A Brief Register Part 2, Part 2 · Section 4 · Subsection 1
Eodem modo scribitur omnibus Vicecomitibus.
This unusual form of Writ, (the later part whereof sounds like a kinde of Summons of Knights out of every County to a Parliament at Oxford) hath much perplexed many *See Mr. Seldens Titles of Honor, p. 710. My Plea for the Lords, p. 374.learned men, who knew not well what to determin thereof, being without parallel. But under correction of others, I conceive it rather a Summons to a Military Camp of Warr, than to a Parliament or Parliamentary Council at Oxford; and these Quatuor discretos Milites out of every County, were not summoned as Knights of the Shire to a Parliament then held, but rather as Inquisitors or Grand-Jury-men, upon a special occasion; thus related by hHist. Angliae p. 224, 229, 230, 231, &c.Matthew Paris, which in my apprehension will very satisfactorily explain this obscure Writ. King Iohn being both injuriously excommunicated, deposed from his Throne, his whole kingdom, interdicted & given by the Pope to the French King who thereupon prepared a great Army and Navy to possess himself therof; he did upon this occasion, to resist the French, and defend his Crown and kingdom against their intended invasion, by two several Writs, (recorded at large in this Historian) summon all the Ships of England able to carry six horses to meet together at Portsmouth, well furnished with victuals and Mariners to resist these Enemies by Sea; and all Earls, Barons, Knights, Freehold Tenants and others who were bound by tenure, or able of bodie to bear arms, to meet him at Dover, to withstand them by Land. After which, having reconciled himself to the Pope by resigning his Kingdom of England and Ireland to, and retaking them from him under an yearly Tribute, he was by the Popes Legate absolved from his Excommunication, and the kingdom from its long-continued interdict, at Winchester; swearing upon the Holy Evangelists in this his Absolution; Quod Sanctam Ecclesiam, ejusque ordinatos diligeret, defenderet, et manuteneret contra omnes adversarios pro posse suo. Quodque bonas leges Antecessorum suorum, & praecipue Leges Edwardi Regis revocaret, et iniquas destrueret, et omnes homines suos secundum justa Curiae suae judicia; judicaret, quodque singulis redderet jura sua. Juravit etiam, quod omnibus ad Interdicti negotium pertingentibus, inter proximum Pascha plenariam restitutionem faceret obtatorum, &c. In pursuance whereof, In crastino misit Rex literas ad omnes Vicecomites regni Angliae, ut de singulis Dominicorum suorum villis: Quatuor legales homines cum praeposito, apud Sanctum Albanum, pridie nonas Augusti fecerent conv…nire, ut per illos, et alios ministros suos de damnis singulorum Episcoporum, ut ablatis certitudinem inquireret, et quid singulis deberetur. Dum haec agerentur, interfuerunt Concilio apud Sanctum Albanum, Galfridus filius Petri, et Episcopus Winton. cum Archiepiscopo, et Episcopis et Magnatibus Regni. Ubi cunctis pace Regis denunciata, ex ejusdem Regis parte firmiter praeceptum est; quatenus leges Henrici avi sui ab omnibus in regno suo custodirentur, et omnes leges iniquae penitus enerventur. Denunciatum est praeterea Vicecomitibus, Forestariis, aliisque Ministris Regis, sicut vitam et membra sua diligunt, ne à quoquam aliquid violenter extorquerent, vel alicui injuriam irrogare praesumant, aut scotalla alicubi in regno faciant, sicut facere consueverant. After which, Rex verò Johannis cum se à quibusdam Magnatibus (who deserted him in Poytiers) quasi derelictum cognovisset, magnum Congregabit Exercitum ut rebelles ad consuetum obsequium revocaret. Cumque arma movere incepisset, venit ad eum Archiepiscopus apud Northamtonam, dicens, plurimum in injuriam sui Sacramenti, quod in absolutione sua praestiterat, redundare, Si absque Iudicio Curiae suae contra quempiam bella moveret. Quod audiens Rex, cum ingenti strepitu dixit, Se regni negocia propter Episcopum non differre, cum laica judicia ad ipsum non pertineant. In crastino autem summo diluculo iter furibundus arripiens versus Notingham properavit. Secutus est quoque Regem Archiepiscopus memoratus, constanter affirmans, quod nisi ab inceptis celerius desisterit, omnes qui versus quempiam ante relaxationem interdicti hostiliter arma gesserunt, praeter ipsum solum, anathematis vinculo innodaret. Sicque ab inceptis Regem revocans Archiepiscopus, non prius abe, recessit donec Diem conipetentem ad Curiam Regis veniendi, et ibidem Iuri parendi Baronibus impetrasset. The 8. of September following, the