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Vassalage-Duty of Attendance in Lord's Court.

A. D. 921 the whole East-Saxon army, soldiers and chiefs, took the usual oath of a "man" to Edward the Elder as hlaford. Edred Clito, brother of Eadmund, received the same oath from the Northumbrians and the Scots in Cumberland (k). Edgar assumed the title of hlaford of all his subjects (1), so that William the First in requiring all his subjects to take the oath of fidelity to him as lord did not act without precedent.

The attendance of the vassal at the Lord's Court was one of the most important of his duties. Every Anglo-Saxon sovereign on his birth-day, and at other fixed periods, held a court of state, at which all his vassals, including the eorls, king's thanes, and principal officers of state, were bound to attend. It would no doubt depend on the pleasure of the king as to how many and whom of his vassals should be summoned on these occasions; sometimes the whole body appear to have been assembled (m). Kings and chiefs of independent states, as well as viceroys, frequently attended as vassals at the courts of the more powerful Anglo-Saxon sovereigns. Persons of every degree, even ceorls (n), who held office under the king, *would no doubt be present at [*42] the court. To do honor to their hlaford, or to show their own consequence, the greater vassals came attended by their own superior vassals (o). The great vassals who attended on these occasions are frequently denominated the king's Comites (p), answering to the Gesithas or Comites of the ancient German chiefs, their defence in war and pride in peace, and in some respects, as after mentioned, to the Comites of the Roman emperors (g). The same denomipation (comites) is given to the vassals of the chiefs (r). The bishops and dignitaries of the Church also are always to be found at the king's court; frequently some of the inferior clergy (s). The business which was transacted at these assemblies will be noticed in a subsequent page. The eorls, king's thanes, bishops, and other lords, also held their courts which will hereafter be described, at which their vassals attended.

(k) Sax. Chron. ▲. p. 921; Ing. p. 137. Pepin exacted the same oath from Tassilo, Duke of the Bavarians, and his chiefs, Annal. Loiselean. Hist. Fr. v. p. 34; et v. ib. 198; Palg. cccc.

(1) Anc. L. i. p. 279; et v. Ethelr. ib. p. 313; Cnut. ib. 373.

(m) V. int. al. Kemble, i. 312; Egberth, A. D. 835, "in natali confirmavimus,-unanimitate omnium optimatum."

(n) Si villanus (Ceorl, Wilkins, p. 70) pleniter haberet 5 hydas et privatum profectum in Aula Regis, &c. Text. Roff. 46.

(0) Int. al. Text. Roff. 65; Kemble, i. p. 102.

(p) Int. al. Cart. Edbert. R. Cant. A. D. 726-749; Text. Roff. 65; "sub-regulus atque comes gloriosissimi Regis Ethelbaldi," Cart. in Smith's Bede, Append. p. 786.

(9) Heywood, p. 73; Savigny, tom. i. 81-84. Comes, as before mentioned, was frequently used as synonymous with eorl, Heywood, p. 74.

(r) Int. al. Text. Roff. 65.

(s) Int. al. Inæ. Procem. Anc. L. i. 103; Procem. to Laws of Wihlred, ibid. p. 37.

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO CHAPTERS IV. & IX.

NOTE to p. 24 and 39.—Nature of the Danish and Anglo-Saxon Heriot.

The text is not conformable with the import of the law in Canute's Code, as translated by Wilkins, and by Mr. Thorpe (1); they render the word "æhte" the one "possessio" the other property;" indeed, this law has been commonly treated as

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(1) Ancient Laws, p. 415.

Grants of Land to Vassals-Benefices or Feuds.

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referring to the inheritance generally real and personal, and the heriot there mentioned has been considered to be the relief of after-times. On the authority of Bromton's translation (2), and the laws of Hen. I. (3), I have preferred the sense given in the text, namely, confining it to money and movables. Other reasons have led me to this. In § 79 of the same code (4), "æhte" clearly is used in the sense of goods only (5). Besides, the heriots of eorls as well as others are fixed by this law (6), that of the eorl being the highest; but this dignity was not then hereditary, and an eorl did not necessarily hold more land of the king than a thane. Assuming that the heriot was payable out of the personal property to the king as the patron or lord, the higher amount is intelligible, as the eorl had far greater means of increasing his wealth. When earldoms became hereditary, the relief of the eorl would naturally be the highest in the scale.

