the service of the King.

8. Let no man carry arms outside England except by order of the King.

THE SALADIN TITHE, 1188.

Source.—Benedictus Abbas, Vol. II., 31.

The King, on the advice of his faithful counsellors, chose clerks and laymen in whose wisdom he could confide and sent them through each county to collect the tenths according to the decree, which obtained in his land across the Channel. But from each town in the whole of England he had all the richer inhabitants chosen, for instance, from London 200 and from York 100 and from the other towns according to their number and wealth. All were ordered to present themselves to him on given days at given places. From these he took a tenth of their incomes and their real property. The valuation was effected by his officers, who had knowledge of their incomes and their goods. If he found any rebellious, he at once had them imprisoned and kept in chains until they had paid the uttermost farthing. He dealt in a similar manner with the Jews of his land, from whom he acquired an enormous sum of money.

THE LEVYING OF A FORCE, 1205.

An attempt to blend the Fyrd or "Folkmoot in Arms" and the Feudal Levy.

Source.—Patent Rolls, I., 55.

The King to the Sheriff of Rutland greeting. It has been ordained with the assent of archbishops, bishops, counts, barons and all our loyal subjects of England, that throughout England nine fighting men shall find a tenth well equipped with horses and arms for the defence of our realm: that those nine provide for the tenth on a specified day two pounds towards his equipment. Furthermore we charge thee, as thou lovest thy goods and thyself, to provide that all the tenth men of thy district be at London for three weeks dating from Easter, being well equipped according as we have ordained.... It has been ordained also, that, if foreigners come to our shores, all shall attack them with one accord using force of arms. Let none make excuse or delay but go at the first rumour of the invasion.

JOHN'S CONCESSION OF ENGLAND TO THE POPE, 1213.

Source.—Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. Henderson. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.

John, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Anjou, to all the faithful of Christ who shall look upon this present Charter, greeting. We wish it to be known to all of you, through this our charter, furnished with our seal, that inasmuch as we had offended in many ways God and our mother the Holy Church, and in consequence are known to have very much needed the divine mercy, and cannot offer anything worthy for making due satisfaction to God and to the Church unless we humiliate ourselves and our kingdoms: we, wishing to humiliate ourselves for Him who humiliated Himself for us unto death, the Grace of the Holy Spirit inspiring, not induced by force or compelled by fear, but of our own good and spontaneous will, and by the common counsel of our barons, do offer and freely concede to God and His holy apostles Peter and Paul and to our mother the Holy Roman Church, and to our lord pope Innocent and to his Catholic successors, the whole kingdom of England and the whole kingdom of Ireland, with all their rights and appurtenances, for the remission of our own sins and of those of our whole race, as well for the living as for the dead; and now receiving and holding them, as it were a vassal, from God and the Roman Church, in the presence of that prudent man Gaudulph, subdeacon, and of the household of the lord pope, we perform and swear fealty for them to him our aforesaid lord pope Innocent and his Catholic successors and the Roman Church, according to the form appended; and in the presence of the lord pope, if we shall be able to come before him, we shall do liege homage to him; binding our successors and our heirs by our wife forever, in similar manner to perform fealty and show homage to him who shall be chief pontiff at that time, and to the Roman Church without demur. As a sign, moreover, of this our perpetual obligation and concession we will and establish that from the proper and especial revenues of our aforesaid kingdoms, for all the service and customs which we ought to render for them, saving in all things the penny of St. Peter, the Roman Church shall receive yearly a thousand marks sterling, namely at the feast of St. Michael five hundred marks, and at Easter five hundred marks—seven hundred, namely, for the kingdom of England, and three hundred for the kingdom of Ireland—saving to us and to our heirs our rights, liberties and regalia; all of which things, as they have been described above, we wish to have perpetually valid and firm; and we bind ourselves and our successors not to act counter to them. And if we or any one of our successors shall presume to attempt this,—whoever he be unless being duly warned he come to his senses, he shall lose his right to the kingdom, and this charter of our obligation and concession shall always remain firm.

FORM OF THE OATH OF FEALTY.

I, John, by the grace of God, King of England, and Lord of Ireland, from this hour forth will be faithful to God and St. Peter, and the Roman Church and my lord pope Innocent and his successors, who are ordained in a Catholic manner. I shall not bring it about by deed, word, consent or counsel, that they lose life or members or be taken captive. I will impede their being harmed, if I know of it, and will cause harm to be removed from them if I shall be able: otherwise, as quickly as I can I will intimate it or tell of it to such person as I believe for certain will inform them. Any counsel which they entrust to me through themselves or through their envoys or through their latters, I will keep secret, nor will I knowingly disclose it to any one to their harm. I will aid to the best of my ability in holding and defending against all men the patrimony of St. Peter, and especially the kingdom of England and the kingdom of Ireland. So may God and these Holy Gospels aid me.

SUMMONS TO A COUNCIL AT OXFORD, 1213.

Source.—Report on the dignity of a Peer, p. 2.

The King to the Sheriff of Oxford greeting. We charge thee to see that all the fighting men of thy bailliwick, who have been summoned, should come to us at Oxford with their arms for fifteen days from All Saints' Day: in like manner the barons, but without their arms: and see that four discreet men from thy county come to that same place for the same length of time to talk with us about the affairs of our realm. Given under my own hand.

MAGNA CHARTA, 1215.

Source.—Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. Henderson. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.

John, by the grace of God King of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, count of Anjou: to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, prevosts, serving men, and to all his bailiffs and faithful subjects, greeting. Know that we, by the will of God and for the safety of our soul, and of the souls of all our predecessors and our heirs, to the honour of God and for the exalting of the holy church and the bettering of our realm....

1. First of all have granted to God, and, for us and for our heirs forever, have confirmed, by this our present charter that the English Church shall be free and shall have its rights intact and its liberties uninfringed. And thus we will that it be observed.

