The direct relation of not only the Saints but of the Deity itself to human affairs was a conception so clear to the mediæval mind that it saw nothing irreverent in a title deed being taken in the Supreme name, or in marshalling “Deus Omnipotens” at the head of the list of witnesses to a charter. This anthropomorphic practice gave occasion to one of the sharpest of Walter Map’s jokes against the Cistercians. Three abbots of that order petitioning on behalf of one of their number and his abbey for the restoration of certain lands by King Henry II. as having been injuriously taken away from the claimant’s abbey, represented to the King in his court that for God’s sake he ought to cause the lands to be restored and they assured him and gave him God himself as their guarantor (fidejussorem) that if he did, God would greatly increase his honour upon earth. King Henry found it difficult to resist the appeal thus made to him but called the Archdeacon Walter Map to advise. This he did well-knowing that this counsellor did not love the Cistercians, and that he might thus find a creditable way out of a tight corner. The Archdeacon was equal to the occasion. “My lord,” said he to the King, “they offer you a guarantor; you should hear their guarantor speak for himself.” “By the eyes of God,” replied Henry, “it is just and conform to reason that guarantors themselves should be heard upon the matter of their guarantee.” Then rising with a gentle smile (not a grin, expressly says Giraldus Cambrensis) the shrewd monarch retired leaving the disappointed abbots covered with confusion.
Of the many ties between literature and law, one, not by any means the least interesting on the list, is the quantity of legal citations, phrases, metaphors and analogies which got swept into the wide nets of the poets. Amongst such scraps there are few so successful and still fewer so pathetic as one in which a metrical historian, drawing near the close, both of his days and his chronicle, figured himself as summoned on short induciæ at the instance of Old Age to appear at a court to answer serious charges, where no help was for him save through grace and the Virgin as his advocate.
Elde me maistreis wyth hir brevis,elde, age
Ilke day me sare aggrevis,brevis, writ
Scho has me maid monitiouneilke, each
To se for a conclusiounequhilk, which
The quhilk behovis to be of det;of det, of right
Quhat term of tyme of that be set
I can wyt it be na way,wyt, know
Bot weill I wate on schort delay
At a court I mon appeire
Fell accusationis thare til here
Quhare na help thare is bot grace.bot, without
The maikless Madyn mon purchacemaikless, matchless
That help; and to sauff my statepurchace, procure
I haiff maid hir my advocate.sauff, save
Androw of Wyntoun’s verse it must be owned was verse on the plane of a notary public, and oft the common form of legal writ supplied sorrily enough the deficiencies of his imagination. But here for once the simple dignity of the thought bore him up and carried him through.
Index.
Aberdeen, gipsies at, [175]
Abjuring the realm, [15]
Abjuration, [69]
Abolishing right of Sanctuary, [16]
Adultery, penalty of, [11]
Africa, ordeal in, [24-25]
Amphitheatre, sports of, [112]
An eye for an eye, [137]
Ancient tenures, [93-108]
Andrews, William, Cock-Fighting, [196-200]
Anglo-Saxon Church, [14]
Aram, Eugene, [212]
Ashford, Mary, [40-41]
Asyla in Greece, [14]
Axon, W. E. A., Sanctuaries, [13-22];
Laws relating to the Gipsies, [165-178]
Babylonia, law of, [3-4]
Balance, ordeal of, [27]
Barbarous Punishments, [132-148]
Barnard’s Inn, [263]
Beetles, trial of, [157]
Begbie, William, murder of, [210]
Beverley, Sanctuary at, [19-20]
Bible Law, [1-12]
Bible, ordeal of the, [37]
