Winter of Discontent

defenders, before being back at Staunton before dawn. Later that day he watched Bernard’s men stage a pre- arranged attack on Staunton- Alan had not advised Robert or his men of the pending attack. The attacking force was sighted by the watchmen in good time, the alarm given and the men mustered. The villagers drove the livestock into the nearby forest and hid themselves. Alan provided food and drink for the mid-day meal for Bernard’s men, who left well satisfied.

Also was also well-satisfied that matters on his lands on the Welsh border were well in hand, and departed with his men the next day, riding east and arriving at Thorrington on Saturday 25th April, the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Thorrington June 1069

It was late afternoon on Monday 29th June. Alan was sitting in the Hundred Court with Leofstan of Great and Little Holland and Edwold of Alresford at the Old Hall at Thorrington, dealing with a number of cases that had not been able to be heard at the usual Assize day two weeks before. The case currently before the court dealt with the disputed ownership of a cow. As it involved a villager from Thorrington, Leofstan was acting as Chief Judge.

West-Saxon law operated in a quite cumbersome manner, although usually effective. The free male population was divided into frithboghs each of ten men. The law acted by way of monetary compensation in which each man of the frithbogh was required to contribute his share of any compensation or fine if a member of the frithbogh was found guilty of a crime. They were also responsible for the accuracy of any sworn evidence given to the court by one of the frithbogh’s members. The guilty paid their bot, either as a fine or as compensation, depending on the offence. If they did not, for more serious offences they suffered mutilation or hanging and for less serious offences may be banished from the community. A man could literally get away with murder if he could pay his wergild, or that of his victim (whichever was the higher), in bot. For a gebur freeman or freewoman that was 200 shillings. For a thegn it was 1,200. No wergild was payable for slaves, but their owners received compensation equal to their value if they were killed or injured. These were massive amounts of money for men who usually measured their weekly income in pennies. All men were required to be in a tithing, usually of the same members as the frithbogh, which actively policed its members due to their collective responsibility for any breach of the law.

In small tight-knit communities, where few traveled further than the next village and a visit to the nearest town was a major undertaking, the system generally worked well. Everybody knew the litigants and the penalty for perjury was such that in a deeply religious society few would contemplate giving false oath. The prospect of being forever denied being shriven of their sins by a priest and on their death being buried in unconsecrated ground, resulting in eternal damnation to the lower reaches of hell, meant that evidence sworn before the court was usually very reliable regarding facts- although personal bias still needed to be considered.

Unfortunately, in civil cases such as current case the system was largely useless- not least because it failed to make provision for the status of women. A free woman had the same rights as a free man, but was not a member of a frithbogh as that was deemed unnecessary as women were rarely the instigators of the violence that West-Saxon law was designed to curb.

The differing status of Englishmen and the French or Normans also caused problems as each was subject to the different laws and penalties of their respective countries. Although he lived in England, owned land in England and had made that country his home, Alan himself was subject to Norman law. Generally the laws were similar, except for the compensation and frithbogh systems. Indeed, in the absence of a compensation system, the penalties under the Norman law were generally more severe in the rare instances that they were actually applied. A dispute involving men of both countries became full of very complex issues, not least being whether the Hundred Court would have jurisdiction or whether the matter required referral to the Shire Court, where the judges were a representative of the bishop and the sheriff.

The current case involved a man from Brightlingsea, who as a resident of a village belonging to the king would not normally be subject to the Hundred Court. His name was Bearn and he had brought an action against a woman of Thorrington called Ora, a middle-aged widow. Bearn claimed that a cow, one of three kept by her for milking as her sole source of income, belonged to him. One thing that has not changed over the millennia is that ‘possession is nine-tenths of the law’ and the onus was on Bearn to prove his case. Frankly, his case was not going well. Neither side had a lawyer, something for which that Alan was intensely grateful as he found their obfuscation and verbiage both tiresome and unhelpful. Bearn, as complainant, had opened the giving of evidence as was usual, with members of his frithbogh giving oath as to his honesty and integrity. He and several witnesses gave oath that he possessed half a dozen cows, that one had recently disappeared, that it was black with white markings and that after being told by another man about this cow at Thorrington he had traveled to the village and recognised it.

He gave the formal oath in the required terms. “By the Lord, I accuse not Ora either for hatred or for envy, or for unlawful lust of gain; nor know I anything soother; but as my informant to me said, and I myself in sooth believe, that she was the thief of my property.”

His case, seemingly initially quite strong, had started to fall apart as soon as Ora presented her case. She started with the formal oath denying the allegation “By the Lord, I am guiltless, both in deed and counsel, and of the charge of which Bearn accuses me.” Not being a member of a frithbogh she called the village headman Toland and his deputy Erian to give oath as to her trustworthiness and honesty. Half a dozen witnesses were called to say that since the time of her husband’s death two years previously that Ora had always had three cows, one of which was the cow in dispute. They recognised the cow, having often stood and spoken to Ora while she was milking the animal. Two swore that they had milked the beast themselves when Ora had fallen ill. Most telling, a man from Great Bentley gave evidence that he had sold such an animal to Ora’s husband not long before his death, although he could not swear that he recognised the beast. There was, of course, no documentary proof of the sale as neither vendor nor purchaser were able to write.

Ora concluded, reciting the required oath, “By the Lord, I was not at rede nor at deed, neither counsellor nor doer, where were unlawfully led away Bearn's cattle. But as I cattle have, so did I lawfully obtain it. And as I cattle have, so did it come to my own property and so it by folk-right my own possession is.”

Osmund, Alan’s clerk, had been carefully recording the proceedings verbatim. The three judges retired to the back room with Osmund, to consider the evidence and check several facts and the exact words used by some of the witnesses from Osmund’s rough draft of the transcript. As usual they partook of refreshments, including two quarts of ale apiece, as they considered their verdict.

“There’s no doubt but that Bearn believes his accusation true,” commented Edwold, “But I doubt not the evidence of Ora and her witnesses, even though most are women. She is a widow and a woman of good repute. She would neither steal a cow nor knowingly act as receiver of a stolen animal. More, she has shown that she has had the beast for two years. The cow is hers.”

Leofstan agreed and recommended that, while judgement should be given in favour of Ora, that no bot should be payable by Bearn for making false accusation. Alan, who had carefully avoided making any comment himself so far, as the woman was from his own village, agreed and they returned to the Hall where Leofstan announced the judgement, to the delight of one of the litigants and the chagrin of the other.

It was by then late afternoon, that case having been the third heard that day. Alan’s offer of hospitality to Leofstan and Edwold was accepted, with the three of them strolling to the Alan’s New Hall, Osmund trailing behind clutching a pile of books and rolled parchments, with a bag hanging from his shoulder carrying his pot of ink, quill and unused parchment.

On entering the Hall Alan ushered his guests to the head-table, located close to the unlit fire with its metal canopy and flue. The rushes on the floor had been recently changed and the summer sunlight streamed in through the glass-framed windows which were open to let in the cooling sea breeze. Huscarle Brand was already seated at