THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES SCHOOL OF LAW BRITISH BOROUGH CHARTERS 104Z— 1216 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS iLontJon : FETTER LANE, E.G. C. F. CLAY, Manager GFDinbutgl) : loo, PRINCES STREET ILontJon: STEVENS AND SONS, Ltd., 119 and 120, CHANCERY LANE ISetlin: A. ASHER AND CO. Ecipjig: F- A. BROCKHAUS ^tages the only part of the charters that is fully transcribed is the second part, the conferment of privileges on the burgesses ; the number of clauses in this part, of course, varies con- siderably: Henry H's charter to London can be analysed into 15 or 16 clauses : but we often find that the length of the charter varies inversely with the importance of the borough ; Pembroke, with 16 clauses, Okehampton 18, Pontefract 22, and Egremont with 29, are examples of this fact. And this fact is not, after all, cause for astonishment : the older boroughs had their customs which had been in use for generations ; but when a new borough was founded, it was necessary to set down in black and white the privileges of the burgesses, the points in which they were exempted from the common law, so that in the future disputes might be avoided. The preamble to the Corbridge charter of John fitz Robert should be consulted on this point : here, it appears, there had long been disputes between the burgesses and the lord's bailiffs as to the privileges of the former, and to settle all disputes, the charter was drawn up and sealed by the lord ; and very many of the charters were obtained by the payment of good round sums of money to the grantors : for their charter, the burgesses of Pontefract paid Roger de Lacy no less than 300 marks of silver. It will however be noticed that the Chichester charter, like so many others, begins with the words " Know ye that I have granted," and is therefore strictly speaking a notification of the conferment of privileges, and not the actual means by which these privileges were conferred. But in charters beginning with these words, can often be found clauses beginning "I have also granted." The first clause in a charter— the address— requires no notice, and is never printed in our collection; The Contents of a Charter xxiii but the form of the address differentiates a charter from a writ on the one hand and from letters patent on the other: the writ is addressed to an individual and a Hmited class, and the letters patent " to all to whom these presents shall come " ; of these latter, we have a few examples. The Volumus clause is the clause by which the King orders the observance by others of the privileges conferred by the second part of the charter ; these clauses naturally vary from charter to charter, but are all practically similar to that quoted in our example, except that occasionally the Volumus clause contains certain privileges which are not contained elsewhere in the charter ; thus, the charters to the burgesses of Oxford in 1156, and of Bedford in 1189 order the observance of the sake and soke of the burgesses although there had been no earlier mention of these privileges in the preceding clauses of the charters. Again, the Volumus clauses of King Richard's grant of the Aldermanry in Canterbury states that the Aldermanry had previously belonged to Edward the son of Albod, information which is not contained in the earlier clauses. And, in such cases, where the Volumus clause contains additional privileges or additional information it will be noted or printed under its appropriate title. The Penalty clause, or the clause forbidding disturbance of the grantees in the enjoyment of their privileges, appears in a number of forms. Sometimes it is a simple prohibition of disturbance on the lines of the clause in the charter quoted above. Sometimes, it is a prohibition enforced by threat of a forfeiture to the grantor ; e.g. Winchester 1155 — 8, " Et nullus super hoc disturbet neque injuriam neque contumeliam eis faciat super forisfacturam meam " ; "And let no one on this account disturb them or do them any injury or insult on pain of my forfeiture." Sometimes the prohibition is enforced by threat of a money forfeiture to the grantor: e.g. Nottingham 1 189, "Et prohibeo he quis contra banc cartam meam predictos burgenses vexare presumat in aliquo super decem libras forisfacti mei " ; "And I forbid that any one presume to vex the aforesaid burgesses contrary to this my charter in any wise, on pain of ;^ 10 to be forfeited to me." The usual penalty is £\o, but in one of the Chester charters it is fixed at ^20, while at Pembroke it rose to ;^6o sterling, and at Carmarthen the person who disturbed the burgesses ran the risk of forfeiting all his chattels. The charter granted by Archbishop Thurstan to the burgesses of Beverley reminds us of the pre-conquest charters in that its observance is enforced by a cur.se; "Et volo quicunque hoc disfeccrit, anathema sit, sicut ipsius ecclesiae asscrit consuetudo et xxiv Boi'ough Charters sicut statutum est in ecclesia S. Johannis" ; "And I will that whoever contravene this, shall be accursed, as the custom of the said church asserts, and as is decreed in the church of St John." And Dugdale's account of the charter of Bishop John de Constantiis to the burgesses of Stratford-on-Avon says that the Bishop threatened excommuni- cation against all persons who should presume to make violation of their privileges. The two Papal charters confirming the customs of the burgesses of Durham and Beverley are also sanctioned by a threat of the anger of " Almighty God, and of the Blessed Peter and Paul, his apostles." Occasionally the prohibition is accompanied by an order to the King's officers to maintain the burgesses in the exercise of their rights: and the clause in the Chester charter to this effect is printed among the clauses relating to the grant of the lord's peace. But the Penalty clauses are not printed in this collection. Another clause that is not printed is the Dating clause : nor is it indicated in the list of clauses ; from the accession of Richard I all the Royal charters are dated by the day, month and regnal year of the grantor : but all previous charters are dated by their witnesses : on a later page will be found the names of the witnesses which enable us to date some of the undated charters of Henry II which are not dated by the editors of our various sources. What has been said of the Royal charters applies as a general rule to the charters of bishops and lords, except that they often omit the Volumus clause, and as frequently insert two clauses which were usually inserted in contemporary conveyances of land, but would have been out of place in Royal charters : in the Trim charter of Walter de Lacy is a Warranty clause "Supradictam vero libertatem ego et heredes mei eis imperpetuum warantizabimus et tenebimus" ; "And the aforesaid liberty I and my heirs for ever will warrant and hold to them." A few charters contain a Sealing clause " Et ut haec mea donatio et concessio rata et inconcussa perseveret in posteris, prefatae cartae meae sigillum meum apposui " ; "And that this my gift and grant may remain firm and unbroken in future, to my aforesaid charter I have set my seal." The Sealing clauses may differ slightly, but are all practically equivalent to that which we have quoted from Maurice Paynell's charter to Leeds in 1 208. Very many of our earlier charters are quoted from later charters, in which, after the address, the grantor says^.^. "Inspeximus cartam quam Celebris memoriae Henricus quondam Rex Angliae pater noster fecit bursensibus Oxoniae in haec verba " ; " We have inspected a charter The Contents of a Charter xxv which Henry of renowned memory formerly King of England made to the burgesses of Oxford in these words." Then follows a copy of the previous charter, which in its turn is followed by words of confirmation and ratification as follows : "Nos autem concessiones et confirmationes predictas ratas habentes et gratas, eas pro nobis et heredibus nostris prefatis burgensibus et successoribus suis burgensibus ejusdem villae concedimus et con- firmamus sicut cartae predictae rationabiliter testantur." " Now we, considering the aforesaid grants and confirmations to be stedfast and pleasing for us and our successors grant and confirm them to our aforesaid burgesses and their successors being burgesses of the same town as the aforesaid charters reasonably testify.^" This species of charter came into general use in the iith year of Henry HI although I have found a charter in which King John inspected and ratified a charter that had been granted by his father-. If, before 1227, a king wished to ratify a charter granted by any of his predecessors, he regranted it in his own name and added e.g. "Sicut carta Henrici patris nostri quam inde habent rationabiliter testatur" ; " As the charter of King Henry our father, which they have to that effect, reasonably testifies." Sometimes the original charter and the regrant are both in existence, but in a few cases the only survivor is that of John granting certain privileges to the burgesses of certain towns, and concluding with the words above quoted; and in such cases I have ventured to reconstruct the original and insert it in our list as of the reign of Henry II : but all such reconstructions are noted in the text of the code. The risk in so doing is infinitesimal ; there are a number of cases in which both charters have been preserved, and from them we see that John invariably used the exact words that had been used by his father ; but there are not a sufficient number of charters of Henry I which have survived, to enable us to speak with such certainty as to his language and to justify our reconstruction of his charters which were regranted by his grandson. The language of the charters will not cause any difficulty to one who has a moderate knowledge of the Latin language : John's charter to Cork is the only Norman-French charter in this collection : I have ventured to alter the -e of the scribes into -ae (ecclesie to ecclesiae) and the c into t (rationabiliter for racionabilitcr), and also to expand the ' Royal Letters to Oxford., 1 6. 2 Rot. Chart. 53, for the Earl of Hereford. XXVI Borough Charters contractions : this is especially necessary when the text is reproduced from old books in which the Latin is sometimes very corrupt. 4. Sources The following table shows the charters and other documents contained in this volume, their dates, their grantors, and the sources from which our text is derived. Any critical notes that may be required will be found in the next section of this introduction, but as a general rule, no such notes are required. The names of the boroughs mentioned in Domesday Book are printed in capitals, and of those founded by mesne lords in italics. (R) after the date shows that this charter has been reconstructed ^ ENGLAND AND WALES Tate, Alnwick, I, 481. Hist. MSS. Comm. Rep. 11, App. 3, 10. Journal Brit.Arch. Assn. L, 127. Rotuli Chartaruni, 93. Do. 148. Do. 152. Do. 195. Burns, Westmoreland, i, 310 Rot. Chart. 41. Surtees, Durham, iv, 71. lb. Cal. Patent Rolls, 1476-85, 63. Pat. Roll, 17 Edw. IV, pt. 2, m. 20. Municipal Records of Bath (photo.). Sched. of Records of Bedford (photo.). Pat.Roll,2Hen. IV,pt.2,m.2i. Beverley Town Documents 132. Gross, Gild Merchant, ll 21. lb. P.R.O. Chancery Misc. 46- 447^. Cartae Antiquae R. 16. lb. 17. Rot. Chart. 53. Watkins, Bideford, 12. Rep.Commrs. Public Records, 1837, App. 434. MSS. Trinity Coll. Camb. O. 2. 20, p. 61. Alnwick 1157-85 WiUiam de Vescy Andover 1175 Henry II 1 194 Richard I 1201 John i205(Mayi) Do. i205(May29 ) Do. 1213 Do. Appleby 1181 Henry II 1200 John Barnard Castle . . . CI 175 Bernard de Balliol 1215-27 Hugh de Balliol BARNSTAPLE 1 1 54-8 Henry II 1200 John BATH BEDFORD Beverley Bideford Bradninch 1 189 , 1 166 1 189 c. 1130^ 1124-35 c. 1154^ II8I-5 II82 1 194 1200 . 1204-17 . II4I-75 1215-20 Richard I Henry II Richard I Archbp. Thurstan Henry I Archbp. William Pope Lucius Henry II Richard I John Richard de Gren- ville Reginald, Earl of Cornwall Henry, son of Reginald ^ See p. xxi. 2 For the dates of these charters see Beverley Town Documents^ pp. xix, xxi. 3 Trans. Toulmin Smith, English Gilds, 153. Sources XXVll Bridgenorth 1157 Henry II Cal. Charter Rolls, in, 215. 1215 John Rot. Chart. 205. Bridgewater 1200 Do. Do. 73- 1215 Do. Do. 204. BRISTOL 1164 Henry II Seyers, Charters of Bristol. 1171 Do. Hist. & Mun. Documents Ireland, i. 1185 John, Count Mortain of Do. 49. 1 188 Do. ... Little Red. Book (ed. Bick- ley) (photo.). Bur/ord {O-i^on)... 1087-1107 Robert fitz Hamo Gild Merchant, ll, 29. 1147-73 William, Earl Gloucester of Do. 28. 1 1 55-8 Henry II ... Hist. MSS. Comm. 1901, pt. I, 31. 1 1 56 Do. Do. Burton-on- Trent 1197-1213 Abbot William ... Journal Brit. Arch. Assn. vii, 422 24 Eng. Hist. Rev. 425. Bury St Edmunds 1 102-3 Henry I * • • 1135-54 Stephen ... Do. 429. 1121-38 Abbot Anselm. • . • 2 Amer. Hist. Rev. 689. 1182-1212 Abbot Samson . • ■ Monasticon, ill, 153. CAMBRIDGE... 1 1 20-3 1 Henry I • . • Charters of Camb. 2. 1185 Henry II Do. 2. 1 201 John Do. 4. 1207 Do. • • • Do. 6. CANTERBURY 1 104 Henry I ... Brit. Mus. MSS. Julius D. 2, p. 88 b. 1155-8 Henry II ■ • « Hist. MSS. Comm. Rep. 9, App. I, 166. 1 193-9 Richard I Cartae Antiquae E. 16. 1200 John • •« Rot. Chart. 68. Cardiff 1147-83 William & Robert, Cartae Glamorganniae, ill. Earls of Glo'ster 1^. Cardigan 1 199 John ■ . • Rot. Chart. 63. Carlisle 1154-89 Henry II ... Hist. MSS. Comm. Rep. 9, App. I, 97- Carmarthen 1154-89 (R) Henry II ... Arch. Camb. Ser. IV, vol. 9, App. 27. 1 201 John • • ■ Rot. Chart. 83. CHESTER ... 1171 Henry II • •• Photo, in Arch. Cambrensis 1910, p. 418. Hist. MSS. Comm. Rep. 8, App. 356, No. I. 1 1 88-99 {a) John, Count Mortain of Do. No. 5. 1 188-99 ((^) Do. Do. No. 6. I I90-I2i2(^j) EarlRandle Bl un- Do. No. 2. deville 1 I90-I2I2(, (Westminster soken) : 1135-54 Stephen (Huntingdon soken): 1175 Henry II (Soken of Knight 3' Gild) : 1042-4 Edward Confessor 1087-1100 William II 1108-23 Henry I 1107-23 Do. 1 1 24-8 Do. 1123-35 Do. 1135-54 Stephen 1158 Henry II (Chertsey soken) : 1058-66 Edward Confessor 1 133 Henry I Lostwithiel 1 190-1200 Robert de Cardi- nan Lydd 1 154-8 Henry II Lynn 1204 John 1204 Bishop John 1204 King John MALDON 1166-75 Henry II MALMESBURY 1205-22 Abbot Walter ... MARL- BOROUGH! 1204 John Morpeth 1 1 88- 1 239 Roger de Merlai Neath 1147-73 William, Earl of Gloucester Newcastle-on-Tyne 1100-35 (Laws) Henry I 1154-89 (R) Henry II 1201 (3) John 1213 Do. 1216 Do. Newport (Salop) 1 163-6 Henry II Norhatn 1153-95 Bp.HughdePuiset NORTH- AMPTON 1 189 Richard I 1200 John NORWICH ... 1 1 54-8 Henry II 1191 Richard I 1 194 Do. 1199 John NOTTINGHAM 1157 Henry II 1 189 John, Count of Mortain 1200 King John OKEHAMPTON 1 1 94- 1 242 Robert deCurtenay Oswestry 1 190-1200 William fitz Alan OXFORD 1156 Henry II 1 199 John (Cordvvainers' Gild) : 1175 Henry II WestminsterDomesday, fo. Iv. Foedera, i, 46. Facs. of Charters in B. M. No. 54. MSS. Guildhall Library, 122, IV, 2. Lond. & Middx. Arch. Assn. V, 488. Do. 489. Foedera, I, 12. Do. II. Do. II. Monasticon, vi, 158. Foedera, i, 41. Kemble, Codex Diplomati- cus, No. 856. Monasticon, I, 432. Hist. MSS. Comm. 1901, part I, 328. Cal. Charter Rolls, ill, 220. Rot. Chart. 118. Blomfield, Norfolk, VIII, 483. Rot. Chart. 138. Cal. Charter Rolls, il, 351. Registrum Malmesburiense, I, 446. Rot. Chart. 135. Hodgson, Northumberland, Part 2, vol. 2, 480. Cartae Glamorganniae, li, 55. A. Acts Pari. Scotland, I, 33. B. Percy Chartulary, 334. Rot. Chart. 86. Do. 86-87. Do. 190. Do. 219. Eyton, Shropshire, IX, 130. Raine, North Durham, p. 257. Records of Northampton, 1,25. Do. 31. Records of Norwich, i, 11. Foedera, i, 49 Records of Norwich, I, 12. Rot. Chart. 20. Records of Nottingham, 2. Do. 6. Do. 10. Eraser, Contested Elections, I, 82. Eyton, Shropshire, X, 324. Royal Letters to Oxford, 4. Do. 5. Cal. Charter Rolls, 11, 34. ! See Domesday Boroughs, p. 10. Sources XXXI Pembroke 1154-89 Henry II Cal. Patent Rolls, 1377-81, p. 106. 1 201 John • ■ . Rot. Chart. 95. Peter sfield 1183-97 Hawisia, Countess Victoria County Hist.: Hants. of Gloucester Ill, 113. Acheson, Case of Petersfield (facsimile). 1 198 John, Count Mortain of lb. PEVENSEY ... 1207 John Cal. Charter Rolls, III, 220. Pontefract 1194(2) Roger de Lacy • •• Hist. MSS. Comm. Rep. 8, 269. Portsmouth 1 194 Richard I • ■• Foedera, i, 63. 1201 John Rot. Chart. 77. Preston 1179 Henry II • . . Farrer, Lane. Pipe Rolls, 413. 1188-99 John, Count Mortain of Placita quo Warranto, 385. 1 199 King John • ■ • Rot. Chart. 26. Richmond 1137-45(2) Count Alan Brittany of Gale, Registrum Honoris de Richmond, App. 100. "45-75 Count Conan ■ ■ • Do. loi. ROMNEY 1154-89 (R) Henry II • • • Rot. Chart. 154. 1205 John • • • lb. Rye' 1140-89 Henry, Abbot Fecamp of Fecamp Chartulary in Public Library at Rouen, 34. 1189-1219 Abbot Ralph • •• Do. 34, V. Rye&Winchelsea 1 191 Richard I • • ■ Foedera, I, 53. 1205 John Rot. Chart. 153. SALISBURY^... 1100-35 Henry I f. Gild Merchant, ll, 209. 1154-89 Henry II ... lb. 1200 John • • • lb. ; and Rot. Chart. 54. SANDWICH ... 1070-86 Bishop Odo ... Photo, in Bodleian Library: MS. Top. Kent D. i, 44. 1070-86 William I • •• Cal. Patent Rolls, 1429-36, 416. Cal. Charter Rolls, iii, 221. "55-8 Henry II • . . 1155-72 Do. • . • Photo, as above, 45. 1205 John ... Rot. Chart. 153. Scarborough "55 Henry II ... Cal. Charter Rolls, I, 417- 1200 John ... Rot. Chart, 40. 1 201 Do. ... Do. 85. 1 201 Do. Do. 103. SHREWSBURY 1 154-89 (R) Henry II ... Do. 46. 1 189 Richard I ... Owen & Blakeway, Shrews- bury, I, 82. 1200 (2) John • • • Rot. Chart. 46. 1205 Do. • •• Do. 142. SOUTH- AMPTON 1154-66 Henry II Charters of Southampton, 10. 1 189 Richard I • •• Do. 12. 1199(2) John ... Do. 2, 12. STAFFORD ... 1206 Do. • > ■ Cal. Charter Rolls, i, 71 Stratford-on- c. "95 Bishop John de Dugdale, Warwickshire, 514. Avon Constantiis Swansea 1153-84 William, Earl Warwick of Cartae Glamorganniae, 111,95. 1215 John • . . Rot. Chart. 206. TAUNTON ... "35-9 Stephen • • • Cal. Charter Rolls, III, 354. TEWKESBURY 1147-83 William & Robert, Pat. Roll, 4 Hen. IV, pt. i. Earls of Glo'ster i^hs, Q n. in. 3. ' See Doh >iesday Borou - See /(/. 10. XXXll Borough Charters TOTNES 1 199-1216 John • • Confirmation Roll, i Hen, VIII. Truro 1 166 Reginald, Earl of Cal. Charter Rolls, ll, 304. Cornwall 1174-86 Henry II Do. 305. WALLING- FORD 1156 Do. Cal. Charter Rolls, 11, 68: Hedges, Wallingford, i, 270. Walsall After 1 198 William Rufifus From original in Borough Archives. Wells 1174-80 Bp. Reginald Early Hist, of Church of Wells, 362. c . 1201 Bp. Savaric Do. 386. 1201 John Do. 390. Wearmouth 1 1 80-6 Bp.HughdePuiset Boldon Book, App. xli. Whitby 1175-85 Abbot Richard • .. Whitby Chart. I, 211. 1 199 John ■ •• Do. II, 421 : Rot. Chart. 14. 1 201 Do. 1 •• Rot. Chart. 84. WILTON 1129-35 Henry I • • • Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. xvil, 311- lb. 1 1 54-8 Henry II 1 • • 1204 John » ■ • lb. WINCHESTER 1155-8(2) Henry II • • Sel. Charters, 165 : Archaeo- logia, XLIX, 214. 1 190 Richard I , , Foedera, i, 50. 1203 John ,, Do. 88. 1215 Do. ., Rot. Chart. 217. WORCESTER 1 189 Richard I •• From original in City Ar- chives. YARMOUTH ... 1208 John • ■ • Rot. Chart. 175. 1215 Do. • • • Rot. Lit. Pat. 146. YORK 1 1 54-8 Henry II • • • Connoisseur, May 1909, photo. 1189-99 Richard I • • • Cal. Charter Rolls, I, 379. 1200 John • • Rot. Chart. 40. 1212 Do. SCOTLAND • • • Do. 187. Leges Quattuor Burgorum David &c. Acts Pari. Scot. I, n. Aberdeen 1 1 71-84 William the Lion Do. 87. 1214 Alexander II • • • Do. 87. Arbroath 1187-99 William the Li on Registrum de Aberbrothoc, p. 14. Do. p. 3. 1211-4 Do. Ayr 1202-7 Do. Charters of Ayr, r. Dundee 1 199 John Rot. Chart. 28. Edinburgh (Canongate) 1 1 43-7 David Early Scottish Charters, 118, Glasgow 1 175-7 William Registrum Episcopatus Glas- gonensis, I, 36. Inverness 1165-1214 Do. Acts Pari. Scot. I, 88. 1 171-97 Do. Do. 88. 1189-92 Do. Do. 89. 1199-1214 Do. Do. 89. Perth 1165-1214 Do. Do. 86. Rutherglen 1165-1214 Do. Do. 86. St Andi-ews 1140-53 Bp. Robert Do. 85. Critical Notes xxxiii IRELAND Cork ... Before 1 1 89 John, Lord of Ire- land Brit. Mus. MSS. Harl. 741, fo. 9 (J. Trans, in Cusack, Cork, p. 158. Drogheda ( M eath) 1 194 Walter de Lacy 15 Eng. Hist. Rev. 311. Drogheda (Louth) 1213 John Rot. Chart. 194. Dublin ... 1164-76 Henry II Hist. & Mun. Documents, Ireland, 2. 1 192 John, Count of Mortain Do. 51. 1200 King John Do. 57. 1215 Do. Do. 63. Duleek • •• 1194-1241 Walter de Lacy... B. M. MS. Eg. 76, fo. 58. Dungarvan • . . 1215 King John Rot. Chart. 211. Gowrau ■ • • 1203-6 Theobald Walter Carte, Dukeof Ormond, 1851, I, xliii. Inistioge ... After 1206 Prior Alured Gale, Corporate System of Ireland, App. xi. Kelts (Meath) ... 1 194-124 1 Walter de Lacy... Chartae Hibemiae, 10. Kelts (Kilkenny) After 1 2 10 William fitz Geoff- Do. 16. rey Kilt:enny ... 1202-10 William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke Do. 33. Limericli ... 1 197 John, Count of Mortain Add MS. 31885, fo. 198. 1215 King John Rot. Chart 211. Ratfitnore • .. 1 195-1247 Maurice fitz Gerald 15 Eng. Hist. Rev. 313. Swords ... 1182-1213 John, Bishop of Dublin Chartae Hibemiae, 9. Trim ... 1194-1241 Walter de Lacy... Do. 10'. q. Critical Notes Bideford. On p. 32 of the History of the Granville Family, by Rev. Roger Granville, late Rector of Bideford, it is suggested that this charter was granted by Richard of Grenville, fourth of that name, whose father died in 1204, and who himself died in 12 17. I have been unable to ascertain if the Latin text of this charter is still in existence. Carlow. The charter in Chartae Hibemiae, 37, is attested by six of the persons who attested the Kilkenny charter of 1223, granted by William Marshal II, and I have therefore dated it 12 19— 31. Cashel was erected into a borough about 12 16 by Archbishop Donat who gave burgage tenements to the burgesses and is said to have conferred on them the same privileges as were enjoyed by the burges.ses of Bristol, reserving a rent of 12^. out of each burgage (Lewis, Topographical Diet., Ireland I 275). But Dr Laffiin of Cashel tells me that this charter is no longer in existence. » Some additional Charters will be found in the Appendix. xxxiv Borough Charters Chester, The three charters granted by Earl Ralph Blundeville 1181 — 1232 are undated in the Report of the Hist. MSS. Commission: but numbers i and 2 were attested by Roger the Constable, i.e. Roger de Lacy, 1 190— 1 212 {D.N.B.), and the third by " H. Abbate " i.e. Hugh de Grylls 1208 — 26 {Monasticon II 146). Chesterfield. On p. xviii of vol. Ill, sec. 3, of the Feudal History of Derbyshire, Mr Pym-Yeatman speaks of a charter of Henry H on p. 27 of the Registrwn Antiquissimum at Lincoln, in which that king granted that Chesterfield should have and hold all her liberties etc. as she had them in the days of King Henry his grandfather, and as it was found by the lawful men of the hallmote and the wapentake. But Rev. H. E. Salter has examined this register for me and tells me that this charter is, as I expected, to the Church and not to the Borough of Chesterfield : such an early personification of a borough would have been unique. Corbridge. The charter of John fitz Robert in the Percy Chartulary (p. 283) is undated, but on 12 August 12 12 King John confirmed to him his father's possessions {Id. 278), and he was still living in 1225, when he was party to a fine {Id. 289). Dunstable. This is only a recital, and is therefore consigned to the footnotes. Eye. In 1558 the men of Eye (Suffolk) obtained from Queen Elizabeth a confirmation, addressed to them, of John's charter to Hythe with its clause relating to pleadings at Shepway: they evidently persuaded her that Heia was the ancient name of their borough; see Hist. MSS. Commission, Rep. 10, App. 4, p. 519. Fethard (co. Tipperary). In vol. xvi of the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland {^. 143), Dr Laffan of Cashel prints an interesting paper on this borough, and says that about 12 15, Archbishop O'Brien gave 2\ carucates to the burgesses in free burgage, at an annual rent of twelve marks. "This grant was confirmed by letters patent from King John, and the town was created an archiepiscopal borough like that of Cashel." But he informs me that neither document is now in existence nor are copies to be found. Fordwich. A Fordwich custumal of the fifteenth century contains a copy of a charter which it states was granted by Henry II ; (Woodruff, Hist, of Fordwich, App.) ; but that this date is wrong is shown by its use of the first person plural for the Royal style, and by the addition of Dux Hiberniae to the Royal title. And Mr Woodruff agrees with me in attributing it to Henry III. Critical Notes xxxv Haverfordwest. In Archaeologia Cambrensis, series iv, vol. lo, App, 38, is printed a charter dated 4 June 5 Edvv. Ill inspecting and confirming (i) Charter of Edward I dated i Nov. 19 Edw. I. (2) Undated charter of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. (3) Letters patent of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, dated September 3 Hen. III. (4) Undated letters patent of same Earl. (5) Undated charter of same Earl. (6) Letters patent of Gilbert Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, undated. No. 3 is dated Sept. 12 19, and must be the grant of William Marshal II ; it confirms a charter of his father and I have taken No. 2 to be the charter thus confirmed, and have dated it between 1 1 89, the year of his marriage to Isabella, heiress of Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke and Striguil, and 12 19, the year of his death. Nos. 4 and 5 are also the grants of William Marshal II and can be dated 1219 — 31: Gilbert succeeded as Earl in 1234 and died in 1241 (D.N.B.). Kilkenny. On pp. 33 and 34 of the Chartae Hibertiiae are two charters to Kilkenny, the first of which was granted by William Marshal and Isabella his wife, and was attested by Hugh, Bishop of Ossory, and Geoffrey fitz Robert ; the date must therefore lie between 1202 and 1 2 10 {Borough Customs I xxxv). The other charter is dated 5 April : the year is not recorded in the Chartae Hiberniae, but the Calendar of Patent Rolls (Ireland), I, 437 w., states it to be of 7 Hen. Ill, 1223 : it must therefore be the grant of William Marshal II. Leek. Possibly the Leek charter is earlier than that of PVodsham ; both were granted by Earl Randle Blundeville and attested by Philip de Orreby, Justiciar of Chester (1209 — 28) : but among the witnesses to the Leek charter is Liulf the sheriff, who is said by Leycester (Ormerod, Cheshire I 70) to have filled that office in the reign of John ; the Frodsham charter is attested by Richard de Pierrepont, also sheriff, who is said to have lived in the reign of Henry III ; but Leycester gives no authorities for these dates. The manor of Leek was given to Dieulacres Abbey by the Earl who died in 1232, and his grant is attested by Alexander, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield 1224—38 {Monasticon V 628); so that this gift can be dated 1224— 32. Richard, the first Abbot, gave a charter to the burgesses of Leek, which was a copy of that given by Earl Ralph, with omissions : and this charter must be dated after 1224. London. In spite of the arguments of Dr Round {Geoffrey de xxxvi Borotigh Charters Mandeville, 370) and the example of Dr Liebermann {Gesetze der Angelsachsen, 525), the reading "wardimotum" is retained in the text of the charter of 1 131 (p. 82)^: Dr Liebermann gives the authorities for this reading and also for the reading " vadimonia " : for the latter, his authorities are the Liber Horn and the Liber Custumarum, both of the reign of Edward II, the Liber Albus (p. 129), compiled in 1419, and the Patent Roll of Edward IV. " Wardemota " is given on another page of the Liber Custumarum, a fact which shows that the compiler of that book was uncertain of the correct reading : " wardemoth" is the reading in Vespasian D. XII, and "wardimotum" in the Rylands MS. fo. 77 v., which was unknown to Dr Liebermann when he published his book, and dates from about 1 175. So that while the earliest authority in favour of "vadimonia" is of the fourteenth century, the reading " wardimotum " appears in a copy of the charter made within half a century of its grant. That "vadimonia" gives better sense than "wardimotum" may be admitted, but in matters of textual criticism, Bengel, centuries ago, laid down the canon, "proclivi lectioni praestat ardua," " a difficult is preferable to an easy reading." This canon " depends on the tendency of transcribers to alter (in perfect good faith, and fancying that they were doing a good work) some- thing they did not understand into something which they did " (Hammond, Textual Criticism applied to the New Testament, 96). And if this canon is to be followed, the difficult reading "wardimotum" must be adopted. But we may go further, and admit that the drafts- man of the charter wrote "vadimonia" in his draft : but no practising solicitor, who has had any experience of the grotesque mistakes that are occasionally made by even the most experienced copying clerks, will doubt that the "vadimonia" of the draftsman was transformed into the " wardimotum " of the engrossment, and that the mistake was not discovered till after the document had been sealed. Lymington, Hants. Baldwin de Redvers (1244 — 69) granted a charter to this borough confirming the grant of William de Redvers, Earl of Devon, who died in 12 16, but not reciting the latter (King, Old Times Revisited, 2nd edition, p. 220). Macclesfield. In 18 Edw. I in a plea before the Justiciar of Chester at Macclesfield, " the jurors come and say that when Earl Ralph first founded the borough of Macclesfield, he established that borough of 120 burgages" : but they do not specify the rent of the burgages nor do they allude to any charter (MS. Harl. 2072, fo. 12). 1 The " wardimota " of the text ought to have been " wardimotum." Critical N'otcs xxxvii Malmesbury. The so-called charter of Athelstan to the burgesses of Malmesbury is an obvious forgery (see Domesday Boroughs, 114). Moone. This charter {Caletidar Justiciary Rolls, Ireland, 369) was, like the Carlow charter, witnessed by six of the persons who witnessed the Kilkenny charter of William Marshal II, and must therefore be dated 12 19 — 31. Newcastle-on-Tyne. There are two versions of this custumal, one of which is printed in Stubbs' Select Charters from the Acts of Parliament of Scotland I p. 33 : this we have styled the A text. The other, which we have called the B text, is printed in Brand's History of Newcastle (ll 133) from the Percy Chartulary, where it is found in the recently printed edition of the Surtees Society at pp. 334 — 6. The editors of the Acts of Parliament of Scotland say that they obtained the original of the A text from an original memo- randum at the Tower "in a hand as old as Henry II"; but, on inquiry at the Public Record Office, I am informed that this memo- randum is not to be found. The B text is copied almost verbatim by Hugh de Puiset, Bishop of Durham, in his charter to the burgesses of Wearmouth, which from the appearance of the names of Prior German and Philip the Sheriff among the witnesses can be dated 1 1 80 — 6. But two clauses of the Wearmouth charter are copied from the A text : so that both versions were known before the end of the twelfth century. The A text is reproduced almost verbally in some of the clauses of the Leges Quattuor Burgorum which are traditionally said to date from the time of David I (1124 — 53), and such Leges are included in this collection. Newcastle-under-Lyme. On p. 414 of the Lancashire Pipe Rolls (Cheetham Society), Mr Farrer prints a charter to this borough from a copy in the Preston archives "given under the common seal of the Burrough of Newcastle the 13th day of May anno domini 1635" of which the original is now lost. This charter was granted by a King Henry and " Data per manum venerabilis patris R. Cycestrensis Episcopi cancellarii nostri apud fifecham xviij die Septembris anno regni nostri decimo nono," and as he considers the grantor to be Henry II, he dates the charter 1 173. But although the original is lost, Dr Gross prints {Gild Merchant il 177 — 9) a plea roll of 8 Edw. I (1280) in which is pleaded a charter of Henry III to Newcastle granted " apud ffeckeham octavo decimo die Septembris anno nono {i.e. 1226)," and on examination it is found that the charter quoted in the plea roll is the same as that printed in the Lancashire Pipe Rolls, with four exceptions: (i) The pica rf)ll speaks of Novum xxxviii Borough Charters Castrum where the other version speaks of Novum Castellum. (2) The plea roll omits *' ulnagium " from the list of tolls, and adds, " salvis in omnibus libertatibus civitatis nostrae Londoniae." (3) The plea roll prints only the first two words of the Volumus clause, which occupies ten lines of print in the other copy. (4) The plea roll omits the reference to the Chancellor. But the reference to the Chancellor in Mr Farrer's copy proves that both his copy and that of the plea roll were derived from the same original : for Ralph Neville, Bishop of Chichester, was Chancellor from 1226 to 1244, and there was no Bishop of Chichester of the name of Ralph during the twelfth century. This charter is therefore omitted from our collection. Old Leighlin. Bishop Herlwin (1201 — 16) granted the inhabi- tants their burgages with all the franchises enjoyed by the burgesses of Bristol at a yearly rent of \2d. each (Lewis, Topographical Dic- tionary of Ireland II 211) : but no copy of this charter can be found. Miss Bateson suggests that Bristol is a mistake for Breteuil. Rye. Holloway, History of Rye, 274, prints a charter for building the walls of Rye, which he attributes to 1194, S Rich. I : but as the style of the grantor is " Richard by the grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland," its correct date must be 5 Rich. II, 1382. Totnes. In the first year of his reign, Henry VIII granted a charter to the burgesses of this town in which {inter alia) he con- firmed a grant of John : but this grant professes to be in the form of letters patent given at Westminster on 10 May in the 7th year of his reign. The Patent Rolls for this year are in print, and do not contain this document, and, moreover, John was not at Westminster on 10 May 1206, but in Hampshire and in the neighbourhood of Winchester. The document in its present form must therefore be considered to be spurious, but need not on that account be finally rejected. It consists of five clauses, of which the first four are almost verbatim the same as in John's charter to Helston (1201); the fifth clause is a non-intromittat clause, very similar to that in the Hereford charter of 12 15 (p. 121). But among the privileges conferred on Helston in 1201 was the right to have a merchant guild, and it is well known that the rolls of the merchant guild of Totnes from 1260 onwards are still in existence, while there is a document of 1236 relating to the guild {Gild Merchant II 235 — 44). The document would appear to be based on a genuine grant, although its present form is spurious, and it is therefore transferred to the footnotes. Walsall. This charter was granted by William Ruffus who is returned in the Pipe Roll for 1198 as accounting for looi". for taking Charters of Henry II xxxix possession of his land at Walsall, a sum which he paid in the follow- ing year {Publications of Salt Society II pp. ^6y 8i)'. 6. TJie Dates of some Charters of Henry II I have adopted the dates assigned to the charters of Henry II by the editors of the sources from whence my copies have been made, except in the following cases, where they are either undated or I have reason for differing from the editor. Appleby. This charter is dated 1181 in Burns, Westmoreland \ 310, but 1179 in II Proceedings of the Cumberland and Westmore- land Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 297. Barnstaple. Attested by Thomas the Chancellor, 11 54 — 62, but Henry went abroad in August 11 58 for four years so that, as it is dated in England, it must have been granted before that month. Beverley. 1182. Attested by William, Earl of Albemarle. Burford. One charter is witnessed by Warin fitz Girold, the chamberlain, 1155 — 8. Another, witnessed by the same man, was granted " apud Chinonem in exercitu," 1156. Canterbury. Witnessed by Warin fitz Girold, 1155 — 8. Exeter. See Barnstaple. Fordwich. Attested by Reginald, Earl of Cornwall, 1 154— 75. Gloucester. 11 55 — 8. See Canterbury. 1 1 53 — (i^. Attested by Manasseh Biset. 1 163 — 74. Attested by Geoffrey Ridel, Archdeacon of Canterbury. Guildford. See Barnstaple. Hastings. See Barnstaple. Hereford. See Barnstaple. Lincoln. 1155 — 8. See Canterbury. 1154—63. Both attested by Henry of Essex, the Constable. 1 1 55 — 75. Attested by William fitz John. 1 181. Attested by Richard de Lacy. Lydd. See Barnstaple. Maldon. Witnessed by Reginald, Earl of Cornwall, 1154—75: Robert fitz Bernard, 11 66 — 86. Sandwich. Witnessed by Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1161 : but as it is dated in England, it must have been granted before August 1158 : see Barnstaple. 1 See Addenda for Additional Critical Notes. xl Borous^h Charters •&' Southampton. Witnessed by Jocelin de Balliol, 1155 — (>6. Truro. Earl Reginald's charter is witnessed by Robert de Dun- stanville 1155—66, and Alured de St Martin 1166 — 88, and must therefore be dated 1166. The King's charter is witnessed by R. Bishop of Winchester 1174—88, and Robert fitz Bernard, 1166—86, and can therefore be dated 1174 — 86. Wilton. See Barnstaple. Winchester. See Canterbury. York. See Barnstaple. II. NOTE.S ON THE CODE I. The Formation of the Borough Our code naturally begins with a collection of those clauses which had the effect of establishing new boroughs and ratifying the customs of the older boroughs : our examples of Royal licenses authorising the formation of boroughs by their subjects come from Scotland, but the Archbishop of York, the Abbot of Burton, and Roger de Merlai alleged that they had received the Royal license to establish boroughs at Beverley, Burton-on-Trent and Morpeth respectively. It is from Scotland also that there come two out of our three examples of the definite establishment of boroughs by charter, and the English example is from the charter of a bishop : for the grant of the " liber burgus " was not necessarily a creation. Of our nine examples of this grant, four — Dunwich, Yarmouth, Stafford and Totnes — were styled boroughs in Domesday Book, Wells was a mesne borough whose first charter had been granted before 11 80, and only four — Bridgewater, Helston,Lynn and Chesterfield — appear to have been created boroughs by the charters in question, as they had received no earlier charters. The meaning of the " liber burgus " is much disputed : Professor Tait says " that the institution of a free borough meant no more than the substitution of free burgage tenure for the villein services and merchet of the rural manorS" a definition which finds support by the Burton charter in which the Abbot, after reciting the King's license to found a borough, proceeds to order that all who held houses within a certain area, should hold by burgage tenure (p. 42): but at the same time the Abbot conferred on them other privileges. On the other hand, Dr Gross thinks that the grant of the " liber burgus " is the grant of a mass of undefined franchises, and quotes the answer of 1 Medieval Manchester^ 62. Formation of Borough xli the Mayor and Burgesses of Macclesfield in a quo warranto proceeding of 1350 "That by the words 'that the town of Macclesfield be a free borough,' they claim that the said town is a free borough and has all the liberties and customs which a free borough rightfully ought to have\" and, it will be remembered, that the burgesses of Ipswich proceeded to elect twelve capital portmen, as there were in the other free boroughs of England, immediately on the receipt of their charter, although there was no direct permission in their charter for their so doing". Among this mass of privileges burgage tenure would be one ; and the Norham charter states that the custom of settling disputes out of court was another of these privileges^ If then, there are only these few examples of the creation of boroughs by charter, we are driven to conclude that during this period many boroughs were created by word of mouth, and that the existence of a charter in which a certain vill or part of it was styled a borough, or its inhabitants were styled burgesses, is evidence that that vill had been raised to the rank of a borough, and that its inhabitants possessed those privileges which distinguished burgesses from villagers. Many boroughs, not mentioned in Domesday, had not even a tradition of a foundation charter. Most boroughs received, at one time or other, charters conferring on their burgesses certain liberties and free customs, sometimes specified, but, as frequently, unspecified ; many of these charters refer to these customs as having existed at some earlier date, but others have no such reference, and it seems natural to speak of the former as being chartersof ratification, while the latterwere constitutional charters. Another classification would be to extract all those clauses which conferred on the burgesses of one town the customs of the burgesses of another, and place them in one class and leave all the other clauses to form another class. But examination shows that whichever classifica- tion be adopted the classes must be further divided ; for we can compile a list of some 90 boroughs which are mentioned in Domesday Book* and shall find that all these classes contain both some of these Domesday boroughs, and others not there mentioned. It is therefore possible to combine all three systems of classification and divide these clauses into five groups : {a) Ratification of existing customs of Domesday boroughs. ib) Grant of customs of other towns to Domesday boroughs. » Gild Merchant \\ 171. "^ Id. wwt- 8 p. 112. * Domesday Boroughs., pp. y, 10. xHi Borough Charters ic) Ratification of existing customs of boroughs not mentioned in Domesday Book. id) Grant of specific customs to new boroughs'. {e) Grant of customs of other boroughs to new boroughs' I With regard to class {a) it will be noticed that most of the charters refer to the customs existing in the reign of Henry I, and that only one, the Chichester charter of March 1155, speaks of an earlier date, the time of Roger Montgomery who died in 1094. Class (b) requires no further consideration, but of the nine charters quoted in our third group, eight are seignorial boroughs, and the customs of Bury St Edmunds are said in one charter to date from the time of Canute, and in another from the days of Edward the Confessor : Bury is not included in our first group, because Domesday Book does not call it a borough, nor are its inhabitants styled burgesses ; it is well to notice that Henry \\ ratified to the burgesses of Pembroke not only the specified customs which they enjoyed in the reign of his grand- father, but also those unspecified customs which they retained in their memory. All the charters in class {d) are very long and are evidently constitutional charters, but the usual method of giving a constitution to a new borough was by conferring on it the customs of some older borough ; thus Hugh de Puiset, Bishop of Durham, constituted the four boroughs of Durham, Gateshead, Norham and Wearmouth by conferring on their burgesses the customs of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and a few years later, Drogheda, Rathmore, Kells and Trim received the laws of Breteuil. It is worth notice that the Oxford charter alone provides a method by which the burgesses of an affiliated borough, that is, a borough which has received the customs of another, could ascertain the customs of their mother- borough, although this clause has been copied in the Bedford and Lynn charters. But from other sources we learn that there was occasional intercourse between daughter and mother towns for the ascertainment of customs ^ We have spoken of charters being conferred and ratified, where under ordinary circumstances we should have used the words " granted and confirmed " ; but the latter words have been intentionally neglected, because they are the translation of two of the Latin words used in our texts. Three words were constantly used by the * These titles should be substituted for those in the text, i 7 and i 8. 2 But derived charters will appear in the group to which their original belonged. 3 For affiliation of towns, see Gross, Gild Merchant i 240—81. Formation of Borough xliii draftsmen of these charters, do, concedo, confirmo, " give, grant.confirm " : and today a conveyancer will use "confirm" in deeds of ratification. But in our charters " confirm " is almost invariably preceded by the three words " hac presenti carta," " by this present charter'," so that " confirm " is not a word of ratification of pre-existing customs, but implies that greater solemnity is given to the transaction because its evidence is embodied in a charter. I have found it impossible to ascertain that the use of any particular word indicates whether a charter is one of creation or of ratification. The next title in our code reminds us that the kings had been so lavish of their gifts that, in many cases, they had interfered with vested interests ; and therefore John found it necessary to insert in some of his charters, clauses safeguarding the rights of the city of London, clauses which are especially found in the grants of freedom from tolls ; at Lynn he inserted a clause safeguarding the rights of the Bishop of Norwich and the Earl of Arundel, the lords of the borough : and in his charter to William Briwerr creating the borough of Chesterfield, he inserted a clause providing that the boroughs of Nottingham and Derby should not lose their rights by that gift. The solitary charter revoking a former grant of liberties is inter- esting from the light it throws upon King John's methods of justice ; Richard, Abbot of Whitby, had granted a charter to the burgesses of Whitby granting certain privileges to them, and this charter was confirmed by John soon after his accession to the throne ; but on the preferment of Abbot Peter, he offered the King lOO marks for the revocation of that charter ; the poor burgesses could offer only 80 marks, and the King was influenced by the heavier purse, and revoked the charter on the grounds that it was contrary to the rights of the Church^ Probably, in spite of the bribery, the decision was right ; the holder of an ecclesiastical office is only a limited owner, and even today a rector cannot grant a lease of his glebe without the consent of his bishop and patron : and a charter which exempted men from any feudal dues would be an infringement of the right of the grantor's successors. But to guard against any application of this kind, the burgesses of Durham and Beverley obtained Papal charters confirming the charters that they had received from the Bishop of Durham and the Archbishop of York respectively. 1 The sequence of these four words is so constant th.u the first three are often omitted in our transcripts. 2 Whitby Chartiilary I 2 1 1 n. xliv Borough Charters II A. Burgage Tenure and the Law of Real Property In this sub-section we have included those clauses from the charters dealing with the privileges which belonged to the burgess as the owner of a house within the borough ; they are thus distinguished from those that we propose to call " Tenurial Privileges," which are the privileges accruing to the burgess as a member of a privileged community. The distinguishing characteristics of burgage tenure were that the payment of a money rent was in satisfaction of all demands and services, as is expressed in the Walsall charter ; and that the tenant in burgage had full power of sale and devise ^ ; and so highly was burgage tenure esteemed, and so intimately was it connected with the existence of the borough, that the grant that all the inhabitants of a vill should thenceforth hold their houses by free burgage appears to have had the effect of raising that vill to the rank of a borough. We have already quoted the Burton charter reciting the King's license to the Abbot to create a borough at Burton ; the Abbot exercises that license by decreeing that all who had received burgages in a certain street should hold them freely and quietly at the rent of \2d. per annum. There is no other charter which is exactly similar to this, but in the charters to the burgesses of Bradninch, Hedon, Maldon, Walsall and Whitby in England, and to those of Drogheda and Rathmore in Ireland, the grant of burgage tenure occupies the first place, and at Hedon, is coupled with the grant that the burgesses should hold their burgages in the same manner as the burgesses of York and Lincoln held their burgages. This money rent was usually a small sum : at Bury St Edmunds the burgesses paid a halfpenny for each masure at Whitsuntide, and another at Michaelmas ; the singular sum of five pence was reserved at Whitby; at Scarborough, the rent varied according to the frontage: if the gable of the house faced the street, the rent was four pence, but if the side of the house faced the street, the rent was six pence ; at Lostwithiel and Bradninch the rents were six pence : and in 17 English boroughs, two Welsh, four Irish and one Scottish, the rent was \2d. : of these 17 English boroughs, only two, Okehampton and Tewkesbury, con- tained burgesses at the time of Domesday Book. At Eynsham the rent of a house and an acre of land was d^s. Some charters contained See Mr Hemmeon's articles in 26 and 27 Law Quarterly Review, Burgage Tenure xlv express provisions that the burgesses might improve their buildings : possibly without these provisions a license might have been required as is the case in certain building leases of the present day : at Egre- mont a penalty was inflicted on the burgess who had not built his burgage within a year from the grant of its site. The sites of Burton- on-Trent and Stratford-on-Avon appear to have been set out as building estates, for the charters prescribe the length and breadth of the burgage tenements : and at Kells the burgesses were permitted to cut up their frontages into twenty-foot lengths, on which they could erect houses whose tenants would share in the liberties of the borough. In many places the burgage tenement consisted of a house in the town and some land in the fields : at Bideford some burgesses held six acres in the fields, others, only an orchard ; Roger de Lacy divided some nine score acres among certain specified burgesses of Pontefract at the rent of ^d. an acre : at Frodsham, each burgess had an acre, and at Rathmore, each of 85 burgesses had seven acres of land, while 1 1 others had only half an acre each : at Kells each burgess had three acres, and at Ayr he was allowed to assart six acres from certain land which the King had given to the borough. In addition to the lands annexed in severalty to the burgages, certain rights were appendant to the burgages of many towns, the right of cutting timber, the right of common pasture, and the right of fishing. Usually the right of cutting timber was limited to such as was required for repairs to the houses and for firing ; and frequently only dead wood was allowed for firing : the burgesses of Swansea were allowed to cut timber for boat-building on payment of \2d. for each boat, and also to cut timber for sale : on the other hand the burgesses of Gateshead were forbidden to sell firewood, but were allowed to give it away. The clauses relating to the common pasture require no notice except that both at Swansea and Lancaster, the burgesses were allowed to find pasture for their cattle where they would, so long as the herds returned home at night ; pannage for pigs was reserved in many charters and occasionally a payment for the pasturage of cattle. The reservation to the lord of the porpoises and sturgeons caught in the fisheries of the burgesses of Swansea reminds us of the " puttchers " on the Wye illustrated in Mr Seebohm's English Village Community, and of the stake nets in use on the coasts of Essex and Sussex \ So far we have been dealing with the burgage tenement and its ' Dom. Inq. 176. B. xlvi Borough Charters appurtenances : in the eyes of the law, property held on burgage tenure was distinguished by its mobility : the burgess was at liberty to sell his land and go whither he would : but at Cardiff and Tewkes- bury this privilege was confined to property which the burgess had himself acquired and did not extend to that which he had inherited ; sales to religious houses were forbidden in several boroughs, and at Whitby and Walsall the lord had a right of pre-emption : in the latter borough he was entitled to purchase a house at \2d. less than any other bidder, and a similar provision is found in one of the convey- ances of the Priory of the Holy Trinity without Algate^. A right of pre-emption was allowed to the vendor's kin at Cardiff, Tewkesbury and Bury, but not at Wearmouth : if a person entitled to this right of pre-emption forbore from exercising it, and the purchaser was in possession for a year and a day without challenge, the claim of the kin and the lord was barred, except in cases when the claimant was an infant or out of the kingdom ; but at Pontefract and Leeds, where sales were effected by surrender to the lord, seisin of the burgage must first have been given by the proper officer. At Leicester, sales were effected in the Portmannemot, and at Tewkesbury the purchaser was required to produce his conveyance in the borough court : fines on sales were payable in a few boroughs. Closely connected with the liberty of a burgess to sell his burgage was his liberty to leave it by his will, and at Burford, Chester, Tewkesbury, Lostwithiel and Dunwich this liberty was conferred by charter : some charters guaranteed the succession of the heir, and at Cardiff it was provided that the heir should enter on his succession immediately on the death of his ancestor, without making the death known to the bailiff or reeve. Reliefs of I2d. were payable at Pem- broke, Lostwithiel, Haverfordwest and Kells, but no relief or heriot was payable at Tewkesbury and there are several other charters ex- empting the burgesses from payment of heriot. There are a number of charters enabling the burgesses to give their women-folk in marriage to whomsoever they would, without any license from any person, and others where the wardship of infant heirs was entrusted to their kinsmen : at Pembroke, the burgess was even empowered to appoint by his will a guardian for his heir. It will probably not have escaped notice that the greater number of clauses contained in this section are extracted from charters rela- ting to boroughs not mentioned as such in Domesday Book : when 1 MSS. Guildhall Lib. 122, IV, 77 ; page c\w post. Tenurial Privileges xlvii a new borough was created, it was necessary to lay down a code of law for its government, and hence we find that these charters contain provisions as to burgage tenure, which were matters of tradition in the older boroughs, and therefore could be omitted from their charters without any risk that they would be lost by such omission. II B, Tetiurial Privileges Under this heading we propose to collect a number of privileges attaching to the burgesses of the various boroughs merely because they were members of privileged communities and not because they were owners or occupiers of burgage tenements. Such privileges, when they related to the borough court or to the markets and trade of the town, will be considered later, but a few remain for discussion which cannot be included in either of these classes nor among those clauses which relate to burgage tenure. Whether the first two titles, those relating to the peace of the King and of the lord, should be here included is matter of doubt, but it is hard to see where else they should be placed ; and it is worthy of note that, with one exception, all the grants of the King's peace cease about 1190, a fact which shows that the older doctrines relating to the peace of the King and of certain magnates, which are elaborated in certain pages of Domes- day Book^ were becoming out of date about the end of the twelfth century. The clauses by which the King promised that the burgesses of certain towns should justly have their lands and mortgages and debts, by whomsoever the latter were owed, must be inserted in this place, but their practical bearing is not obvious. The hunting privileges of the citizens of London and Canterbury were preserved to them, and the burgesses of Swansea and Col- chester received permission to hunt : closely akin to this permission were the clauses exempting certain burgesses from the operation of the forest laws ; but the clauses permitting them to take wood from the forests are considered in another place as being among the appurtenances of the burgage tenement. These are followed by clauses forbidding certain exactions on the part of the borough officials, of which exactions the most typical was the scotale, a drink- ing party to which the officer invited the burgesses and where he levied contributions-. Other exactions and harsh acts on the parts of the King's or lord's officers which were forbidden by the charters ' D.B. I 262b I. '-' Select Charters, Glossary. xlviii Borough Charters were forced billetting, purveyance, and forced loans, and there are several clauses limiting the credit which a burgess was obliged to give his lord. We are accustomed to think of the burgesses as being exempt from all services in consideration of their burgage rents, and the few records of other services emphasise the general freedom; according to their custumal, the Londoners were exempt from all naval and military service ; " for they ought to preserve the city as a refuge and defence of the realm, for all have refuge therein " ; in only two boroughs, both Welsh, was any expeditionary service required of the burgesses, and in both cases, if they went at their own costs, they were not to go so far but that they could return at night : at Egre- mont, another border borough, they were required to find twelve men as garrison for the lord's castle for forty days. At Haverfordwest when the lord went to Parliament or on an expedition, as many of the burgesses as possible went with him. But it must not be thought that, because most of the charters omit all mention of military service, it was not rendered by the burgesses of some boroughs ; Domesday Book specifies the military service that at the time of the conquest was required from the county boroughs. Thus, Oxford was assessed at one hundred hides and furnished twenty soldiers^ and as late as 1523, twenty soldiers were impressed at Oxford and sent to Dover for the war with France^ Cambridge was also assessed as a hundred and, at the rate of one man for an honour of five hides, would be required to provide twenty soldiers: in 1333, 1336, 1345 and 1351 the burgesses received writs ordering them to furnish twenty soldiers in each of these years for the wars of Edward IIP. As was required of the burgesses of Dover at the time of Domes- day book, so in the reign of Henry II, the Barons of Hastings furnished twenty ships to the King, of which, according to the charter of his son Richard, the men of Rye and Winchelsea found two ; at the same time, the men of Lydd supplied one-fifth of the ships required from Romney : and the burgesses of Maldon supplied one ship, the same service as had been required of them in the reign of the Conqueror (D.B. il 48). In addition to their garrison duty in the castle, the burgesses of Egremont were liable to be summoned to accompany the lord or his steward when they took a distress or levied an execution within the district of Coupland, and they were also * D.B. I 154 a I. ^ Domesday Boroughs, 80. ^ Cooper, Amials, sub annis. Tenurial Privileges xHx *^i> liable to find watches for the borough, a duty which was also incumbent on the burgesses of Bury St Edmunds, These latter, too, were liable to assist in repairing the borough walls ; for their charters provided that when the knights and free sokemen worked on the walls, the burgesses should also work there " because that work is not more incumbent on the burgesses than on the knights " : this ex- planation reminds us of the pre-conquest " burhbot," the duty of the landowners to assist in repairing the walls of the county boroughs. Similarly the Hereford charter provides that the citizens should aid in fortifying the town ; and here, as at Bury, it is clear that they were liable for part only of the work. Similar evidence, showing that part only of the duty of fortifying the city of Chichester devolved on the citizens, is afforded by two writs of King John, both dated 12 September 1205, ^"^i both couched in the same terms and, except in the address, differing only by one word : one was addressed " to all who owe aid in fortifying the City of Chichester " and the other " to the Citizens of Chichester," and both command the recipients to aid in fortifying the city to the satisfaction of the Bishop of Chichester " as far as pertains to you '." But if the burgesses of certain boroughs were liable to assist in the fortification of their boroughs, the burgesses of other boroughs were exempt from this liability : the Wallingford and Maldon charters exempted the burgesses " from works of castles and walls and ditches and parks and bridges and causeways." Presumably, some of the inhabitants of a city or borough were exempt from this liability; for in 1192, Queen Eleanor addressed a letter to the monks of the Holy Trinity at Canterbury begging them to assist in re- pairing the walls of that city, and promising that their so doing should not be considered a precedents On the whole, it seems that the documents of our period afford no evidence either for or against the "garrison" theory of the origin of the English borough. The charter of William the Lion to the burgesses of Inverness is no evidence on this point : for here we have a document by which the King agreed to surround an unfortified town with a ditch, on which the burgesses agreed to erect and maintain a palisade. I know of no genuine document of our period which refers to " murage," a due which was the subject of many grants during the next reign : the word denotes a toll on certain commodities granted by the King ' Pat. Rolls, John, 45. '■' Merewether and Stephens, History of Boroughs i 369. 1 Borough Charters for a specified time to assist the burgesses of any borough in forti- fying that borough ; but it was not granted to every borough, and its duration was Hmited. We have already spoken of the military and other services of the burgesses of Egremont : and they were the only burgesses who, according to our charters, were liable for agricultural services : every burgage found one man to reap in autumn, and every burgess, who had a plough, did one day's ploughing on the demesne: we have printed clauses freeing the burgesses of Leicester and Lancaster from their agricultural services and the payments in lieu thereof. The next two titles show the impossibility of laying down any general rule which can apply to all boroughs: the burgesses of Newcastle and Wearmouth were exempt from merchet, but those of Egremont were liable to that fine under certain circumstances : the burgesses of Newcastle, Wearmouth, Bristol, Lancaster, Cardiff and Tewkesbury were freed from suit of the lord's mill, but those of Egremont, Frodsham and Elvet were required to grind their corn at their lord's mill. The burgesses of Frodsham and Leeds were bound to bake bread in their lord's oven, but at Newcastle, Wearmouth, Cardiff, Tewkesbury and Egremont they might have their own ovens\ Finally, we have a number of miscellaneous privileges which defy classification, including the services rendered at the coronation by the burgesses of Oxford and the Barons of Hastings, the rights of the men of Bristol at Dublin, the licenses granted to the men of Dublin to build a bridge, and to the Barons of Pevensey to build a new town, and the grant that the royal mint and exchequer should always be at Winchester. Reference will later be made to the rights of the Barons of Hastings at Yarmouth ; but both they and the men of Winchelsea and Rye were "to have their findings by land and sea, and to be quit of all things as the King's free men." Considering the doubtful reputation of the mariners of the Cinque Ports, and the suspicion that they were not incapable of piracy, it is tempting to suggest that " findings " is an euphemism. 