Cartae Baronum

Early in 1166, Henry II sent out orders via his sheriffs to all his tenants-in-chief, instructing them to send him returns (subsequently referred to as the cartae baronum) that listed the number of knights enfeoffed upon their estates in 1135 (when Henry I died); the number of knights they had enfeoffed since 1135; how many knights were charged on their demesne; and the names of their knightly tenants. The returns submitted by his tenants-in-chief are therefore indispensable records for the nature of tenurial lordship as it operated under King Henry II. The cartae were instrumental in their own day in confirming ligeance from rear tenants, and providing up-to-date lists of honorial knights from whom the king might collect such feudal incidents (wardships and reliefs as well as scutages and aids) as fell during a period of royal custody. They also laid the groundwork for a possible revision of knightly quotas owing to the crown. Due to the sheer level of detail within the returns, they are also a key source for those scholars who are interested in tracing the histories of individual honors and identifying comital, baronial and knightly landholders in twelfth-century England. This important volume brings together all the extant cartae baronum for the first time. In addition to these, there are notices, mostly from the early thirteenth century, of those cartae which are now lost. Each individual cartae here is accompanied by a detailed note that identifies the individual tenant in chief, briefly discusses the history of his barony or holding, and defines the nature of his obligations to the crown under Henry II. The editor has also corrected a number of long-established textual errors, and identified as many subtenants as possible and located their toponyms