Book: Our Legal Heritage, 4th Ed.

S >> S. A. Reilly >> Our Legal Heritage, 4th Ed.




King Edward I was respected by the people for his good government,
practical wisdom, and genuine concern for justice for everyone. He
loved his people and wanted them to love him. He came to the
throne with twenty years experience governing lesser lands on the
continent which were given to him by his father Henry III. He
spoke Latin, English, and French. He gained a reputation as a
lawgiver and as a peacemaker in disputes on the continent. His
reputation was so high and agreement on him as the next king so
strong that England was peaceful in the almost two years that it
took him to arrive there from continental business. He was
truthful, law-abiding, and kept his word. He had close and solid
family relationships, especially with his father and with his wife
Eleanor, to whom he was faithful. He was loyal to his close circle
of good friends. He valued honor and adhered reasonably well to
the terms of the treaties he made. He was generous in carrying out
the royal custom of subsidizing the feeding of paupers. He visited
the sick. He was frugal and dressed in plain, ordinary clothes
rather than extravagant or ostentatious ones. He disliked ceremony
and display.

At his accession, there was a firm foundation of a national law
administered by a centralized judicial system, a centralized
executive, and an organized system of local government in close
touch with both the judicial and the executive system. To gain
knowledge of his nation, he sent royal commissioners into every
county to ask about any encroachments on the King's rights and
about misdeeds by any of the King's officials: sheriffs, bailiffs,
or coroners. The results were compiled as the "Hundred Rolls".
They were the basis of reforms which improved justice at the local
as well as the national level. They also rationalized the array of
jurisdictions that had grown up with feudal government. Statutes
were passed by a parliament of two houses, that of peers (lords)
and that of an elected [rather than appointed] commons, and the
final form of the constitution was fixed.

Wardships of children and widows were sought because they were
very profitable. A guardian could get one tenth of the income of
the property during the wardship and a substantial marriage amount
when the ward married. Parents often made contracts to marry for
their young children. This avoided a forced marriage by a ward
should the parents die.

Most earldoms and many baronages came into the royal house by
escheat or marriage. The royal house employed many people. The
barons developed a class consciousness of aristocracy and became
leaders of society. Many men, no matter of whom they held land,
sought knighthood. The king granted knighthood by placing his
sword on the head of able-bodied and moral candidates who swore an
oath of loyalty to the king and to defend "all ladies,
gentlewomen, widows and orphans" and to "shun no adventure of your
person in any war wherein you should happen to be". A code of
knightly chivalry became recognized, such as telling the truth and
setting wrongs right. About half of the knights were literate. In
1278, the king issued a writ ordering all free-holders who held
land of the value of at least 400s. to receive knighthood at the
King's hands.

At the royal house and other great houses gentlemanly jousting
competitions, with well-refined and specific rules, took the place
of violent tournaments with general rules. Edward forbade
tournaments at which there was danger of a "melee". At these
knights competed for the affection of ladies by jousting with each
other while the ladies watched. Courtly romances were common. If a
man convinced a lady to marry him, the marriage ceremony took
place in church, with feasting and dancing afterwards. Romantic
stories were at the height of their popularity. A usual theme was
the lonely quest of a knight engaged in adventures which would
impress his lady.

Riddles include: 1. I will make you a cross, and a thing will not
touch you, and you will not be able to leave the house without
breaking that cross. Answer: Stand before a post in your house,
with your arms extended. 2. What you do not know, and I do not
know, and no one can know after I have told you. Answer: I will
take a straw from the floor of the room, measure its inches, tell
you the length, and break the straw. 3. A pear tree bears all the
fruit a pear tree can bear and did not bear pears. Answer: It bore
only one pear.

The dress of the higher classes was very changeable and subject to
fashion as well as function. Ladies no longer braided their hair
in long tails, but rolled it up in a net under a veil, often
topped with an elaborate and fanciful headdress. They wore non-
functional long trains on their tunics and dainty shoes. Men wore
a long gown, sometimes clasped around the waist. Overtunics were
often lined or trimmed with native fur such as squirrel. People
often wore solid red, blue, or green clothes. Only monks and
friars wore brown. The introduction of buttons and buttonholes to
replace pins and laces made clothing warmer, and it could be made
tighter. After Edward I established the standard inch as three
continuous dried barleycorns, shoes came in standard sizes and
with a right one different from a left one. The spinning wheel
came into existence to replace the hand-held spindle. Now one hand
could be used to form the thread while the other hand turned a
large upright wheel that caused the thread to wind around the
spindle, which did not have to be held by hand. This resulted in
an uninterrupted spinning motion which was not interrupted by
alternately forming the thread and winding it on the spindle.

