The famous claim of the citizens of London at the death of Henry I., that the election of a king rested with themselves;[204] and the prominent part they actually took in placing Stephen on the throne, after making special terms with him,[205] impart peculiar interest to such glimpses as records afford us of the government, institutions, and leading citizens of London in Stephen’s days. Of these I have treated at some length in my work on Geoffrey de Mandeville,[206] but the information there given can now be supplemented by documents relating to the two ancient religious foundations of Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate, and the collegiate church of St. Martin’s-le-Grand.

The earliest of these with which I shall deal is assigned to the second year of Stephen, and is taken from the cartulary of Holy Trinity, now preserved at Glasgow, of which there is a modern collated transcript in the Guildhall Library. It has never yet, I believe, been printed. As Stephen was absent in Normandy from Midlent to the end of November, 1137, the episode must belong either to the early months of the year or to its close.[207] The text seems slightly corrupt in places, but is trustworthy enough for all purposes. The first points of interest to be noted are that Arnulf archdeacon of Séez, afterwards the well-known bishop of Lisieux, who here appears at Stephen’s court, had been, as I have shown, the year before, his spokesman before the Pope when his right was challenged by the Empress;[208] and that Andrew Buchuinte, a leading citizen, was clearly “Justiciar of London” at the time, in accordance with my theory that such an office was actually created by the well-known charter of Henry I.[209]

It should also be observed that the question of title is carried back straight to the days of Edward the Confessor, and is decided by the oath of twenty-one men, familiar, evidently, with the locality, in the style of the 11th century. The list of jurors is headed by Or(d)gar ‘le prude,’ who seems to have become a monk (monachus) since he had taken so prominent a part in transferring the ‘soke’ of the Cnihtengild to Holy Trinity Priory in 1125.[210]

The land in dispute was in “East Smithfield,” within the soke of the Cnihtengild, which lay outside the wall from Aldgate to the Thames, and therefore adjoined immediately the Tower precinct. The Priory having now acquired the soke, complained that successive constables of the Tower had encroached upon this land to make a vineyard. The document which follows records the result.[211]

The charter which follows, being granted by Geoffrey de Mandeville as earl, may safely be assigned to 1140–1144. It is difficult to resist the impression, from the appearance among the witnesses of a Templar and two doctors, that this was an act of restitution by the earl when he was lying on his deathbed in 1144.[216]

With this latter portion of the document we return to 1137, and meet with names of considerable interest. Foremost among these is that of Gilbert Beket, the first mention, I believe, of him in a document that has ever come to light. Ralf son of Algod, who heads the list, had also headed the list of the fifteen citizens by whom the Cnihtengild’s soke had been given to the Priory in 1125. He also appears in charge of one of the city wards in the list of circ. 1130.[219] Was he identical with Ralf son of Algod, who occurs as a canon of St. Paul’s in 1104 and 1132?[220] For my part, I think that he was. Improbable though the combination may seem, there can be little doubt that the canons of St. Paul’s were as closely connected at the time with secular life in London as they were with farming in Essex. Hugh, son of Wulfgar, to take another of these names, had been, like Ralf, among the fifteen of the Cnihtengild list, twelve years before, and, like him, had charge of a ward in the list of circ. 1130. He was a London magnate of whom we shall hear more.

The names of these two men raise an important question. That ancient and remarkable institution, the English Cnihtengild of London, remains shrouded in mystery. It is known to us only through the gift of its soke to Holy Trinity Priory, and the consequent preservation, among that Priory’s monuments, of charters confirming that soke, from Edward the Confessor downwards. Stow made use of the Priory’s cartulary, and states the facts accurately enough. Mr. Coote, in 1881, rendered valuable service by printing, from the Guildhall Letter Books, the documents relating to “the English Gilds of Knights and their socn’,”[221] but fell into the error of supposing that “after thus parting with their land all these gentlemen entered religion in the same convent which they had thus benefited.”[222] Writing some years later (1887), with the St. Paul’s documents before him, Mr. Loftie, in his well-known book, went further still. “There can be no doubt,” he writes,[223] “if any doubt existed before, that the governing body of London was the Knightenguild, as Stow calls it.” This assumption seems to be based on the view that among its fifteen named representatives (1125) “there was a very large proportion of aldermen,[224] and that those who do not seem themselves to have held office were the sons or the brothers of aldermen.”[225] Admitting that a few out of the fifteen can, like Ralf and Hugh above, be identified with those who had charge of wards temp. Henry I., this no more proves that the gild itself was “the governing body of London” than would the presence of some Aldermen among the members of a city company to-day prove that it occupied that position. It is not improbable, by the way, that the gild had become, like a modern city company, a mere propertied survival. But, apart from the question of its status, what we have to consider is whether the fifteen magnates of 1125 did, as alleged, enter the Priory themselves as canons when they made their gift.[226] Mr. Loftie positively asserts that they did:

This view is absolutely erroneous, and rests on a misunderstanding of the words—

This, of course, is merely the usual admission of benefactors to a share in the spiritual benefits appertaining to the brotherhood. The fact that the benefactors’ “predecessors” were admitted also should have clearly shown that there was no question of personally becoming canons in the Priory.[230]

As a matter of fact several of the fifteen citizens can, from records, be identified and traced, if only we reject, at the outset, the whole of the wild confusion into which Mr. Loftie has plunged them.[231] We may take, for instance, “Ailwinus et Robertus frater eius filii Leostani,”[232] whose father I make to be Leofstan the son of Orgar. These brothers witness one St. Paul’s document in the time of Dean Ralf,[233] and are mentioned in another,[234] and they are addressed in a letter of archbishop Theobald (1139–43).[235] Robert accounts for the Weavers’ Gild of London in 1130,[236] while Æthelwine, who witnesses a deed under Dean William, and two under Dean Ralf, will also be found witnessing a charter of the earl of Essex in 1142–3.[237] It is this Æthelwine (‘Ailwinus’) who is wrongly identified by Mr. Loftie with the father of the first Mayor, and with ‘Aylwin child,’ and with a son-in-law of Orgar le Prude, who, by the way, was Orgar ‘the deacon,’ and not Orgar ‘le Prude.’[238]

Two other interesting members of “the fifteen” are “Leostanus aurifaber et Wyzo filius eius”; for the latter is clearly identical with that “Witso filius Leostani” who, so far from being an Austin canon, owes in 1130 half a marc of gold “pro terra et ministerio patris sui,”[239] and with that “Wizo aurifaber” who, with Edward his brother and John his son, makes an agreement with the canons of St. Paul’s.[240]

Returning to the second list of 1137,[241] we recognise in Hacon the dean, not a dean of St. Paul’s, but a witness of the Cnihtengild’s gift in 1125.[242] Tierri son of Deorman was the heir, perhaps the son, of that “Derman of London” who is entered in Domesday as holding half a hide at Islington, and the father of Bertram, “filius Theodorici filii Derman,” otherwise Bertram “de Barwe,” who held Newington Barrow in Islington,[243] who was a benefactor to the nuns of Clerkenwell, and whose son Thomas bestowed a serf upon St. Paul’s about the beginning of the 13th century.[244] The mention of this family leads me here to introduce a most singular genealogy, evidently adduced to prove, temp. John, that Peter son of Alan was heir to Thierri, a grandson and namesake of Thierri son of Derman.

This genealogy, which, we shall find, is certainly incorrect, gives us a pedigree as follows:

We know (from the names of his son and granddaughter) that the Gervase of the text must be Gervase of Cornhill, who, as a matter of fact, had a brother Alan.[247] But we also know that their father was Roger ‘nepos Huberti,’[248] not Hubert. As there seem to be traces of another Hubert with sons Gervase and Alan,[249] this may account for the confusion. The mention of William Blemund is of special interest, because it is from this name that Bloomsbury [‘Blemundsbury’] is derived. His wife, being a sister of Bertram de Barue,[250] was a daughter of Tierri the son of Derman, which accounts for one of their sons bearing the name of ‘Terri.’ The belief that this great civic family sprang originally from Caen is a fact to be noted.

We know that Ralf ‘filius Andree’ (p. 101) must have been a son of Andrew Bucuinte, for “Andreas Bucuinte et Radulfus filius ejus” witness a Ramsey charter under Henry I.[251] William “camerarius” is, no doubt, the William “qui fuit camerarius Lond[onie],” who accounts for London debts on the roll of 1130.[252]

We have seen above that Andrew Buchuinte (Bucca Uncta) was, in 1137, Justiciar of London. This clue is of great importance, for, according to another portion of the Holy Trinity narrative, Andrew Buchuinte was the leading witness at the investiture of the Priory with the Cnihtengild’s soke by the two sheriffs of London in 1125.[253] He was also a leading witness to that agreement between Ramsey Abbey and Holy Trinity Priory, which I place between 1125 and 1130.[254]

The charter to which we are now coming shows him addressed by Stephen as the leading man in London in the latter part, we gather, of 1139. Since the appearance of “Justiciars” under Henry I., among those to whom writs and charters were addressed, they always took precedence of the sheriff, and my contention is that when a magnate is named in that position, it is because he was Justiciar. The charters dealt with in this paper afford several instances in point. This one, for example, may be given here, although of somewhat later date.

