Part 20

The hundred court met once a month to hear neighborhood disputes, for instance concerning pastures, meadows and harvests. Usually present was a priest, the reeve, four representative men, and sometimes the lord or his steward in his place. Sometimes the chief pledges were present to represent all the men in their respective frankpledges. The bailiff presided over all these sessions except two, in which the sheriff presided over the full hundred court to take the view of frankpledge, which was required for those who did not have a lord to answer for him.

The barons held court on their manors at a "hall-mote" for issues arising between people living on the manor, such as bad ploughing on the lord's land or letting a cow get loose on the lord's land, and land disputes. This court also made the decision of whether a certain person was a villein or freeman. The manor court took over issues which had once been heard in the vill or hundred court. The baron charged a fee for hearing a case and received any fines he imposed, which amounted to significant "profits of justice".

Boroughs held court on trading and marketing issues in their towns such as measures and weights, as well as issues between people who lived in the borough. The borough court was presided over by a reeve who was a burgess as well as a royal official.

Wealthy men could employ professional pleader-attorneys to advise them and to speak for them in a court.

The ecclesiastical courts dealt, until the time of Henry VIII, with family matters such as marriage, annulments, marriage portions, legitimacy, undue wife-beating, child abuse, orphans, bigamy, adultery, incest, fornication, personal possessions, defamation, slander which did not cause material loss (and therefore had no remedy in the temporal courts), libel, perjury, usury, mortuaries, sacrilege, blasphemy, heresy, tithe payments, church fees, certain offences on consecrated ground, and breaches of promises under oath, e.g. to pay a debt, provide services, or deliver goods. They decided inheritance and will issues which did not concern land, but only personal property. This developed from the practice of a priest usually hearing a dying person's will as to the disposition of his goods and chattel when he made his last confession. It provided guardianship of infants during probate of their personal property. Trial was basically by compurgation, with oath-helpers swearing to or against the veracity of the alleged offender's oath. An alleged offender could be required to answer questions under oath, thus giving evidence against himself. The ecclesiastical court's penalties were intended to reform and determined on a case-by-case basis. The canon law of Christendom was followed, without much change by the English church or nation. Penalties could include confession and public repentance of the sin before the parish, making apologies and reparation to persons affected, public embarrassment such as being dunked in water (e.g. for women scolds), walking a route barefoot and clad only in one's underwear, whippings, extra work, fines, and imprisonment in a "penitentiary" to do penance. The ultimate punishment was excommunication with social ostracism. Then no one could give the person drink, food, or shelter and he could speak only to his spouse and servants. Excommunication included denial of the sacraments of baptism, penance, mass, and extreme unction [prayers for spiritual healing] at death; which were necessary for salvation of the soul; and the sacrament of confirmation of one's belief in the tenets of Christianity. A person could also be denied a Christian burial in consecrated ground. However, the person could still marry and make a will. The king's court could order a recalcitrant excommunicant imprisoned until he satisfied the claims of the church. Excommunication was usually imposed for failure to obey an order or showing contempt of the law or of the courts. It required a hearing and a written reason. If this measure failed, it was possible to turn the offender over to the state for punishment, e.g. for blasphemy or heresy. Blasphemy [speaking ill of God] was thought to cause God's wrath expressed in famine, pestilence, and earthquake and was usually punished by a fine or corporal punishment, e.g. perforation or amputation of the tongue. It was tacitly understood that the punishment for heresy was death by burning. There were no heresy cases up to 1400 and few after that. The state usually assured itself the sentence was just before imposing it. The court of the rural dean was the ecclesiastical parallel of the hundred court of secular jurisdiction and usually had the same land boundaries. The archdeacons, who had been ministers of the bishop in all parts of his diocese alike, were now each assigned to one district, which usually had the same boundaries as the county. Henry acknowledged occasional appellate authority of the pope, but expected his clergy to elect bishops of his choice.

There was a separate judicial system for the laws of the forest. There were itinerant justices of the forests and four verderers of each forest county, who were elected by the votes of the full county court, twelve knights appointed to keep vert [everything bearing green leaves] and venison, and foresters of the king and of the lords who had lands within the limits of the forests. Every three years, the officers visited the forests in preparation for the courts of the forest held by the itinerant justices. The inferior courts were the wood-mote, held every forty days, and the swein [freeman or freeholder within the forest]-mote, held three times yearly before the verderers as justices, in which all who were obliged to attend as suitors of the county court to serve on juries and inquests were to be present.

