List of twenty-four elders, c.1124
A list of twenty-four elders, the purpose of which is unknown. Translation of Textus Roffensis 116v by Jacob Scott.
Transcription
116v (select folio number to open facsimile)
hæc sunt nomina uiginti quattor
seniorum. Iarim. Bidea. Raletea.
Maria. Correp. Sercib. Hibas. Abia. Michae.
Samae. Phaner. Hesmer. Affessor. Chesir. Gobra.
Chohos. Techeiamer. Ezechkiel. Enasib. Machin.
Samuhel. Beniamin. Dispar. Amin.
Translation
Here are the names of twenty-four elders:
Jarim,
Bidea,
Raletea,
Maria,
Correp,
Sercib,
Hibas,
Abia,
Michae,
Samae,
Phaner,
Hesmer,
Affessor,
Chesir,
Gobra,
Chohos,
Techeiamer,
Ezechiel,
Enasib,
Machin,
Samuel,
Benjamin,
Dispar,
Amin
Lists of British Bishops 604-1313 recorded in Textus Roffensis
Folio
Transcription
Literal Translation (see Translation Notes)
110v (select folio number to open facsimile)
110v Archbishops of Canterbury
The lists are written in two columns: each section begins with a rubric, and names are numbered in Red roman numerals. There are spaces left at the end of some of the lists, apparently for updating names. Some names are written in later hands. Completed after 1313.Nomina archiepiscoporum dorober-
Names of the archbishops of
nensis aecclesiae.
Canterbury:
i Augustinus. >vii. kl’ iunii.<
1 Augustine. >vii. kl’ june.<
ii Laurentius. >iiii. non’ febr’.<
2 Laurence. >iiii. non’< february.
iii Mellitus. >viii. kl’ mai.<
3 Mellitus. >viii. kl’ may.<
iiii Iustus. >iiii. id’ nouembr’.<
4 Justus. >iiii. id’ november.<
v Honorius. >ii. kl’ octob’.<
5 Honorius. >ii. kl’ october.<
vi Deusdedit. >Idus iulii.<
6 Deusdedit. >Idus july.<
vii Theodorus. >xiii. kl’ octob.<
7 Theodore. >xiii. kl’ october.<
viii Berhtuualdus.
8 Berhtwald.
vi [D]atuuinus.
9 Tatwine.
x Nothhelmus.
10 Nothhelm.
xi Cuðbertus.
11 Cuthbert.
xii Bregouuinus.
12 Bregowine.
xiii Iaenbertus.
13 Jænberht.
xiiii Aedilheardus.
14 Æthelhard.
xvWulfredus.
15 Wulfred.
xvi Suidredus.
16 Suidredus[?].
xvii Celnodus.
17 Ceolnoth.
xviii Aethelredus.
18 Æthelred.
xix Elegmundus.
19 Plegmund.
xx Athelmus.
20 Athelm.
xxi Wulfelmus.
21 Wulfhelm.
xxii Oda se goda. iiii. non’ iunii.
22 Oda the Good. iiii. non’ june.
xxiii Dunstanus. xiiii. kl’ iunii.
23 Dunstan. xiiii. kl’ june.
xxiiii Aeþelgarus.
24 Æthelgar.
The list continues at the top of the folio:
xxv Sigericus.
25 Sigeric [the Serious].
xxvi Aelfricus.
26. Ælfric [of Abingdon].
xxvii Aelfeachus. xiii. kl’ mai.
27 Ælfheah. xiii. kl’ may.
xxviii Liuincus.
28 Lyfing.
xxix Aeþelnodus.
29 Æthelnoth.
xxx Eadsynus.
30 Eadsige.
xxxi Rodbertus.
31 Robert [of Jumièges].
xxxii Stigandus.
32 Stigand.
xxxiii Lanfrancus. v. kl’ iunii.
33 Lanfranc. v. kl’ june.
xxxiiii Anselmus. xi. kl’ mai.
34 Anselm. xi. kl’ may.
xxxv Rodulfus. xiii. kl’ nouembr’.
35 Ralph [d'Escures]. xiii. kl’ november.
xxxvi Willelmus.
36 William [de Corbeil].
xxxvii Teodbaldus.
37 Theobald [of Bec].
xxxviii Tomas.
38 Thomas [Becket].
xxxix Ricardus.
39 Richard.
Baldewinus.
Baldewin [of Forde].
Hubertus.
Hubert [Walter].
Stephanus.
Stephen [Langton].
Ricardus.
Richard [le Grant].
Edmundus.
Edmund [of Abingdon].
Robertus.
Robert [Kilwardby].
Iohannes.
John [Peckham].
Robertus.
Robert [Winchelsey].
Walterus.
Walter [Reynolds].
111r Bishops of Rochester
Completed after 1319. There is a Latin annotation, partly legible, in a later hand (Lambarde’s?) at the bottom right corner.111r
Nomina episcoporum hrofensis aecclesiae.
Names of the bishops of Rochester:
i Iustus. iiii. idus nouember.
1 Justus. 4th ides of november
ii Romanus.
2 Romanus.
iii Paulinus. vi. idus october.
3 Paulinus. 6th ides of october
iiii Ythamar.
4 Ithamar.
v Damianus.
5 Damianus.
vi Putta.
6 Putta.
vii Cuichelmus.
7 Cwichelm.
viii Gybmundus.
8 Gebmund.
ix Tobias.
9 Tobias.
x Alduulfus.
10 Ealdwulf.
xi Dunno
11 Dunn.
xii Eardulfus.
12 Eardwulf.
xiii Diora.
13 Diora.
xiiii Weormundus.
14 Waermund [I].
xv Beornmodus.
15 Beornmod.
xvi Tadnothus.
16 Tadnoth.
xviii Badenothus.
17 Badenoth.
xviii Cuðuulfus.
18 Cuthwulf.
xix Suithulfus.
19 Swithwulf.
xx Burhricus.
20 Burgric.
xxi Ceolmundus.
21 Ceolmund.
xxii Cyneferthus.
22 Cyneferth.
xxiii AÆlfstanus.
23 Ælfstan.
xxiiii Goduuinus i.
24 Godwin I.
xxv Goduuinus ii.
25 Godwin II.
xxvi Sywardus.
26 Siward.
xxvii Ernostus.
27 Arnost.
xxviiii Gundulfus.
28 Gundulf.
xxix Radulfus.
29 Ralph [d'Escures].
xxx Ernulfus.
30 Ernulf.
xxxi Iohannes i.
31 John I.
xxxii Ioh’s ii.
32 John II.
xxxiii Ascelinus.
33 Ascelin.
xxxiiii Walterius.
34 Walter.
xxxv Walerannus.
35 Waleran.
xxxvi Gilebertus.
36 Gilbert [Glanvill].
xxxvii Benedictus.
37 Benedict [of Sausetun].
xxxviii Henricus.
38 Henry [Sandford].
Ricardus.
Richard [Wendene].
Laurencius.
Laurence [of St Martin].
Walterus.
Walter [de Merton].
Iohannes.
John [Bradfield].
Thomas.
Thomas [Ingoldsthorpe].
Thomas
Thomas [Wouldham]
Hamo
Hamo [Hethe]
111v Bishops of London
111v
Nomina episcoporum orien-
Names of the bishops of the
talium saxonum.
West Saxons:
i Mellitus.
1 Mellitus.
ii [C]edd.
2 Cedd.
iii Ercenwald.
3 Earconwald.
iiii Waldhere.
4 Waldhere.
v Inguuald.
5 Ingwald.
vi Ecguulf.
6 Ecgwulf.
vii Wigheh.
7 Wigheah.
viii [E]adbriht.
8 Eadberht.
ix Eadgar.
9 Eadgar.
x [C]enwalh.
10 Coenwealh.
xi Eadbald.
11 Eadbald.
xii Haðobriht.
12 Heathoberht.
xiii Osmund.
13 Osmund.
xiiii Æðelnoð.
14 Æthelnoth.
xv Ceolbriht.
15 Ceolberht.
xvi Ðeodred.
16 Ðeodred[?].
xvii Brihthelm.
17 Brihthelm.
xviii Ælfstan.
18 Ælfstan.
111v-112r Bishops of Chichester
Nomina episcoporum austra-
Names of the bishops of the
lium saxonum.
South Saxons:
i Wilfrið.
1 Wilfrid.
ii Eadbriht.
2 Eadberht.
iii Eolla.
3 Eolla.
iiii Sigga.
4 Sigeferth.
v Alubriht.
5 Aluberht.
vi Bosa.
6 Osa/Oswald.
vii Gislhere.
7 Gislhere.
viii Iota.
8 Tota.
ix Wiothun.
9 Wihthun.
x Aðelwulf.
10 Æthelwulf.
xi Cynred.
11 Cynered.
xii Guðheard.
12 Guthheard.
112r
xiii Ælfred.
13 Ælfred.
xiiii Eadhelm.
14 Eadhelm.
xv Æðelgar.
15 Æthelgar.
xvi Ordbyrht.
16 Ordbriht.
112r-112v Bishops of Winchester
Nomina episcoporum
Names of the bishops
occidentalium
of the west
saxonum
Saxons
i Primus occidentalium
1 Prime West Saxons,
saxonum, Birinus fu-
Birinus
it episcopus, qui cum consilio
was the bishop, who at the advice
honorii papae uene-
of the honored pope came to
rat britanniam.
Britain.
ii AÆgilberht.
2 Agilbert.
iii [W]ine.
3 Wine.
iiii Leutherius.
4 Leuthere.
v Hædde. Deinde in duas parrochias diuisus est, altera uuentanae aecclesiae, altera scirburnensis aecclesiae.
5 Hædde. Deinde in duas parrochias diuisus est, altera uuentanae aecclesiae, altera scirburnensis aecclesiae.
vi Danihel.
6 Daniel.
vii Hunfrið.
7 Hunfrith.
viii Cyneheard. ix Æðelhear[d.]
8 Cyneheard. 9 Æthelheard
x Ecgbald.
10 Ecgbald.
xi Dudd.
11 Dudd.
xii Cynebriht.
12 Cyneberht.
xiii Ealhmund.
13 Ealhmund.
xiiii Wigðegin.
14 Wigthegn.
xv Herferð.
15 Herefrith.
xvi Eadhun.
16 Eadhun.
xvii Helmstan.
17 Helmstan.
xviii Sxviii Suuiðhun.
18 Swithun.
112v
xviiii Ealhferð.
19 Ealhferth.
xx Denewulf.
20 Denewulf.
xxi Friðestan.
21 Frithestan.
xxii Byrnstan.
22 Beornstan.
xxiii Ælfheah.
23 Ælfheah [I].
xxiiii Ælfsige.
24 Ælfsige [I].
xxv Aðelwold.
25 Æthelwold [I].
xxvi Ælfheah.
26 Ælfheah [II].
Vuentania aecclesia in duas parrochias diuisa est tempore friðestan, unam tenuit friðestan, et alteram æðelstan, postea oda. Deinde in tres parrochias diuisa est, wiltunensis, et willensis, et cridiensis aecclesiae.
Winchester is then divided into two dioceses in the time of friðestan, one held friðestan and other Æthelstan, then Oda. Then in three parishes divided, Wiltunense and willensis and Cridiensis church.
111r Bishops of Salisbury
Nomina episcoporum Scirebur-
Names of the bishops of
nensis aecclesiae.
Salisbury.
i Eldhelm.
1. Aldhelm.
ii Forðhere.
2. Forthhere.
iii Herewald.
3. Herewald.
iiii Æðelmod.
4. Æthelmod.
v Cenefrið.
5. Denefrith.
vi Sigbriht.
6. Wigberht.
vii Ealhstan.
7. Eahlstan.
viii Heahmund.
8. Heahmund.
ix Æðelheah.
9. Æthelheah.
x Wulfsige.
10. Wulfsige [I].
xi Asser.
xi Asser.
xii Æðelweard.
xii Æthelweard.
xiii Waerstan.
xiii Wærstan.
xiiii Æðelbald.
xiiii Æthelbald.
xv Sigelm.
xv Sigehelm.
xvi Ælfred.
xvi Alfred.
xvii Wulfsige.
xvii Wulfsige [II].
xviii Alfwold.
xviii Ælfwold [I].
xix Æþelsige.
25 xix Æthelsige [I].
112v Bishops of Saint Albans
113r
S Alesbienses
St Albans
Nomina episcoporum uuiltunensis aecclesiae.
Names of the bishops of Saint Albans
i Æðelstan.
i Æðelstan.
ii Oda. iii. Ælrici.
ii Oda. iii. Ælrici.
iii Osolf.
iii Osolf.
iiii Ælfstan.
iiii Ælfstan.
v Wulfgar.
v Wulfgar.
vi Sigericus, dei amicus.
vi Sigericus,
113r Bishops of Wells
Nomina episcoporum uuillensis aecclesiae.
Names of the bishops of Wells
i Aðelm. ii Wulfhelm.
i Athelm. ii Wulfhelm [I].
iii Æiii Ælfheah ii.
iii Alphege ii.
iiii Wulfhelm.
iiii Wulfhelm [II].
v Brihthelm.
v Bryhthelm.
vi Kynewerd.
vi Cyneweard.
vii Sigar.
vii Sigar.
113r Bishops of Exeter
Nomina episcoporum cridiensis aecclesiae.
Names of the bishops of Exeter
i Eadulf.
1 Eadwulf.
ii Æðelgar.
2 Æthelgar.
iii Alfwold.
3 Ælfwold.
iiii Sideman.
4 Sideman.
v Ælfric.
5 Ælfric.
vi Alfwold.
6 Ælfwold.
113v Bishops of Worcester
113v
Nomina episcoporum uuicciorum aecclesiae.
Names of the bishops of Worcester
i Sexwulf.
1 Sexwulf.
ii Bosel.
2 Bosel.
iii Estfor.
3 Estfor.
iiii Ecwine.
4 Ecwine.
v Wilfrið.
5 Wilfrið.
vi Hildred.
6 Hildred.
vii Wærmund.
7 Waermund.
viii Gilhere.
8 Tilhere.
xii Heaðered.
9 Heathured.
113v Bishops of Cheshire
Nomina episcoporum prouinciae merciorum.
