restored to them if there were any living creature on Ship-board that escaped drowning Forasmuch as before that time whatsoever through the misfortune of shipwrack was cast on Shoar was adjudged to the Exchequer except that the persons who suffered shipwrack and had escaped alive did themselves within such a time refit and repair the Vessel So the Chronicle of the Monastery of S. Martin de Bello This right is called Wreck or if you will Uareck of the Sea How agreeable to the Law of Nations I trouble not my self to enquire That more ancient Custom is as it were suitable to the Norman usage Now at this time our Lawyers and that the more modern Law of Edward the First pass judgement according to the more correct Copy of King Henry And they reckon it too among the most ancient Customs of the Kingdom Did therefore King Richard order or did Hoveden relate this to no purpose or without any need If one who suffers shipwrack dye in the Ship let his Sons or Daughters his Brethren or Sisters have what he left according as they can shew and make out that they are his next heirs Or if the deceased have neither Sons nor Daughters nor Brothers nor Sisters the King is to have his Chattels Can one imagine that this Law he made at Messina when he was engaged in War was calculated only for that time or place Certainly in the Archives there is elsewhere to be met with as much as this 40. That he might with a stout Army bear the brunt of Baldwin Earl of Flanders and Louis King of France who had conspired being bound by mutual Oaths to one another with the Duke of Anjou to take away from King Henry by force of Arms the Dutchy of Normandy he first of all t is Polydore avers it laid a heavy Tax upon the people to carry on the new War which thing with the Kings that followed after grew to be a custom He was the last of the Normans of a Male descent and as to the method of our undertaking here we treat of him last CHAP. IX In King Stephen's Reign all was to pieces Abundance of Castles buili Of the priviledge of Coming Appeals to the Court of Rome now set on foot The Roman Laws brought in but disowned An instance in the Wonder-working Parliament AS of old unless the Shields were laid up there was no Dancing at Weddings so except Arms be put aside there is no pleading of Laws That Antipathy betwixt Arms and Laws England was all over sensible of if ever at any time in the Reign of K. STEPHEN Count of Blois King Henry's Nephew by his Sister Adela For he did not only break the Law and his Oath too to get a Kingdom but also being saluted King by those who perfidiously opposed Mawd the right and true heir of King Henry he reigned with an improved wickedness For he did so strangely and odly chop and change every thing it is Malmsbury speaks it as if he had sworn only for this intent that he might shew himself to the whole Kingdom a Dodger and Shammer of his Oath But as he saith perjuros merito perjuria fallunt that is Such men as Perjuries do make their Trade By their own Perjuries most justly are betray'd They are things of custom to which he swore and such as whereby former priviledges are ratified rather than new ones granted However some things there are that may be worth the transcribing 41. Castles were frequently raised 'tis Nubrigensis relates it in the several Counties by the bandying of parties and there were in England in a manner as many Kings or rather as many Tyrants as Lords of Castles having severally the stamping of their own Coin and a power of giving Law to the Subjects after a Royal manner then was the Kingdom plainly torn to pieces and the right of Majesty shattered which gains to it self not the least lustre from stamping of Money Though I know very well that before the Normans in the City of Rochester Canterbury and in other Corporations and Towns Abbots and Bishops had by right of priviledge their Stampers and Coiners of Money 42. Next to the King Theobald Arch-Bishop of Canterbury presided over the Council of London where there were also present the Peers of the Realm which buzzed with new appeals For in England t is Henry of Huntington sayes it appeals were not in use till Henry Bishop of Winchester when he was Legate cruelly intruded them to his own mischief Wherefore what Cardinal Bellarmin has writ beginning at the Synod of Sardis concerning the no body knows how old time of the universal right of appealing to the Pope of Rome does not at all as to matter of fact seem to touch upon this Kingdom of ours by many and many a fair mile 43. In the time of King Stephen fo 't is in the Polycraticon of John of Salisbury the Roman Laws were banisht the Realm which the House of the Right Reverend Theobald Lord Primate of Britanny had fetcht or sent for over into Britanny Besides it was forbidden by Royal Proclamation that no one should retain or keep by him the Books If you understand the Laws of the Empire I rather take them to be the Decrees of the Popes it will not be much amiss out of the Parliament Records to adjoyn these things of later date In the Parliament holden by Richard of Bourdeaux which is said to have wrought Wonders Upon the Impeachment of Alexander Nevil Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Robert Uere Duke of Ireland Michael Pole Earl of Suffolk Thomas Duke of Glocester Richard Earl of Arundel Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick and others That they being intrusted with the management of the Kingdom by soothing up the easie and youthful temper of the King did assist one another for their own private interest more than the publick well near to the ruine and overthrow of the Government it self the Common Lawyers and Civilians are consulted with about the form of drawing up the Charge which they answer all as one man was not agreeable to the rule of the Laws But the Barons of Parliament reply That they would be tyed up to no rules nor be led by the punctilioes of the Roman Law but would by their own authority pass judgement pur ce que la royalme d' Angleterre n' estoit devant ces heures n'y à l' entent de nostre dit Seigneur le Roy Seigneurs de Parlament unque ne serra rules ne gouvernes per la Loy Civil that is inasmuch as the Realm of England was not before this time nor in the intention of our said Lord the King and the Lords of Parliament ever shall be ruled or governed by the Civil Law And hereupon the persons impleaded are sentenced to be banished But here is an end of Stephen He fairly dyed CHAP. X. In King Henry the Seconds time the Castles demolished A Parliament held at Clarendon Of
