the socio-political dynamics of the anglo-norman aristocracy

318 Pages·2008·17.25 MB·English

vi
PREFACE
The evidence presented in this thesis comes largely from two distinct types of source,
agreements and literary texts. Many aspects of these agreements were discussed at greater
length in my MA (1994), and secondary literature to each is discussed there in lengthier
appendices. The reference system has been maintained: 1' means there may have been an
agreement; "??' means that, although there were negotiations, the settlement was never
concluded. Some changes have been made to the status accorded to each agreement. The
word conventio has been used less extensively than in my MA as there are problems in
defining what exactly a conventio is and whether this 'all' agreements can be called
conventiones.
Both the original and translations of literary texts have been used. This is regrettable
as sometimes the translations are somewhat less than reliable. Because of comprehension
difficulties, the works of Chretien de Troyes and Beroul were originally read through
translation with the intention of later checking and converting the references into the Old
French original. However, time constraints have meant this has largely been impossible. This
is an acknowledged flaw. Where the precise, original phrase has been crucial to the argument,
reference has been made to the line of the original text. This somewhat counteracts the
problem but is still far from ideal.
vii
ABBREVIATIONS
Anglo-Norman Studies
ANS
The Beauchamp Chartulaiy: Charters 1100-1268, ed.
Beauchamp
Emma Mason (Pipe Roll Society, new series, 43; 1983).
Beroul Line references to Beroul, Le Roman de Tristan. Poeme du
XII' siècle, ed. Ernest Muret (Paris, 1982); page references
to The Romance of Tristan trans. Alan S. Fedrick
(Harmondsworth, 1970).
Chester The Charters of the Anglo-Norman Earls of Chester, c.
1071-1237, ed. Geoffrey Barraclough (Record Society of
Lancashire and Cheshire, no. 126; 1988).
Cliges Line references to Chretien de Troyes, CEuvres Completes,
ed. Daniel Poirion (Edition Gallimard, 1994); page
references to Arthurian Romances, trans. William W. Kibler
(Harmondsworth, 1991).
Dermot The Song of Dermot and Earl Richard Fitzgilbert. Le
Chansun de Dermot e Ii Quens Ricard Fiz Gilbert, ed.
Denis J. Conlon (Frankfurt am Main, 1992).
Eerc et Enide Line references to Chretien de Troyes, CEuvres Completes,
ed. Daniel Poirion (Edition Gallimard, 1994); page
references to Arthurian Romances, trans. William W. Kibler
(Harmondsworth, 1991).
Fantosme Jordan Fantosme, Chronique de la Guerre entre les Anglais
et les Ecossois en 1173 et 1174, in Chronicles of the Reigns
of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I, ed. R. Howlett, vol. 3
(Rolls Series, 1886).
Glamorgancia Cartae et alia munimenta quae ad dominium de
Glamorgancia pertinent, ed. G. T. Clark, vol. 1 (Cardiff,
1910).
Gloucester Earldom of Gloucester Charters: The charters and scribes
of the earls and countesses of Gloucester to A. D. 1217, ed.
R. B. Patterson (Oxford, 1973).
GS Gesta Stephani, ed. K. R. Potter, intro. R. H. C. Davis
(Oxford, 1976).
viii
Hereford Z. N. and C. N. L. Brooke, 'Hereford Cathedral
Dignitaries', Cambridge Historical Journal, 8, no. 3, p.
185.
HGM Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal, ed. P. Meyer, 3 vols.
(Socete de l'Histoire de France, 1891-1901).
HN William of Malmesbury, The Historia Novella, ed. and
trans. K. R. Potter (London, 1955).
H of H Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, ed. T. Arnold
(Rolls Series, 1879).
J of H John of Hexham, Historia, in Symeonis Monachi Opera
Omnia, ed. T. Arnold, vol. 2 (Rolls Series, 1886).
Lancelot Line references to Chretien de Troyes, ffuvres Completes,
ed. Daniel Poirion (Edition Gallimard, 1994); page
references to Arthurian Romances, trans. William W. Kibler
(Harmondsworth, 1991).
Le Carroi de Nimes Chanson de geste du XIIe siècle, ed. J.-L. Perrier (Paris,
1972).
Le Couronnement Le Couronnement de Louis. Chanson de geste du XIIe
de Louis siècle, ed. Ernest Langlois (Paris, 1969).
