for in that system, the tenants of every lord who met together in his court, to determine the disputes arising within his seigniory, were called pares curiæ.

11. In conformity to those feudal principles which have been stated in the preceding sections, we find that during the reign of William I. and that of his sons, and even down to the end of the time of King Henry III., every person who held his lands immediately of the Crown, as an earldom or barony, or by the service of one or more knights, was a member of the magnum consilium, or consilium, or parliament.

20.

12. Mr. Selden has produced such proofs of this Tit. of Hon. fact, during the reigns of William Rufus and Henry I., part 2. c. 5. as might be expected from the paucity of materials relating to that period. As to the reign of King Henry II. he says,-" To the parliament of Northampton also, or the magnum consilium, as Roger of Hoveden and others call it, held in October, 11th year of Henry Il. or 1165, all that were tenants in chief were summoned. Castro Northamptoniæ, (saith an ancient writer of the life of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, speaking of the king) solenne statuens celebrare consilium, omnes qui de rege tenebant in capite, mandari fecit.

13. In the reign of King John, we have the unanswerable evidence of magna charta to this fact ; for in that celebrated statute, there is an express stipulation, to summon to the commune consilium regni, not only all the earls and barons, but also all the king's tenants in capite. Omnes illos qui de nobis te- c. 14. nent in capite.

14. The persons who held their lands immediately of the Conqueror, are all enumerated in Domesday, and in the appendix to Doctor Brady's Introduction to the History of England: they do not exceed seven

1 Inst. 108. hundred, several of whom held in socage. These possessed all the lands in the kingdom, except what belonged to the church, and to the crown.

Barones Majores et Minores.

Id. c. 5. 21.

15. In the reign of King John an alteration of great importance took place in the rights of the barons and tenants in capite; for only the principal barons, or barones majores, were summoned to attend parliament, by particular writs from the king; and the rest, who acquired the appellation of barones minores, were called by one general summons, from the sheriffs of their respective counties.

This practice was recognized and legally established by the magna carta of King John, c. 14., by which it was declared, that parliaments should in future be summoned in that manner.-Et ad habendum commune consilium regni de auxilio assidendo, aliter quam in tribus casibus predictis, vel de scutagio assidendo, summoneri faciemus archiepiscopos, episcopos, abbates, comites, et majores barones, sigillatim per literas nostràs, et preterea faciemus summoneri in generali per vicecomites nostros, omnes illos qui de nobis tenent in capite, &c.

16. Selden supposes, that in consequence of the quarrels between King John and the barons, several baronies had escheated to the Crown, either by attainder or otherwise; which were partly granted to others, and partly retained as rewards for those who should come over to the king. That several barons were also so decayed in their estates, as not to be able to support their rank: and the ancient barons, or barones majores, who retained their possessions, foreseeing that their dignity might be diminished, if the new tenants in chief, or grantees of the escheated baronies, and the decayed barons, should remain equal to them; procured a law in some of the par

liaments preceding the Great Charter, by which they only in future should be stiled barons; and the rest, tenants in chief only, or knights: but because their ancient name could not be wholly taken from them, therefore the addition of majores was given to the ancient and more powerful barons; and that of minores to the others.

a Writ of

17. From this period the right of sitting in parlia- Necessity of ment appears to have been confined to those persons Summons. who were possessed of entire baronies. But in the reign of King Henry III. a still greater alteration took place in the rights of the barons: for whereas every tenant in capite was, before that period, ipso facto, a parliamentary baron, and entitled to be summoned, either by the king's writ, or by the sheriff; yet about that time some new law is said to have been made, by which it was established, that no person, though possessed of a barony, should come to parliament, without being expressly summoned by the king's writ.

Introd.

18. This fact was first mentioned by Camden, who Brittania, cites an ancient writer, without naming him, as his authority. Ille enim, (Hen. III.) ex satis antiquo scriptore loquor, post magnas perturbationes et enormes vexationes inter ipsum regem, Simonem De Monteforti, et alios barones, motas et susceptas, statuit et ordinavit, quod omnes illi comites et barones regni Angliæ, quibus ipse rex dignatus est brevia summonitionis dirigere, venirent ad parliamentum, et non alii; nisi forte dominus rex alia, vel similia brevia, eis dirigere volvisset.

19. Selden appears to have given but little credit Id. c. 5. § 21. to this narration; and says he never could discover who this ancient writer, cited by Camden, was: but thought that not long after the Great Charter of King John, some law was made that induced the utter ex

Names of
Dignities.

v. 2. 692.

Id. § 17.

clusion of all tenants in chief from parliament, beside the ancient and greater barons, and such others as the king should in like manner summon.

20. With respect to the different orders, and names of dignities, the most ancient are those of baron and earl. Spelman says, the word baro was introduced

here by the Normans. It was originally synonimous Baluse Capit. With homo: and a very learned French antiquary was of opinion, that all those persons to whom feuds were granted by kings and sovereign princes, were called barones et homines regis, sive qui hominium regi debent. Selden says, that in the extracts out of the Inquisitions taken in the time of King John, the phrases of tenentes per baroniam et servitia militaria, and milites et barones tenentes in capite de rege, are used for the same persons. In another place he observes, that tenere de rege in capite, habere possessiones sicut baroniam, and to be a baron, with a right to sit with the rest of the barons, in councils, or courts of judgement, according to the laws of that time, were syGloss. voce nonimous. And Spelman says, Evo Henrici secundi quævis tenura in capite, habebatur pro tenura per baroniam.

Id. § 20.

Baronia.

2 Inst. 6.

21. Lord Coke has observed, that in ancient records, the barons included the whole nobility of England; because regularly all noblemen were barons, though they had a higher dignity and the great council of the nobility were all comprehended under the name of the council de baronage.

22. In consequence of the practice of subinfeudation, the great lords called their immediate vassals barons; particularly those who were earls palatine. Thus the earls of Chester had their barons: the city of London and the cinque ports had also their barons: the parliamentary barons were therefore called barones,

regis, or barones regni; in order to distinguish them from those inferior barons.

23. The next name of dignity is comes, earl, which

was also introduced here by the Normans. An idea Seld. Id. § 7. formerly prevailed, that the appellation comes arose from the circumstance of the earl's being comes et socius fisco in percipiendis; because generally the earl had a third part of the profits arising from the pleas of the county: but Selden dissents from this opinion.

24. The next name of dignity, in point of antiquity," and the first in rank, is that of dux, duke; which originally signified the commander of an army, not only among the Romans, but also during the middle ages.

25. The first creation of this title, as distinct from that of earl; for in elder times, Selden says, they were synonimous; was in the eleventh year of King Edw. III. when that monarch created his eldest son the Black Prince, being then Earl of Chester, into the title of the Duke of Cornwall.

26. As dux and duke was used in the description Seld. Id. $ 30. of earls, many ages before it became a distinct dignity of itself; so also that of marchio, or marquis, was sometimes used both for earls and barons; but especially for those who were lords marchers, or governors of frontier provinces; from whence the word originated.

27. The title of marquis, as distinct from other titles of honour, was unknown in England until the beginning of the reign of King Richard II., who created Robert De Vere, then Earl of Oxford, Marquis of Dublin.

28. The most modern title is that of viscount, which in point of rank is between that of earl and of