In the kingdom of England, a feudal barony or barony by tenure was the highest degree of feudal land tenure, namely per baroniam (Latin for "by barony"), under which the land-holder owed the service of being one of the king's barons. The duties owed by and the privileges granted to feudal barons are not exactly defined, but they involved the duty of providing soldiers to the royal feudal army on demand by the king, and the privilege of attendance at the king's feudal court, the Magnum Concilium, the precursor of parliament.

King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215, surrounded by his baronage. Illustration from Cassell's History of England, 1902.

If the estate-in-land held by barony contained a significant castle as its caput baroniae[lower-alpha 1] and if it was especially large – consisting of more than about 20 knight's fees (each loosely equivalent to a manor) – then it was termed an honour. The typical honour had properties scattered over several shires, intermingled with the properties of others. This was a specific policy of the Norman kings, to avoid establishing any one area under the control of a single lord.[1] Usually, though, a more concentrated cluster existed somewhere. Here would lie the caput (head) of the honour, with a castle that gave its name to the honour and served as its administrative headquarters. The term honour is particularly useful for the eleventh and twelfth centuries, before the development of an extensive peerage hierarchy.

This type of barony is different from the type of feudal barony which existed within a county palatine. A county palatine was an independent franchise so its baronies were considered the highest rank of feudal tenure in the county and not the kingdom, such as the barony of Halton within the Palatinate of Chester.[2]

Creation

William the Conqueror established his favoured followers as barons by enfeoffing them as tenants-in-chief with great fiefdoms to be held per baroniam, a largely standard feudal contract of tenure, common to all his barons. Such barons were not necessarily always from the greater Norman nobles, but were selected often on account of their personal abilities and usefulness. Thus, for instance, Turstin FitzRolf, the relatively humble and obscure knight who had stepped in at the last minute to accept the position of Duke William's standard-bearer at the Battle of Hastings, was granted a barony which comprised well over twenty manors.[3]

Lands forming a barony were often located in several different counties, not necessarily adjoining. The name of such a barony is generally deemed to be the name of the chief manor within it, known as the Caput, Latin for "head", generally assumed to have been the seat or chief residence of the first baron. So, for instance, the barony of Turstin FitzRolf became known as the barony of North Cadbury, Somerset.[3]

The exact date of creation of most feudal baronies cannot be determined, as their founding charters have been lost. Many of them are first recorded in the Domesday Book survey of 1086.

Servitium debitum

The feudal obligation imposed by the grant of a barony was termed in Latin the servitium debitum or "service owed" and was set as a quota of knights to be provided for the king's service. It bore no constant relation to the amount of land comprised by the barony, but was fixed by a bargain between the king and the baron.[4]

It was at the discretion of the baron as to how these knights were found. The commonest method was for him to split his barony into several fiefs of between a few hundred acres possibly up to a thousand acres each, into each of which he would sub-enfeoff one knight, by the tenure of knight-service. This tenure gave the knight use of the fief and all its revenues, on condition that he should provide to the baron, now his overlord, 40 days of military service, complete with retinue of esquires, horses and armour. The fief so allotted is known as a knight's fee. Alternatively the baron could keep the entire barony, or a part of it, in demesne, that is to say "in-hand" or under his own management, using the revenues it produced to buy the services of mercenary knights known as "stipendiary knights".

Under- and over-enfeoffment

Where a baron had sub-enfeoffed fewer knights than required by the servitium debitum, the barony was said to be "under-enfeoffed", and the balance of knights owing had to be produced super dominium, that is "on the demesne". This does not mean they were resident within the baron's demesne, but that they had to be hired with the revenue arising from it.

Conversely, a barony was "over-enfeoffed" where more knights had been enfeoffed than was required by the servitium debitum, and this indicated that the barony had been obtained on overly-favourable terms.