1 That proportionately considerable sums were derived from the custom requir- ing the burgesses to bake at the lord's oven is shown by the earliest financial statement of the city of Chichester, dating, in my opinion, from some year between 1300 and 1312 : this shows the market tolls to have amounted t0;^S. 7s. od, while the payments for the use of the King's oven were 13s. 4^., and certain bakers paid lis. 6if., for license to have their own ovens (P.R.O. Ministers' Accounts, 1022/2). Burgess Franchise li III. Burgess Franchise There are not many clauses in these charters dealing with the burgess franchise and the ways in which men became members of the privileged community. The clauses creating free burgesses fall into two categories : the Wells and Hartlepool charters were confirmations by the King of previous grants, but that for Bridgewater was a charter of creation ; the Wells and Hartlepool charters appear to have conferred the status of free burgesses on all the inhabitants of these two boroughs. It is remarkable that out of nine charters granting the " liber burgus, only three speak of the " liberi burgenses." The provisions at New- castle and the places deriving their customs from Newcastle, that sons living at home with their fathers should enjoy the same franchise as their fathers, may be a relic of the patria potestas ; but it is note- worthy that no charter contains special provisions for the acquisition of burgess rights by the emancipated son or the apprentice of a burgess. Strangers, however, became burgesses by occupation of a burgage and the same method was apparently open to sons and apprentices of burgesses : at Tewkesbury, the stranger who bought a house was obliged to pay his fine for his freedom and do his fealty at the next court after his purchase, and also to find sureties for his behaviour (p. 141). At Pontefract it was necessary that the reeve should give him seisin of his burgage. Evidently the burgesses of these two boroughs were on their guard lest secret purchases of burgesses should give the franchise unawares, and thus they might become liable for the debts of persons of whom they had no previous knowledge. The Okehampton charter also foresaw that persons might apply for the franchise who ought not to be received. Another method by which a stranger acquired the franchise of a borough was by residence therein for a year and a day : but this was also a means whereby a villein became a free man, and accordingly some boroughs required more than mere residence : at Newcastle, there must have been no previous agreement with his lord that the villein should be allowed to live in the borough : and it is well known that in later centuries the sons of villeins paid chivage or headmoney for permission to live outside the manors in which they were born. Northampton, by its custumal, and Lincoln and Dunwich, by their charters, required that the villein should have been a member of the merchant guild for the year and the day. It will be noticed that, while at Newcastle, Wearmouth, Dunwich and Hereford, this method of acquiring the Hi Borough Charters freedom was open only to persons of servile descent, at Pembroke, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby and Haverfordwest, it was open to any person, whether bond or free, and therefore presumably to the sons and apprentices of burgesses : at Egremont, this method was avail- able for strangers, except those who came from the King's demesne : this proviso was necessary because no charter of a mesne lord could give freedom to a villein from the King's demesne : indeed it is hard to see how, if the villein of any man came to live in a borough, any charter, except the King's, could guarantee his freedom after residence for a year and a day. Six out of the seven clauses included under our next title, Fran- chise by Royal Grant, apparently refer not to the acquisition but to the restoration of the franchise : the solitary case of acquisition refers to the burgesses on the land of the Hospital of St John Baptist at Bridgewater, and should be compared with John's charter to the Abbot and Canons of Grimsby authorising them to hold a court in the borough for their own men (p. 125); and it is possible that this Grimsby charter gives the clue to the other clauses in this title. One explanation of these clauses is that, certainly at Huntingdon and Guildford, and possibly at Colchester, Lincoln and Gloucester, the burgesses resented the existence within the borough of persons who were exempt from the borough court, but paid suit to the court of a soken, and that therefore they had refused to these men their rights as burgesses. On the other hand it may be that the burgesses ex- acted tolls from privileged persons on whose behalf the King inter- fered. The writ of Henry I to the burgesses of Guildford in favour of the tenants of Geoffrey Purcell shows that even in these early days residents in rural manors had acquired rights in burghal markets : possibly even they were non-resident burgesses or members of the merchant guild. The Pipe Roll for 1201 shows that on one occasion at least the King granted a charter conferring the burgess franchise on an individual ; for Madox^ quotes the record that David the Dyer accounted for one mark that his messuage in Carlisle might be a burgage, and that he might have the same liberties as the other burgesses. The next title shows the closeness of the connection between liberties and duties : any man who shared in the liberties of a borough must also share in its duties and pay his proportion of the gelds and taxation of the town. This is emphasised by the writ of Henry I to * Firma Bttrgi, 270 (c). Jurisdictional Privileges liii the sheriff of Kent, relating to the aids of the city of Canterbury : the servants of St Augustine who neither bought nor sold nor carried on trade within the City were to be exempt from the aid, but conversely, those who used the civic markets were required to pay their share. But in order to attract settlers to Coventry, new-comers were exempt from taxation for two years from the time they began to build. At Chesterfield alone was the lord empowered by charter to veto the grant of the franchise to new-comers : and the charters of Helston and Inistioge alone contained rules as to the residence of burgesses. IV. Jurisdictional Privileges The number of clauses in that part of our code which relates to the jurisdictional privileges of the burgesses shows the important part played by the court in the life of the borough : the borough was a jurisdictional oasis and the burgesses considered this isolation of theirs from the rest of the county as being among the most valuable of their privileges. For the sake of clearness, we have divided the clauses dealing with the borough court and its peculiar laws under five sections, the establishment of the Court, Modes of Trial, Procedure, Punishments and Distress. A. The Court The first title in our first section appears to be directed against the existence of the borough court, for it allows certain offences to be settled out of court, "as," according to the Norham charter, "free burgesses are wont" to do. But when offences were settled out of court, the lord of the court lost the fines, the wites, to which he would otherwise have been entitled, and therefore the Wells charter, when authorising such settlements, expressly declared that the Bishop should not be entitled to the custom, or fine due to him. We shall see that the charters of Henry II declared the men of Hythe and Dover to be " witefree " and that other charters exempted certain burgesses from other specified wites. At Whitby, so much importance was attached to this voluntary settlement of offences, that it was not till the plaintiff had asked compensation of the defendant on three separate occasions that he was allowed to summon him before the borough court. The restriction of this privilege at Wells to offences that were committed within the bounds of the burgesses' house reminds us of the 19 burgesses of Warwick who had sake and soke in their liv Borough Charters own houses^ and of Aelmer and the other burgesses at Wallingford who received certain forfeitures from their own houses and their own men^ : it is a clear survival of the primitive "house-peace." There are only two charters conferring on the burgesses the right to hold all pleas within the borough, Bradninch and Shrewsbury, but there are a number relating to sake and soke, toll and team and infangthef ; whatever may have been [the meaning of sake and soke in the eleventh century, by the time of these charters these words implied the "feudal or manorial" jurisdiction, the jurisdiction that a lord has over his tenant by reason of the latter's tenured Toll is defined as the right to take toll within a certain district ; team, the right to call on the possessors of stolen property to vouch to warranty, i.e. to name the person from whom he obtained it ; and infangthef, the right to punish thieves captured within the limits of the district. The language used in the charters relating to these privileges requires careful notice : sometimes they appear to be granted to the individual burgesses as appurtenances of their lands and tenements : the writ of Henry II in favour of William Earl of Gloucester, ordering that his men of Burford should have all their tenements with sake and soke etc. (p. 17), is almost certainly a grant to the individual burgesses, as a result of which they became like the 19 burgesses of Warwick, who had 19 masures with sake and soke and all customs'*. The clauses in the Maldon (p. 39), Oxford and Hythe charters are ambiguous, but on the other hand the grant is to the boroughs of Dunwich, Lynn and Yarmouth : at Shrewsbury, the burgesses are granted sake and soke over the borough and hundred : and at Stafford and Droitwich these rights appear to be appurtenances of the borough, which, in each charter, is granted to the burgesses at fee farm. The Marlborough charter with its grant that the borough and burgesses should have their mansions and possessions with quittance of sake and soke, etc. in the royal demesnes, is ambiguous and may be interpreted either as a grant of jurisdiction to the borough, or as grants to the individual burgesses. It is obvious that the grant to the borough creates a borough court, while the grant to the individual burgess creates a number of private jurisdictions to which the term soken has been applied : of them we shall speak later. Lynn, Yarmouth, Portsmouth and Marlborough were the only boroughs of which the burgesses had the privilege known as 1 D.B. I 228a I. 2 Id. I 56b I. 3 See Select Pleas in Manorial Courts, Introd. p. xxiii. * D.B. I 238 a i. The Borouo'h Court Iv <;> outfangthef, the right of following a thief into another district, and while the burgesses of Portsmouth, Nottingham and Derby had toll team and infangthef, their charters did not grant them the rights of sake and soke. Although only two of our charters contain clauses which definitely confer jurisdiction, yet our next title contains clauses from charters relating to 44 boroughs, which by implication recognise the existence of courts having jurisdiction within their bounds. There must be a borough court before men can be exempted from pleading without the borough and the number of charters conferring this exemption show the value attached to it by the burgesses. The earliest of these were granted in very wide terms : Henry I ordered that the citizens of London should not be impleaded without the walls for any plea : but his grandson qualified this grant by excluding from its operation pleas relating to lands without the city and to the burgesses who were his minters and servants. Other charters excepted the pleas of the crown ; at Kilkenny, pleas of the lord's household, Egremont, pleas of his forest, and at Frodsham, pleas of his sword, were also excepted. (Frodsham was the creation of the Earl Palatine of Chester, and the pleas of his sword corresponded to pleas of the King's crown.) The court in the churchyard at Leicester should be noticed as a relic of the times when moots were held in the open air. But, as pointed out in the History of English Law^, the burgess could not refuse to plead in the external court ; the authorities of the borough came and claimed cognizance of the suit, in the same way as the Vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford can claim from the Mayor and city Justices cognizance of the offences of unruly under- graduates. Some of these clauses contain exemption from suit to hundred and shire courts, but at Leicester the exemption was from the hundred court alone: and there are some six or eight charters containing specific exemption from these suits. When we find tiiat this exemption is contained in the charters to some of our oldest boroughs, Wallingford, Maldon, Hythe, Dunwich, Yarmouth and Stafford, all of which are called boroughs or are stated to contain burgesses by Domesday Book, we are tempted to ask whether the inhabitants of a borough were in the eleventh century exempt from suit at the hundred moot ; on the other hand, it may well be that these clauses are inserted in these charters merely to ratify existing liberties : but ' 1 676. Ivi Borough Charters if the latter be the true explanation, we should have expected to find these clauses in a larger number of charters. Closely akin to the clauses exempting the burgesses from the jurisdiction of external courts, were those which represent what in later days was so well known as the non-intromittat clause, forbidding the sheriff and other county officials from intermeddling with the affairs of the borough ; at Bury St Edmunds the prohibition was in favour of the Abbot and his minister ; and possibly this clause should have been omitted as it is not a clause in favour of the burgesses : at Wallingford the clause was in favour of the guild, and reserved all its disputes to the judgment of its alderman, while the Andover and Newcastle clauses are chiefly concerned with the fee farm rent. The Portsmouth reservation of pleas concerning real estate to the Crown or Chief Justice is unique, and is not found in the Marlborough charter which in other respects is a copy of that to the burgesses of Portsmouth ; while the clauses relating to proceedings before the itinerant justices show the impossibility of laying down any general rule as to any burgensic privilege : according to the text-books, no rule was more definite than that, while an ordinary vill was represented before the justices in Eyre by four of its inhabitants, a borough sent twelve men\ The Dunwich charter is an example of this rule, but the Colchester charter allows the burgesses to acquit themselves by four men, the same as any ordinary vill. At Dunstable and possibly at Huntingdon the justices visited the borough : at Colchester and Dunwich the burgesses waited on the justices. Again, at Dunstable, pleas were determined by the oath of twelve burgesses, but at Dunwich amercements were assessed by six burgesses and six foreigners : but the last two clauses are not "in pari materia." The remaining clauses in this section relating to sokens or private jurisdictions within boroughs require careful consideration. That a soken was a jurisdictional oasis within a borough is shown by the writ of Henry I to Colchester ordering that St Paul should have his soken and customs and liberties within the borough, so that those who dwelt in it should not plead without the soken unless the Saint had first failed in doing right, and the London custumal of Stephen's reign shows that the sheriff of London was not at liberty to execute justice in the case of a man dwelling within a soken till its warden had failed in doing right. One such soken was created by John at Grimsby where he granted to the Abbot and Canons certain lands ^ For criticisms on this d rule see Supplemental Essays i p. xcii. Sokens Ivii which had fallen to him by way of escheat, and later granted a charter exempting the dwellers in these lands from suit to the borough moot, and providing that they should pay suit to the proper court of the Canons ; and notwithstanding this exemption, the dwellers in the Abbot's land were to enjoy the same rights and privileges as the other burgesses. A few years later, the same king directed a writ to the bailiffs of Yarmouth ordering them to permit the Barons of Hastings to have their court at Yarmouth for their free tenants according to the charter which they had to that effect : possibly his reference is to his father's charter, regranted by himself, that the Barons should have strand and den at Yarmouth, "and that they care there for peace and justice along with my reeve" (p. 99.). Although the word "soken " is not used in either of John's documents, it is clear that the courts thus created formed immunities within the borough, like the soken of St Paul at Colchester. But the grant of immunities surely runs riot, when Robert of Cardinan grants to the burgesses of Lostwithiel that if any of them has a tenant in the said town, he may hold a court for him. These three documents then agree in giving jurisdiction within a borough to others than the whole body of burgesses, or to another court than the borough moot: but there is another point of agreement: the Abbot of Grimsby, the Barons of Hastings, and the individual burgesses of Lostwithiel alike had jurisdiction over their own tenants and over no others : but before a man can have tenants, he must own land which can be held by them, and therefore in these three cases the proprietary interest must have preceded the jurisdictionary interest. And Domesday Book shows that the interest of St Paul in his soken at Colchester was also a proprietary interest : for it records that the Bishop of London had four acres and 14 houses in the boroughs Hence, all our documents support Professor Maitland's teaching that in the thirteenth century, "sake and soke" imply the jurisdiction which arises from tenure and is exercised by a lord over his tenant*. Now let us turn to pre-conquest documents : Edward the Confessor issued a writ to William, Bishop of London, Suetman the portreeve, and to all the burgesses of London, commanding that Wulfwold, Abbot of Chertsey, should have sake and soke over all his haws therein and over all his men, a grant which was afterwards confirmed by Henry I who issued a writ that the Abbot of Chertsey should have his soken in London. Again the proprietary interest precedes the jurisdictionary ; for the word " haga " when used of an urban tenement ^ D,B. nil. 2 Select Pleas in Manorial Courts, Introd. xxiii. Iviii Borough Charters by Domesday Book, always refers to those town houses which were appurtenant to rural manors : compare the Confessor's grant to Westminster Abbey of "Staines and that land Staninghaw within London " : but Domesday Book does not record that Chertsey Abbey owned any manors with appurtenant houses or burgesses in London. Similarly, the Confessor's grant to the English Cnihtenegild of sake and soke was a grant of this privilege over their own men, and the writs of William II and Henry I confirm to the Knights their guild and the land pertaining to it, with all its (or their) customs as they had them in the days of King Edward. So that these writs show us a guild owning land with sake and soke over their tenants, in the same way as Domesday Book records of Thorp (Northants), " tenuit Tochi cum saca et soca\" and as the Chapman guild of Canterbury possessed the right of sake and soke over some of their houses ^ Here again, the proprietary interest precedes the jurisdictionary, for it is obvious that the guild could not have had men without first having land which could be tenanted by them. And indeed, the tradition as to the origin of the guild shows that it was a land-owner: for the monkish editor of the chartulary of the Priory of the Holy Trinity without Algate tells that the guild obtained from Edgar certain land without the city as a recognition of their exploits: the tale may be disbelieved, but the fact remains that the guild owned land, and the tale may have been invented to account for its possession. During the reign of Henry I the surviving members of the guild gave their whole land and soke to the newly founded Priory of the Holy Trinity, and in testimony of their gift, placed all their charters on the High Altar of the Church, whereupon they were admitted to a share of the spiritual benefits of the Priory^ ; the chartulary says that this gift was made in 1125, but Stow gives the date as 11 15, and as the earliest of the Royal charters confirming the gift was attested by Ralph, the Chancellor, who died in 1123^ Stow is probably right. Within our period there are six documents by which the Royal sanction was given to this gift, and it will be well to set out the descriptions of the gift as contained in each document : 1 D.B. I 227 a 2. 2 Gild Merchant 11 37. 3 If Bishop Stubbs and Mr Loftie had consulted old Stow {Survey of London {Everyman's Series\ ill), they would have been spared Dr Round's criticisms {Commune of London^ 104). * I have to thank Mr H. W. C. Davis for pointing this out to me. Sokens in London lix (i) Henry I, 1107 — 23. Charter granting "to the Canons that they may have the soken of the EngHsh Cnihtenegild with the lands and all the men pertaining to the same soken within the city and without." (2) Henry 1, 1 124 — 8. Notification that the King had granted to the church and Canons... "the soken of the English Cnihtenegild and the land which pertains to it within the borough and without as the men of the same guild gave and granted to them." (3) Henry I, 11 24 — 7. Exactly the same as (2), but substituting "and the church of St Botolph" for " within the borough and without." (4) Henry I, 1123 — 35. Precept that the Prior and Canons should hold their men and land of the English Cnihtenegild as their predecessors had it. (5) Stephen regrants (4). (6) Henry H, 11 58, regrants (2). Of these six documents, two omit all mention of the soken and all mention the land which passed to the Priory by the gift of the guilds A third soken mentioned in our documents is the soken of the gate of Algate, which, with the gate. Queen Maud gave to the Priory of the Holy Trinity when she founded it ; this she stated to be of her demesne. Its boundaries are preserved in the cartulary of the Priory, and are shown by Stow^ to be wholly within the walls, while the soken of the Cnihtenegild lay wholly without the walls. But I cannot trace the earlier history of the Algate soken. Yet a fourth soken is the soken of the honour of Huntingdon which was granted by Earl Simon to Roger fitz Reinfrid for the rent of a bezant, and was confirmed to him by Henry H in 1 175, and some little enquiry may be made as to its history. In the Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland^ is a document addressed by Earl David to the reeve and all the men of his land and soken in London and Tottenham, and notifying them of his gift of a house to Roger the Archdeacon at a yearly rent : but David was Earl of Huntingdon and as such was addressed in the writ of Henry I respecting the rights of the Church of Huntingdon in that borough (pp. 105, 107). Turning to Domesday BookS we find that Tottenham in 1086 belonged to the Countess Judith and had previously belonged to her husband, Earl Waltheof, who had been Earl of Huntingdon in the ' Further notes on the soken of the Cnihtenegild will be found in the Supplemental Essays ill p. ciii. '•^ Survey 0/ London {Everyman's Series), pp. 125 — 7. 3 Vol. 1 p. 537. * I 130 b 2. Ix Borough Charters early part of the reign of the Conqueror : so that the Huntingdon soken in London appears to have had some connection with the manor of Tottenham, although Domesday Book records no houses in London as being appurtenant to that manor. A fifth soken mentioned in our documents is that of St Peter of Westminster, which, Professor Maitland suggests, was "that land Staninghaw within London " which was given to the Abbey by the Confessor as an appurtenance of the manor of Staines. Here again, the proprietary interest precedes the jurisdictionary. Bearing in mind this intimate connection between the proprietary and the jurisdictionary interests in the sokens, we shall be able to understand the clause in the London charter of Henry I, in which he granted "that the barons and churches and citizens should have their sokens with all their customs, so that strangers who lodge in their sokens shall pay their customs to none except to him who owns the soken or to his minister." These customs are not only the profits of jurisdiction, but also the rents and other dues from the inhabitants of the sokens, as I argued some six years ago, from a comparison of this charter with the language of Domesday Book\ Care must be taken to distinguish between a soken and a settle- ment of unprivileged men dwelling by the side of a privileged community, sometimes even within the same walls. Miss Dormer Harris has called attention to the division of Coventry into Earl's-half and Prior 's-half, where the inhabitants of the former obtained two charters as early as 1186 or earlier, while the inhabitants of the Prior's-half remained for centuries the villeins of the Prior^. But our Grimsby charter shows that, except for their exemption from the borough court, and for certain privileges as to the assessment of tallages, there was no difference between the Abbot's burgesses and the other burgesses of the borough. The two charters ratifying the grant of the Aldermanry in Canterbury are included in this section, rather than among the clauses relating to the officials of the borough, because while the latter were elected by the burgesses or nominated by the lord, this Aldermanry was a heritable and transferable franchise, and in this respect was similar to the soken^ * Domesday Inquest, 118. ^ Life in an old English Town, pp. 33 — 68. 3 For sales of the Aldermanry of the Farringdon Ward in 1277 and 1279 see Stow, Survey of London, 278. Methods of Trial Ixl The remaining sections relating to the jurisdictional privileges of the burgesses need not detain us long : Miss Bateson has dealt so fully with Methods of Trial, Procedure and Punishments, and with the burgesses' privileges of distress that it is impossible to add much to what she has said^ B. Methods of Trial In most boroughs, trial by battle was forbidden, but it was allowed at Norwich in cases of treason, at Bristol and Dunwich in cases of homicide of a man coming from without the borough, and at Kilkenny for homicide, larceny, or any plea in which duel ought reasonably to be made. On the other hand the customary methods of trial were preserved to the burgesses both in actions relating to their lands and real estate and in the pleas of the crown. As early as 1 1 56 the court of the Cinque Ports was established at Shepway, and the charter to the men of Rye and Winchelsea(i9i i) provides that they shall not plead otherwise than in the same way as the Barons of Hastings and of the Cinque Ports were wont to plead in the time of Henry H. The Shrewsbury charter forbids the use of the newly invented writ of Mort d'ancestor, and the same charter shows that the lands of the borough were subject to one or another of three customs, the law of Breteuil, the law of the Barony and the law of Englishry. Although the wager of law was giving way in the country districts before the assize, yet its continuance was allowed in the boroughs : but here again each borough was a law unto itself: at Dublin, 40 compurgators were required ; York, Egremont and Wearmouth required 36 ; Dunwich asked for 24, while Swansea was satisfied with five in cases of treason ; at Pontefract and Leeds the number varied from 36 to two according to the nature of the offence, and in these two boroughs, a man who had been twice convicted of larceny within the borough was obliged to clear himself of the third charge by battle or ordeal. The provision in the Kilkenny charter that the burgesses could prove their debts by the suit of lawful men, appears to allow trials under the system of assize, but trials of this kind, under the name of " recognitiones," were expressly forbidden at Bristol, Dublin and Chester : the compurgators, be it remembered, were practically only witnesses to character, in that they swore that they believed that the oath taken by their principal was true. There is not a clause in ' Borough Customs vol. n Introduction. B. Ixii Borough Charters our collection as to the view of frankpledge and only a few relating to mainpast and bail, and these differ from each other very con- siderably : at Tewkesbury a burgess answered for his children and tenants, and, as previously noticed, new burgesses were required to find sureties : on the other hand, at Bristol, Dublin and Kells, no burgess was bound to go bail for any, even for his landlord. Bail was allowed at Haverfordwest, except in cases of homicide, and at Kells, even in these cases, if six burgesses would go surety ; but if these were not forthcoming, the offender had free custody in the lord's castle till the plea was determined, that is, he was kept within the castle walls, but not in chains nor confined in a dungeon'. At Pontefract, every burgess had to pledge his own distress, that is, he was bound to deposit goods as surety for his appearance, unless he was charged with a plea of the crown, or was unable to produce a deposit. The Swansea rules deciding the court in which the burgess should be tried, according to the time when bail was sought, remind us of the Domesday provisions as to trials at Guildford ^ C. Procedure The rules of procedure were matters of tradition rather than of grant, and while some were included in the charters for greater security, others were included to prevent hardship to the burgesses: the provisions that the courts should be held only once a week appear to have been inserted to prevent the burgess being harassed by too frequent sittings : the name of the court varied from borough to borough : at London, Northampton, Norwich, Grimsby, Lynn and Yarmouth it was called the husteng: at Bristol and Dublin it was called the hundred, at Canterbury the burghimot, at Leicester the portmannemot, and at Wallingford the portimot. The Whitby charter provided for three greater courts to be held during the year, at the Epiphany, at Easter and at the feast of St Hilda : the final clause on p. 142 is capable of two meanings : either that lesser courts could be held in the intervals between these greater courts for the hearing of pleas% or, in view of the powers given to the burgesses to effect settlements out of court, that pleas arising in the intervals should be adjourned to and heard at the next court. More valuable to the burgesses than the clauses fixing the times of the courts were those dealing with the place at which their actions should be tried, and it was eventually ' Borough Customs ll xxv. ^ J3J3 j ^oa 1. ^ This was Miss Bateson's view, E.H.R. 1905, p. 146. 1 * * * Punishments Ixui settled as a general rule that if a debt was contracted or a pledge given within a borough, pleas on these accounts should be held within that borough : but this rule was a modification of the broad grant of Henry I to the citizens of London, allowing them to sue all their debtors in London. We have already noticed that at Whitby a plaintiff was obliged to ask the defendant thrice to settle amicably before he could bring him before the justice, and at London, according to the custumal known as the Libertas, a summons was required. The Tewkesbury and Pontefract documents show the excuses the defendant could make for his non-appearance, while at Egremont he was fined sixpence if he failed to appear. Very many of our charters show a reaction from the formulism of the pre-conquest law, and contain clauses forbidding "miskenning," U. the failure of a party for non-observance of the strict rules of pleading: but at Egremont, a party who failed in his plea through faulty pleading could pay fourpence to the lord and " recover his plea." D. Punishments One of the new penalties introduced by the Conqueror, and there- fore not enforced in those boroughs whose judicial customs had been preserved, was the murder fine, a fine imposed on the hundred in which a man had been killed i. And consequently we find a number of charters in which the burgesses were declared to be quit of murder: in the Kilkenny charter and its various derivatives, it was declared that no homicide within the borough was to be reputed as murder: at Portsmouth and Marlborough the burgesses were granted freedom also from " blodwite, fichwite, et leirewite," the fines for bloodshed, fighting and incontinence of the female members of the family, and the men of Hythe and Dover were declared by Henry H to be wite-. free, free from all wites or fines payable to the crown (p. 182), and the same king freed the burgesses of Wallingford from " blodwite et bred- wite," the latter term possibly signifying fines for breaches of the assize of bread. More important than the express prohibition of certain specified fines, was the prohibition of the arbitrary fine known as the miseri- cordia, and the limitation of the amounts that might be levied by way of fine. The earliest charter to London limits this amount to the > But as to this see Maitland, Collected Papers I 230. Ixiv Borough Charters burgesses' weregild, the sum of iooj., and this was the amount fixed in the Colchester charter of Richard I : Henry II granted that this amount should be determined according to the ancient laws of the city, and the London standard was granted to Northampton, Norwich and Lincoln, but Canterbury, Winchester, Gloucester and Cambridge had their own customs in this matter ; the law of Winchester was followed at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and that of Northampton at Grimsby, while amercements at Ipswich were fixed according to the laws of the other free boroughs. At Bristol the limit was 40J. and this limit was followed at Dublin, where one half of the penalty was pardoned to the offender who therefore paid only one moiety by way of fine, and where, too, the minor pleas of bread and beer and neglect of watch had a maximum penalty of 2s. 6d. each, of which one moiety was pardoned to the offender. Similarly in the Kilkenny charter and its derivatives a distinction was drawn between major and minor pleas and the fines inflicted in each case. A twelvepenny limit, as at Breteuil, was fixed at Pembroke, Swansea, Okehampton, Coventry, Frodsham, Inistioge,and Haverfordwest; in two boroughs, Frodsham and Swansea, a greater penalty was incurred for bloodshed between noon on Saturday and Monday morning : this provision is in accordance with the Domesday custom at Chester ^ and its appearance at Frodsham is explained when we remember that the Frodsham charter was granted by an Earl of Chester, but it is hard to find any Chester influence at Swansea. The scale of penalties at Egremont varied according to the nature of the offence, and it is worthy of note, that while a burgess who slandered or insulted his male neighbour was fined 3J-., his wife, if she insulted a female neighbour, was fined only 4^., and in the latter case, if the complainant could not prove her case, she, too, was fined ^d. As far as is shown by our charters, Wallingford, Eynsham, Coventry and Corbridge were the only boroughs where the fine was fixed by a jury of the burgesses. At Lostwithiel, Bideford and Bradninch a sixpenny limit was set to fines imposed by the court, but in the borough of Eynsham the limit was the high sum of los. The Shrewsbury and Egremont charters alone authorise the burgesses to fix the assize of bread, but at Tewkesbury the fines that were inflicted on offenders against the assize, were assessed by twelve burgesses. At Winchester, in 1205, the King himself fixed the weight ot the penny loaf and appointed three men to be wardens of the 1 D.B. I 262 b I, Distress Ixv assize. We have already noticed the clause in the Wallingford charter exempting the burgesses from " bredvvite," and this exemption suggests that even in the first years of the reign of Henry II there were some regulations corresponding to the later assize of bread ; but the existence of such regulations is carried back to the reign of his grandfather by the laws of Newcastle providing for the punishment of those who incurred forfeiture for bread and beer : and Domesday Book shows that even in the reign of the Conqueror, the maker of bad beer at Chester was fined ^d? And there is other evidence that the assize of bread and beer was known as early as the Conquest ; for in the extract from the Cartulary of St Augustine printed in the appendix of Larking's Domesday of Kent, which extract is, in my opinion, part of an independent compilation for the use of the Abbey from the original Domesday returns, is a passage "that if bread or beer was made in any manner other than the ancient custom, the 'seniores' (? seigneurs or aldermen) ought to have the forfeiture," but it was taken by Brimann the reeve, and the record suggests that it was wrongfully taken by him. E. Distress We have already noticed the frequent clauses that empowered the burgesses to sue their debtors in the borough courts for all debts con- tracted within the borough; and many of the charters gave them another remedy in permitting them to take distresses from their debtors when they found them within their borough, and even, as stated in the London and Colchester charters, from those who lived in the same county or community as their debtors ; but on the other hand they could not distrain on their fellow burgesses without the license of the reeve. The object of this distraint was stated in the Colchester charter to be that thus the debtor might be compelled, either to pay the debt or to appear to the suit in the borough court, and at Okehampton the creditor was empowered to retain the distress until the debt was satisfied. But there were certain occasions when the creditor was not at liberty to exercise this right : at Newcastle it was unlawful to distrain on debtors attending the courts or engaged in army service or castle guard : at Wearmouth the exemption was extended to all who were doing business in the town for the Bishop of Durham, the lord of the borough : nor was distraint lawful on those who were going to the markets at Nottingham and Derby, or to » D.B. I 262 b I. Ixvi Borough Charters the fairs at Pontefract and Leeds. It would seem that the burgesses to whom was granted the privilege of distraining on their debtors, extended this privilege, on the lines of the Colchester and Pembroke charters, and took distress from persons living in the same town or even in the same county as their debtors ; hence we find in the Bristol and Dublin charters clauses forbidding distress on burgesses of those towns unless they were the principal debtors or sureties, and this clause was frequently used in John's charters and in those of his son until it was rendered unnecessary by an act of Parliament in 1275 ^ Finally, we have a number of clauses showing how distresses ought to be dealt with : at Gateshead and Tewkesbury the creditor was for- bidden to carry out of the borough any goods which he had taken by way of distress, and at Pontefract, if the goods of one man were taken from another by way of distress, the second was required to redeem them from the creditor. We have a similar provision in our present day law; for the Lodgers' Protection Act 1875 provides that a landlord, who has distrained for rent on the goods of a lodger in the house of his tenant, shall, after proper notice, return to the lodger his goods which are included in the seizure on payment of the rent owing from the lodger to the tenant. At Bury St Edmunds, the creditor could, under certain conditions, sell the goods taken by way of distraint : and the want of such provisions in other charters appears to show that, as a general rule, the distress could not be sold, but could only be retained as security for the payment of the debt or the appearance in court of the debtor. V. Mercantile Privileges A. Markets and Tolls More important to the King than the revenue arising from the law-courts of the borough was that arising from the markets and tolls ; we all remember the frequent legislation of the pre-conquest kings against extra-urban commerce. " Let no man bargain out of port," says Edward the Elder,^ : and to this Athelstan added " Let every market be in a city V' and the concentration of commerce would hinder the sale of stolen property and facilitate the collection of tolls*. These would probably be the reasons why Edgar granted to Peterborough Abbey the right of holding a market at Medehampstead, and for his 1 Statute Westminster i c. 23. 2 Liebermann, Gesetze der Angelsachsen, 139. ^ jj^ ,^7^ Latin version. * Domesday Book and Beyond, 194. Markets and Tolls Ixvii further order that there should be no other "betwix Stamford and Huntingdon/," But to only one borough in England was there a similar grant, and during the third decade of his reign Henry I addressed a writ to the Bishop of Ely and all his Barons of Cambridge- shire forbidding any ship from trading at any hythe in Cambridgeshire except at the borough of Cambridge, and forbidding wagons being loaded or toll taken elsewhere than within the borough. The orders of his grandson with respect to Nottingham were far less sweeping when he granted that for ten leagues round no one should work dyed cloths except in the borough, and that the men of the two shires of Nottingham and Derby should come to Nottingham with their wains and sumpter animals on Fridays and Saturdays ; but this latter clause, and a similar clause in the Derby charter of 1204, may mean nothing more than a prohibition of other markets in those two shires on those days. More akin to the Cambridge writ is the writ of Henry H to his sheriffs and ministers of Lincolnshire ordering them to make all foreign merchants go to Lincoln and trade there so that his reeves should not lose his royal customs ; and his Pembroke charter also contains a ban of trade to the borough. It is, however, when we cross the Cheviots that we see the doctrine "that no man bargain out of port" pushed to its limits: for the charters of William the Lion to Perth and Aberdeen expressly compel all merchants to come to these boroughs, and forbid all trading within the counties of which they were the heads : the Inverness charter prohibited the making of dyed cloth in the county, except in the borough, and that to Rutherglen prescribed certain boundaries within which sales of merchandise were prohibited unless it had first been exposed in the borough. The laws of Newcastle-on-Tyne forbid trading on shipboard, and the Ilchester charter appears to insist that all goods passing over a certain bridge should be exposed for sale in the borough. A ludicrous example of monopolies can be quoted : by charter Henry I granted the school of Huntingdon to the Canons with a prohibition against the holding of any other school in the county- : and there are other similar cases. Some eight years ago I called attention to the fact that Domes- day Book contained very few references to markets or fairs in boroughs, and that the Index to the edition of the Record Commis- sioners mentions markets in 42 places, only 1 1 of which were styled ' A.S. Chronicle, sub anno 963. '-^ Monasiicon vi 80. Ixviii Borough Charters^ boroughs'. Similarly our collection contains very few references to markets or fairs : of the five Royal charters establishing markets in English boroughs quoted in these pages, two were granted to private individuals ; the Pembroke charter refers to a Sunday market as already established before the date of the charter ; William the Lion established markets in Inverness, Ayr, and Aberdeen, and in 1175 gave permission to the Bishop of Glasgow to establish a market in that city. Grants of fairs were more frequent, and we have grants of fairs in twelve boroughs, only one of which was to a private individual, although the Archbishop of Dublin was declared to be entitled to the first two days of a fair at Dublin which extended over 15 days. Some of John's grants of markets and fairs contain a proviso that the market or fair thus granted should not be a nuisance to other neigh- bouring markets or fairs, and the converse of this is found in the Colchester charter of Richard I forbidding the disturbance of the Colchester market by others. All the clauses relating to tolls are not " in pari materia": the right to impose tolls is granted at Bridgewater, Chesterfield and Shrewsbury: in the last case the tolls were to be levied from Welshmen, and at the two former places it was taken by private persons ; the Beverley charters contain grants to the burgesses of the tolls of the markets and fairs at a rent of eight marks a year, but reserving to the Canons the tolls of three fairs: and the Preston charter contains a grant to the burgesses of the toll of the whole wapentake of Amounderness, and the Nottingham and Derby charters grant to the burgesses of those two boroughs the tolls over certain specified districts in their neighbourhoods : two schedules of tolls appear in our documents and there is a long schedule of tolls at Newcastle-on- Tyne, which is printed with the Laws in all our authorities. Penalties were inflicted for the evasion of toll, and it is remarkable that the same scale of penalties was applicable in two boroughs so far apart as Okehampton and Pontefract : the prohibition of persons going out of the straight ways of the city of Chichester with a view of evading toll remind us of the tolls for entrance and departure which, according to Domesday Book-, were charged at Torksey ; possibly the toll which would be thus evaded is that which under the name of "passage" appears so frequently in our documents and is still levied under the name of " through toll " on all merchandise passing through Newcastle-on-Tyne^ Many charters contain provisions for securing 1 Domesday Boroughs, 98. - I 337 a i. 3 Webb, English Local Governvient iii 702. Markets mid Tolls Ixlx free access to markets and fairs, and free and uninterrupted navigation of the Trent, the Derwent, the Severn, the Thames and the Boyne,were secured by charters to Nottingham, Derby, Gloucester, London, and Drogheda respectively. Our charters deal with the question of tolls from two points of view; on the one hand we have the King and the owner of the market who were entitled to the tolls and were therefore interested in securing from them the largest possible income : on the other hand we have the burgesses who wandered from town to town for the purpose of trade, and were therefore interested in securing exemption from them. For this purpose they secured the insertion in their charters of clauses exempting them from this payment, clauses which varied immensely ; sometimes the exemption was only partial ; the burgesses of Beverley could claim exemption only in Yorkshire, and those of Truro, in Cornwall only ; those of Okehampton were exempt only in Devonshire, and the burgesses of Pontefract obtained exemption from toll only within the lands of Richard de Lacy within the castleries of Pontefract and Clitheroe. With two exceptions, these partial exemptions were contained in seignorial charters, for it is obvious that no one but the king could grant exemption from tolls throughout the land ; the two exceptions are in the charter of Henry II ratifying the liberties granted by the Archbishops of York to the burgesses of Beverley, and the charter of John whereby he exempted the burgesses of Cardigan from payment of tolls for a period of four years from his coronation. Most of the royal charters purported to exempt the burgesses from payment of toll " throughout all my land and dominion and the ports of the sea," but the burgesses of Bristol had exemption throughout England, Normandy and Wales, and those of York in England, Normandy, Anjou, Aquitaine and Poitou. John oftens qualifies his grants by limiting them " as far as pertains to us," and frequently adds a clause preserving the rights of the city of London. The dues to which this exemption applied were many and various: theloneum (spelt in many ways) appears in most cases ; passage, lastage, pontage and stallage are mentioned almost as frequently : rivagium appears at Hastings, Romney, Lydd and Rye, and chaiagium (kayagium) at Rye and Dublin : leue (levy) and ewagium (aquagium) are found in one of the Dunwich charters, and pedagium and paagium at Portsmouth and Marlborough, and in the latter charter pesagium is added to the list. Among other exemptions the men of Hythe were declared to be "locofri," aterm which in other places is extended to " lovecopfree " ; for the reasons given in the Addenda, I believe Ixx Borough Charters that the "lovecop" was the right of one's lord or fellow burgesses to share in his bargains. It will be noticed that in some cases, this exemption was confined to members of the merchant guild, a distinction, which within our period probably made little or no difference. To secure these exemptions, some charters contained clauses permitting retaliation or reprisals : but these retaliation clauses must be carefully distinguished from the clauses permitting distraint. The latter clauses permitted the aggrieved burgesses to distrain on their debtors ; the former authorised the reeve of the borough or the sheriff of the county or sometimes both these officials to secure redress by taking possession of the goods of merchants coming from the town where the toll was illegally taken : only two charters authorised the burgesses themselves to retaliate, the first London charter, and that to Colchester. Another method of securing this exemption was to be found in the Lincoln and Ipswich charters of 1200, which state that the party taking tolls illegally from the burgesses of these boroughs was liable to a penalty, payable, at Ipswich, to the King. B. Guilds and Trading The few clauses that forbid extra-urban commerce have already been discussed, as, although such clauses were a benefit to the burgesses, yet their primary object was to facilitate the collection of tolls as is shown by the writ of Henry II to the sheriffs and ministers of Lincolnshire (p. 168). We now pass to those clauses which were inserted in the various charters with the object of benefiting the burgesses. First, we find a number of clauses conferring on them the right to form a merchant guild — a guild of all the traders within a borough with power to make regulations concerning that trade. This institution has been examined by Dr Gross in his well-known book on the Gild Merchant, a book to which my indebtedness is very inadequately shown by the references in the list of sources, and nothing can be added to what he has said, except that the publication of the Pembroke charter of Henry II shows that that borough must be added to his list of towns possessing a merchant guild, I can find only four charters of this period relating to craft guilds, of which two relate to the Weavers of London, one to the Weavers of York, and one to the Cordwainers of Oxfords Then we have a few clauses expressly 1 The documents relating to the London Cnihtenegild have been printed along with the other documents relating to the London sokens (pp. 126 — 9). Guilds and Trading Ixxi conferring on the brethren of the merchant guild the monopoly of trading within the borough, and a few other clauses conferring a similar monopoly on the burgesses at large, but it is to be noticed that, except at Bristol and Dublin, there were no merchant guilds in the boroughs where this monopoly was conferred on the burgesses, at the time when the charters were granted. Thus, the laws of Newcastle-on-Tyne forbid any merchant who was not a burgess from buying wool or leather or cloth within the borough, and it was not till 1216 that a merchant guild was established in the borough ; the burgesses of Swansea obtained this monopoly in the reign of Henry II, but it was not till 1655 that that borough was invested with a merchant guild. In Scotland, the monopoly of trading within the counties of Perth and Aberdeen was secured to the members of the merchant guild of the boroughs of Perth and Aberdeen, but, at Inverness, this monopoly was secured to the burgesses at large. In England the burgess monopoly was usually confined to sales and purchases of wool, cloth, hides and leather, while the monopoly of the guild was general. Closely associated with the monopoly of trade by the burgesses were the regulations relating to the sojourn and privileges of foreign merchants within the boroughs : at Bristol, Dublin and Kilkenny the sojourn of a foreign merchant was limited to 40 days, and this limit was also imposed by the London custumal ; at Newcastle and Wearmouth, the burgesses were permitted to buy what they wished from ships touching at the port, and at these two places, and also at Pontefract and Leeds, they were permitted to export corn : it would seem that, as a general rule, the export of corn was forbidden, as in 1177 Hildebrand of Cambridge and thirteen others were amerced for carrying corn by water without the consent of the Justices \ At Bristol and Lostwithiel the burgesses alone had the right to keep inns in the borough, and the Bristol rule was followed by Dublin and some other Irish boroughs ; but here again we find the Scottish habit of pushing English rules to extremities : for the charters of Perth and Aberdeen give to the burgesses of those two boroughs the monopoly of keeping inns within those counties respectively, except in cases where the lord of the vill was a knight ; the prohibition was still more stringent at Inverness, where no inn was allowed outside of the borough unless the lord of the vill was a knight and was actually resident. Although there are only four charters of our period relating to » Pipe Roll, 23 Hen. II, 183. Ixxii Borough Charters craft guilds, yet it is noteworthy that the earliest Pipe Roll, that of 30 Henry I, records payments from the guilds of the Weavers of Huntingdon, Lincoln, London, Oxford and Winchester, from the Corvesars of Oxford, and the Fullers of Winchester : but the same Pipe Roll mentions only one merchant guild, which, unlike the craft guilds, did not pay an annual rent to the King : in fact this guild would not have been mentioned but for the casual payment by Thomas the son of Ulviet that he might be Alderman of the merchant guild of York, On this roll, too, appears a payment of 20 marks from the " Chepe- mansela" of Winchester: in the roll for 1172 the latter term is spelt " Chapmanneshalla," showing that it was a hall in which the Chapmen or merchants met; the Winchester survey of 1 103-15 mentions two halls in that city\ Burford, Leicester and Beverley are the only other boroughs whose merchant guilds are mentioned before the death of Henry I, although the guild of Chichester is said by Stephen's charter to have exercised its privileges in the days of Roger Montgomery who died in 1094, and the Lewes guild is said to have existed in the days of William of Warrenne who died in 1088 : the Leicester guild was said to have existed in the reign of the Conqueror. Two new craft guilds appeared in the Pipe Roll for 1155, the Bakers of London, and the Weavers of Nottingham. The craft guilds often paid considerable sums to the Crown for the renewal of their privileges: in 11 30 the Corvesars of Oxford accounted for five ounces of gold that their guild might be restored to them'^ and the Fullers of Winchester accounted for one mark of gold that they should not be made outlaws^ ; in 11 66 the Weavers of that city owed a mark of gold to have their customs and liberties and the right of electing their alderman : and for this, their annual payment was increased to two marks of gold*. In 1180 mention is made of the payment of two marks from the guilds of Glovers and Corvesars of York for dues which they had illegally exacted, and of 20s. from the guild of Saddlers for the same reason^; and in the same year a raid was made on the unlicensed guilds of the south-western shires : the citizens of Exeter paid £0^0 for a fine in a plea concerning their guilds, a payment which is explained by the fine of five marks inflicted on the burgesses of Totnes for a guild without warrant, and three fines of five, five and three marks inflicted respectively on three men of Lidford for guilds without warrant in the same town. The boroughs » V.C.H. Hants, i 528. 2 pjpg r^)!!, 30 Hen. I, p. 5. 3 /^. 37. * Pipe Roll, 12 Hen. II, 104. ^ pipg RqH, 26 Hen. II, 71. Guilds and Trading Ixxiii of Barnstaple, VVareham, Dorchester and Bridport and the burgesses of Bodmin, Launceston and Ilchester also paid fines for unlicensed guilds^ and fines for this offence were obtained from Axbridge and Langport which were not styled boroughs. But it was in London that the Justices made their greatest raid on unlicensed guilds: many references have been made to the Adulterine guilds of London, and the heavy fines inflicted on them ; but it should be remembered that as late as 1 190, these fines, amounting to ;^I20, were unpaid ; of these 19 guilds, four were craft guilds, the Pepperers, the Goldsmiths, the Butchers, and the Clothiers, five were guilds "de ponte," one took its name from a saint, " the guild of St Lazarus," one took its name from a district, the guild of Haliwell, one was the guild of strangers (peregrinorum) and seven were known only by the name of their alderman : an alderman was the head of each guild, and it will be remembered that the heads of the merchant guilds at Wallingford and York were called aldermen. The Pipe Rolls occasionally record payments for licenses to establish guilds: thus in 11 76 the men of Andover accounted for ten marks to have the same liberties in their guild as the men of Wilton and Salisbury had in their guilds^ VI. The Finances of tJie Borough In the same way as we considered the borough markets and tolls from two points of view — from the point of view of the owner of the market who derived an income from the tolls, and from that of the burgess and merchant who paid these tolls — so there are two questions to which an answer must be given in dealing with the finances of the borough : from what sources was this income derived, and how was it accounted for? And first, as to the sources of the borough income : eight years ago I collated what Domesday Book had to say about the sources of the income which the King derived from the boroughs, and found that there were at least seven of such sources — the Gablum, or rents of the burgages, the Geld, the Market Tolls, Payments from the minters, Payments in kind, Payments in lieu of military and other service, and Amends and Forfeitures or the profits of justices^ Our charters refer to some of these. In dealing with the burgages, we have already referred to the gablum ; but again it is necessary to remind ourselves that it was not » Id. 95, 96, 109, no. ■^ Pipe Roll, 22 Hen. II, 193. 3 Domesday Boroughs^ 63, 94. Ixxiv Borough Charters from every house in a county borough that the King derived gablum : many houses paid rent to rural manors ; and the grant by Henry II to the men of Wallingford of the annual gablum which they were wont to pay to him from the borough, to wit, " that which pertains to me in the borough," reminds us that according to Domesday Book (I, 56 «) there were very many houses in that borough which paid rent to different manors in Berks and Oxfordshire^ in 1208 — 9 the reeve of Brightwell accounted to the Bishop of Winchester for the burgages of Wallingford^, Danegeld is mentioned in five only of our charters: in 1131 Henry I freed the Londoners from this tax, but this exemption was omitted from the charter of his grandson, who, however, granted exemptions from the tax to Wallingford in 11 56, and to Maldon in 1171 ; but as the Danegeld ceased to be levied about the middle of this reign, the omission of this exemption in his later charters was probably no hardship on the burgesses. It is, however, astonishing to find that in two different charters, John granted to the men of Dunwich exemption from this tax ; but the Dunwich charters were rather archaic. The markets and tolls and the profits of justice have already been considered ; but our documents mention no payments from the minters nor any payments in lieu of services. From only two boroughs do our documents mention payments in kind : the Shrewsbury charters of 11 89 and 1205 provide for the payment of 10 marks in lieu of two fugatores or catzur or hunting dogs which formed part of the ancient firma burgi : Domesday Book records that part of the rent of Dunwich consisted of 60,000 herrings ; the charter of 1205 reserves 24,000 herrings. There is, however, one source of income which is omitted from the preceding list, because, in its possession of a mill, a borough differed in no way from an ordinary village^ But the earliest borough accounts that have been preserved show that the mill and lord's oven were important sources of income. Another source of income mentioned in the charters was the prise, the right of the King or the lord to take two casks of wine from every ship-load of wine imported : this is referred to in the Dublin 1 Domesday Boroughs, 27. 2 Pipe Roll of Bishopric of Winchester, 1208—9, p. 13 : cf. D. B. I 56 a 2. 3 Omitting those boroughs which were situate on and assessed with rural manors, Domesday Book records mills at Arundel, Cambridge, Chichester, Derby, Dover, Hertford, Huntingdon, Leicester, Nottingham, Oxford, Stamford, Thetford and York. Borouzh Finances Ixxv charter of 1192, although the word "prise" is not used in this connection, and it is remarkable that the language specifying the method in which these two casks are to be selected is almost exactly the same as the language in the charter of John to Rouen in II99\ and I know of no other clause in any of our charters which is in such close agreement with the corresponding clause in a continental charter. The writ of Henry II specifying the rights of the monks of Christ Church in their port and borough of Sandwich, as they had been ascertained (recognitae) by a jury composed of twelve men of Dover and twelve of Sandwich, may be profitably compared with Cnut's charter^. Such, then, being the sources of the income of the borough, how was it accounted for ? Domesday Book shows that the usual practice in 1086 was that the sheriff of the county or his officer collected all the King's income arising within a borough and accounted for it ; but already the practice of farming the counties had come into existence, and we find the sheriff accounting for a fixed sum, which was called his farm, and appropriating any surplus that he received. The various boroughs that had passed into the hands of lords and bishops were apparently treated in the same way by the officers of these lords and bishops. At Warwick the farm of the shire and the borough was stated in one lump sum, but usually the value of the borough was stated separately from that of the shire. Sometimes the sheriff leased the borough to speculators who paid him a fixed rent and made what profit they could : Canterbury, Rochester, Colchester, Reading, Ipswich and Stamford were thus farmed out by the sheriff, but the lessee of Ipswich made a bad bargain, for though he agreed to pay ^40 a year, he found the rent was too high and it was after- wards reduced to £l']^. Even in 1086, one borough — Northampton — was farmed by burgesses, but the want of a definite article in the Latin language renders it uncertain whether the whole body of burgesses was responsible for the rent, or only a select few. When once the farm of a borough had been fixed, men were found who would pay gersumae or premiums for the lease, which would be ' Cal. Documents preserved in France, p. 36. ■'' Kemble, Codex Diplomaticus, no. 737. 3 Domesday Boroughs, 92. Ixxvi Borough Charters granted to the highest bidder : thus Bishop Walchelin paid a gersuma of lOOJ. to the sheriff of Essex for the privilege of farming the borough of Colchester^ And these speculators purchased the position of borough reeve in the same way as the sheriff purchased his shrievalty. The Pipe Rolls show that the system of Domesday Book con- tinued throughout the twelfth century : speculators were found who would give gersumae or premiums, or would promise an increment on the traditional rent, for the purpose of farming the boroughs : the earliest Pipe Roll, that of 1130, shows that Fulchered fitz Walter promised a premium of 130 marks for the post of sheriff of London, and the Pipe Roll of 1 157 shows Stigand paying a rent of about £,\^ for the city of Winchester, while the sheriff of Hampshire was allowed a deduction of ;^8o because he no longer held the city ; in other words, Stigand paid an increment of ^64^ But during this century the burgesses, generally, made efforts to acquire the right of farming their own boroughs ; to do this, they would have to bid against speculators, as is foreseen in the Pontefract charter which provides that when the borough official — the pretor — presented his account at the end of his year of office, the lord should not lease the borough to any outsider if a burgess would pay the same rent as he offered : and there is an instance of a considerable payment being made to the King by burgesses that an unpopular man should not farm their borough: in 1163 the men of Derby paid 40 marks that William Asturcarius should not have the borough. Under these circumstances, it is uncertain whether any person who is recorded in the Pipe Rolls as accounting for the farm of any borough was a speculator or an official or representative of the borough : other evidence must be sought on this point. The payments for the firma burgi of Lincoln are an example of this uncertainty; the Pipe Rolls of 11 56 and 11 57 record that the citizens accounted for ;^i8o as farm of the city: in 1162 and 1163 the sheriff accounted for the same sum : in 1 164 the account was rendered by two men whose names were given ; in 1 165 by two reeves, in 1 166 — Q by one person whose name is given, and from 1 172 onwards by one or two reeves. But our collection contains a notification by Henry H (1155 — 8) that he had delivered the city to the citizens at the accustomed farm, and thus we see that the men who accounted for the farm in 11 64 and 11 66 — 9 were the representatives of the 1 D.B. II 107b. 2 Pipe Roll, 3 Hen. II, pp. 52, 54. Boi'oiigh Finances Ixxvii citizens'. But these rolls throw further light on the farm of Lincoln, and show that the sheriff was allowed a deduction of ;^I40 from the farm of the county because he no longer received the income from the city, while the citizens paid ,^180, and thus for the privilege of farming their city and incidentally excluding the sheriff from all interference in their ordinary financial affairs, the citizens were willing to pay an increment of ^^40. The financial transactions of the burgesses of Andover afford good examples of this willingness on the part of the burgesses to pay an increment so as to exclude the sheriff from the borough : the old rent for the manor and hundred is stated to have been ;i^8o a year ; in 1 201 King John granted the vill to the burgesses at the ancient farm and an increment of ^^15 "so long as they served him faithfully and paid their rent." Four years later he granted them the fee farm {i.e. a lease in perpetuity) for a further increment of ;^io, making a total rent of ^^105 a year: but in this they overbid themselves, and in 12 1 3 the rent was reduced to ;^ioo a year. It should be noticed that while sect. 25 of Magna Charta forbad increases of the ancient farms of shires and wapentakes and hundreds, no mention was made of the farms of cities and boroughs, w^hich therefore by implication were allowed to be increased. Like the speculators, the burgesses were willing to pay large sums as gersumae or premiums for the privilege of farming their boroughs : the Pipe Rolls record many such payments, e.g. Bridgenorth (1169) 20 marks of silver, (1175) 30 marks and two fugatores : Shrewsbury (1169) two marks of gold, (1175) 100 marks of silver and four chascurs: Cambridge (1189) 100 marks of silver and one of gold: Bedford (1189) 30 marks of silver. The Hereford charter of 1189 shows that the burgesses then paid 40 marks for the privilege of farming their city. The clauses granting the various boroughs at farm differ considerably in their wording, but practically are very similar and require little notice in that respect, but one or two clauses require particular notice: in 1172 Henry H gave the city of Dublin to the men of Bristol for their dwelling ; but this grant does not appear to have given them any political or financial superiority in Dublin : another charter that requires notice is that of King John in 11 99 by which he granted to the burgesses of Southampton the vill of ' The Pipe Roll of 1130 records that the burgesses of Lincoln accounted for 200 marks of silver and four marks of gold, that they might hold their city in chief of the King. B. / Ixxviii BorouorJi Charters &> Southampton with the port of Portsmouth : but two years later he regranted his brother's charter retaining the borough of Portsmouth in his own hands. The existence of these two charters in favour of Southampton and Portsmouth gave rise to misunderstandings and disputes: as Miss Aubrey remarks ^ the inhabitants of Portsmouth attempted to assert the independence of the town by holding pleas, executing attachments etc. among themselves, and keeping the profits. Hence arose disputes for the settlement of which a compromise was made in 1239; to quote Miss Aubrey again: "The burgesses of Portsmouth agreed to give up their claim to customs and pleas within the port of Portsmouth on condition that Southampton gave up its claim to the same outside the limits of the port. It was also arranged that profits made in the town and waters of the port should be divided equally between the two towns, and that each should have a bailiff to collect their dues, and divide them fairly. Also that a distinction should be made between the pleas of the crown arising in \\\Q port and in the town of Portsmouth: the bailiff of Southampton was to present to the King's justices those of the port, and the bailiff of Portsmouth, those of the town^." The grant of the firma burgi merely authorised the grantees, whether speculators or burgesses, to collect the ordinary Royal income arising within the borough from one or another of the sources which we have already mentioned : it did not put them in the position of lords of the borough, intermediate between the King and the individual burgage holders : the soil of the borough did not pass with the grant of the firma burgi, as is shown by the special grant of certain escheats at Newcastle-on-Tyne, which would have been unnecessary if the soil had passed with the grant of the firma burgi. And for a similar reason, the waste or vacant places in Bristol were granted to the burgesses. The Pipe Rolls help us in this matter also : for in them we have frequent records of receipts from escheats and purprestures (encroachments) in boroughs which were let at farm : thus, in 11 89, the reeve of Lincoln accounted for 5J'. 7^. from divers escheats in the city, and the burgesses of Cambridge accounted for 4J. 2d. for divers small matters and purprestures in that borough. The only English charter which expressly grants certain dues to the burgesses to enable ^ S^^td!s History 0/ Southampton, i$2n. : South. Record Society. 