HERTFORD HUNDRED 



the tallage. 71 The same entry is repeated some years 

 later.™ A tallage was taken in 1227, which was 

 possibly collected by the burgesses themselves, 73 but 

 after this date the tallages cannot be traced. 



The early constitution of the borough is obscure. 

 It has been already suggested that before the Conquest 

 the town was governed by the king's reeves ; these 

 officers continued till towards the close of the 12th 

 century and possibly later. The exact date when the 

 reeve gave place to the bailiff, which probably marks 

 an increase of burghal rights, is not known. In 

 1 296 the ' community of the vill,' to use the favourite 

 13th-century phrase, was paying 40.. ' yearly to have 

 the election of the bailiff and other customs.' 74 This 

 custom was known as ' Feist,' which may be connected 

 with the Anglo-Saxon Ftban, to recompense ; if this 

 is so, the payment may imply the purchase of some 

 rights of self-administration in the 1 2th century. 

 The name may be older than the right to elect the 

 bailiff; other privileges may have been bought in the 

 1 2th century, which were forgotten in the 13th. 76 

 The most likely time for the purchase of such a right 

 as the election of the bailiff would be the prosperous 

 years of the early part of the 13th century, c. 1226, 

 when it was the" bailiffs and not the reeve who held 

 the farm of the borough and seem to have acted as 

 the elected representatives of the burgesses. 76 In 1 296 

 the election was claimed as a custom, 7 ' which is thus 

 described in 1331 . 'the bailiff . . . ought to be 

 elected by the community of the vill, and they make 

 the election each year in the next court after Michael- 

 mas, both of the bailiff and of all other officials,' 78 

 e.g. sub-bailiff and ale-tasters. But the chief bailiff 

 still received a yearly sum for a robe from the king. 73 

 The plural address of the writ of 1226 implies two 

 bailiffs, 50 but one bailiff was usual throughout the 

 13th and 14th centuries; the sub-bailiff occurs for 

 the first time in 1 33 1 . sl 



Other royal officials appeared in the 14th century. 

 In 1359 the king appointed William de Louth his 

 steward in the court of the vill of Hertford and in 

 the manor, 69 and William accounted for the farm of 

 the borough in the next year. 8j John of Gaunt kept 

 a bailiff only,* 1 and the steward disappears — for a 

 time at least. 85 Although the constables, ale-tasters 

 and minor officers do not appear in records, they must 

 have been chosen at the borough court. se 



Of the burgesses themselves we know little until 

 the 13th century. We then find record of the pay- 

 ment of the house gafol, called Hagavel and fixed at 

 if. 87 This commutation (doubtless bought) must 

 have involved a re-partition by the burgesses among 

 themselves. The 40/. of ' Feist ' was possibly assessed 

 among the burgesses in a similar way. 8S Multure 

 and market dues, and perhaps other works, 68 must 

 also have been due. Corresponding privileges would 



BOROUGH OF 



HERTFORD 



be trade rights, freedom from tolls, pasture and fishing. 

 The right of burgesshood evidently lay with the 

 burgage tenants, the holders of the ancient messuages, 

 who resided in the borough. On such the exercising 

 of their rights and duties was obligatory, for the 

 earliest Court Roll (1362) states that 'six men should 

 be burgesses and are not.' 8fl The qualification hinted 

 at is presumably the ownership of a burgage, the 

 confirmation the taking of the burgess's oath. The 

 burgess paid no fine on entry, but the tenant who 

 held a messuage in the borough and did not reside 

 within it paid a fine of \d.* x Thus we read 'Andrew 

 Body, citizen of London, comes and shews a charter 

 for tenements in the borough of Hertford in the 

 parish of St. Mary the Less. Because he is a foreigner 

 (exlrhisecus) and not a burgess he gives \d. fine and 

 does fealty.'* 2 It was possible, however, for new 

 burgesses to be elected. These were apparently the 

 residents in the out-parishes of the borough — the 

 'foreigners.' Such were constituted burgesses 'to 

 guard and maintain all the liberties and customs of 

 the vill,' and they gave p. \d. each for the liberty. 03 



In the 15th century, for the first time, there is 

 plenty of evidence as to the constitution of the 

 borough. Power was falling into the hands of a 

 group. The burgesses shared in the market and 

 pasture rights, but took less and less part in the town 

 government. In 1461 the whole community of the 

 vill, with the assent of the chief pledges, elected the 

 officials, 114 and so again in [465. 96 In 1472 * all the 

 chief pledges * made the election, a practice which 

 recurred in 1475 and 148 1 - 9S The chief pledges 

 always elected the new burgesses and even chose the 

 new chief pledges. 97 The extension of burgess 

 privilege mentioned above could not be allowed in 

 the election of burgesses. To allow non-burgesses to 

 elect would have been absurd. Hence in this the 

 chief pledges act as the old 'community' and repre- 

 sent the burgess core of the court. The officials 

 included the bailiff and sub-bailiff"; two constables, 

 two weighers of bread, two ale-tasters, two super- 

 visors of meat, two of fish, and two of hides were 

 usually chosen in the same manner and time. 38 The 

 bailiff presumably was responsible to the steward and 

 receiver of the duchy." 5 



The 15th century gives the first clear view of the 

 borough court. Its work was of four kinds. Lands 

 were seized and distraints levied to show entry ; 

 charters of conveyance were inspected, fealty taken, 

 and a fine, if the purchaser was not a burgess. Con- 

 veyances of land in the borough out of court were 

 treated as invalid. In other words, the court guarded 

 and registered the transfer of borough land, which 

 passed freely among burgesses only. This close treat- 

 ment is probably very ancient, and necessary because 

 of the position of property as a burgess qualification. 



« Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 



«»' Mini. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 865, 

 o. 16. 



91 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts, bdle. 53, 

 o. 998, 999, 1000. 



66 The castle officials a. 

 B ' supervisors of the town. 1 



86 Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdl 

 0. 16 ; Duchy of Lane. Mins. 

 die. 53, no. 998. 



97 Anct. Ext. Exch. Q.R. o 

 :hauncy, op. cit. 238. 



M IbH. 



83 Ibid. ; cf. Cart. Antiq. K 10, 23. 

 8 ° Hcrtf. Corp. Papers, v, no. 33. 

 91 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177, no. 



ss Duchy ofLanc. Mins. Accts, bdle.43, 

 10. 825 ; Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177, 