- - - Chapter 6 - - -

- The Times: 1154-1215 -

King Henry II and Queen Eleanor, who was twelve years older, were both intelligent, educated, energetic, well-traveled, and experienced in affairs of state. Henry was the first Norman king to be fully literate and he learned Latin. He had many books and maintained a school. Eleanor often served as regent during Henry's reign and the reigns of their two sons: Richard I, the Lion- Hearted, and John. She herself headed armies. Henry II was a modest, courteous, and patient man with an astonishing memory and strong personality. He was indifferent to rank and impatient of pomp to the point of being careless about his appearance. He usually dressed in riding clothes and was often unkempt. He was thrifty, but generous to the poor. He was an outstanding legislator and administrator.

Henry II took the same coronation oath as Edward the Confessor regarding the church, laws, and justice. Not only did he confirm the charter of his grandfather Henry I, but he revived and augmented the laws and institutions of his grandfather and developed them to a new perfection. Almost all legal and fiscal institutions appear in their first effective form during his reign. For instance, he institutionalized the assize for a specific function in judicial proceedings, whereas before it had been an ad hoc body used for various purposes. The term "assize" here means the sitting of a court or council. It came to denote the decisions, enactments, or instructions made at such.

Henry's government practiced a strict economy and he never exploited the growing wealth of the nation. He abhorred bloodshed and the sacrifice of men's lives. So he strove diligently to keep the peace, when possible by gifts of money, but otherwise with armed force. Robbers were hanged and any man who raped a woman was castrated. Foreign merchants with precious goods could journey safely through the land from fair to fair. These fairs were usually held in the early fall, after sheep-shearing and harvesting. Foreign merchants bought wool cloth and hides. Frankpledge was revived, now applying to the unfree and villeins. No stranger could stay overnight (except for one night in a borough), unless sureties were given for his good behavior. A list of such strangers was to be given to itinerant justices.

Henry had character and the foresight to build up a centralized system of government that would survive him. He learned about the counties' and villages' varying laws and customs. Then, using the model of Roman law, he gave to English institutions that unity and system which in their casual patch-work development had been lacking. Henry's government and courts forged permanent direct links between the king and his subjects which cut through the feudal structure of lords and vassals.

He developed the methods and structure of government so that there was a great increase in the scope of administrative activity without a concurrent increase of personal power of the officials who discharged it. The government was self-regulating, with methods of accounting and control which meant that no official, however exalted, could entirely escape the surveillance of his colleagues and the King. At the same time, administrative and judicial procedures were perfected so that much which had previously required the King's personal attention was reduced to routine.

The royal household translated the royal will into action. In the early 1100s, there had been very little machinery of central government that was not closely associated with the royal household. There was a Chief Justiciar for legal matters and a Treasurer. Royal government was largely built upon what had once been purely domestic offices. Kings had called upon their chaplains to pen letters for them. By Henry II's reign, the Chancery was a highly efficient writing office through which the King's will was expressed in a flow of writs, and the Chancellor an important and highly rewarded official, but he was still responsible for organizing the services in the royal chapel. Similarly, the chamberlains ran the household's financial departments. They arranged to have money brought in from a convenient castle treasury, collected money from sheriffs or the King's debtors, arranged loans with the usurers, and supervised the spending of it. It was spent for daily domestic needs, the King's alms-giving, and the mounting of a military campaign. But they were still responsible for personal attendance upon the king in his privy chamber, taking care of his valuable furs, jewels, and documents, and changing his bedlinens. There were four other departments of the household. The steward presided over the hall and kitchens and was responsible for supplying the household and guests with food supplies. The butler had duties in the hall and cellars and was responsible for the supply of wine and ale. The marshall arranged lodgings for the King's court as it moved about from palaces to hunting lodges, arranged the pay of the household servants, and supervised the work of ushers, watchmen, fire tenders, messengers and huntsmen. The constable organized the bodyguard and escorts, arranged for the supply of castles, and mustered the royal army. The offices of steward, constable, chamberlain, butler were becoming confined to the household and hereditary. The Justiciar, Chancellor, and Treasurer are becoming purely state offices and are simply sold or rented, until public pressure resulted in a requirement of ability.

Henry's council included all his tenants-in-chief, which included archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, knights and socage tenants of the crown, whether they made payments directly to him or through a sheriff. The higher ones were served with a writ addressed to them personally. Knights and below were summoned by a general writ to the sheriff.

