Our Legal Heritage, King AEthelbert, 596 to King George III, 1775

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oars and sails. The conquest did not take long because of the superiority of his military expertise to that of the English. He organized his army into three groups: archers with bows and arrows, horsemen with swords and stirrups, and footmen with hand weapons. Each group played a specific ro

e subject to him with righteousness and royal providence, to enact and hold fast right law, and to utte

gave him homage by placing their hands within his and saying "I become your man for the tenement I hold of you, and I will bear you faith in life and member [limb] and earthly honor against all men". They held their land "of their lord", the King, by knight's service. The king had "enfeoffed" them [given them a fief: a source of income] with land. The theory that by right all land was the King's and that land was held by others only at his gift and in return for specified service was new to English thought. The original duration of a knight's fee until about 1100 was for his life; th

en were allowed to redeem their land by money payment if they showed loyalty to the Conquerer. Well-born women crowded into nunneries to escape Norman violence. The people were

wary because he had learned to command himself as well as other men. He was not arbitrary or oppressive. The Conquerer had a strict system of policing the nation. Instead of the Anglo-Saxon self-government throughout the districts and hundreds of resident authorities in local court

t. This prevented any nightly gatherings, assassinations, or seditions. Order was brought to the kingdom so that no man dare kill another, no matter how great the injury he had received. The Conquerer extended the King's

al tenures. For instance, A, holding by barons' service of the King, may enfeoff B, a church, to hold of him on the terms of praying for the souls of his ancestors, and B may enfeoff a freeman C to hold of the church by giving it a certain percentage of his crops every year. There were about 200 barons who held

undred and the county [formerly "shire"], which were courts of the King, administering old customary law. They were the King's courts on the principle that a crime anywhere was a breach of the King's peace. The King's peace that had covered his residence and h

his land with him to a new lord. He held his land at the will of his lord, to be terminated anytime the lord decided to do so. A tenant could not alienate h

honor and defending him against his enemies, which oath would supersede any oath to any other man, gave the nation a new unity. The king could call men directly to th

's permission, except to go on a pilgrimage. The villeins formed a new bottom class as the population's percentage of slaves declined dramatically. They held their land of their lord, the baron. To guard against uprisi

wall were ditches and banks and perhaps a moat. One traveled over these via a drawbridge let down at the gatehouse of the enclosing wall. On either side of the gatehouse were chambers for the guards. Arrows could be shot through slits in the enclosing walls. Inside the

ea on the second floor. There were small areas of the third floor which could be used for sleeping. The floors were wood and were reached by a spiral stone staircase in one corner of the building. Sometimes there was a reservoir of water on an upper level with pipes carrying the water to floors below. Each floor had a fireplace with a sl

he inside of the walls, as were other continuous buildings. The kitchens and chapels were in th

itters, nestled nearby. They might share in dinner, but the lord may keep a short stick near him to defend morsels he meant for himself. Hunting, dove cotes, and carp pools provided fresh meat. Fish was compulsory eating on Fridays, on fast days, and during Lent. Cooking was done outside on an open fire, roasting on spits and boiling in pots. Some spits were mechanized with a cogged wheel and a weight at the end of a string. Other spits were turned by a long handle, or a small boy shielded from the heat by a wet blanket, or by dogs on a treadmill. Underneath the spit was a dripping pan to hold the falling juices and fat. Mutton fat was used for candles. Bread, pies, and pastry dishes were baked in an oven: a hole in a fireproof stone wall fitted with an iron door, in which wood was first burnt to heat the oven walls. It could also be used for drying fruit or melting tallow. Fruits were also preserved in honey. Salt was stored in a niche in the wall near the hearth and put on the table in a salt cellar which became more elaborate over the

orning. A chamber pot was kept under the bed for nighttime use. Hay was used as toilet paper. The lord's personal servants slept nearby on benches or trundle beds. Most of the gentlemen servants slept communally in a "knight's chamber". The floor of the hall was strewn with straw, on which common folk could sleep at night. There were stools on which to sit. Cup boards (boards on which to store cups) and chests stored spices and plate. One-piece iron shears were available to cut cloth. Handheld spindles were used for weaving; one hand held the spindle [a small stick weighted at one end] while the other hand alternately formed the thread and wound it around the spindle. On the roofs there were rampart