Primus in prouincia merciorum et lindisfarorum ac mediterraneorum anglorum i episcopus, Diuma. ii Ceollach. iii Tiii Trumhere. iiii Iaruman. v Cedda. vi Winfrið. vii Seaxwulf. Postea uero in ii.as parrochias diuiditur post seaxwulfum prouincia merciorum, duos episcopos habuit headdan et uuilfridum, postea wilfridus electus et headda prefatus regebat ambas parrochias, deinde eadwine qui et uuor nominabatur. Iterum diuisa est in duas parrochias. i Torhthelm. Leicestrenses. ii Eadberht. iii Enpona. iiii Terenbyrht. v Teðhum. vi Ealdred. vii Ceoldred. viii Hwita. Iterum Cestrenses. ix Cemele. x Cuðfrið. xi Berthun. xii Sigeberht. xiii Aldulwulf. xiiii Herewine. xv Aðelwald. xvi Humberht. xvii Kynefyrð.
114r Bishops of Leicester
114r
114r Bishops of Hereford
Nomina episcoporum herefordensium.
i Putta.
ii Torhelm.
iii Torhthere.
iiii Ealhstod.
v Cuðberht.
vi Dodda.
vii Avii Acca.
viii Ceadda.
ix Aldberht.
x Esne.
114v
xi Ceolmund.
xii Vtel.
xiii Wulfheard.
xiiii Peonna.
xv Adwulf.
( )udulfus, Mucel, Demlef, Kinemund, Edgar, Tidhelm, Wlfhelm, Aluric, Adulfus, Elstanus, Leuegarus, Walterus, Robertus, Girardus, Reinaldus, Gosfridus, Ricardus, Robertus, Gilebertus, Robertus, Robertus, Willelmus.
114v Bishops of Lincoln
Lincolnienses.
Nomina episcoporum lindisfarorum.
i Eadheah.
ii Æðelwine.
iii Eadgar.
iiii Cynebyrht.
v Alowig.
vi Ealdwulf.
ix Byrhtred.
x Leofwine.
xi Ælfnoð.
xii Æscwig. Ælfhelm. Eadnod. Æadricus. Eadnod. Wlfwi. Remigius. Robertus. Alexander. Robertus ii. Walterus. Hugo.
114v Bishops of Norwich
Norwicenses.
Nomina episcoporum orientalium saxonum.
i Felix.
ii Thomas.
iii Beorhtgils.
iiii Bisi.
vii Ceolwulf.
viii Eadwulf.
115r
Postea in duas parrochias diuiditur.
i Eadewine.
ii Roðberht.
iii Haðelac.
iiii Æðelfrið.
v Eanfrið.
vi Aþelwulf.
vii Alhheard.
viii Sviii Sibba.
ix Hunferð.
x Hunberht.
xi Æcce.
xii Æscwulf.
xiii Eadred.
xiiii Guðwine.
xv Alberht.
xvi Ecglaf.
xvii Heardred.
xviii Ælfhun.
xix Widfrið.
xx Wærmund.
xxi Wilred.
xxii Aðulf.
xxiii Ælfric.
xxiiii Ðeodred. Teodredus, Elstanus, Algarus, Elfwinus, Aluricus i. Aluricus ii. Stigandus, Agelmarus, Herfastus, Herebertus.
115r Bishops of North Humber (York)
Eboracenses.
Nomina episcoporum norðan
hymbrorum gentis.
i Primus paulinus, a iusto
archiepiscopo ordinatus. ii Aðan. iii Lines. iiii Colmann. v Iuda. Postea in duas par- rochias diuiditur, ceadda eboracensi aecclesiae ordinatum, wilfrið hagstalden- siae ordinatus. De- positoque wilfriðo a rege ecfriðo, ea- ta pro eo ordine episcopus hagstaldensiae, pro ceaddan bosa eboracensi. Defuncto eatan, iohannes pro eo ordinatur. Post longum uero exilium, wilfrið iterum in episcopatu hagstaldensiae receptus est. Et idem iohanne defuncto, eboraci substitutus.
Nomina episcoporum eboracensis aecclesiae. Names of the bishops of York: i Wilfrið. 1 Wilfrid [I]. ii Ecberht. 2 Ecgbert. iii Coena. 3 Coena. iiii Eanbald. 4 Eanbald. v Wulfsige. 5 Wulfsige. vi Wimund. 6 Wigmund. Ripenses. Ripon
Nomina episcoporum haustal densis aecclesiae. Names of the bishops of i Acca. 1 Acca. ii Friðeberht. 2 Friðeberht. iii Alhmund. 3 Alhmund. iiii Gilberht. 4 Gilberht. v Æðelberht. 5 Æðelberht. vi Heardred. 6 Heardred. vii Eanberht. 7 Eanberht. Dunelmeses Durham
Nomina episcoporum lin- Names of the bishops disfarnensium. of Lindisarn. i Aidan. 1 Aidan. ii Finan. 2 Finan. iii Colman. 3 Colmán. iiii Eata. 4 Eata [of Hexham]. v Cuðberht. 5 Cuthbert. vi Eanberht. 6 Eadberht. vii Eadfrið. 7 Eadfrith. viii Kynewulf. 8 Cynewulf. ix Sigebald. 9 Higbald. x Ecberht. 10 Egbert.
Nomina episcoporum aecclesiae Names of the Bishops of the church quae dicitur casa which is called Casa candi(da). Candida: i Pehthelm. 1 Pehthelm. ii Froðowald. 2 Frithwald. iii Hehtwine. 3 Pehtwine. iiii Æðelberht. 4 Æthelberht [of Whithorn]. v Eadwulf. 5 Beadwulf.
115v
115v Bishops of York
115v Bishops of Ripon
116r Bishops of Durham
116r
116r Bishops of Casa Candida (Galloway, Scotland)
Names of the seven Archangels, 8th century
Names of the seven archangels is a text composed sometime before the 8th century, known by its Latin title Nomina Archangelorum. Transcription and translation of Textus Roffensis f. 116v by Jacob Scott.
This is a copy of the brief Nomina archangelorum, a text probably earlier than the end of the 8th cent., in which seven archangels are listed to whom one should call on during incantations and prayers after changes of circumstance or fortune.
Transcription
116v (select folio number to open facsimile)
hæc sunt nomina septem archangelorum
Michael. Gabrihel. Raphael. Urihel.
Barachiel. Raguhel. Pantasaron.
Translation
Here are the names of the seven archangels:
Michael,
Gabriel,
Raphael,
Uriel,
Barachiel,
Raguel,
Pantasaron1.
Further reading
Paolo Tomea, 2017, Appunti sulla venerazione agli angeli extrabiblici nel Medioevo occidentale. I nomina archangelorum e l’enigmatica fortuna di Pantasaron. Analecta Bollandiana, Volume 135, Issue 1, pp. 27-62. Online here
Footnotes
1 Pantasaron, perhaps of Jewish provenance, who at the moment is not attested in any earlier source than the Nomina (Tomea 2017).
Notes of liturgy added to the Mass, c.1124
Date uncertain. Also see the Popes responsible for introducing new forms of service into the liturgy on folio 116v.
Transcription
117r (select folio number to open facsimile)
Officium missæ instituit Celestinus
papa. Telesforus papa constituit
ut gloria in excelsis deo diceretur. Syxtus
papa addidit, sanctus, sanctus, sanctus.
Translation
The service of Mass instituted by Pope Celestine1.
Pope Telesphorus2 set that we were to say 'Glory to God in the highest'.
Pope Sixtus I3 added 'holy, holy, holy'.
Footnotes
1 Bishop of Rome from 10 September 422 to 1 August 432.
2 The eighth bishop of Rome from c. 126 to c. 137.
3 Also spelled Xystus. The seventh bishop of Rome from c. 115 to 124/126/128.
Popes responsible for new forms of service, c.1124
Notes on Popes responsible for introducing new forms of service into the liturgy, c.1124 AD. Translation of Textus Roffensis 116v by Jacob Scott.
Folio
Transcription
Literal Translation (see Translation Notes)
116v (select folio number to open facsimile)
Clemens alexandrinus, Te igitur clemen-
Clement of Alexandria. Most
tissime pater. Gregorius papa primus,
Merciful Father. Pope Gregory I:
Diesque nostros in tua pace. Alexander papa
Order of your peace. Pope Alexander
primus, Qui pridie quam pateretur. Magnus
I: Who the day before he was to suffer.
leo, Supplices te rogamus omnipotens deus. Grego-
Leo the great: We humbly pray Almighty God.
rius papa secundus, Intra quorum nos con-
Gregory II: Admit us.
sortium. Gregorius papa primus, Preceptis
Pope Gregory I: Commands
salutaribus moniti. Sergius papa, Agnus dei.
thy saving. Pope Sergius: Lamb of God.
Innocentius papa constituit ut pax da-
Pope Innocent set the order that peace
retur.
is given.
Bull of Pope Eugene, 1146
Transcription
206r (select folio number to open facsimile)
P R I U I L E G I U M E V G E N I I PAPE.
Eugenius episcopus seruus seruorum Dei, dilectis filiis brieno pri-
ori ecclesie beati Andree Rofensis, eiusque fratribus tam presenti-
bus quam futuris regularem uitam professis. Inperpetuum.
Ad hoc2 uniuersalis ecclesie cura nobis a prouisore omnium
bonorum Deo commissa est, ut religiosas diligamus personas,
et beneplacentem Deo religionem studeamus modis
omnibus propagare. Neque enim Deo gratus aliquando famu-
latus impenditur, nisi ex karitatis radice procedens,
a puritate religionis fuerit conseruatus. Oportet igitur
omnes Christiane fidei amatores religionem diligere, et loca
( )3 uenerabilia cum ipsis personis diuino seruicio
mancipatis attentius confouere, vt nullis prauorum
hominum inquietentur molestiis, vel inportunis
angariis fatigentur. Quapropter dilecti in Domino
filii uestris iustis postulationibus clementer annui-
mus, et prefatam beati Andree apostoli ecclesiam, in qua
diuino mancipati estis obsequio, sub beati Petri
et nostra protectione suscipimus, et presentis
scripti priuilegio communimus. Statuentes ut
quascunque possessiones, quecunque bona, tam ex
dono et concessione bone memorie Lanfranci, Anselmi,4 Radulfi, Teodbaldi, Cantuariensium
archiepiscoporum, et Gundulfi Rofensis episcopi, Willelmi et Henrici Anglorum regum, quam aliorum Dei fide-
lium, inpresentiarum iuste et canonice possidetis,
aut in futurum concessione pontificum, liberali-
tate regum, largitione principum, oblatione fide-
lium, seu aliis iustis modis prestante Domino poteri-
tis adipisci, firma uobis uestrisque successoribus et illi-
bata permaneant. Concessionem autem uobis
rationabiliter factam ab Ernulfo bone memorie
episcopo uestro de sinodalibus denariis, et scripti eius
pagina confirmatam, ratam esse censemus. Preterea
concordiam que inter uos et uenerabilem fratrem
nostrum Ascelinum episcopum uestrum, per prefatum Teodbaldum Can-
tuariensem archiepiscopum de Lamheđa,5 Cudintu-
na, et quibusdam aliis possessionibus iuste et cano-
nice facta est, ratam et firmam esse decernimus. Preposi-
turam quoque ipsius ciuitatis sicut actenus super homi-
nes uestros et episcopi et prepositure regis quartam partem racio-
nabiliter habuistis, Socam etiam et Sacam, tol et tem,
et infangenetheof, ceteras quoque consuetudines
et libertates uestras racionabiliter hactenus habitas, ni-
chilominus uobis confirmamus. Decernimus ergo ut nulli
omnino hominum liceat prefatum locum temere perturbare,
aut eius possessiones auferre, vel ablatas retinere, mi-
nuere, seu quibuslibet uexationibus fatigare. Sed
omnia integra conseruentur, eorum quorum guberna-
tione et sustentacione concessa sunt, vsibus omni-
modis profutura. Salua sedis apostolice auctoritate, et
diocesanorum episcoporum canonica iusticia et reue-
rentia. Si qua igitur in futurum ecclesiastica secularisue per-
sona huius nostre constitutionis paginam sciens, contra eam
temere uenire temptauerit, secundo tertioue com-
monita, si non reatum suum congrua satisfactione
correxerit, potestatis honorisque sui dignitate ca-
reat, reamque se diuino iudicio existere de perpetrata
iniquitate cognoscat, et a sacratissimo corpore
et sanguine Dei et Domini redemptoris nostri Iesu Christi alie-
na fiat, atque in extremo examine districte ultioni subia-
ceat. Cunctis autem eidem loco sua iura seruantibus, sit
pax domini nostri Iesu Christi. Quatinus et hic fructum bone ac-
tionis percipiant, et apud districtum iudicem premia ęterne
pacis inueniant Amen Amen. Datus transtiberim per manum Rodberti sancte Romane ecclesie pres-
biteri cardinalis et cancellarii v kalendas Martii, indictione viiii.a, Inca[r]nationis dominice anno mcxlv pontificatus uero
domni Eugenii pape iii anno secundo.
+ Ego Eugenius catholice ecclesie episcopus subscripsi.7
+ Ego Conradus8 Sabinensis episcopus subscripsi et,
+ Ego Albericus Hostiensis episcopus subscripsi.
+ Ego Ymarus Tusculanus episcopus subscripsi.
+ Ego Odo diaconus cardinalis sancti Georgii ad Velum Aureum subscripsi.
+ Ego Guido diaconus cardinalis sanctorum Cosme et Damiani, subscripsi.
+ Ego Octauianus diaconus cardinalis sancti Nicolai in Carcere
Tulliano subscripsi.
+ Ego Gregorius diaconus cardinalis sancti Angeli subscripsi.
+ Ego Berardus diaconus cardinalis sancte Romane ecclesie subscripsi.
+ Ego Guido diaconus cardinalis sancte Marie in Porticu subscripsi.
+ Ego Gregorius presbiter cardinalis tituli Calixti subscripsi.
+ Ego Guido presbiter cardinalis tituli sancti Grisogoni subscripsi.
+ Ego Gilbertus indignus sacerdos sancte Romane ecclesie subscripsi.
+ Ego Guido presbiter cardinalis tituli sanctorum Laurentii et Damasi subscripsi.9
+ Ego Bernardus presbiter cardinalis tituli sancti Clementis subscripsi.
