The Civil Right of Tithes, Ecclesiastical tract · Chapter 11 – Chapter 12
CHAP. XIII.
GO on to K. Edgar: and he was not far of, (within the ſame Century …ll:) which pious King1Lamb. Arch p 62. ca. 3. Spelm. Concil. ad. an. 967. pa. 444. ſtrengthened all that was before by adding to law and puniſhment a courſe how the one ſhould be inflicted to further the Execution of the other. And, He that will not pay his Tythe of Cattle before Whitſuntide, his tythe fruit before the Equinoctial (or Church-ſeet, (or Scot, or portion) before S. Martins day) let him pay his forfeiture, ſaith he, as in the Doom-book. What? Let the Reve, Biſhop and Church-Prieſt meet; and compel him, if he be unwilling to pay his tenth to the Church that he ought leaving to him but 2Noſti, quia Dei ſunt cuncta quae percipis, & de ſuo non accommodas rerum omnium conditori? non eget Dominus tuus, non praemium poſtulat ſed honorem, non de tuo aliquid exigit quo… refundas. Primitias rer…m & decimas dignatur petere, & negas avare.the ninth: as for the other eight, let the Lord have the one half, the Biſhop the other; and this without reſpect of perſon, whether he be the Kings man, or Thanes. Which very courſe and penalty is after approved and ſtamped for currant by the3Leg. Canut. Lambard. Arch. pa. 101. ſect. 8. Spelman. Concil. ad ann. 1032. pa 544. cap. 8. & pag. 563 cap. 15. Daniſh K. Knout in aſſembly of his wiſe men at Wincheſter, about the year 1032. with ſome inconſiderable alterations, And in ſubſtance continued to our4Leg. Hen. 1. apud Lambard. pag. 182. cap. 11. Hen. 1. time, ſince the Conqueſt, as appears by his laws lately publiſhed.Quid faceres, ſi novem partibus ſibi ſumptis tibi decimam reliquiſſet? Quod certè jam factum eſt, cùm meſſis tua pluviarum ſubtracta benedictione jejuna defecit, & vindemiam tuam aut grando percuſſit, aut pruina decoxit. Quid avidè ſupputas? Novem tibi partes retractae ſunt, quia decimam dare noluiſti. Conſtat qu…dem quod ipſe non dederis, ſed tamen Deus exigit. Haec enim eſt Domini juſtiſſima conſuetudo, ut ſi tu illi decimam non dederis, tu ad decimam revoceris.—Dabis impio militi, quid non vis dare ſacerdoti: Aug. ſe…m. 219. de temp. tom. 10. pa. 370.
Something of the Church intercurres more about this time, which, from the nature of the thing, it may be expedient but to name; as an Eccleſiaſtical Conſtitution made under the ſame Edgar, That 1Docemus etiam, ut Sacerdotes populū inſtruant, de his quae jure Deo ſunt reddenda: decimae ſcilicet, & res aliae, &c. Canones dati ſub Edgaro: apud Lambard. pa. 71. Can. 54. Spel…. ad an 967. pag. 454.the people ſhould be taught to pay to God that which of Right they ought, (which mark was Then a Right, whether Humane or Divine, I inquire not; If this, it was the ſtronger; if but that, 'tis it I contend for: but a Right:) as Tythes and other things: And another calculated for the Northerne Latitude, (for the collection is ſtiled,2Si decimas qui Thanus eſt regis detinuerit, 10. p…nd to ſemimarcas, poſſeſſor praediorum 6, & Cyrliſcus ſeu Paganus 12. …ras. id. pag 501. Leges Preſbyterorum Northumbrenſium) and bound up with K. Edgars lawes, where is penalty for every of the Kings Thanes (or lords) that detaynes, ten half markes; for every land-owner ſix; for every Ceorle or Husband-man twelve Ores: And another written by Aelfrike 3Aelfric. Can. ib. …a. 578 ca. 24. & Lamb. pa. 132.to Wulfine of the ſame general nature, thought not unworthy to be preſerved among the undoubted monuments of that Age: All which I yet ſo ſlightly paſs over, as that my judgment remaines the ſame both one way and other as before; and for what was ſtampt with the authority of the Church, that it had no doubt the Countenance of the Sate, to be then a ruling part of the Common All-ruling Law; which conſiſted both of Canon and Statute, (as they were after Called,) and each was a rule for what they did concern in the ſame Court, where both Juriſdictions were then Combined, and both their Lawes executed.
CHAP. XIV.