*The heriot then, as it appears to me, was payable only in respect of the personal relation of patron or lord, and vassal or man, and whether the vassal [*43] held land or not. But as regards those who held land of their lord, a variation took place before or at the Norman Conquest; in such case, besides the heriot (supra, p. 24 and 39) payable out of the personal estate, the heir (7) who took the estate was required to make a payment called a relief-" relevatio," "relevium,"- -as a condition to his entering on the inheritance. As the personal tie of lord and man, irrespective of tenure, ceased to exist after the Conquest, the original personal heriot unconnected with tenure, is no more heard of. However, some payments in the nature of heriots, in the original acceptation of the word, are noticed in Domesday; thus a sum of money was payable to the king on the death of every coiner-" monetarius-appointed by him in Hereford (8). This is apparently a heriot, but in the record it is called a relief. Other instances might be mentioned where these terms are confounded. This subject is involved in much obscurity.

(2) P. 930; Anc. L. p. 541.
(3) Wilk. 234; Ant. L. ii. 541.
(4) Anc. L. i. p. 421.

(5) And see Anc. L. i. p. 255, and notes. (6) V. Lingard, 1. 474, n. 4, and int. alia, Bromt. 943. 30; Knyghton, 2333. 30; Palg.

Rise, &c. i. 583-595; Lord Lytt. Hen. II. iii. 132. 348; Cruise, iii. 119, 4th edition.

(7) Spelman, Gloss. p. 484, and Glanville and Bracton, and the other authorities there cited. (8) Domesday, 179 a.

CHAPTER X.

GRANTS OF LAND TO VASSALS.

Grants of Benefices or FEUDS by Kings and Princes-By Bishops and Abbots-By_Private Persons-Terms by which the Beneficiary or Vassal was designated-Extent of Estate or Interest conferred-Freeholds-Power of Disposition-Reversion-Whether Benefices or Feuds were originally Revocable at Pleasure-Services-Fidelity-Vassalage sometimes originated with the Grant-Forfeiture-All or most of the Lands of the Church at the Norman Conquest held as Benefices-Commendation, another Mode of constituting Vassalage-In the Time of Edward the Confessor most of the Lands in the Kingdom held of some Lord-Some Vassals might still choose their Lord-Feudal Principalities.

Ir was usual, though not compulsory as with the Visigoths, for the kings, and dependent sovereigns and princes (a), with the assent of their superior lord and their respective councils (b), to make grants of benefices to their vassals out of the public domain (c). Grants of a like nature were made by bishops, and abbots with the assent of the

(a) Reguli-subreguli, Palg. Rise, &c.

592.596.

(b) Kemble, i. p. 65. 151, &c.

(c) Beorhtric, a. D. circ. 790; Kemble, 1.

191.

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Description of Beneficiaries—Nature of Interest.

monks, out of the lands belonging to their churches and monastreies (d), and by private persons out of their alodial lands. Almost all these grants follow Justinian's injunction, that all formal acts should have the [*44] name of the sovereign, the indiction, and the year (e). The charters which have been handed down to us consist for the most part of grants from the kings or other chiefs, or from some bishop or abbot, to their vassals; but there is no reason to believe that those of individuals varied in their general character. The beneficiary is sometimes described as minister or fidelis minister (f); sometimes he is described by the dignity or office which he held (g); sometimes simply as fidelis; sometimes as vasallus (h), fidelis cliens, or minum thegne (i). In some of the grants the beneficiary is described simply as miles, or miles meus, or homo (k). Frequently the grants are expressed to be made in consideration of the faithful services of the beneficiary; sometimes the king received a present in return for his grant (). There is one hereditary grant from Edgar, A. D. 963, to a Decurion, in consideration of his devoted service (m).

The words of grant commonly used are concedo, dabo, or trado; sometimes largior (n). The nature of the estate or interest to be enjoyed was generally expressed in terms implying a possessory title only (0). The extent of the estate or interest conferred appears to have depended on the merits of the vassal, or the caprice of the grantor. Some of the grants are for life only, some are extended to descendants, others to the heirs of the beneficiary generally; an absolute or limited power of disposition is frequently added (p). When the power of disposition

(d) The king's assent to these grants is frequently recorded, Kemble, i. 109, ii. 273.

383.

(e) Justinian added the consuls and the day, Savigny, tom. i. p. 88.

(f) Ego Edgar Basileus et Rex, Imperator, &c. cogitans disposui ex opibus mihi a Deo concessis meos fideles ministros cum concil. optimat. ditare, &c. Heming, p. 371; Kemble, i. 238, ii. 48. 57. 195. 263. The instances are so numerous it is unnecessary to cite them. In vol. ii. 93, is a grant by the then Queen in the same terms. "Minister" was the Latin expression for "king's thane." See Kemble, i. 233, ii. 360.

(g) Duci et ministro meo, Kemble, i. 211, A. D. 798; ministro et Principi, A. n. 863, ib. ii. 74, ib. 323, 4; fideli Comiti, &c. Kemble, ii. A. D. 938; Camerario, ib. A. D. 963; and ib. A. D. 964, &c. Fideli artifici pro ejus humili famulatu; grant of Bishop Oswald, Heming, 239; Smith's Bede, App. 781, &c. (h) Eadred, a. n. 952, Kemble, ii. 302.

