Irish
Parliament of 1269
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
In the year 1269 there
was held somewhere in Ireland a parliament for the better promotion of trade.
Elsewhere around the country the business of life and security continued.
Ireland
in 1269
In Connacht King Aedh O’Conor
was causing great disturbances among the Anglo-Norman settlements. In
punishment the government took back into their own ownership the cantred of
Tirmany which only escalated Aedh’s attacks. In 1268 he was summoned to a
conference at Athlone but instead of peace breakout, Aedh sent his armed men
into the town, killing many.[1] In
1269 the new justiciar, Robert d’Ufford, began construction of Roscommon
castle, in the heart of Aedh’s territory, to protect the settlements and control
King Aedh. Richard de Exeter, deputy of the justiciar, was paid £90 for the
defence of Roscommon castle in the years 1269-1270.[2] King
Aedh clearly saw the castle as a threat to his own power and sought to destroy
it before it was fully completed. In 1270, 1271 and 1272 he attacked, captured
and destroyed the castle but the English rebuilt it every time. Peace only came
with the death of King Aedh in 1274 when the Irish devoted their energies to
fighting among their own.[3]
Other events that
happen in 1269 include the granting of the king’s licence to Thomas de Clare to
travel to Ireland in April. In September the king appointed Brother Walter
Omychain of the Franciscan order as Bishop of Ross.[4]
When King Henry III granted the lordship of Ireland to his eldest son, Prince
Edward in 1254, the king reserved for his own use the temporalities of vacant
Irish bishoprics and monastic houses along with the appointment of new
incumbents.[5]
The Earl of Ulster felt that his area of influence was outside this royal
reservation. In December 1269 King Henry wrote to Walter de Burgh, Earl of
Ulster, that Ulster was not outside the royal area of reservation and the earl
was to restore all church property to their respected owners.[6]
Elsewhere in March 1269
the Archbishop of Dublin and the Prior of Hospital of Jerusalem in Ireland
settled a long running dispute of the right to the church of Stachfythenane.
Both sides cancelled each other’s debts and the prior promised to defend the
archbishop in any challenge for Stachfythenane made by Bonefacius de Coronato.[7] In
June 1269 the dean and chapter of Cashel grant a wood called Dyreyncled to
Thomas son of David for a yearly rent of four pounds of wax or 2 shillings on
the feast of St. Patrick.[8] In
November 1269, before the justice in eyre at the court of Lord Edward, son of
Henry III, John and Matilda Boschere released all claims on 15 acres of land at
Balirothegane to the Archbishop of Dublin in return for 100 shillings.[9] In
December 1269 a jury of inquisition met in Kilkenny to examine a dispute
between the Bishop of Ossory and the heirs of William Marshal. The jury found
that the Bishop of Ossory had a just claim to the market at Kilkenny and to an
ounce of gold for land given to William Marshal long the banks of the River
Nore.[10]
1269
Parliament
The parliament of 1269
met in the Michaelmas term (30th September to 14th
January) of that year at an unknown location.[11]
In attendance were the justiciar, Robert d’Ufford and members of the king’s
council, all the magnates and the whole community.[12]
What is exactly meant by “the whole community” is unclear. The later parliament
in 1297 is considered the first to have representatives of the people, i.e. the
middle class people of property. Richardson and Sayles remarked that this “whole
community” may simply be representatives who were not magnates, although it was
also the case that the magnates sometimes claimed to speak for the “whole
community”.[13]
The entire business
transacted at the 1269 parliament is unknown. The chief business transacted,
according to the surviving evidence, was the adoption of the Statue of weights
and measures. The text of this statute declared that:
Provided and statute is
of the council of Lord Robert d’Ufford, Justiciar of Ireland, and others
faithful to Lord Edward who are of his council and of the agreement of all the
magnates and the total community of Ireland that one and the same measure each
beget having one and same gallon, one and same weight, one and same elbow of
length are of future set down for all of Ireland which are usual in the city of
London.[14]
Previous
efforts to standardise weights and measures
This legislation was
not the first effort to standardise weights and measures. In 1217 Henry III
declared that there should be one measure of wine, corn and ale throughout the
kingdom and that there should be uniformity in the length of cloth.[15]
This declaration seemed to have only partial effect. In 1244 Henry III had to
issue a new proclamation via the justiciar of Ireland that all “weights and
measures should be equal in counties and vills in Ireland”. The standard for
this uniformity was the weights and measures used in Dublin, “if they be such
as can be followed”.[16]
Proclamation of weights and measures by Ford Madox Brown from 1st-art-gallery.com
The last proviso was of
importance as even within Dublin there was not uniformity in the weights and
measure used. In 1253 it was reported the standards still varied around the
country and particularly within Dublin. The justiciar of the time, John Fitz
Geoffrey, was instructed to proclaim a uniform measure throughout Ireland but
with little success.[17] The
parliament of 1269, by setting London as the standard for weights and measures,
hoped to get over the differences in Dublin. Carlow castle had previously
purchased a gallon measure in Dublin to use as a recognised standard measure.
It is not known if this gallon measure was laid aside and a new one purchased
from London.[18]
Weights
and measures after 1269
It would seem that the
London standard was not universally adopted in Ireland. In 1276 it was found
that the sacks of wool used in Ireland were larger than in England yet having
equal monetary value. The Irish wool sacks were charged 10 shillings in tax
while the English sacks carried a tax of half a mark (6 shillings 8 pence).
