suis v'l suis assig'tis 7 q'bicumq'. d'cam t'ram assig'r. voluer't. 9'. ōm's mortales p'. p'dem s'vicium imp'petuu. p' h'c autě donacōne, 9cessione 7 warantitacōne mea facta recordat'. sigill'. meo firmit'. munita dedit m' p'des Egidi'. decem solid'. st'lingor'. in g'sumiam. anno coronacōis r'. H. fil'. J. r'. xlix. Hiis testib .Johē. fil'. cl'ici, p'po'io. Johe. Paris, Johe. Clat'. Rob'. Grumbold, Franc'. Cockel, Hamōë de Lawenstall, Egid'. 7 Gilb'. fil'. Hugon'. Try'tor, Hamōe Peade, Gilb'o. Bugun, Petr'. dephinentune, Simõe c'lico de Cherth'. 7 mult. aliis." to the chief lords of the fee all secular service therefore yearly due and accustomed, and to me and my heirs, or to my assigns, at the feast of St. Michael one halfpenny offorgabul forall [services]. And I the aforesaid Thomas and my heirs will warrant the aforesaid land, with all the wood thereupon growing, to the said Egidius and his heirs, or to his assigns, and to whomsoever he will assign the said land, against all men for the aforesaid service for ever. And for this my gift, grant, and warranty, made and recorded, and firmly strengthened with my seal, the aforesaid Egidius hath given to me ten shillings sterling in hand, in the year of the coronation of the King Henry, son of the King John, xlix, These being witnesses: John, son of the clerk, prefect, John Paris, John Clat'., Robert Grumbold, Francis Cockel, Hamon de Lawenstall, Egidius and Gilbert, the sons of Hugh Try'tor, Hamon Peade, Gilbert Bugun, Peter dephinentune, Simon the clerk of Chartham, and many others." To this charter was also appended an oval seal of green wax, bearing a fleur-de-lis, with the legend "s. THOME. FIL... MON..." "Vetus Carta Feoffamenti, 27 Edw. III, ▲.D. 1353. "Sciant presentes fut'i qego Thom's Fichemeuth de p'ochia de Herne dedi, concessi, 7 hac presenti carta mea confirmavi d'no Johi. Flemyng rectori eccl'ie de Whitstaple 7 Rico. Maydewell una placea cu domibs. sup'edificatis "Know all men present and to come, that I, Thomas Fichemeuth, of the parish of Herne, have given, granted, and by this my present charter have confirmed to Master John Flemyng, rector of the church of Whitstaple, and Richard Maydewell, one place Juna acra t're ar'bil'. adiacente que quonda fuerüt Hamonis Symon in p'och' de Whitstaple ap'd Cutteperestrode que quide acr'. iacet int'. trā. h'ed'. Hamonis Symon v's. east 7 tra h'ed' Will'mi Reynold v'. south t'ra Will'mi Attechirche v's. west, h'nd'. 7 tenend'. predictam placea cu domib. sup'edificatis una acra t're arabil' adiacent' cu p'tinenciis predictis dno Joh'ni Flemming 1 Ric'o Maidewell he'dib. 7 assig'tis suis de capitaliby d'nis feodi illius p'. servicia inde debita 7 de iure consueta. Et ego v.' pred'cus Thom's Fichemeuth heredes mei predictam placea cu domib. sup'edificatis 7 una acram t're arabil'. adiacent'. cu p'tinenciis ut predictum est, predictis d'no Johi Flemmyng 7 Rico Maydewell he'dib. 7 assig'tis suis con. om's gentes warrantizabim'. imp'petuu. In cui' ri'. testiōniū huic pr'senti carte sigillu meū apposui. Dat'. ap'd Whitstaple die Sce Agnetis vg'. 7 mart'. anno regni regis Edwardi filii regis Edwardi teii. a conquestu vicesimo septimo. Hiis testiby Thoma Haconblen, Johně Eals, Will'mo Cuttepere, Will'mo Jurdon, Joh'ne Eulsung, Will'mo Sp'ingeth, Will'mo Stevene, aliis." with the houses thereon erected, and one acre of arable land adjoining, which were formerly [the estate] of Hamon Symon, in the parish of Whitstaple at Cutteperestrode, which same acre lies between the land of the heirs of Hamon Symon towards the east, and the land of the heirs of William Reynold towards the south, and the land of William Attechirche towards the west, To have and to hold the aforesaid place, with the houses thereon erected, and one acre of arable land adjoining, with the appurtenances, to the aforesaid Master John Flemmyng and Richard Maydewell, their heirs and assigns, of the chief lords of the same fee, by the services therefore due, and of right accustomed. And I, truly, the aforesaid Thomas Fichemeuth, and my heirs the aforesaid place, with the houses thereon erected, and one acre of arable land adjoining, with the appurtenances as is aforesaid, to the aforesaid Master John Flemmyng and Richard Maydewell, their heirs and assigns, against all people will warrant for ever. In testimony whereof, to this present charter I have placed my seal. Dated at Whitstaple, on the day of Saint Agnes, virgin and martyr, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Edward (the son of King Edward) the third from the Conquest. These being witnesses : Thomas Haconblen, John Eals, William Cuttepere, Wiliam Jurdon, John Eulsung, William Sp'ingeth, William Stevene, and others." VII. ESCHEAT-which is the determination of the tenure, or the dissolution of the mutual bond between the lord and tenant, from the extinction of the blood of the latter, by either natural or civil means, if he died without heirs of his blood, or if his blood was corrupted and stained by commission of treason or felony, whereby every inheritable quality was entirely blotted out and abolished. In such cases the land escheated or fell back to the lord of the fee; that