et habeant bene et in pace socnas suas cum omnibus consuetu dinibus, ita quod hospites qui in soccis suis hospitantur nulli dent consuetudines suas, nisi illi cujus socca fuerit, vel ministro suo quem ibi posuerit. Et homo Londoniarum non judicetur in misericordia pecuniae, nisi ad suam were, scilicet ad c. solidos; dico de placito quod ad pecuniam pertineat. Et amplius non sit miskenninga in hustenge neque in folkesmote neque in aliis placitis infra civitatem. Et husting sedeat semel in hebdomada, videlicet die Lunae. Et terras suas et wardemotum et debita civibus meis habere faciam infra civitatem et extra. Et de terris de quibus ad me clamaverint rectum eis tenebo lege civitatis. Et si quis thelonium vel consuetudinem a civibus Londoniarum ceperit, cives Londoniarum capiant de burgo vel de villa ubi thelonium vel consuetudo capta fuit, quantum homo Londoniarum pro thelonio dedit, et proinde de damno ceperit. Et omnes debitores qui civibus debita debent eis reddant, vel in Londoniis se disrationent quod non debent. Quod si reddere noluerint neque ad disrationandum venire, tunc cives quibus debita sua debent capiant intra civitatem namia sua, vel de comitatu in quo manet qui debitum debet. Et cives habeant fugationes suas ad fugandum sicut melius et plenius habuerunt antecessores eorum, scilicet Ciltre et Middlesex et Sureie. Testibus episcopo Winton., Roberto filio Richer., et Hugone Bigot, et Aluredo de Toteneis, et Willelmo Albini, et Huberto regis Camerario, et Willelmo de Montfichet, et Hagulfo de Tani, et Johanne Belet, et Rob. fil. Siwardi. Datum apud Westmonasterium.-(Foedera, i. II.) THE CHARTER GRANTED BY ARCHBISHOP THURSTAN The scarcity of original charters granted to towns by Henry I, or during his reign, is probably to be accounted for by the fact that such early grants of privileges were regarded as superseded by the later and larger ones, and were less carefully preserved. Those of Beverley perhaps owe their preservation to the fact that the adjustment of the rights of the archbishop, the canons, and the burghers necessitated a constant reference to them. The following charter is of great value, as illustrating the privileges which had been conferred by the king upon York. The Hanshus of the north is the Guildhall of the south; the statuta are the bye-laws or written customs of the borough. The archbishop, by virtue no doubt of the king's authority, frees the burghers from toll not only in his own demesnes, but throughout the shire. The ferm rent is fixed at eighteen marks per annum. Further than this the charter does not go; nor perhaps did the charter of York, upon the model of which it was drawn up. The number of towns and cities which were in the demesne of the bishops and barons at this time was very large; and it is not to be supposed that even when the lord was prevailed upon to grant a charter, he had either the power or the will to confer so large privileges as the king, or a great prince, like the archbishop of York, with the king's authorization, could bestow. TURSTINUS, Dei gratia Eboracensis Archiepiscopus, cunctis Christi fidelibus tam praesentibus quam futuris, salutem et Dei benedictionem et suam. Notum sit vobis me dedisse et concessisse, et consilio capituli Eboracensis et Beverlacensis et consilio meorum baronum mea carta confirmasse, hominibus de Beverlaco omnes libertates eisdem legibus quibus illi de Eboraco habent in sua civitate. Praeterea non lateat vos quod dominus Henricus rex noster nobis concessit potestatem faciendi hoc de bona voluntate sua, et sua carta confirmavit statuta nostra et leges nostras juxta formam legum burgensium de Eboraco, salva dignitate et honore Dei et Sancti Johannis et nostri et canonicorum, ut ita scilicet honorem eleemosynarum praedecessorum suorum exaltaret et promoveret cum omnibus his liberis consuetudinibus. Volo ut burgenses mei de Beverlaco habeant suam hanshus, quam eis do, et concedo ut ibi sua statuta pertractent ad honorem Dei et Sancti Johannis et canonicorum et ad totius villatus emendationein, eadem liberatam lege sicut illi de Eboraco habent in sua hanshus. Concedo etiam eis thelonium in perpetuum pro xviii, marcis annuatim; praeterquam in iis festis in quibus theloneum ad nos et ad canonicos spectat, in festo scilicet Sancti Johannis Confessoris in Maio, et in festo Translationis Sancti Johannis, et in Nativitate Sancti Johannis Baptistae; in his vero tribus festis omnes burgenses de Beverlaco ab omni teloneo liberos et quietos dimisi. Hujus etiam cartae testimonio eisdem burgensibus liberos introitus et exitus concessi in villa et extra villam, in plano et bosco et marisco, in viis et in semitis, et ceteris convenientiis, excepto in pratis et bladis, sicut un quam melius liberius et largius aliquis possit concedere et confirmare; et sciatis quod sint liberi et quieti ab omni telonio per totam schiram Eboraci sicut illi de Eboraco. Et volo ut quicunque hoc disfecerit, anathema sit, sicut ipsius ecclesiae Sancti Johannis asserit consuetudo et sicut statutum est in ecclesia Sancti Johannis. Hii sunt testes; Galfridus Murdac, Nigellus Fossard, Alanus de Perci, Walterus Spec, Eustachius filius Johannis, Tomas praepositus, Turstinus archidiaconus, Herebertus camerarius, Willelmus filius Tole, Willelmus Baiocensis; coram tota familia archiepiscopi, clericis et laicis, in Eboraco.