sage", a payment on goods passing through, "stallage", a payment for setting up a st

wore durable, but drab, wool tunics to the knee so as not to impede them in their work. They could roll up their stockings when working in the fields. A lady also wore a high-necked, long-sleeved linen or wool tunic fitted at the waist and laced at the side, but full in the skirt, which reached to her toes. She wore a jeweled belt, passed twice around her waist and knotted in front. Her hair was often in two long braids, and her head and ears covered with a white round cloth held in place by a metal circlet lik

ame indicating parentage, place of birth, or residence, such as Field, Pitt, Lane, Bridge, Ford, Stone, Burn, Church, Hill, Brook, Green. Other names came from occupations such as Shepherd, Carter, Parker, Fowler, Hunter, Forester, Smith. Still other came from personal characteristics

fidelity. Many free sokemen were caught up in the subjugation by baron landlords and were reduced almost to the condition of the unfree villein. The services they performed for their lords were often indisti

existing and new monasteries functioned as training grounds for scholars, bishops, and statesmen rather than as retreats from the wor

d to a monetary amount. Bishops had to attend the King's court. Bishops could not leave the realm without the King's consent. No royal tenant or royal servant could be excommunicated, nor his lands be placed under interdict, without the King's consent. Interdict could demand, for instance, that the church be closed and the dead buried in unconsecrate

sheriff and all the thegns of Kent, French and English, greeting. Know ye that the Bishop of Bayeux my brother for the love of God and for the salvation of my soul and his own, has given to St. Trinity all houses with their appurtenances wh

pel. On the third floor was the banqueting hall, the sword room, and the chapel. The king and his household slept in apartments on these upper floors. Stairs went up to the gateway entrance on the second floor, which were hidden by a wall. The garrison's barracks were on the first floor (ground floor). Any prisoners were kept in cells at a level below the first floor. The other castles were often built at the old fortification burhs of Alfred. Each had a constable in charge, who was a baron. Barons and earls had castle-guard duty in the king's castles. The Conquerer was constantly moving about the land among his and his barons' castles, where he met with his magnates

field called "Smithfield". The great citizens had the land qualifications of knights and ranked as barons on the Conquerer's council. The freemen were a small percentage of London's population. There was a butchers' guild, a pepperers' guild, a goldsmiths' guild, the guild of St. Lazarus, which was probably a leper charity (of which there were many in the 1000s and 1100s), the Pilgrims' guild, which helped people going on pilgrimages, and four

ith the portreeve, and all the burgesses [citizens] of London friendly. Know that I will that you be worthy of all the laws you were worthy of in the time of King Edward. And I wil

r slaves. Whenever Kings asserted authority over it, the citizens reacted until the

that of the mutilation of blinding, chopping off hands, and castrating offenders. Castratio

ofits, 2) toll - a payment in towns, markets, and fairs for goods and chattel bought and sold, 3) team - persons might be vouched to warranty in the court, the grant of which made a court capable of hearing suits arising from the transfer of land, 4) infangenthef -

as pennies for local use. On one side was the King's head in profile and on the other side was the name of the moneyer. When a new coinage was issued, a

fficers of the King's household, archbishops, and bishops. It replaced the witan of wise men. It dealt with fundamental matters of law, state, war, and church. Its functions were largely ceremonial. Earldoms and knighthoods were conferred and homages to the king were witnessed. Bi

e royal treasure at the palace at Winchester. He was also an important member of the household and sat in the Exchequer at Westminster, where he received the accounts of the sheriffs. The Exchequer was composed of the justiciar as head, the chancellor, the constable, two chamberlains, the marshall and other experienced councilors. The word "Exchequer" came from the chequered cloth on the table used to calculate in Roman numerals the amount due and the amount paid. The word "cal

f government changed to Latin. The chancellor was from the clergy and supervised the writers and clerks, who were literate, and appended the great seal before witnesses to documents. He also headed the staff of the royal chapel. The chamberlain was a financial officer who audited and accounted. The constable was responsible for supplies for the knights of the royal household. He al