Cartae Baronum

The Cartae Baronum ("Charters of the Barons") was a survey commissioned by the Treasury in 1166. It required each baron[lower-alpha 2] to declare how many knights he had enfeoffed and how many were super dominium, with the names of all. It appears that the survey was designed to identify baronies from which a greater servitium debitum could in future be obtained by the king. An example is given from the return of Lambert of Etocquigny:[5]

To his reverend lord, Henry, king of the English, Lambert of Etocquigny, greeting. Know that I hold from you by your favour 16 carucates of land and 2 bovates [about 2,000 acres] by the service of 10 knights. In these 16 carucates of land I have 5 knights enfeoffed by the old enfeoffment:

  • Richard de Haia holds 1 knight's fee; and he withheld the service which he owes to you and to me from the day of your coronation up to now, except that he paid me 2 marks. [about 500 grams of silver]
  • Odo de Cranesbi holds 1 knight's fee.
  • Thomas, son of William, holds 1 knight's fee.
  • Roger de Millers holds 2 knight's fees.

And from my demesne I provide the balance of the service I owe you, to wit, that of 5 knights. And from that demesne I have given Robert de Portemort 34 of 1 knight's fee. Therefore I pray you that you will send me your judgement concerning Richard de Haia who holds back the service of his fee, because I cannot obtain that service except by your order. This is the total service in the aforesaid 16 carucates of land. Farewell.

Summons to Parliament

The privilege which balanced the burden of the servitium debitum was the baron's right to attend the king's council. Originally[when?] all barons who held per baroniam received individual writs of summons to attend Parliament. This was a practical measure because the early kings almost continually travelled around the kingdom, taking their court (i.e. administration) with them.

A king only called a parliament, or council, when the need arose for either advice or funding. This lack of a parliamentary schedule meant that the barons needed to be informed when and where to attend. As baronies became fragmented over time due to failure of male heirs and descent via co-heiresses (see below), many of those who held per baroniam became holders of relatively small fiefdoms. Eventually, the king refused to summon such minor nobles to Parliament by personal writ, sending instead a general writ of summons to the sheriff of each shire, who was to summon only representatives of these so-called lesser barons. The greater barons, who retained sufficient power to insist upon it, continued to receive personal summonses. The king came to realise, from the complacency of the lesser barons with this new procedure, that in practice it was not tenure per baroniam which determined attendance at Parliament, but receipt of a writ of summons originated by himself.

The next logical development was that the king started issuing writs to persons who did not hold per baroniam and who were not therefore feudal barons, but "barons by writ". The reason for summoning by writ was based on personal characteristics, for example the man summoned might be one of exceptional judgement or have valuable military skills. The arbitrary summons by personal writ signalled the start of the decline of feudalism, eventually evolving into summons by public proclamation in the form of letters patent.

Deemed feudal barons

The higher prelates such as archbishops and bishops were deemed to hold per baroniam, and were thus members of the baronage entitled to attend Parliament, indeed they formed the greatest grouping of all. Marcher lords in Wales often held their lordships by right of conquest and appear to have been deemed feudal barons. The Barons of the Cinque Ports were also deemed feudal barons by virtue of their military service at sea,[6] and were thus entitled to attend Parliament.

Baronial relief

Baronial relief was payable by an heir so that he might lawfully take possession of his inheritance.[7] It was a form of one-off taxation, or more accurately a variety of "feudal incident", levyable by the King on his tenants-in-chief for a variety of reasons. A prospective heir to a barony generally paid £100 in baronial relief for his inheritance.[7] The term "relief" implies "elevation", both words being derived from the Latin levo, to raise up, into a position of honour.

Where a barony was split into two, for example on the death of a baron leaving two co-heiresses, each daughter's husband would become a baron in respect of his moiety (mediaeval French for "half"), paying half of the full baronial relief. A tenant-in-chief could be the lord of fractions of several different baronies, if he or his ancestors had married co-heiresses. The tenure of even the smallest fraction of a barony conferred baronial status on the lord of these lands.[7] This natural fragmentation of the baronies led to great difficulties within the royal administration as the king relied on an ever-increasing number of men responsible for supplying soldiers for the royal army, and the records of the identities of these fractional barons became more complex and unreliable. The early English jurist Henry de Bracton (died 1268) was one of the first writers to examine the concept of the feudal barony.

Abolition and surviving vestiges

The power of the feudal barons to control their landholding was considerably weakened in 1290 by the statute of Quia Emptores. This prohibited land from being the subject of a feudal grant, and allowed its transfer without the feudal lord's permission.

Feudal baronies became perhaps obsolete (but not extinct) on the abolition of feudal tenure during the Civil War, as confirmed by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 passed under the Restoration which took away knights service and other legal rights.

