472. This is not hypothetical or imaginary. The settlements in Iceland were positively made upon this principle, and by it the subsequent divisions of the land were regulated.
472. This is not hypothetical or imaginary. The settlements in Iceland were positively made upon this principle, and by it the subsequent divisions of the land were regulated.
473. The Acts, if we may so call them, of an Anglosaxon parliament, are a series oftreaties of peace, between all the associations which make up the state; a continual revision and renewal of the alliances offensive and defensive, of all the free men. They are universally mutual contracts for the maintenance of thefriðor peace. Those who chose to do so, might withdraw from this contract, but they must take the consequence. The witan had no money to vote, except in very rare and extreme cases; consequently their business was confined to regulating the terms on which thefriðcould be maintained.
473. The Acts, if we may so call them, of an Anglosaxon parliament, are a series oftreaties of peace, between all the associations which make up the state; a continual revision and renewal of the alliances offensive and defensive, of all the free men. They are universally mutual contracts for the maintenance of thefriðor peace. Those who chose to do so, might withdraw from this contract, but they must take the consequence. The witan had no money to vote, except in very rare and extreme cases; consequently their business was confined to regulating the terms on which thefriðcould be maintained.
474. Germ. xi. xii. xiii.
474. Germ. xi. xii. xiii.
475. What follows is abstracted from Hincmar, Epistola de ordine Palatii, as cited and commented upon by Dönniges, p. 74, etc.
475. What follows is abstracted from Hincmar, Epistola de ordine Palatii, as cited and commented upon by Dönniges, p. 74, etc.
476. “Ut populus interrogetur de capitulis quae in lege noviter addita sunt. Et postquam omnes consenserint, subscriptiones suas in ipsis capitulis faciant.” Pertz, iii. 115, § 19.
476. “Ut populus interrogetur de capitulis quae in lege noviter addita sunt. Et postquam omnes consenserint, subscriptiones suas in ipsis capitulis faciant.” Pertz, iii. 115, § 19.
477. Hincmar, c. 30.
477. Hincmar, c. 30.
478. These persons were in the strictest sense of the word προβούλοι, and their acts προβουλεύματα. No doubt their body comprised the principal officers engaged in the administration of the State.
478. These persons were in the strictest sense of the word προβούλοι, and their acts προβουλεύματα. No doubt their body comprised the principal officers engaged in the administration of the State.
479. Hincmar, c. 33.
479. Hincmar, c. 33.
480. “Sed nec illud praetermittendum, quomodo, si tempus serenum erat, extra, sin autem intra, diversa loca distincta erant; ubi et hi abundanter segregati semotim, et caetera multitudo separatim residere potuissent, prius tamen caeterae inferiores personae interesse minime potuissent. Quae utraque seniorum susceptacula sic in duobus divisa erant, ut primo omnes episcopi, abbates, vel huiusmodi honorificentiores clerici, absque ulla laicorum commixtione congregarentur; similiter comites vel huiusmodi principes sibimet honorificabiliter a caetera multitudine primo mane segregarentur, quousque tempus, sive praesente sive absente rege, occurrerent. Et tunc praedicti Seniores more solito, clerici ad suam, laici vero ad suam constitutam curiam, subselliis similiter honorificabiliter praeparatis, convocarentur. Qui cum separati a caeteris essent, in eorum manebat potestate, quando simul, vel quando separati residerent, prout eos tractandae causae qualitas docebat, sive de spiritalibus, sive de saecularibus, seu etiam commixtis. Similiter, si propter aliquam vescendi [? noscendi] vel investigandi causam quemcunque vocare voluissent, et [? an] re comperta discederet, in eorum voluntate manebat.” Hincmar, c. 35.
480. “Sed nec illud praetermittendum, quomodo, si tempus serenum erat, extra, sin autem intra, diversa loca distincta erant; ubi et hi abundanter segregati semotim, et caetera multitudo separatim residere potuissent, prius tamen caeterae inferiores personae interesse minime potuissent. Quae utraque seniorum susceptacula sic in duobus divisa erant, ut primo omnes episcopi, abbates, vel huiusmodi honorificentiores clerici, absque ulla laicorum commixtione congregarentur; similiter comites vel huiusmodi principes sibimet honorificabiliter a caetera multitudine primo mane segregarentur, quousque tempus, sive praesente sive absente rege, occurrerent. Et tunc praedicti Seniores more solito, clerici ad suam, laici vero ad suam constitutam curiam, subselliis similiter honorificabiliter praeparatis, convocarentur. Qui cum separati a caeteris essent, in eorum manebat potestate, quando simul, vel quando separati residerent, prout eos tractandae causae qualitas docebat, sive de spiritalibus, sive de saecularibus, seu etiam commixtis. Similiter, si propter aliquam vescendi [? noscendi] vel investigandi causam quemcunque vocare voluissent, et [? an] re comperta discederet, in eorum voluntate manebat.” Hincmar, c. 35.
481. “Interim vero, quo haec in regis absentia agebantur, ipse princeps reliquae multitudini in suscipiendis muneribus, salutandis proceribus, confabulando rarius visis, compatiendo senioribus, congaudendo iunioribus, et caetera his similia tam in spiritalibus, quamque et in saecularibus occupatus erat. Ita tamen, quotienscunque segregatorum voluntas esset, ad eos veniret,” etc. Hincmar, c. 35.
481. “Interim vero, quo haec in regis absentia agebantur, ipse princeps reliquae multitudini in suscipiendis muneribus, salutandis proceribus, confabulando rarius visis, compatiendo senioribus, congaudendo iunioribus, et caetera his similia tam in spiritalibus, quamque et in saecularibus occupatus erat. Ita tamen, quotienscunque segregatorum voluntas esset, ad eos veniret,” etc. Hincmar, c. 35.
482. Easter and Christmas were usual times for the meetings of the Witan, and during the Mercian period, Cloveshoo was frequently the place where they assembled. Doubts have been lavished, upon the situation of this place, which I do not share. In 804 Æðelríc the son of Æðelmund was impleaded respecting lands in Gloucestershire, and stood to right at Cloveshoo. Now it is clear that trial to those lands could properly be made only in the hundred or shire where they lay; and as the brotherhood of Berkeley were claimants, and the whole business appertained toWestminster, I am disposed to seek Cloveshoo somewhere in the hundred of that name in the county of Gloucester, and therefore not far from Deerhurst, Tewksbury and Bishop’s Cleeve; not at all improbably in Tewksbury itself, which may have been called Clofeshoas, before the erection of a noble abbey at a later period gave it the name it now bears. Cod. Dipl. No. 186.
482. Easter and Christmas were usual times for the meetings of the Witan, and during the Mercian period, Cloveshoo was frequently the place where they assembled. Doubts have been lavished, upon the situation of this place, which I do not share. In 804 Æðelríc the son of Æðelmund was impleaded respecting lands in Gloucestershire, and stood to right at Cloveshoo. Now it is clear that trial to those lands could properly be made only in the hundred or shire where they lay; and as the brotherhood of Berkeley were claimants, and the whole business appertained toWestminster, I am disposed to seek Cloveshoo somewhere in the hundred of that name in the county of Gloucester, and therefore not far from Deerhurst, Tewksbury and Bishop’s Cleeve; not at all improbably in Tewksbury itself, which may have been called Clofeshoas, before the erection of a noble abbey at a later period gave it the name it now bears. Cod. Dipl. No. 186.