+ Ego Iordanus presbiter cardinalis tituli sancte ( )10 Susanne subscripsi.
Papal rota:11
Outer circle:
Inner circle, upper left quadrant:
Inner circle, upper right quadrant:
Lower quadrants:
EVGENIVS PAPA III
Monogram:12
BENE VALETE subscripsi13
Translation
The Privilegium14 of Pope Eugene15
Bishop Eugene, servant of God’s servants, to beloved sons, namely the holy prior of the church of Saint Andrew of Rochester and his brothers, both present and future, professed to the regular life. Eternal blessings.
As is necessary, the care of the universal church was entrusted to us by God, the Overseer of all good men, in order that we may esteem religious persons,16 and may by all means increase the religion pleasing to God.17 And, indeed, not at any time is grateful service being rendered to God unless it is proceeding from the root of charity and has been preserved by the purity of religion. 18 It is right therefore that all friends of the Christian faith esteem religion,19 and diligently care for venerable places along with the very persons surrendered for divine service, so that they are not being disturbed by trouble from any crooked person, or with importunity being wearied by duress. Wherefore, O beloved sons in the Lord, we mercifully nod our assent to your lawful petitions; and the aforementioned church of the blessed apostle Andrew, to whom you are surrendered in divine obedience, we receive under the protection of ourselves and St Peter, and we reinforce the claim of privilege of the present communication.
It is established by means of the gift and grant, from good memory,20 of Lanfranc, Anselm, Ralph, Theobald, archbishops of Canterbury,21 and of bishop Gundulf of Rochester,22 and of William and Henry, kings of the English,23 and of other faithful ones of God, that you will now presently hold whatever possessions and whatever good things both justly and canonically, and will do so also in the future, whether by pontifical grant, the generosity of kings, the largess of leaders, the offerings of the faithful, or by other lawful means furnished by the Lord; and thus you will be able to firmly secure such things for you and your successors, and they shall remain undiminished.
Moreover, we recommend to be ratified the grant of synodal pennies, reasonably made to you, from good memory, by Ernulf your bishop and confirmed by a sheet of his writing.24 In addition, we ratify and validate the mutual agreement between you and our venerable brother Ascelin,25 your bishop, concerning Lambeth and Cuddington,26 along with certain other possessions, an agreement which was made justly and canonically through the aforementioned Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury.27 And likewise, in the same way, through the head of this very community,28 hitherto above your men, we no less to you confirm that you reasonably hold a quarter from the bishop and the king’s reeve,29 including soke and sake,30 toll and team,31 and infangen-theof,32 as well as other customs and liberties of yours reasonably held thus far.
We determine therefore that is it not permitted for anyone at all to recklessly trouble the aforementioned place, or carry off its possessions, or accept what has been stolen from there, or diminish or harass by disturbances of any kind. But everything should be preserved intact for those for whom they were granted, with governance and maintenance, for all beneficial uses. By the reliable authority of the apostolic see, and by the canonical rights and reverence of the diocesan bishops.
If therefore in the future any person, ecclesiastical or secular, knowing this documentation of our decree, is tempted to rashly go against it, despite being warned a second and a third time, he should know that if he will not correct his guilt with suitable penance – should he be devoid of the dignity of power and honour – that he is liable by divine justice to be proved a perpetrator of iniquity, and alienated from the most sacred body and blood of God and of our Lord Redeemer Jesus Christ,33 and moreover subject to severe retribution at the Last Judgement. But may the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all those maintaining his justice at that very place. 34 May they be well served here and now with the fruit of activity, and may they find the reward of eternal peace before the stern judge. Amen. Amen.
Dated across the Tiber by the hand of Robert, cardinal priest and Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church,35 on the fifth day before the kalends of March [25th February], in the ninth year of the indiction [1146],36 [following] the year 1145 of the Lord’s incarnation, in the second year of the papacy of the lord Pope Eugene III.37
I Eugene, bishop of the catholic church,38 assented.
I Corrado, bishop of Sabina,39 assented and
I Alberic, bishop of Ostia,40 assented.
I Imar, bishop of Tusculum,41 assented.
I Odo, cardinal deacon of San Georgio ad Velum Aureum,42 assented.
I Guido, cardinal deacon of Santi Cosma e Damiano,43 assented.
I Octavian, cardinal deacon of San Nicola in Carcere Tulliano,44 assented.
I Gregorio, cardinal deacon of San Angelo,45 assented.
I Berardus, cardinal deacon of the holy Roman Church,46 assented.
I Guido, cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Portico,47 assented.
I Gregorio, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of [San] Callisto,48 assented.
I Guido, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of San Crisogono, assented.
I Gilberto, unworthy priest of the holy Roman Church, assented.
I Guido, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of Santi Lorenzo e Damasi, assented.
I Bernardo, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of San Clemente, assented.
I Johannes, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of Santa Susanna, assented.
[Papal rota]49
Show me, O Lord, a token for good.50
Saint Peter. Saint Paul. Pope Eugene III.
[Monogram]51
Be of good health.
I assented.
Footnotes
1 See notes 24 and 25, below. This text was added to Textus Roffensis later in the twelfth century by a scribe other than the principal scribe, who completed his work around 1123.
2 ‘Ad hoc…’.
3 Scribal erasure.
4 ‘Anselmi’.
5 Or ‘Lamheða’.
6 Much of the first section of folio 207v is difficult to read due to both water damage and ink from the other side of the folio showing through. I used Colin Flight’s transcript as an aid to reconstructing the text: online here [accessed 13.04.2018].
7 The abbreviation for subscripsi (‘I assented’, literally, ‘I wrote below’), usually referred to as a ‘subscription’, appears at the end of each witness name and title; it looks like a tramlined ‘X’. The cross symbols (+) in the left margin may be taken to represent the crosses written by each individual witness in the original document, which the witness would have placed before his name. The ones in this charter are replicas by the Textus Roffensis scribe.
8 ‘Conradus’, possibly an error for ‘Corradus’. See n. 27, above.
9 Here, the Latin refers to two saints, Lawrence and ‘D’, which I have taken as Damasus. The basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso is the church in question but it was formerly known as Titulus Damasi, the titular church of Saint Damasus. A useful article on this is online here [accessed 09.05.2018]
10 Scribal erasure.
11 The papal rota appears after the list of witnesses to authenticate the document. It is a cross within two concentric circles. The inner circle is divided into quadrants.
12 The monogram consists of letters of different sizes forming a composition similar to a modern-day logo.
13 The monogram is followed by the subscription abbreviation.
14 A document containing a special right, privilege or prerogative, usually conveyed by a bull, charter or letter.
15 Eugene (Eugenius) III, pope from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153.
16 ‘religious persons’: the sense, here, is people devoted to a religious order. The pope is alluding to the monks of St Andrew’s priory.
17 ‘religion’: the sense, here, is the spiritual life of those in a religious order, such as the monks of St Andrew’s.
18 Latin ‘conseruatus’, ‘preserved’; if ‘consecratus’ was meant, then ‘sanctified’ would be the meaning, which may seem more apt.
19 Again, the implication for ‘religion’ in the context of this bull is the spiritual life of those in a religious order.
20 The Latin phrase (de) bone memorie, ‘from/of good memory’ is used in legal documents, apparently with the sense of ‘it is well recalled’.
21 Archbishops of Canterbury: Lanfranc, 1070–89; Anselm, 1093–1109; Ralph d’Escures, 1114–22, formerly bishop of Rochester, 1108–14; Theobald of Bec, 1139–61.
22 Gundulf, bishop of Rochester and prior of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, 1077–1108.
23 William II (‘Rufus’), r. 1087–1100; Henry I, r. 1100–35.
24 Ernulf, bishop of Rochester and prior of St Andrew’s priory, Rochester, 1114–24. Ernulf’s document is recorded in Textus Roffensis at folio 197r. The money refers to that due from the priests of the parish to the bishop on the occasion of a synod or, as in this particular case, when the priests receive chrism (holy anointing oil). For a translation of Ernulf’s document, see Christopher Monk, ‘Bishop Ernulf grants funds for the building and maintenance of St Andrew’s Priory: Textus Roffensis, f. 197r’: online here.
25 Ascelin, bishop of Rochester, 1142–48.
26 Cuddington was the village appended to the manor of Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, owned by the monks of St Andrew’s priory, Rochester. The ‘mutual agreement’, which in reality saw bishop Ascelin being rebuked by a papal legate, Imar of Tusculum, is recorded in Textus Roffensis, folios 203v–204r, for which see Christopher Monk, ‘Judgment of Imar of Tusculum in favour of the monks of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, Textus Roffensis, ff. 203v–204r’: online here [accessed 08.05.2018].
27 Theobald’s confirmation of the grants of Lambeth and Cuddington, along with various other manors, is found in Textus Roffensis, folios 204v–205r.
28 ‘head of this very community’, translating ‘Preposituram […] ipsius ciuitatis’, could conceivably mean ‘reeve of the very city’, but the context suggests the pope is confirming land and privileges through the prior of St Andrew’s.
29 The meaning of ‘quarter’ or ‘fourth part’ (Latin, ‘quartam partem’) is not entirely clear to me, but the allusion must be to land formerly granted by both the bishop and king’s reeve to St Andrew’s priory.
30 Christopher Corèdon and Ann Williams, A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases (2004): ‘Sake, and sokE. Grants of sake and soke allowed the granter to intercept the fines and other profits of justice relating to his own estate which would otherwise have gone to the king; the rights of sake and soke are particularly associated with bocland’, i.e. ‘bookland’, land granted by the book, by royal charter.
31 A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases: ‘Toll and team. Term describing wide-ranging rights of a lord. In A[nglo-]S[axon] law, “toll” indicated the lords’ right to take payment, i.e. commission on the sale of cattle or goods within his estate. “Team” indicated the lord’s right to take fines from those accused of stealing cattle; also it indicated the power to oversee the presentation of evidence of the right to sell presented goods. When new town charters were granted, “toll and team” was usually included from the beginning.’
32 An Old English term signifying the legal right to judge and punish a thief who commits the crime within one’s own jurisdiction, and to receive any fines related to the crime of said thief. Compare A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases: ‘Infangen-theof. The right of a lord to pursue and hang a thief caught in possession of stolen goods, i.e. red handed.’
33 ‘alienated from the most sacred body and blood, etc’: this is the threat of excommunication.
34 That is, at St Andrew’s Priory.
35 Robert Pullen, d. in or after 1146, was an English theologian and the archdeacon of Rochester from before 1134 to c. 1144, when he resigned. He became cardinal priest of San Martino ai Monte in 1144 and was appointed as Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church by Pope Lucius II in 1145. He is often considered one of the founders of Oxford University. A useful entry on Robert Pullen, along with relevant bibliography, is online here [accessed 08.05.2018].
36 The indiction refers to 15-year cycles originally related to the Roman fiscal year. The ninth year of the indiction referred to here is the ninth year from the indiction year of 1137. Indiction years run from September to September, making February 25, 1146 the date the bull was signed. More information on indiction years online here [accessed 30.04.2018].
37 The sense must be following the 1,145th full year of Christ’s incarnation (which falls on the 25 December, 1145), and therefore corresponding to the year 1146, as the bull is dated to 25 February which is said to be in the second year of Eugene’s papacy, which we know began 15 February, 1145.
38 i.e. Pope Eugene III.
39 Corrado Demetri della Suburra, bishop of Sabina from 1127/8; he succeeded Eugene III as pope (1153–54).
40 Albéric of Ostia b. France in 1080, d. 1148, a Benedictine monk and cardinal bishop of Ostia 1138–48.
41 Imar of Tusculum (d. 1161), cardinal-bishop from 1142, and served as papal legate to England during the pontificate of Lucius II, 1144–45.
42 Odo (Odone) Fattiboni, b. Italy, d. 1165, created cardinal deacon in 1130; the church is also known as San Giorgio in Velabro. I have kept the Italian names of the churches throughout.
43 Guido da Vico, b. Italy, d. 1150, created cardinal deacon in 1130.
44 Octavian (Ottaviano) of Monticelli, cardinal deacon 1138–51.
45 Possibly Gregorio Papareschi, b. Italy, created cardinal deacon 1134.
46 Cardinal deacon without title. Very little is known about him. His earliest subscription is for a bull in 1144.
47 Guido de Crema, created cardinal deacon in 1145; later Antipope Paschal III (1164–68).
48 I have not attempted to provide any biographical details for those of the lower rank of cardinal priest. The meaning of ‘titular’ is simply to indicate the church has been assigned to a cardinal priest.
49 See n. 47, below.
50 Based on Psalm 85:17 in the Vulgate.
51 See n. 48, below.
It He Bequeathed, c.975-c.1025 AD
Hit becwæð (‘It he bequeathed’), a c. 975–c.1025 formula for asserting the right to hold bequeathed land.
Transcription
95r (select folio number to open facsimile)
hit becwæð, ⁊ becwæl
se ðe hit ahte mid fullan folcrihte swa swa
hit his yldran mid feo, ⁊ mid feore rihte begea-
tan, ⁊ letan, ⁊ læfdan ðam to gewealde ðe hy
wel uðan, ⁊ >swa< ic hit hæbbe swa hit se sealde þe to
syllanne ahte unbryde, ⁊ unforboden, ⁊ ic
agnian wylle to agenre æhte ðæt ðæt ic hæb-
be, ⁊ næfre ðæt yntan ne plot, ne ploh, ne turf,
ne toft, ne furh, ne fotmæl, ne land, ne læse, ne
fersc, ne mersc,2 ne ruhnerum, wudes ne feldes,
landes ne strandes wealtes, ne wæteres, butan
ðæt læste ða hwile ðe ic libbe, forþam nise tinan
on life ðe æfre gehyrde ðæt man cwydde oððon
crafode hine on hundrede oððon ahwar on ge-
mote on ceapstowe oþþe on cyricware ða hwile þe
he lifde unsac he wæs on life beo on legere swa swa
he mote, do swa ic lære beo ðe be þinum, ⁊ læt ine
be minum ne gyrne ic ðines ne læðes ne landes,
ne sace ne socne, ne ðu mines ne ðærft ne myn-
te ic ðe nan ðing.
