CHAPTER VII.

THE SECOND CHARTER OF THE KING.

The liberation of the king from his captivity was hailed with joy by his adherents, and not least, we may be sure, in his loyal city of London. The greatness of the event is seen, perhaps, in the fact that it is even mentioned in a private London deed of the time, executed "Anno MCXLI., Id est in exitu regis Stephani de captione Roberti filii regis Henrici."[432b]

In spite of his faults we may fairly assume that the king's imprisonment had aroused a popular reaction in his favour, as it did in the case of Charles I., five centuries later. The experiences also of the summer had been greatly in his favour. For, however unfit he may have been to fill the throne himself, he was able now to point to the fact that his rival had been tried and found wanting.

He would now be eager to efface the stain inflicted on his regal dignity, to show in the sight of all men that he was again their king, and then to execute vengeance on those whose captive he had been. The first step to be taken was to assemble a council of the realm that should undo the work of the April council at Winchester, and formally recognize in him the rightful possessor of the throne. This council met on the 7th of December at Westminster, the king himself being present.[433] The ingenious legate was now as ready to prove that his brother, and not the Empress, should rightly fill the throne, as, we saw, he was in April to prove the exact reverse. The two grounds on which he based his renunciation were, first, that the Empress had failed to fulfil her pledges to the Church;[434] second, that her failure implied the condemnation of God.[435]

A solemn coronation might naturally follow, to set, as it were, the seal to the work of this assembly. Perhaps the nearest parallel to this second coronation is to be found in that of Richard I., in 1194, after his captivity and humiliation.[436] I think we have evidence that Stephen himself looked on this as a second coronation, and as no mere "crown-wearing," in a precept in favour of the monks of Abingdon, in which he alludes incidentally to the day of his _first_ coronation.[437] This clearly implies a second coronation since; and as the precept is attested by Richard de Luci, it is presumably subsequent to that second coronation, to which we now come.

It cannot be wondered that this event has been unnoticed by historians, for it is only recorded in a single copy of the works of a single chronicler. We are indebted to Dr. Stubbs and his scholarly edition of the writings of Gervase of Canterbury for our knowledge of the fact that in one, and that comparatively imperfect, of the three manuscripts on which his text is based, we read of a coronation of Stephen, at Canterbury, "placed under 1142." We learn from him that in this MS. "it is probably inserted in a wrong place," as indeed is evident from the fact that at Christmas, 1142, Stephen was at Oxford. Here is the passage in question:—

"Deinde rex Stephanus una cum regina et nobilitate procerum ad Natale Domini gratiosus adveniens, in ipsa solempnitate in ecclesiâ Christi a venerabili Theobaldo ejusdem ecclesiæ archiepiscopo coronatus est; ipsa etiam regina cum eo ibidem coronam auream gestabat in capite" (_Gervase_, i. 123).

It should perhaps be noticed that, while the Queen is merely said to have worn her crown, Stephen is distinctly stated to have been crowned. I cannot but think that this must imply a distinction between them, and supports the view that this coronation was due to the captivity of the king.

My contention is that the date of this event was Christmas, 1141, and that the choice, for its scene, of the Kentish capital was a graceful compliment to that county which, in the darkest hour of the king's fortunes, had remained faithful to his cause, and to the support of which his restoration had been so largely due.[438]

I further hold that the second charter granted to Geoffrey de Mandeville was executed on this occasion, and that in its witnesses we have the list of that "nobilitas procerum" by which, according to Gervase, this coronation was attended.

This charter, when rightly dated, is indeed the keystone of my story. For without it we could not form that series on which the sequence of events is based. It is admittedly subsequent to the king's liberation, for it refers to the battle of Lincoln. It must also be previous to Geoffrey's death in 1144. These are the obvious limits given in the official calendar.[439] But it must further be previous to Geoffrey's fall in 1143. Lastly, it must be previous to the Oxford, or second, charter of the Empress, in which we shall find it is referred to. As that charter cannot be later than the summer of 1142, our limit is again narrowed. Now the charter is tested at Canterbury. Stephen cannot, it seems, have been there in the course of 1142. This accordingly leaves us, as the only possible date, the close of 1141; and this is the very date of the king's coronation at Canterbury. When we add to this train of reasoning the fact that the number of earls by whom the charter is witnessed clearly points to some great state ceremonial, we cannot feel the slightest doubt that the charter must, as I observed, have passed on this occasion. With this conclusion its character will be found in complete accordance, for it plainly represents the price for which the traitor earl consented to change sides again, and to place at the disposal of his outraged king that Tower of London, its citadel and its dread, the possession of which once more enabled him to dictate his own terms.

Those terms were that, in the first place, he should forfeit nothing for his treason in having joined the cause of the Empress, and should be confirmed in his possession of all that he held before the king's capture. But his demands far exceeded the mere _status quo ante_. Just as he had sold his support to the Empress when she gave him an advance on Stephen's terms, so the Queen must have brought him back by offering terms, at the crisis of the struggle, in excess even of those which he had just wrung from the Empress. He would now insist that these great concessions should be confirmed by the king himself. Such is the explanation of the strange character of this Canterbury charter.

CHARTER OF THE KING TO GEOFFREY DE MANDEVILLE (Christmas, 1141).

