The manor at Haddenham, 1088 AD

William II grants the manor at Haddenham, held by Archbishop Lanfranc, to the church of St Andrew, Rochester, and its monastic community; 213r, Lanfranc sanctions this grant, 1088.¹ Transcription and translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, ff. 212r-213r by Jacob Scott. Edited with additional notes by Dr Christopher Monk.

Introduction

Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury (r. 1070-1089), held the manor of Haddenham in Buckinghamshire when King William I (r. 1066-1087),² the father of King William II (r. 1087-1100),³ granted it to him around the time Lanfranc became archbishop. Haddenham is recorded in Domesday Book as held by Lanfranc in 1086.⁴

Subsequent to this, Lanfranc granted Haddenham for the living of the monks of St Andrew’s Priory (see Sharpe, p. 364). William II confirmed the grant to the Rochester monks in the summer of 1088 (Sharpe, p. 365); this is the charter transcribed and translated below. Haddenham was the most valuable manor held by the monks.

The witness list of the charter is, as Richard Sharpe points out, quite remarkable. Written in the Norman style, it begins with the king and Lanfranc and includes Thomas, archbishop of York (r. 1070-1100); five other bishops;⁵ an abbot;⁶ the king’s brother Henry (the future Henry I);⁷ Philip, son of the Count of Flanders;⁸ Alan, Count of Rennes;⁹ three earls;¹⁰ and seven other important laymen (Sharpe, p. 365).¹¹

This charter relates directly to the narrative record on folios 173r-174v of Textus Roffensis, which is a re-telling by one of the monks of St Andrew’s Priory of the background story that led to William II’s grant. In short, Lanfranc requested, along with Bishop Gundulf of Rochester, that the new king confirm Lanfranc’s gift to the monks and, moreover, that he change the terms of his father’s original grant. The original had only allowed for Haddenham to be held by Lanfranc whilst the archbishop was alive. Now it was to become a perpetual grant, meaning the monks would hold Haddenham forever. The king agreed, but in return Gundulf had to build for him a new stone castle at Rochester.

You can read a fuller account of this along with the transcription and translation of the Haddenham narrative here .

Lanfranc’s sanction document, 123r

This document was appended to William II’s grant of Haddenham on a replacement folio. It is not in the hand of the principal Textus scribe, though it is quite similar and of the same period. Replacing the original folio also meant that the second half of the witness list had to be recopied.

The replacement of the folio may initially rouse suspicion, but it seems quite likely that there was nothing more iniquitous than an initial oversight on the part of the principal scribe, or that his exemplar at the time did not include Lanfranc’s sanction. Once its omission was evident, therefore, it made complete sense to incorporate it, even if that did mean replacing a page.

Even though other surviving acts of William II do not have sanctions like this, there is nothing inherently controversial in its contents. Moreover, as Sharpe points out, Lanfranc’s sanction of the king’s confirmation may be authenticated by comparison with the equally unique confirmation of Henry I for Rochester with its sanctions by both Archbishop Anselm and Gundulf. The latter survives as an original, complete with seals of the king, the archbishop, and the bishop (Sharpe, p. 365, note 5). As Sharpe observes, we may conjecture that the original act of William II likewise bore the seals of both king and archbishop (Sharpe, p. 365).

Anathema and grammar

Charters quite often contain an anathema, a warning of the consequences to one who contravenes the charter’s directives. Though William II’s grant does not include such, Lanfranc’s sanction does. In the anathema he not only declares that the judgement of the traitor Judas shall befall any who flout the king’s grant, but that he will personally excommunicate them.

At this point, the future perfect tense is used for the series of verbs relating to all those who may in the future take away or attempt to take away the manor of Haddenham from the church of St Andrew, Rochester, and who may receive and retain it. The future perfect tense is used in charters and deeds to describe a time in the future when the document will be read.¹² By contrast, Lanfranc’s statement concerning his excommunicating of such theoretical persons is in the present tense. This juxtaposition of different tenses conveys the idea that Lanfranc’s illustrious spiritual presence would continue even after his death. He would, in effect, be still present to excommunicate the offenders!

Transcription

212r (select folio number to open facsimile)

De Hedenham; VVILLELMVS rex anglorum, archiepiscopis,
episcopis, abbatibus, comitibus, cęterisque
omnibus baronibus suis regni anglorum
salutem. Notum uobis omnibus esse uolo, quod
ego uuillelmus dei gratia rex anglorum filius

212v

uuillelmi regis anglorum concedo ęcclesię
rofensi sancti andreę apostoli ad uictum mona-
chorum manerium quod uocatur hedenham
quod situm est in comitatu de bokingeham
quod tenuit lanfrancus archiepiscopus de patre
meo et de me, quod donat eidem rofensi ęc-
clesię pro salute animę patris mei et ma-
tris meae, et pro salute animae meae et animae
suę. Et ideo eius rogatu et amore hoc do-
num suum praedictę ęcclesię concedo et regali
auctoritate propria manu confirmo, ita
quiete tenendum iure perpetuo, sicut praedi-
ctus archiepiscopus de patre meo et de me illud
quiete tenuit usque in pręsentem diem.
+ Signum Willelmi regis anglorum. + Signum
lanfranci cantuariensis archiepiscopi. + Signum
thomę eboracensis archiepiscopi. + Signum Re-
migii lincoliensis episcopi. + Signum Walcelini
uuentoniensis episcopi. + Signum mauricii lun-
doniensis episcopi. + Signum osmundi serberien-
sis episcopi. + Signum Rodberti herefordensis episcopi.
+ Signum Baldeuuini abbatis sancti eadmundi.
+ Signum henrici fratris regis. + Signum philip-
pi filii rodberti comitis flandrię. + Signum

213r

Alani comitis. + Signum hugonis comi-
tis. + Signum heinrici comitis. +
Signum Willelmi comitis. + Signum
eudonis dapifer. + Signum Rogerii bi-
gotis. + Signum Goffridi de magna
uilla. + Signum Rodberta filii haimo-
nis. + Signum hugonis de monte for-
ti. + Signum Gisleberta de tonebrig-
ge. + Signum hugonis de bello cam-
po. +; Confirmatio Lanfranci archiepiscopi. Ego Lanfrancus non meis meritis sed
gratia dei archiepiscopus, hoc donum
meum quod regia auctoritate confir-
matum est confirmo, et auctoritate
dei omnipotentis et omnium sanctorum
excommunico omnes illos qui prędictum
manerium de prędicta ęcclesia uel abstule-
rint, uel auferre temptauerint, uel abla-
tum ab aliis cognita ueritate receperint
uel retinuerint. Ęterna pęna cum
iuda proditore sit eis, nisi ad satisfacti-
onem uenerint.

Translation

Concerning Haddenham:

William, King of the English, to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and all the rest of his barons of the kingdom of the English. Greetings. I want it to be known to you all that I, William, by God’s grace, King of the English, son of William, King of the English, do grant to the church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Rochester, for the living of the monks, the manor which is called Haddenham, which is situated in the county of Buckingham, which is held by Lanfranc, the archbishop of both my father and me, and which he now gives to the same church of Rochester for the salvation of the souls of my father and my mother, and for the salvation of my soul and his soul. And therefore, at his request and through love, this gift of his to the aforesaid church I grant, and with royal authority by means of my own hand I confirm it, thus to be held peacefully by right forever, just as the aforesaid archbishop of my father and of me has peacefully held it to this present day.

+ The sign of William, King of the English.

+ The sign of Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury.

+ The sign of Thomas, Archbishop of York.

+ The sign of Remigius, Bishop of Lincoln.

The sign of Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester.

+ The sign of Maurice, Bishop of London.

The sign of Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury.

+ The sign of Robert, Bishop of Hereford.

+ The sign of Baldwin, Abbot of Saint Edmunds,

+ The sign of Henry, brother of the king.

+ The sign of Phillip, brother of Robert, Count of Flanders.

+ The sign of Count Alan.

+ The sign of Earl Hugh.

+ The sign of Earl Henry.

+ The sign of Earl William.

+ The sign of Eudo Dapifer.

+ The sign of Roger Bigod.

+ The sign of Geoffrey de Magnaville.

+ The sign of Robert fitz Haimo.

+ The sign of Hugh de Montfort.

+ The sign of Gilbert of Tonbridge

The sign of Hugh de Beauchamp.

+ [and others].

The confirmation of Archbishop Lanfranc:

I, Lanfranc, not by my own merits but by the grace of God, Archbishop; this gift of mine, which was by royal authority confirmed, I confirm; and by the authority of God Almighty and all the saints I excommunicate all those who will have either taken away¹³ the aforesaid manor from the aforesaid church or attempted to take it away, or received what was taken away and, knowing the truth, retained it. Eternal punishment with Judas the traitor is for them, unless to repentance they come.

Cited work

Sharpe, Richard, ‘Doing Business with William Rufus: The Haddenham Narrative’, in Textus Roffensis: Law, Language, and Libraries in Early Medieval England, ed. Bruce O’Brien and Barbara Bombi (Brepols, 2015).

Footnotes

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1 Our grateful thanks to Elise Fleming for proofreading the English text; any mistakes remain our own.

2 Aka ‘the Conqueror’.

3 Aka William Rufus.

4 See Haddenham | Domesday Book (opendomesday.org)

5 These five are Remigius de Fécamp, bishop of Lincoln (r. 1067-1092); Walkelin, bishop of Winchester (r. 1070-1098); Maurice, bishop of London (r. 1085-1107); Osmund, bishop of Salisbury (r. 1078-1099); and Robert, bishop of Hereford (r. before 1079-1095).

6 Baldwin, abbot of St Edmunds (1065-1097/98).

7 Henry I, r.1100-1135.

8 Evidently, Philip of Loo, son of Robert the Frisian, Count of Flanders from 1071 to 1093.

9 Alan II, Count of Rennes (r. 1084-1112), also known as Alan Fergant; he was also Alan IV, Duke of Brittany (r.1072-1112).

10 These three are Hugh d’Avranches, Earl of Chester from 1071 to 1101; Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick from 1088 to 1102, and who is recorded as one of the two negotiators of the king in the Haddenham narrative document (see below); and William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey from 1088 to 1101 and 1103-1138. It seems unlikely that William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey is meant, as he was mortally wounded in the Easter of 1088, though he evidently did not die until 24 June 1088 (see Sharpe, pp. 375-76).

11 These seven are Eudo Dapifer (d. 1120); Roger Bigod of Norfolk (d. 1107); Geoffrey de Magnaville, aka Geoffrey de Mandeville (d. c.1100), constable of the Tower of London; Robert fitz Haimo, or Fitzhamon (d. 1107), one of the king’s negotiators in the Haddenham narrative document (see below); Hugh de Montfort (d. c.1088); Gilbert of Tunbridge, aka Gilbert de Clare (d. c.1115); and Hugh de Beauchamp (d. after 1101), the sheriff of Buckinghamshire.

12 See The National Archives online: Lesson 4 - Future perfect tense - Latin (nationalarchives.gov.uk) [accessed 25 August 2022].

13 ‘will have either taken away’, translating ‘uel abstulerint’ of the following lines.

Bishop Gundulf builds Rochester Castle for the king in return for the manor of Haddenhamc.1108-c.1114 AD

William II confirms Archbishop Lanfranc’s grant of Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, to St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, for which in return Bishop Gundulf builds Rochester Castle.

See general notes on editing and translation

Introduction

The manor of Haddenham in Buckinghamshire was the largest and single most important estate belonging to the monks of St Andrew’s Priory at Rochester. It produced rents, both monetary and food, which significantly contributed to the sustenance of the monks.

This record is a narrative account of King William II, also known as William Rufus, confirming Archbishop Lanfranc’s gift of Haddenham to St Andrew’s Priory. It is not, then, the royal act itself but rather a piece of, what we might call, reinforcing storytelling, a rehearsing of events known to the monks, events which bore directly on their livelihood and physical wellbeing.

Professor Richard Sharpe, in his excellent essay on this ‘Haddenham narrative’, explains the significance of this document:

If this were a tendentious story to justify the monks’ holding Haddenham, it is curiously off the point. It does nothing to establish either that Lanfranc was entitled to alienate [i.e. transfer the legal title to another] or even that the king confirmed the gift. And it has no value as evidence. It is, rather, a story from the collective memory of the community, a story that makes the wall of the castle, so visible from the cathedral priory, a tangible proof of the price they had paid for the king’s confirmation. What Gundulf got in return was security for the monks’ possession of Haddenham. (Sharpe, p. 377.)

William the Conqueror had previously granted Haddenham to Lanfranc. Lanfranc’s ownership is confirmed by the entry for Haddenham in Domesday Book.² We might at first think that this meant Lanfranc was free to dispose of the manor as he saw fit, but the story shows this was unlikely, as it points out that the king had granted it to him in uita sua tantum, ‘only in his lifetime’, evidently meaning the lifetime of Lanfranc rather than the king’s lifetime.

Intriguingly, a subsequent reviser attempted to score out the phrase in vita sua (‘in his lifetime’), as if to reinforce the idea that Lanfranc had the right to transfer the manor; though, in doing this, all he was doing was confusing the story. However, in the early fourteenth century the Domesday record was copied and added into another of Rochester’s books, Custumale Roffense (c.1235),³ suggesting there may have been a continuing uneasiness on the part of the monks over this particular aspect of the narrative details.

The relevant point is, nevertheless, that the new king evidently objected to the easy transference of the manor to the monks and, it being unwise to gainsay William Rufus, it must have been thought more pragmatic to gain his consent, though at a cost. Sharpe observes that the end of the story makes it clear that Gundulf and Lanfranc ‘wanted the king to change the terms of tenure, so that the monks should hold the gift for ever, not merely until Lanfranc died’. In other words, William was being asked to give up the reversion of Haddenham to the Crown upon Lanfranc’s demise (Sharpe, p. 374). The story tells us that the price for this, after negotiation, was Gundulf’s building of Rochester Castle.

Connection to charters

Though not a charter itself, this narrative record is connected directly to two charters. These are Archbishop Lanfranc’s deed granting Haddenham to the Rochester monks, which is the only authentic surviving charter in his name (Sharpe, p. 364), and which is copied into the fourteenth-century cartulary known as Registrum Temporalium;⁴ and the charter of confirmation of this grant by William II, which is preserved in Textus Roffensis. You can read the text and translation of this second charter here.

Lanfranc’s grant states that the manor is ad uictum monachorum ‘for the living of the monks’. It also notes that it was given to him pro anima defuncti regis Willemi, qui michi hoc dedit, et pro anima regis W. filii eius et pro mea ‘for the soul of the deceased king William, who gave this to me, and for the soul of king W[illiam] his son, and for mine’ (Brett & Gribbin, p. 8).

The second charter, running from the bottom of folio 212r to halfway down 213r of Textus Roffensis, is addressed ‘to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls and all the barons in the kingdom of the English’. It has, as Sharpe notes, a quite remarkable witness list which includes the king, Lanfranc, Archbishop Thomas of York (r.1070-1100), five other bishops, the king’s brother Henry (the future Henry I), Philip, the son of the Count of Flanders, Alan, Count of Rennes, three earls, and seven other important laymen. The presence of Henry means we can date the charter to the summer of 1088 (Sharpe, p. 365).

On folio 213r of Textus Roffensis, this charter is followed by Lanfranc’s own sanction of William’s confirmation, though this was not the work of the main scribe but appears on a replacement folio.⁵ Sharpe sees no reason, however, to doubt its authenticity (Sharpe, p. 365, note 5).

One further document concerning Haddenham is also preserved in Textus Roffensis. Following on from the previous item, an act by Gundulf, addressed to the shire court of Buckinghamshire, records a subsidiary adjustment to holdings in Haddenham in favour of the monks (Sharpe, p. 365, including note 6).

The narrator

The events described in this narrative relate to the year 1088, when Lanfranc and Gundulf sought royal confirmation of the Haddenham gift. The narrator is not necessarily contemporary with the making of Textus Roffensis, the principal scribe of which was writing around 1123. The composition of the narrative was clearly after the bishop had died, since the phrase beatę memorie ‘of blessed memory’ is used of Gundulf. Sharpe suggests it may have been written ‘during the five-year vacancy in the archbishopric that followed Anselm’s death in April 1109’, which suggests a narrator-monk who very likely knew Gundulf (Sharpe, pp. 368 and 377). We might then give a date of the composition of this record of between 1109 and 1114, though it may have been a few years later.

Despite what might be understood as a fictionalising of some of the detail within the narration – Sharpe points to several instances where ‘the narrator did not really understand the character of the negotiations’ at court (Sharpe, p. 377) – this record in Textus Roffensis is a remarkable witness to the procedures of business that lay behind many royal acts of the Anglo-Norman kings (Sharpe, p. 382).

Transcription

173r (select folio number to open facsimile)

Quomodo Willelmus rex filius Willelmi regis
rogatu Lanfranci archiepiscopi concessit
et confirmauit Rofensi ęcclesię sancti ANDReę
apostoli ad uictum monachorum manerium nomine
Hedenham, quare Gundulfus episcopus castrum
Rofense lapideum totum de suo pro-
prio regi[s] construxit. _Aliud⁶ quoque beatę memorię gundulfus
episcopus non minus memorabile illis contu-
lit beneficium, sed omni potius omnibus seculis uentu-
ris dignum ueneratione. Castrum et enim
quod situm est in pulchriori parte ciuitatis
hrouecestrę pro regia concessione illius doni quod
sepedictus archiepiscopus praedictę ęcclesię ad uictum
monachorum disposuerat dare manerium ui-
delicet quod situm est in comitatu de bucin-
geham nomine hedenham,⁷ non enim aliter ut
ratum permaneret ipsi ęcclesię illud absque regis

173v

concessione potuit dare, quia pater regis illud
dederat archiepiscopo ( )⁸ tantum ut sul-
limatus fuit in archiepiscopio. Vnde uuil-
lelmo filio eius ipsum patrem succedente in re-
gno ab archiepiscopo et episcopo de eiusdem manerii
concessione requisitus, respondit centum libras
denariorum habere se uelle pro ipsa concessione.
Quod postquam archiepiscopus et episcopus simul audie-
runt, consternati ualde pariter responde-
runt, illam tantam pecuniam neque tunc in promtu
sese habere, nec etiam unde eam acquirere
potuissent sese scire. Duobus autem amicis u-
trique parte fauentibus, Rodberto uidelicet fi-
lio haimonis, et henrico comite de uuar-
uuic, hinc regium honorem et integram eius ob-
seruantibus uoluntatem, hinc uero amicitiae
fauorem et pro dei amore ęcclesię praedictę mag-
nificum ac profuturum honorem, regi consulu-
erunt quatinus pro pecunia quam pro concessione
manerii exigebat, episcopus gundulfus quia in
opere cementarii plurimum sciens et efficax
erat,⁹ castrum sibi hrofense lapideum de suo
construeret. Quod ubi archiepiscopo et episcopo in-
notuit, tunc proculdubio magis consternati

174r

dixerunt, et regię concessioni ex toto sese¹⁰ abnu-
ere, etiam et ipsum manerium in profundo maris
potius situm iri malle, quam prędictam ęcclesiam
sancti andreę futuris temporibus regiis exacti-
onibus mancipari debere. Nam quotienscunque
quilibet ex infortunio aliquo casu in castro
illo contingeret aut infractione muri, aut
fissura maceriei, id protinus ab episcopo uel ęcclesia
exigeretur usu reficiendum assiduo. Sicque episcopus
et ęcclesia futuri seculi temporibus omnibus, summa
districtione regię summitteretur exactioni. Isto itaque metu perterritus uterque, absit hoc a me
inquit archiepiscopus, absit quoque a me inquit et episcopus. Responsum hoc audiens¹¹ comes henricus, quasi modestę
stimulis irę commotus honestatis dans concito
fremitus, inquit, Hactenus mea ęstimatione
ratus sum archiepiscopum Lanfrancum unum ex uiris
uniuersi orbis extitisse sapientissimis, nunc
autem nec insipientem quod absit esse dico, neque illa
quidem qua dudum sapientia callebat in presentiarum uigere¹²
ullatenus¹³ asserere audeo. Quid enim grauedinis
inquit in hoc est, castrum ad ultimum maius
pro xL libris¹⁴ ad uoluntatem regis facere, fa-
ctum uero comiti uel uicecomiti comitatus seu aliis

174v

etiam quibus regi placuerit monstrare, mon-
stratum et ex omni parte integrum liberare, se-
mel uero liberato sese penitus expedire, nec unquam
ulterius inde se intromittere, nec etiam eo
respicere? Ad hoc, regem¹⁵ aduersus episcopum
uel ęcclesiam futurę seruitutis occasionem nul-
latenus quęrere, immo potius eos ab omni ser-
uitute liberare, atque sicut regem decebat
pro dei timore et seculi honore in summa libertate
eos conseruare uelle. His ergo et aliis nonnullis
huiuscemodi rationibus, tandem acquieuit
archiepiscopus. Igitur hoc pacto coram >rege< inito, fecit
castrum gundulfus episcopus de suo ex integro
totum, costamine ut reor Lx. librarum. Quod
quam diu in seculo subsistere poterit, pro gun-
dulfo episcopo manifesto indicio quasi loquens
erit, ęternum quidem illi ferens testimonium
quod manerium hedenham¹⁶ ęcclesię et mona-
chis sancti andreę ab omni exactione et ca-
lumnia regis et omnium hominum permane-
bit liberrimum et quietissimum in secula seculorum.¹⁷

Translation

How King William,¹⁸ son of William the king,¹⁹ at the request of Archbishop Lanfranc,²⁰ granted and confirmed the manor named Haddenham as the living of the monks of the Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, for which Bishop Gundulf built Rochester Castle, completely of stone, by his own means, for the king.