Translation
It he bequeathed,3 and he died: he who owned it with full folk-right,4 just as his ancestors obtained it with cattle and with life-right, and allotted and left it to his keeping, which they granted well. And so I have it just as he who owned the right to give gave it, both honestly and lawfully. And I wish to own that which I have as my own property, and never to intend for you anything,5 not plot or ploughland, turf or toft,6 furrow or footmark, land or pasture, freshwater or marsh land, clearing, wood or field, of land or of shore, of woodland or of water, but that it may last as long as I live. For there is not a tithing-man7 alive who has ever heard that it was claimed or craved, in a hundred-court or any other meeting, in a market-place or at church, for the time he was alive:8 guiltless he was in life; let him be so in death, as he must. Do as I instruct: you be with yours and leave me to mine; I do not desire what is yours, not lea or land, sake or soke,9 and you do not need what is mine, nor do I intend to leave you anything.10
Footnotes
1 This text is anonymous and undated; however, scholars suggest a date of composition between the late tenth and early eleventh centuries; see http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/becw/ [accessed 14.02.2018].
2 ‘It’: in context, a piece of land.
3 Folk-right, the right of customary law.
4 ‘never to intend for you’, translating ‘næfre þe myntan’, a correction of Textus Roffensis’ ‘næfre ðæt yntan’, and which appears in the only other manuscript containing Hit becwæð: Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 383, folios 59r–59v, at folio 59v, line 2: www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/manuscripts/b/?tp=s&nb=2086 [accessed 14.02.18]. In his own translation of Hit becwæð, Patrick Wormald translates myntan with the modern legal term ‘devise’, meaning to leave land by means of a will: The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century (Blackwell, 2001), pp. 384–85.
5 Old English toft, probably a Scandinavian loan-word, meaning ‘a piece of ground’: see Bosworth and Toller Dictionary online: http://www.bosworthtoller.com/030678 [accessed 14.02.18].
6 ‘tithing-man’: translating ‘tinan’ (? accusative of tin [variant of tien]), ‘ten’, a ‘ten-man’, an allusion to the ‘tithingmen’, who had responsibilities assisting at the hundred court. See Tom Lambert, Law and Order in Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 247.
7 ‘he was alive’, referring to the man who bequeathed the property.
8 ‘sake and soke’ (Old English, sac and socn) was a ‘standard way of referring to the right to receive legal revenues’ from owned land: Lambert, Law and Order, p. 134.
9 See above, n. 4.
10 ‘-c’ corrects a ‘-t’.
Judgement of Imar of Tusculum, 1146
Transcription
203v (select folio number to open facsimile)
IMARUS Dei gratia Tusculanus episcopus, apostolicę
sedis legatus. Omnibus matris ęcclesię filiis ad
quos litterę istę peruenerint, salutem. Rei gestę
memoria litteris prouide committitur, ne lites
semel sopitę, in futuro iterum Pinstaurentur.roinde uniuersitati uestrę per pręsentia scripta
notum esse uolumus, quod inter Ascelinum Rofensem
episcopum, et eiusdem loci monachos, ęcclesię scilicet beati
Andreę, super iure maneriorum Lamhetham
et Hendenham,2 controuersia huiusmodi
orta est. Asserebant prędicti monachi memo-
rata maneria sibi ad uictum proprium a rege An-
glorum Willelmo3 iuniore, et Lamfranco4 pię
recordationis Cantuariensi archiepiscopo, et
Gundulfo5 Rofensi episcopo concessa rationabi-
liter et donata, et ad eiusdem rei euidentiorem
probationem, eorundem car( )tas6 et confirma-
tiones, et sequentium regum Anglorum Henrici,
et Stephani, et Anselmi Cantuariensis archiepiscopi
in medium proferebant.7 Contra quę cum
pręfatus Ascelinus Rofensis episcopus nichil firmum,
nichil ualidum responderet, nec se in pretaxatis
maneriis ius habere probare posset, assiden-
tibus nobis uenerabilibus fratribus Teobaldo8 Cantuariensi
archiepiscopo, Rodberto Lundoniensi, Henrico Wintoniensi,
Alexandro Linconiensi, Ebrardo Noruuicensi, Si-
fredo Cicestrensi episcopis, Gaufrido Sancti Albani, Ger-
uasio Westmonasterii, Petro Scireburnensi, abbatibus,
et magistro Hilario, et aliis quam pluribus
religiosis personis ipsa maneria cum omnibus
suis appenditiis secundum quod carte donatio-
nis et confirmationis continebant, ipsis
monachis adiudicauimus,9 et ipsos possessores
constituimus ipso eorum episcopo promittente, quod
deinceps sine uexatione et inquietatione,
monachos bona et possessiones suas habere
permitteret, et pacem eis seruaret, quod et ipsi
firmiter obseruare precipimus, ad cuius rei ar-
gumentum ipsos monachos in osculo pacis
recepit. Nos itaque prędictorum fratrum iustis
petitionibus facilem prębentes assensum,
tam sepedicta maneria quam alia omnia
eorum bona et possessiones quas in pręsentia-
rum iuste possident, uel in futuro legitime
habituri sunt, iura etiam, consuetudines,
libertates rationabiliter indultas, auctoritate
officii quo fungimur ipsis confirmamus, et
pręsentis scripti attestatione roboramus.
Translation
Imar, bishop of Tusculum, by the grace of God, legate of the apostolic see.10 To all the sons of the mother church to whom this letter shall have come, greetings. The memory of a former matter is providently committed to a letter: quarrels not finally laid to rest may yet be renewed in the future.11
Hence, we wish to be known to you all through this present communication, because a dispute of this sort has arisen between Ascelin, bishop of Rochester,12 and the monks of that same place, namely the church of St Andrew, over the right of the manors of Lambeth and Haddenham. The aforesaid monks have claimed the above-mentioned manors for themselves for their own living by [grant of] William the younger,13 king of the English, and on record by Lanfranc, pious archbishop at Canterbury,14 and granted and bestowed in accordance with reason by Gundulf, bishop at Rochester.15 And for the proof of this very thing they have brought forward to the mediator the charters and confirmations of these same ones, as well as the supporting [documentation] of Henry and Stephen, kings of the English,16 and of Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury.17 Whereas, against this, the aforementioned Ascelin, bishop of Rochester, has responded with nothing of substance, nothing of validity; nor has he been able to prove his right to the previously assigned manors to our venerable brothers sitting in council: Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury;18 Robert of London;19 Henry of Winchester;20 Alexander of Lincoln;21 Everard of Norwich;22 Seffred, bishop of Chichester;23 the abbots, Geoffrey of St Albans,24 Gervase of Westminster, 25 Peter of Sherborne;26 and Hilary the master;27 and to as many other religious persons. The very manors, with all their associated appurtenances, which the charters of gift and confirmation were securing, we awarded to the very monks, and constituted them owners with the assurance of their bishop, who hereafter, without vexation and disturbance, might both permit the good monks to have their properties and preserve peace towards them – which we give orders to him to observe steadfastly. And as evidence of this he received the very monks with the kiss of peace. Therefore, with such just petitions of the aforementioned brothers, we give our easy assent to both those oft-spoken manors and all other goods and possessions, which in the present time they rightly possess, or in the future will legitimately hold, whether rights, customs, or freedoms reasonably granted. We confirm these very things by the authority of the office which I discharge and reinforce the present written testimony.
Footnotes
1 This document was copied by a later scribe; the principal scribe of Textus Roffensis completed his work about 1123. The original charter dates to the period of Imar of Tusculum’s service as papal legate. See n. 2, below.
2 ‘Lamhetham et Hendenham’ (‘Lambeth and Haddenham’), underlined for emphasis by a later scribe, who has also drawn the symbol } in the right margin to draw attention to the lines where he has made further underlines, for which see the notes below.
3 ‘ad uictum proprium a rege […] Willelmo’ (‘for their own living by king […] William’), underlined by a later scribe.
4 ‘Lamframco’ (‘Lanfranc’), underlined by a later scribe.
5 ‘Gundulfo’ (‘Gundulf’), underlined by a later scribe.
6 A letter has been erased to give the correct spelling of ‘cartas’.
7 A partially legible Latin annotation appears in the left margin at this point, written in a non-medieval hand, and in the form of a question. It is possible to decipher ‘pro Lambeth’ (‘for Lambeth’) on the upper line; and the last word looks like ‘pensionis’ (genitive form of pension, ‘payment’).
8 ‘Teobaldo’ (‘Theobald’), underlined by a later scribe.
9 ‘ipsis monachis adiudicauimus’ (‘we awarded to the very monks’), underlined by a later scribe.
10 Imar of Tusculum (d. 1161), cardinal-bishop from 1142, and served as papal legate to England during the pontificate of Lucius II, 1144–45.
11 This rather enigmatic statement alludes to the ongoing nature of the disagreement over the ownership of certain manors between the monks of St Andrew’s and their bishops; it is outlined in what follows. Though the charter does not say so, the disagreement originally began in the time of bishop John II, 1139–42; see Mary P. Richards, ‘Texts and their traditions in the medieval library of Rochester Cathedral Priory’, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 78.3 (1988), pp. 1–129, at p. 59.
12 Ascelin, bishop of Rochester, 1142–48. Unlike some of the earlier bishops of Rochester, Ascelin was not a monk and so was not also the prior at St Andrew’s.
13 William II (‘Rufus’), r. 1087–1100.
14 Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, 1070–89.
15 Gundulf, bishop of Rochester and prior of St Andrew’s Priory, 1077–1108.
16 Henry I, r. 1100–35; Stephen, r. 1135–54.
17 Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, 1093–1109.
18 Theobald of Bec, archbishop of Canterbury, 1139–61.
19 Robert, bishop of London, 1141–50.
20 Henry of Winchester, also known as Henry of Blois, younger brother of King Stephen, and bishop of Winchester, 1129–71.
21 Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, 1123–48.
22 Everard, bishop of Norwich, 1121–45.
23 Seffred I, bishop of Chichester, 1125–45.
24 Geoffrey, abbot of St Albans Abbey, 1119–46.
25 Gervase of Blois, illegitimate son of King Stephen, abbot of Westminster Abbey, 1138–57.
26 Peter, abbot of Sherborne Abbey, c. 1142–c.1160.
27 Probably Hilary of Chichester (c. 1110–69), who served as clerk for Henry of Blois, see n. 12, above; he was educated as a canon lawyer, hence the use of ‘master’, i.e. a scholar, and was appointed as bishop of Chichester in 1147.
Rochester Cathedral Foundation Charter, 604 CE*
The foundation charter of Rochester Cathedral, written primarily in Latin, though preserving its land boundary clause in Old English, announces that King Æthelberht grants land and privileges to the Church of St Andrew (the early name of the cathedral) in the year 604.
King Æthelberht1 grants land in Rochester to the church of St Andrew, Textus Roffensis, ff. 119r–119v Translated from Latin and Old English by Dr Christopher Monk. Date: likely after 1066.2
Transcription
119r (select folio number to open facsimile)
INcipiunt8 priuilegia aecclesię sancti9
Andreae Hrofensis concessa a tempore Ęthil-
berhti regis, qui fide Christiana a beato Au-
gustino suscepta, eandem ęcclesiam con-
strui fecit.10
REGNANTE11
IN PERPETVVM DOMINO
nostro Iesu Christo saluatore,
mense Aprilio, sub die
iiii kalendas Maias, indictione
vii ego Æthelberhtus12 rex
filio meo Eadbaldo admo-
nitionem catholice fidei
optabilem. Nobis est13
aptum semper inquirere,
qualiter per loca sanctorum
pro animę remedio
uel stabilitate salutis nostrę aliquid de portione
terrę nostrę in subsidiis seruorum Dei deuotissi-
mam uoluntatem debeamus offerre. Ideoque tibi
Sancte Andrea tuęque ęcclesiae quę est constitu-
ta in ciuitate Hrofibreui ubi pręesse uidetur
Iustus episcopus, trado aliquantulum telluris mei. hic est terminus mei doni.14 Fram Suðgeate
west andlanges wealles oð Norðlanan to
Stræte, ⁊ swa east fram St>aerte oð Dodding-
hyrnan ongean Bradgeat. Siquis uero au-
gere uoluerit hanc ipsam donationem, auge-
at illi Dominus dies bonos. Et si presumpserit
minuere aut contradicere, in conspectu
Dei sit damnatus et sanctorum eius hic et in ęterna
secula, nisi emendauerit ante eius transitum
quod inique gessit contra Christianitatem nostram. hoc cum consilio Laurentii episcopi et omnium princi-
pum meorum signo sanctę crucis confirmaui, eosque
iussi ut mecum idem facerent. AMEN.15
Translation
Here begin the privileges granted to the Church of Saint Andrew at Rochester, from the time of King Æthelberht who, having received the christian faith from the blessed Augustine, caused the same church to the built:
By our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ reigning perpetually, in the month of April, on the 4th day before the May calends [28th April],3 in the 7th year of the indiction [604],4 I King Æthelberht to my son Eadbald, a desired reminder of the Catholic faith. To us it is always proper to examine how, by means of holy places, for the remedy of the soul and the steadfastness of our salvation, we ought to offer, a most devout wish, something from the share of our land for the relief of the servants of God. And, therefore, to thee Saint Andrew and thy church, which is located in the city of Rochester and where Bishop Justus is seen to be head, I do hand over a small part of my land. Here is the boundary of my gift: from South Gate, west along the wall as far as North Lane, to Street,5 and so east from Street as far as Doddinghyrne6 opposite Broad Gate. If any man wishes to increase this very gift, may the Lord increase good days to him. And if he presumes to diminish or oppose it, may he be damned in the sight of God and his saints, here and on into the worlds everlasting, unless he repents that which he has done unjustly against our Christian faith.
This, in counsel with bishop Laurence and all my principal men,7 I have confirmed by the sign of the holy cross and have commanded them in order that they might with me accomplish the same. Amen.