2 It will be noticed that, without any express powers in their charter, as soon as their town was recognised as a borough, the burgesses began to hear pleas, and make attachments and inflict amercements. BorotLgli Finances Ixxix them to make up their farm {ad perficieiidam firmani) was that of Colchester, by which Richard I granted to the burgesses " the customs of the water and shores on each bank." In Scotland, however, the burgesses of Inverness and Ayr received grants of lands within certain boundaries, but the Ayr charter provides that the burgesses might bring this land into cultivation, and that each might have six acres when they had cleared the land of bush {quas de boscJio extirpaverint). It is interesting to note that during our period, there was only one seignorial charter granting a borough at farm to its burgesses; Count Conan (1137 — 45) granted Richmond to the bur- gesses at £2(^ a year. Although most of these rents were payable at the Exchequer, in one or two instalments, yet the burgesses of Appleby paid their rent to the sheriff of Westmorland, those of Scarborough to the constable of Scarborough castle, and those of Oxford to the sheriff of Oxford- shire. In the time of Domesday Book, the earl of the shire in which a borough was situate was, as a general rule, to which there were many exceptions, entitled to the third penny of the income of that borough: and in our collection we have the two charters by which Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent, gave his shares in the boroughs of Sandwich and Fordwich respectively to the monasteries of Christ Church and St Augustine at Canterbury. And we have added to these the clauses from the charters of Henry II and Richard I, by which these kings gave to the newly created Earls of Hereford and Norfolk the third penny of Hereford and Norwich. The Pipe Rolls repeatedly speak of the third penny of Ipswich which was paid to the honour of Count Conan ^ : the third penny of Cambridge, amounting to £\o, had been granted to David, King of Scotland and Earl of Huntingdon ; and eventually ;^8. ioj. of this sum became payable to Barnwell Priory^. We have not yet exhausted the sources of the Royal income arising from the boroughs : the Pipe Rolls show that far more valuable than the farms derived from them were the aids, assises and tallages which the King levied from time to time. Our charters refer to these occasional receipts very rarely, and these references are found only in seignorial charters : the Egremont charter declares that the burgesses were liable only for the three feudal aids, for the ransom of 1 Pipe Roll, 18 Hen. II, p. 5 etc. ^ Cooper, Annals of Cambridge 1 38. /2 Ixxx Borough Charters V>' the lord, for the knighthood of his son, and for the marriage of his daughter : the Leeds charter provided that when the King levied an aid from his own burgesses, the burgesses of Leeds, although they held of a mesne lord, should pay a reasonable aid to the King : while the Walsall charter reserved to the lord the right to impose a tallage on his burgesses when the King tallaged his burgesses. The boroughs of which the income was paid to mesne lords were exempt from these Royal aids : Chester, Warwick, Leicester, Beverley, Lynn, Wells, Bath and Hedon, for instance never paid aid or gift to the King. And the boroughs of which the income was paid to the King were liable to these dues only when the King tallaged or imposed aids on his demesnes. Sometimes, we find, as in the Pipe Roll for 2 Hen. II, that some boroughs, e.g. Ipswich, paid an assise and an aid in the same year, while others, e.g. Worcester, paid an aid and a gift : but practically all three terms appear to have been interchangeable, and no attempt is made in these pages to draw any distinction between them. But in later years, the Londoners attempted to distinguish between a tallage and an aid\ Aids or gifts were paid in 1130, 11 56, 1159, 1162, 1165, 1168— ^9, 1 1 73 — 4, and 1 1 77 — 8 : those of 11 56 and 1162 were levied from the boroughs at the same time as the Danegeld was levied in the shires : the aid of 1165 was raised for the support of the army in Wales and was levied only from the boroughs in the eastern half of England : although nothing is said on the point, it is possible that the other boroughs were exempt because they sent soldiers to serve in the army. The records of the earlier aids state merely the sums received from each borough, but the records of the aid for the marriage of the King's daughter, levied in the 14th and 1 5th years of his reign, 1 168 — 9, throw considerable light on the manner in which they were raised. Although there was a fixed rate of payment from those who held by knight service, one mark from each knight's fee, yet there was no fixed basis for the aids raised from the boroughs or the King's demesnes. The commissioners seem to have gone into a borough and assessed its inhabitants individually according to their view of what they could bear; thus the Hertford record is as follows: " The burgesses of Hertford account for £,\%. \os. for the aid of the King's daughter, to wit. Wiger, \oos. Henry the reeve 8 marks. Acur, lOOJ. Hugo 20s. Synod lOi'. Edwin \ mark. Walter \ mark. Hreman \ mark. Remigius \ mark. Warin \ mark. In the treasury Studies supplemental to Stubbs, 100. Boroueh Finances Ixxxi .b £\0. 6s. S(/. and there is owing £S. t,s. ^d., to wit, from Wiger 50^., Acur 50^., Henry the reeve 4 marks, and Hugo lo^.^" The London record differs from that of Hertford : " the same sheriffs account for ^^617. i6s. 8d. of the aid of the City for the marriage of the King's daughter, which by the consideration of the Barons is assessed by the writ dehvered by the sheriffs into the Treasury, because the particulars of the same aid cannot be contained on one roll I" Similarly " Richard de Luci accounts for £2>^ of the aid of the borough of Colchester, which is assessed {summatuni) by the writ of the Archdeacon of Poitou and the Dean of Waltham, which is in the treasury and contains the debts of the individuals V Hence it appears that this aid was raised not by the assessment of a sum on the whole body of burgesses, but by the sum of the assessments on the individual burgesses, in the same way as the income tax is levied today. It was however possible for the taxpayers to re-adjust the assessment : for "the men of Horncastle" (which was not styled a borough) 'account for £2g. 13J. 4^. for the aid of the same town, which they assessed among themselves by the grant of the justices in a different manner {aliter qiiani) from the justices*." Occasionally the smaller sums are not entered in detail, but a sum is recorded as being due from the " minuti homines " or the " ceteri homines," and at Oxford a distinction is drawn between the burgesses, who were assessed at £^0, and the " minuti homines " who were assessed at ^lO^ Again, at Bedford, which however is not called a borough in spite of the charter of 1166, the sheriff accounted for 20 marks from 30 named men {Jiominibus nominatis) in the vill of Bedford, and for five marks from the commune of the same town" : and at Congresbury, which also is not styled a borough, while the list of those who had paid terminates with the phrase " the other little men " {ceteri minuti homines), the list of those who were still in arrear closes with " the other men of the commune''." The mention of debts due on account of this aid from the townships {villatae) of Dunwich and Ipswich might be thought to imply joint liability on the part of the inhabitants, but in the following year, the balances are paid by " burgesses." It is noteworthy that in neither of the rolls relating to this aid is the term " burgus " applied to any town in > Pipe Roll, 14 Hen. II, p. 40. '^ Id. pp. 3, 4. ^ Id. p. 48. * Id. p. 66. ^ Pipe Roll, 15 Hen. II, p. 85. « Id. p. 90. '' Pipe Roll, 14 Hen. II, p. 148. Ixxxii Borough Charters Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset or Wiltshire, although Exeter is called a city. For the next aid, that of the rgth and 20th years (1173 — 4), the country was visited by six separate sets of commissioners, and for the aid of the 23rd year (1177) there were four sets of commissioners, but in neither case were these commissioners the same body as heard the pleas of the shire : if four commissioners went on a circuit one of them was concerned with the assessment only, and one or two of the others with pleas only. Thus, in 1177, while Robert Mansell sat in the six shires of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertford, Cambridge and Huntingdon along with Walter fitz Robert and Hugh de Cressi to hear pleas, he assessed the aid on the boroughs and vills in conjunction with Ralph Brito. Similarly, in the six midland shires oT Warwick, Leicester, Notts, Derby, Northants and Lincoln, Hugh de Gundevill sat with William Basset and William fitz Ralph to hear pleas, but in the assessment of the aid on the boroughs and vills the two latter were assisted by Michael Belet. The Dialogus de Scaccario^ mentions two ways in which the aids or gifts were assessed on the boroughs : either the justices assessed the individual burgesses, as we have seen was done in 1 168 — 9, or the burgesses themselves offered a certain sum, and if this offer was accepted by the commissioners, they assessed themselves in such a manner as to raise the amount. (The Horncastle case, mentioned above, must not be mistaken for a case of voluntary assessment ; for there the assessment was " aliter quam justicii," otherwise than the justices, that is, the total amount of the assessment made by the justices was divided among the townsfolk in a different manner from that in which the justices had assessed it.) In the first case, each burgess was liable for the amount assessed upon him and until payment the sheriff might retain possession or receive the rents of his property in the borough : in the second case the whole body of burgesses was liable for the whole amount, and if any burgess could not pay his share, the others had to pay it for him. As the editors remark, " The common liability of the town is always the result of its own act, and not that of the government-." Two passages from the Pipe Roll of i Ric. I may be quoted as examples of these two modes of assessment : the burgesses of Dunwich owe 100 marks as a gift promised in common by themselves^ : the citizens of Lincoln owe £iy6. 4s. as a gift assessed {facto) by the II xii c. 2 p 231. 3 p ^-,_ Borough Finances Ixxxiii justices on the individual burgesses {per siTigulos hominesy. And the use of gift in both these passages forbids the attempt to draw any distinction between an " aid " and a " gift," by saying that the former was assessed by the justices, while the latter was a voluntary offering to escape the assessment. Finally, a few examples will show the want of proportion between the sums paid from the various boroughs by way of gift or aid : London Lincoln Norwich Hereford Winchester York c s. d. I s. d. £ s. d £ 5. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 1 130 120 60 28 80 40 1 1 56 120 60 66 13 4 16 13 4 40 II59 1043 133 13 4 414 13 4 33 6 8 113 '3 4 133 6 8 1 162 666 13 4 200 200 13 6 8 25 160 1 165 333 6 8 133 6 8 40 200 1 168-9 617 16 8 233 6 8 200 20 109 2 333 6 8 1 1 73-4 666 13 4 266 13 4 133 6 8 10 56 13 4 1177-8 666 13 4 100 66 •3 4 26 13 4 133 6 8 The aids and gifts were not the only sources of income arising from the boroughs which were not included in the firma burgi ; like the shires and the hundreds, the boroughs were liable to be fined for offences : we have already noticed the exemption of certain boroughs from the murder fine, and that in 11 80 fines were imposed on many boroughs for unlicensed guilds: in 1 170 the borough of Warwick was fined five marks for concealing a plea, and that part of Tamworth which was in Warwickshire was fined half a mark for the same offence ; in 1 180 the burgesses of Chichester were fined ten marks for a false measure, and the men of Arundel 40J. for the like, while the township of Seaford was fined ten marks for removing the market place from the sea shore where it was wont to be^: and in 1177 the burgesses of Oxford were fined 100 marks for dragging to the gallows a man who ought to have been hanged ^ Mention has already been made of the payments from the boroughs for the privilege of farming their boroughs, but these were not their only voluntary payments : for new charters and for the renewal of their privileges they were willing to pay even larger sums: in 1166 the burgesses of Bedford offered 40 marks for a Royal charter that they might have the same liberties as the burgesses of Oxford*, and in 1 1 80 the burgesses of Leicester accounted for 80 marks that they might be quit of murders and common pleas that Eyre': in 1202 the 1 p. 69. 2 Pipe Roll, 26 Hen. II, p. 31. " Pipe Roll, 23 Hen. II, p. 13. " Pipe Roll, 13 Hen. II, p. 107. ' Pipe Roll, 26 Hen. II, p. loi. Ixxxiv Borough Charters citizens of London paid 40 marks that the Weavers' guild might be destroyed and never again revived 1. In fact, while Henry II showed how easily money could be raised by the sale of privileges to the boroughs, his sons improved on his example, and exacted substantial sums for the grant of new or the re-issue of old charters; Madox^ notes the following charges for charters from the Pipe Roll of the first year of John's reign. London 3000 marks. Beverley 500 marks. Lincoln 300 marks. York 50 marks. Cambridge 250 marks. Scarborough 40 marks. Oxford 200 marks. Dunwich 100 marks. And, in the same year, Dunwich paid an additional sum of 200 marks and five thousand eels for the privilege of wreck and lagan. John, however, knew that a promise was a different matter from a payment ; it will be remembered that fines amounting to ;^I20 were imposed on the unlicensed guilds in 11 80 and were still unpaid in 1 190 : and therefore, according to the Pipe Roll, the charter for which the Londoners were charged 3000 marks was delivered to Geoffrey fitz Peter, the Chief Justice, "so that if they are willing to pay these 3CXD0 marks, they shall have their charter, but if not, they shall not have it." The entries on the Pipe Rolls show charges for charters which are not now in existence : thus in 12 10, the men of Wareham accounted for 100 marks for a charter from the King granting the borough of Wareham with its appurtenances to them and their heirs in fee farm at ;^20 per annum to be paid at the Exchequer by their own hands at Michaelmasl In the previous year, the burgesses of Shoreham had accounted for 30 marks, that they might have their town at farm as long as the King pleased, with that liberty which the town was wont to enjoy ; and for having their ferry {passagumi) during the King's pleasure ; and that they should be quit of the maltolt, provided that no horse of greater value than three marks nor any dog nor any unknown messenger nor any burgess or merchant shall have passage there without the King's writ or unless he swear that he carries no message except for the honour of the King'*. ^ Madox, Hist. Exchequer., 279. ^ Id. 275 — 6. ^ /^ 283. * Id. 283. I have translated " passagium " as feiry in this extract, because there was an important ferry over the Adur at Shoreham : but usually the word implies the toll for passing through a district, which in one document is called "through-toll." Borough Officers Ixxxv Other payments were made for liberty to trade : thus in 1203 the men of Worcester, Bedford, Norwich, Huntingdon, Northampton, Nottingham, Nevvcastle-on-Tyne, Lincohi, Berkhamstead and Chester- field, and the burgesses of Gloucester paid various sums for liberty to buy and sell dyed cloth as they were wont in the time of King Henry*. Vn. The Borough Officers Our documents speak of many officers in the boroughs ; the Londoners at different times were authorised to elect sheriffs, a justiciar and a mayor : other boroughs appointed bailiffs, reeves and coroners ; Bradninch had a " preco," a town crier, and Tewkesbury had catchpolls. Domesday Book mentions an official called the " prepositus," who was responsible to the sheriff for the income arising from the borough, in the same way as other persons bearing the same name were responsible for the income arising from the King's demesne manors : in the English tongue, this official was called the " gerefa," and it is by the modern form of this word — reeve — that "prepositus" is translated in these pages. Domesday Book reveals some of his duties : at Canter- bury and Lewes he collected the market tolls ; at Dover, Guildford, Southwark and Wallingford he collected the money received from forfeitures, the profits of justice ; at Hereford he granted licenses for the sale of real estate, and found tenants for empty houses, and received all the King's income arising within the borough, except the three forfeitures — peacebreach, heinfare (housebreaking) and forestel (assault). And while he was usually the officer of the sheriff, at Dover and Hereford he accounted direct to the King and Earl for their shares of the borough income^. We have already seen that many of these reeves were speculators, and had bought their positions from the sheriff, in the same way as the sheriff had bought his position from the King. This close connection between the income from a borough and its reeve is the reason why, when Henry I granted to the citizens of London the right to farm Middlesex, he also conferred on them the right to "elect a sheriff of themselves, whom they would " ; and both privileges were simultaneously restored by John in 1 199. (Dr Round has shown that the portreeve of London and the sheriff of Middlesex were one and the same person I) Similarly, the right to farm the borough is coupled with the right to elect reeves in the ' Id. 324. '^ Domesday lioroui^hs^ 46. •' Geoffrty de Mandcvillc, 347 etc. Ixxxvi Borotigh Charters charters to the burgesses of Northampton and Nottingham (1189), Lincoln and Norwich (i 194), Gloucester and Ipswich (1200), Cambridge (1207) and Shrewsbury (1208). The reason for coupling these two privileges is obvious : the burgesses must have some control over the man who collects the dues if they are to be answerable for them or a sum paid out of them ; and it is not unreasonable to believe that the grant of the "firma burgi " always carried with it the right to appoint the reeves, whether this right had been mentioned in the charter or no. The close connection between the farm of the borough and the office of reeve is shown in the Dublin charter of 121 5, by which the king granted to the citizens " the city of Dublin with the reeveship {prepositiira) and all its other appurtenances " at fee farm : is it pressing the significance of the word " other " too far if it is suggested that the " reeveship " was usually one of the appurtenances of the borough ? On the other hand, there were a few mesne boroughs where the burgesses obtained by charter the right of electing their reeves and bailiffs, although they did not farm the borough : such reeve was called " pretor " at Pontefract. The duties of the reeve were defined in many charters : at Nottingham, Derby, Northampton, Norwich, Ipswich and Yarmouth it was his duty to answer for the farm on behalf of the burgesses ; at Okehampton, he collected the tolls, rents and amercements : but the requirement in the Northampton charter ( 1 200) that he must discharge his office faithfully, adds little to our knowledge. The reeves of Northampton, Shrewsbury, Lincoln, Gloucester and Ipswich had to be presented to the Chief Justice at Westminster for the King's approval ; and at Shrewsbury and Lincoln this presentation was made by the sheriff when he rendered his account. At Colchester alone were the burgesses authorised to elect bailiffs, but the word "bailiff" is some- times only a synonym for reeve, as is shown by the Ipswich Domesday, a record which shows that while the charter authorised the election of reeves, the chosen persons were called bailiffs. That the reeves were supposed to be capable of high-handed dealing is shown by those charters which forbad them to implead the burgesses without accuser or witness^ and prohibited exactions in the way of scotales and new year's gifts-. The burgesses of Northampton, Shrewsbury, Lincoln, Gloucester and Ipswich also had the right of appointing coroners whose duty was ' p. 248. 2 p 84. Borough Officers Ixxxvii to keep the pleas of the crown and see that the reeves treated justly both rich and poor: in the reign of Henry III, the burgesses of Colchester claimed to have the right to appoint coroners by virtue of the charter of 1189, but on referring to that charter it is found that the only officials thereby authorised were the bailiffs and justiciar, and that the duties of the justiciar were to keep the pleas of the crown and to plead the same : hence, the coroners took over some of the duties of the justiciar. In fact, there was such similarity between the justiciar and the coroners that it is worth while printing side by side the relevant clauses from the Colchester and Northampton charters. Colchester 1189 Northampton 1200 Et justitiam ad servanda placita Volumusquod eligantur quattuor coronae nostrae et ad placitanda eadem ad custodienda placita coronae placita infra burgum suum. nostrae et alia quae ad nos et ad coronam nostram pertinent in eodem burgo. And a justiciar to keep the pleas of We will that there be elected our crown and to plead the same pleas four to keep the pleas of our crown within his borough. and other things which pertain to us and our crown in the same borough. By his charter of 1131 Henry I gave to the citizens of London the privilege of appointing their own justiciar, but this charter was not recognised by his descendants. The only other borough with a justiciar was Coventry, whose burgesses received the right of election from Earl Ralph in 1181, and were confirmed in it by Henry II in 1 1 86. John's charter authorising the citizens of London to elect a Mayor was merely a confirmation of a grant made some fourteen years previously, when, as Regent for his brother, he granted them a Commune : but every student of English municipal history knows and values Dr Round's researches and the admirable summary of them in M. Petit-Dutaillis' Studies supplemental to Stubbs, and it is un- necessary to repeat their teaching. But, although there was only one chartered Mayor during our period, yet the Patent and Close Rolls contain writs addressed by King John to the Mayors of Bristol, Exeter, Lincoln, Lynn, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, Winchester and York>. There is in the University Archives a deed, dated about 1 2 14, by which the Mayor and Commune of Oxford covenant to observe the terms of an order made by the Papal Legate. > E.H.R. Jan. 1899, p. 99. Ixxxviii Boi'ough Charters There is no charter of our period which speaks of a body that might afterwards develop into a Town Council, but the Domesday of Ipswich tells us that on the receipt of their charter, the burgesses elected twelve capital portmen " as there are in the other free boroughs ofEnglandi." Other officials found in the boroughs were the Aldermen, of whom there were two kinds : there was the Alderman who presided over a ward, such as the Alderman of the Westgate in Canterbury, whose position was hereditary and vendible : on the other hand, the chief officer of a guild was usually called an Alderman : the Pipe Roll for 1 1 80 records the names of the Aldermen of the unlicensed guilds of London that were fined in that year ; and it will be remembered that at the same time as they elected their capital portmen, the burgesses of Ipswich elected an Alderman of their merchant guild-. III. Supplemental Essays I. The Essentials of the Borough Now that we have examined our code compiled from the clauses of all the earlier borough charters, we may perhaps consider a question which was intentionally postponed in our preliminary notes — what is a borough ? The draftsmen of these charters spoke of certain areas of land as being boroughs, and of their inhabitants as burgesses, and on these burgesses certain privileges were conferred : is it possible by an examination of our code to discover what privileges were considered as essential to the elevation of a simple village to the rank of a borough ? Many of these privileges were granted to others than burgesses : the burgesses of certain favoured boroughs were quit of toll through- out all England : so were the members and tenants of certain favoured monasteries' : the burgesses of some boroughs were exempted from suit of the shire and hundred courts: so were the tenants of certain monasteries*: the burgesses of certain boroughs were entitled to hold markets and fairs : but the lords of many villages had this privilege, and, at the risk of repetition, we must again remind ourselves that of the 42 markets and fairs recorded in Domesday Book, only 1 1 were 1 Gild Merchant ii 117. "^ Id. \\(). 2 e.g. St Edmunds. 24 E.H.R. 429. * Eynsham Cart. II 155. The Essentials of the Borough Ixxxix in places that were styled boroughs'. The burgesses of all boroughs held their houses and lands in the boroughs on a tenure known as burgage tenure of which the characteristics were (i) the payment of a money rent in lieu of all services, (2) the owner's liberty to sell and devise his property : but burgage tenure was not confined to the boroughs, and instances of burgage tenure in rural manors are not hard to find-. The borough was an area which was subject to the jurisdiction of a court of its own to which all the burgesses were suitors, except in those cases where a lord was the owner of a soken within its boundaries : but, at all events in the thirteenth century, every rural manor had also a court of its own to which all its tenants were obliged to be suitors. Many boroughs were granted to their burgesses at fee farm ; but many simple villages, to which the Chancery draftsmen denied the style of boroughs, were also granted to their inhabitants at fee farm. Self-government, in the right to elect their own reeves, was conferred on the burgesses of many boroughs, but the reeve of a rural manor was also elected by the homage of the court. In fact, with the exception of the right to have a merchant guild, and other similar mercantile privileges, there is scarcely any privilege which was conferred on men called burgesses which cannot be paralleled in grants to members of other communities and to inhabitants of other areas. And it was not every borough that received mercantile privileges. That being so, we must ask whether the combination of any two or more privileges would be characteristic of a borough ; and possibly the best way to answer this question would be to answer another — what did a mesne lord do when he created a borough on his land ? For instance, when, in 1 2 1 5 , Adam, Abbot of Eynsham, created a borough in his manor of Eynsham, what did he do ? In the first place he marked out a " cultura " on each side of the Cassington Road, and cut it up into plots^ which he granted to certain persons and their heirs by hereditary right for ever, at the rent of ^. per acre, an exorbitant rent compared with the 4^/. or 6d. which was the usual rent for meadow land at this time ; to these grantees he gave the right to sell their lands and devise them by will. Secondly, he gave them the right to elect a reeve from among them- selves, and the further privilege that they should be amerced by their peers, that is, by those who held on a like tenure with themselves. 1 Domesday Boroughs^ 98. 2 Pollock and Maitland, Hist, of English Law I 640. '^ See the eighteenth century map in Eynsham Cart. 11 xli. xc Borough Charters And in the third place he conferred on them " all other good customs which we can give according to the liberties of the burgesses of Oxford." By conferring on the grantees of these plots their lands at a money rent with powers of sale and devise, he created burgage tenure : by authorising them to elect a reeve and sit in judgment on their peers, he separated them from the jurisdiction of the ordinary court of the manor and formed a new court for the borough, and in the accounts of the Abbey for later years, the profits of the portmote for the New Borough or New Land are regularly entered. To put the case more concisely still, the two factors which differentiated the borough from the manor were the existence of a separate court and the grant of burgage tenure to all the lands within the jurisdiction of this court. Emphasis must be laid on this latter point, for we have seen that burgage tenure is often found in rural manors side by side with other tenures. If examination be made of all the charters by which boroughs were governed, these two features, and, as far as I can see, these two features alone — the grant of burgage tenure and the creation of a borough court — were common to all the boroughs — from the most rudimentary to the most developed — from Eynsham to Lincoln or Oxford. Eynsham has been taken as our example as being one of the most rudimentary and undeveloped on our list : as lord of the court of the manor, the Abbot had authority to order that two sessions of that court be held, the one for the tenants of the building estate, and the other for the rest of the manor : and in the same way as the latter was the lord's court for the manor, the former was the lord's court for the borough ; as he was entitled to hold the view of frankpledge for his manor (subject to the payment of Sj. to the sheriffs), there was no reason why he should not hold a separate view of frankpledge for his new borough ; Henry I had exempted the land and men of the Abbot from shires and hundreds^ so that the burgesses were entitled to this exemption without its being mentioned in their charter. As landlord, the Abbot could specify the terms on which he was willing to grant portions of his land, in the same way as the owner of any building estate today stipulates for the observance of building lines and the prohibition of offensive trades. Examination shows that the separation of a piece of land from a manor was often the first step in the formation of a borough : thus * Eynsham Cart, ii 214. ^ Id. if 155 The Essentials of the Borough xci when Henry II founded the borough of Woodstock, he acquired from the TemplarsS the lords of one of the manors into which Hensington was divided, a piece of waste ground at the gates of Woodstock park, which he granted out in building plots": the earliest bailiff's accounts show the existence of a borough court known as the portmote, distinct from the courts of the manor of Woodstock : the borough has never formed part of the manor of Woodstock, and the only connection between the two is that so long as the manor and the borough were in the King's hands, the accounts of both were rendered on the same parchment by the same men. Similarly, at some date between 1208 and 1277 the Bishop of Winchester separated a small area from the rest of his manor of Witney, and formed it into the borough of Witney: the borough had its distinct court, which was sometimes called the portmote, and its bailiffs were not the same persons as were the bailiffs of the manorl The charter shows that the Abbot of Burton exercised the King's license to found a borough by granting that all who received burgages in the street which leads from the great bridge of Burton to the new bridge towards Horninglow should hold them freely and quietly^ ; the burgesses of Leek were granted common pasture in the pasture pertaining to the manor of Leek^ a grant which draws a distinction between borough and manor, and the map prefixed to Professor Tait's study of Medieval Manchester shows that the borough and manor of Manchester were very different areas. But it is still further to be noticed that the separation of an area from a manor in order to form a borough can be found in Domesday Book, and that not only around " the castles and halls of the Norman grandees" as at Tutbury, Penwortham and Rhuddlan«: equally good examples may be found in Wessex ; the borough of Twineham was geographically situate in the manor of Twineham ^ Langport was in the manor of Somerton, and Axbridge in the manor of Cheddar". But Twineham, Langport and Axbridge had all acquired burghal rank by the date of the Burghal Hidage, say by the time of Edward the Elder". Hence, from the earliest times we have to account for boroughs which were artificially created, and were not village com- munities which had acquired a burghal status. * Plac. Abbrev. p. 24. 2 Hundred Rolls 11 339. The earliest charter to the borough is dated 1453. 3 Oxfordshire Arch. Society, 1909, p. 24. No charter to the borough of Witney is known. 4 p 42. ^' p. 62. " Medieval Manchester, p. 43. ' D.B. I 38 b 2. ** Id. 86 a 2. '■' Domesday Book and Beyond, 502-4. xcii Borough Charters When the Abbot of Eynsham granted to his burgesses the liberties of the burgesses of Oxford, he was wise to limit his grant to those customs " that we can give " : for the burgesses of Oxford enjoyed many privileges, which, if they ever were conferred on new boroughs, could be conferred by the King alone. For instance, to the Eyre of 1285, the burgesses of Oxford came by twelve burgesses, whereas an ordinary vill would be represented by the reeve and four men'. It is inconceivable that when the Abbot created a borough on part of his manor, he thereby imposed upon his burgesses the duty of sending twelve representatives to the Eyre : in fact, when the sheriff answered the King's writ of 13 16 requiring the names of the hundreds, cities, boroughs and vills in his bailiwick, and the names of their owners, he made no mention of the borough of Eynsham or Newland, but returned the Abbot as being lord of Eynsham with Tilgarsley^. Here then we have a distinction between two species of boroughs, those that were separately represented at the Eyre, and those that had no separate representation, but had not, in the eyes of the sheriff, emerged from the vill from whose jurisdiction they had been separated by their lord. There is a well known passage in the History of English Law^, where the authors represent the sheriff as saying " This place is a borough because it has always been treated as such ; that place is not a borough because it has never sent twelve representatives to the Eyre." And this is probably the criterion which guided the sheriffs in their returns to the writ of 13 16. Further examination of these returns, which are usually known as the " Nomina Villarum," shows that the sheriffs made no mention of many of the boroughs on our list, and merely returned the names of the vills in which they were geographically situate : thus, the sheriff of Staffordshire omitted all mention of the boroughs of Burton, Leek and Walsall, and returned merely the names of these three vills^ and the sheriff of Hampshire merely returned the vill of Andover^ although it had been recognised as a borough by Henry H. On the other hand, the sheriff of Devon stated that the boroughs of Bradninch and Bideford were separately represented in the hundreds in which they were situate, although they had not been created by the King**, and the sheriff of Hampshire returned the borough of Petersfield ' Oxford City Documents^ 194. ■^ Feudal Aids iv 168 : for the writ see I 254. ^ I 635. * Feudal Aids v 13, 14. ^ A/. II 311. '^ Id. 382, 374. The Essentials of the Borough xciii (another mesne creation) as being extra-hundredaP. Bury St Edmunds, too, was regarded by the sheriff as a vill and not as a boroughs These returns therefore show us two classes of boroughs, those that were extra-hundredal, and those that were entitled to separate representation in the hundred, while our charters enable us to form a third class of those whose representation was merged in the vills in which they were geographically situate. Six years after this return, Parliament granted the King a subsidy of a tenth from the baronage and shires, and a sixth from the cities and boroughs and royal demesnes : the enrolled account of this subsidy (L.T.R. Enrolled Accounts, Subsidies 14, in P.R.O.) shows that, with few exceptions, it was levied only from those cities and boroughs that were mentioned in the Nomina Villarum. For instance, the only boroughs in Oxfordshire that paid the sixth were Oxford, Henley and Woodstock, the same that were mentioned in the Nomina Villarum ; and the three Staffordshire boroughs of Burton, Leek and Walsall, that were omitted in the Nomina Villarum, did not pay the sixth. On the other hand, Petersfield is mentioned in the Nomina Villarum as a borough, but in the Subsidy Roll, it is omitted and Alresford inserted in its place. The Nomina Villarum and the Subsidy Roll alike mention 20 boroughs in Devon, but the latter substitutes Dodbrooke for Bradninch, which appears in the former. The Nomina Villarum does not extend to Cheshire, Cornwall or Lancashire : in the last mentioned county, only Lancaster, Preston, Wigan and Liverpool paid the sixth, and no mention is made of Manchester or Salford ; presumably, therefore, the latter were not separately represented either at the Eyre or in the hundred. It will be remembered that the Pipe Rolls of Henry H show that many chartered boroughs did not pay aid to the King (p. Ixxx). That there should be two or three classes of boroughs in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries should cause us no astonishment : Edgar made two classes of boroughs by recognising that in some there should be 36 persons as witnesses to sales, while a body of twelve sufficed in other boroughs. Maitland has pointed out that the boroughs recorded in Domesday Book could be divided into two classes, some being of heterogeneous tenure and others being of homogeneous tenure : another Domesday classification might be made of those that were extra-hundredal and those that were within the bounds of one vill or another : and today we are acquainted with Parliamentary boroughs, and boroughs that for Parliamentary purposes are merged in 1 Id. II 319. 2 [d. V 42. B. £ xciv Borough Charters the counties in which they are geographically situate. The Scottish burghs were divided into Royal Burghs and Burghs of Regality and Barony, according to the person of whom they were holden ; if the burgesses held of the Crown, their burghs were Royal Burghs ; if they held of a mesne lord, the burghs were burghs of Regality or of Barony according to the rank of the person of whom they were held^ When in 1 316, the sheriffs were asked for a return of the boroughs within their shires, it was as natural for them to omit the boroughs that were not separately represented, as it would be for the Convener of the Royal Burghs of Scotland, if a similar return were required from him, to omit the burghs of Regality and Barony, or for the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery to omit from his return the names of the boroughs which are not represented in Parliament ; but, in neither case, would the omission prove that the omitted places were not boroughs. Our charters distinctly show that certain places were popularly called boroughs to which the sheriff denied that style : from one point of view there can be no doubt but that the sheriff was right ; but as we have taken the charters as our guide, we are obliged to extend our list beyond the limits that the sheriff observed. But what would be the advantage of its charter to a borough founded by a mesne lord, say, to the burgesses of Eynsham ? In the first place, their burgage tenure enabled the burgesses to dispose of their houses in the borough almost as easily as their chattels, and freed them from death duties in the shape of heriots and reliefs : then, by having a court of their own in which they were tried by their fellow townsmen, they were more favourably treated than if they, being shopkeepers, had been tried by the farmers of the neighbour- hood ; even today in our rural districts there is some little undercurrent of feeling between town and country, between the shopkeepers and the farmers: there was often some limitation of the amount of the fines that could be levied in the borough court, for instance, in the boroughs that received the law of Breteuil, whereas there was no such limitation on the fines imposed by the manorial court : in many places the burgesses were free of toll, not only in the market of the borough, but also throughout the possessions of the lord (p. 191). These privileges could be, and usually were, conferred by the charter of a mesne lord on his burgesses, and would make their position appreciably better than that of a socager in a rural manor, while the superiority of their position to that of a villein would be much greater. 1 Erskine, Institute of Law of Scotland (1828), Bk. I, Tit. iv, sect. 20. The Personality of the Borough xcv Every additional privilege would increase the relative advantage of the burgess and would attract settlers to the borough who would bear their share of its burdens and so lessen the burdens of the other burgesses. In fact, it might be argued that a burgess in a well- developed mesne borough, such as Tewkesbury, would be in a far better position than a burgess of one of the smaller royal and extra- hundredal boroughs, such as Chichester. The citizens of Chichester had to send twelve representatives to the Eyre, and paid one-sixth to the subsidy of 1322: while, even if the borough of Tewkesbury extended over the whole vill, its burgesses escaped by sending their reeve and four men, and by paying only one-tenth to the subsidy. 2. The Personality of tJie Borough Another question, on which we may hope to gain information by a comparison of the various charters, is the question how and by what steps the body of burgesses began to be considered as an entity, existing separately from the individual burgesses, and clothed with some of the attributes of a person. Domesday Book treats the borough as a piece of land, in the same category as the shire, the hundred, the manor and the vill : just as in the South- Eastern shires, we are told that certain manors defended themselves for a certain number of hides, so we read that the borough of Cambridge defended itself for a hundred ^ and the borough of Hertford for ten hides-. In the same way as Earl Godwin is said to hold the manor of Singleton in demesne^*, so King Edward held Lidford in demesne^ and the Archbishop of Canterbury held Sandwich*. In the same way as the manor of Benson rendered fourscore pounds and a hundred shillings**, so Gloucester city T.R.E. rendered ^36 by tale and certain honey and iron, and " now renders ^^cf!' I cannot recall any instance of the use of " burgus " in Domesday Book, otherwise than as a piece of land, often fortified, in which men dwelt and houses stood, and from which an income was derived. On the other hand, the Domesday scribes make an important distinction between the borough and the other areas ; the shire, the riding, the wapentake* and the hundred* were all personified to such an extent that they were represented as being able to give evidence for or against claims to land ; but the borough, and in this respect it resembles the manor and the vill, is never represented as giving evidence. Nay more, there is one passage in which the scribe seems 1 D.B. I 189 a I. 2 /^. ,32 a I. ^ Id. 23 a I. " Id. 100 a 2. ^ Id. 3 a i. 8 /rt'. 154 b I. 7/^. 162 a I. 8 /rtf. 375 b 1, lines I — II. "7^^.48 a 2. ?2 xcvi Borough Charters to deny the personality of the borough, and the possibility of its giving evidence : on the page of claims that follows the statistics relating to Huntingdonshire, it is thrice said that "the shire bears witness " {comitatus testatur), but the very first line of that page reads "The men who swore in Huntingdon say that the Church of St Mary in the borough... belonged to the Church of Thorney^" It would seem that in the eyes of the scribe, while there was an organism called the shire which could speak by the mouth of its jury, there was no similar organism which could speak by the mouth of the men who were sworn in the borough of Huntingdon. All our charters use the word "burgus " to imply a piece of land, and our earliest charters use the word in that sense alone : when Henry I spoke of the men who incurred forfeitures within the borough of Cambridge, and forbad any barges from being loaded except in the borough of Cambridge, he was speaking of the borough as a piece of land. When his grandson granted to the burgesses of Nottingham the right of taking toll from all persons crossing the Trent as fully as in the borough of Nottingham, and when he ordered that all men living within the borough shall pay their share of the aids and tallages with the burgesses, he was speaking of the borough as a piece of land : but it is needless to multiply examples. But in course of time, we find the word "borough" inserted in certain charters in clauses where we should expect to find the word " burgesses," and where in other charters we find that the latter word is used. A good example is in the Okehampton charter, where the burgess who sold his land paid 1 2d. to the lord, ^d. to the reeve, and 4^. to the borough (p. 66). The Whitby charter provides that the purchaser shall pay ^d. for his seisin, and id. to the burgesses for a drinking (p. 70). The former charter then represents the borough as an entity that received money, and both charters imply the possession of a common purse, distinct from the purses of the individual burgesses ; as even in those days id. would not buy much beer. Another example of the use of the word " burgus " where in other charters we find "burgenses" is in the Bristol charter of 11 88, which provided that when the burgesses improved their dwellings, such improvement should not be to the damage of the borough and town- ship {sine damno burgi et villatae) (p. 50) : but when this charter was copied four years later for the citizens of Dublin, this proviso was 1 D.B. I 208 a I. The Personality of the Borough xcvii directed against damage to the citizens, the word "civium" being substituted for " burgi " ; the imagination of the Dublin draftsman was not so vivid as that of the man who prepared the Bristol charter. A third example of this use of " burgus " instead of " burgenses " is found in a series of charters of the early years of the thirteenth century: as far back as 1131, Henry 1 had spoken of the law of the city of London (p. 134) ; his grandson granted a number of charters in which he spoke of the custom of various cities and boroughs, and there are many Irish charters conferring on the grantees the law of Breteuil ; but in none of these cases dare we say that the draftsman personified the city or borough, the city of London or the bourg of Breteuil ; and it is best to interpret these charters as relating to the customs that were followed in the city of London, or the law that was observed in the bourg of Breteuil, in the same way as we interpret the phrase "firma burgi" as the rent arising from the borough. But a genitive of association easily slips into a genitive of possession, and that in its turn naturally gives way to a verb of possession and the representation of the borough as an owner. We are not therefore surprised to find a precept in the form of a Volumus clause " that the vill of Lynn shall be a free borough for ever, and shall have all the liberties and free customs which our free boroughs have" (p. 31). The latter phrase is found in John's charters to Stafford and Liverpool, while earlier examples are to be found in the charter by which William the Lion gave license to the Bishop of Glasgow (i 175 — 7) to establish a burgh having "all the liberties and free customs which any of my burghs have," and in the charter by which Hugh de Puiset granted to the burgesses of Norham the liberties which any borough North of the Tyne and Newcastle best had. Another mode of making this or a similar grant is shown in the charter by which Henry H granted to the burgesses of Gloucester the same customs and liberties which the citizens of London and Winchester best had in the time of his grandfather. In thus speaking of the borough as having rights and liberties, the draftsman was following the precedents which had been used in grants to parish churches ; and in our critical notes we have referred to the charter of Henry II granting that the church of Chesterfield should have all its liberties and free customs (p. xxx). The charters to the burgesses of Dunwich (1200), Lynn and Stafford specify some of these liberties, for in them the King grants that the " burgus" shall have sake and soke etc. (p. 1 14) ; but in the Shrewsbury charter (1205) the corresponding grant runs "And that xcviii Borough Charters they (the burgesses) shall have sake and soke etc., over the aforesaid borough and hundred as they were wont." Corresponding to the grant of liberties to a "borough" we find in the charter to William Briwerr founding the borough of Chesterfield, a proviso that the boroughs of Derby and Nottingham should not on that account lose their liberties. Magna Carta (s. 13) follows the Lynn charter : "And the city of London shall have all its ancient liberties and free customs both by land and water: and moreover we will and grant that all other cities and boroughs and vills and ports shall have all their liberties and free customs." A phrase, intermediate between the grant to the burgesses and that to the "borough," is found in three Scottish Charters where William the Lion grants certain liberties to the burghs and burgesses of Aberdeen, Ayr and Rutherglen ; the grant of liberties to the borough and burgesses is also found in John's Huntingdon charter, and in the Wells charter of Bishop Savaric. Closely akin to these grants are those that the vill of Portsmouth and the burgesses "holding in it and of it" should be quit of toll, and should hold their mansions with toll and team etc., as the citizens of Winchester and Oxford held theirs. Some of our charters speak of the villata, the township, and represent the township as having a will of its own ; thus the Lost- withiel charter (1190 — 1200) requires the license of the reeve and the whole township to enable a stranger to keep a tavern in the town (p. 217). The reeves and coroners of Northampton, Shrewsbury, Gloucester and Ipswich, were to be elected by the common counsel of the township, but at Lincoln it was by the common counsel of the city that these officials were elected, and at Dublin the common assent of the city was required for the disposition of certain property (p. 44). This, then, is the point to which our charters carry us : some of them represent the burgus as an entity which can receive money, or suffer damage, which can possess laws and customs of its own, and can form an opinion of its own. It appears to be only by accident that the Pipe Rolls personify the burgus, and represent it as paying money; although the rolls of the later years of Henry II record payments from townships, villatae, some of which are in other passages stated to contain burgesses, yet in the printed rolls, I can find only occasional instances of the personification of a borough or city; in 1177 it is recorded that the city of Worcester paid 40 marks as aid\ 1 Pipe Roll, 23 Hen. II, p. 67. The Personality of the Bo7^ough xcix Usually such payments are made by the citizens or burgesses or men. Now if after so much labour the draftsmen succeeded in personify- ing a piece of land to such an extent that it could be represented as having a purse and laws of its own and an opinion of its own, there must have been some idea they wanted to convey, which they thought they could not express in any other way, and the Okehampton and Bristol charters suggest that they used the word to express the whole body of burgesses as contrasted with the individuals. And the ambiguity of the language of our charters in dealing with rights of property shows that some such term was needed. As an example of this ambiguity let us extract two clauses from the Preston charter of 1188: "concessi etiam eisdem burgensibus de proprio dono meo totum theloneum wapentachiae de Amounderesse" (I have granted also to the same burgesses of my own gift all the toll of the wapentake of Amounderness) : "preterea concessi eisdem pasturam de foresta quae vocatur Fille Wode " (moreover I have granted them the pasture of the forest called Fillewood). In each case the language is the same, but the subject matter of each grant shows that the destina- tions of the gifts differ : the grant of pasture would be enjoyed by the individual burgesses, but the toll of the wapentake would be paid into the common purse of the body of burgesses, for it is impossible to imagine that the charter authorised each individual burgess to go off into the wapentake on a free-booting expedition to levy his share of the toll. In our dissection of the charters we have divided these grants of proprietary rights according to the subject matter of the gifts; rights of pasture and timber are included amongst the appurtenances of the burgage as being granted to the individual burgesses ; but the grants of markets, fairs and tolls and of the borough (at farm) were made to the body of burgesses, for it is impossible that the draftsman conceived of these gifts being shared out among the burgesses. There are other gifts of which the destination is clear; among the gifts to bodies of burgesses were the grant of the customs of the water and shore for the completion of the farm at Colchester, the grant of the land between the mountain and the water for the support of the burgh of Inverness, the grant of the sites of two mills for the improvement of the city of Winchester, and the grant of escheated lands at Newcastle-on-Tyne. The gift by William the Lion of five pennyworth of land to " my burgh and burgesses of Ayr " is noteworthy as apparently being a formal gift to an entity called a burgh, but it is qualified by the permission given to each burgess to c Borough Charters assart six acres for his own profit (p. 52) ; it would be interesting to know how much land was left for the common fund after the individual burgesses had appropriated their lots. Apparently the grants of waste lands within the boundaries of Bristol and Dublin were gifts to the respective bodies of burgesses. But the three clauses conferring on the burgesses of Swansea, Colchester and Dublin rights of fishing are most ambiguous : possibly the clause in the Swansea charter is a gift to individuals, but who can say whether the Colchester and Dublin gifts are to the individual burgesses or to the bodies, and authorise the bodies to make a charge to the individuals who exercise the rights ? And when, in his Swansea charter, the Earl of Warwick declared that if the burgesses found any wreck below high water mark, " half shall be mine and half theirs," was " their " half to belong to the individual finders or to the body of burgesses ? These ambiguities show that the draftsmen had scarcely begun to perceive that there was a difference between gifts to individuals and gifts to the respective bodies of burgesses, but their attempts to use the word " borough " to signify the body of burgesses show that they were beginning to perceive this difference : and it may be suggested that their inability to perceive the full extent of this difference is a reason for the spasmodic nature of these attempts : they were not conscious of representing the borough as a person, or they would have tried to continue the image throughout the charter : and it is for this reason that we prefer to speak of the personality of the borough, rather than its personification : the latter term seems to savour too much of conscious effort. Our draftsmen were exhausted by these few attempts to represent the borough as a person capable of receiving grants of laws and of holding property, and their precedents were generally disregarded in later centuries : but it may be suggested that it has been a loss to our jurisprudence that these precedents were not followed, for it would appear that "in Germany the style which purports to grant liberties to the citizens their heirs and successors yielded at what Englishmen must consider a very early date, to the style which treats the city as the recipient of the chartered rights\" But the draftsmen were only trying to express in words what they saw with their eyes : on all hands they saw liabilities undertaken by the whole body of burgesses, and a good example of the under- taking of liabilities by a body of burgesses is afforded by two of the 1 History of English Law I 671 «., stQ post, p. cxxii. The Personality of the Borough ci earliest documents relating to the University of Oxford. In 1209, a clerk, a scholar in the schools at Oxford, killed a woman by accident, and fled for fear of punishment : the burgesses, having ascertained the inn to which he belonged, pursued him, and though he had got away, found there three other clerks whom they took before the King at Woodstock and forthwith hanged. Whereupon all the other scholars fled, some to Cambridge, others to Reading, and yet others to Maid- stone, and the Bishop of Lincoln laid the town under an interdict. Some years later, the townsmen made their peace with the Papal Legate, who prescribed certain penances, and by a Bull, dated ist July 1 2 14, made other orders for the future dealings of the burgesses with the scholars^ Among other matters, he ordered that the communa of the town should pay ^2s. a year for the support of poor scholars ; that the same communa should feed a hundred poor scholars on St Nicholas' Day ; and that fifty of the greater burgesses should swear for themselves and the communa and their heirs to observe all the orders contained in the Bull. And there is among the University Archives a deed in the form of Letters Patent by which " Philippus Maior et Communa Oxoniensis " notify all men, that fifty of the greater burgesses have sworn to observe the decrees : all future mayors were to swear for themselves and the communa that they would observe this decree, and the like oath was to be taken by the reeves and the bailiffs who were appointed under the reeves, and this document was sealed by certain of the burgesses " by the mandate and will of the whole communa for the communa itself." We will not be led aside to found any fanciful theories on the use of the word " communa " in these documents : it may indicate continental influences, or, on the other hand, it may show that the documents were prepared by a notary who was accustomed to use the words in speaking of cathedral chapters : but, getting behind the name to the thing represented thereby, we have evidence that in 12 14 there was in Oxford a body that had a common purse out of which it could pay for the maintenance and food of poor scholars, although it had no common seal by which it could authenticate instruments given under its name I ' Mtinimenta Acadetnica Oxon. i i. ^ See Wood's Hist, and Antiquities of the University of Oxford^ Annals, sub annis 1209-14; I am indebted to Mr Strickland Gibson of the Bodleian Library for a photograph of the deed and also for a sight of the volume in the Archives from which Mr Anstey copied the decree of 1214 ; collation shows that Mr Anstey's " communia " is a mistake for " communa." cII Bororigh Charters Our charters show that in 12 14 there were in Oxford three organised bodies, the merchant guild, the cordwainers' guild, and the borough court : the cordwainers' guild was interested solely in the regulation of the leather trade ; some of the older writers were of opinion that the contract to take the city at fee farm was made by the merchant guild, and therefore at Oxford we have our choice of the merchant guild or the borough court as the body with which the " communa" is to be identified. To decide this point, we must seek evidence elsewhere. The Oxford deed shows a definite covenant by the body of burgesses, but such covenants are implied in the many charters in which the borough was 'granted at farm to the burgesses; and we must try to ascertain what was the body that undertook the liability under these implied contracts. Of the 28 English boroughs held at fee farm under charter by the end of our period, 13 (Andover, Cambridge, Derby, Dunwich, Gloucester, Helston, Ipswich, Lincoln, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Southampton, Yarmouth and York) are known to have had merchant guilds at the time that the various boroughs were granted at farm ; in four, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Scarborough, Worcester and Doncaster, the first mention of the merchant guild is many years after the grant of the borough at farm ; but 1 1 (London, Appleby, Corbridge, Droitwich, Huntingdon, Ilchester, Hereford, Northampton, Norwich, Richmond and Stafford), all of which were at farm before the death of King John, at no period of their history were possessed of merchant guilds \ The Oxford case gives us the choice of the merchant guild or the borough court as the body with which the " communa," the contracting body, is to be identified : the evidence of the " firma burgi " shows that this was granted in many cases in which there was no merchant guild to enter into a contract ; and we must conclude that certainly in these cases, the contract was made by the borough court : but there were borough courts in all boroughs and it is therefore not unreasonable to identify these courts with the contracting body in all cases '^ The identification of the borough court with the commune of Oxford and the various bodies that offered compositions in lieu of ' See list of merchant guilds in Gross, Gild Merchant I 9 — 16. 2 This is Stubbs' conclusion {Const. Hist. 1874 I 410). My inclusion of the merchant guild as a possible contractor was only in deference to the older writers who hazarded this opinion, for which Gross found no evidence {Gild Merchant I 57 «. 5). The Soken of the Cnihtenegild ciii tallages or presented petitions and offered gifts for the grant of their boroughs at farm, and entered into contracts for the payment of their farm, will meet all our difficulties. If at Okehampton as at Tewkes- bury, all sales of burgages were required to be presented at the borough court, the payment of ^d. to that court as a registration fee would be a payment to the common fund of the borough. The borough court would deal with the waste at Bristol and with the customs of the water and the shore at Colchester ; and would grant licences to non- burgesses to keep inns at Lostwithiel. The same conclusion is reached if the subject is approached from another point of view : John granted to the borough of Dunwich the privileges known as sake and soke : but the only way of exercising these privileges was by holding a court, and this court could therefore be considered as the owner of the sake and soke of the borough. If it be objected that the exercise of sake and soke is judicial, while the formation of a contract to pay the fee farm is administrative business, we must reply that the burgesses of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries cannot be expected to distinguish between two functions, which, even in this twentieth century, are hard to be distinguished. Are our present Poor Law Guardians a judicial or an administrative body ? They are often called upon to pass judgment on conflicting evidence in order to avoid appearing to encourage immorality by their grant of relief. Mr and Mrs Sidney Webb have shown how the Justices of the Peace gradually acquired the whole administration of the counties, and by their Quarter Sessions supplanted the Shire MootsS and the records of the courts of the manor show that they transacted both judicial and administrative business ; they punished petty crimes and regulated the cultivation of the open fields. 3. Additional Notes on the Soken of the Cnihtenegild The charters which have already been discussed show how the Cnihtenegild became possessed of the privilege of sake and soke over their land and their tenants, and how the Kings confirmed their gift of this land and these privileges to the Priory of the Holy Trinity. It is now proposed to discuss the manner in which the Priory dealt with these possessions, and, for this purpose, use will be made of the transcript of the cartulary in the Guildhall Library (MSS. 122). After relating the traditions about the formation of the Guild, its acquisition of certain land without the walls of London, and the gift I Webb, English Load Government vol. civ Borough Charters to the Priory, the editor of the cartulary proceeds " And, after these things were accomplished, the land which was uninhabited and deserted, was demised in divers parcels in the Court of the said Prior and Canons, reserving to the Church certain annual rents, as could be best agreed between the parties, as hereinafter more fully appears ; and, be it noted, that before the said soke was conferred on the church, Leonard Housesdych rendered 6j". 3^. to the Knights of the guild at Martinmas for his tenement and garden^" And there- after immediately follow copies of about two dozen grants of land in the parish of St Botolph in fee and inheritance, at specified money rents amounting to £Z. 3^. C)\d. ; the dates of these grants vary between 1170 and 1248. Several of these deeds contain provisions for other payments and services in addition to the rents ; one (p. 34) reserves the customs which pertain to the soke : another (p. 64; contains the following provisoes: "And if it shall happen that the said Bartholomew or his heirs shall fail in payment of the said rent of 6s. and no ' nams ' can be found on the aforesaid land whereby they can be distrained, it shall be lawful for the canons to distrain on the capital messuage of the said Bartholomew in the said soken until the said rent is fully paid. The said Bartholomew and his heirs shall maintain the houses standing on the said land or shall build others so that in them men can dwell who shall answer concerning the ward and other things pertaining to the said soken," A third deed provides that the grantee or the occupier of the land shall attend the hall-moot {seqin halimottwi) of the priory (p. 72), and several reserve to the Priory a fine of one besant on alienation. Possibly the most interesting of these deeds is a grant of land adjoining Smithfield in fee with the proviso that if the grantee or his heirs wished to mortgage or sell that fee the Canons should be preferred to all others by one besant of gold, if they wished to have it (p. yj^ Some of the originals of the deeds in the cartulary and certain other deeds are preserved in the Public Record Office, and are calendared in the Calendar of Ancient Deeds, Vol. IV ; they appear to have come from the Treasury of the Priory; for seven of them (Nos. 7308, 7353, 7279, 7358, 7367, 7369* 7374) are endorsed "Socca" or " Socca nostra." In all these deeds we have grants of land in fee and inheritance ; the grantors reserve money rents and other services : but the duplicate deeds of grant are endorsed " socca " or " socca nostra " by the scribe of » Vol. IV pp. 7, 8. Foreign Parallels cv the Priory, and this endorsement suggests that by the grant the land in question became the sokeland of the Priory. If this be so, the word soke would be used to denote those rights which remained to the grantor of land in fee and inheritance, or, if the matter be regarded from the other point of view, the burdens imposed on the grantee of land in fee and inheritance, whether by implication of law or by explicit reservation ; except, of course, where such lands were granted either by knight service or in frankalmoign, or in sergeanty. The cartulary contains other evidence to show that what passed to the Canons by the gift from the guild was land, and not a mere superiority : for the editor states that the Hospital of St Katherine and the exterior wall and new ditch of the Tower " stand and are on the same fee," and that by reason of the ditch the Priory lost rents to the value of half a mark ; King Richard however hired iconduxernt) the greater part of the land forming the ditch for six marks, and Edward I gave the Priory an additional rent of ^\ marks. 4. Foreign Parallels In our preliminary chapters we stated as one of the objects of this collection a desire to learn whether our British boroughs were indebted to foreign precedents : a complete answer to this question would require far more knowledge of foreign charters and custumals than is possessed by the present writer, but, as he is not aware of any detailed comparison of the municipal charters of one country with those of another, he ventures to explore untrodden ground. (a) France There appears to be no published collection of French municipal charters, although such a collection could be prepared on the lines here adopted with comparative ease, seeing the number of charters which are derived from one or another of a few types : but in the Recueil des Ordormances des Rois de France de la Troisieme Race are to be found some 87 charters granted to 65 towns before the death of Philip Augustus in I223\ and a comparison of them with the 1 These charters are as follows : the references are to the volumes and page of the Recueil des Ordonnances. i\ir6 ••• •• Amiens ... 1 188 XII 563 Angers 1 192 XII 565 Angy II90 XI 264 Athics H35 IV 632 1186 IV 129 1212 XI 298 CVl Borough Charters charters contained in our collection shows many resemblances and as many differences. But, although our French charters profess to Auxerre ... 1200 XI 280 Mantes ... 1 201 XI 285 Baron 1215 XI 305 Meulan ... 1220 XII 296 Beaumont-sur-Oise ... 1222 XII 298 Molinet ... 1159 XI 204 Beauvais ... 1 144 XI 193 Montdidier 1195 XII 288 1182 VII 621 Niort 1204 XI 207 Bourges ... 1181 XI 222 Nonancourt 1205 XI 209 Bray 1210 XI 295 Noyon 1181 XI 224 Breteuil ... 1204 XII 256 Orleans ... 1137 XI 189 Bruy^res ... 1 186 XI 245 1 147 XI 196 Caen 1220 XII 295 1178 XI 209 Cerny 1 184 XI 231 1 183 XI 227 Chambly ... 1222 XII 303 1220 XI 310 Chapelle-la-Reine 1 186 XI 239 Paris 1 192 XI 269 Charost ... 1 194 XI 369 1200 XI 280 Chateauneuf 1181 XI 221 1213 XI 303 Chaumont 1182 XI 225 Paris (Butchers) III 258 Chauny ... 1213 XI 304 Peronne ... 1207 V 159 Compi^gne 1 186 XI 248 Poissy c. 1222 XI 315 Corbie 1 180 XI 216 Poitiers ... 1204 XI 290 Cre'py 1 184 XI 234 1222 XII 301 1215 XI 305 Poix 1208 VII 601 Dijon 1187 V 238 Pontoise ... 1188 XI 254 Dixniont en Lorris ... 1 190 XI 268 1217 XI 308 Doullens ... 1221 XI 311 Pontorson, see Verneui 1. Dun-le-Roi 1175 XI 208 Rheims ... 1 182 XII 381 Dizy 1 196 IV 341 Roye 1197 XI 228 Etampes ... 