Sir Henry Spelman had taken another view, and supposed the grant to have been the origin of the glebe-lands of the Church; but this opinion was wrong, because churches had been endowed with glebe lands prior to these grants.
The great question at issue is, “Did Ethelwulf’s charters grant a tithe of yearly increase?” They did not.
I have consulted the following chronicles on this matter:—
(a) The Saxon Chronicle under the year A.D. 855 writes: “In this year Ethelwulf, inscribing in a book the tenth part of the land and also of his whole kingdom, dedicated it to God’s praise, and thereby seeking also his own eternal salvation.” [“Decimam terræ suæ et regni quoque totius partem libro inscribens, in laudem Dei, suæque etiam æternal saluti consulens, dicavit.”]
(b) Simeon has under A.D. 855: “At this time King Ethelwulf tithed all the empire of his kingdom for the redemption of his own soul and the souls of his ancestors.” [“Quo tempore rex Ethelwulfus decimavit totum regni sui imperium, pro redemptione animæ suæ et antecessorum suorum.”]
(c) Huntingdon, under A.D. 854, writes: “Ethelwulf in the nineteenth year of his reign tithed all his land to the uses of the Churches for God’s love and his own redemption.” [“Ethelwulfus decimo nono anno regni sui totam terram suam adopus ecclesiarum decimavit, propter amorem Dei et redemptionem sui.”]
(d) Wendover, A.D. 854: “In this same year the magnificent King Ethelwulf conferred upon God and the blessed Mary and all the saints the tenth part of his kingdom free from all secular services, exactions, and tributes.” [“Eodem anno rex magnificus Athelwulfus decimam regni sui partem Deo et Beatæ Mariæ et omnibus sanctis contulit, liberam ab omnibus servitiis sæcularibus exactionibus et tributis.”]
(e) Malmesbury says: “Ethelwulf granted to Christ’s servants the tenth part of all the ploughlands within his kingdom, free from all duties, and discharged from all liability to disturbance.” [“Ethelwulfus decimam omnium hidarum infra regnum suum Christi famulis concessit, liberam ab omnibus functionibus absolutam ab omnibus inquietudinibus.”]
(f) Asser, surnamed Menavensis, from the place of his birth, writes, under A.D. 855: “In the same year Ethelwulf released the tenth part of his whole kingdom from all royal service and tribute, and by a perpetual inscription offered it as a sacrifice on the cross of Christ to the Trinity for the redemption of his own soul and the souls of his ancestors.” [“Eodem anno Æthelwulfus decimam totius regni sui partem ab omni regali servitio et tributo liberavit, in sempiternoque graphio in cruce Christi pro redemptione animæ suæ et antecessorum suorum, uni et trino Deo immolavit.”]