Bible, weighing against, [27]
Bier, ordeal of, [36]
Bird, Robert, Cockieleerie Law, [200-204]
Biretta, [53]
Black Book of Hereford, [101]
Black Parliament, [225]
Blood, laws written in, [135];
stains, [222]
Boiling to death, [135]
Book of Common Prayer, abolished, [194]
Borough English, [104-106]
Breaking straws, [48];
rods, [49]
Buccleuch, Barons of, [107]
Bull relating to English Sanctuaries, [15]
Bull, trial of, [150]
Burned alive, [134]
Burgess, S., Bible Law, [1-12]
Canning, Elizabeth, [172-173]
Canon Law, [187], [225]
Castles, a centre of power, [74]
Cattle stealing, [74]
Channel Islands, Laws of the, [242-243], [248-257]
Charges, prejudice against, [271]
Charles I., Trial of, [182]
Chaucer’s compliment to the law, [268]
Cheltenham, Manor of, [94]
Chemical test, [220]
Christians, early punishment of, [137]
Church and ordeals, [29]
Clarke, Sidney W., Barbarous Punishments, [132-144]
Clement’s Inn, [260]
Cock-Fighting in Scotland, [196-204]
Cockieleerie Law, [200-204]
Cock, tried for laying an egg, [154]
Commonwealth Law and Lawyers, [178-196]
Continental Feudalism, [77-82]
Conveyancing Symbols, [50-51]
Copyhold, [49], [83]
Corsnedd, ordeal of, [35]
Commandments, breaking, [3]
Cross, ordeal of the [33]
Crown, [56]
Coventry Acts, [142-143]
Court Baron, [84]
Customary Court, [84]
Crucifixion, [136]
Dead bodies brought to place of judgment, [232]
Debts, limitation of, [9]
Declining knighthood, [63-64]
Defilement, [8]
Delivery of turf or twig, [50]
Deposition of kings, [56]
Devices of the Sixteenth Century Debtors, [161-164]
Divine right of kings, [193]
Dog carrying, [140]
Dogs in recognition of tenure, [101]
Dream evidence, [214-217]
Dudley lands, [64]
Durham Sanctuary, [17], [19]
Escheats, [226]
Emma, Queen, tried by ordeal, [30]
Englishry, law of, [70]
Executing gipsies, [167], [170]
Failure to extripate gipsies from England, [170]
Fatal Links, [205-223]
Father, powers of, [9]
Ferocity of forest laws, [119]
Feudal lord, powers of the, [64]
Feudal system, [58-62]
Fining jurymen, [124]
Fire ordeal, [28]
Flagellation, [61]
Flags, rendering for tenure, [101]
Forests, great, [115-116]
Forgery, punishments, [142]
Fortune telling, [169]
France, penal laws of, [140-141];
Trials of animals in, [149-154]
Frankalmoign, [103]
Free alms, [103-104]
Fridstools, [17], [20]
Frost, Thomas, Trial by jury in Old Times, [122-131];
Trials of animals, [149-160];
Little Inns of Court, [258-266]
Furnival’s Inn, [265]
Gavelkind, [106-107]
Ghosts, [217-220]
Gibbet, gipsy rescued from, [176]
Gipsies, laws relating to the, [165-178]
Glove, [92]
Godiva story, [74]
Grand Serjeantry, [100]
Great Civil War, [179]
Greenacre case, [209]
Hampden, John, [182]
Hanged, drawn, and quartered, [133-134]
Hasp and staple symbol, [52-53]
Hat as a symbol, [53-54]
Hawaii, ordeals in, [25]
Henry VIII., laws against gipsies, [169]
Hereford Fair, [101]
Heresy, [228]
Heriots, [91-92]
Herrick on lawyers, [269]
High treason, trial for, [122-124];
punishments for, [132-135]
Hindoos, ordeals of the, [26-27]
Holzmann, Maria Ann, murder of, [206-209]
Homage, [53]
Homicide, [11]
Horse, trial of, [151]
Hot iron, ordeal of, [27], [30], [31], [32]
Howlett, England, the Manor and Manor Law, [83-94];
Ancient Tenures, [95-108]
Hugh of Avalon, [120]
Ignorance, sin of, [7]
Iniquities, legal, [145]
Irish Island Laws, [238-239]
Isle of Man, Laws of the, [243-247]
Island Laws, [237-257]
Jews, extortions of, [73]
Jocular tenure, [102]
King’s power limited, [12]
Knight, service of, [96]
Lanercost, the chronicle of, [272]
Law under the Feudal System, [58-82]
Law and Medicine abused, [269-270]
Laws of the Forest, [109-121]
Laws relating to the Gipsies, [165-178]
Left-handed murder, [214]
Letters of IV. Forms, [163]
Lesemajesty, crimes of, [229-231]
