The Channel Islands Assize Roll of 1299: Jersey
The Société Jersiaise is pleased to announce the publication of a significant Medieval document ‘The Channel Islands Assize Roll of 1299: Jersey,’ which will be launched on December 5th in the presence of the Deputy Bailiff, Mr Robert MacRae in Pier Road, St Helier.
This book, which deals with Jersey, was not the first Assize held in the Islands, but it is the earliest surviving judicial record.
The Roll’s importance for the History of the Channel Islands is very great in that it provides insights into legal, administrative, social, political and economic life in Jersey at the end of a tumultuous century for the Islands following the loss in 1204 of the Duchy of Normandy by King John, of which the Islands were formerly part.
The Assize records shed light on the difficulties that the English Crown had in governing the Channel Islands, developing the local administration that was necessary to function without their link to the Duchy of Normandy.
This publication includes cases of assault, theft and claims to property. In an era of violence the Assize heard from both the highest in the island and the poorest. Drouet de Barentin, the notorious Warden of the Isles and Seigneur of Rozel, had several cases brought against him, including the abduction of three women and theft. Amongst the ordinary people, there were several knife attacks in the marketplace, thefts of sheep and assaults in taverns. Several civil cases involved mills and milling and rights to land.
Thanks to the generous bequest from the late Peter Bisson, a dedicated medieval historian and the former Registrar of Deeds, the Société Jersiaise has been able to commission and publish this work. The Société is keen to make important medieval documents more widely available to the general public. Dr Simon Harris has edited, translated from Latin and indexed the Assize. He is now working on the Cartulaire, a collection of charters of French abbeys with possessions in Jersey, and there are several other translations, including the 1323 Assize, planned for the next few years.
The book is available to buy from the Société Jersiaise bookshop at 7, Pier Road, open from Monday – Friday from 9am-2pm. Price £20, with a 10% discount for Members of the Société.
Alternatively, it can be purchased online via our website www.societe.je, or by emailing hello@societe.je