1123 XI 183 St Jean d'Angeli 1204 V 671 1137 XI 188 St Quentin 1195 XI 270 1155 XI 200 St Riquier 1189 IV 548 1 179 XI 211 Sdes en Gatinais 1153 XI 199 1 199 XI 277 Senlis 1202 XII 292 1204 XI 286 Sens 1189 XI 262 Falaise ... 1204 VI 640 Soissons ... 1181 XI 219 Fertd-Milon 1221 XI 310 Tonnerre... 1180 XI 217 Fillievre ... 1205 XI 291 Tournai ... 1187 XI 248 Laon 1128 XI 185 Vailly ... 1185 XI 237 1 189 XI 257 Verneuil ... IV 643 Lorris 1155 XI 200 IV 638 1 189 XI 200 1204 XI 289 Mailly-le-Chateau 119 3-1217 V 713 Villeneuve enBeauvaisai s 1200 XI 278 Mantes ... 1150 XI 197 Villeneuve-St-Melon . . . 1 196 IV 63 From other sources I have drawn the following charters : from Le Premier Registre de Philippe Auguste (ed. Delisle) — Bapaume 1196 (fo. 20), Mantes 1201 (fo. 50^°), Chaumont 1205 (fo. 41^"); from Dr Round's Calendar of Docutnents preserved in France — Rouen 11 50 — i, 11 74 — 5, 1192 (pp.32 — 36), St Omer 1154 — 8 French Parallels cvii relate to only 65 towns, yet in reality they were applicable to a much larger number, as the practice of affiliation was carried to far greater lengths in France than in England : thus the charter of Lorris was the precedent for charters to about a score of communes in its neighbourhood', the law of Beaumont-en- Argonne was adopted by more than 300 towns in Lorraine, Champagne and the Ardennes", and the Etablissements of Rouen were the foundation of the constitutions of 16 towns^ Luchaire found that the communal charters of the twelfth century might be referred to seven general types, each characterising one or more geographical regions* ; these seven typical charters were those of Mantes, Laon, St Quentin, Peronne, Amiens, Soissons, and Rouen, while the constitutions of Beauvais and Noyon were peculiar to those cities. M. Bourgin thinks that the number of types might be increased ^ but, even so, he does not impugn the general principle that the majority of the French communal charters are derived from a few types. Our pages show that this was not the case in England : till the death of John, the London charter of 1 155 and the Winchester charter of about the same date are the only charters that were used as precedents for more than two charters : but the case was slightly (p. 491), Rochelle 1175 (p. 453), Calais 1194 (p. 480) ; from Giry's Etablissements de Rotten^ the Etablissements, and the Charter of Philip Augustus of 1207 ; from Giry's Histoire de la ville de St Omer the charters of 1127, 11 28, and 1168 ; from Bibliotheque de PEcole des Charles, Ser. 3, 1. 1 1.— Beaumont-en-Argonne 1 1 82 (p. 248) ; from Histoire de la province d'Artois, in.— Arras 11 94 (p. 6), Bethune 1222 (p. 59), Sens 1209 (p. 64). The third volume of the Recueil des Monuments de V histoire du Tiers Etat contains a number of communal charters based on that of Amiens, of which I have not made use as their differences from their exemplar are unimportant. As showing the affiliation of these charters, it should be noted that the towns in the second column of the following list have charters corresponding with those of the towns in the first column. Mantes Chaumont, Pontoise, Poissy. Laon Cerny, Bruyeres, Montdidier. St Quentin Chauny, Roye. Peronne Athies, Tournai, Filli&vre. Amiens Doullens. Soissons Crdpy, Vailly, Sens, Compi^gne, Senlis, Villeneuve-St-Melon. Rouen (1207) Poitiers (1222). Lorris Molinet, Dixmont, Chambly, Bois-Commun. S^es Chapelle-la-Reine. 1 Nouvelle Revue Historique, 1884, p. 445, 1904, p. 747. 2 Viollet, Histoire des Institutions Politiques et Administratives en France, u 1, 1 7 3 Giry, Etablissements de Rouen. * Les Communes Fran(;aises ci P^poque des Captftiens directs, 1 36—8. " La Commune de Soissons et le groupe communal Soissonnais, \\\. cviii Borouzh Charters v*>' altered at the end of the thirteenth century, for Edward I granted to the newly erected boroughs of North Wales a series of charters which were similar except for the necessary verbal differences. But although there was in this country little affiliation of charters, that is, repetition of the clauses of one charter in another, yet there was much affiliation of boroughs : and our collection contains 59 British charters by which the customs of one borough were conferred on another. But here we find a great difference between English and foreign practice: the charter granted to Oxford by Henry II, by which the citizens received the liberties of the citizens of London, provided that in cases of doubt they should send to London, and that the decision of the Londoners on any point should be considered firm and valid, and similar clauses, substituting Oxford for London, are found in charters to Bedford and Lynn ; it is well known that mother- towns received frequent appeals for rulings on disputed points. In France, however, the chef de sens, as the mother-town was usually called, in addition to giving its opinions on disputed points, often decided controversies between a commune and its lord, and between parties in the communed At Poix, disputes between the lord and the commune were to be settled by the judgment of three other communes {c. 12). The German customs again differed from those of England and France, for, east of the Rhine, the court of the mother-town decided appeals from the courts of its affiliated towns^ The privileges conferred by the French charters can be grouped in seven divisions as those of our British charters ; but the French charters are longer than ours, and the emphasis differs in the two countries, for they contain more clauses relating to Tenurial Privileges than the charters of this country and aim especially at the exemption of the burgesses from feudal servitude. Corresponding to our first division, the clauses relating to the formation of the borough, we find a number of clauses relating to the formation of the commune ; but there was one concept in the idea of a commune which was utterly alien from English municipal juris- prudence : the commune was supported by oaths from two sides : on the one hand, all its members were sworn to maintain and obey it ; on the other, its lord took an oath that he would not impugn its privileges (St Omer, 11 27, 1128); in the British Isles, we are ac- customed to the oath of the new burgess for the maintenance of the liberties of his borough, but only one of our charters refers to any oath 1 Luchaire, op. cit. 148. ^ Gross, Gild Merchant i 275 — 281. French Parallels cix on the part of its grantor or his successors ; the Corbridge charter, which was an agreement for the settlement of disputes, speaks of oath being made by the grantor's men that their lord would observe its provisions (p. 239) ; the only other record of an oath on the part of a lord is the oath of John to the Commune of London in 1 191 (Benedict Abbas, qu. Select Charters, 252). And this brings us to another point ; many of the French charters were extorted from the lords by riot and revolution, our English charters are always the result of agreement and often of purchase. Many clauses in the communal charters are a recital of the duty of the burgess to his neighbour : the first clause of the Soissons charter requires that each shall help the other, and this vague theory was reduced to some practical purpose in the Aire charter, which required the burgesses to give a penny apiece to their brother whose house had been burnt down (c, 13) ; at Amiens it was distinctly laid down that there was not equal justice between jurat and non-jurat, i.e. between a member of the commune and an outsider (c. 45). One phrase used in the communal charters has no parallel in any of our English charters ; many speak of the enemies of the commune, and the penalties incurred by jurats who speak to or aid such enemies (Amiens 1190, c. 16, St Omer 1168, c. 35, Soissons ii8r, c. 13, 14, Beauvais 1141, c 3, 11). We have seen that in England there were grades of boroughs, some being more highly organised and privileged than others ; in France, we find a grade intermediate between the commune and the ordinary village; the inhabitants of certain towns {e.g. Etampes, Orleans, Angers, Dizy) received certain privileges but not permission to form a commune. Flach classifies the French municipal charters as {a) charters of sworn communes, {b) charters of customs, {c) charters of franchise {Origines de Vaiicienne France, II, 423), but no attempt has been made in these pages to distinguish between these three classes. Corresponding to the charter by which John annulled the charter of the burgesses of Whitby is the charter by which Philip Augustus suppressed the commune at Etampes, and declared that in the future he was at liberty to tallage the inhabitants as he willed. But the charter creating the commune at Etampes was not known to the editors of the Ordonnances. From the charters, it would seem that the question of burgage tenure was not so important in French municipal law as it was on this side of the Channel ; fixed rents were reserved at Lorris {6d.), Tonnerre (5 sous), Verneuil (12^.) and Beaumont (12^/.), and at the B. h ex Borough Charters latter place the tallages, corv^es etc. owing from each burgess were redeemed for an annual payment of 5 sous. At Dizy the rent for each masure was fixed at \2d., one sextary of wheat, one sextary of oats and two capons. Liberty of sale was expressly granted at Beaumont-en-Argonne (c. 2), where certain dues were payable to the mayor and jurats on sales of inheritances (c. 10) ; and in the Etampes charter (1179, c. i) permission was given for the purchase of land, but that permission was restricted to that land which was known as " Octave," and it was declared that the purchaser should not become a serf by reason of his purchase : the kin's pre-emption was allowed at Amiens (1190, c. 25), but no charter contains a clause giving the lord a right of pre-emption : many English charters forbid the sale of burgages to religious houses ; the only clause of this nature in the French charters is found in the charter to Meulan (1220, c. 5), which enacts that if any tenement be placed in alms, it must be sold within a year and a day, otherwise the lord would seize it and hold it at the accustomed rent. A good title was secured by possession for a year and a day at Chaumont (1182, c. 10 — 12), Noyon (1181, c. 12), St Omer (1128, c. 24), Beauvais (1182, c. 17), Beaumont-en-Argonne (c. 24), Rheims (c. 3) and St Quentin (1195, c. 7), but possession for seven years was required at Amiens (i 190, c. 26). The inhabitants of Rochelle and St Jean d'Angeli were given the right to make wills of land, and intestate succession was regulated at Rochelle, Amiens (1190, c. 22 and 23) and Laon (c. 21, 22). Liberty of marriage was allowed generally at Poitiers and St Jean d'Angeli (1204, c. i), and to widows at Bourges (1181, c. 8), and to those members of the commune of Laon who were not the men of clerks or nobles (1128, c. 10), but the lord received a fine of 5 sous at Soissons (1181, c. 5) if a man married a wife from another jurisdiction. Passing on to the French tenurial privileges, it is found that most of the charters contain clauses exempting the burgesses from feudal dues of one kind or another : Mainmortes were entirely abolished at Laon (i 128, c. 19), Soissons (i 181, c. 21) and Orleans (i 146), the lord's right to tallage was released at Lorris (c. 9), Sees (c. i), Tonnerre (c. i), Bourges (c. i) and other places, and at Laon the sum of <\d. was fixed as the sum to be exacted from each burgess by way of tallage (1128, c. 18). Oblation was another feudal due from which the burgesses of Lorris and Sees were released : the burgesses of Bourges and Dun-le-Roi were exempted from botagium (a due on the sale of wine) and the exactio culcitrariim, which appears to have been a right on the part of the lord to obtain a loan of his tenant's bedding French Parallels cxi on his visit to the town. Till 1 189 the burgesses of Laon were bound under their charter of 11 28, to provide the King with \\\x^q procnra- tiones or lodgings and food for three nights, or a sum of 20 livres in lieu thereof; but in that year they paid him 200 livres and received entire exemption from this due (1189). The first Mantes charter exempted the burgesses from tallage, unjust caption, unreasonable exaction and creditio (1150, c. i): this latter was the right of the lord to take his tenant's goods on credit, and was also forbidden at Tournai (c. 17) ; at Soissons (1181, c. i), Lords (c. 11) and Peronne (c. 17), the burgess was bound to give his lord a limited credit. At Poix, every burgess was bound, once in his life, to give his lord credit to the amount of 5 sous without asking for pledges, but thereafter he could refuse to give credit unless pledges were given (c. 9) ; but while the lord's credit is limited to 40 days in England and Ireland, in France the term varies between 15 days and three months: none of the French charters in our list prescribes a term of 40 days. There were certain feudal duties from which the burgesses were not normally exempted : at Auxerre alone did the lord release his right to their ser\dces on expeditions; at Sees (c. 7), Lorris (c. 3), Dizy (c. i), Angy (c. 2) and Villeneuve-St-Melon (c. 4) they were not required to go beyond such a distance that they could return the same night, as at Swansea and Pembroke: the burgesses of Pontoise (c. 13), Chaumont (c. 13), St Omer (1127, c. 4), Poitiers (1222, c. 21) and Bourges (i 181, c. 3) were not required to go beyond certain limits : at Verneuil, they were bound to serve only when the King was actually serving in the same army (1154— 1189, c. i), while at Beaumont they were obliged to serve wherever the King wished (c. 19). At Tournai the commune usually sent 300 armed foot-soldiers as their contingent on expeditions, but in case of the invasion of Artois, the whole commune went with the army (c. 34, 35). Carrying services were required at Lorris (c. 15), but were released at Orleans (1198, c. 4); escort duty was required at Beauvais (1189, c. 8, 9), and watching services at Rouen (Etab. 4), St Omer (1167, c. 18) and Noyon (1181, c. 2). At Mantes (1150, c. i) and Etampes (1189, c. 9) there were pro- visions authorising the burgesses to guard their own vineyards, provisions which may indicate that without such exemption it was the lord's privilege to find these guards. Possibly, the most im- portant of these tenurial privileges were those contained in the Roye and St Quentin charters providing that the King would take nothing from the burgesses but by judgment of the (5chevins (c. i), and in the St Omer charter which provided that burgesses offending cxii Borough Charters against the King should be tried according to their charter (1168, c. 5). The communal franchise was secured by residence of a year and a day at Sees (c. 9), Lorris (c. 18), Roye (c. 3) and Bray (c. 12); at Arras, the new comer must be presented to the echevins (c. 39), and at Laon (1189, c. 24), Poissy (c. 15), Verneuil (1204, c. 4), Crepy (c. 23) and other places the burgesses were forbidden to admit the men of certain lords into their commune without the consent of these lords : these provisions should be compared with the Chesterfield charter reserving to the lord of the borough the right to forbid the admission of a new burgess. Normally, clergy could not enter the commune, but at Roye (c. 52) an exception was made in favour of those clerics who were married and carried on trade. Passing to the privileges relating to litigation and jurisdiction, we find that the commune, like the borough, was a jurisdictional unit ; and that in many of the communal charters the inhabitants were exempted from attendance at external pleas (Beauvais (i 182, c. 16), Bourges (c. 5), Corbie (c. 4), Laon (1189, c. 29), Lorris (c. 8), Rouen ( 1 1 50, c. 3), Sees (c. 10), Verneuil ( 1 1 54 — 89, c. 2, 3) and Meulan (c. 3)). The burgesses of Orleans were not to be summoned to a greater distance than Etampes, Lorris and Yeure le Chateau (i 183, c. 2). The right to hold pleas for its members appears to have been implied in the grant of a commune, but was expressly granted at Rouen (1307, c. 24) and Crepy (c. 30) : but rape and homicide were reserved to the lord in the last mentioned place, and at Athies, while the commune had jurisdiction in pleas of 10 sous and under, the Royal Justice dealt with plaints over that amount. At St Quentin there was a clause distinguishing the functions of the Royal and communal justices : to the former were reserved larceny, murder, rape and the forfeitures which were reserved to the King and the Bishop at Laon, while other offences were to be tried before the Viscomte and the Justices (c. 25). The commune was forbidden to deal with offences against the law of Christianity at St Omer (1127, c. 3), and delinquent clergy were to be dealt with by the Dean or the Bishop at Laon (1189, c. 20). At Amiens (1190, c. 47) and Beaumont-en-Argonne (c. 56) as at Whitby there were three general pleas, and at Lorris (c. 12) and St Omer (1168, c. 49), as at Norham Wells and Whitby, the members of the commune were allowed to compound with one another for their offences without any payment to the lord : but private settlements were forbidden at Aire (1188, c. 2). The subsections dealing with methods of trial and procedure are French Pa^-allels cxiii very full and require more careful consideration than can here be given : we can notice only a few points. The English clauses exempting the burgesses from trial by battle are to be found in only one of the French charters that I have examined — St Omer ( 1 1 27, c. 8) ; but many of them contain provisions regulating the procedure at duels : the burgesses were not required to fight hired champions at Etampes ( 1 1 79, c. 29), Rouen ( 1 1 50, c. 6) and Amiens ( 1 1 90, c. 17): but there is printed in the Introduction to vol. XII of the Ordojmances (p. xv) a document by which Geoffrey Blundel acknowledges that he is the armed champion of the commune of Beauvais at a retainingfee of 20sousayear, with other fees under certain circumstances. At Rouen the burgesses were not bound to answer charges made by a notorious thief (11 51, c. 2, 1207, c. 6) ; and at Lorris(c. 32), Amiens (c. 30) and Beaumont-en- Argonne (c. 15) the defendant could purge himself by his own oath alone if his accuser brought no witnesses. It will be remembered that the Swansea charter forbade members of the lord's household from bearing witness against a burgess : similar clauses are found at Orleans (1137, c. 5), Noyon (1181, c. 9), Soissons (1081, c. 4) and Bourges (1181, c. 7). The French clauses relating to punishments are in many respects very different from the English clauses : of course there were the usual nicely regulated scales of the fines to be inflicted for various offences : even at Verneuil the fines for each offence were set out in detail : but in only two French charters, those of Soissons (1181, c. 2) and Orleans (1183, c. 4), have I found a clause like that contained in the law of Breteuil and in so many English charters limiting the fines to a fixed sum, except for certain offences. The limit at Soissons was 5 sous and at Orleans was 60 sous. On the other hand, many of the French charters prescribe punish- ments which are not found in any of our British charters ; many prescribe that for certain offences the offender's house shall be destroyed (Amiens (1190, c. 8, 9, 16), Bray (c. 8, 9), Laon (i 128, c, 5), Peronne (c. i),etc.) ; Dr Round has pointed out that this punishment was known in the Cinque Ports', and Miss Bateson has added Dublin, Bridport and the four burghs of Scotland to the list of places where it was practised- : and c. 21 of the Assize of Clarendon prescribes this penalty for the man who entertained a heretic {Sel. Ch. p. 145). Again, many French charters allow the practice of retaliation, laying dowr 1 Feudal England^ 552—562. 2 Borough Customs 1 1 38. cxiv Borough Charters the principle as at Laon (1128, c. 5) head for head, member for member: Arras (c. 2), St Omer (1127, c. 20), Amiens (1190, c. 7), P6ronne (c. 12) and Tournai (c. 12) were other towns where this penalty could be inflicted. For certain offences at Verneuil (11 54 — 89, c. 20, 21) the prescribed penalty was the loss of the offender's fist or a payment of 60 sous. And at Laon (i 128, c. 5) and Verneuil (i 154 — 89, c, 21) the offender was obliged to pay the fee of the medical man who attended on the man he had assaulted : this clause is found in the Preston custumaP. At Corbie (c. 6) and Beaumont-en- Argonne (c. 47) it was provided that persons who failed to pay their fines should be banished from the town, and banishment is specified in other charters as the penalty for certain offences {e.g. Laon 11 28, c. 2); but is mentioned in the Egremont charter alone of the British charters. At Laon (1128, c, 1 1) and Roye (c. 54) " if a vile and dishonourable person insulted an honourable gentleman or lady with disgraceful insults, it was lawful for an upright man of the peace {i.e. of the commune), if he were passing, to reprove him and to admonish him with one or two or three slaps," but if it were proved that the " upright man " was actuated by spite, he could be punished. One of the great difficulties of the commune was to secure the punishment of a person who did not dwell within their privileged area : one method of meeting this difficulty was by seizure of the property of a person living within the commune who was the man of the offender who lived outside the commune (Laon 1 128, c. 21 ; Arras c. 15): but at St Omer (1127, c. 15) if a foreigner injured a burgess and refused or neglected to make satisfaction within three days, the burgesses might avenge the injury of their brother, and if the offender's house was destroyed or burned, or if anyone was injured or killed, the burgesses were not to be punished on that account. The Crepy charter (c. 17) went still further and authorised the burgesses to make an expedition against the offender's house, and if necessary the King would help them. Our last section, among the jurisdictional privileges, shows how the English jurists compelled a stranger to appear at the court of the borough by distraining on his goods or on those of his neighbour : this method was unknown in France, except at Rouen, where Philip Augustus in 1207 (c. 5) authorised the mayor to detain the horse or harness of a foreign debtor, if he happened to be in the town, till he 1 15 £'.//.^. 498. French Parallels cxv had given security for payment or trial : and this clause was repeated in the charter to Poitiers of 1222 (c. 4), in which year the king also authorised the men of Beaumont to distrain on the goods of their debtors in all places in the county of Beaumont (c. 17), with certain exceptions similar to those contained in the Newcastle custumal ; but it is not clear whether this remedy at Beaumont was to be used before or after judgment. At Feronne and Tournai (c. 16) and Aire (c. 6) if a knight living outside the town refused to pay his debts he was "boycotted." At Roye (c. 32) and Crepy (c. 26) the burgess might detain the foreign debtor whom he met in the town, and deliver him to the authorities ; and the St Omer charter (i 168, c. 40) allowed the detention of the foreign debtor till the debt was paid ; but the Etablissements of Rouen (c. 48) forbad arrest except in cases of homicide, and at Lorris (c. 16), Bourges (c. 3) and Poitiers (1204, c. 3) arrest was prohibited in cases where bail was forthcoming. At Etampes (1179, c. 27) an admitted debt for which pledges had been given could be recovered by distress by the prevot after certain delays. The arrest of debtors on market days was prohibited at Etampes ( 1 179, c. 75), while the burgesses of Beauvais (i 144, c. 15) were forbidden to arrest others than the debtor or his surety : these clauses have their parallels in English charters, but it is distress which is forbidden under these circumstances. The mercantile privileges contained in the French charters are less valuable than those of the British charters, and contain no clauses conferring the monopoly of trade within the commune to the burgesses or members of the merchant guild. Luchaire says that the charter granted in 1 127 by William Count of Flanders to the men of St Omer "was visibly made for the merchants" {pp. cit. 32); but compared with the franchises granted in 11 88 by John, Count of Mortain, to the men of Bristol, those of St Omer were poor in the extreme. They were to be quit of toll at Dixmunde and Gravening, and if the count could procure treaties with the King of England and the Count of Boulogne, he would obtain their exemption from toll in England and at Wissant : there was to be freedom of trade between Nieurlet and St Omer, and the burgesses were to be quit of " sewarp " throughout Flanders : but there were no clauses securing the monopoly of certain trades and of innkeeping to the burgesses, and restricting the sojourn of foreign merchants to 40 days, as there were at Bristol. Especially do the French charters lack those comprehensive grants of freedom from toll that are to be found in so many English charters : but this would be attributable to the fact that the sovereignty of the land cxvi Borough Charters which we now call France was then divided among many persons, of whom the King was, at first, little more than " primus inter pares." In comparison with the scanty exemptions from toll contained in the charters of the French Kings, there stand out the extensive grants made by the English Kings to favoured towns, such as Rouen (1174) and Calais (1194), and in a lesser degree to St Omer (11 55 — 8). But after the conquest of Normandy, Philip Augustus granted that the burgesses of Breteuil should be quit of toll in Normandy, Poitou, Anjou and Maine, and to those of Verneuil he gave the same exemption with the addition of Brittany and Gascony : but from both grants he excepted the county of Evreux and some other places: in 1222 he granted to the men of Poitiers exemption from toll in all the land that had belonged to Henry, King of England, with the same exceptions as at Verneuil (1222, c. 2). But if in one respect the French exemptions from toll were less extensive than the English, in another respect they are more extensive : thus, at Noyon (1181, c. 11) no toll was charged in the market to widows having no adult sons, nor to " those who lived in the way of saints," nor on any merchandise of less value than 8^. (c, 14); this latter privilege is also to be found at Etampes (1179, c. 22), where the limit was 4^. ; while at Lorris (c. 33) goods that a man purchased for his own use or (c. i) grew on his own land were also exempt from toll. These three exemptions are unknown in our British charters except that the last two are found at Cardiff. A custom relating to trade, that was unknown in England, but was widely prevalent in France, was one by which all trade in wine, and sometimes in other goods, was reserved to the lord for certain periods : the ban of wine was absolutely forbidden at Sees (1155, c. 11) but was reserved at Tonnerre (c. 6), where the lord had the ban of wine for two months in the year: at Etampes (1137, c. 2) and at Lorris (c. 10) the King, and at Angers (c. 2) the Count, had the ban of wine for the produce of their own vineyards and cellar : at Amiens the ban was reserved to the King and Bishop (1190, c. 56): at Athies it was reserved to the King, the mayor and the echevins (c. 32), and at Crepy (c. 16) it was not to be imposed without the consent of the burgesses. Purchase for resale in the same market was forbidden at Etampes (1179, c 2). The Weavers of Etampes (1204), the Bakers of Pontoise (12 17), the Butchers of Paris (1162, 1182, 1212, 1219) and the Butchers of Orleans (1220) received charters regulating their respective trades: and Henry I and Henry H granted charters to the guilds of Cordwainers and Tanners respectively at Rouen, conferring monopolies of these French Parallels cxvii crafts in terms very like those which were granted to the Weavers of London and the Cordwainers of Oxfords We have seen the importance which the English burgesses attached to their ability to obtain grants of their boroughs at farm, by which they obtained control both over the finance and administration of their town : and we have pointed out that in the Dublin charter the grant of the preposititra explicitly goes with the grant of the borough and that in other charters this grant is implied. These grants are fairly common in England before the death of Henry II : but I have found no French charter earlier than 1188 which conferred on a commune the Pr^vote of the district and the rents and dues collected by the prevot. In that year Philip Augustus granted the Prev6t6 of Pontoise to the commune of Pontoise for rents of 50 livres to the Crown and 30 livres to the seneschal, and at the same time granted to the commune the minagium {i.e. the public weights and measures) for ten years for a yearly rent of 10 muids of wheat and five of oats. In 1201 he granted the Prevote of Mantes with all rents and justice (except rape and murder) to the commune of Mantes for a rent of i ICX) livres, and four years later he granted the Prevote of Chaumont with the mills and the rents as the prevot held them, and the right to receive the forfeitures up to 6'j\ sous, to the commune of Chaumont for 300 livres and six muids of wheat and five of oats. Pontoise and Chaumont both had received charters based on that of Mantes. A commune based on that of Laon was granted to Montdidier in 1195, and the burgesses agreed to pay the King 690 livres a year in three instalments for the commune, the tolls, the toll paid for the passage of goods through the town, the exchange, certain dues connected with the gates (or the gatekeepers) and the watch, the mills, the minagium of Hubert's mill, the King's vineyard, 40 sous " de censu," certain arable land, and certain dues in kind, consisting of oats, forage, capons, 12 lbs. of wax and eels from the mill-pond, except that when the King visited Montdidier he was to have the eels (c. 33) : and the King reserved to himself the appointment of the prevot (c. 35). In 1200, in considera- tion of a yearly rent of 100 livres the King quit-claimed to the commune of Villeneuve-en-Beauvaisais all that he had in the town from rents, tolls and forfeitures except rape and murder (c. 25, 26) : it is evident that the commune secured the right of appointing the prcVot, for the charter contained a clause that if at any time the commune was quashed, Stephen, who was hereditary pr ' Cologne, 1 169, Corbach, 11 88, Damm, 1297, Delsberg, 1289, Demmin, 1292, Deutschbrod, 1278, Diessenhofen, 11 78, Dirschau, 1260, Donau- worth, 1030, 1220, Dornstetten, 1278, Dortmund (Statuta Antiqua), Dramburg, 1297, Dresden, 1266, 1271, 1291, 1299, Duderstadt, 1247, Duisburg, 1213, 1279, Diisseldorf, 1288. These towns must be a fairly representative selection, seeing that they cover Germany from Pomerania and Bohemia on the east to the Rhine on the west, and from the Baltic to Switzerland ; but most of the documents date from the second half of the thirteenth century, and are therefore outside the period covered by the British charters ; but if we were to confine ourselves to the German charters prior to 12 16, we should have little to quote. In studying these German documents, it will be well to follow the method adopted in our study of the English and French charters, and divide the privileges under seven sections. With regard to the formation of the borough, the most important difference between England and Germany is found in the consistent practice of the German draftsmen in personifying the city as the recipient of lands and laws and privileges : we have already referred to this point, but possibly it will be as well to print two clauses from the Brandenburg charter of 131 5 : " Damns igitur predictae nostrae civitati Brandenburch banc pre- rogativam specialem... " Ceterum damns saepedictae civitati et liberum concedimus campum seu spatium a civitate usque ad vallem quae vocatur Borne- lake ut in ipso spatio pascua suis pecoribus habeant licite." (" We therefore give to our aforesaid city of Brandenburg this special prerogative.,. " Moreover we give to the oftmentioned city and freely grant the plain or space from the city to the valley which is called Bornelake, that in the same space they may lawfully have pasture for their herds,") Many of the charters contain clauses conferring on the donees the customs and laws of other towns, and the Brandenburg charter contains a clause that all the cities and towns in " our " dominions {i.e. the dominions of John, Margrave of Brandenburg) should repair to Brandenburg and accept their laws and decisions (c, 2). This is in accordance with the recognised practice in Germany where the court of the metropolis decided appeals from the courts of its affiliated towns ^ ' Gross, Gild Merchant I 275 — 284, German Parallels cxxiii At Corbach, however, it was laid down that there was no appeal from the decision of the court of the city. The question of burgage tenure assumes more importance in the German charters than in the French ; a shilling rent was found at Diessenhofen (c. i) and a rent of 4$-. at Damm (c. 3). At Bodenwerder (c. 23), Braunsberg and Diessenhofen (c. 7) the burgess was at liberty to sell his house ; the kin's right of pre-emption was allowed at Dortmund (custumal c. 17) but disallowed at Deutschbrod (c. 55); and sales of burgages to religious houses were forbidden at Brauns- berg, Deutschbrod (c. 64), Dirschau (1260), Buchhorn (1299, c. 6) and Dortmund (c. 31). At Deutschbrod, the child who became a monk or a nun was refused all share in his or her father's property (c. 46). In two German charters is found a clause which I have not found in England or France, a provision that no burgage should be sold to a knight (Buchhorn, 1299, c. 6, Bozen, 121 1): and at Diessenhofen, no knight could be admitted a burgess without the consent of the burgesses (c. 12). But the German charters contain no clauses forbidding the admission of the men of certain lords to the borough franchise, such as are found in the French charters. The prescription of a year and a day as the term which gave a good title to the landholder is found at Brunswick (1227, c. 9), Bremen (11S6, c. 3) and Buchhorn (1299, c. 5). The custumal of Deutschbrod (c. 58) provides that if a man pledged his inheritance for debt, after certain proclamations, the judge was to deliver the property to the mortgagee for a year and a day, at the expiration of which time it was to be adjudged to him, unless in the meantime he had received " fruit," in which case the debtor retained a right to redeem. At Bremen (i 186, c. 2) an inheritance remained under the Imperial ban for a year and a da}', so that it might be claimed by the heir : at Bodenwerder it was retained by the judge for the same period (c. 24). At Breisach (1275, c. 7) the burgesses had liberty of marriage: and at Briihl the best horse appears to have been the heriot, for it was provided that the lord should not take more for its redemption than a mark (c. 30). The German charters contain fewer express exemptions from feudal dues than do the P>ench, but at Aix there was a provision that no burgess should be compelled to perform any corvde that would prevent his return home at night (121 5); and the townsmen of Dus.seldorf were acquitted of their works in autumn (c. 1). 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P) — 1-1 M i~'^^ ON •00 00 00 ON ir^ u-l O P^ lO OnOO lo '^ on Q N "ILOOnO i-iOO O >- "100 O "" i-iMi-itNINi-iMNiiiMN ro On N ro On ^ 00 00 NH t>.00 00 I _ I ill I r-. OvTj->- J3 tn II : N • • • • : : '■ -^ 1—) > -Si ^ 5 u , ir^ \j~t ■c Ph 1 o > "> •n Ph (—1 C _o u s >— > >■ eq -0 5^ — "*:::: : : : 'f : : <: «J2 «^ 1— • 0) o rtT3 : " t^ : : ►h" t^ i>. N r^ N ►H N^O I^ t^ M H NH w Pi N4 N Q c H . ^r, . . . . « Q < 3 < w rv; I— 1 l-H 1— t O N ■ vO • 1— 1 m rt u £■> ■* N4 r^ w <: Burgage Tenure and Law of Real Property a. • • • • iri • • ■ • (-H Forma- tion of Borough ; : o» : 00 ; 00 : 00 w ff « " 00 t^vO N : "^ CO I^ tC , . . N 1-4 ^ HH l-H l-« (— I ' QO 0^'*t~- t^tv,i-- CT>ONiomO i^ i-< 00 i-H O O Tj- t^^o t^oo 0^^ ^ ■* 00 hH . lO ■ - ON ^ : cOm N -. „ M H" : On 00 00 00 t^ Ov 00 HH »^ vO r' '^ C rt i- o o Jt; Q cxivii • : : : : • t^ *^ : : : i : : ; ; ^ ... ■* NN tari - "i- VO ^^ ro • , • * . * ^— ' • • . ■<*• Tj- ■* » ^ M M ■^ M o i::i ^ o : : : : ^* N4 ^ ^ t^ fo 00 r^ N ^'m : . . . . ^4 N ^4 ■* N : : : : * : Tf CO '.'.'. I ^ ^ ^ ^ »H r— • ^';r N^ ro • ■ • ^"^ fOOv' >3 '^'n <^ N t^ ^ ^ ^ »v^— ^ •H »^ ««. •" t^ « iri "" r^ Mt OV "^ IH M IM SO ON 00 "n" : tC : '*-' ^ t^ t>.oo 00 ^>. 00 VO »^ 00 00 00 00 » VO r^ f o i-i •* o Tj- Tj- w rj- C» M CI o N C» N U1 Tl- Vi-l 'O S 7 + 8 ^o o r^ iv-i ui c) 4f - Ov - O^ Ov - O Ov t-« O^OO ON N M - CI N i; ►1 N N -" CJ N^ M HM »N 1-1 hN hH 1-4 '-' ^^ kH IM $ c BOROUGH CHARTERS I. FORMATION OF BOROUGH (i) License to create Borough' EDINBURGH (Canongate), 1124—53. (David I to Monks of Holy rood.) Concedo et eis herbergare quoddam burgum inter eandem ecclesiam et meum burgum. (I grant also to them that they may build a burgh between the same church and my burgh.) GLASGOW, 1 175 — 7. Sciatis...me concessisse...Deo et Sancto Kentegerno et Jocelino episcopo Glasguensi et singulis ejus succes- soribus in perpetuum ut burgum habeant apud Glasgu. (Know ye. ..that I have granted. ..to God and St Kentegern and Jocelin, Bishop of Glasgow, and all his successors for ever that they may have a burgh at Glasgow.) ARBROATH, 121 1 — 4. Dedi et concessi eisdem (abbati et conventui de Aberbrothoc) licentiam et libertatem faciendi burgum et habendi portum et habendi forum unaquaque die sabbati in eadem terra. (I have given and granted to them license and liberty to make a burgh and have a port and have a market every Saturday on the same land.) In the following pages, any clause which appears in more charters than one is printed from the earliest charter in which it appears, and the other charters are noted with their variations ; but among such variations no notice is taken of (i) The interchange between bu7-gus and dvitas, or biirgettsis and civis, or place-names. (2) The change from the singular to the plural in the Royal Style after the accession of Richard I. (3) Any variation in the order of the words, unless such variation produces a change of meaning. (4) Any change in conjunctions, e.g. etia/n for insuper^ and the like. When a charter is the grant of a mesne lord, the name of the town to which it was granted is printed in italic capitals. ^ For recital of License to create Borough, see Burton on Trent ll i, p. 42, Beverley I 8, p. 23, Morpeth i 8, p. 21, St Andrews I 2, p. 2. B. J 2 Borough Charters [I 2 (2) Creation of Borough ST ANDREWS, 1140 — 53. Robertus del gratia Sancti Andreae humilis minister... Innotescat dilectioni vestrae nos Deo auxiliante et licentia Regis nostri David burgum apud Sanctum Andream in Scocia statuisse, (Robert by the Grace of God, the humble minister of St Andrew.... Be it known to you, beloved, that by the aid of God and the license of David, our king, we have established a burgh at St Andrews in Scotland.) WELLS, 1 174 — 80. Concedimus ergo juxta tenorem cartae predecessoris nostri piae memoriae Roberti episcopi villam Welliae burgum esse in perpetuum et eisdem finibus quibus in eadem carta diffinitum est et prescriptum. (We therefore grant according to the tenor of the charter of our predecessor, Bishop Robert, of blessed memory, that the town of Wells be a borough for ever, and have the same boundaries, with which, in the same charter, it is defined and prescribed.) WELLS, 1201. Quum in preterito cognovimus predecessores nostros a multis retro temporibus in augmentum honoris dignitatis et reddituum suorum et omnium sibi succedentium concessisse burgensibus nostris de Wellis jure perpetuo libertates et liberas con- suetudines burgensium et burgorum plenariis libertatibus gaudentium, Nos eorum vestigiis inhaerentes considerantes etiam et cum diligentia attendentes honestum et plurimum laudabilem eorum fuisse in- tentionem quod circa statum burgi illius meliorandum et in libertatem majorem provehendum habuisse dinoscuntur, libertates omnes et liberas consuetudines burgensium et burgorum qui plenarias habeant libertates burgo de Wellis et burgensibus universis et singulis infra terminos subscriptos mansionem habentibus plene et integre con- cessimus in perpetuum, statuentes etiam et jure perpetuo concedentes ut totum territorium subscriptum liberum sit burgum et plenariis ut diximus gaudeat libertatibus... (here follow boundaries). (Whereas we have learnt that from times long past our predecessors have, to the increase of the honour and dignity and rents of themselves and of all their successors, granted to our burgesses of Wells, by perpetual right, the liberties and free customs of burgesses and boroughs enjoying full liberties, We, following in their footsteps, and seeing after careful consideration that the intention was honourable and very praiseworthy which they are seen to have had concerning the improvement of the state of the town and the increase of its liberty, have granted all the liberties and free customs of burgesses and boroughs enjoying full liberties to the borough of Wells and to all and singular the burgesses having a habitation within the underwritten bounds, fully and completely, for ever, decreeing also and granting with per- I 3] Formation of Borough 3 petual right that the whole of the underwritten territory be a free borough and enjoy, as we have said, full liberties... (here follow the boundaries).) AYR, 1202 — 7. Willelmus Dei Gratia Rex Scottorum.... Sciatis me ad novum castellum meum super Are burgum fecisse. (William by the Grace of God, King of the Scots.... Know you that I have established a burgh at my new castle upon Ayr.) (3) Grant of liber burgus DUNWICH, 1200. Quod burgus de Dunewyche sit liber burgus in perpetuum. (That the borough of Dunwich be a free borough for ever.) BRIDGEWATER, 1200. Sciatis nos concessisse...dilecto et fideli nostro Willelmo Brivverr quod Brugewalter sit liberum burgum. (Know ye that we have granted to our beloved and loyal William Briwerr, that Bridgewater be a free borough.) HELSTON, 1 201, April 15. Quod burgus noster de Helleston sit liber burgus. (That our borough of Helston be a free borough ^) WELLS, 1 20 1. Quod Welles in Somerset sit liber burgus. (That Wells in Somerset be a free borough.) LYNN, 1204 {c). Noveritis nos ad instantiam et petitionem venerabiiis patris nostri Johannis Norwiciensis episcopi secundi con- cessissc.quod villa de Lenna sit liber burgus inperpetuum. (Know ye that we, at the instance and petition of our venerable father, John the second, bishop of Norwich, have granted that the town of Lynn be a free borough for ever.) LYNN, 1204 (a). Line 3. /tr villa r^«^ burgus. LYNN, 1204 {b). Line 3 only. CHESTERFIELD, 1204. (To William Briwerr.) Quod eadem Cestrefeld sit liber burgus. (That the same Chesterfield be a free borough.) CHESTERFIELD, 1213. (To Richard Briwerr.) CHESTERFIELD, 1215. (To William Briwerr, father of Richard.) STAFFORD, 1206. Quod villa de Staffordia sit liber burgus in perpetuum. (That the town of Stafford be a free borough for ever.) YARMOUTH, 1208. Quod ille burgus sit liber burgus in perpetuum. (That that borough be a free borough for ever.) 1 TOTNES 1206. See critical note. 4 Borough Charters [I 4 (4) Ratification of Customs of Domesday Boroughs LONDON, 1066 — 75. Willelm kyng gret Willelm bisceop 7 GosfregS portirefan 7 ealle j^a burhparu binnan Londone, Frencisce 7 EngHsce, freondlice. 7 ic kySe eop, )73et ic pille, l^aet get beon eallra )>3era laga peorSe, J>e gyt paeran on Eadperdes daege kynges, 7 ic pylle |?set £elc cyld beo his faeder yrfnume aifter his faeder daege. 7 ic nelle ge]?olian J^aet aenig man eop aenig prang beode. God eop gehealde. (William, King, greets William, Bishop [of London], and Geoffrey the portreeve, and all the burgesses within London, French and English, friendly. And I inform you that I will that ye be worthy of all the laws that ye were in King Edward's day. And I will that each child be his father's heir after his father's day. And I will not suffer that any man do you any wrong. God preserve you.) CHICHESTER, 1135 — 54. Praecipio quod burgenses mei de Cicestria ita bene et honorifice et quiete habeant eorum consuetudines et rectitudines de burgo et de Gilda eorum mercatoria sicuti eas melius et honorabilius et quietius habuerunt tempore Rogerii comitis^ (I order that my burgesses of Chichester shall so well, honourably and quietly have their customs and rights of borough and merchant guild as they best and most honourably and most quietly had them in the days of Earl Roger.) CHICHESTER, March 1155. Praecipio quod cives mei de Cicestria habeant et teneant bene et in pace et juste et quiete et honorifice omnes illas consuetudines et libertates infra civitatem et extra quas solebant habere tempore Regis Henrici avi mei et nomi- natim in portubus de Wydering et Horemutha. (I order that my citizens of Chichester shall have and hold well and peaceably and justly and quietly and honourably all those customs and liberties within the city and without which they were wont to have in the time of King Henry my grandfather, and especially [their rights] in the harbours of Wydering and Horemouth^.) CHICHESTER, July iiS5- Sciatis me concessisse civibus meis de Cicestria qui sunt de Gilda mercatoria omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines suas infra Burgum et extra ut eas habeant ubique ita plene et quiete et honorifice sicut plenius et honorificentius habere solebant tempore regis Henrici avi mei. (Know ye that I have granted to my citizens of Chichester who are of the Merchant Guild all their liberties and free customs within and without the borough that they may have them everywhere as fully and quietly and honourably as they were accustomed to have them in the fullest and most honourable manner in the time of King Henry my grandfather.) ^ Le. Roger Montgomery : died c. 1094. 2 Now known as Pagham and Chichester harbours. I 4] Formation of Borough 5 LONDON, 1 1 55. Has predictas consuetudines eis concede et omnes alias libertates et liberas consuetudines quas habuerunt tempore Regis Henrici avi mei quando meliores vel liberiores habuerunt. (These aforesaid customs I grant to them, and all other liberties and free customs which they had in the time of King Henry my grandfather, when they best and most freely had the same.) LONDON, 1 194. Line 3. For mei read Henrici patris nostri. LONDON, 1 199. Lines- As in 1 194. CANTERBURY, 1155—8. WINCHESTER, 1190. Line 2. For tempore.. .mei read temporibus antecessorum meorum. WINCHESTER, 1215. Line i. After has insert vero. For eis read eisdem civibus nostris Wintoniensibus et heredibus eorum. 2. As in 1 190. GLOUCESTER, 1200. Line 2. As Winchester, 1 190. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. Line 2. As Winchester, 1 190. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. Line I. /^9r predictas rt'<^z^/ vero. For eis read eisdem burgensibus nostris Novi Castri super Tynam et heredibus eorum. LONDON, 121 5. Concessimus etiam eisdem baronibus nostris... quod habeant bene et in pace libere quiete et integre omnes libertates suas quibus hactenus usi sunt, tam in civitate Londoniae quam extra et tam in aquis quam in terris et omnibus aliis locis, salva nobis chamberlengaria nostra. (We have also granted to our said barons that they may have well and peaceably freely quietly and completely all their liberties which they have hitherto used, both within the city of London and without, both on water and on land, and in all other places, saving to us our chamberlainship.) WINCHESTER, 11 55 — 8. Sciatis me concessisse civibus meis Wintoniae omnes libertates et consuetudines quas ipsi habuerunt tempore regis Henrici avi mei. (Know ye that I have granted to my citizens of Winchester all the liberties and customs which they had in the time of King Henry my grandfather.) LINCOLN, 1157. Line 2. After consuetudines insert et leges suas. Ojnit ipsi. 3. After tempore insert Edwardi et Willelmi et Henrici regum Angliae. BRIDGENORTH, 1157. Line i. For civibus meis Wintoniae r^ mei Henrici Regis Secundi. For avum meum read ejusdem Regis Henrici avi patris mei. EXETER, 1200. Line 3. For avi, avum, r^rt^proavi, proavum. BARNSTAPLE, 11 54— 8. BARNSTAPLE, 1200. As Exeter, 1200. YORK, 1 154 — 8. Sciatis me concessisse Civibus meis de Eboraco omnes libertates et leges et consuetudines suas et nominatim Gildam suam Mercatoriam et hansas suas in Anglia et Normannia et lestagia sua per totam costam maris quieta, sicut ea unquam melius et liberius habuerunt tempore Regis Henrici avi mei. (Know ye that I have granted to my citizens of York all their liberties and laws and customs and especially their Merchant Guild and hanses in England and Normandy and their quittance of lestage throughout the coast of the sea, as they best and most freely ever had them in the time of King Henry my grandfather.) YORK, 1200. Line 3. /^cr Mercatoriam r^«ri? Mercariam. 5. For mei read patris nostri. OXFORD, 1 1 56. Sciatis me concessisse et confirmasse civibus meis de Oxeneforda omnes libertates et consuetudines et leges et quietantias suas quas habuerunt tempore regis Henrici avi mei nominatim gildam suam mercatoriam cum omnibus libertatibus et consuetudinibus in terris et in silvis pasturis et aliis pertinentiis. (Know ye that I have granted and confirmed to my citizens of Oxford all the liberties and customs and laws and quittances which they had in the time I 4] Formation of Borough 7 of King Henry my grandfather, especially their Merchant Guild with all its liberties and customs in lands and in woods and pastures and other appurtenances.) BEDFORD, 1189. Line 3. For avi read patris. Line 5. After consuetudinibus insert suis. Before aliis insert omnibus. After pertinentiis insert suis. WALLINGFORD, 11 56. Sciatis me dedisse et conccssisse eis inperpetuum libertates et leges suas omnes et consuetudines bene et honorifice sicut melius et honorabilius eas habuerunt tempore Edvvardi regis et tempore atavi mei Regis Willelmi et ejus filii alterius regis Willelmi et tempore Henrici Regis avi mei. (Know ye that I have given and granted to them for ever all their liberties and laws and customs well and honourably as they best and most honourably had them in the time of King Edward and in the time of King William my great-grandfather and of his son King William the second and in the time of King Henry my grandfather.) FORDWICH, 1 154 — 75. Precipio quod homines de Fordwico habeant omnes illas leges et consuetudines quas melius habuerunt tempore Henrici Regis avi mei et tempore Regis Willelmi et Regis Ed ward i. (I order that the men of Fordwich have all those laws and customs which they best had in the time of King Henry my grandfather and in the time of King William and King Edward.) NOTTINGHAM, 1157. Sciatis me concessisse et hac carta mea confirmasse burgensibus de Notingham omnes illas liberas consue- tudines quas habuerunt tempore Henrici avi mei : scilicet tol et theam et infangenethef et thelonia a Turmotestona usque ad Newerc et de omnibus Trentam tran.seuntibus ita plenarie ut in Burgo de Notingham, et ex alia parte a Buito ultra Rempestunam usque ad aquam de Radeford in Northanteshire. (Know ye that I have granted and by this my charter confirmed to the burgesses of Nottingham all those free customs which they had in the time of King Henry my grandfather, that is to say, toll and team and infangthef and toll from Turmoteston to Newark and from all crossing the Trent, as fully as in the borough of Nottingham, and on the other side from Buito beyond Rempeston as far as the water of Radford in Northamptonshire.) NOTTINGHAM, 1189. Line 3. For avi mei read Regis proavi mei et tempore Henrici regis patris mei sicut carta ejusdem Henrici patris mei testatur. 7. After Northanteshire add tl de Bikeresdic. 8 Borough Charters [I 4 NOTTINGHAM, 1200. Line i. ^// Recognitio, an inquest by oath of twelve men under the system of assise. (Sel. Ch.) Proporta7nentu7n is not given in Du Cange, but he defines Proportatio as an English and Scottish term, meaning— verdict, hearing or declaration of witnesses. lo Borough Charters [I 4 et tenendas de me et de meis heredibus libere et quiete et pacifice in perpetuum. (Be it known unto you all that I have given and granted and... confirmed to all my citizens of Chester all the free customs which they best and most freely or most quietly ever had in the times of any of my predecessors, and especially quittance and release of trial by assize and witnesses in the city of Chester for ever. All these aforesaid liberties and customs I have given and granted to the citizens and confirmed to them and their heirs to be had and holden of me and my heirs freely and quietly and peacefully for ever.) BRISTOL, 1 1 88. Sciatis me concessisse et present! carta con- firmasse burgensibus meis de Bristallo infra muros et extra muros manentibus usque ad metas villae scilicet inter Sanbroc et Bewell et Brichenebrige et fontem in itinere juxta Aldebiriam de Cnolle omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines suas sicut unquam melius et liberius et integrius eas habuerunt tempore meo vel tempore alicujus predecessorum meorum. Libertates autem quas eis concessi sunt hae, scilicet. (Know ye that I have granted and confirmed by this present charter to my burgesses of Bristol dwelling within and without the walls as far as the boundary of the town, that is to say as far as Sandbrook and Bewell and Brickenbrigge and the spring in the way near Aldbery de Knolle, all their liberties and free customs as they best and most freely and most completely .ever had them in my time or in the time of any of my predecessors. Moreover the liberties which I have granted them are these, that is to say.) NORTHAMPTON, 1189. Has praedictas consuetudines eis concessimus et omnes alias libertates et liberas consuetudines, quas habuerunt vel habent cives nostri Londoniarum quando meliores vel liberiores habuerunt, secundum libertates Londoniarum et leges burgi Norhamtoniae. (These aforesaid customs we have granted to them, and all other liberties and free customs, which our citizens of London have or had, in the best and freest form in which they had them, according to the liberties of the City of London, and the laws of the borough of Northampton.) NORTHAMPTON, 1200. Line 4. ^//^r habuerunt a^^ tempore Henrici regis patris nostri. NORWICH, 1 194. NORWICH, 1 199. LINCOLN, 1194. LINCOLN, 1200. Line 3. Omit vel habent. 5. Add tempore predicti regis patris nostri. GRIMSBY, 1201. Lines 3 and 4. For London subsiitute l^onhava^ion. I 4] Formation of Borough 1 1 OKEHAMPTON, 1194 — 1242. Noverit universitas vestra quod ego Robertus (de Courtenay) dedi et concessi et...confirmavi consensu et assensu Mariae uxoris meae et heredum meorum, burgensibus de libero burgo meo de Okem' omnia tenementa sua et liberas con- suetudines quas habebant tempore Ricardi filii Baldwin! et Roberti filii regis et Matildae de Haverenges uxoris suae et Hawisiae de Curtenay matris meae in burgo et in terra forinseca...sibi et heredibus suis tenendas et habendas de me et heredibus meis jure hereditario. (Know ye that I Robert de Courtenay have given and granted and... confirmed with the consent and assent of Mary my wife and of my heirs, to my burgesses of my free borough of Okehampton, all their tenements and free customs, which they had in the time of Richard fitz Baldwin and Robert the King's son, and Matilda of Haverenges his wife and of Hawisia de Courtenay my mother, in borough and in their foreign lands (i.e. their lands without the borough) to have and to hold to them and their heirs of me and my heirs by hereditary right.) ILCHESTER, 1204. Et volumus...quod predicti burgenses Ivelcestr' et heredes eorum habeant in perpetuum in pratis et pascuis libertates et liberas consuetudines et aisiamenta quae habent et habere consueverunt tempore Regis Henrici patris nostri. (And we will that the aforesaid burgesses of Ilchester and their heirs shall have for ever in meadows and pastures the liberties and free customs and easements which they have and were wont to have in the time of King Henry our father.) DUNWICH, 1215. Has autem suprascriptas^ eisdem burgensibus nostris et heredibus eorum concessimus... habendas et tenendas de nobis et heredibus nostris sibi et heredibus suis inperpetuum bene et in pace libere et quiete pacifice et integre plenarie et honorifice cum omnibus aliis libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus et bonis usibus quos in burgo suo habere consueverunt et quos aliqua civitatum vel burgorum nostrorum habeat sive in Anglia sive in aliqua alia terrarum nostrarum. (These above-written customs we have granted to our said burgesses and their heirs, to be had and holden of us and our heirs to them and their heirs for ever, well and peaceably freely and quietly peacefully and completely fully and honourably, with all other liberties and free customs and good usages which they have been wont to have in their borough, and which any of our cities or boroughs has, whether in England or in any other of our lands.) ' MS. subscriptas. 12 Borough Charters [I 5 (5) Grant of Customs of other Boroughs to Domesday Boroughs^ WILTON, 1 129 — 35. Precipio quod burgenses mei Wiltoniae de Gilda Mercatoria et de consuetudine mea Wiltoniae habeant omnes quietantias et libertates de Theloneo et Passagio et omni consuetudine ita bene et plene sicut burgenses mei Londoniae et Wintoniae melius et liberius habeant. (I enjoin that my burgesses of Wilton of the Merchant Guild and of my custom of Wilton shall have all the quittances and freedoms from toll and passage and every custom as well and fully as my burgesses of London and Winchester best and most freely have them.) WILTON, 1154—8. WILTON, 1204. Line 4. /^9r burgenses r^a^ cives. TAUNTON, 1 135 — 9. Precipio quod omnes burgenses de Tantona homines episcopi Wintoniensis habeant omnes quietantias et tales libertates per totam terram meam de theloneo et passagio et omni alia consuetudine quales habent burgenses mei de Londoniis et de Wintonia. (I order that all the burgesses of Taunton, the men of the Bishop of Winchester, have all such quittances and liberties throughout my whole realm from toll and passage and every other custom, as my burgesses of London and Winchester have.) GLOUCESTER, 1155. Sciatis me concessisse burgensibus meis de Gloecestria easdem consuetudines et libertates per totam terram meam de thelonio et de omnibus aliis rebus quas unquam meliores habuerunt cives Londonienses et illi de Wintonia tempore regis Henrici avi mei. (Know ye that I have granted to my burgesses of Gloucester the same customs and liberties throughout my whole land from toll and all other things, which the citizens of London and they of Winchester ever best had in the time of King Henry my grandfather.) GLOUCESTER, 1 194. Line i. For sciatis... Gloecestria r^^^^ concessimus etiam eis. 5. For avi mei 7-ead patris nostri. ^ For grants of customs of other boroughs contained in the preceding section see Wallingford 1156, Bedford 1160, Northampton 1189, Norwich 1194, Lincoln 1194, Dunwich 121 5. I 5] Formation of Borough 13 WALLINGFORD, 1 1 56. Has leges et consuetudines et libertates at quietantias omnes dono eis et concedo imperpetuum et alias omnes quas poterunt ostendere antecessores suos habuisse libere quiete et honorifice sicut cives mei Wintonienses melius unquam habuerunt. (All these laws and customs and liberties and quittances I give and grant to them for ever, and all others which they can show that their ancestors had, as freely quietly and honourably, as my citizens of Winchester ever best had.) OXFORD, 1 1 56. Ei: habeant omnes alias consuetudines et libertates et leges suas quas habent communes cum civibus meis Londoniarum....Et si dubitaverint vel contenderint de judicio aliquo quod facere debeant, de hoc Londonias mittant nuntios suos, et quod Londonienses inde judicabunt firmum et ratum habeant... sed de quocunque in placito ponentur se disrationabunt secundum leges et consuetudines civium Londoniarum et non aliter ; quia ipsi et cives Londoniarum sunt de una et eadem consuetudine et lege et libertate. (And they shall have all their other customs and liberties and laws which they have in common with my citizens of London. And if they doubt or dispute about any judgement which they ought to make, they shall send messengers concerning this to London, and what the Londoners adjudicate on that point, they shall consider firm and valid. But by whomsoever they may be impleaded, they shall clear themselves according to the laws and customs of the citizens of London and not otherwise, because they and the citizens of London are of one and the same custom and law and liberty.) BEDFORD, 1 189. Line i. After consuetudines insert per totam Angliam. 3. For Londoniarum read de Oxeneford. 4. Omit de hoc. 5. For Londonienses... habeant read de hoc Oxeford cives judicabunt illud sine dubio firmum et ratum et certum habeant et faciant. 6. For in placito ponentur se disrationabunt read in placitum ponantur se disrationent. 7. For Londoniarum read Oxeford et hoc Bedeford. For aliter r^a^ alibi. 8. For Londoniarum read Oxeford. LYNN, 1204 (f). Only lines 3, 4 and 5, substituting Oxford >r London. Line 5. F(9r judicabunt, habeant, rm^/judicaverint, habeatur. EXETER, 1 1 54 — 8. Et sciatis eos habere consuetudines Londoniarum et ita testati coram me ipsi Barones Londoniarum ita libere et honorifice et juste sicut unquam melius habuerunt tempore avi mei. 14 Borough Charters [I 5 (And know ye that they have the customs of London, and thus my barons of London have testified before me, as freely and honourably and justly as they ever best had in the time of my grandfather.) EXETER, 1189—99. (John Count of Mortain.) Line 2. For coram me read coram meo patre. After Londoniarum read sicut scriptum quod habent de patre meo testatur. Haec omnia concessi eis. 4. For avi mei read Regis Henrici avi Regis Henrici patris mei. EXETER, 1200. For et (line 2) to end read sicut carta Regis Henrici patris nostri rationabiliter testatur. BARNSTAPLE, 1154— 62. Line 2. 4//^r testati rm<^ sunt. BARNSTAPLE, 1200. As Exeter 1200 om/tttng Uennc'i. BATH, 1 1 89. Quod cives de Bathonia qui sunt de gilda eorum Mercatoria habeant in omnibus eandem quietationem et libertatem de omnibus mercatis suis quocunque venerint per terram vel aquam de Theloneo de passagio de lestagio et de omnibus aliis consuetudinibus et occasionibus et rebus quam plenius et liberius habent cives nostri Wintonienses de gilda eorum Mercatoria. (That the citizens of Bath who are of their Merchant guild shall have in all things the same quittance and freedom for all their merchandise, wherever they come on land or water, from toll and passage andlastage and from all other customs and dues and things, as fully and freely as our citizens of Winchester who are of their Merchant guild.) IPSWICH, 1200, Quare volumus et firmiter precipimus quod predicti burgenses omnes predictas libertates et liberas consuetudines habeant et teneant bene et in pace sicut eas meliores vel liberiores habuerunt vel habent ceteri burgenses liberorum burgorum nostrorum Angliae salvis in omnibus civibus nostris Londoniae libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus. (Wherefore we will and firmly order that the aforesaid burgesses shall have and hold all the aforesaid liberties and free customs well and peaceably as other burgesses of our free boroughs in England best or most freely had or have them, saving in all things to our citizens of London, their liberties and free customs.) ILCHESTER, 1204. Sciatis quod nos, facta diligenti inquisitione per sacramentum liberorum et legalium hominum de libertatibus hominum nostrorum de Ivelcestre quas habere debent, cum nobis plene constarent quod habuerunt per cartam Regis Henrici patris nostri, quae postmodum per infortunium combusta fuit, omnes libertates quas cives nostri Wintonienses habuerunt, con(cessimus) et presenti carta confirmavimus eis et heredibus suis inperpetuum quod habeant omnes libertates quietantias et liberas consuetudines quas I 6] Formation of Borough 15 predicti cives nostri Wintonienses habent per totam terram et potestatem nostram. (Know ye that we, having made diligent inquisition by the oath of free and lawful men concerning the liberties of our men of Ilchester which they ought to have, and since it has been clearly shown to us that they had, by a charter of King Henry, our father, which was afterwards burnt by misfortune, all the liberties which our citizens of Winchester had, have granted and by this present charter have confirmed to them and their heirs for ever that they shall have all the liberties quittances and free customs which our citizens of Winchester aforesaid have throughout our whole land and dominion.) HUNTINGDON, 1205. Quod predictus burgus de Huntendon et burgenses in eo manentes habeant et teneant easdem libertates et liberas consuetudines quas alii liberi burgi et liberi burgenses nostri Angliae habent, (That the aforesaid borough of Huntingdon and the burgesses remaining in it, shall have and hold the same liberties and free customs which our other free boroughs and free burgesses of England have.) STAFFORD, 1 206. Concessimus etiam eis. . .omnes alias libertates et liberas consuetudines quas aliquis liber burgus Angliae habet, salva in omnibus ut predictum est libertate civitatis Londoniae. (We have granted also to them... all the other liberties and free customs which any free borough in England has, saving in all things, as aforesaid, the liberty of the city of London.) (6) Ratification of Customs of Post-Domesday Boroughs BURY ST EDMUNDS, 1102— 3. Notum sit vobis quod volo et firmiter precipio ut monasterium et burgenses Sancti Edmundi... semper sint in eadem libertate qua fuerunt temporibus Cnuti et Edvvardi regum Angliae sicut cartae eorum testantur. (Be it known unto you that I will and firmly enjoin that the Monastery and burgesses of St Edmunds shall always enjoy the same liberty as they enjoyed in the times of Cnut and Edward, Kings of England, as their charters bear witness.) BURY ST EDMUNDS, 1121— 38. Notifico vobis quod hae sunt consuetudines quas burgenses S. Edmundi dirationavcrunt coram me in curia mea se habuisse et tempore Edwardi Regis et temporibus Willelmi regis et filiorum ejus Willelmi et Henrici et temporibus antecessorum mcorum videlicet Baldwini abbatis et cete- rorum abbatum ct quas eis conccssu totius conventus S. Edmundi concessi et confirmavi. 1 6 Borough Charters [16 (I make known unto you that these are the customs which the burgesses of St Edmunds proved before me in my court that they had both in the time of King Edward and King William and of his sons, William and Henry, and in the times of my predecessors namely Abbot Baldwin and the other Abbots, and which I have granted and confirmed to them with the assent of the whole convent of St Edmunds.) BURY ST EDMUNDS, 1182— 1212. Line i. For notifico read notum facimus. 3. For coram me read coram predecessoribus meis. For mea read Sancti Edmundi. Insert ut a cartis eorum accepi. Omii et before tempore. 5. Omil antecessorum meorum videlicet. 