POLITICAL HISTORY 



arms, was a royal base of operations against Belleme, 44 whose castles of Bridg- 

 north and Shrewsbury were captured and he himself driven to Normandy. 

 The downfall of this man, one of the worst examples of the turbulent Norman 

 barons, was hailed in England with delight. 45 His life was spared, but his 

 English domains, which included large estates in Staffordshire, were confis- 

 cated. The royal castle after this declined in importance, and like many 

 others degenerated into a gaol, though it was occasionally dignified with the 

 name of castle, even as late as the reign of Henry VIII. 46 



The government of Henry I, ' the Lion of Righteousness,' though 

 strong and just, was severe, and the chroniclers of the time frequently bewail 

 the taxation which was ' not so burdensome by its weight as by its regular 

 and inevitable incidence.' 47 



From the report of the sheriff of Staffordshire it appears that the annual 



ferm of the county, that is the amount arising from the king's demesnes, 



territorial rights, and profits from judicial proceedings, was in the years 



112930 about 127 i6j. jd, in ordinary or unpurified money. Before 



rendering his account the sheriff had to discharge the king's debts in the 



county by paying the royal benefactions to religious houses, providing for 



/ the maintenance of the stock on crown lands, the costs of public business, of 



provisions supplied to the court, and the travelling expenses of the king 



; within his district. 48 



When doing so at Michaelmas, i 130, among the items with which the 

 sheriff of Staffordshire charged the king is 4 ios. paid for mead and ale in 

 supply of a royal corrody (allowance for food), showing that the king had 

 recently visited the county. 49 The Danegeld, the next most important item in 

 the sheriffs account, and the most unpopular for out of it he probably made 

 his greatest profit amounted in 1130 to 44 is., that is, 2s. per hide on 

 440! hides, a large area of Staffordshire being ingeldable by prescription. 

 The rate at which the county was assessed for this purpose works out at a^out 

 one twenty-seventh of 1 to the square mile, a very low rate, as the normal 

 rate per square mile was about one-seventh of i. This, however, was 

 not altogether an indication of poverty, especially when we allow for the 

 large portion of ingeldable land, for the rich county of Kent was assessed 

 at one-fifteenth, and it is almost certain that the assessment differed 

 according to the polity of the ancient kingdoms out of which England 

 had been formed. 60 



The most heavily assessed counties, for instance, were those of Wessex, 

 and Shropshire, part of which belonged to Wessex, was twice as heavily 

 assessed as its neighbour Staffordshire. 61 At Michaelmas, 1 156, the ferm had 

 increased considerably in amount, and among the deductions is 29 1 8j. for 

 restocking all the royal manors in Staffordshire. 63 



In the wars of Stephen's reign the eastern half of England was nominally 

 for the king and the western for Maud, but really the former controlled little 

 more than the counties round London, and the latter Gloucestershire and the 



" Eyton, Staffs. Domesday, 20. " Stubbs, Const. Hist. (ed. 4), i, 334. 



46 Coll. (Salt Arch. Soc.), viii (2), 8. The collections made by this society must be gratefully acknow- 

 ledged as giving most valuable assistance to the writer of this article. 

 " Stubbs, Const. Hist, i, 339. 48 Ibid. 411. 



" Coll. (Salt Arch. Soc.), i, 5. w Round, feud. Engl. 95. 



" Ibid. 96. " Call. (Salt Arch. Soc.), i, 21. 



223 