Archbishop, Bishops, Abbots, Priors and Barons of the Realm assembling together at Pauls, the Archbishop calling some of the Barons to him apart from the rest, secretly acquainted them with the Kings forecited Oath taken at his absolution, and produced before them the Charter of Liberties granted by King Henry the first; by which they might, if they would, reduce their long lost Liberties to their pristine estate: At which the Barons greatly rejoycing, juraverunt omnes in praesentia Archiepiscopi, quod viso tempore congruo, pro hiis libertatibus, si necesse fuerit, decertabunt usque ad mortem. Archiepiscopus autem promisit eis fidelissimum auxilium suum pro posse suo; Et sic confoederatione facta inter eos, Colloquium solutum est. The King hereupon (as I conjecture) issued out the precedent writ the 3. of November following, (whereon it bears date) to all the Sheriffs of England, consisting of 3. distinct parts, sutable to that time and occasion. The first is, to new summon Omnes Milites, all who held of him by Knight-service, with those Souldiers (not knights, or knights of Shires,) in their respective Bailiwicks, they had formerly summoned (by some such writ as this) to repair to Oxford, to come to the Kings person (ad Nos) without naming any certain place, 15 daies after All Souls day; cum armis; with their arms; (the *See here, p. p. 4, 5. & Part 1. p. 156. to 180.usual form and clause in precedent and subsequent writs of Summons of an Army and forces to aid the King, not to a Parliament, or Great Council of State) and that to defend and assist him; against the precedent confederacy of the Archbishop, Bishops, Abbots, Priors and Barons, then newly entred into at London; against whom he had raised a great Army (by like Writs) but a few MonethMonth… before, to reduce these Rebels to obedience: which Armie the Archbishop caused him to dissolve, as Matthew Paris relates. The 2. Clause is, Corpora vero Baronum singulariter sine armis; to summon and bring to the King the Bodies of the Barons in their respective Counties apart one from another, without arms, (as in the said writ) not two or more of them together, with their arms and armed attendants, to prevent all dangers, tumults, insurrections and intended rebellions, if they should come armed to his Court; being now thus summoned to appear before him, not to treat and advise with him, and the rest of the Prelates, Earls and Nobles, of any urgent affairs concerning the King or Realm, (of which there is no mention at all in this writ in relation to the Barons, as there is in all Writs of Summons to Parliaments or Great Councils issued to them, extant in our Records;) But rather, according to the Archbishops engagement to the King at Nottingham a little before this writ, to submit themselves to the Iustice of his Court and a legal trial concerning the crimes he should there object against them, upon their appearance on the day prefixed in the writ, the same I conceive, the King and Archbishop had formerly agreed upon at Notingham. And that this was the reason why they were to appear without armour, is evident; by the like Summons hertofore to iSee Malmsbury de Gestis Regum, l. 2. c. 13. Hoveden, Wigorniensis, & Bromton, Anno 1051. & My Plea for the Lords, p. 308,Earl Godwin and his Sons to appear in the Kings Court, to answer the Kings charge against them, attended only with … men, without any force or arms: by the subsequent Statutes of 7 E. 1. Rastal, Armour; 1 & 2 E. 3. c, 3. expresly resolving, that in all Assemblies which should be made within the Realm of England for ever, every man should come without all force and armour, well and peaceably: And that no man, Great or Small, of whatsoever condition he be, except the Kings Servants in his presence, and his Ministers and their Assistants in executing his precepts, or their Office; or upon a cry made for arms to keep the peace, in such places where such acts happen, should be so hardy to come before the King or his Iustices, or other his Ministers doing their office with force and arms, nor bring no force in …ffray of Peace. Which was but the *See here, p. 5. Aluredi Regis Lex 41, 42. Chron. Johan. Bromton, col. 825.antient Common and Statute Law of England. The 3. Clause of the Writ, which only hath some resemblance of a writ of Summons; is to summon not two, but quatuor Discretos Milites de Comitatu tuo; being more than we read summoned in succeeding Rolls out of every County. as Knights of Shires to our Parliament; and those not to come to any Parliament or Great