6. Insert ego after qua^. RICHMOND, 1137—45 (J}). Notum sit vobis me (Alanum comitem Britanniae) concessisse et dedisse burgensibus meis de Richemont illam libertatem quam habuerunt in tempore avunculi mei Alani comitis et in tempore patris mei Stephani comitis. (Be it known unto you that I (Alan, Count of Brittany), have granted and given to my burgesses of Richmond that liberty which they had in the time of my uncle Count Alan, and in the time of my father, Count Stephen.) RICHMOND, 1 145 — 75. Notum sit vobis omnibus me (Conanem comitem Richemundiae) concessisse et...confirmasse Burgensibus de Richemund ut habeant easdem consuetudines et eas libertates quas habuerunt et tenuerunt tempore meorum antecessorum quas mei antecessores scilicet Comes Stephanus avus meus et comes Alanus pater meus et mei alii antecessores eis concesserunt et cartis suis confirmaverunt. (Be it known unto you all that I (Conan, Earl of Richmond) have granted and... confirmed to the burgesses of Richmond that they shall have the same customs and liberties which they had and held in the time of my ancestors, which my ancestors, that is to say, Count Stephen my grandfather, and Count Alan my father and my other ancestors, granted to them and confirmed by their charters.) BURFORD, 1147—73. (William Earl of Gloucester.) Sciatis me concessisse omnibus meis hominibus de Burford omnes illas consuetudines quas Robertus filius Hamonis avus meus et Robertus Comes Gloucestriae concesserunt, sicut cartae illius testantur, videlicet istas. (Know ye that I have granted to all my men of Burford all those customs which Robert fitz Hamo my grandfather and Robert Earl of Gloucester granted, as his charters witness, which are as follow.) I 6] Formation of Borough 1 7 BURFORD, 1156^ Et scfatis me concessisse Hberis burgensibus villae comitis Willelmi de Bureford omnes libcras consuetudines illas quas habere solebant tempore comitis Roberti et tempore Willelmi Comitis sicut cartae illorum testantur, et gildam et consuetudines quas habent liberi burgenses de Oxenfordia in gilda mercatoria. (Know ye also that I have granted to the free burgesses of the town of Earl William of Burford all those free customs which they were wont to have in the time of Earl Robert and in the time of Earl William, as their charters bear witness, and the guild and the customs which the free burgesses of Oxford have in their Merchant guild.) BURFORD, 1 1 55— 8. (Writ to Bishop of Lincoln and Sheriff etc. of Oxfordshire etc.) Mando vobis et firmiter precipio quod homines Willelmi comitis Gloec. de Boreford et de Mora sint ita bene et in pace et quieti de omnibus querelis et ita teneant omnes terras suas et omnia tenementa sua cum sac et soc et thol et theam et infanghene- thef et cum omnibus aliis libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus suis sicut melius et liberius tenuerunt tempore regis Henrici avi mei. (I command you and firmly enjoin that the men of William, Earl of Gloucester, of Burford and Mora shall be so well and in such peace and quit of all quarrels and shall so hold all their lands and all their tenements with sake and soke and toll and team and infangthef and with all other their liberties and free customs, as they best and most freely held them in the time of King Henry my grandfather.) NEWPORT, Salop, 1163 — 6. Sciatis me concessisse Burgen- sibus meis de Novo Burgo omnes libertates et rectas consuetudines suas sicut eas melius et liberius habuerunt tempore Regis Henrici avi mei. (Know ye that I have granted to my burgesses of the New Borough all their liberties and rightful customs as they best and most freely had them in the time of King Henry my grandfather.) TRURO, 1 166. Sciatis quod concessi liberis burgensibus meis de Triuereu habere omnes liberas consuetudines et urbanas et easdem in omnibus quas habuerunt in tempore Ricardi dc Lacy scilicet sacham et socham ct tol et them et infangencthuf (Know ye that I have granted that my free burgesses of Truro shall have all their free and urban customs, the same in all things which they had in the time of Richard de Lacy, that is to say sake and soke and toll and team and infangthef) * From Charter of Henry H to William Earl of Gloucester at Chinon in exercitu. 1 8 Borough Charters [16 TRURO, 1 174 — 86. Sciatis me concessisse et...confirmasse bur- gensibus Ricardi de Lacy de Triuereu omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines quas comes Reginaldus avunculus meus rationabiliter dedit eis et concessit sicut carta ipsius comitis testatur. (Know ye that I have granted and... confirmed to the burgesses of Richard de Lacy of Truro all the liberties and free customs which Earl Reginald, my uncle, reasonably gave and granted to them as the charter of the said Earl witnesses.) RUTHERGLEN, 1165 — 1214. Sciant presentes et futuri me concessisse et dedisse et hac carta mea confirmasse burgo meo de Rutherglen et burgensibus meis ejusdem villae omnes consuetudines et rectitudines quas habuerunt tempore Regis David avi mei et illas divisas quas eis concessit scilicet etc. (Know all men present and future that I have granted and given and by this my charter have confirmed to my burgh of Rutherglen and my burgesses of the same town all the customs and rights which they had in the time of King David my grandfather, and those boundaries which he granted to them, that is to say.) PRESTON, 118S — 99. (Reconstructed.) Concessi et confirmavi burgensibus meis de Preston omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines quas dominus Henricus pater meus eisdem burgensibus dedit et concessit et carta sua confirmavit. (I have granted and confirmed to my burgesses of Preston all the liberties and free customs which Lord Henry my father gave and granted and con- firmed to the said burgesses by his charter.) PRESTON, 1 199. PEMBROKE, 1 1 54 — 89. Sciatis me dedisse et concessisse et... confirmasse burgensibus meis de Pembroch' omnes libertates suas et quietantias et liberas consuetudines suas sicuti eas liberius et quietius et melius habuerunt tempore Henrici regis avi mei.... Volo itaque et concedo et firmiter precipio quatinus iidem bur- genses mei predictas libertates et consuetudines suas bene quiete et libere habeant cum additione ceterarum libertatum et consuetudinum suarum quas ipsi memoriter retinent. (Know ye that I have given and granted and... confirmed to my burgesses of Pembroke all their liberties and quittances and free customs as they most freely and quietly and best had been in the time of King Henry my grand- father. I will therefore and grant and firmly enjoin that my said burgesses shall well and quietly and freely have their aforesaid liberties and customs with the addition of their other liberties and customs, which they preserve in their memory.) I 7] Formation of Borough 19 WHITBY, 1 199. Sciatis nos concessisse et present! carta con- firmasse burgensibus de Whiteby omnes donationes et libertates et liberas consuetudines quas Ricardus abbas Whitebiensis ejusdemque ecclesiae conventus eis dederunt et concesserunt et carta sua con- firmaverunt, scilicet quod habeant. (Know ye that we have granted and by this present charter confirmed to the burgesses of Whitby all the gifts and liberties and free customs which Richard Abbot of Whitby and the convent of the same church gave and granted and confirmed to them by their charter, that is to say, that they have.) KELLS {after 1210). Quare volo et concedo quod ipsi burgenses et heredes sui habeant et teneant imperpetuum burgagia sua cum omnibus predictis pertinentiis suis et terris et cum predictis libertati- bus suis et liberis consuetudinibus et cum omnibus libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus quas Galfridus filius Roberti eis quondam dedit et concessit. (Wherefore I will and grant that the said burgesses and their heirs may have and hold for ever their burgages with all their aforesaid appurtenances and lands and with their aforesaid liberties and free customs and with all the liberties and free customs which Geoffrey fitz Robert once gave and granted to them.) (7) Creation of New Boroughs by- Grant of Customs SWANSEA, 1 1 53 — 84. Notum sit omnibus vobis et Francis et Anglicis tarn presentibus quam futuris me (Willelmum comitem Warwick) concessisse et...confirmasse burgensibus de Sweynesse has consuetudines scilicet. (Be it known to you all, both French and English, both present and future, that I (William, Earl of Warwick), have granted and... confirmed to the burgesses of Swansea these customs, that is to say.) CARDIFF, 1 147 — 83. Hae sunt libertates et liberae consue- tudines de Kerdif et de Theokesburia datae et concessae per Robertum et Willelmum comites aliquando Gloucestriae. (These are the liberties and free customs of Cardiff and Tewkesbury given and granted by Robert and William, formerly Earls of Gloucester.) COVENTRY, 1 181. Sciatis me burgensibus meis de Covintr' concessisse et dedisse et...confirma.sse omnia quae in presenti carta scripta sunt videlicet. (Know ye that I have granted given and.. .confirmed to my burgesses of Coventry all things written in the present charter, that is to say.) 2 — 2 20 Borough Charters [I 7 COVENTRY, 1186. Sciatis me concessisse et...confirmasse bursfensibus de Covintria omnes Hbertates et liberas consuetudines quas Ranulphus comes Cestriae rationabiliter eis concessit et carta sua confirmavit, scilicet. (Know ye that I have granted and... confirmed to the burgesses of Coventry all the liberties and free customs which Ralph, Earl of Chester, reasonably granted and confirmed to them by his Charter, that is to say.) PERTH, 1 165 — 1214. Has autem Hbertates et consuetudines illis concede et hac carta mea confirmo. (These liberties and customs I grant to them and confirm by this my charter.) ABERDEEN, 1214. After z.\x\.&m. read ovcin&%. DUBLIN, 1 192. Sciatis me concessisse et...confirmasse civibus meis de Dublin tum extra muros quam infra muros manentibus usque ad metas villae, quod habeant metas suas sicut proalatae fuerant per sacramentum proborum virorum de civitate ipsa per preceptum Regis Henrici patris mei scilicet (here follow boundaries). Et quod habeant omnes Hbertates et liberas consuetudines subscriptas. Libertates autem quas eis concessi sunt hae scilicet. (Know ye that I have granted and confirmed to my citizens of Dublin dwelling within and without the walls as far as the bounds of the town, that they shall have their boundaries as they were set forth by the oath of just men of the said city according to the precept of King Henry my father, that is to say (here follow boundaries). And that they shall have all the liberties and free customs underwritten. The liberties, moreover, which I have granted them are these, that is to say.) DUBLIN, 1200. DUBLIN, 1200. Confirmavimus etiam eis omnes Hbertates leges et liberas consuetudines quas habuerunt de dono nostro dum essemus comes Moritonii sicut eas unquam melius et liberius et integrius habuerunt. (We have confirmed also to them all the liberties laws and free customs which they had of our gift while we were Count of Mortain, as they ever had them in the best and freest and most complete manner.) DUBLIN, 121 5. Concessimus etiam eis et confirmavimus omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines prius eis concessas a rege Henrico, patre nostro, per cartam suam, et a nobis per cartam nostram, secundum tenorem earundem cartarum, salvis nobis et heredibus nostris placitis ad coronam nostram pertinentibus, et prisis vinorum et aliis quae in carta nostra quam de nobis habent de libertatibus suis continentur. (We have also granted and confirmed to them all the liberties and free customs formerly granted to them by King Henry our father, by his charter I 7] Formation of Borough 21 and by us by our charter, according to the tenor of the same charters, saving to us and our heirs the pleas pertaining to our crown, and the prises of wines, and other things which are contained in our charter, which they have of us concerning their hberties.) LOSTWITHIEL, 1190 — 1200. Sciant omnes tarn futuri quam presentes quod ego Robertus de Cardinan dedi et concessi et...con- firmavi omnibus burgensibus meis et hominibus de Lostuuidiel et omnibus illis qui burgagia vel terras in eadem villa tenent omnes honores dignitates libertates et quietantias in quantum ad me et ad heredes meos spectat, quas antecessores mei eis antiquo dederunt die qua villam fundaverunt, scilicet. (Know all men both future and present, that I Robert de Cardinan have given and granted and confirmed to all my burgesses and men of Lostwithiel and to all those who hold burgages or lands in the same town, all the honours dignities liberties and quittances, as far as relates to me and my heirs, which my ancestors gave them of old on the day when they founded the town, to wit.) EGREMONT, c. 1202. Sciant tam presentes quam futuri quod ego Ricardus de Luci concessi et dedi et.,.confirmasse burgensibus meis de Acrimonte et heredibus suis has scilicet subscriptas leges libertates et consuetudines habendas de me et heredibus meis ; scilicet. (Know all men both present and to come that I Richard de Lucy have granted and given and... confirmed to my burgesses of Egremont and their heirs these, to wit, the underwritten laws liberties and customs to be held of me and my heirs, to wit.) BURTON-ON-TRENT, 1197— 1213. Concedimus etiam ut burgenses predicti loci habeant omnes libertates et liberas consue- tudines quas eis concedere possumus sicut liberi burgenses de aliquo vicino burgo. (We have also granted that the burgesses of the aforesaid place shall have all the liberties and free customs which we can grant to them, as the free burgesses of any neighbouring borough have them.) MORPETH, 1 188 — 1239. Sciatis quod ego Rogerius de Merlai dedi... meis liberis burgensibus de villa de Morpathia illis et heredibus suis tenendas et habendas inperpetuum de me et heredibus meis omnes libertates et omnes liberas consuetudines honorabiliter et libere et integre sicuti carta domini regis proportat quam ego habeo de suo dono. (Know ye that I Roger de Merlai have given to my free burgesses of the town of Morpeth all liberties and all free customs to be holden and had to them and their heirs of me and my heirs for ever, honourably and freely and completely, as the charter of my Lord the King defines, which I have of his own gift.) 22 Borough Charters [I 7 HAVERFORDWEST, 1189— 1219. Sciatis me dedisse con- cessisse et...confirmasse burgensibus meis de Hauerford has libertates et Hberas consuetudines subscriptas scilicet. (Know ye that I have given granted and... con firmed to my burgesses of Haverford these underwritten Hberties and free customs, that is to say.) KILKENNY, 1202 — 10. Sciatis presentes et futuri quod ego... concessi burgensibus meis de Kylkenn' omnimodas libertates quas decet burgenses habere et mihi licet conferre habendas et tenendas imperpetuum de me et heredibus meis sibi et heredibus suis. (Know all men present and to come that I... have granted to my burgesses of Kilkenny all manner of liberties which it becomes burgesses to have and is lawful for me to confer, to be had and holden for ever of me and my heirs to them and their heirs.) K ELLS {after 1210). Line 2. For concessi read dedi concessi et...confirmavi. After libertates add et liberas consuetudines. INISTIOGE {after 1206). Line i. After sciatis add omnes tam. For et read quam. 2. For omnimodas read omnes. 4. For heredibus meis read successoribus nostris. 07nit s-Cd\...end. LEEK, 1209 — 28. Notum sit vobis me dedisse et concessisse et present! carta mea confirmasse liberis burgensibus meis manentibus in burgo meo de Lach has libertates subscriptas, scilicet. (Be it known to you that I have given and granted and by this my charter confirmed to my free burgesses dwelling in my borough of Leek these under- written liberties, to wit.) CORBRIDGE {after 121 2). Noverint universi quod, cum con- troversia mota esset inter burgenses de Corbrigg ex una parte, et ballivos domini Johannis filii Roberti ex altera, super quibusdam pasturis estoveriis aysiamentis et libertatibus infra villam de Corbrigg et extra, tandem inter dictum dominum Johannem filium Roberti et predictos burgenses contentio in hunc modum super omnibus con- quievit, videlicet, quod dictus dominus Johannes concessit pro se et heredibus suis predictis burgensibus et heredibus eorum pasturas estoveria aysiamenta et libertates quae habuerunt tempore regum Angliae sicut recognitum est per ipsos burgenses, scilicet. (Know all men, that, when a controversy arose between the burgesses of Corbridge on the one part, and the bailiffs of Lord John fitz Robert on the other, over certain pastures estovers easements and liberties within the town of Corbridge and without, at length the contention between the said Lord John I 8] Formation of Borotigh 23 fitz Robert and the aforesaid burgesses was composed in this manner on all points, namely, that the said Lord John granted for himself and his heirs to the aforesaid burgesses and their heirs the pastures estovers easements and liberties which they had in the time of the Kings of England, as it was admitted by the said burgesses, that is to say.) (8) Creation of New Boroughs by Grant of Customs of other Boroughs BE VERLE V, c. 1 1 30. Notum sit vobis me dedisse et concessisse et consilio capituH Eboracensis et Beverlacensis et consilio meorum baronum mea carta confirmasse hominibus de Beverlaco omnes liber- tates eisdem legibus quibus ill! de Eboraco habent in sua civitate. Praeterea non lateat vos quod dominus Henricus rex noster nobis concessit potestatem faciendi hoc de bona voluntate sua et sua carta confirmavit statuta nostra et leges nostras juxta formam legum burgensium de Eboraco, salva dignitate et honore Dei et Sancti Johannis et nostri et canonicorum, ut ita scilicet honorem eleemosi- narum predecessorum suorum exaltaret et promoveret cum omnibus his liberis consuetudinibus. (Be it known to you that I have given and granted, and by the counsel of the chapter of York and Beverley and by the counsel of my barons have confirmed by my charter to the men of Beverley all their liberties by the same laws by which they of York have them in their city. Moreover, be it not hidden from you, that Lord Henry our king has granted to us the power of doing this of his own good will, and by his charter has confirmed our statutes and laws according to the form of the laws of the burgesses of York, saving the dignity and honour of God and St John and ourselves and our canons, so that he might exalt and promote the honour of the alms of his predecessors with all these free customs.) BEVERLEY, 11 24 — 35. Sciatis me concessisse... et confirmasse Hominibus de Beverlaco liberum burgagium secundum liberas leges et consuetudines Burgensium de Eboraco, et suum Gildae {sic) Mercatorum cum placidis suis et Theloneo et cum omnibus liberis consuetudinibus et libertatibus suis in omnibus rebus sicut Turstinus Archiepiscopus ea eis dedit et carta sua confirmavit infra villam de DUNSTABLE, 1112— 7. Haberentque omnes et singuli heredcs libertates et acquietantias per totum regnum suum quas civitas London' vel aliquis burgus Angliae habuit ab aniiquo. (And that they all and their heirs should have the liberties and quittances throughout his whole realm which the city of London or any borough of England has iiad from of old.) 24 Borough Charters [18 Beverlaco et extra tarn in bosco quam in piano aut in marisco et aliis. (Know ye that I have granted and... confirmed to the men of Beverley their free burgage according to the free laws and customs of the burgesses of York, and their Merchant guild with their pleas and toll and with all their free customs and liberties in all things as Thurstan Archbishop of York gave them to them and confirmed by his charter, within the town of Beverley and without, both in wood and in plain or in marshes and elsewhere.) BEVERLEY, c. 1154. Notum sit vobis omnibus me concessisse et dedisse...liberale burgagium villae Beverlaco et burgensibus ibi commorantibus juxta formam liberalis burgagii Eboraci, ea libertatis lege qua Thurstanus Archiepiscopus venerandae memoriae predecessor noster eis concessit, et dedit, salvis consuetudinibus Sancti Johannis et salvo nostro jure cum redditibus. (Be it known unto you all that I have granted and given free burgage to the town of Beverley and the burgesses dwelling there, after the form of free burgage in York, according to that law of liberty by which Archbishop Thurstan of venerable memory, our predecessor, granted and gave to them, saving the customs of St John and saving our rights and rents.) BEVERLEY, 1182. Sciatis me concessisse et...confirmasse bur- gensibus de Beverlaco omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines quas Turstinus et Willelmus quondam Eboracenses archiepiscopi eis dederunt et concesserunt et cartis suis confirmaverunt et quas Rex Henricus avus meus eis concessit et carta sua confirmavit. (Know ye that I have granted and... confirmed to the burgesses of Beverley all the liberties and free customs which Thurstan and William formerly arch- bishops of York gave and granted and confirmed to them by their charters, and which King Henry my grandfather granted and confirmed to them by his charter.) BEVERLEY, 1194. For Ihies 4 ajid 5 read Et quas dominus Rex pater noster et Rex Henricus avus domini regis patris nostri eis dederunt et concesserunt et cartis suis confirmaverunt. BEVERLEY, 1200. As 1194 but before eis add &\. alii antecessores nostri. NEATH, 1 147 — 73. Sciatis me (Willelmum comitem Glouces- triae) dedisse et concessisse burgensibus de Neeth omnes libertates et consuetudines quas burgenses mei de Kardiffe habent per omnes burgos meos Angliae et Walliae et per totam terram meam Angliae et Walliae. (Know ye that I (William, Earl of Gloucester) have given and granted to the burgesses of Neath all the liberties and customs which my burgesses of Cardiff have in all my boroughs in England and Wales and through all my land in England and Wales.) I 8] Format mt of Borough 25 NORM AM, 1 153 — 95. Notum sit vobis me concessissc.bur- gensibus meis de Noram omnes libertates et consuetudines liberas sicut melius habet aliquod burgum ex aquilonari parte Tinae et sicut Novum Castellum habet. (Be it known unto you that I have granted to my burgesses of Norham all the liberties and free customs which any borough best has, north of the Tyne, and which Newcastle has.) WEARMOUTH, 1162 — 86. Sciatis nos dedisse et...confirmasse Burgensibus nostris de Weremue liberas consuetudines in burgo sue secundum consuetudinem Burgensium de Novo Castello scilicet. (Know ye that we have given and... confirmed to our burgesses of Wear- mouth their free customs in their borough according to the custom of the burgesses of Newcastle, that is to say.) GATESHEAD, 1153 — 95. Et quilibet burgensis de Gatesheved habeat de burgagio suo eandem libertatem quam burgenses de Novo Castello habent de burgagiis suis, (And every burgess of Gateshead shall have with regard to his burgage, the same liberty as the burgesses of Newcastle have with regard to their burgages.) DURHAM, 1 153 — 95. Et ut habeant omnes liberas consue- tudines sicut Burgenses de Novo Castello melius et honorabilius habent. (And that they shall have all free customs as the burgesses of Newcastle best and most honourably have.) ALNWICK, 1 157 — 85. Notum sit omnibus hominibus presenti- bus et futuris banc cartam visuris vel audituris quod ego Willelmus de Vesci concessi et hac carta mea confirmavi hominibus meis bur- gensibus de Alnewic tenere de me et de heredibus meis illi et heredes sui tam libere et quiete sicut burgenses de Novo Castello tenent de domino Rege Angliae. (Be it known to all men present and to come, who shall see or hear this charter, that I William de Vesci have granted and by this my charter con- firmed to my men who are burgesses of Alnwick that they and their heirs may hold of me and my heirs as freely and quietly as the burgesses of Newcastle hold of my lord the King of England.) SCARBOROUGH, 11 55. Sciatis me dedisse et concessisse bur- gensibus meis de Escardeburg omnes consuetudines et libertates et quietantias easdem quas habent cives mei de Eboraco per totam terram meam. (Know ye that I have given and granted to my burgesses of Scarborough 26 Borough Charters [18 all the same customs liberties and quittances which my citizens of York have through all my land.) SCARBOROUGH, 1200. Line i. Ottiit dedisse et. After concessisse iiisert et presenti carta confirmasse. DUBLIN, 1 172 (from the Bristol charter 1172)^ Quare volo et firmiter precipio ut ipsi earn (i.e. Civitatem Duvelin) inhabitent et teneant illam de me et heredibus meis bene et in pace et quiete et plenarie et honorifice cum omnibus libertatibus et liberis consue- tudinibus quos homines de Bristovv habent apud Bristow et per totam terram meam. (Wherefore I will and firmly ordain that they (the men of Bristol) shall inhabit it (the city of Dublin) and hold it of me and my heirs well and peaceably and quietly and fully and honourably with all the liberties and free customs which the men of Bristol have at Bristol and throughout the whole of my land.) BARNARD CASTLE, c. 1175. Sciatis me dedisse et.. .confir- masse burgensibus meis de Castello Bernard et heredibus suis omnes illas Hbertates et Hberas consuetudines quas dedit eis pater meus et concessit tenendas a me et heredibus meis in feudo et hereditate secundum libertates de Richemunt quas dedit eis pater meus et concessit. (Know ye that I have given and... confirmed to my burgesses of Castle Barnard and their heirs all those liberties and free customs which my father gave and granted to them to be held of me and my heirs in fee and inheritance according to the liberties of Richmond which my father gave and granted to them.) BARNARD CASTLE, 1215—27. Sciatis me concessisse et confirmasse burgensibus meis de Castro Bernardi omnes Hbertates et liberas consuetudines de Richemund sicut in carta Bernardi de BalHolo antecessoris mei quam habent continentur. (Know ye that I have granted and confirmed to my burgesses of Castle Barnard all the liberties and free customs of Richmond which are contained in the charter of Bernard de Balliol my ancestor which they have.) GLASGOW, 1 175— 7. (To the Bishop of Glasgow.) Cum omnibus libertatibus et consuetudinibus quas aliquis burgorum meorum in tota terra mea melius plenius quietius et honorificentius habet. (With all the liberties and customs which any of my burghs in my whole kingdom has, in the best and fullest and quietest and most honourable manner.) 1 See Bristol vi 23. I 8] Formation of Borough 27 PRESTON, 1 179. Sciatis me concessisse et confirmasse burgensibus meis de Preston omnes easdem libertates et liberas consuetudines' quas dedi et concessi burgensibus meis de Novo Castello subtus Limam. (Know ye that I have granted and confirmed to my burgesses of Preston all the same liberties and free customs which I have given and granted to my burgesses of Newcastle-under-Lyme.) LANCASTER, 1193. Line 2. Omit easdem. Otnit et liberas consuetudines. 3. Omit dedi et, meis. For Novo Castello etc. read Bristoll. LANCASTER, 1199. Sciatis nos concessisse et hac carta nostra confirmasse burgensibus nostris Lancastriae omnes libertates quas burgenses nostri de Northampton habuerunt die qua Rex Henricus pater noster obiit. (Know ye that we have granted and by this our charter have confirmed to our burgesses of Lancaster all the liberties which our burgesses of Northampton had on the day when King Henry, our father, died.) COVENTRY, 1 181. Omnes autem liberas et bonas leges ilHs concede quas burgenses Lincolnie meliores et liberiores habent. (Moreover, I grant to them all the free and good laws, the best and the freest which the citizens of Lincoln have.) COVENTRY, 1 1 86. Et habeant omnes leges et consuetudines quas cives Lincolniae meliores et liberiores habent. (And they shall have all the laws and customs, the best and the freest which the citizens of Lincoln have.) APPLEBY, 1 181. Sciatis me concessisse et confirmasse burgensibus meis de Appelbia omnes libertates et liberas consue- tudines habendas quas burgenses mei de Eboraco habent. (Know ye that I have granted and confirmed to my burgesses of Appleby all the liberties and free customs which my burgesses of York have.) APPLEBY, 1200. PETERSFIELD, 1183—97. Ego Hawisia Comitissa Gloe- cestriae concessi et confirmavi burgensibus meis de Peteresfeld qui in burgo de Peteresfeld edificavcrunt et manent que qui in illo edificabunt omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines in eodem burgo quas cives" Wintoniae habent in civitate sua qui sunt in gilda • Volumus clause inserts salva justitia mea. ^ v. C. H. reads hotnines. 28 Borough Charters [18 mercatorum et easdem habeant in gilda mercatorum de Petrisfeld quas meus Willelmus Comes Gloucestriae eis per cartam suam concessit. (I Hawisia, Countess of Gloucester, have granted and confirmed to my burgesses of Petersfield who have built and remain in the borough of Petersfield and to those who shall build in it, all the liberties and free customs in the same borough which the citizens of Winchester have in their city who are in the Merchant guild, and they shall have the same in the Merchant guild of Petersfield which William, Earl of Gloucester, my (husband), granted to them by his charter.) PETERSFIELD, 1198. For Line i r.?«^ Johannes Comes Moretoniae etc. Sciatis me dedisse et concessisse et hac presenti carta confirmasse. Line 5. Omit quas to end, and read sicut Willelmus Comes Gloucestriae pater uxoris meae concessit et carta sua confirmavit. CORKy c. 1 188. Johan le fitz au Roi Dengleterre seygnour d irlande &c. Saluez mey aver graunte e done e par ceste moye charte conferme auus citeyns de Corke tout le close tente de ma cite de Corke (? et la^) place la quele en meyme la cite a mon oes setings aforceler- a eux cest a saver e a lour heirs a tenir de mey et de mes heirs a remanaund en frank burgage par tele coustume e rente come les burgeys de bristou en Engleterre rendent par an de lors burgages Et a cloer ma cite de Corke Jee grauntey ausi a meymes mes citeins de Corke toutes les leys ffranchises et franches costumes qui sunt a bristou Pur la quele chose joe voile e fermement comant que les ayant ditz mes citeyns de Corke lour heirs et lour successors aient lavant dite Cite de Corke de meye et de mes successors ceieiment si come est avant ditte Et eient toutes les leys e franchises et frankes coutumes de bristou Et solome celes seient demenes termines e treitees en ma corte et en mon hundred de Corke et par toute matere. Et io defent que nul aucun tort ou travayl a eux ne face encountre les avantdites leys et franchises les queles nous avons dones et grauntes. (John^ the son of the King of England, Lord of Ireland etc. Greeting. I have granted and given and by this my charter confirmed to the citizens of Cork all the closes held of my city of Cork and the ground on which the same city is, for my benefit, to increase the strength of the citizens, to them, that is ^ These two words are supplied from the translation in Cusack's Cork, p. 158 ; where another copy of this charter has been used. 2 This is the best I can make of these two words. 3 The translation is from Cusack's Cork. I 8] Formation of Borough 29 to wit, and their heirs to hold of me and my heirs for ever in free burgage by such customs and rent as the burgesses of Bristol in England render yearly for their burgages. And to secure my city of Cork I have granted also to my said citizens of Cork all the laws franchises and free customs which are at Bristol. Wherefore I will and firmly command that my aforesaid citizens of Cork their heirs and successors have the aforesaid city of Cork of me and my successors as is aforesaid And they shall have all the laws franchises and free customs of Bristol. And according to them they shall be judged determined and treated in my court and hundred of Cork and in every matter. And I forbid that any man do any hurt or annoyance to them contrary to the aforesaid laws and franchises the which we have given and granted.) OSWESTRY, 1 190 — 1200. Et concedo quod burgagia predicta teneant de me secundum leges et consuetudines quas burgenses Salopiae in burgo suo habent. (And I grant that they shall hold the aforesaid burgages of me according to the laws and customs which the burgesses of Shrewsbury have in their borough.) PORTSMOUTH, 1194. Quare volumus et firmiter precipimus quod predicta villa de Portesmue et burgenses nostri in ea tenentes mansiones et possessiones habeant et teneant cum thol et theam et infangenethef et utfangenethef et cum omnibus libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus ita bene et in pace libere et quiete sicut cives nostri Wyntoniae vel Oxoniae vel alii de terra nostra melius habent et tenent. (Wherefore we will and firmly order that the aforesaid town of Portsmouth and our burgesses holding in it shall have and hold their mansions and possessions with toll and team and infangthef and outfangthef and with all liberties and free customs as well and peaceably freely and quietly as our citizens of Winchester or Oxford or others of our land best have and hold.) PORTSMOUTH, 1201. PONTEFRACT, 1194. Preterea concessi et confirmavi prefatis burgensibus meis et successoribus suis libertates et libcras consue- tudines quibus utuntur burgenses domini regis de Grimcsbi quae tales sunt. (Moreover, I have granted and confirmed to my aforesaid burgesses and their successors the liberties and free customs which arc used by the burgesses of our lord the King in Grimsby, which are as follow.) LEEDS, 1208. Line 2. For successoribus read heredibus. 3. For domini (Jrimesbi re(ui Rogeri de Lascy de Pontefracto. 30 Borough Charters [18 DROGHEDA, 1194. Et preterea (concessi eis) Hberam legem Britolli sicut in aliquo loco liberius tenta fuerit et liberius et plenarius in terra domini Regis Angliae. (And moreover (I have granted to them) the free law of Breteuil in the freest manner in which it may have been held in any place and in the freest and fullest form in which it may have been held in the land of our lord, the King of England.) RA THMORE, 1 195 — 1247. Tenenda et habenda sibi et heredibus suis de me et heredibus meis secundum legem de Britoile sicut aliquis earn in tota terra domini Regis Angliae liberius tenet. (To be held and had to them and their heirs of me and my heirs according to the law of Breteuil as any one most freely holds that law in the whole land of our lord, the King of England.) SWORDS, 1 196. Cum omnibus libertatibus et liberis con- suetudinibus quas Gives Dublin' habent, et quas eis rationabiliter concedere possimus et warantizare. (With all the liberties and free customs which the citizens of Dublin have, and which we can reasonably give and warrant to them.) KELLS, 1 194 — 1 241. Sciatis quod ego Walterus de Lacy dedi... Burgensibus meis de Kenlis legem Bristolli^ habendam ilHs et eorum heredibus sicut melius et liberius alicubi data et concessa est aliquibus civibus secundum continentiam rationabilem legis Bristolli ei prima institutione concessa. (Know ye that I Walter de Lacy have given... to my burgesses of Kells the law of BreteuiP, to be had to them and their heirs, as it is best and most freely given and granted to any citizens anywhere according to the reasonable contents of the law of Breteuil, which was granted to it at the first foundation of the borough.) TRIM, 1 1 94 — 1 24 1. Sciatis... quod ego Walterus de Lacy dedi... Burgensibus meis de Trim omnes libertates quas habuerunt et quibus usi fuerunt secundum legem Bristolii^ antequam cartam meam de dono meo obtinuerunt. (Know ye that I Walter de Lacy have granted to my burgesses of Trim all the liberties which they had and were accustomed to use according to the law of Breteuil 1 before they obtained my charter of my gift.) DULEEK, CO. Aleath, 1194 — 1241^ In an Act of Parliament of 20 Edw. IV is a recital : Whereas Walter de Lacy formerly Lord of Meath enfeoffed the then Burgesses of Dyveleke and their successors with divers privileges 1 See English Historical Review, xv. 513, 514. I 8] Formation of Borough 3 1 laws and customs according to the law of Bristol, and made to them divers grants of divers other things as more fully appeareth by the Letters Patent of the said Walter, ensealed by his seal. LIMERICK, 1 197. Et quod habeant omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines per totam Hiberniam quas cives Dublin' habent. (And that they have throughout all Ireland all the liberties and free customs which the citizens of Dublin have.) WELLS, 1201. Quare volumus...quod ipsi et heredes eorum habeant omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines liberi burgi et liberorum burgensium et ad hujusmodi mercatum et ferias pertinentes. (WTierefore we will... that they and their heirs have all the liberties and free customs of a free borough and of free burgesses, and those that pertain to a market and to fairs of this kind.) HELSTON, 1 201. Volumus etiam quod habeant omnes alias libertates et liberas consuetudines quas habuerunt burgenses nostri de castello de Lancaveton tempore Regis Henrici patris nostri. (We will also that they have all the other liberties and free customs which our burgesses of the castle of Launceston had in the time of King Henry our father.) HARTLEPOOL, 1201. Et quod habeant easdem libertates et leges in villa sua de Herterepol quas burgenses nostri de Novo Castello super Tinam habent in villa sua de Novo Castello. (And that they shall have the same liberties and laws in their town of Hartlepool as our burgesses of Newcastle-on-Tyne have in their town of Newcastle.) MARLBOROUGH, 1204. Cum omnibus libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus ita bene et in pace libere et quiete sicut cives nostri Wintonienses vel Oxonienses vel alii de terra nostra melius et liberius et quietius possessiones suas et libertates habent et tencnt. (With all the liberties and free customs as well and peaceably as freely and quietly as our citizens of Winchester or Oxford or any others of our land best and most freely and most quietly have and hold their possessions and liberties.) LYNN, I204(rt). Quare volumus et firmiter precipimus quod pre- dicta villa de Lenna sit liber burgus in pcrpetuum et habeat omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines quas liberi burgi nostri habent in omnibus bene et in pace libere et quiete et integre plcnarie et honorifice sicut predictum est. (Wherefore we will and firmly order that the aforesaid town of Lynn be a free borough for ever, and have all the liberties and free customs whirh our free boroughs have in all things, well and peaceably freely quietly and com- pletely fully and honourably as is aforesaid.) 32 Borough Charters [18 LYNN, 1204 {b). Omnibus ad quos presens scriptum pervenerit, Johannes Dei gratia Norwicensis Episcopus salutem in Domino sempiternam. Noverit universitas vestra nos concessisse et presenti carta confirmasse villae nostrae de Lenn, videlicet toti parochiae ecclesiae Sanctae Margaretae in eadem villa et omnibus hominibus in eadem parochia manentibus, omnes et easdem libertates quas habent burgenses de Oxeneford, quia Dominus Rex nobis per cartam suam concessit ut eligeremus burgum in Anglia quemcunque vellemus, ut easdem libertates quas burgus ille habet, haberet et villa nostra de Lenna et nos elegimus Oxeneford. Et ideo volumus quod eadem villa sit liber burgus et easdem libertates habeat quas habet burgus de Oxeneford in omnibus, salvis nobis et successoribus nostris in perpetuum omnibus libertatibus et consuetudinibus quas habuimus et habemus in villa nostra de Lenna, secundum quod carta Domini Regis Angliae Johannis testatur, quam nobis fecit de libertatibus eidem burgo collatis. (To all to whom this present writing shall come, John, by the Grace of God Bishop of Norwich, wishes everlasting health in the Lord. Be it known to you all that we have granted and by this present charter confirmed to our town of Lynn, to wit, to the whole parish of the church of St Margaret in the same town and to all the men dwelling in the same parish, all and the same liberties which the burgesses of Oxford have, because our Lord the King granted to us by his charter that we should choose a borough in England, whichever we willed, and that the same liberties which that borough has, our town of Lynn should also have, and we have chosen Oxford. And therefore we will that the same town be a free borough, and have the same liberties which the borough of Oxford has in all things, saving to us and our successors for ever all the liberties and customs which we had and have in our town of Lynn, according to what . the charter of our Lord John, King of England, witnesses, which he made to us concerning the liberties conferred on the same borough.) BIDEFORD, 1204 — 17. Let all men present and to come know that I Richard of Grenville have granted and by this present writing have confirmed to all those who shall hold a burgage within the town of Bideford as M^ell on the East part of the water of Torridge as on the West part, all the liberties of Bristollia, as far as in my power doth lie, to defend to whomsoever they shall assign, to be holden and had of me and my heirs for ever, that is to say in such a manner. LIVERPOOL, 1207. Johannes... omnibus fidelibus suis qui bur- gagia apud villam de Liverpul habere voluerint. Salutem. Sciatis quod concessimus omnibus fidelibus nostris qui burgagia apud Liver- pul ceperint quod habeant omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines in villa de Liverpul quod aliquis liber burgus super mare habet in I 8] Formation of Borough -i^T^ terra nostra. Et ideo vos mandamus quod secure et in pace nostra illuc veniatis ad burgagia vestra recipienda et hospitanda. (John... to all his lieges who wish to have burgages at the town of Liver- pool, greeting. Know ye that we have granted to all our lieges who have taken burgages at Liverpool, that they shall have all the liberties and free customs in the town of Liverpool which any free borough on the sea has in our land. And so we order you that securely and in our peace you come thither to receive and inhabit your burgages.) INVERNESS, 1 199 — 1214. Concessi etiam burgensibus meis qui burgum meum de Invernis inhabitabunt omnes leges et rectas con- suetudines quas alii burgenses mei in aliis burgis meis de Scotia habitantes habent. (I ha\e granted also to my burgesses who shall dwell in my burgh of Inverness all the laws and right customs which my other burgesses have who dwell in my other burghs of Scotland.) AYR, 1202 — 7. Et eidem burgo et burgensibus meis in eo manentibus omnes libertates et omnes liberas consuetudines con- cessisse quas alii burgi mei et mei burgenses in eis manentes per regnum meum habent. (And that I have granted to the same burgh and my burgesses dwelling in it, all the liberties and free customs which my other burghs and my burgesses dwelling in them have throughout my realm.) CHESTERFIELD, 1204. (To William Briwerr.) Volumus etiam quod predictum manerium de Cestrefeld cum omnibus perti- nentiis suis habeat easdem libertates et liberas consuetudines quas burgenses de Notingeham habent in omnibus locis et omnibus rebus. (We will also that the aforesaid manor of Chesterfield with all its appur- tenances shall have the same liberties and free customs which the burgesses of Nottingham have in all places and in all things.) CHESTERFIELD, 1213. (To Richard Briwerr.) CHESTERFIELD, 1215. (To William Briwerr.) LEEK, 1209 — 28. Et volo quod predicti burgenses mei sint tam liberi ut sunt liberiores burgenses de aliquo burgo de Staft"*. (And I will that my aforesaid burgesses be as free as the freest burgesses of any borough in Staffordshire.) KELLS {after 1210). Preterea concessi eisdem burgensibus meis omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines quas barones de Lagenia burgensibus suis concesserunt et dederunt. (Moreover I have granted to my said burgesses all the liberties and free customs which the barons of Leinster have granted and given to their burgesses.) B. 3 34 Borough Charters [I 8 DROGHEDA, 12 13. Sciatis nos dedisse.-.dilectis et fidelibus burgensibus nostris de Ponte de Drocheda et heredibus eorum in perpetuutn quod habeant et teneant legem de Breteill cum omnibus libertatibus et consuetudinibus ad eandem legem pertinentibus... Quare volumus et firmiter precipimus quod predicti burgenses nostri habeant et teneant predictas libertates et consuetudines et illis utuntur tam in Anglia quam in Hibernia adeo bene &c. sicut alii in tota terra nostra eas melius et liberius tenent et habent. (Know ye that we have granted... to our beloved and faithful burgesses of the Bridge of Drogheda and their heirs for ever, that they shall have and hold the law of Breteuil with all the liberties and customs to the same law belonging. Wherefore we will and firmly enjoin that our aforesaid burgesses shall have and hold the aforesaid liberties and customs and use them both in England and in Ireland, so well &c. as others in our whole land best and most freely have and hold them.) ABERDEEN, 12 14. Sciatis... me concessisse...burgo meo et burgensibus meis de Aberden jura et libertates quae predecessores mei concesserunt burgo et burgensibus de Perth scilicet. (Know ye that I have granted to my burgh and burgesses of Aberdeen the rights and liberties which my predecessors have granted to the burgh and burgesses of Perth, namely.) DUNGARVAN, 121 5. Sciatis nos concessisse... burgensibus nostris de Dungarvan et heredibus eorum omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines de Bretollio habendas et tenendas de nobis et heredibus nostris inperpetuum. (Know ye that we have granted to our burgesses of Dungarvan and their heirs all the liberties and free customs of Breteuil to be had and holden of us and our heirs for ever.) EYNSHAM, 12 1 5. Has libertates et omnes alias bonas consue- tudines quas eis dare possumus juxta libertates burgensium Oxon' et aliorum in comitatu Oxon', qui melius et liberius tenent, eis con- cedimus et confirmamus. (These liberties, and all other good customs which we can give to them, according to the liberties of the burgesses of Oxford, and of others in the county of Oxford, who hold freer and better liberties, we grant and confirm to them.) BRADNINCH, 1208. In this year King John granted to Henry Fitz Count son of Earl Reginald, a fair and Saturday market, at Bradninch, " cum omnibus libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus quas civitas Exon' habet." (RoL Chart. 183.) I 9] Formation of Borough 35 (g) Preservation of Vested Interests DUBLIN, 1 192. Haec omnia eis concessi salvis tenuris et terris omnium eorum qui terras et tenuras habent per cartam meam inde extra muros usque ad predictas metas quod non possit civitas de terris illis sicut de aliis disponere sed faciant omnes consuetudines civitatis sicut alii cives : de illis autem haec dico qui cartam meam habuerunt de aliquibus terris infra predictas metas extra muros antequam civitati predictas libertates et banc cartam concesserim. (All these things I have granted to them saving the tenures and lands of all those who have lands and tenures by my charter in that behalf without the walls as far as the aforesaid bounds, because the city cannot dispose of those lands as of others, but they shall perform all the customs of the city as other citizens ; I am speaking of those who had my charter in respect of any lands within the aforesaid bounds without the walls before I granted the aforesaid Hberties and this charter to the city.) DUBLIN, 1200. MARLBOROUGH, 1204. Haec autem omnia eis concessimus salvis in omnibus libertatibus civitatis nostrae Londoniae. (All these things we have granted to them, saving in everything the liberties of our city of London.) CHESTERFIELD, 1204. Ita tamen quod burgi nostri de Notingeham et Dereby libertates suas quas habent et habere debent non amittant. (So that, however, our boroughs of Nottingham and Derby do not lose their liberties which they have and ought to have.) CHESTERFIELD, 1213. CHESTERFIELD, 1215. LYNN, 1204 (^). Salvis in perpetuum predicto Johanni Norvvicensi episcopo et successoribus suis et Willelmo comiti Arundell et heredi- bus suis libertatibus et consuetudinibus quas ipsi in predicta villa de Lenna antiquitus habuerunt et habere debuerunt. (Saving for ever to John the Bishop of Norwich aforesaid and his successors and to William Earl of Arundel and his heirs, the liberties and customs which they of old had and ought to have in the aforesaid town of Lynn.) LYNN, I204(«). Line i. For in perpetuum... Norwicensi read ipsi. 3. After villa omit de Lenna. 4. Omit et habere debuerunt. ABERDEEN, 12 14. Salvis libertatibus et liberis consuetudi- nibus quae ante conccssioneni istam datac fuerunt aliis burgis et burgen.sibus infra balliam de Aberden. (Saving the liberties and free customs which, before this grant, were granted to other burghs and burgesses within the bailliwick of Aberdeen.) 3—3 36 Borough Charters [I lo (lo) Disallowance of Charter WHITBY, I20I. Sciatis nos concessisse Petro abbati de Witeby et successoribus suis et conventui de Witeby quod carta Ricardi de Watervill quondam abbatis de Witeby et conventus ejusdem loci, quam burgenses de Witeby habent et quae est contra dignitatem ecclesiae de Witeby ut dicitur, non confirmabitur a nobis, sed volumus et firmiter precipimus quod predicti burgenses faciant predicto abbati quod ei facere debent in omnibus, sicut plenius fecerunt et facere debuerunt tarn ipsi Petro abbati quam antecessoribus suis. (Know ye that we have granted to Peter abbot of Whitby and his successors and to the convent of Whitby that the charter of Richard of Watervill, formerly abbot of Whitby, and of the convent of the same place, which the burgesses of Whitby have, and which is contrary to the dignity of the church of Whitby, as they say, shall not be confirmed by us, but we will and firmly ordain that the aforesaid burgesses shall do to the aforesaid abbot what they ought to do to him in all things, as they most fully did and ought to do, both to the said abbot Peter and to his predecessors.) (ii) Papal Charters D URHA M, 1 1 59 — 1 1 8 1 \ Alexander episcopus, servus servorum Dei, dilectis filiis Burgensibus Dunelmensibus salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. Justis petentium desideriis dignum est nos facilem prebere con- sensum et vota quae a rationis tramite non discordant effectu prosequente complere. Eapropter, dilecti in domino fiiii, vestris justis postulationibus gratum impertinentes assensum, libertates et consuetudines rationabiles quas venerabilis frater noster Hugo Dunelmensis episcopus universitati vestrae cum capituli sui assensu concessit, auctoritate vobis apostolica confirmamus et presentis scripti patrocinio communimus. Statuentes ut nulli omnium hominum liceat banc paginam nostrae confirmationis infringere vel ei ausu temerario contraire : siquis autem hoc attemptare presumpserit, indignationem omnipotentis Dei et beatorum Petri et Pauli apostolorum ejus, noverit se incursum. Dat. Lat. xviii. Kal. Aprilis. (Alexander, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved sons, the Burgesses of Durham, health and apostolic benediction. To the just desires of petitioners, it is worthy of us to afford easy assent, and to give effect to wishes which do not disagree with the bounds of reason. * Hutchinson dates this 1 179 or 11 80. Ill] Forynation of Borough 37 Wherefore, beloved sons in the Lord, to your just requests granting a pleasant assent, the liberties and reasonable customs which our venerable brother Hugh, bishop of Durham, granted to your university with the consent of his chapter, we confirm to you with the apostolic authority and support by the gift of this present writing. Decreeing that no man shall infringe this charter of our confirmation, or contravene it by rash daring : and if any presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of Peter and Paul, His blessed apostles.) BEVERLEY, 1181 — 5. Lucius, episcopus, servus servorum Dei, dilectis filiis hominibus Beverlacensibus Salutem et Apostolicam benedictionem. Justis petentium desideriis annuere eis facilem pre- bere consensum cura nos ammovet suscepti regiminis et caritas ordinata requirit. Quia redemptorem omnium nobis prospicium reddimus cum quoslibet Christi fideles in suis justis postulationibus diligenti studio confovemus, eapropter, dilecti in Domino filii, vestris petitionibus grato concurrentes assensu, Libertates et vestras liberas consuetudines quas bonae memoriae Turstinus et Willelmus quondam Eboracensis ecclesiae archiepiscopi pie et canonice vobis indulsisse noscuntur, sicut in authenticis eorum scriptis exinde actis continentur, et a carissimo in Christo filio nostro Henrico illustri Anglorum rege corroboratae sunt, auctoritate vobis apostolica confirmamus et pre- sentis scripti patrocinio communimus. Statuentes ut.,.incursurum (as in Durham charter). Dat. xiii. kal. Septembris. (Lucius, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved children the men of Beverley, Greeting and Apostolic benediction. The charge which we have undertaken moves us to listen and readily to yield to the just desires of those who seek ; and our well-known kindness urges us to do so. And because we make the Redeemer of all men propitious to us when we give careful heed to the just demand of the faithful in Christ, therefore, children beloved in the Lord, giving ready assent to what you ask, Your liberties and free customs, which Thurstan and William of happy memory, formerly Arch- bishops of the Church of York, are known to have piously and lawfully granted to you, as is found in authentic writings made by them, which have been ratified by our dearest son in Christ, Henry the illustrious King of the English, We do by our apostolic authority confirm to you, and support by the gift of this present writing. Decreeing &c Dated 20th August.) II A. BURGAGE TENURE AND LAW OF REAL PROPERTY (i) Grants of Burgages' BRADNINCH, 1 141— 75. Sciant presentes et futuri quod ego Reginaldus Comes Cornubiae dedi et concessi et...confirmavi Bur- gensibus meis de Bradninch burgariam suam et placias suas sicut illae liberatae sunt et assignatae tenendas et habendas illis et heredibus suis in feodo et jure hereditario in perpetuum de me et heredibus meis libere et quiete et pacifice et integre bene et honorifice in aquis viis semitis et in omnibus bonis consuetudinibus. (Know all men, present and future, that I Reginald^ Earl of Cornwall have given and granted and confirmed to my burgesses of Bradninch their burgary and their places as they were delivered and assigned to them to be held and had to them and their heirs in fee and by hereditary right, for ever, of me and my heirs, freely and quietly and peacefully, and fully, well and honourably, in waters in ways in paths and in all good customs.) BRADNINCH, 1215—20. Line 2. For Reginaldus j-ead Henricus filius Reginaldi Comitis Cornubiae. 3. For burgariam ?'ead burgagia. SWANSEA, 1 153 — 84. Notum sit me concessisse unicuique burgensi burgagium cum omnibus suis pertinentiis scilicet eorum assars et unicuique septem acras ultra nemus et supra Burlakesbroke. (Be it known unto you that I have granted to each burgess a burgage with all its appurtenances, that is to say, their assarts, and to each one seven acres beyond the wood and above Burlakesbroke.) HEDON, 1 1 54 — 73. Sciatis me concessisse Willelmo comiti Albem' liberum burgagium in Hedduna sibi et heredibus suis in feudo et hereditate ; ita quod burgenses ejus Heddune libere et quiete in libero burgagio teneant sicut burgenses mei de Eboraco vel Nichol' melius et liberius et quietius tenent illis consuetudinibus et liber- tatibus. 1 For grant of burgage at Cork see I 8, p. 28. - Copy inserts Arturus before Reginaldus. II A i] Burgage Temire and Law of Real Property 39 (Know ye that I have granted to William Earl of Albemarle free burgage in Hedon to him and his heirs in fee and inheritance, so that his burgesses of Hedon shall hold freely and quietly in free burgage as my burgesses of York or Lincoln best and most freely and most quietly hold their liberties and customs.) HEDON, 1200. Line i. /v^r Willelmo r;«// et tenuras. 2. Omit juste. WINCHESTER, 1190. WINCHESTER, 1215. NORWICH, 1 194. For vadimonia 7-ead vadia. NORWICH, 1 199. For vadimonia read vadia. LINCOLN, 1 194. /v^r vadimonia r^(^?^/ vadia. LINCOLN, 1200. /vr vadimonia r^rt^ vadia. GLOUCESTER, 1200. IPSWICH, 1200. 0;«z/ et tenuras. For \-a.dAmon\3i read va.d\a.. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. For &\s read &di. GRIMSBY, 1201. OwzV et tenuras. i^or vadimonia r^rtflf vadia. LYNN, 1204. For vadimonia read vadia. YARMOUTH, 1208. /^<7r vadimonia rma^ vadia. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. BRISTOL, 1 1 88. Line 2. After debita a^/c/sua per totam terram meam. For eis read ea ipsis. DUBLIN^ 1 192. Line 2. After debita add per totam terram et potestatem meam. For eis read ea. DUBLIN, 1200. As 1 192. * For this reading see 'Critical Notes' in Introduction. II B 4] Tenurial Privileges 83 WINCHESTER, 1155—8. Et precipio quod habeant et teneant omnia acata et vadia sua et tenementa sua secundum consuetudinem civitatis, ita Hbere et quiete et pacifice sicut unquam melius tenuerunt tempore regis Henrici. (And I order that they shall have and hold their purchases and mortgages and tenements according to the custom of the city, as freely and quietly and peaceably as ever they best had them in the time of King Henry.) (4) Hunting Privileges LONDON, 1 131. Et cives habeant fugationes suas ad fugandum sicut melius et plenius habuerunt antecessores eoruni, scilicet in Chiltre et Middlesex et Sureie. (And the citizens shall have their hunting grounds for hunting as their ancestors best and most fully had them, to wit, in the Chilterns and Middlesex and Surrey.) LONDON, 1 155. Quod habeant fugationes suas, ubicumque eas habuerunt tempore Regis Henrici avi mei. (That they shall have their hunting grounds wherever they had them in the time of King Henry, my grandfather.) LONDON, 1 194. For mei read Henrici patris nostri. LONDON, 1 199. As 1 194. CANTERBURY, 1155—8. SWANSEA, 1 1 53 — 84. Omnes bestias salvagias nemoris mei sine reclamatione habeant quas capere poterint, excepto cervo et cerva et senglario et martrino. (They shall have all the wild beasts of my wood that they can take, without any interference on my part, except the stag and the doe and the wild boar and the marten.) COLCHESTER, 1189. Omnes prefati burgenses nostri venari possunt infra banleucam Colecestriae vulpem et leporem et catum. (All our aforesaid burgesses can hunt the fox and the hare and the cat within the banlieu of Colchester.) EGREMONT, c. 1202. Item burgenses non amputabunt pedes canum suorum infra divisas suas ; et si forte aliquis canis sequitur aliquem burgensem extra divisas suas in via, excepta foresta mea defendue, non calumniabitur inde a quoquam. (Item, the burgesses shall not cut off the feet of their dogs within their bounds, and if perchance any dog follow any burgess outside their bounds on the high way, except in my preserved forest, he shall not be challenged on that account by any.) 6—2 84 Borough Charters [II b 5 (5) Freedom from Forest Laws MALDON, 1 171. Quare volo et firmiter precipio quod predicti burgenses et successores sui sint liberi et quieti de comitatibus et foresta et de occasionibus et sectis comitatuum et forestae de canibus suis expeltandis de summonitionibus de auxiliis et placitis et querelis et misericordiis forestariorum vicecomitum et omnium ballivorum et ministrorum suorum et de omnibus exactionibus quae ad ipsos vel ad ballivam suam pertinent. (Wherefore I will and firmly enjoin that the aforesaid burgesses and their successors shall be free and quit of shires and forest, and of pleas and suits of shires, and of forest, and of lawing^ their dogs, and of summonses and aids and pleas and quarrels and amercements of foresters of sheriffs and of all their bailiffs and ministers, and of all exactions which to them or their office pertain.) COLCHESTER, 1189. Nullus forestarius potestatem habeat aliquem hominem infra banleucam vexare. (No forester shall have power to vex any man within the banlieu.) PORTSMOUTH, 1 194. (Quod quieti sint) de placito forestae et de guardo et reguardo forestae. (That they shall be quit of pleas of the forest and of the guard and regard of the forest.) EGREMONT, c. 1202. Licet burgensibus ire in foresta mea defendue ad mercaturam suam faciendam sine arcu et sagittis. (The burgesses may go into my preserved forest to do their trading without bow and arrows.) MARLBOROUGH, 1204. Quod non eant ad placita forestae nisi pro forisfacto proprio et quod non eant ad wardam nee rewardam nee ad venditionem forestae. (That they shall not go to the pleas of the forest except for their own transgression, nor shall they go to the guard or the regard or the sale of the forest.) (6) No Scotale etc. LONDON, 1 1 55. Insuper etiam, ad emendationem civitatis, eis concessi quod sint quieti de Brudtolle, et de Childwite, et de Yeres- gieve et de Scotala ; ita quod Vicecomes mens Londoniarum vel aliquis alius ballivus Scotallam non faciat. * Lawing or expeditation ; an operation by which the three claws of the forefeet of a dog were cut off to prevent him chasing the game. (Cox, Royal Forests of England^ 47.) J I B 6] Temirial Privileges 85 (Moreover, for the improvement of the city, I have granted them that they shall be quit of Brudtoll, of Childwite, of Year's gift, and of Scotale : so that my sheriff of London or any other minister, shall not make a scotale.) LONDON, 1 194. LONDON, 1199. CANTERBURY, 1155—8. NORTHAMPTON, 1189. Line 3. For Vicecomes Lond. read pre- positus. NORTHAMPTON, 1200. Line 3. Fi?r Vicecomes Lond. rm The Soke of St Mary and the Canons of Huntinj^'don. io8 Borough Charters [III 6 BURY ST EDMUNDS, 1 121— 38. Si quis adquisivit terram in eadem villa quae fuisset de burgali consuetudine, quicunque ille sit, faciet consuetudinem quam ilia terra facere consuevit. (If anyone has acquired land in the town which was of burgage tenure, whoever he may be, he shall pay the customs which that land was wont to pay.) BURY ST EDMUNDS, 1182— 1212. Line i. ^(3r adquisivit r^a^ adquisierit. LINCOLN, 1 1 54 — 63. Henricus etc. Episcopo Lincolniae et Justiciariis et Vicecomitibus et Baronibus Lincolniae et Lincolneshire salutem. Precipio quod omnes illi qui de mercato vivunt et mercatum deducunt infra quattuor divisas quae pertinent Civitati Lincolniae reddant communiter cum Civibus meis Lincolniae gelda mea et assisas Civitatis sicut reddere solent tempore Regis Henrici et sicut juste cum eis esse debent in cujuscumque terra maneant. (Henry, to the Bishop of Lincoln and his Justices and Sheriffs and Barons of Lincoln and Lincolnshire, greeting. I order that all those who live from the market and trade within the four wards which pertain to the city of Lincoln, shall pay in common with my citizens of Lincoln, my gelds and the assises of the city, as they were wont to pay in the time of King Henry, and as they justly ought to share with them, in whosesoever land they dwell.) LINCOLN, 1 1 57. Et omnes homines qui infra quattuor divisas civitatis manent et mercatum deducunt, sint ad gildas et consue- tudines et assisas civitatis sicut melius fuerunt tempore Edwardi et Willelmi et Henrici regum Angliae. (And that all who dwell within the four wards of the city and carry on trade, shall contribute to the gelds and customs and assises of the city, as they contributed in the time of Edward and William and Henry, kings of England.) NOTTINGHAM, 11 57. Et quicunque in burgo manserit cujus- cunque feodi sit reddere debet simul cum burgensibus tallagia et defectus burgi adimplere. (And whoever dwells in the borough, of whosesoever fee he may be, ought to pay tallages along with the burgesses, and make good the deficits of the borough.) NOTTINGHAM, 1189. NOTTINGHAM, 1200. DERBY, 1204. NORWICH, 1 1 58. Et si aliquis post mortem regis Henrici avi mei in tempore Regis Stephani a consuetudinibus eorum et scottis se foras misit precipio quod ad eorum societatem et consuetudinem Ill 6] Burgess Franchise 109 revertatur et scottum ipsorum sequatur quia nullum ex eis inde quietum clamo. (And if anyone, after the death of King Henry my grandfather in the time of King Stephen, has absconded from their customs and scots, I order that he return to their society and customs, and pay their scot, because I have quit- claimed no one of it.) DUBLIN, 1 192. Concessi autem eis quod neque templarii neque hospitalarii habeant aliquem hominem vel aliquod messagium quietum de communibus consuetudinibus civitatis infra predictas metas nisi unum solum. (I have granted also to them that neither the Templars nor the Hospitallers shall have any man or any messuage quit of the common customs of the city vi'ithin the aforesaid bounds, except one only.) DUBLIN, 1200. SHREWSBURY, 1205. Quod omnes homines de predicto hundredo qui sunt in scot et lot cum predictis burgensibus nostris infra burgum et extra sint cum eis participes in auxiliis assisis taillagiis et omnibus summonitionibus sicut solebant. (That all men of the aforesaid hundred who are in scot and lot with our aforesaid burgesses within the borough and without shall share with them in aids assises tallages and all summonses as they were wont to do.) STAFFORD, 1206. Quod omnes illi qui in libertatibus eorum esse solebant tam infra burgum quam extra de cetero omnes predictas libertates et quietantias cum eis habeant, ita quod participes sint cum eis in auxiliis assisis tallagiis et omnibus summonitionibus sicut solebant. (That all those who were wont to be in their liberties both within the borough and without, shall for the future have all the aforesaid liberties and quittances with them, and shall share with them in aids assises tallages and all summonses as they were wont to do.) PERTH, 1 165 — 1214, Precipio etiam ut omnes qui manent in burgo meo de Perth et cum burgensibus meis communicare voluerint ad forum communicent cum illis ad auxilia mea reddenda cujuscunque homines sint. (I ordain also that all who dwell in my burgh of Perth, and wish to be in community with my burgesses at market, shall be in community with them in paying my aids, whosesoever men they may be.) ABERDEEN, 12 14. Line 2. Omit meo. no Borough Charters [III 7 (7) Remission of Taxes' COVENTRY, 1 186. Et ilH qui in villam venturi sunt, ex illo die quo in villa edificare coeperint, per biennium de omnibus quieti sint. (And all those who shall come to the town, shall be quit of all things for the space of two years from the day on which they begin to build in the town.) (8) Lord's Veto on Franchise CHESTERFIELD, 1213. (To Richard Briwerr.) Ita tamen quod nullus burgensis vel mercator in ea vel in predicto wapentak' vel in soka habeat libertates vel liberas consuetudines nisi per ipsum Ricardum vel per heredes suos nisi illi qui prius ibi libertates habuerunt. (So that, however, no burgess or merchant in it or in the aforesaid wapentake or soke shall have liberties or free customs, except with the consent of the said Richard, or of his heirs, except those who formerly held these liberties there.) CHESTERFIELD, 121 5. To William Briwerr. (9) Residence of Burgesses HELSTON, 1 201. Ita quod nullus burgensium predictorum nisi residens fuerit in predicta villa de Helleston has habebit libertates. (So that none of the aforesaid burgesses shall have these liberties unless he is resident in the aforesaid town of Helston.) INISTIOGE, after 1206. Est autem constitutto dictorum bur- gensium talis quod quilibet burgensis post primam seisinam terrae sibi factam in eadem villa residentiam per propriam personam vel per interpositam infra tres septimanas faciat vel imperpetuum tenementum suum amittat. (There is moreover a custom of the aforesaid burgesses as follows, that every burgess must make his residence in the town either in his own person or by an intermediary within three weeks of his first seisin of his land, or else for ever lose his tenement.) 1 For remission of rent at Leek see II A 2, p. 50. Ill I o] Burgess Franchise 1 1 1 (lo) Admission of Burgesses TEWKESBURY (1147—83). Et quod nullus extraneus reciperetur per seneschallum clericum seu per aliquem alium ex parte ipsorum comitum ad essendos infra Hbertatem predictam nisi testificatum fuerit per legales homines burgi predicti quod esset bonus et fidelis\ (And that no stranger should be received by the steward or the clerk or any other on the part of the said Earls to be within the aforesaid liberty, unless legal men of the borough aforesaid shall have borne witness that he was good and faithful.) RYE, 1189 — 1219. Et sciendum quod reliquae consuetudines predictae villae a presentibus et futuris eorum heredibus debent jurari successiveque fideliter et integre conservari, sicut carta inter ecclesiam Fiscanniensem et predictos burgenses firmata a tempore Henrici abbatis subsequenter testatur et confirmatur. (And be it known that the rest of the customs of the aforesaid town ought to be sworn to by the present burgesses and their future heirs successively to be kept faithfully and wholly, as the charter established between the church of Fecamp and the aforesaid burgesses from the time of abbot Henry witnesses and confirms as follows. [Here follows a copy of the Charter of Abbot Henry.]) 1 For sureties of new burgesses see Tewkesbury iv B 4. IV. JURISDICTIONAL PRIVILEGES A. COURTS (i) Liberty to Compound Offences NORHAM, 1 1 53 — 95. Si quis burgensium percusserit extra cemeterium sine sanguine et ictu apparente emendationes inter se faciant sicut liberi burgenses solent ; ita quod de fractura pacis nihil requiratur pro securitate. (If any of the burgesses strike another outside the graveyard without bloodshed and visible bruise, they may make amends to one another as free burgesses are wont, so that nothing be required for security for breaking the peace.) WELLS, 1 174 — 80. Volumus preterea si lis aliqua dampnosa intra ambitum messagii alicui eorum (evenerit) liberam habeat potestatem ut administrationes Concordes fiant, justicia nostra nullam exigente inde consuetudinem vel emendationem donee burgenses in justitiam defecerint nisi mortale vulnus vel dampnum corpori perpetuum inflictum fuerit vel etiam nisi aliquis litigantium justitiae nostrae querimoniam faciat salva in omnibus justicia regni et dignitate. (We will moreover that if any dispute sounding in damages shall arise within the bounds of anyone's house, he shall have full power to make mutual agreements, our justice exacting no custom or fine therefrom, unless the burgesses make default in justice, or unless a mortal wound or a lasting bodily hurt was inflicted, or also unless one of the litigants make complaint to our justice, saving in all things the justice and dignity of the kingdom.) WELLS, 1 201. Line i. For volumus preterea r^^irt? concedimus itaque ut. 2. For alicui read alicujus. For evenerit read emerserit. 