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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029811100 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY DE ESSEX AND 
 
 ROBERT DE MONTFORT 
 
 AT 
 
 READING ABBEY. 
 
By the same Author : 
 
 " A History of Reading Abbey." 
 
 " The Rise and Fall of Reading Abbey." 
 
 " The First and Last Abbots of Reading." 
 
 " Hugh II., Eighth Abbot of Reading." 
 
 " Sumer is icumen in." 
 
 " The Marriage of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster 
 
 at Reading Abbey." 
 " The Shrine of St. James at Reading Abbey." 
 " King Henry Beauclerc and Reading Abbey." 
 " A Guide to Reading Abbey." 
 Etc., etc. 
 
TLhc XLvial by Combat 
 
 of 
 1benn> be lEssey ani> 
 
 "Robert be /Iftontfort 
 
 at 
 
 Reading Hbbe\\ 
 
 By 
 JAMIESON B. HURRY, M.A., M.D. 
 
 With Frontispiece. 
 
 LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK 
 7 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 
 
 1919 
 
£bis IDolume 
 
 WAS PUBLISHED IN CONNECTION 
 WITH THE PRESENTATION TO THE 
 READING ART GALLERY OF A 
 PICTURE ENTITLED " THE TRIAL 
 BY COMBAT OF HENRY DE ESSEX 
 AND ROBERT DE MONTFORT AT 
 READING ABBEY, A.D. 1 1 63." 
 
TLhc prologue. 
 
 THE trial by combat of Henry de Essex and Robert 
 de Montfort, which Jocelin of Brakelond has re- 
 corded in his " Chronicle " and which Carlyle has 
 immortalised in " Past and Present," forms a 
 dramatic incident in the annals of the " noble and royal 
 monastery of Reading," and will be held in perpetual remem- 
 brance by those who are interested in that famous home of 
 religion and learning. 
 
 This trial appeals also to a larger public, since it illustrates 
 an extraordinary development in the administration of justice 
 in the Middle Ages, and thus possesses an importance for the 
 sociologist, the historian and the jurist. 
 
 Lastly, the fate of Henry de Essex shows how conscience 
 makes cowards of us all, and appeals to all persons and ages ; 
 it points a moral and adorns a tale. 
 
 J.B.H. 
 
Contents. 
 
 
 The Prologue 
 
 I. 
 
 Henry de Essex 
 
 II. 
 
 Robert de Montfort 
 
 III. 
 
 The Battle of Coleshill 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ordeals ... 
 
 V. 
 
 The Trial by Combat ... 
 
 VI. 
 
 The Monk at Reading Abbey . . 
 
 
 The Epilogue 
 
 
 Xotes 
 
 
 Index 
 
 
 jfrontispiece 
 
 The Trial bv Combat. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 5 
 
 1 1 
 
 V3 
 
 1 5 
 1 8 
 
 2 3 
 
 -/ 
 
 3° 
 
I 
 Ifoenn? be Essey. 
 
 TWO combatants form the dramatis persona of the 
 famous " trial by combat " which forms the subject 
 of this Essay. The scanty details of their history 
 that have survived may be gathered together in brief 
 biographical sketches. 
 
 Henry de Essex was a man " held in high esteem amongst 
 the great men of the realm, a man of much account, of noble 
 birth, conspicuous by deeds of arms, the King's standard- 
 bearer, and feared by all on account of his power." Such is 
 the description given by Jocelin of Brakelond in his famous 
 " Chronicle." • 
 
 The founder of the family of de Essex was Robert 
 Fitz-Wimark — a Norman noble who settled in England in the 
 days of Edward the Confessor. He was a great favourite of 
 the King, who died supported in his arms, in the presence of 
 the Queen " the Lady Eadgyth," Dux Haraldus (afterwards 
 King Harold) and Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury, a 
 group which appears in the Bayeux Tapestry. 2 His common 
 title was Robert the Staller (Regalis Palatii Stabilitor), and he 
 held the office of Sheriff of Essex. 
 
 Just before the battle of Hastings Robert Fitz-Wimark 
 despatched a message to William of Normandy, urging the 
 folly of risking a pitched battle with Harold who was advancing 
 to meet him at the head of 100,000 men. Had the advice of 
 Robert Fitz-Wimark been followed the whole history of 
 England might have been changed. 
 
 At the death of Robert, his son Sweyne assumed the 
 affix " de Essex," and is so styled again and again in the Essex 
 Domesday. Sweyne was a great landowner and according to 
 Domesday held fifty-five lordships in Essex, apart from 
 properties in Suffolk and Hants. He built the castle of 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY 
 
 Ravleigh, called in Domesday Riganea, 3 and was succeeded by 
 his son Robert de Essex who founded Prittlewell Priory, near 
 Southend. 
 
 Henry de Essex, son and heir of Robert de Essex, survived 
 him as Baron of Rayleigh. 4 He was a warden of the Cinque 
 Ports and restored Saltwood Castle near Hvthe, an ancient 
 edifice stated to be of Roman origin. 5 His mother, named 
 Gunnor, a Bigod bv birth, survived her husband. Henry de 
 Essex is represented to-day by the Baroness Berners. 
 
 Henry de Essex appears in history as a witness of the 
 Charter of King Stephen (c. a.d. 1140), by which Geoffrey 
 of Mandeville was created first Earl of Essex. Subsequently 
 he witnessed several other Charters of King Stephen, as well 
 as some of those granted bv the Empress Maud to the Earls 
 of Oxford and of Essex. 6 
 
 In 1 1 54 he was appointed to the office of Royal Constable 
 or Constabularius Regis, a position of great dignity in the 
 time of Henry I. and his successors ; the Constable was 
 practically a quartermaster-general of the Court and of the 
 army/ and generally found with the garrison in the castle or 
 with the armv in the field. 8 
 
 Essex also held the important post of Royal Standard- 
 Bearer to King Henry II. — a post apparently associated with 
 that of Roval Constable. 
 
 In 1 156 Essex was entrusted with important judicial 
 duties, while the King was absent on the Continent, and 
 England was left to the management of Earl Robert of 
 Leicester and Richard of Lucy, the judiciars. At this period 
 a general visitation of the country by itinerant justices was 
 introduced, and Essex heard pleas in eight of the Southern 
 Counties, being accompanied in the case of two counties 
 (Essex and Kent) bv the Chancellor, Thomas Becket, who 
 for the first time appeared in the character of a judge. 9 
 
 When King Henrv undertook his expedition into North 
 Wales in 1157, Essex accompanied the King, and it was during 
 this expedition that took place the dramatic incident at the 
 
HENRY D E ESSEX 
 
 Battle of Coleshill, so pregnant with his future destiny. The 
 details of this incident will be dealt with in Section III. 
 