Pledge i. e. having a free Tenure let his heirs remain in such Seisin as their Father had on the day he was alive and dyed of his fee and let them have his Chattels out of which they may make also the devise or partition of the deceased that is the sharing of his goods according to his will and afterwards may require of their Lord and do for their relief and other things which they ought to do as touching their Fee i. e. in order to their entring upon the estate 71. If the heir be under age let the Lord of the Fee take his homage and have him in custody or keeping for as long time as he ought let the other Lords if there be more of them take his homage and let him do to them that which he ought to do 72. Let the Wife of the deceased have her Dowry and that part of his Chattels which of right comes to her In former times peradventure it was a like generally practised by the English that the Wife and Children should have each their lawful Thirds of the estate each of them I say if they were in being but half to the Wife if there were no issue and as much to the Children if the Wife did not survive her Husband as it was practised by the Romans of old according to the Falcidian Law and of later time by the Novells of Justinian that they should have their Quarter part For I see that those of Normandy of Arras of Ireland people that lay round about them had the same custom Of this you are to see Glanvill Bracton the Register of Briefs or Writs and William Lindwood beside the Records or yearly Reports of our Law 73. Let the Justices take the Fealties of our Lord the King before the close of Easter and at furthest before the close of Pentecost namely of all Earls Barons Knights and Free-holders and even of Rusticks or Vassals such as have a mind to stay in the Realm and he who will not do featly let him be taken into custody as an enemy of our Lord the King 74. The Justices have also this to give in charge that all those who have not as yet done their homage and allegiance to our Lord the King do at a term of time which they shall name to them come in and do homage and allegiance to the King as to their Liege Lord. 75. Let the Justices do all acts of Justice and rights belonging to our Lord the King by a Writ of our Lord the King or of them who shall be in his place or stead as to a half-Knights fee and under a Knights ' fee in an old Book which pretends to more antiquity by far than it ought concerning the manner of holding Parliaments is said to be twenty pounds worth of Land in yearly revenue but the number prefixt before the Red Book of the Exchequer goes at the rate of Six Hundred and Eighty Acres unless the complaint be of that great concern that it cannot be determined without our Lord the King or of that nature that the Justices by reason of their own doubting refer it to him or to those who shall be in his place and stead Nevertheless let them to the utmost of their ability intend and endeavour the service and advantage of our Lord the King 76. Let the Justices provide and take care that the Castles already demolisht be utterly demolished and that those that are to be demolished be well levelled to the ground And if they shall not do this our Lord the King may please to have the judgement of his Court against them as against those who shew contempt of his Precept 77. A Thief or Robber as soon as he is taken let him be put into the Sheriffs hands to be kept in safe custody and if the Sheriff shall be out of the way let him be carried or brought to the next Constable of a Castle and let him have him in custody until he deliver him up to the Sheriff 78. Let the Justices according to the custom of the Land cause inquiry to be made of those who have departed or gone out of the Realm And if they shall refuse to return within a term of time that shall be named and to stand to right in the Kings Court i. e. to make their appearance and there to answer if any thing shall be brought in against them let them after that be outlawed and the names of the Outlaws be brought at Easter and at the Feast of St. Michael to the Exchequer and from thence be sent to our Lord the King These Laws were agreed upon at Northampton CHAP. XVIII Some Laws in favour of the Clergy Of forfeitures on the account of Forest or hunting Of Knights fees Who to bear Arms and what Arms. Arms not to be alienated No Jew to bear Arms. Arms not to be carryed out of England Rich men under suspicion to clear themselves by Oath Who allowed to swear against a Free-man Timber for building of Ships not to be carryed out of England None but Free-men to bear Arms. Free-men who Rusticks or Villains not such 79. THat henceforth a Clergy-man be not dragg'd and drawn before a Secular Judge personally for any crime or transgression unless it be for Forest or a Lay-fee out of which a Lay-service is due to the King or to some other Secular Lord. This priviledge of the Clergy the King granted to Hugh the Popes Cardinal Legate by the Title of S. Michael à Petra who arrived here on purpose to advance the Popish interest 80. Furthermore that Arch-Bishopricks Bishopricks or Abbacies be not held in the Kings hand above a year unless there be an evident cause or an urgent necessity for it 81. That the Murderers or Slayers of Clergy-men being convicted or having confest before a Justice or Judge of the Realm be punished in the presence of the Bishop 82. That Clergy-men be not obliged to make Duel i. e. not to clear themselves as others upon some occasion did by single combat 83. He ordained at Woodstock we transcribe these words out of Hoveden that whosoever should make a forfeit to him concerning his Forest or his hunting once he should be tyed to find safe Pledges or Sureties and if he should make a second forfeit in like manner safe Pledges should be taken of him but if the same person should forfeit the third time then for his third forfeit no pledges should be taken but the proper body of him who made the forfeit Moreover we meet with these Military Laws or Laws of Knights fees made for Tenants and other people of the common sort 84. He who hath one Knights fee 't is the aforesaid Hoveden speaks let him have an Habergeon or Coat of Male and a Helmet or Head piece and a Buckler or Target and a Lance and let every Knight have so many Habergeons and Helmets and Targets and Lances as he shall have Knights fees in his demeans 85.
on foot The Roman Laws brought in but disowned An instance in the Wonder-working Parliament p. 67 CHAP. X. In King Henry the Seconds time the Castles demolished A Parliament held at Clarendon Of the Advowson and Presentation of Churches Estates not to be given to Monasteries without the Kings leave Clergymen to answer in the Kings Court A Clergyman convict out of the Churches Protection None to go out of the Realm without the Kings leave This Repealed by King John Excommunicate Persons to find Surety Laymen how to be impleaded in the Ecclesiastical Court A Lay-Jury to swear there in what case No Homager or Officer of the Kings to be Excommunicated till He or his Justice be acquainted p. 69 CHAP. XI Other Laws of Church affairs Concerning Appeals A Suit betwixt a Clergy-man and a Lay-man where to be tryed In what case one who relates to the King may be put under an Interdict The difference betwixt that and Excommunication Bishops to be present at the Tryals of Criminals until Sentence of Death c. pass Profits of vacant Bishopricks c. belong to the King The next Bishop to be chosen in the Kings Chappel and to do Homage before Consecration Deforcements to the Bishop to be righted by the King And on the contrary Chattels forfeit to the King not to be detained by the Church Pleas of debts whatsoever in the Kings Court Yeomens Sons not to go into Orders without the Lords leave p. 72 CHAP. XII The Statutes of Clarendon mis-reported in Matthew Paris amended in Quadrilegus These Laws occasioned a Quarrel between the King and Thomas a Becket Witness Robert of Glocester whom he calls Yumen The same as Rusticks i. e. Villains Why a Bishop of Dublin called Scorch-Uillein Villanage before the Normans time p. 74 CHAP. XIII The Poet gives account which of those Laws were granted by Thomas a Becket which withstood Leudemen signifies Lay-men and more generally all illiterate