is, the tenure was determined by breach of the original condition, expressed or implied, in the feodal donation. These were the principal qualities, fruits, and consequences of the tenure by knight's service-a tenure by which the greatest part of the lands in this kingdom were holden, and that principally of the king in capite, till the middle of the seventeenth century, at which time, by the degenerating of knight's service, or personal military duty, into escuage, or pecuniary assessments, all the advantages of the feodal constitution were destroyed, and nothing but the hardships remained. We have said (ante p. 216) that “the feodal polity, after the Norman Conquest, became so deeply rooted, and so firmly established, as to entirely supersede the Saxon free tenures, except only in Kent, and even there to make very formidable inroads." But before we call attention to the struggle for the ascendancy, which took place in Kent between the two rival systems of tenures, we will take a closer view of the degraded state of tyranny, oppression, and slavery under which all classes of the people groaned, during the ascendancy of the feodal polity in England. And, first, as to those who held per servitium militareby knight service tenure. The families of all our nobility and gentry160 groaned under the intolerable burthens which (in consequence of the fiction adopted after the Conquest) were introduced and laid upon them by the subtlety and finesse of the Norman lawyers; for, besides the scutages to which they were liable, in defect of personal attendance, they might be called upon by the king or lord paramount for aids whenever his eldest son was to be knighted, or his eldest daughter married, not to forget the ransom of his own person. The heir, on the death of his ancestor, if of full age, was plundered of the first emoluments arising from his inheritance, by way of relief and primer seisin; and, if under age, of the whole of his estate during infancy. And then, when he came to his own, after he was out of wardship, his woods decayed, houses fallen down, stock wasted and gone, lands let forth and ploughed to be barren, to reduce him still further, he was yet to pay half a year's profits as a fine for suing out his livery, and also the price or value of his marriage, if he refused such wife as his lord and guardian had bartered for and imposed upon him; or twice that value, if he married another woman. Add to this, the untimely and expensive honour of knighthood, to make his poverty more completely splendid. And when, by these deductions, his fortune was so shattered and ruined, that perhaps he was obliged to sell his patrimony, he had not even that poor privilege allowed him, without paying an exorbitant fine for a licence of alienation. Such, and so disastrous, was the condition to which those who held in capite, and by knight's service, were reduced under the feodal polity. We will now take a cursory view of the deplorable state of the people, under the same system, from the Saxon Chronicle: A.D. 1137. Đir gære for pe king Stephne open ræ to Normandi. þen per underFanzen. Fordi hi penden he rculde ben aljuic alre pe eom per. Foɲ he hadde zet hir tɲeron. ac he todeld it scatered fotlice. Micel hadde Denni king gadered gold J fýlueɲ. and na god ne dide me For hir raule pan of. Ɖa pe king Stephne to Engla-land com pa macod he hir gadering æt Oxeneford. 7 þaɲ he nam þe bircop Rozen of Seɲer-beri. Alexander bircop of Lincolnte Canceler Rozen hire neuer. dide ælle in pɲrun. til hi jafen up hene cartler. Da pe ruiker undenzæcon pa he milde man pas I softe I god. na jurtice ne dide. þa diden hi alle punder. í hadden him manɲed makedand aðes spoɲen. ac hi nan treude ne holden alle he pæɲon Foɲ pоɲen. here theoder fоplopen. Foɲ æunie nice man hir cartler makede and azæner him heolden. and fýlden þe land full of cartler. Di suencten surde þe precce men of þe land mid cartel-peonces. pa pe cartler paɲen maked. þa fylden hi mid Seouler ans juele men. Đa namen hi pa men pe hi penden A.D. 1137. This year King Stephen went over sea to Normandy, and he was received there because it was expected that he would be altogether like his uncle, and because he had gotten possession of his treasure, but this he distributed and scattered foolishly. King Henry had gathered together much gold and silver, yet did he no good for his soul's sake with the same. When King Stephen came to England, he held an assembly at Oxford, and there he seized Roger, bishop of Salisbury, and Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, and Roger the chancellor, his nephew, and he kept them all in prison till they gave up their castles. When the traitors perceived that he was a mild man, and a soft, and a good, and that he did not enforce justice, they did all wonder. They had done homage to him, and sworn oaths, but they no faith kept. All became forsworn, and broke their allegiance; for every rich man built his castles, and defended them against him, and they filled the land full of castles. They greatly oppressed the wretched people, by making them work at these castles, and when the castles were finished, they filled them with devils and evil |