1921 45 Notes and Documents A Mention of Scutage in the Year noo The occurrence of the word scutagium in the reign of Henry I, as well as the comparatively wide prevalence of such a payment, is known through Dr. Round's study of the introduction of knight service in England. 1 But quittance of scutage at the very beginning of this reign shows that knight service was rather widely commuted earlier yet. The evidence of this should have been readily available for almost a century. It is contained in the charter of immunities which King Henry soon after his accession issued to the Cluniac priory of Lewes. The transcriber of the original charter (MS. Vespasian, F. iii, art. 2), while pre- paring the copy for the Monasticon Anglicanum, made a remark- able error in a sentence which enumerates the immunities con- ferred upon the lands of the monastery. The relevant passage from the document as it stands near the beginning of the fifth volume of the Monasticon is the following : quieta de danegeldis et omnibus geldis et auxiliis et schiris et hundredis et lastagiis et hidagiis et tallagiis ; de summagiis et carriagiis ; de navigiis et clausuris ; de poncium et castrorum edificacione ; de conductu thesauri et omni operatione. 2 Apart from punctuation this is good reproduction with the exception of one word, lastagiis, which in the original reads scutagiis. Of the copyist's lapse there is not the slightest doubt, for this portion of the charter is well preserved : the word is written without contraction, and the hand, though somewhat fine, is very clear and legible. Nor is the charter itself question- able. True, it is a remarkable document. At the request of William of Warenne, earl of Surrey, the king grants to the house founded under Lewes Castle by William's father and mother 1 omnem immunitatem quietanciam et libertatem quam regia potestas alicui monasterio conferre potest '. But the indications of authenticity are convincing. The instrument is one of a very few attested during the continuation of his ministry by William Giffard, the chancellor of the late reign. Bishop Gerald does 1 Feudal England (1909), pp. 268-71. a Monasticon, v. 13-14.