Under the Tenures Abolition Act 1660, many baronies by tenure were converted into baronies by writ. The rest ceased to exist as feudal baronies by tenure, becoming baronies in free socage, that is to say under a "free" (hereditable) contract requiring payment of monetary rents. Thus baronies could no longer be held by military service. Parliamentary titles of honour had been limited since the 15th century by the Modus Tenenda Parliamenta act, and could thenceforth only be created by writ of summons or letters patent.

Tenure by knight-service was abolished and discharged and the lands covered by such tenures, including once-feudal baronies, were henceforth held by socage (i.e. in exchange for monetary rents). The English Fitzwalter Case in 1670 ruled that barony by tenure had been discontinued for many years and any claims to a peerage on such basis, meaning a right to sit in the House of Lords, were not to be revived, nor any right of succession based on them.[8] In the Berkeley Case in 1861, an attempt was made to claim a seat in the House of Lords by right of a barony by tenure, but the House of Lords ruled that whatever might have been the case in the past, baronies by tenure no longer existed, meaning that a barony could not be held "by tenure", and confirmed the Tenures Abolition Act 1660.[9] Three Redesdale Committee Reports in the early 19th century reached the same conclusion. There has been at least one legal opinion which asserts the continuing legal existence of the feudal barony in England and Wales, namely that from 1996 of A W & C Barsby, Barristers of Grays's Inn.[10]

Geographical survivals

Survivals of feudal baronies, in their geographical form, are the Barony of Westmorland or Appleby, the Barony of Kendal, the Barony of Arundel and the Barony of Abergavenny.[11] The first two terms now describe areas of the historic county of Westmorland, in the same way that the word "county" itself has lost its feudal meaning of a land area under the control of a count or earl.

Lists

Ivor J. Sanders searched the archives, for example Exchequer documents such as fine rolls and pipe rolls, for entries recording the payment of baronial relief and published his results in English Baronies, a Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327 (Oxford, 1960). He identified a number of certain baronies where evidence was found of payment of baronial relief, and a further group which he termed "probable baronies" where the evidence was less clear. Where he could not identify a caput, Sanders named the barony after the name of the baron, for example the "Barony of Miles of Gloucester". The following lists include all of Sanders' certain and probable baronies.

For a full comprehensive list of feudal baronies in the 13th century along with earldoms, bishoprics, and archbishoprics see List of nobles and magnates of England in the 13th century.