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were, he adds, qualified estates (like Roman benefices) held upon condition, and descending, when they did descend, according to the terms of their creation, ib. ccv.

(1) V. int. alia, Kemble, ii. 74. Cart. Ethelred.

(m) Kemble, ii. 392, " cuidam Decurioni mihi oppido fideli," &c.

(n) Heming, 158. 215. 228. &c. (0) As "perpetualiter habendum et possi dendum atque fruendum," Coenwlf. R. Merc. Heming, 449; "trado in possessionem perfruendam," &c. Heming, p. 153, 4. A. n. 983; a gift by Bishop Oswald, to a man and his wife with remainders over,-" -"Jure hæreditario possidendam,” Æthelwlf, Kemble, ii. 143. "Dabo in perpetuam possessionem," Coenwlf. Text. Roff. p. 94, quamdiu unus ex illa genealogia superfuerit habeat et possideat," &c. A. D. 940, Kemble, ii. 229.

(p) V. int. al. Cart. Eadg. "in æternam hereditatem," Hearne's Heming, 597; Æthelst. A. D. 934; Edmund. A. D. 943; Kemble, ii. 195; "quamdiu unus ex illa genealogia superfuerit," A. n. 940; and ib. p. 229, to one for life, with power "cuicunque successionis heredi voluerit in perpetuum derelinquat," ib. p. 244; et v. ib. ii. 9. 302. For similar grants made by kings of the Francs to their antrustions or beneficiaries, see Palgrave, p. cccxvii.-viii.

Whether Benefices were ever granted at pleasure.

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was absolute, the property perhaps came under the description of bocland. But the most usual form of grant, and that from the earliest times, was to the beneficiary for his life, with a power to dispose of it during his life or at his death to one or more persons for their lives (q); the persons, or the class from whom they were to be [45] selected being sometimes specified (r).-In some hereditary grants the male line was preferred; in some females were excluded (s).—Sometimes it was expressly provided that the property should revert to the grantor on the expiration of the estate granted (t), unless the successor of the grantor should be willing to regrant it, on the like or other conditions or services (u); sometimes the reversion was limited to a church (z). Frequently in the king's grants it was declared that the beneficiary should hold the land free from all royal tributes and exactions (y). Unless a power of alienation were given, whether the grant were hereditary or for a less estate (z), the law then was, as it was in the time of Bracton (a), that the consent of the donor was necessary to any alienation (b); as was that of the heir, perhaps, in an hereditary grant.

Here the assertion in the Book of Feuds (c) (compiled in the time of the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa, A. D. 1170), that benefices or feuds were originally revocable at pleasure, that afterwards the beneficiaries were allowed to hold for a year, then for life, but for which no authority is given or has been supplied, and to which Montesquieu on the Continent, and Sir H. Spelman in England, have given currency (d), presents itself for consideration. This assertion, as appears from what has been stated, is contradicted by the Anglo-Saxon history so far as authentic documents extend; it is not confirmed by the early documents or history of any other nation (e). No doubt the Anglo-Saxon lords, equally as those of the Continent, like the Roman patrons (f), in some cases granted benefices revocable at pleasure, or for a term short of the life of the beneficiary, or for his life merely ; but nothing is to be found in any early documents to show that the continental sovereigns, as well as their Anglo-Saxon brethren, did not from the very first make grants of transmissible or hereditary benefices; gradations of preference and regard, towards particular persons, must have

(9) We learn from Fordun that similar grants were made in Scotland, Dalrymple on Feuds, p. 22.

() With liberty to leave the land to one heir, Kemble, ii. p. 9. 57; ib. 74; to five, ib. p. 14, there are many others to the same effect; and see Heming, 134. 158. 210. 598, grants of bishops.

($) Int. al. Kemble, i. 178, a. n. 784, Offa. (t) Int. al. Heming, p. 188. (u) Heming, p. 295, bishops' grants. (z) Kemble, i. p. 178, grant of Offa. (y)" Liberam ab omni servitute regali," Egbert, A. D. 830; Kemble, i. 289; "sine jugo exosæ servitutis," Cart. Æthelst. A. D. 931; with a power of alienation in perpetuity, Kemble, ii. 172; ib. p. 15; the same as in grants to the Church, with the exception of the "tribus communibus," trinoda necessitas, Kemble, ii. 314, A. D. 956; v. int. al. ib. p. 65, ▲. D. 858; ib. p. 74, &c.

(z) See Kemble, ii. 273, a. D. 947.
(a) Bract. fol. 176.

