"Free bench" is a legal term referring to an ancient
manorial custom in parts of England whereby a widow, until she remarried, could retain tenure of her late husband's land.
:"Free Bench (Lat. ''francus bancus''). The widow's right to a copyhold. It is not a dower or gift, but a free right independent of the will of the husband. Called bench because, upon acceding to the
estate, she becomes a tenant of the manor, and one of the benchers, i.e. persons who sit on the bench occupied by the ''pares curiæ'' (
Peers of
Court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
)".
The widow of a
tenant
Tenant may refer to:
Real estate
*Tenant, the holder of a leasehold estate in real estate
*Tenant-in-chief, in feudal land law
*Tenement (law), the holder of a legal interest in real estate
*Tenant farmer
*Anchor tenant, one of the larger stores ...
was usually allowed her free bench, so long as she preserved her
chastity
Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when mak ...
. But if any evidence appeared against her, or she declared an intention of remarrying, she had to forfeit her lands.
The rights to free bench varied from manor to manor and were subject to local custom. Some did not have the custom at all.
In a few cases, some very unusual ways of circumventing the problem have been recorded. For instance, the widow submitted to the penalty of riding into court upon a black
ram
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
holding its tail in her hand and repeating the following lines of nonsense (as recorded in No. 614 of ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
''):
:"Here I am,
:Riding upon a black ram,
:Like a
whore
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
as I am;
:And for my crincum crancum (wicked conduct)
:Have lost my bincum bancum, (widows land)
:And for my tail's game
:Have done this worldly shame;
:Therefore I pray you, Mr Steward,
:Let me have my land again."
Legrewite
A similar practice to ''freebench'' sometimes applied to the children, who had to follow the conditions of their father. The lord had to look narrowly after the morals and marriages of the daughters of his farmers. A case of female incontinence was punished by a fine called '' 'Legrewite' '' or '' 'Leyr-wite' ''
rom leyr derives 'lair'. l< OE leger= lying (down), a bed + wite = a fine and the birth of an illegitimate child was followed by another called '' '
childwite
In medieval England, childwite (or childwit), was a Fine (penalty), fine levied by the Feudalism in England, feudal lord on the reputed father when an unmarried Serfdom, unfree woman gave birth to a child. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' cites ...
' '', which in one of the manors of
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
Monastery was fixed at 2s. 8d.: it was due from the guardian, who might be the father or the brother, of the unfortunate damsel. In some cases the young woman went through a grotesque act of
penance
Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of Repentance (theology), repentance for Christian views on sin, sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic Church, Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox s ...
. At
Faringdon
Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. It extends to the River Thames in the north; the highest ground is on the Rid ...
, a tenant's daughter, on being convicted of
incontinence
Incontinence or Incontinent may refer to:
*Fecal incontinence, the involuntary excretion of bowel contents
*Urinary incontinence, the involuntary excretion of urine
* Lack of moderation or self-control, especially related to sexual desire - see I ...
, forfeited forty pence (no small sum) in the reign of
Henry III, to the lord of the manor; which was only remitted on condition of the offender's appearing in the lord's court, carrying a black sheep on her back, and making confession of her shame.
Manors where this custom is recorded
*
Chaddleworth,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
.
*
Enborne
Enborne is a village and civil parish, in West Berkshire, England that bounds to the east, across a road from Newbury. The River Enborne shares its name, although it does not run through the village; rather, it runs through and rises near the ne ...
, Berkshire
*
Talskiddy,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
.
*
Cardinham
Cardinham ( kw, Kardhinan) (the spelling 'Cardynham' is almost obsolete) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and a village in mid Cornwall, England. The village is approximately three-and-a-half miles (6 km), east-northeast of Bodmi ...
, Cornwall.
*
Torre,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
.
*
Kilmersdon
Kilmersdon is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north eastern slopes of the Mendip Hills in Somerset between the towns of Radstock and Frome. It is located on the B3139 between Wells, Somerset, Wells and Trowbridge in ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
See also
*
Manorialism
Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes forti ...
*
Manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
*
Feudalism
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
References
*
Richard Carew's ''Survey of Cornwall''.
External links
{{EB1911 Poster, Freebench
*http://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ng281.htm
*https://web.archive.org/web/20061126172700/http://www.btinternet.com/~coppinhomepage/
Berkshire History
Feudalism in England
English legal terminology
English law