Hemming's Cartulary

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Hemming's Cartulary
Liber Wigorniensis and Hemming's Cartulary proper
Cotton Tiberius A xiii
First printed edition1723 by Thomas Hearne
GenreCartulary
Length197 leaves total
SubjectCharters of Worcester Cathedral
Period covered10th and 11th century

Hemming's Cartulary is a manuscript cartulary, or collection of charters and other land records, collected by a monk named Hemming around the time of the Norman Conquest of England. The manuscript comprises two separate cartularies that were made at different times and later bound together; it is in the British Library as MS Cotton Tiberius A xiii. The first was composed at the end of the 10th or beginning of the 11th century. The second section was compiled by Hemming and was written around the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century. The first section, traditionally titled the Liber Wigorniensis, is a collection of Anglo-Saxon charters and other land records, most of which are organized geographically. The second section, Hemming's Cartulary proper, combines charters and other land records with a narrative of deprivation of property owned by the church of Worcester.

The two works are bound together in one surviving manuscript, the earliest surviving cartulary from medieval England. A major theme is the losses suffered by Worcester at the hands of royal officials and local landowners. Included amongst the despoilers are kings such as

William the Conqueror, and nobles such as Eadric Streona and Urse d'Abetot
. Also included are accounts of lawsuits waged by the Worcester monks in an effort to regain their lost lands. The two sections of the cartulary were first printed in 1723. The original manuscript was slightly damaged by fire in 1733, and required rebinding.

Authorship and composition

Although the monk Hemming has traditionally been credited with all the works in the manuscript, the cartulary contains two works that were collected together, only one of which is by Hemming. The two works were bound together to form the manuscript (abbreviated MS) Cotton Tiberius A xiii, now held in the Cotton library, a collection in the British Library.[1] Together, the two works form the first surviving cartulary from medieval England.[2] The first part is the so-called Liber Wigorniensis, or Book of Worcester, which takes up folios 1–118 of the manuscript.[3] The second is Hemming's work, and takes up folios 119–142, 144–152 and 154–200.[4] MS Cotton Nero E i and British Library MS Add 46204 may also contain charters collected as part of Hemming's work, as they have been identified by some scholars as having been produced during Hemming's lifetime,[4] although others identify them as a copy of the Liber Wigorniensis.[5]

Manuscript condition

The original manuscript containing the cartulary was damaged in a fire in 1733,[6] but the damage was not serious. The edges of the manuscript were burned, which resulted in a few words being lost on the margins. Because of the fire damage, the manuscript was rebound in the 19th century, and each leaf was mounted separately.[7] In addition to the two main sections, there are three smaller parchment pages bound in with the manuscript: folios 110, 143, and 153.[7] The first of them, folio 110, measures 70 millimetres (2.8 in) high by 90 millimetres (3.5 in) wide and lists eight names, probably witnesses to a lease. The second inserted folio, 143, measures 130 millimetres (5.1 in) high by 180 millimetres (7.1 in) wide and gives a list of jurors in a late 11th-century hand. The last inserted folio, 153, measures 58 millimetres (2.3 in) high by 180 millimetres (7.1 in) wide and gives the boundaries of a manor in Old English, rather than Latin; it is written in a 12th-century hand.[8]

Liber Wigorniensis

The first part of the work is an early 11th-century collection of older charters, arranged geographically, with a section on late 10th-century land leases tacked on the end.

scribal hands used are small and not very rounded, and resemble the type of writing prevalent in England during the early part of the 11th century.[12] This section consists of 117 leaves in the original manuscript, each page with 26 lines of text. The written area is approximately 190 millimetres (7.5 in) tall by 100 millimetres (3.9 in) wide.[7] A few blank areas in the original manuscript copy have been filled with information in the later 11th and 12th centuries, mainly related to properties owned by the cathedral.[13]

Hemming's cartulary proper

Hemming was the author of the second and later part, a collection of lands and rights belonging to the cathedral chapter of Worcester, as well as a narrative of the deeds of

Samson. Historian Nicholas Brooks, along with Vivian Galbraith, argues that Hemming's work was a response to the problems encountered by the diocese during the vacancy, when royal officials administered the lands of the bishopric. According to Brooks, the claim that Wulfstan ordered the composition of the cartulary was inaccurate, and was made to appeal to the authority of the bishop.[4] The historian Julia Barrow believes that the inspiration for the work was the creation of the Domesday Book in 1086, although she agrees that the work was completed after Wulfstan's death. Hemming's work contains over 50 charters, some of which are duplicates of ones in the Liber.[17]

The second section of the work is not just a collection of deeds and charters but includes other historical information of importance, especially for Hemming's monastery.

