9. THE CLOTH HALL OF YPRES Thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; Ypres was formerly the capital of West Flanders, and at the time when this hall was built was one of the most famous seats of the manufac ture of linen and of lace.

STUDY ON PICTURES.

What parts of a serve as a basis for decoration? What new forms of architecture do you see in a, b, c, g? What new material is used for decoration? What subjects? What forms are employed (see c)? Find something Greek, something Moorish, something Roman, in the pictures from a to d inclusive. In which of these pictures is everything purely original to this period? What beauties do you find in a, b, and d? Why call e a portal instead of a door? Name two facts you have before discovered which are illustrated by a, b, and d. Compare e and f with picture of Fountains Hall (p. 413); what notable differences in construction and location? Explain the points you have mentioned in regard to the castles, by reference to the events and organizations of the time. Supposing we knew nothing about this period except what we knew of these two castles, how much could they tell us? What could g tell us, if it were the only source of information in regard to this time that we possessed?

5. Extracts and Notes Illustrative of Law, Custom, and Organization of Period.

a. From the Great Charter (Magna Charta).1

14. No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our kingdom, unless by the common council [parliament] of our kingdom, except to redeem our person, and to make our eldest son a knight, and once to marry our eldest daughter; and for this there shall only be paid a reasonable aid.

15. In like manner, it shall be concerning the aids of the city of London, and the city of London shall have all her ancient liberties and free customs, as well by land as by water.

16. Furthermore, we will and grant that all other cities, and boroughs, and towns, and ports shall have all their liberties and free customs, and shall have the common council of the kingdom concerning the assessments of their aids, except in the three cases aforesaid.

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20. We will not, for the future, grant to any one that he

1 All laws and charters were in Latin till towards the close of the thirteenth century.

may take the aid of his own free tenants, unless to redeem his body, and to make his eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter, and for this there shall only be paid a reasonable aid.

22. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but be holden in some certain place.

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33. No constable or bailiff of ours shall take corn or other chattels of any man, unless he presently give him money for it.

36. No sheriffs or bailiffs of ours, or any others, shall take horses or carts of any man for carriage.

37. Neither we, nor our officers, or others, shall take any man's timber, for our castles or other uses, unless by the consent of the owner of the timber.

41. There shall be one measure of wine, and one of ale, through our whole realm, and one measure of corn, that is to say, the London quarter; and one breadth of dyed cloth; . . . and the weight shall be as the measures.

45. No bailiff, for the future, shall put any man to his law upon his single accusation, without credible witnesses produced to prove it.

46. No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or banished, or any ways destroyed; nor will we pass upon him, or commit him to prison, unless by the legal judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. [Habeas corpus.]

47. We will sell or deny, or defer, right or justice to no man. 48. All merchants shall have secure conduct to go out of England and to come into England, and to stay and abide there, and to pass as well by land as by water, to buy and sell, by the ancient and allowed customs, without any evil toils, except in time of war. . . .

60. If any one hath been dispossessed or deprived by us, without the legal judgment of his peers, of his lands, castles, liberties, or rights, we will forthwith restore them to him; and if any dispute arises upon this head, let the matter be decided by the five-and-twenty barons hereafter mentioned, for the preservation of the peace.

69. All the aforesaid customs, privileges, and liberties which we have granted to be holden in our kingdom, as much as it belongs to us towards our people,-all our subjects, as well clergy as laity, shall observe. . . towards their dependents.

78. Wherefore, we will and firmly enjoin that the Church of England be free, and that all men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights, and concession, truly and peaceably, freely and quietly, fully and wholly, to themselves and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all things and places, forever, as is aforesaid.

79. It is also sworn, as well on our part as on the part of the barons, that all things aforesaid shall faithfully and sincerely be observed.

Given under our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above-named and many others, in the meadow called Runnymede, between Windsor and Stanes, on the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.

b. From the Establishments of St. Lewis.

"We prohibit all private battles throughout our domains; . . . whatever peaceful modes of settling disputes have been in force hitherto, we fully continue; but battles we forbid; instead of them, we enjoin proof by witnesses."

1

St. Lewis decreed that the clergy should not bear arms; that their gold-studded belts and gilded spurs should disappear; that

1 It was the ordinary custom in the middle ages to settle disputes by "Wager of Battle," it being believed that God would give victory to truth and right.

the monasteries should follow the strictest discipline, and that the election of bishops should no longer be tampered with by the king or his nobles.

He also gave every man of the realm a right of appeal to the king. By him, the goldsmiths of Paris were freed from feudal dues. His successor (Philip III.) allowed those not nobles to gain the lands of nobles; titled the lawyers "knights of the law," and made them chief advisors of the Crown.

c. Protest of the Nobles and Commons in 1314.

"We, nobles and commons of Champagne, for ourselves, . and for all our allies and associates within the limits of the kingdom of France, to all who shall see and hear these presents, health. It is known unto you all, that . . . our dearly beloved and redoubtable lord Philip, by the grace of God king of France, has made and imposed various taxes, . . . whereby and by several other things which have been done, the nobles and commons have been sorely aggrieved and impoverished, and great evils have ensued, and are still taking place. . . . We have at various times devoutly requested and humbly supplicated the said lord king to discontinue and utterly put an end to these grievances, but he has not attended to our entreaties.

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.. And just lately, in this present year, 1314, the said king has made undue demands upon the nobles and commons of the kingdom, and unjust subsidies which he has attempted by force to levy; these things we cannot conscientiously submit to, for thereby we shall lose our honors, franchises, and liberties, both we and those who shall come after us."

d. From Law of Lewis X., the Turbulent [Hutin], 1315.

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"As, according to the law of nature, each must be born free, and by some usages or customs, many of our common people have fallen into servitude and divers conditions which very much displease us; we, . . . wishing that . . . the condition of the people should improve on the advent of our new government, upon deliberation with our great council, have