21. Another feudal custom was this; a duty was laid on every thing sold at the fairs and markets; that is, if a man went to the market to buy a sheep, he must pay so much for the sheep, and so much for duty, the duty being for the baron, or lord of the manor.
22. There were a great many other customs which I have not room to mention, but I think I have said enough to show you what the feudal system was in the first ages after the Norman conquest; so now I will tell you something about the first Norman sovereigns.
23. William the Conqueror died in 1087, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert, in Normandy, and by his second son, William Rufus, in England; but after a time Duke Robert wanted money to go to the Holy Wars, which I will tell you about presently, so he mortgaged his duchy of Normandy to his brother William, who thus became sovereign of both countries, as his father had been. He was a sad tyrant, and so rude in his manners that nobody liked him.
24. I told you what strict game laws were made by the Conqueror, but William Rufus made them more severe still, and so displeased the noblemen, by forbidding them to hunt without his leave, that some of them formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; but the plot was discovered, and the Earl of Northumberland, who was at the head of it, was taken prisoner, and confined in Windsor Castle all the rest of his life.
25. There was another great lord, the Count d’Eu, who was accused of being engaged in this plot, by a knight called Geoffrey Bainard, so the king had him arrested. The Count, however, denied having any thing to do with it, and said he defied his accuser, and was ready to fight with him, and that God would give the victory to whichever of them was in the right.
26. So they fought with swords, in the presence of the king and court, when Bainard was victorious, and the Count being thus convicted, was condemned to have his eyes torn out.
27. This was a strange way for a man to prove his innocence of any crime, but it became a common custom in England, and was called “Wager of battle.” Even law-suits, respecting right of property, were often thus decided; and, if a lady had a quarrel or a lawsuit, she might get a man to do battle for her, and he was called her champion.
28. It was the fashion for many ages, not only in England, but all over Europe, for young men of noble birth to roam about the world in search of adventures; and, as they were generally poor and depended chiefly on their swords for subsistence, they would engage in anybody’s quarrels; fight in the cause of women or children who were either injured or oppressed, and enlist in the service of princes and barons who were at war.
29. This was called chivalry, and these knights errant, or wandering knights, were made welcome wherever they went, and treated with hospitality at the castles of the great.
30. Numbers of them went to the Holy Wars, but, as I suppose you do not know what the Holy Wars were, I will tell you about them.