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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33624	Argumentum anti-normannicum, or, An argument proving, from ancient histories and records, that William, Duke of Normandy, made no absolute conquest of England by the Sword, in the sense of our modern writers being an answer to these four questions, viz. I. Whether William the First made an absolute conquest of this nation at his first entrance?, II. Whether he cancelled and abolished all the confessor's laws?, III. Whether he divided all our estates and fortunes between himself and his nobles?, IV. Whether it be not a grand error to affirm, that there were no English-men in the Common Council of the whole Kingdom?	Atwood, William, d. 1705?; Johnson, Samuel, 1649-1703.; Coke, Edward, Sir, 1552-1634.; Petyt, William, 1636-1707.; Cooke, Edward, of the Middle Temple.	1682 (1682)	Wing C4907; ESTC R1971	61,200	184

Iani Anglorum Facies Nova And his Ius Anglorum ab Antiquo You would likewise I suppose be extreamly pleased in the perusal of another Learned and Modest Book written by an Anonymous Anthor entituled Patriarcha non Monarcha Authors for whose Names Posterity will have a greater respect than we at present have and that for their discovery of Truth and refuting so many Vulgar Errors I am SIR Your most Faithful Servant c. FINIS The Appendix ABbas de Middleton tenet in Capite de Domino Rege Mannerium de Middleton c. ex Feoff●menti Regis AEthelstani nullum servitium fecit nisi Orationes In Rotulo de Inquisitionibus Dominicorum Dorse●shire An● 4to R. H. Fil. R. I. Here we see that King AEthelstan who reigned above 740 Years agoe infeoffed the Abbey of Middleton of the Mannor of Middleton and that by virtue thereof the Abbot held it in Capite 4. H. 3. and did no Service for it but only to pray for the Souls of him and other succeeding Kings and all this you see found by Inquisition in the Fourth Year of Hen. 3. Rot. Cartar 19. H. 6. Nu. 16. m. 27. per Inspex Pro Decano Capitulo Sancti Martini Magni London per Inspeximus Inspeximus Cartam quam celebris Memoriae Dominus Willielmus quondam Rex Angl. progenitor ' nostri fecit Deo Ecclesiae Sancti Martini Magni London in hec verba QUia inter multa bona opera quae fideles Christi pro animarum suarum salute operantur hoc precipun estimatur tenetur Quod institution edification Sanctae Matris Eccte devota mente impenditur in qua suorum Dei supplicationibus peccata a pio Deo diluuntur quod Moises in mystici Tabernaculi constructione pmonstravit quod etiam Salomonis industria pfiguravit dum Templum Dno Artificiosum honorabile edificaret suturam significans Eccleam summo a fidelibus debere honore decorari quorum vidlt exemplo in nomine Dm nri Iesu Christi Ego Willus Dei dispositione consanguinitatis haereditate Anglorum Basileus Normannorumque Dux Rector eujusdam fidelis mei Ingelrici scilicet petitioni acquiescens Archiepiscoporum Episcoporum Abbatuum Comitum Vniversorum procerum meorum Sacro Consilio parens omnes possessiones terrarum quas tempore venerabilis ac dilectissimi cognati predecessoris mei Regis Edwardi Idem Ingelricus acquisierat ꝙ ipsius insignissimi Regis Animae Salute necnon peccatorum meorum Remissione concedo Regia auctoritate imppm corroboro confirmo Deo Eccle Beati Martini quam infra muros London sitam pfatus Ingelricus Erardus Frat ejus de propriis suis Redditibus in delictorum suorum Remediun honorabiliter ad Dei laudem Canonicalem Regulam imppm servand tenend construxerunt Sunt igitur haec terrarum nomina c. Et si quas alias libtates vel consuetudines aliqua Ecclearum Regni mei Angl meliores het si quis vero hoc in aliud quam concessimus transferre psumpferit cum Juda Proditore Dei h●e●edibas luat penas Scripta est haec Chartula An ab Incarnatione Dm M. LX. VIII scilicet secundo Anno Regni mei pacta vero est haec Donatio die Natali● Dm postmodum in die Pentecost confirmat quando Matil conjux mea in Basilica Sancti Petri Westm in Reginam divino nutu est consecrata c. Ego Willus Rex Anglorum Dux Normannorum sub Sigillo Sancte ✚ quas indeclinabiliter consensi atque ✚ rol oravi Ego Matil Regina consensum prebui Ego Ricus Regis Fil annui Ego Stigandus Archiepiscopus subscripsi Ego Aldredus Archiepiscopus confirmavi Ego Willus Lond Episcopus infra cujus muros pfatum Monasterium situm est signaculo Sancte Crucis subarravi libtatem omnimodam quantumcumque mee ꝑtinet possibilitati concessi Ego Odo Baiocensis Episcopus concessi Ego Hugo Luxoniensis Episcopus intersui Ego Goiffridus Episcopus corroboravi Ego Hermannus Episcopus concessi Ego Leouricus Episcopus concessi Ego Giso Episcopus concessi Ego Edwinus Abbas Ego Wolwaldus Abbas Ego Baldwinus Abbas Ego Agelsinus Abbas Ego Turstinus Abbas Ego Brand Abbas Ego Alswinus Abbas Ego Sithricus Abbas Ego Wills Fil Osbti Comes Ego Robtus Frat Regis Comes Ego Edwinus Comes Ego Robtus Comes Ego Marchere Comes Ego Waldeof Comes Ego Rogerus de Monte Goverii Comes Ego Ricus Fil Gislebti Princeps Ego Wills Malet Princeps Ego Arfastus Regis Cancellarius Ego Michael Regis Capellanus Ego Gislbtus Capellanus Ego Osbinus Capellanus Ego Wills Capellanus Ego Thomas Capellanus Ego Bernardus Capellanus Ego Walterus Capellanus Ego Robtus Capellanus Ego Johes Sancte Romane Ecclie Cardinalis Presbit per Gallias Angl concedente Papa Alexandro vices Apostolicas gerens huic constitutioni interfui quantum Aposto ✚ lice Sedi ꝑtinuit libtatem Ecclie psenti Signo confirmavi Ego Pe●rus Sancte Romane Ecclie similit Cardinalis Presbit Cancellarius ab eodem Papa in Angl ele ✚ gatus huic Constitutioni acquiescens propria Manu subscripsi I give you this Charter Sir as a further Proof and Evidence for me in these Particulars viz. 1. You may observe by these words Consanguinitatis haereditate Anglorum Basileus that here King William made an absolute disclaimer of Conquest in the second Year of his Reign and only insisted on what he knew full well was his surer hold his claim by Hereditary Right 2. And this is so much the more considerable as it was done in his Great Council of Arch-bishops Bishops Abbots Earls Vniversorum procerum suorum a word of a large signification as well in Historians as in Ancient Records for under the word Proceres were comprehended Principes Civium vel Civitatis And the former Instances I have given you of other General Councils and the Parts thereof in this King's Reign fully agree with this Interpretation 3. The Claim and Protestation of the Commons made the Parl. 2d H. 5. Rot. Parl. 2. H. 5. Pars secunda N. 10. which says That so as hit hath ever be their Liberte and Freedom that thar should no Statute ne Law be made of lasse then they yaffe thereto their assent considering that the Commune of your Lond the which that is and ever hath be a Membre of your Parliament been as well Assentirs as Petitioners And which was ratified and confirmed by the King and Lords and so became an Act of Parliament was but an Affirmation and Declaration of the Ancient Law of the Land And the same Right cannot be denied by any Man to the Lords 4. And that he confirmed as the Custom of succeeding Kings have done to this day all the Possessions of those Lands to the Church of St. Martins le Grand which they had in the Time of EDWARD the CONFESSOR Now if this fond Notion of William's

