The Constitutions of Clarendon were a code of laws made by a general council of nobles and prelates, held at Clarendon in Wiltshire, in 1164 during the reign of Henry II, to check the power of the Church and restrain the prerogatives of ecclesiastics. There were sixteen ordinances defining the limits of the patronage and jurisdiction of the Pope. The power of the ecclesiastical courts was restricted, the crown secured the right of interference in elections to ecclesiastical offices, appeals to Rome were made dependent on the king's leave, ecclesiastical dignitaries were deprived of their freedom to leave the country without the royal permission, etc. Becket signed them, but retracted his signature on the refusal of the PopeAlexander III to countenance them. Becket's murder followed, and to effect a reconciliation with the popeHenry II promised the amendment of the Constitutions of Clarendon. They were accordingly modified in 1176 at Northampton in favour of the church, but they are not the less to be regarded as containing the germ of the ecclesiastical policy of Henry VIII. Research Constitutions of Clarendon
The Road House Mystery was a murder that occurred in Wiltshire in 1860 in which four-year old Francis Savile Kent disappeared from his cot during the night and was found the next day in an outside privy - where his body had been thrown down the toilet but had caught on a splash board and so not disappeared into the cess pit beneath - with his throat cut and a stab wound to the heart. The case was investigated by detectives Jonathan Whicher and Adolphus Williamson of the Metropolitan Police. The police concluded that the murderer was the boy's sixteen-year old step-sister, Constance, but with insufficient evidence she was never convicted. She later confessed to the murder to a priest. Research Road House Mystery
Dwarf Elder (Sambucus Ebulus), also known as Danewort, Walewort and Blood Hilder is a herbaceous plant of the family Caprifoliaceae, seldom exceeding one metre in height and dying back to the ground each year and spreading by underground shoots from the creeping root. It bears a close resemblance to the common elder tree in leaf, flower and subsequent berry, but it is not woody and the leaves are distinguished by having a stipule at the base of the finely-toothed leaflets, which are more numerous than those of the common elder, usually seven in number, larger and narrower and sometimes lobed. The flowers are whiter than those of the common elder, the corollas splashed with crimson on the outside and having dark red anthers. The flowers are in bloom in July and August, and have a less aromatic smell than the common elder. The fruit is a reddish-purple berry. Dwarf elder is common in areas of waste land, and is often found growing in the foundations of ruined buildings. Its old names of Danewort and Walewort are traceable to
a belief that it sprang from the blood of slain Danes, because it grows near Slaughterford in Wiltshire and that was the sight of a great Danish battle. Another theory is that it was brought to England by the Danes and planted on the graves of their slain kinsfolk. Research Dwarf Elder
The Hampshire Down is a docile, friendly breed of English domestic sheep with a black face and white fleece used for meat production. The breed originated from crossing the Wiltshire Horn and the Berkshire Knot breeds with the Southdown. The Hampshire Down is a fast growing breed that produces lean meat. Research Hampshire Down More information about Hampshire Down
The Wiltshire horn is an ancient British breed of sheep from the ChalkDowns region of England. Reaching large numbers during the 17th and 18th centuries, they became almost extinct by the beginning of the 20th. Wiltshire Horn Sheep were exported to Australia in the 1950's and again in the 1970's. Both rams and ewes are horned. Ewes have a fairly short backward curving horn. Rams horns make a spiral loop each year till they're fully mature, getting thicker and more impressive each year. Occasionally these horns grow too snugly to the rather massive adult jaw and must be cut off. Both sexes are white, with occasional dime-sized black spots in the undercoat. They grow a heavy coat of coarse hair for the winter, shedding and rubbing it off as warm weather arrives leaving a short coat of straight hair for summer. The mature ram wears a most handsome 'cape' on his chest. Spring shedding starts at the head, going down the back and then the sides. Research Wiltshire Horn
Alfred or Aelfred the Great was a King of England. He was born in 849 at Wantage, Berkshire and died in 901. He was one of the most illustrious rulers on record. His father was Ethelwolf, son of Egbert, king of the West Saxons. He succeeded his brother Ethelred in 872, at a time when the Danes, or Nosemen, had extended their conquests widely over the country, and they had completely overrun the kingdom of the West Saxons by 878. Alfred was obliged to flee in disguise, and stayed for some time with one of his own neat-herds.