Bishop Gundulf of blessed memory also brought another benefit, for them no less memorable but all the more worthy of veneration, for all ages to come. A castle – indeed! – which is situated in the more beautiful part of the city of Rochester, in return for the royal grant of that gift which the aforesaid archbishop had arranged to give for the livelihood of the monks of the aforesaid church, that is to say, the manor named Haddenham which is situated in the shire of Buckingham. For he could not otherwise have given it to the church, in a way that it would remain authorised, without the king’s consent, because the father of the king had given it to the archbishop only [for his lifetime],²¹ when he was elevated to the archbishopric; after which, William his son, on succeeding his father in the kingdom, was asked by the archbishop and bishop for the grant of the same manor. He answered that he would want to have one hundred pounds sterling for this very grant.

After the archbishop and bishop had together heard this, equally greatly dismayed, they answered that they neither had such an amount of money ready to hand nor indeed knew from where they would be able to acquire it. However, they consulted with two of the king’s counsellors, supporters of both sides, namely Robert fitz Haimo,²² and Earl Henry of Warwick²³ – on the one hand observing the honour and complete will of the king; on the other, indeed, observing the favour of friendship and, for the love of God, the magnificent and future honour of the aforesaid church – concerning whether instead of the money to the king, which was required for the granting of the manor, bishop Gundulf, seeing as he was in masonry work the greatest in understanding and the ablest, might from his own means build a stone castle for him in Rochester.

When this was made known to the archbishop and bishop, then they said, no doubt more appalled, that they refused the royal grant altogether, and, furthermore, would rather wish this very manor be allowed to go into the depths of the sea than that the aforementioned church of Saint Andrew should be surrendered to royal exactions for the future.

For whenever, from some misfortune, something should happen to the castle, either by weakening of the wall or splitting of masonry, it would immediately be demanded of the bishop and the church that it should diligently be repaired. Thus the bishop and the church at all times in the future would be subjected to utmost severity to meet royal demands.

And, therefore, both were terrified by this dread: “Far be this from me”, said the archbishop, and “Far be this from me also”, said the bishop.

Hearing this response, Earl Henry, stirred as if by spurs of restrained anger and wakened by honour, suddenly emitting roars, said:

Until now, by my estimation, I have regarded Archbishop Lanfranc to have been one of the wisest of men in the whole world; now, however, I do not say that he is foolish – far from it – but nor, indeed, dare I assert that the wisdom with which he had formerly been endowed is at this moment flourishing in every respect.

Indeed, one must ask, what is burdensome in this: to build, at the will of the king, a castle for, at the very most, 40 pounds; in truth, to show the deed to the earl or the sheriff of the country or to others, if it pleased the king, and having shown it to be complete on every side, deliver it; and once delivered, to set oneself completely free, never to deal with it or even to look back at it?

Further, the king would not in any way seek against the bishop or the church an occasion for future obligation. On the contrary, it is preferable to liberate them from every servitude; moreover, as a king it is fitting, for the fear of God and the honour of the world, to wish to keep them in the highest degree of liberty.

Well, with these and several other reasonings of this sort, the archbishop finally acquiesced. Consequently, by this agreement, entered upon in the presence of the king, bishop Gundulf made the castle out of all that he had, at the cost, I believe, of sixty pounds.

For as long as it will stand in the world, it will be clear proof on behalf of Bishop Gundulf, as if he were speaking, indeed, bearing eternal witness that the manor of Haddenham will continue to belong to the church and the monks of Saint Andrew, completely free and completely quit of all exactions and claims of the king and of all persons, for ever and ever.

Cited Works

Brett, Martin & Joseph Gribbin (eds.), English Episcopal Acta 28, Canterbury, 1070-1136 (Oxford University Press, 2004).

Sharpe, Richard, ‘Doing Business with William Rufus: The Haddenham Narrative’, in Textus Roffensis: Law, Language, and Libraries in Early Medieval England, ed. Bruce O’Brien and Barbara Bombi (Brepols, 2015).

Footnotes

1 My grateful thanks to Elise Fleming for proofreading the English text. Any errors remain my own.

2 See the entry for Haddenham in Open Domesday [accessed 23 August 2022].

3 The digitised facsimile of Custumale Roffense is available online [accessed 23 August 2022]. The Domesday document is written in a probably fourteenth-century hand, and is thus a later insertion into the book, the majority of which was penned around 1235.

4 Also called Liber Temporalium.

5 The replacement folio also meant that the second half of the witnesses’ signatures had to be recopied. The hand, though not that of the main scribe, is nevertheless roughly contemporary with it, I would suggest.

6 In the left margin, before the green letter A, there is a so-called gallows-pole, or a Greek letter gamma; in the right margin, there is a manicule, a pointing finger, beside gundulfus. These are likely later marks, though still medieval, intended to draw attention to the document.

7 The spelling has been altered from hederham to hedenham. This is suggestive of the document being read at a later stage by a monk who wished, perhaps through caution or nervousness, to modify the name of the manor to what was apparently the current spelling of his time.

8 Text has been erased but it is still just about visible; Richard Sharpe gives it as in vita sua.

9 episcopus… erat, underlined by a later hand.

10 The letters se have been inserted above the line.

11 audiens has been inserted above the line over the word comes.

12 ŭ uigere is appended in the margin.

13 ull is appended in the margin.

14 The letter a has been partly erased and replaced by i which is inserted above.

15 The scribe has left a space after regem but for what purpose is unclear.

16 Spelling altered, probably from ‘Hederham’.

17 The letters at the end of seculorum are stretched in the manuscript.

18 I.e. William II, aka William Rufus (r. 1087-1100).

19 I.e. William I, aka William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087).

20 Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury (r.1070–89), appointed by William I.

21 ‘only [for his lifetime]’, translating ‘[in vita sua] tantum’; a reviser had attempted to erase ‘in vita sua’ but it is still visible; see Sharpe, pp. 373-34.

22 Also often spelt Robert Fitzhamon (d. 1107). He was the son of Haimo, sheriff of Kent, and one of the king’s household stewards (Sharpe, p. 376).

23 Henry de Beaumont, earl of Warwick from 1088 to 1119.

The Laws of Wihtræd, 695 AD

These are the judgements of Wihtræd, king of the Kentish people.

The text is known only through the copy that survives in Textus Roffensis (c.1123). Wihtræd ascended the throne of the kingdom of Kent probably in the autumn of 691 and reigned until his death on 23rd April 725. He was for a brief period joint ruler with Swæfheard, an invader, the son of King Sebbi of the East Saxons, who ruled Kent from 688. But by July 694 it seems that Wihtræd was sole ruler.¹

Note on the Old English text

The arrangement of the text approximates that of the manuscript though word division has been normalised according to modern editorial convention. Where a single word is split over two lines, this is indicated by a hyphen. The basic punctuation mark (the punctus) has been converted to a comma wherever appropriate, though there is no attempt to re-order punctuation. Abbreviations, wherever they can be clearly understood, have been expanded and the expanded part is written in italics; however, the Tironian nota ‘7’ is preserved (this is equivalent to the modern ‘&’). Scribal alterations (erasures and overwriting) of individual letters are not noted, with the exception of one very obvious erasure (see footnote 5). Letters or words inserted above the line or in a margin have been included in the line proper and have been italicised. The insertion mark and corresponding text in the bottom margin of folio 6r have been represented as they appear in the manuscript; the lines of the text have therefore not been re-ordered. Any scribal errors relating to grammar or spelling have not been corrected in the text but are noted in footnotes.

Transcription

5r (select folio number to open facsimile)

Ðis synd wihtrædes
domas cantwara cyninges.² _Ðam mildestan cyninge cantwara, wihtræde
rixigendum þe fiftan wintra his rices,
þy, niguðan gebanne, sextan dæge rugernes, in
þære stowe þy hatte berghamstyde, ðær wæs
gesamnad eadigra geheahtendlic³ ymcyme, ðær
wæs birhtwald bretone heahbiscop, 7 se ærnæm-
da cyning, eac þan hrofesceastre bisceop se ilca
gybmund wæs haten, andward wæs 7 cwæð, ælc
had ciricean ðære mægðe anmodlice mid þy
hersuman folcy. Þær ða eadigan fundon mid

5v

ealra gemedum ðas domas, 7 cantwara rihtum
þeawum æcton swa hit hyr efter segeþ 7 cwyþ.
Ciricean freolsdome⁴ gafola 7 man for cyning ge-
bidde, 7 hine buton neadhæse heora willum weor-
þige_n.⁵ Ciricean mundbyrd sie ·l· scll swa cin-
ges. Vnrihthæmde mæn to rihtum life mid syn-
na hreowe tofon, oþþe of ciricean genaman,⁶ ascadene
sieN. Æltheodige mæn gif hio hiora hæmed
rihtan nyllað, of lande mid hiora æhtum 7 mid
synnum gewiten, swæse mæn in leodum ciriclicæs
gemanan ungestrodyne þoligen. Gif ðæs geweor-
þe gesiþcundne mannan ofer þis gemot þæt he un-
riht hæmed genime ofer cyngæs bebod 7 biscopes
7 boca dom, se þæt gebete his dryhtne ·c· scll, an
ald reht. Gif hit ceorlisc man sie, gebete ·L· scll,
7 gehwæder þæt hæmed mid hreowe forlæte. Gif
priost læfe unriht hæmed, oþþe fulwihðe,⁷ untru-
mes forsitte, oþþe to þon druncen sie þæt he ne mæ-
ge, sio he stille his þegnungæ oþ biscopes dom.
Gif bescoren man steorleas, gange him an gest-
liðnesse gefe him man ænes 7 þæt ne geweorðe bu-
ton he leafnesse hæbbe þæt hine man læng feor-
mige. Gif man his mæn an wiofode freols gefe,
se sie folcfry, freolsgefa age his erfe ænde

6r

wergeld, 7 munde þare hina, sie ofer mearce ðær he
wille. Gif esne ofer⁸ dryhtnes hæse þeowweorc wyr-
ce an sunnan æfen efter hire setlgange oþ monan
æfenes setlgang ·Lxxx· scll se dryhtne⁹ gebete. Gif
esne deþ his rade þæs dæges ·vi· se wið dryhten gebe-
te oþþe sine hyd. Gif friman þonne an ðane for-
bodenan timan sio he healsfange scyldig, 7 se man
se þæt arasie he age healf þæt wite 7 ðæt weorc. Gif ceorl
buton wifes wisdome deoflum gelde, he sie ealra his
æhtan scyldig, 7 healsfange, gif butwu deoflum
geldaþ, sion hio healsfange, scyldigo 7 ealra æhtan.
Gif þeuw deoflum geldaþ ·vi· scll gebete, oþþe his hyd.
Gif mon his heowum in fæsten flæsc gefe, frigne ge
þeowne halsfange alyse. Gif þeow ete his sylfes
ræde ·vi· scll oþþe his hyd. Biscopes word 7 cynin-
ges sie unlægne buton aþe. Mynstres aldor
hine cænne in preostes canne, preost hine clæn-
sie sylfæs soþe in his halgum hrægle ætforan
wiofode ðus cweþende, Veritatem dico in christo non
mentior, swylce diacon hine clænsie. Cliroc
feowra sum hine clænsie his heafodgemacene
7 ane his hand on wiofode oþre ætstanden aþ
abycgan. Gest hine clænsie sylfes aþe on wiofode ⁜¹⁰
7 ðissa ealra að sie unlegnæ. Ðanne is cirican
⁜ swylce cyninges ðeng.¹¹ Ceorlisc man hine feowra
sum his heafodgemacene on weofode,

6v

canne riht, gif man biscopes esne tihte oþþe cy-
ninges cænne hine an gerefan hand oþþe hine
gerefa clensie oþþe selle to swinganne. Gif man
gedes þeuwne esne in heora gemange, tihte his
dryhten hine his ane aþe geclænsie gif he husl-
genga sie, gif he huslgenga nis hæbbe him in aþe
oðirne æwdan godne,¹² oþþe gelde, oþþe selle to swin-
ganne. Gif folcesmannes esne tihte ciricanman-
nes esne oþþe ciricanmannes esne tihte folces-
mannes esne, his dryhten hine ane his aþe ge-
clensige. Gif man leud ofslea an þeofðe, licge
buton wyrgelde. Gif man frigne man æt hæb-
bendre handa gefo þanne wealde se cyning ðreo-
ra anes, oððe hine man cwelle, oþþe ofer sæ selle,
oþþe¹³ hine his wergelde alese. Se þe hine gefo 7 ge-
gange healfne hine age, gif hine man cwelle, geselle¹⁴
heom man ·Lxx· scll. Gif þeuw stele 7 hi man¹⁵
alese ·Lxx· scll swa hweder swa cyning wille, gif
hine man acwelle þam agende hi man¹⁶ healfne
agelde. Gif feorran cumen man oþþe fræmde
buton wege gange, 7 he þonne nawðer ne hryme,
ne he horn ne blawe, for ðeof he bið to profi-
anne oþþe to sleanne, oþþe to alysenne.

Translation¹⁷

See Translation Notes

These are the judgements of Wihtræd, king of the Kentish people

To the most gracious king of the Kentish people, Wihtræd – reigning in the fifth winter of his rule,¹⁸ in the ninth indiction, ¹⁹ the sixth day of Rugern²⁰ - there was gathered, in the place which is called Bearsted,²¹ a council of noble men. There was present Berhtwald,²² archbishop of Britain,²³ and the aforementioned king, also the bishop of Rochester who was called Gebmund.²⁴ And every ecclesiastic of that people’s Church spoke in unison with the loyal populace.²⁵ There, with the agreement of all, the noble men instituted these judgements,²⁶ and they added to the lawful customs of the Kentish people as it hereafter states and declares:

[There is to be] freedom of the Church from taxation; and one should pray for the king and do him honour of their own free will, without compulsion.

Violation of the protection of the Church shall be 50 shillings,²⁷ as the king’s.

Persons in unlawful sexual unions should take up a lawful life with repentance of sins,²⁸ or be excommunicated from the Church.

Foreign persons, if they will not make their sexual union lawful, they must depart from the land with their possessions and their sins; our own countrymen should suffer excommunication, without forfeiture of property.

If afterwards, in contravention of this meeting, it should happen that a sith-born²⁹ person takes up an unlawful sexual union, against the command of the king and bishops and the decrees of the books,³⁰ he should pay to his lord 100 shillings, according to ancient law.

If it is a man of the rank of ceorl,³¹ he should pay 50 shillings, and both should give up the sexual union with repentance.³²

If a priest allows an unlawful sexual union,³³ or neglects the baptism of the sick,³⁴ or is so drunk that he is incapable, he should refrain from his ministry until the bishop’s judgement.

If a tonsured man, not under rule,³⁵ seeks for himself hospitality, one may give it him once but it should not happen that one sustains him for longer, unless he has permission.³⁶

If a person gives his man freedom at the altar, he will have the freedom of the people;³⁷ the freedom-giver shall have his inheritance and wergild and protection of the household;³⁸ he [the freed man] may be over the border where he wishes.³⁹

If an unfree labourer,⁴⁰ by his lord’s bidding,⁴¹ carries out slave-work between the sunset on the eve of Sunday and sunset on the eve of Monday,⁴² the lord should pay 80 shillings.⁴³

If an unfree labourer does it on that day by his own counsel, to his lord he should pay six [shillings], or his hide.⁴⁴

If a freeman [works] in this forbidden time, he should be liable for healsfang;⁴⁵ and the one who discovers it, ⁴⁶ he shall have half the fine or the work.⁴⁷

If a ceorl, without his wife’s knowledge, should make an offering to devils,⁴⁸ he shall be liable for all his property, or healsfang; if both make an offering to devils, they shall [both] be liable to healsfang or all [their] property.⁴⁹

If a slave makes an offering to devils, he should pay 6 shillings,⁵⁰ or his hide.

If a person gives meat to his household during fasting,⁵¹ he should redeem both freemen and slave with healsfang.

If a slave eats such, of his own counsel, 6 shillings or his hide.

The word of a bishop and a king shall be incontrovertible without an oath.⁵²

A head of a minster⁵³ should clear himself upon a priest’s exculpation;⁵⁴ a priest should acquit himself with his own truth in his holy vestments before the altar, declaring thus: ‘I speak truth in Christ, I do not lie’;⁵⁵ a deacon should similarly acquit himself.⁵⁶

A cleric should acquit himself as one of four of his rank,⁵⁷ but only his hand on the altar; the others should stand by to defend the oath.⁵⁸

A stranger should acquit himself with his own oath at the altar; similarly, a king’s thegn.⁵⁹ A person of the rank of ceorl,⁶⁰ as one of four of his rank, at the altar. And the oath of all these shall not be questioned.

Hereafter is the right of exculpation of the Church: if a person accuses an unfree labourer of a bishop or king, he should clear himself by the hand of the reeve;⁶¹ either the reeve acquits him or delivers him to be flogged.⁶²

If a person accuses a community’s bonded servant in their midst,⁶³ his lord should acquit him with his oath alone, if he is a communicant; if he is not a communicant, he should have with him another, an oath-supporter, otherwise he should pay, or deliver him to be flogged.⁶⁴

If a layman’s unfree labourer accuses a churchman’s unfree labourer, his lord should acquit him with his oath alone.