As is apparent from the fact that we, spontaneously and of our own free will, before discord broke out between ourselves and our barons, did grant and by our charter confirm—and did cause the Lord Pope Innocent III. to confirm—freedom of elections, which is considered most important and most necessary to the Church of England. Which charter both we ourselves will observe, and we will that it be observed with good faith by our heirs forever. We have also granted to all freemen of our realm, on the part of ourselves and our heirs forever, all the subjoined liberties, to have and to hold, to them and to their heirs, from us and from our heirs:

2. If any one of our earls or barons, or of others holding from us in chief, through military service, shall die; and if, at the time of his death, his heir be of full age and owe a relief: he shall have his inheritance by paying the old relief; namely, the heir, or the heirs of an earl, by paying one hundred pounds for the whole barony of an earl; the heir or heirs of a baron, by paying one hundred pounds for the whole barony; the heir or heirs of a knight, by paying one hundred shillings at most for a whole knight's fee; and he who shall owe less shall give less, according to the ancient custom of fees.

3. But if the heir of any of the above persons shall be under age and in wardship,—when he comes of age, he shall have his inheritance without relief and without fine.

4. The administrator of the land of such heir who shall be under age shall take none but reasonable issues from the land of the heir, and reasonable customs and services; and this without destruction and waste of men or goods. And if we shall have committed the custody of any such land to the sheriff or to any other man who ought to be responsible to us for the issues of it, and he cause destruction or waste to what is in his charge; we will fine him, and the land shall be handed over to two lawful and discreet men of that fee who shall answer to us, or to him to whom we shall have referred them, regarding those issues. And if we shall have given or sold to any one the custody of any such land, and he shall have caused destruction or waste to it,—he shall lose that custody, and it shall be given to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who likewise shall answer to us, as has been explained.

5. The administrator, moreover, so long as he may have the custody of the land, shall keep in order from the issues of that land, the houses, parks, warrens, lakes, mills and other things pertaining to it. And he shall restore to the heir when he comes to full age, his whole land stocked with ploughs and wainnages, according as the time of the wainnage requires and the issues of the land will reasonably permit.

6. Heirs may marry without disparagement; so, nevertheless, that, before the marriage is contracted, it shall be announced to the relations by blood of the heir himself.

7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall straightway and without difficulty, have her marriage portion and her inheritance, nor shall she give anything in return for her dowry, her marriage portion, or the inheritance which belonged to her, and which she and her husband held on the day of the death of that husband. And she may remain in the house of her husband, after his death for forty days: within which her dowry shall be paid over to her.

8. No widow shall be forced to marry when she prefers to live without a husband; so, however, that she gives security not to marry without our consent, if she hold from us, or the consent of the lord from whom she holds, if she hold from another.

9. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any revenue for any debt, so long as the chattels of the debtor suffice to pay the debt; nor shall the sponsors of that debtor be distrained so long as that chief debtor has enough to pay the debt. But if the chief debtor fail in paying the debt, not having the wherewithal to pay it, the sponsors shall answer for the debt. And if they shall wish, they may have the lands and revenues of the debtor until satisfaction shall have been given them for the debt previously paid for him; unless the chief debtor shall show that he is quit in that respect towards those same sponsors.

10. If any one shall have taken any sum, great or small, as a loan from the Jews, and shall die before that debt is paid—that debt shall not bear interest so long as the heir, from whomever he may hold, shall be under age. And if the debt fall into our hands, we shall take nothing save the chattel contained in the deed.

11. And if any one dies owing a debt to the Jews, his wife shall have her dowry, and shall restore nothing of that debt. But if there shall remain not children of that dead man, and they shall be under age, the necessaries shall be provided for them according to the nature of the dead man's holding; and from the residue the debt shall be paid, saving the service due to the lords. In like manner shall be done concerning debts that are due to others besides Jews.

12.[2] No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our realm unless by the common counsel of our realm; except for redeeming our body, and knighting our eldest son, and marrying once our eldest daughter. And for these purposes there shall only be given a reasonable aid. In like manner shall be done concerning the aids of the city of London.

13. And the city of London shall have all its old liberties and free customs as well by land as by water. Moreover, we will and grant that all other cities and burroughs, and towns and ports, shall have all their liberties and free customs.

14.[2] And in order to have the common counsel of the realm in the matter of assessing an aid otherwise than in the aforesaid cases, or of assessing a scutage,—we shall cause, under seal through our letters, the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons to be summoned for a fixed day—for a term, namely, at least forty days distant—and for a fixed place. And, moreover, we shall cause to be summoned in general, through our sheriffs and bailiffs, all those who hold of us in chief. And in all those letters of summons we shall express the cause of the summons. And when a summons has thus been made, the business shall be proceeded with on the day appointed according to the counsel of those who shall be present, even though not all shall come who were summoned.

15.[2] We will not allow any one henceforth to take an aid from his freemen save for the redemption of his body, and the knighting of his eldest son, and the marrying, once, of his eldest daughter; and for these purposes there shall be given a reasonable aid only.

16. No one shall be forced to do more service for a knight's fee, or for another freeholding, than is due from it.

17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held in a certain fixed place.

18. Assizes of novel disseisin, of mort d'ancestor, and of darrein presentment shall not be held save in their own counties, and in this way: we, or our chief justice, if we shall be absent from the kingdom, shall send two justices through each county four times a year; they, with four knights from each county, chosen by the county, shall hold the aforesaid assizes in the county, and on the day and at the place of the county court.

19. And if on the day of the county court the aforesaid assizes cannot be held, a sufficient number of knights and free tenants, from those who were present at the county court on that day, shall remain, so that through them the judgements may be suitably given, according as the matter may have been great or small.

20. A freeman shall only be amerced for a small offence according to the measure of that offence. And for a great offence he shall be amerced according to the magnitude of the offence, saving his contenement[3]; and a merchant, in the same way, saving his merchandise. And a villein, in the same way, if he fall under our mercy, shall be amerced saving his wainnage. And none of the aforesaid fines shall be imposed save upon oath of upright men from the neighbourhood.

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced save through their peers, and only according to the measure of the offence.

22. No clerk shall be amerced for his lay tenement, except according to the manner of the other persons aforesaid; and not according to the amount of his ecclesiastical benefice.

23. Neither a town nor a man shall be forced to make bridges over the rivers, with the exception of those who, from of old and of right, ought to do it.

24. No sheriff, constable, coroners or other bailiffs of ours shall hold the pleas of our crown.

25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trithings—our demesne manors being excepted—shall continue according to the old farms, without any increase at all.

