Durham E-Theses Lordship and township in Durham Larson, Peter Lionel How to cite: Larson, Peter Lionel (2000) Lordship and township in Durham, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4955/ 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 Lordship and Township in Durham, 1388-3406 Peter Lionel Larson MA Thesis, University of Durhauna, Bepartosent of History, January 2000 The neglect of northern English estates has concealed unusual features that mark them as different from southern manorial regimes. This thesis reveals several of these by examining the local administration of the bishopric of Durham during the pontificate of Walter Sktrlaw, in a time when ad- hoc adaptations to the effects of the Black Death crystallized into permanent machinery. Evidence for this comes from the bishopric halmote court books. These unique books were the primary court record but also documented the bishop's rights in the estate. Their nature and internal references to other records provide a convenient window onto the changes occurring in this period. The township was the basic bishopric administrative unit in County Durham, and in many ways it had not changed since the eleventh century or before. The Durham township retained a communal identity, often functioning as a corporation. The bishop relied extensively on the township for the smooth running of the estate, while the townships looked to the bishop for justice and organization. Village officers, such as the reeve, continued to play important roles for both bishop and villagers without suffering from divided loyalties. The halmote was the focus of the estate administration, and in it we see adaptations to contemporary problems such as the decline of serfdom, vacant land and judicial stagnation. Tenants and officials were reprimanded, rules were enforced, private litigation was heard, and the bishop's rights were ruthlessly enforced. Although it was a villein court, free men appreciated the convenience of the halmote and used it to transact their business. In all of this, the Durham township was a prominent and willing partner with the bishop, and both gained immensely from this cooperation. Lordship and Township in Durham 1388-1406 Peter Lionel Larson The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published in any form, including Electronic and the Internet, without the author's prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis MA Thesis must ')C acknowledged appropriately. University of Durham Department of History January 2000 The copyright of this thesis rest with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. » ? J4W Bin i Table of Contents List of Tables and Maps iii List of Abbreviations Used iv A Note on Latin Usage v I. Introduction 1 Manorial Studies 2 Historiography of the Bishopric Estates 8 Historical Background 14 II. The Halmote Books 19 Codicology & Palaeography 19 Completeness of the Books 21 Court Book or Court Roll? 22 Timing of Composition 24 Master Record and Portable Record 27 Purpose of the Halmote Books 30 Conclusions: Windows onto Adrninistrative Change 33 HI. Administrative Officers 35 The Steward 35 The Coroners 38 IV. Officers of the Vill 43 The Reeve and Bailiff 45 The Collector 64 The Constable 69 The Pinder 70 Aletasters 74 The Jurors 74 Conclusions 77 V. Vicinagium 79 ii VI. The Halmote Court 84 Timing of the Courts 84 Location of the Courts 86 Suit of Court 88 Business of the Court 89 Discipline and Enforcement 92 Private Litigation 96 Free Men in the Halmote 97 Villeinage in Durham 102 VII. Conclusions 106 Appendix One: Halmotes Held, 1388-1406 108 Appendix Two: Halmote Courts and Townships 117 Bibliography 119 iii List of Tables and Maps Table 1: Survival of Bishopric Halmote Court Records 22 Table 2: Types of Land in Townships Without Reeves 54 Map 1: Bishopric Halmotes and Townships 118 iv List off AblbreviatioEs Used CCB Church Commission Durham Bishopric Deposit CCB-F Church Commission Durham Bishopric Deposit, Financial Materials to 1649 DNB Dictionary of National Biography EHR English Historical Review EcHR Economic History Review P&P Past and Present PRO DURH Durham Bishopric Halmote Books, Public Record Office, London VCH Durham The Victoria History of the County of Durham A Note on Latin Usage The orthography of Latin words, where they appear in the text or notes, have been simplified. I have used the most common form appearing in the halmote books where this is considered an acceptable variation, e.g. senescallus instead of seneschallus. The major exception is that I have replaced 'c' with't' where it would be less confusing to the reader, hence ratione not racione. Surnames and place names have been left as is in the Latin but standardized as far as possible in the text. Modern punctuation and capitalization have been used but kept to a minimum. Usage of 'u' and V and T and 'j' corresponds to standard modern scholarly use, the former of each pair being vowels and the latter consonants. For Roman numerals I have followed the standard usage in the halmote books, with 'j' always substituted for a final 'i', and always using V and not 'u\ All abbreviations have been silently expanded, except where there are possible different readings, in which case all letters that I supply are enclosed in square brackets. Interlineations, as they occur rarely, have been silently inserted into the text where the scribe has indicated. While generally quite legible, the manuscripts are not always so, and unreadable portions have been marked with square brackets [ ] with an indication of the number of letters or words. As always, [sic] indicates that the word(s) appear as they do in the original text. I Introduction This thesis is an attempt to describe one particular level of the estate adrninistration of the bishopric of Durham during the pontificate of Walter Skirlaw (1388-1406). The limits of this thesis do not permit a full examination of the estate system, particularly its economic and agricultural aspects. Instead, I have focused on the framework of officers and institutions involved at the local level, in the vill or township. Whilst primarily a legal and institutional study, social historians will not be disappointed by its contents. Geographically this study is concerned only with the bishopric estates within the historic county of Durham. I have omitted the 'shires' of Norhamshire, Islandshire and Bedlingtonshire, and other extra-county possessions because the records for their administration are generally not found with those for the rest of the bishopric. The Wapentake of Sadberge, although a part of the county and included with the other estate records, has also been excluded. The reason for this mainly is that the wapentake had a number of unusual administrative features that are hinted at in the records, as well as a slightly different history from the rest of the bishopric estates. Any attempt to include Sadberge in the discussion with the rest of the county would distort its own unique features. Because of size limitations, these features cannot be fully discussed herein, and they deserve a complete examination in their own right.1 As the reader will soon note, this examination of an estate is quite different from others now being produced, and the layout in some ways may seem eccentric. The reasons for this are set out below in the first two introductory sections; the third part of the Introduction is an historical overview to set the stage for the thesis proper. Chapter II is a close study of the major source for estate administration in this period, the bishopric halmote books. These books are the only extant records of the bishopric halmote court, the 'manorial' court for the bishopric estates. That this section has been included at all is testimony to the unique importance of this source, not only locally but also perhaps in relation to the whole of medieval England It has been placed first 1 See CM. Fraser and K. Emsley, 'Durham and the Wapentake of Sadberge,' Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland, 2nd series 2 (1980), pp. 71-81, for the history of the Wapentake of Sadberge and some of its admmistrative and judicial 2 because a knowledge of the books themselves, their creation and uses, is vital to understanding the estates and how they were administered. A study of the halmote books also provides clues about other documentary sources that have since been lost, and thus further defines the administration of the estate. Chapter m concerns the stewards and coroners and their roles in the estate, while Chapter IV covers the officers at the lowest level of the estate, the township. The reader will find these two sections quite similar in format and presentation to studies elsewhere. Chapter IV examines vicinagium, the complex of mutual obligations which tenants owed to one another.