Lib El Liber Eliensis, ed. E. 0. Blake, Royal Historical Society,
Camden 3 series, 92 (1962).
Morganniae Rice Merrick, Morganniae Archaiographia, ed. B. Ll.
James (South Wales Record Society, I, 1983).
Orderic Orderic Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica, ed. and trans.
Marjorie Chibnall (Oxford, 1969-80).
Perceval Line references to Chretien de Troyes, CEuvres Completes,
ed. Daniel Poirion (Edition Gallimard, 1994); page
references to Arthurian Romances, trans. William W. Kibler
(Harmondsworth, 1991).
PR6Henryll Ape Roll of 6 Henry II, vol. 2 (London, 1884).
Red Book The Red Book of the Exchequer, ed. H. Hall (Rolls Series,
1896).
Regesta 2 Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum vol. 2 1100-1135,
eds. C. Johnson and H. A. Cronne (Oxford, 1956).
Regesta 3 Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, vol. 3, 1135-1154,
eds. H. A. Cronne and R. H. C. Davis (Oxford, 1969).
ix
R of H Richard of Hexham, De Gestis Regis Stephani et de Bello
Standardi, in Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II
and Richard I, ed. R. Howlett, vol. 3 (Rolls Series, 1886).
Rot Chart Rotuli Chartarum, ed. T. D. Hardy (Record Commission,
1837).
Round J. H. Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville: a study in the
Anarchy (London, 1892).
Stenton F. M. Stenton, The First Century of English Feudalism
1066-1166, 2 edn. (Oxford, 1961).
Stubbs Select Charters and Other Illustrations of English
Constitutional History from the Earliest Times to the Reign
of Edward I, ed. W. Stubbs, 9 edn. (Oxford, 1913).
Torigni Robert de Torigny, Chronica, in Chronicles of the Reigns of
Stephen, Henry II and Richard I, ed. R Howlett, vol. 4
(Rolls Series, 1889).
Thomas Page references to Tristan in Brittany, trans. Dorothy Leigh
Sayers (London, 1929); line references to 'Tristan' in Les
Tristan en vers, ed. Jean Caries Payen (Paris, 1974).
TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society
Yvain Line references to Chretien de Troyes, CEuvres Completes,
ed. Daniel Poirion (Edition Gallimard, 1994); page
references to Arthurian Romances, trans. William W. Kibler
(Harmondsworth, 1991).
1
INTRODUCTION
This thesis analyses socio-political relationships in the Anglo-Norman world of the
twelfth century. The twelfth century saw major changes in many fields' and it is against this
background of change that the developments described in this thesis should be set.
Our prime concern will be the impact of social relations on the political world. While
it may have been preferable to examine all socio-economic groups, the sources for this period
do not allow this to be done; we will therefore be concerned only with the aristocracy.' We
are, indeed, concerned with the aristocracy and not 'the nobility' for nobilis could refer to a
middling social group as well as the aristocracy, whilst even the highest social group could
contain people who were ignobilis.3 Given these semantic problems it seems safer to use the
more neutral and wide-ranging term 'aristocracy'. Use is also made of the term 'magnate'.
By this term I mean major aristocrats who dominate a wide region.
I For example, in demography (population increase and movement to areas such as the Middle East and from
Germany eastwards), in the economy (extension of the area under cultivation, improved agricultural
techniques leading to greater productivity, expansion of trade and increased urbanisation), in warfare
(particularly the continued rapid growth of castle construction that was spurred on by the Norman Conquest
of 1066), in knowledge (particularly scholasticism, and including knowledge of the wider world, such as
Africa and the Middle East), in religion (such as the development of crusade and the growth of new monastic
orders such as the Cistercians), in architecture (witnessing the transition from Romanesque to Gothic), in
literature (a change from oral-based epics to written courtly Romance), and in government (particularly
increased use of the written word, the emergence of an embryonic civil service, and legal reforms). Changes
such as these may have created a new awareness of progress and a belief in a move towards greater
perfection: G. Duby, 'The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century: Audience and Patronage', Love and Marriage
in the Middle Ages, pp. 152-53.
Duby has asserted that official documents reflect only the deliberate and deliberated attitudes of a single
social group - the elite - and as a consequence hide whatever was spontaneous or restricted to other social
groups: Georges Duby, The Three Orders, p. 7. As a result the documents can tell us only about the mentalite
of the aristocracy as it is only this group that has left us with surviving testimony. An aristocracy can be
defined through status, wealth or property: Carpenter, 'Gentry and Community', p. 351. In a larger study it
would be interesting to also consider groups such as towns, peasants and military orders. Active urban
political communities can be seen in Maine after 1066 (Normans against local men of Maine), Flanders c.