483. These were usual periods for holding thegemót. “Actum Wintoniae in publica curia Natalis Christi, in die festivitatis sancti Sylvestri,” etc. Cod. Dipl. No. 815. The oldfolcmótprobably met three times in the year at the unbiddenÐingorplacitum: so did the followers of the first Norman kings at least, and it is remarkable enough that the barons at Oxford should have returned to this arrangement, 42 Hen. III. anno 1258. “Fait a remembrer qe lez xxiiii ount ordeignez qe trois parlementz seront par an, le primere az octaues de seint Michel, le seconde lendimayn de le chaundelour, le tierce le primer iour de Juyn ceste asauoir trois semayns deuant le seint Johan; et a ces troiz parlementz vendront lez conseillours le roi eluz tut ne seyent il pas mandez pur vere lestat du roialme, et pur treter les communes busoignes du reaume et del roi ensement et autrefoitz ensembleront quant mester sera par maundement le roi.” Prov. Oxon., Brit. Mus., Cotton MS., Tiberius B. iv. folio 213. According to the later custom Parliaments were to be, at least, annual, and were frequently admitted so to be by law, until the Tudor times. See 5 Ed. II. an. 1311. “Nous ordenoms qe le Roy tiegne Parlement vne foiz par an ou deux fois se mestre soit, et ceo en lieu convenable,” etc.: which ordinance of the Lords was passed into an act of Parliament 4 Ed. III. cap. 14. Some years later the Commons petitioned the same king, that for redress of grievances and other important causes, “soit Parlement tenuz au meinz chescun an en la seson que plerra au Roy.” Rot. Parl. 36 Ed. III. n. 25. To which the king answered that the ancient statute thereupon should be held. This petition the Commons found it necessary to repeat fourteen years later, “qe chescun an soit tenuz un Parlement,” etc.: to which the answer was, “Endroit du Parlement chescun an, il y aent estatuz et ordenances faitz les queux soient duement gardez et tenuz.” Rot. Parl. 50 Ed. III. n. 186: and the same thing took place at the accession of Richard the Second. Rot. Parl. 1 Ric. II. n. 95. 2 Ric. II. n. 2. Triennial parliaments were, I believe, first agreed to by Charles the First.
483. These were usual periods for holding thegemót. “Actum Wintoniae in publica curia Natalis Christi, in die festivitatis sancti Sylvestri,” etc. Cod. Dipl. No. 815. The oldfolcmótprobably met three times in the year at the unbiddenÐingorplacitum: so did the followers of the first Norman kings at least, and it is remarkable enough that the barons at Oxford should have returned to this arrangement, 42 Hen. III. anno 1258. “Fait a remembrer qe lez xxiiii ount ordeignez qe trois parlementz seront par an, le primere az octaues de seint Michel, le seconde lendimayn de le chaundelour, le tierce le primer iour de Juyn ceste asauoir trois semayns deuant le seint Johan; et a ces troiz parlementz vendront lez conseillours le roi eluz tut ne seyent il pas mandez pur vere lestat du roialme, et pur treter les communes busoignes du reaume et del roi ensement et autrefoitz ensembleront quant mester sera par maundement le roi.” Prov. Oxon., Brit. Mus., Cotton MS., Tiberius B. iv. folio 213. According to the later custom Parliaments were to be, at least, annual, and were frequently admitted so to be by law, until the Tudor times. See 5 Ed. II. an. 1311. “Nous ordenoms qe le Roy tiegne Parlement vne foiz par an ou deux fois se mestre soit, et ceo en lieu convenable,” etc.: which ordinance of the Lords was passed into an act of Parliament 4 Ed. III. cap. 14. Some years later the Commons petitioned the same king, that for redress of grievances and other important causes, “soit Parlement tenuz au meinz chescun an en la seson que plerra au Roy.” Rot. Parl. 36 Ed. III. n. 25. To which the king answered that the ancient statute thereupon should be held. This petition the Commons found it necessary to repeat fourteen years later, “qe chescun an soit tenuz un Parlement,” etc.: to which the answer was, “Endroit du Parlement chescun an, il y aent estatuz et ordenances faitz les queux soient duement gardez et tenuz.” Rot. Parl. 50 Ed. III. n. 186: and the same thing took place at the accession of Richard the Second. Rot. Parl. 1 Ric. II. n. 95. 2 Ric. II. n. 2. Triennial parliaments were, I believe, first agreed to by Charles the First.
484. The establishment of the Scabini or Schöffen in the Frankish empire was intended to relieve the freemen from the inconvenience of attendinggemóts, which the counts converted into an engine of extortion and oppression.
484. The establishment of the Scabini or Schöffen in the Frankish empire was intended to relieve the freemen from the inconvenience of attendinggemóts, which the counts converted into an engine of extortion and oppression.
485. It has always been a question of deep interest in this country, what persons were entitled to attend theGemót: and in truth very important constitutional doctrines depend upon the answer we give to it. The very first and most essential condition of truth appears to me, that we firmly close our eyes to everything derived from the custom of Parliaments, under the Norman, the Angevine or the English kings: the practice of a nation governed by the principles of Feudal law, is totally irreconcileable with the old system of personal relations which existed under the earlier Teutonic law. The next most important thing is, that we use no words but such as the Saxons themselves used: the moment we begin to talk of Tenants in capite, Vavassors, Vassals, and so forth, we introduce terms which may involve apetitio principii, and must lead to associations of ideas tending to an erroneous conclusion. One of these fallacies appears to me to lie in the assertion that a landed qualification was required for a member of theWitena gemót. One of the most brilliant, if not the most accurate, commentators on our constitutional history, Sir F. Palgrave, has raised this question. According to his view no one could be a member of that singular body which he supposes the Anglosaxon Parliament to have been, unless he had forty híds of land, four thousand acres at least according to the popular doctrine. But this whole supposition rests upon a series of fine-drawn conclusions, in my opinion, without sound foundation, and totally inconsistent with every feeling and habit of Saxon society. The monkish writer of the history of Ely—a very late and generally ill-informed authority—says that a lady would not marry some suitor of hers, because not having forty híds he could not be counted among the Proceres; and this is the whole basis of this parliamentary theory,—proceresbeing assumed, without the slightest reason, to mean members of thewitena gemót,—and thewitena gemótto be some royal council, some Curia Regis, and not at all the kind of body described in this chapter. I confess I cannot realize to myself the notion of an Anglosaxon woman nourishing the ambition of seeing her husband a member of Parliament. The passage no doubt implies that a certain amount of land was necessary to entitle a man to be classed in a certain high rank in society: and this becomes probable enough as we find a landed qualification partially insisted on with regard to the ceorl who aspired to be ranked as a thane. But this is a negative condition altogether: it is intended to repress the pretensions of those who, in spite of their ceorlish birth, assumed the weapons and would, if possible, have assumed the rights of thanes. In the Saxon custumal, called “Ranks,” it is said:—“And if a thane throve so that he became an eorl, he was thenceforth worthy of eorl-right.” Thorpe, i. 192. On this the learned editor of the Ancient Laws and Institutes observes:—“It is to this law that the historian of Ely seems to allude in the following passage, and not to any qualification for a seat in thewitena gemót, as has been so frequently asserted. ‘Habuit (sc. Wulfricus abbas) enim fratrem Gudmundum vocabulo, cui filiam praepotentis viri in matrimonium coniungi paraverat, sed quoniam ille quadraginta hidarum terrae dominium minime obtineret, licet nobilis esset[that is, a thane]inter proceres tunc nominari non potuit, eum puella repudiavit.’ Gale, ii. c. 40. If we refer to the Dooms of Cnut, c. 69, we shall see that the heriots of an eorl and of a lesser thane were in the proportion of from one to eight,—a rule which may have been supposed to have arisen from a somewhat similar relation between the quantities of their respective estates; and as the possession of five hides conferred upon a ceorl the rights of a thane, the possession of forty (5 × 8) in all probability raised a thane to the dignity of an eorl.” This opinion is only a confirmation of that which I had myself formed on similar grounds long before Mr. Thorpe’s work was published: and it was apparently so understood by Phillips before either of us wrote. See Angels. Recht. p. 114, note 317, Göttingen, 1825.