ancient Rights of the English Men. Besides that the Laws that were continued and confirmed were the old Saxon Laws and the Additional Laws were made for the Benefit and Advantage of the English not Normans And those Laws of Saint Edward which the English were so fond of this William solemnly swore before God Angels and Men for ever inviolably to keep and observe But before I leave this your Second Question Sir I think it will be no ways improper to give you the signification of the word Conquest and in what sence Historians and learned Antiquaries have understood it 1. Matthew Paris Mat. Paris fol. 941. hath it thus Rex Angliae ex Conquestu dicitur tamen quod beatus Edwardus eo quòd haerede caruit Regnum legavit Willielmo Bastardo Duci Normannorum 2. Sir Henry Spelman Spelm. Gloss. tit Conquestus fol. 145. in his Glossary says Willielmus Primus Conquestor dicitur quia Angliam conquisivit id est acquisivit purchased non quod subegit not that he subdued it 3. Sir Iohn Skene Skene p. 39. Clark of the Register Council and Rolls to King Iames in Scotland in his Book De Verborum significatione tells us That Conquestus signifies Lands quhilk ony Person acquiris and possessis privato jure vel singulari titulo veluti donatione vel singulari aliquo contractu 4. And it seems to me not improbable that the Title of Conqueror rather than of Victor was assumed by him as being a word more mild and originally signifying as it does in Scotland a Purchaser which is he that cometh to a real Estate not by hereditary Descent but by Bargain or Gift c. Mr. Skene de Verbórum signific ver●o Conquestus Conquestus dicitur ratione primi Conquestoris cum transmittitur ad ejus haeredem exuit naturam Conquestus induit naturam Haereditatis 5. And that the word Conquestus did signify what the Historians say it did we have Records to justify their Exposition whereof I shall produce one and that is above 480 Years ago It says Robertus Filius Nigelli petit versus Richardum Battail Capitale Messuagium c. Ricardus venit dicit quod pater c. fuit persona Ecclesiae de Conquestu suo c. dedit c. Placita de terris Mich. 2. Iohan. penes Camerar Scaccar remanen Now surely none can make the word Conquestus here to signify that the Father of Battel got the Advowson by Conquest in our modern sense but that he had it by his own purchase 6. Sir Roger Twisden in his Preface before King William's Laws and he well enough understood the full meaning of the word Conquestus says Non existimo Willielmum primum de omnium Anglorum terris ad voluntatem suam pro libitu in modum absolutae dominationis disposuisse Apud Lambardum in Prefac 1550 I do not in the least imagine that William the first had the disposition of the Lands of all the English according to his own Arbitrary Will and Pleasure and after the manner of an Absolute Conquest Now Sir by these several Explanations of the word I think it is very obvious to any impartial Considerer that however we construe and interpret it now being either urged by Flattery or Interest so to do it never did even in that Age it self import or signifie such an absolute and entire Conquest as to carry along with it the enslaving of the whole English Nation after William's Victory over Harold Nay tho' every Body will acknowledg that this Harold came to the Imperial Crown of England a totius Anglie Primatibus ad Regale Culmen electus Ab●ev Chron. Rad. de dic●ro fo 479. by a general Election of the Chief of the Nation yet there is an Ancient Author calls him Conqueror And what then shall we think of the signification of the word but that it was an Acquest at most and that too by the Voice and Suffrage of the People saith he MS. ex Bib. Domini Wild defuncti Heraldus strenuus Dux Conquestor Angliae But Sir this is not all I must beg your patience and leave for the better illustration of the word Conquest and to disabuse the World in this Point to present you with this following Summary SERIES Of the Stiles of our several descendant Kings from this William the First inclusively to the Great King Edward the Third and therein make an Observation which perhaps as yet hath scarcely been taken notice of The Stiles of the Kings 1. WIllielmus W. 1. Rex Anglorum c. and sometimes Willielmus Cognomento Bastardus Rex Anglorum c. 2. Willielmus W. 2. Rufus Rex Anglorum c. and sometimes Willielmus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum c. 3. Henricus H. 1. Rex Anglorum c. and sometimes Henricus Willielmi Magni Regis Filius 4. Stephanus Steph. Rex Anglorum c. and sometimes Stephanus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum c. 5. Henricus H. 2. omitted Dei Gratia and used this Stile Henricus Rex Angliae c. and sometimes Henricus Filius Imperatricis Matildae Rex Angliae c. 6. Richardus R. 1. Rex Angliae c. 7. Johannes Iohn Rex Angliae c. and added this Dominus Hiberniae 8. Henricus H. 3. Filius Johannis Rex Angliae c. 9. Edwardus E. 1. Rex Angliae c. 10. Edwardus E. 2. Filius Edwardi primi Rex Angliae c. And now we are come to the great Epocha of Time when the Stile of our Kings altered Edward the Third in the beginning of his Reign in several Records writ himself Edwardus Filius Edwardi Filii Edwardi that is Edward the Son of Edward the Second the Son of Edward the First But this distinction not being well approved of and having considered that before the Conquest there had been two King Edwards he in all Fines and in general Records writ himself Edwardus Rex Angliae c. tertius post Conquestum which was done in the second Year of his Reign Anno Dom. 1328. which Rule was followed by Richard 2. Hen. 4. Hen. 5. Hen. 6. and so to succeeding Kings downwards And Sir to give you a further proof that King William did not Cancel and Abolish all the English Laws nor change as is so much affirmed the whole Frame and Constitution of the Government be pleased to hear the Judgment of Mr. Selden and the Opinion of Sir Winston Churchill and I hope they are such unquestionable Authorities as may sufficiently ballance if not totally depress the fiercest of Gain-sayers I shall begin with the great and ever famous Selden for whose Memory as truly deserving I have the highest regards and shall transcribe his words at large which may not only serve for a good Solution to this your Second Question but indeed may possibly fully satisfy you as to your other three His words are The Laws

