Jorors of the Armingford Hundred, Cambridgeshire during the 1260s

Abstract

During the time of the Barons' War and its aftermath, two eyres were held in Cambridgeshire, one in 1261 and the other in 1268. In the rolls of those eyres, kept in the Public Record Office in London, 179 names are found in the jurors' list of 1261, and 200 names in that of 1268, while 63 names appear in both. In 1268, other than the ordinary hundred jurors, some 13 persons were selected as "juratores hundredorum de Comitatu Cantebrigie." They were to present the "seisiatores, " those who seized the land of the Disinherited, namely the adherents of Simon de Montfort. Whenpresenting, did those jurors work with a local concern in mind? Or were they influenced by the king or the magnates? This paper investigates whether the influence from outside, that is from the king or the magnates, influenced jury verdicts by taking up the case of the hundred jury of Armingford, Cambridgeshire in the 1260s. If outside influence was not effective, then we must conclude that verdicts were determined autonomously by the jurors themselves. Generally speaking, hundred jurors commonly tended to avoid presenting theirneighbours.However, in some cases, they presented with a kind of factiously spirited intention. Using Farrer's Feudal Cambridgeshire and some other authorities, the author studies the relations between the jurors and their lords or patrons to see if resident landlords were rarely presented by jurys or not. It is interesting to note that Peter of Savoy, the queen's uncle, was presented by the jury several times, while the Earl of Gloucester, once a leading reformer against the king, was never presented of the charge of trespassing. Regarding Warin de Bassingbourn, who used royal favour to take other people's land for his oun use, thehundred jury, or select jury, showed feelings of hate. As to how the Earl of Gloucester benefited the local people, immediately after the battle of Evesham in 1265, he played a prominent role in seising the land of the Disinherited before the king's favourites could come to disseise their wealth. The Earl's influence on the local people was through patronage in keeping their tenures, while the king planned to grant the land to his favourites for their service to him. Within the Armingford Hundred there was not conflict but rivalry between the king and the Earl of Gloucester during the 1260s.