Worcester Priory in the 16th century.[21]

Themes and contents

Both the Liber Wigorniensis and Hemming's work contain a number of forged charters.[4] The historian Julia Barrow has determined that at least 25 of the 155 charters in the Liber are forged, but cautions that this is the minimum estimate.[11] Barrow identifies more than 30 of the charters in Hemming's work as forgeries, including some that are duplicates from the Liber.[17] Some of the stories that form Hemming's narrative do not always agree with other sources, and Ker says "it is safer to trust to the main facts than to the details of his [Hemming's] stories".[22]

Contents of the Liber Wigorniensis

The main goal of the Liber was to document the landholdings of the diocese and bishop, and to keep a register of the written charters and leases pertaining to the property of the church at Worcester. Because there is no narrative tying the documents together, the Liber should be seen as a working document, compiled for the use of the bishop and monks, and designed not as a literary work but a legal one. The Liber was revised during its working life, which adds further support for the working nature of the composition.[23]

The charters constitute valuable evidence for prosopographical research and the study of land tenure in late Anglo-Saxon England. According to Donald A. Bullough, they also offer a window on the kind of social bonds which could be created by "neighbourhood". In the 10th century, the Bishop of Worcester leased out various small estates attached to the Church in the three counties (Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire) to several high-ranking men and women, usually for three lifespans.[24] The pattern may be taken to suggest that this way of association served to "create a network, an inter-meshing, of high-status 'neighbours' ... with its central knot in Worcester and the domus of the bishop".[25] In the bishop's residence or at home, the lessees may have come together to participate in convivial drinking, just as the Norman successors to these lands are envisaged as doing in William of Malmesbury's Life of St Wulfstan.[25] Further, some of the thegns served in the royal army (fyrd) under the command of Bishop Oswald or his successors, which presupposes the creation of a personal warband and possibly one with the secondary purpose of protecting the bishop's properties.[26]

Hemming's work

Purpose

Hemming's introduction to his work (Prefatio) claims that it was produced to teach Wulfstan's successors:

about the things which have been committed to their care, and to show them which lands justly belong (or ought to belong) to the church, and which have been unjustly seized by evil men—first, during the Danish invasions; later, by unjust royal officials and tax collectors; and most recently, by the violence of Normans in our own time, who by force, guile and rapine have unjustly deprived this holy church of its lands, villages and possessions, until hardly anything is safe from their depredations.[27]

The historian

Richard Southern argues that, notwithstanding the stated aim of the work, it was not produced to be used in lawsuits, but rather as a kind of utopian picture of what was in the past. The goal was to depict those things that were beyond human recovery but that were "laid up in heaven".[28] Because of its narrative structure, it should be seen not only as a documentation of the various landholdings of the diocese, but as a historical work as well. Unlike the Liber, it was not revised as the property changed hands, and this lack of revision has been seen as emphasizing the commemorative nature of the work. The historian John Reuben Davies sees a close parallel between Hemming's work and the Welsh medieval document The Book of Llandaf.[23] Other similar works were the Norman pancartes, which were compilations of gifts to a monastery, connected by a narrative which was then presented to the dukes to secure confirmation of the gifts. These Norman works date from the early 11th century, and like Hemming's work, they are of great interest to the historian as sources for the study of medieval history.[29] Also noting that Hemming's part of the compilation does not appear to have been revised or updated to meet new circumstances, Patrick Geary describes it as "a commemorative, historical volume, not a working administrative tool" and associates the work with counterparts produced in the continental West, such as Folcuin's chronicle cartulary Gesta abbatum S. Bertini Sithiensium.[30]

More recently, Francesca Tinti has arrived at a different conclusion, arguing instead that Hemming's work, more so than the Liber Wigorniensis, came to serve very real needs, and that these specifically concerned the monastic community at Worcester. Although the Prefatio is silent about monks, the Enucleatio is explicit that Bishop Wulfstan had commissioned the work to defend the estates assigned for the sustenance of the monks (ad victum monachorum). She relates these concerns to the rapid growth of the community during Bishop Wulfstan's episcopate in the second half of the 11th century.[b][31] The coming of the Norman newcomer, Samson, who had been involved in the dissolution of Westbury-on-Trym, would have given the enlarged community a particular incentive to safeguard its property and rights.[32]

Contents

One of the themes of Hemming's work is the depredations suffered by his monastery at the hands of royal officials. One such notorious official from the last decade of King Æthelred's reign is Eadric Streona ("Grasper"),

byname of Streona, as it is not attested before appearing in Hemming's work.[34]

Hemming singles out the conquests of England by Cnut and William the Conqueror as being especially damaging.

marks of gold to recover their belongings.[37] Others singled out in the work as significant plunderers of Worcester's lands included Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and other members of his family.[38]

