Winfarthing [a town, a parish in Norfolk, an English county, was] privileged as [an] ancient demean, the tenants being excused from serving as jurors at the sessions or assizes, or any where else out of the manor, and from toll in markets and fairs, upon renewing their writ every King's reign, and having it annually allowed by the sheriff of the county.
It remained in the Crown till King Henry II gave it to Sir William De Monte-caniso, (or Munchensie,) Knt. who gave a 100 marks to have seizin of this manor in 1189....[Sir William] was... married [to] Joan, second daughter to William Marshal Earl of Pembrook [Pembroke] .... In the 34th [year] of Henry III ['s reign], the King ratified to him all the liberties belonging to the lands of Ralph de Montchensy, his uncle, whose heir he was, all which were first granted by King Henry II; among which, the tenants here were excused from the sheriff's turn, and from toll, and from serving upon any juries out of their manor, and he had assize of bread, ale, and wine, ....and this further privilege, that the King's bailiffs should not enter his bailiwick of Winfarthing to take any distress, but the bailiff of that bailiwick should do it. He died in 1255, being then reputed one of the most noble, prudent, and wealthy men of all the realm, his inventory amounting to 4000 marks, a prodigious sum for that time.
He left William, his son, his heir, who had a park well stocked with deer in this parish. In 1259 in the 46th of Henry III, he was one of the discontented barons then at difference with the King, .... in the 48th of the same King, having been one of the chief commanders on the part of the rebellious Barons in that fatal battle of Lewes, where the King was made their prisoner, the next year, when they summoned a parliament in the King's name, he was one of the chief of those Barons that then sat therein; but not long after this, being taken at Kenilworth, in that notable surprise made by the forces of Prince Edward, a little before the battle of Evesham, his lands were seized, and given to William de Valence, half brother to the King, and Earl of Pembrook, who had married his sister Joan; whereupon Dionisia, his mother, who was daughter and heir of Nicholas de Anesty, undertook to bring him, [William] before the feast of St. Hillary, in the 51st year of that King, to stand to the judgment of the King's Court,... when he had such fair respect shewn him for his sister's sake, that William de Valence, her husband, freely restored him his lands again; after which, in 1277, he had a full pardon for his rebellion, and all the liberties granted by King Henry II to his ancestors, confirmed at large, with this additional one, that he might keep dogs to hunt the hare, fox, and wild cat in his forests. ....
Sir William de Munchensie died fighting for King Edward I in Wales in 1289.
This passage is from An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Containing a Description of the Towns, Villages, and Hamlets, with the Foundations of Monasteries, Churches, Chapels, Chantries, and Other Religious Buildings (1739). The author is Francis Blomefield (July 23, 1705 to January 16, 1752).
Historiography has changed. The impression of these old accounts is of an spatial perspective, rather than what we would call an explanation of chronological change. And perhaps you were struck with the way nobility went into rebellion and back later into full favor. Where is the "off with their heads" style of monarchy? Later, much later -- absolute monarchy is a Renaissance phenomenon. What we have in the 13th century is rule by a class which began with people who demonstrated physical valor. These people were often illiterate. They were conscious of shared bloodlines and personal loyalty. They were really like a litter of puppies in their brawling. Which we mention by noticing the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.
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