3. For administrationes read advicem. A/ier fiant add in curia sua. For nullam read in nulla. 4. Omt'i inde. 6, 7. Omit vel ^0 faciat. 7. /i//^r justicia insert domini regis et. IV A 3] Jurisdictio7ial Privileges 113 WHITBY, 1 175 — 85^ Et si aliqua querimonia inter burgenses oritur, tribus vicibus unus alium ut sibi rectum et quid juris est faciat apud domum propriam requirere debet. Quod si sibi in tertia petitione satisfacere noluerit, demum justitiam villae rationabiliter ut rectum faciat quaerat. (And if any quarrel arise between the burgesses, the complainant must three times ask the other at his own house to do what is right and lawful. But if at the third request he refuse to satisfy him, then he may reasonably ask the justice of the town to do him right.) WHITBY, 1 1 99. (2) Liberty to hold Pleas BRADNINCH, 1141 — 75. Et placita villae per visum ejusdem prepositi et secundum burgensium'' meorum considerationes ibidem causent et terminant. (And they shall try and determine there the pleas of the town under the supervision of the said reeve, and according to the consideration of my burgesses.) BRADNINCH, 1215—20. Line 3. /^^r causent et terminant r,?a^transentur {sic) et terminantur. SHREWSBURY, 1205. Quod habeant omnia placita et querelas cum omnibus aliis causis exceptis his quae ad coronam nostram pertinent sicut solebant. (That they shall have all pleas and complaints with all other causes, excepting those pertaining to our crown as they were wont.) (3) Sake and Soke* OXFORD, 1 156. Quare volo quod habeant et teneant predictas libertates et leges et consuetudines suas et tenuras suas cum saca et soca et toll et team et infangenethef. (Wherefore I will that they have and hold their aforesaid liberties and laws and customs and their tenements... with sake and soke and toll and team and infangthef.) BEDFORD, 1 189. TRURO, 1 166. Sciatis quod concessi liberis burgensibus meis de Triuereu habere omnes liberas consuetudines et urbanas et easdem in omnibus quas habuerunt in tempore Ricardi de Lacy scilicet sacham et socham et tol et them et infangenethef. (Know ye that I have granted that my free burgesses of Truro shall have all their free and urban customs the same in all things which they had in the time of Richard de Lacy, to wit, sake and soke and toll and team and infangthef.) * Qu. B. C. I 89. ^ Corr. from burgoruin. ' See also Burford p. 17, Maldon p. 39. B. 114 Borough Charters [IV a 3 HYTHE, 1156. (Sciatis me concessisse hominibus meis de Heia quietantiam de theloneo ) cum sacca et socca at tholl et theam et infangenethef. (Know ye that I have granted to my men of Hythe quittance of toll, with sake and soke and toll and team and infangthef.) HYTHE, 1205. DOVER, 1154—89. (Reconstructed.) /7?r infangenethef rwrV aliquis. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1100—35 (B-text). Si burgensis calumniatus fuerit non extra burgum placitabitur nisi pro defectu curiae. (If a burgess be challenged, he shall not be impleaded without the borough, except for defect of court.) IVEARMOUTH, 1162— 86». Si quis burgensis calumniatus fuerit infra burgum placitet : nisi excessum in alio burgo fecerit, ubi retentus vel per plegium positus fuerit et nisi curia cjusdem burgi de recto defecerit et nisi placitum ad coronam pertinuerit. (If any burgess be challenged, he shall plead within the borough : unless he committed a fault in another borough, where he was arrested, or put m pledge, and unless the court of the same borough has failed in right, and except the plea pertain to the Crown.) NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1100—35 (A-text). Placita quae in burgo surgunt ibidem teneantur et finiantur praeter ilia quae sunt coronae regis. (Pleas which arise in the borough shall there be held, and finished, except those which pertain to the King's crown.) LEGES QUATTUOR BURGORUM. Line 2. For finiantur read determinantur. For ilia read ca. 3. Before regis read domini. 1 Qu. B. C. I 10. ii6 Borough Charters [IV a 4 NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1100—35 (B-text). Loquelae quae in burgo moventur ibidem tractentur, praeter illas quae coronae regis sunt. (Complaints which are moved in the borough, shall be there dealt with, except those which are of the king's crown.) WEARMO UTH, 1 162—86. For ibidem read ibi. CAMBRIDGE, 1120 — 31. Et quicunque in ipso burgo foris- fecerit, ibidem faciat rectum. Quod si aliquis aliter fecerit, precipio ut sit mihi inde ad rectum coram justitia mea quando precipio inde placitum. (And whoever incurs a forfeiture in that borough shall there do right. And if any do otherwise, I command that he be at right thereof before my justice when I command that there be plea thereof.) BURY ST EDMUNDS, 1 121— 38. Praeterea non debent ire extra villam S. Edmundi ad hundredum nee ad comitatum neque ad ullum placitum ut implacitentur nisi ad suum portmannemot. (Moreover they ought not to go out of the town of St Edmund to the hundred or to the shire moot, or to any plea that they may be impleaded, but only to their portmannemot.) BURY ST EDMUNDS, 1182— 1212. LONDON, 1 131. Gives non placitabunt extra muros civitatis pro ullo placito. (The citizens shall not plead outside the walls of the city for any plea.) LONDON, 1 1 55. Nullus eorum placitet extra muros civitatis Londoniarum de ullo placito praeter placita de tenuris exterioribus exceptis monetariis et ministris meis. (None of them shall plead outside the walls of the City of London on any plea, except pleas of foreign tenures, and except the minters and my ministers.) LONDON, 1 194. LONDON, 1 199. CANTERBURY, 1155—8. NORTHAMPTON, 1 189. Line 2. For wWo read nwWo. NORTHAMPTON, 1200. Line 2. /"^r ullo r^a^ahquo. WINCHESTER, 1 190. To merchant guild. WINCHESTER, 1215. Line i. After eorum add qui fuit infra gildam mercatoriam. LINCOLN, 1 194. LINCOLN, 1200. Line 2. For wWq read Hixo^o. NORWICH, 1 194. NORWICH, 1 199. GLOUCESTER, 1200. As Winchester 1190. I V A 4] Jiirisdictional Privileges 1 1 7 IPSWICH, I200. (7/w/ monetariis et. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. GRIMSBY, 1201. As Northampton 1200. LYNN, 1204. C;//// last five words. YARMOUTH, 1208. As Lynn 1204. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. As Lynn 1204. For merchant guild only. LEICESTER, 1 1 1 8—68 (3). Sciatis quod ego omnibus burgensibus meis de Leycestriae et omnibus illis qui in communitate eorum se tenere voluerint, concedo tenere de me libere et quiete ab omnibus consuetudinibus et ab omnibus rebus pertinentibus hundredo et herieto et hoc per constitutos census suos et per incrementum octo librarum. Ita quod neque per placitum neque propter aliquam consuetudinem eant extra Leycestriam sed tantummodo ad coume- cherchiam^ sicut antiquitus constitutum fuit. (Know ye, that I grant to all my burgesses of Leicester and to all who wish to be in their community, that they shall hold of me free and quit from all customs and from all things pertaining to the hundred and from heriot, and this by their appointed rents and by the increment of eight pounds. So that neither through any plea nor through any custom shall they go out of Leicester, but only to the common churchyard, as was appointed of old.) TRURO, 1 166. Et concessi eis quod non placitent in hundredis nee in comitatibus neque pro aliqua summonitioneeant ad placitandum alicubi extra villam de Triuereu. (And I have granted to them that they shall not plead in hundreds nor in shire-moots nor for any summons shall they go to be impleaded anywhere outside the town of Truro.) OXFORD, 1 1 56. Et extra civitatem Oxenforde non placitent de aliquo unde calumniati sint. (And they shall not plead outside the city of Oxford for any plea by which they may be challenged.) WALLINGFORD, 1156. Et si ministri mei vel aliqua justitia aliquo placito vel occasione calumpniaverit illos, vel in causam ducere voluerit, prohibeo et precipio ne ullo modo respondeant nisi illorum proprio portimoto. (And if my ministers or any justice shall challenge them by any plea or charge, or wish to drag them into any cause, I forbid, and order that they shall not answer in any manner except in their own portmoot.) 1 ? ' Communecherchiam,' the common churchyard. ii8 Borough Charters [IV a 4 SWANSEA, 1 1 53 — 84. Burgensis non debet alibi placitare nisi in hundredo ubi calumpnietur de traditione corporis mei aut oppidi mei. (A burgess ought not to plead elsewhere, except in the hundred, where he is accused of treason against my person or my town.) PEMBROKE, 1154—89. Saepedicti itaque burgenses mei de nulla querela extra hundredum suum respondeant nisi de ilia quae ad coronam regiam pertinet. (My oft-mentioned burgesses therefore shall not answer for any quarrel outside their hundred-moot except for that which pertains to the royal crown.) CARDIFF, 1147—83. Item burgenses non debent venire ad hundredum extra burgum pro aliqua summonitione. (Item the burgesses ought not to go to the hundred without the borough for any summons.) TEWKESBURY, 1147—83. Et quod nullus eorum extra burgum predictum per summonicionem aliquam ad hundredum ipsorum comitum honoris Gloucestriae in comitatu predict© ratione burgagiorum suorum predictorum veniret. (And that none of them go without the borough aforesaid for any summons to the hundred-moot of the said Earls of the honour of Gloucester in the county aforesaid by reason of any of their burgages aforesaid.) CO VENTR F, 1 181— 6. Prohibeo et defendo constabulariis meis ne eos aliqua causa in castellum ad placitum ducant, sed portimot suum libere habeant in quo omnia placita ad me et ad illos pertinentia juste tractentur. (I prohibit and forbid my constables from dragging them for any cause into my castle for pleading ; but they shall have their portmoot freely, in which all pleas pertaining to me and to them shall be justly dealt with.) COVENTRY, 1 1 861. Line i. Read ci ne constabularii predicti comitis. 2. Read ^orimATWi^moi for portimot. 3. Read ipsum comitem/at ich wille |>at Wulfuuold abbod at Cherteseye beo his saca wr5e and his socna ofer his hagan land herbinne and ouer his agene men sua ful and sua forS sua hit anige his forSgengen to foren him formest hauede into j^an halgan munstre on alle j^ingen : and ich nelle gej^avien \dX him eni man fram honde teo anig )?are gerihte f'es jje mid rihte to habbe ah end hie him geunnen hebbe. (Edward, King, greets Bishop William and Suetman my portreeve and all the burgesses in London friendly. And I inform you that I will that Wulfwold, Abbot of Chertsey, have sake and soke over his haws therein, and over his own men, as fully as any of his predecessors before him had it, into the holy minster in all things : and I will not suffer that any man take from him any of the rights that he ought to have and that I have given him.) LONDON (Soken of Chertsey Abbey), 1133. Henricus rex Anglorum Ricardo Basset et Alberico de Ver et vicecomitibus et ministris suis London' salutem. Precipio quod abbas Certeseye teneat socam suam de London in terra et aqua bistronde and bilonde ita bene et in pace sicut ipse vel aliquis antecessorum suorum unquam melius et liberius tenuerunt. Et super hoc prohibeo quod nuUus faciat ei inde vel hominibus suis aliquam injuriam vel disturbationem. Teste Willelmo Maledocto apud Burnam. (Henry, King of the English, to Richard Basset and Aubrey de Vere and his sheriffs and ministers of London, greeting. I order that the Abbot of Chertsey shall hold his soken in London by land and by water, by strand and by land, as well and peacefully as he or any of his predecessors ever best and most freely held it. And I forbid that any do him or his men in this respect any injury or disturbance. Witness William Malduit at Bourne.) LONDON (Soken of Knights' Guild), 1042 — 4. Eadward cyng gret .^Ifward biscop and Wulfgar minne portgerefa and ealle j^a burhware on Lundene freonlice. And ic cySe eow J^aet ic wille IV A lo] Jurisdictional Privileges 127 |?aet mine men on ^nglisce cnihte glide beon heora sace and heora socne wur?5e binnan burh and butan ofer heora land and ofer heora men. And ic wille ]7aet heo beon swa godre lage wurSe swa heo waeron on Eadgares da;ge cynges ge on mines faeder and swa on Cnudes. And ic wille eac hit mid Gode ge eac men. And ic nelle ge|?afian l^aet heom aenig man misbeode ac beon heo ealle gefriSe. And God eow ealle gehealde^ LONDON (Soken of Knights' Guild), 1087— 1 100. Willelmus Rex Angliae Mauricio Episcopo et Gaufrido de Magnavilla et R, Delpare et fidelibus suis Londoniensibus salutem. Sciatis me concessisse hominibus de cnithtenegilda gildam eorum et terram quae ei pertinet cum omnibus consuetudinibus sicut habuerunt tempore Regis Edwardi et patris mei. Teste, Hugone de Bockelanda. Apud Rethyng. (William, King of England, to Maurice, Bishop (of London), and Geofifrey of Mandeville, and R. Delpare and all his faithful Londoners, greeting. Know ye that I have granted to the men of the Knights' Guild their guild and the land which pertains to it with all its customs as they had it in the time of King Edward, and of my father. Witness Hugh de Buckland at Reading.) LONDON (Soken of Knights' Guild), 1108 — 23. Henricus Rex Angliae Ricardo Episcopo Vicecomiti London' et omnibus Baronibus et fidelibus suis Francis et Anglis de London' salutem. Sciatis me concessisse omnibus hominibus de cnihtenegilda gildam eorum et terram quae eis pertinet cum omnibus consuetudinibus sicut melius habuerunt tempore Regis P^dwardi et patris mei et sicut frater meus eis concessit per breve et sigillum suum. Et defendo super foris- facturam meam ne aliquis sit ausus eis super hoc injuriam facere. (Henry, King of England, to Richard, Bishop, and the sheriff of London and all his Barons and faithful subjects of London, French and English, greeting. Know ye that I have granted to all the men of the Knights' Guild, their guild and the land which pertains to them with all their customs as they best had them in the time of King Edward, and of my father, and as my brother granted them by his writ and seal. And I forbid, on pain of my forfeiture, that any dare to do them an injury on this account.) LONDON (Soken of Knights' Guild), 1107—23. Preterea dedi eisdem canonicis portam de Alegata cum socca ad eam pertinente : et concessi eisdem canonicis quod habeant soccam dc Anglica Cnicthenegilda cum terris et omnibus libertatibus suis ad eandem soccam infra civitatem et extra pertincntibus Concessi quod homines qui tenent de predictis canonicis tarn in civitate Londoniae quam extra non placitent nisi in curia ipsorum canonicorum ubi * For translation see Addenda. 128 Borough Charters [IV a io placitare debent ; et prohibeo super forisfacturam meam quod non ponentur in placitum de aliquo tenemento suo nisi coram me vel capital! justitia meo. (Moreover, I have given to the same canons the gate of Alegate with the soken to it belonging : and I have granted to the same canons that they shall have the soken of the English Knights' Guild with its lands and all its liberties to the same soken pertaining within the city and without I have also granted that the men who hold of the aforesaid canons, both within the City of London and without, shall not plead except in the court of the same canons where they ought to plead : and I forbid, under pain of my forfeiture, that they be impleaded concerning any tenement of theirs except before me or my chief justice.) LONDON (Soken of Knights' Guild), 1123—35. Henricus Rex Angliae vicecomiti et Baronibus de London Salutem. Precipio quod Prior et Canonici Sanctae Trinitatis London' teneant homines suos et terram suam de AngHca Cnihtenegilda ita bene et in pace et juste et quiete et honorifice sicut antecessores eorum unquam liberius tenuerunt tempore patris mei et fratris mei et meo et tempore Leofstani et ipsi postea et hucusque melius, et super hoc quieti sint de warda et de forisfactura ejus sicut mea propria elemosina quia inde juste debent esse quieti et sicut tarn ipsi quam antecessores eorum semper hucusque inde fuere quieti. Teste Roberto de Ver apud West- monasterium. (Henry, King of England, to the sheriff and Barons of London, greeting. I order that the Prior and Canons of the Holy Trinity of London hold their men and their land of the English Knights' Guild as well and peaceably and justly and quietly and honourably as their predecessors most freely ever had them in the time of my father and my brother and myself and of Leofstan, and as they best held them afterwards and to this time, and moreover that they be quit of ward and its forfeiture as my proper alms, because they justly ought to be quit thereof and as both they and their predecessors have hitherto always been quit thereof. Witness Robert de Vere at Westminster.) 1135—54. STEPHEN. Line 6. For patris mei et fratris mei read Willelmi Regis avi mei, et Regum Willelmi et Henrici avunculorum meorum. LONDON (Soken of Knights' Guild), 1124 — 8*. Sciatis me con- cessisse ecclesiae et canonicis Sanctae Trinitatis London' socam de Anglica Cnithtenegilda et terram quae ei pertinet infra burgum et extra, sicut homines ejusdem gildae eis dederunt et concesserunt. ^ There is another version of this in Calendar Letter Books of City of London, C, p. 221, differing only in line 3. For infra burgum et extra read et ecclesiam Sancti Botholfi. IV A ii] Jurisdictional P7'ivileges 129 Et volo et firmiter precipio quod bene et honorifice et Hbere teneant cum saca et soca et toll et theam et infangenethef et omnibus con- suetudinibus sui's sicut homines predictae gildae habuerunt tempore Regis Edwardi et sicut VVillelmus pater meus et frater meus eis concesserunt per brevia sua. (Know ye that I have granted to the church and canons of the Holy Trinity, London, the soken of the English Knights' Guild and the land pertaining to it within the borough and without, as the men of the same guild gave and granted it to them. And I will and firmly ordain that they hold it well and honourably and freely with sake and soke and toll and team and infangthef and all their customs, as the men of the aforesaid guild had it in the time of King Edward and as William my father and my brother granted it to them by their writs.) 1 1 58. Line 5. After bene add et in pace. 7. Before habuerunt insert melius. 8. Omit sicut. ..end and substitute aliorum tempore. LONDON (Soken of Earl of Huntingdon), 1175. Sciatis me concessisse et...confirmasse Rogero filio Reinfridi socam illam in Londoniis quam comes Symon de Huntendon' ei rationabiliter dedit quae pertinet ad honorem suam de Huntendon tenendam sibi et heredibus suis de eo et heredibus suis per redditum unius bizantii annuatim pro omni servitio ad Pentecostam sicut carta sua testatur. (Know ye that I have granted and confirmed to Roger fitz Reinfrid that soken in London which Earl Symon of Huntingdon reasonably gave to him, which soken pertains to his honour of Huntingdon, to hold to him and his heirs of Symon and his heirs by the rent of one bezant annually for all service at Pentecost, as his charter witnesses.) (11) Privileges of Sokens LONDON, 1 131. Et ecclesiae et barones et cives habeant et teneant bene et in pace socnas suas cum omnibus consuetudinibus, ita quod hospites qui in soccis hospitantur nulli dent consuctudines, nisi illi cujus socca fuerit, vel ministro suo quem ibi posuerit. (And the churches and barons and citizens shall have and hold well and peacefully their sokens with all customs, so that strangers who lodge in their sokens shall pay custom to no one, except to him who owns the soken or to his minister whom he has placed there.) COLCHESTER, 1120—35. Henricus Hamoni de Sancto Claro et ministris suis Colecestriae. Precipio quod Sanctus Paulus habeat socam suam' et omnes consuctudines et libertates suas in burgo et * According to D. B. the Bishop of London had 14 houses and 4 acres in Colchester (D. B. II 11 a). B. 9 130 Borough Charters [IV a ii extra ita bene et plenarie sicut unquam melius et plenarius aliquo tempore habuit. Et homines in ea manentes extra socam Sancti Pauli non placitent nisi prius se de recto defecerit. (Henry, to Hamo of St Clare and his ministers of Colchester. I order that Saint Paul have his soken and all his customs and liberties, within the borough and without, as well and fully as ever he best and most fully had them at any time. And the men dwelling therein shall not plead outside the soken of St Paul, except he (the saint) first fail in doing right.) LONDON (Westminster Soken), 11 35 — 54. Stephanus Rex Angliae Andreae Bucca Uncta^ et civibus Londoniae Salutem. Precipio quod homines qui sunt in soca Sancti Petri sint quieti de busting et fulchesimot ita bene et plene sicut carta eorum testatur quod quieti inde esse debent. Et si quis super hoc quicquam iis clamaret sic inde rectum ubi rectum fuerit. (Stephen, King of England, to Andrew Bucca Uncta and the citizens of London, greeting. I command that the men of the soken of St Peter (of Westminster) be quit of the busting and folkmoot as well and fully as their charter testifies that they ought to be. And if any man raises a claim against them contrary to this, right shall be done where it ought to be done.) (12) Grant of Aldermanry at Canterbury 1 1 93 — 9. Ricardus etc. Sciatis nos concessisse et dedisse et hac presenti carta nostra confirmasse dilecto et fideli Baldewyno de Vernall quicquid ad nos pertinet de Aldermanria de VVestgate infra muros civitatis Cantuariae et extra pro homagio et servicio sue tenendum ilH et heredibus suis de nobis et heredibus nostris in perpetuum in feodo et hereditate per servicium inde nobis debitum. Confirmavimus etiam eidem Baldewyno quicquid venerabilis pater Hubertus Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus dedit et concessit eidem Baldewyno de eadem Aldermanria infra predictam civitatem et extra pro homagio et servicio suo tenendum illi et heredibus suis de ipso Archiepiscopo et successoribus suis in perpetuum in feodo et hereditate per servicium ei inde debitum. Quare volumus et firmiter precipimus quod predictus Baldewynus et heredes sui habeant et teneant et possideant predictam Aldermanriam cum omnibus per- tinentiis integre libere quiete et pacifice tam id quod ad nos pertinet quam illud quod ad donationem predicti Archiepiscopi pertinet de eadem Aldermanria infra muros et extra per servitium nostrum inde ^ For Andrew Bucca Uncta, see Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville^ pp. 305 — 9. IV A 12] Jurisdictional Privileges 131 debitum sicut earn unquam liberius et melius et integrius tenuit Edwardus filius Albodi aliquo tempore vitae suae. (Know ye that we have given etc. to our beloved and loyal Baldwin of Vernall whatever belongs to us in the Aldermanry of Westgate within the walls of the city of Canterbury and without, for his homage and service, to hold to him and his heirs of us and our heirs for ever in fee and inheritance by the service thence due to us. We have confirmed also to the said Baldwin whatever our Venerable Father, Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury, has given and granted to the aforesaid Baldwin in the same Aldermanry within the said city and without for his homage and service to hold to him and his heirs for ever in fee and inheritance of the said Archbishop and his successors by the service thence due to him. Wherefore wc will and firmly enjoin that the aforesaid Baldwin and his heirs shall have and hold and possess the aforesaid Aldermanry with all its appurtenances wholly freely quietly and peacefully, both that which pertains to us and that which pertains to the gift of the aforesaid Archbishop in the said Aldermanry within the walls and without by the service thence due to us, in the freest best and completes! manner in which Edward son of Albod ever held it at any time during his life.) CANTERBURY, 1200. Sciatis nos concessisse et...confirmasse dilecto et fideli nostro Baldwino de VVerrevall quicquid bonae memoriae Rex Ricardus frater noster ei dedit et carta sua con- firmavit pro homagio et servitio suo de Aldermannria de Westgate infra muros civitatis Cantuariae et extra tenendum ilH et heredibus suis de nobis et heredibus nostris in perpetuum in feodo et hereditate per servitium inde nobis debitum, necnon quicquid venerabilis pater noster Hubertus Cantuariensis Arciiiepiscopus dedit et concessit tam de aldermannria quam omni eo quod Edwardus filius Albod tenuit in feodo die qua obiit tam in civitate Cantuaria quam extra quod ad feodum ipsum archiepiscopi pertineat sicut cartae predicti Regis Ricardi fratris nostri et ipsius Archiepiscopi rationabiliter testantur^ (Know ye that we have granted and confirmed to our beloved and loyal Baldwin de Werrevall whatever our brother King Richard, of happy memory, gave to him and confirmed by his charter, in consideration of his homage and service, of the Aldermanry of Westgate within the walls of the city of Canterbury and without, to hold to him and his heirs of us and our heirs for ever, in fee and inheritance, by the service thence due to us, and also whatever our venerable father, Hubert Archbishop of Cantcrl)ury, gave and granted to him both of the said Aldermanry and of all that which Edward the son of Albod held in fee on the day he died, both within the city of Canterbury and without, which pertains to the said fee of the Archbishop, as the charters of the aforesaid King Richard our brother, and of the same Archbishop reasonably witness.) ' This is followed by a grant of other property in Canterbury and a 'Volumus clause.' 9—2 IV. JURISDICTIONAL PRIVILEGES B. MODES OF TRIAL (i) Trial by Battle NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1100—35^ (A-text). Si quis bur- gensem de re aliqua appellaverit, non potest super burgensem pugnare, sed per legem se defendat burgensis, nisi sit de proditione, unde debeat se defendere bello. Nee burgensis contra (villanum) poterit pugnare nisi prius de burgagio exierit. (If any should appeal a burgess concerning anything, he cannot fight against a burgess, but the burgess must defend himself by his oath, except in a charge of treason, when he must defend himself by battle. Nor could a burgess fight against a villein unless he first quitted his burgage.) LEGES QUATTUOR BURGORUM. Line i. After quis insert forinsecus. 3. After legem insert burgi. Omit burgensis. After proditione add vel de them. 4. For debeat read debet. 5. For villanum read forinsecum. 6. For burgagio read burgo. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1100—35 (B-text). Si quis bur- gensis de loquela unde bellum debet surgere appelletur ab aliquo villano vel rure habitante, per legem quam habet in sua consuetudine se defendat, nisi de scelere tali appelletur, pro quo recte debeat pugnare. Nee burgensis debet contra villanum pugnare nisi ante calumniam de burgagio exierit. (If any burgess be appealed of a plea whereon duel ought to issue by any villein or dweller in the country, he shall defend himself by the customary oath, unless he be appealed of a crime for which he ought by law to fight. Nor ought a burgess to fight against a villein unless before the claim is entered, he has quitted his burgage.) 1 Qu. B. C. I 34. IV B i] j2irisdictional Privileges 133 WEAR MOUTH, 1162— 86». Lines 2 and 4. Read appellatur/^r appelletur. 3. Before rure insert in. Read ci vilem for quam consuetudine. After civilem add scilicet per triginta sex homines nisi^. 5. Read per duellum se defendere/^r pugnare. 6. Read si eum appellaverit after villanum. LONDON, 1 131. Et nullus eorum faciat bellum. (And none of them shall fight a duel.) LONDON, 1 155. Et quod nullus eorum faciat duellum. (And that none of them shall fight a duel.) LONDON, 1194- LONDON, 1 199. CANTERBURY, 1155-8- COLCHESTER, 1189. NORTHAMPTON, 1189. NORTHAMPTON, 1200. WINCHESTER, 1190. To Merchant Guild. WINCHESTER, 1215. To Merchant Guild. LINCOLN, 1 194. LINCOLN, 1200. NORWICH, 1194. NORWICH, 1 199. GLOUCESTER, 1200. To Merchant Guild. GRIMSBY, 1201. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. LYNN, 1204. MARLBOROUGH, 1204. YARMOUTH, 1208. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. To Merchant Guild. BRISTOL, 1 188. Quod nullus burgensis faciat duellum nisi appellatus fuerit de morte exterioris hominis qui occisus fuerit in villa et qui non fuerit de villa I (That no burgess fight a duel unless he is appealed of the death of a foreigner who was killed in the town and did not belong to the town.) INVERNESS, 1189—92. Quod nunquam inter cos bellum habebunt nee aliquis alius burgensis nee aliquis alius homo de toto regno nostro super eosdem burgenses nostros de Moravia nee super heredes eorum bellum habebunt nisi tantum juramentum. (That they shall never fight a duel between themselves, nor shall any other 1 Qu. B. C. I 34- ^ The copy in Surtees Durham I 297 adds de centum libris vel after nisi. 3 Qu. B. C. I 32. 134 Borough Charter's [IV b i burgess nor any other man of our whole kingdom fight a duel against our burgesses of Moray or their heirs, but they shall have only the oath.) DUBLIN, 1 192. Quod nullus civis faciat duellum in civitate de aliquo appello quod quisquam versus eum facere possit. (That no citizen fight a duel in the city for any appeal which any can make against him.) DUBLIN, 1200. KILKENNY, 1202 — 10. Item, nullus burgensis mittatur ad duellum de ullo appello quod possit fieri contra eum nisi de morte hominis et latrocinio vel de aliquo placito unde duellum rationabiliter fieri debeat\ (No burgess shall be sent to the duel for any appeal that can be made against him, except for homicide and larceny or any other plea whereon duel ought rightly to be made.) DUNWICH, 1 21 5. Quod licet aliquis eorum appellatus fuerit duellum non faciat nee in burgo suo nee extra burgum suum neque de terra neque de latrocinio neque de felonia neque de alia re nisi tantum de morte hominis exteriorise (That although any of them be appealed he shall not fight a duel either in his borough or outside it, either in a suit for land or for larceny or for felony or for any other plea, except only the death of a foreigner^.) Line 4. Morte is supplied from the corresponding clause in the Bristol charter : the print in the Rotuli Chartarum leaves a blank here. (2) Preservation of Judicial Customs LONDON, 1 131. Et de terris de quibus ad me clamaverint rectum eis tenebo lege civitatis^ (And 1 will do right to them by the law of the city concerning the lands about which they complain to me.) LONDON, 1155. De terris suis et tenuris quae infra urbera sunt, rectum eis teneatur secundum consuetudinem civitatis, (Concerning their lands and tenures within the town, right shall be done to them according to the custom of the city.) 1 Qu. B.C. I 32. ^ * Foreigner' here means, one who is not a fellow-burgess. 3 Qu. B. C. I 231. IV B 2] Jurisdictioyial Privileges i35 LONDON, 1 194. LONDON, 1 199. CANTERBURY, 1155—8- BRISTOL, 1 188. DUBLIN, 1 192. DUBLIN, 1200. NORTHAMPTON, 1189. NORTHAMPTON, 1200. WINCHESTER, 1190. WINCHESTER, 1215. NORWICH, 1 194. NORWICH, 1 199. LINCOLN, 1 194. LINCOLN, 1200. GLOUCESTER, 1200. IPSWICH, 1200. Line 2. For civitatis read burgi Gipeswic et liberorum burgorum nostrorum. GRIMSBY, 1201. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. LYNN, 1204. For civitatis read Oxoniae. YARMOUTH, 1208. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. After civitatis add Wintoniae. LONDON, 1 131. Et si quis civium de placitis coronae implaci- tatus fuerit per sacramentum quod judicatum fuerit in civitate se disrationet homo Londoniarum. (And if any of the citizens shall be impleaded of the pleas of the crown, by the oath which is awarded in the city shall the man of London clear himself.) COLCHESTER, 1189. Line i. For quis civium ri?^^/ aliquis eorum. For placitis coronae read placito coronae nostrae. 2. Be/ore judicatum insert ei. For civitate read burgo. 3. Omit homo Londoniarum. LONDON, 1 155. De placitis ad coronam pertinentibus se possint disrationare secundum antiquam consuctudinem civitatis. (Of the pleas pertaining to the crown, they shall clear themselves according to the ancient custom of the city.) LONDON, 1 194. LONDON, 1199. CANTERBURY, 1155— 8- NORTHAMPTON, 1189. For last three words read consuetudineui civium civitatis Londoniae. NORTHAMPTON, 1200. As 1189. 136 Borough Charters [IV b 2 WINCHESTER, 1190. WINCHESTER, 1215. LINCOLN, 1 194. ^^;- ceciderit r,?rt:rf incident. WINCHESTER, 1190. Nullus de misericordia pecuniae judi- cetur nisi secundum antiquam legem civitatis quam habuerunt tempore antecessorum nostrorum. (None shall be judged of an amercement of money except according to the ancient law of the city which they had in the time of our ancestors.) WINCHESTER, 1215. Line 2. Before civitatis insert ejusdem. For tempore read temporibus. GLOUCESTER, 1200. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. 4//s. for a forfeiture if he be convicted thereof. And if the wife of any burgess utter any insult to her (female) neighbour, and is convicted thereof, she shall pay to the lord 4^/. for a forfeiture, but if the complainant cannot convict her, the complainant shall likewise pay to the lord 4^. for a forfeiture.) KILKENNY, 1202 — 10. Item, nullus burgensis mittatur in misericordiam pecuniae nisi per considerationem hundredi et ilia misericordia etiam in majoribus placitis decem solidos non excedat quorum medietas condonabitur et alia medietas in misericordia reddetur. In minoribus autem placitis ut sunt de pane et cervisia et vigilia et hujusmodi misericordia duos solidos non excedat quorum medietas similiter condonabitur et alia medietas in misericordia reddetur. Si autcm aliquis pro pane vcl cervisia vel alio simili forisfacto in misericordia inciderit, prima vice duos solidos misericordia non excedat quorum medietas sicut ut predictum est condonabitur et alia medietas in misericordia reddetur. Quod si secundo in idem forisfactum cecidcrit duos solidos pacabit; si autem tertio in idem inciderit judicium sustinebit vel dimidiam marcam pacabit. (No burgess shall be fined except by the consideration of the hundred, and 156 Borough Charters [IV 03 that fine even in the greater pleas shall not exceed ten shillings, of which one moiety shall be pardoned and the other moiety shall be paid as fine. In lesser pleas, however, such as pleas of bread beer and watch and pleas of this kind, the fine shall not exceed two shillings, of which one moiety shall be pardoned and the other moiety shall be paid as fine. Moreover, if any burgess incur a penalty for bread or beer or any other like forfeiture, the first time the fine shall not exceed two shillings, of which a moiety as is aforesaid shall be pardoned and the other moiety shall be paid as fine. But if he incur the same forfeiture a second time, he shall pay two shillings; if a third time, he shall suffer the judgment or pay half a mark.) KELLS, after 1210. Line 2, 3. Omit pecuniae and etiam. 6. Omit autem and et (cervisia). Be/ore de pane insert placita. 7, 13. For duos solidos r^a^/ duodecim denarios. 9 — 1 2. Omit. 13. For ceciderit read incident. 14. Omit diWtem. For dimidiam marcam read quinque solidos. BIDEFORD, 1204—17. And if it shall happen that any one of the aforesaid burgesses shall make default or offend in anything in my court, they shall for sixpence be clearly discharged thereof. INISTIOGE, after 1206. Nullus burgensis mittatur in miseri- cordia pecuniae nisi per considerationem hundredi. Et si iidem burgenses in misericordia ceciderint wagiabunt nobis duodecim de- narios quorum sex nobis dabuntur et sex reliqui illis condonabuntur, absque plaga et effusione sanguinis, nisi forte aliquis eorum talis sit quod ad delinquendum consuetus sit. (No burgess shall be fined except by the consideration of the hundred. And if the said burgesses incur a fine, they shall pay us twelve pence, of which six shall be given to us, and the other six shall be pardoned, except for blows and bloodshed, unless by chance any of them be a persistent offender.) FRODSHAM, 1209—28. Et si aliquis eorum incident in manum meam pro aliquo forisfacto inter eos judicato, quietus erit de illo per xii denariorum forisfactum^ a nona diei Sabbati usque ad horam primam diei Lunae de qua scilicet forisfactum contingit (Ix solidi et obolus aureus). (And if any of them fall into my hands for any forfeiture adjudged between them, he shall be quit for a forfeiture of I2nit alicubi. 2. For aliquo read alieno. 3. After debitor read principalis. KELLS, after 12 10. As Kilkenny. BARNSTAPLE, 1200. Nee quod ullatenus Burgenses Burgi Barnestapol predicti cum per terram nostram transitum fecerint pro aliorum debito disturbentur nee disturbari permittantur nisi debitores sint vel debitoris illius plegii extiterint. (Nor that in any way the aforesaid burgesses of the Borough of Barnstaple, when they make their journey through our land, be disturbed nor be allowed to be disturbed, for the debt of others, unless they are the debtors or the sureties of that debtor.) MARLBOROUGH, 1204. Quod nullus eorum namatus sit in terra nostra pro alterius debito nisi sit inde plegius vel capitalis debitor. (That none of them be distrained in our land for the debt of another unless he be surety for it or the principal debtor.) DUNVVICH, 1205. Quod non namientur pro aliquo debito unde non fuerint vel plegii vel capitales debitores nisi ipsi super hoc conventui in justitia exhibenda defecerint, et nisi in locis quibus libertatem et potestatem hujusmodi namia capiendi concessimus. (That they be not distrained for any debt for which they are not sureties or principal debtors, unless, after an agreement to this effect, they had failed in doing justice, and except in those places to which we have granted the liberty and power of taking this kind of distress.) INVERNESS, 1165— 1214. Sciatis me banc libertatem dedisse burgensibus meis de Moravia ut nullus scilicet in terra mea eorum namum capiat pro alicujus debito nisi pro eorum debito proprio. Quare prohibeo ne quis in terra mea eorum namum aliter capiat super meam plenariam defensionem-. (Know ye that I have given this liberty to my burgesses of Moray, that is to say, that no one in my land shall take distress of them for the debt of anyone except for their own debt. Wherefore I forbid anyone in my land taking distress of them otherwise, on pain of my full forfeiture.) ' Qu. B.C. 1 115. -^ Qu. B.C. 1 115, n. 4. 1 66 Borough Charters [IV e 2 WINCHESTER, 1215. Quod nullus eorum per aliquem dis- tringatur extra eundem civitatem ad reddendum alicui debitum aliquid unde non sit capitalis debitor vel plegius. (That none of them be distrained by any without the said city for the repayment of any debt to any person for which he is not capital debtor or surety.) NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. CORBRIDGE, after 12 12. Nulli balHvo liceat dare licentiam alicui forinseco namium capiendi infra burgum, nee colligendi nuces vel glandes post festum Sancti Michaelis, nisi ad opus domini. (No bailiff may give license to any foreigner to take distress within the borough, nor to collect nuts or acorns after Michaelmas, except for the lord's use.) (3) Dealing with Distresses BUR V ST EDMUNDS, 1 121— 38. Si autem inde vadimonium liabuerit et hoc tenuerit per integrum annum et unum diem, et debitor illud degniare sive deliberare noluerit et hoc fuerit recog- nitum, vendet vadimonium coram bonis testibus quantum poterit, et inde suam pecuniam capiet. Si quid autem superfuerit, reddet illi. Si vero inde totam pecuniam habere non poterit, iterum namam capiet pro hoc quod illi deest\ (If a burgess has a pledge for that debt and hold it for a complete year and a day, and the debtor is unwilling to admit the debt or redeem the pledge, and this is proved, he shall sell the pledge for as much as he can, in the presence of good witnesses, and therefrom take his money. If there is any balance, he shall return it to the debtor. But if there is not enough to pay him, he shall take distress again for what is lacking.) BURY S7 EDMUNDS, 1182— 1212. Line 3. For degniare read degnagare. 4. For quantum read pro quanto. 7. For illi read sibi. GATESHEAD, 1153—95. Et averia alicujus burgensis non ducantur extra burgum sed ibidem replegientur si ea replegiare voluerint^ (And the beasts of any burgess shall not be led outside the borough but shall be there replevied, if they wish to replevy them.) 1 Qu. B.C. I 143. 2 Qu. B.C. I 135. IV E 4] Jurisdictio7ial Privileges 167 CARDIFF, 1 147 — 83. Item nullus libere tenens de altero dominio si burgagium habuerit potest namia tenentis sui in burgo extra burgum ducere vel portare^ (Item, no one holding freely of another lordship, if he has a burgage, shall lead or carry without the borough the distresses of his tenant within the borough.) KILKENNY, 1202 — 10. Concessi etiam eis quod si quis catalla eorum pro alieno forisfacto extra burgum ceperit sine occasione reddantur sicut rationabiliter monstrare poterint quod sua suntl (I have also granted to them that if anyone take their chattels outside the borough for the debt of another without occasion, they shall be restored, as they can reasonably show that they are theirs.) (4) Distress on Bailed Goods PONTEFRACT, 1194. Si namium alicujus burgensis captum fuerit super alium, judicatus erit prima die ire ad liberandum illud propriis expensis, quod si facere noluerit per proprium ire namium I (If the goods of any burgess shall be taken on another by way of distress, that other shall be ordered on the first court day to go and deliver the distress at his own costs, and if he will not do so, his own goods shall be taken in distress.) LEEDS, 120^. Line 2. Omit\x&. 1 Qu. B.C. I 135. 2 Qu. B.C. I 115. 3 Qu. B. C. I 149. V. MERCANTILE PRIVILEGES A. MARKETS AND FAIRS (i) Ban of Trade to Borough NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1 100—35 (A-text). Quicquid merca- turae navis per mare advexerit ad terram debet ferri praeter sal et allec (quae) debet vendi in navim. (Whatever merchandise a ship may bring by sea, must be brought on to the land, except salt and herrings, which must be sold on shipboard.) LEGES QUATTUOR BURGORUM. Line i. For quicquid mercaturae rt'rt^/ quascunque mercaturas. 2. For advexerit read adduxerit. 3. For allec (quae) debet read alleces quae debent. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1100—35 (B-text). Mercandisae quae per mare burgo adportantur ad terram portari debent praeter sal et alleces quae in navi debent vendi. (Merchandise, which is brought by sea to the borough, must be carried to land, except salt and herrings, which must be sold on shipboard.) WEARMOUTH, 1162—86. Line i. For mercandisae read mercationes. 3. Add at end vel in burgo ad libitum venditoris. CAMBRIDGE, 1120 — 31. Prohibeo ne aliqua navis applicet ad aliquod litus de Cantebrugeseira nisi ad litus de burgo meo de Cantebruge, neque carece onerantur nisi in burgo de Cantebruge, neque aliquis capiat alibi theloneum nisi ibi. (I forbid any ship touching at any hythe of Cambridgeshire except at the hythe of my borough of Cambridge, nor shall barges be loaded except in the borough of Cambridge, nor shall any take toll elsewhere except there.) LINCOLN, 1 1 54 — 79. Henricus etc. vicecomitibus et ministris suis de Lincolscire. Precipio quod faciatis forinsecos mercatores venire ad Lincolniam et ibi facere mercaturas suas ita rationabiliter et juste sicut facere solebant tempore Henrici Regis avi mei, ne prepositi mei Lincolniae amittant meas regias consuetudines. (Henry II to his sheriffs and ministers of Lincolnshire. I ordain that you make foreign merchants come to Lincoln and do their trading there as reasonably and justly as they were wont to do in the time of King Henry my grandfather, so that my reeves of Lincoln may not lose my royal customs.) Va i] Mercantile Privileges 169 NOTTINGHAM, 1157. Homines etiam de Notingehamsire et de Derbescire venire debent ad burgum de Notingeham die Veneris et Sabbati cum quadrigis et summagiis suis. (The men also of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire ought to come to the borough of Nottingham on Fridays and Saturdays with their wagons and sumpter horses.) NOTTINGHAM, 1189. NOTTINGHAM, 1200. DERBY, 1204. Line 2. For die Veneris et Sabbati read d\e Jovis et die Veneris. NOTTINGHAM, 11 57. Nee aliquis infra decern leucas in circuitu de Notingeham tinctos pannos operari debet nisi in burgo de Notingeham. (None ought to work dyed cloths within a radius of ten leagues of Nottingham, except in the borough of Nottingham.) NOTTINGHAM, 1189. NOTTINGHAM, 1200. DERBY, 1204. Add saXva. libertate burgi de Notingeham. PEMBROKE, 1 1 54 — 89. Ut omnes naves quae cum mercatura ad portum Milford intrant si in terra emere vel vendere voluerint veniant ad pontem Pembroch' et ibi vendant vel emant. Si autem noluerint ad Crucem expectent auram suam donantes legitimas consuetudines suas. Et ut omnis mercatura quae in comitatu Pembroch' emitur ut in Anglia ducatur, ad pontem Pembroch' skippare debeat, vel ad Tynebiam per consuetudines suas donandas. (That all ships which enter with merchandise into the port of Milford shall come to Pembroke bridge, if they wish to buy or sell in the land, and shall there buy and sell. But if they are unwilling (to trade), they shall wait their breeze at the cross, paying their lawful customs. And that all merchandise which is bought in the county of Pembroke to be exported to England, must be shipped at Pembroke bridge, or at Tynebia, on payment of their customs.) I LC HESTER, 1204. Quod omnes res venales quae transierint pontem... versus Ivelcestre applicet apud Ivelcestre et non alibi. (That all saleable articles which cross the bridge towards Ilchester shall touch at Ilchester and not elsewhere.) PERTH, 1 165 — 1214. Prohibco firmiter nc quis mercator ex- traneus infra vicecomitatum de Perth extra burgum meum de Perth aliquid emat vel vendat super meam defensionem, sed mercator extraneus veniat cum mercandisis suis ad burgum meum de Perth et ibi eas vendat et denarios suos implicet. Si quis vero mercator 170 Borough Charters [Va i extraneus super hanc defensionem meam inventus fuerit in vice- comitatu de Perth aliquid emens vel vendens capiatur et detineatur donee voluntatem meam de eo precepero. Prohibeo etiam firmiter ne quis extraneus extra burgum meum de Perth emat vel vendat coria vel lanam nisi in burgo meo de Perth. (I firmly forbid any foreign merchant within the sheriffdom of Perth buying or selling anything except in my burgh of Perth against my prohibition, but the foreign merchant shall come with his merchandise to my burgh of Perth, and shall there sell them and pay his pence (for customs). If any foreign merchant in defiance of this my prohibition is found in the sheriffdom of Perth buying or selling anything, he shall be taken and detained till I declare my will concerning him. I also firmly forbid any foreigner without my burgh of Perth from buying or selling hides or wool, except within my burgh of Perth.) ABERDEEN, 1214. Line 3. For mercator read mercatores, with consequent alterations. 4. For veniat cum mercandisis read deferant merchaturas. 3, 7. For aliquid read aliquod. 6. Omit hanc. RUTHERGLEN, 1165 — 1214. Et prohibeo firmiter ne aliquis educat aliquid ad vendendum infra divisas prenominatas nisi prius fuerit ad burgum de Rutherglen. (And I firmly forbid any from taking out anything for sale within the aforesaid bounds, unless it has first been (exposed) at the burgh of Rutherglen.) INVERNESS, 1199— 1214. Et ut nullus infra bailliam de Invernis faciat extra burgum meum pannum tinctum vel tonsum contra assisam Regis David avi mei et meam. Et si quis pannus inventus fuerit tinctus vel tonsus factus contra hanc meam defensionem precipio ut vicecomes de Invernis pannum ilium capiat et inde faciat sicut consuetude et assisa fuit tempore Regis David avi mei nisi forte alicui libertatem talem per cartam meam dederim. Prohibeo etiam firmiter ne quis emat vel vendat extra burgum meum aliquid quod sit contra assisam Regis David avi mei et meam. (And that none within the bailliwick of Inverness shall make dyed or shorn cloth without my burgh against the assize of King David, my grand- father, and mine. And if any dyed or shorn cloth shall be found, which is made contrary to this my prohibition, I order the sheriff of Inverness to take it and do with it as was the custom and assize in the time of King David my grandfather, unless by chance I have given this liberty to any by my charter. And I firmly forbid any from buying or selling without my burgh anything which is contrary to the assize of King David my grandfather and mine.) V A 2] Mercantile Privileges 1 7 1 (2) Grant of Market^ GLASGOW (i 175—7). (To the Bishop of Glasgow.) Cum foro die Jovis bene et honorifice quiete et plenarie. (With a market on Thursday, well and honourably, quietly and fully.) ELVET, 1188 — 1219. Si vero nos, per gratiam et licentiam Domini nostri Episcopi, forum vel nundinas in eodem burgo poterimus adipisci, omnes rectitudines, quae ad forum et ad nundinas pertinent ad nos omnino spectabunt. (But if we, through the favour and license of our Lord Bishop, can acquire a market or fair in the same borough, all the rights which pertain to a market and fair shall belong to us.) PORTSMOUTH, 1194. Quod burgenses nostri in eodem burgo habeant singuHs hebdomadis anni una die septimanae scilicet die Jovis mercatum cum omnibus libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus quas cives nostri Wintoniae vel Oxoniae vel alii terrarum nostrarum habent vel habere debent^ PORTSMOUTH, 1201. MARLBOROUGH, 1204. Line i. After nostri add At Merleberge et heredes eorum. 2. For hebdomadis read septimanis. For una die read duobus diebus. 3. For Jovis read Mercurii et die Sabbati. 5. After debent add in mercatis suis. BRIDGEWATER, 1200. (To William Briwerr.) Quod ibi sit liberum mercatum. (That there shall be a free market.) WELLS, 1201. Quod ibi liberum sit mercatum singulis dominicis diebus sicut ibi est et esse consuevit. (That there shall be a free market every Sunday as there is now and is wont to be.) CHESTERFIELD, 1213. (To Richard Briwerr.) Et preterea unum mercatum ibidem singulis septimanis per duos dies duraturum die Mercurii et die Sabbati cum omnibus libertatibus ad feriam et mercatum pertinentibusl CHESTERFIELD, 1215. (To William Briwerr.) * For the Sunday market at Pevensey see p. 175. For grant of market at Arbroath see p. i. * For translation see Addenda. 172 Borough Charters [Va 2 INVERNESS, 1 199— 12 14. Sdatis...me constituisse diem fori in burgo meo de Invernis scilicet diem sabbati in qualibet ebdomada. (Know ye that I have appointed a market day in my burgh of Inverness, to wit, Saturday in every week.) AYR, 1202 — 7. Assedi etiam in eo quolibet die Sabbati diem fori. (I have established also in it a market day on every Saturday.) ABERDEEN, 12 14. Ut habeant forum suum die sabbati in qualibet ebdomada. (That they may have their market on Saturday in every week.) (3) Grant of Fair PEMBROKE, 1 1 54 — 89. ...Me dedisse et concessisse eisdem burgensibus meis nundinas octo dierum in festo apostolorum Petri et Pauli et omnibus ad eam venientibus firmam pacem meam exceptis illis qui pacem meam forisfecerint, et easdem libertates et consue- tudines nundinae habeant quas habet forum meum in eadem villa die dominico. (I have given and granted to my said burgesses a fair for eight days at the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and have granted to all who shall come to it my firm peace, except to those who have forfeited my peace, and they shall have the same liberties and customs in the fair which my market has in the same town on Sundays.) PRESTON, 1188—99 (Reconstructed). Et nundinas suas apud Preston ad AssumptionemBeatae Mariae liberasper octo dies duraturas. (And their free fair at Preston at the Assumption of the Blessed Mary to continue for eight days.) PRESTON, 1 199. PORTSMOUTH, 1 194. Sciatis nos retinuisse in manum nostram burgum nostrum de Portesmue cum omnibus ad eum pertinentibus et in eo stabilisse et dedisse et concessisse nundinas duraturas semel in anno per quindecem dies ad Vincula Sancti Petri scilicet. (Know ye that we have retained our borough of Portsmouth in our own hand with all its appurtenances, and in it have established and given and granted a fair to continue, once a year, for fifteen days, at the Feast of St Peter's chains.) PORTSMOUTH, 1201. MARLBOROUGH, 1204. Line 3. After nundinas read singulis annis per octo dies duraturas Va3] Mercantile Privileges 173 in festo Assumptionis Beatae Mariae scilicet vigilia ejusdem festi et septeni diebus sequentibus. (...fair every year to continue for eight days at the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Mary, to wit, on the Eve of the said Feast, and for seven days following.) WELLS, I20i^ (Bp Savaric.) Statuimus etiam et in perpetuum concedimus ut quicunque illic in quattuor festivitatibus quacunque negotiationis causa convenerint, scilicet in inventione Sanctae Crucis, in festivitate Sancti Kalixti, in festivitate Sancti Andreae, in die anniversario dedicationis capellae beati Thomae Martyris qui est dies crastina sancti Johannis Baptistae in plateis burgi illius negotiationes suas fecerint et ab omni prava consuetudine et inquietudine et molestia et exactione liberi exerceant, et nullatenus ecclesiam Wel- lensem et atrium ecclesiae negotiaturi intrare vel violare presumant. Concedentes et in perpetuum statuentes ut omnes ibi convenientes quieti sint in perpetuo de theloneo in omnibus predictis festivitatibus et eorum vigiliis et crastino earumdem ut per triduum ilia gaudent libertate in singulis festivitatibus supra nominatis. (We also determine and for ever grant that whoever shall come there at the four feasts, for the sake of trading, to wit, at the feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, at the feast of St Kalixtus, at the feast of St Andrew, and on the anniversary of the dedication of the Chapel of the Blessed Thomas the Martyr, that is the morrow of St John the Baptist, shall do their business in the streets of the borough, and shall be free from all evil custom and dis- turbance and hindrance and exaction, and shall by no means presume to enter or desecrate the church of Wells or the church-porch to sell their merchandise. Granting and decreeing for ever that all coming together there shall be quit of toll for ever in all the aforesaid feasts and their eves and morrows, so that for three days they may enjoy that liberty in the above-named feasts.) WELLS, 1 201. Et liberae feriae sicut annuatim ibi esse solent, in festo beati Andreae, beati Calixti, in Inventione Sanctae Crucis, in crastino beati Johannis Baptistae, et preterea una feria de dono nostro singulis annis in translatione beati Andreae per octo dies duratura infra vicos ejusdem burgi in locis quibus predicta feria beati Andreae ibidem teneri consuevit, nisi sit ad nocumentum vici- narum feriarum. (And free fairs, as they were wont to be there every year, in the feast of the blessed Andrew, of the blessed Calixtus, in the Invention of the Holy * This is practically a repetition of a clause in a charter of Bishop Robert (1136 — 66), which was confirmed by Bishop Reginald (1174 — 80), who however reserved to himself half the hire of the selds ; but the fair on St Thomas' Day was added by Savaric. 174 Borough Charters [Va 3 Cross, and on the morrow of the blessed John the Baptist, and moreover, one fair of our own gift every year, at the Translation of the blessed Andrew, to continue for eight days in the streets of the same borough in the places in which the aforesaid fair of the blessed Andrew was wont to be held, provided that it be not a nuisance to neighbouring fairs.) BRIDGEWATER, 1200. (To William Briwerr.) Et una feria singulis annis per octo dies duratura scilicet a die Nativitatis Beati Johannis Baptistae in octo dies. (And one fair every year lasting for eight days, to wit, from the Nativity of the blessed John the Baptist for eight days.) CHESTERFIELD, 1213. (To Richard Briwerr.) Line 2. For scilicet to end read in exaltatione Sanctae Crucis. CHESTERFIELD, 1215. (To WiUiam Briwerr.) As 1213. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. Concessimus eis feriam suam in septimana Rogationum cum libertatibus suis sicut eam habere consueverunt. (We have granted them their fair in Rogation week with its liberties, as they were wont to have it.) PEMBROKE, 1 201. Concessimus etiam eis et confirmavimus unam feriam singulis annis per tres dies duraturam videlicet vigilia Sancti Johannis Baptistae et die festi et in crastino, ita tamen quod non sit ad nocumentum vicinarum feriarum. (We have also granted and confirmed to them a fair every year to continue for three days, to wit, on the Eve of St John the Baptist and on the feast day and the morrow, provided that it be not a nuisance to the neighbouring fairs.) I LC HESTER, 1204. Et quod habeant unam feriam singulis annis apud Ivelcestre per unum diem duraturam scilicet die Decolla- tionis S. Johannis Baptistae cum omnibus libertatibus et hberis consuetudinibus ad hujusmodi ferias pertinentibus quum banc cum aliis predictis per cartam predicti Regis Henrici patris nostri habuerunt. (And that they shall have one fair every year at Ilchester lasting for one day, to wit on the day of the Beheading of St John the Baptist, with all the liberties and free customs pertaining to fairs of this kind, since they had this fair with all the other aforesaid customs by a charter of King Henry our father.) SHREWSBURY, 1205. Et quod habeant apud Salopesberia unam feriam singulis annis per tres dies duraturam scilicet prima die Junii et duobus diebus sequentibus ita tamen quod non sit ad nocumentum vicinarum feriarum. (And that they shall have at Shrewsbury a fair every year to continue for three days, to wit on the first day of June and for two days following, provided that it is not a nuisance to the neighbouring fairs.) Va 3] Mercantile Privileges 175 ANDOVER, 1205, May 29. Preterea concessimus et confirma- vimus predictis burgensibus nostris de Andevra quod habcant unam feriam ibidem singulis (annis) per quattuor dies duraturam, scilicet vigilia Sancti Leonardi et tribus diebus sequentibus, ita tamen quod non sit ad nocumentum vicinarum feriarum. (Moreover, we have granted and confirmed to our said burgesses of Andover that they shall have a fair there every year to last for four days, to wit, on the eve of St Leonard and for three days following, provided that it is not a nuisance to neighbouring fairs.) PEVENSEY, 1207. Preterea concessimus predictis baronibus nostris de Pevenesel quod liabeant singulis annis ibidem unam feriam per septem dies duraturam scilicet tres dies proximos ante diem natalem Sancti Johannis Baptistae et ipso die et per tres dies proximos sequentes et unum mercatum singulis diebus dominicis, ita tamen quod predicta feria et predictum mercatum non sint ad nocumentum vicinarum feriarum (et) vicinorum mercatorum. (Moreover, we have granted to our aforesaid barons of Pevensey that they may have there every year a fair to continue for seven days, to wit, three days next before the Birthday of St John the Baptist, and the feast day, and the three following days, and a market on every Sunday, provided that the afore- said fair and market shall not be a nuisance to the neighbouring fairs and markets.) DUBLIN, 1 21 5, Quod habeant unam feriam singulis annis apud Dublin' infra metas suas incipientem in vigilia Inventionis Sanctae Crucis et duraturam per quindecim dies, salva domino archiepiscopo predicta feria per duos dies videlicet in vigilia Inven- tionis predicta et ipsa die Inventionis. (That they shall have a fair every year at Dublin within their own bounds beginning on the eve of the Finding of the Holy Cross and continuing for fifteen days, saving to the Lord Archbishop the aforesaid fair for two days, to wit, on the said Eve of the Finding, and on the day of the Finding.) DROITWICH, 12 1 5. Quod habeant unam feriam singulis annis in eadem villa de Wich incipientem die Translationis Sanctorum Andreae et Nicholai quae est nono die Maii et duraturam per octo dies subsequentes cum omnibus libertatibus ad hujusmodi feriam pertinentibus. (That they may have a fair every year in the same town of Wich beginning on the day of the Translation of Saints Andrew and Nicholas, which is the ninth day of May, and continuing for eight days following, with all the liberties pertaining to a fair of this kind.) 1^6 Borough Charters [V a 4 (4) Grant of Toll BEVERLEY, c. 11 30. Concedo etiam eis Theloneum in per- petuum pro v et iii marcis annuatim ; praeterquam in tribus festis in quibus theloneum ad nos et ad canonicos spectat, in festo scilicet Sancti Johannis Confessoris in Maio, et in festo Translationis Sancti Johannis et in Nativitate Sancti Johannis Baptistae: in his vero tribus festis omnes burgenses de Beverlaco ab omni theloneo liberos et quietos dimisi. (I also grant to them the Toll for ever for eight marks yearly, except in three feasts in which the toll belongs to us and the canons, to wit, in the feast of St John the Confessor in May, and in the feast of the Translation of St John and in the Nativity of St John the Baptist : moreover, in these three feasts, I have granted that all the burgesses of Beverley shall be free and quit of all toll.) BE VERLE V, c. 11 54. Preterea concessi eis Theloneum in per- petuum pro viii marcis singulis annis exceptis tribus festis, quod quidem tunc ad nos et Canonicos spectat... In hiis vero tribus festis hoc modo determinatis ipsos burgenses ab omni thelonio liberos etiam et quietos dimisi. (Moreover, I have granted to them the toll for ever for eight marks every year, excepting three feasts, in which indeed it then belongs to us and the canons ;... moreover, in these three feasts determined in this manner, I have granted that the same burgesses shall be free and quit of all toll.) PRESTON, 1188—99 (Reconstructed). Concessi etiam eisdem burgensibus de proprio dono meo totum theloneum wapentachiae de Amounderesse^ (I have granted also to the same burgesses of my own gift all the toll of the wapentake of Amounderess.) PRESTON, 1 199. BRIDGEWATER, 1200. (To William Briwerr.) Cum theloneo paagio pontagio passagio lastagio stallagio et cum omnibus aliis libertatibus et consuetudinibus ad liberum burgum et ad mercatum et feriam pertinentibus. (With toll, paage, pontage, passage, lestage, stallage and all other liberties and customs to a free borough and market and fair belonging.) SHREWSBURY, 1205. Et quod habeant de omnibus Walen- sibus venientibus apud Salopesberiam cum merchandisis suis debitum theloneum et debitas consuetudines sicut consueverunt. (And that they shall have of all Welshmen, coming to Shrewsbury with their merchandise, the due toll and customs as they were wont.) 1 For grant of tolls in the districts round Nottingham and Derby see p. 7. Va 5] Mercantile Privileges 177 CHESTERFIELD, 1213. (To Richard Briwerr.) Et quod the- loneum capiatur in predictis feria et mercato ab omnibus qui libertates non habuerunt. (That toll shall be taken in the aforesaid fair and market from all who have not the liberties.) CHESTERFIELD, 1215. (To William Briwerr.) (5) Schedule of Tolls* CARDIFF, 1 147 — 83. Item milites et libere tenentes in hundred© quieti sunt in foro de tohieto de venditionibus omnibus et empti- onibus suis ad opus suum factis nisi fuerint mercatores. Item dominus episcopus quietus erit de dominica mensa sua sed homines sui dant consuetudinem. Item Templarii Hospitularii et monachi dant consuetudinem nisi habeant cartam domini Willelmi et domini Roberti comitum. Item careta onerata blado vel pisis^ dabit consuetudinem. Emptor dabit i d: careta scilicet unum obolum. Careta onerata diversis merchandisis i d : stallagium scilicet i quadrantem. Equus oneratus i quadrantem. Venditor ferri pro onere equi i quadrantem. Venditor ferri qui ferrum portaverit i quadrantem. Pro bachone i quadrantem. Pro V porcis i denarium. Et pro V ovibus i denarium. Et pro v agnis i denarium. Item marchandisa trium denariorum et infra quieta est de tolneto. Et si fuerit majoris pretii quam trium denariorum, dabit consue- tudinem. Item duo mercatores dabunt pro stallagio i quadrantem. Et qui portaverit lineam telam ad vendendam licet scindat eam, dabit i quadrantem. (Item, the knights and free holders in the hundred shall be quit of toll in the market for all their purchases and sales made for their own use, unless they be merchants. Item, the Lord Bishop shall be quit for his own table, but his men give custom. Item, the Templars, the Hospitallers and the monks give custom unless they have a charter of Earl William and Earl Robert. • For schedule of Tolls at Newcastle-on-Tyne temp. Henry I, sec Acts of Parliament, Scotland I 33 ; Percy Cartulary 333. * Corr. from piris. B. 12 1 78 Borough Charters [V a 5 Item, a wagon loaded with corn or pease shall give custom ; the purchaser shall give one penny, and the wagon a halfpenny. A wagon loaded with different merchandise shall pay one penny : a stall, one farthing. A loaded horse shall pay one penny. A seller of iron with a horse-load, one farthing. A seller of iron who carries his load, one farthing. For a bacon pig, one farthing : for five pigs, one penny. And for five sheep one penny, and for five lambs, one penny. Item, merchandise of three pence and under is quit of toll : and if it were of a higher price than three pence, it shall give custom. Item, two merchants shall give for one stall one farthing. And he who has carried in linen cloth for sale, if he cut it, shall pay one farthing.) OKEHAMPTON, 1194 — 1242. Reddat de cavallo denarium, de animall, obolum, de quinque bidentibus denarium, de quinque porcis, denarium, de blado et capris nihil. Si quis emerit vel vendiderit infra longam petram vel infra Yseneyete, theloneum reddat. (He (i.e. the merchant) shall pay, for a horse a penny, for an animal (i.e. an ox) a half-penny, for five sheep a penny, for five pigs a penny, for corn and goats nothing. If any buy or sell within the long stone or Yseneyete, he shall pay toll.) LEEK, 1209 — 28. Et quod omnes qui ad forum et ad nundinas predicti burgi mei convenerint quieti sint per idem tolneum quod in aliis liberis mercati.s datur in comitatu Stafford'. (And that all who come to the market and fair of my aforesaid borough shall be quit for the same toll as is paid in the other free markets in the county of Stafford.) (6) Penalties for Evasion of Toll LINCOLN, 1 1 54 — 79. Henricus etc. omnibus Norrensibus qui veniunt ad portum de Grymesby vel ad alios portus meos de Lincoln- scire, salutem. Precipio quod faciatis prepositis meis Lincolniae omnes rectitudines et consuetudines quas solebatis facere tempore Regis Henrici avi mei prepositis Lincolniae ; et prohibeo ne quis vestrum detineat eis theloneum vel aliam consuetudinem injuste super decem librarum forisfacturam. (Henry, etc., to all the Norsemen who come to the port of Grimsby or to my other ports of Lincolnshire, greeting. I ordain that ye pay to my reeves of Lincoln all the rights and customs which ye were wont to give to the reeves of Lincoln in the time of King Henry my grandfather : and I forbid any of you from detaining from them toll or any other custom unjustly under a forfeiture of ^10.) V A 6] Mercantile Privileges 1 79 CHICHESTER, 1155. Et prohibeo super forisfacturam meam ne aliquis cum mercatu suo exeat a rectis viis civitatis Cicestriae causa asportandi consuetudines meas. (And I forbid under my forfeiture that any go with his merchandise out of the straight ways of the city of Chichester in order to evade my customs.) PONTEFRACT, 1194. Qui theloneum domini asportavit in forisfacto remanebit tali scilicet, pro quadrante quinque soiidos et quadrantem, pro obolo, decern soiidos et obolum, pro tribus quad- rantibus quindecim soiidos et tres quadrantes, pro denario viginti soiidos et denarium. (If any evade the lord's toll, he shall remain in this forfeiture, to wit, for a farthing, five shillings and one farthing, for a half-penny, ten shillings and one half-penny, for three farthings, fifteen shiUings and three farthings, for a penny, twenty shillings and one penny.) LEEDS, 1208. OKEHAMPTON, 1194 — 1242. Si quis theloneum asportavit quietus reddat pro quadrante, quinque soiidos, pro obolo decern soiidos, pro denario viginti soiidos, (If any evade the toll, he shall be quit on paying for a farthing, five shillings, for a half-penny, ten shillings, for a penny, twenty shillings.) RUTHERGLEN, 1165 — 1214. Et quicunque detulerit the- loneum vel alia jura quae predictae villae tempore Regis David pertinuerunt ubicunque prepositus prefatae villae vel serviens ejus ilium attingere possit in cujuscunque terra attingatur, dominus terrae illius inveniat preposito de Rutherglen vel servienti suo auxilium ut disturbetur donee habeant jura Regis. Et nisi dominus villae hoc fecerit volo ut ipse sit in forisfacto meo de decern libris. (And whoever has carried away toll or other dues which pertained to the aforesaid town in the time of King David, wherever the provost of the said town or his Serjeant can find him, in whosesoever land he may be found, the lord of that land shall find aid for the provost of Rutherglen or his serjeant, so that he shall be troubled till they have the King's rights. And unless the lord of the town do this, I will that he shall incur my forfeiture of ,^lo.) AYR, 1202 — 7. Precipio etiam firmiter ut apud Mach et Karne- buth et Lowdun et Croseneton et Lachtalpin tolneium et aliae consuetudines quae burgo debentur dentur et recipiantur. Prohibeo itaque firmiter no quis tolneium aut aliquam aliam consuetudinem quam predicto burgo meo de ratione facere debet ultra predictas divisas asportare prcsumat super meam plenariam forisfacturam. Si quis vero tolneium vel aliquam aliam consuetudinem 12 — 2 1 80 Borough Charters [V a 6 predict! burgi mei ultra predictas divisas asportare presumpserit, precipio firmiter ut omnes homines infra predictas divisas manentes sint auxiliantes servientibus meis ad acquirendum jus meum et ad capiendum et attachiandum ilium qui tolneia aut aliquam aliam consuetudinem ad predictum burgum pertinentem ultra predictas divisas asportaverit vel asportare contenderit. (I firmly order also that at Mach and Karnebuth and Lowdon and Croseneton and Lachalpin toll and the other customs which are owing to the burgh shall be paid and received. I therefore firmly forbid that anyone presume to carry away beyond the aforesaid bounds toll or any other custom which he ought rightfully to pay to my aforesaid burgh under pain of my full forfeiture. But if anyone presume to carry toll or any other custom of my aforesaid burgh beyond the aforesaid bounds, I firmly command that all men dwelling within the aforesaid bounds shall aid my servants in acquiring my rights, and in taking and attaching the man who has carried tolls or any other custom to the aforesaid burgh pertaining beyond the aforesaid bounds, or has attempted to carry them away.) (7) Freedom from Toll (General) BURY ST EDMUNDS, 1102— 3. Volo etiam ut abbas et conventus et burgenses Sancti Edmundi imperpetuum habeant quie- tantias de theloneis et aliis consuetudinibus in omnibus foris et nundinis per omnes terras meas et nuUus eos disturbet super foris- facturam meam. (I will also that the abbot and convent and burgesses of St Edmund's shall have for ever their quittances of toll and other customs in all markets and fairs throughout all my lands, and no man shall disturb them under my forfeiture.) LONDON, 1 131. Et omnes homines Londoniarum sint quieti et liberi, et omnes res eorum, et per totam Angliam et per portus maris, de thelonio et passagio et lestagio et omnibus aliis consuetudinibus. (And all the men of London shall be quit and free, and all their goods, both throughout all England, and throughout the seaports, of toll and passage, and lestage and all other customs.) COLCHESTER, 1189. Line i. Omit homines Londoniarum. Omit et liberi et omnes res eorum. 