Persons p. 77 CHAP. XIV The Pope absolves Thomas a Becket from his Oath and damns the Laws of Clarendon The King resents it writes to his Sheriffs Orders a Seisure Penalties inflicted on Kindred He provides against an Interdict from Rome He summons the Bishops of London and Norwich An account of Peter Pence p. 79 CHAP. XV. A Parliament at Northampton Six Circuits ordered A List of the then Justices The Jury to be of twelve Knights Several sorts of Knights In what cases Honorary Knights to serve in Juries Those who come to Parliament by right of Peerage sit as Barons Those who come by Letters of Summons are styled Chevaliers p. 81 CHAP. XVI The person convict by Ordeal to quit the Realm within Forty dayes Why Forty dayes allowed An account of the Ordeals by Fire and Water Lady Emme clear'd by going over burning Coulters Two sorts of tryal by Water Learned conjectures at the rise and reason of these customs These Ordeals as also that of single Combat condemned by the Church p. 84 CHAP. XVII Other Laws Of entertaining of strangers An Uncuth a Gust a Hogenhine what of him who confesseth the Murder c. Of Frank pledge Of an Heir under age Of a Widows Dowry Of taking the Kings fealty Of setting a time to do homage Of the Justices duty Of their demolishing of Castles Of Felons to be put into the Sheriffs hands Of those who have departed the Realm p. 87 CHAP. XVIII Some Laws in favour of the Clergy Of forfeitures on the account of Forest or hunting Of Knights fees Who to bear Arms and what Arms. Arms not to be alienated No Jew to bear Arms. Arms not to be carryed out of England Rich men under suspicion to clear themselves by Oath Who allowed to swear against a Free-man Timber for building of Ships not to be carryed out of England None but Free-men to bear Arms. Free-men who Rusticks or Villains not such p. 90 CHAP. XIX Of Law-makers Our Kings not Monarchs at first Several of them in the same County The Druids meeting-place where Under the Saxons Laws made in a general Assembly of the States Several instances This Assembly under the Normans called Parliament The thing taken from a custome of the ancient Germans Who had right to sit in Parliament The harmony of the Three Estates p. 93 CHAP. XX. The Guardians of the Laws who In the Saxons time seven Chief One of the Kings among the Heptarchs styled Monarch of all England The Office of Lord High Constable Of Lord Chancellor ancient The Lord Treasurer Alderman of England what Why one called Healfkoning Aldermen of Provinces and Graves the same as Counts or Earls and Viscounts or Sheriffs Of the County Court and the Court of Inquests called Tourn le Viscount When this Court kept and the original of it p. 95 CHAP. XXI Of the Norman Earls Their Fee Their power of making Laws Of the Barons i. e. Lords of Manours Of the Court-Baron It s rise An instance of it out of Hoveden Other Offices much alike with the Saxons p. 98 THE FIRST BOOK OF THE ENGLISH JANUS From the Beginning of the BRITISH Story down to the NORMAN Conquest CHAP. I. The counterfeit Berosus with the Monk that put him forth both censured The Story of Samothes the first Celtick King The bounds of Celtica From Samothes say they the Britans and Gauls were called Samothei For which Diogenes Laertius is falsly quoted the word in him being Semnothei THERE came forth and in Buskins too I mean with Pomp and State some parcels of years ago and is still handed about every where an Author called Berosus a Chaldee Priest take heed how you suffer your self to believe him to be the same that Flavius Josephus so often up and down quotes for a witness with a Commentary of Viterbiensis Or rather to say that which is the very truth John Annius of Viterbium a City of Tuscany a Dominican Frier playing the Leger-de-main having counterfeited Berosus to put off his own strange stories hath put a cheat upon the Lady Muse who is the Governess of Antiquities and has hung a Bantling at her back After the Genealogies of the Hebrews drawn down by that Author whoever he be according to his own humour and method for fear he should not be thought to take in the Kingdoms and Kings of the whole Universe and the Etymologies of Proper Names by whole-sale as we say as if he had been born the next day after Grandam Ops was delivered of Jupiter he subjoyns SAMOTHES the very same who is yeleped Dis the Founder of the Celtick Colonies stuffing up odd Patcheries of Story to entertain and abuse the Reader Now this I thought fit by the by not to conceal that all that space which is bounded with the River Rhine the Alpes the Mediterranean Sea the Pyrenean Hills and lastly the Gascoin and the British Oceans was formerly termed Celtogalatia nay that Pâ—olomy hath comprized all Europe under the name of Celtica Well as the Commentary of Annius has it This Samothes
to chapitle wore idraw And eni man made is appele yuf me dude him unlaw That to the Bishop from Ercedeken is appele sold make And from Bishop to Arcebissop and suth none other take And but the Ercebisops court to right him wold bring That he sold from him be cluthe biuore the King And from the K. non other mo so that attan end Plaining of holi chirch to the K. shold wend. And the K. amend solde the Ercebissops dede And be as in the Popes stude and S. Thomas it withsede VII The seuethe was that plaiding that of det were To yeld wel thoru truth iâ—light and nought iâ—old nere Althei thoru truth it were that ple sold be ibrought Biuore the K. and is bailies and to holy chirch nought VIII The eighth that in the lond citation none nere Thoru bull of the Pope of Rome and clene bileued were IX The nithe was that Peters pence that me gadereth manion The Pope nere nought on isend ac the K. echone X. The tethe was yuf eni Clarke as felon were itake And vor felon iproved and ne might it not forsake That me sold him verst disordein and suth thoru there law And thoru judgement of the land hong him other to draw Uor these and vor other mo the Godeman S. Thomas Fleu verst out of England and eke imartred was Uor he sei there nas hote o way other he must stiffe be Other holy chirch was isent that of right was so fre CHAP. XIV The Pope absolves Thoms a Becket from his Oath and damns the Laws of Clarendon The King resents it writes to his Sheriffs Orders a Scisure Penalties inflicted on Kindred He provides against an Interdict from Rome He summons the Bishops of London and Norwich An Account of Peter Pence TO the Laws of Clarendon which I spoke of the States of the Kingdom the Baronage and with them the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury took their Oaths in solemn manner calling upon God There were Embassadors sent to Pope Alexander the third that there might be that bottom also that he would further confirm and ratifie them But he was so far from doing that that he did not only pretend that they did too much derogate from the priviledge of the Clergy and wholly refuse to give his assent to them but also having absolved Thomas the Arch-Bishop at his own request from the obligation of that Oath he had bound himself with he condemned them as impious and such as made against the interest and honour of holy Church King Henry as soon as he heard of it took it as it was fit he should very much in dudgeon grievously and most deservedly storming at the insolence of the Roman Court and the Treachery of the Bishop of Canterbury Immediately Letters were dispatcht to the