 In the following year he again accompanied his sovereign 
 to France and rendered valuable services during the quarrels 
 with the King of France, especially in connection with the 
 expedition against the city of Toulouse, the capture of which 
 would have extended Henry's dominions to the Mediterranean 
 and the Rhone. The city was defended both by the Count 
 of St. Gilles and by his brother-in-law King Louis VII. of 
 France. 
 
 King Henry at first contemplated laying siege to the city 
 and was strongly urged in this direction by his Chancellor 
 Thomas and his officers, who pointed out what a splendid 
 opportunity there was of at one blow capturing the city as 
 well as King Louis, Count Raymond Berengar IV. of Bar- 
 celona and all their troops. King Henry, however, feeling 
 that such an act would be a breach of the obligations and 
 fealty which he owed to Louis as his suzerain, turned a deaf 
 ear to all appeals, and, accompanied by the King of Scots and 
 all his host, retreated towards his own dominions. 
 
 Although Toulouse was abandoned, Henry captured 
 most of the neighbouring country, and would have retained 
 his conquests but for his great barons, who refused to under- 
 take the task of protecting these territories against Raymond 
 and Louis unless the King himself remained to support them. 
 Only two faithful ministers accepted the duty : Thomas the 
 Chancellor and Henry de Essex, the Constable, who rendered 
 distinguished service. Their head-quarters were fixed at 
 Cahors whence they put down every attempt at rising against 
 Henry II. 's authority. 
 
 Unhappily the great and proud Henry of Essex had a 
 dark side to his nature, which Carlyle has described in his 
 inimitable style : 
 
 " Henry Earl of Essex, Standard-bearer of England, 
 had high places and emoluments ; had a haughty high soul, 
 yet with various flaws, or rather with one many-branched 
 flaw and crack, running through the texture of it. For 
 example, did he not treat Gilbert de Cereville in the most 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY 
 
 shocking manner ? He cast Gilbert into prison ; and, 
 with chains and slow torments, wore the life out of him 
 there. And Gilbert's crime was understood to be only that 
 of innocent Joseph : the Lady Essex was a Potiphar's Wife, 
 and had accused poor Gilbert ! Other cracks, and branches 
 of that widespread flaw in the Standard-bearer's soul we 
 could point out : but indeed the main stem and trunk of all 
 is too visible in this, That he had no right reverence for 
 the Heavenly in Man, — that far from showing due reverence 
 to St. Edmund, he did not even show him common justice. 
 While others in the Eastern Counties were adorning and 
 enlarging with rich gifts St. Edmund's resting-place, which 
 had become a city of refuge for many things, this Earl of 
 Essex flatly defrauded him, by violence or quirk of law, of 
 five shillings yearly, and converted said sum to his own 
 poor uses ! Nay, in another case of litigation, the unjust 
 Standard-bearer, for his own profit, asserting that the cause 
 belonged not to St. Edmund's Court, but to his in Lailand 
 Hundred, ' involved us in travellings and innumerable 
 expenses, vexing the servants of St. Edmund for a long 
 tract of time.' In short, he is without reverence for the 
 Heavenly, this Standard-bearer ; reveres only the Earthly, 
 Gold-coined ; and has a most morbid lamentable flaw in 
 the texture of him. It cannot come to good." I0 
 
 Little is known in regard to Essex's family. He appears 
 to have left two sons, Henry and Hugh. 11 The elder of these, 
 Henry of Essex, Junior, was a witness to a Charter granted 
 c. 1 1 56 by Henry II. to Richard Talbot of some land in the 
 Manor of Linton in Herefordshire. Both of these sons were 
 knights. 
 
 10 
 
II 
 IRobert be dftontfort. 
 
 F 
 
 EW biographical details are known of the second 
 combatant, Robert de Montfort, a kinsman of Henry 
 de Essex and his equal in birth and power. Dugdale 
 speaks of him as " an eminent nobleman." 
 
 Robert de Montfort was descended from the Hugh de 
 Montfort who accompanied William the Conqueror over 
 from Normandy and was present at the Battle of Hastings. 
 His pedigree is given by Dugdale, although considerable 
 doubt attaches to some of the entries. 12 
 
 In the first year of Henry II.'s reign, he took his uncle 
 Waleran, the Earl of Mellent, at a conference held near 
 Bernay. The next recorded event appears to be the accusa- 
 tion of treachery brought against Henry de Essex at the Battle 
 of Coleshill. The details of the judicial duel resulting from 
 this charge are given in Section V. 
 
 Robert de Montfort also gave to the monks of Thorney the 
 moiety of the Church of Wenge in the County of Rutland, and 
 to the monks of Bermondsey the tithes of Langfort, Bodeny, 
 Wikes and Nacheton. He also appears as a witness to a 
 Charter given either in February or March 1 158 by Henry II. 
 at Woodstock, conferring a barony on William Malduit.' 3 
 
 Robert de Montfort next appears in history as taking part 
 in the wars of n 73 between King Henry and Raymond of 
 Toulouse aided by the younger Henry. 
 
 In the 1 2th century, there were two famous houses in 
 France bearing the name of Montfort, both of them destined 
 to figure in the annals of English history. The more famous 
 of the two was that of Almeric and Bertrada : the other with 
 which we are more closely concerned was the house of 
 Montfort on the Risle, represented by Robert de Montfort. 14 
 
 1 1 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READIXG ABBEY 
 
 Both these houses were conspicuous in the earlier risings of 
 the feudal baronage against the repressing policy of William 
 and Henrv I. Both houses were represented among the 
 partizans of the young King against Henry II. in 1173, 
 Robert de Montfort being amongst them. 
 
 Robert de Montfort's sister Adeline became the wife 
 of Robert de Vere (as recorded in the Pipe Roll of 1130), 
 who thus became possessed of the honour of Haughley 
 (" Hagenet "), and with it the office of Constable, in which 
 capacity - Robert de Vere figures among the witnesses to 
 Stephen's Charter of Liberties in 1136. The same office of 
 Constable was subsequently held by Henry de Essex, and 
 Round suggests that possibly the accusation of treason later 
 on was partly due to a grudge on the part of the descendant 
 of the dispossessed line against the existing possessor of the 
 fief. 1 - 
 
 12 
 
/ ' r 
 
 lit 
 
 TLbc Battle of (Iolesbill. 
 
 THE quarrel between Henry of Essex and Robert of 
 Montfort originated in a famous incident which 
 occurred during Henry II.'s first Welsh war, i.e. 
 a.d. 1157. The English King had for some years 
 been seeking an excuse for interfering in Welsh affairs and 
 eventually found his opportunity in the domestic quarrels of 
 the Welsh princes. Owen Gwyneth, prince of North Wales, 
 had confiscated the estates of his brother Cadwallader and 
 banished him from the country. Thereupon Cadwallader 
 took refuge at the English Court and implored Henry's 
 assistance in the recovery of his lands. Apart from such 
 persuasion Henry was tempted into war both by a desire for 
 glory and by the hope of recovering territories which had 
 formerly been tributary to England. 
 
