"Now I will declare unto you the officers of his chapel, and singing-men of the same. First, he had there a dean, a great divine, and a man of excellent learning; and a sub-dean, a repeater of the choir, a gospeller, an epistler of the singing-priests, and a master of the children: in the vestry a yeoman and two grooms, besides other retainers that came thither at principal feasts....

"Now you shall understand that he had two cross-bearers and two pillar-bearers; in his great chamber, and in his privy-chamber, all these persons, the chief chamberlain, a vice-chamberlain, a gentleman-usher, besides one of his privy-chamber; he had also twelve waiters and six gentlemen-waiters; also he had nine or ten lords, who had each of them two or three men to wait upon him, except the Earl of Derby, who had five men.

"Then he had gentlemen cup-bearers, and carvers, and of the sewers, both of the great chamber and of the privy-chamber, forty persons; six yeomen ushers, eight grooms of his chamber; also, he had of alms, who were daily waiters of his board at dinner, twelve doctors and chaplains, besides them of his chapel, which I never rehearsed; a clerk of his closet, and two secretaries, and two clerks of his signet; four counsellors learned in the law.

"And for that he was chancellor of England, it was necessary to have officers of the chancery to attend him for the better furniture of the same.

"First he had a riding clerk, a clerk of the crown, a clerk of the hamper, and a chafer; then he had a clerk of the check, as well upon the chaplains as upon the yeomen of the chamber; he had also four footmen, garnished with rich running coats, whensoever he had any journey. Then he had a herald of arms, a physician, an apothecary, four minstrels, a keeper of his tents, an armourer and instructor of his wards, an instructor of his wardrobe of robes, a keeper of his chamber continually; he had also in his house a surveyor of York, a clerk of the greencloth. All these were daily attending, down-lying and up-rising; and at meat he had eight continual boards for the chamberlains and gentlemen-officers, having a mess of young lords, and another of gentlemen; besides this there was never a gentleman, or officer, or other worthy person, but he kept some two, some three persons to wait upon them; and all others at the least had one, which did amount to a great number of persons.

"Now, having declared the order according to the chain roll, use of his house, and what officers he had daily attending to furnish the same, besides retainers and other persons, being suitors, [that] dined in the hall: and, when shall we see any more such subjects that shall keep such a noble house? Therefore here is an end of his household; the number of persons in the chain were eight hundred persons."[18]

MINSTRELS AND PAGES

One department of Wolsey's household may not have passed unheeded—namely, the minstrels. As a class, these musicians were doubtless peripatetic, so that the term "wandering," as applied to them, has almost the character of a standing epithet. But in the "Romance of Sir Degrevant" mention occurs of the Earl's "owne mynstralle," and, where these artists were not permanent members of the establishment, they were always of "great admittance" to the houses of the nobility, who treated them with high distinction and much liberality. Naturally, the status of minstrels differed. Of those who played before Edward I. at Whitsuntide, and who were divided into ranks, five are styled "Kings," and each of them received five marks. A valuable gold cup is recorded to have been given to a minstrel, but the usual presents were robes and garments.

What is signified by the phrase "great admittance" is rendered clear by a decree of Edward II. published in the year 1315, and called forth by the dishonest practice of certain persons who procured entertainment under colour of minstrelsy. It was therefore ordered that "to the houses of prelates, earls, and barons none resort to meat and drink unless he be a minstrel, and that of these minstrels there come none except it be three or four Minstrels of Honour at the most in one day, unless he be desired of the lord of the house; and to the houses of meaner men that none shall come unless he be desired; and that such as shall come so, hold themselves contented with meat and drink, and with such courtesy as the master of the house will show unto them of his own good will, without their asking of anything."

Minstrels, however, were after all only an incident. They served to entertain and amuse, as well as to keep alive the memory of great deeds and sentiments of truth and honour. But they were essentially a luxury, not a necessity, for the circumstances of a rough age sufficed to perpetuate the type which it had created. For more stable and significant elements we must look elsewhere. Just as the lower fabric of society reposed on the humble apprentice, so its upper framework depended on the page as the repository of its traditions and guarantee of the future. As early as the reign of Henry II., and doubtless earlier, the sons of nobles and gentlemen were entered at the King's Court, baronial halls, and episcopal palaces as "henchmen." To these scions of chivalry—and a similar remark applies to the "demoiselles," their sisters—such places were a school of manners wherein they learnt the duties of obedience and reverence to their elders and betters; and, in process of time, they attained the rank of squire, and, eventually, the knight's belt. Received into the lord's family on the best terms, as became their birth and connexions, they had, nevertheless, to wait at table and perform other tasks that would now be deemed menial, such as walking by the lord's charger; and, until their education was complete, they had to submit to his orders, whatever they might be.

