Book: Our Legal Heritage, 4th Ed.

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




The essence of Norman feudalism was that the land remained under
the lord, whatever the vassal might do. The lord had the duty to
defend the vassals on his land. The vassal owed military service
to the lord and also the service of attending the courts of the
hundred 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
household had extended to places where he might travel, such as
highways, rivers, bridges, churches, monasteries, markets, and
towns, and then encompassed every place, replacing the general
public peace. Infraction of the King's peace incurred fines to
the King.

This feudal bond based on occupancy of land rather than on
personal ties was uniform throughout the realm. No longer could a
man choose his lord and transfer 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 his land
without permission of his lord. In later eras, tenancies would be
held for the life of the tenant, and even later, for his life and
those of his heirs.

This uniformity of land organization plus the new requirement that
every freeman take an oath of loyalty directly to the king to
assist him in preserving his lands and 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 the fyrd, summon them to his court, and tax them
without intervention of their lords. And the people learned to
look to the king for protection from abuse by their lords.

English villani, bordarii, cottarii, and servi on the land of the
barons were subjugated into a condition of "villeinage" servitude
and became "tied to the land" so that they could not leave the
land without their lord'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 uprisings of
the conquered people, the barons used villein labor to build about
a hundred great stone castles, with moats and walls with towers
around them, at easily defensible positions such as hilltops all
over the nation.

A castle could be built only with permission of the King. A
typical castle had a stone building of about four floors [a keep]
on a small, steep hill. Later it also had an open area surrounded
by a stone curtain-wall with towers at the corners. Around the
outside of the 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 enclosed area might be stables, a
granary, barracks for the soldiers, and workshops. The only winter
feed was hay, for which the horses, breeding animals, milk-cow,
and work-oxen had a priority over other animals. The bulk of the
cattle were usually slaughtered and salted.

The castle building typically was entered by an outer wood
staircase to the guard room on the second floor. The first
[ground] floor had a well and was used as a storehouse and/or
dungeons for prisoners. The second floor had a two-storied great
hall, with small rooms and aisles around it within the thick
walls. There was also a chapel area 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 slanted flue
going through the wall to the outside. There were latrines in the
corner walls with a pit or shaft down the exterior of the wall,
sometimes to the moat. Furs and wool clothes were hung on the
walls there in the summer to deter the moths. The first floor had
only arrow slits in the walls, but the higher floors had small
windows.

Some curtain-wall castles did not have a central building. In
these, the hall was built along the inside of the walls, as were
other continuous buildings. The kitchens and chapels were in the
towers. Lodgings were in buildings along the curtain-walls, or on
several floors of the towers.

The great hall was the main room of the castle. The hall was used
for meals and meetings at which the lord received homages,
recovered fees, and held the view of frankpledge [free pledge in
Latin], in which freemen agreed to be sureties for each other. At
the main table, the lord and his lady sat on benches with backs or
chairs. The table was covered first with a wool cloth that reached
to the floor, and then by a smaller white linen cloth. Everyone
else sat on benches at trestle tables, which could be folded up,
e.g. at night. Over the main door were the family arms. On the
upper parts of the walls could be foxskins and perhaps a polecat
skin, and keepers' and huntsmen's poles. There were often hawk
perches overhead. At the midday dinner, courses were ceremonially
brought in to music, and ritual bows were made to the lord. The
food at the head table was often tasted first by a servant as a
precaution against poison. Hounds, spaniels, and terriers lay near
the hearth and cats, often with litters, 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 small boy shielded from the
heat by a wet blanket, or by dogs on a treadmill, or by a long
handle. 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 years. Salt
was very valuable and gave rise to the praise of a man as the salt
of the earth. Costly imported spices such as cinnamon, cloves,
nutmeg, ginger, pepper, and a small quantity of sugar were kept in
chests. Pepper was always on the table to disguise the taste of
tainted meat. Drinks included wine, ale, cider from apples, perry
from pears, and mead. People carried and used their own knives.
There were no forks. Spoons were of silver or wood. People also
ate with their fingers and washed their hands before and after
meals. It was impolite to dig into the salt bowl with a knife not
previously wiped on bread or napkin, which was linen. It was
unmannerly to wipe one's knife or one's greasy fingers on the
tablecloth or, to use the tablecloth to blow one's nose. Feasts
were stately occasions with costly tables and splendid apparel.
There were practical jokes, innocent frolics, and witty verbal
debating with repartee. They played chess, checkers, and various
games with cards and dice. Most people could sing and some could
play the lute.

