Important Medieval Documents

The conquest of England and its consequences.

When Edward the Confessor died in 1051, William the First wanted to be the King of England. But William had a rival – Harold Godwinson, who was crowned in London. William the First called him to resign the crown. King Harold started to mobilize his forces to protect his crown. But Harold’s rebellious brother, who was a vassal of King of Norway, started a war against Harold. He won the Battle of Stamford Bridge, and his enemies died.

During that time in Norway William the First united French barons’ and foreign knights’ powers against Harold. Pope Alexander II blessed William the First. The Battle of Hastings took place, which lasted all day. William the First won the battle and moved with his army to London, before he approached London the city authorities surrendered, he was crowned King of England on Christmas Day, 25 of December 1072. But bursts of rebellions in the North lasted more than six years.This period became known as the harrying of the North.

2. Development of central Government from the 11^th century to the 15^th century.

William the First (1066 – 1087) laid the Curia Regis (King’s Court). This wasn’t just a court of law, but a royal household. Its council comprised the King and the most powerful men in the country. Curia Regis was an instrument to govern the country and a court for deciding disputes. William built a strong centralized administration staffed with his Norman supporters. Sheriffs were important people for the King; they controlled shires, kept order, collected taxes, called people to royal army.

Henry the First (1272 – 1307) didn’t believe to the government. That’s why he laid the Exchequer (state audit), which controlled the financial situation in the country and sheriffs. He minimized their power, issued the Domesday Book and Pipe Rolls. King made the case law.

Important Medieval Documents.

The Doomsday book (Book of Winchester) was issued by William the First in 1086. King wanted to have more information about his country. The Book included the owners of property, how much money any person should pay in taxes, the amount of money Lord can control.

The Pipe Rolls (1130) was a collection of financial records, was issued by Exchequer, when Henry the First was a King of England.

4. Types of courts in the 11^th century. Development of the court system from the 12^th to the 15^th century.

Courts functioned in England in the 11^th century: shire courts (shire’s causes), feudal courts (feudal’ causes), ecclesiastical courts (church’s causes, bishops were judges) and jury trial. Henry the Second in the 12^th century changed the judicial system. He changed the criminal investigation. The Trial by Ordeal was banned. He laid Trial by Jury. He developed three groups of judges: travelling judges, judges who followed the King, judges of Westminster.

There were some problems of common law courts in 14^th, 15^th centuries. Juries were bribed; common law courts were expensive and lengthy. People petitioned to the King to redress their grievances. The Court of Chancery was formed, because the Chancellor decided to address petition to the King.

5. The emergence and development of case law and common law in the 12^th and the 13^th centuries.

In the 12^th century Henry the Second sent the group of people without professional knowledge to travel to different parts of England. While travelling they had to apply the laws that had been made by judges at Westminster. In this way many local customary laws were replaced by new national laws. As these national laws applied to everyone, they were ‘common to all’. These laws became known as common law.