Oath of Salisbury

The Oath of Salisbury refers to an event in August 1086 when William I of England summoned his tenants-in-chief and "landowning men of any account" to Salisbury,^[1] where they swore allegiance to him and to be faithful against all other men. The oath was demanded at a time of crisis when the Conqueror was facing revolt and invasion. There seems little doubt that it was intended as a practical assurance and reminder rather than as a constitutional statement.

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