Footnotes
1 King Æthelberht of Kent, often spelt Ethelbert, r. c.590–616.
2 This is a fraudulent document; see Nicholas Brooks, ‘Rochester, A.D. 400–1066’, in Medieval Art, Architecture and Archaeology at Rochester, ed. Tim Ayers and Tim Tatton-Brown (Maney, 2006), pp. 6–21, at pp. 8–10. The purported date is 28th April, 604 (see notes 3 and 4 below). 604 is the date for the foundation of Rochester Cathedral assigned by the monk-historian Bede: ‘In the year of our Lord 604 […] Augustine also consecrated Justus as bishop of a Kentish city which the English call Hrofescaestir [Rochester] after an early chieftain named Hrof. This lies nearly twenty-four miles west of Canterbury, and a church in honour of Saint Andrew the Apostle was built here by King Ethelbert’. Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, trans. Leo Sherley-Price, revised R. E. Latham (Penguin, revised ed., 1990), pp. 107–08. The document, as it appears in Textus Roffensis (penned by the principal scribe about 1123), is a copy of an earlier forgery which was possibly written a few years after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The forger may have modelled the forgery on a much older charter, for it is skilfully crafted, but inserted the boundary clause to correspond exactly to land that was seized by William I to build Rochester Cathedral. Therefore, as Brook suggests, the cathedral would have been able to use this charter to claim compensation for their lost land.
3 ‘May calends’, i.e. the first of May; the fourth day before the May calends is therefore April 28th .
4 i.e. in the year 604. The indiction refers to cycles of 15-year periods related to the Roman fiscal year. The indiction year referred to here is that beginning September 597 through to September 598. The seventh year of this particular indiction runs therefore from September 603 to September 604. As the date already given is the 28th April, it follows that the year must be 604. For more information on indiction years, see: https://www.britannica.com/topic/indiction [accessed 30.04.2018].
5 The main thoroughfare at that time through the city, from Westgate to Eastgate, continuing on to Canterbury, and corresponding to the present-day (old) High Street in Rochester (not the bypass of the same name). See Tim TattonBrown, ‘The topography and buildings of Medieval Rochester’, in Medieval Art, Architecture and Archaeology at Rochester, ed. Ayers and Tatton-Brown, pp. 22-37, at p. 23, fig. 1. 6 ‘Dodda’s corner/horn’, located at the crossroads in the centre of Rochester. See Brook, ‘Rochester, A.D. 400–1066’, p. 10, and Fig. 1
6 ‘Dodda’s corner/horn’, located at the crossroads in the centre of Rochester. See Brook, ‘Rochester, A.D. 400–1066’, p. 10, and Fig. 1
7 Bishop Laurence, archbishop of Canterbury, c.604–619. He was part of the Gregorian mission sent to Kent to convert the English peoples and was, unusually, consecrated by his predecessor Augustine before the latter died.
8 A Latin annotation in a non-medieval hand appears above the rubric; it is not fully legible.
9 The bar of the letter ‘t’ is extended.
10 The bar of the letter ‘t’ is extended.
11 ‘REGNANTE…’. To the right, in the margin, there is a faint manicule (a pointing finger).
12 A later hand, probably early-modern, has underlined the date and the king’s name and made an annotation, perhaps in Latin, in the right margin; however, it is not fully legible.
13 The bar of the letter ‘t’ is extended.
14 A later hand has inserted an asterisk with a corresponding annotation in the left margin, translating into earlymodern English the boundary clause: ‘[…] from Southgate West & along […] wal[l]s to north lane to street. & so east from street to dodinghorn lane and then to brod gate.’ The last word of the boundary clause, ‘Brad[-]geat’, has also been underlined.
15 The letter ‘N’ is stretched.
Dispute over the estate at Snodland, 995-1005
The dispute between bishop Godwine and Leofwine over the estate of Snodland, 995–10051. Textus Roffensis, ff. 155r–156v. Translated from Old English by Dr Christopher Monk.
Transcription
155r (select folio number to open facsimile)
xP2Her cyð on ðysum gewrite, hu Godwine biscop
on Hrofeceastre, ⁊ Leofwine Ælfeages
sunu ( )3 wurðon gesybsumode ymbe þæt land
æt Snoddinglande, on Cantwarabyrig.
Þa4 ða se biscop Godwine com to ðam biscopstole
þurh hæse his cynehlafordes Æðelredes cynges
æfter Ælfstanes forðsiþe biscopes, þa gemetæ he on
ðam mynstre þa ylcan swutelunga þe his fore-
genga hæfde, ⁊ þærmid on þæt land spæc, ongan
ða to specenne on ðæt land, ⁊ elles for Godes
ege ne dorste, oððæt seo spræc wearð þam
cynge cuð. Þa ða him seo talu cuð wæs, þa sende
he gewrit ⁊ his insegl5 to þam arcebisceope Æl-
frice, ⁊ bead him þæt he ⁊ hys þegenas on East6
Cent, ⁊ on West Cent,7 hy onriht gesemdon,
be ontale, ⁊ be oftale. Þa þæt wæs þæt se bisceop Godwi-
ne com to Cantwarabyrig to ðam arcebiscope, þa
com ðider se scyresman8 Leofric, ⁊ mid him Ælfun
abbod, ⁊ þegenas ægþer ge of9 East Cent ge of
West Cent,10 eal seo duguð, ⁊ hy ðær þa spæce swa
lange handledon, syððon se bisceop his swute-
lunge ge(e)owod hæfde, oþ hy ealle bædon þone
biscop eaðmodlice, þæt he geunnan scolde þæt he
moste mid bletsunga þæs landes brucan æt
Snoddinglande his dæg, ⁊ se biscop þa þæs
getiðode on ealra þæra witena ( )11 þanc
þe þær gesomnode wæran, ⁊ he ( ) behet
þæs truwan þæt land æfter his dæge unbesacen
eode eft into þære stowe þe hit ut alæned
wæs, ⁊ ageaf þa swutelunga þe he to þam lande
hæfde þe ær of þære stowe geutod wæs, ⁊ þa ha-
gan ealle þe he bewestan þære cyrcan hæfde
into þære halgan stowe, ⁊ þises loces æren-
dracan wæran, Ælfun abbod ⁊ Wulfric abbod,
⁊ Leofric sciresman, ⁊ Siweard, ⁊ Wulfstan æt
Sealtwuda, ⁊ Ælfelm Ordelmes sunu. Þonne
is her seo gewitnes þe æt þisum loce wæs, þæt is
ærest se arcebiscop Ælfric, ⁊ se biscop God-
uuine, ⁊ Wulfric abbod, ⁊ Ælfun abbod, ⁊ Ælfnoð
æt Orpedingtune, ⁊ se hired æt Cristes Cyr-
can, ⁊ se hired æt Sancte Augustine, ⁊ s[e]o burh-
waru on Cantwarebyrig, ⁊ Leofric sciresman,
⁊ Lifing æt Meallingan, ⁊ Siweard, ⁊ Sired his
broðor, ⁊ Leo[f]stan12 æt Mærseham, ⁊ Godwine
Wulfeages sunu, ⁊ Wul[f]stan13 æt Sealtwuda, ⁊
Wul[f]stan14 iunga, ⁊ Leo[f]wine15 æt Dictune, ⁊ Leo-
fric Ealdredes sunu, ⁊ Goda Wulfsiges sunu,
⁊ Ælfelm Ordelmes sunu, ⁊ Sidewine æt Peal-
leswyrðe, ⁊ Wærelm, ⁊ Æþelred portgerefa
on byrig,16 ⁊ Guðwold. Gif hwa þis ðence to awen-
denne, ⁊ þas foreword to abrecenne, awende
him God fram his ansyne on þam miclan dome,
swa þæt he si ascyred fram heofena rices myrhðe,
156v
⁊ sy eallum deoflum betæht into helle. AMEN.
Translation
It is made known here in this document how Godwine,17 Bishop of Rochester, and Leofwine, son of Ælfheah, became reconciled at Canterbury in regard to the land at Snodland.18
When bishop Godwine came to the episcopal see at the behest of his sovereign lord, King Æthelred,19 after the death of bishop Ælfstan,20 then he discovered in the cathedral the very same written testimony which his predecessor had,21 and who had therewith made a claim on that land.22 Then [Godwine] attempted to lay claim to that land – for the fear of God he durst not do otherwise – until the suit became known to the king. When the claim was known to him, then [the king] sent a letter and his seal to the archbishop, Ælfric, and commanded him that he and his thegns, in both East and West Kent, should settle matters justly, be the verdict for or against the claim.
Then it was that bishop Godwine came to Canterbury to the archbishop; then thither came Leofric the sheriff,23 and with him abbot Ælfun and the thegns of both East and West Kent, the entire body of noblemen. And there they deliberated over the claim, after the bishop had revealed his written testimony, until finally they all respectfully bade the bishop that he should grant that [Leofwine] might, with his blessing, have use of the land at Snodland during his lifetime. And the bishop then permitted this to the satisfaction of all the witan, which was gathered there.24 And [Leofwine] pledged his troth that after his lifetime the land should thereafter revert to the place from which it was leased out.25 And he gave up the written testimony he had related to the land, which previously had been alienated from that place,26 and all the hagas which he had west of the church to the holy place.27 And the mediators of this agreement were abbot Ælfun, abbot Wulfric, sheriff Leofric, Siweard, Wulfstan of Saltwood, and Ælfhelm son of Ordhelm.28 And here is the list of witnesses to this agreement: namely, first, the archbishop Ælfric,29 then the bishop Godwine, abbot Wulfric, abbot Ælfun, Ælfnoth of Orpington, the brethren at Christ Church,30 the brethren at St Augustine’s,31 the citizens of Canterbury, sheriff Leofric, Lifing of Malling, Siweard and Sired his brother, Leofstan of Mersham,32 Godwine son of Wulfheah,33 Wulfstan of Saltwood,34 Wulfstan the Young,35 Leofwine of Ditton,36 Leofric son of Ealdred, Goda son of Wulfsige, Ælfhelm son of Ordhelm, Sidewine of Paddlesworth, Wærhelm,37 Æthelred the town port-reeve,38 and Guthwold.
If anyone attempts to turn from or break these terms, God will turn his face from him at the great judgement, so that he be cut off from the joy of the kingdom of heaven and be handed over to all the devils in Hell. Amen.
Footnotes
1 The date range corresponds to the reign of the first witness listed in the document: Ælfric, archbishop of Canterbury; see online here [accessed 15.03.18]. See also A. Campbell, Charters of Rochester (Oxford University Press, 1973), p. xxvii. The original document was copied into Textus Roffensis by the principal scribe about 1123.
2 A Chi-Rho symbol marks the beginning of the text. I’ve represented it with the Greek letters separated.
3 There is a hole in the manuscript at this point.
4 ‘Þa…’
5 ‘insegl’ (‘seal’), underlined by a later hand.
6 ‘on East’ (‘in East’), underlined by a later hand.
7 ‘on West Cent’ (‘in West Kent’), underlined by a later hand.
8 ‘scyresman’ (‘sheriff’), underlined by a later hand.
9 ‘oft’ in the document.
10 ‘East Cent ge of West Cent’ (‘East Kent and of West Kent’), underlined by a later hand.
11 There is a hole in the manuscript at this point, also affecting the line below.
12 ‘f’ omitted by mistake.
13 ‘f’ omitted by mistake.
14 ‘f’ omitted by mistake.
15 ‘s’ for ‘f’ by mistake.
16 ‘⁊ Æþelred portgerefa on byrig’ (‘and Æthelred the port-reeve in the town’), underlined by a later hand.
17 Godwine, bishop of Rochester, r. 994/5–c.1013.
18 Snodland lies along the river Medway between Rochester and Maidstone.
19 King Æthelred (Ethelred) the ‘Unready’, r. 978–1016.
20 Ælfstan, bishop of Rochester, r. before 964–994/5.
21 ‘written testimony’, translating swutelunga, a rather vague term, most likely alluding to the written land grant, i.e. the charter, or land-book, for Snodland.
22 i.e. Snodland.
23 Sheriff of Kent, presumably.
24 Witan, ‘wise men’, the king’s council in Anglo-Saxon England.
25 That is, to Rochester Cathedral.
26 This seems to be alluding to the land being alienated from Rochester Cathedral.
27 Haga, either a plot of land or a piece of enclosed land (possibly with a house and other buildings) within a town; in this case the land was within the city walls of Rochester. It seems that Leofwine gave up land he owned near the cathedral in exchange for the estate in Snodland.
28 Spelt ‘Ælfelm’ and ‘Ordelm’ in the document. The ‘-helm’ element of Old English names signifies ‘protector’.
29 Ælfric of Abingdon, archbishop of Canterbury 995–1005.
30 Christ Church, the monastery at Canterbury Cathedral.
31 St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury.
32 Misspelt as ‘Leostan’ in the document. The ‘Leof-’ element in Old English names means ‘friend’ or ‘beloved’.
33 Spelt ‘Wulfeag’ in the document.
34 Misspelt as ‘Wulstan’ in the document. The Wulf- element in Old English names means ‘wolf’.
35 Misspelt as ‘Wulstan’ in the document. See n. 19 above.
36 Misspelt as ‘Leoswine’ in the document. See n. 17 above.
37 Spelt ‘Wærelm’ in the document. See n. 13 above.
38 Reeve of Canterbury.
William I gives 100 pounds to Rochester Cathedral
William I gives one hundred pounds, shortly before his death, to the church of St Andrew, Rochester, c.10871.Textus Roffensis, ff. 210r–210v. Translated from Latin by Dr Christopher Monk.
Transcription
210r (select folio number to open facsimile)
Donum Willelmi magni regis. Willelmus2 rex Anglorum magnus, pater Uuil-
lelmi regis eiusdem gentis, Hrofensem
ęcclesiam beati Andreę in tantum dilexit,
ut imminente articulo mortis suę centum
ei libras donaret, regiam quoque tunicam, propriumque
cornu eburneum, dorsale etiam unum, cum feretro
deargentato dimitteret. Pro quo et aliis eius
multis beneficiis, nostrę ęcclesię ab eo benigne
impensis, eius anniuersarium constituimus
debere singulis annis festiue fieri.
Translation
The gift of the great King William3
William, great king of the English, father of William,4 king of the same people, esteemed so much the Rochester church of Saint Andrew that he gave to it, at the moment of his imminent death, one hundred pounds, besides bequeathing a royal tunic, a special ivory horn, and also one dossal with a silver-gilded frame.5 For this, and for his many other privileges benevolently bestowed upon our church, we established a festal anniversary to take place every year.6
Footnotes
1 This document was likely copied from an earlier original by the principal scribe of Textus Roffensis around 1123.
2 ‘Willelmus…’
3 William I (‘the Conqueror’), r. 1066–87, died 9th September 1087.
4 William II (‘Rufus’), r. 1087–1100.
5 Dossal, an altar piece, or hanging, often of cloth, placed so as to rise from the back of the church altar.
6 Presumably, the anniversary of his death.
Land for the cemetery of St Andrew’s Priory, 1115-1123
Goldwin ‘the Greek’ grants land to St Andrew’s, Rochester, for the expansion of the cemetery, between 1115–11231. Textus Roffensis, ff. 191v–192r. Translated from Latin by Dr Christopher Monk.
