Free bench was a customary legal right in certain parts of
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, allowing a widow to retain tenancy of her deceased husband's
copyhold
Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the ...
land, provided she remained unmarried and, in many places, chaste. Unlike
dower
Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settlement (law), settled on the bride (being given into trust instrument, trust) by agreement at the time of t ...
, which was a legal entitlement under
common law
Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
, free bench arose from
manorial
Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, 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, ...
custom and varied significantly between manors.
:"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
Peers may refer to:
People
* Donald Peers
* Edgar Allison Peers, English academician
* Gavin Peers
* John Peers, Australian tennis player
* Kerry Peers
* Mark Peers
* Michael Peers
* Steve Peers
* Teddy Peers (1886–1935), Welsh internationa ...
of
Court
A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
)".
The widow of a
tenant was usually permitted to retain her free bench as long as she remained chaste. If there was evidence of sexual misconduct or she declared an intention to remarry, her rights to the land were forfeited.
The rules governing free bench were not uniform and depended on local
custom. Some manors did not recognize the right at all.
In a few instances, local customs included ritual acts by which a widow could regain her tenancy despite having violated the conditions. One such case, recorded in No. 614 of ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
'', describes a widow who was required to ride into court on a black
ram
Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to:
* A male sheep
* Random-access memory, computer memory
* Ram Trucks, US, since 2009
** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans
** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks
Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...
, holding its tail, and recite the following lines:
:"Here I am,
:Riding upon a black ram,
:Like a
whore
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves 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-pe ...
as I am;
:And for my crincum crancum (wicked conduct),
:Have lost my bincum bancum (widow's 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, (or ), was a fine levied by the feudal lord on the reputed father when an unmarried unfree woman gave birth to a child. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' cites the following use of the term from 1672:
References
See ...
' '', which in one of the manors of
Bury 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 contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession.
The word ''penance'' derive ...
. 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. Its views extend to the River Thames in the north and the highest ground visib ...
, a tenant's daughter, on being convicted of
incontinence
Incontinence or Incontinent may refer to:
* Urinary incontinence, the most commonly occurring type of incontinence, the involuntary excretion of urine
*Fecal incontinence
Fecal incontinence (FI), or in some forms, encopresis, is a lack of con ...
, 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 ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
.
*
Enborne
Enborne is a village and civil parish, in West Berkshire, England. The River Enborne shares its name, although it does not run through the village; rather, it runs through and rises near the nearby village of Enborne Row. The village name has ha ...
, Berkshire
*
Talskiddy,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
.
*
Cardinham
Cardinham () (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 Bodmin. The hamlet ...
, Cornwall.
*
Torre,
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
.
*
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 i ...
,
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
See also
*
Manorialism
Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "Land tenure, tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features incl ...
*
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 usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
*
Feudalism
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
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