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crown from the altar and gave it to the archbishop; on which, the archbishop delivered it to him, and placed it upon his head, it being supported by two earls in consequence of its extreme weight. After this, the archbishop delivered to him the sceptre to hold in his right hand, while he held the rod of royalty in his left; and, having been thus crowned, the king was led back to his seat by the before-named bishops of Durham and Bath, preceded by the taper-bearers and the three swords before-mentioned. After this, the mass of our Lord was commenced, and, when they came to the offertory, the before-named bishops led him to the altar, where he offered one mark of the purest gold, such being the proper offering for the king at each coronation; after which, the bishops before-named led him back to his seat. The mass having been concluded, and all things solemnly performed, the two bishops before-named, one on the right hand, the other on the left, led him back from the church to his chamber, crowned, and carrying a sceptre in his right hand and the rod of royalty in his left, the procession going in the same order as before. Then the procession returned to the choir, and our lord the king put off his royal crown and robes of royalty, and put on a crown and robes that were lighter; and, thus crowned, went to dine; on which the archbishops and bishops took their seats with him at the table, each according to his rank and dignity. The earls and barons also served in the king's palace, according to their several dignities; while the citizens of London served in the cellars, and the citizens of Winchester in the kitchen...

On the second day after his coronation, Richard, king of England, received the oaths of homage and fealty from the bishops, abbats, earls, and barons of England.

(Annals of Roger de Hoveden for 1189, trans. by H. T. Riley. London, 1853. II, 117.)

65. Levying a Feudal Aid

(1198)

Roger de Hoveden

The manner in which the king's taxes were collected is well illustrated in the chosen selection. The minuteness of detail in the account makes it as interesting as valuable. This extract should be compared with that describing the levying of an aid in the seventeenth century (No. 152).

... In the same year, Richard, king of England, levied from each carucate or hide of land throughout all England five shillings as an aid; for the purpose of collecting which,

the said king sent through each county of England one clerk and one knight; who, with the sheriff of the county to which they were sent, and lawful knights elected for the purpose, making oath that they would faithfully perform the king's business, caused to appear before them the seneschals of the barons of the said county, and the lord or bailiff of every vill, and the reeve, together with the four lawful men of the vill, whether freemen or villeins, as also two lawful knights of the hundred, who made oath that they would faithfully and without fraud declare what was the amount of carucates in each vill that were in tillage; namely, how many were held in demesne, how many in villanage, how many in almoign bestowed on religious orders, which the givers thereof were bound to make warranty of, or to pay for, or for which the said religious were bound to do service; and upon each carucate in tillage, by the king's commands, they first levied two shillings and then three shillings; all of which was reduced to writing. Of all this the clerk had one register, the knight another, the sheriff a third, and the seneschals of the barons a fourth register as to the land of their lords.

This money was received by the hands of two lawful knights of each hundred, and by the hands of the bailiff of the hundred, and they were answerable for the same to the sheriff, and the sheriff answerable for the same according to the before-mentioned registers to the exchequer, in presence of the bishops, abbats, and barons appointed for the purpose.

Also, for the punishment of the jurors who, contrary to their oath, should be guilty of concealing anything in the said matters, it was enacted that whatever villein should be convicted of perjury he should forfeit to his lord the best ox of his plough, and should, out of his own property, be answerable for as much money for the use of our lord the king as should be proved to have remained concealed by means of his perjury; but if a free man should be convicted, he was to be amerced by the king, and was to refund as well out of his own property as much as had been concealed by him, in the same manner as the villein.

It was also enacted, that every baron should, with the aid of the sheriff, make levies upon his tenants; and if, by default of the baron, such levies should not be made, then there was to be taken from the demesne of the baron what should remain payable by his tenants, and the baron was to take the same from his tenants. Frank-fees of parish

churches were exempted from the said tallage; and all escheats of barons which were held in the hands of our lord the king contributed thereto. But serjeanties of our lord the king, which were not attached to knights' fees, were excepted, although they were placed on the register, as also the number of the carucates of land, the values of their lands, and the names of those holding by serjeanty; and all those so holding, were summoned to be at London on the octave at the end of Easter, to hear and perform the king's commands.

The persons who were chosen for that purpose, and appointed by our lord the king, according to the estimation of lawful men, set down a hundred acres of land for each carucate of land in cultivation.

(Annals of Roger de Hoveden for 1198, ed. cited. II, 420.)

PART IV

FROM THE CHARTER TO THE

REFORMATION

(1215-1485)

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