If a person slays a man who is thieving, [the one killed] is to lie [dead] without wergild.⁶⁵

If a person captures a free man red-handed,⁶⁶ then the king should rule one of three things: either one should kill him, or sell him overseas, or release him for [the price of] his wergild.

He who captures and delivers him should obtain half for [surrendering] him;⁶⁷ if he is killed, one should give them 70 shillings.

If a slave steals and one redeems him, that one should give 70 shillings; if he is killed, half of his [value] is to be paid to the owner,⁶⁸ whichever the king wishes.⁶⁹

If a person who comes from afar, or a foreigner, goes off the highway, and he then neither shouts out nor does he blow a horn, he should be considered a thief, to be either killed or redeemed.⁷⁰

Cited works

Blair, John, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society (Oxford University Press, 2005).

Cheney, C. R. (ed.) and Michael Jones (revised by), A Handbook of Dates for Students of British History, New Edition (Cambridge University Press, 2000).

DOE, The Dictionary of Old English: A to I online, ed. Angus Cameron, Ashley Crandell Amos, Antonette diPaolo Healey, et al (Dictionary of Old English Project, 2018); available to subscribers or free but with limited access. Click here

Kelly, S. E. (ed.), Charters of St Augustine’s Abbey Canterbury and Minster-in-Thanet, Anglo-Saxon Charters IV (Oxford University Press, 1995).

Monk, Christopher, ‘Defending Rihthæmed: the Normalizing of Marital Sexuality in the Anglo-Saxon Penitentials’, in SELIM. Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature, vol. 18 (2011), pp. 7-48, published online 2019. Click here

Oliver, Lisi, The Beginnings of English Law (University of Toronto Press, 2002).

The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes, and Donald Scragg (Blackwell Publishing, 1999).

Whitelock, Dorothy (ed.), English Historical Documents c.500-1042, Second Edition (Eyre Methuen and Oxford University Press, 1979).

Footnotes

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1 For a detailed chronology of the kings of Kent, see S. E. Kelly, pp. 195-203; Wihtræd and Swæfheard are discussed at pp. 196-98; a summary of the chronology is given on p. 203.

2 The rubric (heading in red ink) is provided by the Textus Roffensis scribe; it is not considered to be part of the original law code.

3 Oliver, p. 152, emends this to geþeahtendlic.

4 The word spacing here is particularly confusing, as noted by Oliver, p. 152 and p. 153, note e. I have followed Oliver’s example in order to give better sense.

5 The manuscript has an erasure between the letters e and n.

6 In line with Oliver, p. 154, this should be emended to gemanan, meaning ‘community’, and in the context here relates to excommunication; see the translation, below.

7 Oliver, p. 154, emends this to fulwihte.

8 Oliver, pp. 156-57, suggests this should read of not ofer, and thus translates it as ‘according to’ rather than ‘against’. Whitelock, p. 157 translates it the same. I follow their example in my own translation, below.

9 Oliver, p. 156, emends this to dryhten.

10 The main Textus Roffensis scribe realised he had omitted some text from his exemplar and so provided an insertion mark – a red dotted black cross with a long descender terminating in a red curl – to indicate where the omitted text, appearing in the bottom margin and correspondingly marked, should be.

11 Oliver, p. 158, corrects ðeng to ðegn, i.e. ‘thegn’.

12 The letter n is inserted above the line.

13 The letter þ is inserted above the line.

14 selle is added in the right margin.

15 Oliver, p. 162, emends this to hine man.

16 Oliver, p. 162, emends this to hine man and suggests him man may be preferable grammatically.

17 My thanks go to Elise Fleming for kindly proofreading the translation and notes.

18 Or, ‘fifth year’.

19 The indiction was a method of reckoning time, originally going back to imperial Rome, and was used as an element in the dating of documents. It is based on a cycle of fifteen years, the first being counted from the year 312. For a detailed explanation, see Cheney and Jones, pp. 2-4.

20 Rugern, meaning ‘rye-harvest’, giving us a probable date for Wihtræd’s law code of 6th September, in the year 695; see Whitelock, p. 396, introduction.

21 Near Maidstone, Kent.

22 There are various spellings of his name; I’m using that used in The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 63; Oliver, p. 153, uses Brihtwald; Whitelock, p. 396, uses Brihtwold.

23 In effect, archbishop of Canterbury, as there was no archbishopric in York until 735. He was elected as archbishop in 692 (consecrated in 693) and his term ended at his death in 731.

24 Appointed about 678, died between 699 and 716.

25 Literally, ‘folk’, from Old English folc.

26 Or, ‘decrees’.

27 The mundbyrd was the legally recognised expectation of peace or ‘protection’ offered by any free person in their home or, as with the king, within their jurisdiction; here it is extended to the institution of the Church. In effect, were someone to cause a breach of the peace inside a church, they would have violated that protection and incur a penalty, a fine of 50 shillings, a considerable amount of money.

28 Unlawful sexual unions would not only have included those living together without marriage but any who were married to someone to whom they were too closely related, according to the rules of consanguinity of the Church at that time. In that sense, these unions would be irregular and unlawful, and anyone realising the unlawful status of their own union was expected to end the union and repent, otherwise be excommunicated. Also included would be bigamous or adulterous unions, where a spouse had been put away unlawfully to enable one to remarry someone else. Oliver discusses unlawful matrimony in Wihtræd’s law at pp. 167-8; for a more detailed and broader discussion of the concept of ‘unlawful sexual union’ in early medieval England, see Monk, pp. 23-34.

29 Or ‘gesith-born’, which appears to refer to an individual of a high rank, not a mere ceorl, the lowest rank of freeman. See Whitelock, p. 396, n. 4, where the comparison to eorlcund ‘of noble birth’ is made.

30 Probably referring to Scripture and canon law. Note Oliver’s comment, p. 167, that this clause may correspond to one laid out by the Synod of Hertford in 672: ‘On marriage. That nothing be allowed but lawful wedlock. Let none be guilty of incest, and let none leave his own wife except for fornication, as the holy gospel teaches.’ My own emphasis.

31 Translating ceorlisc man, a free person of the lowest rank, a ceorl.

32 Presumably meaning that both the higher and lower ranked persons are expected to end the unlawful union.

33 The inference is that the priest has officiated at an unlawful marriage.

34 Though ‘baptism’ is the clear meaning here, it seems likely that this stood for, or should be understood as alluding to, the neglect of any sacramental office for the sick, including the administering of confession. Oliver notes the similar rulings against clerical abuses in the roughly contemporaneous ‘Penitentials of Theodore’: Oliver, pp. 168-69.

35 I.e. not under monastic rule; one who has left his monastic community without permission.

36 Both Whitelock, p. 397, note 2, and Oliver, p. 169, make mention of the ruling at the Synod of Hertford in 672 against clerics wandering from diocese to diocese at will, perhaps suggesting that this law would have been applied to secular clerics as well as those in monastic orders. Interestingly, the synod ruling places equal culpability on the one showing undue hospitality; like the errant cleric, he risks excommunication should the cleric not return when summoned by his bishop.

37 Literally, ‘be folk-free’.

38 The wergild, ‘man-price’, was the amount of money legally equating to one’s life, and it had to be paid, by the slayer, to the next of kin should that one be killed; the amount varied according to rank. Oliver, p. 170, discusses the possible meanings of this clause: ‘First, the previous owner is responsible for protecting the claims to inheritance, wergild, and protection of the new freeman, who may well not have any free kinsmen to help guaranteed these rights. Second, should the newly freed man die without naming his beneficiaries, his inheritance reverts to the previous owner. If he has been killed, the wergild would also be paid to that owner; if anyone stands under the freedman’s protection, that protection is similarly taken up by the owner.’

39 Indicative of the fact that slaves were typically captives from warfare with other Germanic kingdoms in Britain, or indeed from among the colonised British natives. Such a manumitted person may wish to return to his own people, ‘over the border’.

40 An unfree individual who is temporarily bonded to a master to carry out agricultural work; see the discussion of esne at Slaves and the Unfree in the Laws of Æthelberht — Rochester Cathedral.

41 Following previous translators in amending Old English ‘ofer’ to ‘of’; see Oliver, pp. 156-7.

42 I.e. between Saturday sunset and Sunday sunset, marking the Sabbath period.

43 Oliver, p. 157, considers ‘shillings’ to be an error for ‘sceattas’ in view of what she reads as an unreasonably high fine. For a helpful discussion relating to this and the following clauses concerning the transgressing of Church laws concerning the Sabbath, pagan idolatry, and fasting, see Oliver, pp. 170-174.

44 Alternatively, ‘or be flogged’.

45 The healsfang is in essence a fine; it may have been at some point in history a monetary substitution for corporal punishment. DOE, heals-fang: ‘(in laws) a legal payment to be paid as a due or fine, or to be received by/on account of an injured party; a portion (possibly ten to twenty percent) of ‘wergild’; the term may originally have denoted a crime (lit. ‘seizing by the neck of throat’, cf. feaxfang ‘seizing by the hair’) for which it was also the penalty, or it may have described a form of corporal punishment for which it became a monetary substitution, i.e. the cost of saving one’s neck.’

46 This is overt encouragement for neighbours to expose one another if they fail to keep the sabbath laws.

47 Seemingly meaning half the profit from the work carried out, the other half presumably going to the public coffers. Oliver, p. 157, note g, observes that it is possible to translate Old English ‘and’ here as the adversative ‘or’, giving ‘half the fine or the work’.

48 The essential meaning of the Old English verb gyldan, used here, is ‘to pay (back), render’. It is used elsewhere in the context of worship of pagan deities: see DOE, gyldan, C. However, I am reluctant to translate it as ‘sacrifice’, as is given as an option in DOE (and, indeed, is Whitelock’s choice, p. 397), as this immediately biases our reading of what is actually being alluded to here in this text; it implies the killing of something in a ceremonial sacrifice and fosters rather melodramatic notions of devil worship, things that are not justified by the choice of wording. Thus, ‘make an offering’ seems to me more judicious.

49 The implication in this clause is that the wife does not lose her personal property or have to pay healsfang for herself should she be unaware of her husband’s actions, and, moreover, that the wife was viewed legally as a separate entity.

50 Both this clause and the one below concerning fasting are interesting for showing that slaves in Kent at this time could potentially have their own money.

51 A religiously determined period of fasting, such as during Lent, when meat was forbidden.

52 The bishop and king do not need to make an oath at the altar: their word was truth!

53 ‘Minster’ has quite a broad meaning in relation to early medieval England; note John Blair’s definition: ‘A complex ecclesiastical settlement which is headed by an abbess, abbot, or man in priest’s orders; which contains nuns, monks, priests, or laity in a variety of possible combinations, and is united to a greater or lesser extent by their liturgy and devotions; which may perform or supervise pastoral care to the laity, perhaps receiving dues and exerting parochial authority; and which may sometimes act as a bishop’s seat, while not depending for its existence or importance on that function.’ Blair, p. 3, italics his own. Note that during Wihtræd’s time, Minster-in-Thanet (founded in Kent around 660) was an abbey run by an abbess, so I would suggest that this law points to the probability that certain women at this time in Kent had the legal right to swear oaths.

54 DOE, cennan, B.2.c.ii: ‘with reflexive: to clear oneself, exculpate oneself’; the use of this verb in this very specific sense occurs only in Wihtræd’s laws. The exculpation, or clearance, refers to the public oath or declaration of one’s innocence in the face of an accusation of wrongdoing; it results in one’s acquittal. Note from the preceding clause that a bishop or king does not need to make such an oath. Oliver discusses exculpation at pp. 174-77.

55 The words to be uttered are in Latin: Veritatem dico in Christo, non mentior.

56 The verb clænsian, ‘to cleanse’, is used here in the sense of acquitting or clearing oneself, rather than in the sense of expiating or atoning for wrongdoing. See DOE, clǣnsian, 5.

57 Or, ‘order’; in this case one from among the minor ecclesiastical orders. Oliver, p. 159, note d, suggests ‘cleric’ ‘includes the positions of doorkeeper, psalmist, reader, exorcist, acolyte, and subdeacon’.

58 He has to bring along three others to defend his oath, though only he touches the altar. This seems similar to the arrangement for ‘oath-supporters’, referred to below in the clause concerning the accusation against a community’s bonded servant, and which is also in place in the Laws of Hlothere and Eadric.

59 A nobleman in service to the king; see Oliver, p. 175.

60 Or, ‘freeman’; literally, a ‘ceorlish man’.

61 The bailiff of the estate or area to which the unfree labourer belonged; see Oliver, p. 176.

62 Or, ‘beaten’.

63 The structure of the preceding clauses suggests the ‘community’ here equates to the ‘minster’, so this bonded labourer, an esne (see note 40, above), belongs to a monastery or other religious community.

64 A communicant (Old English husel-genga) is someone who receives Holy Communion. However, the precise use of the term here is unclear. Oliver, p. 176, discusses several possibilities. It may simply refer to whether the ‘lord’, or owner, of the bonded servant is a member of the particular religious community concerned. A possible alternative meaning is that this clause alludes to a clerical member, who regularly receives Holy Communion, as opposed to a member of the laity within the community who is not a regular communicant. Though perhaps more convoluted, I would also suggest a further possibility, that the ‘he’ who is or is not the communicant is actually the bonded servant. This would mean that this individual’s status as a Christian – one who receives Holy Communion – has a bearing on the determining of his innocence. If he is a Christian, his lord/owner’s oath is sufficient; if he’s not a Christian, then the owner must bring along an oath supporter to back up his swearing to the bonded servant’s innocence. As there are no other sources upon which we can draw to help us understand exactly what was happening in this regard in Kentish communities at the end of the seventh century, we have to leave the matter open.

65 I.e. no ‘man-price’ would be due to the slain person’s next of kin. A person had the right to kill someone who was attempting theft.

66 I.e. the thief has the goods on his person.

67 Presumably half of the money from selling him, or half the wergild.

68 Oliver, p. 163, note d, suggests the ‘owner’ here means the owner of the property that was stolen, not the slave-owner, who is legally culpable for allowing his slave to commit the crime. This makes sense. The choice before the king then is: the slave-owner can redeem his thieving slave with a payment of 70 shillings, which goes to the owner of the stolen goods; or, if the slave is executed, the owner of the stolen property is compensated with half that amount. See Oliver, pp. 178-79.

69 I have made the translation less awkward by moving ‘swa hweder swa cyning wille’, ‘whichever the king wishes’, from the middle to the end of the sentence.

70 This clause mirrors one in the laws of Ine, king of the West Saxons (r. 688-726). Dating to between 688 and 694, these laws slightly pre-date Wihtræd’s; see Oliver, pp. 179-80; Whitelock, p. 32, introduction.

The Laws of Hlothere and Eadric, c.673-c.686

These are the judgements which Hlothere and Eadric, kings of the Kentish people, set down.

The text is known only through the copy that survives in Textus Roffensis (c.1123). Hlothere reigned as king of Kent between July 673 and February 685, when he was killed by the South Saxons led by his nephew, Eadric. Eadric then reigned for about a year and a half, until the summer or autumn of 686. Though the laws, in the form in which they survive, might be interpreted as evidence of joint rulership of the two kings, not uncommon in late seventh-century Kent, it is nowhere stated in early histories that this was the case. It is probably more accurate to say that the text we now have is a conflation of their laws, originally issued separately by each king but, at some point, collated together. It is possible that Eadric reissued his uncle’s law code during his own reign and augmented it.¹

Transcription

3v (select folio number to open facsimile)

Þis syndon þa domas ðe hloþhæ-
re 7 eadric cantwara cyningas asettoN. _hloþhære, 7 eadric cantwara cyningas ecton þa
æ, þa ðe heora aldoras ær geworhtoN
ðyssum domum þe hyr efter sægeþ. Gif man-
nes esne eorlcundne mannan ofslæhð, þane ðe
sio þreom hundum scll gylde, se agend þone
banan agefe, 7 do þær þrio manwyrð to. Gif
se bane oþbyrste feorþe manwyrð he to gedo,
7 hine gecænne mid godum æwdum, þæt he þane
banan begeten ne mihte. Gif mannes esne

4r

frigne mannan ofslæhð þane þe sie, hund scillin-
ga gelde, se agend þone banan agefe, 7 oþer man-
wyrð þærto. Gif bana oþbyrste, twam manwyr-
þum hine man forgelde, 7 hine gecænne mid go-
dum æwdum, þæt he þane banan begeten ne mihte.
Gif frigman mannan forstele, gif he eft cuma,
stermelda secge an andweardne, gecænne hine
gif he mæge, hæbbe þare freora rim æwdaman-
na, 7 ænne mid in aþe, æghwilc man æt þam tune
þe he tohyre gif he þæt ne mæge gelde swa he gono
hage.² Gif ceorl acwyle be libbendum wife 7 bearne,
riht is þæt hit þæt bearn medder folgige, 7 him man
an his fæderingmagum wilsumne berigean ge-
felle³ his feoh to healdenne, oþ þæt he ·x· wintra sie.
Gif man oþrum mæn feoh forstele, 7 se agend hit
eft ætfo, geteme to cynges sele gif he mæge,
7 þane æt gebrenge þe him sealde, gif he þæt ne
mæge læte an, 7 fo se agend to. Gif man oþerne
sace tihte, 7 he þane mannan mote an medle oþþe an þin-
ge, symble se man þam oðrum byrigean, gesel-
le 7 þam riht awyrce þe to hiom cantwara de-
man gescrifen. Gif he ðonne byrigan forwær-
ne ·xii· scillingas agylde þam cyninge, 7 sio se⁴
sacy swa open swa hio ær wes. Gif man oþerne

4v

tihte siþþan he him byrigan gesealdne hæbbe,
7 ðonne ymb ·iii· niht gesecæn hiom sæmend bu-
ton þam, ufor leofre sio þe þa tihtlan age. Siþ-
þan sio sace gesemed sio an seofan nihtum se
man þam oþrum riht gedo, gecwime an feo
oððe an aþe, swa hwæder swa him leofre sio,
gif he þonne þæt nylle, gelde þonne ·c· buton aðe,
siþþan ane neaht ofer þæt, gesem hie. ⁵Gif man
mannan an oþres flette manswara hateþ, oððe
hine mid bismærwordum scandlice grete, scil-
ling agelde þam þe þæt flet age, 7 ·vi· scill, þam þe
he þæt word togecwæde, 7 cyninge ·xii· scll for-
gelde. Gif man oþrum steop asette, ðær mæn
drincen buton scylde, an eald riht, scll agelde
þam þe þæt flet age, 7 ·vi· scll þam þe man þone
steap aset, 7 cynge ·xii· scll. Gif man wæpn
abregde þær mæn drincen, 7 ðær man nan
yfel ne deþ, scilling, þan þe þæt flet age, 7 cynin-
ge ·xii· scll. Gif þæt flet geblodgad wyrþe, for-
gylde þem mæn his mundbyrd, 7 cyninge ·L·
scill. Gif man cuman feormæþ ·iii· niht an
his agenum hame, cepeman oþþe oðerne þe
sio ofer mearce cuman, 7 hine þonne his mete
fede, 7 he þonne ænigum mæn yfel gedo se man

5r

þane oðerne æt rihte gebrenge oþþe riht forewyrce.
Gif cantwara ænig in lundenwic feoh gebycge, hæbbe
him þonne twegen oððe ðreo unfacne ceorlas to
gewitnesse, oþþe cyninges wicgerefan, gif hit man
eft æt þam mæn in cænt ætfo þonne tæme he
to wic to cyngæs sele to þam mæn ðe him sealde, gif
he þane wite 7 æt þam teame gebrengen mæge, gif
he þæt ne mæge, gekyþe ðanne in wiofode mid his
gewitena anum oþþe mid cyninges wicgerefan,
þæt he þæt feoh undeornunga his cuþan ceape in wic
gebohte, 7 him man þanne his weorð agefe, gif he
þanne þæt ne mæge gecyþan mid rihtre canne, læte
þanne, an, 7 se agend tofo.