Lighting of the hall at night was by oil lamps or candles on
stands or on wall fixtures. For outside activities, a lantern [a
candle shielded by a metal cage with panels of finely shaved horn:
lant horn] was used. The residence of the lord's family and guests
was at a screened off area at the extreme end of the hall or on a
higher floor. Chests stored garments and jewels. Iron keys and
locks were used for chests and doors. The great bed had a wooden
frame and springs made of interlaced rope or strips of leather. It
was covered with a feather mattress, sheets, quilts, fur covers,
and pillows. Drapery around the bed kept out cold drafts and
provided privacy. There was a water bowl for washing in the
morning. 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 communially 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. Hand-held 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 walks
for sentry patrols and parapets from which to shoot arrows or
throw things at besiegers. Each tenant of the demesne of the king
where he had a castle had to perform a certain amount of castle-
guard duty for its continuing defense. These knights performing
castle-guard duty slept at their posts. Bathing was done in a
wooden tub located in the garden in the summer and indoors near
the fire in winter. The great bed and tub for bathing were taken
on trips with the lord. The entire household was of men, except
for the lord's lady with a few lady companions; otherwise the
entire household was of men. The ladies rode pillion [on a cushion
behind the saddle] or in litters suspended between two horses.

Markets grew up outside castle walls. Any trade on a lord's land
was subject to "passage", a payment on goods passing through,
"stallage", a payment for setting up a stall or booth in a market,
and "pontage", a payment for taking goods across a bridge.

The Norman man was clean-shaven on his face and around his ears
and at the nape of the neck. His hair was short. He wore a long-
sleeved under-tunic of linen or wool that reached to his ankles.
Over this the Norman noble wore a tunic without sleeves, open at
the sides, and fastened with a belt. Over one shoulder was his
cloak, which was fastened on the opposite shoulder by being drawn
through a ring brooch and knotted. He wore tight thick cloth
stockings to protect him from the mud and leather shoes. Common
men 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
like a small crown. Its ends were wound around her neck. In
winter, she wore over her tunic a cloak edged or lined with fur
and fastened at the front with a cord. Clothes of both men and
ladies were brightly colored by dyes or embroidery. The Norman
knight wore an over-tunic of leather or heavy linen on which were
sewn flat rings of iron and a conical iron helmet with nose cover.
He wore a sword at his waist and a metal shield on his back, or he
wore his sword and his accompanying retainers carried spear and
shield.

Norman customs were adopted by the nation. As a whole, Anglo-Saxon
men shaved their beards and whiskers from their faces, but they
kept their custom of long hair flowing from their heads. But a few
kept their whiskers and beards in protest of the Normans. Everyone
had a permanent surname 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 such as Black,
Brown, and White, Short, Round, and Long. Some took their names
from animals such as Wolf, Fox, Lamb, Bull, Hogg, Sparrow, Crow,
and Swan. Others were called after the men they served, such as
King, Bishop, Abbot, Prior, Knight. A man's surname was passed on
to his son.

Those few coerls whose land was not taken by a baron remained free
and held their land "in socage" and became known as sokemen. They
were not fighting men, and did not give homage, but might give
fealty, i.e. 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 indistinguishable. They might also hold
their land by villein tenure, although free as a person with the
legal rights of a freeman. The freeman still had a place in court
proceedings which the unfree villein did not.