The address of this charter would seem to support the view I suggested in ‘Geoffrey de Mandeville’ (p. 109), that Richard de Luci may have held the post of local justiciar of Essex.[257] For the sheriff, clearly, was Maurice (de Tiretei, i.e. Tiltey).[258] Imperfect though it be, we can, I think, connect the subject in dispute with an aggression consequent on the Conquest by the ‘pious founder’ at Writtle.[259]

Let us now return to the document of which I speak above (p. 109, l. 1):

In 1139, therefore, as in 1137, Andrew was the leading man in London; and if, as Dr. Stubbs believes, he was of Italian origin,[261] we have a somewhat unlooked-for foreign influence in the midst of the citizens of London at this most critical epoch. One is indeed reminded of the ‘Buccanigra’ family, and the great part they played at Genoa in the 13th century. It is also suggested by Dr. Stubbs that the “Andrew of London” who led the citizens’ contingent at the taking of Lisbon (1147) “is not improbably the Andrew Bucquinte whose son Richard was the leader of the riotous young nobles of the city who in 1177 furnished a precedent for the Mohawks of the eighteenth century.”[262] The episode in question, although entered under 1177, seems to belong to 1174; but, apart from chronology, we cannot believe that “quidam latronum illorum, Andreas Bucquinte qui cæteros præibat cum face ardenti”[263] was himself the crusading leader of 1147, still less the London magnate of half a century before. The Richard who is styled his “son” by Dr. Stubbs proves to be merely another reading, in one of the texts, for Andrew himself.[264] The great Andrew (of 1125–1139) had a son Ralf,[265] and also a son John, who made Gervase of Cornhill and his son Henry his heirs.[266] It is very tempting to identify this Andrew Buccuinte with ‘Andrew of London,’ but ‘Andreas de Londonia’ is found as a witness to a Ramsey charter under Henry I.,[267] while Andrew Buccuinte used to attest under his own name. There is also a group of three charters of this John son of Andrew Buccuinte in the Colchester cartulary (fo. 133) which have points of interest. The first is witnessed inter alios by Tierri (Teodricus), son of Derman and his brother,[268] by Eadwine the alderman, and by Gervase of Cornhill; the second grants land (“in custodia Blacstani”) to Baldwin “clerico patris mei et magistro meo”; the third grants to him the land in which stood the ‘fornax’ of John’s father, Andrew, in St. Stephen’s, Walbrook.[269]

I would here insert an observation on the riots of “1177.” The ‘Gesta Henrici’ describes the episode under 1177, but dates it in “tertio præcedenti anno.” Miss Norgate accordingly places it “about June or July 1174,” and points out that Hoveden omits the above words, thus confusing the chronology.[270] Now the ‘Gesta’ asserts that Andrew Buchuinte denounced among his companions

I suggest that ‘Senex’ is merely an elegant Latinization of ‘Viel,’ the name of a leading London family,[272] which was usually Latinized “Vetulus.” And we have but to turn to the Pipe Roll of 1175 (21 Hen. II.) to find this entry:

Here we have the proper formula under the assize of Clarendon,[274] with which we may compare clause V. in the Inquest of Sheriffs (1170):

Here we have Henry denouncing in 1170 that escape of criminals through bribery, which we have seen him, above, refusing to connive at four or five years later, when he was offered “quingentas marcas”—Miss Norgate says “five thousand”; but one must not be severe on a lady’s Latin.

But if the accuracy of the ‘Gesta’ tale is thus remarkably confirmed, we can hardly accept its description of the man whose chattels produced so little for the Crown as one of the richest of Londoners. I have not observed him elsewhere on the rolls, so that probably he was only a youthful member of his family.