Translation

See Translation Notes

These are the judgements⁶ which Hlothere and Eadric, kings of the Kentish people, set down.⁷

Hlothere and Eadric, kings of the people of Kent, added to the law which their predecessors had made these judgments, which are stated hereafter:

If someone’s unfree labourer⁸ slays a man of noble birth – for whom one compensates with three hundred shillings⁹ – the owner should give up the killer and also add the value of three men.¹⁰

If the killer escapes, he should add the value of a fourth man and clear himself, with good oath-supporters,¹¹ [swearing] that he could not seize the killer.

If someone’s unfree labourer slays a free man – for whom one compensates with a hundred shillings – the owner should give up the killer and also the value of a man.

If the killer escapes, one should compensate with the value of two men and clear himself, with good oath-supporters, [swearing] that he could not seize the killer.

If a freeman steals someone, if the latter afterwards comes as informer, he should state what happened in front of him.¹² If he is able, he [the accused] should clear himself. Each man should have a number of free oath-supporters, and one with him during the oath [should be] from the village to which he belongs;¹³ if he cannot do that, he should compensate according to what he has.¹⁴

If a man¹⁵ should die leaving a wife and child, it is right that the child goes with the mother;¹⁶ and for him there should be one from among his father’s kin who willingly gives surety to uphold his property,¹⁷ until he is ten winters old.

If a person steals another person’s property, and the owner afterwards claims it, he [the accused] should vouch to warranty in the king’s hall, if he is able to, and bring there the one who sold it to him;¹⁸ if he cannot do that, let him relinquish [the property] and the owner take possession of it.

If anyone brings a charge against another, and he meets that person at an assembly or meeting, that person should always give surety to the other, and act according to the ruling which the judges of the Kentish people impose upon them.

If he then refuses surety, he should pay to the king 12 shillings,¹⁹ and the charge is to remain open as it was before.

If anyone brings a charge against another, after surety has been given him, then they should seek for themselves an arbitrator within three nights, unless the one who brings the charge prefers it to be later.

After the charge is settled, within seven nights the person should make it right by the other, satisfying him with property or an oath, whichever is preferable to him. If then he will not do that, he then should give 100 [shillings], without oath,²⁰ one night following the arbitration.

If anyone in another’s dwelling calls a person a perjurer or addresses him with shameful insults, he must pay a shilling to him who owns that dwelling, and 6 shillings to the one to whom he spoke that utterance, and he should pay to the king 12 shillings.

If, where people are drinking, anyone takes away the cup of another, who is without guilt,²¹ he should according to ancient rights give a shilling to the one who owns the dwelling, and 6 shillings to the one from whom the cup was taken, and to the king 12 shillings.

If anyone draws a weapon where people are drinking, but no harm is done there, a shilling to the one who owns the dwelling, and to the king 12 shillings.

If blood is shed at that dwelling,²² he should pay the man the fine for the breach of the peace,²³ and to the king 50 shillings.

If anyone provides for a stranger in his own home for three nights – a merchant or another who has come across the border – and he feeds him his food, and he [the guest] then does harm to any person, the man [the host] should bring the other to justice otherwise make forfeiture.²⁴

If any Kentish person buys property in London,²⁵ he should then have for himself two or three unblemished men,²⁶ or the king’s town-reeve, as witness. If a person afterwards lays claim to it [the goods] from the man in Kent, then the latter should, in the king’s hall of that town [i.e., in London], vouch to warranty concerning the person who sold it to him,²⁷ if he knows that one and is able to bring him to that vouching. If he cannot do that, then he should declare at the altar, along with one of his witnesses or with the king’s town-reeve, that he bought that property and be given back the price paid. If then he cannot declare that, in the knowledge of the law, he should relinquish the property, and the owner is to take possession.

Cited works

DOE, The Dictionary of Old English: A to I online, ed. Angus Cameron, Ashley Crandell Amos, Antonette diPaolo Healey et al. (Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project, 2018); for limited online access to the dictionary Click here

Kelly, S. E. (ed.), Charters of St Augustine’s Abbey Canterbury and Minster-in-Thanet (Oxford University Press, 1995).

Oliver, Lisi, The Beginnings of English Law (University of Toronto Press, 2002).

Whitelock, Dorothy, English Historical Documents, Volume I c.500-1042, second edition (Eyre Methuen/Oxford University Press, 19789).

Footnotes

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1 See the introduction to the laws in Whitelock, p. 394; and, more broadly, on the chronology of the Kentish kings, Kelly, pp. 195-203.

2 Lisi Oliver amends this to ‘gonah age’: Oliver, p. 128.

3 Oliver corrects this to ‘geselle’: Oliver, p. 128

4 Oliver amends this to seo: Oliver, p. 130.

5 Oliver amends this to ‘gesem[eþ] hie’: Oliver, p. 130 and p. 131, note b.

6 Or ‘decrees’.

7 The heading is provided by the Textus Roffensis scribe; it is not thought to be part of the original text of these laws.

8 The esne, here translated as ‘unfree labourer’, but for which ‘servant’ is also possible, was in early Kentish society someone who, though not a full slave, was nevertheless ‘owned’, or temporarily bonded to a master. For more information, see: Slaves and the Unfree in the Laws of Æthelberht.

9 The amount of compensation due any free person, sometimes called a wergild or ‘man-price’, is fixed by law according to rank.

10 Literally, ‘three man-worths’.

11 The oath-supporter, or oath-helper, publicly vouched for the truthfulness of the one swearing an oath. For further information, see Oliver, pp. 144-46.

12 I.e., the victim (or perhaps his owner, if he is unfree) is to make the accusation in the ‘presence’ (see and-weardnes DOE) of the perpetrator. Dorothy Whitelock captures the sense rather nicely: ‘he is to accuse him to his face’; see Whitelock, p. 394.

13 This clause is difficult to translate and interpret. I lean towards Oliver’s interpretation that the accused is ‘supported by a number of free oath supporters, at least one of whom must be from the accused man’s township’. Alternatively, as Liebermann, one of the earliest editors of this text, has it, ‘each of the oath supporters must be from the village to which the accused man belongs, but that only one of the oath-swearers is actually required to stand with the defendant in the oath’. See Oliver, pp. 145-46.

14 Oliver, p. 146, explains: ‘If the defendant is unable to swear that he is guiltless, he pays the fine to the extent to which he is able.’

15 The word ceorl is used, which has various meanings depending upon context. Oliver, p. 129, offers ‘freeman’; Whitelock, p, 394, gives ‘husband’.

16 Literally, the meaning is the child should ‘follow’ or ‘accompany’ the mother; the sense seems to be that the child remains under the protection of the mother. In other words, the mother takes on the role attributed legally to the father, i.e., that of protector.

17 Or, ‘maintain his property’.

18 He must publicly swear that he was openly, hence lawfully, sold the goods; see below for the similar scenario in London.

19 In effect, the fine is paid to the public coffers of the King.

20 Oliver, p. 140, explains that ‘without oath’ means the guilty person ‘gives up his right to swear his innocence at a later time’, which is the same conclusion Whitelock, p. 395, n. 2, reaches. Oliver, pp. 139-41, discusses and lays out the process of bringing a charge.

21 I.e., the act is unprovoked. To take someone’s cup is akin to a verbal insult, to dishonouring someone.

22 More literally, ‘if that dwelling should become bloodied’.

23 Mundbyrd more simply means ‘protection’, and is used in a legal sense to refer to the price for violating someone’s protection. In this case, according to the long-standing cultural traditions of the Kentish people, the owner of the dwelling owes his guests protection, so the act of violence is an infringement of this protection, therefore the perpetrator must compensate him for dishonouring the owner. There is no mention here of compensation for the victim which would have undoubtedly been due to any innocent person, so it seems, as Oliver notes, that we should understand the reckoning of such compensation as subsumed under the existing personal injury laws laid out in the laws of Æthelberht of Kent, for which see: Æthelberht’s Code, c.600 CE. For the full discussion of disturbances of the peace, see Oliver, pp. 136-38.

24 The phrase ‘riht forewyrce’ more literally has the sense of ‘for-work what is right’, that is, one should face justice on behalf of, or instead of, the wrongdoer.

25 The use of ‘feoh’ alludes to ‘property’ such as livestock or any moveable goods. London was a centre of commerce even in the seventh century. Though part of the kingdom of the East Saxons, it was subject to overlordship of Kent during the seventh century. For more on this, see Oliver, pp. 142-44.

26 Translating ‘ceorlas’, in this context indicating free men.

27 The purchaser must bring the seller to the king’s hall so that the seller can publicly confirm that he was the seller of the goods in the London market.

Fishings rights in the Thames, c.1103-1107

Henry I grants protection of fishing rights in the Thames to Rochester, c.1103-1107. Transcription and translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, f. 187r by Jacob Scott. Edited with additional notes by Dr Christopher Monk.

Transcription

187r (select folio number to open facsimile)

de niuue uuere; _Henricus rex anglorum, haimoni dapifero,
et Hugoni de bocham, salutem. Prohibeo ne pisca-
tores pescant in tamisia ante piscaturam
de rouecestra de niuuera. Et si ul-
terius inueniuntur piscantes, sint michi forisfa-
cti. Teste Waldrico cancellario, apud Westmoster.

Translation

Concerning the new weir:

Henry, King of the English, to Hamo Dapifer,¹ and Hugo of Bockham, greetings. I prohibit fishermen from fishing in the Thames in advance of the fishing from Rochester’s new weir.² And if they are found to be fishing beyond, they shall pay a fine to me. Witnessed by Waldric the Chancellor,³ at Westminster.

Footnotes

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1 Dapifer, meaning ‘steward', indicative of royal office. Hamo Dapifer must here refer to the son of the better known Hamo Dapifer who held royal office under both William I (r. 1066-87) and William II (r. 1087-1100), but who died in 1100. The son succeeded his father as sheriff of Kent.

2 The prohibition is against fisherman fishing upstream of the Rochester weir.

3 Waldric was the eight Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England, from 1103 to 1107, providing us with a date for this charter.

Henry I confirms Geoffrey Talbot's gift, c.1100-1109

Henry I confirms Geoffrey Talbot’s gift to St Andrew’s, Rochester, and Bishop Gundulf, Transcription and translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, ff. 187r-187v by Jacob Scott. Edited with additional notes by Dr Christopher Monk.

Transcription

187r (select folio number to open facsimile)

de litle uuroteham. Henricus rex anglorum, Anselmo archiepiscopo,

187v

et haimoni uicecomiti, et omnibus baronibus suis
francigenis et anglis de chent, salutem. Sciatis
me concessisse donum illud quod gausfridus
talebot dedit ȩcclesiȩ Sancti Andreȩ et episcopo Gun-
dulfo de rouecestra pro anima sua, scilicet me
dietatem parui broteham.¹ Testibus, anselmo archiepiscopo,
et Roberto episcopo lincoliȩ, et Roberto comite de mel-
lent, et Roberto filio haimonis.

Translation

Concerning Little Wrotham:

Henry, King of the English, to Archbishop Anselm and Sheriff Hamo, and to all his barons, Frenchmen and Englishmen of Kent, greetings. Know that I have granted that gift which Geoffrey Talbot gave to the church of St Andrew and Bishop Gundulf of Rochester for his soul, namely, half of Little Wrotham. Witnessed by: Archbishop Anselm, and Robert, bishop of Lincoln, and Robert, Count of Meulan,² and Robert Fitzhamon.

Footnotes

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1 Variant spelling of ‘Wroteham’. See Judith Glover, The Place Names of Kent, p. 213.

2 Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan (c.1040/50-1118).

Election of Avice as the first Abbess of Malling, b.1180

Transcription

198r (select folio number to open facsimile)

De subiectione et fidelitate abbatissę de Mellingis. _Die illa qua Gundulfus Rofensis
episcopus abbatiam de Mellingis dedit
sanctimoniali Avitię, eadem sanctimoni-
alis eidem episcopo, eiusque successoribus, et sanctę Ro-
fensi ęcclesię, iurauit fidelitatem, et subie-
ctionem, et quia nec per se, nec per aliam perso-
nam, praedictam subiectionem dissoluere tempta-
ret. Hoc autem facto sacramento, praedicta
Auitia episcopo firma et stabili conuentione
promisit, quia sine eius consilio et licentia,
in abbatia sibi data, priorem nec poneret nec
deponeret, nec ullam sanctimonialem reciperet
nec terram inde daret uel auferret. Huius
rei testes fuerunt isti audientes et ui-
dentes: Radulfus abbas belli, Orduuinus
prior, Paulinus secretarius, Alueredus, An-
dreas medicus, Arnulfus capellanus episcopi, Johannes, Goisfridus, Albericus, Odo, Berin-
garius, Willelmus subprior, Hunfridus, Ernegri-
nus, Hugo nepos episcopi, Willelmus iuuenis, Radulfus clericus, Ansfridus clericus, Godar-
dus clericus, Rodbertus camerarius, Hugo came-
rarius, Ansfridus dapifer, Hunfridus porta-

198v

rius, et alii plures.

Translation

See Translation Notes

Concerning the subjection and fidelity of the abbess of Malling

On the day when Gundulf, bishop of Rochester, gave the abbey of Malling to the nun Avice, the very same nun swore fidelity and subjection to the very same bishop, his successors, and the holy church of Rochester, because she would not be persuaded, either by him or by another person, to dissolve the aforesaid subjection. Moreover, with this oath made, the aforementioned Avice promised to the bishop, by firm and stable covenant, that without his counsel and authority having been given to her in the abbey, she might neither appoint nor depose a prioress, nor accept any nun, nor grant or obtain any land thenceforth.

These were the witnesses, hearing and considering the matter: Ralf the excellent abbot; Ordwin the prior; Paul the secretary; Alfred; Andrew the doctor; Arnulf the bishop’s chaplain; John; Geoffrey; Albert; Odo; Bérenger; William the sub-prior; Humfrey; Arngren;² Hugo³ the bishop’s nephew; William the young; Ralf the priest; Ansfrid the priest; Goddard the priest; Robert the chamberlain; Hugo⁴ the chamberlain; Ansfrid Dapifer;⁵ Humfrey the porter; and many others.

Footnotes

1 Malling Abbey was founded towards the end of the eleventh century, likely after 1090. A charter confirming the foundational grant of land was made during the reign of William II (Rufus), r. 1087–1100, and was witnessed by Ranulf Flambard, bishop of Durham, r. 1099–1128. The completion of the foundation and appointment of Avice cannot be ascertained with absolute confidence, though we can say she was appointed before bishop Gundulf’s death on 7 March 1108. William Dugdale suggests she was appointed when Gundulf was dying: Monasticon Anglicanum: A History of the Abbies and other Monasteries, etc. in England and Wales, vol. 3 (London, 1846), p. 381, n. g. The main scribe copied this document into Textus Roffensis around 1123. More information on the Benedictine abbey of Malling, including a list of the abbesses, is online here [accessed 12 December, 2017], though note the mistake regarding the founding of the abbey ‘towards the end of the twelfth century’, when clearly the ‘eleventh century’ was intended.

2 Tentative Anglicised spelling of Ernegrinus.

3 Or, Hugh.

4 Or, Hugh.

5 Or, the steward.

Rents for the Chamberlain of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

The list below provides the breakdown of the special customary payment – or xenium – made to the court of Rochester Priory on St Andrew’s Day (30th November). Payments came from the manorial estates held by the monastery and took the form of piglets, hens, geese, eggs, sturgeon, lampreys, as well as grain. The manors owing these food payments are listed as Frindsbury, Denton, Wouldham, Southfleet, Stoke, Haddenham and Darenth. All but Haddenham were (and still are) in Kent; Haddenham was (and is) in Buckinghamshire.

Transcription

66r (select folio number to open facsimile)

De exennio sancti Andree. Frendesberj. De frendesberia : v frecingas, et unum quarterium et quater
uiginti, et iiij gallinas, et xx et unam aucam, et
duo millia et centum ouorum. Inde episcopo quingenta oua, et
celerario quingenta oua, et residua in curiam, et
iij partem de sturgun et de lampridis, et sexaginta¹
fasciculos de furra. Denintune.² De denitune : unam frecingam et tria quarteria

66v

unius frecinge et xxiiij gallinas, uno anno et altero
xxv, et unam partem de sturgun, et de lampridis, et sex³
uiginti et tria oua. Wuldeham. De Wuldeham : tres frecingas et dimidiam et xl gallinas, et
duas partes de sturgun et de lampridis, et xl fasciculos de
furra, set hoc contra cartam Gundulfi episcopi. Et notandum quod
super manerium de Wuldeham constituti fuerunt olim de firma⁴
duo menses cum centum solidis, de suthflete. Suthflete De suthflete: tres frecingas et dimidiam et centum
gallinas et duas partes de sturgun et de lampridis.⁵ De stokes: duas frecingas et xxxvi gallinas et ix⁶
aucas et quingenta oua, residua in curiam et xii
summas auene, et unam partem de sturgun et de⁷
lampridis. Hadenham. De Hedenham⁸ : piscem ualentem xx sol’.⁹ Derente. De Derente¹⁰ : dimidium millenarium de lampridis.

Translation

Concerning the customary payment of Saint Andrew.¹¹ Frindsbury.

Concerning Frindsbury: 5 piglets¹² and six quarters [of wheat grain];¹³ and 4 hens, and 21 geese;¹⁴ and two thousand and one hundred eggs.¹⁵ Of these, to the bishop fifty eggs, and to the cellarer fifty eggs, and the remainder to the court [of the priory]; and three parts of sturgeon and of lampreys;¹⁶ and sixty bundles of spelt.¹⁷ – that is, for 1 month –¹⁸

Denton

Concerning Denton: one piglet and three quarters [of wheat grain], a single piglet;¹⁹ and 24 hens one year, and on the alternate [year] 25; and one part of sturgeon and of lamprey; and 123 eggs.²⁰

Wouldham

Concerning Wouldham: three piglets, and a half,²¹ and 40 hens, and two parts of sturgeon and of lampreys, – that is, for 1 month –²² and 40 bundles of spelt – but this is contrary to Bishop Gundulf’s charter.²³ And it should be noted that the above manor of Wouldham there were formerly established two months of rent with a hundred shillings from Southfleet.²⁴ – that is, for 2 months –²⁵

Southfleet

Concerning Southfleet: three piglets and one hundred and fifty hens and two parts of sturgeon and of lampreys. – that is, for 2 months –²⁶

Stoke

Concerning Stoke: two piglets and 36 hens and 9 gees and fifty eggs, the remainder to the court, and 12 seams of oats,²⁷ and one part of sturgeon and of lampreys.

Haddenham

Concerning Haddenham: fish, equivalent value of 20 shillings.²⁸

Darenth

Concerning Darenth: half a thousand of lampreys.

Footnotes

1 A note in the margin records ‘i.e. pro j mense.’

2 ‘Denintune’, an error for ‘Denitune’.