1127 (the murder of Charles the Good); Cambrai in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries following a disputed
episcopal election); Cologne in 1074 (episcopal versus merchant faction); Rouen in the 1190s; Pisa from the
second half of the twelfth century, in Florence in the fourteenth, in Cremona 1209-10 and in Pavia. These
were 'political division[s] resting upon well-defined topographical blocs, at least at certain times': Jacques
Heers, Parties and Political Life in the Medieval West, trans. David Nicholas, in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Selected Studies, vol. 7, ed. Richard Vaughan (Amsterdam, 1977) pp. 80-82, 225-30. These groups may have
stressed equality: Althoff, pp. 85-86. In such a study in must not be forgotten that there were many links
between urban and rural localities: Heers, Parties and Political Life in the Medieval West, pp. 118-26; Holt,
The Northerners, p. 33.
3 D. B. Crouch, The Image of Aristocracy in Britain, 1000-1300 (London, 1992) pp. 2-9; Susan Reynolds,
Fiefs and Vassals, p. 45; Holt, The Northerners, pp. 57-59. Confusion also exists for other possible terms:
illustres, primates, proceres, primores, principes, magnates, maiores,a nd optimates, for instance, all refer to
a group within society which one could term 'the aristocracy': Crouch, Image of Aristocracy, pp. 2, 15-38.
Dominus and senior can refer to both kings and lesser lords: Reynolds, Fiefs and Vassals, p. 36.
2
The thesis is cast in the form of a social history of the type advocated by Georges
Duby in his 1970 inaugural lecture.' The approach is similar to that of sociology as it seeks to
find typical modes of action rather studying individual actions.' The aim is to understand
social relations and how they impact on the political world.' This is synchronic analysis for it
describes a society as if frozen in time. Studies of the family, followers and friends are
concerned with social relationships. The combination of these studies and the search for
deeper connections results in an analysis of social structure - of society as a whole.' However,
being an historian I am also interested in developments over time. Whereas 'social structure'
describes a society frozen in time, 'social organisation' allows for evolution.' This is
diachronic analysis for it is a description of change over time. The aim of the thesis is
therefore to construct models of social relations, to combine these to produce a model of the
social structure, to chart the evolution of this organisation over the twelfth century, and to
analyse how this influenced political behaviour. Following the description of social
organisation there will therefore be an analysis of decision-making before finally assessing the
relationships between social organisation and politics.
We will concentrate on three categories of relationships: family, followers and
friends.' The first member of this trinity is based on biology, the second on political structure,
and the third is a larger but less defined group that also serves as a unifying force for the other
groups. Together with the pursuit of self interest, they largely determined the nature of loyalty
in the Middle Ages. We will look at each category separately but will also examine how they
were inter-connected.
4 G. Duby, The Chivalrous Society, trans. C. Postan (London, 1977) pp. 1-14. Duby prefered the word
'social' to that of 'culture': G. Duby, 'Problems and Methods in Cultural Society', in Love and marriage in
the Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1994) P. 133. Social history can be defined as 'the empirical reconstruction of
past social and political systems, structures and their properties': D. Crouch, 'From Stenton to McFarlane:
Models of Societies of the Twelfth to the Thirteenth Centuries', TRHS, 661 series, vol. 5 (1995) p. 179. See
also C. Lloyd, Explanation in Social History (Oxford, 1986) pp. 14-17.
5 Weber claimed Sociology to be interested in typical modes of action and History to be concerned with the
causal explanation of individual events that influence human destiny: Max Weber, Economy and Society. An
Outline of Interpretive Sociology, ed. Guenther Roth amd Claus Wittich, trans. Ephraim Fischoff, Hans Gerth,
A. M. Henderson, Ferdinand Kolegar, C. Wright Mills, Talcott Parsons, Max Rheinstein, Guenther Roth,
Edward Shils and Claus Wittich, 3 vols. (New York, 1968) vol. 1, p. 29.
This aim is broad but not all-encompassing. It does not include, for instance, ecology, demography and
economy, areas that, when combined with politics and society, would form a 'history of civilisation'. See G.
Duby, 'The History of Value Systems' in Love and Marriage in the Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1994) p. 136.