Certain baronies

More information Name of barony, County of caput ...
Name of baronyCounty of caputFirst known tenantEarliest record
AldingtonKentWilliam FitzHelte1073
ArundelSussexRoger de Montgomerypre 1087
AshbyLincolnshireGilbert de Neville1162
AshfieldSuffolkRobert Blund1086
AtherleighLancashireDomhnall Uí Bhriainpost 1086
AveleyEssexJohn FitzWaleran1086
BamptonDevonWalter de Douai1086
BisetManasser Biset (d.1177)pre 1177
Gloucester (baronial court at Bristol[12])GloucestershireRobert FitzHamon(d.1107)pre 1107
Miles of Gloucester/BreconBreconMiles de Gloucester1125
BasingHampshireHugh de Port1086
BeckleyOxfordshireRoger d'Ivry1086
BedfordBedfordshireHugh de Beauchamp1086
BelvoirLeicestershireRobert de Todeni1086
BeningtonHertfordshirePeter I de Valoynes1086
BerkeleyGloucestershireRobert FitzHardingtemp. Henry II, pre 1166
BerkhampsteadHertfordshireRobert, count of Mortain1086
BeverstoneGloucestershireRobert de Gurney1235
BlagdonSomersetSerlo de Burci1086
BlankneyLincolnshireWalter I de Aincourt1086
BlythboroughSuffolkWilliam FitzWalter1157
BolhamNorthumberlandJames de Newcastle1154
BolingbrokeLincolnshireIvo de Taillebois1086
BournCambridgeshirePicot1086
BradninchDevonWilliam Capra1086
BulwickNorthamptonshireRichard FitzUrse1130
Burgh-by-SandsCumberlandRobert de Treverstemp. Henry I (1100–1135)
Burstwick/"Holderness"[13]YorkshireDrogo de Brevere1086
BywellNorthumberlandGuy de Ballioltemp. William II(1087–1100)
CainhoeBedfordshireNigel d'Aubigny (died before 1107)1086
Castle CarySomersetWalter de Douai1086
Castle Combe[14]WiltshireHumphrey de Insula1086
Castle HolgateShropshire"Helgot"1086
CausShropshireRoger FitzCorbet11th century
CavendishSuffolkRalph I de Limesy1086
CaxtonCambridgeshireHardwin de Scales1086
ChathamKentRobert le Latin (held under Odo Bp. of Bayeux)1086
ChesterCheshireGerbod the Fleming1070
Chipping WardenNorthamptonshireGuy de Reinbuedcurt1086
Chiselborough[lower-alpha 3]SomersetAlured "Pincerna"1086
ClareSuffolkRichard fitz Gilbertc. 1090
CliffordHerefordRalph de Tony1086
CoggesOxfordshireWadard (held under Odo Bp. of Bayeux)1086
CottinghamYorkshireHugh fitzBaldric1086
CrickDerbyshireRalph FitzHubert[15]1086
Curry MaletSomersetRoger de Courcelles1086
Eaton BrayBedfordshireWilliam I de Cantilupe1205
Eaton SoconBedfordshireEudo Dapifer1086
EllinghamNorthumberlandNicholas de Grenvilletemp. Henry I
EmbletonNorthumberlandJohn FitzOdardtemp. Henry I
ErlestokeWiltshireRoger I de Mandevilletemp. Henry I
Ewyas HaroldHerefordshireAlfred of Marlborough1086
EyeSuffolkRobert Malet1086
Field Dalling/St.HilaryNorfolkHasculf de St James1138
Flockthorpe in HardinghamNorfolkRalph de Camoys1236
FolkestoneKentWilliam de Arques (held under Odo Bp. of Bayeux)c. 1090
FolkinghamLincolnshireGilbert de Gant 1086
FramlinghamSuffolkRoger I Bigod1086/temp. Henry I
FreistonLincolnshireGuy de Craon1086
Great BealingsSuffolkHervey de Bourges1086
Great TorringtonDevonOdo FitzGamelin1086
Great WeldonNorthamptonshireRobert de Buci1086
GreystokeCumberlandForne son of Sigulf1086
HanslopeBuckinghamshireWinemar the Fleming1086
Hasley/HaseleyBuckinghamshireRodger d’Yorey1086
Hatch Beauchamp[16]SomersetRobert FitzIvo (under Count of Mortain)1086
HeadingtonOxfordshireThomas Basset1203
HeadinghamEssexAubry I de Vere1086
HelmsleyYorkshireWalter Espectemp. Henry I
HockeringNorfolkRalph de Belfou1086
