Canute, King of the English:
On Heriots and Reliefs, c. 1016-1035
The Saxon heriot or succession duty was paid on the death of a thegn and originally
took the form of the return of military equipment which was surrendered to the king.
Subsequently it assumed the form of a payment in kind and in money (the relief) and in
Norman times the money payment alone was exacted from the heir. It thus became a feudal
burden associated with tenure.
72. And let the heriots be as it is fitting to the degree. An eorl's such as
thereto belongs, that is, eight horses, four saddled and four unsaddled, and four helmets
and four coats of mail, and eight spears and as many shields, and four swords and 200
mancuses of gold. And after that, a king's thegn's, of those who are nearest to him; four
horses, two saddled and two unsaddled, and two swords and four spears and as many shields,
and a helmet and a coat of mail and fifty mancuses of gold. And of the medial thegn's, a
horse and his trappings and his arms; or his 'healsfang' in Wessex; and in Mercia two
pounds; and in East Anglia two pounds. And the heriot of a king's thegn among the Danes
who has his soken, four pounds. And if he have further relation to the king, two horses,
one saddled and the other unsaddled, and one sword and two spears and two shields and
fifty mancuses of gold; and he who is of less means, two pounds.
The relief of a count, which belongs to the king, is eight horses, of which four will
be saddled and bridled and with them four breast-plates, four helmets, four lances, four
shields, and four swords. The other four horses will be palfreys and post horses with
reins and bridles. The relief of a baron is four horses of which two will be saddled and
bridled and two breast-plates with them, two shields, two helmets, two lances, two swords.
Of the other two horses, one will be a palfrey and the other a post horse, with reins and
bridles. The relief of a vavasor, to his liege lord, is a horse which belonged to his
father on the day of the latter's death; and a breast plate, helmet, shield, lance, and
sword. And if by chance he do not have these, he may acquit himself with payment of one
hundred shillings. The relief of a villein is his best animal; whether it be an ox, or
horse, it will be his lord's. The relief of him who holds land at an annual rent shall be
as much as the rent of one year.
Source:
William Stubbs, ed., Select Charters of English Constitutional History, revised
by H. W. C. Davis, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), pp. 87-88; reprinted in Roy C. Cave
& Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History, (Milwaukee:
The Bruce Publishing Co., 1936; reprint ed., New York: Biblo & Tannen, 1965), pp.
362-363.
Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton. The text has been modernized by
Prof. Arkenberg.
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© Paul Halsall, October 1998
halsall@fordham.edu
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