Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776Reilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
King William I decided a lawsuit regarding land on the basis of
testimony of the county thus: "William, by God's grace king of the
English, to Bishop Walkelin, {Sheriff} Hugh de Port and his lieges of
Hampshire, greeting. I notify you that I have restored to Archbishop
Thomas of York one hide of land pertaining to the church of Mottisfont,
as Archbishop Ealdred best had it at the time of King Edward, in
meadows and wood and pasture and in common pasturage for as many
animals as the maximum he could have there at the time of King Edward,
as was testified before Bishop [William] of Durham and Bertram de
Verdun and devised by the men of the county. Farewell. Witnesses:
Bishop William of Durham and Bertram de Verdun."
The Royal Court decided this case: "At length both parties were
summoned before the King's court, in which there sat many of the nobles
of the land of whom Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances, was delegated by the
King's authority as judge of the dispute, with Ranulf the Vicomte,
Neel, son of Neel, Robert de Usepont, and many other capable judges who
diligently and fully examined the origin of the dispute, and delivered
judgment that the mill ought to belong to St. Michael and his monks
forever. The most victorious King William approved and confirmed this
decision."
Chapter 5
The Times: 1100-1154
King Henry I, son of William the Conquerer, furthered peace
between the Normans and native English by his marriage to a niece of
King Edward the Confessor called Matilda. She married him on condition
that he grant a charter of rights undoing some practices of the past
reigns of William I and William II. Peace was also furthered by the
fact that Henry I had been born in England and English was his native
tongue. The private wars of lords were now replaced by less serious
mock battles.
Henry was a shrewd judge of character and of the course of
events, cautious before taking action, but decisive in carrying out his
plans. He was faithful and generous to his friends. He showed a strong
practical element of calculation and foresight. Although illiterate, he
was intelligent and a good administrator. He had an efficient
intelligence gathering network and an uncanny knack of detecting hidden
plans before they became conspiratorial action. He made many able men
of inferior social position nobles, thus creating a class of career
judges and administrators in opposition to the extant hereditary
aristocracy. He loved books and built a palace at Oxford to which he
invited scholars for lively discussion. Euclid's "Elements" ", which
deduced from axioms the properties of lines, circles, and spheres, was
introduced into England.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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