485. It has always been a question of deep interest in this country, what persons were entitled to attend theGemót: and in truth very important constitutional doctrines depend upon the answer we give to it. The very first and most essential condition of truth appears to me, that we firmly close our eyes to everything derived from the custom of Parliaments, under the Norman, the Angevine or the English kings: the practice of a nation governed by the principles of Feudal law, is totally irreconcileable with the old system of personal relations which existed under the earlier Teutonic law. The next most important thing is, that we use no words but such as the Saxons themselves used: the moment we begin to talk of Tenants in capite, Vavassors, Vassals, and so forth, we introduce terms which may involve apetitio principii, and must lead to associations of ideas tending to an erroneous conclusion. One of these fallacies appears to me to lie in the assertion that a landed qualification was required for a member of theWitena gemót. One of the most brilliant, if not the most accurate, commentators on our constitutional history, Sir F. Palgrave, has raised this question. According to his view no one could be a member of that singular body which he supposes the Anglosaxon Parliament to have been, unless he had forty híds of land, four thousand acres at least according to the popular doctrine. But this whole supposition rests upon a series of fine-drawn conclusions, in my opinion, without sound foundation, and totally inconsistent with every feeling and habit of Saxon society. The monkish writer of the history of Ely—a very late and generally ill-informed authority—says that a lady would not marry some suitor of hers, because not having forty híds he could not be counted among the Proceres; and this is the whole basis of this parliamentary theory,—proceresbeing assumed, without the slightest reason, to mean members of thewitena gemót,—and thewitena gemótto be some royal council, some Curia Regis, and not at all the kind of body described in this chapter. I confess I cannot realize to myself the notion of an Anglosaxon woman nourishing the ambition of seeing her husband a member of Parliament. The passage no doubt implies that a certain amount of land was necessary to entitle a man to be classed in a certain high rank in society: and this becomes probable enough as we find a landed qualification partially insisted on with regard to the ceorl who aspired to be ranked as a thane. But this is a negative condition altogether: it is intended to repress the pretensions of those who, in spite of their ceorlish birth, assumed the weapons and would, if possible, have assumed the rights of thanes. In the Saxon custumal, called “Ranks,” it is said:—“And if a thane throve so that he became an eorl, he was thenceforth worthy of eorl-right.” Thorpe, i. 192. On this the learned editor of the Ancient Laws and Institutes observes:—“It is to this law that the historian of Ely seems to allude in the following passage, and not to any qualification for a seat in thewitena gemót, as has been so frequently asserted. ‘Habuit (sc. Wulfricus abbas) enim fratrem Gudmundum vocabulo, cui filiam praepotentis viri in matrimonium coniungi paraverat, sed quoniam ille quadraginta hidarum terrae dominium minime obtineret, licet nobilis esset[that is, a thane]inter proceres tunc nominari non potuit, eum puella repudiavit.’ Gale, ii. c. 40. If we refer to the Dooms of Cnut, c. 69, we shall see that the heriots of an eorl and of a lesser thane were in the proportion of from one to eight,—a rule which may have been supposed to have arisen from a somewhat similar relation between the quantities of their respective estates; and as the possession of five hides conferred upon a ceorl the rights of a thane, the possession of forty (5 × 8) in all probability raised a thane to the dignity of an eorl.” This opinion is only a confirmation of that which I had myself formed on similar grounds long before Mr. Thorpe’s work was published: and it was apparently so understood by Phillips before either of us wrote. See Angels. Recht. p. 114, note 317, Göttingen, 1825.
486. Leg. Æðelst. v. § 10.
486. Leg. Æðelst. v. § 10.
487. I writewitanotwíta. The vowel is short, and the noun is formed either upon the plural participle ofwítanto know, or upon a nounwit,intellectus, previously so formed. The quantity of the vowel is ascertained by the not uncommon spelling weota, where eo = ĭ (see Cod. Dipl. No. 1073), and the occurrence in composition of the formuta, which is consonant to the analogy of wudu, wuduwe, wuce for wĭdu, wĭduwe, wĭce, but excludes the possibility of a long í.
487. I writewitanotwíta. The vowel is short, and the noun is formed either upon the plural participle ofwítanto know, or upon a nounwit,intellectus, previously so formed. The quantity of the vowel is ascertained by the not uncommon spelling weota, where eo = ĭ (see Cod. Dipl. No. 1073), and the occurrence in composition of the formuta, which is consonant to the analogy of wudu, wuduwe, wuce for wĭdu, wĭduwe, wĭce, but excludes the possibility of a long í.
488. Cod. Dipl. Nos. 361, 1102, 1105, 1107, 1108.
488. Cod. Dipl. Nos. 361, 1102, 1105, 1107, 1108.
489. Cod. Dipl. No. 1103.
489. Cod. Dipl. No. 1103.
490. Cod. Dipl. No. 364.
490. Cod. Dipl. No. 364.
491. Chron. Sax. an. 1009.
491. Chron. Sax. an. 1009.
492. See Cod. Dipl. Nos. 353, 364, 1107. There is one document signed by 121 persons (Cod. Dipl. Nos. 219, 220), but I have some doubt whether all the signitaries were members of thegemót.
492. See Cod. Dipl. Nos. 353, 364, 1107. There is one document signed by 121 persons (Cod. Dipl. Nos. 219, 220), but I have some doubt whether all the signitaries were members of thegemót.
493. Beda, H. E. ii. 13.
493. Beda, H. E. ii. 13.
494. Chron. Sax. an. 978.
494. Chron. Sax. an. 978.
495. Such perhaps was thegemótwhich after Eádmund írensída’s death elected Cnut sole king of England, or that in which Earl Godwine and his family were outlawed.
495. Such perhaps was thegemótwhich after Eádmund írensída’s death elected Cnut sole king of England, or that in which Earl Godwine and his family were outlawed.
496. This is not altogether devoid of strangeness, because we know that among the Oldsaxons of the continent there was a regulated system of elective representatives, including even those of the servile class. Hucbald, in his life of Lebuuini, tells us: “In Saxonum gente priscis temporibus neque summi coelestisque regis inerat notitia, ut digna cultui eius exhiberetur reverentia, neque terreni alicuius regis dignitas et honorificentia, cuius regeretur providentia, corrigeretur censura, defenderetur industria: sed erat gens ipsa, sicuti nunc usque consistit, ordine tripartito divisa. Sunt denique ibi, qui illorum linguaedilingi, sunt quifrilingi, sunt quilassidicuntur, quod in latina sonat lingua, nobiles, ingenuiles atque serviles. Pro suo vero libitu, consilio quoque, ut videbatur, prudenti, singulis pagis principes praeerant singuli. Statuto quoque tempore anni semel ex singulis pagis, atque ab eisdem ordinibus tripartitis, singillatim viri duodecim electi, et in unum collecti, in media Saxonia secus flumen Wiseram et locum Marklo nuncupatum, exercebant generale concilium, tractantes, sancientes et propalantes communis commoda utilitatis, iuxta placitum a se statutae legis. Sed etsi forte belli terreret exitium, si pacis arrideret gaudium, consulebant ad haec quid sibi foret agendum.” Pertz, Monum. ii. 361, 362.