3 A note in the margin records ‘i.e. pro j mense’.

4 A note in the left margin records ‘i.e. pro ijbus mensibus’.

5 A note in the left margin records ‘i.e. pro ijbus mensibus’.

6 A note in the left margin records ‘Stokes. ’

7 A note in the left margin records ‘i.e. pro j mense’.

8 ‘Hedenham’, variant spelling of ‘Hadenham’.

9 The case ending of solidus is unclear so I have left it abbreviated.

10 The scribe made a mistake which he corrected: in the manuscript it reads ‘Derente’ with a superscript ‘de’ above.

11 The exenium (or xenium) of the text was the customary offering or payment brought to the priory on the feast day of Saint Andrew, i.e. the 30th November. According to Colin Flight, in his discussion of the priory’s fraudulent charter that was supposedly written by Bishop Gundulf (see note 23, below), this ‘gift’ (as Flight translates it) was the food, or cash in lieu, that was delivered to the incumbent bishop on St Andrew’s Day. Here though, in Custumale Roffense, the focus is on what the monks should receive, though the bishop is mentioned in a few entries. See Flight, The Bishops and Monks of Rochester 1076-1214 (Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society, 1997), p. 109.

12 Or ‘suckling pigs’.

13 Literally ‘one quarter and a quarter of twenty’. Wheat is implied as the quarter was a unit of weight for grain. It equalled eight bushels; see ‘Quarter 3.’ in Christopher Corèdon with Ann Williams, A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2004).

14 Literally, ‘twenty and one geese’.

15 Most probably meaning hen’s eggs, though goose eggs or a mixture of both are possibilities.

16 We should probably understand the use of Latin pars ‘part’ to mean a set amount of the fish referred to, though the amount is not explicitly specified; however, see my comments below in note 12. In the charter of Bishop Gundulf, alluded to later in the Wouldham section, the manors of Wouldham, Frindsbury, Denton, Southfleet, Stoke and Lambeth are to provide a thousand lampreys each, which suggests we should not be thinking of small numbers of fish. Likewise, Darenth, the last manor of the present text, is required to pay 500 lampreys. Though fish were often salted to preserve them, lampreys and sturgeon, as with some other varieties of fish, may have been first stored and then transported live; see Richard C. Hoffmann, ‘A Brief history of aquatic resource use in medieval Europe’, Helgoland Marine Research 59, pp. 22-30 (2005), at p. 24; the article is available online here. The late-fourteenth-century cookery treatise of Richard II specifies that lampreys were to be killed ‘with vinegar or white wine and salt’ implying they arrived at the royal kitchen alive; see ‘Launpreys in galentyne’ (‘Lampreys in galentine sauce’), recipe 124, Fourme of Cury, Manchester, John Rylands Library, English MS 7, folio 63 (my own translation).

17 ‘bundles of spelt’. The word I’ve translated as ‘spelt’ is furra which the Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources states is a variant of farra, the plural of far, meaning ‘spelt or emmer wheat’: logeion.uchicago.edu/far [accessed 14 July 2023]. The Latin word for ‘bundle’ – fasciculus – is more often associated with sticks, that is, a faggot, used for fires: logeion.uchicago.edu/fasciculus [accessed 15 July 2023]. This, along with the fact that grain would ordinarily have been threshed and transported in quarter sacks, as is already implied in the text, makes me doubt somewhat that the meaning is spelt, but it is difficult to put forward an alternative for furra.

18 It seems the marginal notes ‘for 1 month’ and ‘for 2 months’ throughout this section relate to the quantities sufficient for either one or two months. Here, ‘for 1 month’ is next to the line referring to sturgeon and lampreys.

19 The scribe appears to have repeated himself regarding the piglet – understandable, since he had turned the page and probably lost his concentration.

20 Literally, ‘six twenty and three’.

21 Perhaps meaning a half unit (half of a quarter) of wheat grain.

22 The marginal note is next to the line concerning sturgeon and lampreys.

23 Gundulf’s charter states it was to be 60 bundles of spelt. I hope to write a piece on Gundulf’s charter in due course. Colin Flight observes that the monks forged a charter which purportedly made Bishop Gundulf grant favours to the monks, including their right to keep the whole exenium, or customary payment, should the bishop not be present on the feast day: Flight, Bishops and Monks of Rochester, p. 109.

24 The meaning of the Latin in this sentence is unclear to me; I have translated it quite literally. It is possibly saying that Wouldham had at one time made a monetary payment rather than a food rent. See the comment on commutation in note 22, below. The ‘de suthflete’, which I’ve translated as ‘from Southfleet’, may be a scribal mistake, anticipating the ‘De suthflete’, ‘Concerning Southfleet’ that follows, and therefore should be ignored.

25 The marginal note is placed alongside the line concerning the manor of Wouldham’s former rent.

26 The marginal note is next to the line about sturgeon and lampreys.

27 The seam (summa) was identical to the quarter for dry products; see the entry for seam in A Dictionary of Weights and Measures for the British Isles: The Middle Ages A Dictionary of Weights and Measures for the British Isles: The Middle Ages ... - Ronald Edward Zupko - Google Books.

28 Twenty shillings is probably what is known as the commutation or commuted value, where a monetary payment is made in lieu of produce (or services), in this case fish. There are other commutations for food payments in Custumale Roffense and it is possible that at the time of its writing, in the fourth decade of the thirteenth century, there was beginning a more general shift towards this form of payment, replacing food rents, though it is difficult to be certain. See Denis Stuart’s introduction on custumals in his Manorial Records (Chichester: Phillimore, 1992), p. 63.

Rents due St Andrew’s Priory for altars at Rochester Cathedral, c.1235

48v   St Katherine in the crypt at Michaelmas No heading but marked out by a large red ‘R’.

Transcription

Redditus altaris beate Katerine in criptis ad festum Sancti Michaelis.
De aquisicione R. D. Hecham. [Annotation]
De terra Roberti Clerici in Strodes
Inde ad eundem terminum heredibus predicti R.
Redditus altaris beate Marie Magdalene in vigilia ejusdem Virginis;
De aquisicione Theodorici.
De terra Ricardi Plumbarii in Suthgate Ricardus Cocus,
De terra filie Gile in Estgate Adam Poteman,
De terra Scothlandi de Offrelande in Stokes.
Redditus altaris beate Marie in media quadragesima.
Dono Anselliii de Berlesou [Annotation]
De Patrimonio Ansellim de Bethlescombe ___ XVIII denaria
De eadem ad nativitatem Sancte Marie, XVIII
De terra de Radete in media quadragesima Reinaldus cardinel VI denaria.
De eadem ad nativitatem Sancte Marie, VI denaria.
Dono Roberti del Ynai
De elemosina Roberti del Ynai ad yar. Sancte Marie V denaria ob.
Inde heredibus obolumium.
De terra Hervei
Dono H. Pre- in COponti, behaill ad festum Sancti Michaelis,. Inde heredibus 1 den. f De' quâdam terra. Aquiûcione nitune. in Wldeham que vocatur. Linde-{lede in die Sancti Eadmundi de àquificione H. de Dcnitune,Inde heredibus 11 den. 06.
De dono Radulfi de Stokes,
Ex dono Roberti filii Humfridi.
In annunciacione beate Marie AIbretha de
Huneberga;
Hugo Aurifaber de terra Roberti Gentil,
De eadem ad nativitatem Sancte Marie,
Willelmus Piir ex dono Roberti filii humfridi ad festum
Sancti Michaelis,
De eodem ad Natale domini,
De eodem ad Pascha,
Ex dono Robertus Humfridi [annotation]
De eodem ad nativitatem Sancti Johannis Baptiste.

Translation

Rent of the altar of the blessed Katherine in the crypt at the festival of Saint Michael.
The acquisition of R. D. Hecham.
The land of Robert the Cleric in Strood.
Then at the same time the aforementioned R.

The altar of the blessed Mary Magdelene on the day of the vigil of the same Virgin.
The acquisition of Theodorici.
The land of Richard Plumbar in Southgate Richard Cocus.
The land of Gile the daughter of Adam Poteman in Eastgate
The land Scothlandi of Offrelande in Stoke.

Rent of the altar of the blessed Mary in the middle of Lent.
The donor Ansellim de Berlesou
The patron Ansellim de Bethlescombe ____ 18 pence.
The same at the nativity of Saint Mary, 18
The land of Radete in the middle of Lent Reinald cardinel 6 pence.
The same at the nativity of Saint Mary, 6 pence.
The donor Roberti del Ynai
The land of Hervei
The donation of Radulf of Stoke.
The donation of Robert son of Humfrid.
On the Annunciation of Saint Mary AIbretha de
Huneberga;
Hugo Aurifaber the land of Robert Gentil,
The same at the Nativity of Saint Mary
Willelmus Piir the donated by Robert the so of Humfrid at the festival of
Saint Michael
The same at the Nativity of the Lord.
The same at Easter
Donated by Robert Humfrid
The same at the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.

Rents due in remembrance of fathers and mothers, St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

Unsure what ‘in remembrance of fathers and mothers’ specifically refers to, but possibly it relates to payments for the upkeep of memorial stones for deceased family members. The amounts are in pennies, so relatively small.

Transcription

48r

Redditus in commemoracione Patrum et Matrum
Osbernus de Stanham Adam et Gerardus,
Willelmus et Henricus,
Thomas Clericus,
ReliEta Muthbites
Heredes Wiburge,
Heredes Geroidi,
Gaufridus Nerthe,
Alexander Waleis,

48v

Sutflet
Pro terra de Radulfi puthe
de Sutflete et de Nicholao Carpentario
ad nativitatem beate Marie Elemosinarios VI solidi. IX denaria.
De Willelmo filio Perfone ad terminum beati Michaelis,
Item ad ipsum terminum de Waltero de Nortfole et de heredibus Hamonis de Nort-
Item ad festum Thome Apostoli, 06. Ad mediam quadragesimam,
Item ad Pentecosten de prediélo Waltero, VI __ ob.
Pro terra Radulfi Puche Waltero Puche,
Pro terra Radulfi ae Stanham Thomecerico.

Translation

Rent in remembrance of fathers and mothers
William and Henry
Thomas the priest
ReliEta Muthbites
Heirs of Wiburge,
Heirs of Geroidi,
Gaufridus Nerthe,
Alexander Waleis,
Southfleet:
For the land of Radulf puthe
of Southfleet and the Nicholas carpenter
at the Nativity of the Blessed Bary Elemosinarios
And the same at the Feast of Thomas the Apostle, ___ at the middle of Lent
And the same at Pentescost de prediélo Walter ____.
Expenses
No heading but marked out by a symbol in the left margin.

For the land of Radulf Puche and Waltero Puche,
For the land of Radulf ae Stanham Thomecerico.

Rents for the Almoner of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

The almoner was responsible for distributing alms to the poor.

Transcription

45r

Michaelmas

Redditus Elemosinarie. Ad festum Sancti Michaelis.
Helias mercator,
Radulfus Balchere,
Amphelisa,
Heredes Johannis Roce,
Rogerus de Longereche,
Rogerus Parevine,
Diering'
Simon de Wicham, 111 ob.
Economus hospitalis de Strodes, 1 d. ã.
Wlvardus Cornmangere,
Hamo Avinot, VII d. ã.
Item Hamo Avinor,
Johannes cementarius de Cobeham,
Gervasius de Ia Rede,
De terra que fuit Warini, VI d. Ob.
De Frendesberi,
Summa XI S. ã.

Willelmo et Radulfo de Wicham, 111

Ad natale Domini.
Helias mercator,
Radulfus Balchere,
Amphelisa,
Heredes Johannis filii Roce,
Rogerus de Langereche,
Rogerus Parvinc,
Diering,
Simon de Wicham,
Echonomus hofpitalis de Strodes,
Wlvardus Cornmangere,
Hamo Avinot,
Item Hamo Avinot,
Johannes cementarius de Chobeham,
De terra que fuit Warini, v1 d. ob.
De Frendesberi,
Summa x S. d.

Ad Pascha.
Helias mercator,
Radulfus Balchere,
Amphelisa,
Heredes Johannis Roce,
Rogerus de Langereche,
Rogerus Parevinc,
Diering,
Simon de Wicham,
Echonomus de Strodes,
Wlvardus Cornmangere,
Hamo Avinot,
Item Hamo Avinot,
Johannes cementarius de Cobeham,
De terra que fuit Warini,
Gervafius de la Rede,
David mercator unum agnum vel,
De Frendesberi,
De Ecclesia de Nortune,
Summa x x IX d. q.

Ad nativitatem Sancti Johannis Baptiste.
Helias mercator,
Radulfus Balchere,
Amphelisa,
Heredes Johannis Roce,
Rogerus de Langereche,
Rogerus Paverinc,
Diering,
Simon de Wicham, 111 ob.
Echonomus hospitalis de Strodes, 1 d.
Wlvardus Cornmangere,
Hamo Avinot, VII d. q.
Item Hamo Avinot, 111 q.
Johannes cementarius de Chobeham,
De terra Warini que fuit, v1 d. 06.
De Frendesberi,

Ad vincula Sancti
Summa xi111S. Id.

De ecclesia de Frendesberi
Episcopi XI kal. Julii,
Pro terra de Dodingherne Preposito Regis,

Ad festum Sancti Michaelis.
De tribüs domibus juxta hospitale. VIId . ob.
De una,
De alia domo, VII d.
De tercia domo.

Ad festum omnium Sanctorum
de ecclefia de Nortune,

Ad natale Domini.
De una domo, VII d. 06.
De alia, VII d.
De tercia.

Ad Pascha.
De una domo, VII d. Gb.
De alia,
De tercia.

Ad festum Sancti Johannis.
De una, d. 06.
De alia, VII d.
De tercia.
In vigilia natalis Domini. De 1 baconem. Frendesberi,
Summa xrlll x d.

Summa omnium LXXg . x d. excepta marca de ecclefia de Frendesberi.

Translation

Rent of the almoner at the Feast of Saint Michael,
Helias the merchant,
Radulfus Balchere
Amphelisa,
The heirs of John Roc,
Roger of Longereche,
Roger Parevine,
Diering'
Simon of Wicham
Economus the hospitaller of Strood,
Wlvard Cornmangere,
Hamo Avinot
Item Hamo Avinor,
John the mason of Cobham,
Gervase of the Rede,
The land of que fuit Warini,
Of Fridnsbury,
Total

William and Radulf of Wicham,

Christmas
At the Nativity of the Lord,
Helias the merchant,
Radulfus Balchere
Amphelisa,
The heirs of John son of Roc,
Roger of Langereche,
Roger Parvinc,
Diering
Simon of Wicham,
Echonomus the hospital of Strood,
Wlvardus Cornmangere,
Hamo Avinot
And again Hamo Avinot,
John the mason of Cobbham,
The land que suit Warin,
Of Frindsbury,

Total

Easter
At Easter
Helias the merchant,
Radulf Balchere,
Amphelisa,
Heirs of John Roc,
Roger of Langereche,
Roger Parevinc,
Diering,
Simon of Wicham,
Echonomus of Strood,
Wlvardus the grain seller,
Mamo Avinot,
The same Hamo Avinot,
John the mason of Cobbham,
The land of fuit Warini,
Gervase of the Rede,
David the merchant one agnum vel,

Of Frindsbury,
The Church at Norton,
Total,
Nativity of St John the Baptist

At the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist,
Helias the merchant,
Radulf Balchere,
Amphelisa,
Heirs of John Roc,
Roger of Langereche,
Rogerus Paverinc
Diering
Simon of Wicham
Echonomus the hospital in Strood,
Wivard the grain seller
Hamo Avinot
And again, Hamo Avinot
John the mason of Cobham
The land of Warin que fuit,
Of Frindsbury,

Feast of St Peter in Chains
No heading but marked by symbols in the left margin.
At the Feast of Saint Peter in Chains

Total

Frindsbury Church at the anniversary of Bishop John
No heading but marked by symbols in the left margin.

The Church of Frindsbury,
The Bishop 9th kal. July,

The land of Dodingherne in the command of the King.

Expense

Dodingherne may be the village Doddington.

47r
Michaelmas

At the Feast of Saint Michael
The three houses next to the hospital,
The first,
The second house,
The third house,
Feast of All Saints
At the Feast of All Saints
The Church of Norton.

Christmas
At the Nativity of the Lord
The one house,
The second,
The third,

Easter
At Easter,
The first house,
The second,
The third,

Feast of St John the Baptist
At the Feast of Saint John
The first,
The second,
The third,
Expenses
No heading, but marked by a symbol in the left margin. An entry concerning the payment of one bacon by the Church of Frindsbury at the vigil of Christmas (i.e. Christmas Eve mass).
On the vigil of the Nativity of the Lord. One bacon from Frindsbury. Total
Total of all

Rents for the Prior of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

The prior would have had his own table to maintain for entertaining visitors.

Transcription

45r

Feast of Michaelmas

Redditus prioris.
Ad festum Sancti Michaelis.
De Elham,
De Boywica,
De terra Thome presbiteri de Wlvecche,
De Chelesfeld, XXVII
 
Christmas
 
Ad natale Domini.
De Elham, V solidi 11 d.
De Boywica,
De terra Thome presbiteri de Wlvecche,
Ad Purificacionem Sancte Marie.
De Boywica, 11v
Ad Pascha.
De Elham,
De Boywica
De terra Thome Presbiteri de Wlvccche,

Ad nativitatem Sancti Johannis Baptiste.
De Elham,
De Boywica,
De terra Thome presbiteri de Wlvecche,
De terra Helie clerici. futnmam
Heredes luce de Hores, avene.
Summa LXVI s. et 1 d.

45r

Tithing

De decimis ejus.
Decima de Dominico de Chelesfeld.
Decima de Pole Ricard de Bererfc.
Decima de Bechenecurt in Chobeham.

Ad natale Domini,
De Elham, XVI gallinas

Ad festum Sancti Michaelis.
Pro Decima de dominico nortro de Helham,

Translation

Rent of the Prior
At the feast of Saint Michael
Of Elham
Of Boywica
The land of Thomas the priest of Wlvecche.
Of Chelesfeld,

At the nativity of the Lord
Of Elham, 5 shillings.
Of Boywica
The land of Thomas the priest of Wlvecche.

Purification of St Mary [Candlemas]

At the purification of Saint Mary.
Of Boywica

Easter
At Easter
Of Elham,
Of Boywica
The land of Thomas the priest of Wlvecche.
Nativity of St John the Baptist
At the nativity of Saint John the Baptist.
Of Elham,
Of Boywica
The land of Thomas the priest of Wlvecche.
The land of Helie the priest. futnmam
Total 46 solidi and I denaria.

The tithing ejus.
Tithing of the domain of Chelesfeld.
Tithing of the
Tithing of the

Christmas continued
At the nativity of the Lord
Of Elham, 16 gallons.

Feast of Michaelmas
No heading, but marked out by a symbol in the left margin.
At the festival of Saint Michael
For the tithing of the domain north of Helham.

Rents for the community of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

This commences the revenue for the monastic community as a whole, i.e. not allocated to particular offices.

A pointing finger is drawn in the right margin, pointing to the entry for Frindsbury.  