Great stone cathedrals were built in fortified towns for the
Conquerer's Norman bishops, who replaced the English bishops. Most
of the existing and new monasteries functioned as training grounds
for scholars, bishops, and statesmen rather than as retreats from
the world's problems to the security of religious observance. The
number of monks grew as the best minds were recruited into the
monasteries.

The Conquerer made the church subordinate to him. Bishops were
elected only subject to the King's consent. The bishops had to
accept the status of barons. Homage was exacted from them before
they were consecrated, and fealty and an oath afterward. The
Conquerer imposed knight's service on bishoprics, abbeys, and
monasteries, which was usually commuted 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
unconsecrated ground. No church rules could be made without his
agreement to their terms. No letters from the pope could be
received without the King's permission. The Archbishop of
Canterbury was still recognized as a primary advisor to the king.
Over the years, the selection for this office frequently became a
source of contention among king, pope, and clergy.

Men continued to give land to the church for their souls, such as
this grant which started the town of Sandwich: "William, King of
the English, to Lanfranc the Archbishop and Hugoni de Montfort and
Richard son of Earl Gilbert and Haimo the 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 which he has at Sandwich and that
he has given what he has given by my license." Many private owners
of churches gave them to cathedrals or monastic communities,
partly to ensure their long-term survival, and partly because of
church pressure.

When the land was all divided out, the barons had about 3/7 of it
and the church about 2/7. Most of the barons had been royal
servants. The king retained about 2/7, including forests for
hunting, for himself and his family and household, on which he
built many royal castles and hundreds of manor [large private
estate headed by a lord] houses throughout the nation. He built
the massive White Tower in London. It was tall with four turrets
on top, and commanded a view of the river and bridge, the city and
the surrounding countryside. The only windows were slits from
which arrows could be shot. On the fourth and top floor was the
council chamber and the gallery of the chapel. 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
and conducted public business, such as deciding disputes about
holding of land. Near his own castles and other of his property,
he designated many areas as royal hunting forests. Anyone who
killed a deer in these forests was mutilated, for instance by
blinding. People living within the boundaries of the designated
forestland could no longer go into nearby woods to get meat or
honey, dead wood for firing, or live wood for building. Swineherds
could no longer drive pigs into these woods to eat acorns they
beat down from oak trees. Making clearings and grazing livestock
in the designated forestland were prohibited. Most of the nation
was either wooded or bog at this time.

London was a walled town of one and two story houses made of mud,
twigs, and straw, with thatched roofs. It included a bundle of
communities, townships, parishes, and lordships. There were
churches, a goods market, a fish market, quays on the river, and a
bridge over the river. Streets probably named by this time include
Bread Street, Milk Street, Honey Lane, Wood Street, and Ironmonger
Lane. Fairs and games were held outside the town walls in a 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 bridge guilds, probably for keeping the wooden London Bridge
in repair. Men told the time by sundials, some of which were
portable and could be carried in one's pocket. London could defend
itself, and a ringing of the bell of St. Paul's Church could shut
every shop and fill the streets with armed horsemen and soldiers
led by a soldier portreeve. Across the Thames from London on its
south side was Southwark, a small trading and fishing settlement.

The Conquerer did not interfere with landholding in London, but
recognized its independence as a borough in this writ: "William
the King greets William, Bishop of London, and Gosfrith 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 will that every child
shall be his father's heir after his father's day. And I will not
suffer any man to do you wrong. God preserve you." The Norman word
"mayor" replaced "portreeve".

So London was not subjected to the Norman feudal system. It had
neither villeins nor slaves. Whenever Kings asserted authority
over it, the citizens reacted until the king "granted" a charter
reaffirming the freedoms of the city and its independence.