3. After lestagio add et pontagio. Add omnibus temporibus et omnibus locis. FOLKESTONE, 1135 — 41. Precipio quod homines mei de Fulchestane sint ita juste quieti de theloneo et passagio et omni consuetudine per totam terram meam sicut homines mei de Douera melius quieti sunt, ne ulla eis modo contumelia vel injuria fiat. V A 7] Mercantile Privileges 1 8 1 (I ordain that my men of Folkestone shall justly be as quit of toll and passage and every custom throughout my whole land as my men of Dover are most quit, so that no insult or injury be done to them.) DEVIZES, 1 135 — 54, Concede burgensibus meis de Divisis quod pro servitio suo quieti sint de theloneo passagio at lestagio at omni alia consuetudine per totam terram meam at per portus maris. (I grant to my burgesses of Devizes that in consideration of their service to me, they shall be quit of toll passage and lestage and all other custom throughout all my land and the seaports.) DEVIZES, 1200. Add sicut carta Imperatricis Matildae matris Henrici Regis patris nostri eis testatur. LONDON, 1155. Omnes ci'ves Londoniarum sint quieti da the- loneo at lestagio per totam Angliam et per portum maris. (All the citizens of London shall be quit of toll and lestage throughout all England and the seaports.) LONDON, 1194. For ^ox\wx\\ read ^oxXyxs. LONDON, 1 199. Line 2. Cwz/ per totam... maris. Add et omni alia consuetudine per omnes terras nostras citra mare et ultra et per portus maris citra mare et ultra. CANTERBURY, 1155— 8. ivr portum r^^^ portus. NORTHAMPTON, 1189. /v^r portum r.'«^ portus. NORTHAMPTON, 1200. As London, 1194. NORWICH, 1 194. As London, 1194. NORWICH, 1 199. As London, 1194. LINCOLN, 1 194. As London, 1 194. LINCOLN, 1200. As London, 1194. GRIMSBY, 1201. As London, 1 194. ^(/^/excepta civitate Londoniae. WINCHESTER, 1155—8. Quod civcs mei Wintoniensas de gilda mercatorum cum omnibus rebus suis quieti sint de omni the- loneo passagio et consuetudine. (That my citizens of Winchester, belonging to the Merchant Guild, together with all their goods, shall be quit of all toll passage and custom.) WINCHESTER, 1190. Quod cives Wintoniaa da gilda merca- torum sint quieti de theloneo et lestagio et pontagio in feria et extra et per portus maris omnium terrarum nostrarum citra mare et ultra. (That the citizens of Winchester of the Guild of Merchants shall be quit of toll and lastage and pontage in and out of fairs and through the seaports of all our lands both on this and the other side of the sea.) WINCHESTER, 1215. Line i. After Wintoniae insert et heredes eorum 2. After pontagio insert et passagio. 1 82 Borough Charters [V a 7 GLOUCESTER, 1200. Line i. After quod insert omnes. 2. For lestagio read stallagio. 3. Add salvis in omnibus libertatibus civitatis Londoniae. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. Line 2. After theloneo insert et passagio. 3. After maris insert Angliae. Add salvis in omnibus libertatibus civitatis Londoniae. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. Line i. For cives Wintoniae read omnes burgenses predicti burgi et heredes eorum. 2. After pontagio add t\. passagio tam...quam. OXFORD, 1 156. Quod sint quieti a theloneo et passagio et omni consuetudine per totam Angliam et Normanniam per terram et aquam per ripam maris bi land and bi strand. (That they shall be quit of toll and passage and every custom throughout all England and Normandy by land and water, by the coast of the sea, 'by land and by strand.') BEDFORD, 1 189. Line i. For a 7-ead de. After theloneo read et pontagio et stallagio et lestagio. After passagio add et de sartis. 2. After omni add alia. 3. Before aquam insert per. Before per ripam insert et. WALLINGFORD, 11 56. Concede etiam eis quod ubicunque ierint in Mercationibus suis per totam terram meam Angliae et Normanniae Aquitaniae et Andegaviae bi Gater end bi Strande bi Wode end bi Lande quieti sint de theloneo et passagio et picagio pannagio et stallagio. (I grant also to them that wherever they go in their trading through my whole land of England and Normandy, Aquitaine and Anjou, 'by water and by strand, by wood and by land,' they shall be quit of toll and passage and picage and pannage and stallage.) HYTHE, 1 1 56. Sciatis me concessisse hominibus meis de Heia quietantiam de theloneo et omni consuetudine de cata venditione et accato suo per totam Angliam et Normanniam in cujuscunque terra venerint...et werecfri et wittefri et lestagefri et locofri...sicut ipsi vel antecessores sui eam melius et plenius et honorificentius habuerunt tempore regum Edvvardi Willelmi primi et secundi et Henrici regis avi mei. (Know ye that I have granted to my men of Hythe quittance of toll and all custom for their wares sales and purchases throughout the whole of England and Normandy, into whosesoever land they may come... and they Va 7] Mercantile Privileges 183 shall be wreck-free and wite-free and lestage-free and lovecop-freei...as they or their ancestors had that quittance best and most fully and most honourably in the times of Kings Edward, William the first, William the second and King Henry my grandfather.) HYTHE, 1205. Line 2. For ca.ta read tola. 7. For avi read proavi. DOVER, 1154—89. (Reconstructed.) Line 2. For omni consuetudine read omnibus consuetudinibus. For cata read tota. 4. Omi'i et werecfri...locofri. For sicut read cum quibus. DOVER, 1201. Line 2. /^^r cata rt-a^/ tota. 4. C;«// et werecfri...locofri. DOVER, 1205. As 1154—89. ROMNEY, 1 154 — 89. (Reconstructed.) Et quietantias suas de omni theloneo et lestagio et rivagio et wrec et omni alia consuetudine. (And their quittance of all toll and lestage and rivage and wreck and every other custom.) ROMNEY, 1205. SANDWICH, 1 155 — 8. Precipio quod homines mei de Sand- wic et de Sarra habeant ita bene et plenarie et juste et libere omnes consuetudines et rectitudines et quietudines suas de theloneo et passagio et omnibus consuetudinibus sicut unquam melius et plenius habuerunt tempore Henrici regis avi mei et tempore regis Willelmi et aliorum antecessorum meorum. (I ordain that my men of Sandwich and Sarre shall have all their customs and rights and quittances from toll and passage and all customs as well and fully and justly and freely as ever they best and most fully had them in the time of King Henry my grandfather and of King William and my other predecessors.) SANDWICH, 1205. Line 2. 0?m'l de Sarra. 0»ii^ et libere. 4. For passagio et omnibus read et omnibus rebus et. 5. For avi read proavi. 6. Omzi aliorum. HASTINGS, 1 155 — 8. Sciatis quod ego concedo baronibus meis de Hastingis...et quietantias de theloneo et lestagio et passagio et rivagio et sponsagio et omni werec et racato et de omnibus consue- tudinibus per totam terram meam quocunque venerint. • I think this must refer to the gildsman's share in bargains : see Borough Customs II 168, Gild Merchant 1 49. 184 Borough Charters [Va 7 (Know ye that I grant to my barons of Hastings. ..quittance of toll and lestage and passage and rivage and sponsage* and all wreck and resale and from all customs throughout the whole of my land wherever they may come.) HASTINGS, 1205. LYDD, 1 155 — 58, Precipio quod homines archiepiscopi Cantuari- ensis de Lhida et de Dyngemers qui mihi debent quintam partem servitii navium cum hominibus de Romenel sint ita quieti de theloneo et passagio et lestagio et wereg' et rivagio et omnibus aliis consue- tudinibus et querelis sicut quietiores fuerunt tempore Regis Henrici avi mei et sicut homines de Hastingis sunt, et sicut quieti esse debent ex consuetudine quinque portuum ^ (I order that the men of the Archbishop of Canterbury living at Lydd and Dengemarsh, who owe me the fifth part of the ship service of the men of Romney, be as quit of toll and passage and lestage and wreck and rivage and all other customs and quarrels, as they best were in the time of King Henry my grandfather, and as the men of Hastings are, and as they ought to be according to the custom of the Cinque Ports.) FORDWICH, 1 1 54 — 75. Et ita quieti sint de theloneo sicut carta Regis Henrici avi mei testatur. (And they shall be as quit of toll as the charter of King Henry, my grand- father, witnesses.) BRISTOL, 1 164. Quod sint quieti de theloneo et passagio et omni consuetudine per totam terram meam Angliae Normanniae et Walliae ubicunque venerint ipsi et res eorum, (That they shall be quit of toll and passage and every custom throughout my whole land of England Normandy and Wales wherever they go, they and their goods.) DUBLIN, 1164—76. Line i. After passagio add et pontagio et lestagio et pavagio et muragio et caiagio et caragio. 3. After Walliae add et Hiberniae. BRISTOL, 1 1 88. Quod sint quieti de theloneo et lastagio et passagio et pontagio et de omnibus aliis consuetudinibus per totam terram et potestatem meam. (That they shall be quit of toll and lastage and passage and pontage and of all other customs throughout my whole land and realm.) DUBLIN, 1 192. DUBLIN, 1200. KILKENNY, 1202 — 10. Line i. For c\\xo6. readudem autem Burgenses. ' A due on marriage. ^ This is the earliest written evidence of the confederation of the Cinque Ports known to me : see E.H.R. 1909, p. 732. Va 7] Mercantile Privileges 185 MALDON, 1 171. Quod ipsi sint quieti de carriagio et sum- magio et scutagio de tallagio et stallagio et lastagio et de omni theloneo in omni foro et in omnibus nundinis in omni transitu et pontium et viarum et maris et per totum regnum nostrum, (That they shall be quit of carriage and sumpter service and scutage, of tallage and stallage and lastage and of every toll in every market and in every fair, and in every crossing of bridges and ways and seas and throughout our whole realm.) ANDOVER, 1175. Quod sint quieti de theloneo et passagio et consuetudine per totam terram meam sicut burgenses VVintoniae qui sunt de gilda mercatoria sunt quieti. (That they shall be quit of toll and passage and customs throughout the whole of my land as the burgesses of Winchester are quit who are of the Merchant Guild.) ANDOVER, 1 194. ANDOVER, 1205. ^^^/ sicut cartae Henrici Regis patris nostri et Regis Ricardi fratris nostri quas inde habent rationabiliter testantur. SALISBURY, 1100—35. (Reconstructed.) SALISBURY, 1154—89. (Reconstructed.) SALISBURY, 1200. AddsxcvX carta regis Henrici avi patris nostri testatur. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1154—89. (Reconstructed.) Sciatis me concessisse et presenti carta confirmasse burgensibus meis de Novo Castello super Tinam et omnibus eorum rebus quas ipsi potuerunt assecurare suas esse dominicas quietantiam de theloneo et passagio et pontagio et de ansa et de omnibus aliis consuetudinibus per totam terram meam. (Know ye that I have granted and by the present charter confirmed to my burgesses of Newcastle-on-Tyne and to all their goods which they can prove to be their own, quittance of toll and passage and pontage and hanse and all other customs throughout the whole of my land.) NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1201. Add sicut carta Henrici Regis patris nostri rationabiliter testatur. CARMARTHEN, 1154—89. (Reconstructed.) Precipio vobis quod burgenses mei de Kaermardin sint quieti de theloneo et pas- sagio et pontagio et omnibus consuetudinibus per terram meam. (I order you that my burgesses of Carmarthen shall be quit of toll and passage and pontage and all customs throughout my whole land.) CARMARTHEN, 1201. Add sicut carta Henrici Regis patris nostri rationabiliter testatur. CARLISLE, 1154—89. (Reconstructed.) Line 3. For per terram meam read nd me pertinentibus. 1 86 Boj'ough Charters [Va 7 NOTTINGHAM, 11 89. Quod ipsi sint quieti de theloneo per totam terram meam infra nundinas et extra. (That they shall be quit of toll throughout my whole realm in fairs and out of fairs.) NOTTINGHAM, 1200. DERBY, 1204. EXETER, 1 1 89. Precipimus districte quod cives nostri Exoni- enses sint quieti et omnia mercata eorum de theloneo et passagio et lestagio et de omni alia consuetudine Et prohibemus ne quis eos super hoc injuste disturbet in terra vel in aqua vel alibi super x libras forisfacturae. (We straitly command that our citizens of Exeter be quit and all their merchandise of toll and passage and lestage and of every other custom, and we forbid any from disturbing them unjustly on this account on land or sea or elsewhere under a penalty of _;^io.) SOUTHAMPTON, 1189. Quod burgenses nostri de Sudhamton sint quieti de theloneo et passagio et pontagio tarn in terris quam in aquis tarn in feriis quam in mercatis et de omni secular! consuetudine et per omnes terras nostras citra mare et ultra et per omnem potestatem nostram. (That our burgesses of Southampton shall be quit of toll and passage and pontage both in land and on water both in fairs and in markets, and from all secular custom through all our lands both on this and the other side of the sea and through all our power.) SOUTHAMPTON, 1199. EXETER, 1 189. Line 3. .4/^^^ ^^^ulari ^^^^ servitio et. EXETER, 1200. As 1189. Add at end quae Rex Ricardus frater noster eis concessit quantum ad Reges pertinet. Insuper etiam eis concessimus ex dono nostro quod sint quieti de lestagio et stallagio per totam terram nostram quantum ad nos pertinet. (Which (privileges) King Richard our brother granted to them, as far as it related to the Kings. Moreover we have also granted to them of our own gift that they shall be quit of lastage and stallage throughout all our land as far as pertains to us.) BARNSTAPLE, 1200. Line 3. .4/^^'' ^^culari rt^ir/ servitio et. RYE AND WINCHELSEA, 1191. Sciatis nos concessisse et... confirmasse quod homines de Rya et Winchenesell sint liberi et quieti per totam terram nostram citra mare et ultra ab omni theloneo et lestagio et tallagio et passagio et chaiagio et rivagio et sponsagio Va7] Mercantile Privileges 187 et omni wrec et de rocato et de omnibus consuetudinibus per totam terram nostram quocunque venerint. (Know ye that we have granted and confirmed that the men of Rye and Winchelsea shall be free and quit through all our land on this side of the sea and beyond of all toll and lastage and tallage and passage and quayage and rivage and sponsage and from all wreck and resale and from all customs through all our land wherever they may corned) RYE AND WINCHELSEA, 1205. Line 4. For chaiagio read cayagio. 5. For rocato read racato. PORTSMOUTH, 1194. Concessimus etiam quod predicta villa de Portesmue et omnes burgenses nostri in ea et de ea tenentes quieti sint et liberi de theloneo et pontagio et stallagio et tallagio...tam per mare quam per terram ubicunque venerint in totam terram nostram. (We have also granted that the aforesaid town of Portsmouth and all our burgesses in it and holding of it shall be quit and free of toll and pontage and stallage and tallage... both by sea and by land wherever they may come in all our land.) PORTSMOUTH, 1201. Line 3. After pontagio add et passagio et pedagio et paagio. MARLBOROUGH, 1204. Line i. For predicta villa de P. read predictum burgum de M. 2. After tenentes add et in eo manentes et heredes eorum. 3. After theloneo add et pannagio. 4//^r pontagio addei passagio et pedagio et paagio et pesagio. For tallagio read lastagio. YORK, 1 189 — 99. (Henry HI in a charter of 1252 recites that he has inspected a charter of Richard I granting to citizens of York) quietantiam cujuslibet thelonei lestagii et de wrek pontagii et pas- sagii et de trespas et de omnibus costumis per totam Angliam Normanniam Aquitaniam Andegaviam et Pictaviam et per omnes portus et costas maris Angliae Normanniae Andegaviae Aquitaniae et Pictaviae. (Quittance of every toll and lestage and wreck and pontage and passage and from trespass and from all customs throughout all England Normandy Aquitaine Anjou and Poitou and through all the ports and coasts of the sea of England Normandy Anjou Aquitaine and Poitou.) YORK, 1200. Line I. After vjxok add tX. DUNDEE, 1 199. Sciatis nos dedisse concessisse et prescnti carta confirmasse burgensibus comitis David fratris Regis Scotiae de Dunde quod sint quieti de theloneo et do omnibus aliis consuetudinibus * Compare Hastings, p. 183. 1 88 Borough Charters [Va 7 quae ad nos pertinent per ornnes terras nostras excepta civitate Londoniarum^ (Know ye that we have given granted and by this present charter confirmed to the burgesses of Dundee of (i.e. holding under) Earl David, the brother of the King of Scotland, that they shall be quit of toll and of all other customs which pertain to us through all our lands excepting the city of London.) APPLEBY, 1200. Preterea dedimus et concessimus eisdem bur- gensibus nostris de Appelbi libertates et quietantias de theloneo et stallagio et pontagio et lestagio per totam terram Angliae nostram quantum ad nos pertinet preterquam in civitate Londoniae, nisi forte cives Eboracenses inde habent per libertates suas in civitate Londoniae. (Moreover, we have given and granted to our said burgesses of Appleby liberties and quittances of toll and stallage and pontage and lestage through all our land of England as far as pertains to us, except in the city of London, unless perchance the citizens of York have such quittance by their liberties in the city of London.) IPSWICH, 1200. Quod omnes burgenses de Gipeswic quieti sint de theloneo passagio pontagio stallagio lestagio et omnibus aliis consuetudinibus per totam terram nostram et per portus mari.s. (That all the burgesses of Ipswich shall be quit of toll, passage, pontage, stallage, lestage, and all other customs throughout the whole of our land and the seaports.) SWANSEA, 1215. Line 3. For per totam terram... maris read salvis in omnibus libertatibus civitatis Londoniae. DUNWICH, 1200. Et quod ipsi per totam terram nostram quieti sint de theloneo et lestagio et passagio et pontagio et stallagio et de leue et de Danegeld et de ewagio de wrec et de lagan et omnibus aliis consuetudinibus salva libertate civitatis Londoniae. (And that they shall be quit throughout our whole land of toll and lastage, and passage and pontage and stallage and of levy and Danegeld and ewage and wreck and lagan and of all other customs, saving the liberty of the city of London.) LYNN, 1204. Line i. After nostram add t.\. omnes portus maris. 2. After passagio add paagio. 3. For leue read liene. Omit de ewagio de wrec et de lagan. For omnibus aliis consuetudinibus read omnia alia con- suetudine. STAFFORD, 1206. As Lynn, but Line \ for totam terram nostram read omnes terras nostras. YARMOUTH, 1208. As Lynn. ^ Granted by King John. Va 7] Mercantile Privileges 189 DUNWICH, 1 21 5. Et quod ipsi et homines eorum cum catalHs et navibus et omnibus rebus et possessionibus quieti sint de murdro ...et lestagio et passagio et pontagio et de leue et de Danegeld et de gaiwite et de omnibus aliis consuetudinibus et exactionibus per totam potestatem nostram tam in Anglia quam in omnibus aliis terris nostris. (And that they and their men with their chattels and ships and all their goods and possessions shall be quit of murder and lestage and passage and pontage and levy and Danegeld and gaiwite and of all other customs and exactions throughout all our realm both in England and all our other lands.) HEREFORD, 1215. Line i. OwzV ipsi... possessionibus. 2. For murdro read theloneo. BRIDGEWATER, 1200. Et sint quieti de theloneo paagio pontagio passagio lastagio et stallagio, et habeant omnes Hbertates et liberas consuetudines et quietantias quae ad nos pertinent per totam terram nostram et per omnes portus terrae nostrae excepta civitate Londonia. (And that they shall be quit of toll paage pontage passage lestage and stallage, and shall have all the liberties and free customs and quittances which pertain to us throughout our whole land and through all the ports of our land, except the city of London.) HELSTON, I20I. Et quietantiam per totam terram nostram de theloneo pontagio passagio stallagio lestagio et sollagio salvis in omnibus libertatibus civitatis Londoniae. (And quittance through our whole land from toll pontage passage stallage lastage and soilage, saving in all things the liberties of the city of London.) TOTNES, 1199— 1216. Line 2. For stallagio read lenagio. For salvis... i?«rt^ read et de omnibus aliis hujusmodi con- suetudinibus. PEMBROKE, 1 201. Sciatis nos ob dilectionem et ad petitionem dilecti et fidelis nostri Willelmi Mareschalli comitis de Penbroc con- cessisse et...confirmasse burgensibus de Penbroc quietantiam thelonei stallagii passagii lestagii pontagii et omnium aliarum consuetudinum ad nos pertinentium per omnes terras nostras in pcrpetuum, salva in omnibus libertatc civitatis Londoniae. (Know ye that we on account of our affection for and at the petition of our beloved and loyal subject, William Marshall Earl of Pembroke, have granted and confirmed to the burgesses of Pembroke quittance of toll stallage passage lestage pontage and all other customs pertaining to us throughout all our lands for ever, saving in all things the liberty of the City of London.) 190 Borojigh Charters [Va 7 I LC HESTER, 1204. Et cum quietantia de passagio pontagio stallagio lestagio in nundinis et extra et per omnes portus maris terrarum nostrarum citra mare et ultra. (And with quittance of passage pontage stallage and lastage in and out of fairs and through all the seaports of our lands this side of the sea and beyond.) BRIDGENORTH, 12 15. Et quod sint liberi et quieti de the- loneo et passagio (de omnibus merkandisis suis) ubicunque venerint per totam terram nostram (Angliae sal vis civitati nostrae Londoniae libertatibus suis)^ (And that they shall be free and quit of toll and passage (for all their merchandise) wherever they may go throughout our whole land (of England, saving the liberties of our city of London).) DROITWICH, 121 5. Et quod quieti sint per totam terram nostram Angliae de pontagio passagio stallagio et theloneo et omnibus aliis consuetudinibus et exactionibus. (And that they shall be quit, throughout our whole land of England, of pontage passage stallage and toll and all other customs and exactions.) SCOTLAND ARBROATH, 1187—99. Mando et firmiter precipio quatinus omnes burgenses abbatis de Aberbrothoc qui in burgo illo vel qui in eorum toftis in aliis burgis meis manserint quieti sint ab omni consuetudine et tolneyo per totam terram meam. (I command and firmly enjoin that all the burgesses of the Abbot of Aberbrothoc who shall dwell in that burgh or in their tofts in my other burghs, shall be quit from all custom and toll throughout the whole of my land.) ARBROATH, 121 1— 14. Ut omnes eorum burgenses qui in eodem burgo terram vel domum habuerint et in eo manentes fuerint, et burgenses eorum qui in toftis eorum manent in burgis meis, quieti et liberi sint a theloneo et consuetudine per totam terram meam et per omnes portus terrae meae de omnibus et omnimodis mercibus et mercaturis suis propriis quas emerint vel vendiderint. (That all their burgesses who have land or house in the same burgh and shall be resident in it, and their burgesses who dwell in their tofts in my burghs, shall be quit and free from toll and custom throughout the whole of my land and through all the ports of my land for all and all kinds of their own wares and merchandize which they have bought or sold.) 1 Words in brackets from Volumus clause. Va 8] Mercantile Privileges 191 INVERNESS, 1 189— 92. Et quieti erunt de tolleneto per totum regnum meum in perpetuum. (And they shall be quit of toll throughout my whole land for ever.) INVERNESS, 1 171—97. Sciatis...me omnes burgenses meos de Invernis quietos clamasse omni tempore a tolneio et omni consue- tudine per totam terram meam. Ouare prohibeo firmiter ne quis ab eis de eorum dominicis catallis tolneium aut aliquam consuetudinem exigat super meam plenariam forisfacturam. (Know ye that I have quit-claimed all my burgesses of Inverness for all time of toll and every custom throughout my whole land. Wherefore I firmly forbid any from exacting toll or any custom from them for their own chattels under my full forfeiture.) AYR, 1202 — 7. Concessi etiam^ burgensibus qui illuc venient ad burgum meum inhabitandum et ibi sedentes et manentes erunt ut quieti sint a tolneio et omni consuetudine per totam terram meam de dominicis catallis suis. Prohibeo itaque firmiter ne quis in regno meo ab aliquo illorum tolneium aut aliquam aliam consuetudinem de dominicis catallis exigat super meam plenariam forisfacturam. (I have granted also to my burgesses who shall come thither to inhabit my borough, and shall be there settled and dwelling that they shall be quit of toll and of every custom throughout my whole land for their own chattels. I forbid therefore that any in my kingdom shall exact from any of them for their own chattels toll or any other custom under my full forfeiture.) (8) Freedom from Toll (Partial) BEVERLEY, c. 11 30 (Archbp. Thurstan). Et sciatis quod sint Hberi et quieti ab omni theloneo per totam schiram Eboraci sicut illi de Eboraco. (And know ye that they be free and quit of all toll throughout all Yorkshire, like the men of York.) BEVERLEY, 1124—35 (Royal). Et volo quod sint quieti de theloneo per totam schiram Eboraci sicut illi de Eboraco. (And I will that they be quit of toll throughout all Yorkshire like the men of York.) TRURO, 1 166 (Reginald, Earl of Cornwall). Et quod quieti sint de theloneo dando per totam Cornubiam in feriis et in foris et ubicunque emerint et vendiderint. (And that they be quit of giving toll throughout all Cornwall in fairs and markets and wherever they buy and sell.) » MS. (photograph) is distinctly 'ctiani,' although the printed copy reads 'et.' 192 Borough Charters [V a 8 DURHAM, 1 153— 81 (Hugh de Puiset, Bishop of Durham). Sciatis nos concessisse et...confirmasse Burgensibus nostris de Dunelmo quod sint liberi et quieti a consuetudine quod dicitur intoll et uttoll et de merchetis et herietis. (Know ye that we have granted and confirmed to our burgesses of Durham that they be free and quit of the custom which is called intoll and out-toll and of merchets and heriots.) PEMBROKE, 1154 — 89 (Royal). Sciatis me preterea dedisse... eisdem burgensibus meis quietantiam de theloneo et pontagio et havenagio et omnibus consuetudinibus, nominatim apud Bristoll Glo- cestriam Wyncestriam Devoniam Cornubiam Rothelam et per omnes terras meas et vestras quas de me tenetis in comitatibus in burgagiis in castellis in villis in oplondinis in mercatis in bosco in piano in viis in terris in aquis et in omnibus aliis locis. (Know ye that I have moreover granted. ..to my said burgesses quittance from toll and pontage and havenage and all customs, that is to say, at Bristol Gloucester Winchester and in Devon and Cornwall and Rhuddlan, and through all my lands and through yours which you hold of me, in shires in burgages in castles in towns in uplands in markets in wood and in plain, in ways and in lands, in waters and in all other places.) CARDIFF, 1147—83 (Robert and William, Earls of Gloucester). Et omnes burgenses et milites et libere tenentes predicti honoris debent esse quieti apud Gloucestriam et per totum comitatum Glou- cestriae de consuetudine nisi de crudis coreis et pilosis pellibus. (And all burgesses and knights and free tenants of the aforesaid honour ought to be quit at Gloucester, and through the whole county of Gloucester of custom, except for untanned hides and wool-fells.) TEWKESBURY, 1147—83 (Robert and William, Earls of Gloucester). Quod ipsi quieti essent de theloneo et de custuma infra dominium predictorum Comitum in honore Gloucestriae et alibi in Anglia secundum quod antiquitus usi fuerint. (That they should be quit of toll and custom within the demesne of the aforesaid Earls in the honour of Gloucester, and elsewhere in England, according to their ancient custom.) LOSTWITHIEL, 1190 — 1200 (Robert de Cardinan). Insuper jamdicti burgenses et homines predictae villae et eorum heredes liberi et quieti remaneant ab omnibus sullagiis et terrenis consue- tudinibus et marinis. (Moreover, the aforesaid burgesses and the men of the aforesaid town and their heirs shall remain free and quit of all sullages and customs, both by land and sea.) Va 8] Mercantile Privileges 193 PONTEFRACT, 1194 (Roger de Lacy). Preterea dedi et con- cessi et...confirmavi eisdem burgensibus meis de Ponte fracto et heredibus et successoribus suis quietantiam de omni theloneo et consuetudine per totam terram meam pertinentem ad castelriam Pontis fracti et ad castelriam de Gliderho. (Moreover, I have given and granted and confirmed to my said burgesses of Pontefract and their heirs and successors quittance of all toll and custom throughout all my land pertaining to the castelry of Pontefract and the castelry of Clitheroe.) LEEDS, 1208 (Maurice de Painel). Line I. 0////V et...confirmavi. 3. Otntt et successoribus suis. 5. For castelriam... Gliderho read burgum de Leedes. KELLS, 1 194 — 1241 (Walter de Lacy). Illos liberos et quietos esse de theloneo per totam terram meam. (I have granted them to be free and quit of toll throughout my whole land.) OKEHAMPTON, 1 194—1242 (Robert de Courtenay). Burgenses mei quieti erunt de theloneo per totam Devoniam ubi ego et heredes mei illos de jure warrantizare possumus et debemus\ (My burgesses shall be quit of toll through all Devon where I and my heirs can and should lawfully warrant them.) CARDIGAN, 1 199 (Royal). Quod sint quieti de theloneo et passagio et omnibus consuetudinibus quae ad nos pertinent per totam terram nostram excepta civitate Londonia a Natali proximo post coronationem nostram in quattuor annos ita tamen quod nobis fideles existant et sub dominatione nostra permaneant. (That they shall be quit of toll and passage and all customs which pertain to us throughout the whole of our land except the city of London from the Christmas next after our coronation for four years, provided that they are faithful to us and remain under our rule.) EGREMONT, c. 1202 (Richard de Luci). Item omnes burgenses et liberi eorum quieti erunt a theloneo in tota terra mea de propriis catallis burgensium. (Item all the burgesses and their children shall be quit of toll in the whole of my land for their own chattels.) 1 STRATFORD-ON-AVON, c. 1195 (John, Bishop of Worcester). And that they should be free of toll according to the custom of Bristol. B. 13 1 94 Borough Charters [V a 8 BIDEFORD, 1204 — 17 (Richard de Grenville). And I have also granted that all the burgesses of Bideford and every of them, in markets and fairs throughout all my lands town and waters, shall be quit and free from all toll custom censing and stallage to be given to me or any of mine. FRODSHAM, 1209—28 (Ralph, Earl of Chester). Concedo etiam eisdem burgensibus quietem de Tolneto per totam terram meam tarn per aquam quam per terram nisi de sale tantum. Salvis mihi et heredibus meis passuagio meo. (I grant also to the said burgesses quittance of toll throughout the whole of my land, both by water and land, except for salt only. Saving to me and my heirs my passage.) LEEK, 1209 — 28 (Ralph, Earl of Chester). Et quod predicti burgenses mei de Lach per totum Cestreshire sint liberi et quieti de tolneo in aquis in villis et in omnibus locis et etiam in civitate Cestria de omnibus mercandisis excepto sale in Wychis. Et quod quieti sint de passagio per tota communia de manerio de Lach. (And that my aforesaid burgesses of Leek be quit and free of toll through all Cheshire in waters and in. towns and in all places and even in the city of Chester, of all merchandises except toll of salt in the Wiches : and that they be quit of passage through all the commons of the manor of Leek.) (9) Prohibition of Illegal Tolls LEICESTER, 11 18— 35. (Writ of Henry I to sheriff etc. of Oxford.) Precipio quod homines Robert! comitis Leycestrie sint quieti apud Oxenefort per tales consuetudines quales reddebant tempore Roberti Comitis de Mellent. Et nullas alias consuetudines ab eis requiratis. (I ordain that the men of Robert, Earl of Leicester, shall be quit at Oxford by the same customs as they used to pay in the time of Robert, Count of Meulan. And you shall require no other customs from them.) LINCOLN, 1200. Prohibemus etiam ne quis ab eis theloneum vel consuetudinem capiat in Anglia de hiis quae ad nos pertinent super forisfacturam decern librarum, salvis in omnibus libertatibus civitatis Londoniae. (We also forbid that any take toll or custom from them in England of those things that pertain to us, under a penalty of ten pounds, saving in all things the liberties of the city of London.) Va lo] Mercantile Privileges 195 IPSWICH, 1200. Prohibemus etiam quod nemo in tota terra nostra theloneum nee stallagium nee aliquam aliam consuetudinem ab hominibus Gipeswic capiat super forisfacturam nostram x librarum. (We forbid also that any in the whole of our land take toll or stallage or any other custom from the men of Ipswich under forfeiture of ten pounds to us.) AYR, 1202 — 7. Prohibeo itaque firmiter ne quis in regno meo ab aliquo illorum tolneium aut aliquam aliam consuetudinem de dominicis catallis suis exigat super meam plenariam forisfacturam. (And I therefore forbid any in my kingdom taking from any of them toll or any other custom in respect of their own chattels under pain of full forfeiture to me.) (10) Retaliation LONDON, 1 131. Et si quis theloneum vel consuetudinem a civibus Londoniarum ceperit, cives Londoniarum in civitate capiant de burgo vel de villa ubi theloneum vel consuetude capta fuit, quantum homo Londoniarum pro theloneo dedit, et proinde de damno ceperit. (And if any take toll or custom from the citizens of London, the citizens of London shall take in the city, from the borough or town where the toll or custom was taken, as much as the Londoner gave for toll, and in addition as much as he thereby lost.) COLCHESTER, 1189. Line i. Read sh exs/or a civibus Lond. 2. Read'ndem burgensesybr cives Lon. Insert de civitate vel after capiant. 3. Read in quay<7r ubi. 4. Read burgenses dicti burgi/i?r homo Lond. Omit ^\..,.end. Add vel quantum de damno per hoc habuerit. LONDON, 11551. Et si quis in tota Anglia theloneum vel con- suetudinem ab hominibus Londoniarum ceperit, postquam ipse a recto defecerit Vicecomes Londoniarum namium indc apud Londonias capiat. (And if any in the whole of England take toll or custom from the men of London, after he has failed to redress, the Sheriff of London shall take distress therefor at London.) LONDON, 1 194. LONDON, 1 199. Line i. For in tota Anglia read in aliqua terrarum nostrarum citra mare vel ultra sive in portubus maris citra mare vel ultra. Before consuetudinem insert aliquam aliam. 1 Qu. B. C. I 120. 13—2 196 Borough Charters [V a 10 CANTERBURY, 1155 — 8. Line 3. Vicecomes Cantuariensis. NORTHAMPTON, 1 189. Line 3. Prepositus Norhamtoniae. NORTHAMPTON, 1200. Line 3. Prepositus Norhamtoniae. WINCHESTER, 1190. (Merchant Guild only.) Line 3. Vicecomes de Southantonia vel prepositus Wintoniae. WINCHESTER, 1215. (Merchant Guild only.) ASI190. LINCOLN, 1 194*. Prepositus Lincolniae. NORWICH, 1 194. Prepositus Norwici. NORWICH, 1 199. Prepositus Norwici. GLOUCESTER, 1200. To Merchant Guild only. Line 3. Vicecomes de G. vel Prepositus de G. 4. Add Salvis libertatibus civitatis Londoniae. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. As at Gloucester. Line I. ^ir?^ Anglia r^rt^ terra nostra. GRIMSBY, 1201, Line 2. After ceperit add excepta ut superius civitate Londoniae. 3. Prepositus de Grimesby. LYNN, 1204. As Grimsby. Prepositus de Lenn. YARMOUTH, 1208. As Lynn. Prepositus de Gernemuth. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. To Merchant Guild only. Line i. For Anglia read terra nostra. 3. Vicecomes Northumberland vel prepositus Novi Castri. BRISTOL, 1 1 88. Et si aliquis alicubi in terra mea ceperit theloneum de hominibus Bristalli si non reddiderit postquam requi- situs fuerit reddere prepositus Bristalli capiat inde namium apud Bristallum et distringat reddere, (And if any person anywhere in my land take toll from the men of Bristol, if he does not return it when asked to return, the reeve of Bristol shall take distress thence at Bristol and distrain him to return it.) DUBLIN, 1 192. Line i. After terra add vel potestate. 2, 3. For Bristalli etc. read civitatis. DUBLIN, 1200. As 1 192. KILKENNY, 1202 — 10. Si forte contigerit quod thelonium captum fuerit de aliquo burgense in terra mea vel potestate si ille qui ceperit reddere requisitus fuerit et contradixerit, per namia ejusdem loci unde ipse est si inventa fuerint apud Kylkenn* reddere distringatur. (If by chance it should happen that toll should be taken of any burgess in my land or dominion, and if the taker be asked to return it, and refuse to do so, he shall be distrained to repay it by distress from the place to which he belongs if such can be found at Kilkenny.) ^ Omitted in the Charter of 1200 and ;{^io penalty substituted, see p. 194. Va 12] Mercantile Privileges 197 (11) Reservation of Toll WEARMOUTH, 1162 — 86. Hanc vero consuetudinem nobis retinuimus in piscibus emendis apud Weremue quam habet Robertas de Brus apud Herterpole de suis hominibus. (But this custom, which Robert de Bruce has of his men at Hartlepool, we have retained for ourselves, in buying fish at Wearmouth.) (12) Liberty of Access to Markets BURFORD, 1 147 — 73. Et quicunque ad mercatum venire volu- erint, veniant, et in ipso mercato habeant licentiam emendi quae- cunque voluerint preter lanam et coria nisi homines ipsius villae. (And whoever wish to come to the market, shall come, and shall have liberty of buying in the same market whatever they wish, except wool and hides, unless they are men of the same town.) BURFORD, 1087 — 1 107. The parchment is defective: but part of the above is legible omitting from vetiire to quaecunque voluerint. WINCHESTER, 11 55 — 8. Et quicunque petierint civitatem illam cum mercatu suo, de quocunque loco sint, sive extranei sive alii, veniant morentur et recedant in salva pace mea, reddendo rectas consuetudines, et nemo eos injuste disturbet super hanc cartam nostram. (And whosoever shall seek that city with his merchandise, whether foreigners or others, of whatever place they may be, they may come sojourn and depart in my safe peace, on paying the due customs, and none shall unjustly disturb them in defiance of this our charter.) WINCHESTER, 1190. Line 2 . For illam read Wintoniae. 4. Omit eos injuste, WINCHESTER, 1215. Line 2. For mercatu read mercandisa. 3. After rectas add et debitas. 4. For et nemo... nostram read et prohibemus ne quis super hoc eis faciat impedimentum. GLOUCESTER, 1200. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. Line 4. Cw/V injuste. LYNN, 1204. Line i. yiy7^r quicunque a^V/ mercatores. 3. After alii add qui de pace nostra fuerint vel de licentia nostra in terram nostram vcnerint. 4. After consuetudines add illius burgi. Omit et nemo to end. YARMOUTH, 1208. As Lynn. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. As Winchester, 1215. 198 Borough Charters [Va 12 PEMBROKE, 1 1 54 — 89. Et ut omnes qui ad forum meum de Pembroch' veniunt pacem meam firmam habeant de vado de Lantesey et de Stenetebrigge et de Grossa fossa ad Pentecoit et de passagio a nona sabbati usque ad solem die lunae levantem si pacem meam non forisfecerint. (And that all who come to my market at Pembroke shall have my firm peace from the ford of Lantesey and from Stenetebridge and from the great foss to Pentecoit and from the ferry from Nones on Saturday till the rising of the sun on Monday, unless they have forfeited my peace.) COVENTRY, 1 18 1 — 6. Quoscunque autem mercatores secum ad villae emendationem adduxerint precipio ut pacem habeant et nullus eis injuriam faciat vel eos injuste in causam mittat. Si vero aliquis extraneus mercator aliquod inconveniens in villa fecerit, in portimot coram justitia supradicta sine causa illud dirigat. (But whatever merchants they may bring in for the improvement of the town, I order that they shall have peace, and that none shall do them an injury or unjustly sue them. But if any foreign merchant shall do any wrong in the town, he shall put the matter straight in the portmoot, before the above-mentioned justice, without any suit.) COVENTRY, 1 1 86. Line 2. Omit precipio ut. 5. For portimot read portemannemot. Read emendat^^r dirigat. PORTSMOUTH, 1 194. Concessimus etiam quod omnes homines nostri Angliae Normanniae Andegaviae Pictaviae Walliae Scotiae et omnium terrarum nostrarum et aliarum veniant ad predictas nundinas et eant et redeant ita bene et in pace et habeant omnes quietantias et libertates quas habent ad nundinas Wintoniae vel Hoilonde vel alibi in terra nostra. (We have granted also that all our men of England Normandy Anjou Poitou Wales Scotland and of all our lands and of other lands shall come to the aforesaid fair, and shall go and return well and peaceably and shall have all the quittances and liberties which they have in the fairs of Winchester or Hoyland or elsewhere in our land.) PORTSMOUTH, 1201. Lines. C*;//// et aliarum. MARLBOROUGH, 1204. Line 2. For nostri. ..terrarum... et read omnium terrarum tam... quam. 3. After aliarum read qui de nostra pace sunt. 5. After nundinas read nostras. Va 13] Mercaniik Privileges 199 PERTH, 1 165 — 1214. Concedo etiam juste meam firmam pacem omnibus illis qui ligna vel materiem attrahunt ad Perth. Quare precipio ne quis eos disturbet ad ea vendenda vel emenda postquam intra unam leucatam prope Perth venerint. (I grant also my firm peace to all those who bring wood or timber to Perth. Wherefore I command that none disturb them in buying or selling these things after they have come within a league of Perth.) INVERNESS, 1 199 — 1214. Meamque firmam pacem juste dedisse omnibus qui ad forum meum de Invernis venient. Et prohibeo firmiter ne quis hiis qui ad forum meum venient in veniendo vel in redeundo injuriam vel molestiam vel gravamen aliquod injuste inferre presumat super meam plenariam forisfacturam. (And that I have justly given my firm peace to all who shall come to my market of Inverness. And I firmly forbid any from unjustly presuming to do any injury or disturbance or hurt to those who shall come to my market either in coming or returning, under pain of my full forfeiture.) AYR, 1202 — 7. Mando itaque et firmiter precipio ut omnes homines qui cum merchaturis suis ad vendendum et emendum ad ilium predictum burgum meum venerint firmam pacem meam habeant et forum exerceant et in bene et pace (sic) redeant. (I command therefore and firmly ordain that all men who with their merchandise shall come to that my aforesaid burgh to sell or buy, shall have my firm peace and shall make use of the market, and shall return well and in peace.) ABERDEEN, 12 14. Meamque firmam pacem dedi juste omnibus probis hominibus qui ad forum illud venient. Et prohibeo ne quis eis in veniendo ad forum vel in redeundo injuriam vel molestiam aut gravamen injuste inferat super meam plenariam forisfacturam. (And I have justly given my firm peace to all upright men who shall come to that market. And I forbid any from unjustly doing any injury or dis- turbance or hurt to them either in coming to the market or returning, under pain of my full forfeiture.) (13) Free Navigation of Rivers NOTTINGHAM, 1157. Et iter dc Trent liberum esse debet navigantibus quantum pertica obtinebit ex utraque parte fili aquae. (And the river Trent ought to be free to voyagers as far as a perch extends from each part of the stream of water.) NOTTINGHAM, 1189. NOTTINGHAM, 1200. DERBY, 1204. For Tr&ni read Yitrvitni. 200 Borough Charters [V a 1 3 GLOUCESTER, 1163—74. Precipio quod homines de Gloe- cestria et omnes illi qui per flumen Savernae ire voluerint habeant chiminum et iter suum per Savernam cum lignis et carbonibus et meremio et omnibus mercaturis liberum et quietum. (I order that the men of Gloucester and all those who wish to travel by the river Severn, shall have free and quiet road and passage on the Severn with their wood and coals and timber and all their merchandise.) GLOUCESTER, 1194. DROGHEDA, 1194. Concessi eis etiam aquam de Boing deliberandum a mari usque ad pontem de Atrum ab omni obstaculo et impedimento goidi' et stagni et piscaturae, ut cum batellis et mercaturis suis ire valeant et redire. (I have also granted them the water of Boyne to be freed from the sea to the bridge of Atrum from all obstruction and hindrance of weirs and pools and fisheries, so that with their boats and merchandise they may go and return.) LONDON, 1 196. Noverit universitas vestra nos pro salute animae nostrae et pro salute animae Henrici Regis, patris nostri, et animarum antecessorum nostrorum, necnon et pro communi utilitate civitatis nostrae Londoniae, et totius regni nostri, concessisse et firmiter precepisse ut omnes kidelli qui sunt in Thamisia amoveantur ubicunque fuerint in Thamisia, et ne decetero kidelli alicubi ponantur in Thamisia : quietum etiam clamavimus omne id quod custodes turris nostrae Londoniae annuatim percipere solebant de predictis kidellis. Quare volumus et firmiter precipimus ne aliquis custos prefatae turris aliquo tempore post hoc aliquid exigat ab aliquo, nee aliquam demandam aut gravamen vel molestiam alicui inferat occasione predictorum kidellorum. Satis enim nobis constat et per venerabilem patrem nostrum Hubertum Cantuariensem archiepiscopum et per alios fideles nostros suiTficienter datum est intelligi quod maximum detrimentum et incommodum predictae civitati nostrae Londoniae necnon et toto regno nostro occasione kidellorum illorum proveniebat. (Know ye that, for the salvation of our soul, and for the salvation of the soul of King Henry our father, and of the souls of our ancestors, and also for the common utility of our city of London and of our whole realm, we have granted and firmly enjoined that all weirs which are on the Thames be removed, wherever they are on the Thames, and that henceforth no weirs be 1 Cf the guort on the Thames at Staines (D. B. I 128 b i). Va 14] Mercantile Privileges 201 placed anywhere on the Thames : we have also quit-claimed all that the wardens of our tower of London were wont annually to receive from the aforesaid weirs. Wherefore we will and firmly enjoin that no warden of the aforesaid tower shall at any time after this exact anything from anyone, nor make any demand or hurt or disturbance on anyone on account of the aforesaid weirs. For we are well satisfied, and by our venerable Father Hubert Archbishop of Canterbur>' and our other lieges, we have been sufficiently given to under- stand that the greatest loss and inconvenience is caused to our aforesaid city of London and also to our whole realm on account of these weirs.) LONDON, 1 199. Lines 5, 6, 7. After Thamisia add\^\ in Medeway. (14) Interference with Market COLCHESTER, 1 189. Prohibemus ne forum Colecestriae aliquo foro adultero impediatur sed sint fora et consuetudines in tali statu quam fuerint confirmatae juramento burgensium nostrorum Cole- cestriae coram justitiariis errantibus domini regis patris nostri. (We forbid that the market of Colchester be hindered by any other adulterine market, but that the markets and customs be in such a state as they were confirmed by the oath of our burgesses of Colchester before the justices in eyre of our lord the king our father.) V. MERCANTILE PRIVILEGES B. GUILDS AND TRADING (i) Merchant Guild LEICESTER, 1103 — 18. Sciatis me concessisse mercatoribus meis Leycestrie gildam eorum mercatorum cum omnibus consue- tudinibus quibus tenuerunt in tempore regis Willelmi et Regis Willelmi filii ejus et modo in tempore Henrici regis. (Know ye that I have granted to my merchants of Leicester their guild of merchants with all the customs with which they held it in the time of King William and of King William his son, and now in the time of King Henry.) LEICESTER, 11 18 — 68. Concedo etiam eis tenere gildam suam mercatoriam sicut melius unquam tenuerunt tempore patris mei. (I grant also to them that they may hold their merchant guild as best they ever held it in the time of my father.) LEICESTER, 11 18 — 6%. Sciatis me concessisse omnibus burgensibus meis Leycestrie guildam marcatoriam cum omnibus consuetudinibus quas habebant in tempore patris mei et antecessorum meorum. (Know ye that I have granted to all my burgesses of Leicester their merchant guild with all the customs which they had in the time of my father and my ancestors.) BEVERLEY, c. 1130. Volo ut burgenses mei de Beverlaco habeant suam hans-hus quam eis do et concedo ut ibi sua statuta pertractent ad honorem Dei et Sancti Johannis et canonicorum et ad totius villatus emendationem, eadem libertatis lege sicut illi de Eboraco habent in sua hans-hus ^ (I will that my burgesses of Beverley shall have their hans-house, which I give and grant to them, that there they may consider their statutes to the honour of God and St John and the canons and to the improvement of the whole town, with the same law of liberty as they of York have in their hans-house.) ' For grant of Henry I see p. 23. V B i] Mercantile Privileges 203 BE VERLE Y, c. 1 154. Deinde de libertatis lege concessi et dedi eisdem burgensibus ut habeant Gildam Marcandam eorum et placita eadem libertate et eadem consuctudine inter illos sicut illi de Eboraco inter eos. Et volo ut statuta illius domus sint ad proficuum totius villae et ad honorem Dei et Sancti Johannis et canonicorum et totius ejusdem villae. (Then of the law of their liberty, I have granted and given to the said burgesses that they may have their Merchant Guild and pleas with the same liberty and custom between themselves as they of York have between themselves. And I will that the statutes of that house be to the profit of the whole town, and to the honour of God and St John and the canons and of the whole of the same town.) LEWES, 1 148. Notum vobis sit quod ego communi consilio prioris de Sancto Pancratio et baronum consulis reddidi burgensibus Lewiensibus mercatoriam ghildam cum omnibus consuetudinibus et dignitatibus quae ad illam pertinent tam quietam et liberam sicut habuerunt illam in tempore avi et patris mei per xx solidos reddendo annuatim prefecturae de Levviis et tali conventione quod si Deus comitem reduxerit pro posse meo faciam quod ipse eis predicto pacto prefatam Ghildam concedet. Sin autem, faciam pro posse meo quod dominus mens Comes Willelmus filius Regis eis eandem concedet Ghildam. (Be it known unto you that I by the common counsel of the Prior of St Pancras and of the barons of the Earl, have restored to the burgesses of Lewes their merchant guild with all the customs and dignities which pertain to it, as quietly and freely as they held it in the time of my grandfather^ and father, by paying 20s. yearly to the reeve of Lewes, and on this agreement, that if God bring back the Earl (from the Holy Land) to the best of my power I will induce him to grant them the aforesaid guild by the said pact. But if not, to the best of my power, I will induce my Lord, Earl William the King's son, to grant them the same guild.) BURFORD, 1147—73. Et gildam et consuetudines quas habent burgenses de Oxenfordia in gilda mercatorum. (And their guild and the customs which the free burgesses of Oxford have in their guild of merchants.) BURFORD, 1087— 1 107. Two last words only are legible. BURFORD, 1 156. Be/ore burgenses insert liberi. CHICHESTER, July 1155I Quarc volo et firmiter praccipio quod ipsi habeant et teneant gildam suam cum omnibus libertatibus ' i.e. William de Warenne I died 1088. '^ See also Chichester p. 4. 204 Borough Charters [V b i et consuetudinibus ad earn pertinentibus sicut melius solebat habere tempore Regis Henrici. (Wherefore I will and firmly enjoin that they have and hold their guild with all the liberties and customs to it pertaining, as best they were wont to have it in the time of King Henry.) OXFORD, 1 1 56. Nominatim Gildam Mercatoriam cum omnibus libertatibus et consuetudinibus in terris et insulis et pasturis et aliis pertinentiis. (Namely, their guild merchant with all its liberties and customs in lands and islands and pastures and other appurtenances.) BEDFORD, 1 189. Line I. After m&rc2iior\3.m read su?Lm. 2. Before aliis insert omnibus. WALLINGFORD, 11 56. Scilicet, Gildam mercatoriam, cum omnibus consuetudinibus et legibus libere teneant, ne prepositus meus vel aliqua Justitia mea de gilda eorum se intromittat nisi proprie Aldermannus et minister eorum. (That is to say, they shall have their merchant guild with all its customs and laws freely, so that no reeve or justice of mine shall intermeddle con- cerning their guild, except their own Alderman and minister.) YORK, 1 1 54 — 8. Et volo et firmiter precipio quod predictas libertates et consuetudines habeant et teneant cum omnibus libertatibus predictae Gildae suae et hansis suis ei pertinentibus ita bene et in pace et libere et quiete sicut unquam melius liberius et quietius habuerunt et tenuerunt tempore predicti regis Henrici avi mei\ (And I will and firmly enjoin that they have and hold the aforesaid liberties and customs with all the liberties of their aforesaid guild and its hanses to it pertaining, as well and peacefully and freely and quietly as they ever best and most freely and most quietly had and held them in the time of the aforesaid King Henry my grandfather.) LINCOLN, 1 1 57. Et gildam suam mercatoriam de hominibus civitatis et de aliis mercatoribus comitatus, sicut illam habuerunt tempore predictorum antecessorum nostrorum regum Angliae melius et liberius. (And their merchant guild of the men of the city, and of other merchants of the county, as they best and most freely had it in the time of our aforesaid ancestors, the kings of England.) 1 For Guild at Southampton see p. 6. Vb i] Mercantile Privileges 205 ANDOVER, 1 175. Sciatis me concessisse hominibus de Andewra quod habeant gildam mercatoriam in xA.ndewra. (Know ye, that I have granted to the men of Andover that they have their merchant guild in Andover.) ANDOVER, 1 194. ANDOVER, 1205. ^(3r mercatoriam r^iZ(/ mercatorum. SALISBURY, 1 100 — 35 (Reconstructed). Line i. For o;}XO^ read vX. SALISBURY, 1 154 — 89 (Reconstructed). Line i. For o^o^ read wX.. SALISBURY, 1200. Add sicut carta Regis Henrici avi patris nostri testatur. PEMBROKE, 1 1 54 — 89. Omnes mercatores de comitatu de Pembroch per esguardiam burgensium meorum in gildam mercatoriam ipsorum intrent. (All merchants of the county of Pembroke by the decision of my burgesses may enter into their merchant guild.) CARLISLE, 1 154 — 89 (Reconstructed). Et quod similiter habent gildam mercatorum liberam ita quod nihil inde respondeant aliquibus. (And that they likewise have a free guild of merchants, so that they answer for it to none.) PERTH, 1 165 — 1214. Concedo etiam burgensibus eisdem meis de Perth ut habeant gildam suam mercatoriam exceptis fullonibus et telariis, (I grant also to my said burgesses of Perth that they may have their merchant guild, except the fullers and weavers.) ABERDEEN, 1214. Line 2. /'^r mercatoriam r^a^^ merchatricem. ABERDEEN, 1171 — 84. Sciant prcsentes et futuri me con- cessisse et hac carta mea confirmasse burgensibus de Aberdoen et omnibus burgensibus de Moravia et omnibus burgensibus meis ex aquilonali parte de Munth manentibus liberum ansum suum tenendum ubi voluerint et quando voluerint ita libere et quiete plenarie et honorifice sicut antecessores eorum tempore Regis David avi mei ansum suum liberius et honorificcntius habuerunt. (Know all men present and future, that I have granted and by this my charter have confirmed to the burgesses of Aberdeen and to all the burgesses of Moray and to all my burgesses on the Northern side of the Munth their free hanse to be held where they will and when they will, as freely and quietly, fully and honourably as their ancestors in the time of King David my grandfather most freely and honourably had their hanse.) '.«f 206 Borotigh Charters [V b i BRISTOL, 1 1 88. Et quod habeant omnes rationabiles gildas suas sicut melius eas habuerunt tempore Roberti et Willelmi filii sui comitum Gloucestriae. (That they shall have all their reasonable guilds as they best had them in the time of Robert and William his son, Earls of Gloucester.) DUBLIN, 1 192. After sicut read burgenses de Bristoll habent vel melius habere consueverunt. DUBLIN, 1200. As 1 192. NOTTINGHAM, 1189. Concessi et hac carta mea confirmavi Hberis burgensibus meis Gildam Mercatorum cum omnibus libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus quae ad Gildam Mercatorum debent vel solent pertinere. (I have granted and by this my charter have confirmed to my free burgesses their Guild of Merchants with all the liberties and free customs which to a guild of merchants ought or are wont to pertain.) NOTTINGHAM, 1200. Line 2. Be/ore \\he.r\s inseri t\s6.em. DERBY, 1204. CHESTER, 1 190 — I2I2. Notum sit vobis omnibus me dedisse et concessisse... omnibus civibus meis de Cestria Gildam suam mercalem cum omnibus libertatibus et Hberis consuetudinibus quas illi unquam melius et liberius et quietius habuerunt temporibus antecessorum meorum in predicta gilda. (Be it known unto you all that I have given and granted to all my citizens of Chester their merchant guild with all the liberties and free customs which they ever best and most freely and most quietly had in the times of my ancestors in the aforesaid guild.) IPSWICH, 1200. Quod habeant gildam mercatoriam et hansam suam. (That they may have their merchant guild and their hanse.) HELSTON, 1201I. Before habeant r^a^ burgenses nostri in eadem villa. Omit et hansam suam. DUNWICH, 1200. Concessimus etiam eis hansam et gildam mercatoriam sicut habere consueverunt. (We have also granted to them their hanse and merchant guild as they were wont to have.) DUNWICH, 12 1 5. Sciatis nos concessisse... probis hominibus et Burgensibus nostris Dunewic et heredes eorum... gildam mercatoriam 1 TOTNES, 1199— 1216. As Helston. Vb 2] Mercantile Privileges 207 cum hansa et aliis consuetudinibiis et libertatibus ad gildam illam pertinentibus. (Know ye that we have granted to our upright men and burgesses of Dunwich and their heirs their merchant guild with hanse and other customs and Hberties to that guild pertaining.) HEREFORD, 1215. 7v?r sciatis...eorum r^a^quod habeant. CAMBRIDGE, 1201. Sciatis nos concessisse et present! carta confirmasse burgensibus nostris de Cantebruge gildam mercatoriam. (Know ye that we have granted and by this present charter have confirmed to our burgesses of Cambridge, their merchant guild.) LYNN, 1204. Concessimus etiam gildam mercatoriam. (We have granted them also a merchant guild.) MARLBOROUGH, 1204. After etiam insert predictis burgensibus de Merleberg. After gildam insert suam. YARMOUTH, 1208. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1216. KILKENNY, 1202 — 10. Liceat Burgensibus meis Gyldam mercatoriam et alias gildas habere et suos scotenos cum omni libertate ad ipsos spectante sicut consuetudo est aliarum bonarum villarum. (It shall be lawful for my burgesses to have a merchant guild and other guilds, and their scoteni with every liberty relating to them as is the custom of other good towns.) INISTIOGE, after 1206. Line i. Omit meis. 2. For omni libertate read omnibus libertatibus. 3. For spectante read spectantibus. (2) Craft Guilds LONDON WEAVERS, 1155— 8. Sciatis me concessisse Telariis Londoniarum Gildam suam in Londoniis habendam cum omnibus libertatibus et consuetudinibus quas habucrunt tempore Regis Henrici avi mei : et ita quod nullus nisi per illos se intromittat infra civitatem de eo ministerio, et nisi sit in eorum Gilda, neque in Sudvverke, neque in aliis locis Londoniis pertinentibus, aliter quam solebat fieri tempore Regis Henrici avi mei. Quare volo et firmiter praecipio quod ubique legaliter tractentur et habeant omnia supradicta ita bene et in pace et libere et honorifice et integre sicut unquam melius et liberius et honorificentius et integrius habuerunt tempore Regis Henrici avi mei. 2o8 Borough Charters [V b 2 Ita quod singulis annis inde reddant mihi duas marcas auri ad festum Sancti Michaelis. Et prohibeo ne quis eis super hoc aliquam injuriam vel contumeliam faciat supra decern libras forisfacturae. (Know ye that I have granted to the Weavers of London their guild in London to be had with all the liberties and customs which they had in the time of King Henry my grandfather ; so that none except by their permission, intermeddle within the city with that trade, and unless he be in their guild, nor in Southwark, nor in the other places pertaining to London, otherwise than was wont to be done in the time of King Henry my grandfather. Wherefore I will and firmly command that everywhere they may lawfully consider and have all the aforesaid privileges as well and peaceably and freely and honourably and fully as ever they best had them in the time of King Henry my grandfather. Provided that every year they pay me two marks of gold on that account at Michaelmas. And I forbid that any do them any injury or insult on this matter on pain of a forfeiture of ^lo.) OXFORD CORDWAINERS, c. 1175. Sciatis me concessisse et...confirmasse corvesariis de Oxonia omnes libertates et consue- tudines quas habuerunt tempore Regis Henrici avi mei et quod habeant gildam suam, Ita quod nullus faciat officium eorum in Villa de Oxonia nisi sit de Gilda ilia. Concedo etiam quod corduanarii qui postea venient in villam de Oxonia sint de ipsa gilda et habeant easdem libertates et consuetudines quas corvesarii habent et habere debent. Pro hac autem concessione et confirmatione corvesarii et cor- duanarii debent mihi reddere singulis annis unam unciam auri^ (Know ye that I have granted and confirmed to the corvesars of Oxford all the liberties and customs which they had in the time of King Henry my grandfather, and that they have their guild, so that none carry on their trade in the town of Oxford, except he be of that guild. I grant also that the cordwainers who afterwards may come into the town of Oxford shall be of the same guild and shall have the same liberties and customs which the corvesars have and ought to have. For this grant and confirmation, however, the corvesars and cordwainers ought to pay me every year an ounce of gold^) LONDON WEAVERS, 1202. Sciatis nos ad petitionem maioris et civium nostrorum Londoniae concessisse et present! carta confirmasse quod Gilda Telaria non sit decetero in civitate nostra Londoniae nee 1 Confirmation in Calendar Charter Rolls ll 34. Line 4. After suam add sicut tunc habuerunt. V B 3] Mercantile Privileges 209 ullatenus suscitetur. Quia vero consuevimus annuatim percipere decern et octo marcas argenti de gilda ilia telaria singulis annis reddent predicti cives nobis et heredibus nostris viginti marcas argenti numero in festo Sancti Michaelis ad scaccarium nostrum. (Know ye that at the petition of our Mayor and citizens of London we have granted and by this present charter confirmed that the Weavers' Guild shall not exist henceforth in our City of London, nor shall it on any account be revived. But because we have been wont to receive yearly i8 marks of silver from that Weavers' Guild, the aforesaid citizens shall pay every year to us and our heirs 20 marks of silver at the feast of St Michael at our Exchequer ^) (3) Monopoly of Trade to Guild CHICHESTER, March, 1155. Et nullus ibi aliquid emat vel vendat aliter quam solebat fieri tempore ejusdem regis (i.e. Henrici avi mei). (And none shall buy or sell anything there otherwise than he was wont to do in the time of the same king.) CHICHESTER, July, 11 55. Et nullus in civitate Cicestria vendat pannos per detaillum nisi sit de gilda mercatorum, sicut idem rex Henricus per breve suum precepit. (And none in the city of Chichester shall sell cloth by retail except he be of the Merchant guild, as the same King Henry commanded by his writ.) OXFORD, 1 1 56. Ita quod aliquis qui non sit de Gilda ilia aliquam mercaturam non faciet in civitate vel suburbio nisi sicut solebat tempore regis Henrici avi mei. (So that none who is not of that guild shall do any tratific in the city or suburbs except as he was wont in the time of King Henry my grandfather.) BEDFORD, 1 189. Line 2. For faciet... suburbio read faciat cum eis in civitate vel burgo vel villa vel in socagiis. HEREFORD, 1215. Line i. For ita read et. For aliquis read nullus. 2. For mercaturam 7-ead mercandisam. For sicut. ..mei read de voluntate eorundem civium. * For charters of Henry I to the Cordwainers of Rouen and Henry II to Tanners of that city, see Calendar 0/ Documents preserved in France, Nos. 107 and 108. For the laws of the Fullers of Winchester, Marlborough, Oxford and Beverley temp. John, see Beverley Town Documents, p. 153. «• 14 2IO Borough Charters [V b 3 f WALLINGFORD, 11 56. Prohibeo etiam et precipio ne aliquod | mercatum sit in Craumersa nee Mercator aliquis nisi sit in Gilda Mercatorum : et si aliquis exierit de burgo Walingefordiae et vivat de mercato ipsius Walingefordiae precipio ut rectum Gildae Mercatorum faciat ipsis burgensibus ubicunque sit infra burgum vel extra. (I forbid also and order that there shall be no market in Crowmarsh and no merchant except he be in the guild of Merchants. And if any go out of the borough of Wallingford, and live of his traffic in the same Wallingford, I command that he shall pay his due to the same burgesses of the guild of j Merchants, wherever he may be within or without the borough.) ' LINCOLN, 1 1 54 — 63. Precipio quod nuUus Mercator qui sit extraneus et de foris sit residens in Lincolnia pro tingendis pannis suis vel vendendis ad taleam, nisi illi tantum qui sunt in gilda et ad omnes consuetudines villae et qui reddunt gelda mea cum eis sicuti solebant tempore Henrici Regis. (I order that no merchant who is a stranger and out of the liberties shall be resident in Lincoln for the purpose of dyeing his cloths or selling them by retail, save only they who are in the guild and liable to all the customs of the town, and who pay my gelds with them, as they were wont in the time of King Henry.) PERTH, 1 165 — 12 14. Prohibeo etiam firmiter ne quis manens extra burgum meum de Perth in vicecomitatu de Perth faciat pannum tinctum vel mixtum intra vicecomitatum de Perth nee facere faciat praeter burgenses meos de Perth qui sunt in gilda mercatoria et communicant ad auxilia mea cum burgensibus solvenda exceptis illis qui de hae libertate cartam suam hucusque habuerunt. Quare firmiter prohibeo ne quis in vicecomitatu de Perth facere presumat pannum tinctum vel tonsum super plenariam meam forisfacturam. Si vero aliquis pannus tinctus vel tonsus fuerit factus super hanc defensionem precipio vicecomiti meo de Perth quatenus capiat pannum et inde faciat secundum consuetudinem quae fuit tempore David Regis avi mei. (I also firmly forbid that anyone residing outside my burgh of Perth in the sheriffdom of Perth shall make any dyed or mixed cloth within the county of Perth nor shall cause it to be made, except my burgesses of Perth who are in the merchant guild and share with the burgesses in the payment of my aids, except those who have had their charter of this liberty before this date. Wherefore I firmly forbid that any in the sheriffdom of Perth shall presume to make dyed or shorn cloth on pain of my full forfeiture. If any dyed or shorn cloth should be made in spite of this prohibition, I order my sheriff of Perth to take the cloth and deal with it according to the custom which was in the time of King David my grandfather.) V B 4] Mercantile Privileges 2 1 1 ABERDEEN, 1214. Line 3. For mixtum read tonsum. For intra vicecomitatum read in vicecomitatu. For nee 7ead ve\. 