Goldwin ‘the Greek’ grants land to St Andrew’s, Rochester, for the expansion of the cemetery, between 1115–11231. Textus Roffensis, ff. 191v–192r. Translated from Latin by Dr Christopher Monk.
Transcription
191v (select folio number to open facsimile)
Golduuinus cognomento Grecus dedit
ęcclesię Sancti Andreę et monachis pro filio
suo ibidem facto monacho duas hagas
terrę in Rouecestra pertinentes ad Fren-
desberiam, et partem terrę regis quę
est iuxta ipsas hagas. Pręter has autem
hagas dedit et dimidiam hagam iuxta
cimiterium appendentem ad Borchstel-
lam, sed istam dimidiam hac conuenti-
one dedit, quod eam tenebit donec mo-
nachi alias hagas hinc et inde habeant
et domos auferant ad ampliandum ci-
miterium suum. Et tunc sine omni mora
uel contradictione tradet eam in manus
monachorum, uel ipse si uixerit, uel uxor
et filii eius si mortuus fuerit. Huius con-
uentionis testes sunt, Heruisus archidia-
conus, Radulfus clericus et Rodbertus filius eius,
Golduinus presbiter, Gelduinus et Rodbertus monetarii,
Gudredus filius Diringi, Stephanus filius Goduui-
ni, Vuiet filius Golduini, et alii multi.
Translation
Goldwin, of the surname Greek, gave to the church of Saint Andrew and the monks, in order for his son to become a monk at that very place, two hagas2 of land in Rochester pertaining to Frindsbury,3 and part of the king’s land which is next to these hagas. Moreover, in addition to these hagas he gave a half haga next to the cemetery at Borstal;4 however, he gave that half to the monastery for it to hold until the monks have in all respects the other hagas and remove buildings to expand its cemetery.5 And thereupon without any delay or objection he delivered it into the hands of the monks, whether he himself, or his wife or sons, lives or dies. These are the witnesses of this agreement: Harvey the archdeacon, the cleric Ralf and his son Robert, Goldwin the priest, Geldwin and Robert the moneyers, Gudred son of Diring, Stephen son of Godwin, Guy6 son of Goldwin, and many others.
Footnotes
1 The date range corresponds to the time Harvey was archdeacon of Rochester, he being the first witness named; see W. H. St John Hope, ‘The architectural history of the cathedral church and monastery of St. Andrew at Rochester’, Archaeologia Cantiana, 24 (1900), pp. 1–85, at pp. 8–9: online here [accessed 03.04.18]. The original charter was copied into Textus Roffensis by the principal scribe around 1123.
2 Haga, a piece of enclosed land (often with a house and other buildings) within a town.
3 Frindsbury lies north of Rochester, across the Medway. Evidently, Goldwin had an estate there, but also town property in Rochester connected to that estate.
4 Borstal lies south of Rochester.
5 At this time there was an expansion of monastic buildings taking place and this encroached upon the existing cemetery within Rochester’s walls. The two hagas appear to have been given by Goldwin to compensate and allow for the cemetery to be expanded. The half haga of land in Borstal, which was outside of the city, was also given to ease the situation until the two hagas could have their buildings cleared. See St John Hope, ‘The architectural history of St Andrew’s’, p. 8.
6 The name is spelt Vuiet (Wiet) in the manuscript; this may be a variant of Wyat, which itself is a form of Guy.
Land at Southgate, Rochester, 1114-23 AD
Hugh, in agreement with his wife Emma and his sons, grants land at Southgate to St Andrew’s, Rochester, Date: 1114–231. Textus Roffensis, f. 191v. Translated from Latin by Dr Christopher Monk.
Bishop Gundulf confirms Gilbert the priest's grant at Haddenham, a.1086 AD
Bishop Gundulf confirms a grant by Gilbert the priest of three hides at Haddenham in exchange for Gilbert entering the monastic life, Date: after 10861. Textus Roffensis, ff. 213r–213v. Translated from Latin and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Bishop Gundulf confirms a grant by Gilbert the priest of three hides at Haddenham in exchange for Gilbert entering the monastic life, Date: after 10861. Textus Roffensis, ff. 213r–213v. Translated from Latin and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Transcription
213r2 (select folio number to open facsimile)
De Dudicote. Gundulfus Rofensis episcopus, Rodberto Lincoliensi episcopo,
et Goisfrido uicecomiti, et omnibus fidelibus regis
Francigenis et Anglis de comitatu de Bukin-
geham, salutem. Sciatis quod Gislebertus noster clericus
de Hedenham concessit ęcclesię Rofensi Sancti Andreę
tres hidas terrę quas habuit in suo dominico in He-
denham, ea conuentione quod quando ipse uoluerit
fiet ibi monachus. Et hoc idem concessit et confirmauit
Radulfus filius suus ex toto. Et ego concessi eidem Radulfo
ęcclesiam de Hedenham cum una hida et dimidia terrę, et
duobus pratis, Coiea, et Cetemora, et concessi ei pasturam
decem boum, et omnes consuetudines que ad eandem ęcclesiam
pertinent, insuper quicquid Gislebertus tenuit in Heden-
ham, exceptis illis tribus supradictis hidis terrę. Et de ipsa ęcclesia non faciet ullum seruitium,
nisi, quod ad ęcclesiam pertinet tantum.
Translation
Concerning Dollicott3
Gundulf bishop of Rochester to Robert bishop of Lincoln,4 Geoffrey the sheriff, and all the faithful of the king, the French and the English, of the county of Buckingham, greetings. Let it be known that Gilbert our priest of Haddenham has granted to the church of Saint Andrew in Rochester three hides of land which he held as demesne in Haddenham, 5 with the agreement that when he himself wishes he will become a monk there. And that Ralf his son has granted the same and confirmed it fully. And I have granted to the same Ralf the church of Haddenham with one and a half hides of land and with two meadows, Coiea and Cetemora;6 and I have granted him pasture for ten cows and all customs which pertain to that same church,7 in addition to whatever Gilbert held in Haddenham, except those three hides of land mentioned above.
And the church itself will not create dues for service, except those pertaining to the church only.
Footnotes
1 Gilbert is recorded as the owner of these three hides of Haddenham in an entry of Domesday Book (1086): opendomesday.org/place/SP7408/haddenham [accessed 06.03.18].
2 Folio 213 is a replacement leaf, added sometime later in the twelfth century; the hand is not that of the main scribe.
3 The heading ‘De Dudicote’ alludes to the name of the three hides of land within the manor of Haddenham – a ‘sub-manor’, as William A. Strange puts it – granted by Gilbert to the church of St Andrew, Rochester. The place-name Dudicot evidently corresponds to Dollicot(t), which is recorded in the seventeenth century as a ‘field’ unit of land, and which survives as the street name Dollicott in modern day Haddenham. Dudicot (as ‘Dodecot’) is mentioned in Custumale Roffense (c.1235) as supporting 250 sheep, and the meadow there was to be mown by its tenants ‘for love and not as a duty owed’, for which they were rewarded with ‘one wether and one cheese worth 4 pence and one salt bacon and one bundle of straw’. See William A. Strange, ‘Haddenham and Cuddington: The Early History of Two Buckinghamshire Villages’, Buckinghamshire Papers 11 (2007), esp. pp. 11-12, 25, 28 (Figure Two), and 37. My thanks to William for personally communicating this information about Dudicot/Dollicott. It should be noted that ‘Concerning Dollicott’ (2024) is a correction of my previous ‘Concerning Didcot’ (2018) and the information in this present footnote (2024) is a revision of the original footnote (2018).
4 Robert Bloet (also, Bluet), bishop of Lincoln, r. 1093/4–1123.
5 ‘in demesne’, translating in dominico. ‘Demesne. […] land held for the lord’s own use rather than let or leased’: A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases, ed. Christopher Corèdon with Ann Williams (D. S. Brewer, 2005). Dominicus, Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources ‘3c. demesne, land held for lord’s use’: logeion.uchicago.edu/index.html#dominicus [accessed 06.03.18].
6 Unidentified place-names of the two meadows; left untranslated.
7 Customs: e.g. tithings and other dues owed the church.
Three acres of garden for the monks at Rochester Priory, c.1088-c.1094 AD
Bishop Gundulf affirms his release to William II of land at Borstal in exchange for three acres of land which were originally granted by bishop Odo to St Andrew’s Priory as garden for the monks, Date: c.1088–c.1094. Textus Roffensis, ff. 211v–212r2. Translated and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Account of Gilbert the Priest entering the monastic life, c.1091-1110
The account of Gilbert entering the monastic life and bishop Gundulf’s subsequent dealings with his relatives over land, c.1091–c.11001. Textus Roffensis, ff. 213v–214v2. Translated from Latin and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Transcription
213v (select folio number to open facsimile)
De
Postea3 uero non multo tempore Eastuna.
contigit ipsum Gislebertum mutasse habitum et uitam secularem
in uitam et habitum monachi apud Rofecestram. Iisdem
diebus remansit manerium Estuna quod situm est in
comitatu de Gloecestra, in manu praefati Radulfi filii
Gisleberti, et Osmundi generis Gisleberti. Qui ambo
regiis exactionibus tantum fuerunt grauati, ut uix
amplius hoc possent pati. Erant enim illis di-
ebus consuetudines regis grauissimę atque du-
rissimę, per totum regnum Anglię. Itaque uenien-
tes pariter uterque ad domnum episcopum Gundul-
fum, rogauerunt illum quatinus propter Deum et
honorem suum manerium ipsum a rege requireret.
Quod si obtinere posset, de illo ulterius mane-
rium ipsum tenerent. Quo audito episcopus, quam ci-
tius potuit regem impigre adiit. Amicorum itaque
apud regem usus auxilio, tandem obtinuit
quod petiit. Dedit ergo episcopus Willelmo regi magni
( ) regis Willelmi filio xv libras denariorum, et
unam mulam quę bene ualebat centum solidos.
Isto tali ordine obtinuit Gundulfus episcopus praedi-
ctum manerium Estunam. Quod postquam ita
factum est, statim Radulfus et Osmundus deue-
nerunt homines episcopi, et ita tenuerunt ipsum
manerium de episcopo. Veruntamen non multo tempore
post iterum pariter requisierunt episcopum, rogan-
tes illum ut propter Deum illas quattuor hidas terrę
de Estuna, cambiret illis pro duabus hidis terrę
infra Hed>en
terant amplius et malas consuetudines praedi-
dicti comitatus, et uiam longinquam ab Hed>en<-
ham et laborem magnum quem propterea sepissime
sustinebant. Accepto ergo consilio episcopus, fecit
illis partim iuxta peticionem eorum, sed non
in omnibus. Dedit nanque Radulfo unam hidam
terrę, Osmundo uero non nisi dimidiam. Debebat
enim Osmundus episcopo quinquaginta solidos
denariorum pro multis placitis quę super eum
episcopus habuerat, et quia episcopus clamauit Os-
mundum quietum de ipsis quinquaginta soli-
dis et querelis multis, ideo econtra non rece-
pit ab episcopo nisi dimidiam hidam terrę. Et isto
modo habuit ipse episcopus ipsum praedictum ma-
nerium, ita liberum et quietum ab omni calumnia,
sicut Goda comitissa illud habuit unquam
melius in suo dominico tempore regis Eaduuar-
di. Dum hoc ita fuit, precepit episcopus domno Willelmo
monacho Rofensi praeposito de Hed>en
ram accipere eiusdem manerii, et monachis
ęcclesię Sancti Andreę singulis annis firmam
octo dierum inde reddere. Et quidem iuste,
quoniam terrae illae quę datę fuerunt pro ipsius
manerii cambitione fuerant primum de He-
d>en
ipsorum monachorum.
Translation
Concerning Aston:5
Afterwards, indeed, it soon happened that Gilbert himself exchanged the secular condition and mode of life for the monastic condition and mode of life at Rochester. During this time the manor of Aston, which is situated in the county of Gloucester, remained in the hands of the aforementioned Ralf, Gilbert’s son, and Gilbert’s relative Osmund, both of whom were so greatly burdened by payments to the king that they should scarcely have been able to endure such any longer.6 Moreover, at this time, the heaviest and harshest customs of the king were [levied] throughout the entire kingdom of England.7 Consequently, on both coming together before the lord bishop Gundulf,8 they asked, on account of God and his honour, to what extent he was seeking this very manor from the king, and if it were possible to obtain from him at some future stage this manor they were holding.9 Upon hearing this the bishop, as soon as he could, went promptly to the king. Therefore, having made use of the assistance of friends near the king, he finally obtained that for which he had petitioned. And so the bishop gave to King William,10 son of great King William,11 fifteen pounds of silver and one mule, which was rightly valued at one hundred shillings.
By such means bishop Gundulf obtained Aston, the aforementioned manor. And immediately after that happened, Ralf and Osmund came to the men of the bishop and immediately took possession of this very manor from the bishop.12 Nevertheless, not long after, both sought out the bishop a second time, asking him if, on account of God, he would exchange with them those four hides of land of Aston for two hides of land below Haddenham. No longer indeed in any respect whatsoever were they able to endure, neither the bad customs of the aforementioned county nor the extensive labour needed for the long road from Haddenham, which they were most frequently having to support. Therefore, having accepted counsel, the bishop acted for them according to their petition, but in part, not in all things, insomuch as he gave to Ralf one hide of land and, indeed, to Osmund no more than a half. For Osmund was yet indebted to the bishop for fifty shillings of tithings due to the many pleas that the bishop had made against him, and despite the fact that the bishop had peacefully called on Osmund concerning those fifty shilling and with many a lament; therefore, on account of this, he did not receive from the bishop anything except the half a hide of land. And so in that manner the bishop himself held that aforementioned manor, that is, with freedom and peace from dispute, just as the Countess Goda13 rightly held it in demesne at the time of King Edward.14 For as long as this was so, the bishop gave orders to master William, a monk of Rochester, steward of Haddenham, to accept the responsibility for this manor also,15 and from there every year to render eight days of food rent to the monks of the church of Saint Andrew.16 And this is just, because those lands given which were exchanged for this manor were in the first place from Haddenham, which was and is entirely for the living of these very monks.