 Accordingly a Council was held at Northampton in 
 July, at which orders were issued for an expedition into North 
 Wales. The force employed was the usual feudal levy, but 
 instead of calling out the whole body of knights to serve their 
 legal term of forty days, Henry required every two knights 
 throughout England to join in equipping a third — no doubt 
 for a threefold term of service. By this expedient he obtained 
 a force sufficient for his purpose, and guarded against the risk 
 of its breaking up before the completion of its task. 
 
 The invasion of Wales was both by land and sea. The 
 English forces assembled near Chester, on Saltney Marsh, 
 and were joined by Madoc Ap Meredith, prince of Powys, 
 while the Welsh forces under Gwyneth with his three sons 
 were entrenched at Basingwerk. The King, with his youthful 
 daring, set off at once by way of the sea coast, hoping to surprise 
 the Welsh. But Owen's sons were on the watch and suddenly 
 attacked the foe in the narrow passage of Coleshille, 16 where 
 they had secretly hidden a powerful ambuscade. The 
 
 '3 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY 
 
 English, entangled in the woody, marshy ground, were easily 
 routed by the nimble light-armed Welsh. Suddenly a cry was 
 heard " The King is slain," as a result of which Henry of 
 Essex, the hereditary Standard-bearer of England, dropped 
 the Royal Standard and fled in terror. 17 King Henry, how- 
 ever, soon showed himself alive, rallied his troops and cut his 
 way through the ambush with such vigour that Owen judged 
 it prudent to withdraw from Basingwerk, and seek a safer 
 retreat amongst the hills round Snowdon. 
 
 Henry pushed on to Rhuddlan, and there fortified the 
 castle. Meanwhile a great fleet under the command of Madoc 
 Ap Meredith had sailed for Anglesey, where a few troops 
 were landed, who ravaged the country and even plundered 
 the churches. Indeed so outrageous was their conduct that 
 the incensed islanders combined to attack the invaders as 
 they were returning to their ships overloaded with spoils, and 
 cut them to pieces. 
 
 The troops that had remained on board were so terrified 
 at the fate of their comrades that they forthwith sailed back to 
 Chester, only to hear on their arrival that the war was over. 
 Owen, afraid of being hemmed in between the English army 
 and the fleet, had sued for peace, reinstated his banished 
 brother, done homage to King Henry, and given hostages for 
 his future loyalty. As the South Wales princes were all 
 vassals of North Wales, Owen's submission was equivalent 
 to a formal acknowledgment of Henry's rights as lord 
 paramount over the whole country, and the King was techni- 
 cally justified in boasting that he had brought the whole of 
 Wales under his jurisdiction. 
 
 Essex appears to have been acquitted by his Sovereign of 
 dishonourable conduct, since he was intrusted with an 
 important command in the subsequent expedition against 
 Toulouse. 18 
 
 14 
 
IV 
 
 ©cbeals. 
 
 BY the ordeal or Dei judicium was meant in the Middle 
 Ages a miraculous decision as to the justice or 
 otherwise of an accusation or a claim, such ordeals, 
 in which the most solemn rites of religion were 
 associated with the public administration of justice, being 
 generally accepted as conclusive evidence of guilt or innocence. 
 
 In a people just emerging from ignorance and barbarism, 
 the ordinary rules of evidence as accepted to-day were too 
 complex to be appreciated, even if the magistrates possessed 
 the necessary power of discrimination and execution. Some 
 shorter and simpler process was required ; especially was 
 some sign that appealed to the senses likely to carry con- 
 viction. Still better if such sign indicated in the popular 
 imagination the interference of the Deity. What better 
 evidence indeed could be desired as to the truth or otherwise 
 of an accusation? How could an omniscient Deity, without 
 whose knowledge not even a sparrow falls to the ground, 
 remain indifferent if solemnly invoked by his own priests and 
 worshippers ! 
 
 Thus in course of time such ordeals became recognised 
 by the legislature and regulated with minute exactitude. 
 The accuser first of all swore to the truth of the charge, while 
 the accused attested his innocence by oath. Then followed 
 the necessary preparations for the ordeal. These included 
 fasting, prayer, priestly adjuration and the administration of 
 the Holy Communion with the words " Corpus hoc et sanguis 
 Domini nostri Jhesu Christi sit tibi ad probationem hodie," 
 may this body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ prove thee 
 innocent or guilty this day. 19 
 
 In Anglo-Saxon times the ordeal took one of four forms : 
 
 i. The accused was required to eat the corsnet or cake 
 of barley bread, while the priest prayed that, if guilty, the 
 
 •5 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY 
 
 accused might tremble and look pale, and that, when he at- 
 tempted to chew, his jaws might be fixed and the bread ejected 
 from his mouth. 
 
 2. In the ordeal of immersion the accused was stripped 
 of his clothes, and his hands tied crosswise to his feet. Then 
 a cord was fastened round his waist, and he was slowly lowered 
 into a pool. If he sank, he was pronounced innocent ; if he 
 had the misfortune to float, his guilt was clear and he was 
 handed over to justice. 
 
 3 . For the ordeal of hot water a fire was kindled under a 
 cauldron of water in a remote part of the church, and a stone 
 or piece of iron placed at the bottom. Meanwhile the priest 
 chanted the Litany. As soon as the water reached boiling 
 point the accused plunged his naked arm into the cauldron 
 and brought out the stone or iron. The arm was immediately 
 wrapped in a clean cloth and sealed with the seal of the 
 church. After three days the seal was broken and the bandage 
 unwound ; if the skin had perfectly healed, the accused was 
 adjudged innocent. 
 
 4. For the ordeal by hot iron an iron weighing from one 
 to three pounds was placed on hot coals just as Mass was 
 begun. At the last collect the iron was removed from the 
 fire, when the accused seized it in his hand, carried it for a 
 measured distance equal to nine of his own feet and threw it 
 down. The treatment of the burn and the indications of 
 guilt or innocence were the same as in the ordeal by hot water. 
 
 After the Norman Conquest a fifth form of ordeal was 
 introduced which had hitherto been unknown to the Anglo- 
 Saxons, viz. the ordeal of the judicial duel or trial by combat. 
 
