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Amercement
An amercement is a financial penalty in English law, common during the Middle Ages, imposed either by the court or by peers. While it is often synonymous with a fine, it differs in that a fine is a fixed sum prescribed by statute and was often voluntary, while an amercement is arbitrary. Amercements were commonly used as a punishment for minor offences (such as trespassing in the king's forest), as an alternative to imprisonment. Etymology The noun "amercement" derives from the verb to amerce: a king would amerce his subject, who had broken a law. The term is of Anglo-Norman origin ( Law French, from French, from Latin), and literally means "being at the mercy of": ''a-merce-ment'' (the English word mercy is cognate). History Early Norman rule A system of amercements was in place as early as the Norman Conquest of 1066, but was still regarded as an innovation when Henry I acceded to the throne in 1100. As the number of entities having legal jurisdiction over a given locat ...
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Henry II Of England
Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ... from 1154 until his death in 1189. During his reign he controlled Kingdom of England, England, substantial parts of Wales in the High Middle Ages, Wales and Lordship of Ireland, Ireland, and much of Kingdom of France, France (including Duchy of Normandy, Normandy, County of Anjou, Anjou, and Duchy of Aquitaine, Aquitaine), an area that altogether was later called the Angevin Empire, and also held power over Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and the Duchy of Brittany. Henry was the eldest son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and Empress Matilda, Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England. By the age of fourteen, he became politically and militarily involved in The Anarchy, his mother's efforts ...
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Magna Carta
(Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the King confirm the Charter of Liberties, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood by their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War. After John's death, the regency government of his young son, Henry III, reissued the document in 1216, stripped of some of its more radical content, in an unsuccessful bid to build political support for their cause. At the end of th ...
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John, King Of England
John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The First Barons' War, baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered a foundational milestone in English and later British constitution of the United Kingdom, constitutional history. John was the youngest son of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was nicknamed John Lackland () because, as a younger son, he was not expected to inherit significant lands. He became Henry's favourite child following the failed revolt of 1173–1174 by his brothers Henry the Young King, Richard I of England, Richard, and Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, Geoffrey against their ...
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Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ages, boroughs were settlements in England that were granted some self-government; burghs were the Scottish equivalent. In medieval England, boroughs were also entitled to elect members of Parliament of England, parliament. The use of the word ''borough'' probably derives from the burghal system of Alfred the Great. Alfred set up a system of defensive strong points (Burhs); in order to maintain these particular settlements, he granted them a degree of autonomy. After the Norman Conquest, when certain towns were granted self-governance, the concept of the burh/borough seems to have been reused to mean a self-governing settlement. The concept of the borough has been used repeatedly (and often differently) throughout the world. ...
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Burgess (title)
A burgess was the holder of a certain status in an English, Irish or Scottish borough in the Middle Ages and the early modern period, designating someone of the burgher class. It originally meant a freeman of a borough or burgh, but later came to be used mostly for office-holders in a town or one of its representatives in the House of Commons of England. Etymology The word was derived in Middle English and Middle Scots from the Old French word ''burgeis'', simply meaning "an inhabitant of a town" (cf. ''burgeis'' or ''burges'' respectively). The Old French word ''burgeis'' is derived from ''bourg'', meaning a market town or medieval village, itself derived from Late Latin ''burgus'', meaning "fortress" or "wall". In effect, the reference was to the north-west European medieval and renaissance merchant class which tended to set up their storefronts along the outside of the city wall, where traffic through the gates was an advantage and safety in event of an attack was easily a ...
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Charter To Dunwich
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the recipient admits a limited (or inferior) status within the relationship, and it is within that sense that charters were historically granted, and it is that sense which is retained in modern usage of the term. In early medieval Britain, charters transferred land from donors to recipients. The word entered the English language from the Old French ', via -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ', via Latin ', and ultimately from Ancient Greek">Greek (', meaning "layer of papyrus"). It has come to be synonymous with a document that sets out a grant of rights or privileges. Other usages The term is used for a special case (or as an exception) of an insti ...
