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The Oath of Salisbury refers to an event in August 1086 when
The Oath of Salisbury refers to an event in August 1086 when William I of England
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
summoned his tenants-in-chief
In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as oppos ...
and "landowning men of any account to William I, 'The Conqueror'" to Old Sarum
Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest r ...
where they swore allegiance to him and to be faithful against all other men. The oath was demanded at a time of crisis when 'The Conqueror' was facing revolt and invasion. There seems little doubt that it was intended as a practical assurance and reminder rather than as a constitutional statement.
References
{{reflist 1086 in England Norman conquest of England History of Salisbury