 By William the Conqueror's legislation all these forms 
 of ordeal appear to have been recognised. The old law of 
 England retained its primary place, while Norman law was 
 introduced for exceptional cases, and at first for the benefit 
 of Frenchmen only. But by degrees the trial by battle became 
 fashionable, 20 even in cases where only Englishmen were 
 concerned, and all the original Norman minutiae were re- 
 tained. This form of ordeal embodied some of the features 
 
 16 
 
ORDEALS 
 
 of chivalry and doubtless appealed to a people of a warlike 
 spirit more than did the earlier ordeals so closely associated 
 with priestcraft. 
 
 By the middle of the twelfth century the trial by battle 
 had become the fashionable form of ordeal, and was the one 
 adopted to settle the dispute between Henry of Essex and 
 Robert of Montfort. For the defeated there was no appeal 
 from what was regarded as judicium Dei. Vae victo. 
 
 We may well feel amazed at the folly of our ancestors in 
 pronouncing a man guilty unless cleared by a miracle, and in 
 expecting that the laws of Nature would be suspended by 
 Providence in order to save an innocent man. Such combats 
 declared no impartial judgment but the might of the strongest, 
 and often ended in a way clearly contrary to justice. Never- 
 theless such ordeals were sanctioned and approved both by 
 the Crown, the Church and the people. To-day we know 
 better than to believe that Heaven unquestionably gives 
 victory to the innocent party ; else the martyrs of the Church 
 would be proved guilty by their death. Later on indeed 
 these ancient ordeals were condemned by the Church, and 
 gradually went out of use, while the trial by battle lived on, 
 surviving in the Statute Book long after it had been forgotten 
 in practice, till it was formally abolished in the year 1819. 
 
 17 
 
V 
 
 Hbe XTrial b£ Combat 
 
 NOT far from the River Gate of the " Royal and 
 Noble Monastery of Reading " is situate an eyot 
 bathed by the " silver streaming Thames," 
 amongst green pastures dotted with sheep and 
 cattle, and sparkling with cowslips, kingcups and buttercups. 21 
 To the North and the South rise gentle hills enclosing the 
 valley of the Thames and formerly fringed with forests 
 stretching for many miles up and down the river. Above this 
 eyot towered the massive walls of King Henry Beauclerc's 
 foundation, which kept watch and ward over the village of 
 Radingia nestling under its shadow. There dwelt the brethren 
 whom William of Malmesbury eulogizes as " a noble pattern 
 of holiness and an example of unwearied and delightful 
 hospitality." Over its portals hovered the Angel of Mercy 
 administering relief from a never failing treasury to the poor, 
 the sick, the pilgrim, the leper. Ever within the sacred 
 aisles rose the glorious service of praise to the Almighty and 
 of intercession for the sins of mankind. This eyot has won 
 an immortal place in history as the scene of a duel a outrance. 
 
 The charge of treason which Robert of Montfort brought 
 against Henry of Essex referred to the incident during the 
 battle of Coleshill, which has already been described. King 
 Henry took no notice of the alleged act of treachery at the time, 
 apparently attributing it to sudden terror and not to wilful 
 or criminal misconduct. But so odious an accusation, in- 
 volving a capital crime, proved too serious to be permanently 
 overlooked, and as each party accused the other, King Henry 
 decreed that the truth must be elucidated by a trial by combat. 
 
 On March 31, 11 63, King Henry presided over the Curia 
 Regis held at Windsor at which Robert of Montfort formally 
 appealed Henry of Essex of treachery at the battle of Coleshill 
 six years before. In the quaint phraseology of the period 
 
 18 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT 
 
 hoc offert probare versus eum per corpus suum, "he offers to 
 prove the same by his own body." Essex on the other hand 
 protested his innocence, and hoc offert defender e per corpus 
 suum, " he offers to rebut the charge by his own body." 
 Whereupon consideratum est quod duellum sit inter eos et 
 Henricus det vadium dejendendi se et Robertus probandi, " it 
 was decided that there should be a duel between them, and 
 that Henry would give a pledge that he would defend himself 
 and that Robert would prove his charge." Veniant tali 
 die armati, " let them come armed on such a day." 22 
 
 Gloves were then exchanged as a symbol of plighted 
 faith and of the challenge and acceptance, while the parties 
 found " wads " or pledges, i.e. neighbours became bail for 
 their due appearance. This giving of "wads" was described 
 as vadiare bellum, " to wage battle," whence is derived the 
 name " wager of battel " by which the judicial combat was 
 known to English law. 23 
 
 The King appointed that the trial by battle should take 
 place on April 8th at Reading, to which town he himself pro- 
 ceeded, accompanied by the great nobles of the realm. 
 
 From all points of the compass flock crowds of sightseers. 
 Some would be lodged at the Hospitium of St. John, some in 
 the humble cottages of Radingia ; others doubtless brought 
 tents and pitched them under the willows bordering the 
 Thames. 
 
 Our authority for the duel is the story told by Essex 
 himself in the Abbey of Reading to Abbot Samson of St. 
 Edmundsbury, who doubtless rejoiced in such a tribute to the 
 glorious King and martyr Edmund. 
 
 Carlyle retells the tale in a stirring passage and shews 
 how the unjust Standard-Bearer becomes a lamed soul which 
 cannot fight. 
 
 " And it came to pass, while Robert de Montfort 
 thundered on him manfully with hard and frequent strokes, 
 and a valiant beginning promised the fruit of victory, Henry 
 of Essex, rather giving way, glanced round on all sides ; 
 and lo, at the rim of the horizon, on the confines of the 
 
 19 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY 
 
 River and land, he discerned the glorious King and Martyr 
 Edmund, in shining armour, and as if hovering in the air ; 
 looking towards him with severe countenance, nodding his 
 head with a mien and motion of austere anger. At St. 
 Edmund's hand there stood also another Knight, Gilbert 
 de Cereville, whose armour was not so splendid, whose 
 stature was less gigantic ; casting vengeful looks at him. 
 This he seeing with his eyes, remembered that old crime 
 brings new shame. And now wholly desperate, and chang- 
 ing reason into violence, he took the part of one blindly 
 attacking, not skilfully defending. Who while he struck 
 fiercely was more fiercely struck ; and so, in short, fell 
 down vanquished, and it was thought slain. As he lay 
 there for dead, his kinsmen, Magnates of England, be- 
 sought the King, that the Monks of Reading might have 
 leave to bury him." 24 
 
 Under the care of the monks he recovered and eventually 
 joined that famous community of brethren. 
 
 As a result of his defeat Henry of Essex was outlawed 
 and his great fief was added to the Crown demesne. 25 
 
 Let us attempt to reconstitute the scene of this historic 
 duel, as represented in Mr. Harry Morley's picture now 
 hanging in the public Art Gallery at Reading. 
 
 The frontispiece to this booklet, reproduced from the 
 picture, gives a general impression of the scene, although 
 owing to the absence of colour much of the vividness of 
 the original is lost. Imagine then an eyot in the Thames, 
 long, low and narrow, separated from either bank by 
 enough water to make any effort by partisans to interrupt 
 the combat difficult, nay impossible, without boats or barges. 
 All craft of any size would be secured by the King and Abbot, 
 and presumably moored alongside the island under armed 
 guard. 
 
