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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The following pages contain an account of the principles upon which the public and political life of our Anglosaxon forefathers was based, and of the institutions in which those principles were most clearly manifested. The subject is a grave and solemn one: it is the history of the childhood of our own age,—the explanation of its manhood. On every side of us thrones totter, and the deep foundations of society are convulsed. Shot and shell sweep the streets of capitals which have long been pointe
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PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION.
PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION.
The original edition of this monumental work having for a long time been out of print and of enhanced value, a great demand has arisen for the issue of a new edition; and the welcome opportunity of amending a number of oversights and typographical errors, and of verifying a large number of references, has not been neglected. The book itself is of so standard a character, and was so well digested in the first place, that no apology is needed for its re-publication now—more than a quarter of a cen
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CHAPTER I. SAXON AND WELSH TRADITIONS.
CHAPTER I. SAXON AND WELSH TRADITIONS.
Eleven centuries ago, an industrious and conscientious historian, desiring to give a record of the establishment of his forefathers in this island, could find no fuller or better account than this: “About the year of Grace 445-446, the British inhabitants of England, deserted by the Roman masters who had enervated while they protected them, and exposed to the ravages of Picts and Scots from the extreme and barbarous portions of the island, called in the assistance of heathen Saxons from the cont
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CHAPTER II. THE MARK.
CHAPTER II. THE MARK.
All that we learn of the original principle of settlement, prevalent either in England or on the continent of Europe, among the nations of Germanic blood, rests upon two main foundations; first, the possession of land; second, the distinction of rank; and the public law of every Teutonic tribe implies the dependence of one upon the other principle, to a greater or less extent. Even as he who is not free can, at first, hold no land within the limits of the community, so is he who holds no land th
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CHAPTER III. THE GÁ OR SCÍR.
CHAPTER III. THE GÁ OR SCÍR.
Next in order of constitution, if not of time, is the union of two, three or more Marks in a federal bond for purposes of a religious, judicial or even political character. The technical name for such a union is in Germany, a Gau or Bant [126] ; in England the ancient name Gá has been almost universally superseded by that of Scír or Shire. For the most part the natural divisions of the country are the divisions also of the Gá; and the size of this depends upon such accidental limits as well as u
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CHAPTER IV. LANDED POSSESSION. THE EÐEL, HÍD OR ALOD.
CHAPTER IV. LANDED POSSESSION. THE EÐEL, HÍD OR ALOD.
Possession of a certain amount of land in the district was the indispensable condition of enjoying the privileges and exercising the rights of a freeman [145] . There is no trace of such a qualification as constituted citizenship at Athens or Rome: among our forefathers, the exclusive idea of the city had indeed no sway. They formed voluntary associations upon the land, for mutual benefit; the qualification by birth, as far as it could be of any importance, was inferred from the fact of admissio
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CHAPTER V. PERSONAL RANK. THE FREEMAN. THE NOBLE.
CHAPTER V. PERSONAL RANK. THE FREEMAN. THE NOBLE.
The second principle laid down in the first chapter of this book, is that of personal rank, which in the Teutonic scheme appears inseparably connected with the possession of land. The earliest records we can refer to, place before us a system founded upon distinctions of birth, as clearly as any that we can derive from the Parliamentary writs or rolls of later ages: in our history there is not even a fabulous Arcadia, wherein we may settle a free democracy: for even where the records of fact no
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CHAPTER VI. THE KING.
CHAPTER VI. THE KING.
As the noble is to the freeman, so in some respects is the King to the noble. He is the summit of his class, and completes the order of the freemen. Even in the dim twilight of Teutonic history we find tribes and nations subject to kings: others again acknowledged no such office, and Tacitus seems to regard this state as the more natural to our forefathers. I do not think this clear: on the contrary, kingship, in a certain sense, seems to me rooted in the German mind and institutions, and univer
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CHAPTER VII. THE NOBLE BY SERVICE.
CHAPTER VII. THE NOBLE BY SERVICE.