26. If any one holding from us a lay fee shall die, and our sheriff or bailiff can show our letters patent containing our summons for the debt which the dead man owed to us,—our sheriff or bailiff may be allowed to attach and enroll the chattels of the dead man to the value of that debt, through view of lawful men; in such way, however, that nothing shall be moved thence until the debt is paid which was plainly owed to us. And the residue shall be left to the executors that they may carry out the will of the dead man. And if nothing is owed to us by him, all the chattels shall go to the use prescribed by the deceased, saving their reasonable portions to his wife and children.

27. If any freeman shall have died intestate, his chattels shall be distributed through the hands of his near relatives and friends, by view of the church; saving to any one the debts which the dead man owed him.

28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take the corn or other chattels of any one except he straightway give money for them, or can be allowed a respite in that regard by the will of the seller.

29. No constable shall force any knight to pay money for castle-ward, if he be willing to perform that ward in person, or—he for a reasonable cause not being able to perform it himself—through another proper man. And if we shall have led or sent him on a military expedition, he shall be quit of ward according to the amount of time during which, through us, he shall have been in military service.

30. No sheriff nor bailiff of ours, nor any one else, shall take the horses or carts of any freeman for transport, unless by the will of that freeman.

31. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take another's wood for castles or for other private uses, unless by the will of him to whom the wood belongs.

32. We shall not hold the lands of those convicted of felony longer than a year and a day; and then the lands shall be restored to the lords of the fiefs.

33. Henceforth all the weirs in the Thames and Medway, and throughout all England, save on the sea-coast, shall be done away with entirely.

34. Henceforth the writ which is called "Praecipe" shall not be served on any one for any holding, so as to cause a free man to lose his court.

35. There shall be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm, and one measure of ale, and one measure of corn—namely, the London quart;—and one width of dyed and russet and hauberk cloths—namely, two ells below the selvage. And with weights, moreover, it shall be as with measures.

36. Henceforth nothing shall be given or taken for a writ of inquest in a matter concerning life or limb; but it shall be conceded gratis, and shall not be denied.

37. If any one hold from us in fee-farm or in socage, or in burkage, and hold land of another by military service, we shall not, by reason of that fee-farm, or socage, or burkage, have the wardship of his heir or of his land which is held in fee from another. Nor shall we have the wardship of that fee-farm, or socage, or burkage, unless that fee-farm owe military service. We shall not by reason of some petit-serjeantry which someone holds of us through the service of giving us knives or arrows or the like, have the wardship of his heir or of the land which he holds of another by military service.

38. No bailiff, on his own simple assertion, shall henceforth put any one to his law, without producing faithful witnesses in evidence.

39. No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseized, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed—nor will we go upon or send upon him—save by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land.

40. To none will we sell, to none deny or delay, right or justice.

41. All merchants may safely and securely go out of England, and come into England, and delay and pass through England, as well by land as by water, for the purpose of buying and selling, free from all evil taxes, subject to the ancient and right customs—save in time of war, and if they are of the land at war against us. And if such be found in our land at the beginning of the war, they shall be held, without harm to their bodies and goods, until it shall be known to us or our chief justice how the merchants of our land are to be treated who shall, at that time be found in the land at war against us. And if ours shall be safe there, the others shall be safe in our land.

42. Henceforth, any person, saving his fealty to us, may go out of our realm and return to it, safely and securely, by land and by water, except, perhaps, for a brief period in time of war, for the common good of the realm. But prisoners and outlaws are excepted, according to the law of the realm; also people of a land at war against us, and the merchants, with regard to whom shall be done as we have said.

43. If anyone hold from any escheat—as from the honour of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boloin, Lancaster, or the other escheats which are in our hands and are baronies—and shall die, his heir shall not give another relief, nor shall he perform for us other service than he would perform for a baron if that barony were in the hand of a baron; and we shall hold it in the same way in which the baron has held it.

44. Persons dwelling without the forest shall not henceforth come before the forest justices, through common summonses, unless they are impleaded or are the sponsors of some person or persons attached for matters concerning the forest.

45. We will not make men justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs, unless they are such as know the law of the realm, and are minded to observe it rightly.

46. All barons who have founded abbeys for which they have charters of the Kings of England, or ancient right of tenure, shall have, as they ought to have, their custody when vacant.

47. All forests constituted as such in our time shall straightway be annulled; and the same shall be done for riverbanks which we closed[4] in our time.

[Here follow three temporary clauses.]

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51. And straightway after peace is restored we shall remove from the realm all the foreign soldiers, cross-bowmen, servants, hirelings, who may have come with horses and arms to the harm of the realm.

52. If anyone shall have been disseized by us, or removed without a legal sentence of his peers, from his lands, castles, liberties or lawful right, we shall straightway restore them to him. And if a dispute shall arise concerning this matter it shall be settled according to the judgement of the twenty-five barons who are mentioned below as sureties for the peace. But with regard to all those things of which any one was, by King Henry our father, or King Richard our brother, disseized or dispossessed without legal judgement of his peers, which we have in our hand, or which others hold, and for which we ought to give a guarantee: we shall have respite until the common time for crusaders. Except with regard to those concerning which a plea was moved, or an inquest made by our order, before we took the cross. But when we return from our pilgrimage, or if, by chance, we desist from our pilgrimage, we shall straightway then show full justice regarding them.

53. We shall have the same respite, moreover, and in the same manner, in the matter of showing justice with regard to forests to be annulled and forests to remain, which Henry our father or Richard our brother constituted; and in the matter of wardships of lands which belong to the fee of another—wardships of which kind we have hitherto enjoyed by reason of the fee which some one held from us in military service: and in the matter of abbeys founded in the fee of another than ourselves—in which the lord of the fee may say that he has jurisdiction. And when we return, or if we desist from our pilgrimage, we shall straightway exhibit full justice to those complaining with regard to these matters.

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60. Moreover, all the subjects of our realm, clergy as well as laity, shall, as far as pertains to them, observe, with regard to their vassals, all these aforesaid customs and liberties, which we have decreed shall, as far as pertains to us, be observed in our realm with regard to our own.