 A barrier surrounds the lists, for the occasion was suffi- 
 ciently near the days of the Norse " holmgang " and 
 " enhazelled fields " of battle to have been influenced by 
 early traditions. Commanding the lists are two daises at the 
 
 20 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT 
 
 western end, the taller one for the King, the lower for the 
 Abbot, screened from the weather by " baudekins " and 
 surrounded by royal guards. 
 
 King Henry II. is seated on his dais, with the nobles of 
 his court on his left. To his right sits Roger, Abbot of Reading, 
 surrounded by monks. 
 
 In the sky above are seen St. Edmund with starved 
 Gilbert de Cereville by his side. At a table immediately in 
 front of the King sits the clerk of the court, while just behind 
 him are two sergeants of the King armed with billhooks, 
 acting as a body-guard. Near to the clerk of the court is seen 
 the priest ready to assist the defeated combatant. Beyond 
 the group of monks is the tent of Montfort with a crowd of 
 supporters, while on the left of the picture and in the fore- 
 ground are the tent and supporters of Essex. Beyond the 
 river in the distant background rises the Abbey church, with 
 a huge central tower and west front. 
 
 Within the lists are seen the two combatants : Henry de 
 Essex, wounded and defeated, has fallen to the ground, 
 having lost both shield and sword, while his adversary Robert 
 de Montfort stands lost in wonder at the unexpected turn of 
 events. 
 
 At judicial duels principals almost certainly fought on foot ; 
 the only record makes no allusion to horses, while the site in 
 the Thames makes it difficult to believe that horses were used. 
 The genius of our race had already begun to assert itself, and 
 throughout the whole of the Middle Ages Englishmen at almost 
 every battle of importance fought on foot. 
 
 These combats of men armed cap-a-pie were tests of 
 endurance and of hardihood. Thus in Mallory's Morte 
 a" Arthur knights butt one another like rams, and wrestle and 
 thump until one or other is thrown. Such contests between 
 well armed and well matched combatants might last for hours, 
 and at times men died of exhaustion with scarcely a wound. 
 
 So long as a combatant kept his temper down and his 
 shield up there was little chance of injury, the conical steel 
 cap, well wadded with washleather, deadening the blows 
 above the shoulders, while the long curved shield covered 
 its bearer from chin to knee. 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY 
 
 Occasionally, as when Essex saw the apparition of the 
 martyr King and Saint and of his dead victim, some inward 
 pang stung a fighter to impatience and provoked him to .bring 
 the long hours of foining and " tracing " to a swift conclusion. 
 Then he would throw his shield over his shoulder, grasp his 
 sword in both hands, and, holding his dagger between his 
 teeth, strive to beat down his enemy's guard and force his way 
 in to closer grips. The risk was extreme. If his foe warily 
 retreated and avoided his weighty strokes, or received them 
 on his buckler the exhaustion of the effort left the attacker at 
 the mercy of the attacked, who would set about him briskly 
 and inflict some wounds before he could rearrange his shield. 
 
 Such seems to have been the issue of the duel in question. 
 The uncontrolled fury of Essex exhausted itself in frantic 
 strokes and rushes while de Montfort calmly awaited the 
 moment for attack, and speedily finished the struggle by a 
 few disabling wounds. 
 
 At the word of the King, the priest is admitted into the 
 hitherto jealously guarded enclosure, and, kneeling beside 
 the fallen man, makes his submission known, or in case of need 
 administers extreme unction. 
 
 In the picture the King is seen robed in a fur-lined mantle with a long 
 tunic, his head being covered with the cap of a Count of Anjou and Norman 
 crown. 
 
 The Abbot and monks are seen wearing black Cluniac habits. St. 
 Edmund is shewn with a crown mounted with crosses, a coat of scale armour, 
 a sword and arrows, the arrows being his saintly attribute. The line round 
 his neck denotes that he was beheaded. 
 
 Gilbert de Cereville, a person of less importance than St. Edmund, is 
 represented of smaller stature ; his emaciation recalls one of Essex's crimes. 
 
 Both combatants are wearing coats of chain mail, hoods and leg pieces, 
 with round helmets, gloves and surcoats ; they are armed with sword and 
 shield. 
 
 The period of the duel corresponds roughly with the transition from the 
 long kite-shaped shield, to the shorter triangular form. Essex's shield belongs 
 to the latter type which was carried on the fore-arm, and is charged " arg, 
 a fesse dancette gu " ; the charge is repeated in his surcoat. Montfort 
 carries a shield of the older pattern which was held by thrusting the whole 
 arm through the shield. This shield is charged " bendy of ten or az." ; the 
 same device appears on the surcoat. 
 
 22 
 
TLhe /Iftonfc at IReabing Hbbe£. 
 
 A SLOW and mournful procession might be seen on the 
 evening of April 8th, 1163, as the wounded and 
 unconscious Essex was borne on his shield from the 
 scene of battle to the famous monastery which the 
 great Henry Beauclerc had founded about forty years ago. 
 Doubtless the King with his nobles, Abbot Roger with his 
 brethren and the victorious Robert of Montfort joined in the 
 procession which wended its way through the River Gateway, 
 past the famous Hospitium and round the North side of the 
 splendid Abbey church which was nearly ready for its 
 " Hallowing " in the following year by Archbishop Becket. 
 
 At last the Infirmary, the infirmatorium monachorum, 
 was reached where the precious burden was deposited and 
 entrusted to the Infirmarian. The grievous wounds received 
 from the mighty blows of de Montfort would be carefully 
 dressed with salves made from herbs grown in the adjacent 
 herb-garden. Amid the peaceful surroundings of the In- 
 firmary, Essex doubtless soon regained consciousness. As 
 soon as he had sufficiently recovered from his wounds he was 
 doubtless clothed in the habit and cowl of a monk and en- 
 trusted to the master of the novices, who would teach him the 
 practices of the religious life. 
 
 At the end of the novitiate, a day was appointed for the 
 taking of vows, after which solemn ceremony the candidate 
 received the kiss of peace as a token of his reception 
 into the full charity of brotherhood. 
 
 It was a strange fate that converted the famous Royal 
 Constable, the hereditary Standard-Bearer of England, into one 
 of the brethren of Reading Abbey ! The gleaming helmet, 
 hauberk, lance and shield were exchanged for the black Cluniac 
 robe and cowl, the military pomp and excitement of tourna- 
 
 23 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY 
 
 ments and court life for the peaceful, studious life of a monk, 
 the blare of the trumpet for the chants of the choir, the 
 service of the king for the service of the King of kings. 
 
