Henry I Coronation Charter

Henry I’s Coronation Charter is a notification to all the shires of England that King Henry has been crowned. In it, the new king promises to make a number of improvements to English law, removing unjust exactions and restoring the standard set by the law of King Edward (i.e. Edward the Confessor, who reigned 1041-1065).

There are several versions of Henry I’s Coronation Charter. The copy found in Textus Roffensis is the oldest surviving of these. Interestingly, the introduction to the Rochester copy, which differs from other versions, gives the date of Henry’s charter as ‘circa 1101’, though we know it was in fact produced on 5th August, 1100. At the end of the charter the names of the witnesses include ‘Bishop Gundulf’, who was bishop of Rochester at the time. However, Gundulf does not appear as a witness on later surviving copies. One scholar suggests that the scribe, when copying from his exemplar, erroneously expanded the initial ‘G’ for Bishop Gerard (bishop of Hereford) who is recorded in other versions of the charter as a witness. This seems the most likely reason for Gundulf being included as a witness in Textus Roffensis, though we should note that there are other differences between the various versions’ lists of witnesses, and so the possibility that Rochester’s bishop witnessed the signing of Henry’s Coronation charter still remains.

The translation below is my own but follows quite closely that by Prof. Richard Sharpe for Early English Laws. Please note especially my reproduction of his use of the legal expression ‘lease by farm’.

Folio

Transcription

Translation (see Translation Notes)

96r (select folio number to open facsimile)

Institutiones Henrici regis

The institutes of King Henry

Anno incarnationis domini circæ MCI [mille, centum, unum] Henricus filius Willelmi regis, post obitum fratris sui Willelmi, dei gracia rex Anglorum, omnibus fidelibus salute.

In the year of the incarnation of the Lord circa 1101, Henry son of King William, king of the English after the death of his brother William [i.e. William II, also known as William ‘Rufus’] and by the grace of God, to all the faithful, greetings.

Sciatis me dei misericordia et communi consilio baronum totius regni Angliæ eiusdem regem coronatum esse. Et quia regnum oppressum erat iniustis exactionibus, ego dei respectu et amore quem erga uos habeo, sanctam dei æcclesiam in primis liberam facio. Ita quod nec uendam nec ad firmam ponam.

Know that, by the mercy of God and the general counsel of all the barons of the kingdom of England, I have been crowned king of the same. And because the kingdom has been burdened with unjust taxes, I, out of respect for God and the love I have towards you, in the first instance make the holy church of God free, so that I shall neither sell it nor lease it at farm [i.e. lease it under contract as a means of gaining revenue].

Et omnes malas consuetudines quibus regnum Angliæ iniuste opprimebatur inde caufero. Quas malas consuetudines ex parte hic pono.

And all the bad customs by which the realm of England was unjustly oppressed I remove thenceforth, which bad customs I record here in part.

Pacem firmam in toto regno meo pono et teneri amodo precipio.

Lagam regis Eadwardi uobis reddo cum illis emendationibus quibus pater meus eam emendauit consilio baronum suorum.

TraI set a firm peace in my whole kingdom and I command that it is henceforth preserved.

The law of King Edward I restore to you along with the amendments by which my father improved it by the counsel of his barons.