Under pressure from the ecclesiastical judges, the Conquerer
replaced the death penalty by that of the mutilation of blinding,
chopping off hands, and castrating offenders. Castration was the
punishment for rape. But these mutilations usually led to a slow
death by gangrene.

The Normans used the Anglo-Saxon concepts of jurisdictional
powers. Thus when the Conquerer confirmed "customs" to the abbot
of Ely, these were understood to include the following: 1) sac and
soke - the right to hold a court of private jurisdiction and enjoy
its profits, 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 - right of trying and executing thieves on one's
land, 4) hamsocne, 5) grithbrice - violation of the grantees'
special peace, for instance that of the sheriff, 6) fightwite -
fine for a general breach of the peace, 7) fyrdwite - fine for
failure to appear in the fyrd.

Every shire, now called "county", had at least one burh, or
defensible town. Kings had appointed a royal moneyer in each to
mint silver coins such 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, all moneyers had to go
to London to get the new dies. The Conquerer's head faced
frontally on his dies, instead of the usual profile used by former
Kings.

The Conquerer held and presided over his council three times a
year, as was the custom, at Easter, Christmas, and Whitsuntide,
which coincided with the great Christian festivals. This was an
advisory council and consisted of the Conquerer's wife and sons,
earls, barons, knights, officers of the King's household,
archbishops, and bishops. It replaced the witen 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. Bishops were
nominated. Attendance at the council, like attendance at courts,
was regarded as a burden rather than a privilege. The Conquerer's
will was the motive force which under lay all the council's
action. When it was administering royal justice, it was called the
Royal Court..

The Justiciar was the head of all legal matters and he or the
Conquerer's wife represented the King at the Royal Court in his
absence from the realm. The chamberlain was a financial officer of
the household; his work was rather that of auditor or accountant.
The Chancellor headed the Chancery and the chapel. Other household
offices were steward, butler, constable, and marshall. The
Treasurer was responsible for the collection and distribution of
revenue and was the keeper of the 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 "calculate" derives from the word "calculi", meaning
peebles. It was a kind of abacus. The Exchequer received yearly
from the sheriffs of the counties taxes, fines, treasure trove,
goods from wrecks, deodands, and movable property of felons, of
persons executed, of fugitives, and of outlaws due to the Crown.
The Conqueror presided yearly over feasts involving several
thousand guests at Westminster Hall, which was 250 feet by 70 feet
with a high ceiling, the largest hall in England.

The Conquerer's reign was a time of tentative expedients and
simple solutions. He administered by issuing writs with commands
or prohibitions. These were read aloud by the sheriffs in the
county courts and other locations. Administration was by the
personal servants of his royal household, such as the chancellor,
chamberlain, constable, marshalls, steward, and butler. The
language of 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 also supervised the care of horses, hounds,
hawks, and huntsmen, houndsmen, and foresters. The marshalls came
from less important families than the constable and they preserved
order in the king's hall and recorded expenditures of the
household officers on tallies. The steward was a great baron whose
duties were chiefly ceremonial, such as placing the dishes before
the king at banquets.

Sheriffs became powerful figures as the primary agents for
enforcing royal edicts. There was no longer supervision of them by
earls nor influence on them by bishops. They were customarily
prominent barons. They collected the royal taxes, executed royal
justice, and presided over and controlled the hundred and county
courts. They were responsible for remitting a certain sum
annually. If a sheriff received more than necessary, he retained
the difference as his lawful profit of office. If he received less
than necessary, he had to make up the difference from his own
pocket. Before rendering theis 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 travelling 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 sheriff and county courts. They
also led the county militia in time of war or rebellion. At times,
a sheriff usurped royal rights, used royal estates for his own
purposes, encroached on private land and rights, extorted money,
and collected revenues only for his own pockets. Over the
centuries, there was much competition for the authority to select
the king, e.g. by the king, the county court, the barons, and the
Exchequer. There was also much pressure to limit his term to one
year. Also, the powers of the sheriffs slowly declined.

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