A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



boroughs are described in the record of Devon. A fifth is incidentally 

 mentioned, but it was never of the same kind as the other four. Of the four 

 one lay in the eastern part of the county, viz. Exeter, the three others lay in 

 the western part situated respectively north, middle, and south, viz., 

 Barnstaple, Lidford, and Totnes. 



It would be superfluous here to dwell on Professor Freeman's graphic 

 description of the resistance offered to the Conqueror by the city of Exeter, 

 of its unconditional surrender, and of the hard terms imposed on it by King 

 William,^ for Dr. Round has already disposed of all this as pure fiction.* But 

 there are some points with which Dr. Round has not dealt. As Professor 

 Maitland has pointed out, the revenue which the king would receive from a 

 borough before the Conquest would usually be threefold : (i) the ground- 

 rent from tenements belonging to the king and rented by the burgesses, the 

 house or land gavel ; (2) the profits of the market and the borough court, 

 for which the citizens usually paid a fixed sum ; and (3) the Danegeld as an 

 occasional tax.* Under the first heading we learn that in Exeter were 285 

 houses paying their customary dues to the king besides forty-eight lying in 

 ruins (fol. 88). This was the king's share in the city revenue, and quite 

 distinct from the shares of the queen, the sheriff, or the king's barons. 



From several notices we gather that this due was usually 8^. a house, 

 but there were exceptions. One house which the abbot of Tavistock held in 

 pledge from a burgess paid 8^. (fol. 180^^). One which Juhel held paid Sd. 

 (fol. 334^). One which Richard son of Torolf held (fol. ^o6b), one held by 

 Ruald (Exch. fol. 115), one held by Tedbald (fol. 410^), each paid 8^. Seven 

 which Battle Abbey held paid together 4J. %d. (fol. 196). Ten of the 

 bishop's, however, paid los. lod. (fol. 120b), or at the rate of is. id. each, and 

 six of Pomeray's paid 40^/., or at the rate of 6%d. each. Allowing for these 

 exceptions the revenue from this source comes to ^^9 1 3J. bd., and this I take 

 to be the origin of the payment made by the city to the earl of Cornwall 

 after the king had given him the city, amounting to ^^12 9J. in 1274,* and to 

 ^13 lOJ. in 1290.' 



The second source of revenue which the king derived from the city 

 arose from the profits of the market and the borough court. For these before 

 the Conquest a sum of ^18 was paid, of which two-thirds went to the king, 

 one-third to the earl. The king's share had been from of old assigned to the 

 queen and was held by Eddida at the time of the Conquest, and the Conqueror 

 did not interfere with this arrangement." This share was afterwards enjoyed by 

 Henry I's queen, when it had increased to ^25, and with the king's consent 

 was bestowed on the canons of the Holy Trinity in London.^ 



With regard to the third source of revenue ' the city did not pay geld in 

 King Edward's time except when London, York, and Winchester paid, and 

 then only half a mark for the men in the king's pay {solidarii), i.e. as a gratuity 



' Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv, 162. Exeter (1887), p, 32. 

 ' Round, Feudal Engl. p. 446. 

 ' Maitland, Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 204. 



* Hund. R. (Rec. Com), No. 15, p. 70, in Trans. Devon Assoc, xxix, w.j. 

 ' Izacke, Mem, of Exeter, p. 28. 



^ Round, Feudal Engl. p. 448 : the burdens to which Exeter was subject were not raised at all, but 

 remained precisely the same as had been paid to former kings. 



' Anct. D. A 231. Trans. Devon Assoc, xxix, 4551. Round, Commune of London, 85-7. 



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