Our Legal Heritage : 600-1776 King Aethelbert - King George IIIReilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage : 600-1776 King Aethelbert - King George III
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
This lawsuit between a son and his mother over land was heard at a
shire-meeting: "Here it is declared in this document that a shire-
meeting sat at Aylton in King Cnut's time. There were present
Bishop AEthelstan and Earl Ranig and Edwin, the Earl's son, and
Leofwine, Wulfsige's son, and Thurkil the White; and Tofi the
Proud came there on the King's business, and Bryning the sheriff
was present, and AEthelweard of Frome and Leofwine of Frome and
Godric of Stoke and all the thegns of Herefordshire. Then Edwin,
Enneawnes son, came traveling to the meeting and sued his own
mother for a certain piece of land, namely Wellington and Cradley.
Then the bishop asked whose business it was to answer for his
mother, and Thurkil the White replied that it was his business to
do so, if he knew the claim. As he did not know the claim, three
thegns were chosen from the meeting [to ride] to the place where
she was, namely at Fawley, and these were Leofwine of Frome and
AEthelsige the Red and Winsige the seaman, and when they came to
her they asked her what claim she had to the lands for which her
son was suing her. Then she said that she had no land that in any
way belonged to him, and was strongly incensed against her son,
and summoned to her kinswoman, Leofflaed, Thurkil's wife, and in
front of them said to her as follows: 'Here sits Leofflaed, my
kinswoman, to whom, after my death, I grant my land and my gold,
my clothing and my raiment and all that I possess.' And then she
said to the thegns: 'Act like thegns, and duly announce my message
to the meeting before all the worthy men, and tell them to whom I
have granted my land and all my property, and not a thing to my
own son, and ask them to be witnesses of this.' And they did so;
they rode to the meeting and informed all the worthy men of the
charge that she had laid upon them. Then Thurkil the White stood
up in the meeting and asked all the thegns to give his wife the
lands unreservedly which her kinswoman had granted her, and they
did so. Then Thurkil rode to St. AEthelbert's minister, with the
consent and cognizance of the whole assembly, and had it recorded
in a gospel book."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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