Stephanid Descriptio Nobilissimae Civitatis Londoniae in Stow 's Survey c. fol. 704. de sit● ejusdem a Monk of Canterbury born as Stow saith in his fore-cited Book of Worshipful Parents in the City of London and who lived in the Reign of King Stephen in his description of it hath these words Inter Nobiles Vrbes Orbis quas fama celebrat Civitas Londonia Regni Anglorum sedes una est quae famam sui latiùs diffundit opes merces longiùs transmittit caput altius extollit Foelix est aëris salubritate Christianâ Religione firmitate munitionum naturâ sitûs honore Civium pudicitiâ matronali ludis etiám quàm jucunda Nobilium foecunda virorum Vrbs ista viris est honorata Id. fol. 705. armis decorata multo habitatore populosa ut tempore Bellicae cladis sub Rege Stephano bello apti ex e● exeuntes ostentatui haberentur 20000 Armatorum Equitum 60 mille Peditum aestimarentur Cives Londoniae ubicunque locorum prae omnibus aliis Civibus ornatu morum vestium mensae locutione spectabiles noti habentur Which in English is thus Of all the celebrated Cities in the World this of London is the Metropolis of England a City of a very extensive Fame in its self but much more honourable by the Native Treasure and Commodities which she exporteth Happy is she in the temperature of her Climate in the soundness of her Doctrine strength of her Forts agreeableness of her Situation in the Credit and Reputation of her Citizens the unblemish'd Chastity of the Female Sex innocently pleasant even in her Recreations and honoured with a numerous Train of Nobility The Grandeur of this City chiefly consists in the Properness and Valour of her Men in the bravery of her Armour the multitude of her Inhabitants so that in the fatal Wars in King Stephen's Reign there appeared on a Muster 20000 Horse and 60000 Foot all armed Souldiers The Citizens of London are known and esteemed beyond all other Persons wheresoever they travel for their gentile Deportment their good Apparel their Table and Discourse So that we see from hence that in the Reign of King Stephen who was Nephew to King William the First from whose Death to King Stephen's Reign there were not fifty Years the City of London was very great and powerful but had the English Citizens been all destroyed and had all their Estates and Fortunes been as is so positively affirmed taken away from them by William the First it had been impossible in so short a Time for them to have risen again to that degree of Fame and Renown through all this part of the World as the Historian who was an Eye-Witness of it so credibly assures us My next design is to shew you That from the General Direction of the Writs and Charters in King William the First his Time it is plainly demonstrable that William the pretended Conqueror did not divide all the Lands of England amongst his Norman followers to hold of him 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rob. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dugdal Hist. of St. Pauls in the Appendix fol. 196. ealle his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id est 1. W. Rex Saluto Osmundum Episcopum Saresburiensem Nota Here are English Sheriffs and other English Officers as well as French ● Robertum de Ely Petrum de Valoniis omnesque praefectos suos et fideles Francos et Anglos amicè 2. Willem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mines b'pes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chart. Antique I. Willem gret mines Bishops Here were Engl. Thains Thahi Appellatione vi●i interdum Nobiles interdum liberae Conditionis Homines interdum Magistratus atque saepenume●o Ministri notantur Gloss. in sin Lambard de p●is Angl leg fol. 223. Col. 1. tic Thanus and mind Eorles and ealle mind Thegnes Freneisse and Englisce 3. W. Rex Anglorum Monast. Angl. Vol. 1. fo 185. O. Episcopo Sarisburiensi et L. Abbati Glastoniensi et A. Vicecomiti omnibusque Baronibus Francigenis et Anglis de Sumerseta et de Wiltunscire Salutem 4. Willielmus Rex Angliae Archiepiscopo T. Eboraci Id. fol. 397. et Iusticiariis et Vicecomitibus et omnibus Baronibus Fidelibus suis Francis et Anglis de Eboraciscire et de Carleoli Salutem 5. Willielmus Rex Anglorum Walterio Vicecomiti Id. sol 29. et omnibus Baronibus suis Francigenis et Anglis de Comitatu de Glocestre Salutem 6. Willielmus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum Id. ibid. Fidelibus suis Francigenis et Anglis Salutem 7. Willielmus Rex Anglorum Episcopo de Suthsexa et Vicecomiti Id. ibid. et caeteris Baronibus suis Francigenis et Anglis Salutem 8. Willielmus Rex Angliae Id. Vol. 2. so 845. G. Vicecom ' et Baronibus suis de Caerleil Salutem 9. Willielmus Rex Angliae Thomae Archiepiscopo et Bertramo de Verdun Id. fol. 845. et Baronibus suis Francis et Anglis de Everwicscire Salutem 10. Henricus Rex Angliae Richardo Episcopo London Cart. Antiq. N et Vic' et Praeposito et omnibus Baronibus et Fidelibus suis Francis et Anglis de London et Middlesex Salutem 11. Henricus Rex Angliae Vic' et Baronibus London Id. Ibid. 12. Henricus Dei Gratia Rex Angliae Dugdal Hist. of St. Pauls in the Appendix fol. 197. Archiepiscopis et Episcopis et Comitibus Angliae et Hugoni de Boclande et omnibus Baronibus fidelibus suis Francis et Anglis de Lundonia et de Middlesexa et de tota Anglia Salutem By these Writs and Charters Sir though many more of the like nature might easily be given I think with submission my Argument is firmly maintained and the plain English of them all is no more than this That in William the first 's Time there were English Barons as well as French Barons in Somersetshire and Wiltshire in York-shire and Carlisle in Gloucestershire and in Sussex and the direction of the Writs and Charters is equally given to them both without any difference of Power or Authority mentioned otherwise than that the French Barons had the precedency of the English in those Writs and Charters * As is assersed by the said Anonimus Author against Mr. Petyt p. 151. With what force of truth then can it be defended That the Norman Nobility were at that time the only Nobility I appeal to the World But I pray now hear two Branches of his MAGNA CHARTA or Great Charter which he granted to the English and they run thus 1. Volumus etiam ac firmiter praecipimus concedimus Apud Cl. Lambard LL. Will. p●im fol. 170. c. 55. ut omnes liberi homines totius Monarchiae Regni nostri praedicti habeant teneant terras suas possessiones suas bene in pace liberè AB OMNI EXACTIONE

