Page:English Historical Review Volume 35.djvu/391

 1920 ROYAL CHARTERS TO WINCHESTER 383 by him -^ and the grant of them assigned to Cnut. These forged privileges were in turn confirmed by each of the Norman kings. ^ The same regard for precedent is traceable throughout. On the whole the new grants are inconsiderable.^ The Crown appears as the protector of the well-known rights of the church, against infringements of lay lords, remedying unlawful disseisin, pre- venting the bishop's tenants from being compelled to attend other shire and hundred courts than they were wont, and above all confirming privileges and property granted by previous kings. 2. In occasional references to Domesday Book, in casual allusions, and in the attestations of these charters, there is a good deal of miscellaneous information. A writ of William II (no. 6), witnessed by Girard the chancellor, suggests the possibility of other chancellors than Bloet and Giffard in this reign. Another (no. 9) is noteworthy for being addressed to the sheriff of the Isle of Wight. Several charters deal with the rents of houses in Winchester,* and illustrate the way in which St. Swithun's was rapidly becoming the chief landlord in this royal borough. Among these no. 11 contains an early reference to ' the curious sanctuary ' of Godbiete,^ the privileged status of which it upholds. No. 24 is chronologically interesting : for if (as is probable) the house which William Potarius gave to St. Swithun's is indeed that which, according to the Liber Winton., he held outside the west gate, the limiting years for the composition of that survey are narrowed from 1103-15 (given by Mr. Round) to 1107-15.^ All property in Winchester, it should be noted, including the ' liberty of Godbiete ', belonged to the prior and convent rather than to the bishop, an arrangement paralleled at Bury St. Edmunds, where the prior (rather than the abbot) was closely associated with municipal affairs. No. 12 is concerned with the manor of Hayling Island, one of many lost at the Conquest.'' The entry in the survey to which it refers states that Bishop William of Jumieges holds the manor, but that the monks of the bishopric claim it as a gift of Queen Emma, who gave them immediate seisin of half of it, the other half being granted to » Nos. 3, 8, 13, 14, 31, 39. of which, that of Rufus, was surpassed by each of his successors {Cal. of Charter Bolls, iii. 346 (3), 351 (1, 2, 3), 355 (11), and below, no. 24). (2) Stephen's extensive grants ; but he only claims to restore lands unjustly seized by William I : see nos. 34-6 {Cal. of Charter Molls, iii. 352, nos. 4, 5). ' Victoria County History, Hampshire, i. 532 ; v. 2, 34 ; the prepositus was a royal officer. » No. 30 gives the same limits if the identification be accepted. ' For the Old Minster's losses see Victoria County History, Hampshire, i. 416 ; Somerset, i. 407. To Mr. Round's list should be added Wergrave, Norton, and Brad- ford in Somerset.
 * Below, no. 1. Cf. CcU. of Charter Rolls, iii. 347, nos. 1 and 2.
 * There are two exceptions. (1^ Grants relating to the fair of St. Giles, the first
 * Nos. 8, 11, 20, 22, 29, and 30.