several Sheriffs of the respective Counties That if any Clerk or Layman in their Bayliwicks should appeal to the Court of Rome they should seise him and take him into firm custody till the King give order what his pleasure is And that they should seise into the Kings hand and for his use all the Revenues and Possessions of the Arch-Bishops Clerks and of all the Clerks that are with the Arch-Bishop they should put by way of safe pledge the Fathers Mothers and Sisters Nephews and Neeces and their Chattels till the King give order what his pleasure is I have told the Story out of Matthew Paris You see in this instance a penalty where there is no fault It affects or reaches to their Kindred both by Marriage and Blood a thing not unusual in the declension of the Roman Empire after Angustâ—â—s his time But let misdemeanors hold or oblige those who are the Authors of them was the Order of Arcaliâ—s and Honorius Emperors to the Lord Chief Justice Eâ—tâ—chianus nor let the fear of punishment proceed further than the offence is found A very usual right among the English whereby bating the taking away the Civil Rights of Blood and Nobility none of the Posterity or Family of those who lose their honours do for the most hainous crimes of their Parents undergo any penalties But this was not all in those Letters I mentioned he added threats also 63. If any one shall be sound carrying Letters or a Mandate from the Pope or Thomas Arch-Bishop of Canterbury containing an interdiction of Christian Religion in England let him be seised and kept in hold and let Justice be done upon him without delay as a Traitor against the King and Kingdom This Roger of Hoveden stands by ready to witness 64. Let the Bishops of London and Norwich be summon'd that they may be before the Kings Justices to do right i. e. to answer to their charge and to make satisfaction that they have contrary to the Statutes of the Kingdom interdicted the Land of Earl Hugh and have inflicted a sentence of Excommunication upon him This was Hugh Bigod Earl of Norfolk 65. Let St. Peters pence be collected or gathered and kept safe Those Pence were a Tribute or Alms granted first by Ina King of the West-Saxons yearly at Lammas to be gathered from as many as had thirty pence as we read it in the Confessor's Laws of live-mony in their house These were duly at a set time paid in till the time of Henry the eighth when he set the Government free from the Papal Tyranny About which time Polydore Virgil was upon that account in England Treasurer or Receiver general I thought fit to set down an ancient brief account of these pence out of a Rescript of Pope Gregory to the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and York in the time of King Edward the second Diocess li. s. d. Canterbury 07 18 00 London 16 10 00 Rochester 05 12 00 Norwich 21 10 00 Ely 05 00 00 Lincoln 42 00 00 Coventry 10 05 00 Chester 08 00 00 Winchester 17 06 08 Exceter 09 05 00 Worcester 10 05 00 Hereford 06 00 00 Bath 12 05 00 York 11 10 00 Salisbury 17 00 00 It amounts to three hundred Marks and a Noble that is two hundred Pounds sterling and six Shillings and eight Pence You are not to expect here the murder of Thomas a Becket and the story how King Henry was purged of the crime having been absolved upon hard terms Conveniunt cymbae vela minora meâ— My little Skiff bears not so great a Sail. CHAP. XV. A Parliament at Northampton Six Circuits ordered A List of the then Justices The Jury to be of twelve Knights Several sorts of Knights In what cases Honorary Knights to serve in Juries Those who come to Parliament by right of Peerage sit as Barons Those who come by Letters of Summons are styled Chevaliers NOt long after the King and the Barons meet at Northampton They treat concerning the Laws and the administration of Justice At length the Kingdom being divided into six Provinces or Circuits there are chosen from among the Lawyers some who in every of those Provinces
might preside in the Seat of Justice Commissioned by the Name of Itinerant Justices or Justices in Eyre See here the List and Names of those Justices out of Hoveden Hugh de Cressi Walter Fitz-Robert Robert Mantel for Norfolk Suffolk Cambridge Huntington Bedford Buckingham Essex Hertford Hugh de Gundeville William Fitz-Ralph William Basset for Lincoln Nottingham Darby Stafford Warwick Northampton Leicester Robert Fitz-Bernard Richard Gifford Roger Fitz Reinfrai for Kent Surrey Southampton Sussex Barkshire Oxford William Fitz-Steeven Bertam de Uerdun Turstan Eitz-Simon for Hereford Glocester Worcester Shropshire Ralph Fitz-Steeven William Ruffus Gilbert Pipard for Wiltshire Dorsetshire Somersetshire Devonshire Cornwall Robert de Wals. Ralph de Glanville Robert Pikenot for York Richmond Lancashire Copland Westmoreland Northumberland Cumberland These he made to take an Oath that they would themselves bona fide in good faith and without any deceit or trick 't is the same Author whose words I make use of keep the under-written Assizes and cause them inviolably to be kept by the men of the Kingdom He mentions them under this specious Title The ASSISES of King HENRY made at Clarendon and renewed at Northampton 66. If any one be called to do right or be served with a Writ before the Justices of our Lord the King concerning Murder or Theft or Robbery or the receiving and harbouring of those who do any such thing or concerning Forgery or wicked setting fire of houses c. let him upon the Oath of twelve Knights of the Hundred or if there be no Knights there then upon the Oath of twelve free and lawful men and upon the Oath of four men out of each Village of the Hundred let him go to the Ordeal of Water and if he perish i. e. sink let him lose one foot The Knights who are wanting here are perhaps those who hold by Knights service or if you had rather that hold by Fee betwixt whom and those who served in War for wages or pay which in the Books of Fees are called Solidatae the same peradventure as by Caesar are termed Soldurii that is Soldiers by Nicolaus Damascenus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by our Monks Bracton Otho Frisingensis and Radevicus in the Camp Laws of Barbarossa are styled Servientes that is Serjeants there is an apparent difference both of them being placed far below the dignity of those honorary Knights who are called Equites aurati But yet I do very well know that these honorary Knights also were of old time and are now by a most certain right called forth to some Tryals by Jury To the Kings Great or Grand Assise I say and to a Suit of Law contested when a Baron of Parliament is Party on one side i. e. Plaintiff or Defendant To the Assise in that it is the most solemn and honourable way of Tryal and that which puts an utter end to the claim of the Party that is cast To such an unequal suit that there may be some equality of Name or Title as to some one at least of the Judges for the Jury or twelve men are upon such occasion Judges made and as to the more honourable of the two parties whether Plaintiff or Defendant For the Peers of Parliament who are the greater Nobles amongst whom by reason of their Baronies Arch-Bishops and Bishops heretofore a great many Abbots such as are Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons who though they be distinguished by Order and honorary Titles yet nevertheless they sit in Parliament only as they are Barons of the Realm And those