The historian Ted Johnson Smith points out that the Codicellus has strong parallels to the Historia de Sancto Cuthberto.[39] The Historia was written in Durham in the mid-10th century, and is a history of the monastery of St. Cuthbert from foundation until about 945. Like the Codicellus, it is a narrative concerned mainly to defend the patrimony of the monks against depredations.[39][40]

Also contained in Hemming's work is a description of the lawsuit between the diocese of Worcester and Evesham Abbey, which took place between 1078 and 1085. Although only Hemming relates the course of the proceedings, the Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham, or Evesham Chronicle, also gives background information on the dispute. The litigation involved lands that the abbey held in Hampton and Bengeworth in Worcestershire, but that the diocese maintained were actually part of one of the bishopric's manors. Ownership became disputed under the abbacy of Æthelwig, when the abbot managed to acquire the allegiance of a number of the new owners of lands previously held from the diocese. After Æthelwig's death, most of these lands passed to Odo of Bayeux, but Evesham managed to retain Hampton and Bengeworth, which became the basis of the dispute. The lawsuit was complicated because part of the land had been granted by an earlier bishop, Beorhtheah, to a kinsman, Azur. After the Conquest, Azur's lands were given to Urse d'Abetot, the Sheriff of Worcester. Following Æthelwig's death, Wulfstan was able to secure a settlement with Æthelwig's successor Walter. The settlement, which was concluded in 1086, granted the lands to the abbey, but the diocese was the overlord of the lands, for which the abbey owed military service.[37]

Contents of the manuscript

A brief overview of the contents of the manuscript follows, with the main sectioning and a general idea of the contents of each section.[41]

Folios Section of manuscript usually classified as Contents
1–21 Liber Wigorniensis 28 documents headed by the title "Into Vveogerna Cestre", followed by miscellaneous documents on three pages
22–27 Liber Wigorniensis 8 documents headed by the title "Into Vvincelcvmbe Scire"
28–32 Liber Wigorniensis 8 documents headed by the title "Into Oxena Forda Scire", followed by miscellaneous documents on twelve pages
28–38 Liber Wigorniensis 8 documents headed by the title "Into Oxena Forda Scire", followed by miscellaneous documents on twelve pages
39–46 Liber Wigorniensis 7 documents headed by the title "Into Gleawescestre Scire", followed by miscellaneous documents on twelve pages
47–56 Liber Wigorniensis 14 documents with no heading, mainly relating to Gloucestershire
57–102 Liber Wigorniensis Leases
103–109 Liber Wigorniensis 8 documents headed by the title "Into Waernincg Wican", followed by a page with one miscellaneous document
110 Inserted smaller parchment page Listing of 8 names
111–113 Liber Wigorniensis Leases
114–118 Liber Wigorniensis Miscellaneous documents, including an Old English homily, lists of the bishops of Worcester, kings of Mercia, and land records
119–126 Hemming's Cartulary Codicellus possessionum
127–134 Hemming's Cartulary More Codicellus possessionum; Enucleatio libelli; "Indiculum libertatis" (later document on the privileges of the
Oswaldslow hundred
)
135–142 Hemming's Cartulary "Oswald's Indiculum" (on services due from
Wulfstan of Worcester
and Abbot Walter of Evesham (later); excerpt from Domesday Book (later)
143 Inserted smaller parchment page 11th-century listing of jurors
144–152 Hemming's Cartulary Charters
153 Inserted smaller parchment page 12th-century list of boundaries of a manor in Old English
154–164 Hemming's Cartulary Some charters; Old English boundary-clauses (later)
165–166 Miscellaneous Table of contents in a 15th-century hand of both the Liber Wigorniensis and Hemming's Cartulary
167–175 Hemming's Cartulary Regnal list, with list of royal gifts to the monastic community; charters
176 Hemming's Cartulary List of bishops of Worcester, with their gifts to the monastic community; Prefatio; list of charters
177 Inserted smaller parchment page Listing of taxes levied by King William in Old English and a list of holders of land eligible for the geld in Worcestershire shortly after Domesday Book
178–200 Hemming's Cartulary History of estates retrieved for the monks by Ealdred and Wulfstan, with charters (some added later); charters

Manuscript and publication history

The only other 11th-century cartulary surviving from England is the Oswald cartulary, also compiled at Worcester. Historian

Elizabethan Archbishop of Canterbury, but whether Parker owned the manuscript is uncertain.[42][c] The manuscript thus became part of the Cotton library, which passed into public ownership in 1702 on the death of Cotton's grandson on the basis of an act of Parliament of 1701.[44][45] The manuscript itself is now part of the British Library's holdings.[46]

The manuscript was originally published in 1723 as Hemingi chartularium ecclesiæ Wigorniensis, in two volumes edited by Thomas Hearne.[6] This was part of the Chronica Anglia series put out between 1709 and 1735, which included many chronicles and records in 20 volumes.[47] Hearne printed his edition from a transcription made for the antiquary Richard Graves.[9] This transcript, known as MS Rawlinson B.445, is not a completely accurate transcription of the Cotton Tiberius manuscript, as some items were omitted, and marginalia were not always transcribed. There were also some additions of decorations.[48]