Council, at any certain place, of which there is no mention at all in this Writ, but ad Nos, to the King himself, at the time there specified; and that only, Ad loquendum Nobiscum de negotiis regni nostri; not, ad tractandum Nobiscum, et cum Praelatis, Proceribus, or Magnatibus, or aliis, or caeteris fidelibus regni nostri, de arduis et urgentissimis negotiis, Nos et statum Regni nostri contingentibus; or, ad faciendum et consentiendum hiis, quae tunc & ibidem de Communi Consilio regni nostri, Deo propitio, contigerit ordinari; the usual Clauses in all Writs of Summons of Barons, or Knights of Counties to Parliaments and Great Parliamentary Councils; Therefore certainly this Writ was no Summons of Knights of Shires to a Parliament or Great Council; the rather, because there is no clause in it for electing these 4. knights; nor yet of any Citizens or Burgesses, as is usual in the Writs for electing Knights of Counties, and because no Writs of Summons ever prescribed the Summons of Barous and Knights together like this: Upon all which considerations, I conceive, this ad loquendum Nobiscum de negotiis regni nostri, for which these 4. Knights were summoned; was the very same, or the like business for which Matthew Paris relates the King some few Moneths before, sent Letters to the Sherifs of every County throughout England, to cause Quatuor legales homines (the same with those this Writ stiles, Quatuor Discretos Milites) out of every of their Counties, to come to St. Albanes the 8. of August following, to inquire of and inform the King, what dammages and losses any of the Bishops had sustained by the King, and his Officers, during the Interdict and their banishments, and what was due to every one of them; that so he might satisfie them according to his premised Oath; as Chart. 16 Iohann. Regis m. 9. n. 67. the next year after this, compared with Pat. 15 Iohan. Regis nu. 3. De Interdicto relaxando, &c. clearly intimate, if not resolve. This I am fully perswaded, was the true scope, nature and intention of this Writ; which hath puzled so many, and none else have hitherto fully or truly explained: which I humbly submit to the Readers consideration.
The 3. Writ I have found in our Records, touching the election of any Knights of Counties to a Parliamentary Council before 49 H. 3. is this of Claus. 38 H. 3. m. 7. & 12. dorso, (not mentioned in any Treatises of our Parliaments, or Collection of Parliamentary Writs of Summons I have seen) transcribed with my own hand out of the Roll it self, as worthy observation.
Rex Vic. Bed. et Berks salutem. Cum Comites & Barones, & caeteri Magnates Regni nostri Nobis firmiter promiserunt, Forma directa Magnatibus & Vicom. Angliae.quod erunt London à die Pasche prox. futur. in tres Septimanas cum equis et armis, parati et benè muniti ad tendendum sine ulla dilatione versus Portesmouth, ad transfretand. ad Nos in Vasconiam contra Regem Castell. qui terram nostram Vasconiae in manuforti in aestate prox. futura hostiliter est ingressurus. Et tibi mandavimus, quod omnes ill…s de Balliva tua, qui tenent 20 librat. terrae de Nobis in Capite, vel de aliis qui sunt infra aetatem, et in custodia nostra, ad idem distringas; Tibi districtè praecipimus, quod praeter omnes praedictos venire faciatis coram Consilio nostro, apud Westmon: in Quindena Paschae prox. futur. Ouatuor Legales et Discretos Milites de Comitatibus praedictis, quos iidem Comitatus ad hoc eligerint vice omnium et singulorum eorundem; videlicet, Duos de uno Comitatu, et duos de alio, ad providendum una cum Militibus aliorum Comitatuum, quos ad eundem diem vocari fecimus, quale Auxilium Nobis in tanta necessitate impendere voluerint. Et tu ipse Militibus et aliis de Comitatu praedicto necessitatem nostram, et tam urgens negotium nostrum diligenter exponas, et ad competens auxilium Nobis ad praesens impendend. efficaciter inducas. Ita quod praefati Ouatuor Milites praefato Consilio nostro ad praedictum terminum Pasche respondere possint super praedicto auxilio pro singulis Com praedictorum. Firmiter etiam tibi praecipimus, quod omnia debita quae Nobis aretro sunt in Balliva tua et solvi debuerint ad Scaccarium nostrum ante Pasch. jam instans, vel solvi debent ad Scace. ejusdem Pasche, habeas ad idem Scac. in quindena praedict. Pasche. Scientes, quod nisi praedicta debita tunc ibidem babueris, non solum corpus tuum arrestari faciemus, set debita illa de terris et tenementis (tuis) levari faciemus ad dampnum tuum non modicum. Teste A. Regina, et C. Com. Cornub. apud Windesore xi. die Febr.