 Doubtless it was true of his new life as of the old that 
 militia est vita hominis super terrain, " the life of man upon the 
 earth is a warfare." But the new warfare was against the 
 world, the flesh and the devil, to be fought with spiritual 
 weapons. What memories of his past life must have crowded 
 upon him as he joined in the services of the Church, or minis- 
 tered to the lepers in the hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, or 
 entertained the pilgrims in the noble Hospitium of St. John. 
 The lesson, however, seems to have been well learned since, in 
 Jocelin's words, " he wiped out the blot upon his previous 
 life under the regular life, and in his endeavours to cleanse 
 the long week of his dissolute life by at least one purifying 
 sabbath so cultivated the studies of his virtues as to bring 
 forth the fruit of happiness." 
 
 24 
 
TLhc Epilogue. 
 
 IF historical associations rank amongst the most precious 
 possessions of a community, Reading may indeed be 
 counted as amongst the most favoured of towns. Her 
 annals are inextricably interwoven with the religious, 
 political and social history of the British nation. Her citizens 
 have played a worthy part in the building up of England. 
 May her past achievements prove a perpetual stimulus to 
 high ideals of civic life and civic work ! 
 
 Happily— in spite of medieval vandalism and modern 
 cupidity — Reading retains memorials and institutions which 
 recall the many centuries that have passed since the beginnings 
 of Radingia, and serve to illustrate for the rising generation 
 the development of education, of art, of science, of industry, 
 of music, of poetry. All such memorials and institutions 
 should be preserved with jealous affection, since they form 
 instructive object lessons for both young and old. 
 
 It is no small privilege to be able to linger on the spot 
 where in 1136 King Henry Beauclerc was laid to rest, where 
 in 1 1 64 the great Archbishop Becket dedicated the Abbey 
 Church to the worship of God for ever and ever, where in 
 1 185 Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, kneeled before Henry 
 of Anjou imploring him to undertake a crusade in order to 
 rescue Jerusalem from Saladin, where ca. 1240 the musical 
 though anonymous monk wrote down " Sumer is icumen in " 
 for our perpetual delight, where in 1359 John of Gaunt was 
 married to his fair cousin Blanche of Plantagenet in the 
 presence of Edward the Third, and where in 1539 the last 
 Abbot of Reading, Hugh Faringdon, was martyred pro 
 Chris to et ecclesia. 
 
 The spot especially associated with the memory of the 
 trial by combat is the little green eyot still bathed by the 
 silvery Thames, which was once stained by the blood of Henry 
 
 2 5 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY 
 
 of Essex. Who can think of that eyot without recalling the 
 days when so-called justice was administered by the barbarity 
 of a duel a outrance ? Strange that our forefathers could have 
 tolerated such a brutal arbitrament between right and wrong. 
 In the particular trial by combat beneath the shadow of 
 Reading Abbey right doubtless triumphed. But there is not 
 always a St. Edmund hovering in the air, '' nodding his head 
 with a mien and motion of severe anger " against the guilty 
 party. 
 
 The absurdity of such a judicial system is indeed 
 apparent when it is remembered that rich men were actually 
 allowed to hire an expert champion to fight for them ; thus 
 was the poor man heavily handicapped in his appeal for justice. 
 The strongest arm or the deepest pocket usually won the day. 
 
 Well it is that those days have gone for ever. During the 
 seven hundred and fifty years that have elapsed since the 
 trial by combat in 1163, the administration of justice has made 
 vast strides. Then too often might was right. Happily we 
 may boast to-day, with at any rate some approximation to 
 truth, that la legge e uguale per tutti, "the law is the same for 
 all." 
 
 26 
 
IRotee. 
 
 1 " Chronica Jocelini de Brakelonda," ed. by Rokewood, p. 50 ; 
 " Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond," ed. by Clarke, p. 102. 
 
 2 For further details cf. Freeman, " Norman Conquest " (1869), III., 
 p. 9 ; (1876), V., 734 ; J. H. Scott, The family of " de Essex," Berks, Bucks 
 and Oxon. Archatol. J., Vol. XXIV. (1918), p. 63 ; Fowke, " The Bayeux 
 Tapestry," p. 48 (PI. XXXII.). 
 
 3 Cf. " Rayleigh Castle," by E. B. Francis, " Transactions of the Essex 
 Archaeological Society," Vol. XII. 
 
 * According to Dugdale, Henry de Essex had a brother Hugh de Essex, 
 who resided at Rivenhall, a manor forming part of the estate of his grand- 
 father Sweyne de Essex. It is in the descendants of this Hugh that the 
 family continued to survive in the male line for nearly 500 years. The last 
 representative of this line was Sir William Essex, Baronet (created Nov. 25, 
 161 1) of Bewcott or Beckett House, near Shrivenham, Berks, whose daughter 
 Lovise, or Louise, Essex, on the death of her brother Col. Charles Essex, 
 slain at the Battle of Edgehill, 1642, became his representative. With the 
 descendants of this lady rests the honour of representing this branch of the 
 family at the present day. 
 
 s Camden, " Britannia," ed. by Gough, I., p. 364. 
 
 6 Eyton, " Court and Itinerary of King Henry II." Cf. Index s. Con- 
 stabularii Regis. Charters granted by Essex are rare. One or two are 
 printed in the " Colchester Cartulary." 
 
 7 J. H. Round, " The King's Serjeants and Officers of State," p. 76. 
 Carlyle (" Past and Present," Ch. XIV.) speaks of Henry de Essex and Robert 
 de Montfort as Earls, but gives no evidence of such a dignity. 
 
 8 The office of Constable under Henry I. and Stephen was held by 
 Robert de Vere who gained this office by his marriage with Adeline the 
 daughter of Hugh de Montfort and sister of Robert de Montfort, as recorded 
 in the Pipe-Roll of 1130. She also brought him, with that office, the great 
 " Honour of Hagenet " (i.e. Haughley, co. Suffolk), held at the time of 
 Domesday by Hugh de Montfort, who was also of note in Kent. After Henry 
 de Essex's forfeiture, this " Honour " was known in the hands of the Crown 
 as " Honor Constabulariae," apparently indicating that it carried with it the 
 constableship. Cf. Round, " The King's Serjeants," p. 81 ; " Geoffrey de 
 Mandeville," p. 326. 
 
 9 Stubbs, " Constitutional History " (1897), Vol. I., p. 491. 
 ro " Past and Present," Ch. XIV. 
 
 27 
 
THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY 
 
 11 Dugdale, " The Baronage of England," Vol. I., p. 463. The Alice of 
 whom Dugdale speaks as the wife of Henry de Essex was probably the wife 
 of one Robert de Essex, possibly a young brother. Round, " Geoffrey de 
 Mandeville," p. 391. 
 