Henry brought order and unity by making the King's Royal Court the common court of the land. Its purpose was to guard the King's peace by protecting all people of free status throughout the nation and correct the disparity in punishments given by local courts. Heretofore, the scope of the King's peace had varied to cover as little as the King's presence, his land, and his highway. The royal demesne had shrunk to about 5% of the land. The Common Law for all the nation was established by example of the King's Royal Court. Henry erected a basic, rational framework for legal processes which drew from tradition but lent itself to continuous expansion and adaptation.

A system of writs originated well-defined actions in the royal courts. Each court writ had to satisfy specific conditions for this court to have jurisdiction over an action or event. This system determined the Royal Court's jurisdiction over the church, lords, and sheriffs. It limited the jurisdiction of all other courts and subordinated them to the Royal Court. Inquests into any misdeeds of sheriffs were held, which could result in their dismissal.

Henry and Eleanor spoke many languages and liked discussing law, philosophy, and history. So they gathered wise and learned men about them, who became known as courtiers, rather than people of social rank. They lived in the great and strong Tower of London, which had been extended beyond the original White Tower, as had other castles, so that the whole castle and grounds were defended instead of just the main building. The Tower of London was in the custody of one of the two justiciars. On the west were two strongly fortified castles surrounded by a high and deeply entrenched wall, which had seven double gates. Towers were spaced along the north wall and the Thames River flowed below the south wall. To the west was the city, where royal friends had residences with adjoining gardens near the royal palace at Westminster. The court was a center of culture as well as of government. The game of backgammon was played. People wore belts with buckles, usually brass, instead of knotting their belts.

London extended about a mile along the Thames and about half a mile inland. It had narrow twisting lanes, some with a ditch down the middle for water runoff. Most of its houses were two stories, the ground floor having booths and workshops, and the upper floor living space. Most of the houses were wooden structures. The richer merchants' and knights' houses were built of stone. Walls between houses had to be stone to a height of 16 feet and thatched roofs were banned because there had been many fires. There was poor compliance, but some roofs were tiled with red-brick tiles. The population was about 40,000. There were over 126 churches for public worship, thirteen monasteries (including nunneries), and St. Paul's Cathedral. All were built of stone. The churches gave a place of worship for every 300 inhabitants and celebrated feast days, gave alms and hospitality to strangers, confirmed betrothals or agreements of marriage, celebrated weddings, conducted funerals, and buried the dead. The synod of Westminster of 1175 prescribed that all marriages were to be performed by the church. Church law required a warning prior to suspension or excommunication. Monastic, cathedral, and parish schools taught young boys grammar so they could sing and read in church services. Nuns taught girls. Fish but no meat was eaten on Fridays. There was dark rye bread and expensive white wheat bread. Vegetables included onions, leeks, and cabbage. Fruits included apples, pears, plums, cherries, and strawberries. Water was obtained from streams running through the town to the Thames and from springs. Only the rich, palaces, and churches could afford beeswax candles; others had home-made tallow [cow or sheep fat] candles which smelled and gave off smoke. Most people washed their bodies. Even the poor had beds and bed clothes. Few babies survived childhood. If a man reached 30, he could expect to live until age 50. Thousands of Londoners died during a hot summer from fevers, plague and the like.

In London, bells heralded the start and finish of all organized business. The sellers of merchandise and hirers of labor were distributed every morning into their several localities according to their trade. Vendors, craftsmen, and laborers had their customary places. Some vendors walked the streets announcing their wares for sale. There were craft guilds of bakers, butchers, clothworkers, and saddlers, as well as of weavers. Vendors on the Thames River bank sold cooked fish caught from the river and wine from ships and wine cellars. Cook shops sold roasted meats covered with hotly spiced sauces.

London Bridge was built of stone for the first time. It was supported by a series of stone arches standing on small man-made islands. It had such a width that a row of wood houses and a chapel was built on top of it. In the spring it was impassable by ships because the flow of water under it varied in height on either side of the bridge by several feet at half tide. The bridge had the effect of slowing down the flow upstream, which invited wherries and rowboats and stately barges of the nobility. In winters in which it froze over, there was ice skating, ice boating, and fishing through holes in the ice.

