sister to wife, and to the sister, that she
would accept him for a husband. William de Cheveringworth paid five
marks, to have the king's letter to the Abbot of Perfore, to let him
enjoy peaceably his tithes as formerly. Matthew de Hereford, clerk,
paid ten marks for a letter of request to the Bishop of Llandaff, to
let him enjoy peaceably his church of Schenfrith. Andrew Neulun gave
three Flemish caps for the king's request to the Prior of Chikesand,
for performance of an agreement made between them. Henry de Fontibus
gave a Lombardy horse of value, to have the king's request to Henry
Fitz-Hervey, that he would grant him his daughter to wife. Roger, son
of Nicholas, promised all the lampreys he could get, to have the
king's request to Earl William Marshall, that he would grant him the
manor of Langeford at Firm. The burgesses of Gloucester promised
three hundred lampreys, that they might not be distrained to find the
prisoners of Poictou with necessaries, unless they pleased. Id. p.
352. Jordan, son of Reginald, paid twenty marks, to have the king's
request to William Paniel, that he would grant him the land of Mill
Nieresult, and the custody of his heirs: and if Jordan obtained the
same, he was pay the twenty marks, otherwise not. Id. p. 333. [k]
Madox's Hist. of the Exch. p. 359.]

These iniquitous practices of the Norman kings were so well known,
that on the death of Hugh Bigod, in the reign of Henry II., the best
and most just of these princes, the eldest son and the widow of this
nobleman came to court, and strove, by offering large presents to the
king, each of them to acquire possession of that rich inheritance.
The king was so equitable as to order the cause to be tried by the
great council! But, in the mean time, he seized all the money and
treasure of the deceased [l]. Peter of Blois, a judicious, and even
an elegant writer for that age, gives a pathetic description of the
venality of justice, and the oppressions of the poor, under the reign
of Henry; and he scruples not to complain to the king himself of these
abuses [m]. We may judge what the case would be under the government
of worst princes. The articles of inquiry concerning the conduct of
sheriffs, which Henry promulgated in 1170, show the great power, as
well as the licentiousness of these officers [n].
[FN [l] Bened. Abb. p. 180, 181. [m] Petri Bles. Epist. 95. apud
Bibl. Patrum, tom. p. xxiv. 2014. [n] Hoveden, Chron. Gerv. p. 1410.]