Note 271 — PART I TERRITORIAL STUDIES (continued 3)

The remarkable document that I am about to discuss is printed in Heming's 'Cartulary' (i. 79-80).271 It is therefore most singular that it should be unknown to Mr Freeman—to whom it would have been invaluable for his account of Ranulf's doings—as it occurs in the midst of a group of documents which he had specially studied for his excursus on 'the condition of Worcestershire under William'.272 It is a writ of William Rufus, addressed to the tenants of the See of Worcester on the death of Bishop Wulfstan, directing them to pay a 'relief' in consequence of that death, and specifying the quota due from each of the tenants named. The date is fortunately beyond question; for the writ must have been issued very shortly after the death of Wulfstan (January 18, 1095), and in any case before the death of Bishop Robert of Hereford (June 26, 1095), who is one of the tenants addressed in it. As the record is not long, and practically, as we have seen, unknown, one need not hesitate to reprint it.