S. rex Angl[orum] Archiepiscopis Episcopis Abbatibus Comitibus Justic[iariis] Vicecomitibus Baronibus et Omnibus Ministris et fidelibus suis francis et Anglis totius Anglie salutem. Sciatis me reddidisse et firmiter concesisse Gaufr[ido] Comiti de Essexâ omnia sua tenementa que tenuit, de quocunque illa tenuerit, die quâ impeditus fui apud Linc[olniam] et captus. Et præter hoc dedi ei et concessi CCC libratas terræ scilicet Meldonam[440] et Neweport et Depedenam et Banhunte et Ingam et Phingriam[441] et Chateleam cum omnibus suis Appendiciis pro C libris. Et Writelam[442] pro vi.xx libris. Et Hadfeld[443] pro quater.xx libris cum omnibus appendiciis illorum Maneriorum. Et præter hec dedi ei et concessi in feodo et hereditate de me et de meis hæredibus sibi et suis heredibus C libratas terræ de terris excaatis, scilicet totam terram Roberti de Baentona[444] quam tenuit in Essexâ, videlicet Reneham[445] et Hoilandam,[446] Et Amb[er]denam[447] et Wodeham[448] et Eistan',[449] quam Picardus de Danfront[450] tenuit. Et Ichilintonam[451] cum omnibus eorum appendiciis pro C libris. Et præterea dedi ei et firmiter concessi in feodo et hereditate C libratas terræ ad opus Ernulfi de Mannavilla de ipso Comite Gaufredo tenendas, scilicet Anastiam,[452] et Braching,[453] et Hamam[454] cum omnibus eorum appendiciis. Et C solidatas terræ in Hadfeld ad præfatas C libratas terræ perficiend[um]. Et præterea dedi ei et concessi custodiam turris Lond[oniæ] cum Castello quod ei subest habend[um] et tenendum sibi et suis hæredibus de me et de meis heredibus cum omnibus rebus et libertatibus et consuetudinibus prefate turri pertinentibus. Et Justicias et Vicecomitat' de Lond[oniâ] et de Middlesexâ in feodo et hereditate eadem firma qua Gaufridus de Mannavilla avus suus eas tenuit, scilicet pro CCC libris. Et Justitias et Vicecomitat' de Essexâ et de Heortfordiscirâ eâdem firmâ quâ avus ejus eas tenuit, ita tamen quod dominica que de prædictis Comitatibus data sunt ipsi Comiti Gaufredo aut alicui alii a firmâ præfatâ subtrahantur et illi et hæredibus suis ad scaccarium combutabuntur. Et præterea firmiter ei concessi ut possit firmare quoddam castellum ubicunque voluerit in terrâ suâ et quod stare possit. Et præterea dedi eidem Comiti Gaufr[edo] et firmiter concessi in feodo et hereditate sibi et hæredibus suis de me et de meis heredibus lx milites feudatos, de quibus Ernulfus de Mannavillâ tenebit x in feodo et hereditate de patre suo, scilicet servicium Graalondi de Tania[455] pro vii militibus et dimidio Et servicium Willelmi filii Roberti pro vii militibus Et servicium Brient[ii] filii Radulfi[456] pro v militibus Et servicium Roberti filii Geroldi pro xi militibus Et servicium Radulfi filii Geroldi pro i milite Et servicium Willelmi de Tresgoz[457] pro vi militibus Et servicium Mauricii de Chic[he] pro v militibus et servicium Radulfi Maled[octi] pro ii militibus Et servicium Goisb[erti] de Ing[â] pro i milite Et servicium Willelmi filii Heru[ei] pro iii militibus Et servicium Willelmi de Auco pro j milite et dimidio Et servicium Willelmi de Bosevillâ[458] pro ii militibus Et servicium Mathei Peur[elli][459] pro iiij militibus Et servicium Ade de Sum[er]i de feodo de Elmedonâ[460] pro iij militibus Et servicium Rann[ulfi] Briton[is][461] pro i milite. Et præterea quicquid Carta Regine testatur ei dedi et concessi. Omnia autem hec prædicta tenementa, scilicet in terris et dominiis et serviciis militum et in Custodia turris Lon[doniæ] et Castelli quod turri subest et in Justiciis et Vicecomitatibus et omnibus prædictis rebus et consuetudinibus et libertatibus, dedi ei et firmiter concessi Comiti Gaufredo in feodo et hereditate de me et de meis heredibus sibi et heredibus suis pro servicio suo. Quare volo et firmiter præcipio quod ipse et heredes sui post eum habeant et teneant omnia illa tenementa et concessiones adeo libere et quiete et honorifice sicut aliquis omnium Comitum totius Angliæ aliquod suum tenementum tenet vel tenuit liberius et honorificentius et quietius et plenius.

T[estibus] M. Regina et H[enrico] Ep[iscop]o Wint[onensi] et W[illelmo] Com[ite] Warenn[a] et Com[ite] Gisl[eberto] de Pembroc et Com[ite] Gisl[eberto] de heortford et W[illelmo] Com[ite] de Albarm[arlâ] et Com[ite] Sim[one] et Comite Will[elmo] de Sudsexâ et Com[ite] Alan[o] et Com[ite] Rob[erto] de Ferrers et Will[elmo] de Ip[râ] et Will[elmo] Mart[el] et Bald[wino] fil[io] Gisl[eberti] et Rob[erto] de V[er] et Pharam[o] et Ric[ardo] de Luci et Turg[isio] de Abrincis et Ada de Belum. Apud Cantuar[iam].[462]

It will at once be seen that this charter is one of extraordinary interest.

The first point to strike one, on examining the list of witnesses, is the presence of no less than eight earls and of no more than one bishop. To these, indeed, we may add perhaps, though by no means of necessity, the Earl of Essex himself. Though the evidence is, of course, merely negative, it is probable, to judge from similar cases, that had other bishops been present, they would appear among the witnesses to the charter. The absence of their names, therefore, is somewhat difficult to explain, unless (if present) they were at enmity with Geoffrey.

Another point deserving of notice is that this great gathering of earls enables us to draw some important conclusions as to the origin and development of their titles. We may, for instance, safely infer that when a Christian name was borne by one earl alone, he used for his style that name with the addition of "Comes" either as a prefix or as a suffix. Thus we have in this instance "Comes Alanus" and "Comes Simon." But when two or more earls bore the same Christian name, they had to be distinguished by some addition. Thus we have "Comes Gislebertus de Pembroc" and "Comes Gislebertus de Heortford," or "Comes Robertus de Ferrers," as distinguished from Earl Robert "of Gloucester." The addition of "de Essexa" to Earl Geoffrey himself, which is found in this and other charters (see pp. 158, 183), can only, it would seem, be intended to distinguish him from Count Geoffrey of Anjou. But here the striking case is that of "Willelmo Comite Warenna," "Willelmo Comite de Albarmarlâ," and "Comite Willelmo de Sudsexâ." These examples show us how perfectly immaterial was the source from which the description was taken. "Warenna" is used as if a surname; "Albarmarla" is "Aumâle," a local name; and "Sudsexa" needs no comment. The same noble who here attests as Earl of "Albarmarla" elsewhere attests as Earl "of York," while the Earl "of Sussex" is elsewhere a witness as Earl "of Chichester" or "of Arundel." In short, the "Comes" really belongs to the Christian name alone. The descriptive suffix is distinct and immaterial. But the important inference which I draw from the conclusion arrived at above is that where we find such descriptive suffix employed, we may gather that there was in existence at the time some other earl or count with the same Christian name.[463]

