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English Legal History
2/9/2009
Outline
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I. THE CONQUEST AND THE ANGLO-NORMAN AND ANGEVIN
PERIODS
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THE CONQUEST AND THE
ANGLO-NORMAN and angevin PERIODs—
THE FEUDALISM DEBATE
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1.
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14 October 1066—Battle of Hastings
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2.
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1066–1215 roughly 150 years divided between the Anglo-Norman and Angevin
periods in 1154.
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a.
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A conquered country—a couple of thousand over a country of 2 to 4
million.
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b.
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Weak kings vs. strong kings—freedom (for some) vs. order.
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c.
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Empire—finance, troops and absentee administration.
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d.
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Succession to the throne.
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3.
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The succession problem:
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a.
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William I, 1066–1087—Domesday Book (1086)—sons: Robert Curthose, William
II (Rufus), Henry I
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b.
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William II (Rufus), 1087–1100—killed while hunting
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c.
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Henry I, 1100–1135—his only legitimate son William killed in the tragedy
of the White Ship
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d.
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Stephen (gson of William I by his dau Adela) and Matilda (dau of Henry
I, wife of Geoffrey of Anjou), 1135–54 (the “Anarchy”)
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e.
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Henry II (son of Matilda and Geoffrey), 1154–89—duke of Aquitaine in the
right of his wife Eleanor; sons: Henry who predeceased without issue,
Richard I, Geoffrey d. 1186, whose son Arthur was probably killed at John’s
behest, and John
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f.
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Richard I (the Lion-hearted), 1189–1199
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g.
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John, 1199–1216—lost Normandy
in 1204; Magna Carta 1215
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1.
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The feudalism debate:
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a.
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Did William I bring feudalism to England?
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b.
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Did Henry II consciously destroy it?
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2.
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Feudalism:
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a.
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A type of economy, built around the manor, in the model, though not
always in reality, the manor is coextensive with the vill, with open
fields, lord, priest, free tenants, serfs and a lord’s court to manage the
whole thing.
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b.
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A type of society characterized by multiple relationships of dependency,
lord and man (vassal) with mutual obligations of support, particularly
military, summed up in the ceremonies of homage and fealty.
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c.
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A pyramidal structure of government, based on landholding in which the
king rules his tenants-in-chief, they their vassals down to the peasant.
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d.
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A pyramidal system of land holding whereby all land is holden of the
king for service usually knight’s service and the tenants in chief parcel
out the land to subtenants for service, knights and other things. The
principal tenures are:
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i.
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knight’s service—the provision of one or more knights (or a fraction
thereof) for a fixed period of the year
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ii.
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serjeanty—the performance of a specific military duty, like carrying the
king’s banner in battle or guarding a castle
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iii.
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socage—the provision of a fixed amount of agricultural produce
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iv.
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frankalmoign—the provision of prayers, a tenure of the church
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The tenant also owes incidents, the principal ones of which are:
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i.
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suit of court—the obligation to attend the lord’s court when summoned
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ii.
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aid—the obligation to come to the lord’s monetary assitance when he is
captured, or when he knights his eldest son, or when he marries off his
daughter
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iii.
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wardship—when the tenant dies and his heir is underage, the land will be
taken into the lord’s hands until the heir reaches majority
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iv.
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marriage—when the tenant has a daughter who is an heiress (and perhaps
even when she is not), the lord may dictate whom she shall marry; the lord
may also dictate whom the tenant’s widow may marry
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v.
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relief—if the heir is of age, he must pay the lord in order to enter
into his inheritance
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vi.
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primer seisin—when the tenant dies, the lord may take his lands into his
own hands pending the application of heir for seisin
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vii.
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escheat—if the tenant commits felony or dies without a known heir, the
land returns to the lord
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3.
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The broader social and economic pattern exists all over Europe in the M.A. but in a number of other societies
as well. The governmental pattern does not fully exist in England (nor any place else).
The pattern of landholding certainly does exist in England; the question is when did it start.
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4.
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Elements of late 11th and 12th century feudalism that do not seem to
have existed in Anglo-Saxon times:
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a.
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The castle
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b.
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Knight’s service
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c.
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The court of the honour (the court baron), the middle rung in a group of
courts that may be schematized like this:
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i.
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manorial—the court for unfree peasants, and, perhaps, for certain free
peasants
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ii.
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feudal—the court for the lord’s tenants who hold by one or another of
the tenures mentioned above
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iii.
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public—the ancient courts of the shire, hundred, and borough and the
nascent central royal courts
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