Outside each city gate were clusters of ragged buildings, small monasteries and hostelries, groups of huntsmen's kennels, and fencing schools. Outside one of the gates, a horse market was held every week. Horses wore horseshoes made of iron or of a crude steel. From the southwest gate of the city along the north river bank toward Westminster, there was a gradually extending line of rich men's mansions and bishops' palaces. On the southern bank of the Thames River was growing the disorderly suburb of Southwark, with fishermen's and boatmens' hovels, and taverns and brothels that were frequented by drunkards, rakes, and whores. On the north side of the city was a great forest with fields and wells where students and other young men from the city took walks in the fresh evening air. In some fields, countryfolk sold pigs, cows, oxen and sheep. Mill wheels turned at various streams. Near London in the country was a glass factory. At sunset, the gates of London were closed for the night. All taverns had to be closed, all lights put out, and all fires banked or covered when the bell of the church of St. Martin le Grand rang at 9:00 pm. Anyone found on the streets after this curfew could be arrested. Gangs of young nobles or gangs of thieves, cutpurses, and looters roamed the streets after dark and sometimes rioted. Offenders were often beheaded and their heads placed on spikes on London Bridge.

Men in London had begun weaving cloth, which formerly had been done by women. Some of the cloth was exported. The weavers guild of London received a charter by the King in 1155, the first granted to any London craft: "Know that I have conceded to the Weavers of London to hold their guild in London with all the liberties and customs which they had in the time of King Henry , my grandfather; and that none may intermeddle with the craft within the city, nor in Southwark, nor in other places pertaining to London except through them and except he be in their guild, otherwise than was accustomed to be done in the time of King Henry, my grandfather ...So that each year they render thence to me two marks [26s.8d.] of gold at the feast of St. Michael. And I forbid that any shall do injury or contumely to them on this account under penalty of 10 pounds [200s.]. Witness T[homas], Chancellor, and Warinus, son of Gerard, Chamberlain, at Winchester." The liberties obtained were: 1) The weavers may elect bailiffs to supervise the work of the craft, to punish defaulters, and to collect the ferm [amount owed to the King]. The bailiffs were chosen from year to year and swore before the mayor of London to do and keep their office well and truly. 2) The bailiffs may hold court from week to week on pleas of debt, agreements, covenants [promises for certain performance], and minor trespasses. 3) If any of the guild members are sued in any other court on any of the above pleas, the guild may challenge that plea to bring it to the guild court. 4) If any member is behind in his share of the payment to the King, the bailiffs may distrain his loom until he has paid this.

Paying an annual payment freed the weavers from liability to inconsequent royal fines. Failure to make this payment promptly might have led to loss of the right, hence the rigorous penalty of distraint upon the looms of individual weavers who fell into arrears.

The weavers' guild punished members who used bad thread in their weaving or did defective weaving by showing the default to the mayor, with opportunity for the workman to make entreaty, and the mayor and twelve members of the guild then made a verdict of amercement of 1/2 mark [6s.8d.] and the workman of the cloth was also punished by the guild bailiffs according to guild custom.

The weavers' guild tradition of brotherliness among members meant that injury to a fellow weaver incurred a severe penalty. If a weaver stole or eloigned [removed them to a distance where they were unreachable] any other weaver's goods falsely and maliciously, then he was dismissed from the guild and his loom was taken by the guild to fulfill his portion of the annual payment to the King. The weavers were allowed to buy and to sell in London freely and quietly. They had all the rights of other freemen of the city.

Thus from the middle of the 1100s, the weavers enjoyed the monopoly of their craft, rights of supervision which ensured a high standard of workmanship, power to punish infractions of their privileges, and full control of their members. In this they stand as the prototype of English medieval guilds. These rights represented the standard which all bodies of craftsmen desired to attain. The right of independent jurisdiction was exceptional.

In Henry II's charter to London, London did not retain its right to appoint its own sheriff and justice given by Henry I. London's chief magistrate was the mayor, who was appointed by the King, until 1191. Then the mayor was elected yearly by the aldermen of the city wards and approved by the king. He was typically a rich prince chosen by the barons and chief merchants of London. The commoners had no voice in his selection, but they could still approve or disapprove of the actions of the city government at ward and folk motes. At certain periods, a king asserted royal power over the selection of mayor and governance of the city. There were three ways to become a citizen of London: being the son of a citizen, apprenticeship in a craft for seven years, and purchase of citizenship. London and Westminster growth led to their replacing Winchester as the capital.