61. Inasmuch as, for the sake of God, and for the bettering of our realm, and for the more ready healing of the discord which has arisen between us and our barons, we have made all these aforesaid concessions—wishing them to enjoy for ever entire and firm stability, we make and grant to them the following security: that the barons, namely, may elect at their pleasure twenty-five barons from the realm, who ought, with all their strength, to observe, maintain and cause to be observed, the peace and privileges which we have granted to them and confirmed by this our present charter.

[Here follows "a treaty of peace" between John and the Barons.]

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Moreover, it has been sworn on our part, as well as on the part of the barons, that all these above-mentioned provisions shall be observed with good faith and without evil intent. The witnesses being the above-mentioned and many others. Given through our hand in the plain called Runnimede between Windsor and Stanes, on the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.

[2] These important articles were omitted in the charters sworn by subsequent kings.

[3] Means of subsistence.

[4] The Latin is "quae per nos tempore nostro positae sunt in defenso." Henderson renders "made into places of defence." In Cassell's Dict. of English History it is rendered "in defiance." But defensum in Med. Latin = (1) "prohibition" hence the French défense, and (2) "a close season" for fishing or hunting. I suggest that here it is used in a sense midway between (1) and (2) and means "closed" permanently to the public, just as the forests were. Naturally there would be objections raised to new "close" forests and new "close" rivers. Both the other suggested translations appear meaningless.

DIALOGUS DE SCACCARIO.

Source.—Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. Henderson. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.

In the twenty-third year of the reign of King Henry II., while I was sitting at the window of a tower next to the river Thames, a man spoke to me impetuously, saying: "Master, hast thou not read that there is no use in science or in a treasure that is hidden?" When I replied to him, "I have read so," straightway he said: "Why, therefore, dost thou not teach others the knowledge concerning the exchequer which is said to be thine to such an extent, and commit it to writing lest it die with thee?"

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1. What the Exchequer is, and what is the reason of this name.

Disciple. What is the exchequer?

Master. The exchequer is a quadrangular surface about ten feet in length, five in breadth, placed before those who sit around it in the manner of a table, and all around it, it has an edge about the height of one's four fingers, lest any thing placed upon it should fall off. There is placed over the top of the exchequer, moreover, a cloth bought at the Easter term, not an ordinary one, but a black one marked with stripes, the stripes being distant from each other the space of a foot or the breadth of a hand. In the spaces, moreover, are counters placed according to their values; about these we shall speak below. Although, moreover, such a surface is called exchequer, nevertheless this name is so changed about that the court itself, which sits when the exchequer does, is called exchequer: so that if at any time through a decree anything is established by common counsel, it is said to have been done at the exchequer of this or that year. As, moreover, one says to-day "at the exchequer," so one formerly said "at the tallies."

D. What is the reason of this name?

M. No truer one occurs to me at present than that it has a shape similar to that of a chess board.

D. Would the prudence of the ancients ever have called it so for its shape alone, when it might for a similar reason be called a table (tabularium)?

M. I was right in calling thee painstaking. There is another, but a more hidden reason. For just as, in a game of chess, there are certain grades of combatants and they proceed or stand still by certain laws or limitations, some presiding and others advancing: so, in this, some preside, some assist by reason of their office, and no one is free to exceed the fixed laws, as will be manifest from what is to follow. Moreover, as in chess, the battle is fought between Kings, so in this it is chiefly between two that the conflict takes place and the war is waged,—the treasurer, namely, and the sheriff who sits there to render account; the others sitting by as judges to see and to judge.

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M. ... The barons, moreover, who sit at the exchequer shall pay nothing under the name of customs for the victuals of their household bought in the cities and burghs and ports. But if an officer of the revenues shall have compelled one of them to pay anything for these,—if only one of his servants is present who is willing to prove by taking an oath that the things have been bought for his master's use: to the baron indeed, the money exacted shall be restored entire, and the scoundrel of a collector shall pay a pecuniary punishment according to the quality of the person.

... If those who sit at the exchequer shall have mutually molested each other with any sort of contumelious attack, they shall make peace again; the others of their rank who serve with them acting as mediators, in such wise that satisfaction shall be rendered by him who, in their estimation, has injured an innocent person. But if he be unwilling to acquiesce, but rather persevere in his rashness, the matter shall be laid before the president, and afterwards, from him each one shall receive justice. But if, through the devil, the instigator of evil, who does not look with unmoved eyes on the joyous happiness of fraternal peace, it should happen that occasion for discord should come up among the greater officials themselves, and thence—which God forbid—a war of insults should arise; and, Satan adding goads, peace cannot be restored by the other colleagues in those labours:—the knowledge of all these things shall be reserved for the prince himself; who, according as God, in whose hand it is, inspires his heart, shall punish the offence; lest those who are set over others should seem to be able to do with impunity what they decree should be punished in others.

D. From this is manifest what Solomon says: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," and likewise James: "The tongue is a little member and boasteth great things."

M. So it is; but let us proceed concerning the prerogatives. Common assessments are held at times, throughout the counties, by itinerant justices whom we call deambulatory or wandering judges; the assessments are called common because, when the sum is known which is required in common from those who have estates in the county, it is distributed according to the hides of land, so that when the time comes for payment at the exchequer, nothing of it is lacking. From all these payments all those who, by mandate of the King, sit at the Exchequer are entirely free, so that not only are none of them exacted from their domains, but also none from all their fiefs.

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2. Scutage and Murdrum.

D. Now if it please thee, do not delay to make clear what are scutage and murdrum....

M. It happens sometimes that, when the machinations of enemies threaten or attack the kingdom, the King decrees that, from the different Knights' fees, a certain sum shall be paid,—a mark, namely, or a pound; and from this come the payments or gifts to the soldiers. For the prince prefers to expose mercenaries, rather than natives, to the fortunes of war. And so this sum, which is paid in the name of the shields, is called scutage. From this, moreover, they who sit at the exchequer are quit.

