XI. ROYAL CHARTERS CONFIRMING FINAL CONCORDS
The final concord relating to land in Edlington, (fn. 1) was confirmed by a
royal charter, a practice which, in the twelfth century, was occasionally
resorted to in order to supply additional force and sanctity to the
transaction. Dr. Round cites three other instances of such charters of
confirmation; and he remarks that in each case the concord was made
before the king himself. (fn. 2) At the levying of the Edlington concord, the
king was not present. The concord is dated 12 March, 1175–6, and Dr.
Round (fn. 3) has shewn that the charter cannot be placed later than the end
of the following May, because two of its witnesses, the bishop of Oxford
and Baldwin Buelot, were among the envoys whom the king sent to
Sicily at the close of that month. The charter, which is only known in
a copy preserved in the Bardney Abbey cartulary, is as follows:
Hedlingtuna.
H. dei gracia rex Anglorum et dux Normannorum et Aquitanorum. et comes
Andegauorum . archiepiscopis . episcopis . abbatibus . comitibus . baronibus .
iusticiariis . vicecomitibus . et omnibus ministris et fidelibus suis tocius Anglie.
Salutem . Sciatis me concessisse et presenti carta confirmasse conuencionem et
concordiam que racionabiliter facta fuit inter abbatem et monachos de Bardeneia. et
Thomam Bardolf et vxorem eius Roeis filiam Radulfi Hauselin et heredes eorum
de terra de Edlingtona sicut cirographum inter eos inde factum coram Hugone de
Gundevilla. et Willelmo Basset tunc iusticiariis meis in comitatu Lincolnie'. et carta
ipsius Thome testantur . Quare uolo et firmiter precipio quod predicti monachi
prenominatam terram quam Thomas Bardolf et vxor eius Roeis eis clamauerunt
quietam; habeant et teneant cum omnibus pertinenciis suis in bosco et plano. in
pratis et pasturis . in aquis et molendinis. in viis et semitis et in omnibus aliis locis
et aliis rebus ad illam terram pertinentibus bene et in pace et libere. et quiete. [et (fn. 4) ]
integre . et honorifice secundum conuencionem et concordiam inter eos factam et
Thomam et vxorem eius prenominatam et secundum testimonium cirographi et
cartam que inde habentur . Testibus . H. [Pudsey (fn. 5) ] Dunelmensi. J. [Oxoniensi (fn. 6) ]
Norwicensi episcopis. H. de Creissi . Thoma Bardolf. Willelmo de Romara.
Baldwino Buelot . Roberto de Stuteuilla. Reginaldo de Warenna. H. de Longo
Campo . Roberto filio Bernardi . et Thoma fratre suo apud Windesouer. (fn. 7)
[From 12 March, 1175–6, to the end of May, 1176].
After the year 1195, when it became the practice to preserve in the
Treasury the copies of final concords known as feet of fines, (fn. 8) charters of
confirmation are seldom found.
The Edlington concord is also interesting, in that the Bardney
cartulary has not only preserved the royal charter confirming it, but also
the charter of the grantor which preceded it. This charter must be
placed before October, 1175, because it is witnessed by the sheriff of
Lincolnshire, Walter of Grimsby, whose term of office ended at Michaelmas in that year. It is valuable as proving that the suit which ended in
the final concord in the following March was a very early case of
fictitious litigation, a collusive action brought upon a pretended breach
of covenant. When the case came before the court the charter was
produced in evidence and, as a note in the cartulary adds, was read
before the justices of the lord the king, namely Hugh de Gundevile and
William Basset, (fn. 9) in the county court at Lincoln. The charter runs as
follows:
Thomas Bardulf'. Omnibus hominibus Francis et Anglis tam presentibus
quam futuris. salutem . Notum sit uobis omnibus. quod ego Thomas et vxor mea .
Roesia. et heredes mei bona uoluntate remittimus calumpniam quam fecimus uersus
abbatem et monachos de Bardeneia. per breve Regis . de terra de Edelingtona .
quam clamaui ex parte uxoris mee et heredum meorum. et si quid iuris in predicta
terra habuimus communi consilio dimisimus et predictam terram quietam et solam
clamauimus . et auxilium nostrum uersus omnes homines prefatos monachos de
supradicta terra infestantes in fide et ueritate prestaturos pepigimus . Hiis . testibus . Comite Simone . R. Marmiun . Valtero vicecomite . etcetera . Hec carta
fuit lecta coram iusticiariis. domini regis . scilicet Hugone de Gundeuile. Willelmo
Basset in comitatu apud Lincolniam. (fn. 10)