Perhaps the first of many books on etiquette in English is a treatise written by Grosseteste for Margaret, Countess of Lincoln, and entitled "Reules Seynt Robert." Here it is laid down that servants and retainers should be of good character, loyal, diligent; and if they grumble or gainsay, they should be discharged, as there are many others to take their place.

We have seen that Cardinal Wolsey had young gentlemen in his household. This was also the case with Thomas a Becket, one of whose proteges was the heir to the throne. Another churchman, Longchamps, Bishop of Ely and Chancellor of Richard II., was notorious for the rigour of his discipline towards the young and noble members of his establishment.

The custom, one can scarcely question, was evolved from the military requirements of early Teutonic society; and, as private war died down, so the status of the page became impaired, until in the reign of Elizabeth we find him a pampered domestic, whose pert air and gaudy dress represented all that was left of a formidable troop armed with sword and buckler. Ben Jonson deplores and ridicules the transformation in lines with which the present volume may well close. The host in the play has refused his son as page to Lord Lovel, saying that he would hang him sooner than "damn him to that desperate course of life."

Lovel. Call you that desperate, which, by a line Of institution from our ancestors, Hath been derived down to us, and received In succession for the noblest way Of brushing up our youth, in letters, arms, Fair mien, discourses civil, exercise, And all the blazon of a gentleman? Where can he learn to vault, to fence, To move his body gracefully, to speak The language pure; or turn his mind Or manners more to the harmony of nature Than in these nurseries of nobility? Host. Ay, that was when the nursery's self was noble And only virtue made it, not the market, That titles were not vended at the drum And common outcry; goodness gave the greatness And greatness worship; every house became An academy; and those parts We see depicted in the practice now Quite from the institution. Lovel. Why do you say so? Or think so enviously? Do they not still Learn thus the Centaur's skill, the art of Thrace, To ride? or Pollux's mystery, to fence? The Pyrrick gestures, both to stand and spring In armour, to be active for the wars; To study figures, numbers, and proportions May yield them great in counsel and the arts: To make their English sweet upon their tongues, As Chaucer says?



INDEX

a Becket, Thomas, 53, 247

Abbeys, Bath, 13; Eynsham, 66; Girwy, 13; Monte Cassino, 14; Oseney, 66; Wearmouth, 13; York, 14

Abbot of Unreason, 41

"Abbot, The," 41

Abelard, 91

Abjuration, 83, 163-5, 170

Ad Montem ceremony, 50

Affiliation of towns, 173-4, 177-8

Alcuin, 12-14

Aldgate, 188, 193

Aliens, 179

Allotments, 210-11

Alms and loans, 61-70, 104

Alnwick, 210

Alwyn, 134

Ancients, 117

Angild, 152

"Antiquary," the, 173, 226

Appeals, 77

Apprentices-at-law, 119-21, 123

Arles, 196

Arrears of rent, 172

Ashburton, 59, 61

Assise, the, 149

"Assises de Jerusalem," 140, 142

Assize of Clarendon, 165; of Northampton, 140

Athelstan, King, 20, 133, 160

Augustine, St., 27

Aungerville, Richard, 68

Austin Friars, 108-9

"Austins," 107, 109

Australs and Boreals, 93

Bachelor of Arts, 102-3, 109

Bacon, Roger, 108

Badges, 242-3

Bailiffs, 205-6

Bakers, 183-4, 186, 195; "baker's dozen," 186

Ballantine, Mr. Serjeant, 125-6

Banishment, 98

Banner of St Paul, 222-3

Barbers, 79-80

Barbitoria, 80

Bargains, hand-clasp, 199

Barnstaple, 62

Barrington, Dr., 202

Beam, Royal, 195

Beards, 85-6

Beaumanoir, 141

Becket, Thomas a (see under A)