496. This is not altogether devoid of strangeness, because we know that among the Oldsaxons of the continent there was a regulated system of elective representatives, including even those of the servile class. Hucbald, in his life of Lebuuini, tells us: “In Saxonum gente priscis temporibus neque summi coelestisque regis inerat notitia, ut digna cultui eius exhiberetur reverentia, neque terreni alicuius regis dignitas et honorificentia, cuius regeretur providentia, corrigeretur censura, defenderetur industria: sed erat gens ipsa, sicuti nunc usque consistit, ordine tripartito divisa. Sunt denique ibi, qui illorum linguaedilingi, sunt quifrilingi, sunt quilassidicuntur, quod in latina sonat lingua, nobiles, ingenuiles atque serviles. Pro suo vero libitu, consilio quoque, ut videbatur, prudenti, singulis pagis principes praeerant singuli. Statuto quoque tempore anni semel ex singulis pagis, atque ab eisdem ordinibus tripartitis, singillatim viri duodecim electi, et in unum collecti, in media Saxonia secus flumen Wiseram et locum Marklo nuncupatum, exercebant generale concilium, tractantes, sancientes et propalantes communis commoda utilitatis, iuxta placitum a se statutae legis. Sed etsi forte belli terreret exitium, si pacis arrideret gaudium, consulebant ad haec quid sibi foret agendum.” Pertz, Monum. ii. 361, 362.
497. Æðelst. v. § 10. Thorpe, i. 240.
497. Æðelst. v. § 10. Thorpe, i. 240.
498. “Ðonne beád mon ealle witan tó cynge, and man sceólde ðonne rǽdan, hú man ðisne eard werian sceólde.” Chron. an. 1010.Beódanis toproclaim.See also Chron. Sax. 1048. Hist. Eliens. 1, 10, etc.
498. “Ðonne beád mon ealle witan tó cynge, and man sceólde ðonne rǽdan, hú man ðisne eard werian sceólde.” Chron. an. 1010.Beódanis toproclaim.
See also Chron. Sax. 1048. Hist. Eliens. 1, 10, etc.
499. “And se cyng hæfde ðǽr on morgen witena gemót, ⁊ cwæð hine útlage.” Chron. Sax. an. 1052. “And wæs ðá witena gemót.” Ib. an. 1052. “Ða hæfde Eádwerd cyning witena gemót on Lundene.” Ib. an. 1050.
499. “And se cyng hæfde ðǽr on morgen witena gemót, ⁊ cwæð hine útlage.” Chron. Sax. an. 1052. “And wæs ðá witena gemót.” Ib. an. 1052. “Ða hæfde Eádwerd cyning witena gemót on Lundene.” Ib. an. 1050.
500. Cod. Dipl. No. 116. It is probable that even in strictly ecclesiastical synods, the king had a presidency at least, as head of the church in hisdominionsdominions. In Willibald’s life of Boniface we are told:—“Regnante Ini, Westsaxonum rege, subitanea quaedam incubuerat, nova quadam seditione exorta, necessitas, et statim synodale a primatibus aecclesiarum cum consilio praedicti regis servorum Dei factum est concilium; moxque omnibus in unum convenientibus, saluberrima de hac recenti dissentione consilii quaestio inter sacerdotales aecclesiastici ordinis gradus sapienter exoritur, et prudentiori inito consultu, fideles in Domino legatos ad archiepiscopum Cantuariae civitatis, nomine Berchtwaldum, destinandos deputarunt, ne eorum praesumptione aut temeritati adscriberetur, si quid sine tanti pontificis agerent consilio. Cumque omnis senatus et universus clericorum ordo, tam providenti peracta conlatione, consentirent, confestim rex cunctos Christi famulos adlocutus est, ut cui huius praefatae legationis nuntium inponerent, sciscitarent,” etc. Pertz, ii. 338.
500. Cod. Dipl. No. 116. It is probable that even in strictly ecclesiastical synods, the king had a presidency at least, as head of the church in hisdominionsdominions. In Willibald’s life of Boniface we are told:—“Regnante Ini, Westsaxonum rege, subitanea quaedam incubuerat, nova quadam seditione exorta, necessitas, et statim synodale a primatibus aecclesiarum cum consilio praedicti regis servorum Dei factum est concilium; moxque omnibus in unum convenientibus, saluberrima de hac recenti dissentione consilii quaestio inter sacerdotales aecclesiastici ordinis gradus sapienter exoritur, et prudentiori inito consultu, fideles in Domino legatos ad archiepiscopum Cantuariae civitatis, nomine Berchtwaldum, destinandos deputarunt, ne eorum praesumptione aut temeritati adscriberetur, si quid sine tanti pontificis agerent consilio. Cumque omnis senatus et universus clericorum ordo, tam providenti peracta conlatione, consentirent, confestim rex cunctos Christi famulos adlocutus est, ut cui huius praefatae legationis nuntium inponerent, sciscitarent,” etc. Pertz, ii. 338.
501. Runde,Abhandlung vom Ursprung der Reichsstandschaft der Bischöfe und Aebte. Gött. 1775, p. 35, etc.
501. Runde,Abhandlung vom Ursprung der Reichsstandschaft der Bischöfe und Aebte. Gött. 1775, p. 35, etc.
502. Hist. Eccl. i. 26.
502. Hist. Eccl. i. 26.
503. Ibid. ii. 5.
503. Ibid. ii. 5.
504. See Phillips,Geschichte des Angelsächsischen Rechts.Gött. 1825, p. 71.
504. See Phillips,Geschichte des Angelsächsischen Rechts.Gött. 1825, p. 71.
505. Hloðhære and Eádríc, kings of the men of Kent,augmentedthe laws which their forefathers had made before them, by these dooms. Prol. to Leg. Hloð. et Ead. Thorpe, i. 26. See also the Prologue to Wihtrǽd’s laws in the text.
505. Hloðhære and Eádríc, kings of the men of Kent,augmentedthe laws which their forefathers had made before them, by these dooms. Prol. to Leg. Hloð. et Ead. Thorpe, i. 26. See also the Prologue to Wihtrǽd’s laws in the text.