Transcription

42r   Feast of Michaelmas Michaelmas, the Feast of St Michael the Archangel, celebrated on 29th September.  During the Middle Ages, it marked the end of the harvest. ‘One of the quarter days in England on which accounts were customarily settled.’ Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases.   Redditus de Communi. Ad festum Sancti Michaelis.
chethem:
De terra Helye clerici extra Willelmi de la Helle.
Borstalle:
De terra ejüfdetni n Eastgate. Adam Poteman,
De eadem. Heredes Gaufridi militis,
Frendesberi:
De terra Helye in Rofa. Robertus Melesop,
De terra Henrici Mabun' HeredesGaï1fFidi—militis,
De cellaria magistri Roberti. Heredes Petri de Ponte,

De una domo in Gumfrithelane,
De Haga retro, terram Henrici Mabun;
De terra Helye clerici: Heredes Luce de Hores,
De terra super calceam apildI North in Strodes. Henricus de Chobeham,
De eadem. Heredes Johannis filii Roce,
De eadem. Heredes Alani Pachin,
De eadem. Simon filius Elvine Marsdallus,
De eadem. heredes Danielis, 1
De eadem. Heredes Simonisl Juvenis Athelicia,
De eadem. Adam filius WIfat et Editha filia fratris fui,
De terra Ricardi Palmarii versus Estgate, XVIII
De terra Gunnore et de cimitefio. Godefridus cocus,
De eadem. Sanson faber,
De eadem. Reginaldus Duith, È.
De eadem. XVIIId .
De terra Simonis in Engate.
Heredes Roberti Ferchild,
De eadem. Adam Poteman,
De eadem filia Turoldi,v Hallinges. De terra Willelmi filii Ade in Hallinges. Rogerus de Langereche,
de Cheldegate,
De terra Breme in Eastgate,
De terra magistri Everardi. Cecilia,
De terra Ricardi de Bererfe in Strodes, xv d. ob.
De nova domo super calceam. Adam pelliparius,

42v

Com…[‘muni’ on next page]

Ad festum Sancti Paulini.
Heredes Johannis de Gren, g. VIII d.
Summa XXXV solidi et ob.

Borstalle. De nova domo supra terram Palmari versus Eastgate,

[Expenses]

Pro terra -Helie extra crucem de Eastgate, curie de Chetham,
Pro terra Ricardi de Et Gaufrido
Bererfe, corduanario,
Summa XIII d. ã.

Ad nativitatem Domini.
De terra 'Helie clerici extra crucem de Engate. Heredes Willelmi de Ia Helle.
De terra ejusdem in Eastgate. Adam Poteman,
De eadem. Heredes Gaufridi militis,
De terra Ricardi Palmarii• versus Estgate; XVIII
De terra Gunnore et cimeterio. Godefridus cocus,
De eadem. Sanfon faber, XXXdI . ob.
De eadem. Reinaldus Duith, 11 S.
De eadem.
De terra Helie in Rofa. Robertus Melesop,
De terra Henrici Mabun. Heredes Gaufridi militis,
De cellario magistri Roberti.
Heredes Petri de ponte,
De una domo in Gumfrithelane, 11
De terra Henrici clerici. Heredes Luce de Hores,
De terra fuper calceam in Strodes verfus North, Hen- rrt d, ob.
Ticus de Chobeham,
De eadem. Heredes Johannis filius Roce,
De eadem. Heredes Alani Pachin,
De eadem. Simon filius Elvine marscallus,
De eadem. Heredes Danielis,
De cadem. Heredes Simonis Juvenis Athelicia,
De eadem. Adam filius WIfiath et Editha filia fratris
fui,
De terra Simonis in Eftgate.
Heredes Roberti Feirchild,
De eadem. Adam Poteman,
De eadem, filia Turaldi,
De terra Breme in Effgate,
De terra magistri Everardi. I Cecilia, Sancti Andree. De terra Eustachii de Wldeham extra portam de Cheildegate, Hallinges. De terra Willelmi filii
Ade. Rogerus de Langereche,
De terra Ricardi de Bererfe in Strodes,
De nova domo fuper calceam.
Adam pelliparius, 111d .
Summa XXIXg . et x d. ob.

Borstalle. De nova domo super terram Palmari verfus Eastgate,

[Expenses]
Pro terra Helie extra crucem de Eastgate curie de Chetham,
Pro terra Ricardi de Et Gaufrido
Bererfe, corduanario. ob.
Summa XIII d.

Ad conversionem Sancti Pauli.
Frendesberi, Adam pelliparius ad quatuor terminos,

Ad Pascha.
Chetham. De terra Helie extra crucem de Eftgate. Heredes Willelmi de Ia Helle,
De terra ejusdem in Estgate. Adam Poteman,
De eadem. Heredes Gaufridi militis,
De terra Ricardi Palmarii versus Estgate,
De terra Gunnoré et cimeterio. Godefridus cocus,
De eadem. Sanfon faber, XXXId .o b.
De eadem. Reinaldus Duith, 11 S.
De eadem, XVIII
De terra Ilelie in Rofa. Robertus Melcfop,
De teria Ilenrici Mabun. fleredes Gaufridi militis,
De cellario magistri Roberti.
Heredes Petri dc Ponte,
De una domo in Gumfrithelane,
De terra Ilelie clerici. Heredes l.uce de Ilores,
De terra fuper calceam in Strodes versus North. Henricus de Chobeham,
De eadem. Heredes Johannis filii Roce,
De eadem. Heredes Alani Pachin,
De eadem. Simon filius Elvine Marfcallus,
De eadem. Hercdes Danielis,
De eadem. Heredes Simonis Juvenis Athelicia,
De eadem. Adam filius WIfiat et Editha filia fratris fui,
De nova domo fuper calceam.
Adam pelliparius,
De terra Ricardi de Berere in Strodes,
De terra Simonis in Eftgate.
Heredes Roberti Feirchild,
De eadem. Adam Poteman,
De eadem. Filia Turaldi,
De terra Breme in Eftgate,
De terra magistri Everardi. Cecilia,
De terra Eustachii de WIdeham extra portam de Cheldegate, Hallinges.
De terra Willelmi filii 'e Ade in Hallinges. Regerus de Langereche,
De nova domo fuper terram
Palmarii versus Estgate,
At Pentecost
Ad Pentecosten.
At Pentecost
Heredes Johannis de Green,
The heirs of John of Green,
Summa XL g. et VI
Total

[Expenses]
Pro terra Helie extra crucem de Eslgate curie de Chetham,
The land of Helie upon the crossing of Eastgate the curie of Chatham,
Pro terra Ricardi de Et Gaufrido
For the land of Richard and
Bererse, corduanario,
Summa XIII d.

Ad nativitatem Sancti Johannis Baptiste.
De terra Helie extra crucem de Eastgate. Heredes Willelmi de Ia Helle,
De Adam Poteman, eadem, Heredes Gaufridi militis,
De terra Ricardi Palmarii versus Eastgate,
De terra Gunnore et cimeterio. Godefridus cocus,
De eadem. Sanfon faber,
De eadem. Reginaldus Duith,
De eadem,
De terra Helie in Rofa. Robertus Melesop,
De terra Henrici Mabun. Heredes Gaufridi militis,
De cellario magistri Roberti. Hcredes Petri de ponte,
De una domo in Gumfrithelane,
De terra Helie clerici. Heredes Luce de Hores,
De terra fuper calceam in Strodes verfus North. Henricus de Chobeham,
De eadem. Heredes Johannis filii Roce,
De eadem. Heredes Alani Pachin,
De eadem. Simon filius Elvine. Marscallus,
De eadem. Heredes Danielis,
De eadem. Heredes Simonis Juvenis. Athelicia,
De eadem. Adam filius WIfiat et Editha filia fratris fui,
De tۖa Ricardne Bereffe,
De nova domo fuper calceam. Adam pelliparius,
De calcea. Idem Adam de terra Simonis,
De terra Simonis in Eftgate.
Heredes Roberti Feirchild,
De eadem. Adam Poteman,
De eadem. Filia Turaldi,
De terra Breme in Eftgate,
De terra magistri Everardi. Cecilia, Sancti Andree. De terra Euftachii de Wldeham extra portam de Cheildegate,
Hallinges. De terra Willelmi filii Ade in Hallinges. Rogerus de Langereche,
De nova domo super terram
Palmarii versus Estgate,

Ad festum Sancte Margarete.
Heredes Johannis de Green, VI s. vllld.
Summa XL S. et VIII d. ob.
Summa omnium VIIt, et 18, ob.

Item Redditus de novo.
De Cipham,
De Derente, xx ã.
De Helia mercatore
Et quicquid provenit de nova domo contra cimeterium.
Pro terra Helie extra crucem de Estgate. Curie de Chetham,
Pro terra Helia in Estgate celerario,
Pro terra Simonis in Curie de Delce,
Pro terra Ricardi Palmarii versus Estgate in media quadragesima
celerario,

Item pro terra Palmarii ad nativitatem
Sancte Marie celerario,
Pro terra Henrici Mabun, ad nativitatem Sancte Marie, ad Frendesberi,
Item pro terra Mabun in media quadragefima curie de Frendesberi,
Pro terra Ricardi de Et Gaufrido
Bererfe, corduanario,
Summa IX S. et ã.

Willelmus de Nortftede et ejus heredes debent VI a. de terra Thuredi.
Heredes Stephani de Nortaede de eadem terra debent
Heredes WillelmÜÑvers debent de eadem terra,
lodacus clericus et ejus heredes debent IX de terra Edwardi Hardecath.

Translation

Rent of the Community at the feast of Saint Michael

Chatham:
The land of Helye the priest extra William of
the Helle.
Borstal
The land ejüfdetn in Eastgate. Adam Poteman,
The same, the heirs of Gaufridi militis,
Frindsbury;

The land of Helye in Rochester. Robertus Melesop,
The land of Henry
The cellarer of Robert the Magistrate. The heirs of Peter of Ponte,
The one house in Gumfrithelane,
The Haga behind the land of Henry Mabun,
The land of Helye the priest, the heirs of Luke of Hores,
The land above calceam apildI North in Strood, Henry of Cobbham,
The same, the heirs of John son of Roc,
The same, the heirs of Alan Pachin,
The same, Simon son of Elvine Marsdallus,
The same, the heirs of Daniel,
The same, the heirs of Simon Juvenis Athelicia,
The same, Adam son of Wlfat and Edith son of the monk’s son,
The land of Richard Palmar opposite Eastgate,
The land of Gunnore and the cemetery, Godefri cocus,
The same, Sanson the craftsman,
The same, Reginald Duith,
The same,
The land of Simon in Engate,
The heirs of Robert Ferchild,
The same, Adam Poteman,
The same son of Turoldi,
Sancti Andree. De terra Eustachii de Wldeham extra portam xv d.
Halling. The land of William son of Ade in Halling, Roger of Langereche, Saint Andrew. The land of Eustach of Wouldham passed the well.
The land of Breme in Eastgate,
The land of
The land of Richard of Bererfe in Strood,
The new house over calceam. Adam pelliparius,

Feast of St Paul
No heading for either, but marked by symbols in the left margin. The Feast of the Conversion of St Paul is celebrated on 25th January. This is followed by a short list of expenses (at this feast time). Note: a red ink header runs across

Community

At the feast of Saint Paul
The heirs of John of Gren,
Total 35 shillings and one half.
Borstal. The new house on the land of Palmari opposite Eastgate.
For the land of Helie extra crucem of Eastgate, curie of Chatham,

For the land of Richard
Total 13 denaria.

Christmas

At the Nativity of the Lord
The land of Helie the priest at the crossing of Estgate. The heirs of William of the Helle.
The land also in Eastgate. Adam Poteman,
The same, the heirs of Geufrid the knight,
The land of Richard Palmar opposite Eastgate;
The land of Hunnore and the cemetery, Godefrid the cook,
The same, Sanson the craftsman,
The same, Reinaldus Duith
The same,
The land of Helie in Rochester, Robert Melesop,
The land of Henry Mabun. The heirs of Geufrid the knight,
The cellarer of the master Robert,
The heirs of Peter of Ponte,
The one house in Gumfrithelane,
The land of Henry the cleric. The heirs of Luke de Hores.
The land upon calceam in Strood opposite North, Hen- rrt d, ob.
Ticus of Cobbham,
The same, the heirs of John son of Roc,
The same, the heirs of Alan Pachin,
The same, Simon the son of Elvine marcallus,
The same, the heirs of Daniel,
The same, the heirs of Simon Juven Athelicia,
The same, Adam son of Wlfaith and Editha son of the monk fui,
The land of Simon in Eastgate,
The heirs of Robert Feirchild,
The same, Adam Poteman,
The same, son of Turaldi,
The land of Breme in Eastgate,
The land of magistri Everardi. I Cecilia, Saint Andrews. The land of Eucstachii de Wouldham upon the gate of Cheldegate, Halling. The Land of William son of Ade. Roger of Langereche,
The land of Richard of Bererfe in Strood,
The new house above calceam.
Adam pelliparius,

Total

Borstal. The new house above the land of Palmer opposite Eastgate.
The land of Helie next to the crossing of Eastgate curie of Chatham,
The land of Richard of the Gaufrido,
Bererfe, corduanario.

Total

Conversion of St Paul
No heading, but a large red ‘a’ marks it out.

At the Conversion of Saint Paul,
Frindsbury, Adam pelliparius at the lesser end,

43r   Easter

At Easter;
Total

43v

Nativity of St John the Baptist

At the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist,
The land of Helie outside the crossing of Eastgate. The heirs of William of the Helle,
Of Adam Poteman, the same, the heirs of Gaufrid the knight,
The land of Richard Palmar opposite Eastgate,
The land of Gunnore and the cemetery Godefricus the cook,
The same, Samson the craftman,
The same, Reginald Duith,
The same,
The same, Helie in Rochester, Robert Melesop.
The land of Henry Mabun. The heirs of Geufrid the knight,
The cellarer of the master Robert. The heirs of Peter of Ponte,
The one hoyse in Gumfrithelane,
The land of Helie the priest. The heirs of Luke of Hores,
The land above calceam in the Strood opposite North. Henry of Cobham.
The same. The heirs of John the son of Roc,
The same, the heirs of Alan Pachin,
The same, Simon son of Elvine. Marshall,
The same, the heirs of Daniel,
The same, the heirs of Simon Juvenis. Athelicia,
The same, Adam son of WIfiat and Editha the daughter of the monk,
The new house above calceam. Adam pelliparius,
The calcea, The same Adam of the land of Simon,
The land of Simon in Estgate,
The heirs of Rober Fairchild,
The same, Adam Poteman,
The same, the son of Turaldi,
The land of Breme in Eastgate,
The land of the master Everald. Cecil, Saint Andrews. The land of Eastach of Wouldham outside the gate of Cheldegate.
Halling The land of William son of Ade in Halling. Roger of Longereche,
Palmer outside Eastgate,

44r

Feast of Saint Margaret

No heading but marked by a symbol in the left margin.
At the festival of Saint Margaret
Heirs of John of Green, 6 solidi.
Total 15 shillings and 8 pence and one half.
Total of all:

New rents
And the same new rents,
Of Cipham.
Of Darenth,
Of Helia the merchant,
And everything produced by the new house facing the cemetery,

[Expenses]
For the land of Helie outside of Eastgate. The curie of Chatham.
For the land of Helia in the Eastgate cellar,
For the land of Simon the curie of Delce,
For the land of Richard Palmer opposite Eastgate in the middle of Lent celerario,
The same for the land of Palmar and the nativity
of Saint Mary,
For the land of Henry Mabun, at the Nativity of Saint Mary, and Frindsbury,
The same for the land of Mabun in the middle of Lent curie of Frindsbury.
For the land of Richard of the Gaufrid.
Bererfe, corduanario
Total
New rents continued

Rents due the Cellarer of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

Transcription

34r
Feast of Michaelmas
Expenses appear on 35r, to be paid to the king’s reeve; no heading but marked by a red symbol in the left margin.

34r [Transcription TBC]

35r
Feast of St Andrew
There follows towards the bottom of 35r a short list of rents due at the feast of St Andrew; also no heading, but marked by a red symbol in the left margin. The Feast of St Andrew is celebrated on November 30th.
[Transcription TBC]

Christmas
No heading but marked by a red symbol in the left margin.
  [Transcription TBC]

In media Quadragesima.
De terra Ricardi Palmarii in Strodes. Heredes Odonis mercatoris,
De eadem. hugo filius Eilwini Blundi,
De eadem. Walterus filius Pagani de terra Arclivc,
De eadem. Simon filius Gerardi,
De eadem. Editha et Randulfus Schakcrose,
De eadem. Geldewinus futor, Schakcrose,
De eadem. Beatrix filia Elvine filie Jeronimi,
De eadem. Adam clericus filius Alicie filie Gree,
De eadem. Dimidiam.
Robertus filius Willelmi de Ifelham, dimid. marco
De Anguillis de Frachenham, XXVII
Heredes Hikebilli pro terra Elie clerici in Boraalle, }lts.
De quadam terra in Snodilande,
Summa XXXIX solidi et ob.
 
Pro terra Palmarii in Rofa curie de Derente,
Pro terra Palmarii in Strodes curie de Frendesberi,
Pro terra Bolle curie de Frendesberi,
Pro terra Leceline in Rofa,
Pro terra Helie clerici in Borstalle curie de Borftalle,
Summa VII 111 d. 015.

…
Tithing payments
No heading, but marked by a symbol in the left margin.

Decime pertinentes ad Cellarium. In Estechents
Decima de Hamwoldex
Decima de Bilfintune. In Chent
Decima de Gillingeham.
Decima de Delce Hekonis.
Decima de Delce minori.

39v
Decima Eustachii de BornalW
Decima de Neffendene.
TBC

Ecciesie pertinentes ad Cellarium.
Ecclesia de Boxle.
Ecclesia de Nortune.
Ecclesia Sancte Margarete cum Capella de Neffendene.

Translation

[Translation TBA]

36r

Middle of Lent

The the middle of Lent,v The land of Richard Palmer in Strood. The heirs of Odon the merchant,
The same, Hugo son of Eilwin Blund,
The same, Walter son of Pagan of the land of Arclivc,
The same, Simon son of Gerard,
The same, Edith and Randulf
The same, Geldewinus futor, Schakcrose
The same, Beatrix son of Elvine son of Jeronim,v The same, Adam the priest the son of Alicie son of Gree,v The same, Dimidiam.
Robert son of William of Iselham, dimid. marco
The Anguillis of Frachenham,
The heirs of Hikebill for the land of Elie the prist in Borstalle, , }lts.
The certain land in Snodland,
Total

Expenses
No heading, though there is a space at the top of the page.

For the land of Palmar in Rochester curie of Darenth.
For the land of Palmer in Strood curie of Frindsbury,
For the land of Bolle curie of Frindsbury,
For the land of Laceline in Rochester,
For the land of Helie the priest in Borstal curie of Borstal.

Total

Tithing pertaining to the Cellarer. In East Kent
Tithing of Hamwoldex
Tithing of Bilfintune. In Kent
Tithing of Gillingham.
Tithing of Delce Hekonis.
Tithing of Little Delce
Tithing of
Tithing of Neffendene.

39v   Church payments

Names three churches which owe annual payments. No heading, but marked by a symbol in the left margin.
Church payments to the Cellarer
Church of Boxley
Church of Nortune.
Church of Saint Margaret with the Chapel of Neffendene,

Rents due for the mandatum of the poor, St Andrew’s Priory, c.1235

Moneys due at the time of the Mandatum of the poor, held on the Lord’s evening meal.

Transcription

36v (select folio number to open facsimile)

Ad mandatum pauperum. In cena Domini De terra Helie filii Hamonis Kenstani in Borstalle ex
dono Wallteri episcopi.

