ii. 228.

It is not easy to perceive what was reserved by the words "chose que
touche vie ou membre;" for the council never determined these. Possibly
it regarded accusations of treason or felony, which they might entertain
as an inquest, though they would ultimately be tried by a jury.
Contempts are easily understood; and by excesses were meant riots and
seditions. These political offences, which could not be always safely
tried in a lower court, it was the constant intention of the government
to reserve for the council.

[473] See Note in p. 145, for the statute 31 H. VI. c. 2.

[474] See Constitutional History of England, vol. i. p. 49. (1842.)

[475] It has been mentioned in a former note, on Mr. Allen's authority,
that the folcland had acquired the appellation _terra regis_ before the
Conquest.

[476] A presumptive proof of this may be drawn from a chapter in the
Laws of Henry I. c. 81, where the penalty payable by a villein for
certain petty offences is set at thirty pence; that of a _cotset_ at
fifteen; and of a theow at six. The passage is extremely obscure; and
this proportion of the three classes of men is almost the only part that
appears evident. The cotset, who is often mentioned in Domesday, may
thus have been an inferior villein, nearly similar to what Glanvil and
later law-books call such.

[477] The following passage in the Chronicle of Brakelond does not
mention any manumission of the ceorl on whom abbot Samson conferred a
manor:--Unum solum manerium carta sua confirmavit cuidam Anglico
natione, _glebae adscripto_, de cujus fidelitate plenius confidebat quia
bonus agricola erat, et quia nesciebat loqui Gallice. p. 24.

[478] Mr. Wright has given a few specimens in Essays on the Literature
and Popular Superstitions of England in the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 257.
In fact we may reckon Piers Plowman an instance of popular satire,
though far superior to the rest.

CHAPTER IX.[479]

ON THE STATE OF SOCIETY IN EUROPE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES.

PART I.

Introduction--Decline of Literature in the latter Period of the Roman
Empire--Its Causes--Corruption of the Latin Language--Means by which
it was effected--Formation of new Languages--General Ignorance of the
Dark Ages--Scarcity of Books--Causes that prevented the total
Extinction of Learning--Prevalence of Superstition and Fanaticism--
General Corruption of Religion--Monasteries--their Effects--
Pilgrimages-