to make up the difference from his own pocket. Before rendering this account, he paid the royal benefactions to religious houses, provided for the maintenance of stock on crown lands, paid for the costs of provisions supplied to the court, and paid for traveling expenses of the king and his visitors. The payments were initially paid in kind: e.g. grain, cattle, horses, hounds, and hawks. Sheriffs also took part in the keeping of castles and often managed the estates of the King. Most royal writs were addressed to the sherif

ays service in a year. The fyrd was retained. A threat of a Viking invasion caused the Conquerer to reinstate the danegeld tax at 6s. per hide, which was three times its old rate. (The price of an ox was still about 30d.) To impose this tax uniformly, he

h 14 teams among them. There is a mill worth 2s. a year and one fishery, a church and four acres of meadow, wood for 150 pigs and two st

7 bordars [a bordar had a cottage and a small amount land in return for supplying small provisions to his lord] having 5 ploughs and 5 serfs and 1 female serf and 40 acres o

with fifteen ploughs, and three churches and three priests, and three mills of ten shillings. Wood pastures two miles lo

able land employs 20 ploughs. In the demesne lands there are 3 ploughs and 7 bondmen. There are 50 villeins and 12 bordars with 20 ploughs. The mill there pay[s] 3 shillings. The woodlands are 2 mil

ned a salthouse or saltpit in the local saltwork

cultivator tenants]; 82,000 bordarii; 7,000 cotarii and cotseti [held land by service of lab

y 7,000 coatarii and cotseti [held land or houses by service of labor or rent paid in produce], and nea

members. That is if he be captured. And if he cannot be captured, he shall be considered as an outlaw, and anyone who kills him shall have all his possessions. The king shall take the possessions of any stranger who has elected to live in Oxford and who dies i

ing, hawking, hunting, jousting, and engaged in team sports in which the goal was to put the other side to rout. They learned the knightly art of war. Enemy fighters were to be taken and held for ransom rather than killed. Those engaging in rebellion were to be pardoned and restored to some or all of their lands and titles. Lords' sons could be mutually exchanged

sons of great houses became bishops. An heir of a tenant had to pay a heavy "relief" on succession to his estate. The relief replaced the heriot. If there was a delay in proving heirship or paying relief, the lord would hold the land and receive its income in the meantime, often a year. If an heir was still a minor or female, he or she passed into his lord's wardship, in which the lord had guardianship of the heir and possession of the estate, with all its profits. The mother was not made a minor

' shops. There was horse racing, steeple races, and chess for recreation. Girls had

medical advice brought to the nation by Wil

ating And in the use of wine. After a heavy meal Rise and take the air Sleep not w

and money lending. They loaned money for interest for the building of castles and cathedrals. Christians were not allowed by the church to engage in this usury. The Jews

customs of the nation to get more money for himself. He was killed by an arrow of a fellow hunter while

e

n law, but affirmed the laws of the nat

, felling a tree across it, or attacking someone so th

or his offenses or pay the damages or fines due. If an accused man f

rer procla

d except in towns and

chattels, there must be

sea. (This ended the slave t

or persons tried by

al Pro

ning the cure of souls and criminal cases, in which the ordeal was used. When

were conducted by the King's own appointed sheriff. Only freemen and not bound villeins ha

who exercised judicial functions among their free neighbors were now

d spend months trying to catch up with the Royal Court to present a case. Sometimes the Conquerer sent the justiciar or commissioners to hold his Royal Court in the various districts. The commissioner appointed groups of local men to give a collective verdict upon oath for each trial he conducted. The Conquerer allowed, on an ad hoc basis, certai

of his cause by making the other surrender by crying "craven" [craving forgiveness]. The combatants used weapons like pickaxes and shields. Presumably the man in the wrong would not fight as well because he was burde

and other civil issues were dealt with by the Hustings Court, which met every Monday in the Guildhall. The city was divided into wards, each of which was under the charge of an elected alderman [elder man]. (The election was by a small governing body and the most wealthy and reputabl

urder of any Norman, if the murderer was not apprehended by his lord within a few days. The reaction to this was that the murderer mutilated the corpse to make identification of ethnicity im

as delegated by the King's authority as judge of the dispute, with Ranulf the Vicomte, Neel, son of Neel, Robert de Usepont, and many other capable judges who diligently and fully examined