Lincoln’s Inn, [266]
Lipski, [213]
Literature and Law, [275]
Little Inns of Court, [258-266]
Lords, power of, [58]
Lord Chief Justice Popham, stolen by gipsies, [170]
Loss of right hand, [138]
Lyon’s Inn, [259]
Macdonald, James C., Devices of the Sixteenth Century Debtors, [161-164]
Magna Charta, [63], [98]
Manchester, Sanctuary at, [15], [16], [17]
Manor and Manor Law, [83-94]
Manor, origin of, [88]
Marriage in feudal times, [59]
Marriage laws, altering, [195]
Marrying to atone for violence, [64]
Martin, Maria, [214]
Middle Ages, ordeals of, [29]
Military service, [59]
Military punishments, [136]
Money raised by marriage, [72]
Mortal Combat, [37-41]
Mosaic law, [3]
Mutilation, a favourite mode of punishment, [141-144]
Muswell Hill murder, [213]
Neilson, George, on Symbols, [43-57];
Post Mortem Trials, [224-236];
Obiter, [267-276]
New Inn, [259]
New way of paying old debts, [163]
Nimrod, [111]
Norman forest laws, [117]
Oath, refusal to bear witness of, [8];
of fealty, [60]
On Symbols, [43-57]
Oppression of gipsies under Queen Elizabeth, [171]
Ordeals, [24-42]
Palace regulations, [138-140]
Parricide, punishment for, [137]
Paul’s Cross, preaching at, [194]
Peacock, Edward, Laws of the Forest, [109-121];
Commonwealth Law and Lawyers, [179-196]
Peine forte et dure, [145-148]
Penal Code, English, [145]
Penn and Mead, trial of, [125]
Persecution of gipsies, [171]
Plantations, gipsies sent to, [178]
Plays acted by gipsies, [176]
Pigs, trial of, [150], [151], [152], [153], [157]
Pillory, [142], [144]
Poison, [135], [138]
Poison, ordeal, [28]
Poisoning, punishment for, [135]
Poor laws, [9]
Post-Mortem Trials, [224-236]
Prejudice against gipsies, [172]
Protecting the church in war time, [102-103]
Proverb, oldest, [111]
Punishments under Saxons, [61]
Quakers, trial of, [125-131]
Rann, Ernest H., trials in superstitious ages, [22-42];
Fatal Links, [205-223]
Reasoning power, [267]
Rebel Heads on City gates, [134]
Refuge, cities of, [14]
Regicides, [134]
Robbing travellers in feudal times, [73-74]
Robert de Belesone, cruel acts of, [65]
Robert the Bruce, Conspiracy, [225]
Rod in Scotland, [49]
Roman Empire in its glory, [114]
Rose Tenures, [102]
Ruskin, Jno., on Cœur de Lion, [72]
Sacrifice, laws relating to, [5-7]
Sacrilege, [8]
Sanctuaries, [13-22]
Scilly Islands, laws of the, [239]
Scoggan, Queen’s jester, [163-164]
Scotch Islands, laws of the, [239-242]
Scotland, sanctuaries of, [21-22]
Scott, John, of Edinburgh, [161-163]
Scutage, [98]
Self-slaughter, [229]
Ship-money tax, [181]
Shaving the head for theft, [69]
Siamese, ordeals of the, [26]
Silver spear, [55]
Slavery, discharge from, [45]
Slaves, ill treatment of, [8], [10];
under the Saxons, [60]
Slaying gipsies, [175-176]
Sods offered at the altar, [48]
Spindle on the altar, [51]
Staff and baton, [50]
Staples Inn, [262]
Star Chamber, [124-125]
Strangulation, punishment by, [136]
Straws, breaking, [48]
Stocks, [67]
Switzerland, trials of animals in, [154]
Symond’s Inn, [265]
Thornton, Abraham, [40-41]
Towns amerced, [70]
Traitors, exempted from the Sanctuary, [15]
Treason, trials for, [233]
Trial by Jury in old times, [122-131]
Trials of Animals, [149-160]
Trials in superstitious ages, [22-42]
Tynwald Day, [247]
Usury, law of, [9]
Villeinage, [86]
Violating the sanctuary, [14], [21]
Wager of Battel, [37], [41]
Walters, Cuming, Law under the Feudal system, [58-82];
Island Laws, [237-257]
Wand, [49]
Welcoming gipsies to England, [168]
Westminster, sanctuary of, [20]
Whipping, [61];
Post, [67]
William I., Forest Laws of, [118];
Burial of, [225]
William the Red, Forest laws of, [119]
Witchcraft, [144-45]
Wollen Industry, protection of, [144]
Women, free bench of, [93]
Working of the sanctuary system, [16], [17]