Extract from Peter Brand,
The Acta of Edgar II, (London: Regal Historical Academy, 1998)
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No. 162
A: Ralf Dugdale, Antiquities of Cumbria, (Bridgnorth, 1625)
B: Arthur Thorpe, Monasticon Anglorum, (London: Antiquaries Society, 1750)
No longer extant. Survives as copies made by Dugdale and Thorpe in their respective books. Dugdale was of the opinion that the ‘writ’ copied by him among the muniments of the former Ainstable Abbey was not original but a copy dated c.1316. Thorpe concurred with Dugdale’s assessment. The muniments of Ainstable were destroyed in transit enroute to Stamford University in 1761. Text taken from A.
† Ēadgār cynge gret mine biscopes .
7 mine eorlas
7 ealle mine þegenas on ealle þan sciran . freondlice :
7 ic cyðe eoƿ ƀ ic ƿylle ƀ Ēadmund consiliarius .
7 Sigulf .
7 Æþelric .
7 Ælfsige .
7 Æþelstan .
7 Beorhtmær . þegnas . in Cumbralande rihthláforddómas .
7 beon heora saca
7 heora socna ƿurðe ægðer gebinnan burh
7 butan .
7 sƿa godera lagana þurðe : nu sƿa full
7 sƿa forð sƿa hig betste ƿæran on æniges cyngces dage . oððe on æniges biscopes . oððe on æniges eorl on eallan þingan .
7 ic nelle geþafian ƀ heom ænig man æt anigan þingan misbeode .
7 þis is gedon be . Ēadgār cynge fullra leafe .
7 on his gewitnesse .
7 ón Gunnhild his cyninge .
7 ón Godwine eorl .
7 ón Benet aƃƃ .
7 ón Ēadmund consiliarius .
7 ón Magnus burþen .
7 ón Bondig steallre .
7 ón Sigulf .
7 ón Æþelric .
7 ón Æþelstan .
7 ón Ælfsige . þegenes .
7 ón Æþelsige stiƿeard .
7 ón Sæman mæssepreóst .
7 ón Osbert .
7 ón Beorhtmær . cnihtas .
7 ón Forne sweordhwita. Nu syndon þisse gewrita . ehta . an is mid þæs cynges haligdome .
7 an is mid Ēadmund .
7 an is mid Sigulf .
7 an is mid Æþelric .
7 an is mid Æþelstan .
7 an is mid Æþelsige .
7 an is mid Ælfsige .
7 an is mid Beorhtmær .
7 ƀ eahtoða is mid þam aƃƃ. on ða halgan stowe. Ebor. Mlxxiiii.
King Edgar sends friendly greetings to my bishops and my earls and all my thegns in all the shires, and I inform you that it is my will that Edmund
[1] the counsellor and the thegns Sigulf
[2] and Æthelric
[3] and Ælfsige
[4] and Æthelstan
[5] and Beorhtmær
[6] are the lawful authority in Cumberland and they be entitled to their sake and their soke, both within burh and without, and to as good laws now as fully and completely as in the days of any king or of any bishop or of any earl, and I will not permit any man to do them wrong in anything.
This is done with King Edgar’s full consent and with his cognisance and that of his queen Gunnhild and of Earl Godwin
[7] and of Abbot Benoît
[8] and of Edmund the counsellor and of Magnus
[9] the chamberlain and of Bondi
[10] the staller and of the thegns Sigulf, Æthelric, Æthelstan, Ælfsige, and of Æthelsige
[11] the steward and of Sæman
[12] the chaplain and of the companions Osbert
[13] and Beorhtmær and of Forne
[14] the sword-polisher.
There are eight of these documents. One is in the king’s sanctuary, one is in Edmund’s possession, one is in Sigulf’s possession, one is in Æthelric’s possession, one is in Æthelstan’s possession, one is in Ælfsige’s possession, one is in Beorhtmær’s possession, and the eighth is in the possession of the abbot at the holy foundation.
York 1074.
‘Controversy’ surrounds discussion about the exact import of this charter. As written it states that a select group of lords are the lawful authority in Cumberland but severely limits the private justice that they can exercise. This sets it at odds with other contemporary charters – which were less wide-ranging in scope – and with what actually occurred in Cumberland. It is known that these Cumberland lords and their descendants wielded immense power; not only the mentioned sake and soke but also toll and team, and infangeneþeof. They also had jurisdiction in regard to the harbouring of outlaws, ambush, forcible entry into a house and breach of the king’s peace – pleas usually reserved to the king’s justice. Unfortunately no original charter survives nor is there any other known copy to make comparisons. Scribal error? Or deliberate rewriting when later English kings were looking to curtail the power of their subjects?
[1] Edmund Haroldson.
[2] Thegn in Yorkshire.
[3] Thegn of Swillington, Yorkshire.
[4] Thegn of Winsham, Somerset.
[5] Thegn of Swinton, Yorkshire.
[6] From Essex (?).
[7] Earl of Sussex.
[8] Abbot of Selby.
[9] Magnus Haroldson.
[10] Magnate from Wessex who first attests as staller
c.1060.
[11] Initially member of Edward III’s household.
[12] Becomes bishop of Lincoln in 1077.
[13] Son of Warwickshire thegn Siward of Arden.
[14] Son of Yorkshire thegn Sigulf.