The entire manuscript of Cotton Tiberius A xiii is catalogued as number 366 in Helmut Gneuss's work Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts.[49]

Notes

  1. Vita Wulfstani written by William of Malmesbury during the early 12th century, which is a translation of a work by Coleman, Wulfstan's chaplain.[18]
  2. ^ One of the bishop's charters included in the work states that the number of monks had gone up from 12 to 50.[31]
  3. ^ Parker was noted for keeping many of the manuscripts his staff annotated, but he did not keep all of them, as another Worcester Priory document, now Bodleian Library Junius 121 was also annotated by Parker himself, but remained at Worcester until the 17th century.[43]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Keynes "Hemming" Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England pp. 231–232
  2. ^ a b Clanchy From Memory to Written Record pp. 101–102
  3. ^ Brooks "Introduction" St Wulfstan and His World p. 11 footnote 38
  4. ^ a b c d Brooks "Introduction" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 11–13
  5. ^ Barrow "Forgery Production" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 106–107 and footnote 7
  6. ^ a b c Mason "Hemming" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  7. ^ a b c d Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History p. 51
  8. ^ Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History' p. 62
  9. ^ a b Tinti "From Episcopal Conception" Early Medieval Europe p. 234
  10. ^ a b Tinti "From Episcopal Conception" Early Medieval Europe p. 235
  11. ^ a b Barrow "Forgery Production" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 108–109
  12. ^ a b Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History p. 49
  13. ^ Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History pp. 52–55
  14. ^ Tinti "From Episcopal Conception" Early Medieval Europe p. 239
  15. ^ Barlow Feudal Kingdom of England p. 35
  16. ^ Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 145
  17. ^ a b Barrow "Forgery Production" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 114–115
  18. ^ a b Knowles Monastic Order p. 74 footnote 2
  19. ^ a b c d Fleming "Christ Church Canterbury's Anglo-Norman Cartulary" Anglo-Norman Political Culture pp. 82–83
  20. ^ Tinti "From Monastic Conception" Early Medieval Europe pp. 244–245
  21. ^ Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History pp. 58–62
  22. ^ Ker "Heming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History pp. 64–65
  23. ^ a b Davies Book of Llandaf p. 145
  24. ^ Bullough Friends, Neighbours and Fellow-drinkers pp. 19–21
  25. ^ a b Bullough Friends, Neighbours and Fellow-drinkers pp. 21–22
  26. ^ Bullough Friends, Neighbours and Fellow-drinkers p. 22
  27. ^ Quoted and translated in Southern "Aspects of the European Tradition of Historical Writing" Transactions of the Royal Historical Society pp. 249–250
  28. ^ Southern "Aspects of the European Tradition of Historical Writing" Transactions of the Royal Historical Society pp. 249–250
  29. ^ van Houts "Historical Writing" Companion to the Anglo-Norman World p. 117
  30. ^ Geary Phantoms of Remembrance pp. 101–102
  31. ^ a b Tinti "From Episcopal Conception" Early Medieval Europe p. 257
  32. ^ Tinti "From Episcopal Conception" Early Medieval Europe pp. 237, 258–261
  33. ^ Baxter Earls of Mercia, pp. 23 and 107, citing Hemming's Cartulary, ed. Hearne, pp. 280–281
  34. ^ Williams Æthelred the Unready p. 70
  35. ^ Stafford Unification and Conquest p. 22
  36. ^ Lawson "Collection" English Historical Journal p. 729 footnote 12
  37. ^ a b Williams "Cunning of the Dove" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 32–35
  38. ^ Williams "Spoliation of Worcester" Anglo-Norman Studies XIX pp. 386–387
  39. ^ a b Smith "Introduction" Historia de Sancto Cuthberto pp. 12–14
  40. ^ Gransden Historical Writing in England pp. 76–77
  41. ^ The information in the table is drawn from Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History pp. 49–75 and Tinti "From Episcopal Conception" Early Medieval Europe pp. 233–261
  42. ^ Tite Early Records of Sir Robert Cotton's Library p. 105
  43. ^ Graham "Matthew Parker's manuscripts" Cambridge History of Libraries p. 327
  44. ^ Tite "Development of the Manuscript Collection" Manuscript Library p. 33
  45. ^ Staff "History of the Cotton Library" Help for Researchers
  46. ^ Staff "Manuscript Description of Cotton Tiberius A.xii" British Library Catalogue
  47. ^ Graves Bibliography p. 139
  48. ^ Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History pp. 72–73
  49. ^ Gneuss Handlist p. 68

References

Further reading

External links

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