-(Foedera, i. 10.) THE CUSTOMS OF NEWCASTLE-Upon-Tyne. The consuetudines mentioned so constantly in the charters of boroughs were the common or customary laws which had existed in them immemorially, and were amended from time to time, as bye-laws. These are not rehearsed in the charters, perhaps because of the difficulty of enumerating them perfectly, and the danger of creating a spirit of rivalry amongst similar bodies; nor would it be well, whilst giving power to alter and amend them, to place them in solemn record in a charter, which might be regarded as infringed by any such attempt at alteration. The perpetuation of such customs by oral tradition only would involve no risk, at a period at which the whole law of the land was customary; nor is it at all clear that the customary law had not a position in the constitution strong enough to resist, and even, as in the case of weights and measures, successfully to defy, statutory enactments. The customs of Newcastle-uponTyne are taken from a report, drawn up in the reign of Henry II, as to their character under Henry I. It will be seen that they chiefly concern internal arrangements, and show very little tendency towards independent organization. They are, in fact, the statuta which the burghers were empowered to deal with in their own assemblies; and the body which treated them was doubtless of the nature of the homage of a manor under its reeve or praepositus assisted by the leet jury—such a body as continues to make and enforce such regulations, with a very much diminished sphere of action, to the present day. Hae sunt leges et consuetudines quas Burgenses Novi Castelli super Tinam habuerunt tempore Henrici Regis Angliae et habere debent. Burgenses possunt namiare foris habitantes infra suum forum et extra, et infra suam domum et extra, et infra suum burgum et extra, sine licentia praepositi nisi comitia teneantur in burgo, et nisi in exercitu sint vel custodia castelli. Super burgensem non potest burgensis namum capere sine licentia praepositi. Si burgensis foris habitantibus aliquid accommodaverit in burgo, ipse debitor si concedat reddat debitum, vel in burgo faciat rectum. Placita quae in burgo surgunt ibidem teneantur et finiantur, praeter illa quae sunt coronae regis. Si aliquis burgensis de aliqua loquela appelletur, non placitabit extra burgum nisi ex defectu curiae. Nec debet respondere sine die et termino, nisi prius in stultam responsionem inciderit, nisi de rebus quae ad coronam pertinent. Si navis apud Tinemue applicuerit quae velit discedere, licet burgensibus emere quod voluerint. Inter burgensem et mercatorem si placitum oriatur, finiatur ante tertiam refluxionem maris. Quicquid mercaturae navis per mare advexerit ad terram debet ferri praeter sal, et allec debet vendi in navim. Si quis terram in burgagio uno anno et una die juste et sine calumnia tenuerit, non respondeat calumnianti, nisi calumnians extra regnum Angliae fuerit, vel ubi sit puer non habens potestatem loquendi. Si burgensis habeat filium in domo sua ad mensam suam, filius ejus eandem habeat libertatem quam et pater suus. Si rusticus in burgo veniat manere, et ibi per annum unum et diem sicut burgensis maneat in burgo, ex toto remaneat, nisi prius ab ipso vel domino suo praelocutum sit ad terminum remanere. Si quis burgensis de re aliqua appellaverit, non potest super burgensem pugnare, sed per legem se defendat burgensis, nisi sit de proditione, unde debeat se defendere bello. Nec burgensis contra villanum poterit pugnare nisi prius de burgagio exierit. Mercator aliquis, nisi burgensis, non potest extra villam emere nec lanam nec coria nec mercatoria alia nec infra burgum nisi burgensibus. Si forisfactum contigerit burgensi, dabit vi. oras praeposito. In burgo non est merchet, nec heriet, nec blodwit, nec stengesdint. Unusquisque burgensis potest habere suum furnum et molam manualem si velit, salvo jure furni regis. Si femina sit in suo forisfacto de pane vel de cervisia, nullus debet intromittere nisi praepositus. Si bis forisfecerit, castigetur per. . . forisfactum. Si tertio forisfecerit justitia de ea fiat. Nullus nisi burgensis poterit emere telas ad tingendas nec facere nec secare. Burgensis potest dare terram suam et vendere et ire quo voluerit libere et quiete, nisi sit in calumnia.-(Acts of Parlia ment of Scotland, i. 33, 34.) A.D. 1135-1154. STEPHEN. Archbishops of Canterbury. William of Corbeuil, 1123–1136; Theobald, 1139-1161. Chief Justice. Roger Bishop of Salisbury, 1135-1139. Chancellors. Roger le Poor, 1135-1139; Philip, 1139. The aversion of the Normans to an Angevin ruler, the unpopularity of the Empress, and the uncertainty as to Henry's final determination as to a successor, facilitated the accession of Stephen, although he had no strong party nor any claim to the throne. The opportunity was seized by his promptness; and the election, grudgingly and informally transacted, was confirmed by the body of the barons and bishops in spite of their oaths, and subsequently approved by the pope. But the continuance of the support at first afforded had to be purchased by large gifts and larger promises, which Stephen, who was facile rather than false, too readily bestowed. The charters which he issued went indeed no further than was just and fair, but the weakness of his hold on the royal authority was shown conspicuously by his extravagant grants of the crown lands and by his inability to secure the execution of the laws. As soon as his power of purchasing support was exhausted, he was defied by the barons, and a general paralysis of government followed. |