or Distress and in the same sence are used in the Custumary That which puts it further out of scruple is That there are yet extant the Manuscripts themselves of the Saxon Laws made in the Parliamentary Councils held by them here which are in the Language and Character of those Times and contain in them many of those things which are in the Norman Custumary It is no improbable Opinion That there was a former Establishment of our Laws in Normandy before the Time of Hen. 1. and that it was by Edward the Confessor who as all Writers of our History agree was a great Collector and Compiler of our English Laws He lived a long time with his Kinsman Duke William in Normandy who was willing to please the Confessor in hopes to be appointed by him to be his Sucâ—essor wherein the Duke's Expectation did not fail him The Confessor having no Children and finding Normandy without a setled Government and wanting Laws advised with his Kinsman Duke William to receive from him the Laws of England which he had collected and to establish them in Normandy which Duke William and his Lords readily accepted for the good of their People and thereby obliged the Confessor Another proof hereof is That such Laws as the Normans had before the Time of Duke William were different from those in the Custumary and from the English Laws As their Law That the Husband should be hanged if his Wife were a Thief and he did not discover it The meaner People were as Slaves and the like and the Trial of Theft by Ordeil which then was not in England Wigorniensis reports That the Normans who came in with Queen Emma the Wife of Etheired were so hated of the English for their injustice and false Iudgment that in the Time of King Canutus they were for this cause banished and it is the less probable that they being so unjust themselves should introduce so just Laws as ours are Between the Conquest of Normandy by Rolio and the Invasion of England by Duke William there were not above 160 Years that of Normandy was about Anno 912. that of England Anno 1060. It is not then consonant to Reason that those Normans Pagans a rough Martial People descended from so many Barbarous Nations should in the time of 150 Years establish such excellent Laws among themselves and so different from the French Laws among whom they were and all parts in the World except England And such Laws which were not only fit for their Dukedom and small Territory but fit also for this Kingdom which in those days was the second in Europe for Antiquity and Worth by confession of most Forreign Historians If we will give credit to their own Authors this Point will be sufficiently evinced by them These words are in the Proem of the Custumary which is entituled Descriptio Normanniae Hucusque Normannicae CONSVETVDINES LATOREM sive Datorem SANCTVM EDWARDVM Angliae Regem c. The same is witnessed by Chronica Chronicorum That St. Edward King of England gave the Laws to the Normans when he was long harboured there And that he made both the Laws of England and Normandy appears sufficiently by the conformity of them for which he cites several Particulars as of Appeals and the Custom of England ad probandum aliquid per credentiam duodecim hominum vicinorum which he saith remained in Normandy to that day Polydore forgetting himself what he wrote in another place saith of King Henry the Seventh that when a Doubt was made upon the Proposal of Marriage of his Daughter to Scotland that thereby England might in time be subject unto Scotland The King answered No and that England as the Greater will draw it to Scotland being the less and incorporate it to the Laws of England as saith the Historian it did Normandy though the owner thereof was Conqueror of England And Sir Roger Owen in his Manuscript affirms That there is not any of our Historians that lived in the space of 200 Years immediately after the Conquest which doth describe our Laws to be taken away and the Norman Custom introduced by the Conqueror Some of them and not improbably mention the alteration of some part of them and the bringing in some Norman Customs effectual for the keeping of the Peace There is yet behind the great Argument most insisted on and often urged by the Gentlemen of another Opinion which is the Title of William who is called the Conqueror from whence they conclude That by his Conquest he changed the Laws and Government of this Nation and that his Successors reckon the beginning of their Reigns from his Conquest To this is answered That a posse ad esse non valet Argumentum the Conquering of the Land is one thing the introducing of new Laws is another thing but there is direct proof to the contrary of this Argument Duke William never Sir-named himself the Conqueror nor was so called in his life-time as may appear by all the Letters Pattents and Deeds that he made wherein he is called Guilielmus Rex Dux c. never Conquestor and our Ancient Historians give him the same Titles and not that of Conqueror In the Title of Nubrigensis's Book he is Sirnamed William the Bastard Malmsbury calls him William the First Hoveden William the Elder Adam de Monmoth saith That 1. Ed. 3. this word Conquest was found out to denote and distinguish the certain Edward because two of the same name were Predecessors to this King and to the Conqueror who claimed the Crown as Heir to Edward the Confessor but saith he we call him the Conqueror for that he overcame Harold Duke William himself claimed to be King of England as Successor and Adopted Heir of the Confessor by his Will and Harold's renounceing of his Title by Oath The Register of St. Albans Matth. Paris and others attest That the Barons of England did homage to him as Successor and he relied on them in his Forreign Wars and the Check given to him by the Kentish Men and the Forces gathered by the Abbot of St. Albans brought him to engage to confirm the Laws of the Confessor and as his Successor by legal Right they admitted him to be their King Volaterus writes That he was made Heir to the Confessor and was Vncle to him Another affirms That Edward by his Will left England to him Paulus AEmilius and Fulgasius are to the same purpose Pope Alexander the 11 th sent him a Banner as Witness that with a safe Conscience he might expel Harold the Tyrant because the Crown was due to him by the Confessors Will and by Harold's Oath Agreeable hereunto are Gemiticensis Walsingham Malmesbury Huntington Ingulphus Paris Pike Wendover Gaxton Gisburn and others The Antient Deeds of the Abby of Westminster which were sometime in my Custody do prove this King William in his Charter to them sets forth his own Title to the Crown thus Beneficio Concessionis Cognati mei gloriosi
Stephanid Descriptio Nobilissimae Civitatis Londoniae in Stow 's Survey c. fol. 704. de sitâ— ejusdem a Monk of Canterbury born as Stow saith in his fore-cited Book of Worshipful Parents in the City of London and who lived in the Reign of King Stephen in his description of it hath these words Inter Nobiles Vrbes Orbis quas fama celebrat Civitas Londonia Regni Anglorum sedes una est quae famam sui latiùs diffundit opes merces longiùs transmittit caput altius extollit Foelix est aëris salubritate Christianâ Religione firmitate munitionum naturâ sitûs honore Civium pudicitiâ matronali ludis etiám quà m jucunda Nobilium foecunda virorum Vrbs ista viris est honorata Id. fol. 705. armis decorata multo habitatore populosa ut tempore Bellicae cladis sub Rege Stephano bello apti ex eâ— exeuntes ostentatui haberentur 20000 Armatorum Equitum 60 mille Peditum aestimarentur Cives Londoniae ubicunque locorum prae omnibus aliis Civibus ornatu morum vestium mensae locutione spectabiles noti habentur Which in English is thus Of all the celebrated Cities in the World this of London is the Metropolis of England a City of a very extensive Fame in its self but much more honourable by the Native Treasure and Commodities which she exporteth Happy is she in the temperature of her Climate in the soundness of her Doctrine strength of her Forts agreeableness of her Situation in the Credit and Reputation of her Citizens the unblemish'd Chastity of the Female Sex innocently pleasant even in her Recreations and honoured with a numerous Train of Nobility The Grandeur of this City chiefly consists in the Properness and Valour of her Men in the bravery of her Armour the multitude of her Inhabitants so that in the fatal Wars in King Stephen's Reign there appeared on a Muster 20000 Horse and 60000 Foot all armed Souldiers The Citizens of London are known and esteemed beyond all other Persons wheresoever they travel for their gentile Deportment their good Apparel their Table and Discourse So that we see from hence that in the Reign of King Stephen who was Nephew to King William the First from whose Death to King Stephen's Reign there were not fifty Years the City of London was very great and powerful but had the English Citizens been all destroyed and had all their Estates and Fortunes been as is so positively affirmed taken away from them by William the First it had been impossible in so short a Time for them to have risen again to that degree of Fame and Renown through all this part of the World as the Historian who was an Eye-Witness of it so credibly assures us My next design is to shew you That from the General Direction of the Writs and Charters in King William the First his Time it is plainly demonstrable that William the pretended Conqueror did not divide all the Lands of England amongst his Norman followers to hold of him 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rob. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dugdal Hist. of St. Pauls in the Appendix fol. 196. ealle his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id est 1. W. Rex Saluto Osmundum Episcopum Saresburiensem Nota Here are English Sheriffs and other English Officers as well as French â— Robertum de Ely Petrum de Valoniis omnesque praefectos suos et fideles Francos et Anglos amicè 2. Willem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mines b'pes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chart. Antique I. Willem gret mines Bishops Here were Engl. Thains Thahi Appellatione viâ—i interdum Nobiles interdum liberae Conditionis Homines interdum Magistratus atque saepenumeâ—o Ministri notantur Gloss. in sin Lambard de pâ—is Angl leg fol. 223. Col. 1. tic Thanus and mind Eorles and ealle mind Thegnes Freneisse and Englisce 3. W. Rex Anglorum Monast. Angl. Vol. 1. fo 185. O. Episcopo Sarisburiensi et L. Abbati Glastoniensi et A. Vicecomiti omnibusque Baronibus Francigenis et Anglis de Sumerseta et de Wiltunscire Salutem 4. Willielmus Rex Angliae Archiepiscopo T. Eboraci Id. fol. 397. et Iusticiariis et Vicecomitibus et omnibus Baronibus Fidelibus suis Francis et Anglis de Eboraciscire et de Carleoli Salutem 5. Willielmus Rex Anglorum Walterio Vicecomiti Id. sol 29. et omnibus Baronibus suis Francigenis et Anglis de Comitatu de Glocestre Salutem 6. Willielmus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum Id. ibid. Fidelibus suis Francigenis et Anglis Salutem 7. Willielmus Rex Anglorum Episcopo de Suthsexa et Vicecomiti Id. ibid. et caeteris Baronibus suis Francigenis et Anglis Salutem 8. Willielmus Rex Angliae Id. Vol. 2. so 845. G. Vicecom ' et Baronibus suis de Caerleil Salutem 9. Willielmus Rex Angliae Thomae Archiepiscopo et Bertramo de Verdun Id. fol. 845. et Baronibus suis Francis et Anglis de Everwicscire Salutem 10. Henricus Rex Angliae Richardo Episcopo London Cart. Antiq. N et Vic' et Praeposito et omnibus Baronibus et Fidelibus suis Francis et Anglis de London et Middlesex Salutem 11. Henricus Rex Angliae Vic' et Baronibus London Id. Ibid. 12. Henricus Dei Gratia Rex Angliae Dugdal Hist. of St. Pauls in the Appendix fol. 197. Archiepiscopis et Episcopis et Comitibus Angliae et Hugoni de Boclande et omnibus Baronibus fidelibus suis Francis et Anglis de Lundonia et de Middlesexa et de tota Anglia Salutem By these Writs and Charters Sir though many more of the like nature might easily be given I think with submission my Argument is firmly maintained and the plain English of them all is no more than this That in William the first 's Time there were English Barons as well as French Barons in Somersetshire and Wiltshire in York-shire and Carlisle in Gloucestershire and in Sussex and the direction of the Writs and Charters is equally given to them both without any difference of Power or Authority mentioned otherwise than that the French Barons had the precedency of the English in those Writs and Charters * As is assersed by the said Anonimus Author against Mr. Petyt p. 151. With what force of truth then can it be defended That the Norman Nobility were at that time the only Nobility I appeal to the World But I pray now hear two Branches of his MAGNA CHARTA or Great Charter which he granted to the English and they run thus 1. Volumus etiam ac firmiter praecipimus concedimus Apud Cl. Lambard LL. Will. pâ—im fol. 170. c. 55. ut omnes liberi homines totius Monarchiae Regni nostri praedicti habeant teneant terras suas possessiones suas bene in pace liberè AB OMNI EXACTIONE
to the King that Iustice might be done him secundum Legem Ierrae and the King sends forth a Writ to summon a County Court The Debate lasted three days before the Freemen of the County of Kent in the presence of many chief Men Bishops and Lords and others skilful in the Laws and the Iudgment passed for the Arch-bishop Lanfrank upon the Uotes of the Freemen This County Court was holden by special Summons and not by adjournment as was allowable by the Saxon Law upon special occasions And this Suit was originally begun and had its final determination in the County Court And the County Courts in those days were of so great esteem that two of the greatest Peers of the Realm one a Norman the other an Italian did cast a Title in fifteen Mannors two Lordships with many Liberties upon the Uotes of the English Freeholders in a County Court and that the Sentence was allowed and commended by the King and submitted to by all But 2. Hundred Courts 2. The Hundred Courts were still continued and they were of two sorts The first whereof was holden twice a Year and all the Free-holders within the Hundred were bound to appear for the service of their Fees and was the Sheriff's Court and such appearances were called the Sheriffs Turnes where it belonged to Sheriffs to enquire of all Personal Offences and of all their Circumstances done within those Hundreds The other was the more ordinary Court belonging to the Lord of the Hundred to whom also belonged the Fines in cases there concerned This Court was to be held once in each Month and no suit to be begun in the King's Court that regularly ought to begin in the Hundred No Distringas to issue forth till three demands made in the Hundred And three Distresses then to issue forth and if upon the fourth the Party appear not execution then to be by Sale of the Distress and the Complainant to receive satisfaction 3. And so likewise were the Court Barons c. continued and the Lords held Pleas either in their own Persons or by their Stewards But not to forget Sir your Question I shall now shew you what the Soveraign Court of Parliament was and whom it consisted of in the Saxon Times and for this I think it will be needless to give you any more than one Instance which as by the way it does impregnably assert That the Commons of England were an Essential and Constituent Part of the Saxon General Councils so doth it I think fully and clearly refute and bassle that novel Erroneous Notion The Anonimous Authâ—r p. 20. in the Margin viz. That there are no Commons to be found in the Saxon great Councils Idem p. 13 14. nor any thing that tends towards the proof of theâ— Commons of those Times to have had any share in making Laws in those Councils The memorable Instance is the mighty Law of Tythes which was made and ordained A Rege Baronibus Populo Lambard de priscis Augl Legibus c. â— fol. 139 By the King his Barons and his People Spelm. Concil Tom. 1. f. 621. Now William the first in that little time of Rest he had from Forreign Wars with the French King and his Neighbouring Princes to Normandy did apply both it and himself in the setting of Laws here which was done not ex plenitudine Regiae Potestatis no nor by the Norman Barons co-operating with that Power but by the joint Advice and unanimous Consent of the Grand Council of the Lords and wise Men of the Kingdom of England To prove which I shall produce the Testimony of Ancient Writers whom no Man of Historical understanding can modestly impeach of Partiality Faction or Interest in the Case in Question 1. The first shall be taken out of the Chronicle of Litchfield Lambard fol. 158. which tells us That this William in the fourth Year of his Reign at London Consilio Baronum suorum by the Advice of his Barons caused a General Meeting or Assembly to be summoned Per universos Angliae Comitatus omnes Nobiles Sapientes sud Lege eruditos ut eorum Leges consuetudines audiret i.e. of all the Nobility wise Men and such as were skilled in the Laws through all the Counties of England to hear what their Laws and Customs were And after this was done at the request of the English Community he did consent that they should be confirmed and so they were ratified and kept throughout all his Kingdom The words are Ad preces Communitatis Anglorum ex illo die Magna Authoritate veneratae per universum Regnum corroboratae conservatae sunt Leges Sancti Regis Edwardi prae caeteris Regni Legibus From this Testimony I think it will plainly appear 1. That the Barones sui here of William cannot absolutely exclude the English and only signify his Norman Barons upon those Authorities and Reasons I have already offered to prove That there were equally Barones Francigeni Angli nostri in his Time as you may see in my Argument under the third Question 2. That the King having by the Counsel of these his Barons summoned all the Nobility wise Men and those that were skilled in the Laws of the Land throughout all the Counties of England he then and there ratified and confirmed the Laws of St. Edward 3. And to prove that this general Assembly of the Nobility wise Men and able Lawyers were a PARLIAMENT I shall now give you the Judgment of Mr. Selden Selden's Tit. of Hon. f. 580. in his own words which are these viz. That William the first in the fourth Year of his Reign or MLXX. which was the Year wherein he first brought the Bishops and Abbots under the Tenure of Barony Consilio Baronum suorum saith Hoveden In Hen. 2. p. 343 E. Lond. out of a Collection of Laws written by Glanvill Fecit summoniri per universos Consulatus Angliae Anglos Nobiles Sapientes sua Lege eruditos ut eorum jura Consuetudines ab ipsis audiret And twelve were returned out of every County who shewed what the Customs of the Kingdom were which being written by the hands of Aldred Arch bishop of York and Hugo Bishop of London were with the Assent of the same Barons for the most part confirmed in that Assembly which was a Parliament of that Time And a little lower he saith This might be the same Parliament wherein the Controversy between Thomas Arch-bishop of York he was consecrated after the death of Aldred the same Year and to the same Year this Controversy is attributed and Vlstan Bishop of Worcester touching certain Possessions was determined So that from hence 't is easy to observe That 1. There were English Men in this Council by the words ANGLOS NOBILES c. And 2. Besides the Confirmation of the Laws of St. Edward here mentioned it may reasonably be supposed That the Law for bringing the Bishops and