Bedel Stokys, 104

Bedels, 72-7, 96

Bedford, custom of, 177

Bell, Prior, 16

Benediction of a widow, 21

Benefactors, 68, 111

Berwick, 197, 211

Beverley cycle, 58, 60; sanctuary, 160-1

Birkett, Mr., 231

Black cap, 117

Black Death, 225

Blackstone, 134, 226

Blakiston, Mr., 68

Blewbury (Berks.), 226

Blount's "Ancient Tenures," 187, 189

Bondmen, 233-7

"Book of Nurture, The," 37

"Booke of Orders and Rules," 245

Borough English, 217-23

Boroughs, free, 208-9

Botticelli, 65

Bower, 28

Boy-Bishop, the, 39-50; Song of, 39

Bracton, 142, 163, 197

"Brais," meaning of, 89

Bristol, 198

Britton, 142, 163, 165

Broadgates Hall, 84-5

"Brother," "brotherhoods," technical meaning of, 13

Buckingham, Duke of, 157-8

Burgages, 174-5

"Burial of the Alleluia," 42

Burnby Prior, 16

Butler, Alban, 20

Cambridge, 61-2, 110, 169

Came, Bedel, 73-5

Carrara, Bridge of, 52

Castellans, hereditary, 188

Catherine, play of St., 53

Causes, civil, 149

Caustone, John D., 239

Cawthorne (Yorks.) 62

"Chamberdekenys," 98

Champions, 141, 144

Chancellor, office of, 77-90, 94-5, 98, 100-1, 103-6

Chapel, children of the, 32-7; gentlemen of the, 32-6

Chapels, domestic, 32-3

Charms, 142, 144, 146

Charter, 171, 206

Chaucer, 63, 84, 113, 242

Chaundler, Dr., 64, 113

Cheapside, 184-6

Chester plays, 54-6, 60

Chests, 66-9

Chetham Society, 196

Churchwardens' accounts, 59-63

Cinque Ports, 163, 177

City marshals, 125

Clark, Mr. A., 64, 114

Cloth, cutting, 171

Cluny, 12

Cobham, Bishop, 69

Coke, 117, 119

"Coke-Lyght," 82

Colet, Dean, 46

"Collection of Glover, Somerset Herald," 190

Collections, 74-5

Collier, Mr. W. F., 230

Colman's Engravings, 202

Commissaries, 77, 95

Common Serjeant, 125

Common town bargains, 176

Commons, 212-17, 229-32

Compurgation, 82, 128-31, 240

Constable of England, 145-7

"Constitutional History," Stubbs's, 229

Cooks, 82-3

Copes, 43-5, 49

Coroner, 163-5

Corporation MSS., 60

Corporation of London, 125-6

Corpus Christi festival, 54-5, 58-9

Council of Vienne, 54

Council, Roman, 27

County Court, 155

Court Leet proceedings, 206

Costume, legal, 115-6; university, 113-4

Coventry plays, 57-9

Creations, 105-6, 124

Crosses, 43, 90

Crying creaunt, 149

Curfew, 181

"Curtasie money," 186

Customs (by-laws), 162, 172, 177-8

Customs (revenue), 175

"De Nova Costuma" (statute), 195-6

"Demonologie," 136

Determination, 101-2

Devonshire commons, 229-32

"Dialogus de Scaccario," 153, 166

Doctors of laws, 115-6

Doddridge, Justice, 202

Dover, 172

Ducange, 13

Duel, 127, 140-9

Dugdale, 125, 187, 190

Dunmow flitch, 191; priory, 193

Dunstable, 52

Durham, 49, 156-7, 161-2

Durham College, 68, 98

Dymond, Mr. R., 219

Earmarking, 232

Earnest money, 196-9

Ebner, Herr, 12

Ecfrith, King of Northumbria, 160

Edgar, laws of King, 154, 226-7

Edward I., 246

Edward the Confessor, laws of, 150, 224

Edwards, Richard, 37

Edwin, King of Northumbria, 17

Elizabeth, St., 20

Elms (near Smithfield), 189

Elton, Mr., 220

Emma, Queen, 134

Essex, the Earl of, 174

Estrene, 186

Ewing, Mr. W. C., 202

Exeter Ordinale, 47

"Extinct Baronage of England," 190

Faculties of Law, Medicine, and Theology, 109-10

Fast, the Lady, 27-31

Fasts, 27

Feast of Fools, the (see Rex Stultorum festival)