or Distress and in the same sence are used in the Custumary That which puts it further out of scruple is That there are yet extant the Manuscripts themselves of the Saxon Laws made in the Parliamentary Councils held by them here which are in the Language and Character of those Times and contain in them many of those things which are in the Norman Custumary It is no improbable Opinion That there was a former Establishment of our Laws in Normandy before the Time of Hen. 1. and that it was by Edward the Confessor who as all Writers of our History agree was a great Collector and Compiler of our English Laws He lived a long time with his Kinsman Duke William in Normandy who was willing to please the Confessor in hopes to be appointed by him to be his Suc●essor wherein the Duke's Expectation did not fail him The Confessor having no Children and finding Normandy without a setled Government and wanting Laws advised with his Kinsman Duke William to receive from him the Laws of England which he had collected and to establish them in Normandy which Duke William and his Lords readily accepted for the good of their People and thereby obliged the Confessor Another proof hereof is That such Laws as the Normans had before the Time of Duke William were different from those in the Custumary and from the English Laws As their Law That the Husband should be hanged if his Wife were a Thief and he did not discover it The meaner People were as Slaves and the like and the Trial of Theft by Ordeil which then was not in England Wigorniensis reports That the Normans who came in with Queen Emma the Wife of Etheired were so hated of the English for their injustice and false Iudgment that in the Time of King Canutus they were for this cause banished and it is the less probable that they being so unjust themselves should introduce so just Laws as ours are Between the Conquest of Normandy by Rolio and the Invasion of England by Duke William there were not above 160 Years that of Normandy was about Anno 912. that of England Anno 1060. It is not then consonant to Reason that those Normans Pagans a rough Martial People descended from so many Barbarous Nations should in the time of 150 Years establish such excellent Laws among themselves and so different from the French Laws among whom they were and all parts in the World except England And such Laws which were not only fit for their Dukedom and small Territory but fit also for this Kingdom which in those days was the second in Europe for Antiquity and Worth by confession of most Forreign Historians If we will give credit to their own Authors this Point will be sufficiently evinced by them These words are in the Proem of the Custumary which is entituled Descriptio Normanniae Hucusque Normannicae CONSVETVDINES LATOREM sive Datorem SANCTVM EDWARDVM Angliae Regem c. The same is witnessed by Chronica Chronicorum That St. Edward King of England gave the Laws to the Normans when he was long harboured there And that he made both the Laws of England and Normandy appears sufficiently by the conformity of them for which he cites several Particulars as of Appeals and the Custom of England ad probandum aliquid per credentiam duodecim hominum vicinorum which he saith remained in Normandy to that day Polydore forgetting himself what he wrote in another place saith of King Henry the Seventh that when a Doubt was made upon the Proposal of Marriage of his Daughter to Scotland that thereby England might in time be subject unto Scotland The King answered No and that England as the Greater will draw it to Scotland being the less and incorporate it to the Laws of England as saith the Historian it did Normandy though the owner thereof was Conqueror of England And Sir Roger Owen in his Manuscript affirms That there is not any of our Historians that lived in the space of 200 Years immediately after the Conquest which doth describe our Laws to be taken away and the Norman Custom introduced by the Conqueror Some of them and not improbably mention the alteration of some part of them and the bringing in some Norman Customs effectual for the keeping of the Peace There is yet behind the great Argument most insisted on and often urged by the Gentlemen of another Opinion which is the Title of William who is called the Conqueror from whence they conclude That by his Conquest he changed the Laws and Government of this Nation and that his Successors reckon the beginning of their Reigns from his Conquest To this is answered That a posse ad esse non valet Argumentum the Conquering of the Land is one thing the introducing of new Laws is another thing but there is direct proof to the contrary of this Argument Duke William never Sir-named himself the Conqueror nor was so called in his life-time as may appear by all the Letters Pattents and Deeds that he made wherein he is called Guilielmus Rex Dux c. never Conquestor and our Ancient Historians give him the same Titles and not that of Conqueror In the Title of Nubrigensis's Book he is Sirnamed William the Bastard Malmsbury calls him William the First Hoveden William the Elder Adam de Monmoth saith That 1. Ed. 3. this word Conquest was found out to denote and distinguish the certain Edward because two of the same name were Predecessors to this King and to the Conqueror who claimed the Crown as Heir to Edward the Confessor but saith he we call him the Conqueror for that he overcame Harold Duke William himself claimed to be King of England as Successor and Adopted Heir of the Confessor by his Will and Harold's renounceing of his Title by Oath The Register of St. Albans Matth. Paris and others attest That the Barons of England did homage to him as Successor and he relied on them in his Forreign Wars and the Check given to him by the Kentish Men and the Forces gathered by the Abbot of St. Albans brought him to engage to confirm the Laws of the Confessor and as his Successor by legal Right they admitted him to be their King Volaterus writes That he was made Heir to the Confessor and was Vncle to him Another affirms That Edward by his Will left England to him Paulus AEmilius and Fulgasius are to the same purpose Pope Alexander the 11 th sent him a Banner as Witness that with a safe Conscience he might expel Harold the Tyrant because the Crown was due to him by the Confessors Will and by Harold's Oath Agreeable hereunto are Gemiticensis Walsingham Malmesbury Huntington Ingulphus Paris Pike Wendover Gaxton Gisburn and others The Antient Deeds of the Abby of Westminster which were sometime in my Custody do prove this King William in his Charter to them sets forth his own Title to the Crown thus Beneficio Concessionis Cognati mei gloriosi