Lords surrounded themselves with people of the next lower rank,
usually from nearby families, and had large households. For
instance, the king had a circle of noblemen and ladies about him.
A peer or great prelate had a household of about 100-200 people,
among which were his inner circle, companions, administrators,
secretaries, bodyguards and armed escort, chaplain, singing
priests and choirboys, and servants. All officers of the household
were gentlemen. The secretary was usually a clerk, who was
literate because he had taken minor clerical orders. Since the
feudal obligation of the tenants was disappearing, a lord
sometimes hired retainers to supplement his escort of fighting
men. They proudly wore his livery of cloth or hat, which was in
the nature of a uniform or badge of service. A nobleman and his
lady had a circle of knights and gentlemen and their ladies. A
knight had a circle of gentlemen and their ladies.

The great barons lived in houses built within the walls of their
castles. Lesser barons lived in semi-fortified manors, many of
which had been licensed to be embattled or crenellated. Their
halls were two stories high, and usually built on the first rather
than on the second floor. Windows came down almost to the floor.
The hall had a raised floor at one end where the lord and lady and
a few others sat at a high table. The hearth was in the middle of
the room or on a wall. Sometimes a cat was used to open and shut
the louvers of the smoke outlet in the roof. The lord's bedroom
was next to the hall on the second floor and could have windows
into the hall and a spiral staircase connecting the two rooms.
There was a chapel, in which the lord attended mass every morning.
The many knights usually lived in unfortified houses with two
rooms.

In the great houses, there were more wall hangings, and ornaments
for the tables. The tables were lit with candles or torches made
of wax. Plates were gold and silver. The lord, his lady, and their
family and guests sat at the head table, which was raised on a
dais. On this high table was a large and elaborate salt cellar.
One's place in relationship to the salt cellar indicated one's
status: above or below the salt. Also, those of higher status at
the table ate a superior bread. The almoner [alms giver] said
grace. Gentlemen poured the lord's drink [cupbearer], served his
meat [carver], and supervised the serving of the food [sewer]. A
yeoman ewery washed the hands of the lord and his guests and
supplied the napkins, ewers [pitchers], and basins. A yeoman
cellarer or butler served the wine and beer. The yeoman of the
pantry served the bread, salt, and cutlery. The steward presided
over the table of household officers of gentle birth. The marshall
of the hall, clerk of the kitchen, or other yeomen officers
supervised other tables. Salt and spices were available at all
tables. Most people ate with their fingers, although there were
knives and some spoons. Drinking vessels were usually metal, horn,
or wood. A marshall and ushers kept order. Minstrels played
musical instruments or recited histories of noble deeds or amusing
anecdotes. Reading aloud was a favorite pastime. The almoner
collected the left-overs to distribute to the poor.

In lesser houses people ate off trenchers [a four day old slab of
coarse bread or a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a
bowl], or plates of wood or pewter [made from tin, copper, and
lead]. They often shared plates and drinking vessels at the table.

Queen Eleanor, a cultivated, intelligent, and educated lady from
the continent, fostered culture and rewarded individual literary
efforts, such as translations from Latin, with grants of her own
money. She patronized Oxford and Cambridge Universities and left
bequests to poor scholars there. She herself had read Aristotle
and commentaries thereon, and she especially patronized literature
which would give cross-cultural perspectives on subjects. She was
kind and thoughtful towards those about her and was also
sympathetic to the afflicted and generous to the poor. She shared
Edward's career to a remarkable extent, even accompanying him on a
crusade. She had an intimate knowledge of the people in Edward's
official circle and relied on the advice of two of them in
managing her lands. She mediated disputes between earls and other
nobility, as well as softened her husband's temper towards people.
Edward granted her many wardships and marriages and she arranged
marriages with political advantages. She dealt with envoys coming
to the court. Her intellectual vitality and organized mentality
allowed her to deal with arising situations well. Edward held her
in great esteem. She introduced to England the merino sheep,
which, when bred with the English sheep, gave them a better
quality of wool. She and Edward often played games of chess and
backgammon.

