| Description | The Ecclesiastical Suit rolls represent the earliest surviving collecton of church court records in England. Indeed, those records connected with Archbishop Hubert Walter 'may be the earliest such records that have survived anywhere' (Select Cases, Introduction, p3). (There must have been church 'courts' before 1200, but their records, if they had any, have not survived.)
Although the class now contains records up to the year 1500, the bulk of the material dates from the thirteenth century, and from three specific periods within that century. The earliest records are from the last years of the archiepiscopate of Hubert Walter and probably came to Canterbury from his manor of Teynham after his death on 13 July 1205. Much of the rest of the material dates from two sede vacante periods when the archbishopric was vacant: between the death of Archbishop Boniface of Savoy and the consecration of Archbishop Robert Kilwardby, 18 July 1270 to 26 February 1273; and between the death of Archbishop John Pecham and the consecration of Archbishop Robert Winchelsey, 8 December 1292 to 12 September 1294. During these two periods, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the archbishop devolved to the prior and convent of Christ Church Canterbury who claimed to be his deputy in this matter. Their claim was contested by the bishops of the province and the archdeacon of Canterbury in the period 1270-1273, and again by the archdeacon in 1292-1294. It is more than probable that the prior and convent assembled these documents to support their claim.
The records cover the several courts within the archbishop's jurisdiction, each court corresponding to a different aspect of his power. There were four in all: the Provincial Court, the Consistory Court, the Court of Audience, and the archbishop's extraordinary jurisdiction.
The Provincial Court, known as the Court of Canterbury, was his tribunal as archbishop of the province; the Consistory Court was his tribunal as diocesan bishop. In addition he could have cases from province or diocese heard in his court of Audience, which was in a sense his personal tribunal. Finally, the archbishop exercised an extraordinary jurisdiction in certain deaneries in the dioceses of other bishops. These deaneries, such as Shoreham in Rochester diocese, Pagham in Chichester diocese and the deaney of the Arches in London diocese, were exempt from the authority of the local diocesan courts and directly under the archbishop's control. This too was a tribunal. Documentation generated by each of these courts, including the Court of Audience, is present in this class.
The records from the time of Archbishop Walter attest to the archbishop's personal involvment in dispensing both appellate jurisdiction, (concerning appeals from lower courts), and first instance jurisdiction, (concerned with cases brought for the first time), from both the diocese and the province of Canterbury, Walter seems to have exercised this jurisdiction in person, as and where he happened to be.
Later in the thirteenth century, as business increased, fixed tribunals were established. Provincial tribunals were held in the Court of Canterbury in London in the church of St Mary of the Arches, also known as St Mary-le-Bow. In time this tribunal became knwon as the Court of Arches. During the 1270-1273 vacancy, this court was held in Christ Church, Canterbury, but it stayed in London during the 1292-1294 vacancy. The Consistory Court was permanently established at Canterbury. It sate sometimes at the west end of the cathedral and sometimes in other churches in the city.
The archbishop controlled both these courts by appointing their presidents: an Official for the Court of Canterbury and a Commissary general for the Consistory Court.
The archbishop also retained some personal jurisdiction, hearing cases sometimes in person in his Court of Audience which still followed him about on his travels, as on a provincial visitation.
The business of all these courts concerned disputes that were classed as spiritual and therefore the preserve of the ecclesiastical courts. Cases might be ex officio (brought in the name of the office of the judge) or instance (between two parties). They were usually of a civil nature, though criminal cases might also be dealt with. The main business represented by the ES Rolls falls into three groups: tithes, actions over presentations to churches, and marriages. There are alos records of defamation, pensions from parish churches, disputes over monastic authority, ecclesiastical discipline, wills, violence against clerks, and the upkeep of church fabric.
A variety of documents was produced by the passage of business through the various courts. Cases may have been initiated by a written libel from the plaintiff to the court, though very few of such documents survive. The judge would issue a mandate of citation to the rural dean or archdeacon to cite the defendant who was then cited to appear and a certificate of citation was returned to the court. If the party failed to appear in court, they would be declared contumacious, at first suspended, and then declared excommunicate. If parties appeared by proctor, letters of proxy would be presented.
On the appearance of the parties in court, the libel was presented by the plaintiff detailing the charges. The defendant usually answered with exceptions, and these might possibly be countered with replications. The issue was now joined with the parties making oaths of calumny to speak the truth. The party having the burden of proof drew up articles based on the libel from which interrogatories were put to its witnesses. A minimum of two witnesses might be called; in most cases there were many more. The witnesses then made depositions in reply. Exceptions to the witnesses and their testimony might be made. The legal argumnets were not often recorded, but they might be set down as rationes, with rubrics summarising the main points of the case. These proceedings were ended by the sentence.
All these documents and proceedings made up the processus of a case.
For the 1270-1273 vacancy, certain rolls known as the 'Court of Canterbury rolls' record the acts of the court on a day-to-day basis in the various cases that came before it (ES Rolls 14, 18, 20, 21, 30, 39, 208, 222, & 370). The class also contains documents, many of them originals, for the same cases represented by these enrollments. The 'Court of Canterbury rolls' have been called the forerunners of the fourteenth century Canterbury Consistory Court Act Books, and this may be so.
The documentation for the 1292-1294 vacancy is rather different in character. There are many original processus of cases that were appealed to Canterbury, which the appealed judge was instructed by the official of the Court of Canterbury to send to him. Also surviving are lists of depositions of witnesses from Court of Canterbury proceedings, both from cases devolved to it in principali causa and in appeal cases, both direct and tuitorial. Unlike the documentation surviving for the 1270-1273 vacancy, there are almost no acta of the Court of Canterbury.
For both these vacancies there are acta of the Consistory Court presided over by the official of the prior and convent sede vacante. Some of the cases involved ex officio rather than instance proceedings. Many cases concern marriage or fornication whose jurisdiction was supposed to be the preserve of the archdeacon of Canterbury.
The ES rolls class was created by C.R. Bunce in 1805 when he removed from the Charte Antique 'over 200 small rolls' concerned with legal proceedings which he numbered and endorsed. When he died in 1807 the doucments were still stored in the Cathedral treasury. Bunce, however, failed to locate all the material.
In 1907, approximately half the number of these rolls was removed from the treasury and placed in charter boxes. The other half was left unsorted in another box. The charter boxes and the unsorted box were then stored in cupboard ZA in the Cathedral Archives and Library buildings. During the late 1950s, the boxing of the records assumed its present form, with a handful of additional rolls added from uncatalogued Chartae Antiquae by Dr William Urry. The present scheme of numbering was adopted at this time.
In the late nineteenth century, J B Sheppard collected much additional material, both for cases already represented in the series and for new cases, in three Sede Vacante Scrap Books. These documents concern the general administration of the see of Canterbury sede vacante, but many are actually judicial in nature.
Other similar material still remains in the Chartae Antiquae series, notably a roll of cases for the 1240-1245 vacancy in Charta Antiqua M364. There is also other material amongst the series of Christ Church Letters. None of the Scrap Books nor the Christ Church Letters nor the Chartae Antiquae have been included in this catalogue. |