[*46]

(b) V. int. al. Cart. a. D. 947, Kemble, ii. 273; Sharon Turner, iv. 212; Heming, p. 372, 3; Hickes, Dissert. Epist. p. 61. In Domesday, where the tenant might give or sell his land without leave it is expressly noticed. It seems that the vassals of the Francic sovereigns had introduced the practice of selling their benefices at the county court, and taking them back in alodem; by Capit Carol, et Ludovic. iii. l. 19, 20; Lindenb. p. 877, this fraudulent practice was denounced.

(c) Lib. i. 1. § 1.

(d) Gloss. voce feudum.

(e) See, as regards continental Europe, Mr. Hallam's examination of Montesquieu's authorities, Mid. A. i. 161, and Marculph. form cited ibid. p. 163. (f) Sup. p. 30.

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Services-Modes in which Clientela was conferred or acquired.

existed at all times, and must have equally influenced lords of every degree. It is further to be observed, as will have been collected from the preceding statements, that the Anglo-Saxon documents do not countenance the notion of Sir Thomas Clark, M. R., in the celebrated case. of Burgess v. Wheate, that the introduction of the power of alienation was an era in the history of benefices (g). This subject will be again adverted to.

In some of the grants services are expressly reserved-these were of various descriptions (h), including, as regards grants from churches and monasteries, the performing the military service due to the state in respect of the lands held by the church or monastery, and the washing and mending their linen (i). Where a bishop was the beneficiary, in some instances license was given to the bishop to alien a portion of the land granted, to his own relations, a condition being annexed that every successive holder should be liable to the successors of the bishop for the same services as were due from him to the king (k). In some of the grants it is simply provided that the beneficiary or those who may enjoy the land after him, shall be faithful to the grantor or those who shall represent him (); fidelity, as we have seen, was due from the vassal himself under the general law of the land.

In many instances the grants were made to persons not being already. connected with the grantor by the tie of lord and man; *in such

[*47] case the relation of vassal was constituted by the grant (m). The clientela of the king's thanes was, it appears, frequently gained or secured for a church or monastery in this manner (n).

The crimes which were visited by the forfeiture of bocland to the king were attended by the forfeiture to the lord of any land which the lord had granted to his vassal (0).

Though the bishops and monasteries did not perhaps recognize the king as their temporal hlaford (p), yet their lands, generally speaking,

(g) See 1 Eden's Rep. 192. This notion seems to have had its origin from the Book of Feuds.

(h) Some of the king's thanes held lands on the condition of accompanying the king on journeys, and the like, Text. Roff; Hickes, Dissert. p. 114. This was one of the most honorable services, especially if the vassal had a thane who followed him, Anc. L. i. p.

193.

(i) Kemble, i. 201; ibid. i. 221, A. D. 802; Heming, 191. 208. 265. 294, 5; grants of Bishop Oswald, Turner, iv. 215.

(k) Heming, p. 26, Offa; ibid. 319; et v. ib. 96. 114. 223; Allen, 154; Heming, p. 9. 372, similar provisions in grants to king's thanes.

(7) "Si ipse nobis et optimatibus nostris fidelis manserit minister et inconvulsus amicus," Text. Roffens. 94; Grant of Coenwlf. in sempiternam posses.; Kemble, i. 216, to similar effect. "Et meum post obitum, cuicunque meorum amicorum voluero, eâdem fidelitate immobilis obediens que fiat-sic que omnes posteriores præfat. terram possidentes-sit etenim prædicta terra ab omni servili jugo libera." Grant by Eadmund,

fideli ministro, A. D. 946; Kemble, ii. 263. "Ea conditione ut illi qui hanc terram habeant sint fideles-episcopo, et rectitudinem quam ciresceat, et sawisceat, dici solet, et tobegan byrg reddant," Kemble, ii. p. 129, A. D. 899. Et v. Heming, 96. 208. 219. 265. 294-5, grants of bishops' land; also Palg. ccclxvi. n. (32); Similar conditions were sometimes inserted by the Francic sove reigns in their grants of benefices; ib. cccxcvii-viii.

(m) See Heming, p. 292. 300, 1. 3.

(n) By Bishop Oswald, temp. Eadg. Heming, p. 213, 4, 5; Smith's Bede, App. 773; by Bishop Ealwine of Worcester, A. D. 855, to Ethelwife Dux and his wife, for their lives, Kemble, ii, 62. There is a grant to Bertwlf, King of Mercia, for the same purpose, Heming, p. 5, 6; a rent or acknowledgment was sometimes reserved, Kemble, i. 201.

(0) Cnut. 75; Heming, 76, 77; Kemble, Pref. vol. i. p. lix. Ix; Palg. Rise, &c. ccclxv. ccclxvii; sup. viii. p. 1; et v. Text. Roff. p.

137.

(p) The pope had forbidden this.

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