506. This is the case throughout the Teutonic legislation, where there is a king at all. “Theodoricus rex Francorum, cum esset Cathalaunis, elegit viros sapientes, qui in regno suo legibus antiquis eruditi erant: ipso autem dictante, iussit conscribere legem Francorum, Alemannorum et Baiuvariorum,” etc. Eichhorn, i. 273. “Incipit Lex Alamannorum, quae temporibus Hlodharii regis (an. 613-628) una cum principibus suis, id sunt xxxiii episcopis, et xxxiv ducibus, et lxii comitibus, vel caetero populo constituta est.” Eichhorn, i. 274, note a. “In Christi nomine, incipit Lex Alamannorum, qui temporibus Lanfrido filio Godofrido renovata est. Convenit enim maioribus natu populo allamannorum una cum duci eorum lanfrido vel citerorum populo adunato ut si quilibet,” etc. About beginning of eighth century. Eichhorn. i. 274, note c. The Breviarium of Alaric the Visigoth (an. 506) was compiled by Roman jurists, but submitted to an assembly of prelates and noble laymen. In the authoritative rescript which accompanies this work, it is said the object was, “Ut omnis legum Romanarum, et antiqui iuris obscuritas, adhibitis sacerdotibus ac nobilibus viris, in lucem intelligentiae melioris deducta resplendeat.... Quibus omnibus enucleatis atque in unum librum prudentium electione collectis, haec quae excerpta sunt, vel clariori interpretatione composita, venerabilium Episcoporum, vel electorum provincialium nostrorum roboravit adsensus.” Eichhorn, i. 280, note bb. Gundobald the Burgundian, whose laws must have been promulgated before 515, says that he was aided by the advice of his optimates. Again he says, “Primum habito consilio comitum, procerumque nostrorum,” etc. Eichhorn, i. 265, note c.
506. This is the case throughout the Teutonic legislation, where there is a king at all. “Theodoricus rex Francorum, cum esset Cathalaunis, elegit viros sapientes, qui in regno suo legibus antiquis eruditi erant: ipso autem dictante, iussit conscribere legem Francorum, Alemannorum et Baiuvariorum,” etc. Eichhorn, i. 273. “Incipit Lex Alamannorum, quae temporibus Hlodharii regis (an. 613-628) una cum principibus suis, id sunt xxxiii episcopis, et xxxiv ducibus, et lxii comitibus, vel caetero populo constituta est.” Eichhorn, i. 274, note a. “In Christi nomine, incipit Lex Alamannorum, qui temporibus Lanfrido filio Godofrido renovata est. Convenit enim maioribus natu populo allamannorum una cum duci eorum lanfrido vel citerorum populo adunato ut si quilibet,” etc. About beginning of eighth century. Eichhorn. i. 274, note c. The Breviarium of Alaric the Visigoth (an. 506) was compiled by Roman jurists, but submitted to an assembly of prelates and noble laymen. In the authoritative rescript which accompanies this work, it is said the object was, “Ut omnis legum Romanarum, et antiqui iuris obscuritas, adhibitis sacerdotibus ac nobilibus viris, in lucem intelligentiae melioris deducta resplendeat.... Quibus omnibus enucleatis atque in unum librum prudentium electione collectis, haec quae excerpta sunt, vel clariori interpretatione composita, venerabilium Episcoporum, vel electorum provincialium nostrorum roboravit adsensus.” Eichhorn, i. 280, note bb. Gundobald the Burgundian, whose laws must have been promulgated before 515, says that he was aided by the advice of his optimates. Again he says, “Primum habito consilio comitum, procerumque nostrorum,” etc. Eichhorn, i. 265, note c.
507. Hist. Eccl. ii. 5. He cites a passage which identifies these dooms with those which yet go under Æðelberht’s name.
507. Hist. Eccl. ii. 5. He cites a passage which identifies these dooms with those which yet go under Æðelberht’s name.
508.A.D.696. The month is unknown, but probably in autumn.
508.A.D.696. The month is unknown, but probably in autumn.
509. Now Berstead, near Maidstone, in Kent, certainly not Berkhampstead in Hertfordshire, as Clutterbuck affirms in his history of that county.
509. Now Berstead, near Maidstone, in Kent, certainly not Berkhampstead in Hertfordshire, as Clutterbuck affirms in his history of that county.
510. “Eádigra geþeahtendlíc ymcyme.” See Thorpe, i. 36, note c.
510. “Eádigra geþeahtendlíc ymcyme.” See Thorpe, i. 36, note c.
511. Archbishop of Canterbury.
511. Archbishop of Canterbury.
512. The people subject to their charge. Were the people, that is, the freemen, present at thisgemótin their divisions as parishes or ecclesiastical districts?
512. The people subject to their charge. Were the people, that is, the freemen, present at thisgemótin their divisions as parishes or ecclesiastical districts?
513. Thorpe, i. 36.
513. Thorpe, i. 36.
514. The clergy especially.
514. The clergy especially.
515. Thorpe, i. 102.
515. Thorpe, i. 102.
516. Ælfred makes a marked exception in the case of treason, and repeats it in strong terms in § 4 of his laws, “be hláford syrwe.” These despotic tendencies of a great prince, nurtured probably by his exaggerated love for foreign literature, may account to us for the state of utter destitution in which his people at one time left him. His strong personality, and active character, coupled with the almost miraculous, at any rate most improbable, event, of his ascending the throne of Wessex, may have betrayed him in his youth into steps which his countrymen looked upon as dangerous to their liberties. Nothing can show Ælfred’s antinational and un-Teutonic feeling more than his attributing the system ofbótsor compensations to the influence of Christianity.
516. Ælfred makes a marked exception in the case of treason, and repeats it in strong terms in § 4 of his laws, “be hláford syrwe.” These despotic tendencies of a great prince, nurtured probably by his exaggerated love for foreign literature, may account to us for the state of utter destitution in which his people at one time left him. His strong personality, and active character, coupled with the almost miraculous, at any rate most improbable, event, of his ascending the throne of Wessex, may have betrayed him in his youth into steps which his countrymen looked upon as dangerous to their liberties. Nothing can show Ælfred’s antinational and un-Teutonic feeling more than his attributing the system ofbótsor compensations to the influence of Christianity.
517. This is Mr. Thorpe’s version, i. 59. But the words may be as strictly construed, “should be loved likehimself,” viz. God.
517. This is Mr. Thorpe’s version, i. 59. But the words may be as strictly construed, “should be loved likehimself,” viz. God.
518. Thorpe, i. 214.
518. Thorpe, i. 214.
519. Ibid. i. 207.
519. Ibid. i. 207.
520. Æðelst. iv. Thorpe, i. 220, 224.
520. Æðelst. iv. Thorpe, i. 220, 224.
521. Æðelst. v. § 10, 11, 12. Thorpe, i. 238, 240.
521. Æðelst. v. § 10, 11, 12. Thorpe, i. 238, 240.
522. Thorpe, i. 244.
522. Thorpe, i. 244.
523. Ibid. i. 246.
523. Ibid. i. 246.
524. Ibid. i. 262; see also pp. 270, 272, 276.
524. Ibid. i. 262; see also pp. 270, 272, 276.
525. Ibid. i. 280.
525. Ibid. i. 280.
526. Ibid. i. 292.
526. Ibid. i. 292.
527. Ibid. i. 304.
527. Ibid. i. 304.
528. The wordceósan, to elect or choose, is the technical expression in Teutonic legislation for ordinances which have been deliberated upon.
528. The wordceósan, to elect or choose, is the technical expression in Teutonic legislation for ordinances which have been deliberated upon.
529. Thorpe, i. 314, 316, 318.
529. Thorpe, i. 314, 316, 318.
530. Ibid. i. 340, 342, 350.
530. Ibid. i. 340, 342, 350.
531. Ibid. i. 358, 376.
531. Ibid. i. 358, 376.
532. Woroldwitan. Æðelr. vii. § 24. Thorpe, i. 334.
532. Woroldwitan. Æðelr. vii. § 24. Thorpe, i. 334.
533. Æðelr. ix. § 36. Thorpe, i. 348.
533. Æðelr. ix. § 36. Thorpe, i. 348.