Mat. Paris 1. Antiq Brit. Eccles. 96. and by his last Will had bequeathed this Kingdom to him And this was confirmed by the consent of the Nobility and principally of Harold himself and hereupon considering how Harold had trickt him and set the Crown on his own Head he sends over several Ambassadors with Commission to require him to remember the Oath he had formerly made to the said William in the time of his Extremity when he was his Prisoner in Normandy Which was That he the said Harold should assist him in the obtaining of the Crown of England if ever Edward died without Issue 3. And receiving but unkind Returns from Harold Wil. M●lmesb 〈◊〉 3. fol. 56. l. 25● by way of Answer to his Demands which thus the Historian relates De Regno addebat praesumptuosum fsuisse quòd absque Generali Senatus Populi conventu Edicto alienam illi haereditatem juraverit That as for him to take an Oath to deliver up the Inheritance of any Realm without the general consentand allowance * That is without the assent of the Wittenagemot Mycel Synod or Parliament of the Senate and People could not but be a great piece of presumption yea altho' he might have just title so to do † Praeterea iniquum postulat ut imperio decedat quod tanto favore civium regendum susceperit Malmsb. l. 3. f. 56. l. 30. wherefore it was an unreasonable Request of the Duke now to require him to renounce the Kingdom in which he was so well setled to the good liking and content of his People This Norman Duke not to be his own Judg refers himself to the Pope then Alexander the second to decide the Matter and so resolved that the infallible Chair should determine who had the Justest Title to the Crown and Kingdom Harold or Himself And the good old Gentleman who would not be behind-hand with him in civility for so great a kindness as was the Appealing to him and so flattering him with a Judicatory Power over Princes easily was induced to pronounce sentence on William's behalf But all these blustering Pretences of nearness in Blood which it seems his Son Henry thought to be the best flower in his Garland when he * In his Charter whereby he advanced the Abby of Ely into the degree of a Bishoprick calls himself the Son of William the Great pray Sir be pleased to observe it is not of William the Conqueror Qui Edwardo Regi Haereditario Iure successit in Regnum Seldeni ad Eadmerum Notae Spicileg fol. 211. lin 39. Who succeeded to King Edward in the Kingdom by Right of Inheritance or the Confessor's bequest of the Crown to him Or lastly the Pope's definitive Sentence in William's favour All these blustering Pretences of his I say availed but little with Harold and therefore you must think it could not but incense the Duke of Normandy very greatly so that he had now a just cause of open quarrel against Harold for the Reasons you have heard And thereupon convening his Parliament or Assembly of three Estates which consisted of the Clergie Nobility Nobility is taken in France for Gentlemen as well as for Earls or persons of like dignity and Commons V●●stegan's restitution of decayed Intelligence in Antiquities dedicated to King James pag. 173. the Nobility in fine promised to serve him and the Clergie and People to aid him with Mony according to their several Abilities and such offers as they made were forthwith set down in writing by a Secretary there present So that being thus supplied and assisted with several other of his Friends he makes for England and was no sooner arrived at a place in Sussex called Pevenessey now Pemsey and got well on Land but by his Proclamation he declared upon what Occasions he thus entred the Realm and so preparing to give Harold Battle he hereby seemed as if he would have all the World to know his Quarrel was more Personal than National But this I will speak more particularly and largely to when I come to mention some of the Charters he made after he was established King And as Perjury seldom or never escapes unpunished so here was a visible Instance of the Divine Justice upon Harold for his breach of Oath and Covenant to the Duke for in the Battle of Hastings he met with his Reward losing both his Crown and his Life at once and leaving William to finish the day with Victory over those that were yet resolved to dispute the Cause with him And now being rid of his stubborn Enemy and in the heat of the Chase got to London he possessed himself of that Kingdom which he pretended was his own by Right before from the Titles we have already mentioned Yet however it was in no such haughty and insulting way as many boast of and would gladly have their unwary Readers to believe upon their bare Credit and Testimony but he chose the more grateful and complying Artifices of a Courtier and setled himself in it by a kind of mutual Agreement and express compact as now I hope will be clearly demonstrated by what I shall offer to you after this his pretended absolute Conquest For 1. Tho' he was victorious over his great Adversary Harold yet if he had been an absolute Conqueror as hath been of late so vigorously asserted by our Modern Writers what urgent necessity was there for him or how did it stand him in such mighty stead still to keep himself armed with the aforesaid Titles that so he might have the more colourable pretence of Right and Justice on his side in laying a legal Claim to this Imperial Crown For me-thinks if he had a full possession upon such a forcible entry as is pretended this had been a stronger Title than any thing else he could have alledged for how could or durst a vanquished enslaved Nation dispute with him when he rode triumphing on their Backs and had lashed them into an entire submission of vassalage But 2. Let us see the manner of this first King William's Coronation and whether or no he did not take an Oath at the same time which was in sence and substance if not just in the words themselves the very same with that which the Ancient Saxon Kings used likewise to take upon their Coronations And for your full satisfaction herein I shall give you the parallel of them both together and begin first with The Oath of either King Edward In vitae AElf●edi Magni fol. 62. or King Ethelred for Dunstan crowned both of them at Kingston about the Year 970. Promissio Regis vel Edvardi vel AEthelredi utrumque enim Dunstanus Kingstoniae Coronavit circa Ann. 970. This writing Hoc Scripto de litera ad literam descriptum est ad scriptum illud quod Dunstanus Archiepiscopus tradebat Domino nostro Kingstoniae ipso illo die quo Consecratus erat in Regem