Feasts, 85-6, 101-5, 122

Fee-farm leases, 175

Felons, punishment of, 189

Ferrieres, 14

Festivals, 28-9, 42, 179

Fines, 96, 151-3

Fisher, Bishop, 111

Fishmongers, 195

"Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry," 36

Fitzwalter, John, 191; Matilda, 192; Robert (Marshal of the Army of God), 191-3; Robert (grandson), 191-2; Walter, 191

Fitzwalters, Lords of Wodeham, 187-94

Fleta, 197

"Foreigners," 171, 174

Forest, 228-9, 230-2

Forster, Mr. R. H., 160, 162-3

Fortescue, 115, 122-3

Francis, St., 20

Franciscans, 108-9

Frideswyde Chest, 66

Frideswyde's Church, St., 90

Frideswyde, the Blessed, 90

Frithstool, 161

Froude, Mr., 91

Gascoigne, Dr., 128

Gascoigne, Sir William, 243

Gavelkind, 218, 221

"General sophist," 109

Germans, 101

Gibbon, 141

Gilds, 54-5, 242-3

Glastonbury Abbey, 20

Gloucester, Thomas, Duke of, 145

Gloucester, town of, 171-2, 205

God's Penny, 195-9

Godwin's "Life of Chaucer," 52

"Going a-Kathering," 48

Gomme, Mr. G. L., 209, 211

Googe, Barnabe, 28

Gordon, Mr. Gerald P., 1, 6-8

"Grand Coutumier de Normandie," 142

Grammar masters, 99-101

Green, J. R., 234

Greenwood, the, 153

Gregorie, 49

Gregory of Tours, 80

Gregory, Pope, 53

Grimm, 136

"Grithmen," 163

Grosseteste, Robert, 66, 108, 247

Halls, 98

Hazlitt, Mr. W. C., 187

Hearne, 81

Henderson's "Select Historical Documents," 132, 154

Henry VI., letter of, 78

Henry VIII., Acts of, 30-1, 48, 65, 182

Herbergeours, 180

Hereford, 177-8

Hereward the Wake, 154

Hexham, 161

Highway, taking in the, 169-70

"Hires," 236

"History of the University of Cambridge" (Willis and Clark's), 62

Holidays, 237

Holmgang, 140

Holy women, festival of, 21

Homeyer, 203

Hopkins, witchfinder, 139

Host of London, 188, 194

Hostelers, 180-1

"Hostels," 119, 180-1

"Hudibras," 139

Hugo de Balsham, Bishop, 108

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 69

Hunting, 97

Immortality, 179, 185-6

Impostors, 184-5

Inception, 103-6

Ine, King, law of, 224

Innkeepers, 179-81

Inns of Court, 118-21

Inquisition, post-mortem, 200

Ipswich, 198

Irishmen, 92, 94

Islip, Archbishop, 17

James I., 136

Jews, 90

John, King, 173, 192

John's Coll., St., Cambridge, 80, 110-12

Jonson, Ben, 248

Judgment by default, 154-5

Judgment of God, 144-9; of the Boiling Water, 135; of the Cold Water, 136-7; of the Glowing Iron, 132-4; of the Morsel, 137-8; of the Ploughshares, 134-5; of the Psalter, 138-9