Footnotes
1 This is an account of events that took place sometime after the levying of high taxes by William II (‘Rufus’) in 1091 and the king’s death in 1100. It was likely copied from an original document into Textus Roffensis by the main scribe around 1123, though the first part of it was re-written by a later twelfth-century scribe as part of a replacement folio (f. 123).
2 This document follows on from ‘Bishop Gundulf confirms a grant by Gilbert the priest of three hides of land at Haddenham in exchange for Gilbert entering the monastic life, Textus Roffensis, ff. 213r–213v’, which is also available here.
3 There is a green ‘gallows-pole’ (or the Greek capital letter gamma), now faded, placed to the left of the red display letter ‘P’. This symbol is often used in Textus Roffensis to mark the beginning of a new document.
4 Hedenham (Haddenham): a later scribe has altered the spelling from Hedreham. This is repeated several times further on in the document. Hedenham is the spelling used in the previous document which appears on the replacement folio (f. 213), written in a later hand, whereas Hedreham is the spelling in Domesday Book (1086): available here [accessed 06.03.18].
5 Corresponding to present-day Aston Subedge in Gloucestershire.
6 Ralf and Osmund were evidently tenant owners of the king’s manor at Aston.
7 Customs: in this context, customary payments, i.e. taxes, to the crown.
8 Gundulf, bishop of Rochester, 1077–1108.
9 That is, Ralf and Osmund asked Gundulf if he would buy the estate at Aston from the king so that they would have a kinder lord in the bishop.
10 William II (‘Rufus’), r. 1087–1100.
11 William I (‘the Conqueror’), r. 1066–87.
12 That is, Ralf and Osmund became tenants of Aston with Gundulf as the new lord of the manor.
13 Goda, also known by her Old English name, Godgifu (‘gift of God’), was the daughter of King Æthelred the Unready (r. 978–1016) and his queen, Emma of Normandy (d. 1052), and thus the sister of Edward the Confessor (r. 1042–66). She is likely the same Goda whose illuminated gospel book ended up in the medieval library of Rochester Cathedral. This gospel book has recently been digitised: available here [accessed 05.03.18]. Countess Goda is recorded in Domesday Book as the owner (i.e. the lord) of Aston in 1066: available here [accessed 05.03.18].
14 ‘in demesne’, translating in dominico. ‘Demesne. […] land held for the lord’s own use rather than let or leased’: A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases, ed. Christopher Corèdon with Ann Williams (D. S. Brewer, 2005). Dominicus, Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, ‘3c. demesne, land held for lord’s use’: available here [accessed 06.03.18].
15 i.e. Aston.
16 The Rochester Cathedral priory at which bishop Gundulf was prior.
Dispute between Bishop Gundulf and Pichot, Sheriff of Cambridge, a.1087
The dispute between bishop Gundulf and Pichot, sheriff of Cambridge, after 10871. Textus Roffensis, ff. 175r–176v. Translated and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Transcription
175r (select folio number to open facsimile)
De
contentione inter Gundulfum et Pichot:
Tempore2 Uuillelmi regis Anglorum magni, pa-
tris Uuillelmi regis eiusdem gentis, fuit
quędam contentio inter Gundulfum Hrofensem
episcopum et Pichot uicecomitem de Grendebruge,
pro quadam terra quę erat de Frachenham et ia-
cebat in Giselham, quam quidam regis seruiens
Olchete nomine, uicecomite dante praesumpse-
rat occupare. Hanc enim uicecomes regis
esse terram dicebat, sed episcopus eandem beati Andreę
potius esse affirmabat. Qua re, ante regem ue-
nerunt. Rex uero pręcepit ut omnes illius co-
mitatus homines congregarentur, et eorum iudi-
cio cuius terra deberet rectius esse probaretur. Illi autem congregati, terram illam regis esse po-
tius quam beati Andreę, timore uicecomitis af-
firmauerunt. Sed cum eis Baiocensis episcopus qui
placito illi praeerat non bene crederet, praecepit
ut si uerum esse quod dicebant scirent, ex se ipsis
duodecim eligerent, qui quod omnes dixerant
iureiurando confirmarent. Illi autem cum ad
consilium secessissent, et inibi a uicecomite per in-
ternuntium conterriti fuissent, reuertentes
uerum esse quod dixerant iurauerunt. Hi
autem fuerunt, Eaduuardus de Cipenham,
Heruldus et Leofuuine saca de Exninge, Eadric
de Giselham, Wfuuine de Landuuade, Ordmer
de Berlingeham, et alii sex de melioribus comi-
tatus. Quo facto, terra in manu regis reman-
sit. Eodem uero anno monachus quidam GRIM
nomine quasi a domino missus ad episcopum uenit. Qui cum audiret hoc quod illi iurauerant,
nimium admirans et eos detestans omnes esse
periuros affirmauit. Ipse enim monachus diu
prepositus de Frachenham extiterat, et ex eadem
terra seruitia et costumas ut de aliis terris
de Frachenham susceperat, et unum ex eisdem qui
iurauerant in eodem manerio sub se habuerat. Quod postquam episcopus Hrofensis audiuit, ad episcopum
Baiocensem uenit, et monachi uerba per ordi-
nem narrauit. Quę ut episcopus audiuit, mona-
chum ad se uenire fecit, et ab ipso illa eadem
didicit. Post hęc uero unum ex illis qui iuraue-
rant ad se fecit uenire, qui statim ad eius
pedes procidens confessus est se periurum esse. Hinc autem cum illum qui prius iurauerat
ad se uenire fecisset, requisitus se periurum esse
similiter confessus est. Denique mandauit
uicecomiti ut reliquos obuiam sibi Londoniam
mitteret, et alios duodecim de melioribus eiusdem
comitatus, qui quod illi iurauerant, uerum esse
confirmauerant. Illuc quoque fecit uenire
multos ex melioribus totius Anglię baronibus. Quibus omnibus Londonię congregatis, iudicatum est
tam a Francis quam ab Anglis illos omnes periuros
esse, quandoquidem ille post quem alii iurauerant,
se periurum esse fatebatur. Quibus tali iudicio
condemnatis, episcopus Hrofensis terram suam ut
iustum erat habuit. Alii autem duodecim
cum uellent affirmare iis qui iurauerant
se non consensisse, Baiocensis episcopus dixit, ut hoc
ipsum iudicio ferri probarent. Quod quia se fa-
cturos promiserunt, et facere non potuerunt,
cum alii sui comitatus hominibus trecentas libras
regi dederunt.
Translation
The dispute between Gundulf and Pichot:
In the time of William, the great king of the English,3 father of King William of the same people,4 there was a certain dispute between Gundulf, bishop of Rochester,5 and Pichot,6 the sheriff of Cambridge, about certain land which belonged to Freckenham and which was situated in Gisleham,7 which a certain servant of the king, named Olchete, had presumed to occupy by grant of the sheriff. For the sheriff said this land was the king’s but the bishop affirmed that, rather, this very land was St Andrew’s.8 Therefore, they came before the king. And, indeed, the king ordered that all the men of that county be assembled and by their judgements it should be agreed to whom the land rightfully belonged.
However, those assembled affirmed, out of fear of the sheriff, that the land belonged to the king rather than to St Andrew. But when the bishop of Bayeux,9 who was presiding over that assembly, did not entirely believe them, he ordered that if they knew what they said to be true, then they should choose twelve from among themselves who should confirm with an oath what they had all said. Once, however, these ones withdrew to deliberate, and were there intimidated by the sheriff, via his intermediary, they swore on returning that what they had said was indeed true. These men were Edward of Chippenham; Harold and Leofwine, sake-holders of Exiling;10 Eadric of Gisleham; Wulfwine of Landwade; Ordmer of Berlingham; and six others from among the nobles of the county. That done, the land remained in the hand of the king.
In the same year, however, a certain monk named Grim, as if sent by the Lord, came to the bishop. When he heard what they had sworn by oath, greatly astonished and cursing, he affirmed them all to be perjured. For the monk himself had long since been steward of Freckenham, and out of that same land had received services and customs, as from all the other lands of Freckenham, and had had under him in that estate one from among those who had sworn the oath.
After the bishop of Rochester heard this, he came to the bishop of Bayeux and recounted the monk’s words. When the bishop heard this, he made the monk come to him, and he learned the same thing from him. Indeed, after this, he made one from among those who swore the oath come to him, who, immediately placing himself at [the bishop’s] feet, confessed to have perjured himself.
When, moreover, he made the one who first swore the oath come to him, he too, on being asked, confessed to have perjured himself. Finally, he ordered the sheriff to send the rest to meet him at London, as well as another twelve of the nobles of that county who had confirmed to be true what the others swore. And there also he made to come many from among the noble barons of all England.
When everyone had been gathered at London, it was judged, equally by the French as by the English, that all these ones were perjured, in that their swearing had followed that of the one who had admitted to perjuring himself. These ones having now been condemned by such justice, the bishop of Rochester thus had his land, as is just. But since the other twelve then wished to affirm that they themselves had not consented to that which the others swore on oath, the bishop of Bayeux said that they would have to prove this by the judgment of [hot] iron. Because they themselves promised to do this, but were unable to do so, they then, with the other men of their county, paid thirty pounds to the king.
Footnotes
1 This account was evidently originally written down sometime after William II took the throne in 1087, as he is referred to in the opening sentence. This was then later copied into Textus Roffensis by the main scribe around 1123. The events referred to took place sometime between the commencement of Gundulf’s bishopric in 1077 and the fall from grace and imprisonment of Odo, bishop of Bayeux, in 1082.
2 Tempore…
3 William I, ‘the Conqueror’, r. 1066–87.
4 William II, ‘Rufus’, r. 1087–1100.
5 Bishop Gundulf, r. 1077–1108.
6 Sometimes known as Picot.
7 Both in modern-day Suffolk.
8 That is, it belonged to the priory of Rochester Cathedral. Gundulf was not only bishop of Rochester but also prior of the monastery.
9 Odo, William I’s half-brother, and also earl of Kent, d. 1097.
10 ‘sake-holders’, translating saca, and likely indicating they were holders of certain land rights (‘sake and soke’); see saca, Dcitionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources: available here [accessed 06.03.18].
Concerning the Mercian Oath, early-11th-century
Several codes within Textus Roffensis provide information on the payment of wergild (the legal value set on a person’s life according to rank) within Mercian society.
The title is based on the rubric in the Cambridge manuscript, Corpus Christi College, MS 201, p. 102. This short legal tract is essentially an extract from a larger one composed, most likely, by Wulfstan, archbishop of York (r. 1002–23). However, Wulfstan added the clause comparing oaths of mass-priests and thegns and also the clause mentioning ‘the seven orders of the church’ to earlier Mercian material which forms the clause concerning the ‘twelfth-hundred man’, and which may date to as early as the ninth-century. See Patrick Wormald, The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century, vol. 1 (Blackwell, 1999), pp. 392–94.
The text was copied by the principal scribe of Textus Roffensis, who completed his work around 1123.
Transcription
39v (select folio number to open facsimile)
Mæssepreostes að, ⁊ woruldþegenes is on En-
gla lage geteald efendyre.⁊ for þam seofon
cyrichadan þe se mæssepreost þurh Godes
gife geþeah þæt he hæfde he bið þegenrihtes
wyrþe. Twelfhyndes mannes að, forstent vi ceorla aþ,
for ðam gif man þone twelfhyndan >man< wrecan
sceolde, he bið full wrecen on syx ceorlan, ⁊ his
wergyld bið vi ceorla wergyld.
Translation
An oath of a mass-priest and of a worldly thegn is in English law reckoned as equally dear.
And because the mass-priest received what he had through God’s gift of the seven orders of the church, he will have the rights of a thegn.
An oath of a twelve-hundred man is equal to an oath of six ceorls,1 because if one should avenge the twelve-hundred man, he will be fully avenged on six ceorls, and his wergild is the wergild of six ceorls.
Footnotes
1 A ceorl (or ‘churl’) was a freeman of the lowest order. This text refers to a king’s wergild and therefore can be seen as old-fashioned, as kings in Mercia had long ceased by the time Wulfstan either wrote or emended the law-code, the last king being Ceolwulf II who died in 879.
History of the estates of Bromley and Fawkham, 980-987
History of the estates of Bromley and Fawkham, Kent, in the time of King Eadgar1 and immediately afterwards,2 980–9873. Textus Roffensis, ff. 162v–163v. Translated from Old English and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Transcription
162v (select folio number to open facsimile)
De Falchehan, ⁊ Bromleage.4
þus wæron ða land,5 æt Bromleage ⁊ æt
Fealcnaham, þam cinge Eadgare gereht,
on Lundenbyrig, ðurh Snodinglandes land-
bec. ða þa preostas forstælon þam biscope on
Hrofesceastre, ⁊ gesealdan heo Ælfrice Æsc-
wynne sunu, wið feo dearnunga, ⁊ heo Æscwyn
Ælfrices modor sealde heo ær ðider in, ða
geacsode se biscop þæt ða becc forstolene wæron,
bæd þara boca ða geornlice, under ðam þa ge-
watt Ælfric, ⁊ he bæd ða lafe syððan, oð man
gerehte on cinges ðeningmanna gemote ðære
stowe ⁊ ðam biscope ða forstolenan becc Snodig-
landes, ⁊ bote æt ðære ðyfðe, þæt wæs on Lun-
dene, þær wæs se cing Eadgar, ⁊ se arcebiscop
Dunstan, ⁊ Aðelwold biscop, ⁊ Ælfstan biscop,
⁊ oðer Ælfstan, ⁊ Ælfere ealdorman, ⁊ fela
cynges witena, ⁊ man agæf ða into ðære
stowe ðam biscope ða becc, ða stod ðara wydewan
are, on ðæs cinges handa. ða wolde Wulfstan
se gerefa niman þa are to ðæs cinges handa,
Bromleah, ⁊ Fealcnaham. ða gesohte seo wy-
dewe ða halgan stowe, ⁊ ðane biscop, ⁊ agæf ðam
cinge Bromleages boc, ⁊ Fealcnahames, ⁊ se
byscop gebohte ða becc ⁊ ða land æt ðam cinge
on Godeshylle,6 mid fiftigan mancesan goldes,
⁊ hund teontigan, ⁊ ðrittigum pundum, þurh fore-
spræce, ⁊ costnunge, into Sanctę Andrea,7 siððan
ða lefde se biscop ðare wydewan, ðara lande
bryces, under ðam ða gewatt se cing. Ongan
ða syððan Byrhtric ðare wydewan mæg, ⁊ heo
to ðam genedde þæt hy brucan ðara landa on
reaflace, gesohtan ða ðane ealdorman Eadwi-
ne, ⁊ þæt folc ðe wæs Godes anspreca, ⁊ geneddan
ðane biscop be ealre his are agiftes ðara
boca, ne moste he beon þara ðreora nanes
wyrðe ðe eallum leodscipe geseald wæs on wedde,
Tale, ne teames, ne ahnunga. þis is seo gewitnesse ðæs ceapes: Eadgar cing,
⁊ Dunstan arcebiscop, ⁊ Oswald arcebiscop, ⁊ Aðelwold biscop,
Æðelgar biscop, ⁊ Æscwi biscop, ⁊ Ælfstan biscop, ⁊ oðer Ælf-
stan biscop, ⁊ Sideman biscop, ⁊ ðæs cinges modor Ælf-
ðryð, ⁊ Osgar abbod, ⁊ Ælfere ealdorman, ⁊
Wulfstan on Dælham, ⁊ Ælfric on Ebbesham,
⁊ seo duguð folces on Westan Cænt, þær þæt
land, ⁊ þæt læð to lið.