534. Chron. Sax. an. 878. Asser,in anno.
534. Chron. Sax. an. 878. Asser,in anno.
535. Thorpe, i. 152.
535. Thorpe, i. 152.
536. Thorpe, i. 166.
536. Thorpe, i. 166.
537. Chron. Sax. an. 994.
537. Chron. Sax. an. 994.
538. Thorpe, i. 284.
538. Thorpe, i. 284.
539. See Chron. Sax. an. 1002, 1004, 1006, 1011, 1012. The solemn partition of the kingdom between Eádmund írensída and Cnut was effected by the witan, at Olney in Gloucestershire. Chron. Sax. an. 1016.
539. See Chron. Sax. an. 1002, 1004, 1006, 1011, 1012. The solemn partition of the kingdom between Eádmund írensída and Cnut was effected by the witan, at Olney in Gloucestershire. Chron. Sax. an. 1016.
540. I speak now of periods subsequent to the consolidation of the monarchy: while England was full of kinglets, disputes were not infrequent. Northumberland and Wessex (previous to Beorhtríc’s alliance with Offa) furnish examples. But here the competitors were numerous, and the witan themselves split into parties, generally maintaining the interests ofdifferentroyal families.
540. I speak now of periods subsequent to the consolidation of the monarchy: while England was full of kinglets, disputes were not infrequent. Northumberland and Wessex (previous to Beorhtríc’s alliance with Offa) furnish examples. But here the competitors were numerous, and the witan themselves split into parties, generally maintaining the interests ofdifferentroyal families.
541. Asser, an. 871.
541. Asser, an. 871.
542. Simeon of Durham uses equally strong terms on the occasion. “Ælfredus a ducibus et a praesulibus totius gentis eligitur, et non solum ab ipsis, verumetiam ab omni populo adoratur, ut eis praeesset, ad faciendam vindictam in nationibus, increpationes in populis.” An. 871.
542. Simeon of Durham uses equally strong terms on the occasion. “Ælfredus a ducibus et a praesulibus totius gentis eligitur, et non solum ab ipsis, verumetiam ab omni populo adoratur, ut eis praeesset, ad faciendam vindictam in nationibus, increpationes in populis.” An. 871.
543. He had fled to Normandy.
543. He had fled to Normandy.
544.Leódeandleódscipe, the words used in the Chronicle,maypossibly mean only the great officers or ministerials, the FrankishLeudes. But the balance of probability is in favour of its representingthe whole people:leódscipe, which is the reading of the most manuscripts, having a more general sense thanleóde.
544.Leódeandleódscipe, the words used in the Chronicle,maypossibly mean only the great officers or ministerials, the FrankishLeudes. But the balance of probability is in favour of its representingthe whole people:leódscipe, which is the reading of the most manuscripts, having a more general sense thanleóde.
545. Chron. Sax. an. 755.
545. Chron. Sax. an. 755.
546. Perhaps his own, ancestral kingdom. Does not all this look very much as if Wessex was still only a confederation of petty principalities, with one elective and paramount head?
546. Perhaps his own, ancestral kingdom. Does not all this look very much as if Wessex was still only a confederation of petty principalities, with one elective and paramount head?
547. Flor. Wig. an. 755.
547. Flor. Wig. an. 755.
548. Æðelw. an. 755, lib. ii. c. 17.
548. Æðelw. an. 755, lib. ii. c. 17.
549. Hen. Hunt. Hist. Ang. lib. iv.
549. Hen. Hunt. Hist. Ang. lib. iv.
550. “Sigebertus rex, in principio secundi anni regni sui, cum incorrigibilis superbiae et nequitiae esset, congregati sunt proceres et populus totius regni, et provida deliberatione, et unanimi consensu omnium expulsus est a regno. Kinewulf vero, iuvenis egregius de regia stirpe oriundus, electus est in regem.”
550. “Sigebertus rex, in principio secundi anni regni sui, cum incorrigibilis superbiae et nequitiae esset, congregati sunt proceres et populus totius regni, et provida deliberatione, et unanimi consensu omnium expulsus est a regno. Kinewulf vero, iuvenis egregius de regia stirpe oriundus, electus est in regem.”
551. Flor. Wig. an. 957.
551. Flor. Wig. an. 957.
552. “Eodem tempore, Alcredus rex, consilio et consensu omnium suorum, regiae familiae principum destitutus societate, exilio imperii mutavit maiestatem.” Sim. Dun. an. 774. Other Germanic tribes did the same thing. “Sed cum Aldoaldus eversa mente insaniret, de regno eiectus est.” Paul. Diae. Langob. iv. 43. Among the Burgundians, “generali nomine rex appellatur Hendinos, etritu veteri, potestate deposita removetur, si sub eo fortuna titubaverit belli, vel segetum copiam negaverit terra.” Amm. Marc. xxxiii. 5.
552. “Eodem tempore, Alcredus rex, consilio et consensu omnium suorum, regiae familiae principum destitutus societate, exilio imperii mutavit maiestatem.” Sim. Dun. an. 774. Other Germanic tribes did the same thing. “Sed cum Aldoaldus eversa mente insaniret, de regno eiectus est.” Paul. Diae. Langob. iv. 43. Among the Burgundians, “generali nomine rex appellatur Hendinos, etritu veteri, potestate deposita removetur, si sub eo fortuna titubaverit belli, vel segetum copiam negaverit terra.” Amm. Marc. xxxiii. 5.
553. “Dehinc beatus Dunstanus, Æthelmi archiepiscopi ex fratre nepos, Glæstaniæ abbas, post Huicciorum et Londoniensium episcopus, ex respectu divino et sapientum consilio, primae metropolis Anglorum primas et patriarcha.” Flor. Wig. an. 959.
553. “Dehinc beatus Dunstanus, Æthelmi archiepiscopi ex fratre nepos, Glæstaniæ abbas, post Huicciorum et Londoniensium episcopus, ex respectu divino et sapientum consilio, primae metropolis Anglorum primas et patriarcha.” Flor. Wig. an. 959.
554. Flor. Wig. an. 975, says, “Et in synodo constituti, se nequaquam ferre posse dixerunt, ut monachi eiicerentur de regno.”
554. Flor. Wig. an. 975, says, “Et in synodo constituti, se nequaquam ferre posse dixerunt, ut monachi eiicerentur de regno.”
555. Æðelr. v. § 16. Cnut, i. § 17. Thorpe, i. 310, 370.
555. Æðelr. v. § 16. Cnut, i. § 17. Thorpe, i. 310, 370.
556. For example, Cnut, i. § 14, 15, 16. Thorpe, i. 368, etc.
556. For example, Cnut, i. § 14, 15, 16. Thorpe, i. 368, etc.
557. For example, Æðelr. ix. § 6. Thorpe, i. 342. Æðelr. vi. § 51. Thorpe, i. 328, etc.
557. For example, Æðelr. ix. § 6. Thorpe, i. 342. Æðelr. vi. § 51. Thorpe, i. 328, etc.
558. Ini, § 59. Thorpe, i. 140. Wyrhta like the factus (= Mansus) of the Franks appears to be the Mansio or Hide. But the amounts do not concern us at present.
558. Ini, § 59. Thorpe, i. 140. Wyrhta like the factus (= Mansus) of the Franks appears to be the Mansio or Hide. But the amounts do not concern us at present.
559. Chron. Sax. an. 1006. The sum raised was thirty-six thousand pounds. Chron. an. 1012. In this year forty-eight thousand pounds were paid.