Murder (murdrum), indeed, is properly called the secret death of somebody, whose slayer is not known. For "murdrum" means the same as "hidden" or "occult." Now in the primitive state of the kingdom after the conquest, those who were left of the Anglo-Saxon subjects secretly laid ambushes for the suspected and hated race of the Normans, and, here and there, when opportunity offered, killed them secretly in the woods and in remote places: when the Kings and their Ministers had for some years, with exquisite kinds of torture, raged against the Anglo-Saxons; and they, nevertheless, had not, in consequence of these measures altogether desisted—when he who had caused his death was not to be found, and it did not appear from his flight who he was. "As a vengeance it was decided that the hundred in which the dead Norman was found should be condemned to pay a large sum of tested silver to the treasury."

D. Ought not the occult death of an Anglo-Saxon like that of a Norman, to be reputed murder?

M. By the original institution it ought not to, as thou hast heard: but during the time that the English and Normans have now dwelt together, and mutually married and given in marriage, the nations have become so intermingled that one can hardly tell to-day—I speak of free men—who is of English and who of Norman race; excepting, however, the bondsmen who are called "villani," to whom it is not free, if their lords object, to depart from the condition of their station. On this account almost always when any one is found thus slain to-day, it is punished as murder; except in the case of those who show certain proofs, as we have said, of a servile condition.

3. The Fusion of English and Norman.

D. I wonder that this prince of singular excellence, and this man of most distinguished virtue, should have shown such mercy towards the race of the English, subjugated and suspected by him, that not only did he keep from harm the serfs by whom agriculture could be exercised, but left even to the nobles of the kingdom their estates and ample possessions.

M. Although these things do not pertain to the matters undertaken and concerning which I have bound myself, I will nevertheless freely expound what I have heard on these matters from the natives themselves. After the conquest of the kingdom, after the just overthrow of the rebels, when the King himself and the King's nobles went over the new places, a diligent inquiry was made as to who there were who, contending in war against the King, had saved themselves through flight. To all of these, and even to the heirs of those who had fallen in battle, all hope of the lands and estates and revenues which they had before possessed was precluded: for it was thought much for them even to enjoy the privilege of being alive under their enemies. But those who, having been called to the war, had not yet come together, or, occupied with family or any kind of necessary affairs had not been present,—when, in course of time, by their devoted service they had gained the favour of their lords, they began to have possessions for themselves alone; without hope of hereditary possession, but according to the pleasure of their lords. But as time went on, when, becoming hateful to their masters, they were here and there driven from their possessions, and there was no one to restore what had been taken away,—a common complaint of the natives came to the King to the effect that, thus hateful to all and despoiled of their property, they would be compelled to cross to foreign lands. Counsel at length having been taken on these matters, it was decided that what they, either on merits or having entered into a legal pact, had been able to obtain from their masters, should be conceded to them by inviolable right; but that, however, they should claim nothing for themselves by right of heredity from the time of the conquest of the race.

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4. Danegeld and Essarts.

M.

"Our island content with its own, does not need the goods
of the stranger

Therefore with every good right, our predecessors
have called it,

Truly the lap of riches; the home, too, of every delight."

On account of this she has suffered innumerable injuries from outsiders; for it is written "marked jewels attract the thief." For the robbers of the surrounding islands, making an irruption and depopulating the shores, carried off gold and silver and all sorts of precious things. But when the King and the natives, drawn up in warlike array, pressed on in defence of their race, they betook themselves to flight by sea. Now among these robbers almost the first, and always the most ready to do harm, was that warlike and numerous race of the Danes, who, besides possessing the common avarice of plunderers, pressed on the more eagerly because they claimed, of ancient right, some part in the domination of that kingdom, as the history of the Britons more fully relates. In order, therefore, to ward these off, it was decreed by the English Kings that, from each "hide" of the kingdom, by a certain perpetual right, two shillings of silver should be paid for the use of the brave men, who, patrolling and carefully watching the shores kept off the attack of the enemy. Therefore, since principally on account of the Danes this revenue was instituted, it is called "Danegeldum" or "Danegeldus." This, therefore, under the native kings, was paid yearly, as has been said, until the time of King William I. of the race and people of the Normans. For in his day the Danes as well as the other robbers by land and by sea, restrained their hostile attacks, knowing to be true that which is written, "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace his possessions are in peace." For they also knew, indeed, that men of surpassing valour do not suffer injuries to go unpunished. When, therefore, the land had long been quiet under the rule of this King, he became unwilling that that should be paid as a yearly tax which had been exacted by the urgent necessity of a time of war, nor yet, however, on account of unforeseen cases, did he wish it to be entirely omitted. It was occasionally paid, therefore, in his time, and in that of his successor; that is, when from outside nations, wars or rumours of wars arose. But whenever it is paid, those who sit at the exchequer are free from it, as has been said. The sheriffs, too, although they are not counted under the barons of the exchequer, are quit of this for their domains, on account of the labour of collecting the tax. Know, moreover, that the domains of any one are called those which are cultivated at his own expense or labour, and likewise those which are possessed by his serfs in his name. For the serfs, according to the law of the kingdom, not only may be transferred by their lords from those places which they now possess and others; but they themselves also are sold or sundered in every possible way; which right they themselves, as well as the lands which they cultivate, in order to serve their masters, are considered domains. Likewise it is said by those to whom the ancient dignity of exchequer was known from what they had seen with their own eyes, that its barons are free, for their domains, of essarts (clearance-fines) of the forests. With whom we also agree; adding the reservation, that they may be called quit of those essarts which had been made before the day on which the illustrious King Henry I. bade farewell to human affairs. For if they were quit of all, whenever made or to be made, the barons would seem to be free with impunity, according to their own will and judgment, to cut down their woods in which the Royal forest consists; which they can, in fact, by no means do with impunity, unless the consent of the King or of the chief forester has first been gained. Nay, those who have their domicile in the forest, may not take from their own woods what they want for the necessary uses of their homes, unless by view of those deputed to guard the forest. But there are many who wish to prove by their arguments that no one, by reason of his seat at the exchequer, is free from these essarts. If any one at all of those sitting there should, by any misfortune, commit a fault against the King, for which he would merit to be punished with a pecuniary fine, he would not be freed from that punishment except by special mandate of the King. Since, therefore, a clearance is a fault committed against the forest of the King, he who thus errs, and on this account receives a penalty, ought not, as they say, to be acquitted unless by express mandate of the King. Now, although this reasoning is subtle and seems to some almost sufficient, it is to be said, in objection to it, that the penalty for clearance is fixed and common to those who err in this way; so that, namely, for the clearance of one acre of wheat land one shilling is paid; but for an acre in which oats are sown, six pence, by a perpetual law. Moreover, from these items a certain total sum arises, for which the sheriff is compelled to account to the exchequer; just as from the established two shillings or one from the different "hides" one sum arises which is called the common assessment. Since, therefore, in these respects, the essart has an express similitude with the common assessment, as has been said, it would seem as if the barons, not without justice, should be considered quit from the essarts, just as from the other common assessments. Likewise the authority, not to be despised, of custom and long usage is against them (the cavillers). For those whose memory is hoary call to mind that it was so in past times. I myself, who speak with thee, have, in modern times, looked upon Robert, Earl of Leicester, a discreet man learned in letters, and versed in matters of the law. He, while having an inborn virtue of mind, became also an emulator of his father's prudence: his industry examined into many matters under our Prince Henry the Second, whom neither fictitious prudence nor dissimulated folly deceives; so that, by the King's order, not only at the exchequer did Robert obtain the dignity of president, but also throughout the whole kingdom. He once, when the visitation of the forests, which they commonly call the "view," and which takes place every third year, was at hand, obtained a writ of the King to the effect that he should be quit of whatever might be demanded from his land for essarts, the sum being stated to which these amounted: and when this writ was brought and publicly read before the exchequer, all were amazed and wondered, saying, "does not this Earl invalidate our privileges?" And while those who sat there mutually regarded each other, Nigel, of blessed memory, the whilom Bishop of Ely, began speaking thus with modesty: "My lord earl, thou dost seem to have invalidated, by this writ, the prerogative of the exchequer, since thou hast obtained a mandate of the King for those things from which thou, by reason of thy seat at the exchequer, art free; and if one may logically draw an inference by deduction from the major term, whoever does not obtain a writ of the King concerning his essarts, will soon become answerable for their payment, but, with all due reverence, this mode of absolution is pernicious on account of the example it sets." When, therefore, as happens in doubtful cases, some were of one opinion, and others of another, there was brought in, as a valid argument in this matter, the yearly (pipe) roll of the time of that great King of whom we spoke above, under whom the dignity and the knowledge of the exchequer are said to have flourished in a high degree; and something was found which seemed to justify the bishop who made the assertion concerning the prerogative of those sitting there. Having heard these things, the earl, after deliberating a little with himself, said: "I confess that in this matter I obtained a writ of the King, not that I might invalidate your right, but that thus, without trouble, I might avoid the too unfortunate exaction—unknown, however, to the King—of the collectors." Abandoning his writ, therefore, he chose to be absolved on account of the prerogative of his seat. Some time after, when the aforesaid bishop, detained by infirmity, could not be present, and I myself supplied, as well as I could, his place at the exchequer, it happened that essarts were paid. When, therefore, what had been exacted from his domain had been paid, I complained publicly, alleging the right of exemption. By the common counsel and verdict of all, therefore, the sum which had already been paid was restored to me. Reserving therefore, what had been raised from his domain, I restored to his serfs, in its entirety, what had been exacted from each one, so that the memory might survive and be witness in this matter.

