Historic%20Yorkshire

26 LEEDS UNDER THE NORMANS.
companions, andinmany respects the equals, of the alldominantmales
— This was the enactment that a woman
sold into slavery should not pay the usual tribute or tax
leviedupon the sale of other goods and chattels!
The same charter also recognises the superstitious
forms of trial, the ordeals ofwater and of single combat,
for second offences.
That Leedshad now a comparativeprosperityis evinced
by the increase of the numberof dwellings,but itis further
demonstrated by a privilege of the charter, by which the
burgesses were allowed to " convey grain and all other
goods by land or by water," which shows conclusively
thatthe peopleof Leeds were willingto avail themselves
of the proximity of the Aire, which would be the first
cause of the town's founding, andwhichin 1098 had been
rendered navigable,probablybymeans of dams, as far up
as KirkstallBridge.
This memorablecharter was granted in 1207, and soon
after the deathof Maurice Paganell the manor reverted to
the Lacies, who, as Earls of Lincoln, have frequent
mentionas its possessors. Theonly daughter and heiress
of the last Earlmarrying Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, the
Manor of Leeds passed with the other vast possessions
of the Lacies to the Duchy of Lancaster, and on the
ascension of HenryBolingbroke,Duke of Lancaster, as
HenryIV., to the Crown,inwhose possessionit continued
until the death of Anne,Consort of James I., who had it
as part of her jointure. It was then sold to private
individuals, apparently more than once, being finally
purchased in theyears 1629 and 1636 by Richard Sykes,
Alderman of Leeds, and the great grandfather of the
historian, Ralph Thoresby. He, however, permitted
seven other gentlemen to become joint purchasers, the
shares being each one-ninth, reserving a share each for
himself and his son. The lords of the Manor still have
power to holda Court Leet.
The harvests of 1314 and 1315 were very bad, and
extensive distress prevailed in Yorkshire, the poor being