Hemming's Cartulary is a manuscript cartulary, or collection of charters and other land records, collected by a monk named Hemming around the time of the Norman Conquest of England. The manuscript comprises two separate cartularies, made at different times and later bound together; it is in the British Library as MS Cotton Tiberius A xiii. The first was composed at the end of the 10th or beginning of the 11th century. The second section was compiled by Hemming and was written around the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century. The first section, traditionally titled the Liber Wigorniensis, is a collection of Anglo-Saxon charters and other land records, most of which are organized geographically. The second section, Hemming's Cartulary proper, combines charters and other land records with a narrative of the deprivation of property owned by the church of Worcester.
The two works are bound together in one surviving manuscript, the earliest surviving cartulary from medieval England. A central theme is the losses Worcester suffered at the hands of royal officials and local landowners. Included amongst the despoilers are kings such as Cnut and William the Conqueror, and nobles such as Eadric Streona and Urse d'Abetot. Also included are accounts of lawsuits brought by the Worcester monks to regain their lost lands. The two sections of the cartulary were first printed in 1723. The original manuscript was slightly damaged by fire in 1731 and required rebinding.
Authorship and composition Although the monk Hemming has traditionally been credited with all the works in the manuscript, the cartulary contains two works that were collected together, only one of which is by Hemming. The two works were bound together to form the manuscript (abbreviated MS) Cotton Tiberius A xiii, now held in the Cotton library, a collection in the British Library. Together, the two works form the first surviving cartulary from medieval England.Clanchy From Memory to Written Record pp. 101–102 The first part is the so-called Liber Wigorniensis, or Book of Worcester, which takes up folios 1–118 of the manuscript.Brooks "Introduction" St Wulfstan and His World p. 11 footnote 38 The second is Hemming's work, and takes up folios 119–142, 144–152, and 154–200.Brooks "Introduction" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 11–13 MS Cotton Nero E i and British Library MS Add 46204 may also contain charters collected as part of Hemming's work, as they have been identified by some scholars as having been produced during Hemming's lifetime, although others identify them as a copy of the Liber Wigorniensis.Barrow "Forgery Production" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 106–107 and footnote 7
Manuscript condition The original manuscript containing the cartulary was damaged in the Ashburnham House fire of 1731,Tinti "Constructing Narrative" Constructing History across the Norman Conquest pp. 117 footnote 77, 119 footnote 78 but the damage was not serious. The edges of the manuscript were burned, resulting in a few words being lost at the margins. Because of the fire damage, the manuscript was rebound in the 19th century, and each leaf was mounted separately.Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History p. 51 In addition to the two main sections, there are three smaller parchment pages bound in with the manuscript: folios 110, 143, and 153. The first of them, folio 110, measures high by wide and lists eight names, probably witnesses to a lease. The second inserted folio, 143, measures high by wide and lists jurors in a late 11th-century hand. The last inserted folio, 153, measures high by wide and gives the boundaries of a manor in Old English, rather than Latin; it is written in a 12th-century hand.Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History p. 62
Liber Wigorniensis The first part of the work is an early 11th-century collection of older charters, arranged geographically, with a section on late 10th-century land leases tacked on the end. The historian gave this section of the work the title Liber Wigorniensis in 1961 to distinguish it from the later section actually assembled by Hemming.Tinti "From Episcopal Conception" Early Medieval Europe p. 234 Dates for the compilation of the work include the suggestion by historian Neil Ker that it dates from between 1002 and 1016, when Wulfstan (the earlier Wulfstan – later a saint – who is not the Wulfstan who encouraged Hemming to compile the cartulary) held both the archbishopric of York and the bishopric of Worcester. Another historian, V. H. Galbraith, suggests that instead of being compiled in Wulfstan's episcopate, it was created during the episcopate of Ealdwulf, Wulfstan's predecessor in both sees. A third historian, David Dumville, argues that because no leases later than 996 are mentioned, it must date to a time frame between 996 and 1016.Tinti "From Episcopal Conception" Early Medieval Europe p. 235 There are 155 charters in the Liber, of which 10 are later insertions; the date of their incorporation ranges from the early to the late 11th century. Ker, who studied the original manuscript, has identified five main scribes involved in the manuscript in the first section. The scribal hands used are small and not very rounded, and resemble the type of writing prevalent in England during the early part of the 11th century.Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History p. 49 This section consists of 117 leaves in the original manuscript, each page with 26 lines of text. The written area is approximately tall by wide. A few blank areas in the original manuscript copy have been filled with information in the later 11th and 12th centuries, mainly related to properties owned by the cathedral.Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History pp. 52–55
