This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ The Oxfordshire eyre roll of 1261 Jobson, Adrian Lindsay The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 11. Oct. 2021 THE OXFORDSHlRE EYRE ROLL OF 1261 BY Adrian~o~son King's College, University of London PhD September 2005 ABSTRACT This thesis concentrates on the visit of the itinerant justices to Oxfordshire in January 1261, an event that occurred at a crucial juncture in the crisis and civil war of 1258-67. The surviving eyre roll's contents provide a valuable insight into the reaction in the shires to the recent demise of the baronial council. The extent of the justices' enforcement of the baronial reforms is a fundamental issue addressed by this study. Evidence of the impact of the reforms and the subsequent civil war upon the profits of both the 1261 and 1267 visitations is examined against the background of a wider discussion concerning the revenue levels generated by all of Oxfordshire's eyres between 1218-85. How much support for the baronial regime existed amongst the county's knightly class is a question also considered by this study. Basing itself on the grand assize jurors of 1261, the chapter attempts to explore the reasons for a knight's choice of political allegiance. The study examines the breadth of criminal business that fell within the eyre's jurisdiction before focusing on the efficiency of the county's law enforcement system in 1261. An analysis of the evidence for an increase in the levels of reported homicides in Oxfordshire between 1235 and 1285 is followed by a discussion on the effects of the Barons' War on the county's reported homicide rates. The thesis considers the various civil actions featuring in the 1261 roll before attempting to establish the social composition of those actively involved in litigation. There is also a comparative analysis of the civil pleas heard by the itinerant justices in 1241, 1261 and 1285 to determine whether there any significant trends in the types of actions can be identified. Finally, this thesis provides a full transcription and indexes of the contents of the roll itself. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME ONE ABBREVIATIONS 7 1. OXFORDSHIRE AND ITS EYRES 11 2. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND TO THE OXFORDSHIRE EYRE OF 1261 27 2.1 The Justices of the Eyre 34 3. FINANCIAL PROCEEDS OF THE 1261 OXFORDSHIRE EYRE 38 4. CROWN PLEAS IN THE 1261 OXFORDSHIRE EYRE 60 4.1 Appeals 64 4.2 King's Rights 66 4.3 Misadventure 72 4.4 Statistical Reliability of the 1261 Roll 77 4.5 Homicide 82 4.6 Theft 90 4.7 Robbery 94 4.8 Wounding 95 4.9 Rape and Arson 96 4.10 Law Enforcement in Oxfordshire 97 4.11 Homicide Rates within Oxfordshire 103 5. CIVIL PLEAS IN THE 1261 OXFORDSHIRE EYRE 120 5.1 Novel Disseisin 122 5.2 Mort d' ancestor 124 5.3 Right of Land 127 5.4 Entry 130 5.5 Dower 132 5.6 Utrum 134 3 5.7 Pleas of Land 135 5.8 Others 136 5.9 Final Concords 138 5.10 Foreign Pleas 140 5.11 Attorneys 141 5.12 The Oxfordshire Litigants 143 5.13 Pleadings in the 1241 and 1284 Oxfordshire visitations: a comparison 149 6. OXFORDSHIRE DURING THE BARONS' WAR, 1258-67 158 7. DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY OF THE 1261 OXFORDSHIRE EYRE ROLL 211 BIBLIOGRAPHY 218 VOLUME TWO THE TEXT EDITORIAL NOTE 233 CIVIL PLEAS OF THE 1261 OXFORDSHIRE EYRE 235 ESSOINS 380 ATTORNEYS 382 CROWN PLEAS OF THE OXFORDSHIRE EYRE 393 JURYKALENDAR 508 FOREIGN PLEAS 515 VOLUME THREE INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES INDEX OF PLEAS INDEX OF SUBJECTS 4 MAPS Geographical Distribution of the Grand Assize Knights in the Iffley Jury Panel 166 Geographical Distribution of the