who at the Kings pleasure are called in by Letters of summons as Lawyers term it are styled Chevaliers not Barons For that of Chevalier was a Title of Dignity this of Baron anciently rather of Wealth and great Estate Which Title only such Writs of Summons bestowed till Richard the seconds time who was the first that by Patent made John Beaâ—champ of Holt Baron of Kiderminster Now both ways are in fashion CHAP. XVI The person convict by Ordeal to quit the Realm within Forty dayes Why Forty dayes allowed An account of the Ordeals by Fire and Water Lady Emme clear'd by going over burning Coulters Two sorts of tryal by Water Learned conjectures at the rise and reason of these customs These Ordeals as also that of single Combat condemned by the Church 67. AT Northampton it was added for the rigour of Justice remember what was said in the foregoing Chapter that he should in like manner lose his right Hand or Fist with his Foot and forswear the Realm and within Forty Dayes go out of the Kingdom into banishment He had the favour of Forty Dayes allowed him so saith Bracton that in the mean time he might get help of his friends to make provision for his Passage and Exile And if upon the tryal by water he be clean i. e. innocent let him find pledges and remain in the Realm unless he be arighted for Murder or any base Felony by the Community or Body of the County and of the Legal Knights of the Countrey concerning which if he be arighted in manner aforesaid although he be clean by the tryal of Water nevertheless let him quit the Realm within Forty Dayes and carry away his Chattels along with him saving the right of his Lords and let him forswear the Realm at the mercy of our Lord the King Here let me say a little concerning the Tryal by Fire and Water or the Ordeals It is granted that these were the Saxons wayes of tryal rashly and unadvisedly grounded upon Divine Miracle They do more appertain to Sacred Rites than to Civil Customs for which reason we past them by in the former Book and this place seemed not unseasonable to put the Reader in mind of them He who is accused is bound to clear himself 't is Ralph Glanvill writes this by the Judgement of God to wit by hot burning Iron or by Water according to the different condition of men by burning hot Iron if it be a free-man by Water if he be a Countrey-man or Villain The party accused did carry in his hand a piece of Iron glowing hot going for the most part two or three steps or paces along or else with the soles of his feet did walk upon red hot Plough-shares or Coulters and those according to the Laws of the Franks and Lombards nine in number The Lady Emme the Confessor's Mother being impeached of Adultery with Aldwin Bishop of Winton was wonderfully cleared by treading upon so many and is famous for it in our Histories being preserved safe from burning and proved innocent from the Crime There were two sorts of watery Ordeal or tryal by Water to wit cold or scalding hot The party was thrown into the cold water as in some places at this day Witches are used he who did not by little and little sink to the bottom was condemned as guilty of the Crime as one whom that Element which is the outward sign
Whatsoever Free-holder that is a Lay-man shall have in Chattel or in Rent and Revenue to the value of Sixteen Marks let him have a Coat of Male and a Head-piece and a Buckler and a Lance. 86. Whatsoever Lay person being a Free-man shall have in Chattel to the value of Ten Marks let him have a little Habergeon or Coat of Male and a Capelet of Iron and a Lance. 87. Let all Burghers or Towns-men of a Corporation and the whole Communities of Free-men have a Wambais and a Capelet of Iron and a Lance. 88. Let no one after he hath once had these Arms sell them nor pawn them nor lend them nor by any other way alienate them from himself or part with them nor let his Lord alienate them by any manner of way from his man i. e. his Tenant that holds under him neither by forfeit nor by gift nor by pledge nor by any other way 89. If any one shall dye having these Arms let them remain to his heir and if the heir be not of such estate or age that he may use the Arms if there shall be need â— let that person who shall have them the heir in custody have likewise the keeping of the Arms and let him find a man who may use the Arms in the service of our Lord the King if there shall be need until the heir shall be of such estate that he may bear Arms and then let him have them 90. Whatsoever Burgher shall have more Arms than it shall behove him to have according to this Assize let him sell them or give them away or so dispose of them from himself to some other man who may retain them in England in the service of our Lord the King 91. Let no one of them keep by him more Arms than if shall behove him according to this Assize to have 92. Let no Jew keep in his possession a Coat of Male or an Habergeon but let him sell them or give them or in some other manner put them away in that wise that they may remain in the service of the King of England 93. Let no man bear or carry Arms out of England unless it be by special order of our Lord the King nor let any one sell Arms to any one who may carry them from England nor let Merchant or other carry or convey them from England 94. They who are suspected by reason of their wealth or great estate do free or acquit themselves by giving their Oaths The Justices have Power or Jurisdiction given them in the case for this purpose If there shall be any who shall not comply with them the Justices the King shall take himself to the members or limbs of such persons and shall by no means take from them their Lands or Chattels 95. Let no one swear upon lawful and free-men i.e. in any matter against or concerning them who hath not to the value of Sixteen or Ten Marks in Chattel 96. Let no one as he loves himself and all that he hath buy or sell any Ship to be brought from England nor let any one carry or cause to be carryed out of England Timber for the building of Ships 97. Let no one be received or admitted to the Oath of bearing Arms but a Free-man To bring once for all something concerning a Free man that may not be beside the purpose The ancient Law of England bestowed that name only upon such persons as many as either being honoured by the Nobility of their Ancestors or else out of the Commonalty being of ingenuous Birth to wit of the Yeomanry did not hold that rustick fee or Tenure of Villenage dedicated to Stercutius the God of Dunghils and necessarily charged and burthened with the Plough tail the Wain and the Dray which are the hard Countrey-folks Arms and Implements To this purpose makes the term of Rustick or Countrey-man above mentioned in the Statutes of Clarendon and the place of Glanvill cited in the Tryal of Ordeal That the business may be more clearly asserted a Suit of Law being waged in the time of Edward the First betwixt John Levin Plaintiff and the Prior of Bernwell Defendant I have taken the Story out of an old Manuscript and the Reports of our Law and the Collection or Body of the Royal Rescripts do agree to it it was then after several disputes bandied to and fro and with earnestness enough decided by the judgement of the Court that those Tenants which hold in fee from the ancient Domain of the Crown as they call it are by no means comprehended under the title of free-men as those who driving their labour around