On the distinction between social relations and social structure see Claude Levi-Strauss, Structural
Anthropology, trans. Claire Jacobson and Brooke Grundfest Shoepf (London, 1963) pp. 279-80.
Levi-Strauss, Structural Anthropology, p. 286. However, one should not expect great change: Duby has
claimed that 'the history of value-systems does not undergo sudden change': Duby, 'The History of Value
Systems', p. 136. He explains that the process is slow because ideological trends occur within a cultural
framework that is built on bequested structures that are passed on through the system of education and
reinforced by language, ritual and social convention: Duby, 'The History of Value Systems', p. 138.
9 Vernacular literature supports this division. The Song of Roland records that when Charles and the Franks
reach Rencesvals and see the dead:`They bewail their sons, their brothers, and their nephews, / their friends
and their lords': Chanson de Roland, Ll. 2420-21. The same division is seen in the Song of Dermot for we
are told that Dermot's opponents include his 'relatives, kinsmen and friends [pareins, cosins e amis]' and men
3
The approach is very much that of a reductionist. I have tried to assume nothing
about socio-political relationships. Unless there is evidence for a relationship I have not
mentioned it. But where there is evidence for something it has been included, whether or not
this fits in with received opinion. Through adopting this strategy it is hoped that the results
are not tainted with preconceptions about medieval relationships. Of course, one cannot be
wholly divorced from the ideas of the present, but the attempt is still worthwhile. The result is
one that both questions and re-affirms orthodox opinion. Much may appear to be hair-
splitting; but the hope is that it is hair-splitting with precision. Only through defming our
terms carefully - and knowing how contemporaries used expressions - can we fully understand
the dynamics of political society in the past.
In an attempt to view society as contemporaries viewed it I have avoided words and
phrases used by historians describing this time. As such I have avoided terms such as 'fealty'
and 'vassal', preferring contemporary words like fidelitas and homo or direct translations:
faithfulness and man. Such a policy may seem a touch pedantic, but it is only by steering
away from such anachronistic labelling that we can hope to perceive the organisation of
society in the twelfth century, let alone how it was viewed by contemporaries.' For this
reason - and because of the confusion it can bring - I have also avoided using the adjective
'feudal'. One will not fuld a 'feudal lord' or a 'feudal system' and find no institution of
feudalism'."
If one were to take the most formal rendering of the texts available to us then perhaps
one could indeed talk of the 'institution of vassalage' and perhaps even of a 'feudal system',
but such a rendering is not necessarily correct. In keeping as close as possible to the original
from his household: Dermot, LI. 149 (pareins, cosins e amis), 208 (gent demeine). This is an important
observation as it means that (at least some) contemporaries also thought in these categories.
I° In a similar vein, John Hudson has written that there is a danger of applying modem analytical terms to the
Middle Ages as 'it risks focusing on definitions too specific to one system of law, and neglecting the terms of
thought during the period': John Hudson, Land, Law and Lordship, p. 68, referring in particular to the modem
distinction between succession and inheritance.
" The problems and uses associated with the word 'feudal' have long been the cause of dispute among
historians: see for example F. M. Stenton, The First Century of English Feudalism, 1066-1166 (Oxford, 1961
edn.); F. L. Ganshof, Feudalism, trans. P. Grierson (London, 1964 edn.); Marc Bloch, Feudal Society, trans.
L. A. Manyon, 2 vols. (London, 1965); E. A. R. Brown, 'The tyranny of a construct: feudalism and historians
of medieval Europe', American Historical Review 17 (1974) 1063-88; John 0. Ward, 'Feudalism:
interpretative category or framework of life in the medieval West', Feudalism: comparative studies, ed. E.
Leach, S. N. Mucherjee and J. 0. Ward (Sydney Studies in Society and Culture, no. 2, 1984); Susan
Reynolds, Fiefs and Vassals. The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted (Oxford, 1994). It is perhaps strange that
historians who shy away from 'feudalism' are more prepared to use the more awkward label of 'bastard
feudalism': P. R. Coss, 'Bastard feudalism revised', Past and Present no. 125 (1989) 27-64; P. R. Coss, D. A.
Carpenter and D. B. Crouch, 'Debate: Bastard Feudalism Revised', Past and Present, no. 131 (1991) 165-
203. The attitude of some historians to using the phrase has been strange. J. S. Critchley, Feudalism
(Guildford, 1978) wrote 'what is puzzling is why it is used.... The word is easily avoided after
Comparative studies have been responsible for a great deal of nonsense, much of it to do with feudalism' (p.