Holderness (see caput:Burstwick)
Hook NortonOxfordshireRobert d'Oilly1086
Hooton PagnellYorkshireRichard de Surdeval (under Count of Mortain) (part) Ralph Pagnell (under King) (part)1086
HunsingoreYorkshireErneis de Burun1086
KendalWestmorlandIvo de Tailleboistemp. William II
KingtonHerefordshireAdam de Portc. 1121
KirklintonCumberlandAdam I de Boivill(?)post temp. Henry I
KnaresboroughYorkshireWilliam de Stutevillec. 1175
Kymmer-yn-Edeirnion Merionethshire Gruffydd ab Iorwerth ab Owain Brogyntyn 1284
LauncestonCornwallDescent as Earl of Cornwall1086
LeicesterLeicestershireHugh de Grandmesnil1086
Long CrendonBuckinghamshireWalter I Giffard1086
MarshwoodDorsetGeoffrey de Mandeville (c. 1070 – c. 1119)temp. Henry I
MonmouthMonmouthshireWithenocc. 1066
MorpethNorthumberlandWilliam I de Merlaytemp. Henry I
Much MarcleHerefordshireWilliam fitzBaderon1086
MulgraveYorkshireNigel Fossard1086
Nether StoweySomersetAlfred de Hispania1086
NoctonLincolnshireNorman I de Darcy1086
North CadburySomersetTurstin FitzRolf1086
OdellBedfordshireWalter le Fleming1086
OkehamptonDevonBaldwin FitzGilbert1086
Old BuckenhamNorfolkWilliam d'Aubigny Pincernatemp. Henry I
OswestryShropshireWarin the Bold (held from Roger of Montgomery)temp. William II
PleshyEssexGeoffrey I de Mandeville1086
PoorstockDorsetRoger I Arundel1086
PrudhoeNorthumberlandRobert I de Umfravilletemp. William I
PulverbatchShropshireRoger I Venator (held from Roger of Montgomery)1086
RayneEssexRoger de Raimes1086
RedbourneLincolnshireJocelin FitzLambert1086
Richard's CastleHerefordshireOsbern fitzRichard1086
SalwarpeWorcestershireUrse d'Abitot (held from Roger of Montgomery)1086
ShelfordNottinghamshireGeoffrey de Alselin1086
SkeltonYorkshireRobert de Brustemp. Henry I
SkirpenbeckYorkshireOdo the Crossbowman1086
SnodhillHerefordshireHugh the Ass1086
SotbyLincolnshireWilliam I Kyme (held from Walden the Engineer)1086
SouthoeHuntingdonshireEustace Sheriff of Huntingdonshire1086
StaffordStaffordshireRobert I de Stafford1086
Stainton le ValeLincolnshireRalph de Crioltemp. Henry I
Stansted MountfitchetEssexRobert Gernon1086
StaveleyDerbyshireHascuil I Musard1086
Stoke TristerSomersetBretel St Clair1086
StyfordNorthumberlandWalter I de Bolbectemp. Henry I
SudeleyGloucestershireHarold de Sudeley1066
TarringtonHerefordshireAnsfrid de Cormeilles1086
TattershallLincolnshireEudo son of Spirewic1086
ThoreswayLincolnshireAlfred of Lincoln1086
TotnesDevonJuhel de Totnes1086
TrematonCornwallReginald I de Vautort (held from Count of Mortain)1086
TrowbridgeWiltshireBrictric1086
WalkernHertfordshireDermantemp. William I
WallingfordBerkshireMilo Crispin1086
WarwickWarwickshireRobert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan1086
Weedon Pinkeny/LoisNorthamptonshireGhilo I de Pinkeny1086
WemShropshireWilliam Pantulf (held from Roger, Earl of Montgomery)temp. William II
WeobleyHerefordshireWalter de Lacytemp. William I
West DeanWiltshireWaleran the Huntsman1086
West GreenwichKentGilbert de Maminot, Bishop of Lisieux (held from Odo Bishop of Bayeux)1086
WhitchurchBuckinghamshireHugh I de Bolbec1086
WigmoreHerefordshireWilliam FitzOsberntemp. William I
Winterbourne St MartinDorsetwidow of Hugh FitzGrip1086
WolvertonBuckinghamshireManno le Breton1086
WormegayNorfolkHermer de Ferrers1086
WrittleEssexIsobel of Huntingdon, sister & co-heir of John the Scot, Earl of Chester1241
Close