Among the earls, we look at once, but we look in vain, for the name of Waleran of Meulan. But his half-brother, William de Warenne, one, like himself, of the faithful three,[464] duly figures at the head of the list. He is followed by their brother-in-law, the Earl of Pembroke, whose nephew and namesake, the Earl of Hertford, and brother, Baldwin fitz Gilbert, are also found among the witnesses. With them is another of the faithful three, Earl Simon of Northampton. There too is Earl Alan of Richmond, and the fortunate William of Albini, now Earl William of Sussex. Robert of Ferrers and William of Aumâle, both of them heroes of the Battle of the Standard, complete the list of earls.[465]

It would alone be sufficient to make this charter of importance that it affords the earliest record evidence of the existence of two famous earldoms, that of Hertford or Clare, and that of Arundel or Sussex.[466] Indeed I know of no earlier mention in any contemporary chronicler. We further learn from it that William of Ypres was not an earl at the time, as has been persistently stated. Nor have I ever found a record in which he is so styled. Lastly, we have here a noteworthy appearance of one afterwards famous as Richard de Luci the Loyal, who was destined to play so great a part as a faithful and trusted minister for nearly forty years to come.[467] His appearance as an attesting witness at least as early as this (Christmas, 1141) is a fact more especially deserving of notice because it must affect the date of many other charters. Mr. Eyton thought that "his earliest attestation yet proved is 1146,"[468] and hence found his name a difficulty, at times, as a witness. William Martel was another official in constant attendance on Stephen. He is described in the _Gesta_ (p. 92) as "vir illustris, fide quoque et amicitiâ potissimum regi connexus." At the affair of Wilton, with its disgraceful surprise and rout of the royal forces, he was made prisoner and forced to give Sherborne Castle as the price of his liberty (_ibid._). By his wife "Albreda" he was father of a son and heir, Geoffrey.[469]

Of the remaining witnesses, Pharamus (fitz William) de Boulogne was _nepos_ of the queen. In 1130 he was indebted £20 to the Exchequer "pro placitis terre sue [Surrey] et ut habeat terram suam quam Noverca sua tenet" (_Rot. Pip._, 31 Hen. I., p. 50). In the present year (1141) he had been in joint charge of the king's _familia_ during his captivity:—"Rexit autem familiam regis Stephani Willelmus d'Ipre, homo Flandrensis et Pharamus nepos reginæ Matildis, et iste Bononiensis" (_Sym. Dun._, ii. 310). His ravages—"per destructionem Faramusi"—are referred to in the Pipe-Roll of 1156 (p. 15), but he retained favour under Henry II., receiving £60 annually from the royal dues in Wendover and Eton. In May, 1157, he attested, at Colchester, the charter of Henry II. to Feversham Abbey (Stephen's foundation). He held six fees of the honour of Boulogne. His grandfather, Geoffrey, is described as a _nepos_ of Eustace of Boulogne. With his daughter and heiress Sibyl, his lands passed to the family of Fiennes.

Robert de V(er) would be naturally taken for the younger brother of Aubrey the chamberlain, slain in 1141.[470] This might seem so obvious that to question it may appear strange. Yet there is reason to believe that his identity was wholly different. I take him to be Robert (fitz _Bernard_) de Vere, who is presumably the "Robert de Vere" who figures as an Essex landowner in the Pipe-Roll of 1130, for he is certainly the "Robert de Vere" who is entered in that same roll as acquiring lands in Kent, with his wife, for whom he had paid the Crown £210, at that time a large sum. She was an heiress, (sister of Robert and) daughter of Hugh de Montfort, a considerable landowner in Kent and in the Eastern Counties. With her he founded, on her Kentish estate, the Cluniac priory of Monks Horton, and in the charters relating to that priory he is spoken of as a royal constable. As such he attested the Charter of Liberties issued by Stephen at Oxford in 1136. I am therefore of opinion that he is the witness who attests this Canterbury charter, the Oxford charter of about a year later,[471] and some others in the course of this reign.[472] He had also witnessed some charters towards the close of the preceding reign, and would seem to be the Robert de Ver who was among those who took charge of the body of Henry I. at his death.[473]

Baldwin fitz Gilbert occurs repeatedly in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I. He was a younger son of Gilbert de Clare, a brother of Gilbert, afterwards Earl of Pembroke, and uncle of Gilbert, Earl of Hertford. He appears, as early as January, 1136, in attendance on Stephen, at Reading, where he witnessed one of the charters to Miles of Gloucester. He was then sent by the king into Wales to avenge the death of his brother Richard (de Clare); but, on reaching Brecknock, turned back in fear (_Gesta_, p. 12). At the battle of Lincoln (February 2, 1141), he acted as spokesman on the king's behalf, and was captured by the forces of the Empress, after he had been covered with wounds.[474]

Turgis of Avranches (the namesake of its bishop) we have met with as a witness to Stephen's former charter to Geoffrey. He seems to have been placed, on Geoffrey's fall (1143), in charge of his castle of Walden, and, apparently, of the whole property. Though Stephen had raised him, it was said, from the ranks and loaded him with favours, he ended by offering him resistance, but was surprised by him, in the forest, when hunting, and forced to surrender (_Gesta_, p. 110).

Passing now from the witnesses to the subject-matter of the charter, we have first the clause replacing Geoffrey in the same position as he was before the battle of Lincoln, in despite of his treason to the king's cause. The next clause illustrates the system of advancing bids. Whereas the Empress had granted Geoffrey £100 a year, charged on certain manors of royal demesne in Essex, Stephen now increased that grant to £300 a year, by adding the manors of Writtle (£120) and Hatfield (£80). He further granted him another £100 a year payable from lands which had escheated to the Crown. And lastly, he granted to his son Ernulf £100 a year, likewise charged on land.