Letardus filius Ricardi Hikebilli,	xxv	denaria
Johannes clericus filius Goldwini,	xxv	denaria
Eilnoth et Willelmus filii Walteri,	xxv	denaria
Willelmus de la Dene,	vj	denaria
He[re]des Turberni,	ij	denaria
Celerarius,	v	solidi
Camerarius,	v	solidi

Summa xvi solidi et xi denaria

Translation

At the Mandatum of the Poor, on the Lord’s Evening Meal

From the land of Elias son of Hamo Kenstan in Borstall from the gift of bishop Walter.¹

Letard son of Richard Hikebill, 25 pennies

John the cleric, son of Goldwin, 25 pennies

Eilnoth and William, sons of Walter, 25 pennies

William de la Dene, 6 pennies

The heirs of Turber, 2 pennies

The cellarer, 5 shillings

The chamberlain, 5 shillings

Total: 16 shillings and 11 pennies

Footnotes

1 Walter, bishop of Rochester 1148–1182.

Rents for the Sacrist of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

The sacristy was the office of the sacrist, responsible for vestments, vessels, and other items connected with worship.

Note that 'Haddenham' is written in a later, fourteenth-century hand.

28v

Redditus de Hadenham pertinens ad sacrist.
De Johe le Bel,
De Marild de fraymio
De Ad hykeb
De henr’ fetice
De Walto trewechapman
De __ hardying
Iffi tenent de Bondelonde, et debent
terre rcdimi poftx mortem tenentium:
Et debent juvare ad colligendum fenum
et alia opera. facere fi placuerit sacriste, et
festam curie.

Termini solutionis predicti redditus et subse-
quentis sunt tres: videlicet, Ad vincula sancti
Petri: Ad festum sancti Michaelis: Et
dominica in ramis palmarum. Et in quolibet
termino folvetur tantum quantum hic est
notatum.
Memorandum quod particule illius redditus sic speciticate fuerint

29r
Redditus de Hadenham pertinens ad sacrist.

De Johanne filio Walteri
De Laurencio de Fraxino illid.
De Ada le Bel,
De Ricardo fillo Willelmi, II s.
De Johanne fillo Ricardi III s. VIII d.
De Ricardo le Bel de Coudintone,
De Hugone de Fraxino,
De Johanne lon,
De tenemento Ricardi le Efcriveyn.
Onnes suprascripti libere tenentes
et heredes corum releviabunt terras fuas
postmortem parentum fuorum. Item omnes
suprascripti in tres septimanis in tres
septimanas fi fibi placuerit.
Anno regni Regis Edwardi octavodecimo.

Redditus de Sacristia Ad festum Sancti Michaelis.
De altari Sancti Nicholai,                          X solidi
De Berchingechirche,                               XL denaria
De Pininden quam Johannes Parleben tenet,         XLII denaria
De domo tegulata de Dodingherne,           III solidi
De terra Gunnore quam Sanson faber et tenet. XII denaria
De quaunda acra terre retro cem de Eftgate, Robertus filius Thome,                                                                        VI denaria
De fabrici cum pertinenciis juxta Heredes Brutini fabri,                                                                                           VI denaria
De terra Grangie de Yfeld Heredes Thomelini,  IIII denaria
De terra Wecherild Sigari retro domum Radulfi Coitemanni,                                                                                   III denaria
De quandan terra retro terrarn R. Coitemanni Albreda de Huneberga,
                          II denaria
De terra Pagani coci heredes Hugonis sacriste,      XX denaria
De orientali parte de Eppelane. Adam Badevant,       XIIII denaria
De terra Walteri Lorimer Claricia quandiu vivit,  X denaria
De terra Olaf quam Robertus Hug tenet olim Aki,  X denaria
De terra Corbin heredes Roberti Coc,               VIII denaria
De terra Coc in Cheldega Ricardus Kenelmus,  IIII denaria
De eadem terra Coc Henricus Bingere,                   IIII denaria
De quadam terra retro terram W. Lorimer. Heredes Raphael,                                                                           III denaria
De terra Hachesis extra Estgate. Ricardus filius Brient,                                                                                            III denaria ob.
De terra Christiani. Eilnothus Jungman.                  IIII denaria
De terra Uniet Cruddeth. Rogerus mercator Cant.                                                                                        IIII denaria
                                                                      4 pence
De terra Elvine Burree. Heredes Baldewini.      VIII denaria
De terra Hamonis pistoris. Adam de cruce,        IIII denaria
De terra Kete alio nomine Huntaines land. Robertus de Estgate,                                                                       IIII denaria
Frendesberi:  De terra Saponarii. Sacrista Willelmus emit eam,                                                                                  IIII denaria
Borstalle: De terra Godwini presbiteri. Turstinus de Estgate,                                                                                  III denaria
De quadam terra de Prestefeld. Heredes Eustachii de Borstalle eskippam frumenti.
De terra Thome de Stanes in Meidestane. Heredes Guncelini,                                                                                  XII denaria
Pro muro cimeterii. Johannes Lorimer et Robertus faber,                                                                           II denaria
De eadem Willelmus Kebbel,                      I denaris
[Symbol] Summa XXXII solidi et IX denaria et ob.

30r

Lucas de Honcberrve d. de terra de Monekedone
ad altare beate Marie in novo opere. Item de eadem terra
VI denaria de Johanna Bledde ad idem altare.
Preposito domini Regis de feudis dis suprascriptis ad fes-
tum Sancti Michaelis, III sol. III d. ob.
Pro terra Radulfi clerici in Hedenham N. Roffen celerario,
Summa                              XVI solidi et VII denaria ob.

Ad festum Sancti Paulini. De ecclesia de Rethrefeld,                                                                                          I mare
Theloneum nundinarum Sancti Paulini,           V solidi

Ad festum Sancti Andree. De dono WImari patris Cecilie
de Scheapeie,                                           XII denaria
De Effe: Ad festum Sancti Thome Apostoli. Ex dono Thome Geri.
Hugo de bofco,
Summa XX sol. et IIII denaris.

Ad nativitatem Domini
De altari Sancti Nicholai,
De Berechingechireche,                            XL d.
De terra de Penindene,
De domo tegulata de Dodingherne,
Borstalle: De terra Gunnore,
Regis: De terra Pagani coci
De terra Saponarii,

30v          De Frendelberi: De terra Thome presbeteri de Wlewiche. Robertus de Gillingeham,
De terra Pagani textoris. Heredes Roberti textoris,
De eadem. Heredes Hamonis Pinel,
Frendesberi. De terra retro domum R. Coiteman,
Borstalle. De terra Goldwini presbeteri. Turtinus de Eastgate.
De Eppelane,
De terra Lorimer,
De terra Olaf,
De terra Corbin,
De terra Cot,
De eadem,
De terra retro terram Lorimer,
De terra Hachefisy IX d. ob.
De terra Christiani,
De terra Uniet Crudhop,
De terra Hamonis piftoris,
De terra Kete, hoc eft Huntainesland,
Frendesberi: De terra Wecherilde Sigari,
Pro muro cimiterii. Johannes Lorimer et Rogerus,
De eadem. Willelmus Kebbel,

In media Quadragesima. De terra grangie de Yfeld,
De fabrica juxta Eftgate cum pertinenciis,
Summa XXXI solidi et IX denaria et ob.

31r           Ad Pascha.
De altari Sancti Nicholai,
De Berchingecheriche,
De ecclesia de Rethrefeld,
De terra de Pinindene,
De domo tegulata de Dodingherne,
De terra Crudhop,
De terra Elamonis pistoris,
De terra Kcte, alio nominee Huntanesland,
De quadam terra de Preitefeld eskippam frumenti.
Pro muro cimiterii, Johannes Lorimer et Rogerus faber,
De eadem. Willelmus KebJil d.
Summa XL IIII sol. V d. ob.

31v          Isti debent colligere pratum de Sacriftia juxta Holfletc.
De terra Walteri Lorimer, unum hominem.
De terra Pagani textoris, duos homines.
De terra Kete. Robertus Vinitarius, unum hominem.
De terra Chriftiani, ünum hominem.
De terra Hakefis, II homines.
De terra Elvine Buree, I hominem.
De terra Corbin unum hominem.
De terra piftoris hominem.
De terra Sanere unum hominem.
De fabrica Radulfi, I hominem.
De terra Remmoli, unum hominem.
Et habebunt dimidium sextarium ad potum.

Ad Festum Sancti Johannis Baptiste.
De altari Sancti Nicholai,
De Berchingecherche, XL d.
De Cheleffeld: De Pinindene
De Cimiterui. De domo tegulata de Dodingherne,
De Borstalle: De terra Gunnore, XII d.
De Frendesberi. De terra Pagani coci, xx d.
De quodam prato juxta Holflete. Celerarius,
Reganii: De Croulane. Heredes Johannis filii Roce,
De Eppelane,
De terra Lorimer,
De terra Olaf,

32r           Regis: De terra Corbin,

De terra coc,
De eadem,
De terra retro terram Lorimer,
De terra Hachesis,
De terra Christiani,
De terra Crudhop Yungman,
De terra Hamonis pistoris,
De terra Kete hoc est Huntainesland,
De Borstalle: De terra Chriftiani retro crucem extra Estgate. Robertus filius Thome,
De Frendesberi. De terra Saponarii,

Ad festum Sancte Margarete. De ecclesia ejusdem virginis, dimid. marce

Summa XL S. et VII d. ob.

[Expenses]

Preposito Regis ad nativitatem Sancti Johannis Batiste
Pro terra Gunnore de eccl’,
Pro terra Christiani,
Pro fabrica cum pertinenciis juxta Eftgate,
Summa

Redditus solvendus Constabulario per Sacristam.
Quicumque fit Sacrista, dabit preposito regis singulis annis,

Ad festum Sancti Michaelis, II l. III d . 015.
Ad nativitatem Sancti Johannis Baptiste,
Si queritur a preposito, vel ab alio aliquo, de quibus terris, vel de quibus mafagiis reddantur hii redditus, respondebitur eis.
De terra Olaf, quam tenebat Aki.
De terra Walteri Lorimer, quam tenebat Diva.
De terra Kete, quam tenet Robertus de Eastgate.
De terra Corbin, quam tenet Sterling.
De terra Cot, quam tenet Ricardus Renelmuso
De terra Saponarii, quam tenet Walterus Piscator.
De furno Radulfi Uniet, quam tenet Alditha relifla Eudonis portarii.
De guadam terra in Croulane, quam tenebat Johannes filius Rocii.
De terra Alde, que recens jacet in bladi pro terra Eilas similiter.

Ecclesie pertinentes ad Sacristiam.

Altera Sancti Nicholai.
Ecclefia de Frendefberi.
Ecclefia de Berechingchireche.
Ecclefia de Retrefeld.
Ecclefia de Hedenham cum pertinencis.
Decime pertinentes ad Sacristiam.
Decima de Hedenham.
Decima de Cutintune.
Decima de Geddinges.
Decima de Eya Regis.
Decima de Aldeham.
Decima de Northflete, de domin:.cot erciatn garbam.
Decima de Yffeld.
Decima de Wenivalle.
Decima de Duna. De illa babebit ecclefia de Northflete
ad festum Sancti Michaelis pet manum poffldenciumd de
unaquaque acra vetere unam garbami

33r           De terra Gileberti de Yffeld filii Willelmi percipiemus terciam

garbam decimarum fuarum fcilicet ordei et
avene, ecclesia de Northfliete duas garbas, de
frumento vero habebimus duas garbas et
ecclefia de Northfliete duas. Sed de filigine et
de pifiis et fabis et viciis totam decimam per-
cipimus.
De terris corum. qui vocantur Brewes et de
terris Roberti nigri, et de terris Henrici de Grene,
et de terris Cofin, totam decimam percipimus quic-
quid in illis feminatum fuerit.
De dominico archiepifcopi quicquid in illo feminatum fu-
erit, et ubicumque percipimus terciam garbam
decimarum, excepta tena que di' citur We-
rcland, que quondam fuit carrucariorum, unde
nichil percipimus.
De terris domine Odeline de Wenivalte percipimus
totam decimam de filigine, de piiis, de fabis,
de viciis, ubicumque finto Ecclefia de Northflete perci-
pit omnes alias decimas ex integro, excepto
campo, qui dicitur campus Aluredi, unde nos
percipimus totUlU et ecclelfia de
orthflete nichil.
Idem de campo quo manet quidem
Hugo et foror fua. Idem de vorlande apdcrinem.

Redditus de Hedenham pertinens ad Sacristiam.
Sancti Petri ad vincula.
Matheus miles,
Waltet'us filius Radulfi,
Johannes de Burtune,
Ricardus filius Walteri,
Ricardus filius Everardi,
Johannes filius Presbiteri,
Robertus filius Adam,
Osbernus de Bailel,
Robertus filius decani,
Randulfus filius Seman,
Robertus Huseman,
Alewi,

Translation

Rent of Haddenham pertaining to the Sacrist
Of John son of Walter
Of Laurence of Fraxin illid.
Of Ada of Bel
Of Richard son of William, 2 shillings.
Of John son of Richard,
Of Richard of Bel of Couditone,
Of Hugo of Fraxin,
Of John lon,
Of the tenents of Richard of Efcriveyn.
All of the above names tenants
and heirs
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Kind Edward.
[Annotation:] 1296.

29v   Michaelmas

This records the rents due directly to the Sacrist. Expenses are also listed, specifically payments due to the king’s reeve and to the cleric Radulf at Haddenham. A pointing finger has been drawn in the right margin to mark out the expenses to the king’s reeve. Halfway down folio 30r, are payments due at the feasts of Saint Paul, Saint Andrew and Saint Thomas the Apostle. There are no headings for these latter three feast days. Important historically for Rochester priory.

Rent of the Sacrist at the festival of St Michael
The altar of Saint Nicholas                                     10 shillings
The Berchingechirche                                       40 pence
The Pinenden that Johannes Paleben holds   42 pence
The house tegulata of Dodingherne                       3 shillings
The land Gunnore and Sanson the smith hold 12 pence 
he workshop when pertaining to that near the heirs of Brutini’s workshop 
                                                     6 pence
The farmland of Yfeld the heir of Thomelini                 4 pence
The land of Wecherild Sigari behind the house of Radulfi Coitemanni                                                          3 pence
The quandan land behind the ground of R. Coitemanni Albreda of Huneberga,                                             2 pence
The land of Pagani the cook the heir of Hugo the sacrist                                                                                         20 pence
The eastern part of Eppelane. Adam Badevant,     14 pence
The land of Walter Lorimer where Claricia lives.     10 pence
The land of Olad that Robertus Hug holds once Aki                                                                                               10 pence
The land of Corbin the heir of Robert Coc.                7 pence
The land of Coc in Cheldegegate Richard Kenel       4 pence
The same land of Coc Henricus Bingere,               4 pence
The certain land behind the land of Walter Lorimer the heir of Raphael                                                         3 pence
The land of Hachesis outside of Eastgate. Richard son of Brient                                                                                  3 pence
The land of Christian. Eilnothus Jungman             4 pence
The land of Uniet Cruddeth. Roger merchant of Canterbury
The land of Elvine Burree. Heir of Baldewini.           7 pence
The land of Hamo the miller. Adam the cross.   4 pence
The land of Kete also known as Huntaines Land. Robert of Eastgate                                                                   4 pence
Frindsbury. The land of Sapon. Sacrist William purchases her,
Borstal. The land of Godwin the priest. Turstinus of Eastgate,                                                                            3 pence.
The certain land known as Priestfield. The heirs of Eustach of Borstal eskippam of grain.                                                   
The land of Tom of Staines in Maidstone. Heirs of Guncel,                                                                             12 pence.
For the wall of the cemetery. John Lorimer and Robertus the smith.           
                                                              The same from William Kebbel                            1 penny
Total 32 shillings and 9 pence and one half.
Lucas of Honeberne the land of Monkedone.
at the altar of the blessed Mary in the new choir. And the same land
6 pence of John Bledde at the same altar.
[Expenses – marked by a hand symbol]
The provost lord King of feudis push the above mentioned at the
festival of St Michael. 3 shillings, 3 pennies and one half.
The land of Radulf cleric in Haddengam north Rochester cellarer.
Total                                  16 shillings and 7 pence and a half.

Feast of St Paul
At the feast of Saint Paul The church of Rotherford,                                                                                         1 horse
Theloneum nundinarum Saint Paul,                         5 shillings
Feast of St Andrew
At the festival of Saint Andrew. The gift of William’s father Cecil
of Sheppey,                                                       12 pence
Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle
Of Effe: At the feast of Saint Tomas the Apostle. To be the previous doner Tom Geri.
Hugo of the wood.
Total 20 shillings and 4 pence.

30r

Christmas

At the nativity of the Lord
The altar of Saint Nicholas
The Berechingechireche,                                      40 shillings
The land of Penindene.
The tiling house of Dodingherne,
Borstal. The land of Gunnore,
The King: The land of Pagani the cook.
The land of Saponar,
Of Frindsbury: The land of Thomas the priest of Woolwich. Robert of Gillingham.
The land of Pagan the weaver. Heirs of Roberi textoris,
The same, The heirs of Hamo Pinel.
Frindsbury. The land behind the house of R. Coiteman,
Borstal. The land of Goldwin the priest. Turtinus of Eastgate.
The Eppelane,
The land of Lorimer,
The land of Olaf,
The land of Corbin,
The land of Cot,
The same,
The land begind the land of Lorimer,
The land of Hachefisy,
The land of Christiani,
The land of Uniet Crudhop,
The land of Hamo the baker.
The land of Kete, this is Huntainesland,
Frindsbury. The land of Wecherilde Sigari,
For the wall of the cemetery. John Lorimer and Roger,
The same. William Kebbel,

30v   Middle of Lent

In the middle of Lent. The farmland of Yfeld,
The workshop near Eastgate with pertinenciis,
Total 31 shillings and 9 pence and one half.

31r   Easter

At Easter
The Altar of St Nicholas
The Berching Church
The Church of Rethrefeld.
The land of Pinindene,
The tiling house of Doddingherne,
The land of Crudhop,
The land of Elamon the baker,
The land of Kete, also named Huntainesland,
The certain land of Priestfield on which is grown grain.
For the wall of the cemetery, John Lorimer and Roger the craftsmen
The same, William Kebull
That owe the meadow of the Sacristy near Holfletc..
The land of Walter Lorimer, one man,
The land of Pagani the weaver, two men,
The land of Kete, Robert Vinitar, one man.
The land of Christiani, one man.
The land of Hakesis, two men,
The land of Elvine Buree, one man,
The land of Corbin, one man,
The land of baker men,
The land of Sanere one man,
The workshop of Radulfi, one man.
The land of Remmoli, one man,
And hold half measure of drink.

Feast of Saint John the Baptist
At the festival of Saint John the Baptist.
The altar of Saint Nicholas,
The Berchingecherche
Of Cheleffeld, of Pinindene,
of Cimiterui. and the tiling house of Dodingherne,
Of Borstal, the land of Gunnore, 12 pence.
Of Frindsbury, the land of Pagani the cook, 20 pence.
Of the certain meadow next to Holflete. Celerarius,
Of Crow Lane, the heirs of John’s son Roce.
Of Eppelane,
The land of Lorimer,
The land of Olaf
The King: The land of Corbin
The land of the cook
The same,
The land behind the land of Lorimer,
The land of Hachesis.
The land of Christian,
The land of Crudhop Yungman,
The land of Hamo the baker,
The land of Kete also known as Huntainesland.
Of Borstal: The land of Christian behind
Of Frindsbury, the land of Saponarii,

32r   Feast of St Margaret

No heading but marked by a red symbol in the left margin. Following this is a list of: To the king’s reeve at the feast of Saint John the Baptist; and to several clerics.

