FEUDALISM IN GUERNSEY. 



71 



is intended to represent St. Greerge. According to Sir Edgar 

 MacCulloch it " dates from about the middle of the fifteenth 

 century." It was used to seal documents concerning sale 

 of land or records of judgments of the Court.* 



The court of the Priory of St. Michel du Vale was the 

 largest feudal court in the island, and consisted of a Seneschal, 

 eleven Vavasseurs, a Greffier, six Bordiers and a Wand- 

 bearer. It was also the only other court in the island 

 possessing an official seal, which represents the Archangel 

 Michael trampling Satan under foot.t 



Every other important fief in the island had also its 

 court, though with more restricted jurisdiction than the two 

 just mentioned. Most of them still hold their Courts of Chief 

 Pleas three times a year, but their functions are now confined 

 to calling over the roll of the tenants and receiving the chief 

 rents due to the seigneur. Their places of meeting early in 

 the nineteenth century are recorded by the late Mr. F. 

 C. Lukis, and are worth mentioning, as it is probable that 

 these were the traditional sites. 



The Court of Fief du Comte was formerly held in 

 the Chapel of St. George. That of Anneville in the great 

 barn of the Manor House. 



Sausmarez, St. Martin's, in the quaint old lodge, or 

 Court House, bordering the high road, near the gateway 

 leading to the back of Manor House. 



The Court of St. Michel was held sometimes in the 

 Vale Church, at others at " U Abbaye" — the old priory to the 

 south of the church — and sometimes in the cemetery of the 

 Castel Church, on a spot marked by some flat stones, under 

 the trees bordering the path to the north of the church. 



The Court of Fief du Groignet was held in a large room 

 in the old Manor House, near the King's Mills. 



The Court of Fief de Longues at Le Haut, St. Saviour's, 

 near the house of that name. 



The Court of Fief Gaillard in the steep lane running to the 

 south of the cemetery of St. Saviour's Church. The stone 

 seats for the seneschal and vavassors are still to be seen at the 

 foot of the flight of steps leading up to the cemetery. 



The Court of Fief des Gohiers, in " le champ de l'Eglise," 

 near St. Saviour's parish schools. The stone seats for the 

 seneschal and vavassors are still to be seen along the 

 hedge bordering the lane. 



The Court of Fief de Beuval in the courtyard of Mr. Simon, 



* Miss E. F. Carey's Channel Islands, p. 83. 

 t Miss E. F. Carey's Channel Islands, p. 86, 