D. With all due reverence, one should not use examples, but reasons in these matters.

M. That is so; but it happens, at times, that the causes of things and the reasons of sayings are secret; and then it suffices to bring up examples relating to them; especially if they are taken from the cases of prudent men, whose deeds are circumspect and are not done without reason. But whatever we have said about these things taking part for this privilege or against it, thou may'st be sure that in this matter we have called nothing certain, unless what the authority of the King decreed should be observed. But the account of the forests and also the punishment or absolution of those who transgress with regard to them, whether it be a pecuniary or a corporal one, is kept separate from the other judgments of the kingdom, and is subjected to the will of the King alone or to that of some one of his intimates specially deputed for this purpose. It subsists by its own laws, which, they say, are not subject to the common law of the kingdom, but to the voluntary decree of the princes; so that whatever has been done according to its law may be said to be not absolutely just, but just according to the law of the forest. The forests, moreover, are the sanctuaries of the Kings and their greatest delight, thither they go for the sake of hunting, having laid aside their cares for a while, so that they may be refreshed by a short rest. There the serious, and at the same time the natural uproars of the court having ceased, they breathe in for a while the boon of pure liberty; whence it comes that they who transgress with regard to the forest are subject to the royal displeasure alone.

D. From my earliest youth I have learned that it is wrong for a prudent person to prefer to suffer ignorance rather than to demand the causes of things that have been said, in order, therefore, that the foregoing may more fully be made clear, do not put off revealing what a forest is.

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5. The Forest.

M. The forest of the King is the safe dwelling-place of wild beasts; not of every kind, but of the kinds that live in woods; not in all places, but in fixed ones, and ones suitable for the purpose; whence it is called "foresta," the "e" being changed into "o," as if it were "feresta"—i.e. an abiding place for wild beasts.

D. Is there a forest of the King in each county?

M. No; but only of the wooded ones, where the wild beasts can have their lairs and ripe nourishment: nor does it matter to whom the woods belong, whether to the King or to the nobles of the kingdom,—the wild beasts can none the less run around everywhere free and unharmed.

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6. The Sheriffs and Bailiffs.

M. All the sheriffs, therefore, and the bailiffs, to whom summonses are directed, are bound by the same necessity of the law; that is, by the authority of the royal mandate; that, namely, on the day mentioned and at the place designated, they shall come together and render satisfaction for their debts. In order that this may be clearer to thee, look more closely at the tenor of the summons itself, for it reads: "See to it, as thou dost love thyself and all thy belongings, that thou art at the exchequer of such and such a time and place; and that thou hast with thee whatever thou owest of the old farm and the new, and these debts written below." Pay attention, then, for two things are said which fit in with the two which follow: for this, "See to it as thou dost love thyself," refers to "that thou art there and there at such and such a time and place"; that expression, however, "and as thou dost love all thy belongings," seems to refer to this: "and that thou hast with thee these debts written below"; as if it were openly said, "thy absence, whoever thou art that receiveth a summons, unless it can be excused by causes necessary and defined by law, will redound to the peril of thy head; for thou wilt seem thus to have spurned the royal mandate, and to have acted irreverently in contempt of the royal majesty, if, being summoned concerning the matters for which thou art bounden to the King, thou dost neither come nor send one to excuse thee...."