To return. Andrew “of the oily mouth” must have ceased to occupy his high office shortly after Stephen’s writ of 1139, for we soon find it held by no less interesting a man than Osbert “Octodenarii,” otherwise “Huitdeniers.” This was no other than Becket’s kinsman and employer, whom Garnier terms

Other biographers of Thomas describe him as “vir insignis in civitate et multarum possessionum, ... qui non solum inter concives, verum etiam apud curiales, grandis erat nominis et honoris.”[275] It has been concluded that the future primate was in Osbert’s employment somewhere about 1139–1142,[276] and, according to William Fitz Stephen, “receptus est in partem sollicitudinis reipublicæ Londoniensis.” From the evidence now about to be adduced we learn that Osbert was actually in power at the very time when his young kinsman is believed to have been in his employment. The agreement, therefore, is curiously complete.

This writ, which, it would seem, has never yet been printed, is subsequent, not only to the one which is given above (p. 110), but to the death of the bishop of Salisbury in December, 1139.[278] From it we learn that the deanery of St. Martins, which had been held by Roger, was given by Stephen, at Roger’s death, to his own brother, the bishop of Winchester. It is probable that this deanery was a very lucrative appointment, and that its estates were separate from those of the canons of the church. Count Eustace, in his charter addressed to Hugh d’Orival bishop of London, speaks of retaining for himself the lands “quæ propriæ fuerunt Ingelrici et ad decanatum pertinere debeant,” and a charter of the Empress similarly speaks of the houses and lands in London “quæ pertinent ad decanatum.”

The subject of these deaneries of houses of secular canons seems to deserve working out. As the great bishops of Salisbury and Winchester held successively the deanery of St. Martin’s, so the protégé of the latter prelate, Hilary bishop of Chichester, seems to have held that of Twynham both before and after his elevation to the South-Saxon see, while the bishops of Exeter, from Osbern the Norman, seem to have combined the deanery of Bosham with their episcopal office. Maurice bishop of London (1085) held the deanery of Wimborne. In Normandy, similarly, Philip of Harcourt, who had been Stephen’s chancellor, was, as a bishop, dean of the house of Holy Trinity of Beaumont before its annexation to Bec.

We next come to a writ of the Empress, which must belong to the year 1141, and which similarly recognises Osbert Huitdeniers as the leading man in London at the time, and, as I maintain, its Justiciar.[279]

The connection of this great prince-bishop with St. Martin’s leads me to speak of his striking mandate on the subject of the schools of London:

No date is assigned to this charter, for Henry’s long rule at Winchester lasted till 1171. But my paper on “Hilary bishop of Chichester”[281] enables us to identify him with “Magister Ilarius” the witness, and to date the charter as previous not only to 1147, but also, in all probability, to 1141, by which time he was dean of Christchurch. This then carries back our charter to the vacancy in the See of London (1134–1141), which explains the bishop of Winchester interfering thus forcibly in its affairs.

I have now proved the existence under Stephen, in accordance with Henry’s charter,[282] of three Justiciars of London, all leading citizens, namely, Andrew Buchuinte, Osbert Huitdeniers, and Gervase of Cornhill.[283] But we must not forget the grant of the office to Geoffrey de Mandeville, earl of Essex, a grant made by Stephen[284] and confirmed by the Empress. Here again the charters of St. Martin’s enable us to complete our evidence. For in one of them, issued from his stronghold the Tower, we find Geoffrey taking, as if he were proud of it, the style of “Justiciar of London.” We may safely date it 1142–3.

This curious charter of the dreaded and unscrupulous earl restores to the canons their Essex manors—

That this charter was wrung from the earl in a passing fit of repentance, consequent on grave illness, is rendered probable by a singular document, of which the text was communicated to me by the bishop of Oxford. It is, unfortunately, imperfect.

We will now revert from the crisis of Stephens reign to the years preceding his accession, when we shall meet with several of those citizens of whom I have spoken above.

A group of three charters, formerly at Barrington Hall, but now in the British Museum (Add. Cart. 28, 344–6), brings before us several of the leading citizens of London at the close of the reign of Henry I. Badly drawn, as deeds, their meaning, in places, is obscure; but the gist of them seems to be that certain land in Hertfordshire, which was held of the Count of Boulogne by ‘Rumoldus’ in Domesday, was given by ‘Rumoldus’ (the same or his namesake), and his sons Payn and Bernard, to Hugh son of Wulfgar, who was one of the fifteen magnates of the “English Cnihtengild” of London in 1125.[293] Further, it would seem that these lands were the dower of Hugh’s sister, who had married one of Rumold’s sons. The first of these charters[294] records the consent of Rumold’s lord, William of Boulogne, to this transaction.[295] I assign it to about the year 1129. First in order among its witnesses come tenants of the Honour of Boulogne; then local Surrey men;[296] and lastly, a group recognisable as Londoners: