THE FIRST KNOWN FINE (1175)
In his masterly introduction to Select Pleas of the Crown,[1] Professor Maitland, with his usual skill, discusses the evolution of the Curia Regis and the relation of the central to the itinerant courts. An appendix to this introduction is devoted to 'early fines'; and the conclusion arrived at, as to the date when regular fines began, is that 'the evidence seems to point to the year 1178 or thereabouts, just, that is, to the time when King Henry was remodelling the Curia Regis; thenceforward we have traces of a fairly continuous series of fines' (p. xxvii). More definitely still, in his latest work, he traces the existence of fines 'from the year 1179'.
The earlier document I here print from the valuable cartulary of Evesham (Vesp. B. xxiv., fo. 71, etc.) is, I contend, a true fine, and is fortunately dated with exactitude (July 20th):
Hæc est finalis concordia facta in curia domini Regis apud Evesham ad proximum festum sancte Margarete post mortem comitis Reginaldi[2] Cornub' coram Willelmo filio Audelini et Willelmo filio Radulfi et Willelmo Basset et aliis justiciariis domini regis qui ibi tunc aderant, inter Rogerum filium Willelmi et Robertum Trunket de terra de Ragl' unde placitum fuit inter eos in curia domini Regis. Scilicet quod predictus Wibertus Trunket clamavit quietam predicto Rogero terram illam de Ragl' et [sic] feud[um] et hereditatem suam et totum jus suum quod in predicta terra habebat, et ipse trunchet reddidit in curia domini Regis terram illam de Ragl' in manu [sic] abbatis de Evesham, et ipse abbas ibi statim in curia Regis reddidit eam predicto Rogero. Pro hac autem concessione dedit predictus Rogerus predicto trunchet xx. marcas argenti, et predictus abbas dedit truchet unum anulum argenteum cum cural.
The transcript of this fine is immediately followed by a royal charter confirming it, and establishing Roger in possession:
H. dei gratia ... Sciatis me concessisse et presenti carta confirmasse finem que factus fuit in curia mea inter, etc., etc. ... et Wibertus eam reddidit solutam et quietam in manu abbatis de evesham de cujus feodo terra illa est.... Et ideo volo et firmiter precipio.... Test. Willelmo Audelin', Willelmo filio Radulfi, Willelmo Basset, Berteram de Verdun, Gaufrido Salvagio. Apud Evesham.
Mr Eyton, to whom this fine was unknown, does not, in his Court and Itinerary of Henry II, include Evesham among the places visited by the king in 1175, but makes him visit Feckenham about October (p. 196). But as we learn from the above fine that Henry was at Evesham on July 20th, Mr Eyton's conclusions must be reconsidered. Henry, according to him, was at Woodstock July 8th and at Nottingham August 1st. Now this latter date is derived from a Nottingham charter (p. 193), among the witnesses to which are William fitz Audelin 'Dapifer', William Basset, and William fitz Ralf, the very three justices before whom our fine had been levied at Evesham on July 20th. I hold, therefore, that Henry proceeded (possibly through Lichfield, as Mr Eyton asserts) from Woodstock to Nottingham via Evesham; and, further, that he visited Feckenham (to the north of Evesham) on this occasion, and not, as Mr Eyton imagined, in October. We find accordingly that of the Feckenham charters quoted by that writer (p. 196), one is witnessed by all three of our officers, William fitz Audelin 'Dapifer', William fitz Ralf, and William Basset; one by William fitz Audelin and William fitz Ralf; and the third by William fitz Ralf and William Basset.
Now, working from the Pipe-Rolls, Mr Eyton discovered that:
while the king was in Staffordshire there were pleas held in that county which are expressed to have been held by William fitz Ralph, Bertram de Verdon, and William Basset in curia Regis (p. 193).
He also noted that
the Pipe-Roll of 1175, after duly recounting the results of the ordinary assizes, held by William de Lanvall and Thomas Basset (who appear to have visited York while the king was there), contains the following (in regard to a different kind of judicature than that at which the two justiciars presided), and which probably took place in a court of which the king in person was president:
'Placita et conventiones per Willelmum filius Radulfi, Bertram de Verdon, et Willelmum Basset, in curia Regis.' These Placita were apparently nothing more than fines with the crown (p. 194).
So, too, he found that at Northampton
the three justiciars who had attended him in his special curia in Staffordshire and at York, negotiated a fine by Robert de Nevill, 'pro rehabenda saisina de Uppetona quæ fuit Radulfi de Waltervilla' (p. 194).
My own evidence proves that the same three justiciars had been with him, earlier in the summer, in his special curia at Evesham, where an actual fine was levied.
