The legal system in France and Normandy in the 14 th and 15 th

2.1.2 The present corpus: Lettres de rémission

The present corpus is based on selected Lettres de rémission (LDR). These remission letters are part of the corpus Textes légaux anciens de Normandie hosted by the research centre CRISCO at the University of Caen Basse-Normandie. ⁷ It covers two periods: the first part from 1357 to 1360 and the second from 1423 to 1433. First, a short introduction into the legal system in Normandy France during the Hundred Years’ War is given. Next, the generic properties of LDR are introduced. Subsequently, the selected corpus is presented. It is shown how socio-political events are reflected in the LDR, the context of transmission and of edition of the sources is detailed and the criteria for choosing the specific letters are explained which the present corpus is based on. Finally, linguistic peculiarities of LDR and their interest for a linguistic study are discussed.

2.1.2.1 The legal system in France and Normandy in the 14^th and 15^th century

The judiciary system in medieval France is complex, due among others to its Roman heritage, and the influence of German and other tribes as a result of the Völkerwanderung, i.e. the barbarian invasions. Medieval French law is usually described as twofold along a line between Bordeaux and Lyon: the southern part being influenced exclusively by the Roman law, the

6 On the one hand, the formularies of the royal chancellery from 1422 and, on the other hand, the summations of the Parlement de Paris from 1423.

7 Cf. http://www.crisco.unicaen.fr/Francais-legal-ancien-de-Normandie.html, last access: 25^th March 2015,14:23.

northern one by customary law.⁸ The Norman customary law, for instance, applied to other regions, too (Guyotjeannin 2005). However, Hilaire (1994) adjusts the supposition of strict separation: in both cases, he observes influences of the respective other system. A similar diversity can be noted if one takes a closer look at the function of legal instruments. A ban against a person, a form of outlawry, can, for instance, be seen as a legitimation of power, a possible source of income for the ruler since the banned person’s property is generally confiscated, or as mechanism to control the society and to maintain the public order (Billoré 2012 et al.). Based on these potential implications, one retraces that justice was nascent and in constant change throughout the Middle Ages. These observations lead Billoré et al. (2012: 11) to the conclusion that medieval justice cannot be generalised and that jurisdictions were varying according to the law in use. The following section, therefore, focuses on French royal justice in the Late Middle Ages, its functions and its players by paying special attention to Norman particularities.⁹

In the Middle Ages royal justice was conceived as justice accomplished in the name of God.

Justice was grounded upon the idea that a crime had to be compensated in order to prevent the victims’ families from taking personal revenge. For that reason, the punishment essentially consisted of payment to the victim’s relatives. It could be completed by supplementary punishments to the benefit of the king – such as fine, seizure – or of the society – public penance, pilgrimage, physical penalty, ban, or death penalty. The three latter entailed severe consequences for the convicted persons and were tantamount to social exclusion. There were two possibilities to avoid punishment, both of them only accessible to people who could afford the payment of relevant sums. The first step was to make an objection at a superior royal instance by claiming one’s innocence, and the final possibility was to make a request for pardon.

The latter and its special conditions are delt with further down. First, the former and the operative judiciary system in Medieval France are looked into.

In the Early Middle Ages, the royal tribunal was closely linked to the king. It followed the court itinerary, but, subsequently, royal power lost its influence and jurisdiction was either taken over

8 The original tradition of the German tribes to apply the law according to the clanship of a delinquent was abandoned in favour of the application of the law corresponding to territories (Billoré et al. 2012). Normative texts of customary law are of interest to linguistic research, since they were recorded in the vernacular relatively early (in comparison to other legal documents).

9 In accord with the purpose of the present work, aspects of royal justice that did not exist in Normandy are not mentioned (Billoré et al. 2012). The justice seigneuriale, municipale and ecclésiasitique are also left aside. The following parts are essentially based on Billoré et al. (2012).

by local authorities or overridden by feuds. From the 13^th century onwards, the creation of administrative structures reinforced royal influence on justice and resulted in an approach between the king and his subjects. Justice settled in all parts of the kingdom and still emanated from the king who was represented by local royal agents. In the following bottom-up description the focus is on jurisdictions in use in Normandy. Contrary to other regions, Norman bailiffs and viscounts held court on behalf of the king and complemented each other. The bailiffs and their deputies, the lieutenants, were in charge of criminal cases and civil actions involving probate disputes, noblemen and fiefs. The viscounts judged common causes. Both judged trial courts and were responsible for the procedure involving requests for pardon¹⁰. On a regular basis the French bailiffs were bound to report to the Parlement de Paris. The latter was created as a detached royal court to process legal matters. It therefore functioned as the appellate court for all lower royal instances and was composed of three divisions: the Grand-chambre, the chamber d’enquête ‘chamber of inquiry’ and the chambre de requête ‘chamber of request’. The chambre de requête was assigned with appeals and ordered letters. The chambre d’enquête prepared the preliminary proceedings for the Grand-chambre which was entrusted with the judgments. Shortly after its creation, the Parlement de Paris suffered from an overload due to the numerous appeals lodged. As a result, court dates were organized in the provinces. In Normandy the Échiquier assumed this function and held court dates twice a year.