I have called the right to entertain a Comitatus , or body of household retainers, a very jewel in the crown: it was so because it formed, in process of time, the foundation of all the extended powers which became the attributes of royalty, and finally succeeded in establishing, upon the downfall of the old dynasts or nobles by birth, a new order of nobles by service, whose root was in the crown itself. A close investigation of its gradual rise, progress and ultimate development, will show that
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CHAPTER VIII. THE UNFREE. THE SERF.
CHAPTER VIII. THE UNFREE. THE SERF.
We have considered the case of the wife, the son and the daughter [323] , as far as can be done until we come to deal with the family relations; and we have examined the position of one peculiar class of the unfree, namely the comites or gesíðas of the kingly leaders. Another, but less favoured, class remain to be noticed, those namely whom the Latin authors designate by the terms Libertus and Servus, and who, among all the nations of Germanic origin, are found under the corresponding denominati
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CHAPTER IX. THE MUTUAL GUARANTEE. MÆGBURH. TITHING. HUNDRED.
CHAPTER IX. THE MUTUAL GUARANTEE. MÆGBURH. TITHING. HUNDRED.
The organization in Marks and in the Gá or Scír was a territorial one, based upon the natural conformation of the country, common possession of the soil and usufruct of its produce. It has been already said that both of these divisions had their separate courts of justice or parliaments, their judges and executive officers. But some further machinery was required to secure the public peace, to provide for the exercise of what, in modern society, we call the police, and to ensure the rights of th
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CHAPTER X. FǼHÐE. WERGYLD.
CHAPTER X. FǼHÐE. WERGYLD.
The right of private warfare, technically called fǽhðe or feud [495] , was one which every Teutonic freeman considered inalienable; and which, coupled with the obligations of family, was directly derived from his original position as a freeman [496] : it was the privilege which he possessed before he consented to enter into any political bond, the common term upon which all freemen could meet in an equal form of polity. It was an immediate corollary from that primæval law of nature, that each ma
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CHAPTER XI. FOLCLAND. BÓCLAND. LǼNLAND.
CHAPTER XI. FOLCLAND. BÓCLAND. LǼNLAND.
It was a wise insight into the accidents of increasing population which limited the amount of the original éðel, or allodial estate. By leaving, as it were, a large fund to be drawn upon, as occasion might serve, the principle, that every freeman must be settled on land, was maintained, without condemning society to a stationary condition, as to numbers. The land thus left, of which the usufruct, under certain conditions, was enjoyed by the freemen, was called Folcland, terra publica, ager publi
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CHAPTER XII. HEATHENDOM.
CHAPTER XII. HEATHENDOM.
An account of the Saxons which should entirely exclude the peculiarities of their heathendom, would be deficient in an important degree. Religion and law are too nearly allied, particularly in early periods, for us to neglect either, in the consideration of national institutions. The immediate dependence of one upon the other we may not be able to show in satisfactory detail; but we may be assured that the judicial forms are always in near connexion with the cult, and that this is especially the
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APPENDIX A. MARKS.
APPENDIX A. MARKS.
The following patronymical names I believe to be those of ancient Marks. The first portion of them is derived from the Codex Diplomatics and other original authorities: the second portion contains names inferred from the actual local names in England at the present day. The total number of the names thus assumed from local denominations amounts to 627, but as several occur once only, while others are found repeated in various counties, I find the whole number reaches to 1329, which are distribut
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APPENDIX B. THE HÍD.
APPENDIX B. THE HÍD.
From the tables in the above chapter, it appears that we cannot allow one hundred actual acres to the Híd, and still less one hundred and twenty. A similar result will be obtained if we examine the entries in Domesday. Thus I have intentionally selected one or two examples where the whole acreage exactly makes up the sum of hides multiplied by 120, because it is probable that such instances may have led to that calculation: but it is necessary to bear in mind that the Híd is exclusively arable l
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APPENDIX C. MANUMISSION OF SERFS.
APPENDIX C. MANUMISSION OF SERFS.