Hemming's cartulary proper Hemming was the author of the second and later part, a collection of lands and rights belonging to the cathedral chapter of Worcester, as well as a narrative of the deeds of Wulfstan, the Bishop of Worcester who died in 1095, and Archbishop Ealdred of York. In this part of the work is a preface known as the Enucleatio libelli, where Hemming names himself as the person responsible for compiling the work, and names Wulfstan as the inspiration for his work. Another section, known as the Prefatio istius libelli, now much later in the manuscript but possibly meant as an introduction to the Codicellus, is a shorter introduction that gives the purpose of the collection.Tinti "From Episcopal Conception" Early Medieval Europe p. 239 Historians usually take the two prefaces to mean that Wulfstan commissioned the work,Barlow Feudal Kingdom of England p. 35Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 145 but it is unclear whether it was created before or after Wulfstan's death. It may have been produced during the vacancy after Wulfstan's death, and before the appointment of the next bishop, Samson. Historian Nicholas Brooks, along with Vivian Galbraith, argues that Hemming's work was a response to the problems encountered by the diocese during the vacancy, when royal officials administered the lands of the bishopric. According to Brooks, the claim that Wulfstan ordered the composition of the cartulary was inaccurate and was made to appeal to the authority of the bishop. The historian Julia Barrow believes that the inspiration for the work was the creation of the Domesday Book in 1086, although she agrees that the work was completed after Wulfstan's death. Hemming's work contains over 50 charters, some of which are duplicates of ones in the Liber.Barrow "Forgery Production" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 114–115
The second section of the work is not just a collection of deeds and charters but includes other historical information of importance, especially for Hemming's monastery.Keynes "Hemming" Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England pp. 231–232 The documents are connected by a narrative explaining why and how the cartulary was created; the narrative is usually given the title of Codicellus possessionum. This section of the work also includes the Life of the later Wulfstan,Mason "Hemming" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography one of two contemporary records of Wulfstan's life.Knowles Monastic Order p. 74 footnote 2 The organization is broadly geographical, with some information grouped by topic. In two sections, which are sometimes entitled "Indiculum Libertatis" and "Oswald's Indiculum",Tinti "From Monastic Conception" Early Medieval Europe pp. 244–245 the work not only draws on charters but also incorporates regional information from a different type of source recording the holdings of tenants-in-chief. This has been identified as the documentation assembled at the shire-courts for the so-called Domesday survey, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1085. More famously, the same records were later used for the compilation of Domesday Book. Some of the documents are in Latin, others are in Old English.Fleming "Christ Church Canterbury's Anglo-Norman Cartulary" Anglo-Norman Political Culture pp. 82–83 Ker has identified the second part of the manuscript as being created by three scribes, describing their writing as "round and fairly large", in a style belonging to a period of transition between the late 11th and early 12th century. There are 80 leaves in the original manuscript. Most pages in this section of the manuscript have 28 lines of writing, and the written area is approximately high by wide. A few blank areas in the original manuscript were filled with information ranging from contemporary notes on landholdings of the cathedral to notes on the dissolution of Worcester Priory in the 16th century.Ker "Hemming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History pp. 58–62
Themes and contents Both the Liber Wigorniensis and Hemming's work contain a number of forged charters. The historian Julia Barrow has determined that at least 25 of the 155 charters in the Liber are forged, but cautions that this is the minimum estimate.Barrow "Forgery Production" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 108–109 Barrow identifies more than 30 of the charters in Hemming's work as forgeries, including some that are duplicates from the Liber. Some of the stories that form Hemming's narrative do not always agree with other sources, and Ker says "it is safer to trust to the main facts than to the details of his [Hemming's] stories".Ker "Heming's Cartulary" Studies in Medieval History pp. 64–65
Contents of the Liber Wigorniensis The main goal of the Liber was to document the landholdings of the diocese and bishop, and to keep a register of the written charters and leases pertaining to the property of the church at Worcester. Because there is no narrative tying the documents together, the Liber should be seen as a working document, compiled for the use of the bishop and monks, and designed not as a literary work but a legal one. The Liber was revised during its working life, which adds further support for the working nature of the composition.Davies Book of Llandaf p. 145