Judith, 19

Kelynge, Chief Justice, 123

Kemble, 151

"King Edward and the Shepherd," 240

King's Champion, 144

King's Purveyors, 240

King's Secretary, 239

"King's Shilling," 196

"King's Musick, The," 37

"Kloster Gebets-verbruederungen, Die," 12

Knights Hospitallers, 121

Lacy, Bishop, pontifical of, 21

Lansdowne MS., 63

"Last Supper, The," 57

Laud, Archbishop, reforms of, 67, 105

Law, Great, 128; Middle, 129, 148; Third, 130

Leagues of Prayer, 11-17

"Lectures on Heraldry," 201

"Legible" days, 75, 87

Leicester, 60, 148

Leland, 25, 161

Letter, testimonial, 64

Letters, patent, 173

"Liber Custumarum," 190, 192

Librarian, 69-70

Library, 68-70

Libri vitae, 17

Licentiates, 88, 103-5

Limerick, 198

Lincoln, 205

Lindisfarne, monks of, 13-17

Linguists, 112

Liverpool, 170, 173-7, 198

Livery, 33, 241-3

Liverymen, City, 241

Lollards, 81

London, 171-3, 177-87, 193, 195, 204, 239-41

Longchamps, Bishop, 247

Lord Mayor's Banquet, 125-6

Love-days, 83-5

Lucian, 40

Magdalen College, 97

Maid Marian, 192

Maitland, 152

Manchester, 204-11

Mancipatio, 199

Manning, Robert, 53

Mansfield, 121

Manu, the, 18

Marbeck, 199

Marching Watch, the, 181-2

Margaret, Countess of Richmond, 110-11

Marks, pictorial, 203; Merchants, 200-2; Yeomen's, 199, 203

Marshal, 45-7; of the King's Household, 239-40

Martin's-le-Grand, St., 158

Mary, Queen, 39

Master Henry Sever, 68

Master of the Children, 36-7, 43

Masters Regent, 101-2, 106-7; Non-Regent, 100

Matriculation, 99

Mayhem, 129

Mayor, Lord, 189-91

"Mayoralty of London, The Origin of," 173

Mercheta mulierum, 221, 235

Metingham, Judge, 166

Middlesex Iter, 227-8, 233-4

Ministri sacelli, 110

Minstrels, 246-7

Montague, Anthony, Viscount, 245

Montesquieu, 141

Monuments, funeral, 25-6

Mootemen, 117

Mortmain, 168

Motbelle, 194

Munday, Anthony, 192

"Munimenta Gildhallae Londiniensis," 190

Muster of arms, 193-4

"Nations," 91-7

"New Custom," the, 196

New College, 80, 113-14

Newcastle, 58, 60, 177, 210

Nicholas, St., 43-4

Nicols, 182

"Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society Transactions," 202

Norris, Lord, 97

Northampton, 197

Northumberland, 177; Assize rolls, 156

Northumberland Household Book, 33-4

Nottingham, 210-11, 220

"Novel Disseisin," 168

Noyes, Attorney General, 197

"Nut-Brown Maid," the, 150

Oaths, 95, 124, 127, 146

Oblates, order of, 20

Officers, domestic, 243-5; municipal, 209-11

O'Keeffe, 198

Open field, the, 217, 222-5

Orders, Dominican, 25-6

Orders, Franciscan, 25-6

Orders of widows, 19

Ordinances, household, 241

Oriel College, 81

Othobon's Constitutions, 116, 154

Outlawry, 150-66, 227

Oxford (academic customs, passim)