The following examples of Manumission are illustrative of the assertions in the text. The following manumissions from a religious book, formerly the property of St. Petroc’s, are selected from a much larger number found in the Codex Dipl. No. 981. The British names which occur in them are of great interest. Ælfred by his will manumitted all his unfree dependents, and with great care provided for their enjoyment of this liberty: he says [859] :— Cyrelif is a person who has a right of choice, or w
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APPENDIX D.
APPENDIX D.
“This writing witnesseth that Orcy hath granted the guildhall at Abbotsbury and the site thereof, to the honour of God and St. Peter, and for a property to the guild, both during his life and after his life, for a long lasting commemoration of himself and his consort. Let him that would set it aside, answer it to God in the great day of judgment! “Now these are the covenants which Orcy and the guildsmen of Abbotsbury have ordained, to the honour of God, the worship of St. Peter, and the hele of
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APPENDIX E. LǼNLAND.
APPENDIX E. LǼNLAND.
The following documents throw light upon the nature of Lǽland, and the conditions under which it was held. The first is a detailed account given by Oswald, bishop of Worcester, to king Eádgár, of the plan which he adopted in leasing the lands of his church: it is reprinted here from the sixth volume of the Codex Diplomaticus, No. 1287. The second is a statement of the way in which an estate of six ploughlands at Wouldham in Kent became the property of the Cathedral at Rochester: it is No. 1288 i
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APPENDIX F. HEATHENDOM.
APPENDIX F. HEATHENDOM.
The following passages of the Anglosaxon Laws contain general enactments against heathen practices, or references to heathen superstitions. “ Gif ceorl búton wífes wísdóme deóflum gelde, he sie ealra his ǽhta scyldig, and healsfange. Gif butwu deóflum geldað, síon héo healsfange scyldigo, ⁊ ealra ǽhta. ”— Ll. Wihtr. § 12. Thorpe , i. 40. “ Gif þeów deóflum geldað .vi. scill. gebéte, oððe his hýd. ”— Ll. Wihtr. § 13. Thorpe , i. 40. “ Gif hwá Cristendóm wýrde, oððe hǽðendóm weorðige, wordes oððe
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CHAPTER I. GROWTH OF THE KINGLY POWER.
CHAPTER I. GROWTH OF THE KINGLY POWER.
The object of the First Book was generally to give a clear view of the principles upon which the original settlement of the Anglosaxons was founded. But as our earliest fortunes are involved in an obscurity caused by the almost total absence of contemporary records, and as the principles themselves are not historically developed in all their integrity, at least in this country, many conclusions could only be arrived at through a system of induction, by comparing the known facts of Teutonic histo
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CHAPTER II. THE REGALIA, OR RIGHTS OF ROYALTY.
CHAPTER II. THE REGALIA, OR RIGHTS OF ROYALTY.
In the strict theory of the Anglosaxon constitution the King was only one of the people [27] , dependent upon their election for his royalty, and upon their support for its maintenance. But he was nevertheless the noblest of the people, and at the head of the state, as long as his reign was felt to be for the general good, the keystone and completion of the social arch. Accordingly he was invested with various dignities and privileges, enabling him to exercise public functions necessary to the w
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CHAPTER III. THE KING’S COURT AND HOUSEHOLD.
CHAPTER III. THE KING’S COURT AND HOUSEHOLD.
The Anglosaxon Court appears to have been modelled upon the same plan as that of the Frankish Emperors: our documents do not however permit us to judge whether this was the case before a sufficient intercourse had taken place to render a positive imitation probable. It is not at all unlikely that, from the very first establishment of the Comitatus, the possession of those household offices was coveted, which brought the holder into closer personal connection with the prince: and more or less of
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CHAPTER IV. THE EALDORMAN OR DUKE.
CHAPTER IV. THE EALDORMAN OR DUKE.