7) and showed how anything bad or unprogressive has been labelled as 'feudal' (especially pp. 159-91). Yet
he did not shirk from using in a single page (p. 44) 'feudal lordship', 'feudal tenure', 'feudal concepts of
4
Latin, and attempting to not impose our own preconceived notions on the texts, it is perhaps
wiser to translate passages informally. This approach has important consequences as the
frequency with which twelfth-century writers used terms such as 'vassal' and 'fealty' is far
lower than the frequency by which modern historians have used them.' This suggests that our
view of twelfth-century society has been distorted by our approach to the work of translation;
not finding what we expected to find, we invented it.
However, I have used modem terms as an aid to analysis. The use of neutral terms
such as 'follower' (instead of `vassal'), 'aristocracy' (as opposed to 'nobility' and 'baronage')
and 'agreement' (replacing conventio and 'treaty') do not prejudice opinions by carrying with
them the unwanted baggage of expectation and preconception. Admittedly such terms have
problems - like 'feudalism' they are constructs without any foundation in the period. But this
is also their advantage. So long as we do not make institutions out of these abstract terms they
provide a useful analytical tool."
Much attention will be paid to examining the ways in which terms were used by
contemporaries. This is used not only to describe the system of terminology but also as a
gateway to a wider understanding of the system of attitudes. Levi-Strauss has shown that the
'kinship system', for instance, comprises not only vocabulary but also a system of attitudes
that are psychological and social in nature." This thesis widens this approach to include
followers and friends as well as relatives. Through analysing the manner in which
terminology is used, light is shed on the attitudes of the Anglo-Norman aristocracy." These
attitudes provide the social and psychological background to events and to the behaviour of
individuals. It will then be possible to see whether individuals felt bound by this prescribed
behaviour.
Our primary concern will not be with the formulations of academics as such
formulations may have been divorced from common understanding. Instead we will use
lordship', `feudal court', and `feudal kingship'. Later (p. 67) he comes up with the unhelpful observation that
`like feudal aristocrats, feudal officials... are at their most feudal when they are insubordinate'.
12 This point is further brought out by a sentence in the Gesta Stephani. Regarding Stephen's relationship
with Ranulf earl of Chester shortly before the battle of Lincoln in 1141 the chronicle claims that the king was
advised viro ad foedus redintegrandum ad pacem innovandam recepto'. Taking the most formal rendering
possible, this sentence could by read as `to take the vassal back for the purpose of renewing the bond of fealty
and re-establishing the peace'. By contrast, at its most informal the passage could simply mean `to take the
man back for the purpose of renewing the treaty and re-establishing peace'. In the first rendering a particular
`peace' (as in `peace treaty') is to be renewed by a vassal re-taking his oath of fealty whereas in the second
version `peace' (meaning the absence of hostilities) is brought back by someone renewing a treaty. This is an
important difference. The passage is: Gesta Stephani, ed. K. R. Potter, intro. R. H. C. Davis (Oxford, 1976)
ch. 54, p. 111.
13 Hudson has similarly defended Milsom's use of modern legal terminology: Hudson, `Milsom's legal
structure', p. 58.
" Levi-Strauss, Structural Anthropology, p. 37.
15 Milsom's model of the twelfth-century legal system has been justly criticised for its failure to sensitively
examine contemporary terminology: Hudson, `Milsom's legal straucture', pp. 58-59.
5
sources that originate from as close to the heart of aristocratic society as possible. This means
we will concentrate on charters, agreements, chronicles, and literature. Legal texts are used,
but with caution as we cannot be certain whether they show reality or an ideal. It should also
be remembered that such texts show custom rather than law." Charters and agreements
served pragmatic political needs and as such reflect contemporary attitudes and methods.
Chronicles and literature show how such formal bonds operated in practice and provide a
narrative. They also show how words were used: chronicles, though often reflecting classical
use, show the Latin; literature uses the language aristocrats would have spoken and may
therefore reveal the phrases employed in their speech and thoughts.
Without understanding how contemporaries understood words we cannot come to a
full - or even a reliable - understanding of their society. But historians are faced with an acute
problem: the meanings of words change through geography and time." Even within the
Anglo-Norman period developments can be seen to have occurred.' This urges caution.