The next clause grants him, precisely as in the charter of the Empress, the constableship of the Tower of London and of its appendant "castle,"[475] with the exception that the Empress uses the term "concedo" where Stephen has "dedi et concessi." The latter expression is somewhat strange in view of the fact that Geoffrey had been in full possession of the Tower before the struggle had begun, and, indeed, by hereditary right.

We then return to what I have termed the system of advancing bids. For where the Empress had granted Geoffrey the office of justice and sheriff of Essex alone, Stephen makes him justice and sheriff, not merely of Essex, but of Herts and of London and Middlesex to boot. Nor is even this all; for, whereas the Empress had allowed him to hold Essex to farm for the same annual sum which it had paid at her father's death,[476] Stephen now leases it to him at the annual rent which his grandfather had paid.[477] The fact that in the second charter of the Empress she adopts, we shall find, the original rental,[478] instead of, as before, that which was paid at the time of her father's death, proves that, in this Canterbury charter, Stephen had outbid her, and further proves that Henry I. had increased, after his wont, the sum at which the sheriff held Essex of the Crown. This, indeed, is clear from the Pipe-Roll of 1130, which records a _firma_ far in excess of the £300 which, according to these charters, Geoffrey's grandfather had paid.[479] It may be noted that while Stephen's charter gives in actual figures the "ferm" which had been paid by Geoffrey's grandfather, and which Geoffrey himself was now to pay for London and Middlesex, it merely provides, in the case of Essex and Hertfordshire, that he was to pay what his grandfather had paid, without mentioning what that sum was. Happily, we obtain the information in the subsequent charter of the Empress, and we are tempted to infer from the silence of this earlier charter on the point, that while the ancient _firma_ of London and Middlesex was a sum familiar to men, that of Essex and Herts could only be ascertained by research, pending which the Crown declined to commit itself to the sum.

It is scarcely necessary that I should insist on the extraordinary value of this statement and formal admission by the Crown that London and Middlesex had been held to farm by the elder Geoffrey de Mandeville—that is, towards the close of the eleventh century, or, at latest, in the beginning of the twelfth—and that the amount of the _firma_ was £300 a year. One cannot understand how such a fact, of which the historical student cannot fail to grasp the importance, can have been overlooked so long, when it has virtually figured in Dugdale's _Baronage_ for more than two centuries. The only writer, so far as I know, who has ventured on an estimate of the annual render from London at the time of Domesday arrives at the conclusion that "we can hardly be wrong in putting the returns at ... about £850 a year."[480] We have seen that, on the contrary, the rental, even later than Domesday, was £300 a year, and this not for London only, but for London and Middlesex together.[481]

Nothing, indeed, could show more plainly the necessity for such a work as I have here undertaken, and the new light which the evidence of these charters throws upon the history of the time, than a comparison of the results here obtained with the statements in Mr. Loftie's work,[482] published under the editorship of Professor Freeman, which, though far less inaccurate than his earlier and larger work, contains such passages as this:—

"Matilda had one chance of conciliating the citizens, and she threw it away. The immemorial liberties which had been enjoyed for generations, and confirmed by William and Henry, were taken from the city, which for the first and last time in its history was put 'in demesne.' The Earl of Essex, Geoffrey de Mandeville, whose father is said by Stow to have been portreeve, was given Middlesex 'in farm' with the Tower for his castle, and no person could hold pleas either in city or county without his permission. The feelings of the Londoners were fully roused. Though Stephen was actually a prisoner, and Matilda's fortunes never seemed brighter, her cause was lost.... The citizens soon saw that her putting them in demesne was no mistake committed in a hasty moment in times of confusion, but was part of a settled policy. This decided the waverers and doubled the party of Stephen.... Stephen was exchanged for the Earl of Gloucester, the Tower was surrendered, the dominion was removed, and London had its liberty once more; but after such an experience it is not wonderful that the citizens held loyally to Stephen during the short remainder of his life" (pp. 36, 37).[483]

A more complete travesty of history it would not be possible to conceive. "The immemorial liberties" were no older than the charter wrung from Henry a few years before, and so far from the city being "put 'in demesne'" (whatever may be meant by this expression),[484] "for the first and last time in its history," the Empress, had she done what is here charged to her, would have merely placed Geoffrey in the shoes of his grandfather and namesake.[485] But the strange thing is that she did nothing of the kind, and that the facts, in Mr. Loftie's narrative, are turned topsy-turvey. It was not by Matilda in June, but by Stephen in December, that London and Middlesex were placed in Geoffrey's power. The Empress did not do that which she is stated to have done; and Stephen did do what he is said to have undone. The result of his return to power, so far as London was concerned, was that the Tower was _not_ surrendered, but, on the contrary, confirmed to Geoffrey, and that so far from "the dominion" (an unintelligible expression) being "removed," or London regaining its liberty, it was now deprived of its liberty by being placed, as even the Empress had refrained from placing it, beneath the yoke of Geoffrey. Thus it was certainly not due to his conduct on this occasion "that the citizens of London held loyally to Stephen during the short remainder of his life." Nor, it may be added, is it possible to understand what is meant by that "short remainder," for these events happened early in Stephen's reign, not a third of which had elapsed at the time.

But the important point is this. Here was Stephen anxious on the one hand to reward the Londoners for their allegiance, and, on the other, to punish Geoffrey for his repeated offences against himself, and yet compelled by the force of circumstances actually to reward Geoffrey at the cost of the Londoners themselves. We need no more striking illustration of the commanding position and overwhelming power which the ambitious earl had now obtained by taking advantage of the rival claims, and skilfully holding the balance between the two parties, as was done by a later king-maker in the strife of Lancaster and York.

Passing over for the present the remarkable expressions which illustrate my theory of the differentiation of the offices of justice and sheriff, I would invite attention to Geoffrey's claim to be placed in the shoes of his grandfather, as an instance of the tendency, in this reign, of the magnates to advance quasi-hereditary claims, often involving, as it were, the undoing of the work of Henry I. William de Beauchamp was anxious to be placed in the shoes of Robert le Despenser; the Beaumont Earl of Leicester in those of William Fitz Osbern; the Earl of Oxford in those of William of Avranches; and Geoffrey himself, we shall find, in those of "Eudo Dapifer."