Farm efficiency was increased by the use of windmills in the
fields to pump water and by allowing villeins their freedom and
hiring them as laborers only when needed. Customary service was
virtually extinct. A man could earn 5d. for reaping, binding, and
shocking into a pile, an acre of wheat. A strong man with a wife
to do the binding could do this in a long harvest day. Harvests
were usually plentiful, with the exception of two periods of
famine over the country due to weather conditions. Then the price
of wheat went way up and drove up the prices of all other goods
correspondingly. The story of outlaw Robin Hood, who made a living
by robbing, was passed around. This Robin Hood did not give to the
poor. But generally, there was enough grain to store so that the
population was no longer periodically devastated by famine. The
population grew and all arable land in the nation came under the
plough. The acre was standardized. About 1300, the price of an ox
was 9s., a heifer or cow 7s., a hide 2s.6d., a cart horse 2 or 3
pounds. Farm women went to nearby towns to sell eggs and dairy
products, usually to town women.

Although manors needed the ploughmen, the carters and drivers, the
herdsmen, and the dairymaid on a full-time basis, other tenants
spent increasing time in crafts and became village carpenters,
smiths, weavers or millers' assistants. Trade and the towns grew.
Smiths used coal in their furnaces.

Money rents often replaced service due to a lord, such as fish
silver, malt silver, or barley silver. The lord's rights are being
limited to the rights declared on the extents [records showing
service due from each tenant] and the rolls of the manor.
Sometimes land is granted to strangers because none of the kindred
of the deceased will take it. Often a manor court limited a fee in
land to certain issue instead of being inheritable by all heirs.
Surveyors' poles marked boundaries declared by court in boundary
disputes. This resulted in survey maps showing villages and cow
pastures.

The revival of trade and the appearance of a money economy was
undermining the long-established relationship between the lord of
the manor and his villeins. As a result, money payments were
supplementing or replacing payments in service and produce as in
Martham, where Thomas Knight held twelve acres in villeinage, paid
16d. for it and 14d. in special aids. "He shall do sixteen working
days in August and for every day he shall have one repast - viz.
Bread and fish. He shall hoe ten days without the lord's food -
price of a day 1/2 d. He shall cart to Norwich six cartings or
shall give 9d., and he shall have for every carting one leaf and
one lagena - or gallon - of ale. Also for ditching 1d. He shall
make malt 3 1/2 seams of barley or shall give 6d. Also he shall
flail for twelve days or give 12d. He shall plough if he has his
own plough, and for every ploughing he shall have three loaves and
nine herrings ... For carting manure he shall give 2."

