Page:English Historical Review Volume 35.djvu/393

 1920 ROYAL CHARTERS TO WINCHESTER 385 technically. The allusion, too, conveyed by ' contra statutum meum ' at this date is obscure.^ 3. William II is generally supposed to have had only two chancellors : Robert Bloet from 1087 until 1093, when he was nominated bishop of Lincoln, and William Giffard thenceforth until and after the king's death.^ A writ (no. 6) witnessed by ' Gir. cancell[ario] ' seems to challenge this view unless the attestation can be explained as an error in transcription. Among the king's chaplains was a Gerald, and the scribe may have erred in copying ' Gir[aldo] capell[ano] '. But the Red Book of Thomey ^ contains a copy of another writ attested by ' G. can- cellario ' and dated by Mr. Davis as between 1085 and 1093.* If both cases are to be explained as the mistakes of copyists the coincidence of error is very striking. The alternative is to suppose that these attestations hide the identity of some unknown chancellor. A potential chancellor of this name was Girard or Gerard, the nephew of Bishop Walkelin, who was made bishop of Hereford in 1096 and rose later to be archbishop of York. Girard is described by Eadmer as ' clericus de capella regis ',* and had been precentor of Rouen cathedral. It appears not improbable that he may have acted as chancellor for a time, and, if so, his period of office probably fell within the years 1087-91. The bishop of Coutances ^ died before Robert Bloet 's accession to Lincoln in 1093, and the latter is first found attesting charters as chancellor in 1092.' V. H. Galbraith. I Add. MS. 29436, fo. 10. [1032-47.] Eadweard ^ cyng gret ealle mine b[isceopas] 7 eorlas 7 thegnas on aelcere scire the land liege in to ealdan mynstre 7 ic cythe eow thaet ic haebbe geunnen Aelfwine b[isceop] thaes byscoprices eall swa full 7 swa forth swa Cnud cing hit him firmest geuthe thaet is thaet ic geann Criste 7 s[ancte] Petre 7 s[ancte] Paule in to than halgan stede 7 him thaet hig beon heora sace wurthe 7 socne binnan port 7 butan tolles wurthe 7 teames, as to point to some general pronouncement or assize regarding seisin. This would explain ' contra statutum meum '. » Cambridge Univ. Libr., Add. MS. 3020, fo. 18 b. script. ' It is here assumed that Girard is not the same as Gerald the chaplain who attests (as such) the Bath charter of 1091 (Davis, Begesta, no. 315, and p. xxi). If, however, the two are identical Girard's period of office more probably fell between January 1091 and January 1093. It is unlikely that he would attest as chaplain after serving as chancellor. which includes 'flymena firmSe'. VOL. XXXV. — NO. CXXXIX. C
 * Writs of similar import to religious houses are so common between 1154 and 1162
 * Davis, Begesta Begum Anglo-Normannorum, p. xviii.
 * Begesta, no. 345 (appendix liv). Add. MS. 3020 is the source of Dugdale's tran-
 * Hist. Nov., p. 68. * Who also witnesses the Thomey writ.
 * See Cal. of Charter Bolls, iii. 347, for a similar charter of Edward to Alfwine,