A point of great importance awaits us in the reference which, in this charter, is made to the Exchequer. I expressed a doubt, when dealing with the first charter of the Empress,[486] as to the supposed total extinction of the working of the Exchequer under Stephen. The author of the _Dialogus_, though anxious to emphasize its re-establishment under Henry II., goes no further than to speak of its system being "_pene_ prorsus abolitam" in the terrible time of the Anarchy (I. viii.). Now here, in 1141, at the very height, one might say, of the Anarchy, we not only find the Exchequer spoken of as in full existence, but, which is most important to observe, we have the precise Exchequer _formulæ_ which we find under Henry II. The "Terræ datæ," or alienated Crown demesnes, are represented here by the "dominia que de predictis comitatibus data sunt," and the provision that they should be subtracted from the fixed ferm ("a firma subtrahantur") is a formula found in use subsequently, as is, even more, the phrase "ad scaccarium computabuntur."[487]

The next clause deals with castles, that great feature of the time. Here again the accepted view as to Stephen's laxity on the subject is greatly modified by this evidence that even Geoffrey de Mandeville, great as was his power, deemed it needful to secure the royal permission before erecting a castle, and that this permission was limited to a single fortress.[488]

In the next clause we return to the system of counter-bids. As the king had trebled the grants of Crown demesne made to Geoffrey by the Empress, and trebled also the counties which had been placed in his charge by her, so now he trebled the number of enfeoffed knights ("milites feudatos"). The Empress had granted twenty; Stephen grants sixty. Of these sixty, ten were to be held of Geoffrey by his son Ernulf. Here, as before,[489] the question arises: what was the nature of the benefits thus conferred on the grantee? They were, I think, of two kinds. In the first place, Geoffrey became entitled to what may be termed the feudal profits, such as reliefs, accruing from these sixty fees. In the second, he secured sixty knights to serve beneath his banner in war. This, in a normal state of affairs, would have been of no consequence, as he would only have led them to serve the Crown. But in the then abnormal condition of affairs, and utter weakness of the crown, such a grant would be equivalent to strengthening _pro tanto_ the power of the earl as arbiter between the two rivals for the throne.

Independently, however, of its bearing at the time, this grant has a special interest, as placing at our disposal a list of sixty knights' fees, a quarter of a century older than the "cartæ" of the _Liber Niger_.[490]

At the close of all these specified grants comes a general confirmation of the lost charter of the Queen ("Carta Regine").

Our ignorance of the actual contents of that charter renders it difficult to speak positively as to whether Geoffrey obtained from Stephen all the concessions he had wrung from the Empress, or had to content himself, on some points, with less, while on most he secured infinitely more. Thus, in the matter of "the third penny," which was specially granted him by the Empress, we find this charter of Stephen as silent as had been the former.[491] And the omission of a clause authorizing the earl to deduct it from the ferm of the county virtually implies that he did not receive it. He gained, however, infinitely more by the great reduction in the total ferm. The grant by the Empress of a market at Bushey, and her permission that the market at Newport should be transferred to his castle at Walden, are not repeated in this charter; nor does the king, as his rival had done, grant the earl permission to fortify the Tower at his will, or to retain and strengthen the castles he already possessed. On the other hand, he allowed him, by a fresh concession, to raise an additional stronghold. It may also be mentioned, to complete the comparison, that the curious reference to appeal of treason is not found in the king's charter.

We will now turn from this charter to the movements by which it was followed.

At the close of the invaluable passage from Gervase alluded to above, we read:—

"Rex Stephanus a Cantuariâ recedens vires suas reparare studuit, quo severius et acrius imperatricem et omnes ipsius complices debellaret."[492]

His first step in this direction was to make a progress through his realm, or at least through that portion over which he reigned supreme. William of Malmesbury writes of his movements after Christmas:—

"Utræque partes imperatricis et regis se cum quietis modestiâ egerunt a Natale usque ad Quadragesimam; magis sua custodire quam aliena incursare studentes: rex in superiores regiones abscessit nescio quæ compositurus" (p. 763).

This scrupulous reluctance of the writer to relate events of which he had no personal knowledge is evidently meant to confirm his assurance, just above, that he had the greatest horror of so misleading posterity.[492b] The thread of the narrative, however, which he drops is taken up by John of Hexham, who tells us that "after Easter" (April 19) the king and queen arrived at York, put a stop to a projected tournament between the two great Yorkshire earls, and endeavoured to complete the preparations for the king's revenge upon his foes.[493]

Before proceeding, I would call attention to two charters which must, it seems, have passed between the king's visit to Canterbury (Christmas, 1141), and his appearance with the queen in Yorkshire (Easter, 1142). I do so, firstly, because their witnesses ought to be compared with those by whom the Canterbury charter was attested; secondly, because one of them is a further instance of how, as in the case of the Canterbury charter, chronicles and charters may be made to confirm and explain each other.

The first of these charters is the confirmation by Stephen of the foundation, by his constable Robert de Vere, of Monks Horton Priory, Kent.[494] If we eliminate from its eleven witnesses those whose attendance was due to the special contents of the charter, namely, the Count of Eu and two Kentish barons,[495] there remain eight names, every one of which appears in the Canterbury charter, one as grantee and seven as witnesses. Here is the list:

"Testibus Comite Gaufrido de Essex et Willelmo Comite de Warrenne ... Et Comite Gilleberto de Penbroc et Willelmo de Iprâ et Willelmo Mart[el] et Turgisio de Abrincis et Ricardo de Luci et Adam de Belu[n] ... apud Gipeswic."

Here then we have what might be described as King Stephen's Restoration Court, or at least the greater portion of its leading members; and this charter is therefore evidence that Stephen must have visited the Eastern Counties early in 1142. It is also evidence that Earl Geoffrey was with him on that occasion, and thus throws a gleam of light on the earl's movements at the time.