Another example is this manor's holdings, when 3d. would buy food
for a day: "Extent of the manor of Bernehorne, made on Wednesday
following the feast of St. Gregory the Pope, in the thirty-fifth
year of the reign of King Edward, in the presence of Brother
Thomas, keeper of Marley, John de la More, and Adam de Thruhlegh,
clerks, on the oath of William de Gocecoumbe, Walter le Parker,
Richard le Knyst, Richard the son of the latter, Andrew of Estone,
Stephen Morsprich, Thomas Brembel, William of Swynham, John
Pollard, Roger le Glide, John Syward, and John de Lillingewist,
who say that there are all the following holdings:... John Pollard
holds a half acre in Aldithewisse and owes 18d. at the four
terms, and owes for it relief and heriot. John Suthinton holds a
house and 40 acres of land and owes 3s.6d. at Easter and
Michaelmas. William of Swynham holds one acre of meadow in the
thicket of Swynham and owes 1d. at the feast of Michaelmas. Ralph
of Leybourne holds a cottage and one acre of land in Pinden and
owes 3s. at Easter and Michaelmas, and attendance at the court in
the manor every three weeks, also relief and heriot. Richard Knyst
of Swynham holds two acres and a half of land and owes yearly 4s.
William of Knelle holds two acres of land in Aldithewisse and owes
yearly 4s. Roger le Glede holds a cottage and three roods of land
and owes 2s.6d. Easter and Michaelmas. Alexander Hamound holds a
little piece of land near Aldewisse and owes one goose of the
value of 2d. The sum of the whole rent of the free tenants, with
the value of the goose, is 18s.9d. They say, moreover, that John
of Cayworth holds a house and 30 acres of land, and owes yearly
2s. at Easter and Michaelmas; and he owes a cock and two hens at
Christmas of the value of 4d. And he ought to harrow for two days
at the Lenten sowing with one man and his own horse and his own
harrow, the value of the work being 4d.; and he is to receive from
the lord on each day three meals, of the value of 5d., and then
the lord will be at a loss of 1d. Thus his harrowing is of no
value to the service of the lord. And he ought to carry the manure
of the lord for two days with one cart, with his own two oxen, the
value of the work being 8d.; and he is to receive from the lord
each day three meals at the value as above. And thus the service
is worth 3d. clear. And he shall find one man for two days, for
mowing the meadow of the lord, who can mow, by estimation, one
acre and a half, the value of the mowing of an acre being 6d.: the
sum is therefore 9d. And he is to receive each day three meals of
the value given above. And thus that mowing is worth 4d. clear.
And he ought to gather and carry that same hay which he has cut,
the price of the work being 3d. And he shall have from the lord
two meals for one man, of the value of 1 1/2 d. Thus the work will
be worth 1 1/2 d. clear. And he ought to carry the hay of the lord
for one day with a cart and three animals of his own, the price of
the work being 6d. And he shall have from the lord three meals of
the value of 2 1/2 d. And thus the work is worth 3 1/2 d. clear.
And he ought to carry in autumn beans or oats for two days with a
cart and three animals of his own, the value of the work being
12d. And he shall receive from the lord each day three meals of
the value given above. And thus the work is worth 7d. clear. And
he ought to carry wood from the woods of the lord as far as the
manor, for two days in summer, with a cart and three animals of
his own, the value of the work being 9d. And he shall receive from
the lord each day three meals of the price given above. And thus
the work is worth 4d. clear. And he ought to find one man for two
days to cut heath, the value of the work being 4d., and he shall
have three meals each day of the value given above: and thus the
lord will lose, if he receives the service, 3d. Thus that mowing
is worth nothing to the service of the lord. And he ought to carry
the heath which he has cut, the value of the work being 5d. And he
shall receive from the lord three meals at the price of 2 1/2 d.
And thus the work will be worth 2 1/2 d. clear. And he ought to
carry to Battle, twice in the summer season, each time half a load
of grain, the value of the service being 4d. And he shall receive
in the manor each time one meal of the value of 2d. And thus the
work is worth 2d. clear. The totals of the rents, with the value
of the hens, is 2s.4d. The total of the value of the works is 2s.3
1/2 d., being owed from the said John yearly. William of Cayworth
holds a house and 30 acres of land and owes at Easter and
Michaelmas 2s. rent. And he shall do all customs just as the
aforesaid John of Cayworth. William atte Grene holds a house and
30 acres of land and owes in all things the same as the said John.
Alan atte Felde holds a house and 16 acres of land (for which the
sergeant pays to the court of Bixley 2s.), and he owes at Easter
and Michaelmas 4s., attendance at the manor court, relief, and
heriot. John Lyllingwyst holds a house and four acres of land and
owes at the two terms 2s., attendance at the manor court, relief,
and heriot. The same John holds one acre of land in the fields of
Hoo and owes at the two periods 2s., attendance, relief, and
heriot. Reginald atte Denne holds a house and 18 acres of land and
owes at the said periods 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot.
Robert of Northehou holds three acres of land at Saltcote and owes
at the said periods attendance, relief, and heriot. Total of the
rents of the villeins, with the value of the hens, 20s. Total of
all the works of these villeins, 6s.10 1/2 d. And it is to be
noted that none of the above-mentioned villeins can give their
daughters in marriage, nor cause their sons to be tonsured, nor
can they cut down timber growing on the lands they hold, without
licence of the bailiff or sergeant of the lord, and then for
building purposes and not otherwise. And after the death of any
one of the aforesaid villeins, the lord shall have as a heriot his
best animal, if he had any; if, however, he have no living beast,
the lord shall have no heriot, as they say. The sons or daughters
of the aforesaid villeins shall give, for entrance into the
holding after the death of their predecessors, as much as they
give of rent per year. Sylvester, the priest, holds one acre of
meadow adjacent to his house and owes yearly 3s. Total of the rent
of tenants for life, 3s. Petronilla atte Holme holds a cottage and
a piece of land and owes at Easter and Michaelmas - ; also,
attendance, relief, and heriot. Walter Herying holds a cottage and
a piece of land and owes at Easter and Michaelmas 18d.,
attendance, relief, and heriot. Isabella Mariner holds a cottage
and owes at the feast of St. Michael 12d., attendance, relief, and
heriot. Jordan atte Melle holds a cottage and 1 1/2 acres of land
and owes at Easter and Michaelmas 2s., attendance, relief, and
heriot. William of Batelesmere holds one acre of land with a
cottage and owes at the feast of St. Michael 3d., and one cock and
one hen at Christmas of the value of 3d., attendance, relief, and
heriot. John le Man holds half an acre of land with a cottage and
owes at the feast of St. Michael 2s., attendance, relief, and
heriot. Hohn Werthe holds one rood of land with a cottage and owes
at the said term 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot. Geoffrey
Caumbreis holds half an acre and a cottage and owes at the said
term 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot. William Hassok holds
one rood of land and a cottage and owes at the said term 18d.,
attendance, relief, and heriot. The same man holds 3 1/2 acres of
land and owes yearly at the feast of St. Michael 3s. for all.
Roger Doget holds half an acre of land and a cottage, which were
those of R. the miller, and owes at the feast of St. Michael 18d.,
attendance, relief, and heriot. Thomas le Brod holds one acre and
a cottage and owes at the said term 3s., attendance, relief, and
heriot. Agnes of Cayworth holds half an acre and a cottage and
owes at the said term 18d., attendance, relief, and heriot. Total
of the rents of the said cottagers, with the value of the hens,
34s.6d. And it is to be noted that all the said cottagers shall do
as regards giving their daughters in marriage, having their sons
tonsured, cutting down timber, paying heriot, and giving fines for
entrance, just as John of Cayworth and the rest of the villeins
above mentioned." The above fines and penalties, with heriots and
reliefs, are worth 5s. yearly.