5. ^//i?r burgensibus (7fl5^de Aberden. For solvenda read reddenda. 9. For aliquis read alicujus. 10. Omi'/ de Perth, 1 1. For consuetudinem quae read quod consuetude. 1 2. For avi read proavi. (4) Monopoly of Trade to Burgess. Regulations for Foreign Merchants NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1 100—35 (A-text). Mercatoraliquis nisi burgensis non potest [extra] villam emere nee lanam nee coria nee mercatoria alia nee infra nisi burgensibus. Nullus nisi burgensis poterit emere telas ad tingendas nee facere nee secare. (No merchant except a burgess shall outside the town buy wool or hides or other merchandise, nor shall he buy them within the town, except of burgesses. None except a burgess can buy cloth to dye or make or cut.) LEGES QUATTUOR BURGORUM. Line i. For Mercator...non read Nullus mercator alienus. 4. For poterit read potest. For tingendas r^a^/ tingendam. For telas read lanam. Before facere insert pannum. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1 100—35 (B-text)^ Item mercatori forinseco non licet emere nee in foro nee apud rus nee lanam nee eoria nee eetera. Nullus forinsecus debet emere pannum ad tingendum nisi sit de consuetudine burgi. Nullus forinsecus potest scindere piscem ad vendendum. (Item, a foreign merchant shall not be allowed to buy wool or hides or other things either in the market or in the country. No foreigner may buy cloth to dye except he be of the custom of the borough. No foreigner may cut up fish for sale.) ' Omitted at Wearmouth. 14—2 212 Borough Charters [V b 4 TEWKESBURY, 1147—83. Ita quod nuUus extraneus emeret blada in burgo predicto nee in granario poneret sen teneret ultra octo dies videlicet inter gulam Augusti et festum Omnium Sanctorum quod si fecerit et de eo committetur, amerciaretur ad voluntatem predictorum comitum vel ballivorum suorum, nee post festum Omnium Sanctorum ad gulam Augusti emeret blada ad ponenda et tenenda in granario nee eariaret per aquam sine licentia predictorum Comitum vel ballivorum de burgo predicto et custumas solvendo. (Provided that no stranger should buy corn in the borough aforesaid or place or keep it in a granary for more than eight days, to wit between the gules of August and the feast of All Saints ; but if he does so, and is committed for that offence, he shall be in mercy at the will of the aforesaid Earls or their bailiffs ; nor after the feast of All Saints to the gules of August should he buy corn to place and keep in a granary nor carry it by water without the license of the Earls aforesaid or the bailiffs of the borough aforesaid, and paying the customs.) SWANSEA, 1 1 53 — 84. Nullus mercator advena seindat pannos ad detaylle nee emat pelles nee cutes nisi de burgense. (No foreign merchant shall cut cloths (for sale) by retail nor buy skins or hides except of a burgess.) WELLS, 1 174 — 80. Inhibemus etiam ne aliquis in eadem villa pelles crudas vel coria eruda emere presumat nisi fuerit in luna^ et lagha burgensium Wellarum. (We forbid also any from presuming to buy untanned skins or hides in the same town unless he be in the community and law of the burgesses of Wells.) WELLS, c. iio\. Line I. i^^r etiam n'a^ autem. For eadem villa read eodem burgo. 3. For Wellarum read Wellensium. BRISTOL, 1 188. Quod nullus extraneus mercator emat infra villam de homine extraneo coria blada vel lanam nisi de burgensibus. (That no foreign merchant shall buy in the borough of a foreign man hides corn or wool except of a burgess.) DUBLIN, 1 192. 7^9r burgensibus r^«^ civibus. DUBLIN, 1200. 7v?r burgensibus r£?«^ civibus. BRISTOL, 1 1 88, Quod nullus extraneus... vendat pannum ad decisionem nisi in nundinis, (That no foreigner sell cloth by retail except at fairs.) DUBLIN, 1 192. /N9r decisionem r^<^ sterling by tale, and from Falsgrave with its appurtenances ;^io blanched, and as increment ^33 by tale per annum, to hold so long as they shall well serve us, and pay their rent. They shall pay the aforesaid farm at our Exchequer at Michaelmas.) VI i] Borough Finances 227 SCARBOROUGH, 1201, April 9. Rex etc. burgensibus suis de Scardeburg. Mandamus vobis et precipimus quod de firma villae vestrae, tarn de veteri firma, quam de cremento ejusdem villae, respondeatis Johanni de Bulli, constabulario de Scardeburg qui inde respondebit, sicut facere debebit, ad scaccarium nostrum, donee aliud inde precipimus. (The King to his burgesses of Scarborough. We command you and ordain that for the farm of your town, both the old farm, and the increment of the same town, ye shall be answerable to John de Bulli, constable of Scarborough, who shall answer for it, as he ought to do, at our Exchequer, until we order you otherwise.) NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1201, Feb. 9. Sciatis nos Hberasse ad firmam burgensibus nostris de Novo Castello super Tinam villam de Novo Castello super Tinam cum pertinentiis per Ix libras sterlin- gorum numero quae solebat reddere antiquitus quinquaginta libras numero, habendam et tenendam quamdiu nobis bene servierint et firmam suam bene reddiderint. Hanc autem firmam sexaginta librarum reddent ad duo scaccaria nostra scilicet ad scaccarium Sancti Michaelis xxx libras et ad scaccarium Paschae xxx libras. (Know ye that we have delivered at farm to our burgesses of Newcastle- on-Tyne, the town of Newcastle-on-Tyne with its appurtenances at ^60 sterling by tale, which town was wont to render ^50 by tale, to be had and holden as long as they serve us well, and pay their farm well. Moreover, they shall pay this farm of ^60 at our two Exchequers, to wit, at the Michaelmas Exchequer ^30, and at the Easter Exchequer ^30.) NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 12 Feb., 1201. Line 3. 0;«// sterlingorum. CORBRIDGE, 1201. Line 3. For Ix read quadraginta et quinque. 4. For quinquaginta read triginta. 6. Otnit sexaginta librarum. 8. For xxx read xxii et dim. {bis). NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 121 3, Sciatis nos concessisse et dimisisse...probis hominibus nostris de Novo Castro super Tynam et heredibus eorum villam nostram de Novo Castro super Tynam cum omnibus pertinentiis suis ad feodifirmam pro centum libris nobis et heredibus nostris annuatim inde reddendis ad scaccarium nostrum per manum suam ad duos terminos scilicet ad Pascham quinquaginta libris et ad festum S. Michaelis quinquaginta libris, salvis nobis redditibus et prisis et assisis nostris in portu ejusdem villae. (Know ye that we have granted and demised to our upright men 01 Newcastle-on-Tyne and their heirs, our town of Newcastle-on-Tyne with all its appurtenances at fee farm for ^100 to be rendered thence yearly to us and 15-2 2 28 Borough Charters [VI i our heirs at our Exchequer by their own hand at the two terms, to wit, at Easter ^50, and at Michaelmas ^50, saving to us our rents and prises and assises in the port of the same town.) HELSTON, 1201, Apr. 18. Sciatis nos concessisse...burgensibus nostris de Helleston villam de Helleston cum pertinentiis ad firmam per antiquam firmam et debitam et de cremento quattuor libras habendam et tenendam quamdiu nobis bene et fideliter servierint et firmam suam bene reddiderint reddendo firmam suam per manum suam ad duo scaccaria nostra scilicet medietatem ad Pascham et aliam medietatem ad festum S. Michaelis. Et sciendum quod cre- mentum tale erit quale est firma. (Know ye that we have granted to our burgesses of Helston the town of Helston with its appurtenances at farm by the ancient and accustomed farm and as increment £,\ to have and to hold so long as they serve us well and faithfully and pay their farm well, paying their farm by their own hands at our two Exchequers, to wit, one moiety at Easter and the other moiety at Michaelmas. And be it known that the increment shall be such as is the farm.) ANDOVER, 1201. Line 3. After debitam add sine instauro sicut consueverunt reddere sine instauro. Before de cremento read preterea. For quattuor read quindecim. 4. Before quamdiu insert per predictam firmam. ANDOVER, 1205, May 29. Sciatis nos concessisse...burgensibus nostris de Andevra manerium nostrum de Andevra cum omnibus pertinentiis suis ad feodi firmam, tenendum eis et heredibus eorum de nobis et heredibus nostris per antiquam firmam scilicet per quater XX libras per annum, et de incremento per xv libras quas prius nobis dederunt pro habendo manerio illo ad firmam quamdiu nobis placeret, et preterea per x libras quas postea addiderunt pro habendo eodem manerio ad feodi firmam, et hanc firmam, scilicet, centum et quinque libras per totum, reddent nobis annuatim ad scaccarium nostrum per manum suam, scilicet, unam medietatem ad scaccarium S. Michaelis et alteram medietatem ad scaccarium Paschae. (Know ye that we have granted. ..to our burgesses of Andover our manor of Andover with all its appurtenances at fee farm, to hold to them and their heirs of us and our heirs by the ancient farm, to wit, at ^80 a year, and as increment j^ 1 5 which they formerly gave us for having the said manor at farm during our pleasure, and in addition^io which they afterwards added for having the said manor at fee farm, and this farm, to wit, ;^io5 in the whole, they shall pay at our Exchequer yearly to us by their own hands, to wit, one moiety at the Michaelmas Exchequer, and the other moiety at the Easter Exchequer.) VI i] Borough Finances 229 ANDOVER, 1213. Sciatis nos concessisse...hominibus nostris de Andevre manerium nostrum de Andevre cum hundredo forinseco et aliis pertinentiis habendum et tenendum de nobis et heredibus nostris illis et heredibus suis ad feodi firmam reddendo inde annuatim ad scaccarium nostrum per manum suam quater viginti libras blancas de antiqua firma et xx libras numero de cremento ad duos terminos scilicet ad scaccarium Paschae xl libras blancas et x libras numero et ad scaccarium S. Michaelis xl libras blancas et x libras numero. (Know ye that we have granted. ..to our men of Andover our manor of Andover with the foreign hundred and other appurtenances to be had and holden of us and our heirs to them and their heirs at fee farm, rendering thence yearly at our Exchequer by their own hand, ^80, blanched, as the ancient farm and £10 by tale as increment at the two terms, to wit, at the Easter Exchequer, ^40 blanched and ^10 by tale, and at the Michaelmas Exchequer ^40 blanched and ^10 by tale.) DERBY, 1204. Preterea concessimus et confirmavimus eisdem burgensibus de Derby burgum de Derby cum omnibus pertinentiis suis ad feodi firmam tenendum de nobis et heredibus nostris sibi et heredibus suis inperpetuum per antiquam firmam et de cremento decern libras per annum pro omni servicio et demanda. (Moreover, we have granted and confirmed to the said burgesses of Derby the borough of Derby with all its appurtenances at fee farm, to hold of us and our heirs to them and their heirs for ever by the ancient farm and by the increment of ;^io yearly for all service and demand.) ILCHESTER, 1204. Dedimus...predictis burgensibus nostris de Ivelcestre et heredibus eorum quod habeant et teneant de nobis et heredibus nostris villam nostram de Ivelcestre ad feodi firmam cum omnibus pertinentiis libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus suis re- spondendo inde ad scaccarium nostrum S. Michaelis per manum suam per annum de xxx libris de antiqua firma ita quod vicecomes decetero se inde non intromittat, et quod computetur illis in firma ilia sex librae et decem solidi quos Willelmo Daco dedimus et preterea xl solidi de molendino quod idem Willelmus tenet et xl solidi de hundredo de La Stane sicut pertincre solebant ad firmam prcdictam. (We have given... to our aforesaid burgesses of Ilchester and their heirs that they shall have and hold of us and our heirs our town of Ilchester at fee farm with all its appurtenances liberties and free customs, answering thence at our Michaelmas Exchequer by their own hand yearly for ^30 as the ancient farm, so that the sheriff shall not for the future intermeddle therein, and that there shall be computed to them in that farm £G. \os. which we have given to William the Dane, and moreover 40^-. from the mill which the said William holds, and 40^-. from the hundred of La Stane, as they were wont to pertain to the aforesaid farm.) 230 Borough Charters [VI i HUNTINGDON, 1205. Sciatis nos concessisse...burgensibus nostris de Huntendon burgum nostrum de Huntendon cum omnibus pertinentiis suis habendum et tenendum sibi et heredibus suis de nobis et heredibus nostris ad feodi firmam, reddendo inde nobis et heredibus nostris per annum debitam et antiquam firmam et decem libras de cremento per manum suam ad duo scaccaria, scilicet unam medietatem ad scaccarium Paschae et alteram medietatem ad scac- carium S. Michaelis pro omni servitio. (Know ye that we have granted... to our burgesses of Huntingdon our borough of Huntingdon with all its appurtenances to be had and holden to them and their heirs of us and our heirs at fee farm, rendering thence to us and our heirs every year the due and ancient farm and ^10 as increment by their own hand at the two Exchequers, to wit, one moiety at the Easter Exchequer, and the other moiety at the Michaelmas Exchequer, for all service.) STAFFORD, 1206. Ouod burgenses ilh' et heredes eorum habeant burgum illud ad feodi firmam de nobis et heredibus nostris cum soca et saca et thol et them et infangenetlief et cum omnibus ahis Hbertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus quas ipsi antiquitus habere consueverunt, reddendo singulis annis ad scaccarium nostrum per manum suam debitam et antiquam firmam scilicet medietatem ad scaccarium Paschae et aliam medietatem ad scaccarium S. Michaelis. (That those burgesses and their heirs shall have that borough at fee farm of us and our heirs with soke and sake and toll and team and infangthef and all other liberties and free customs which they were wont to have in ancient times, rendering every year at our Exchequer by their own hand the due and ancient farm, to wit, one moiety at the Easter Exchequer, and the other moiety at the Michaelmas Exchequer.) YARMOUTH, 1208. Quod habeant burgum de Gernemua ad feodi firmam inperpetuum... Reddendo inde annuatim quinquaginta et quinque libras numero per prepositum de Gernemue ad scaccarium nostrum ad terminum S. Michaelis. (That they shall have the borough of Yarmouth at fee farm for ever... Rendering thence every year ^5 5 by tale by the hand of the reeve of Yarmouth at our Exchequer at the Michaelmas term.) YORK, 12 12. Sciatis nos concessisse...civibus nostris Ebora- censibus villam Eboraci cum omnibus pertinentiis et Hbertatibus et omnibus rebus ad firmam illius villae pertinentibus sicut eas unquam habuerunt habendam et tenendam eis et heredibus suis de nobis et heredibus nostris per firmam centum et Ix libras annuatim solvendam ad scaccarium nostrum scilicet medietatem ad festum S. Michaelis et aliam medietatem ad Pascham. i VI i] Borough Finances 231 (Know ye that we have granted to our citizens of York the town of York with all its appurtenances and liberties and all things to the farm of the said town pertaining as they ever had them, to have and to hold to them and their heirs of us and our heirs by the farm of ^i6o yearly to be paid at our Exchequer, to wit, one moiety at Michaelmas and the other moiety at Easter.) DROITWICH, 121 5. Sciatis nos concessisse burgensibus nostris de Wich in comitatu Wigorniae villam illam de Wich, quidquid scilicet habemus in eadem villa ad feodi firmam cum salsis et salinis et omnibus pertinentiis et aliis libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus ad illam partem nostram in eadem villa pertinentibus pro centum libris sterlingorum nobis reddendis per manus ipsorum burgensium ad scaccarium nostrum ad duos terminos anni scilicet ad festum S. Michaelis quinquaginta libras et ad Pascha quinquaginta libras, habendam et tenendam de nobis et heredibus nostris sibi et heredibus suis in perpetuum bene et in pace libere et quiete pacifice et integre cum soc et sac et thol et them et infangenethef et omnibus aliis libertatibus et rebus ad predictam partem nostram pertinentibus. (Know ye that we have granted to our burgesses of Wich in the county of Worcester that town of Wich, to wit, whatever we have in the same town, at fee farm, with the salt works and brine pans and all its appurtenances and other liberties and free customs to our part in the same town belonging, for ;!^ioo sterling to be paid to us by the hands of the said burgesses at our Exchequer at the two terms of the year, to wit, at Michaelmas ^50, and at Easter £^0, to have and to hold of us and our heirs to them and their heirs for ever, well and peacefully, freely and quietly, peaceably and wholly, with soke and sake and toll and team and infangthef, and all other liberties and things to our aforesaid part pertaining.) DUBLIN, 121 5. Sciatis nos concessisse... civibus nostris Dublin' quod ipsi et heredes eorum habeant et teneant de nobis et heredibus nostris inperpetuum civitatem nostram Dublin', cum prepositura et omnibus aliis pertinentiis suis, ad feodifirmam, cum parte ilia aquae de Avenelith quae eis contingit, simul cum parte ejusdem aquae quae nobis contingit, Exceptis piscationibus batellorum, quas prius dedimus in liberam elemosinam et aliis piscationibus batellorum quas alii habent ex antiqua tenura et salvis nobis sedibus molendinorum in eadem aqua quas ad opus nostrum retinuimus, Reddendo inde nobis et heredibus nostris singulis annis ad scaccarium nostrum Dublin' ducentas marcas ad duos terminos anni, scilicet ad festum Sancti Michaelis centum marcas et ad Pascha sequens centum marcas, (Know ye that we have granted to our citizens of Dublin that they and their heirs shall have and hold of us and our heirs for ever our city of Dublin, with its reeveship and all other appurtenances, at fee farm, with that part of 232 Borough Charters [VI i the river of Avenelith which belongs to them, together with the part of the same water which belongs to us, Saving the fishings from boats which we have previously given in free alms and other fishings from boats which others have of ancient tenure, and saving to us the sites of our mills on that water, which sites we retain for our use. Rendering thence to us and our heirs every year at our Exchequer in Dublin 200 marks at the two terms of the year, to wit, at Michaelmas 100 marks, and at Easter following 100 marks.) (2) Earl's Rights in Borough FORDWICH, 1070 — 86. Odo gratia Dei Baiocensis episcopus et Cantiae comes Lanfranco Archiepiscopo et Haimoni vicecomiti et ceteris fidelibus regis francigenis et anglis Salutem. Sciatis omnes quod ego Odo episcopus et Cantiae comes omnes domos quas in villa Foruuihc habeo et omnes consuetudines mei juris ad ipsam villam pertinentes pro anima mea et pro anima domini mei Willelmi regis Anglorum ecclesiae Sancti Augustini in perpetuum possidendas concede. (Odo, by the grace of God, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent, to Lanfranc the archbishop and Haimo the sheriff and to the other lieges of the King, French and English, greeting. Know ye all that I Odo, Bishop and Earl of Kent, grant all the houses which I have in the town of Fordvvich and all the customs of my right pertaining to the same town for the salvation of my soul and for the soul of my lord, William, King of the English, to the Church of St Augustine, to be possessed by it for ever.) SANDWICH, 1070—86. Line 4. After episcopus insert Baiocensis. 7. For S. Augustini read Christi Cantuariensis. FORDWICH, 1070— 861. Willelmus Rex Anglorum Lanfranco Archiepiscopo et Haimoni vicecomiti et Ricardo filio comitis Gisle- berti et Haimoni vicecomiti et omnibus tainis de Client francigenis et anglicis Salutem. Sciatis episcopum Baiocensem fratrem meum pro amore Dei et pro salute animae meae et sua dedisse Sancto Augustino quicquid habet apud foruuic tam in terris et pratis et domibus et consuetudinibus quam in aliis rebus et quod dedit licentia mea sciatis ilium dedisse. (William, King of the English, to Lanfranc the Archbishop and Haimo the sheriff 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 1 The author of the History of St Augustine's dates this 1077 (p. 28). VI 3] Boi'ough Finances 233 his own has given to St Augustine whatever he has at Fordwich both in lands and meadows and houses and customs as well as in other things, and that he has given what he has given by my license.) SANDWICH, 1070—86. Line 2. For Haimoni vicecomiti read Hugoni de Montfort'. 6. For Augustino read Trinitati. For quicquid read omnes domos et consuetudines quas. Omit tam... rebus. HEREFORD, 11 54 — 62. Preterea dedi ei (Rogero comiti Here- ford') et concessi motam Hereford' cum toto castello et tertium denarium redditus burgi Hereford' quicquid unquam reddat, et tertium denarium placitorum totius comitatus Hereford' unde feci eum comitem. (Moreover, I have given and granted to him (Roger, Earl of Hereford) the mote of Hereford with the whole castle, and the third penny of the render of the borough, whatever it may ever render, and the third penny of the pleas of the whole county of Hereford, of which I have made him Earl.) NORWICH, 1 191. Sciatis nos fecisse Rogerum Bigot comitem de Norfolcia, scilicet de tertio denario de Norwic' et de Norfolcia, sicut comes Hugo, pater ejus, melius unquam fuit tempore domini Regis Henrici patris nostri. (Know ye that we have made Roger Bigot Earl of Norfolk, to wit, of the third penny of Norwich and Norfolk, as Earl Hugh his father was best at any time in the time of King Henry, my father.) (3) Lord's Rights in Borough SANDWICH, 1 1 55 — 72. Henricus etc. Vicecomiti et Ballivis suis Cantiae Salutem. Volo et precipio quod monachi Sanctae Trinitatis Cantuariensis habeant plenarie omnes illas libertates et consuetudines in Sanvvic quas habuerunt tempore Henrici Regis Avi mei sicut recognitum est ex precepto ipsius per sacramentum xii hominum de Doura et xii hominum de Sanvvic, scilicet quod predict! monachi debent habere portum et theloncum et omnes consuetudines maritimas in eodem portu ex utraque parte aquae ab Eadburgegate usque ad Markesfliete et navictam ad transfretandum. Nullusque hominum habet ibidem aliquid jus nisi ipsi et ministri eorum. Quare volo et firmiter precipio vobis et hominibus de Sanvvic ut consuetudines omnes tam in portu quam in villa de Sanvvic predictis monachis Cantuariensibus habere faciatis et prohibeo nc quis eos super hoc vexet. 1 I think this is the proper reading in the Fordwich Charter, but the copy in the Cartulary reads as printed. 234 Borough Charters [VI 3 (Henry II to his sheriff and bailiffs of Kent, greeting. I will and order that the monks of the Holy Trinity of Canterbury shall have fully all those liberties and customs in Sandwich which they had in the time of King Henry my grandfather, as it was adjudged in pursuance of his command by the oath of twelve men of Dover and twelve men of Sandwich, to wit, that the aforesaid monks ought to have the port and the toll and all maritime customs in the same port, on either side of the water from Eadburge-gate as far as Markes- fliete and a ferr>'-boat for passage. And no man has there any right except they and their ministers. Wherefore I will and firmly command you and the men of Sandwich that ye cause the aforesaid monks to have all their customs both in the port and in the town of Sandwich, and I forbid any from vexing them on this account.) R YE, 1 140 — 89. Ipsi vero homines qui presentes fuerunt abbati jusjurandum fecerunt et facient absentes jurare, sed et heredes eorum, quando ad terram venerint ; jurabunt quod saras et omnes alias recti- tudines suas pro posse suo cum justitia .sua abbatem habere facient nee patientur ahquem in villa manentem piscari, nisi saras dederit in hac forma : de omni piscatione, quamcumque exercuerint, haec lex reddendarum sararum erit ; de omnibus navibus xxvi remorum duas saras reddent et dimidiam : de navibus vero xxii seu viginti remorum, duas saras ; de navibus vero xviii seu xvi remorum saram et dimidiam: de navibus vero xiiii seu xii seu x remorum, saram unam ; et de omnibus aliis navibus quae infra decem remos fuerint, saram integram, quamlibet pauci in navi fuerint remigantes, saram integram reddent : exceptis illis qui heccheres^ vocantur : eorum reddendarum sararum haec lex erit ; si octo fuerint in ea remigantes vel ix vel x vel xi vel xii saram unam : si minus fuerint in navi quam octo, saram dimidiam dabunt, quam pauci fuerint. (Moreover, the men who were present took an oath to the abbot, and will make the others swear, they and their heirs, when they come to land ; they will swear that they will cause the abbot to have his shares and his other rights according to their power with his justice, nor will they suffer any man dwelling in the town to fish, unless he give shares in this way : of every fishing, whatever they exercise, this will be the law of giving shares ; from all ships of 26 oars they will pay 2\ shares ; from ships of 22 or 20 oars, 2 shares ; from ships of 18 or 16 oars \\ shares ; from ships of 14, 12 or 10 oars, i share; and from all other ships which are less than 10 oars, a complete share : however few rowers were in the ship, they shall pay a complete share excepting those which are called heccheres ; this will be the law of the giving of their shares ; if 8 were rowing in it or 9 or 10 or 11 or 12, one share ; if there were less than 8 in the ship, they shall give a half share, however few they may be.) RYE, 1189— 1 2 19. 1 See Dr Round's note in 42 Sitssex Archaeological Collections, j^ : a heak or heck is a peculiar net for cod. VI 4] Borough Finances 235 (4) Prises BRISTOL, 1 1 88. Et quod nullus capiat tinam> in villa nisi ad opus domini comitis et hoc secundum consuetudinem villae. (And that no man take tine in the town except for the use of our lord the earl and that according to the custom of the town.) TRIM, 1 194— 1 24 1. Preterea concessi eisdem burgensibus quod pacatur ad quattuor terminos anni de omnibus prisis per eos captis per me vel per ballivos meos Et si forte in primo anni quarterio non fuerunt nihil, mihi ulterius mutuabunt donee de termino illo fuerint pacata et sic de aliis terminis. (Moreover, I have granted to the said burgesses that payment shall be made at the four terms of the year for all prises taken through them, through me or my bailiffs. And if perchance in the first quarter of the year there shall be nothing for me, yet they shall make me a loan till payment be made for that term, and so for the other terms.) DUBLIN, 1 192". Hac autem libertate mihi reservata, quod de qualibet navi quae illuc cum vinis venire continget ballivus meus loco meo eliget duo dolia vini quaecunque voluerit in navi, unum scilicet ante malum, et aliud retro malum ad opus meum pro quadraginta solidis, unum pro viginti solidis et aliud pro viginti solidis, et nihil amplius inde accipiet nisi ad gratum mercatoris. (But with this liberty reserved to me, that from every ship that comes thither with wines, my bailiff in my place shall choose two casks of wine whichever he please in the ship, to wit, one from before the mast, and the other from behind the mast, for my use, for forty shillings, one for twenty shillings, and the other for twenty shillings, and he shall take nothing more therefrom, except at the pleasure of the merchant.) DUBLIN, 1200. CORBRIDGE, after 121 2. Nulli servient! apud Corbrig moram facienti liceat aliquam prisam ad opus suum de burgensibus facere nisi per voluntatem burgensium, ita, tamcn, quod dicti burgenses bona sua dicto ballivo vendere non negabunt. (No sergeant sojourning at Corbridge shall be at liberty to take any prise for his own use from the said burgesses, except by the will of the burgesses, provided that the said burgesses shall not refuse to sell their goods to the said bailiff.) * Du Cange defines tina as vas. 2 A similar clause is contained in John's Charter to Rouen, 1199; Calendar of Documents preserved in France, p. 36. 236 Borough Charters [VI 5 (5) Aids to Farm COLCHESTER, 11 89. Consuetudines aquae et ripae ex utraque parte habeant dicti burgenses nostri ad perficiendam firmam nostri sicut habuerunt tempore domini regis patris nostri et tempore Henrici avi ejus. (The customs also of the water and the bank on each side, our said burgesses shall have for completing our farm, as they had them in the time of our lord the King our father, and in the time of King Henry his grandfather.) INVERNESS, 1 171 — 97. Dedi etiam et concessi predictis bur- gensibus ad sustentamentum burgi terram illam quae est extra burgum quae vocatur Burch halev scilicet quae est inter montem et aquam Ita quod nullus in ea wannagium faciat aut pasturam habeat nisi per eorum Hcentiam. (I have given also and granted to the aforesaid burgesses for the support of their burgh that land which is without the burgh which is called Burch halev, to wit, which is between the mountain and the water, so that none shall till crops, or have pasture in it, except by their license.) AYR, 1202 — 7. Concessi etiam eidem burgo meo et burgensibus meis qui in burgo illo sedentes et manentes erunt quinque nummatas terrae quae pertinent ad villam de Are per divisas scriptas scilicet... (here follow the boundaries)... (I have granted also to my same burgh and to my burgesses settled and dwelling in it, five pennyworth of land which belongs to the town of Ayr, with the following boundaries, to wit (here follow the boundaries).) (6) Letting to Farm PONTEFRACT, 1194. Ouum pretor pacaverit domino firmam burgi ad festum Sancti Michaelis removebit ilium dominus et ponet quemcunque voluerit sed burgenses propriores erunt si tantum dare voluerint quantum alii. (When the reeve has paid to the lord the farm of the borough at Michaelmas, the lord shall remove him, and appoint another whomever he will, but the burgesses shall have the preference if they are willing to give as much as others.) LEEDS, 1208. Line i. For c\u.\im read c^uando. For pacaverit read peracanter. (The reading is obviously corrupt.) 2. For iesiwrn Sti Michaelis ?vfl^ Pentecosten. VI 9] Borough Finances 237 (7) Grant of Vacant Places BRISTOL, 1 188. Et quod habeant et possideant omnes terras et placeas vacuas quae infra predictas metas continentur ad voluntatem eorum aedificandas. (And that they may have and possess all lands and vacant places which are within the aforesaid bounds, for building on at their will.) DUBLIN, 1 192. DUBLIN, 1200. DUBLIN, 121 5. Concessimus etiam eis quod habeant omnes terras pertinentes ad civitatem ipsam Dublin' infra metas contentas in carta nostra quam inde habent, salva conventione inter ipsos et monachos Sanctae Mariae extra Dublin' sicut continetur in carta inter illos confecta. (We have also granted to them that they may have all lands pertaining to the city of Dublin within the bounds specified in our charter which they have to that effect, saving the agreement made between themselves and the monks of St Mary without Dublin, as is contained in the charter made between them.) (8) Grant of Mills WINCHESTER, 121 5. Quod habeant sedem duorum molendi- norum infra eandem civitatem apud Cortebir' ad emendationem ejusdem civitatis. (That they may have the site of two mills within the same city at Cortebir for the improvement of the same city.) (9) Grant of Escheats NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 1201, Feb. 12. Et preterea reddent ad scaccarium nostrum per manum suam ad eosdem terminos de escaetis ejusdem villae subscriptis centum et decem solidos et sex denarios scilicet ad scaccarium Sancti Michaelis Iv solidos et tres denarios et ad scaccarium Paschae Iv solidos et tres denarios, scilicet li solidos et obolum de terra quam moniales de eadem villa habuerunt de dono David Rege et xxxix solidos et v d de terra quam hospitalarii habuerunt de dono ejusdem David et xx solidos et obolum de terra quae fuit Gervasii medici quam habuit de dono ejusdem Regis. (And moreover they shall pay to our Exchequer by their own hand at the same terms, for the undermentioned escheats of the same town iio^. dd.^ to 238 Borough Charters [VI 9 (10) Grant of Wreck^ SWANSEA, 1153—84. Et si mari recedente wrek extra polam invenerint, dimidium meum sit et dimidium illorum sit: et si wrek invenerint in siccam terram meum sit totum. (And if when the sea is ebbing, they find wreck below high water mark, half shall be mine and half theirs, and if they find wreck on dry ground, the whole is mine.) (11) Consideration for Charter VVALLINGFORD, 11 56. Et hoc pro servitio et labore magno quern pro me sustinuerunt in acquisitione hereditarii juris mei in Anglia. (And this in consideration of the service and great labour which they bore for me in the acquisition of my hereditary right in England.) HEREFORD, 1 189. Et ipsi pro hac concessione dederunt nobis xl marcas argenti. (And they for this grant have given us forty marks of silver.) 1 See also Hythe v A 7, Hastings v A 7, Lydd v a 7, Rye and Winchelsea v A 7, York V A 7, Romney v A 7, Dunwich V A 7 (pp. 183 — 8). 1 i wit, at the Michaelmas Exchequer 55J. 3d., and at the Easter Exchequer 55^. 3d., to wit, 5 1 J. Id. of the land which the monks of the same town had of the gift of King David, and 395. 5^/. of the land which the Hospitallers had of the gift of the same David, and 20s. ^d. of the land which belonged to Gervase the Physician, which he had of the gift of the same King.) i NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, 12 13. Preterea concessimus et de- dimus centum et decem solidatas et sex denariatas redditus quas habemus in eadem villa de escaetis ad dividendum et assignandum illis qui redditus suos amiserunt occasione fossati et novae operationis factae subtus castrum versus aquam, ita quod plus inde habeant qui plus amiserunt et qui minus minus. (Moreover, we have granted and given them iios. 6d. of the rent which we have in the same city from the escheats to divide and assign to them who have lost their rents on account of the ditch and new works made under the castle, near the water, so that they who have lost more shall have more, and they who have lost less shall have less.) 3 } VI ii] Borough Fina)ices 239 DONCASTER, 1194. Pro hac autem concessione nostra ipsi nobis dederunt quinquaginta marcas argenti. (For this our grant they have given us fifty marks of silver.) PONTEFRACT, 1194. Et pro ista donatione et concessione libertatis habendae et firmiter tenendae dederunt mihi prefati burgenses mei de Pontefracto ccc marcas argenti. (And for that gift and grant of liberty to be had and firmly held, my aforesaid burgesses of Pontefract have given me three hundred marks of silver.) OKEHAMPTOX, 1 194— 1242. Pro hac autem donatione concessione et confirmatione mea dederunt mihi predicti burgenses decem marcas sterlingorum in recognitionem. (For this my gift grant and confirmation the aforesaid burgesses have given me ten marks sterling as consideration.) LEICESTER, 1191 — 1204. Pro hac autem concessione et confirmatione dederunt mihi prefati burgenses quandam summam pecuniae in Gersoun premanibus ne ego predictus Robertus nee heredes mei vel successores mei nee ahquis per nos vel pro nobis ahquam calumpniam vel clameum in prefata pastura de cetero habere valeamus. (Moreover for this grant and confirmation the aforesaid burgesses have given me in hand a certain sum of money as a fine, so that neither I the aforesaid Robert nor my heirs or successors nor any person through us or for us may in the future have any challenge or claim in the aforesaid pasture.) WALSALL, after 1198. Pro hac autem donatione concessione et cartae hujus confirmatione dederunt mihi dicti burgenses duodecim marcas argenti. ^Moreover, for this gift and grant and confirmation by this charter, the said burgesses have given me twelve marks of silver.) BIDEFORD, 1204—17. And for this my grant and confirmation the aforesaid burgesses have given me four marks of silver. CORBRIDGE, after 1212. Pro hac, autem, predicta concessione predicti burgenses pro se et heredibus eorum relaxaverunt et quietum clamaverunt predictum Johannem et heredes suos de omnibus querehs et dissentionibus et de omnibus rebus hactenus inter eos motis, vel quae usque ad hunc diem possint moveri, fidei datione 240 Borough Charters [VI 1 1 interposita ex parte burgensium quod reverentiam et integram fidelitatem ei de cetero observabunt : ex parte vero domini Johannis per quosdam ex suis affidatum est quod eos fideliter et amicabiliter de cetero tractabit', omnem eis iram et indignationem remittens. (For this grant, the aforesaid burgesses for themselves and their heirs have released and quit-claimed the aforesaid John and his heirs from all quarrels and disputes and from all matters hitherto moved between them, or which up to this day might be moved, a pledge being given on the part of the burgesses that for the future they would treat him with reverence and complete fidelity ; and on the part of lord John, affidavit is made by some of his own men that for the future he will treat them faithfully, and in a friendly spirit, laying aside all anger and indignation against them.) ^ Corr. from tractabunt, to agree with remittens. VII. BOROUGH OFFICERS (i) POWER TO ELECT (a) Sheriffs LONDON, 1 131. Ita quod ipsi cives ponent vicecomitem qualem voluerint de se ipsis. (So that the said citizens may make a sheriff, whom they will of themselves.) LONDON, 1 199. Quod ipsi de seipsis faciant Vicecomites quos- cunque voluerint et amoveant quando voluerint ; et eos quos fecerint vicecomites presentent Justitiariis nostris qui respondeant nobis vel Justitiariis nostris ad scaccarium nostrum de hiis quae ad predictum vicecomitatum pertinent ex quibus nobis respondere debent. Et nisi sufficienter responderint et satisfecerint, cives Londoniarum respon- deant et satisfaciant de misericordia et firma : salvis eisdem civibus libertatibus suis, sicut predictum est, et salvis vicecomitibus eisdem libertatibus quas alii cives Londoniarum habent. Ita scilicet, quod si illi qui pro tempore fuerint vicecomites constituti aliquod delictum fecerint unde misericordiam pecuniae debeant incurrere, non judi- centur ad plus nisi ad misericordiam xx librarum, et hoc sine damno aliorum civium, si vicecomites non sufficiant ad misericordiarum suarum solutionem. Si vero aliquod delictum fecerint per quod periculum vitae vel membrorum incurrere debeant, judicentur sicut judicari debent, per legem civitatis. De hiis autem quae ad pre- dictum Comitatum pertinent, respondeant vicecomites ad scaccarium nostrum, coram justitiariis nostris ; salvis eisdem vicecomitibus liber- tatibus quas alii cives Londoniarum habent. (That they of themselves may make sheriffs whomsoever they will, and may remove them when they will : and those whom tliey have made sheriffs, they shall present to our Justices, and they shall answer to us or to our Justices at our Exchequer for those things that pertain to the aforesaid Sheriffdom, concerning which they ought to answer to us. And unless they make sufficient answer and satisfaction, the citizens of London shall answer and satisfy us concerning the amercement and the farm ; saving to the same citizens their liberties, as is aforesaid, and saving to the sheriffs the same liberties which the other citizens of London have. That is to say, that if these R 16 ^242 Borough Charters [VII i who for the time being have been appointed sheriffs have committed any default for which they ought to be amerced, they shall not be adjudged to a greater penalty than ^20, and this, without loss to the other citizens, if the sheriffs cannot pay their amercements. But if they have committed any default by which they ought to incur danger of life or limb, they shall be judged as they ought to be judged, by the law of the city. But for those things which pertain to the aforesaid county, the sheriffs shall answer at our exchequer, before our justices, saving to the same sheriffs the liberties which the other citizens of London have.) (b) Justiciar LONDON, 1 13 1. Et justitiarium' qualem voluerint de se ipsis ad custodiendum placita coronae meae et eadem placitanda : et nuUus alius erit justitiarius super ipsos homines Londoniarum. (And (they may place) a Justiciar whom they will of themselves for keeping the pleas of my crown and pleading the same : and no other shall be Justiciar over the said men of London.) COVENTRY, 1 181. Quemlibet autem ex semetipsis pro me eligant qui sub me super eos justitia sit qui leges et consuetudines sciat, et eos meo consilio in omnibus rationabiliter omni causa remota custodiat et mihi jura mea fideliter faciat. (Moreover, they may elect any of themselves for me, who shall be their Justiciar under me over them, who shall know their laws and customs, and shall keep the said burgesses reasonably by my advice in all things, every excuse being put away, and shall render my rights to me faithfully.) CO VENTR V, 1 1 86. Line i . Read comite for me etc. Line 4. Read suz-for mea. COLCHESTER, 1 189. Et justitiam ad servanda placita coronae nostrae et ad placitanda eadem placita infra burgum suum ; et quod nullus alius sit inde justitia nisi quern elegerint. (And a Justiciar to keep the pleas of our crown and plead the same pleas within their borough ; and that no other shall be Justiciar therein except he whom they have elected.) (c) Reeve ST ANDREWS, 1140 — 53. Et in ipso burgo hunc Mainar- dum Flandrensem cum regis consensu et ejus firma pace prefectum fecisse. Et huic prefato Mainardo et heredibus suis in ipso burgo propter suum servitium nobis et nostris fideliter exhibitum tres toftas scilicet a vico burgendi usque ad rivum prioris libere et quiete ab 1 Liebermann xe&diS jttstiiiam. VII i] Borough Officers 243 omni* consuetudine pro sedecim nummis scilicet unicuique virgatae terrae quattuor denarios concedimus. Quia ipse ex prioribus est qui burgum supradictum edificare et instaurare incepit. Eapropter successoribus nostris humiliter supplicamus quatenus ilium et heredes suos pro amore Dei et S. Andreae et nostri diligant et manuteneant. Et nullus ei et suis super excommunicationem Dei et S. Andreae et nostri injuriam inferat. Et si quis ei quacunque ex causa injuriam fecerit rex terrae ei propter Deum rectum facere non deferrat. Quod si ipse non fecerit rex regum Justus et aequus judex in die magnae ultionis ei rectum faciat. Supradicta enim villa elemosina illius benedicti regis est, et ipse supradictus Mainardus ejus proprius bur- gensis in Berrewyk fuit quern S. Andreae et nobis cum supradicta elemosina in elemosinam tribuit. (And in the same burgh I have made this Mainard of Flanders prefect, by the king's grant and with his firm peace. And to this aforesaid Mainard and his heirs we have granted, on account of his service in the same borough to us and ours faithfully shown, three tofts, to wit, from the street of the burgh to the prior's brook, free and quietly from all custom for sixteen pence, to wit, fourpence for each virgate. Because he was among the first to build and establish the said burgh. And therefore we humbly pray our successors that for the love of God and St Andrew and ourselves they will care for and maintain him and his heirs. And let none do him and his an injury on pain of the excommunication of God and St Andrew and ourselves. And if anyone from any cause do him an injury, the king of the land will, for God's sake, not delay to do him right. And if he will not do it, the King of Kings, the just and equal judge, will do him right in the day of great vengeance. For the aforesaid town is the alms of that blessed king, and the said Mainard himself was his own burgess in Berwick, whom he gave in alms to St Andrew and us with the aforesaid alms.) BRADNINCH, 1 141— 75. Insuper dedi et concessi eis ut propriam electionem habeant prepositi. (Moreover, I have given and granted to them their own election of a reeve.) BRADNINCH, 1215—20. For last four words read propria electione habeant prepositum. TEWKESBURY, 1147—83. Et quod ipsi burgenses forent ballivi et cachepoUi burgi illius quotienscunque ad hoc clecti fuerint ad voluntatem predictorum comitum scneschallorum et ballivorum suorum et per electionem communitatis burgi predicti dc anno in annum. (And that the said burgesses shall be bailiffs and catchpolls of that borough as often as they shall be elected thereto at the will of the aforesaid earls and of their stewards and bailiffs, and by the election of the community of the aforesaid borough from jear to year.) 16—2 244 Borough Charters [VII i COLCHESTER, 1189. Quod ipsi ponant ballivos quoscunque voluerint de se ipsis. (That they may make bailiffs whom they will of themselves.) NORTHAMPTON, 1189. Et burgenses Norhantoniae faciant prepositum quem voluerint de se per annum qui sit idoneus nobis et eis. (And the burgesses of Northampton shall make a reeve whom they will of themselves every year who shall be suitable to us and them.) NORTHAMPTON, 1200. LINCOLN, 1 194. NORWICH, 1194. NORWICH, 1 199. /V?;- prepositum rm^ prepositos. Omit quem voluerint. YARMOUTH, 1208. As Norwich, 1199. NOTTINGHAM, 1189. Et licet illis quem voluerint ex suis in fine anni prepositum suum facere qui de firma mea pro ipsis respondeat ita quod si idem prepositus mihi displiceat ilium ad voluntatem meam removebo et ipsi alium ad libitum meum substituent. (And they may make whom they will of their people to be their reeve at the end of the year who shall answer for them for my farm, provided that if the said reeve shall displease me, I shall remove him at my own will, and they shall substitute another of my choice.) NOTTINGHAM, 1200. DERBY, 1204. LOSTWITHIEL, 1 190— 1200. Et si prepositum facere voluero prenominati burgenses eum eligant de illis qui in saepedicta villa manent. (And if I wish to make a reeve, the above-named burgesses shall elect him from those who dwell in the oft-mentioned town.) OKEHAMPTON, 1194— 1243. Concessimus etiam quod bur- genses annuatim proprio eorum consultu prepositum et preconem sibi eligant et deponant : prepositus vero quietus sit de gablo, preco de sex denariis. (I have also granted that the burgesses shall yearly of their own counsel elect and depose a reeve and a cryer : the reeve shall be quit of his gablum, the cryer of six pence.) NORTHAMPTON, 1200. Hoc modo scilicet quod iidem bur- genses nostri de Norhamtonia per commune consilium villatae suae eligant duos de legalioribus et discretioribus burgensibus villae suae et presentent eos vicecomiti Norhamtonscir' et vicecomes unum illorum ^^ I i] Borough Officers 245 presentet capitali justitiae nostrae apud Westmonasterium cum com- potum suum reddere debet qui bene et fideliter custodiat preposituram villae Norhamtoniae et non amoveatur quamdiu se in balliva ilia bene gesserit nisi per commune consilium villatae suae. (That our same burgesses of Northampton by the common counsel of their town shall elect two of the more legal and discreet burgesses of their town, and present them to the sheriff of Northamptonshire, and the sheriff shall present one of them to our chief justice at Westminster, when he ought to render his account, and he shall well and faithfully keep his bailliwick of the town of Northampton, and shall not be removed so long as he behave himself well in that bailliwick, except by the common counsel of their town.) SHREWSBURY, 1200. SHREWSBURY, 1205. Line I. /^c»r iidem r^a^ predicti. 2. Otnit nostri. 4. For et vicecomes read ut ipse vicecomes. LINCOLN, 1200. Line 2. For villatae suae read civitatis. 3. For villae suae read civibus Lincolniae. 4. Omit vicecomiti...presentet^ 5. See also Ilchester, p. 229. INDEX (The list of the charters will be found on pp. xxvi-xxxiii of the introduction, and the index to their contents on p. cxxxviii, etc.) Accatum, purchase, 182. (Fr. Achat) Acre, cxxxi Adam, Abbot of Eynsham, Ixxxix Aesya, easement, 58 Afferare, to assess, 151 Affidavit, for observance of charter, cix, 240 Affiliation of charters, xiv, xlii, cvii Aids, Ixxix, 91, 92, 107-9 Aire, cv, cix, cxii, cxv Aix-la-Chapelle, cxxi, cxxiii, cxxiv, cxxv Alan, Count of Brittany, 16, 220 ; William Fitz, 81 Albemarle, Earl of, William, 38 ; Baldwin, 39 Alderman of Guild, Ixxxviii, 204 Aldermanry, Ix, 130, 131 Aletol, 97 Algate (London), lix, 127 Amiens, cv, cvii, cix, ex, cxii, cxiii, cxiv, cxvi, cxix, cxx Amounderness, xcix, 176 Analysis of burgensic privileges, xix Anathema (as sanction to charter), xxiii, 36, }>1 Andernach, cxxi, cxxv Angers, cv, cix, cxvi Anglischerie, law of, 137 Angy, cv, cxi Ansa, 185 ; Ansum, 205 ; see hansa Archbishops of Canterbury, Hubert, 130, 131, 200; Lanfranc, 232 Archbishops of York, Thurstan, 23, 24, 37, 191 ; William, 24, 37 Arras, cvii, cxii, cxiv, cxx Arundel, William, Earl of, 35 Arura, ploughing service, 95 Ascertainment of customs, xlii, 13 Assecurare, to secure by giving a pledge (Du C), 185 Assize of bread and beer, 157-9 Assize of cloth, 160 Athies, cv, cvii, cxii, cxvi Atrium ecclesiae, 173 Aubrey de Vere, 106, 126 Auxerre, cvi, cxi Axbridge, xci Bailiff, 69, 74, 88, 89, 92 Baldwin de Vernall or Werrevall, 131 Balliol, Bernard de, 26 Bamberg, cxxi, cxxiv Ban of wine, cxvi Banleuca, banlieu, 39, 83 Bapaume, cvi, cxviii Barons, of Cinque Ports, 136 Hastings, 99, 136, 183 London, 127 Pevensey, 100, 175 Baron, cvi Barony, law of the, 137 Basle, cxxi, cxxv Bassett, Richard, 106, 126 Battle, trial by, Ixi, cxiii, cxxiv, cxxx, cxxxv, 132-4, 138 Beaumont-en-Argonne, cvii, ex, cxii, cxiii, cxiv, cxix, cxx Beaumont-sur-Oise, cvi, cix, cxi, cxv Beauvais, cvi, cix, ex, cxii, cxiii, cxv, cxix Begebelin, Bethgibelin, cxxvii Belet, Michael, 149 Bethune, cvii Beverage, a drinking, 70 Bezant, 129 Blodewite, fine for drawing blood, 39, 95> 150, 151 Bloodshed, 153 Bodenwerder, cxxi, cxxiii, cxxiv, cxxv Bois-Commun, cvii Borough, definition of, xviii, Ixxxviii-xcv formation of, xl-xliii, xci representation of, at Eyre, Ivi, xcii Botagium, ex Botellaria, butlery, 99 Bourges, cvi, ex, cxi, cxii, cxiii, cxv Boyne, river, 200 Bozen, cxxi, cxxiii Bracinum, brewhouse, 51 Bradford (Derby), 8 Brandenburg, cxxi, cxxii, cxxiv Braunsberg, cxxi, cxxiii Bray, cvi, cxii, cxiii Bread and beer, assize of, 157-9 Bredewite, fine for breach of assize of bread, 150 Index 261 Breisach, cxxi, cxxiii, cxxiv Bremen, cxxi, cxxiii, cxxvi Breteuil, cvi, cxvi law of, xiv, xlii, xciii, 30 (4), 32, 34 (2), 48, 137 Bridgewater, Hospital of St John, 107 Brieg, cxxi, cxxv Briwerr, William, 3 (2), 33, loi, 107, no, 171, 174, 176, 177 Bruverr, Richard, 3, 33, 1 10, 171, 174, 177 Brivvingable, tax (gafol) on brewing, xv, 151 Bruce, Adam, 251 ; Robert, 197 Briihl, cxxi, cxxiii, cxxiv, cxxv Brunswick, cxxi, cxxiii, cxxv, cxxvi Bruyeres, cvi, cvii Bucca Uncta, Andrew, 130 Buchhorn, cxxi, cxxiii, cxxiv Buckland, Hugh de, 127 Buito, Notts., 7 Bulli, John de, 227 Burewaremot, the moot of the burgesses, 142 Burgage tenure, xliv, Ixxxix, 38 Burgaria, 38 Burghal Hidage, xci Burghimot, the borough moot, 142 Burton-on-Trent, xci, xciii Buul', box, 57 Caen, cvi Caiagium, 184; chiagium, 186; quay dues Calais, cvi Canterbury, St Augustine's, xvii, 107, 149, 232 Caragium, 184 ; Carriagium, 185 ; toll on transport of goods Cardinan, Robert de, 21, 192 Carlow, xxxiii Cashel, xxxiii Cassel, cxxi Cassington, 45 Castellary, 193 Castle-guard, 161 Castle, Hereford, 233 Cata, wares, 182 Catteshill, Surrey, 106 Catzur, chacurus, a horse or hound for hunting, 223 Cerny, cvi, cvii Cham berlengaria, the chamberlainship, 5 Chambly, cvi, cvii Chapelle-la-Reine, cvi, cvii Charost, cvi Charter defined, &c., xvi-xxvi Chateauneuf, cvi, cxix Chaumont, cvi, cvii, ex, cxi, cxvii Chauny, cvi, cvii Chertsey Abbey, Ivii, 126 Chesterfield, personification of church, xxxiv, xcvii Chiddingfold, Surrey, 106 Childwite, 84; childwitefeld, 160; fine paid by the reputed father of an illegitimate child to the lord of the villein mother Chilterns, 83 Chinon, 17 Choice of parent town by lord, 32 Churchshot, xv, 151 Cinque Ports, 100, 136, 184, 258 Claudere, to fortify, 94 Cloth, assize of, 160 Cnihtenegild, Iviii, ciii-cv, 127 Colchester, Abbot of, 105 Collection of nuts, 166 Cologne, cxxii Comitia, law courts, 161 Common purse, xcvi Communa, c-ci Commune, common fund of borough, 160 Communio, fellowship, 139, 159,213,215 Communitas burgi, 140 Compi^gne, cvi, cvii Conan, Earl of Richmond and Count of Brittany, 16 Constable of castle, xix, Ixxix, 227 Cooportorium, thatch, 59 Corbach, cxxii, cxxiii Corbie, cvi, cxii, cxiv Corduanarius, cordwainer, 208 Cordy, 8 Corn, trade in, Ixxi, 212, 214, 215 Cornwall, Reginald, Earl of, xxxix, 38, 191 Coronation, service at, cxxxii, 99 (2) Coroner, Ixxxvii, 246 Corvesarius, shoemaker (Fr. courvoisier), 208 Coumecherchia, 117 County Court, 8, 105 ; suits in, relative to privileges of burgesses, 8, 105, 257 Courtenay, Hawisia de, 11 ; Robert de, II, 193 Credit, of Tenant to Lord, cxi, 87-89 Crdpy, cvi, cvii, cxii, cxiv, cxv, cxvi, cxix Cricklade, xix Crowmarsh, 210 Cuenca, cxxxii-cxxxiv Customs of one town granted to others : Any free borough in England, 15 (2), 30, 31 (2), 32 Any free borough in Scotland, 26, 33 (2) . Any borough in Staffordshire, 33 Breteuil, 30 (4), 32, 34 (2), 48, 137 Bristol, 26, 28 Cardiff, 24 262 Index Customs {continued') Dover, 180 Dublin, 30, 31 Durham, 54 Exeter, 34 Grimsby, 29, 138 (».) Hastings, 9, 184 Lincoln 27, 38 Launceston, 31 London, 10, 12 (3), 13 (2), 14, 135, 152 Newcastle-on-Tyne, 25 (5), 31, 251 Newcastle-under-Lyme, 27 Northampton, 10, 27, 136, 153 Nottingham, 33 Oxford, 8, 29, 31, 32, 34, 135, 136, 171 Perth, 34 Richmond, 26 Shrewsbury, 29 Winchester, 12 (3), 13, 14 (2), 27, 29, 31, 135) 136(2), 137, 152, 171 York, 23, 25, 27, 38 Granted by barons of Leinster, 33 Custumal, xvii Damm, cxxii, cxxiii Danegeld, Ixxiv, 150, 188, 189 Darum, cxxvii, cxxxi David, Earl, brother of William the Lion, King of Scotland, 187 David I, King of Scotland, i, 2, 18, 170, 179,205,210,217,237,256 Degniare, Degnagare, 166. This word is unknown to Du Cange, who gives degnatus from the Italian Degnare, gratum et acceptum habere, to ratify Delpare, R., 127 Delsburg, cxxii Demmin, cxxii Den, at Yarmouth, 99 Dengemarsh, 184 Derwent, 8, 199 Deutschbrod, cxxii, cxxiii, cxxiv Diessenhofen, cxxii, cxxiii, cxxiv Dijon, cvi Dirationare, to prove one's cause, 15, 71, I35> 143;. 144,. 162, 163, 257 Dirschau, cxxii, cxxiii Distraint, Ixv, cxv, cxxiv Dixmont en Lorris, cvi, cvii Dixmunde, cxv Dizy, cvi, cix, ex, cxi Domesday Book, boroughs in, xcv markets in, Ixxxviii Donauworth, cxxii, cxxv Donnstetten, cxxii, cxxiv Dortmund, cxxii, cxxiii, cxxiv, cxxv Doullens, cvi, cvii Douvebridge, 8 Dramburg, cxxii Dresden, cxxii Duderstadt, cxxii, cxxv Duellum, judicial combat, 133, 134 Duisberg, cxxii, cxxiv, cxxv, cxxvi Dun-le-Roi, cvi, ex Durham, Hugh de Puiset, Bishop of, xxxviii, xlii, 192 Dusseldorf, cxxii, cxxiv, cxxv Edward the Confessor, 4, 7, 126 (2) Emptio viduarum, 151 Escapura, 94 ; eschapium 61 ; fines for cattle escaping into forbidden lands Esguardia, judgment, 89, 205 Estallagium, a stall, 107 Estovers, 22 Estre, porch (Du C), 51 Estwayt, 8 Etampes, cvi, cix, ex, cxi, cxiii, cxv, cxvi Ewagium = aquagium, 188 ; toll for conveying goods by water (Du C.) Exactio culcitrarum, ex Expedition, cxi, 89 Eye (Suffolk), xxxiv Falaise, cvi Fecamp, Abbots of, Henry, 97, iii, 160 ; Ralph, 97 Ferte Milon, cvi Fethard, xxxiv Fihtwite, fine for fighting, 39, 151 Fillievre, cvi, cvii Fine in King's Court, 30 Henry H, 149 Fitz Gerald, Maurice, 42 Fitz Robert, Geoffrey, 19, 43, 44 ; John, 22, 57 Flemenfret, penalty for harbouring fugitives, 39 Folksmoot, 130, 147 Forestel, an assault, 153 Forest courts, xv, 84 Formation of Borough Court, xc Foster hen, xv, 151 Free borough, 3 Free burgesses, loi Free custody, 141 Fuale, fuel, 58 Fugator, a hound, a hunting dog, 223 Fullo, a fuller, 205 Furnus, an oven, 51, 96, 97, 98 Gabellum, rent, 103 Gabulum, a gable, 47 Gaiwita, 189 ; gawita, 150 ; watch money {G. M. II, 405) Galetum, beach (Fr. Galets), 100 Geld, 108-9, 150 Geoffrey fitz Robert, 19, 43, 44 Geoffrey (of Mandeville), Portreeve of London, 4, 127 Index 263 Gersuma, Geresuma, 85 ; Gersoun, 239 ; a bribe, reward, premium on lease Glanville, Ralph de, 149 Gloucester, Earls of, Robert, 16, 19, 177, 192 (2), 206, 257; William, 16, 17, 19, 24, 177, .192 (2), 206, 257 Gloucester, Hawisia, Countess of, 27 Gold, a weir, 200 Gravening, cxv Grenville, Richard of, 32, 194 Grimsby, Canons of, 125 Grithbrege, breach of special or localized peace, 39 Haga, a haw, a house in a town, Ivii, 126 Hamo dapifer, 107, 232 Hamo de Valognes, 42, 224 Hamo de St Clare, 105, 129 Hamsoken, burglary, 39 Hansa, an entrance fee, a guild or mercantile company, 6, 105, 185, 204, 206 (2), 207 Hanshus, a guildhall, 202 Hastings, customs of, 9, 90 Havenagium, payment for use of a haven, 1 92 Hawisia, Countess of Gloucester, 27 ; de Courtenay, 1 1 Heccheres, small boats, 234 Henry fitz Count, 34, 38 Herbergare, to harbour, lodge, i Heriot, 75, 76, 95, 192 Hidagium, 150 Holyrood, monks of, i, 87, 215 Honours at Court, 99 Horemouth, 4 Hospitallers, 109, 177 Hospitium, hospitality, 86, 87 House destruction, cxiii, cxxiv, cxxx, cxxxiii, cxxxv Hundred, used as name of borough court, 28, 118, 143, 144, 145 Huntingdon, Canons of, 105 Earl of, 129 Honour of, 129 Husting, 130, 142, 147 Infangthef, right of trying thieves cap- tured within a privileged district, 7, 17 (2), 29, 39, 1 13-5, 129, 230, 231 Inquest, sworn to ascertain customs, 233 Inspeximus, xxiv Institutiones placitorum, 142 ; general assemblies for pleas Insults, 155 IntoU, 192; possibly, toll on entrance of goods to a town ; see uttoU Jerusalem, kingdom of, cxxvi-cxxxii city of, cxxvii, cxxviii, cxxx, cxxxi Jocelin, Bishop of Glasgow, i John, Bishop of Norwich, 3, 32, 35, 44 John, fitz Robert, 22, 57 Justiciar, Ixxxvii, 242 Kentegern, St, i Kidellus, a fish trap, a weir, 200 Kingston-on-Thames, xix Lacy, Henry de, 48 Richard de, 17, 18, 1 13 Roger de, constable of Chester, xxxiv, 41, 52, 193 Walter de, 30 (3), 41, 193 Lagan, the right to articles thrown up by the sea, Ixxxiv, 188 Lagha, 212, 258 Landgabulum, 40 Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, 232 Langport, xci Laon, cvi, cvii, ex, cxi, cxii, cxiii, cxiv, cxix Ledtschet, 160. (Du C. does not attempt to give a meaning for this word.) Leek, xxxvi, xci Leges Quattuor Burgorum, xvii, xxxviii Leicester, Earl of, 194 Leirewyta, i.e. legerwite, fine for in- continence, 151 Leofstan, portreeve of London, 128 Lestagium, Lastagium, 176-190; last- age, a due in markets, perhaps for buying and selling goods by measure Leuagium, 189. "At Yarmouth this was a toll for landing wares, or trans- ferring them from one ship to another" {G. M. II, 409) Leue, a levy, 188, 189 Lex talionis, cxiv, cxxiv, cxxx, cxxxv Liber burgus, xl, 3 Libertas Londoniensis, xvii Licence to found borough, xl, i Litus, a hythe, 168 Locofri = lovecopfree, 183. {See p. 255 ante) London, Bishops of, Aelfward, 126 Maurice, 127 Richard, 127 William, 4, 126 Lorris, cvi, cix, ex, cxi, cxii, cxiii, cxv, cxvi Lot, 105, 107-9. The gildsman's right to share in the bargains of his brethren. B. C. 11, Ixviii Luci, Richard de, 21, 193 Luna, 212. {See p. 258 tifi/e) Lymington, xxxvi Macclesfield, xxxvi 264 Index Magna Charta, xcviii Mailly-le-Chateau, cvi Mainmortes, ex Mainpast, household, servants, 140 Malduit, WilHam, 126 MahTiesbury,xxxvi ; Walter, Abbot of, 8 5 Manchester, xci Mandeville, Geoffrey de, portreeve of London, 4, 127 Mandeville, William de, Earl of Essex, 39 Mantes, cvi, cvii, cxi, cxvii, cxix Manucaptores, sureties, 140 Mareschallus, 87 Markets, Ixvi, Ixxxviii, 171 Marshall, William, Earl of Pembroke, xxxv, 189 Matilda de Haverenges, 11 Maurice, Bishop of London, 127; fitz Gerald, 42 Mayor, Ixxxvii, 247 Medway, 20 1 Memory, customs retained in, 18 Merchant guild, 4 (2), 6 (3), 8, 12, 14, 17, 23, 28, 181, 185, 196,202-7 Merchet, fine paid by villein for permis- sion to give his daughter in marriage, 95, 192 Merlai, Roger de, 21 Meulan, cvi, ex, cxii, cxviii Middlesex, 220 Milford, 169 Mill, suit of, 96-8 Minor pleas, 155 Misericordia, an amercement, a fine at the discretion of the judge, 15 1-3, 253 Miskenning, failure to observe the formulae of pleading, 147, 148 Molinet, cvi, cvii Montdidier, cvi, cvii, cxvii Moone, xxxvii Moray, burgesses of, 165, 205 Mote, of Hereford, 233 Moteamentum, 119; Motacio, 148. Du C. = lis, controversia Muragium, dues on wares brought into a town applied for the repair ot the town walls, 184 Murdrum, a fine levied on the hundred in cases of murder, 150, 151, 189 Nablus, cxxvii, cxxxi Nam, 39; Nama, 162; namium, 92, 140, 144, 162, 163, 164, 166, 167; Namum, 161, 165, 195, 196 ; a distress Namiare, to distrain, 161, 162, 164, 165 Nerberd, forest of, 54, 56 Newark, 7 Nietherich, cxxv Niort, cvi Nomina Villarum, xcii Nonancourt cvi Norsemen, 178 Northampton custumal, c. 1190, xvii, 104, 258 Norwich, John, Bishop of, 3, 32, 35, 44 Noyon, cvi, ex, cxi, exiii, exvi, cxix Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent, 232 Oplondinis, uplands, 192 Ora, an ounce, one-twelfth of a pound, i.e. 2od., 153 Ordel, ordeal, 39 Orestel, judicial combat, 39 Orleans, cvi, cix, ex, cxi, cxii, exiii, exvi, cxxiv Paagium, toll or payment, 176, 187 Pagham Harbour, 4 Pancras, St, Abbey at Lewes, 203 Pannage, payment for the privilege of feeding swine in the lord's woods or commons, 55, 60, 61, 62, 63, 182, 187 Papal Charters, xxiii, xliii, 36, 37 Paris, cvi, exvi Parish, created a borough, 32 Passagium, dues on wares passing through towns, Ixviii, 176, 180-90, 194; see Chichester, 179 Paul, St (London), 129 Pavagium, toll levied for paving the streets of a town, 184 Pedagium, a toll, 187 Pembroke, William Marshall, Earl of, xxxv, 1 89 Penalty clause, xxiii Penwortham, xci P^ronne, cvi, cvii, cxi, exiii, cxiv, exv, exx Pesagium, tolls for weighing wares, 187 Pesso, mast, 60; =Paisso, the feeding of pigs in woods Peter, St (Westminster), 130 Pieagium, dues for breaking ground in markets and fairs for the erection of a stall, 182 Pipe Rolls, Ixxiii-lxxxv, xcviii Piscatura, 200 Pleas of crown, 20, 1 13, 1 19, 120 ; sword, 121 Poissy, cvi, cvii, cxii, cxviii Poitiers, cvi, cvii, ex, cxi, exv, exvi Poix, cvi, cviii, cxi Poll tax, 47 Pontagium, dues payable on crossing bridges, 176, 184. Pontoise, evi, cvii, cxi, exvi, cxvii Pontorson, cvi Popes, Alexander, 36 ; Lucius, 37 Porpoise, 63 Portmannemot, 67, 116 Index 2(3- Portmen, Ixxxviii Portinoot, 117, 118, 198 Portreeve (of London), 4, 126 (2) Portsoka, 150 Portus, I Preemption by lord, civ, ex, 69 Prepositus, 66, 69, 74, 85, 89, 95, 196, 221, Ixxxvi, Ixxxix; difference between ballivus and prepositus, 89 Prest, 91 Pretor, of Pontefract, 66, 70, "Ji^ 103, 236 Prevot^, cxvii Prises of wine, 20, 235 Proportamentum, verdict, hearing or declaration of witnesses, 9 Purcell, Geoffrey, 106 Puttchers, xlv Racatum, 183, 187. Resale Radford, 7 Ralph Blundeville, Earl of Chester, xxxvi, 20 Ramillum, 57 Recognitae (of customs), 8, 233, 257 Recognitio, an inquest by the oath of twelve men, under the system of assize, 9, 139 Recognitum (of debts), 162 Redemptio sanguinis, 98 Regard of Forest, 84 Reginald, Earl of Cornwall, xxxix, 38, Relief, payment by heir on succession to landed property, 75 (3), 76 (5) Rempeston, 7 Replevy, 166 Revocation of charter, xliii, cix, 36 Rheims, cvi, ex Rhuddlan, xci Richard fitz Baldwin, 1 1 fitz Gilbert, 232 of Devizes quoted, xviii n. Abbot of Whitby, 19 de Luci, 21 Rivagium, toll taken on rivers, 183, 184, 186 Robert, liishop of St Andrews, 2 Robert, Bishop of Wells, 2 de Courtenay, 1 1 son of Henry I, 1 1 fitz Hamo, 16 Earl of Gloucester, i6, 19, 177, 192 (2), 206, 257 de Cardinan, i\ Rochelle, cvi, ex Roger, Archdeacon of Salisbury, 106 Bigot, 233 de Merlai, 21 Earl of Hereford, 233 Montgomery, xlii, 4 Rouen, cvi, cvii, exi, cxii, cxiii, cxiv, cxv, cxvi, cxix, exx Roye, cvi, cvii, cxi, cxii, cxiv, cxv Ruffus, William, xxxviii, 43 St Jean d'Angeli, cvi, ex St Omer, cvi, eviii, cix, ex, exi, cxii, cxiii, cxiv, cxv, cxvi St Quentin, cvi, cvii, ex, cxi, cxii St Riquier, cvi Saisina, seisin, 70 Sake and Soke, eiii, 17 (2), 39, 113-5, 126, 129, 230, 231 Salt, tolls on, 194 Sanare diem, to salve the day, 146 Sara, a share (in fish), 234 Seabini, cxix, cxxv Scacearium, the Exchequer, 220-231 Scavage, tolls for shewing wares, 218 Scot, payment, tax, contribution, 105, 107-9 Scot and lot, payments, pecuniary assess- ments, 107-9, 150 Scotale, xlvii, 84, 85, 86 Seotenus, persons paying scot or taxes, 207 Scotland, Kings of, David I, i, 2, 18, 170, 179, 205, 210, 217, 237, 256 William the Lion, xevii, 3 Scutagium, 185 Sealing clause, xxiv Seeta, a body of witnesses, 140 Sees en Gatinois, cvi, cvii, cxi, cxii, cxvi Seneschallus, 66, in Senlis, cvi, cvii Sens, cvi, cvii Severn, 200 Shepway, 136 Sheriff, Ixxv, 225, 226 Shire courts, freedom from, xv, Iv, 123-4, 252 Soissons, cvi, cvii, cix, ex, exi, cxiii, cxxiv Soke, definition suggested, cv Sokemannus, 93 Soken, district over which a person exercises the right known as " soke," 125-130, 223 Sollagium, 189; sullagium, 192 ; Lat. solum : toll taken for use of the soil (Du C.) Sponsagium, a due on marriages, 183, 186 Stagnum, a mill-pond, 200 Stalagarius, a non-burgess holding per- mission for a stall, 213 Stallagiuin, money paid for permission to have a stall in a market, 176 Stengesdint, 95, 95 ;/. Strand, at Yarmouth, 99 266 Index Sturgeon, 63 Suetman, portreeve of London, 126 Summagium, a sumpter horse, the duty of providing a sumpter horse, 185 Tallage, ex, 92, 107-9, iS? Team, liv, 7, 17 (2), 29, 39, 113-5, 129, 230, 231 Telarius, a weaver, 205, 207, 208, 254 Templars, 109, 177 Tensery, 251 Teruel, cxxxii-cxxxiv Thames, 200 Thelonarius, a toll collector, 65 Theloneum, 176, 177, 178-191, 251, 254 Theobald Walter, butler of Ireland, 61 Third penny of borough, 233 Tina, 235 Toft, 190 Toll, liv, 7, 17 (2), 29, 39, 1 13-5, 129, 230, 231 ToUenetum, 191 Tolneium, 179, 191, 195, 250 Tolnetum, 177 Tolneum, 178 Tolneyum, 190 Tonnerre, cvi, cix, cxvi Torallus, a kiln, 96 Tournai, cvi, evil, cxi, cxiv, cxv, cxix Trent, 7, I99 Trespass, 187 Tridumma, the hopper of a mill, 98 Trinity, Holy, priory of, London, Iviii, ciii, 127, 128; alias Christ Church, Canterbury, 232, 233 Turmoteston, 7 Tutbury, xci Twineham, xci Tynemouth, 214 Utfangthef, the right of trying thieves captured without the district, liv, 29, 114 (3) UttoU, 192 ; possibly, toll on removal of goods from a town ; see intoU Vailly, cvi, cvii Valoignes,Hamo de,justiciary of Ireland, 1199-1215 {Cal. Doc. Ireland, pp. 14, 192), 42, 224 Vere, Aubrey de, 106, 126 Verneuil, cvi, cix, cxi, cxii, cxiv, cxvi Vescy, William de, 25 Vested interests, xliii, 35 Vicecomes (London), 84, 127, 128, 195, 241 Vicecomitatus, 210, 213, 217, 220, 259 View of Frankpledge, Ixi, xc Villeneuve en Beauvaisais, cvi, cxvii Villeneuve-St-Melon, cvi, cvii, cxi Volumus clause, xxiii Waldric, Chancellor of Henry I, 107 Walenses, 176, 218 Walter, de Lacy, 30, 41, 193 ; Theobald, butler of Ireland, 61 Wannagium, the fruit of cultivation (Du C), 236 Ward, 92, 93, 128 Wardmoot, 82 Warenne, William of, 203 Waretum, a fallow field, 59 Warranty clause, xxiv Warwick, William, Earl of, 19 Wells, Bishops of, Robert, 2, 173 (2) ; Savaric, 173 Were, the pecuniary estimation of a man, by which the value of his oath, and the payment for his death was deter- mined, 151 Whitby, Abbots of, Peter, 36 ; Richard, 19, 36, 40 Widows, sale of, xv, 78 William, Bishop of London, 4, 126 de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, 39 de Vescy, 25 Earl of Albemarle, 38 Earl of Arundel, 35 Earl of Gloucester, 16, 17, 19, 24, 177, 192 (2), 206, 257 fitz Alan 81 King of Scotland, 3 Malduit, 126 Ruffus, 43 Wissant, cxv Witney, xci Wittefri = witefree, 182 Woodstock, xci Worcester, Bishop of, John, 43, 193; Robert of, 149 Wreck, 183, 184, 187, 188, 238 Wreckfree, 182 Wulfgar, portreeve of London, 126 Wulfwold, Abbot of Chertsey, 126 Wydering, 4 Yarmouth, rights of barons of Hastings at, 99, 125 Yeresgieve, a new year's gift, 84, 85 CAMBRIDGE : PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. NOV^*? \m SlilQlS W11 INTERUERARY LOANS AUG 01 JBU£ IWO WEEKS FROM DATE OF RECEIPT 1977 Form L9-Series 4939 LAW LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 605 707 9