THe next Century gives us the4Concilium Aenhamen…e generale, ſeu Pananglicum hortatu Aelfeagi Dorobernenſis & Wulſtani Eboracenſis A chipraeſulum, ab Aethelredo Rege edictum… acce…ſitiſq Epiſcopis, & univerſis Anglorum optimatibus, in die S. Pentecoſtes celebratum. Circa on 1009 Spelm. p 510. Parliament of Aenham, made up of both States, as well Church as Peers under King Ethelred: in the contraction whereof is commanded, that,5Iura Deo debita unuſquiſ que annuatim rectè pendito, &c. Id. p 517. K 10. Gods dues be paid yeerly, Tythe of young at Whitſuntide, of fruits at Allhallondtide: but in the larger latine, and a coppy of the ſame date of writing, Thus: Let 1Id. pag. 527. cap. 10.the tythe of fruits (ſaith the Kingdom,) and Calves, and Lamb, and other Eccleſiaſtical duties be paid yeerly to the Lord at fitting ſeaſons: 2Sulh, vel potius Sullow (verbo paulùm immutato) plurimis in locis etiam nunc aratrum ſignificat: aelmeſs not…oris eſt ſignificationis quam ut interprete indige…t ullo. Ego me legiſſe memini in vetuſtiſſimo quodam legum Ethelredi Regis libello impoſitum tunc temporis in ſingula aratra Denarium unum. Ea fortaſſe penſio eſt quam illi Sulhaelmeſs appellabant. Gloſſar. ad Lambard. Arch. pa. 217. in vocab. Arationis eleemoſyna.Eleemoſynae aratrales, or Sulh aelmes (as I am informed, a penny a yeers pention upon every plough,) 15. days after Eſter: Calf and lamb at Whitſuntide: tythe corn about Allhallondtide; and all theſe to God, and by order of Parliament. 3Dubitaverit fortè quiſpiā, &c. Spelm. pa. 529.It may breed ſome doubt of the univerſality of this power, becauſe it is called a Councel or Synod, which uſe to be the titles of Eccleſiaſtical meetings: But this is ſatisfied in part by a learned Kinght, that it 1.4Beſide what before: Quodam tempore contigit ut Regis Aethelredi edicto concrepante, Archipraeſulumque Aelfeagi & Wul…stani ho: tatu inſtigante, univerſi Anglorum optimates Die ſancto Pentecoſtes ad locum ab indigenis Eanham nominatum, acciti ſunt conven…re: Id. pa. 525. And in the cloſe; Haec itaque legalia ſtatuta vel decreta in noſtro conventu Synodal… à Rege N. magnoperè edicta cuncti tunc temporis optimates ſe obſervaturos fide…iter ſponde bant: Ib pag. 529. conſiſted of both States. 2. was convened by the Kings power. 3. treated of things not of the Church. and 4. met at5Sc at Whitſuntide, as K Edmunds was at Eaſter: In quibus celebritatibus, (ſicuti & in illa Nativitatis Domini noſtri) convocare Reges, ex antiqua conſuetudine, ſoliti erant proceres ſuos utriuſque Ordinis ad faſtum Regium adornandum, & Conſilia regni ineunda, quod latius al…b… declaravimus: Ib. K Knouts great Councell at Wincheſter, was after at Midwinters tide, or in Natalitiis Domini noſtri: id. p 539. & p. 560. K. Bertulphs before at Eaſter; (and a very Parliament:) id. p. 344. Ex more enim & obſequii vinculo antiqu…ſſimo tenebantur proceres in tribus maximis feſtivitatibus; Chriſti ſc. Natalitiis, ſancti Paſchatis, & Pentecoſtes, Regi annuatim adeſſe, cùm ad Cur…am & perſonam ipſius exornandum, tùm at conſulendum de negotiis regni, ſtatuendumque prout fuerat neceſſarium. Prodire igitur in diebus illis Rex ſolebat coronâ redimitus, & pro Faſtu Regio ſe in omnibus exh…bere: donec morem labefactav it Henricus 2. &c. Id. p. 347. Parliament time: which as times then were, was thrice a year.
For in thoſe dayes at the three great feaſts both the King expected his Nobles to come unto him for greater ſolemnity of the time, and being met they uſed to conſult, de arduis rei-publicae negotiis, which was Parliament work: (which alſo continued long after, as appears through the courſe of Matthew Paris his Hiſtory, who wrot to Henry the third.) So that I doubt not to affirm both that this was a Parliament, and that one ſuch meeting in three yeers is no ſuch news in England; for of old (beſide the law, and obſervation thereof in practiſe about Edward the third's time, for one) before that they had uſually three Parliaments every year.
In the ſame Kings time was alſo another general meeting at Habam; Haec inſtituerunt Ethelredus et ſapientes ejus apud Habam, is the title, and part of the text (from the1Hiſtor. Iornal. fol. 65. apud Seld. de decim: p. 225. ſince Publiſhed by Spelman: Concil. circa Ann. 1012. p 531. Abbot of Jorneaux,) thus:
2Omnis Thainus decimet totum quod habet. Ib. c. 1.Let every Thane (or lord) Tithe all that he hath: And 3Et praecipimus, ut omnis homo ſuper d lectionem Dei & omnium ſanctorum det Cyriſceatum, & rectam decimam ſuam, ſicut in diebus anteceſſorum noſtrorum quando melius fecit; hoc eſt, ſicut aratrum peragrabit decimam acram: Et omnis con…uetudo reddatur ſuper amicitiam Dei ad matrem Eccleſiam cui adjacet, & nemo auferat Deo quod ad Deum pertinet, & praedeceſſores noſtri conceſſerunt: pag. 531 ca 4.we command that every man upon his love to God and all Saints give his Church Scot and true tythe, as in the dayes of our anceſtors, (it was no new uſage, then, but inherited from the days before) that is, his tenth Acre, as the plough ſhall goe: and let every cuſtome be made good, ſuper amicitiam Dei, for Gods love to the Mother Church to whom it belongeth, and let no one take from God (mark the weighty ingagements ſtill) that which belongs to God and our Predeceſſors (again) granted.