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cottages, and their slaves or labourers, and if a ceorl were freewas murdered, the fine was paid to his own family.

men.

Lords.

might be

come

The rest of the population were called Thanes or Thanes, or Lords, and Eorls or Earls, and they formed the nobility of the land. But nobility sprang mainly from the possession of land, and hence a churl might become a lord.40 A man was a thane who had five hides of land, and if a ceorl could acquire that quantity of land, he became a thane. This right was thus ex- Ceorls pressed in the old Anglo-Saxon laws.70 "And if a ceorl thrived, so that he had fully five hides of his thanes. own land, church and kitchen, bell-house and burh. gate seat, and special duty in the King's hall, then was he thenceforth of thane-right worthy." A mer- A merchant, too, might become a thane. In the same laws might beit is said, “And if a merchant thrived, so that he come a fared thrice over the wide sea by his own means, then was he thenceforth of thane-right worthy." The dignity of eorl depended more on birth, but a thane might become an eorl. In the same laws again A thane we find, "And if a thane thrived so that he became might bean eorl, then was he thenceforth of eorl-right worthy." earl. The possession of forty hides enabled a thane thus to become an eorl.

Government of the Country, making of Laws, putting
Laws in force.

chant

thane.

come an

lation.

I have now explained to you the origin of the Recapituownership of land, how the Feudal System sprang from the imposition of military duties on the owners of land, how chivalry sprang from the Feudal System, and lastly, I have told you of the different classes into which the nation was divided.

I must now go on to tell you how the country was governed, how the laws were made, and how they were put in force, and we shall find that these were all very much connected with the ownership of

land.

I have already told you that the King always possessed, as his own, certain portions of the land of the kingdom. These were distributed throughout

[graphic][merged small]

the country1, and were, for the most part, parcelled out into what were called vills, farms, or manors. The King The King used, from time to time, to make journeys throughout the country, stopping at these vills or farms, and there entertaining his great men.2 It is probable that after a time some of these vills were make laws, fortified and became the King's castles. These govern the journeys were for the administering of justice, for the making of laws, and for the general government of

goes to his farms or manors, to administer justice, to

and to

country.

Council.

Council, or

the country. On these occasions he was always Lesser attended by a Council of wise men, and it is supposed that from this council the Privy Council of the present day arose.17, 37 But there was also a greater council, Greater called the Gewitena-gemote, (meaning an assembly of Gewitenawise men) or Witena-gemote as it is commonly written, gemote. which was assembled on more solemn occasions.102 These more solemn assemblies appear to have been held in the open air, in or near some city or populous town.18 It was part of the business of the council which attended the King to settle when these more solemn councils. should be held. Both councils were constituted of the superior orders of the King's tenants or vassals, together with archbishops, and bishops, and abbots of the principal monasteries. 101 On some occasions inferior members of the clergy were summoned. The superior clergy always formed part of the council of wise men; for, in those times, they were the best educated part of the nation, and the law formed an especial branch of their studies.

You thus see that in Anglo-Saxon times the country was governed and laws were made by the King in person, travelling over the country attended by his council of wise men, visiting his estates, and from time to time holding the greater council called the Witena-gemote. The meetings of the Witena-gemote are the assemblies called Parliaments by the writers after the Conquest 18, and from the reign of Edward the First the great council was called together four times a-year, and obtained the settled name of Parliament.36 This great council or Witena-gemote seems to have been more like our House of Lords than like our House of Commons, but still it was from these assemblies that our Houses of Lords and

House of
Lords and
House of

Commons both sprang. It is difficult to say when the House of Commons first began, or when the Lords Commons. and Commons first formed two separate Houses. But it seems clear that no House of Commons, such as we have at the present day, existed before the reign of Henry the Third; for, as we shall presently see, it was not until that reign that cities and boroughs sent representatives to Parliament. It is not at all certain, and indeed it is unlikely, that, in its present form, it even then existed separately from the House of Lords. It is difficult to say at what time the two Houses were formally separated, yet from the earliest times, after the admission of repreforming sentatives from towns, the three bodies forming the Parliament Parliament often consulted separately, and always voted voted separately. Their chief business was to grant separately. sums of money to the King.

The three classes

always

Members

of the Ge. witena

The Bishops granted money from their own body, and the Lords and the Commons did the like. The Commons could not have granted money out of the property of the Lords or of the Bishops. 88, 89 In the present day it is the House of Commons that votes money from, or taxes the whole community. But it was not so then, and it was not so until a much later period.

Up to the time of William the Conqueror, the great council consisted only of those classes I have gemote not already mentioned, who had a right to attend. They were called together, but they were not chosen or elected.

clected, but

sat by right.

Members

of the Great Council were first elected in William

the Con

But, four years after the Conquest, we find William directing that twelve persons shall be chosen from each county, to inform him rightly of the laws and customs of England. In John's reign, in 1214, the year before the granting of the Great Charter, the

reign.

representa

reign of

Henry the

Third.

sheriffs were ordered to send to a general assembly queror's at Oxford "four chosen knights in order to discuss with us the affairs of our kingdom." 44a In 1254 Henry the Third directed a Parliament to be convened in London, to which the sheriff of each county was to cause to be elected "two good and discreet men of First clear the shire, whom the men of the shire shall have evidence of chosen for this purpose, in the stead of all and each tion in of them, to consider along with the knights of other counties, what aid they will grant to the King." This is clear representation, and it is the first clear evidence of representation to be found in English history.86 At first, those only who were vassals of the King, and held their land by military tenure, had the right of voting at these elections.46 Originally these military tenants themselves were summoned to attend, but this was often found inconvenient, and they were permitted to send persons in their stead. 44, 45 There was at that time clearly no right of universal suffrage, or any idea that all men of a certain age, or of good education, had a right to vote, independently of the possession or ownership of property. But during the reign of Henry the Third, if not earlier, all freeholders were entitled to vote.47 Still it was only the counties that were represented. was not until the year A.D. 1265, that towns were represented. In that year Simon de Montfort, after Towns first the battle of Lewes, issued writs to the Sheriffs sent Memdirecting them to return two knights for each county, A.D. 1265. and two citizens or burgesses for every city and borough. From this time the Commons may clearly be recognised as an Estate of the Realm in Parliament.87

It

De Montfort saw the growing importance of the

bers in

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