At the feast of Saint Margaret. The church of the Virgin, dimid. marce
Total 40 shillings and 7 pence and one half.

At the command of the Lord at the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
For the land of Gunnore the church,
For the land of Christian,
For the building
Total

32v   Payments to the constable

Heading at the very top of the page in a later hand (not red ink). There follows, halfway down 32v, a record of the tithing payments due the Sacristy. The list continues to 33r. No heading either, but a red letter ‘D’ (‘Decime’) marks the beginning of the list of tithing payments.

The rent paid by the Constable to the Sacristy
Whomsoever becomes the Sacrist, pays that of the King each year,

At the Feast of Saint Michael,
At the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
The land of Olaf, the tenant of Aki.
The land of Walter Lorimer, the tenant of Diva.
The land of Kete, the tenant of Robert of Eastgate.
The land of Corbin, the tenant of Sterling.
The land of Cot, the tenant of Richard Renelmuso,
The land of Saponarii, the tenant of Walterus Piscator.
The bakery of Radulf Uniet, the tenant of Alditha relifla Eudonis portarii.
The certain land in Crow Lane, the tenant of John son of Roc.
The land of Alde, and recently lying in the grain and similarly for the land of Elias.

Church payments
Church payments to the Sacrist
Altar of Saint Nicholas,
Church of Frindsbury
Church of Berechingchireche.
Church of Retrefeld,
Church of Haddenham when pertained to.
Tithing payments
Tithing payments to the Sacrist
Tithing of Haddenham.
Tithing of Cutintune.
Tithing of Geddinges.
Tithing of King Eya.
Tithing of Aldeham.
Tithing of Northfleet, the home of cot erciatn garbam.
Tithing of Yffeld.
Tithing of Wenivalle.
Tithing of Dene,

33v   Haddenham at the feast of St Peter in chains
The Feast of St Peter in Chains (or, ‘St Peter’s Chains’) is celebrated on August 1st.

Rent of Haddenham pertaining to the Sacristy
Saint Peter in Chains
Matthew miles,
Walter son of Radulf,
John of Burtune,
Richard son of Walter
Richard son of Everard
John son of Presbiteri,
Robert son of Adam,
Osbern of Bailel,
Robert son of decani,
Randulf son of Seman,
Robert Huseman,
Alewi,

Common terms and wages for the servants of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

Transcription

60r (select folio number to open facsimile)

Quid habere debeant omnes servientes in commum. Omnes isti equaliter habent bladum, videlicet quolibet
mense unusquisque minam, id est mensuram que continent
dimidiam summam, et octavam partem summe, vel valens
in denariis. In quadragesima vero allecia vel anguillas,
videlicet magistro XXXI et secundario XXIII per omnem ebdo-
madam. Oblationem vero habent ad natale Domini et ad Pascha,
magister denarium, secundarius obit. Caseum habebunt ter in
anno ad unamquamque vicem duo pondera, et ita debent
distribui secundum quod sint magni vel parvi, scilicet magistro
unum caseum de majoribus et unum de mediocribus et
unum de minoribus. secundario duos de mediocribus.
Carnem habent omnes equaliter ad natale Domini vel unum
denarium, et in die martis ante Quadragesimam et ad Pascha.
De stipendiis eorum.
In pistrino duo magistri: primus habet in stipendiis VII solidos.
Secundarius V solidos. Unusquisque de aliis tribus IIII solidos.
In coquina eodem modo magister VII solidos. Secundarius V solidos.

60v

Unusquisque de aliis duobus IIII solidos.
In bracino primus V solidos. Unusquisque de aliis duobus IIII solidos.
Portarius X solidos.
Grangerius XL denaria.
Serviens de infirmaria V solidi.
Hostiarius cellarii III solidi.
Senescallus X solidi.
In ecclesia duo : primus VII solidi. Secundarius VII solidos.
In domo pelliparie: primus IIII solidos. Secundarius III solidos.

De Terminis Stipendiorum Terminus stipendiorum est ad Nathale Domini et ad
Pascha de omnibus ministeriis.
Summa stipendiorum VI L. IIII solidos. IIII denaria.

Translation

What ought all the servants to have in common?

All of them have equal grain, namely each one, every month, a mina – that is, the measure which comprises half a seam, and an eighth part of a seam¹ – or the equivalent in pennies. In Lent, indeed, herrings or eels, namely 31 to the master and 23 to the second-rank for each week. They have, indeed, a gift at Christmas and at Easter, the master a penny, the second-rank a halfpenny. They have cheese three times a year, to each one in turn two pounds, and they must distribute accordingly as they are great or small, namely to the master one from the mature cheeses, one from the medium and one from the young; to the second-rank two from the medium.

All have meat equally at Christmas or one penny, and on the Tuesday before Lent and at Easter.

Concerning their wages

In the bakery of two masters: the first has in wages 7 shillings; the second-rank, 5 shillings; each of the other three, 4 shillings.

In the kitchen the same way: master 7 shillings; second-rank, 5 shillings;

In the brewery: the first, 5 shillings; each of the other two, 4 shillings.

In the laundry: the first, 4 shillings; the second, 3 shillings.

Gatekeeper: 10 shillings.

Granger: 40 pennies.

Servants of the infirmary: 5 shillings.

Doorkeeper of the cellar: 3 shillings.

Steward: 10 shillings

The two in the church: the first, 7 shillings;

the second-rank, 7 shillings.

In the tannery²: the first, 7 shillings; each of the other two, 4 shillings.

each of the other two, 4 shillings.

The terms for wages:

The terms for the wages it is on the Nativity of the Lord and at

Easter for all of the offices.

Total wages £6, 4 shillings and 4 pence.

Footnotes

1 Mina, seam: a seam is equivalent to 8 levelled bushels (of 8 gallons each); therefore the Rochester mina equals 5 bushels or 40 gallons. As many weights were not standardised during the thirteenth century – e.g. the mina was sometimes and elsewhere considered equal to 4½ bushels – the amount stated in Custumale Roffense for the mina should be understood as specific to the local area or region at that time (Zupko 1985).

2 Tannery: evidently referring to the workshop of the aforementioned tailors. It would seem that both tannery duties and tailoring were carried out by the same servants.

Duties of the Launderers of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

A master and second-rank launderer worked with the chamberlain to keep the clothes of the monks clean and in good order, for sewing their names into their undershirts and underbreeches, for preparing soap for their shaving and bathing, and for the fire and summoning the blood-letter.

Transcription

59v (select folio number to open facsimile)

De Lavatoribus et quid facere debeant. IN domo lavendrie sunt duo ministri, unus magister
et alter secundarius. Ad magistrunt pertinet, quoticnscumque
manice staminarum fracte sunt, de camerario novas
accipere, et flaminis, corpus sufferre potest, debet fecun
darius plantare, et habebit vetustas manicas. Simi
liter videbit si stamine vel femoralia ponquam lota fuerint,
non possint cum honestate utentibus ea servire, antequam
tradantur camerario monistrare et ad lettos fratrum
cum subcamerario ponere. Stipendium istorum magissratres

60r

IIII solidi. secundario III solidi. Et quando fratras vadunt
balncare, debent habere presto omnia que ad hoc sunt
necessaria. Saponem ministrant fratribus ad rasturam.
Ad garcionem pertinet lixivam facere. Eius est focum
facere contra quod fratres minuere debent, et minutorem
summonere, ut paratus sit fratres minuere. Consuet eciam
magister nomina fratrum in staminis et in femoralibus.
Habent isti duo ad natale Christemesse brand sicut far
trinarii.

Translation

Concerning the launderers and what they ought to do:

In the laundry house there are two servants, one master and also a second rank servant. It belongs to the master whenever the sleeves of undershirts are torn, to receive new ones from the chamberlain if the body of an undershirt can be re-used, the second rank servant must store it, and he will have the old sleeves.

Likewise, he will check if undershirts and under-breeches, after they have been washed, cannot with honesty be made serviceable, before they are handed over to show to the chamberlain and put at the beds of the brothers by the sub-chamberlain. Their wages: to the master 4 shillings, to the second rank servant 3 shillings.

And when the brothers go to bathe, they ought to have ready everything for this which is necessary.

They supply soap for the brothers for shaving.

It belongs to the lad-servant to make the lye¹.

His role is to make the fire before which the brothers must be bled, and to summon the blood-letter, in order that he may be prepared to bleed the brothers.

The master also sews the names of the brothers in their undershirts and under-breeches.

These two have a Christmas fire for the Nativity, just like the tailors.

Footnotes

1 Lye: detergent/soap made from wood ash.

Duties of the Tailors of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

Translation

Concerning the tailors: what they ought to do:

It is the responsibility of the master of the tailor’s workshop to measure all the new clothing of the monks, and, after measuring, to make sure they are properly cut for purpose.  He has the responsibility for the skins used for garments and with the help of his assistants constructs and supplies those things that are ready for distributing.  If, however, they need further help, the chamberlain will aid them with one man only, and everything useful for the skins that are to be prepared he will find.  He [the master tailor] will have bran from the bakery, three level minas per three bakings, as the fine flours of the monks fall from the bolting sieve. Thread, needles, scissors and shears the master must keep under his guard; and when necessary this responsibility is handed over to his associates.  His wage is 7 shillings.  He has in fact two associates.  Each one of them has a wage of 4 shillings. The master is worked the same as his associates.  It is his responsibility to sew the brothers’ names into their outer garments and into the hoods of the novices.  The aforementioned three ought to have a wooden log before the Nativity of the Lord, which is called by the English the Christmas fire. They must help at the hay harvest, and collect the tithes, if the chamberlain wishes or orders it, or otherwise carry out his command when the need arises.  When the novices are professing, they have the master’s old hoods which had been over their outer garments. If the chamberlain goes off to London or to Winton for the purpose of buying cloth, one of the aforementioned three servants will go with him, the one who better understands how to choose and buy white or black cloth.  Traditionally, this is usually done three times in the year, and the chamberlain, thereupon, will have from the granary three horses prepared, when he goes off and when he returns.  The sub-chamberlain will have to speak face to face with the chamberlain concerning purchases and expenses.

Bran: evidently used for making laundry starch; measured by the mina, equivalent to 5 bushels (see note below on mina, seam).

Duties of the Church Attendants of Rochester Cathedral, c.1235

Translation

Concerning the church attendants: what they ought to do:

It belongs to the master to regulate all things in the church, certainly that the curtains and covers, which are to be hung correctly, are arranged, and that the large and small candles are prepared well, and that the copes in the second choir, when feast days occur, are carried in an orderly manner.  He has nevertheless a man for himself who must with the second rank [attendant] strike and regulate the bells at processions, and the master will precede with a staff before the congregation to restrain the laity’s excess, that they may not advance impudently against him.  And this they ought to do in the church and in the cloister and wherever there is work. They will have a single key for opening and locking the doors.  Whoever is their weekly assigned monk will take it and after compline on the Sabbath will hand it over to the one who comes.  After compline they must lock the door of the nave of the church and carry the key to the sacristan’s bed.  During Lent, after vespers, and again in the morning after they have struck [the bells], they are to open up.  If the bell clappers have broken, they must be carried immediately to the workshop; and when they have been mended, immediately taken back, even if they break on the principal feast days.  Also they must always on the Sabbath clean in the choir under the benches whenever the congregation leaves.  They make oil-lamps and wash the lamps when it is necessary, and they light them.  On Sunday, for the exorcism, they place a basin with water and a salt-cellar with salt upon the pavement before the high altar.  After preaching of the main Mass on Sunday, they bring the salt-cellar with salt, which remains from the exorcism, into the refectory, and then they must empty the cloister of laymen.  In winter before the striking [of the bells] for assembly, they will place a light at the 4 corners of the cloister, for when it is the procession from the chapter into the refectory; and after compline they extinguish it.  Whoever is the assigned monk always has the fire for lighting, in the day for the masses, and at night for the matins.  However, at night, after the priest has walked around lighting the altars, he [the monk] must wait for the priest in the vestry until the vestments may be folded and stored by the sub-sacristan.  When it is the procession, at the cross in the nave of the church they should set before the crucifix a lighted taper, and at night a candle at the fonts.  Likewise, they light a lamp after songs at the lavatory/bath for those who are dressing.  They must sweep clean the pavement and put down rushes whenever necessary, and attend to the cloth hangings; and for the dressing of the altar, the hirelings, after matins, draw water for Mass.  On all the principal feasts from the Ascension of the Lord up to feast day of St Paulinus, and on the Translation of St Andrew (if it happens before the Ascension), the church and the chapter shall be strewn with rushes; on the lesser feast days, just the choir and the chapter.  Concerning hay, from the feast day of St Paulinus up to the Ascension of the Lord, they will also help with the hay harvest.  The wages of the master are 7 shillings.  Likewise, the wages of the second-rank are 7 shillings.  They have on the principal and on the lesser feast days an allowance from the cellar, namely the master one loaf and a fair measure of ale.  Also, during dinner, in the great tower they make three strikes of either the great bell or Bretun or Thalebot on the principal feast days, and they will have a fair measure of ale and one loaf and a dish from the kitchen, traditionally the same as for one who serves at dinner.  Also they have this in common with hirelings, who have 2 pennies for a bell-ringing procession.  Each of these hirelings has a halfpenny for the day and for the night.  They will help at the altar.  If the whole of the church has gathered, they have 2 pennies for drink; indeed for the undressing of the altar, 2 pennies.  After the octave of Pentecost, the curtains and skins and cushions are to be shaken out in the sunshine in the cloister, for which they have four pennies for drink.  On the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday they will have lamb.  Every day when the instruction is given in the chapter, they have a bowl full of ale from the cellar.  Likewise on Sunday after vespers they have a tankard full of ale from the cellar.  Whenever the bishop sings the main mass they have from the cellar the same as on the lesser feast days.  From the offering that comes forth on Good Friday, they have bread, eggs, herrings, onions, nuts, garlic, and from the sacristan a silver coin, and the finest piece of fruit.  When from the community a body of the deceased laity is received, according to whom the person is, it may be accepted; and, as it pleases the sacristan, bells in the great tower, many or few, may be struck.  If it is one of the nobility or a soldier, they will have a linen cloth and woollen tapestry which they will lie over the body, and candles which are placed around the body, and from the executors of the deceased any act of esteem by means of a trumpet call.  If he should have the hood, they will have nothing, and the sacristan will make the grave. If carried by horses, the sacristan will have the horses, and the attendants the bier.  From the offering, according to what has been great or small, they have one denarius or a halfpenny for drink, but this is from goodwill not from law.  When they finish making the wax candles or tallow candles and also the singular Easter candle, the sacristan feeds them – and when they make offerings.  On the six principal feast days, namely Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, the Assumption of Saint Mary, the feast days of Saint Andrew and of Saint Paulinus, they have in assistance for the curtaining of the altar and for the procession ringing 8 hired men, who have on Christmas Eve a half pint of ale, and likewise on the vigil of Saint Andrew.  Therefore, on feast days which are not celebrated splendidly, namely, the Translation of Saint Andrew, the Ascension of the Lord, the feast of Saint Ithamar, the Annunciation of Saint Mary (if it occurs during Easter), the Nativity of Saint Mary, and the feast of All Saints, they have 6 hired men who have 2 pennies for the vigil and the procession.  On Whitsun they will have nothing unless from goodwill.  On Palm Sunday and on the anniversaries of bishops Gundulf and Ernulf, they have from the cellar the same as for the lesser feast days.  If the king or a legate or the archbishop shall act as hosts or cross through the estate, the bells are rung on their arrival; and for our bishop, if he comes from overseas.  Ringing of the bells against the archbishop was undertaken at the time of Archbishop Baldwin.  In sacred festivities, in which altars are used, they must strew rushes before them and spread a carpet; if it is on Whitsun, the choir is to be curtained from the dossals only.  And it is noted that when the community has been clothed anew for prayers they [the attendants] must light three great candles upon the great candelabra, with which begins the Kyrie Elieson of the main mass; and on the principal feast days around the altar overhead, which Lanfranc calls the crown of the Lord.  For the monks who are regularly situated in church, they must light [candles] at other hours and especially those around the main altar.  Whoever calls and rings all the bells for the waking of the people at the two nights before Easter has a halfpenny for the day and night. These and many other things they must do without delay, whenever something is commanded of them. 

Exorcism: a prayer of exorcism was said over the holy water and salt, blessing both and imbuing them with the power to protect from evil and evil spirits.  

Cloth hangings: cloths/curtains hung to adorn the altar, lectern, etc.  

The Ascension of the Lord: celebrated forty days after Easter Sunday.

Feast Day of St Paulinus:  St Paulinus was bishop of Rochester from c.633-34 until his death at Rochester on 10th October 644. His feast day is 10th October, though it is recorded in a writ of Henry I, preserved in Textus Roffensis, that an annual two-day holiday was to be held in Rochester in honour of Paulinus starting on the day before the feast day, i.e. the 9th October. This writ also describes the church at Rochester as ‘of Saint Andrew the Apostle and of St Paulinus’ (‘sancti Andreę apostoli et sancti Paulini’), which explains why Custumale Roffense refers to the feast days of both saints as belonging to ‘the six principal feast days’ of Rochester church, alongside those of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and the Assumption of Mary.

Translation of St Andrew: probably referring to a local festival celebrating the translation of relics of St Andrew to Rochester, and not to the main feast day of St Andrew on November 30th.

Bretun, Thalebot: names of two of the three bells in the belfry.  In the manuscript, they have been crossed out with red ink.

Octave: the seventh day after a festival.

If he should have the hood: if the deceased one is a monk.

Saint Ithamar: the first Saxon-born bishop in England, and thus the first Saxon bishop of Rochester described by Bede as ‘a man of Kent’; died between 655 and 664.

Archbishop Baldwin: Archbishop of Canterbury, 1184-1190.  The event here described of ringing against the archbishop apparently refers to the sympathy of the monks of Rochester for their brethren at Christchurch Priory who were in dispute with Baldwin during the reign of Henry II, who had orchestrated the archbishop’s ascension to Canterbury.  Not only did the Benedictine monks of Christchurch disagree with the appointment of Baldwin, a Cistercian monk, but they resented his attempts to interfere with their monastic life. The dispute escalated after Baldwin deprived them of some of their estate revenue in an attempt to curb what he saw as their pampered monastic life at Christchurch.  At one stage of this long, drawn out dispute, the Christchurch brethren were imprisoned for eighteen months inside the priory, and the liturgy of the cathedral was suspended.  Eventually all the prominent ecclesiastical and monastic houses in Europe were forced into taking sides.  The monks of Rochester priory evidently sided with their fellow Benedictines.  In the end, the new king, Richard I, intervened and the estate revenues were returned to Christchurch.

Carpet: Latin tapetum, probably referring to the carpet positioned before the altar, or it may indicate the cloth, made from silk or other expensive material, which was hung behind the altar.

Dossals: referring to the fastenings from which a dossal (or ‘dorsal’) curtain is hung behind the altar.

Kyrie Elieson: transliterated from Greek, meaning ‘Lord, have mercy’, the prayer sung at Mass by the clergy and the congregation in response.