Regis Edwardi In his second Charter dated Anno 15. of his Reign he saith in honour of King Edward who made me his Heir and adopted me to Rule over this Nation In his Charter dated 1088. of the Liberties of St. Martins the Great in the Manuscript thereof are these words In Example of Moses who built the Tabernable and of Solomon who built the Temple Ego Guilielmus Dei dispositione consanguinitatis Haereditate Anglorum Basileus c. The Charter of Hen. 1. his Son to this Abby in honour of Edward my Kinsman who adopted my Father and his Children to be Heirs to this Kingdom c. In another Charter of Hen. 1. in the Book of Ely he calls himself the Son of King William the Great who by Hereditary Right succeeded King Edward It is true as to his pretence of Title by the Will of the Confessor Mathew Paris objecteth That the Devise was void being without the consent of the Barons To which may be answered That probably the Law might be so in Hen. 3. Time when Paris wrote and was so taken to be in the Statute of Carlisle and in the Case of King Iohn But at the time of Duke William's Invasion the Law was taken to be That a Kingdom might be transferred by Will So was that of Sixtus Rufus and Asia came to the Romans by the Will of King Attalus the words by Annaeus Florus are Populus Romanus Bonorum meorum HAERES esto Bithinia came to the Romans by the last Will of their King Nicomedes which is remembred by Vtropius together with that of Libia Cicero in his Oration tells us That the Kingdom of Alexandria by the last Will of their King was devolved to Rome And Prasutagus Rex Icenorum in England upon his Death-bed gave his Kingdom to the Emperor Nero. As to Examples in this Point at Home This King William the first by his Will gave England to his younger Son William Rufus King Stephen claimed by the Will of Henry the first King Henry the eight had Power by Act of Parliament to order the Succession of the Crown as he pleased by Will And the Lords of the Council in Queen Mary's Time wrote to her That the Lady Iane's Title to the Crown was by the Will and Letters of Edward the sixth As. the case of Hen. 8. was by Act of Parliament so Duke William after he had conquered Harold was by the general consent of the Barons and People of England accepted for their King and so his Title by Will confirmed And he both claimed and governned the Kingdom as an Heir and Successor confirmed their Antient Laws and ruled according to them This appears by Chronica Chronicorum speaking of William the Bastard King of England and Duke of Normandy he saith That whereas as St. Edward had no Heir of England William having conquered Harold the Vsurper obtained the Crown under this Condition That he should inviolably observe those Laws given by the said Edward It is testified likewise by many of our Historians That the Ancient Laws of England were confirmed by Duke William Iornalensis saith That out of the Merchen-Lage West-Saxon-Lage and Dane-Lage the Confessor composed the Common Law which remains to this day Malmesbury who lived in Duke William's Time saith That the Kings were sworn to observe the Laws of the Confessor so called saith he because he observed them most religiously But to make this Point clear out of Ingulphus he saith in the end of his Chronicle I Ingulphus brought with me from London into my Monastery Crowland the Laws of the most Righteous King Edward which my Lord King William did command by his Proclamation to be Authentick and Perpetual and to be observed throughout the whole Kingdom of England upon pain of most heinous punishment The Lieger-Book of the Abby of Waltham commends Duke William for restoring the Laws of the English-men out of the Customs of their Country Radburn follows this Opinion and these Laws of Edward the Confessor are the same in part which are continued in our GREAT CHARTER of LIBERTIES A Manuscript entituled De Gestis Anglorum saith That at a Parliament at London 4. W. 1. the Lawyers also present that the King might hear their Laws he established Saint Edward's Laws they being formerly used in King Edgar's Time There is also mention of the twelve Men out of every County to deliver truly the Estate of their Laws The same is remembred by Selden's History of Tythes and Titles of Honour and in a Manuscript Chronicle bound with the Book of Ely in Cotton's Library One of the worthy Gentlemen from whom I differ in Opinion was pleased to say That if William the Conqueror did not introduce the Laws of Normandy into England yet he conceives our Laws to be brought out of France hither in the time of some other of our Kings who had large Territories in France and brought in their Laws hither else he wonders how our Laws should be in French Sir I shall endeavour to satisfy his Wonder therein by and by but first with your leave I shall offer to you some Probabilities out of the History That the Laws of England were by some of those Kings carried into France rather than the Laws of France brought hither This is expresly affirmed by Paulus Iovius who writes That when the English Kings reigned in a great part of France they taught the French their Laws Sabellicus a Venetian Historian writes That the Normans in their Manners and Customs and Laws followed the English Polydore Virgil contradicting himself in another place than before cited relates That in our King Hen. 6. Time the Duke of Bedford called together the Chief Men of all the Cities in Normandy and delivered in his Oration to them the many Benefits that the English afforded them especially in that the English gave to them their Customs and Laws By the Chronicle of Eltham H. 5. sent to Cane in Normandy not only Divines but English Common Lawyers by the agreement at Troys So there is much more probability that the Laws of England were introduced into France and Normandy than that the Laws of Normandy or any other part of France were introduced into England If the Normans had been Conquerors of England as they were not but their Duke was only a Conqueror of Harold and received as Hereditary King of England yet is it not probable they would have changed our Laws and have introduced theirs because they did not use to do so upon other Conquests The Normans conquered the Isles of Guernsey and Iersey yet altered not their Laws which in their local Customs are like unto ours The like they did in Sicily Naples and Apulia where they were Conquerors yet the Ancient Laws of those Countries were continued I hope Mr. Speaker I have by this time given some satisfaction to the Worthy Gentlemen who differed from me that the Laws of England were not imposed upon us by the Conqueror nor brought over
hither either out of Normandy or any other part of Franâ—e but are our Ancient Native Lawâ— I must now come to indeavour also to satisfy the Wonder If they were not brought out of Normandy or some other part of France how come they then to be written in the French Language Sir It is to me an Argument That because they are written in French therefore they were not brought in by Duke William the Norman for the French Tongue was not the Language of Duke William and the Normans They had not been then in Duke William's Time past four descents in that part of France and it is improbable that they in so short a Time should lose their Native Tongue and take up and use the Language of another Countrey which was conquered by them The Normans came from Sweden Gothland Norway and Denmark between whose Languages and with the High-Dutch their Neighbours there is a great affinity but between these Languagâ— and the French there is none at al. Vlphilus holds that the Dutch Tongue came from the Goths Iornandus saith The Goth's Tongue came from the Dutch All agree That between those Languages and the French there is no affinity It is so improbable that Duke William should cause our Laws to be in French that when he proclaimed them as Ingulphus testifies he commanded that they should be used in the same Language they were written in English to his Justices and gives the Reason Lest by Ignonorance we should happen to break them But it hath been further objected If Duke William did not cause our Laws to be written in French what then should be the Reason that the Grand Custumary of his Norman Laws were written in the French Tongue The Reason thereof is given That the Normans being a Rough and Martial People had few Clerks amongst them but made use of those French amongst whom they then lived and whose Language they then began to be acquainted with and to understand But when they were in England they had not so much use of those Clerks and that Language but more of the English And probably it might be that the Confessor had been so long in France that he was more Master of that Language than the Normans and that the Normans understood that Language better than the English and thereupon the Custumary was written in the French Tongue But it doth not therefore follow that Duke William must cause the English Laws to be written in the French Tongue but it is more likely that he might cause them to be continued in their Native Idiom which was much nearer in affinity to his own Northern Language than the French was That the French Tongue was not introduced as to our Laws and other things by Duke William into England appears in that the French was in great use with us here both before and some-time after his Invasion Beda affirms That in Anno 640 it was the Custom of England to send their Daughters into the Monasteries of France to be brought up there and that Ethelbert Ethelwulf Ethelred and other Saxon Kings married into the Royal Blood of France Gâ—â—bor notes That before the Time of Duke William the Normans and English did so link together that they were a Terror to Forreign Nations Ingulphus saith That the