throughout the year pay their daily Vows to Ceres the Goddess of Corn to Pales the Goddess of Shepherds and to Triptolemus the Inventer of Husbandry or Tillage and keep a quarter with their Gee Hoes about their Chattel And now death hath put an end to King Henry's Reign And I also having made an end of his Laws so far as Histories do help me out do at the last muster and arm my Bands for the guard of my Frontiers I wish they may be of force enough against Back-biters CHAP. XIX Of Law-makers Our Kings not Monarchs at first Several of them in the same County The Druids meeting-place where Under the Saxons Laws made in a general Assembly of the States Several instances This Assembly under the Normans called Parliament The thing taken from a custome of the ancient Germans Who had right to sit in Parliament The harmony of the Three Estates BUt however Laws are not without their Makers and their Guardians or they are to no purpose It remaineth therefore that we say somewhat in general of them They are made either by Use and Custom for things that are approved by long Use do obtain the force of Law or by the Sanction and Authority of Law-givers Of ancient time the Semnothei the Kings and the Druids were Law-givers amongst the Britans I mean Concerning the Semnothei whatsoever doth occurr you had before The Kings were neither Monarchs of the whole Island nor so much as of that part of Brittany that belonged to the Angles For there were at the same time over the single County of Kent four Kings to wit Cyngetorix Carvilius Taximagulus and Segonax and at the same rate in other Counties Wherefore we have no reason to make any question but that part wherein we live now called England was governed by several persons and was subject to an Aristocracy according to what Polydore Virgil John Twine David Powell and others have informed us The Druids were wont to meet to explain the Laws in being and to make new ones as occasion required as is most likely in some certain place designed for that purpose as now at this very time all matters of Law go to be decided at Spire in Germany at Westminster-Hall in England and Paris in France Their publick Convention or Meeting-place was constantly as Julius Caesar tells us
in the borders of the Carnutes the middle Region of all France Some think that a Town at eight Miles distance from the Metropolis of those people commonly called Dreux was designed for that use Whilst the Saxons governed the Laws were made in the General Assembly of the States or Parliament In the front of King Ina's Laws 't is above Eight Hundred and Eighty years that he first reigned we read thus It Ine mid godes gift West-Saxna Cyning mid getbeat a mid lere Cenredes mines fader a hedde a Erconwald mine hiscops a mid eallum minum ealdor mannum tham yldestan Witan mines theode be beodeth c. which in our present English speaks thus I Ina by the Grace of God King of the West-Saxons by the advice and order of Kenred my Father and of Hedda and Erconwald my Bishops and of all my Aldermen and of the Elders and Wise Men of my people do command c. There are a great many instances of this kind in other places Moreover Witlaf and Bertulph who were Kings of the Mercians near upon Eight hundred years ago do in their instruments under their hands make mention of Synods and Councils of the Prelates and Peers convened for the affairs of the Kingdom And an ancient Book has this passage of Abendon Here was the Royal Seat hither when they were to treat of the principal and difficult points of State and affairs of the Kingdom the people were used to meet and flock together To this may be added that which Malmesbury sayes of King Edward in the year of our Lord 903. The King gathered a Synod or Assembly of the Senators of the English Nation over which did preside Pleimund Arch-Bishop of Canterbury interpreting expresly the words of the Apostolical Embassy These Assemblies were termed by the Saxons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Meetings of the Wise Men and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the Great Assemblies At length we borrowed of the French the name of Parliaments which before the time of Henry the First Polydore Virgil sayes were very rarely held An usage that not without good reason seems to have come from the ancient Germans So Tacitus sayes of them Concerning smaller matters the Princes only concerning things of greater concern they do all the whole body of them consult yet in that manner that those things also which it was in the peoples power to determine were treated of by the Princes too And I have one that hath left it in writing that when there was neither Bishop nor Earl nor Baron yet then Kings held their Parliaments and in King Arthur's Patent to the University of Cambridge for ye have my leave if you can find in your heart to give credit to it as John Key does by the counsel and assent of all and singular the Prelats and Princes of this Realm I decree There were present at Parliaments about the beginning of the Normans times as many as were invested with Thirteen Fees of Knights service and a third part of one Fee called Baron's from their large Estates for which reason perhaps John Cochleius of Mentz in his Epistle Dedicatory to our most Renowned Sir Thomas More prefixt before the Chronicle of Aurelius Cassiodorus calls him Baron of England But Henry the Third the number of them growing over big ordered by Proclamation that those only should come there whom he should think sit to summon by Writ These Assemblies do now sit in great State which with a wonderful harmony of the Three Estates the King the Lords and the Commons or Deputies of the People are joyned together to a most firm security of the publick and are by a very Learned Man in allusion to that made word in Livy Panaetolium from the Aetolians most rightly called Pananglium that is all England As in Musical Instruments and Pipes and in Singing it self and in Voices sayes Scipio in Tully's Books of the Common-wealth there is a kind of harmony to be kept out of distinct sounds which Learned and Skilful Ears cannot endure to hear changed and jarring and that consort or harmony from the tuning and ordering of Voices most unlike yet is rendred agreeing and suitable so of the highest and middlemost and lowermost States shuffled together like different sounds by fair proportion doth a City agree by the consent of persons most unlike and that which by Musicians in singing is called Harmony that in a City is Concord the straightest and surest bond of safety in every Common-wealth and such as can by no means be without Justice But let this suffice for Law-makers CHAP. XX. The Guardians of the Laws who In the Saxons time seven Chief One of the Kings among the Heptarchs styled Monarch of all England The Office of Lord High Constable Of Lord Chancellor ancient The Lord Treasurer Alderman of England what Why one called Healfkoning Aldermen of Provinces and Graves the same as Counts or Earls and Viscounts or Sheriffs Of the County Court and the Court of Inquests called Tourn le Viscount When this Court kept and the original of it I Do scarce meet before the Saxons times with any Guardians of the Laws different from these Law-makers In their time they were variously divided whose neither Name nor Office are as yet grown out of use The number is made up to give you only the heads by these to wit the