Source: Sanders (1960)


Probable baronies

More information Name of barony, County of caput ...
Name of baronyCounty of caputFirst known tenantEarliest record
AlnwickNorthumberlandIvo de Vesci11th century
ApplebyWestmorlandRobert de Vieuxpont1203/4
AsthallOxfordshireRoger d'Ivery1086
BarnstapleDevonGeoffrey de Mowbray (see House of Mowbray)[17]1086
Barony of PortKentHugh de Port1086
Barony de RosKentGeoffrey I de Ros1086
BeanleyNorthumberlandGospatric, Earl of Dunbartemp. Henry I (1100–1135)
Berry Pomeroy[18]DevonRalph de Pomeroy1086
BothalNorthumberlandRichard I Bertrampre.1162
BourneLincolnshireWilliam de Rollos1100–1130
BramberSussexWilliam I de Braose1086
BrattlebyLincolnshireColswain1086
CallertonNorthumberlandHubert de la Val11th century
CardinhamCornwallRichard FitzTuroldtemp. William I(1066–1087)
ChepstowMonmouthshireWilliam FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Herefordpre.1070
ChilhamKentFulbert I de Dover1086[19]
ChitterneWiltshireEdward of Salisbury1086
ChristchurchHampshireRichard de Reviers1100–1107
ClunShropshireRobert "Picot de Say"1086
DudleyWorcestershireWilliam FitzAnsculf1086
DunsterSomersetWilliam I de Mohun1086
DursleyGloucestershireRoger I de Berkeley1086
EgremontCumberlandWilliam Meschintemp. Henry I (1100–1135)
Elston-in-Orcheston St GeorgeWiltshireOsbern Giffard1086
EtonBuckinghamshire[lower-alpha 4]Walter FitzOther1086
FlamsteadHertfordshireRalph I de Tony1086
FotheringayNorthamptonshireWaltheof son of Siward, Earl of Huntingdon and Northamptonpre-1086
HadstoneNorthumberlandAschantinus de Worcestertemp. Henry I (1100–1135)
HastingsSussexWilliam II, Count of Eu1086
Hatfield PeverelEssexRanulph Peverel1086
HaughleySuffolkHugh de Montfort1086
Helions BumpsteadEssexTihel1086
HeppleNorthumberlandWaltheofpre.1161
HorsleyDerbyshireRalph de Burun1086
IrthingtonCumberlandRanulph le Meschinc. 1100
KeevilWiltshireErnulph de Hesdingpre.1091
KempsfordGloucestershireErnulf I de Hesding11th/12th centuries
KentwellSuffolkFrodo1086
Knaresborough ForestYorkshireRobert I, King of Scotlandtemp. Edward II
LancasterLancashireRoger the Poitevintemp. William I
LangleyNorthumberlandAdam I de Tindale1165
LavendonBuckinghamshireBishop of Coutances1086
LewesSussexWilliam I de Warenne1086
Liddel StrengthCumberlandRanulph le Meschinpre. 1121
Little DunmowEssexRalph Bayard1086
Little EastonEssexWalter the Deacon1086
Manchester[20]LancashireAlbert de Gresletemp. William II
MitfordNorthumberlandJohnpre temp. Henry I
Odcombe[lower-alpha 5]SomersetAnsgar I Brito1086
Old WardonBedfordshireWilliam Speche (Espec)1086
PapcastleCumberlandWaldevetemp. Henry I
Patricksbourne[lower-alpha 6]KentRichard FitzWilliam1086
PeakDerbyshireWilliam I Peverel1086
PevenseySussexGilbert I de l'Aigle1106–1114
PlymptonDevonRichard I de Reviers1087–1107
PontefractYorkshireIlbert I de Lacy1086
RayleighEssexSwain of Essex1086
RichmondYorkshireAlan Rufus1086
RothersthorpeNorthamptonshireGunfrid de Cioches1086
SkiptonYorkshireRobert de Rumillytemp. William II
Stogursey (Stoke Courcy)SomersetWilliam de Falaise1086
SwanscombeKentHelte[lower-alpha 7]1086
TamworthStaffordshireRobert Dispensator1086
Tarrant KeynestonDorsetRalph de Kainestemp. Henry I
ThirskYorkshireRobert de Mowbraypre-1095
TickhillYorkshireRoger de Busli1086
TopcliffeYorkshireWilliam I de Percy1086
TutburyStaffordshireHenry de Ferrers1086
WarkNorthumberlandWalter Espectemp. Henry I (1100–1135)
WarterYorkshireGeoffrey FitzPainc. 1101
WhaltonNorthumberlandWalter FitzWilliampre-1161
WithamEssexEustace II, Count of Boulogne1086
Wrinstead[lower-alpha 8]KentWilliam Peverelpost 1088
Close

Source, unless otherwise stated: Sanders (1960), pp. 103–151

Others

Later establishments

See also

Notes

  1. The term 'caput baroniae' is often shortened to 'caput'
  2. The survey in fact covered all the king's tenants-in-chief, not just those who held per baroniam, which adds much uncertainty as to the exact meaning of the term "baron".[citation needed]
  3. Chiselborough held from Robert Count of Mortain
  4. Now in Berkshire
  5. Odcombe held from Count of Mortain 1086
  6. Patricksbourne held from Odo of Bayeux 1086
  7. Held from the Bishop of Bayeux
  8. Wrinstead: now represented by Wrinstead Court, c. 11 miles NW of Ashford, Kent

References

Sources

Further reading

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