Thus we have proof that in the summer of 1175 the king was accompanied on his progress by a special group of justices, with whose assistance he held pleas, just as, a generation later, John, in his ninth year, 'was journeying about the country with three judges in his train—Simon Pateshull, Potterne, and Pont Audemer'.[3] While he was doing this, as Eyton has shown, two great eyres were going on throughout the country, one of them conducted by William de Lanvall[ei] and Thomas Basset, the other by Ranulf de Glanville and Hugh de Cressi. It is noteworthy that all these four are found, with William fitz Audelin, among the witnesses to a royal charter assigned by Mr Eyton—rightly, no doubt—to the king's stay at York (circ. August 10, 1175), as they also are among the witnesses to the Nottingham charter mentioned above (p. 385), assigned by Eyton to August 1st. The latter, therefore, brings together the king's own party of three or four justices with the four justices in eyre.
The great importance of this royal iter consists in its bearing on the evolution of the curia regis. The years 1175 and 1176 form a critical epoch in this institutional development. Dr Stubbs, writing on this subject, reminds us that 'the first placita curiæ regis mentioned by Madox are in 1175' (i. 600), and speaks of the 'two circuits of the justices in 1175, and the six circuits of the judges in 1176' (ibid.). So far, indeed, all is clear. The two judicial eyres of 1175 are known to us from the Pipe-Rolls; the six of 1176 are found in the chronicles also, for they were settled by the Assize of Northampton in January of that year (i. 484-5). The really difficult subject is the king's own iter, for which, we have seen, there is clear evidence, but of which Dr Stubbs, working from Madox, seems to have been unaware. His words are:
All the eighteen justices of 1176 were officers of the Exchequer; some of them are found in 1175 holding 'placita curiæ regis' in bodies of three or four judges, and not in the same combinations in which they took their judicial journeys. We can scarcely help the conclusion that the new jurisprudence was being administered by committees of the general body of justices, who were equally qualified to sit in the Curia and Exchequer, and to undertake the fiscal and judicial work of the eyre.
[Note: For instance, in 1176, William fitz Ralf, Bertram de Verdun, and William Basset hear pleas in Curia Regis touching Bucks. and Beds.; yet on the eyre, these two counties are visited by three other judges, etc.]
These statements are based on Madox's extracts from the Pipe-Rolls,[4] which afford, however, more definite evidence than Dr Stubbs discovered. In the Pipe-Roll of 1175 and its immediate successor we find 'Placita in Curia Regis' held by a single group of judges—William fitz Ralf, Bertram de Verdon, and William Basset (Thomas Basset is a substitute in one case and William fitz Audelin, we have seen, in another)—quite distinct from the 'placita' of the justices in eyre, which were not described as 'in curia regis'. The view, therefore, that I now advance is that these pleas, 'in curia regis', were held by a separate group of judges in the train of the king himself, whose iter began at Reading, June 1175.[5] It was there, I believe, that were held the 'placita' for Bucks and Beds, duly recorded in the Pipe-Roll of 1175. That this royal iter was continued through the Exchequer year 1175-6 seems to be well established, and the chronological difficulty of distinguishing between the two years renders the discovery of a fixed point, such as that afforded by the Evesham fine, of special value. Its evidence also establishes the presence of the king in person,[6] whose charter of confirmation should be carefully noted on account of its reciting the fine.
Having now traced the royal iter, of which the pleas are distinguished on the Pipe-Rolls as held 'in curia regis', I turn to the circuits of the judges. I have fortunately lighted, in the course of my researches, on two more fines earlier than any known to Professor Maitland. And, better still, one of these is the original document itself. The date of the first is July 1 and of the second June 29, 1176. The justices named in each case are those who are known to have gone the circuits, in which Leicester and Oxford were respectively comprised.[7] The importance of these documents demands that they should be printed in extenso.
I
Hec est finalis concordia facta apud Legr[ecestr]am proxima die Jovis post proximum festum apostolorum petri et pauli postquam Hugucio legatus Rome pervenit in Angliam,[8] coram Hugonem de Gundevile et Willelmo filio Radulfi et Willelmo Basset, Justiciariis domini Regis, et ceteris Baronibus qui ibi tunc aderant Inter Galfridum Ridel et Bertramum de Verdun de terra de Madeleye, unde placitum fuit inter eos in curia Domini Regis, Videlicet quod Galfridus Ridel dedit Bertrammo [sic] de Verdun feodum i militis in Leycest'syre, scilicet servitium viii. car. terre quas Robert Devel tenet in Swineford et in Walecote et servitium ii. car. terre quas Walterus de Folevile tenet in parva Essebi et servitium i car. terre quam peverel tenet in Flekeneye, et servitium i. car. terre quam Hardeui[nus] tenet in eadem Flekeneye. Et has xii. car. terre dedit ei et concessit in feodo et hereditate per servicium unius militis. Et in Staffordesyre dedit predictus Galfridus prenominato Bretamo [sic] xii. bov. terre quas habebat in Crokestene de feodo de Madelye et servitium de Foxwiss et de Hanekote per v. sol. inde annuatim reddendos Galfrido pro omnibus que ad illum pertinent. Has vero terras in Leycest'syre et in Staffordsyre dedit Galfridus Ridel et concessit Bertramo et heredibus suis tenendas de illo et de heredibus suis in feodo et hereditate libere et quiete per prenominatum servitium pro omnibus que ad illum pertinent, et pro ista donatione et concessione Bertrammus [sic] de Werdun [sic] totam calumpniam quam habuit versus Galfridum in Madeleye quietum clamavit de illo et de heredibus suis Galfrido Ridel et heredibus suis.[9]
II
Hec est finalis concordia que facta fuit apud Ox[eneforde] in curia Regis coram Ricardo Giffard et Rogero filio Reinfr[idi] et Johanne de Caerdif Justitiis Regis ... proximum festum apostolorum petri et pauli postquam dominus Rex cepit ligantiam baronum Scotie apud [Ebo]racum[10] inter Canonicos Oseneie et Ingream et tres filias eius scilicet Gundream et Isabella et Margaretam de terre de Oxenef[orde] unde placitum fuerat inter eos in curia Regis scilicet quod Ingrea et tres filie sue prenominate clamaverunt predictis canonicis quietam terram illam in Oxenenef[orde] de se et de heredibus suis pro xx. sol. quos canonici illi dederunt et omne jus quod in eadem terra habebant quietum illis clamaverunt.[11]
It will be observed that the Oxford fine is described as made 'in curia regis', while the Leicester one is not. It would seem, then, that in spite of the distinction drawn at first on the rolls, the phrase 'curia regis' was already creeping in as describing a court at which the king was not present.
I have also discovered, in MS., a 'fine' of some ten or twelve years earlier, most valuable for comparison with those which I have here discussed. We have there a similar charter of confirmation, in which the king describes the transaction as 'finem illum quem Abbas Willelmus de Hulmo fecit coram me',[12] and the document confirmed, moreover, describes itself as a 'finis' between the Abbot of Holme and William and Henry de Neville, brothers.[13] But the form is very different from that of the true fine, which is fully developed in our example of 1175. The Holme 'fine' may be safely assigned to March 1163-March 1166,[14] and as it was 'made' at Westminster, it not improbably belongs to the series of proceedings there circ. March 8, 1163. It may fairly be presumed that if, at the date of this fine, the fully developed form existed it would have been duly employed at Westminster on this occasion. We may therefore safely assert, at least, that it came into use between the dates of these two transactions.
As bearing on the evolution of the fine, the charter of Henry II, confirming a 'finis et concordia', and assigned by me to 1163-70,[15] ought to be compared with the Holme charter, as indicating, perhaps, some advance, through the close resemblance between the clauses, in these royal charters, confirming the fine points to an almost common stage of development.
| Holme | Lewes |
|---|---|
| Quare volo et firmiter precipio quod finis ille sicut coram me factus est stabilis sit, et firmiter et inconcusse ex utraque parte teneatur. | Et ideo volo et firmiter precipio ut finis iste et concordia stabilis sit et firma maneat et inconcusse inter eos teneatur, sicut facta fuit coram me et utrobique concessa. |
The part played by William fitz Audelin in the affairs, at this time, of Ireland, gives also some importance to this proof of his presence at Evesham on July 20, 1175. It brings us, indeed, in contact with the great 'Laudabiliter' controversy. Miss Norgate holds that William fitz Audelin was sent to Ireland in charge (with the Prior of Wallingford) of that contested document in 1175.[16] Professor Tout, in his biography of William, writes on the contrary, oddly enough, that he was 'sent in 1174 or 1175' [sic] on this mission, but 'soon left Ireland, for he appears as a witness of the treaty of Falaise in October 1174 [sic], and in 1175 and 1176 he was constantly in attendance at court in discharge of his duties as steward or seneschal'.[17] This confusion, however, is slight when compared with the statements as to William's tenure of the government of Ireland. It is agreed that he was sent to succeed Earl Richard (who died April 5, 1176); but while Miss Norgate holds that 'early in the next year Henry found it necessary to recall him',[18] Professor Tout places his recall in 1179, consequent on complaints against him to the king in January of that year. Without undertaking to decide the question, I may suggest that William had returned to England by May 1177—for he is proved by charters to have attended the Oxford council of that date—when Henry replaced him, as governor, by Hugh de Lacy, but entrusted him, as Hoveden states, with Wexford. We have only to assume that Gerald, by mistake, assigns to 1172 his Wexford appointment, which really belonged to 1177 (Professor Tout thinks this probable), and then the solution I suggest satisfies all the requirements.