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Godefroy Family
The Godefroy family (Gothofredus), a French noble family, which numbered among its members several distinguished jurists and historians. The family claimed descent from Symon Godefroy, who was born at Mons about 1320 and was lord of Sapigneulx near Berry-au-Bac, now in the ''département'' of Aisne. Denis Godefroy (Dionysius Gothofredus) (1549–1622), jurist, son of Leon Godefroy, lord of Guigneccourt, was professor of law in Geneva. Denis's mother, Marie Lourdel, was the great granddaughter of Jacques III De Thou, and a cousin by marriage of the celebrated antiquarian Claude Fauchet. His eldest son, Théodore Godefroy (1580–1649), was born at Geneva on 14 July 1580. He abjured Calvinism, and was called to the bar in Paris. He became historiographer of France in 1613, and was employed from time to time on diplomatic missions. He was employed at the Congress of Münster, where he remained after the signing of peace in 1648 as ''chargé d'affaires'' until his death on 5 ...
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Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke ( , formerly ; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan and Jacobean era, Jacobean eras. Born into an upper-class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the Bar on 20 April 1578. As a barrister, he took part in several notable cases, including ''Slade's Case'', before earning enough political favour to be elected to Parliament, where he served first as Solicitor General for England and Wales, Solicitor General and then as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. Following a promotion to Attorney General for England and Wales, Attorney General he led the prosecution in several notable cases, including those against Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux, Walter Raleigh, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the Gun ...
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Teutons
The Teutons (, ; ) were an ancient northern European tribe mentioned by Roman authors. The Teutons are best known for their participation, together with the Cimbri and other groups, in the Cimbrian War with the Roman Republic in the late second century BC. Some generations later, Julius Caesar compared them to the Germanic peoples of his own time, and used this term for all northern peoples located east of the Rhine. Later Roman authors followed his identification. However, there is no direct evidence about whether or not they spoke a Germanic language. Evidence such as the tribal name, and the names of their rulers, as they were written up by Roman historians, indicates a strong influence from Celtic languages. On the other hand, the indications that classical authors gave about the homeland of the Teutones is considered by many scholars to show that they lived in an area associated with early Germanic languages, and not in an area associated with Celtic languages. Name Th ...
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Frederic Seebohm (historian)
Frederic Arthur Seebohm (23 November 1833 – 6 February 1912) was a British economic historian. He is notable for his emphasis on continuity between the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. Life Seebohm was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He was the second son of Benjamin Seebohm (1798–1871) and Esther Wheeler (1798-1864). Benjamin Seebohm was a wool merchant at Horton Grange, Bradford, the family having moved to England from Waldeck-Pyrmont in Germany.Harvey, P. D. A.Seebohm, Frederic (1833–1912)''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Online ed. Ed. David Cannadine). Oxford: OUP, 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2017 (subscription required) Frederic was the great-grandson of philanthropist and Quaker William Tuke, and the younger brother of steel manufacturer and ornithologist Henry Seebohm (1832-1895). Frederic was educated at Bootham School (a Quaker school in York). He became a barrister in the Middle Temple in London in 1856. The following year he married Mary Ann Exton. ...
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Villein
A villein is a class of serfdom, serf tied to the land under the feudal system. As part of the contract with the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord's fields in return for land. Villeins existed under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from freemen, and could not leave without his lord's permission. Generally, villeins held their status not by birth but by the land they held, and it was also possible for them to gain manumission from their lords. The villeinage system largely died out in England in 1500, with some forms of villeinage being in use in France until 1789. Etymology Villein is derived from Late Latin ''villanus'', meaning a man employed at a Ancient Rome, Roman villa rustica, or large agricultural estate. The system of tied serfdom originates from a decree issued by the late Roman Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305 CE) in an attempt to prevent the flight of peasants from the land and the consequ ...
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Pipe Rolls
The Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rollsBrown ''Governance'' pp. 54–56 or the Great Rolls of the Pipe, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury, and its successors, as well as the Exchequer of Ireland. The earliest date from the 12th century, and the series extends, mostly complete, from then until 1833.Chrimes ''Administrative History'' pp. 62–63 They form the oldest continuous series of records concerning English governance kept by the English, British, Irish and United Kingdom governments, covering a span of about 700 years. The early medieval ones are especially useful for historical study, as they are some of the earliest financial records available from the Middle Ages. A similar set of records was developed for Normandy, which was ruled by the English kings from 1066 to 1205, but the Norman Pipe rolls have not survived in a continuous series like the English. They were the records of the yearly audits performed ...
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