Oxford Historical Society, 89

Oxford, city of, 86, 177

Pageants, 52, 54-9

Pages, 247-8

Panniers, 186

"Panyers Alley," 186

"Paradise of Dainty Devices," 37

Paris, Matthew, 52

Patent Rolls, 190

Paul, St., 19, 23

Paul's Cathedral, St., 44-6, 124, 188, 241

Peacock, Mr. E. A., 220-1

"Peres the Ploughman's Crede," 201

Peterhouse, Cambridge, 108

Petitions, 88-9, 92, 158

"Piers Plowman," 27

Pillory, 184-5

"Placita de quo Warranto," 191

Plays, Miracle, 51-60

Plymouth, 62

"Points," 146

Ponies, Dartmoor, 231-2

"Popish Kingdom, The," 28, 50

Portuguese, 180

Portreeve, 206-8

Pound, Dunnebridge, 232

Pound-keepers, 210

Precinct (sanctuary), 160-1

Precinct (university), 72

Pre-emption, 240-1

Preston, 197

Prise, 240

Privilege, the, 71-90

Processions, 87, 90, 206-8

Proctors, 75, 95, 104

Professions, 22

Professors, Regius, 105

Purcell, Henry, 38

Pui, festival of the, 179

Pulling, Mr. Serjeant, 119, 121

Punishments, 183-6

Puritans, 60

Puttenham's "Arte of Poesie," 47

Queen's College, Oxford, 113

Questionist, 101

Readers, 117-18, 120

Recreations, 112

"Rectitudines, Singularum Personarum," 235

Responsions, 101

Resumption, 109

Retinues, 238-48

"Reules Seynt Robert," 247

Rex Stultorum festival, 42

Rhodes, Hugh, 37, 39

Riley, Mr., 190

Rings, 23-4, 26, 122-3

Riots, 86-7, 90, 92, 94, 97

"Rites of Durham, The," 161

Robin Hood, 150

Rogers, Archdeacon, 55-6

Rolf brass, 116-17

"Romance of Sir Degrevant," 246

Round, Mr. J. H., 173, 204

Rudborn, 124

Rye, 60

Salisbury, Bishop of, 144

Salisbury, Earl of, 144

Salop Iter, 155, 167

Sanctuary, 155-66

Sarum Missal, 21

Saturnalia, 40-1

"Saxons in England, The," 151

Scholastica's Day, St., 87

School-street, 101

Scotland, 177

Scots, 92-3

Scott, Mr. J. H., 203

Scott, Sir Walter, 41

"Scouts," 76

Second marriages, 18-19

Selden, 142

Seneschal of the King's Household, 239

Sergeant Chamberlain, 239

Serjeants-at-law, 115-26

Sermons, 46-7, 111

Servile condition, 177-9

Shaving, 80-1, 185-6

Shop-signs, 201

Shuttleworth accounts, 196

Significavit, 77

Soke and soken, 189

Sokeman, 189

"Specimens of English Literature," Skeat's, 201

Stake, 172

Stamford, 105

Stealing children, 36, 107-8

Stoford, 208

Strongbow, 174

Strype, Archbishop, 42

Stubbs, Bishop, 229

Summary justice, 170

"Sussex Archaeological Collections," 245

Synod of Exeter, 154

Tabarders, 113

Tailors, 79

"Tale of Gamelyn," 150

Tallies, Exchequer, 240

Tavistock, 63

Templars, 81

Thavie's Inn, 118, 121

Theft, 127, 131

Thomas of Acons, St., 124

Timothy, First Epistle to, 19

Tiverton, 202, 206-8

Tokens, 50

Torrington, 213-15

Trained bands, 175

Trial by battle, 140, 143-8

"Trial of Jesus," the, 57

Tryvytlam's "De Laude Oxoniae," 93

Tun (on Cornhill), 185-6

Turner, Mr. Dawson, 202

Tusser, Thomas, 36

Tyndale, 27

"Typet," 113

"Upland men," 174

Uthred de Bolton, 93

Utter-barristers, 117-18, 120

Venville rights, 230-1

Vice-Chancellor, 105

Villeins, 233

Vills, 230

Virgin, the Blessed, 27-8

Vowesses, 18-26

Vows, broken, 24-5

Wadham College, 63

Waking of the Sepulchre, 51

Walworth, Sir William, 159, 184, 194

Ward, Dr., 53

Wardrobe book, 241

Warranty, 168

Warton, Thomas, 39

Waste, the, 225-32

Watch and Ward, 181

Watchmen, 182-3

Waterford, 197

Welshmen, 92

Westminster Sanctuary, 157-8

Wheels, 28-9

Whipping boy, 37

Whitchurch, Rev. N. L., 226

Widows, Benediction of, 21; Hindu, 18; order of, 19

William I., 140

William Rufus, 139

Winchester, 177

"Wolf's head," 150

Wolsey, Cardinal, 243, 247

Woodbury (Devon), 61

Woolrych, Mr. Serjeant, 126

Writ of forest, 228

Writ of imprisonment, 233

Writ of right, 168

Wunibald, 14

Wykeham, William of, 22

Year-books, 168-70, 217-8, 227-9, 233-4

York, 44-8, 52, 55, 58, 60, 161, 177, 193

Youlgreave (Derbyshire), 63

Youghal, 197

This book has been abridged to bring it within the length of this Series.

Printed in Great Britain by Jarrold & Sons, Ltd., Norwich.



FOOTNOTES:

[1] I.e., by the Guild of All Souls, the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, etc.

[2] Paro = apparel in the technical sense.

[3] This was a counsel of perfection. The bedels certainly received fees (see below).