William fitz Audelin, I may add, has been peculiarly the sport of genealogists. Having been selected by them as ancestor to the great Irish house of Burke ('De Burgo') he was further transformed, by a flight of fancy even wilder than usual, into a lineal descendant of Charlemagne. Who he really was seems to have remained unknown, for his life in the Dictionary of National Biography treats with suspicion, though duly mentioning, his alleged descent from Charlemagne. Moreover, his very name would seem to have been left in doubt. It would, of course, be difficult to distinguish 'Aldelinus' from 'Aldelmus' in MS., and I confess to having looked on the latter—which is the form adopted by Professor Tout in the Dictionary of National Biography, as by Miss Norgate and others—as probable enough from its likeness to the English 'Aldhelm'. But the 'fitz Audeline' of the Anglo-Norman poem on the Conquest of Ireland seems decisive. 'Willelmus filius Audelini, domini regis dapifer' was the style he used in his own charters.[19]
Having always kept a look-out for him in Yorkshire, I recognized William at once in a charter which is among those abstracted in the Report on the Portland MSS.[20] This is a confirmation by Roger de Mowbray of a grant to Fountains by 'Aldelin de Aldefeld and Ralph his son and his other sons'. Among the witnesses are 'Ralph son of Aldelin, William his brother', and at the close, 'Amelin son of Aldel'. Now, if we turn to the cartæ of 1166, we find, under Yorkshire, that Ralph 'filius Aldelin' held half a knight's fee of Roger de Mowbray, and William filius Aldelin one fee of Henry de Lacy. Here we recognize the two brothers mentioned in the charters above.[21] The small fief of William 'filius Aldelin' himself is entered under Hampshire, where it is described as 'terra quam dominus Rex dedit Willelmo filio Aldelin, Marscallo suo, cum Juliana filia Roberti Dorsnelli'.
It is through this Juliana that we obtain the coping-stone of proof. Her charter granting Little Maplestead, Essex, to the Hospitallers, has for its first witness 'Radulfo filio Adelini', who, as we have seen above, was her husband's brother.[22] And he is also the first witness to William's confirmation of her gift.[23]
The parentage and the true name of William fitz Audelin are thus, at length, clearly established.
[1] Vol. i. (Selden Society).
[2] 'Reg.' MS. The earl died July 1, 1175. This fine further confirms the accuracy of the Gesta Henrici (see Eyton, p. 192)]
[3] Maitland's Select Pleas of the Crown, I. xv.
[4] History of the Exchequer (Ed. 1711), pp. 64, 65.
[5] Eyton's Itinerary p. 191.
[6] Prof Maitland has explained that this presence was formal (Select Pleas of the Crown, I. xiv).
[7] Except that Robert fitz Bernard's place is taken by John of Cardiff.
[8] October 27, 1175.
[9] Sloane Charter xxxi. 4, No. 34. See also Addenda.
[10] August 1175.
[11] Cotton Charter, xi. 73 (original).
[12] Galba, E., II. fo. 31b.
[13] ibid., 62b.
[14] The witnesses to the fine and the charter confirming it included Richard Archdeacon of Poitiers and Robert Earl of Leicester. The former gives us the limit March 1163, and the king was not in England in the lifetime of the latter after March 1166.
[15] See my Ancient Charters, pp. 67-8.
[16] 'It is acknowledged on all hands that there is no sign of any attempt on Henry's part to publish the letter in Ireland ... before 1175. In that year Gerald states that the letter was read ... at Waterford.' English Historical Review, viii. 44. Cf. p. 31. See also Angevin Kings, ii. 182.
[17] Dictionary of National Biography. I differ wholly from both writers, and take the view, based on record evidence, that, contrary to the accepted belief, William visited Ireland some two years earlier.
[18] England under the Angevin Kings, ii. 183.
[19] The name of 'Audelin' is extant as a surname. I have met with it in London.
[20] 13th Report Hist. MSS., App. ii., p. 4. We are indebted, I believe, to Mr Maxwell Lyte for these interesting abstracts.
[21] The name seems to be preserved in Thorpe-Audlin (vulgo Audling), a township in the West Riding of Yorkshire, some 4-1/2 miles from Pontefract.
[22] It seems to be printed only in a footnote to Morant's Essex (i. 282). 'Radulfo filio Willelmi domini mei' is a witness, which certainly suggests that William had been married before.
[23] See Monasticon. Prof Tout seems to have been unaware of these charters of William, one of which is dated. Indeed he only says that William 'is said to have married' Juliana, giving the carta (1166) as his authority.