The other charter is known to us only from a transcript in the Great Coucher (vol. ii. fol. 445), and is strangely assigned in the official calendar to 1135-37.[496] The grantee is William, Earl of Lincoln, and the list of witnesses is as follows:—

"T. Com. Rann. et Com. Gisl. de Pembroc* et Com. Gisl. de hertf.* et Com. Sim.* et Com. R. de Warwic' et Com. R. de Ferr.* et W. mart.* et Bald. fil. Gisl.* et W. fil. Gisl. et Ric. de Camvill et Ric. fil. Ursi* et E[ustachio] fil. John' et Rad. de Haia et h' Wac' et W. de Coleuill apud Stanf'."

Of these fifteen witnesses at least five are local men, and of the remaining ten no fewer than seven (here distinguished by an asterisk) had attested the Canterbury charter. But further evidence of the close connection, in date, between these two charters is found in yet another quarter. This is the _English Chronicle_. We there read that after the release of Stephen from his captivity, "the king and Earl Randolf agreed at Stamford and swore oaths and plighted troth, that neither of them should prove traitor to the other." For this is the earliest occasion to which that passage can refer. Stephen would pass through Stamford on his northward progress to York, and here, clearly, at his entrance into Lincolnshire, he was met by the two local magnates, William, Earl of Lincoln, and Randolf, Earl of Chester. Their revolt at Lincoln, at the close of 1140, had led directly to his fall, but it was absolutely needful for the schemes he had in view that he should now secure their support, and overlook their past treason. He therefore came to terms with the two brother earls, and, further, bestowed on the Earl of Lincoln the manor of Kirton-in-Lindsey ("Chircheton"), and confirmed him in possession of his castle of Gainsborough and his bridge over Trent, "libere et quiete tenendum omnibus liberis consuetudinibus cum quibus aliquis comes Anglie tenet castella sua,"—a formula well deserving attention as bearing on the two peculiar features of this unhappy time, its earls and its castles.

Lastly, we should observe the family relationship between the grantee and the witnesses of this charter. The first witness was his half-brother, Earl Randolf of Chester, who was uncle of Earl Gilbert of Hertford, who was nephew of Earl Gilbert of Pembroke, who was brother of W(alter) fitz Gilbert and Baldwin fitz Gilbert, of whom the latter's daughter married H(ugh) Wac (Wake). Of the other witnesses, Ralph de Haye was of the family which then, and Richard de Camville of that which afterwards, held the constableship of Lincoln Castle. Earl R(oger) of Warwick (a supporter of the Empress) should be noticed as an addition to the Canterbury list of earls, and the descriptive style "de Warwicâ" may perhaps be explained as inserted here to distinguish him from Earl R(obert) "de Ferrers."

Gervase of Canterbury and John of Hexham alike lay stress on the fact that the king, eager for revenge, was bent on renewing the strife. William of Malmesbury echoes the statement, but tells us that the king was struck down just as he was about, we gather, to march south. As it was at Northampton that this took place he must have been following the very same road as he had done at this same time of year in 1138.[497] Nor can we doubt that his objective was Oxford, now again the head-quarters of his foe.[498] So alarming was his illness that his death was rumoured, and the forces he had gathered were dismissed to their homes.[499]

But, meanwhile, where was Earl Geoffrey? We have seen that early in the year he was present with Stephen at Ipswich.[500] If we turn to the _Ely History_, printed in Wharton's _Anglia Sacra_, we shall find evidence that he was, shortly after, despatched with Earl Gilbert of Pembroke, who had been with him at Ipswich, to Ely.[501] When Stephen had successfully attacked Ely two years before (1140), the bishop had fled, with three companions, to the Empress at Gloucester. His scattered followers had now reassembled, and it was to expel them from their stronghold in the isle that Stephen despatched the two earls. Geoffrey soon put them to flight, doubtless at Aldreth, and setting his prisoners on horseback, with their feet tied together, led them in triumph to Ely.[502] To the monks, who came forth to meet him with their crosses and reliquaries, he threatened plunder and death, and their possessions were at once seized into the king's hands. But, meanwhile, their bishop's envoy to the pope, "a man skilled in the use of Latin, French, and English," had returned from Rome with letters to the primates of England and Normandy, insisting that Nigel should be restored to his see. The monks, also, had approached Stephen and obtained from him a reversal of Geoffrey's violent action. Nigel, therefore, returned to Ely, to the joy, we are told, of his monks and people; and the two earls delivered into his hands the isle and Aldreth, its key.[503]

The point to insist upon, for our own purpose, is that the Earls Geoffrey and Gilbert were both concerned in this business, and that their names will again be found in conjunction in the records of that intrigue with the Empress which is the subject of the next chapter.

[432b] _Ninth Report Hist. MSS._, App. i. p. 62 _b_.

[433] "Regem ipsum in concilium introisse" (_Will. Malms._, 755).

[434] "Ipsam quæcunque pepigerat ad ecclesiarum jus pertinentia obstinate fregisse" (_ibid._).

[435] "Deum, pro sua clementia, secus quam ipsa sperasset vertisse negotia" (_ibid._).

[436] Dr. Stubbs well observes of this coronation of Richard: "His second coronation was understood to have an important significance. He had by his captivity in Germany ... impaired or compromised his dignity as a crowned king. The Winchester coronation was not intended to be a reconsecration, but a solemn assertion that the royal dignity had undergone no diminution" (_Const. Hist._, i. 504).

[437] "Die qua primum coronatus fui" (_Cartulary of Abingdon_, ii. 181).

[438] "Cantia quam solam casus non flexerat regius" (_Will. Newburgh_, i. 41).

[439] _Thirty-first Report of Deputy Keeper_, p. 3 (based on the late Sir William Hardy's register of these charters). Mr. Birch, in his learned paper on the seals of King Stephen, also assigns these limits to the charter.

[440] "Meldona." This manor, and those which follow are the same, with the addition of 'Inga' and 'Phingria,' as had been granted Geoffrey by the Empress to make up his £100 a year. Thus these two manors represent the "si quid defuerit ad C libratas perficiendas" of the Empress's charters. Maldon itself had, we saw (p. 102), been held by Stephen's brother Theobald, forfeited by the Empress on her triumph, and granted by her to Geoffrey. Theobald's possession is further proved by a writ among the archives of Westminster (printed in Madox's _Baronia Anglica_, p. 232), in which Stephen distinctly states (1139) that he had given it him. Thus, in giving it to Geoffrey, he had to despoil his own brother.