 12 According to Dugdale (" The Baronage of England, Vol. I., p. 407) 
 Hugh de Montfort was a son of a Norman, Thurstan de Bastenbergh, and 
 after the Conquest was appointed with William Fitz-Osberne and Odo, 
 Bishop of Bayeux, to administer justice throughout the whole Kingdom. For 
 these services he was awarded several Lordships in Kent, Essex, Suffolk and 
 Norfolk, including Saltwood near Hythe. Eventually he lost his life in a 
 duel with Walcheline de Ferrers, leaving a son and heir Hugh (II.). 
 
 Hugh (II.) by his first wife had two sons — Robert and Hugh (III.). 
 Robert became general of the army under King Rufus, but was subsequently 
 charged with disloyalty to King Henry I. Eventually he obtained permission 
 to go to Jerusalem, leaving all his possessions to the King. He presented to 
 the Abbey of Bee the churches of Montfort, Appeville and Froulencourt, that 
 of Appeville being in the canton of Montfort sur Risle. Both he and his 
 brother Hugh are stated by Dugdale to have died on a pilgrimage without 
 issue. Dugdale apparently means without male issue, since he goes on to sav 
 that Robert left a daughter by a second wife, who married Gilbert de Gant, 
 and left a son called Hugh, who assumed the name of Hugh de Montfort (IV.) 
 after his mother, " who was so great an inheritrix." 
 
 Hugh (IV.) married Adeline, daughter of Robert, the Earl of Mellent.and 
 joined with her brother Waleran and other supporters of William son of Robert 
 Curthose in a conspiracy against King Henry I. in the year 1124. Eventually 
 these conspirators crossed over into Normandy where Hugh was taken prisoner 
 together with his brother-in-law Waleran, and kept for many years in prison. 
 
 He left two sons, Robert who defeated Henry de Essex in the trial by 
 battle, and Thurston, together with two daughters, one of whom was named 
 Adeline. 
 
 '3 Eyton, " Court and Itinerary of Henry II.," p. 34. 
 
 J 4 Norgate, " England under the Angevin Kings," Vol. II., p. 138. 
 
 '5 " G. de Mandeville," p. 327. 
 
 16 Coleshille, i.e. the " coal hill," according to Giraldus Cambrensis ; 
 also called Consilt. According to F. M. Stenton the exact site of the Flint- 
 shire Coleshill is not known. It was, however, remembered in the 14th 
 century and formed a stage on the main road from Chester to Conway laid 
 down in the Gough Road Map in the Bodleian Library. 
 
 17 According to Lord Lyttleton Henry of Essex himself uttered the cry. 
 " History of King Henry II," Vol. II., p. 384. For further details of the 
 battle, cf. Lloyd, " A History of Wales," Vol. II., p. 498. 
 
 18 If Henry of Essex really displayed cowardice, it seems strange that the 
 fact was hushed up for six years. Salzmann thinks it more probable that Robert 
 based his accusation on some flying rumour and that the result of the duel 
 
 28 
 
NOTES 
 
 was unjust, than that King Henry should have condoned the Constable's 
 cowardice and allowed him to continue in honour at his court. L. F. Salzmann, 
 " Henry II." (1914), p. 32. 
 
 J 9 J. Lingard, " The Anglo-Saxon Church," Vol. II., p. 133. 
 
 20 Freeman, " Norman Conquest " (1876), Vol. V., p. 873. 
 
 21 The island still termed " De Montfort Island " lies just below Caver- 
 sham Bridge. 
 
 22 This form of words appears frequently in Bracton's Note Book, ed. 
 by F. W. Maitland, passim. According to Hutton (St. Thomas of 
 Canterbury, p. 127) Robert de Montfort on the night before the duel kept 
 vigil at the Soissons shrine of St. Drausius, the saint who renders combatants 
 invincible. The distance from Soissons to Reading proves that there is 
 some error in the date. 
 
 2 3 Neilson, " Trial by Combat," p. 37. 
 
 *•* " Past and Present," Ch. XIV. It is interesting to compare St. 
 Edmund's apparition with his appearance to King Swein in 1016. Cf. 
 J. B. Mackinlay, St. Edmund, King and Martyr, p. 179. 
 
 2 5 Amongst Henry de Essex's possessions was Saltwood which had been 
 granted by the Conqueror to Hugh de Montfort. It was recovered by 
 Lanfranc in the great placitum on Pennenden Heath, was thereafter held by 
 the Montforts from the archbishop as two knights' fees, was so held by Henry 
 de Essex as their successor and seized by the Crown upon his forfeiture. 
 Round, " Geoffrey de Mandeville," p. 326. Cf. also Eyton, " Court and 
 Itinerary of King Henry II.," p. 254. 
 
 2<) 
 
3nt»ey. 
 
 H 
 
 Abbey of Bee 
 
 „ of Reading ... 
 Abbot Hugh Faringdon 
 Roger 
 ,, Samson 
 Adeline de Montfort 
 Anjou , Henry of 
 Archbishop Becket 
 ,, Lanfranc 
 
 „ Stigand ... 
 
 ¥> 
 
 PAGE 
 
 28 
 
 18-23, 26 
 
 2 5 
 
 21, 23 
 
 19 
 12 
 
 22, 25 
 23.25 
 
 29 
 
 7 
 
 35 
 
 Basingwerk ... ... ... 13.14 
 
 Bastenbergh, Thurstan de 28 
 
 "Baudekins" 21 
 
 Bayeux, Odo, Bishop of ... 28 
 
 ,, Tapestry ... ... 7 
 
 Bee, Abbey of 28 
 
 Becket, Thomas 8,9,23,25 
 
 Berengar, Count Raymond ... 9 
 
 Berners, Baroness ... ... 8 
 
 Brakelond, Jocelin of ... 7,25 
 
 Domesday Book 
 Drausius, St. 
 Duel, judicial 
 Dux Haraldus 
 
 Eadgyth, the Lady 
 
 Earl, title of, wronel 
 
 Edmund, St. ... 
 
 Edmundsburv, St. 
 
 Edward III., King 
 
 Essex, Charles 
 , , Earl of 
 „ Henry de 
 „ Henry de, Jun. 
 