King the Lord HighConstable the Chancellor the Treasurer the Alderman of England the Aldermen of Provinces and the Graves Those of later date and of meaner notice I pass by meaning to speak but briefly of the rest The King was alwayes one amongst the Heptarchs or seven Rulers who was accounted I have Beda to vouch it the Monarch of all England Ella King of the South-Saxons so sayes Ethelwerd was the first that was dignified with so high a Title and Empire who was Owner of as large a Jurisdiction as Ecbright the second was Ceâ—lin King of the West-Angles the third Aethelbrith King of the Kentish-men the fourth Redwald King of the Easterlings the fifth Edwin King of Northumberland the sixth Oswald the seventh Osweo Oswald's Brother after whom the eighth was Ecbright His West-Saxon Kingdom took in the rest for the greatest part The Office of Lord High Constable which disappeared in Edward Duke of Buckingham who in Henry the Eighth's time lost his Head for High-Treason was not seen till the latter end of the Saxons One Alfgar Staller is reported by Richard of Ely Monk to have been Constable to Edward the Confessor and Mr. Camden mentions a dwelling of his upon this account called Plaissy in the County of Middlesex He of Ely sets him out for a Great and Mighty Man in the Kingdom And indeed formerly that Magistrate had great power which was formidable even to Kings themselves They who deny there were any Chancellors before the coming in of the Normans are hugely mistaken Nor are they disproved only
Besides is it rational to imagine that the King whose absolute right by Law it is to convene the Estates when and where he thinks fit to call and dissolve Parliaments as he pleases in a word that He in whose Name all Justice is administred in whose Hands the Militia is and by whose Authority alone the Subjects can take up Arms should stand only in a Co-ordination of power with any other persons whatsoever or however assembled or associated within his Dominions This flaw I could not but take notice of in our Great Author and that only with an intention to undeceive the unwary Reader and not to reflect upon his Memory who though he kept along a great while with the Long Parliament yet never appeared in action for them that ever I heard much less used or owned that virulence and violence which many others of that ill Body of men judged necessary for their proceedings CHAP. XX. Pag. 96. lin 15. Alderman of England The word Alderman in Saxon Ealdorman hath various acceptions so as to signifie all sorts almost of Governours and Magistrates So Matth. 20. 25. the Princes of the Gentiles in the Saxon translation are called Ealdormen and Holofernes I remember the General of the Assyrian Army is in an Old English Translation called the Alderman of the Army So Aethelstan whose younger Son this Ailwin was being Duke or Captain General of the East-Saxons is in this Book of Ramsey styled Alderman The most proper importance of the word bears up with the Latin Senator i. e. Parliament-man as the Laws of S. Edward make out In like manner say they heretofore among the Britons in the times of the Romans in this Kingdom of Britanny they were called Senators who afterwards in the times of the Saxons were called Aldermen not so much in respect of their Age as by reason of their Wisdom and Dignity in that some of them were but young men yet were skilled in the Law and beside that were experienced persons Now that Alderman of England as Ailwin here was had to do in affairs of Justice appears by the foresaid Book of Ramsey where it is said that Ailwin the Alderman and Aedric the Kings Provost sate Judges in a certain Court The Alderman of the County our Author makes to be the same as the Earl or Lord of the County and Spelman saith it is hard to distinguish but at length placeth him in the middle betwixt the Count and Viscount He and the Bishop kept Court together the one for Temporals the other for Spirituals The Title goes lower still to denote a Mayor or Bailiff of a Corporation a Bailiff of a Hundred c. Lin. 30. Healf-koning It was an oversight or slip of memory in our Author to say that Ailwin was so called when the Book of Ramsey tells us it was his Father Aethelstan who was of that great power and diligence that all the business of the Kingdom went through his hands and was managed as he pleased that had that Nick name given him therefore Lin. 36. The Graves Our Author makes them subordinate to the Aldermen of Counties but in the Laws of the Confessor they appear to be muchwhat the same There we read And as they are now called Greves who are put in places of Rule over others so they were anciently among the English called Ealdermen Indeed the word Greve or Reev for it is all one is of as various use as that other of Alderman is In Saxon it is gerefa from gerefen and reafen to take or carry away to exact or gather Whence this Officer Graphio or Gravius from the Saxon is in other Latin called Exactor regius and by reason that the Sheriff gathered the Kings Fines and other Duties and returned them to the Exchequer he was called the Shire-greve or Shire-reev that is the Gatherer of the County But the truth is that Greve or Reev came at last in general to signifie any Ruler or Governour set over any place almost whatever as the same word Grave doth among the Dutch So a Shire-greve or bihgerefa the High Sheriff of a County a Port-greve the Governour of a City or Port. So the Lord Mayor of London was called formerly Tun-greve the Bailiff of a Town or Mannor Sometime Greve is taken for a Count or Earl as Alderman is CHAP. XXI Pag. 98. lin 22. For Toll and Gabell In the Latin pro theolonio gablo Now telonium from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifies the place where the Officers of the Customs receive the Kings duties but is used also for a duty paid for the maintenance of Bridges and River-Banks So Hotoman But in our Law it is taken for the Toll of a Market or Fair. And Gablum or Gabellum a Gabell from the Saxon gafol or gafel signifies any Impost upon Goods as that in France upon Salt c. also Tribute Custom any kind of Tax or Payment c. Lin. 32. Through the Streets of Coventry There is a famous Tradition among the people of that Town concerning this matter that the Lady being to ride naked only covered all over with her hair had given order for the more decent performance of her Procession that all the Inhabitants should that day keep their Shops and Doors and Windows shut But that two men tempted by their Curiosity to do what fools are wont to do had some such penalty I know not what it was inflicted upon them as Actaon had for the like offence And they now stand in some publick place cut out of Wood or Stone to be shewn to any stranger that comes thither like the Sign of the Two Logger-heads with the same Motto belike Nous sommes trois Pag. 99. lin 7. Brought in my Court a certain Toper In the Latin attulit in curiâ meâ quandam Toper I know what the adverb Toper signifies among the ancient Latines but what the word means here I confess I am in the dark It doth certainly stand for some thing I was thinking a Taper which he brought with him into Court and sware upon it as he should have done upon the holy Gospels I cannot imagine that by quandam Toper shold be intended some Woman or Girl whose Name was Toper whom he brought along with him and in defiance to the Court laying his hand upon her took his Oath as formally as if he had done it upon the holy Evangelists Reader ONe thing I forgot to acquaint thee with in the Preface that whereas the Author himself had divided each Book into several Sections which were very unequal and incommodious I thought it much more convenient for thy ease and profit to distribute them into Chapters together with the Argument or Contents of each Chapter at the beginning and withal that no one may complain that I have injured the Author by altering his Method I have left his Sections also marked with a Numeral Note 1 2 3 c. on the side of the inner or outer Margin