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7. Liveries.

D. What is that thou didst speak of as liveries of both kinds?

M. Some of the liveries are of poor people; as when, solely from the promptings of charity, one penny a day or two or more, are accorded to someone by the King for food and clothing. But some are of people who do service, so that they receive them as wages; such are the custodians of the palaces, the guardians of the royal temples, the pipers, the seizers of wolves, and the like. These, then, are liveries of different kinds which are paid for different reasons, but are counted among the fixed payments. And mark that, although the King is free to confer these liveries on any poor people whatever, they nevertheless, by ancient custom, are usually assigned to those who minister at court, and who, having no income, fall into bodily sickness and become unfit for labour.

PART II. MISCELLANEOUS SOURCES.

HENRY PUTS HIS HOUSE IN ORDER, 1155-7.

Source.—Roger de Hoveden, Vol. I., Part II., pp. 255-6. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.

In the year 1155, being the first year of the reign of King Henry, son of the Empress Matilda, the said King laid siege to the castles of his enemies in England, and captured them; some of which he retained in his own hands, and some he levelled with the ground. After this, he crossed over into Normandy, and did homage to Louis, King of the Franks, for Normandy, Aquitaine, Anjou, Maine, and Touraine, with all their appurtenances.

In the year of grace 1156, being the second year of the reign of King Henry, son of the Empress Matilda, the said King returned from Normandy to England, and caused nearly all the castles, which had been erected in England in the time of King Stephen, to be demolished, and issued a new coinage, which was the only one received and current throughout the realm; he also established peace in the kingdom, and commanded the laws of King Henry, his grandfather, to be observed inviolably throughout the whole of his kingdom, and in many matters followed the advice of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury.

In the year of grace 1157, being the third year of the reign of King Henry, son of the Empress Matilda, the said King, by the advice and entreaty of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, conferred the Chancellorship upon Thomas, Archdeacon of Canterbury, and bestowed upon him many revenues, both ecclesiastical and of a secular nature, and received him so much into his esteem and familiarity, that throughout the kingdom there was no one his equal, save the King alone.

In the same year, Malcolm, King of the Scots, came to the King of England at Chester, and did homage to him, in the same way that his grandfather had done homage to the former King Henry, saving always all his dignities.

SUPERSTITIONS AND CHARACTER OF THE IRISH,
Circ. 1155.

Instance of Superstition.

Source.—Giraldus Cambrensis, p. 79, Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.

I now proceed to relate some wonderful occurrences which have happened within our times. About three years before the arrival of Earl John in Ireland, it chanced that a priest, who was journeying from Ulster towards Meath, was benighted in a certain wood on the borders of Meath. While, in company with only a young lad, he was watching by a fire which he had kindled under the branches of a spreading tree, lo! a wolf came up to them, and immediately addressed them to this effect: "Rest secure, and be not afraid, for there is no reason you should fear, where no fear is!" The travellers being struck with astonishment and alarm, the wolf added some orthodox words referring to God. The priest then implored him and adjured him by Almighty God and faith in the Trinity, not to hurt them, but to inform them what creature it was that in the shape of a beast uttered human words. The wolf, after giving catholic replies to all questions, added at last: "There are two of us, a man and a woman, natives of Ossory, who, through the curse of one Natalis, saint and abbot, are compelled every seven years to put off the human form, and depart from the dwellings of men. Quitting entirely the human form, we assume that of wolves. At the end of the seven years, if they chance to survive, two others being substituted in their places, they return to their country and their former shape. And now, she who is my partner in this visitation lies dangerously sick not far from hence, and, as she is at the point of death, I beseech you, inspired by divine charity, to give her the consolations of your priestly office."

At this word the priest followed the wolf trembling, as he led the way to a tree at no great distance, in the hollow of which he beheld a she-wolf, who under that shape was pouring forth human sighs and groans. On seeing the priest, having saluted him with human courtsey, she gave thanks to God, who in this extremity had vouchsafed to visit her with such consolation. She then received from the priest all the rites of the church, duly performed, as far as the last communion. This also she importunately demanded, earnestly supplicating him to complete his good offices by giving her the viaticum. The priest stoutly asserting that he was not provided with it, the he-wolf, who had withdrawn to a short distance, came back and pointed out a small missal-book, containing some consecrated wafers which the priest carried on his journey, suspended from his neck, under his garment, after the fashion of the country. He then intreated him not to deny them the gift of God, and the aid destined for them by Divine Providence; and to remove all doubt, using his claw for a hand, he tore off the skin of the she-wolf from the head down to the navel, folding it back. Thus she immediately presented the form of an old woman. The priest, seeing this, and compelled by his fear more than his reason, gave the communion; the recipient having earnestly implored it, and devoutly partaking of it. Immediately afterwards the he-wolf rolled back the skin, and fitted it to its original form.

Their Character.

Source.—Giraldus Cambrensis, p. 111. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.

It appears to me very remarkable, and deserving of notice, that, as in the present life the people of this nation are beyond all others, irascible and prompt to revenge, so also in the life that is after death, the saints of this country, exalted by their merits above those of other lands, appear to be of a vindictive temper. There appears to me no other way of accounting for this circumstance, but this: as the Irish people possessed no castles, while the country is full of marauders, who live by plunder, the people, and more especially the ecclesiastics, made it their practice to have recourse to the churches, instead of fortified places, as refuges for themselves and their property; and, by Divine Providence and permission, there was frequent need that the Church should visit her enemies with the severest chastisements; this being the only mode by which evildoers and impious men could be deterred from breaking the peace of ecclesiastical societies, and for securing even to a servile submission the reverence due to the very churches themselves, from a rude and irreligious people.

THE PAGANISM OF THE IRISH, Circ. 1155.

Source.—Giraldus Cambrensis, p. 135. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.