Saxon Hand was used until the Time of King Alfred long before the Time of Duke William and that he being brought up by French Teachers used the French Hand And he notes many Charters of Edward and Edgar written in the French Hand and some Saxon mixt with it as in the Book of Dooms-day That Edward the Confessoâ— by reason of his long being in France was turned into the French Fashion and all England with him But that William the first commanded our Laws to be written in the English Tongue because most Men understood it and that there be many of his Patents in the Saxon Tongue I suppose we may be satisfied that William the first did not cause our Laws to be written in French though the French Language was much in use here before his Time And if he did not introduce the French Language into England the Argument falls That because they are written in French therefore he brought them in But Sir I shall offer you some Conjectures how it came that our Laws were Written in French which I suppose might be begun in the Time of our K. Hen. 2. who was a Frenchman born and had large Territories and Relations in France and with French-men of whom great Numbers came into England and they and the English matched and lived together both here and in some parts of France Hence it came to pass as Giraldus Cambrensis notes that the English Tongue was in great use in Burdeaux and in other parts of France where the English-men were resident and conversant the like was when the French-men were so conversant in England Mathew Westminster writes That he was in hazard of losing his Living because he understood not the French Tongue and that in King Hen. 2. and King Stephen's Time who had large Dominions in France their Native Country and the Number of French and of Matches with them was so great that one could hardly know who was French and who English Gervasius Tilsberiensis observes the same And Brackland writes That in Rich. 1. Time preaching in England was in the French Tongue Probably Pleading might be so likewise and in King Iohn's Time French was accounted as the Mother Tongue There are scarce any Deeds of our Kings in French before Hen. 2. his Time the most are in Ed. 1. and Ed. 2. their Time That our Laws were pleaded and written in French before Edw. 3. his Time appears by the Stat. 36. Edw. 3. c. 15. which recites the Mischief of the Law being in French and enacts That the Law shall thereafter be pleaded in English and enrolled in Latin This is one ground of the mistaken Opinion of Lambard Polydore Speed and others That Duke William brought in hither both the Norman Laws and Language which I apprehend to be fully answered and the contrary manifested by what I have said before on this Subject Polydore's Mistake may appear the more when he asserts that by the Stat. 36. Edw. 3. Matters are to be enrolled in English which is contrary to the express Words that they are to be enrolled in Latin Many of our Law-Books were written in Latin before the Norman Invasion as appears by the Ancient Rolls of Mannors and Court Barons and our Old Authors Glanvill Bracton Tilsbury Hengham Fleta the Register and the Book of Entries The Records at Westminster and the Tower and other Records yet extant are in Latin and many Books of our Law in Latin were translated into English about Edw. 3. his Time Most of our Statutes from Edw. 1. his Time till about the middle of Hen. 7. his Reign are enrolled in French notwithstanding this Stat. 36. Edw. 3. except the Stat. 6. R. 2. some others
Absolute Conquest be true then either the Arch-bishops Bishops Abbots Priors Earls Barons and Commons in Parl. 15. R. 2. knew it or they did not That they were ignorant of it is not easily to be presumed because they lived within ten of three hundred Years ago and no doubt but there were some Learned Men among them that knew the ancient Constitutions of the Nation And if they did then were they guilty of the greatest madness and folly that ever was when the Commons prayed that King En plein Parlement que nostre Seigneur le Roy sâ—it estoise ausi frank en sa Regalie Liberte Dignite Royale en son temps come ascuns de cest Noble Progenitors Rot. Parl. 15. R. 2. N. 13. Roys d' Engâ— furent en lour temps nient contresteant ascun Estatut on Ordinance fait devant cest hures a contraire mesment en derogation de la Libertee Franchise de la Corone qu'il soit adnulle de nul force puis touz les Prelâ—tes Seigneures Temporels prierent en mesine le manere sur ce nostre Seigneur ledit Roy mercia les dits Seigneurs Communes de la grant tendresse affection quâ—ils avoient a la Salvation de son Honeur de son Estate a cause que lour dit priers requestes luy semblerent honestes resonables il sagrea assenta pleinement a ycelles Now can any Man of but an ordinary understanding think That the Parliament intended by this Act to out themselves of all their Ancient and Legal Rights and totally to give up their Estates and Fortunes to the King 's absolute Disposition Is it possible almost to be supposed that they designed to confound and overthrow the whole Polity and Government of the Kingdom and reduce all to the Arbiâ—rary Will and Power of a New Conqueror without a Conquest What Man is there that is not become servile to Common Opinion and implicit Suppositions of so Inventive a Faculty as to conjecture such grand Absurdities And yet these and many more are the direct Consequences of those that endeavour to maintain and justify these pernicious Principles For the Petition and Law is that Rich. 2. should be as free in his Regality Liberty and Dignity Royal as any of his Noble Progenitors Kings of England then it naturally follows That he was to be as Free and Absolute as William the Conqueror And then what is the Conclusion and Result The Anonymus Author against Mr. Petyt p. 43. But that the English were neither to have Estates nor Fortunes left them and therefore it could be no great Matter to them by what Law Right or Property Men held their Estates And so farewel to Parliaments But we know and are well assured That never any such Imagination entred into the Minds of the Lords and Commons in 15. R. 2. Ras. Stat. 15 R. 2. f. 161. not only by the Laws made then in that Parliament but by those in the next Parliament held the next Year after Id. 16. R. 2. fo 163. The Commons granted to the King That pur la grant Affiance Affection and Assurance for the great Trust Rot. Parl. 16 R. 2. N. 8. Affection and Assurance they had in the Noble Person of the King in his most excellent Knowledg and his most sage Discretion and also for the great tenderness they had for his Crown and the Kingdom les drots dicels and the Rights thereof s' accorderant assenterent they agreed and assented in full Parliament That the King by good deliberation and Assent of the Lords of his Wise Council might take the whole Matter touching the Statute of Provisors to him and that he should have full Power and Authority to modify the said Statute against the Pope and Court of Rome and to Ordain by the Deliberation and Assent aforesaid in such manner as he should think best to the Honour of God and of Holy Church and the Salvation of the Rights of his Crown and of the Estate and Profit of this Realm and to put the same in execution when done And that au proschein Parlement at the next Parliament all the Matter aforesaid should be fully shewn as ditz Communes to the said Commons and the Reason thereof is memorable viz. au sin quils purront alors par bon avisement agreer si Dieu plest a yâ—elles That the Commons then might upon good advice agree thereto if it should so please God From all which it evidently appears 1. That no Law could be made in Richard the Second's Time or in any of his Progenitors Kings of England which cannot but take in William the First without the Assent of the Lords and Commons in Parliament 2. That none of those Kings could abrogate or make void such Laws when made without the like assent 3. That though the General Phrase viz. That King Richard should be and stand as free in his Regality Liberty and Dignity Royal in his Time as any of his Progenitors were in Theirs and that the King says That the Desires and Requests of the Commons seemed honest and reasonable to him and therefore he gave his Royal Assent to that Law Yet neither the King nor the Lords could ever believe that it was honest and reasonable or that it was any part of the Liberty and Dignity of the Crown to change the whole Frame and Constitution of the English Government by altering and making Laws at Will by taking away the Subjects Possessions and bestowing them upon whomsoever he pleased by destroying the ancient Course and Power of Parliaments and in a word by turning all things topsy turvy And thus we have the Evidence and Proof of the greatest Authority that can be given against the Absurdity as well as falseness of King William's Absolute Conquest viz. a Law and Statute of the Kingdom To conclude all I shall make bold to borrow the words of that great Assertor of the Protestant Cause against the Intollerable Uâ—urpations of Papal Power the so eminently Learned and Pious Thomas now Lord Bishop of Lincoln in his Treatise of Popery or the Principles and Positions approved by the Church of Rome c. in Quarto pag. 116. and say If any Man can truly and impartially as to the sum and substance of the Testimonies here cited for I neither need nor will undertake for every particular Circumstance or Typographical Error either shew 1. That I have misquoted the Authors and Books I cite and that such Passages do not occur in the places quoted 2. Or if they do occur that I have mistook their meaning as to the Purposes for which they are produced I say If any Man can and will ingeniouâ—â—y shew me either of these I shall be so far from not confessing my Fault or declaring how I was misled into it that I shall have a bearty value for any such friendly admonition and receive it with all the grateful acknowledgment as becomes me For my only design is the Detection of Error and Establishment of Truth to future Generations and not to have the World imposed upon by the Tricks Impostures and Artifices which too many have been guilty of either to promote their own particular Gain and Interest to which such care not what they Sacrifice or upon a far worse and more grievous Consideration to bring the whole Nation into dividing Parties and Factions and thus by Embroyls and Entanglements to throw them at last into fatal Convulsions to the destruction both of Prince and People FINIS