At length he gathered a small force, and having fortified himself on the Isle of Athelney, formed by the confluence of the rivers Parret and Tone, amid the marshes of Somerset, he was able to make frequent sallies against the enemy. It was during his abode here that he went, if the story is true, disguised as a harper into the camp of King Guthrum (or Guthorm), and, having ascertained that the Danes felt themselves secure, hastened back to his troops, led them against the enemy, and gained such a decided victory that fourteen days afterwards the Danes begged for peace. This battle took place in May, 878, near Edington, in Wiltshire. Alfred allowed the Danes who were already in the country to remain, on condition that they gave hostages, took a solemn oath to quit Wessex, and embraced Christianity. Their king, Guthrum, was baptized, with thirty of his followers, and ever afterward remained faithful to Alfred. They received that portion of the east of England now occupied by the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge, as a place of residence.
The few years of tranquillity (886-893) which followed were employed by Alfred in rebuilding the towns that had suffered most during the war, particularly London; in training his people in arms and no less in agriculture; in improving the navy; in systematizing the laws and internal administration; and in literary labours and the advancement of learning. He caused many manuscripts to be translated from Latin, and himself translated several works into Anglo-Saxon, such as the Psalms, AEsop's Fables, Boethius on the Consolation of Philosophy, the History of Orosius, Bede's Ecclesiastical History, etc. He also drew up several original works in Anglo-Saxon. These peaceful labours were interrupted, about 894, by an invasion of the Norsemen, who, after a struggle of three years, were finally driven out.
Alfred married, in 868, Alswith or Ealhswith, the daughter of a Mercian nobleman, and left two sons: Edward, who succeeded him, and Ethelwerd, who died in 922. Alfred presents us with one of the most perfect examples of the able and patriotic monarch united with the virtuous man. Research Alfred
Bryan Edwards was an English writer. He was born in 1743 at Wiltshire and died in 1800. He inherited a large fortune from an uncle in Jamaica, where he long resided. His History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies appeared in 1793. Research Bryan Edwards
Edward Hyde (first earl of Clarendon) was an English statesman and historian. He was born in 1609 at Dinton, Wiltshire and died in 1674. After studying at Oxford and at the Middle Temple he married, in 1629, the daughter of Sir George Ayliffe, and, in 1632, Frances, daughter of Sir Thomas Aylesbury. He entered the Short Parliament in 1640 as member for Wootton-Basset, and was again returned to the Long Parliament in November, 1640 by the borough of Saltash, at first acting with the more moderate of the popular party, but gradually separating himself from the democratic movement until, by the autumn of 1641, he was recognized as the real leader of the king's party in the house.He supported the King's authority, but opposed violence and assisted in the impeachment of Stafford in 1641.
In 1642 he became the King's adviser with Colepepper and Falkland. Upon the outbreak of the English Civil War he joined the king at York, was knighted, made privy-councillor, and appointed chancellor of the exchequer. After vainly attempting to bring about a reconciliation between the contending parties he accompanied Prince Charles to Jersey, where he began his History of the Rebellion, and wrote answers in the king's name to the manifestoes of the parliament.
In September, 1649, he rejoined Charles at the Hague, and was sent by him on an embassy to Madrid. Soon after his return he resumed the business of the exiledcourt, first at Paris, and afterwards at the Hague, where, in 1657, Charles II appointed him lord-chancellor. After Oliver Cromwell's death he contributed more than any other man to promote the Restoration, when he was placed at the head of the English administration.
In 1660 he was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and in 1661 was created BaronHyde, Viscount Cornbury, and Earl of Clarendon. The marriage of the Duke of York with his daughter, Anne Hyde, confirmed for a time his power, but in 1663 LordBristol made an unsuccessful attempt to impeach him, his influence with the king declined, and his station as primeminister made the nation regard him as answerable for the ill success of the war against Holland, the sale of Dunkirk, etc.
The king's displeasure deepened when his plan of repudiating his wife and marrying the beautiful Lady Stuart was defeated by Edward Hyde, who effected a marriage between this lady and the Duke of Richmond. The king deprived him of his offices, an impeachment for high treason was commenced against him, and he was compelled to seek refuge in Calais. He lived six years at Montpellier, Moulins, and Rouen, where he died in 1674. His remains were afterwards removed to Westminster Abbey.
During his second exile he completed his History of the Rebellion in autobiographical form, wrote a biographical Continuation in defence of his administration, and sought to vindicate Lord Ormonde by a History of the Rebellion in Ireland. Research Edward Hyde
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Constitutions of Clarendon
More information about 