 Hugh de 
 ,, Lady ... 
 ,, Lovise 
 ,, Robert de 
 Sheriff of 
 „ Sir William 
 Swevne de 
 
 PAGE 
 
 7. 8. 27 
 
 29 
 
 16, 18, 19, 21 
 
 applied 27 
 
 1 j, 19-22, 26 
 
 19 
 
 25 
 
 27 
 
 8 
 
 7, passim 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 27 
 
 7. 2" 
 
 L 
 
 $ 
 
 
 
 Faringdon, Abbot Hugh 
 
 25 
 
 Cadwaller 
 
 13 
 
 Ferrers, Walcheline de 
 
 28 
 
 Cahors 
 
 9 
 
 Fitz-Wimark, Robert 
 
 7 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas 
 
 9- J 9. 2 7 
 
 
 
 Caversham ... 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 Cereville, Gilbert de 
 
 10, 20-2 
 
 G 
 
 
 Chester 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 Coleshille, ... 9, ri, 
 
 13, 18, 28 
 
 Gant, Gilbert de 
 
 28 
 
 Consilt 
 
 28 
 
 Gaunt, John of 
 
 25 
 
 Constable, office of S . 9, 
 
 12,23,27 
 
 Gilbert de Cereville ... 
 
 10, 20-2 
 
 Corsnet 
 
 15 
 
 Gloves, exchange of . . . 
 
 19 
 
 Curia Reeis ... 
 
 18 
 
 Gunnor 
 
 8 
 
 Curthose, Robert 
 
 28 
 
 Gwyneth, Owen 
 
 •■■ 13. 14 
 
INDEX 
 
 1b 
 
 /lib 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hagenet, Honour of 
 
 ... 12,27 
 
 Malduit, William ... 
 
 
 1 r 
 
 Hastings, battle of 
 
 7 
 
 Mallory 
 
 Malmesbury, William of 
 
 
 21 
 
 Haughley, Honour of 
 
 ... 12,27 
 
 
 18 
 
 Henry I., King 
 
 8, 23, 25 
 
 Mandeville, Geoffrey de 
 
 
 8 
 
 „ II., King ... 
 
 8, passim 
 
 Maud, Empress 
 
 
 8 
 
 ,, de Essex 
 
 j, passim 
 
 Mellent, Earl of 
 
 
 28 
 
 ,, de Esssex, Jim. 
 
 10 
 
 Meredith, Madoc Ap 
 
 •• !3 
 
 H 
 
 Heraclius 
 
 25 
 
 Montfort, Church of 
 
 
 28 
 
 " Holmgang," Norse 
 
 20 
 
 ,, Island 
 
 
 l 9 
 
 Honour of Haughley 
 
 ... 12,27 
 
 ,, Hughde... 
 
 '.'. 28 
 
 29 
 
 Hospitium of St. John 
 
 19.23,24 
 
 ,, Robert de 11, passim 
 
 Hot iron, ordeal by ... 
 
 16 
 
 ,, sur Risle ... 
 
 11 
 
 28 
 
 „ water, ordeal by 
 
 16 
 
 Morley, H. 
 
 
 20 
 
 Hugh de Essex 
 
 10 
 
 Morte a" Arthur 
 
 
 21 
 
 deMontfort ... 
 
 ... 28, 29 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 1R 
 
 
 
 Immersion, ordeal by 
 
 16 
 
 Normandy, William of 
 
 
 7 
 
 Infirmary, the 
 Island, de Montfort 
 
 23 
 29 
 
 Northampton, Council at 
 
 
 !3 
 
 3 
 
 
 © 
 
 
 
 Judicial duel . . . 
 Judicium Dei 
 
 16, 18, 19, 21 
 ••• 15. 17 
 
 Odo, Bishop 
 Ordeals 
 
 ■• 15 
 
 28 
 16 
 
 Ik 
 
 
 Oxford, Earl of 
 
 
 8 
 
 King Edward III. 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 „ Harold 
 
 7 
 
 IP 
 
 
 
 ,, Henry I. 
 
 8. 23, 25 
 
 
 
 
 ,, Henry II. 
 
 8, passim 
 
 Pennenden Heath 
 
 
 29 
 
 „ Louis VII. ... 
 
 9 
 
 Plantagenet, Blanche of 
 
 ... 
 
 25 
 
 ,, Rufus 
 
 28 
 
 Prittlewell Priory 
 
 
 8 
 
 ,, Stephen 
 
 ... 8,12 
 
 
 
 
 ,, Swein 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 
 „ William I. 
 
 11, 12, 16,29 
 
 1R 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 Radingia 
 
 Rayleigh, Baron of ... 
 
 c8, 19 
 
 25 
 8 
 
 Lailand Hundred 
 
 10 
 
 ,, Castle 
 
 
 8 
 
 Lanfranc, Archbishop 
 
 29 
 
 Raymond of Toulouse 
 
 
 11 
 
 Leicester, Robert of 
 
 8 
 
 Reading 
 
 ... 19 
 
 .25 
 
 Linton, Manor of 
 
 10 
 
 ,, Abbey 
 
 18-23 
 
 ,26 
 
 Louis VII., King 
 
 9 
 
 Riganea 
 
 
 8 
 
 Lovise Essex 
 
 27 
 
 Risle, Montfort sur ... 
 
 ... 11 
 
 ,28 
 
 Lucy, Richard of 
 
 8 
 
 Rivenhall 
 
 
 27 
 
 II 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Robert de Essex 
 
 8 
 
 Swein, King ... ... 2 q 
 
 ,, de Montfort n, 
 
 passim 
 
 Swevne de Essex ... ... 7 27 
 
 Roger, Abbot 
 
 Round, J. H. 
 
 Ruddlan 
 
 21,23 
 12,27 
 
 XL 
 
 Rufus, King 
 
 28 
 
 Talbot, Richard I0 
 
 s 
 
 
 Thorney, monks of ... ... XI 
 
 Thurstan de Bastenbergh ... 28 
 
 Toulouse 9> ri) I4 
 
 Trial by combat ... 16, 18, 2( 
 
 St. Drausius 
 ,, Edmund ... 10, 19- 
 
 29 
 -22, 26 
 
 ,, Edmundsbury ... 
 ,, Gilles, Count of 
 
 19 
 9 
 
 D 
 
 ,, Mary Magdalene Hospital 
 Saladin 
 
 24 
 
 2 S 
 
 Vere, Robert de 12 
 
 Saltwood ... ... 8, 
 
 Samson, Abbot 
 
 28, 29 
 r 9 
 
 TO 
 
 Scots, King of 
 Soissons 
 Standard-Bearer, Royal 
 
 9 
 
 29 
 
 8-10, 
 
 ' ' Wads, ' ' the giving of ... 19 
 " Wager of battel" ... 19 
 Walcheline de Ferrers ... 28 
 
 14. 
 Stenton, F. M 
 
 !9, 23 
 28 
 
 Waleran 11,28 
 
 Wales, expedition into 8, 13, 14 
 
 Stephen, King 
 Stigand, Archbishop 
 " Sumer is icumen in " 
 
 8, 12 
 
 7 
 25 
 
 William I., King n, 12, 16, 29 
 Windsor, Curia at ... ... 18 
 
 Woodstock, Charter given at 1 1 
 
 32 
 
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