Argumentum Anti-Normannicum OR AN ARGUMENT PROVING From Ancient Histories and Records THAT William Duke of Normandy Made no absolute Conquest of England by the Sword in the sense of our Modern Writers Being an Answer to these four Questions VIZ. I. Whether William the First made an Absolute Conquest of this Nation at his first Entrance II. Whether he cancelled and abolished all the Confessor 's Laws III. Whether He divided all our Estates and Fortunes between himself and his Nobles IV. Whether it be not a grand Error to affirm That there were no English-men in the Common Council of the whole Kingdom London Printed by I. D. for Mat. Keinton Ionath Robinson Sam. Sprint 1682. An Explanation of the Frontispiece warranted by the Authorities cited in the following Argument NO sooner had the * King Harold victorious over the K. of Denmark Tosta Harold's Brother at York Valiant HAROLD conquered the Danish King and his own Brother the daring TOSTA but news was brought him †William D. of Normandy at the same time lands in Sussex That the NORMAN Duke was arrived at Pemsey in Sussex whereupon with haste he went to meet him and at * Harold meets him at Hastings where they â—ight Hastings gave the NORMAN battel which proved fatal to him For he was as you may see * Harold slain slain between the NORMAN Long-Bows and ENGLISH Spears leaving the Duke VICTOR in the Field WILLIAM proud with this Success marches with all speed up to Berkhamstead near LONDON The D. oomes up to London The Rest of the ENGLISH if they had look'd upon his coming as a Design to conquer the Nation and not to assert his pretended legal Title against HAROLD were then able to have driven him back to his own Country or at least found him a Tumulary in this for there was not a fifth part of the Strength of the Nation that felt the Force of the Arms but Duke WILLIAM and the ENGLISH soon came to an Agreement and the latter entred into solemn Compact to make him King Enters into Compact with the English to make him King Thereupon BRITANNIA holds forth to him the Scepter with one Hand Britan. gives him the Scepter And With the other shews him the excellent and most famous Laws of St. EDWARD And St. Edward's Laws to keep As also at the same Time a Noble Prelat tenders him the Coronation-Oath †A Bishop tenders the Coronation Oath The ENGLISH first being asked by the Bishop If they would assent to have the Duke their KING and if he should then be crowned To which they all with an unanimous consent answered Yea Yea Whereupon he takes the Coronation-Oath The VVilliam took at his Coronation the sence of which take as follows This Scepter Fairest Queen I most thankfully receive Sacramentum Willielmi Seâ—â—oris Ante â—â—stare S. Petri Apostoli coram Clero Populo jurejurando Promisit se velle Sanctas Dei Ecclesias ac Rectores earum defendere necnon cunctom Populum sibi subjectum justè ac Regali providentia regere rectam Legem Statuere tenere rapinas in justaque judicia penitùs interdicere Hoveden pars Prior. fol. 258. l. 14. Exacto prius coram omni Populo jurejurando quod se modestè erga subjectos ageret aequo sure Anglos quo Francos tractaret Malmsb. lib. 3. fol. 154. b. l. 8. Rex pro bono pacis juravit super omnes Reliquias Ecclesiae Sancti Albani Tactisque Sacrosanctis â—vangeliâ—s bonas approbatas Antiquas Regni Leges quas Sancti ac pii Angliae Reges ejus Antecessores Maxime Rex Edwardus Statuit inviolabiliter observare Mat. Paris Vitae Viginti trium Sancti Albani Abbatuum fol. 48. l. 37. and with it do solemnly Promise and Swear to govern both Church and State in Peace And I vow to Rule my Subjects with that Iustice and prudent Care as becomes a good King I will with the Advice and Consent of my Great Council enact right Law Which done * The Invocation be Witness all ye Saints that to the utmost of my Power I will my self religiously keep and observe it For what can be more vain and inconsistent with the common Reason of all Mankind than for a Prince publickly and solemnly to ordain a Law and the next moment after to break and abrogate it in his Closet All Rapines I will forbid and all false Judgments no illegal or ARBITRARY ACTS under pretence of the Preragative-Royal will I suffer or permit to the oppression of my ENGLISH Subjects between whom and my Normans I will administer EQUAL RIGHT And that God Angels my NORMANS and You O Sacred Queen may all be Witnesses and Parties to the sincerity of my Heart That I will not take the English-men's Inheritances by Injustice or thrust them out of their Paternal Possessions by wrong That I have not nor will pretend to any Absolute or Despotical Power over their Lives Liberties and Estates nor violate break or aâ—ter the Fundamental Rights of the Kingdom as Tyrants do who only design to enslave their People I do here solemnly promise and swear in the presence of all Ye mighty Powers inviolably to observe and keep the Sacred Laws of St. Edward my Kinsman Which said the Arch-bishop of York sets the Imperial Crown upon WILLIAM's Head and thus of a Duke of NORMANDY he was created KING of ENGLAND TO MY Worthy FRIEND The Learned Author of Argumentum Anti-Normannicum GReat Britain fairest Queen of all the Isles Inrich'd at Home with bounteous Natures smiles Thou such a self-sufficiency dost own All Countries need thy Stores but thou want'st none Divided from the World Thou to thy self art one The Sea and Continent proclaim Thee Great Proud Monarchs have lain Captives at thy Feet The Scales of th' Western World are in thy Hand Each Kingdom 's Fate depends on thy Command Where e're thy Friendship and thy Force combine Against that State in vain the Rest design To Thee no Ills from Forreign Foes can come The basest and more dangerous are at Home No Desert Beasts of Prey thy Land does bear But yet worse Beasts within thy Bowels are Who would thy Rights and Ancient Glories tear Those having lost their Liberty of Mind From vanquish'd Sires a weak excuse would find Are these thy Sons Or Marks of thy disgrace Who own themselves a slavish conquer'd Race The Norman Duke on Terms receiv'd the Crown Swore He 'd by Edward's Laws support his Throne Which sure no absolute Uictor would have done That Title which his Great Successor hath Came from the Pact not from the Breach of Faith That gives the Bounds to all incroaching Might And sets the Banks about the Subjects Right Who pulls them down le ts in a raging Sea Which drowns and swallows up all Property Who e're attempt to let that Torrent in At their own Houses may the Waste begin Let them for others Till
of the Realm This Law of the Realm Cited in White 's Sacred Laws p. 69. or Land was looked upon in the judgment of these Parliaments as * 27. E. 1. the Law of Ancient Time †25. E. 3. of old Time used and * 42. E. 3. the Old Law whose Age made it the more venerable and gave an addition of honour to it Well having thus shewn you the Coronation of King William the First and given you the Solemn Oath he at the same time took even before his Consecration that so he might give all possible satisfaction to the English of his resolving to rule accordingly and also having made it plain that it was the same in substance with that the Ancient Saxons took before him I shall now descend briefly to set before you some of his own Charters as likewise some of William the Second's and of Henry the First 's his Children and succeeding Kings and from them evidence to you I hope demonstrably that it was not so much his Conquest he relied upon when he was setled in this Imperial Throne as his claim to the Crown of England Iure Hereditario by Right of Inheritance And for the proof of this be pleased to accept of these ensuing Instances 1. In Nomine Patris Carta Antiqua litera D. N. 4. Filii Spiritus Sancti Amen Ego Willielmus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum Haereditario Iure Factus 2. In Nomine Patris Carta 4. E. 4. m. 27. per Inspex Filii Spiritus Sancti Amen Ego Willielmus Rex Anglorum Haereditario Iure Factus 3. In nomine Sanctae individuae Trinitatis Monast. Anglican Vol. 1. fol. 317. Ego Willielmus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum notum facio omnibus tam posteris quam praesentibus Archiepiscopis Episcopis Abbatibus Comitibus Baronibus omnibus â—idelibus Francis Anglis Quod cum in Angliam venissem in sinibus Hasting cum excercitu applicuisâ—em contra hostes meos qui mihi Regnum Angliae injustè conabatur auferre 4. In ore gladii saith William the First 's Charter Carta Westmper Inspex 1. E. 4. parte septima m. 26. Mr. Seld. Review p. 483. Regnum adeptus sum Anglorum devicto Haroldo Rege cum suis Complicibus qui mihi Regnum cum providentia Dei destinatum beneficio concessionis Domini Cognati mei gloriosi Regis Edwardi concessum conati sunt auferre c. Come we now to his Second Son William Rufus 5. Willielmus Rex Anglorum Carta Regis Willielmi Rusi vide Monast. Anglican Vol. 1. fol. 352. Willielmo Vicecomiti Filio Baldewini omnibus Baronibus suis Ministris qui habitant in Devonescira Salutem Notifico vobis quod mea condonatione Ecclesia beati Olavi Regis Martyris à Monachis belli aedificata in