[441] The "Phenge" and "Inga" of Domesday (ii. 71 _b_, 72 _a_), which were part of the fief of Randulf Peverel ("of London").

[442] Writtle was ancient demesne of the Crown (Pipe-Roll, 31 Hen. I.). Its _redditus_, at the Survey, was "c libras ad pondus et c solidos de gersumâ."

[443] Hatfield Broadoak, _alias_ Hatfield Regis. This also was ancient demesne, its _redditus_, at the Survey, being "lxxx libras et c solidos de gersumâ." Here the Domesday _redditus_ remained unchanged, an important point to notice.

[444] Robert de Baentonâ was lord of Bampton, co. Devon. He occurs in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I. (p. 153, 154). He is identical with the Robert "de Bathentona" whose rebellion against Stephen is narrated at some length in the _Gesta_. His lands were forfeited for that rebellion, and consequently appear here as an escheat (see my note on him in _English Historical Review_, October, 1890).

[445] Rainham, on the Thames, in South Essex. It had formed part of the Domesday (_D. B._, ii. 91) barony of Walter de Douai, to whose Domesday fief Robert de Baentonâ had succeeded.

[446] Great Holland, in Essex, adjacent to Clacton-on-Sea. It had similarly formed part of the Domesday barony of Walter de Douai.

[447] Amberden, in Depden, with which it had been held by Randulf Peverel at the Survey.

[448] Woodham Mortimer, Essex. This also had been part of the fief of Randulf Peverel.

[449] Easton, Essex. Geoffrey de Mandeville had held land, at the Survey in (Little) Easton.

[450] Picard de Domfront occurs in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I. as a landowner in Wilts and Essex (pp. 22, 53).

[451] Ickleton, Cambridgeshire, on the borders of Essex, the "Ichilintone" of Domesday (in which it figures), was _Terra Regis_. In the _Liber Niger_ (special inquisition), however (p. 394), it appears as part of the honour of Boulogne.

[452] Anstey, Herts, the "Anestige" of Domesday, part of the honour of Boulogne.

[453] Braughing, Herts, the "Brachinges" of Domesday. Also part of the honour of Boulogne.

[454] Possibly that portion of Ham (East and West Ham), Essex, which formed part of the fief of Randulf Peverel.

[455] On Graaland de Tany, see p. 91.

[456] Brien fitz Ralf may have been a son of the Ralf fitz Brien who appears in Domesday as an under-tenant of Randulf Peverel. According to the inquisition on the honour of Peverel assigned to 13th John, "Brien filius Radulfi" held five fees of the honour, the very number here given.

[457] William de Tresgoz appears in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I. as a landowner in Essex (where the family held Tolleshunt Tregoz of the honour of Peverel) and elsewhere. He was then fermor of the honour of Peverel. In the above inquisition "William de Tregoz" holds six fees of the honour.

[458] William "de Boevilla" (_sic_) appears in the same roll as a landowner in Essex (pp. 53, 60), and William "de Bosevill" (_sic_) is found in (Hearne's) _Liber Niger_ (p. 229) as a tenant of the Earl of Essex (1½ fees de vet. fef.). But what is here granted is the manor of Springfield Hall, which William de Boseville held of the honour of Peverel "of London," by the service of two knights. Mathew Peverel, the Tresgoz family, and the Mauduits were all tenants of the same honour.

[459] Mathew Peverel similarly appears in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I. as holding land in Essex and Norfolk. In the above inquisition William Peverel holds five fees of the honour.

[460] Elmdon (Essex) had been held of Eustace of Boulogne at the Survey by Roger de Someri, ancestor of the family of that name seated there. Stephen was of course entitled to their _servicium_ in right of his wife. Adam de Sumeri held seven fees of the Earl of Essex in 1166.

[461] Possibly the _Ralph_ Brito who appears in the Pipe-Rolls of Hen. II. as holding _terræ datæ_ "in Chatelegâ," and who also figures as "Ralph le Bret," under Essex, in the _Liber Niger_ (p. 242), and as Radulfus Brito, a tenant of Robert de Helion (_ibid._, p. 240).

[462] Duchy of Lancaster, _Royal Charters_, No. 18.

[463] This same principle is well illustrated by two _cartæ_ which follow one another in the pages of the _Liber Niger_. They are those of "Willelmus filius Johannis _de Herpetreu_" and "Willelmus filius Johannis _de Westona_." Here the suffix (which in such cases is rather a crux to genealogists) clearly distinguishes the two Williams, and is not the appellation of their respective fathers (as it sometimes is). This leads us to such styles as "Beauchamp de Somerset" and "Beauchamp de Warwick," "Willoughby d'Eresby" and "Willoughby de Beke." Many similar instances are to be found in writs of summons, and, applying the above principle, we see that, in all cases, the suffix must originally have been added for the sake of distinction only.

[464] See p. 120.

[465] Of the absentees, the Earl of Chester and his half-brother the Earl of Lincoln will be found accounted for below, as will also the Earl of Warwick; the Earl of Leicester was absent, like his brother the Count of Meulan, but he generally, as here, held aloof; the Earls of Gloucester, Cornwall, Devon, and Hereford were, of course, with the Empress. Thus, with the nine mentioned in the charter, we account for some eighteen earls.

[466] See Appendix M, on the latter earldom.

[467] See p. 49, _n._ 4.

[468] _Add. MSS._, 31,943, fol. 85 dors.

[469] _Colchester Cartulary_ (Stowe MSS.). See also p. 406.

[470] As by Mr. Eyton (_Addl. MSS._, 31,943, fol. 96). The said Robert appears in the latter part of this reign as "Robertus filius Alberici de Ver" (_Report on MSS. of Wells Cathedral_, p. 133), and sent in his _carta_ in 1166 as "Robertus filius Alberici Camerarii," not as Robert de Vere.