breeding of their Children the Marrying of their Wives the Governing of their Families burning Women that killed their Husbands and burning some Servants with the dead Master for company Together with some Remarks of their publick Government p. 16 CHAP. XII Women admitted to publick debates A large commendation of the Sex together with a vindication of their fitness to govern against the Salick Law made out by several examples of most Nations p. 18 CHAP. XIII Their putting themselves under protection by going into great mens service Their Coins of money and their weighing of it Some sorts of flesh not lawful to be eaten by them p. 21 CHAP. XIV Community of Wives among the Britans used formerly by other Nations also Chalcondylas his mistake from our Civil Custom of Saluting A rebuke of the foolish humour of Jealousie p. 22 CHAP. XV. An account of the British State under the Romans Claudius wins a Battel and returns to Rome in Triumph and leaves A. Plautius to order affairs A Colony is sent to Maldon in Essex and to several other places The nature of these Colonies out of Lipsius Julius Agricola's Government here in Vespasian's time p. 24 CHAP. XVI In Commodus his time King Lucy embraces the Christian Religion and desires Eleutherius then Pope to send him the Roman Laws In stead of Heathen Priests he makes three Arch-Bishops and twenty eight Bishops He endows the Churches and makes them Sanctuaries The manner of Government in Constantine's time where ends the Roman account p. 27 CHAP. XVII The Saxons are sent for in by Vortigern against the Scots and Picts who usurping the Government set up the Heptarchy The Angles Jutes Frisons all called Saxons An account of them and their Laws taken out of Adam of Bremen p. 29 CHAP. XVIII The Saxons division of their people into four ranks No person to marry out of his own rank What proportion to be observed in Marriages according to Policy Like to like the old Rule Now Matrimony is made a matter of money p. 30 CHAP. XIX The Saxons way of judging the Event of War with an Enemy Their manner of approving a proposal in Council by clattering their Arms. The Original of Hundred-Courts Their dubbing their Youth into Men. The priviledge of young Lads Nobly born The Morganheb or Wedding-dowry p. 32 CHAP. XX. Their severe punishments of Adultery by maiming some parts of the body The reason of it given by Bracton The like practised by Danes and Normans p. 33 CHAP. XXI The manner of Inheriting among them Of deadly Feuds Of Wergild or Head-money for Murder The Nature of Country-Tenures and Knights Fees p. 36 CHAP. XXII Since the return of Christianity into the Island King Ethelbert's Law against Sacriledge Thieves formerly amerced in Cattel A blot upon Theodred the Good Bishop of London for hanging Thieves The Country called Engelond by Order of King Egbert and why so called The Laws of King Ina Alfred Ethelred c. are still to be met with in Saxon. Those of Edward the Confessor and King Knute the Dane were put forth by Mr. Lambard in his Archaeonomia p. 37 CHAP. XXIII King Alfred divides England into Counties or Shires and into Hundreds and Tythings The Original of Decenna or Court-leet Friburg and Mainpast Forms of Law how People were to answer for those whom they had in Borgh or Mainpast p. 39 CHAP. XXIV King Alfred first appointed Sheriffs By Duns Scotus his advice he gave Order for the breeding up of Youth in Learning By the way what a Hide of Land is King Edgar's Law for Drinking Prelates investiture by the Kings Ring and Staff King Knute's Law against any English-man that should kill a Dane Hence Englescyre The manner of Subscribing and Sealing till Edward the Confessor's time King Harold's Law that no Welch-man should come on this side Offa's Dike with a weapon p. 41 CHAP. VXX The Royal Consorts great Priviledge of Granting Felons Estates forfeited to the King Estates granted by the King with three Exceptions of Expedition Bridge and Castle The Ceremony of the Kings presenting a Turf at the Altar of that Church to which he gave Land Such a Grant of King Ethelbald comprized in old Verse p. 43 THE CONTETNS BOOK II. CHAP. I. WIlliam the Conquerour's Title He bestows Lands upon his followers and brings Bishops and Abbots under Military service An account of the old English Laws called Merchenlage Danâ—lage and Westsaxen-lage He is prevailed upon by the Barons to govern according to King Edward's Laws and at S. Albans takes his Oath so to do Yet some new Laws were added to those old ones p. 47 CHAP. II. The whole Country inrolled in Dooms-day Book Why that Book so called Robert of Glocester's Verses to prove it The Original of Charters and Seals from the Normans practised of old among the French Who among the Romans had the priviledge of using Rings to seal with and who not p. 51 CHAP. III. Other wayes of granting and conveying Estates by a Sword c. particularly by a Horn. Godwin's trick to get Boseham of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Pleadings in French The French Language and Hand when came in fashion Coverseâ— Laws against taking of Deer against Murder against Rape p. 54 CHAP. IV. Sheriffs and Juries were before this time The four Terms Judges to act without appeal Justices of Peace The Kings payments made at first in Provisions Afterwards changed into Mony which the Sheriff of each County was to pay in to the Exchequer The Constable of Dover and Warder of the Cinque Ports why made A disorder in Church-affairs Reformed p. 56 CHAP. V. William Rufus succeeds Annats now paid to the King Why claimed by the Pope No one to go out of the Land without leave Hunting of Deer made Felony p. 59 CHAP. VI. Henry the First why called Beauclerk His Letters of Repeal An Order for the Relief of Lands What a Hereot was Of the Marriage of the Kings Homagers Daughter c. Of an Orphans Marriage Of the Widows Dowry Of other Homagers the like Coynage-money remitted Of the disposal of Estates The Goods of those that dye Intestate now and long since in the Churches Jurisdiction as also the business of Wills Of Forfeitures Of Misdemeanors Of Forests Of the Fee de Hauberk King Edward's Law restored p. 60 CHAP. VII His order for the restraint of his Courtiers What the punishment of Theft Coyners to lose their Hands and Privy members Guelding a kind of death What Half-pence and Farthings to pass The right measure of the Eln. The Kings price set for provisions p. 63 CHAP. VIII The Regality claim'd by the Pope but within a while resumed by the King The Coverfeâ— dispensed with A Subsidy for marrying the Kings daughter The Courtesie of England Concerning Shipwrack A Tax levied to raise and carry on a War p. 65 CHAP. IX In King Stephen's Reign all was to pieces Abundance of Castles built Of the priviledge of Coining Appeals to the Court of Rome now set