honore beati Nicholai quam cum omni terra quae pertinet ad Ecclesiam suprascripti Martyris meo privilegio videlicet Literis Sigillo liberam facio ita liberam quietam per omnia cum saca soca thol theam infangenetheof warpeni murdro omnibus consuetudinibus operibus auxiliis sicut Pater meus liberam fecit Ecclesiam Sancti Martini de bello ubi hostem devicit ubi Coronam Regni haereditariam sibi bellando adquisivit T. Walchelino Wintoniensi Episcopo Rogero Bigot apud Wintoniam From William Rufus proceed we to his Brother Henry the First And saith he 6. In Nomine Sanctae Individuae Trinitatis Ex Hist. Eliensis Eccles. M. S. in Bibl. Bodleana inter Codices Cant. I. 58. lib. 3 fol 2. a. Monast. Anglican Vol 1. fol. 95. Patris Filii Spiritus Sancti Anno Incarnationis Dominicae MCVIII Indictione ... Anno vero Pontificatus Domini Paschalis Papae secundi ✚ Regni quoque mei similiter ✚ Ego Henricus providente divina clementia Rex Anglorum Normannorum Dux Willielmi Magni Regis Filius qui Edwardo Regi Haereditario Iure successit in Regnum c. 7. Again Monast. Anglican Vol. 2. fol 845. Ego Henricus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum Filius Magni Regis Willielmi qui beatae memoriae Edwardo in Regnum Successit 8. To give you one Charter more Ex MS. Domini Rogeri Owen Equit. Aurati The words of that of Henry the First to the Abby of Westminster are Pro memoria Edwardi Cognati mei qui Patrem meum liberosque illius in Regnum suum adoptivos haeredes instituit And thus have I given you as it were a three-fold Cord not easily to be snapt asunder to bind hard my Assertion and to convince those who will not suffer themselves to be over-run by an obstinate Prejudice or captivated by a byass'd Interest that our first William when he came in gained not such an absolute Uictory as is pretended over this Nation for when he came in he had not subdued the fifth part of it but came to the Crown by the Election and Consent of the Clergy and People And foedus pepigit he made a Solemn Covenant with the English to observe and keep those Laws which were bonae approbatae antiquae Leges Regni And this Sir is what I shall endeavour clearly to make out to you in my Answer to your Second Question The Second Question Whether this first William did abolish all the English Laws Quest. 2. and changed the whole frame and Constitution of the Government ANd doubtless not for as my Lord Coke saith Lord Coke's Preface to his 8th Report The Grounds of our Common Laws at this day are beyond the Memory or Register of any beginning Ex vitâ Abbatis Sancti Albani and the same which the Norman Conqueror then found within this Realm of England And those Laws he swore to observe which were good approved and ancient Now that these were only his Norwegian Laws sure none can or ought to believe after they have throughly examined these plain Truths which I shall here offer to their fair perusal 1. If they please to consider what was the Title of the Laws called the Laws of King William the First published by Mr. Selden with his learned Notes upon Eadmer and since with the Saxon Laws Why truly the Title was plainly this These are the Laws and Customs which William the King granted to the whole People of England after the Conquest of the Land â—elden ad Eadmerum fol. 173. These were those which the Kingâ— Edward his Cousin held before him Ce sont les Leis les Custumes que li Reis William grantut a tut le Peuple de Engleterre apres le Conquest de la Terre Ice les meâ—smes que le Reis Edward sun Cosin tint devant luy In these Laws recited by Hoveden in the Life of King Henry the Second King Edward's Laws are confirmed in these words This we command That
all Men have and hold the Law of Edward the King in all things together with those Laws which we have added for the profit of the English So that here was no abolishing of the Old Saxon Laws that he found when he came to govern this Kingdom nor any setting up of new ones in their stead No so far was he from any such Designs of introducing new Laws which must needs be then the absolute Results of Arbitrary Will and Pleasure to shew the sad and calamitous Effects of an entire Conquest to the overthrow of those so firmly established already that you see he gives his Confirmation to King Edward's Laws which indeed generally speaking were but a Collection of those the Historian calls Bonas Leges ab antiquis regiâ—â—us latas Malmesb. de Gest. Regn. Angl. lib. 2. fo 42. l. 21. non quod ille statuerit sed quod observaverit not so much the Laws of his own making as those he caused to be strictly observed and put in execution From the Title of his Laws proceed we 2. To the Confirmation it self and here I shall acquaint you with the manner of it in all its necessary Particulars This William the First with his French and Normans putting many hardships upon the English which occasioned great Disorders and Convulsions in the State several of the Saxons chief Nobility betook themselves to Arms for the sake of their Avitae Consuetudines to which they bore an immutable and an immortal Love and which they feared some were endeavouring to take away and change them though on the other hand they were obstinately resolved never to part from them Seld. Tit. of Hon. fol. 523. for they had à Majoribus didicisse aut Libertatem aut Mortem and they would rather undergo the worst Calamities of a more cruel War than they would tamely quit and abandon those dear Laws and Customs to which they had so long been used and were so well acquainted with The King hereupon to keep the People in a greater observance of their Duty Ex lib. Monast. de Litchfield Co. 8. Rep. in Pref. and withal not forgetting the Oath he had taken at his Coronation caused twelve of the most discreet and wise Men in every Shire throughout all England to take an Oath before himself to deal sincerely and uprightly without turning either ad dextram out sinistram that is as my Lord Coke interprets it neither to flatter Prerogative or extend Priviledg and to declare and lay open the Constitutions of their Laws and Customs without concealing adding or in any sort varying from the Truth But finding William and his Norman Barons who were Norwegians by extraction were for introducing the Norwegian Laws Apud Lambard fol. 149. This the English thought a more killing blow than that of his Victory and therefore Vniversi Compatriotae qui Leges edixerant tristes affecti being all of them in a great Consternation they beseeched him that they might still retain Leges proprias their own Laws and enjoy Consuetudines Antiquas their Ancient Customs in which their Fathers lived ipsi in eis nati nutriti sunt quia durum Id. Ibid. valde foret sibi suscipere Leges ignotas judicare de eis quas nesciebant and themselves were born and bred up in because it would be very hard to receive Laws unknown and to judg of those things they understood not And when William denied they warmly reinforced their Requests and then conjured him per Animam Regis Edwardi by the Soul of King Edward qui sibi post diem suum concesserat Coronam Regnum cujus erant Leges that he would not impose a Yoke upon them which they were not able to bear and which would only gall their Necks and make them the more fretting and unruly King William finding there was no Remedy tho' he was long resolute at last in a Common Council of his Kingdom yields and by his Magna Charta the ground-work of all those that after followed he confirmed to them their Ancient Laws Apud Cl. Lambard fol. 158. ad praeces Communitatis Anglorum Blessing it with the Seal of Security and Wish of Eternity closing it up with this general Co. li. 8. in Pref. And we further Command That all Men keep and observe duly the Laws of King Edward rearing up the Frontispiece of his Gracious Work with his Glorious Stile Ex Libro MS. de legib antiq Willielmus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum Dux Normannorum Omnibus hominibus suis Francis Anglicis Salutem Statuimus imprimis super omnia unum Deum per totum Regnum nostrum venerari unam fidem Christi semper inviolatam custodiri pacem securitatem concordiam judicium justitiam inter Anglos Normannos Francos Britones Walliae Cornubiae Pictos Scotos Albaniae similiter inter Insulanos Provincias Patrias quae pertinent ad Coronam dignitatem defensionem observationem honorem Regni nostri inter omnes nobis Subjectos per Vniversam Monarchiam Regni Britanniae firmiter inviolabiliter observari Ingulphus Secretary to William in Normandy and afterwards made Abbot of Crowland by him is an unexceptionable Witness to prove that the English Laws were then anew confirmed and he saith †Ex Ingulpho Abbate Crowlandense fol. 519. b. l. 37. I brought this time with me from London Attuli eadem vice mecum de Londoniis in meum Monasterium Leges aequissimi Regis Edwardi quas Dominus meus inclitus Rex Willielmus authenticas esse perpetuas per totum Regnum Angliae inviolabiliter tenendas sub poenis gravissimis proclamâret suis Justitiariis commendâret eodem idiomate quo editae sunt where he had been about the business of his House to my Monastery the Laws of the most just King Edward which my Lord William the renowned King of England had proclaimed authentick and perpetual all England over to be kept under most grievous Penalties and commended to his Justices in the same Tongue they were set forth And this Proclamation was not all to allay the Storms which perhaps the violation of these Laws had raised For the good of Peace saith an ancient Monk he swears upon all the Reliques of the Church of Saint Albane touching the Holy Gospel Abbot Fredrick ministring the Oath * Mat. Paris in vit Fretherici Abbatis S. Albani fol. 48. l. 39. the good and approved ancient Laws of the Realm Bonas approbatas antiquas Regni Leges quas Sancti Pii Angliae Reges ejus Antecessores maxime Rex Edwardus statuit inviolabiliter observare which the Holy and Pious Kings of England his Ancestors and especially King Edward set forth inviolably to keep Thus we see the Mighty Conqueror is himself conquered and solemnly renouncing all Arbitrary Will and Power submits his Will to be regulated and governed by Justice and the