Translation
Concerning Fawkham and Bromley:
Thus were given the lands at Bromley and at Fawkham8 to King Eadgar at London by means of the charters of Snodland.9
Then the priests stole them from the bishop of Rochester and sold them to Ælfric, son of Æscwyn, for secret money. Beforehand Æscwyn, mother of Ælfric, had given them up to [Rochester].10 And then the bishop realised that the charters were stolen. He then earnestly pleaded for the charters; meanwhile Ælfric died, and he later intreated [Byrhtwaru] his widow,11 until the stolen Snodland charters were given to [Rochester] and the bishop, as well as compensation for the theft, at a moot of the king’s thegns in London. There was Eadgar the king, Dunstan the archbishop, bishop Athelwold, bishop Ælfstan and the other Ælfstan, ealdorman Ælfere, and many of the king’s witan.12 And then those charters were restored to the bishop of [Rochester];13 and then the property of the widow rested in the king’s hand.
Then Wulfstan the reeve wished to take the property, Bromley and Fawkham, into the king’s hand.
However, the widow sought out the holy place and the bishop, and returned to the king the charter of Bromley and of Fawkham. And, at Gadshill,14 the bishop bought the charters and the land from the king with fifty mancuses of gold and one hundred and thirty pounds,15 by means of intercession and tribulation, for St Andrew’s;16 then afterwards the bishop permitted the widow use of the land. Meanwhile, the king died.
Then, afterwards, Byrhtric, a kinsman of the widow, set about persuading her that they obtain the lands by force.17 Then they sought out Eadwine the ealdorman along with the people, who were God’s accuser, and they compelled the bishop, on forfeit of all his property, to return the charters; nor was he to be worthy of any of those three things which were given to all people on pledging: neither talu,18 nor team,19 nor proof of ownership.20
This is the list of witnesses of the transaction: King Eadgar, Archbishop Dunstan,21 Archbishop Oswald,22 Bishop Athelwold,23 Bishop Æthelgar,24 Bishop Æscwig,25 Bishop Ælfstan,26 the other Bishop Ælfstan,27 Bishop Sideman,28 Ælfthryth the king’s mother,29 abbot Osgar, ealdorman Ælfere,30 Wulfstan of Dalham, Ælfric of Epsom, and the honourable folk of West Kent, where also that land and property lie.
Footnotes
1 King Eadgar, r. 959-75.
2 Title from A. Campbell (ed.), Charters of Rochester (Oxford University Press, 1973), p. 53. Campbell briefly discusses the story behind this charter, and related charters, at pp. xx–xxii. For a more detailed account, see Colin Flight, ‘Four vernacular texts from the pre-Conquest archive of Rochester Cathedral’, Archaeologia Cantiana 115 (1995), pp. 121–153: online here [accessed 12.02.18].
3 Date assigned by Campbell. Flight argues reasonably for a date in the 990s: ‘Four vernacular texts’, pp. 128–29.
4 The rubric was not written by the principal scribe, as can be determined by comparing letter forms, such as ‘h’ and ‘g’. The spelling for Fawkham in the rubric, i.e. ‘Falchehan’ (‘-n’ is likely an error for ‘-m’), appears to be contemporary with the writing of Textus Roffensis (c.1123), since it differs from the spelling offered in the charter, ‘Fealcnaham’, which dates to the late tenth century. ‘Falchehan/m’ is not offered in Judith Glover, The Place Names of Kent (B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1976), p. 72.
5 ‘Þus wæron ða land…’.
6 The ‘y’ in ‘hylle’ as been altered from an ‘i’.
7 ‘Sanctę Andrea’: the text switches to Latin for ‘Saint Andrew’.
8 Pronounced Faykum: Judith Glover, The Place Names of Kent (B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1976), p. 72.
9 Charters: literally, ‘land-books’, Old English landbec. Subsequently referred to simply as becc ‘books’.
10 Literally, ‘to that place’; similar phraseology is used in the original where ‘[Rochester]’ appears elsewhere in the translation.
11 Named in a related will, which appears in Textus Roffensis at folios 144r–145r (Old English) and 145v–147r (Latin copy).
12 Witan, the king’s council.
13 ‘those charters’, referring specifically to ‘the charters of Snodland’ above. It seems, somewhat confusingly, that what follows in the account, below, is that either the widow hands over other charters relating specifically to Bromley and Fawkham, or the narrator is not being strictly chronological but is rather clarifying the whole process of how ‘those charters’ ended up back with the bishop of Rochester.
14 Perhaps Gads Hill, Gillingham.
15 ‘Mancus. A[nglo-]S[axon] term referring to one eighth of a (monetary) pound, i.e. 30d [pennies] or 2s 6d; it was a unit of account, not a coin. It was used in England from the late 8[th century].’ A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases, ed. Christopher Corèdon with Ann Williams (D. S. Brewer, 2005).
16 St Andrew’s, the cathedral church of Rochester, and by extension the monastery.
17 Literally, ‘in robbery, plunder’, Old English on reaflace.
18 ‘Talu. An accusation; also a claim, i.e. to a piece of land.’ Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases.
19 ‘Team. Right of a lord to supervise the vouching for the quality of goods and the presenting of evidence of the right to sell presented goods.’ Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. In the context, team here appears to relate to the right to produce assurances that the land was obtained honestly.
20 Old English ahnung, variant of agnung, ‘Agnung. Ownership, possession; also proof of ownership’: Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases.
21 Of Canterbury, r. 960–88.
22 Of York, r. 972–92.
23 Of Winchester, r. 963–84.
24 Of Selsey, r. 980–88.
25 Of Dorchester, r. c.977–1002.
26 Of Rochester, r. 964–95.
27 Of London, r. 961–c.996.
28 Of Crediton, r. 973–77.
29 Queen Consort of England (crowned 973), Edgar’s wife, and therefore not ‘the mother of’ King Eadgar, but the mother of his successor, their son, King Æthelred ‘the Unready’. The writer is writing from his own time perspective, which helps us to date this charter to after 978, when Æthelred succeeded to the throne.
30 Of Mercia, 956–83.
Laws of the Northumbrians, mid-10th century
Concerning wergild (‘man-payment’); the monetary value put on the life of a free person within Anglo-Saxon compensation laws.
Transcription
Jump to Translation
Be wergylde.
Cynges wergild is inne mid Englum on folcriht
xxx þusend þrymsa, Xv þusend ðrymsa byð
þæs weres, ⁊ xv þusend þæs cynedomes. Se wer
gebyreð þam magum, ⁊ seo cynebot þam leodum. Æ þelinges wergyld is xv þusend þrymsa. Bisceo-
pes, ⁊ ealdermannes viii þusend þrymsa. Hol-
des ⁊ hehgerefan iiii þusend þrymsa. Mæsse-
þegenes, ⁊ woruld-þegenes, ii þusend þrymsa. Ceorles wergyld is cc ⁊ vi ⁊ Lx þrymsa, þæt þæt bið
twa hund scillinga be Myrcna lage. 7 gif Wilisc
man geþeo þæt he hæbbe hywisc landes, ⁊ mage
cynges gafel forð bringan, þonne byð his wer-
gyld cc xx scillinga. 7 gif he ne geþeo butan to
healfre hide, þonne sy his wergyld Lxxx scillinga. 7 gif he ænig land næbbe, ⁊ þeh freoh sy, forgylde
man hine mid Lxx scillinga. 7 gif ceorlisc man ge-
þeo þæt he hæbbe v hida landes to cynges utware,
⁊ man hine ofslea, forgylde man hine mid ii
þusend þrymsa. 7 þeh he geþeo þæt he hæbbe helm
⁊ byrnan, ⁊ goldfæted sweord, gif he æ land
nafaþ, he byþ ceorl swa þeah. 7 gif his sunu ⁊ his suna
sunu þæt geþeoð, þæt hy swa micel landes
habbað, syððan byþ se ofspring gesiðcundes
cynnes, be twam ðusendum þrymsa. 7 gif hig
þæt nabbað ne to þam geþeon ne magan, gylde man
cyrlisce.2
Translation
Concerning Wergild
Among the English,3 the king’s wergild is, according to folk-right,4 30 thousand thrymsa:5 15 thousand thrymsa the man’s, 15 thousand the kingdom’s. The wer[gild] belongs to the family, and the ‘king-bot’ to the people.6
An atheling’s wergild is 15 thousand thrymsa.7
A bishop’s and an ealdorman’s, 8 thousand thrymsa.8
A hold’s and a high-reeve’s, 4 thousand thrymsa.9
A priestly thegn’s and a worldly thegn’s, 2 thousand thrymsa.10
A ceorl’s wergild is 266 thrymsa, which is two hundred shillings according to the law of the Mercians.11
And if a Welshman thrives so that he has a hide of land, and can bring forth the king’s tribute, then his wergild is 220 shillings.12 But if he thrives only as far as half a hide, then is wergeld is 80 shillings. And if he does not have any land, but he is nevertheless free, one must compensate him with 70 shillings.
And if someone of ceorlish rank prospers so that he has five hides of land, as king’s warland,13 and someone kills him, that one should compensate him with 2 thousand thrymsa.14 However, though he may prosper to the extent that he has a helmet and a byrnie and a gold-hilted sword, if he does not hold such land, he is a ceorl. And if his son and his son’s son prosper so that they hold much land, thereafter the offspring will become gesith-born kin with [a wergild] of two thousand thrymsa.15 And if they do not have that nor are able to prosper, one should compensate according to the rank of ceorl.
Footnotes
1 The text may have been amended by Wulfstan, archbishop of York (r. 1002–23), but the original can be dated to no later than the mid-tenth century due to its mention of a Northumbrian king, the last of whom, Eric Haraldsson (Eric Bloodaxe), was defeated in 954.
2 The scribe has bracketed off ‘cyrlice’ below the final ruled line rather than place it overleaf.
3 The wergild (‘man-payment’) was the monetary value put on the life of a free person within Anglo-Saxon compensation laws.
4 Or ‘Angles’.
5 Or ‘law of the people’. Patrick Wormald offers ‘customary law’: The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century, vol. 1 (Blackwell, 1999), p. 392.
6 ‘Thrymsa [trymes]. A[nglo-]S[axon] gold or silver coin minted from c. 630, at first copying Roman style, then after c. 660 adopting distinctive AS decoration. Though initially issued in gold, by c. 650 the thrymsa was being alloyed with silver; by 675 it was a wholly silver coin. In c. 1000 the thrymsa was equal in value to 3d [i.e. three pennies].’ A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases, ed. Christopher Corèdon with Ann Williams (D. S. Brewer, 2005).
7 In texts discussing wergilds, Old English wer (‘man’) is often synonymous with wergild. In this particular passage, the sense is that half of the entire wergild is for the ‘man’, i.e. the king, and is given to the king’s family as his personal wergild. The other half is for the kingdom, and as the ‘king-bot’ (or ‘king-compensation’) it essentially compensates the king’s people, for whom the king acted as protector.
8 Or ‘prince’. An atheling (or ‘ætheling’) was a member of the royal family, either the heir to or considered worthy of the throne.
9 An ealdorman was the highest ranked nobleman in Anglo-Saxon society. We should note the equivalency of status given a bishop; this may have been one of archbishop Wulfstan’s amendments.
10 A hold was a title introduced by the Danish rulers of Northumbria, and is the Scandinavian equivalent to the highreeve.
11 A thegn (‘thane’) was essentially an aristocratic servant of a lord, or a king, and held a position in Anglo-Saxon society above ordinary freemen, i.e. ceorls, but below ealdormen. In this passage, a mass-priest is attributed the same status as a regular thegn. As with the attribution for bishop and ealdorman, this may represent archbishop Wulfstan’s involvement in amending the original text.
12 A ceorl was the lowest-ranked freeman in Anglo-Saxon society.
13 Old English ‘wilisc man’: ‘foreign person’, i.e. not English. Wilisc, from which ‘Welsh’ is derived, is often used in texts to describe Britons who were integrated into Anglo-Saxon society after the Germanic tribes invaded Britain and became the dominant force in most of what we now call England. It is particularly used with reference to the unfree or slaves. Here it appears to be used for individual Britons who have acquired a degree of autonomy, though we should note that their wergild does not equate with that of an English ceorl.
14 The king’s ‘warland’ (cyninges utwaru) was rateable land for which public services and/or taxation were owed. See Rosamond Faith, The English Peasantry and the Growth of Lordship (Leicester University Press, 1997), p. 90.
15 This shows that a prosperous ceorl could climb to a status equivalent to a thegn.
16 Essentially, a gesith-born man held the status of a thegn, as he was the son of a gesitha, a follower or retainer of the king. So, we are seeing, here, the potential for families from the rank of ceorl to climb the social ladder.