559. Chron. Sax. an. 1006. The sum raised was thirty-six thousand pounds. Chron. an. 1012. In this year forty-eight thousand pounds were paid.
560. Chron. Sax. an. 1008. A ship from every three hundred hides; and a helmet and coat-of-mail from every eight hides,—a very heavy amount of shipmoney.
560. Chron. Sax. an. 1008. A ship from every three hundred hides; and a helmet and coat-of-mail from every eight hides,—a very heavy amount of shipmoney.
561. Chron. Sax. an. 1018.
561. Chron. Sax. an. 1018.
562. Ibid. an. 1052.
562. Ibid. an. 1052.
563. The Butsecarls or shipmen of the seaports may possibly have been obliged to find shipping and serve on board.
563. The Butsecarls or shipmen of the seaports may possibly have been obliged to find shipping and serve on board.
564. Flor. 1047, 1048. Compare Chron. Sax.in an. cit.
564. Flor. 1047, 1048. Compare Chron. Sax.in an. cit.
565. Cod. Dipl. No. 281.
565. Cod. Dipl. No. 281.
566. Cod. Dipl. No. 260.
566. Cod. Dipl. No. 260.
567. Ibid. No. 1019.
567. Ibid. No. 1019.
568. Ibid. No. 1087.
568. Ibid. No. 1087.
569. Cod. Dipl. No. 1246. “Aliquam terrae particulam [h]abeo, id est quinque mansas ... æt Peatanige, quatinus bene perfruar, ac perpetualiter possideam, vita comite, et post me cuicunque voluero perhenniter haeredi derelinquam in aeternam haereditatem,” etc.
569. Cod. Dipl. No. 1246. “Aliquam terrae particulam [h]abeo, id est quinque mansas ... æt Peatanige, quatinus bene perfruar, ac perpetualiter possideam, vita comite, et post me cuicunque voluero perhenniter haeredi derelinquam in aeternam haereditatem,” etc.
570. Cod. Dipl. No. 1253.
570. Cod. Dipl. No. 1253.
571. Ibid. No. 1112.
571. Ibid. No. 1112.
572. Cod. Dipl. No. 1295.
572. Cod. Dipl. No. 1295.
573. Ibid. No. 374.
573. Ibid. No. 374.
574. Ibid. No. 1035.
574. Ibid. No. 1035.
575. The charter which furnishes the evidence of this fact will appear in the seventh volume of the Codex Diplomaticus. It is in the archives of Westminster Abbey, and its date is the time of Eádgár. [The death of Mr. Kemble in 1857 prevented the publication of this seventh volume.]
575. The charter which furnishes the evidence of this fact will appear in the seventh volume of the Codex Diplomaticus. It is in the archives of Westminster Abbey, and its date is the time of Eádgár. [The death of Mr. Kemble in 1857 prevented the publication of this seventh volume.]
576. At agemótin 1055, earl Ælfgár was outlawed. At agemótin 1066 at Oxford, earl Tostig was outlawed, etc.
576. At agemótin 1055, earl Ælfgár was outlawed. At agemótin 1066 at Oxford, earl Tostig was outlawed, etc.
577. See vol. i. p. 145 note.
577. See vol. i. p. 145 note.
578. Cod. Dipl. No. 1019.
578. Cod. Dipl. No. 1019.
579. I conclude this from the Prologue to Ælfred’s Laws.
579. I conclude this from the Prologue to Ælfred’s Laws.
580. The Franks and the church were familiar with such officers, who under the name ofMissiwere dispatched into the provinces for special purposes. Perhaps the Ælfheáh and Brihtnóð mentioned in theJudicia Civitatiswere the Missi who were to be employed on this commission.
580. The Franks and the church were familiar with such officers, who under the name ofMissiwere dispatched into the provinces for special purposes. Perhaps the Ælfheáh and Brihtnóð mentioned in theJudicia Civitatiswere the Missi who were to be employed on this commission.
581. Mr. Hallam, in his Supplemental Notes, p. 229, remarks upon this important document: “It is moreover an objection to considering this a formal enactment by the witan of the shire, that it runs in the names of ‘thaini, comites et villani.’ Can it be maintained that the ceorls ever formed an integrant element of the legislature in the kingdom of Kent? It may be alleged that their name was inserted, though they had not been formally consenting parties, as we find in some parliamentary grants of money much later. But this would be an arbitrary conjecture, and the terms ‘omnes thaini,’ etc. are very large.”If the ceorls ever did form an integral part of the legislature in the kingdom of Kent, the whole question is settled. But I do not contemplate the thanes in Kent acting here as a legislative body: that is, I do not believe Æðelstán’s witan in Wessex to have passed a law, and then his witan in Kent to have accepted or continued it. I believe his witan from all England to have made certain enactments, which the proper officers brought down to the various shires, and in the shiremoots there took pledge of the shire-thanes that they accepted and would abide by the premises; just as in the case quoted on the preceding page. And this is the more striking because there is every reason to suppose that thewitena gemótwhose acts the shire-thanes of Kent thus accepted was actually holden at Feversham in that county. But it is further to be observed that the document we possess is a late Latin translation of the original sent to Æðelstán: I will venture to assert that in that original the words used were, “ealle scírþegnas on Cent, ge eorl ge ceorl,” or perhaps “ge twelfhynde ge twihynde.” Again, there is no reason to suppose that the ceorls didnotform an integrant part of the shiremoot, the representative of the ancient, independent legislature. A full century later than the date of the council of Feversham, they continued to do so in the same kingdom or, at that period, earldom: and it will be readily admitted that during those hundred years the tendency of society was not to increase the power or improve the condition of the ceorl. Between 1013 and 1020 we thus find Cnut addressing the authorities in Kent (Cod. Dipl. No. 731):—“Cnut the king sends friendly greeting to archbishop Lýfing, bishop Godwine, abbot Ælfmǽr, Æðelwine the sheriff, Æðelríc, and all my thanes, both twelve-hundred and two-hundred men,—ealle míne þegnas twelfhynde and twihynde:”—in other words, both eorl and ceorl, nobilis and ignobilis, or as the witan of Æðelstán have it, in the Norman translation, comites et villani. The nature of Cnut’s writ, which is addressed to the authorities of the county, the archbishop and sheriff, shows clearly that the thanes in question are not those royal officers called cyninges þegnas—who could never be two-hundred men—but the scírþegnas. These are of frequent occurrence in Anglosaxon documents. The scírgemót at Ægelnóðes stán (about 1038) was attended by Æðelstán the bishop, Ranig the ealdorman, Bryning the sheriff and all the thanes in Herefordshire. Cod. Dipl. No. 755. A sale by Stigand was witnessed by all thescírþegnasscírþegnasin Hampshire; that is, it was a public instrument completed in the shiremoot. Cod. Dipl. No. 949. Again a grant of Stigand was witnessed about 1053 by various authorities in Hampshire, including Eádsige the sheriff and all the scírþegnas. Cod. Dipl. No. 1337: and similarly a third of the same prelate, Cod. Dipl. No. 820. About the same period Wulfwold abbot of Bath makes title to lands, which he addresses to bishop Gisa, Tofig the sheriff and all the thanes of Somersetshire. Cod. Dipl. No. 821. In the year 1049, Ðurstán granted lands at Wimbush by witness of a great number of persons, among whom are Leófcild the sheriff and all the thanes of Essex. Cod. Dipl. No. 788: and about the same time Gódríc bought lands at Offham, in a shiremoot at Wii, before all the shire. Cod. Dipl. No. 789. Lastly, Leófwine bought land, by witness of Ulfcytel the sheriff and all the thanes in Herefordshire. Cod. Dipl. No. 802. The relation of these thanes to thegódanmen ordohtiganmen (good men, doughty men, boni et legales homines, Scabini, Rachinburgii, etc.) will be examined in a subsequent Book, when I come to treat of the courts of justice: but I will here add one example, which is illustrative of the subject of this note. The marriage-covenants of Godwine, arranged before Cnut, by witness of archbishop Lyfing and others, including Æðelwine the sheriff, and various Kentish landowners, are stated to be in the knowledge (geenǽwe) of everydoughty manin Kent and Sussex (where the lands lay) both thane and churl. Cod. Dipl. No. 732. There was nothing whatever to prevent a man from being ascírþegn, whether eorlcund or ceorlcund, as long as he had land in the scír itself: without land, even acyninges þegncould certainly not be ascírþegn. It is true that a man might be of síðcund rank, that is noble, without owning land (see Leg. Ini, § 51), and there were king’s thanes who had no land (Æðelst. v. § 11); but such a one could assuredly not represent himself in the scírgemót. There is a common error which runs through much of what has been admitted on this subject: the ceorl is universally represented in a low condition. This is not however necessarily the case: some ceorls, though well to do in the world, may have preferred their independence to the conventional dignity of thaneship. We may admit, as a general rule, that the thanes were a wealthier class than the ceorls; indeed, without becoming a thane, a ceorl had little chance of getting a grant of folcland or bócland, but some of them may have, through various circumstances, inherited or purchased considerable estates: as late as the year 984, I find an estate of eight hides (that is 264 acres according to my reckoning) in the possession of arusticus, obviously a ceorl:—“Illud videlicet rus quod Æðeríc quidam rusticus prius habuisse agnoscitur.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1282.
