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. 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