After complaint by some Irish merchants the king instructed Robert d’Ufford to
charge the Irish sacks the same tax as the English sacks.[19]
In this incidence there appears to have been no effort made to standardise the
sacks sizes between Ireland and England.
The chief officer of
each town, be it mayor, sovereign or portreeve, and the sheriff of each county
was to ensure that standard weights and measures were implemented. The royal
government appointed a national overseer of weights and measures to keep check on
the local officials. In 1277 Elias de Wynton was sent from England to inspect
the weights throughout Ireland. In February 1392 John Aldelyme senior was
appointed keeper of the weights and measures of Ireland for life along with
other jobs.[20]
Weights and measures and the scales of justice
But not every overseer
of the weights and measures had the king’s interest and the promotion of sound
trade at heart. In the 1290s Edmund Biroun was keeper of weights and measures
for the King in Ireland. As part of his job he went to the chief market towns
to check the measures. While at some towns the locals gave Edmund many gifts
not to charge them unjustly, and so Edmund falsely changed or diminished the legal
measures, and amerced others who were not culpable or convicted. Edmund Biroun
was summoned to appear at the justiciar’s court but fled the country. Later
when the justiciar was returning from visiting the king in England he found and
arrested Edmund Biroun in Wales. Edmund was brought back to Ireland but escaped
from Dublin Castle before his trial date. In 1300 the sheriffs were commanded to
demand him in their county courts until Edmund Biroun was outlawed or taken.[21]
It is not clear if Edmund was ever brought to justice.
The success of the 1269
parliament in effecting standard weights and measures was varied. But the
problems of standardization were by no means confined to Ireland. In 1390
thirty three offenders were found in the city of Exeter alone, using false
measures.[22]
In France regional variations in the weights and measures used continued until
the French Revolution.
Next
Irish parliament
The parliament of 1269
was followed by seven years of normal activity before the next parliament met
in 1276. This gathering will form the subject of a future article.
=============
End of post
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[1]
James Lydon, ‘A land at war’, in A new
History of Ireland, Vol. 2, Medieval Ireland 1169-1534, edited by Art
Cosgrove (Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 249
[2]
Philomena Connolly, Irish Exchequer
Payments 1270-1446 (Irish Manuscripts Commission, Dublin, 1998), p. 3
[3]
Margaret Murphy & Kieran O’Conor, Roscommon
Castle: A Visitor’s Guide (Roscommon County Council, 2008), p. 8
[4]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
Documents relating to Ireland (5 vols. Kraus reprint, 1974), Vol. 2
(1252-1284), nos. 855, 857
[5]
H.S. Richardson & G.O. Sayles, ‘The administration of Ireland: introduction
(reprint)’, in Analecta Hibernica,
No. 29 (1980), p. 46
[6]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 2 (1252-1284), no. 860
[7] Charles
McNeill (ed.), Calendar of Archbishop
Alen’s Register c.1172-1534 (Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland,
Dublin, 1950), pp. 131-132
[8]
Edmund Curtis (ed.), Calendar of Ormond
Deeds (5 vols. Stationery Office, Dublin, 1932), Vol. 1 (1172-1350), no.
148
[9]
Charles McNeill (ed.), Calendar of Archbishop
Alen’s Register, p. 133
[10]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 2 (1252-1284), no. 861
[11]
Aubrey Gwynn, ‘The Irish Parliament in the Middle Ages’, in Studies: An Irish
Quarterly Review, Vol. 12, No. 166 (1953), p. 215
[12]
H.G. Richardson & G.O. Sayles, ‘The Irish Parliaments of Edward I’, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy,
Section C, Vol. 38 (1928-1929), p. 130
[13] Richardson
& Sayles, ‘The Irish Parliaments of Edward I’, in P.R.I.A., Section C, Vol. 38, p. 132
[14]
Charles McNeill, ‘Harris Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicus’, in Analecta Hibernica, No. 6 (1934), p. 300;
H.F. Berry (ed.), Statutes and ordinances
and acts of the parliaments of Ireland: King John to Henry V (Irish Record
Office Series of Early Statutes, Dublin, 1907), p. 36
[15]
Karina Holton, ‘From charters to carters: aspects of fairs and markets in
medieval Leinster’, in Irish Fairs and
Markets: Studies in Local History, edited by Denis A. Cronin, Jim Gilligan
& Karina Holton (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2001), p. 38
[16]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 1 (1171-1251), no. 2713
[17]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 2 (1252-1284), no. 222
[18]
Karina Holton, ‘From charters to carters: aspects of fairs and markets in
medieval Leinster’, in Irish Fairs and
Markets: Studies in Local History, edited by Denis A. Cronin, Jim Gilligan
& Karina Holton, p. 38
[19]
H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of
Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 2 (1252-1284), no. 1305
[20]
Paul Dryburgh & Brendan Smith (eds.), Handbook
and Select Calendar of Sources for Medieval Ireland in the National Archives of
the Unite Kingdom (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2005), p. 161
[21] James
Mills (ed.), Calendar of the Justiciary
Rolls of Ireland XXIII to XXXI Edward I (Stationery Office, Dublin, 1905), p.
316
[22]
Maryanne Kowaleski, Local Markets and
Regional Trade in Medieval Exeter (Cambridge University Press, 1995), p.
189