of before S●lden's Review of his History 〈◊〉 Tithes p. 482 483 484. as well as of after the Norman Conquest as it is vulgarly called are here gathered and are perhaps equally observable as the Rest in the consequent of a general consecration of Tithes to the Church in England For neither were the Laws formerly made abolish'd by that Conquest altho' by Law of i Vid. Quintilian lib. 5. Institution cap. 10. Athe. Gentil de Jere belli lib. 3. cap. 5. Hottoman illust Quaest. 5. War regularly all Rights and Laws of the Place conquered be wholly subject to the Conqueror's Will For in this of the Norman not only the Conqueror's Will was not declared that the former Laws should be abrogated and until such Declaration Laws remain in force by the Opinion of k Calvin's Can. fol. 17. b some in all Conquests of Christians against Christians but also the ancient and former Laws of the Kingdom were confirmed by him For in his fourth Year by the Advice of his Baronage he summoned to London omnes Nobiles sapientes Lege suà eruditos ut eorum Leges Consuetudines audiret as the words are of the Book of Litchfield and afterward confirmed them as is further also related by l in H● 2. p. 347. Roger of Hoveden Those Lege suâ eruditi were common Lawyers of that Time as Godric and Al●win were then also who are spoken of in the Book of m MS lib. 2. p. 3● 30. in Bibl. Cotton Abingdom to be Legibus Patriae optime instituti quibus tantae secularium facundia praeteritorum memoria eventorum inerat ut caeteri circumquaque facilè eorum sententiam ratam fuisse quem edicerent approbarent And these two and divers other Common Lawyers then lived in the Abby of Abingdon Quorum collationi nemo sapiens says the Author refragabatur quibus rem Ecclesia publicam tuentibus ejus oblocutores elingues fiebant You must know that in those days every Monk here in England that would might remain so secular that he might get Mony for himself purchase or receive by descent to his own use And therefore it was fit enough for practising Lawyers to live in Monasteries But what had those praeteritorum memoria eventorum that is Reports and adjudged Cases of the Saxon Times availed in their skill if the former Laws had not continued More obvious Testimonies to this purpose are had out of n Videsis Cok. Praefax ad Relat. 3. 8. si placet Not. ad fortesc p. 7 8. Gervase of Tilbury Ingulphus and others and we here omit them But also indeed it was not to be reputed a Conquest or an Acquisition by right of War which might have destroyed the former Laws so much as a violent recovering of the Kingdom out of the hands of Rebels which withstood the Duke's pretence of a lawful Title claimed by the Confessor's adoption or designation of him for his Successor his nearness of Blood on the Mother's side not a little also aiding such a pretence to a Crown For the Confessor's Mother Emme was Sister to Richard the Second Duke of Normandy to whom William was Grand-child and Heir But these were only specious Titles and perhaps examined curiously neither of them were at that time enough And howsoever his Conscience so moved him at his death that he profest he had got * Historia Cadohensis England only by Blood and the Sword yet also by express Declaration in some of his Patents he before pretended his Right from the Confessor's Gift p Chart. Eccles Wes●m in inspex part 7. 1. Ed. 4. m. 26. vid● Camb. pag. 104. In ore gladii saith he Regnum adeptus sum Anglorum devicto Haraldo Rege cum suis complicibus qui mihi Regnum cum providentia Dei destinatum beneficio concessionis Domini cognati mei gloriosi Regis Edwardi concessum conati sunt auferre c. And the Stories commonly tells us That the Confessor Successionem Angliae ei dedit And although Harold also pretended a Devise of the Kingdom to himself made by the Confessor in extremis and urged also that the Custom of England had been from the time of Augustine's coming hither q MS. sive Autor Guil. Pictav sive quis alius sit in Bibl. Cotton Donationem quam in ultimo fine quis fecerit eam ratam haberi and that the former Gift to the Norman and his own Oath for establishment of it were not of force because they were made r Malmesb. lib. 5. de Gest. Regum p. 56. a. alii in Will 1. videsis Mat. Paris in Hen. 3. p. 1257. Edit Londin absque generali Senatus Populi conventu edicto yet for his own part he was driven to put all upon the Fortune of the Field and so lost it And the Norman with his Sword and pretence of the sufficiency and precedence of the Gift made to himself got the Crown as if he had been a lawful Successor to the Confessor and not an Universal Conqueror All this is plain out of the Stories and justified infallibly by that of the Titles of many common Persons made to their Possessions in England after his Kingdom setled upon the possession of themselves or their Ancestors in time of the Saxon Kings especially of the Confessor But this was always in case where they by whose possession the Title was made had not incurr'd Forfeiture by Rebellion Many such Titles are clearly allowed in the Book of Dooms-day written in the Conqueror's Time One especially is noted by the most learned Camden in his Norfolk That as I remember is touched in Dooms-day also but enough others are dispersed there which agree with it How could such Titles have held if he had made an absolute Conquest of England wherein an Universal Acquisition of all had been to the Conqueror and no Title could have been derived but only from or under him More might be brought to clear this but we add here only the judicious Assertion of a great s Shard in cas in itin temp Ed. 3. fol. 143. b. Lawyer of Edward the Third's Time Le Conqueror saith he ne vient pas pur ouster eux que avoient droiturell possession mes de ouster eux que de leur tort avoient occupie ascun ierre en disheritance del Roy son Corone It was spoken upon an Objection made in a Quo Warranto against the Abbot of Peterborough touching a Charter of King Edgar which the King's Councel would have had void because by the Conquest all Franchises they said were devolved to the Crown But by the way for that of his nearness of Blood which could not but aid his other pretended Title let it not seem meerly vain in regard of his being a Bastard There was good pretence for the help of that defect also For although the Laws of this Kingdom and I think of all other Civil