and reduce themselves back to this notorious Dilemma viz. either to live Uassals and Slaves under the English or else vertere solum return to Normandy from whence they came There is one thing more which I cannot but mention and that is The inconsiderateness of those Men who so mightily cry up the absolute Conquest of William the First over the English as if they were utterly broken and crushed and all their Laws and Customs destroyed when as it is demonstrably manifest Sim. Dunelm An. 1088. fol. 214. Angli cum fideliter juvabant that at the Time of Robert and his Normans Treason and Conspiracy against William Rufus then King and his Brother to cut off him and make Robert King in his room I say then the Interest of the English was so great and powerful that it kept the Crown upon Rufus's Head maugre all the Power of the Normans who universally joined with Robert But Sir now I will consider the import of your next Question The Third Question III. Whether it be true The Anonimous Author against Mr. Petyr p. 43. That the English had neither Estates nor Fortunes left but all was divided between the King and his Normans THough it be confessed that this first William obtained the Imperial Crown of England yet I think I have clearly made it out to you Sir that it was by a Reception upon Terms and not by Right of Conquest and it is no less obvious that the Laws in general which were after such his Acquisition ratified and confirmed and which continued in full force and power were the old Saxon Laws and though it cannot be denied but that he did introduce some new Laws of his own yet those quas constituimus you have heard were made ad utilitatem Anglorum for the Benefit and Advantage of the English without the least mention either of the French or Normans And observable too it is that those Laws were made per Commune Concilium totius Regni Apud Lambard inter Leges Guliel primi fol. 170. de Statut. 55. 1. And if so Sir me-thinks this seems as one strong Argument that the English could not have all their Estates Fortunes violently ravished from them nor the King and his Normans at their coming in could not absolutely sweep away all the Stakes because the good Old Law was still in its full being and virtue * Co. 12. Report fol. 65. which was the Metwâ—nd and Measure to try the Causes of the Subjects and †In his first Speech to his first Parliament in Engl. Stat. 1. Jac. c. 2. fol. 1157. by which saith the wise King Iames the People's security of Lands Livings and Priviledges were preserved and maintained and which also is * K. Charl. 1. Declaration to all his Loving Subjects published with the Advice of his Privy Council Exact Collect. c. p 28. the Inheritance of every Subject and the only security he can have for his Life or Estate And then they could not lose all they had at this rate but it must be by a manifest wrong to the Priviledg as well as well-being of the People and no doubt if the Law had its due course as I have made that plain it had but that their Native Rights were easily recoverable and the ravaging Normans could not keep them in spight of all Justice for that were a total abolishing of the Law 2. But in the next place Sir I make no question but that I shall convince you that the English at least those who lived in Peace before and at his coming to the possession of the English Throne did quietly and peaceably enjoy their Inheritances and their Titles and Claims to them from their Saxon Ancestors were held good and allowed which to be sure they never could have done had this Kingdom received such an universal Change and Revolution as so many of our late Learned Authors would needs have us firmly to believe Saith Sir Richard Baker Sir Ric. Baker's Chronic. fol. 23. in his Chronicle of this King's Life and Reign Though he hath had the Name of Conqueror yet he used not the Kingdom as gotten by Conquest for he took no Man's living from him nor dispossessed any of their Goods but such only whose demerit made them unworthy to hold them as appears by his Act to one Warren a Norman to whom he had given the Castle of Sherborne in Norfolk The Story is faithfully this as you may find in Cambden's Britannia The King it seems had given away Sherborne to Warren a Norman and one that was his great Favourite which Edwinus de Sherborne perceiving who was the true Owner of the Castle and an English Man demands before the King his right in open Court tells him it did de jure belong to him upon this Reason of Law for that he never had took up Arms against the King either before his coming in or since whereupon the King Mr. Petyr's Ancient Right of the Commons of England asserted Pref. p. 24. vinculo juramenti astrictus gave Judgment of Right against the Norman and Sherborne recovered the Lordship Sir Henry Spelman tells you the Story which he hath taken out of an Ancient Manuscript concerning the Family of the Sharborns thus Spelm. Gloss. verbo Drenches p. 184. Edwinus de Sharborne quidam alii qui ejecti fuerunt è terris suis abierunt ad Conquestorem dixerunt ei quod nunquam ante Conquestum nec in Conquestu suo nec post fuerunt contra ipsum Regem in Consilio Auxilio sed tenuerunt so in pace Et hoc parati sunt probare quomodo ipse Rex vellet ordinare Per quod idem Rex fecit inquiri per totam Angliam si ita fuit quod quidem probatum fuit propâ—er quod idem Rex praecepit ut omnes illi qui sic tenuerunt se in pace in forma praedicta quod ipsi rehaborent omnes terras donationes suas adeo integrè in pace ut unquam habuerunt vel tenâ—erunt ante Conquestum suum That is Edwin of Sharborn and several others that were ejected out of their Estates and Possessions went to the Conqueror and told him that they never either before or in or after the Conquest were against him the said King either by their Advice or any other Aid but kept themselves peaceably and quietly And this they were ready to make out which way soever the King pleased to appoint Whereupon the said King ordered an Inquisition to be made throughout all England whether it were so or no which was plainly proved Therefore he presently commanded that all those who so kept themselves peaceably in manner aforesaid as these had done should be repossessed of all their Estates and Inheritances as fully amply and quietly as ever they had or held them before his Conquest This is a Case so full to the Point and so plain to every common Understanding in its self that it
Mannors he had and as appears in Hampshire he had at least two Mannors Cerdeford and Eschetune from his Ancestors before William's Entrance And even this is a ground to believe he was a great Man that he had a Sir-name or Addition Because if we believe the Great Antiquary Camb. Rem p. 136. Mr. Cambden Sir-names were not setled among the Common People fully till about the Time of Edw. 2. 2. The Earl of Moreton a very powerful Prince â—pse Comes â—enuit Estreham T.R.E. as I may call him held Estreham in Tenrige Hundred in the Time of King Edward He enjoyed several other great Possessions of the Gift of King William I doubt not indeed but he was Norman born yet he was here before the entrance of the Norman Duke and might not improbably be in Favour with King Edward the Confessor Camb. Rem â— p. 136. who was all Frenchified He to be sure had some Lands within the Kingdom of England which he enjoyed not from William's Division Pag. 176. Hampshire 3. Ralph Mortimer held several Possessions some of which he had Iure Haereditario from before the Reputed Conquest Ipse Radulphus tenet Ordie This Mannor T.R.E. extra Ecclesiam emptum fuit eo pacto conventione ut post tertium haeredem cum omni pecunia Manerium Ecclesia Sancti Petri de Episcopatu recuperet nunc qui tenet Radulphus est tertius haeres Dorsetshire Dorsete 4. Ten Thains hold Chimedecome Ipsi tenuerunt T. R. E. pro. 1. Manerio Omnes qui has terras tenuerunt T. R. E. potuerunt ire ad quem Dominum volebant Staffordshire Statfordscire 5. Alric holds Stagrisgeshowe And Aswold holds Chrochesdene And 14. more hold Lands of Titles Ipsi has Terras renuerunt T. R. E. Prior to King William's amongst which the Earls Hugh de Ferriers and Alberic de Vere the first of which held St. Warburgh of Chester in the Time of the Confessor 6. And lastly Vctred held several Lands in the Time of King Edward as in the Time of William the First Besides several dispossessed who have their Titles allowed I think these six Instances are enough referring the more curious to Mr. Attwood's Book before mentioned or to the great Survey it self to bear out my Assertion That the English had Estates and Fortunes still in their hands which they held in King Edward's Time and did not derive under King William's Title Having now given you these six Individuals I shall offer you three more and they are from the Charters of King William the one to the Dean of St. Pauls confirming to him the Lands c. belonging to that Church and this was upon the day of his Coronation too The other is to the Abby of Westminster and the third to the City of London granting to them the Liberties and Franchises which they enjoyed in the Time of Edward the Confessor To begin with that made to the Dean of St. Pauls 1. Ego Willielmus Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum Carta Regis Williel Conquestor in Appendice in Histor Eccles. Cathedr S. Pauli By Sir Will. Dugdale fol. 190. unà cum Mathilda Reginâ Principibusque meis coram conventu Sacerdotum Dei Reverendis scilicet Archiepiscopis Aldredo Stigando caeterisque Episcopis Abbatibus hujus Patriae terras Monasterii Sancti Pauli quae in tempore Antecessorum meorum à quibuslibet hominibus ablatae fuerant injustè detentae omnes in die primi Diadematis Coronationis meae Deo ejusque Apostolo Paulo in Lundonia eorum servitoribus in perpetuùm possidendas restitui eas ex omni parte liberas esse concessi 2. William the first gives the Church of Westminster Cartae Antiq. C. C. n. 31. decimam de Wic de eadem parte quae ad me pertinebat atque iterùm reddidi eandem partem eis injustè ablatam quà m Rex Edwardus antea dederat So that we see that as on the one hand William the First gave them the Tithes of that part which was his right so likewise he restored the Tithes of that part which was unjustly taken from that Church and which Edward the Confessor had before given And no Conquest was here pretended but the Precedent proves the quite contrary viz. that there was none insisted on 3. And now I come to that respecting the City of London Williem King grets Williem Bisceop and Godfred * Porteregravan portgrave Saxonicè Porterefan ealle ya Burghwarn binnen London Frencise Englise frendlice Hollinshead's 3 d Vol. fol. 15. 