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Manorial Courts in England Before 1250 Durham E-Theses Manorial courts in England before 1250. Stocks, Katharine Jane How to cite: Stocks, Katharine Jane (1998) Manorial courts in England before 1250., Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1046/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Manorial courts in England before 1250 Katharine Jane Stocks The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the written consent of the author and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ' '3 `ý ý . Wý Submittedfor the degreeof Doctor of Philosophy University of Durham Departmentof History 1998 13 JAN 1999 Abstract Katharine Jane Stocks, `Manorial courts in England before 1250' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Durham, 1998) The thesis looks at the developmentof the early manorial court, outlining the researchinto thirteenth centurycourts and the sourcesavailable for study beforethe middle of the century.The date is significant becausethe earliest surviving court rolls for the courts of the lord of the manor date from 1246.Extensive use is madeof evidencefrom accountrolls, especiallythe Pipe Rolls of the bishopric of Winchester'sestate, from the early thirteenth century.Four chapterscover the main questionsdiscussed. Chapter Il dealswith when and where the courts were held and offers possibleexplanations for the seemingabsence of courts in certain manors. ChapterIII discusseswhat types of businesswere dealt with in the early thirteenth century courts and, using statistical analysis,how much businesswas conducted. ChapterIV coversthe questionof who attendedcourt, both in terms of statusand gender,and chapterV dealswith the financial aspectsof the court. Theseinclude studiesof who madepayments to court and how much they paid for different reasons. Table of Contents Page Abbreviations 6 I Background and sources 11 II Where and when were the courts held? 66 III What did the courts do? 88 IV Who attendedthe court? 131 V What paymentswere madeto the court? 151 VI Conclusion 171 Appendix A- Downton (Wilts. ) entries for 1247-8, secondsub-section 177 Appendix B- Occurrenceof perquisitesections in the bishopric of Winchester'saccount rolls 178 Appendix C- Resultsof linear regressionanalysis 179 Appendix D- Perquisitepayments per year 187 Appendix E- The Least SquaresMethod 188 Appendix F- To test whetherthe gradientof the line of regressionis significant 193 Appendix G- To test whetherthere is a significant increase in the volume of business,1237-1244 195 Bibliography 197 Declaration This thesis is submittedfor the award of Doctor of Philosophy.No part of this thesishas been submittedpreviously for any other degreein this or in any other university. Statement of copght The copyright of this thesisrests with the author.No quotation from it should be publishedwithout her prior written consentand information derived from it should be acknowledged. Acknowledgments I would like to thank, first and foremost, Prof. P.D. A. Harvey. Without his constant support, encouragement and kindness this thesis would not have been completed, nor even attempted. I would also like to thank Mrs. Cathy Thompson of the IT centre at the University of Durham for her invaluablehelp in the designingand creationof the databaseand Dr. R.P. Bennell of the Royal Military College of Science,Shrivenham, for his advice and guidancewith the statisticalanalysis: without their assistance,the detailedanalysis of the entriesrecorded in the WinchesterPipe Rolls would not have beenpossible. My thanks also goesto the staff of the University of Durham library and of the libraries and record offices who helpedme with my studies,particularly the staff of the HampshireRecord Office. ABBREVIATIONS Ault, Private Jurisdiction Ault, W. O., Private Jurisdiction in England (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1923) Bracton Bracton on the Laws and Customs of England, trans. S.E. Thorne (Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 4 vols, 1968-1977) Battle Abbey Chronicle The Chronicle of Battle Abbey, ed. and trans. E. Searle (London, Oxford University Press, 1980) Beckerman, `Innovation' Beckerman, J.S., `Procedural Innovation and Institutional Change in Medieval English Manorial Courts', Law and History Review, vol. x, 1992, pp. 197-252 Bennett, English Manor Bennett, H. S., Life on the English Manor (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1937) Beveridge, `Dating' Beveridge, W. H., `The Winchester Rolls and Their Dating', Economic History Review, vol. ii, 1929, pp. 93-113 BL British Library Carte Nativorum Carte Nativorum: A Peterborough Abbey Cartulary of the Fourteenth Century, eds C.N. L. Brooke and M. M. Postan (Northamptonshire Record Society, vol. xx, 1960) Cartularium Monasterii Glouc. Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucestriae, ed. W. H. Hart (Rolls Series, 3 vols, 1863-7) Cartularium Monasterii Rames. Cartularium Monasterii de Rameseia,eds W.H. Hart and P.A. Lyons (Rolls Series,3 vols, 1884-93) CloseRolls, 1231-4 CloseRolls of the Reign of Henry Npreserved in the Public Record Office, 1227-12 72 (London, H. M. S.O., 14 vols, 1908-38) Court Baron The Court Baron, eds F. W. Maitland and W. M. Paley (Selden Society, vol. iv, 1891) Court Rolls, Adam de Stratton Court Rolls of the Wiltshire Manors of Adam de Stratton, ed. R. B. Pugh (Wiltshire Records Society, vol. xxiv, 1970) Curia Regis Rolls Curia Regis Rolls of the Reign of Henry III (London, H. M. S.O., 17 vols, 1922-91) Domesday Book Domesday Book: Seu Liber Censualis Wilhelmi Primi Regis Angliae, eds A. Farley and H. Ellis (London, 4 vols, 1783-1816) Drew, 'Portland' Drew, J.S., 'Early Account Rolls of Portland,Wyke and Elwell', Dorset Natural History and SocietyProceedings, 1xvii, 1946, .4rchaeolo, gy vol. pp.34-54 Drew, `Wyke' Drew, J.S., `Early Account Rolls of Portland, Wyke and Elwell', Dorset Natural History and Archaeology Society Proceedings, vol. lxvi, 1945, pp. 31-45 Du Cange, Glossarium Du Cange, C. du F., ed., Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae et Infinice Latinitatis (Niort, L. Favre, 10 vols, 1883-7) Early Yorkshire Charters Early YorkshireCharters, eds W. Farrer and C.T. Clay (Edinburgh,Ballantyne, Hanson and Co., 12 vols, 1914-65) Elton Manorial Records Elton Manorial Records,12 79-1351, ed. and transcribedS. C. Ratcliffe, translatedD. M. Gregory (The RoxburgheClub, 1946) Faith, English Peasantry Faith, R., TheEnglish Peasantryand the Growth of Lordship (London, LeicesterUniversity Press, 1997) Fryde,British Chronology Fryde, E.B., et al., eds,Handbook of British Chronology (3rd edn, Royal Historical Society, 1986) Harvey, Cuxham Harvey, P.D. A., A Medieval Oxfordshire Village: Cuxham 1240-1400 (London, Oxford University Press, 1965) Harvey, `Treatises' Harvey, P.D. A., `Agricultural Treatises and Manorial Accounting in Medieval England' Agricultural History Review, vol. xx, 1972, pp. 170- 82 Harvey, 'Inflation' Harvey, P.D. A., 'The English Inflation of 1180- 1220', Past and Present,no. 1xi, 1973,pp. 3-30 Harvey; Manorial Records Harvey, P.D. A., Manorial Records(Archives and the User, no.5; London, British Records Association, 1984) Hatcher, 'Serfdom' Hatcher,J., 'English Serfdomand Villeinage: Towardsa Reassessment',Past and Present,no. xc, 1981, pp.3-3 9 Hilton, 'Freedom' Hilton, R.H., 'Freedomand Villeinage in England', Past and Present,no. xxxi, 1965,pp. 3-19 Homans,English Villagers Homans,G. C., English Villagers of the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge,Massachusetts, Harvard University Press,1942) HRO HampshireRecord Office Jocelin ofBrakelond The Chronicle ofJocelin ofBrakelond concerning the Acts ofSamsonAbbot ofthe MonasteryofSt. Edmund,ed. and trans. H.E. Butler (London, ThomasNelson and Sons, 1949) Kosminsky, Studies Kosminsky, E.A., Studiesin the Agrarian History ofEngland in the ThirteenthCentury (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1956) LegesHenrici Primi LegesHenrici Prim!, ed. and trans. L. J. Downer (London, Oxford University Press,1972) Levett, Manorial History Levett, A. E., Studiesin Manorial History (London, Oxford University Press,193 8) Maitland, DomesdayBook Maitland, F.W., DomesdayBook and Beyond (Cambridge,Cambridge University Press,1897) May, 'Franchise' May, AN, 'The Franchisein Thirteenth Century England,with specialreference to the Estatesof the Bishopric of Winchester' (unpublishedPh. D. thesis, University of Cambridge,1960) May, 'Impoverishment' May, A. N., 'An Index of ThirteenthCentury PeasantImpoverishment? Manor Court Fines', EconomicHistory Review,2nd ser.,vol. xxvi, 1973, pp.389-402 Oschinsky,Walter ofHenley Oschinsky,D., Walter ofHenley and other Treatiseson EstateManagement andAccounting (London, Oxford University Press,1971) Pollock and Maitland, History Pollock, F., and F.W. Maitland, A History of English Law (2nd edn, Cambridge,Cambridge University Press,2 vols, 1898) Post, 'Arnercernents' Post, J.B., 'Manorial
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