Diplomatarium anglicum aevi saxonici: a collection of English charters, from the reign of King Aethelberht of Kent to that of William the Conqueror

London: MACMILLAN & CO., 1865. — 684 p. WHILE the early history of a state, in the common acceptation of the term, supplies us with a narrative of the public acts and sufferings of its people and their rulers, it affords us little or no insight into its internal life. For an acquaintance with this, as far as it is attainable, recourse must be had to other sources of information : of these the most prolific is unquestionably those deeds or muniments comprised under the general denomination of CHARTERS. These documents of our ancient kings, prelates, and nobles impart to us information of the most valuable and interesting kind : they prove and rectify the chronology of the chronicles, and serve not unfrequently as a commentary on, and an exemplification of, the Laws, rendering intelligible many points which, without their aid, would be involved in obscurity 1 . The information derivable from the Char- ters of the pre-Normannic period has special reference, I. to the Constitutional Law of England anterior to the Conquest ; II. to testamentary dispositions, heriots, marriage and other settlements, leases, mortgages, markets, tolls, customs, jurisdictions, rights, privileges, and immunities of both lay and ecclesiastical persons