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LECTURE 5 The Anglo-Norman royalty: its wealth andpower. ~ Comparison of the relativeforces ofthe Crown and ofthefiudal aristocracy. ~ Progress ofthe royalpower. __, Spirit ofassociation and resistance among the great barons. ~ Commencement ofthe struggle between these twopoliticalforces . INorder to judge accurately ofthe power and importance ofroyalty at the period we are considering, we must first ascertain its actual position and resources; and we shall see by the extent ofthese resources, and by the advantages of this position, how feeble in its action on the royal power must have been the influence ofthe assembly ofbarons. The riches ofthe Norman king were independent ofhis subjects; he possessed an immense quantity ofdomains, 1,462 manors, and the principal towns of the kingdom. These domains were continually being augmented, either by confiscations, causes for which were offrequent occurrence, or by the failure of lawful heirs. The king gave lands on a free tenure to those cultivators who would pay for them a determinate rent (free socage tenure). This was the origin ofmost ofthe freeholders, whether in the king's domains or in those ofhis barons. The king, in his domains, imposed taxes at will; he also arbitrarily imposed customhouse regulations on the importation and exportation of merchandize; and he fixed the amount of fines and of the redemption money for crimes. He sold public offices, among others that of sheriff, which was a lucrative one on account ofthe share in fines which belonged to it. The county sometimes would pay for the right to nominate its sheriff, or to avoid a nomination already made. Lastly, the sale ofroyal protection and justice was a source ofconsiderable revenue . As to the immediate vassals of the king, they owed him, First, a military service of forty days whenever it was required; Secondly, pecuniary aid under three circumstances-to ransom the king when made prisoner, to arm his eldest son as a knight, or to marry his eldest daughter. The amount ofthis aid was undetermined up to the reign ofEdward 1.; it was then fixed at twenty shillings LECTURE 5 for the fief of a knight, and as much for every twenty pounds sterling value in land held in socage tenure. Thirdly, the king had a right to receive from his vassals a reliefor fine on the death ofthe possessor ofa fief; he was guardian ifthe heir were a minor, and enjoyed all the revenues ofthe fieftill the majority ofthe heir; he also had a control over their marriages, that is to say, the vassal ofa king could not marry without his consent. All these rights were indeterminate, and negotiations were substituted for them in which the greater force always had the advantage. Fourthly, the dispensation from feudal military service gave rise to an impost termed escuage, a kind ofransom-money fixed arbitrarily by the king, as representative ofa service to which he had a claim; and he even imposed it in many cases on his vassals when they would have preferred to serve in person. Henry II., by his purely arbitrary will, levied five escuages in the course of his re1gn. In addition to these taxes levied by the king, another must be mentioned called the danegeld, or tax paid for defence against the Danes; this tax was raised several times during this period on all lands throughout the kingdom. The last example ofit is to be found in the twentieth year ofthe reign ofHenry II. By means ofthese independent revenues and arbitrary taxes, the Norman kings constantly kept up bodies ofpaid troops, who could enable them to exercise their power without restraint, which did not take place till a considerably later period on the Continent. Lastly, from William the Conqueror till Henry II. the judicial power tended always to concentrate itselfin the hands ofthe king. In this last reign the work was very nearly accomplished: how this came to pass, I will endeavour to show. Originally the jurisdictions that co-existed were as follows: r. The courts ofhundred and the county-courts, or meetings of the freeholders ofthese territorial subdivisions, under the presidency of the sheriff: 2. The courts-baron, or feudal jurisdictions: 3ยท The grand court of the king, where the king and the assembled barons administered justice to the barons in cases between any of themselves, or in cases ofappeal, which could only take place when justice had been refused in the court ofthe manor or county. The Court of Exchequer, instituted by William the Conqueror, was, at first, only a simple court for receiving...

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