Nevertheless, the royal court itself continued to be the Supreme Court with the king as judge at its head. The so-called Conseil¹¹ convened by the king’s will and was composed of approximately 20 advisers. Hence, the king also judged in a more informal setting, surrounded by a few intimates.

With regard to the Lettres de rémission, which are at the centre of interest of the present survey, the new focus are requests for pardon. Pardon was an act of royal power and an integral part of a balanced rule between justice and mercy, between absolute power and royal wisdom and, therefore, refers to the holiness of the king himself. The requester as supplicant recognized the supreme authority of the king, admitted his guilt, and expressed his repentance. Public order was thus restored and the Lettres de rémission took an integral part in it. From an administrative point of view, the Chambre des plaids de la Porte, later called the Requêtes de l’Hôtel, is of importance, since it attended to the issuing of Lettres d’État and of Lettres de rémission. Before

10 See in detail further down.

11 Also called Grand Conseil or Secret Conseil.

turning to the following section, where the characteristics of Lettres de rémission are addressed by looking closer at the genre itself and its evolution, the extent of the French legal system applied in Late Medieval Normandy is shortly presented.

The two parts of our corpus coincide with the two periods within the Hundred Years’ War.¹² The issuing of Lettres de rémission increased considerably after the outbreak of the war. This was presumably due to the fact that it constituted an easy and profitable source of the royal income (Michel 1942). Shortly before the time frame of the first part of my corpus, Normandy became part of the very heart of the French kingdom: the duke of Normandy acceded to the French throne as Jean II in 1350. His most important adversary on Norman soil was Charles II, king of Navarra. Charles II claimed the French crown, since his mother was the only child of Louis X. He also held extensive properties in Normandy and succeeded in assembling the dissatisfied members of the Norman aristocracy. Jean II initially adopted a policy of reconciliation. He left huge parts of the Cotentin to Charles II and, in order to soothe Norman feelings, he appointed his own son, Charles, Duke of Normandy in 1355. After various moments of rebellion among Norman aristocracy, Jean II changed his policy of reconcilement. In April 1356 he appeared at a dinner his son, Charles, gave in Rouen and arrested Charles II whose brother subsequently asked Edward III for help. In June 1356 English troops landed in Cotentin.

Within a few weeks they ravaged large parts of Lower Normandy. The English captured Jean II in the battle of Poitiers in September 1356 and brought him to England where he was held prisoner until 1360. Meanwhile, his son, Charles, took over the regency.

The first part of our data originated in a context of a power vacuum. After the capture of Jean II, the combats mostly paused. Nevertheless, groups of remaining English soldiers and followers of Charles II roamed through the Norman region and ravaged it. The Lettres de rémission of my corpus frequently mention crimes that resulted from confrontations between them and local peasants but also merchants, craftsmen and noblemen.

The second part of my corpus is politically characterized by the victory of Henry V of England in the battle of Agincourt. Subsequently, from 1417 to 1419, Henry V conquered Normandy.

The different factions of the French court tried to join forces in order to fight the English, but

12 For an extensive survey on the history of Normandy during the Hundred Years’ War, refer to Neveux (2008).

The following part is essentially based on the parts of the same book: Prelude, Introduction, chapters 1-3, 6, 8, 12. Divergent references are mentioned when used

their rivalries were so important that this finally led to an alliance between the Burgundians and the English. This alliance resulted in the signing and ratification of the Treaty of Troyes where the French king, Charles VI, disinherited his son accused of lèse-majesté and appointed Henry V as his heir. After the death of Henry V in 1422, his son, Henry VI, aged 8 months, succeeded to the throne of the newly constituted kingdom of France and England. Henry V’s brother, the duke of Bedford, became regent of France and governor of Normandy. After the victory of the Anglo-Burgundian troops against the troops of the disinherited dauphin at Verneuil, the kingdom saw a short period of peace until 1429. From then on, the campaigns of Jeanne d’Arc took mainly place outside Normandy, and only in few places in Upper Normandy did resistance movements spark. However, neither these events nor others linked to Jeanne’s capture and her execution in Rouen in 1431, are addressed. The English occupants kept the French administrative structures in Normandy and even established other authorities in order to govern the region independently from the English kingdom. The Exchequer, a Court of Finances and the Treasury were installed in Caen, the Chancellery in Rouen. The latter continued to issue legal documents following French standards; among them a large number of Lettres de rémission can be found. Their issuing contributed to no small extent to the income of the English in Normandy and allowed them to self-finance the occupation of Normandy. The following section deals with the characteristics of Lettres de rémission by looking closer at the genre itself, its structure and its interest for linguistic research.