would be frivolous to make any deductions from it I shall presume to repeat to you the words of a great and Learned Judg in the Reign of King Edward the Third and give you his judicious Assertion of this Argument tho' it be cited before in that of Mr. Selden because it was agreed on as a main positive Rule of Law and they are these Le Conqueror saith he ne vient pas pour ouster eux Iohannes Shardelowe unus Justic. de Banco Rot. Pat. 16. E. 3. Pars 1. m. 2. in Dugdales Chronica Series annexed to his Origines Juridiciales fol. 44. qui avoient droiturell possession mes de ouster eux que de lour tort avoient occupie ascun terre en desheritance del Roy son Coronne The Conqueror came not to oust those who had a Right Possession but to dispossess those who of their own wrong had enjoyed any Land to the disherison of the King and his Crown What shall we think after all this That notwithstanding the English who had not been in Arms against William had no Estates or Fortunes left but all was divided between the King and his Normans Surely no but just the contrary that they did enjoy them in as full peaceable and quiet a manner as ever they did before he came to be this high and mighty Conqueror But again let me give you Sir another Instance to inforce the Truth of this Argument In the 14. Rich. 2. some 290 Years ago there happened a memorable Suit between the King and the Prior of Coventry Placita coram Rege Hill Anno ●14 R. 2. Rot. 50. War vid. Dodsworth Dugdales Monastic Anglican Vol. 1. fol. 305. Col. 1. in the King's Bench the King demanding Annuam Pensionem pro uno Clericorum Regis as holding de Domino Rege per Baroniam The Prior pleads that he held Prioratum praedictum upon the foundation of Leofric quondam Comitis Cestriae founded in the Time Sancti Edwardi Regis Angliae and produces the Charters in Court and then conveys the Title of Descent thus Ibidem recìtatur Charta ejusdem Regis Edwardi Jus Anglorri●i ab antiquo 〈◊〉 16. in the Addition c. quas Donationes Concessiones diversi alii Reges confirmàverunt dicit quod postea per processu● temporis nomen Abbatiae praedictae divertebatur in nomen Prioratus eo quod Leof winus ad tunc Abbas ibidem creatus fuit in Episcopum Cestriae ordinavit per Assensum Monachorum ibidem quod Abbatia● praedicta ex tun● foret Prioratus 〈◊〉 quod Superiores ejusdem Ecclesiae forent Priores successivè in perpetuum dicit quod de ipso Leofrico quia obiit sin● Haerede de corpore suo descendente Advocatio Ecclesiae praedictae tempore Willielm ' Conquest Angliae cuidam Hugoni Comiti Cestriae ut Consanguineo haeredi ipsius Leofrici viz. Filio Erminilde sororis ejusdem Leofrici de ipso Hugone cuidam Richardo ut Filio haeredi Not. This is the Hugh to whom it is imagined by some that William gave all the Lands of the County of Chester de ipso Richardo cuidam Ranulpho ut Consanguineo haeredi viz. Filio Matildis Sororis praedicti Hugonis de ipso Ranulpho cuidam Ranulpho ut Filio Haeredi de 〈◊〉 so Ranulpho Filio Ranulphi quia obii● sine Haerede de corpore suo descendente Advocatio praedicta simul cum Comitatu Cestriae Huntingdon aliis diversis Castris Maneriis terris tenementis cum pertinentiis in Anglia Wallia quibusdam Matildae Mabilliae Ceciliae Margeriae ut Sororibus Haeredibus praedicti Ranulphi inter quas propertia facta fuit de praedictis Comitatibus Advocationibus Castris Maneriis Terris Tenementis cum pertinentiis supradictis Et praedicta Advocatio simul cum toto praedicto Comitatu Cestriae cum pertinentiis allocata fuit praedictae Matilde pro●proparte sua in Allocationem diversorum aliorum Castrorum Manneriorum Terrarum Tenementorum cum pertinentiis praedictis Mabilliae Ceciliae Margeriae separatim allocatorum de ipsa Matilda descendebant praedicta Advocatio simul cum praedicto Comitatu Cestriae cum pertinentiis post propertiam praedictam cuidam Iohanni Scot ut Filio haeredi praedictae Matildae qui quidem Iohannes Scot Advocationem praedictam simul cum praedicto Comitatu Cestriae cnm Pertinentiis dedit Henrico quondam Regi Angliae Filio Regis Iohannis haeredibus suis in perpetuum c. Praedictus Prior sine die From this great Record Sir I think it is clear and evident 1. That Leofric was Earl of Chester in the Reign of Edward the Confessor and that he dying without Issue the Earldom of Chester and the Right of Advowson of the Priory of Coventry tempore Willielmi Conquestoris Angliae descended to Hugh Earl of Chester ut Consanguineo Haeredi ipsius Leofrict as being the Son of Erminelde Sister of Leofric and that from that Hugh descended Richard his Son and Heir and from Richard descended Ranulf as consanguineus haeres that is the Son of Maud Sister of Hugh and from that Ranulph another Ranulph his Son and Heir c. 2. Now if William when he came in made an absolute Conquest this Title had been impossible to have been maintained 3. It appears further That the Plea of the Prior was allowed for the Record saith Praedictus Prior sine die And the Advowson aforesaid simul cum Comitatu Cestriae Huntingdon aliis diversis Maneriis Terris Tenementis cum pertinentiis c. did descend And it is to be observed that Judgment being given upon solemn Debate and Tryal neither the Judges nor the King's Counsel so many hundred Years ago as in the Age of Richard the Second knew any thing of this new received Notion of an absolute Conquest And again 4. 'T is yet further observable that the Charter of Leofric and the Title of the Prior had been confirmed per diversos alios Reges who must certainly have greater knowledg of the Nature of William the First his Conquest or Government than any Man can pretend to in our Times But further Sir I will make bold with your Patience and give you some few Instances of the very many that I could out of Dooms-day Book to satisfy you that there were many Proprietors of English Men who had their Free-hold Estates upon Titles paramount to any of the Conqueror's Donation Those I shall take from that industrious and worthy Gentleman Mr. Attwood's Book intituled Ius Anglorum ab Antiquo Jus Anglorum ab Antiquo p. 80 81 83 87 89 90. where in his excellent History of the Conquest among others he hath these following Viz. Surrey 1. Hugo de Port was a very great Proprietor Pa. 8o He was not Tainns Regis as may be found under the Title Terra Hugonis de Port Many