[471] _Abingdon Cartulary_, ii. 179.

[472] See Appendix N, on "Robert de Vere."

[473] See _Ord. Vit._, v. 52 (where the French editors affiliate him wrongly).

[474] "Tunc, quia rex Stephanus festivâ carebat voce, Baldewino filio Gilleberti, magnæ nobilitatis viro et militi fortissimo, sermo exhortatorius ad universum cœtum injunctus est.... Capitur etiam Baldewinus qui orationem fecerat persuasoriam, multis confossus vulneribus, multis contritus ictibus, ubi egregie resistendo gloriam promeruit sempiternam" (_Hen. Hunt._, pp. 271, 274).

[475] See Appendix O: "Tower and Castle."

[476] "Reddendo mihi rectam firmam que inde reddi solebat die quâ rex Henricus pater meus fuit vivus et mortuus." Perhaps this indefinite phrase was due to the fact that Essex and Herts had a _joint_ firma at the time (see _Rot. Pip._, 31 Hen. I.).

[477] "Eadem firma qua avus ejus ... tenuit."

[478] "Pro CCC libris sicut idem Gaufredus avus ejus tenuit."

[479] The _firma_ of Essex with _Herts_, in 1130, was £420 3_s._ "ad pensum," _plus_ £26 17_s._ "numero," _plus_ £86 19_s._ 9_d._ "blancas," whereas Geoffrey secured the two for £360. The difference between this sum and the joint _firma_ of 1130 curiously approximates that at London (see Appendix, p. 366, _n._).

[480] Pearson's _History of England during the Early and Middle Ages_, i. 664 ("County Rentals in Domesday").

[481] See Appendix P: "The Early Administration of London."

[482] _Historic Towns: London_ (1887).

[483] The two omitted portions amount to but a few lines. There is, however, an error in each. The first implies that the charter to Geoffrey was granted before the Empress reached, or was even invited to, London. The second contains the erroneous statement that the Empress, on her flight from London, "withdrew towards Winchester," and that her brother was captured by the Londoners in pursuit, whereas he was not captured till after the siege of Winchester, later in the year, and under different circumstances.

[484] It looks much as if Mr. Loftie had here again attempted to separate London from Middlesex, and to treat the former as granted "in demesne," and the latter "in farm." Such a conception is quite erroneous.

[485] It was his grandfather and not (as Mr. Loftie writes) his "father" who "is said by Stow to have been portreeve."

[486] See p. 99.

[487] "Et computabitur tibi ad scaccarium" is the regular form found in the precepts of Henry II. (_Dialogus_, ii. 8).

[488] See also, for Stephen's attitude towards the "adulterine" castles, the _Gesta Stephani_ (p. 66): "Plurima adulterina castella, alia solâ adventus sui famâ vacuata, alia viribus virtuose adhibitis conquisita subvertit: omnesque circumjacentes provincias, quas castella inhabitantes intolerabili infestatione degravabant, purgavit tunc omnino, et quietissima reddidit" (1140).

[489] See p. 103.

[490] Note here the figures 60, 20, 10, as confirming the theory advanced by me in the _English Historical Review_ (October, 1891) as to knight-service being grouped in multiples of ten (the _constabularia_).

[491] See Appendix H.

[492] _Gervase of Canterbury_, i. 123.

[492b] "Semper quippe horrori habui aliquid ad posteros transmittendum stylo committere, quod nescirem solidâ veritate subsistere. Ea porro, quæ de præsenti anno dicenda, hoc habebunt principium."

[493] "Post Pascha Stephanus, prosequente eum reginâ suâ Mathilde, venit Eboracum militaresque nundinas a Willelmo comite Eboraci et Alano comite de Richemunt adversus alterutrum conductas solvit; habuitque in votis pristinas suas injurias ultum ire, et regnum ad antiquam dignitatem et integritatem reformare" (_Sym. Dun._, ii. 312). Notice that John of Hexham always speaks of Alan as Earl "of Richmond" and William as Earl "of York." He is probably the first writer to speak of an Earl "of Richmond," and this early appearance of the title was clearly unknown to the Lords' committee when they drew up their elaborate account of its origin and descent (_Third Report on the Dignity of a Peer_). If, as I believe, no county could, at this period, have two earls, it follows that either Alan "Comes" did not hold an English earldom, and was merely described as of Richmond because that was his seat; or, that "Richmondshire" was, at that time, treated as a county of itself. One or other of these alternatives must, I think, be adopted. But see also p. 290, _n._ 2.

[494] _Harl. MS._, 2044, fol. 55 _b_; _Addl. MSS._, 5516, No. 9, p. 7 (printed in _Archæologia Cantiana_, x. 272, but not in Dugdale's _Monasticon_).

[495] Robert de Crevecœur and William de Eynsford. The Count of Eu was a benefactor to the priory.

[496] _Thirty-first Report of Deputy Keeper_, p. 2.

[497] He held a council at Northampton on his way south in Easter week, 1138.

[498] William of Malmesbury writes: "In ipsis Paschalibus feriis regem quædam (ut aiunt) dura meditantem gravis incommodum morbi apud Northamptunam detinuit, adeo ut in tota propemodum Angliâ sicut mortuus conclamaretur" (p. 763). There is a discrepancy of date between this statement and that of John of Hexham, who states that Stephen did not reach York till "post Pascha." William's chronology seems the more probable.

[499] "Præventus vero infirmitate copias militum quas contraxerat remisit ad propria" (_Sym. Dun._, ii. 312).

[500] _Supra_, p. 158.

[501] "Dirigitur enim in Ely a rege Stephano cum militari manu in armis strenuus Comes Gaufridus de Mannavillâ, associante ei Comite Gileberto, ut homines episcopi, qui tunc latenter affugerent, inde abigeret, aut gladiis truncaret" (_Anglia Sacra_, i. 621). Earl Gilbert was uncle to Earl Geoffrey's wife.

[502] "Qui festinus adveniens, hostilem turbam fugavit; milites vero teneri jussit; et equis impositos pedes eorum sub equis ligatos spectante populo usque in Ely perduxit" (_ibid._).

[503] See Appendix Z: "Bishop Nigel at Rome."