They are given to treachery more than any other nation, and never keep the faith they have pledged, neither shame nor fear withholding them from constantly violating the most solemn obligations, which, when entered into with themselves, they are above all things anxious to have observed. So that, when you have used the utmost precaution, when you have been most vigilant for your own security and safety, by requiring oaths and hostages, by treaties of alliance firmly made, and by benefits of all kinds conferred, then begins your time to fear; for then especially their treachery is awake, when they suppose that, relying in the fulness of your security, you are off your guard. That is the moment for them to fly to their citadel of wickedness, turn against you their weapons of deceit, and endeavour to do you injury, by taking the opportunity of catching you unawares.

(G. C., p 138.)

There are some things which shame would prevent my relating, unless the course of my subject required it. For a filthy story seems to reflect a stain on the author, although it may display his skill. But the severity of history does not allow us either to sacrifice truth or affect modesty; and what is shameful in itself may be related by pure lips in decent words. There is then in the northern and most remote part of Ulster, namely, at Kenel Cunil, a nation which practices a most barbarous and abominable rite in creating their King. The whole people of that country being gathered in one place, a white mare is led into the midst of them, and he who is to be inaugurated, not as a prince, but as a brute, not as a king, but as an outlaw, comes before the people on all fours, confessing himself a beast with no less impudence than imprudence. The mare being immediately killed, and cut in pieces and boiled, a bath is prepared for him from the broth. Sitting in this he eats of the flesh which is brought to him, the people standing round and partaking of it also. He is also required to drink of the broth in which he is bathed, not drawing it in any vessel, nor even in his hand, but lapping it with his mouth. These unrighteous rites being duly accomplished, his royal authority and dominion are ratified.

(G. C., p. 139.)

Moreover, though the faith has been planted for so long a period in this country that it has grown to maturity, there are some corners of the land in which many are still unbaptised, and to whom, through the negligence of their pastors, the knowledge of the truth has never penetrated. I heard some sailors relate that, having been once driven by a violent storm, during Lent, to the northern islands and unexplored expanse of the sea of Connaught, they at last took shelter under a small island. Here they could hardly hold their ground by the help of their anchor, though they had three cables out or more. After three days, the storm abating, the sky becoming again clear, and the sea calm, they beheld at no great distance the features of a land which was before entirely unknown to them. From this land not long afterwards they saw a small boat rowing towards them. It was narrow and oblong, and made of wattled boughs, covered and sewn with the hides of beasts. In it were two men, stark naked, except that they wore broad belts of the skin of some animal fastened round their waists. They had long yellow hair, like the Irish, falling below the shoulders and covering great part of their bodies. The sailors finding that these men were from some part of Connaught, and spoke the Irish language, took them into the ship. All that they saw there was new to them and a subject of wonder. They said that they had never seen before a large ship, built of timber, or anything belonging to civilised man. Bread and cheese being offered to them, they refused to eat them, having no knowledge of either. Flesh, fish, and milk, they said, were their only food. Nor did they wear any clothes, except sometimes the skins of beasts, in cases of great necessity. Having inquired of the sailors whether they had on board any flesh with which they could satisfy their hunger, and being told in reply that it was not lawful to eat flesh during Lent, they were utterly ignorant what Lent was. Neither did they know anything about the year, the month, or the week; and by what names the days of the week were called was entirely beyond their conception. Being asked whether they were Christians, and had been baptised, they replied that to the present hour they had never heard of the name of Christ, and knew nothing about Him. On their return, they carried back a loaf and a cheese, that they might be able to astonish their countrymen by the sight of the provisions which the strangers ate.

It must be observed also, that the men who enjoy ecclesiastical immunity, and are called ecclesiastical men, although they be laics and have wives, and wear long hair hanging down below the shoulders, but only do not bear arms, wear for their protection, by authority of the Pope, fillets on the crown of their heads, as a mark of distinction. Moreover, these people, who have customs so very different from others, and so opposite to them, on making signs either with the hands or the head, beckon when they mean that you should go away, and nod backward as often as they wish to be rid of you. They are also prone to the failing of jealousy beyond any other nation. The women also, as well as the men, ride astride, with their legs stuck out on each side of the horse.

TRIBAL DISPUTE (1154-7).

Source.—Song of Dermot. Orpen. Clarendon Press. 1892.

l. 22.

Now in Leath-luinn there was a king,

O'Rourke he was called in Irish,

In Tisbrun, the barren, he dwelt,

A waste, a woody land.

But O'Rourke, the rich King,

Had a beautiful wife at this time,

The daughter of King Melaghlin

To whom Meath was subject.

****

l. 40.

Dermot, King of Leinster

Whom this lady loved so much,

Made pretence to her of loving,

While he did not love her at all,

But only wished to the utmost of his power

To avenge, if he could, the great shame

class="verse"Which the men of Leath-luinn wrought of old

On the men of Leath-Mogha in his territory.

King Dermot often sent word

To the lady whom he so loved—

By letter and by messenger,

Often did the King send word

That she was altogether, in truth,

The thing in the world that he most loved;

l. 94.

King Dermot immediately

Came marching to the place

Where the lady had sent word

That she would be ready.

In this way Dermot the King

Carried off the lady at this time.

****

l. 110.

O'Rourke much grieving,

To Connaught went in all haste.

To the King of Connaught he relates all:

****

l. 126.

The King of Connaught sent word

To the King of Ossory in the first place,

That he should not fail their King

But should come to their aid.

And these men fully promised him

That they would make him King in that territory

If they could cast out of it

King Dermot who was so bold.

And this man immediately revolted

Against his lord King Dermot;

And Melaghlin, the traitor,

Abandoned his lord;

And Mac Torkil of Dublin

Abandoned his lord at this moment.

There joined in the treason

Murrough O'Brien, an evil rebel.

****

l. 206.

When Dermot the King perceived

That he was betrayed at this time—

His own men failed him,

So completely was he betrayed—

And that they wished to take him

To hand him over and sell him to O'Rourke,

While the King of Connaught on the other hand

Should make a great destruction of him—

Why should I delay you

From your geste at all?

His people by the strong hand

Have cast out King Dermot,

Have wrested the whole kingdom from him

And have driven him from Ireland.

When the King was exiled

He took ship at Corkerau

****

His ships had a very fine breeze,