CONTENTS. I. The Only English Proclamation of Henry III., 18 Oc- tober 1258, and its Treatment by former Editors and Translators, considered and illustrated (with a Glossarial Index, p. 108-127); to which are added editions of the PAGES. in them, p. 101-2). By ALEXANDER J. ELLIS, Esq. 1-135 IV. On the Derivation of Son, Nurus, Anus, Uxor, Wife, Tas, V. The History of the th in English. By HENRY SWEET, Esq. (with a Note by the Rev. T. O. Cockayne). 273-288 VI. English Etymologies (adaw, boulders, buxom, charcoal, VIII. A partial attempt to reconcile the Laws of Latin Rhythm IX. The Norman Element in the spoken and written English of the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, and in our Pro- vincial Dialects (with an Examination of Chaucer's use CORRECTION. p. 74, 1. 8, omit the words: "occasionally (ai), Henri 1, oni 6 where a c or 7 has been absorbed," more extended research having shewn the incorrectness of this statement, and hence read p. 19, 1. 16 from bottom, Hen'rii, for Hen'rai Normandii for Normandai 1. 15 p. 21, 1. 16 1. 3 Kan terber'i for Kan terberai p. 105, col. 2, v. 16, likht·lii for likht·lai p. 107, col. 2, v. 23, dhii for dhai. TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 1868. I.-ON THE ONLY ENGLISH PROCLAMATION OF HENRY III., 18 OCTOBER, 1258, AND ITS TREATMENT BY FORMER EDITORS AND TRANSLATORS.-BY ALEXANDER J. ELLIS, F.R.S. THE only English proclamation issued by Henry III. of England, of which we have any record, which was also the first English proclamation, so far as we know, that was published by any of our Norman kings, is an historical, philological, and literary curiosity, which seems to deserve more attention than has hitherto been bestowed upon it in this country where it ought to be best appreciated. It is probably the oldest piece of English, as distinguished from Anglo-Saxon, of which we have an indisputably contemporary manuscript.1 I. History of the Proclamation. The quarrels between Henry and his barons are well known. The nobles and lieges of the kingdom were summoned to Westminster fourteen days after Easter, that is, on Sunday, 7 April, 1258, for the dispatch of important business, and this ended with Henry's submitting to a council of twenty-four nobles, twelve to be chosen by himself and twelve by the nobles, or as they are termed in the docu 1 The Harl. MS. 978, containing the Cuckoo Song, is supposed to have been written in 1240. The MS. of Genesis and Exodus, which was composed about 1250, is supposed not to have been written before the close of the century. 2 In the Annales de Burton (1004-1263) printed in the Annales Monastici edited by H. R. Luard 1864, vol. i. p. 447 (henceforth cited as Ann. Mon.), we have the following list of twenty-three out of the twenty-four nobles thus appointed. The English notes are those of the editor. For (*) see next footnote. ments of the time, the commonalty of the kingdom. This council was to institute a great reform in the government of the country, and both the king and his eldest son swore to obey its behests, or rather the decisions of a majority of the council.1 Upon its appointment the parliament was summoned to meet at Oxford, a month after Whitsuntide, that is, on Tuesday, 11 June, 1258, ostensibly on account of the Welsh troubles, and the uncertain truce with France. The council of Twenty-four then selected four of their number to appoint a committee of Fifteen to form the royal council or cabinet, and in this the barons succeeded in having ten of their own party and only five of the king's. Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, a Frenchman, who had asserted his right Electi ex parte domini regis.a-Dominus Londoniensis episcopus.b Dominus Wintoniensis electus. Dominus H[enricus] filius regis Alemaniæ. Dominus J[ohannes] comes Warennæ. Dominus Guido de Lysinan. Dominus W[illelmus] de Valentia. *Dominus J[ohannes] comes Warewici. Dominus Johannes Mansel. Frater J[ohannes] de Derlington. Abbas Westmonasterii.d Dominus H[enricus] de Hengham. 2 Electi ex parte comitum et baronum. Dominus Wygornensis episcopus.e *Dominus Symon comes Leycestrensis. *Dominus Ricardus comes Gloverniæ. *Dominus Humfridus comes Herefordiæ. *Dominus Rogerus Marescallus. Dominus Rogerus de Mortuo Mari. *Dominus J[ohannes] filius Galfridi. *Dominus Hugo le Bigot. Dominus Ricardus de Gray. Dominus W[illelmus] Bardulf. *Dominus P[etrus] de Monte Forti. Dominus Hugo Dispensarius. Et si contingat aliquem istorum necessitate interesse non posse, reliqui istorum eligant quem voluerint, scilicet alium necessarium loco absentis ad istud negotium prosequendum. EDITOR'S NOTES.-a Only eleven are given on the king's side. b Fulk Basset. c Aymer de Lusignan. Richard de Crokeslye. e Walter de Cantilupe. C .... 1 Rymer, i. 373. Letter of the Commons to the Pope. "Cæterum præfatus dominus Rex ut de procerum et magnatum consilio. . . . dicta reformatio proveniret. Hoc videlicet modo, ut duodecim ex parte ipsius electi, et alii totidem ex parte communitatis nominati, disponerent, statuerent ac etiam ordinarent super melioratione et reformatione regni Angliæ, et ipsum regnum contingentibus, prout eis melius expediens videretur: Promittentes tam ipse, quam dominus Edwardus primogenitus suus, et affirmantes propriis juramentis, quod per prædictos viginti quatuor, vel majorem partem eorum ordinatum existeret, inviolabiliter observarent." Signed by the Earl of Albemarle, Peter of Savoy, James Audley, and the eight of the Council marked in the previous footnote, "vice totius communitatis." 2 The life of this nobleman has been lately made the subject of an historical essay by Reinhold Pauli, under the title of "Simon von Montfort, Graf von Leicester, der Schöpfer des Hauses der Gemeinen," Tübingen, 1867, to which, as also to the same author's "Geschichte von England," vol. 3, Hamburg, 1853, I am much indebted. |