[4] It is, nevertheless, a fact that high dignitaries of the Church—e.g., Cardinal Pole—are represented with beards; and St. Benedict himself is depicted with this virile appendage!

[5] These petitions are taken from a large and valuable collection translated by Miss Lucy Toulmin Smith and contributed to the Collectanea (Third Series) of the Oxford Historical Society. They are copied substantially as she gives them; but curiously enough the accomplished lady stumbles over the word "brais," for which she proposes "arms" as the translation, evidently thinking of bras and quite forgetting that braies is the French for "breeches."

[6] In 1334 a number of masters and scholars migrated to Stamford and attempted to found a University there. This is known as the Stamford Schism.

[7] The University of Cambridge is believed to have been founded in consequence of a migration from Oxford in 1209. The relative space assigned to Oxford, as the typical English University of the Middle Ages, in the present work, may be justified by some words of Mr. Blakiston: "The University of Cambridge, occupying a less central and more unhealthy situation, and having less powerful protectors, did not compete in popularity and privileges with the older society before the sixteenth century. It was not even formally recognized till it received the licence of Pope John XXII. in 1318.... Oxford schools were renowned as a 'staple product' at a time when Cambridge was famous only for eels."

[8] The Common Serjeant was for long to the City what the King's Serjeant was to the Crown. The appointment lay with the Court of Common Council, and till 1824 the custom was to elect the senior of the Common Pleaders in the Mayor's Court. He was originally rather an advocate than a judge. The office goes back at least as far as the commencement of the fourteenth century, being mentioned in the civic records of that date.

[9] This and the other prayers cited are translated from the "Formulae Liturgicae," published by Gengler and Roziere, and included in Henderson's "Select Documents" (Bell).

[10] The "Dialogus de Scaccario" contains the following legendary account of the origin of this custom, which, like so many others, was an Anglo-Saxon usage continued under the Normans:

"Now in the primitive state of the kingdom after the Conquest those who were left of the Anglo-Saxon subjects secretly laid ambushes for the suspected and hated race of the Normans, and here and there, when opportunity offered, killed them secretly in the woods and in remote places: as vengeance for whom—when the Kings and their ministers had for some years with exquisite kinds of tortures, raged against the Anglo-Saxons; and they, nevertheless, had not, in consequence of these measures altogether desisted—the following plan was hit upon: that the so-called "hundred," in which a Norman was found killed in this way—when he who had caused his death was not to be found, and it did not appear from his flight who he was—should be condemned to a large sum of tested silver for the fisc; some indeed to l.36, some to l.44, according to the different localities, and the frequency of the slaying.

"And they say that this is done with the following end in view, namely, that a general penalty of this kind might make it safe for the passers-by, and that each person might hasten to punish so great a crime and to give up to justice him through whom so enormous a loss fell on the whole neighbourhood."—Henderson's "Select Documents," p. 66.

[11] In Norman times the prosecutor was compensated twofold out of the chattels of the tried and convicted thief; the rest of his goods went to the King.

[12] Except in the matter of succession. See p. 219.

[13] "Common town bargains" were the rule also at Dublin.

[14] This and the whole of the following evidence, with few exceptions, was derived from the appendices to the reports of the Municipal Corporations Commission of 1835; and it is not likely that the state of things thus revealed continues, in all cases, to exist.

[15] "Obviously strips in the common arable field" (Cunningham).

[16] It is difficult to estimate the proportion of bond to free; Seebohm holds that the former comprised the bulk of the population.

[17] For the cultivation of the demesne, perhaps a fourth of the entire manor.

[18] It is impossible within our present limits to specify the relative duties of this formidable array of officers and serving-men, although materials for the task are available, notably in "The Booke of Orders and Rules" of Anthony Viscount Montague, printed in vol. vii. of the "Sussex Archaeological Collections." From this we learn that the Steward was expected to keep a "perfect checkroll" of his lordship's household and retainers in order that he might "with more certainty make the proportion of liveries and badges for them." Yeomen waiters attended their master in the streets of London and at his table there in their liveries, with handsome swords or rapiers at their sides; and this was also the rule in the country at the solemn feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, and on other special occasions. When the Lord and Lady went a journey, the Steward and all the higher members of the household rode immediately in front of them, and the Gentlemen Usher led the cavalcade bareheaded through towns and cities.

THE END