to the King that Iustice might be done him secundum Legem Ierrae and the King sends forth a Writ to summon a County Court The Debate lasted three days before the Freemen of the County of Kent in the presence of many chief Men Bishops and Lords and others skilful in the Laws and the Iudgment passed for the Arch-bishop Lanfrank upon the Uotes of the Freemen This County Court was holden by special Summons and not by adjournment as was allowable by the Saxon Law upon special occasions And this Suit was originally begun and had its final determination in the County Court And the County Courts in those days were of so great esteem that two of the greatest Peers of the Realm one a Norman the other an Italian did cast a Title in fifteen Mannors two Lordships with many Liberties upon the Uotes of the English Freeholders in a County Court and that the Sentence was allowed and commended by the King and submitted to by all But 2. Hundred Courts 2. The Hundred Courts were still continued and they were of two sorts The first whereof was holden twice a Year and all the Free-holders within the Hundred were bound to appear for the service of their Fees and was the Sheriff's Court and such appearances were called the Sheriffs Turnes where it belonged to Sheriffs to enquire of all Personal Offences and of all their Circumstances done within those Hundreds The other was the more ordinary Court belonging to the Lord of the Hundred to whom also belonged the Fines in cases there concerned This Court was to be held once in each Month and no suit to be begun in the King's Court that regularly ought to begin in the Hundred No Distringas to issue forth till three demands made in the Hundred And three Distresses then to issue forth and if upon the fourth the Party appear not execution then to be by Sale of the Distress and the Complainant to receive satisfaction 3. And so likewise were the Court Barons c. continued and the Lords held Pleas either in their own Persons or by their Stewards But not to forget Sir your Question I shall now shew you what the Soveraign Court of Parliament was and whom it consisted of in the Saxon Times and for this I think it will be needless to give you any more than one Instance which as by the way it does impregnably assert That the Commons of England were an Essential and Constituent Part of the Saxon General Councils so doth it I think fully and clearly refute and bassle that novel Erroneous Notion The Anonimous Auth●r p. 20. in the Margin viz. That there are no Commons to be found in the Saxon great Councils Idem p. 13 14. nor any thing that tends towards the proof of the● Commons of those Times to have had any share in making Laws in those Councils The memorable Instance is the mighty Law of Tythes which was made and ordained A Rege Baronibus Populo Lambard de priscis Augl Legibus c. ● fol. 139 By the King his Barons and his People Spelm. Concil Tom. 1. f. 621. Now William the first in that little time of Rest he had from Forreign Wars with the French King and his Neighbouring Princes to Normandy did apply both it and himself in the setting of Laws here which was done not ex plenitudine Regiae Potestatis no nor by the Norman Barons co-operating with that Power but by the joint Advice and unanimous Consent of the Grand Council of the Lords and wise Men of the Kingdom of England To prove which I shall produce the Testimony of Ancient Writers whom no Man of Historical understanding can modestly impeach of Partiality Faction or Interest in the Case in Question 1. The first shall be taken out of the Chronicle of Litchfield Lambard fol. 158. which tells us That this William in the fourth Year of his Reign at London Consilio Baronum suorum by the Advice of his Barons caused a General Meeting or Assembly to be summoned Per universos Angliae Comitatus omnes Nobiles Sapientes sud Lege eruditos ut eorum Leges consuetudines audiret i.e. of all the Nobility wise Men and such as were skilled in the Laws through all the Counties of England to hear what their Laws and Customs were And after this was done at the request of the English Community he did consent that they should be confirmed and so they were ratified and kept throughout all his Kingdom The words are Ad preces Communitatis Anglorum ex illo die Magna Authoritate veneratae per universum Regnum corroboratae conservatae sunt Leges Sancti Regis Edwardi prae caeteris Regni Legibus From this Testimony I think it will plainly appear 1. That the Barones sui here of William cannot absolutely exclude the English and only signify his Norman Barons upon those Authorities and Reasons I have already offered to prove That there were equally Barones Francigeni Angli nostri in his Time as you may see in my Argument under the third Question 2. That the King having by the Counsel of these his Barons summoned all the Nobility wise Men and those that were skilled in the Laws of the Land throughout all the Counties of England he then and there ratified and confirmed the Laws of St. Edward 3. And to prove that this general Assembly of the Nobility wise Men and able Lawyers were a PARLIAMENT I shall now give you the Judgment of Mr. Selden Selden's Tit. of Hon. f. 580. in his own words which are these viz. That William the first in the fourth Year of his Reign or MLXX. which was the Year wherein he first brought the Bishops and Abbots under the Tenure of Barony Consilio Baronum suorum saith Hoveden In Hen. 2. p. 343 E. Lond. out of a Collection of Laws written by Glanvill Fecit summoniri per universos Consulatus Angliae Anglos Nobiles Sapientes sua Lege eruditos ut eorum jura Consuetudines ab ipsis audiret And twelve were returned out of every County who shewed what the Customs of the Kingdom were which being written by the hands of Aldred Arch bishop of York and Hugo Bishop of London were with the Assent of the same Barons for the most part confirmed in that Assembly which was a Parliament of that Time And a little lower he saith This might be the same Parliament wherein the Controversy between Thomas Arch-bishop of York he was consecrated after the death of Aldred the same Year and to the same Year this Controversy is attributed and Vlstan Bishop of Worcester touching certain Possessions was determined So that from hence 't is easy to observe That 1. There were English Men in this Council by the words ANGLOS NOBILES c. And 2. Besides the Confirmation of the Laws of St. Edward here mentioned it may reasonably be supposed That the Law for bringing the Bishops and