Often one village was divided up among two or more manors, so
different manorial customs made living conditions different among
the villagers. Villages usually had carpenters, smiths, saddlers,
thatchers, carters, fullers, dyers, soapmakers, tanners, needlers,
and brassworkers. Each villein had his own garden in which to grow
fruit and vegetables next to his house, a pig (which fattened more
quickly than other animals), strips in the common field, and
sometimes an assart [a few acres of his own to cultivate as he
pleased on originally rough uncultivated waste land beyond the
common fields and the enclosed common pastures and meadows]. Most
villeins did not venture beyond their village except for about ten
miles to a local shrine or great fair a couple times a year. At
the fair might be fish, honey, spices, salt, garlic, oil, furs,
silks, canvas, soap, pans, pots, grindstones, coal, nails, tar,
iron, shovels, brushes, pails, horses, and pack-saddles. Early
apothecaries might sell potions there. Men and women looking for
other employment might attend to indicate their availability.

Under Edward I, villages were required to mount watches to protect
life and property and were called upon to provide one man for the
army and to pay his wages.

People told time by counting the number of rings of the church
bell, which rang on the hour. Every Sunday, the villagers went to
church, which was typically the most elaborate and centrally
located building in the village. The parishioners elected
churchwardens, who might be women. This religion brought comfort
and hope of going to heaven after judgment by God at death if sin
was avoided. On festival days, Bible stories, legends, and lives
of saints were read or performed as miracle dramas. They learned
to avoid the devil, who was influential in lonely places like
forests and high mountains. At death, the corpse was washed,
shrouded, and put into a rectangular coffin with a cross on its
lid. Priests sang prayers amid burning incense for the deliverance
of the soul to God while interring the coffin into the ground. Men
who did not make a will risked the danger of an intestate and
unconfessed death. The personal property of a man dying intestate
now went to the church as a trust for the dead man's immperiled
soul instead of to the man's lord.

Unqualified persons entered holy orders thereby obtaining "benefit
of clergy", and then returned to secular employments retaining
this protection.

A villein could be forever set free from servitude by his lord as
in this example:

"To all the faithful of Christ to whom the present writing
shall come, Richard, by the divine permission, abbot of
Peterborough and of the Convent of the same place, eternal
greeting in the Lord: Let all know that we have manumitted
and liberated from all yoke of servitude William, the son of
Richard of Wythington, whom previously we have held as our
born bondman, with his whole progeny and all his chattels,
so that neither we nor our successors shall be able to
require or exact any right or claim in the said William, his
progeny, or his chattels. But the same William, with his
whole progeny and all his chattels, shall remain free and
quit and without disturbance, exaction, or any claim on the
part of us or our successors by reason of any servitude
forever.

Copyright (c) 2007. knowncrafts.net. All rights reserved.