581. Mr. Hallam, in his Supplemental Notes, p. 229, remarks upon this important document: “It is moreover an objection to considering this a formal enactment by the witan of the shire, that it runs in the names of ‘thaini, comites et villani.’ Can it be maintained that the ceorls ever formed an integrant element of the legislature in the kingdom of Kent? It may be alleged that their name was inserted, though they had not been formally consenting parties, as we find in some parliamentary grants of money much later. But this would be an arbitrary conjecture, and the terms ‘omnes thaini,’ etc. are very large.”
If the ceorls ever did form an integral part of the legislature in the kingdom of Kent, the whole question is settled. But I do not contemplate the thanes in Kent acting here as a legislative body: that is, I do not believe Æðelstán’s witan in Wessex to have passed a law, and then his witan in Kent to have accepted or continued it. I believe his witan from all England to have made certain enactments, which the proper officers brought down to the various shires, and in the shiremoots there took pledge of the shire-thanes that they accepted and would abide by the premises; just as in the case quoted on the preceding page. And this is the more striking because there is every reason to suppose that thewitena gemótwhose acts the shire-thanes of Kent thus accepted was actually holden at Feversham in that county. But it is further to be observed that the document we possess is a late Latin translation of the original sent to Æðelstán: I will venture to assert that in that original the words used were, “ealle scírþegnas on Cent, ge eorl ge ceorl,” or perhaps “ge twelfhynde ge twihynde.” Again, there is no reason to suppose that the ceorls didnotform an integrant part of the shiremoot, the representative of the ancient, independent legislature. A full century later than the date of the council of Feversham, they continued to do so in the same kingdom or, at that period, earldom: and it will be readily admitted that during those hundred years the tendency of society was not to increase the power or improve the condition of the ceorl. Between 1013 and 1020 we thus find Cnut addressing the authorities in Kent (Cod. Dipl. No. 731):—“Cnut the king sends friendly greeting to archbishop Lýfing, bishop Godwine, abbot Ælfmǽr, Æðelwine the sheriff, Æðelríc, and all my thanes, both twelve-hundred and two-hundred men,—ealle míne þegnas twelfhynde and twihynde:”—in other words, both eorl and ceorl, nobilis and ignobilis, or as the witan of Æðelstán have it, in the Norman translation, comites et villani. The nature of Cnut’s writ, which is addressed to the authorities of the county, the archbishop and sheriff, shows clearly that the thanes in question are not those royal officers called cyninges þegnas—who could never be two-hundred men—but the scírþegnas. These are of frequent occurrence in Anglosaxon documents. The scírgemót at Ægelnóðes stán (about 1038) was attended by Æðelstán the bishop, Ranig the ealdorman, Bryning the sheriff and all the thanes in Herefordshire. Cod. Dipl. No. 755. A sale by Stigand was witnessed by all thescírþegnasscírþegnasin Hampshire; that is, it was a public instrument completed in the shiremoot. Cod. Dipl. No. 949. Again a grant of Stigand was witnessed about 1053 by various authorities in Hampshire, including Eádsige the sheriff and all the scírþegnas. Cod. Dipl. No. 1337: and similarly a third of the same prelate, Cod. Dipl. No. 820. About the same period Wulfwold abbot of Bath makes title to lands, which he addresses to bishop Gisa, Tofig the sheriff and all the thanes of Somersetshire. Cod. Dipl. No. 821. In the year 1049, Ðurstán granted lands at Wimbush by witness of a great number of persons, among whom are Leófcild the sheriff and all the thanes of Essex. Cod. Dipl. No. 788: and about the same time Gódríc bought lands at Offham, in a shiremoot at Wii, before all the shire. Cod. Dipl. No. 789. Lastly, Leófwine bought land, by witness of Ulfcytel the sheriff and all the thanes in Herefordshire. Cod. Dipl. No. 802. The relation of these thanes to thegódanmen ordohtiganmen (good men, doughty men, boni et legales homines, Scabini, Rachinburgii, etc.) will be examined in a subsequent Book, when I come to treat of the courts of justice: but I will here add one example, which is illustrative of the subject of this note. The marriage-covenants of Godwine, arranged before Cnut, by witness of archbishop Lyfing and others, including Æðelwine the sheriff, and various Kentish landowners, are stated to be in the knowledge (geenǽwe) of everydoughty manin Kent and Sussex (where the lands lay) both thane and churl. Cod. Dipl. No. 732. There was nothing whatever to prevent a man from being ascírþegn, whether eorlcund or ceorlcund, as long as he had land in the scír itself: without land, even acyninges þegncould certainly not be ascírþegn. It is true that a man might be of síðcund rank, that is noble, without owning land (see Leg. Ini, § 51), and there were king’s thanes who had no land (Æðelst. v. § 11); but such a one could assuredly not represent himself in the scírgemót. There is a common error which runs through much of what has been admitted on this subject: the ceorl is universally represented in a low condition. This is not however necessarily the case: some ceorls, though well to do in the world, may have preferred their independence to the conventional dignity of thaneship. We may admit, as a general rule, that the thanes were a wealthier class than the ceorls; indeed, without becoming a thane, a ceorl had little chance of getting a grant of folcland or bócland, but some of them may have, through various circumstances, inherited or purchased considerable estates: as late as the year 984, I find an estate of eight hides (that is 264 acres according to my reckoning) in the possession of arusticus, obviously a ceorl:—“Illud videlicet rus quod Æðeríc quidam rusticus prius habuisse agnoscitur.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1282.