Grand Assize Knights in the Lyneham Jury Panel 168 Geographical Distribution of the Contrarient, Loyalist and 'Unrecorded' knights in Oxfordshire 190 TABLES 1.1 The Lords of Oxfordshire's Hundreds 17 1.2 The Sheriffs of Oxfordshire, 1254-67 19 1.3 The Oxfordshire Eyres and their Justices, 1194-1285 23 3.1 Individual Debts from the Oxfordshire Eyre entered on the 1261 Pipe Roll 43 3.2 Annual Payments for the Oxfordshire Eyre at the Exchequer, 1261-70 46 3.3 Issues for Berkshire and Oxfordshire Eyres, 1218-85 53 3.4 The Oxfordshire and Berkshire Eyres: Issues accounted for between 1218-85 56 4.1 A List of those Articles that can be identified for the 1261 Oxfordshire Eyre 60 4.2 Crimes Alleged by Appeal 65 4.3 Chart illustrating how Crown Pleas were brought into the Eyre 79 4.4 A Table illustrating the Felonies during the 1261 Oxfordshire Eyre 83 4.5 Chart illustrating the Sexual Identity of Felons 84 4.6 Murderers' Chattels 87 4.7 The Overall Levels of Crime in Oxfordshire, 1241-85 107 4.8 Oxfordshire's Homicide Rates, 1235 to 1285 108 4.9 Annual Homicide Rate of Sample Counties 109 5 4.10 Oxfordshire Hundredal Homicide Rates, 1235 to 1285 111 5.1 The Frequency of Civil Pleas in the 1261 Oxfordshire Eyre 121 5.2 The Frequency of Foreign Pleas in the 1261 Eyre 141 5.3 The Size of the Holdings in Dispute in 1261 146 5.4 Size of Rents Claimed in Litigation in 1261 147 5.5 The Frequency of Civil Pleas in the 1241 Oxfordshire Eyre 150 5.6 The Frequency of Civil Pleas in the 1261 Oxfordshire Eyre 151 5.7 The Frequency of Civil Pleas in the 1284 Oxfordshire Eyre 151 6.1 The Geographical Distribution of the Grand Assize Knights in the Ifftey panel 167 6.2 The Geographical Distribution of the Grand Assize Knights in the Lyneham panel 169 6.3 The Geographical Distribution of the Grand Assize Knights of the 1261 Oxfordshire Eyre 169 6.4 The Grand Assize Jurors of Oxfords hire and their Chief Manors 170 6.5 The Political Allegiances of the Grand Assize Jurors of Oxfords hire 175 6 ABBREVIATIONS Ann. Burton' Annales Monasterii de Burton, 1004-1263, Ann. Mon., i Ann. Dunstable Annales Prioratus de Dunstaplia, AD. 1-1297, Ann. Mon., ii Ann. Mon. Annales Monastici, ed. H.R. Luard, 5 vols (Rolls Series, 1864-9) Ann.Oseney Annales Monasterii de Oseneia, 1016-1347, Ann. Mon., iv Ann. Worcester Annales Prioratus de Wigornia, A. D. 1-1377, Ann. Mon., iv BIHR Bulletin ofthe Institute ofHistorical Research Bracton Bracton: On the laws and customs ofEngland, ed. G.E. Woodbine, translated and revised by S.E. Thome (Cambridge, Mass, 1977) Brand,MCL P. Brand, The Making ofthe Common Law (London, 1992) Britton Britton: The French text carefully revised with an English translation, introduction and notes, ed. F.M. Nichols, 2 vols (Oxford, 1865) CChR Calendar ofthe Charter Rolls, 1226-1326 (1903-8) Chronica Majora Matthaei Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora, ed. H.R. 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Crook, Records ofthe General Eyre (London, 1982) CRR Curia Regis Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office, Richard I - (1922-, in progress) DBM Documents ofthe Baronial Movement ofReform and Rebellion, 1258-1267, ed. R.F. Treharne and I.J. Sanders (Oxford, 1973) EHR English Historical Review FoF The Feet ofFines for Oxfordshire, 1195-1291, ed. H.E. Salter (ORS, xii, 1930) Flores Historiarum Flores Historiarum, ed. H.R. Luard, 3 vols (Rolls Series, 1890) 8 Given, Homicide and Society 1.B. Given, Homicide and Society in Thirteenth Century England (Standford, 1977) Glanvill The Treatise on the Laws and Customs ofthe Realm of England commonly called Glanvill, ed. G.D.G. Hall (Oxford, 1965) Harding, Law Courts A.