[16] The Confessor dying without issue, the competitors for the crown were Edgar Atheling, Harold, and duke William. The first had not capacity to sway the sceptre; and the succession of kings was not yet directed by very regular maxims. Harold was a subject, and in possession of no legal claim. William was related to Edward, and urged the destination of that prince to succeed him. On these grounds he invaded England; and by opposing Harold, he meant to secure what was his right of succession. His victory accordingly gave him the capacity of a successor, and not of a conqueror. That the quarrel was personal with Harold may be even conceived from the circumstance that duke William offered to decide their dispute by single combat. Hale, hist. of the com. law, ch. v. Cook, argument. antinorm.
With regard to William’s right of succession, the best account appears to be that which is found in Ingulphus, William of Poictiers, William Gemetensis, and Ordericus Vitalis, who were all of them his contemporaries. These authors inform us, that king Edward sent Harold into Normandy to assure duke William of his having destined him to be his successor to the crown of England; a destination which he had before observed to him by Robert Archbishop of Canterbury; and which appears to have been made with the consent of the national council. And of this relation there remains a very curious and decisive confirmation. It is a tapestry found at Bayeux, and supposed to be work of Matilda the wife of duke William, and of the ladies of her court, in which Harold is represented on his embassy. See a description of this tapestry by Smart Lethieullier, Esq; ap. Du Carrel’s Anglo-Norman antiquities. It is surprising, when these particulars are considered, that Mr. Hume should have given his sanction to the opinion that William’s right was entirely by war, and that he should have conceived that those who refuse to this prince the title of Conqueror should rest solely or chiefly on the pretence that the word conqueror is in old books and records applied to such as make an acquisition of territory by any means. Hist. of Eng. vol. 1. p. 200. It is true, that Sir Henry Spelman and other antiquaries have shown, that conquestus and conquisitio were in the age of duke William synonymous with acquisitio; but it is no less true, that the authors who refuse to duke William the title of Conqueror, rest on much superior evidence. It is not with pleasure that I differ from this great authority; but, no man has a title to enquire who will not think for himself; and the most perfect productions of human wit have their errors and their blemishes.
[17] See farther, an Historical Dissertation concerning the antiquity of the English constitution. Part 2.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid.
[20] It is a very curious fact, that even some of the Anglo-Saxon nobles had all the prerogatives of earls-palatine. Alfred, we are told, put to death one of his judges for having passed sentence on a malefactor for an offence which had been committed where the king’s writ did not pass. Mirroire de Justices, ch. v. And in Selden we meet with earls who had entirely the civil and criminal jurisdiction in their own territories. Tit. Hon. part 2. ch. v. If there were no other proofs than these, they would be sufficient to evince the reality of fiefs among the Anglo-Saxons.
[21] Madox, hist. of Excheq. Erant in Anglia quodammodo, says an old writer concerning the age of Stephen, tot reges vel potius tyranni, quot domini Castellorum. Gul. Neubrigens.
[22] Civitas London. habeat omnes antiquas libertates et liberas consuetudines suas tam per terras quam per aquas. Præterea volumus et concedimus quod omnes aliae civitates et burgi et villae et portus habeant omnes libertates, et liberas consuetudines suas. Magna charta ap. Blackstone, Law Tracts, vol. III. p. 21.
[23] They had suffered considerably, even from the time of the Confessor to that of Domesday-book. Authors ought therefore to be cautious in reasoning back from that monument to the Saxon period. It is a pity, that the survey of the kingdom taken by Alfred did not yet remain. The comparison of it with that of William would lead to very curious discoveries.
[24] The first summons of knights extant on record is supposed to be in the 49th of Henry III. But this, though it were true, does not prove that knights were not known till that time. The writ does not say so; nor can it be gathered from it, that knights of the shire were then newly established. If there remained, indeed, an uniform series of records from the earliest times, in which there was no mention of knights till the age of Henry III. there might thence arise a strong argument against their antiquity. But this is not the case; and it happens, that in the 15th year of king John, there is a writ to the sheriff to summon four knights of the county; 15. Jo. Rs. rot. claus. pt. 2. m. 7. dorso. 4 discretos milites, de comitatu suo, ad loquendum nobiscum. There is also similar evidence, that in the 32d and 42d years of Henry III. knights made their appearance in parliament. Whitelocke, Notes, vol. I. 438. vol. II. 120. In the close roll, also, of the 38th year of Henry III. there is extant a writ of summons directed to the sheriffs of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, requiring two knights to be sent for each of these counties. Lyttelton, Hist. Henry II. notes to the 2d book, p. 70. 79. In ancient times, it was usual to summon sometimes four knights, sometimes three, sometimes two, and even sometimes one knight. But from the reign of Edward III. it has been the constant practice for the sheriff to return two knights for each county. Whitelocke, vol. I. 439.