2. Col. n. 21 IC kiden eoy yeet IC wille yeet git ben ealra weera la gayweord ye get weeran on Eadwerds daege Kings And IC wille yeet aelc child by his Fader yrfnume aefter his Faders daege And IC nelle ge Wolian yeet adnig man eoy aenis wrang beode God eoy heald Willielmus Rex Salutat Willielmum Episcopum Goffridum Portegrefium omnem Burghware infra London Frans. Angl. amicabilitèr Et vobis notum faeio quòd ego volo quòd vos sitis omni lege illa digni qua fuistis Edwardi diebus Regis Et volo quod omnis Fuer sit Patris sui haeres post diem Patris sui Et ego nolo pati quòd aliquis homo aliquam injuriam vobis inferat Dens vos salvet Englished in Stow's Survey of London Stow 's Survey of London fol. 740. thus William King grete William Bishop and Godfrey Porters and al the Burgeis within London Frensh and English And I grant you that I wyll that yee be all your Lawe worth that ye were in Edwardis dayes the King And I wyl that ich Childe be his Faders Eyer And I nyl suffur that ony Man you any wrongys beed And God you kepe Now 't is evident from this Charter 1. That it was made immediately upon or after the Coronation of William because you see he stiles himself King 2. This may seem to justify not only what the Historians who lived nearest his Time as Pictaviensâ—s c. but what his own Laws do likewise declare viz. That he was crowned King by compact with the English and at the same time swore inviolably to observe King Edwards Laws which he confirmed to them 3. With this further That he denounced a severe Prohibition that no Man should offer any affront or do any wrong to the Citizens of London 4. And for a compleat assurance of all this his Love and Kindness to the City he concludes with a Prayer to Heaven That God would keep and bless them But by the way give me leave to shew you though I think likewise it does not a little contribute to the strength and validity of my Argument the Greatness and Power of the City of London in those early Times I shall transcribe the words of a Learned Writer concerning it and so leave it to your more serious consideration William Stephanides
Abbots under the Tenure of Barony was first made in this Parliament And that 3. Likewise the great Case between the Arch-bishop of York and this same Bishop of Worcester was here judicially determined And 4. If there were no English Men in this great Council how then came it to pass that the Bishop of York and London were there who certainly were Bishops in the Saxon Times And it may also seem not improbable that there was then an universal Consent among them that these two Bishops should be intrusted to write down for them the English Laws 5. And there is one great Thing more to close withal which is That at this Parliament when the Saxon Laws were confirmed there was a particular Law past in favour of the Normans Catta Regis Willielm apud Lambard c. 54. fol. 170. qui ante adventum Guilielmi Cives fuerant Anglicani that they should be participes Consuetudinum Anglorum quod ipsi dicunt Anhlote Anscote persolvant secundum Legem Anglorum The meaning of the words Auhlote â—â—d Anscote as Sir Henry Spelman Sir H. Spelm. Gloss. verbo Anhlote f. 31. informs us is vulgò Scot â— Lot that is That every such French Man should not be charged with double Taxes and Duties as a Foreigner but that he should pay his easy share and proportion as any natural English Man But then II. It was in such a grand Assembly of wise Men of the Kingdom where Lanfranc was elected to the See of Canterbury for it was by the Assent of the Lords and Prelats and of the whole People that is to say by the Parliament of England This likewise was about the fourth Year of the Conqueror And an Ancient Historian writes thus of his Election Gervas Dorobernens Act. Pont. Cant. fol. 1653. l. 5. Eligentibus eum Senioribus ejusdem Ecclesiae cum Episcopis ac Principibus Clero Populo Angliae in Curia Regis in Asumptione Sanctae Mariae But another Contemporary Writer gives it you in these words Rex mittens propter illum in Normanniam Relat. Willielm prim ad finem tract de Gavelkind à Syla Taylor p. 194. fecit eum venire in 〈◊〉 gliam eique Consensu Auxilio omnium Baronum suorum omniumque Episcoporum Abbatum totiusque Populi Angliae commisit ei Dorobernensem Ecclesiam III. There was another General Council or Parliament held at Westminster Ex Caâ—tulario Coenobii Westmonasteriensis in Biblioth Cotton sub effigie Faustinae A. 3. Dugdâ—l Orig. Juâ—idic sol 16. in the fourteenth Year of this King where by his Charter he confirmed the Liberties of that Church after he had subscribed his own Name with the Sign of the Cross adding many of the great Clergy and Temporal Nobility and instead of cum multis aliis says multis praeterea illustrissimis Virorum personis Regni Principibus diversi ordinis omissis qui similitèr huic confirmationi piissimo affectu Testes Fautores fuerunt Hii autem illo Tempore à Regia potestate diversis Provinciis Urbibus Provincia i.e. Comitatus Seld. Tit. Hon. fol. 273 Spelm. Gloss. â— it Provincia f. 471. ad Universalem Synodum pro causis cujuslibet Christianae Ecclesiae audiendis tractandis ad praescriptam Celeberrimam Synodum quod Westmonasterium dicitur Parliamentum Synodus magna nuncupatur Somneri Gloss. Convocati c. In the Margin of the Book there is writ this Remarque Nota hic hos omnes convocari à Rege suâ auctoritate ad causas Religionis tract andas tà m Nobiles de Clero quà m Principes Regni cum aliis inferioris gradus Convocatio quorum videtur esse Parliamentum IV. I think by the general direction of the Writs of this King as also by that of his Charters some of which I have given you in my Argument to your third Question and therefore shall refer you back to them it is plainly demonstrable that William had as well English Barons as French Barons and that his Barons were always a part of his great Council will hardly I suppose be denied by any And that one Law of his which may be called the First MAGNA CHARTA in the Norman Times by which the King reserved to himself from the Free Men of this kingdom nothing but their free Services due to him according to Law in the conclusion saith That they L L. Guilielm c. 55. to wit the English shall hold and enjoy their Estates well and in peace free from all unjust Exactions and Tallage and this ratified and confirmed by the Common Council of the whole Kingdom which cannot be restrained to the Norman Barons only So that herein is asserted the Liberty of the English Free-men and of the Representative Body of the Kingdom These I think are uncontrovertible Proofs and Evidences 1. That there were General Councils or Parliaments in this first William's Time 2. That in these Parliaments the English Barons as well as the French Barons were present 3. And lastly That there likewise was as an essential part thereof 1. The Communitas Anglorum the Community of English-men 2. Besides the Bishops and Nobility there were the Clerus Populus the Inferior Clergy and People of England And 3. Not only the Great Clergy and the Temporal Nobility but the Principes diversi Ordinis a Regia potestate diversis Provinciis Vrbibus ad Vniversalem Synodum Convocati c. viz. The Chief and Principal Men of several Ranks and Degrees in Condition were summoned by virtue of the King 's Writ out of their several respective Counties Cities and Burroughs to this General Synod or Parliament And Sir if this be so I doubt not but that both your self and all judicious and unbiassed Persons who have not resolved to espouse a Party and who will not suffer themselves to be drawn aside by any novel unwarrantable Opinions but will fairly submit their Judgments to clear and perspicuous Truth when once it manifestly appears I say both you and they will certainly rest satisfied in these great and powerful Authorities which I have here presented to publick view and serious consideration and I think these have sufficiently made out and proved That 1. William the first vulgarly called the Conqueror did not get the Imperial Crown of England by the Sword nor made an absolute Conquest of the Nation at his first entrance 2. Nor that he abolished all the English Laws or changed the whole Frame and Constitution of the Saxon Government But 3. That the English had still Estates and Fortunes continued to them and that it was a great mistake in any to affirm That the King and his Normans divided and shared them all among them As likewise 4. In the fourth place It has been a grand Error to ascertain That there were no English Men in the Common Council of the whole Kingdom in the Reign of William the Conqueror Now Sir as a corroborating Testimony to explain and