exam94a

MEDIEVAL STUDIES 117:
ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL HSTORY

Professor Donahue, Ms. Boggs

March 21, 1994

This is an "open book" exam. You may bring with you and use anything that you wish. You should bring your class materials with you. Attached to this exam is a copy of the Coronation Charter of Henry I (S&M 23). After reading it carefully, answer the following questions:

I.

Pick two or three clauses in the charter and explain the institutions to which the clause refers. Trace the history of these institutions from the time of Edward the Confessor (the last Anglo-Saxon king whom the Normans recognized as legitimate) to the time of Edward I.

II.

What is the significance of this charter? (Bear in mind, as the footnotes indicate, that Henry I did not comply with many of the terms of the document.) Compare and contrast this charter with Magna Carta (S&M 44) and the coronation oath of King Edgar (S&M 10).

NOTES

(1) The word translated as "dowry" in clause 4 should read "dower."

(2) The "murders" that are pardoned in clause 9 may refer to a heavy fine that the community had to pay if could not prove that a slain man was an Englishman rather than a Frenchman or a Norman. If that is what it means, however, the reference to the "law of King Edward [the Confessor]" is puzzling.

Download this file.

[Home Page] [Syllabus] [Exams]

Please send comments to Charles Donahue

URL: http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/faculty/cdonahue/courses/echfas/prevexams/exam94a.ECH.html
last modified: 12/13/08

	MEDIEVAL STUDIES 117: ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL HSTORY Professor Donahue, Ms. Boggs March 21, 1994
	This is an "open book" exam. You may bring with you and use anything that you wish. You should bring your class materials with you. Attached to this exam is a copy of the Coronation Charter of Henry I (S&M 23). After reading it carefully, answer the following questions:
	I.
	Pick two or three clauses in the charter and explain the institutions to which the clause refers. Trace the history of these institutions from the time of Edward the Confessor (the last Anglo-Saxon king whom the Normans recognized as legitimate) to the time of Edward I.
	II.
	What is the significance of this charter? (Bear in mind, as the footnotes indicate, that Henry I did not comply with many of the terms of the document.) Compare and contrast this charter with Magna Carta (S&M 44) and the coronation oath of King Edgar (S&M 10).
	NOTES
	(1) The word translated as "dowry" in clause 4 should read "dower." (2) The "murders" that are pardoned in clause 9 may refer to a heavy fine that the community had to pay if could not prove that a slain man was an Englishman rather than a Frenchman or a Norman. If that is what it means, however, the reference to the "law of King Edward [the Confessor]" is puzzling.