It is of much less importance to a people, what its constitution is, than what is its administration; nothing can be easier than to make what are called charters, and it is a rhetorical commonplace to talk of resting under a constitution, the growth of ages: but no nation rests, or ever did rest, under the one or the other. The source of a nation’s comfort,—of its success in realizing the great principle of the mutual guarantee of peace, lies in the administration of what is called its constitut
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CHAPTER V. THE GERÉFA.
CHAPTER V. THE GERÉFA.
The most general name for the fiscal, administrative and executive officer among the Anglosaxons was Geréfa , or as it is written in very early documents geróefa [358] : but the peculiar functions of the individuals comprehended under it, were further defined by a prefix compounded with it, as scírgeréfa , the reeve of the shire or sheriff: túngeréfa the reeve of the farm or bailiff. The exact meaning and etymology of this name have hitherto eluded the researches of our best scholars, and yet pe
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CHAPTER VI. THE WITENA GEMÓT.
CHAPTER VI. THE WITENA GEMÓT.
The conquest of the Roman provinces in Europe was accomplished by successive bands of adventurers, ranged under the banners of various leaders, whom ambition, restlessness or want of means had driven from their homes. But the conquest once achieved, the strangers settled down upon the territory they had won, and became the nucleus of nations: in their new settlements they adopted the rules and forms of institutions to which they had been accustomed in their ancient home, subject indeed to such m
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CHAPTER VII. THE TOWNS.
CHAPTER VII. THE TOWNS.
We have now arrived at that point of our enquiry at which it behoves us to bestow our attention upon the origin and growth of towns among the Anglosaxons; and to this end we shall find it expedient to carry our researches to a still earlier period, and investigate, though in a slight degree, the condition of their British and Roman predecessors in this respect. At first sight it would seem natural to suppose that where a race had long possessed the outward means and form of civilization,—a race
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CHAPTER VIII. THE BISHOP.
CHAPTER VIII. THE BISHOP.
Whatever variety of form the heathendom of the Anglosaxons may have assumed in different districts, we are justified in asserting that a sacerdotal class existed, and that there were different grades of rank within it. We hear of priests, and of chief priests; and it is not unnatural to conclude that to the latter some pre-eminence in dignity, if not in power, was conceded over their less-distinguished colleagues. Similarly, the necessities of internal government and regulation, and the analogy
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CHAPTER IX. THE CLERGY AND MONKS.
CHAPTER IX. THE CLERGY AND MONKS.
The almost total absence of documentary evidence leaves us in great doubt as to the condition of the church in England previous to the organization brought about by Theodore. It is nevertheless probable that it followed in all essential points the course which characterized other missionary establishments. The earliest missionaries were for the most part monks; but Augustine was accompanied by clerics also [902] , and in every case the conversion of a district was rapidly followed by the establi
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CHAPTER X. THE INCOME OF THE CLERGY.
CHAPTER X. THE INCOME OF THE CLERGY.
The means provided for the support of the clergy were various at various periods, consisting sometimes merely of voluntary donations on the part of the people, sometimes of grants of lands, or settled endowments, and sometimes of fixed charges upon persons and property, recognized by the state and levied under its authority: and after the secure establishment of a Christian church in Britain, it is probable that all these several sources of income were combined to supply its ministers with a dec
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CHAPTER XI. THE POOR.
CHAPTER XI. THE POOR.
There is hardly a question connected with the march of civilization more difficult to answer satisfactorily than this: What is to be done with the Poor? In our own day, when subdivision of labour has been carried to an unheard of extent, when property follows the natural law of accumulation in masses, and society numbers the proletarian as an inevitable unit among its constituents, the question presents itself in a threatening and dangerous form, with difficulty surrounding it on every side, and
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APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
“This is the ordinance which the bishops and the reeves belonging to London have ordained, and with weds confirmed, among our ‘ frith gegildas, ’ as well eorlish as ceorlish, in addition to the dooms which were fixed at Greatanlea and at Exeter and at Thunresfeld. “1. That no thief be spared over XII pence, and no person over XII years, whom we learn according to folkright that he is guilty, and can make no denial; that we slay him, and take all that he has; and first take the ‘ ceapgild ’ from
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