973 



NORMAN ARCHITECTURE. 



NORMANDY, CUSTOMARY LAW OF. 



874 



unnecessary to dwell on a style that is essentially without individu- 

 ality ; its character being a compound of the styles between which it 



stands. A good example of this style is that portion of Canterbury 

 Cathedral called Becket's Crown, erected in 1184. 



Becket's Crown, Canterbury. 



Aa the best way perhaps of impressing on the memory the leading 

 characteristics of Norman architecture, we shall conclude by briefly 

 contrasting them with those of the Pointed Gothic style. 



POINTED GOTHIC. 



Pointed arch, varying in proportion. 

 Windows with inullions, transoms, 



and tracf-ry. 



Buttresses rising in offsets or stages. 

 Pinnacles. 

 Battlements in the ecclesiastical as 



well a.t military style. 

 Spires characteristic fi-atures. 

 Splays f>r leceding parts, universal. 

 Niches very gvneral. 

 Windows spacious and numerous. 

 Vertical lines and arrangements. 



HonuK. 



Round-headed arch. 

 No tracery in windows. 



BottrCTs-strip". 



No pi nacle, property so called. 



No battlement-, except in ca-tles. 



Spires scarcely known. 



Splayed surfaces of rare occurrence. 



infrequent. 



Windows generally small and few. 

 Horizontal lines and arrangements 



prevalent. 



Arch-pier* very massive. 

 Vaulting simple and mostly plain. 



Arch-piers comparatively slender. 

 Vaulting niore complex and decorate-.!. 



NORMANDY, CUSTOMARY LAW OF. Previous to the first 

 Revolution the several provinces into which France was divided were 

 chiefly governed by a system of laws which, arising originally from 

 , iual usages, became in after time embodied in a code which obtained 

 the sanction of the sovereign, and became the established law of the 

 province. These codes were styled customs, coutumes, and have been 

 largely and learnedly commented upon by various jurists of the period, 

 whose commentaries were often received as law. The customary of 

 Normandy ranks among the most ancient of these customaries. 

 According to it, laws, customs, and usages, were regulations of a very 

 different authority : the laws were enacted by the sovereign, reduced 

 to writing, and registered by the exchequer, afterwards denominated 

 the parliament of Koueu ; customs originated with the people, and in 

 time were compiled and reduced to writing by the supreme authority. 

 Hence the difference between Im, us, and couture, as understood in 

 the ancient provinces of France. By lui was understood the' royal 

 ordinances and Roman law ; by coutumes, or customs, those regulations 

 which had been compiled and received the sanction of the sovereign ; 

 by us or usage, such regulations as had not been reduced to writing. 

 Normandy, both as an independent state, and after its annexation to 

 the crown of France, may be said to have had three distinct codes ; 

 le grand cov.tu.mier, or ancient customary ; la ckarte aux Nurmands, or 

 Norman charter ; and the modern custom. The ancient and modem 

 custom related more particularly to property, &c ; la charts aux 

 Nurmunds to the political liberty of the subject. The Norman charter 

 was granted by Louis X., its principal object being to restrain the 

 kings of France from imposing too heavy burdens on their Norman 

 subjects. This charter was confirmed six times from its promulgation 

 to the reformation of the customary by Henry III., which affords a fair 

 presumption that it had been often violated. The customs of Normandy 

 were first reduced into writing by a piivate hand in the reign of 

 Louis IX., about the year 1229, which corresponds with 14 Henry III. 

 of England. Being subjected to examination under Charles IX., many 

 of its reforms were sanctioned by the high authority of the Chancelier 

 1'Hopital, and the modern reform dates from 1585, under Henry III. 

 This custom was known throughout France by the appellation of 

 la mye wutume. The number of provincial customs of France before 

 the Revolution were reckoned at eighty, and its local usages at nearly 

 three hundred. In Normandy there were no less than twenty-two 

 different modes of devising patrimonial estates, corresponding to the 

 number of vicomte's or districts of which the province was composed. 



L'Ancien Ouutumier is divided into 125 chapters, nearly two-thirds of 

 which are devoted to regulate the duties of the judicial officers, the 

 proceedings in the different courts, and the respective rights and obli- 

 gations of the kings of France, the dukes of Normandy, the feudal lords 

 and people. The transmission of property by wills and inheritance, 

 which occupies so large a portion of modern law and of the reformed 

 Norman law in the 16th century forms a very small portion of the 

 Ancien Coutitmier.. 



The modern or reformed Coutumier de Normandie is divided into 

 24 chapters, which are subdivided into 622 articles. The modern 

 Cuutunie was reformed at Rouen on 1st July, 1585, by commissioners 

 appointed by Henry III. of France with the concurrence of the pro- 

 vincial authorities known as lee yens des trois etuts, or three orders 

 representing the nobility, clergy, and people. 



Among the peculiar customs of Normandy was la clameur de Haro, 

 which custom still prevails in the Channel Islands, where the Norman 

 ancient customary is the principal law ; and may be denominated a call 

 upon the supreme authority for justice, "appellatio ad priucipem ad 

 opem in lite ferendam." The term is considered to be derived from 

 Duke Rollo, or as the name is variously spelt, Raoul, Roul, and Rou 

 (Du Moulin's ' Hist, de Normandie,' lib. i. c. 9, and lib. vii. c. 20), 

 " Haro " being a corruption of the cry Hal, or Ha Rou, by which this 

 prince, who was remarkable for his justice, is said to have been invoked. 

 It is thus practised in the Channel Islands. When an individual con- 

 siders that another is infringing upon his right of property, he, in the 

 presence of two witnesses, protests against the proceedings, and, crying 

 out three times " Haro," summons the trespasser to desist. He then 

 applies to the judicial authorities, declaring what he has done, and 

 proceeds to the register, or record office, where note is taken of the 

 particular circumstances of the case ; he afterwards brings an action 

 against the trespasser. If he neglect to do so, then the persou against 

 whom the " Haro " was cried may bring his action against him who 

 cried it, and oblige him, if he cannot justify his proceedings, to desist 

 and submit to the judgment of the court. Upon the action of either 

 of the parties the decision is generally referred to what is termed 

 line vite de justice, or an examination by the court of all the circum- 

 stances oil the spot itself. The party condemned is subjected to a 

 small fine and pays all costs ; in addition to which he was formerly 

 punished by what was termed un regard de chateau, that is, twenty- 

 four hours' imprisonment ; the imploring the aid of the prince without 

 cause and the invasion of another's possession being accounted equally 

 criminal. In ancient Normandy parties resorted to the cUimeur de 

 Haro, in cases of assault and battery, but that part of the custom has 

 never prevailed in the Channel Islands. 



The president- or chief judicial officer in Guernsey is still styled 

 bailiff, the name by which he is designated in the ancient Coutitmier 

 ( ie Normandie. In Jersey he is styled bailly, by which name he is 