Compared with earlier historians I have paid considerable attention to informal
structures. This is particularly apparent in the discussions of 'Love and Fear' and
'Friendship'. A complex world emerges. Political society consisted of a complicated web of
individuals connected through many types of relationship. These relationships were formed
through blood, marriage, formal political structures and informal arrangements based on
power and emotion. This view of political society is one of complexity and fluidity. But it is
also a humane view for people emerge as rounded individuals with their own feelings and
attitudes.
Emphasis is placed on periods of political unrest. This is because it was in such times
that loyalty was tested and elaborations stripped away to reveal the beating heart of political
society.'
16 Glanvill, for example, has no word for `rule' (though ius is close): he mostly talks of what the royal court
was accustomed (solet) to do. On this see Paul R Hyams, `Review of The Legal Framework of English
Feudalism by S. F. C. Milsom', EHR, 93 (1978) p. 859.
17 Susan Reynolds has argued that many medieval Latin words, including feodum and dominium, emerged
only in the fourteenth century through the work of lawyers, and then gained a wider currency through their
sixteenth-century descendents. Nor can one assume that the ideals surrounding the concept of loyalty in the
Carolingian period were the same as those for the entire medieval period. See Susan Reynolds, Fiefs and
Vassals, pp. 3-12, 32, 72.
Is During the later eleventh century in Normandy the words alodium and beneficium were replaced, and to an
extent augmented, by feodum: J. C. Holt, `Politics and property in early medieval England', Past and Present
53 (1972) p. 6; J. C. Holt, `Feudal society and the family in early medieval England: II. Notions of
patrimony', TRHS 5'h Series 33 (1983) p. 214. Similarly, during the twelfth century the wording of charter
regrants shows development: John Hudson, Land, Law and Lordship pp. 72-77.
19 This explains why particular emphasis is placed on the troubled years of King Stephen's reign when,
according to the Histoire de Guillaume le Marèchal, `The realm [was] in great disarray, / For no peace, truce,
or agreement was kept, / And the law of the land was disregarded': Histoire de Guillaume le Mardschal, ed.
P. Meyer, 3 vols. (Societe de L'histoire de France, 1891-1901).
6
HISTORICAL SOURCES
As with all historical research, our first concern must be with sources. Much
historical research in the last century has concentrated on the examination of charter witness
lists. Although much of this has clearly been profitable - particularly the study of individual
lordships - they are of limited (though important) value to the study of socio-political
relationships in the twelfth century. Why is this?
Historians have concentrated on charters because narrative acounts have been seen as
untrustworthy. But here we are concerned not only with the outward form of society but also
with the feelings and ideas of those within it. For this purpose chronicles and literary sources
are of great value. These sources are full of unwitting testimony and subjective judgements -
what to say and what not to say, as well as how to say it - and these judgements are of great
value to us. But one must be careful: most chronicle writers of the twelfth century were
monks and one must be aware that their values may have been restricted to their own very
limited social group. But since many monks and clerics drew their origins from the
aristocracy chronicles remain an avenue into the mentalite of the aristocracy.
Studies based on charters tend to emphasise the honorial nature of political society.
This is only natural as charters were produced in this environment.' But this does not
necessarily mean that historians should place such emphasis on the honor. Indeed, through
concentrating on the honor historians may have neglected other aspects of the political world.
In particular, since the honor was part of the legal structure sources produced within this
environment tend to emphasise the formal aspects of politics at the expense of such ties as
friendship and affinity.
David Bates has argued that eleventh century Anglo-Norman 'witness' lists were
sometimes drawn up after the charter was drawn up.' Although Bates draws his argument
from eleventh century evidence it is unclear how long such practices remained.' It may be
" Crouch, 'From Stenton to McFarlane, p. 184.
21 He argues that sometimes charters were taken round for neighbouring lords to sign after the event. As such,
witness lists may sometimes reveal not those who were present at court but those whom the lord thought to be
important and/or were interested in the terms of the charter (such as family members or people with land
adjacent to the area mentioned in the charter). This means that we cannot be certain that those people listed
in a charter were present when the terms of the charter were recorded. See D. R. Bates, 'The
prosopographical study of Anglo-Norman royal charters: some problems and perspectives', a paper delivered
at the Oxford Prosopographical Conference, 30 March 1995.
n Hudson has argued that until the middle of the twelfth century many acta would have been written up by
the receiver: John Hudson, 'Diplomatic and legal aspects of the charters', The Journal of the Chester