1920 DATE OF EMPEROR HENRY VIVS BIRTH 229 (without a detailed examination of the documents in the archives in Luxemburg) whether he or Herr Brosien, who tries to disprove the regency, has the more right on his side. It seems to be a com- petition as to which can accumulate the greater weight of evidence. However, in all this maze of conflicting theories there is one fact which is clear and beyond question — the period at which Henry ceased to be called damoisel. In a deed of 5 September 1293 Margaret of Luxemburg, his aunt, addressed him as damoisel, ' nostres chers Sires et nies (neveu) Henri Damoiseaus Cuens de Luxembourg '.i There is no trace of this title ever having been applied to him after this. M. van Werveke says that Henry used it himself for the last time on 3 September 1293, but he gives no reference for this fact. It may be said, then, that M. van Werveke has made it a well-established fact that Henry came of age in 1293. Curiously enough he did not see how this discovery reacted upon the question of the date of Henry's birth. At what age is it probable that Henry would have attained his majority ? To decide this it is necessary in the first place to ascertain what was the theory of the middle ages with regard to this matter, and in the second to examine any similar cases which might throw light on the practice of the time. The first thing that is noticed is that there was a variety of custom in the different classes of society, and even within the same class. There is more than one ' full age '. The young burgess is of full age when he can count money and measure cloth ; the young sokeman when he is fifteen, the tenant by knight's service when he is twenty-one years old. In past times hoys and girls soon attained full age ; life was simple and there was not much to learn.^ In France, too, the custom was equally vague. ' En arrivant a sa majorite (de quatorze a vingt et un ans, suivant les pays) le jeune homme se faisait armer chevalier et recevait alors I'hommage des vassaux.' ^ That the coming of age corresponds with the admission to knighthood is corroborated by M. Luchaire : 'h'aetas legitima correspondait a I'epoque meme ou le prince etait admis a la chevalerie.'* Ducange^ quotes a sentence in veteri Consuetud. Franciae, lib. 2 : ' Par la Coustume de France en cas de fief noble, masle n'est aage pour fief tenir, s'il n'a passe 15 ans, et la fille 14 ans.' Thus it is clear that, if Luxemburg followed French custom, Henry would be declared of age when he was
- Duchesne, Histoire genialogique de la Maison royale de Dreux (Paris, 1631),
Preuves, p. 89. ^ Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law, ii. 436. ' Lavisse, Histoire generate, ii. 42. Luchaire, Histoire des Institutions Monarchiques (Paris, 1891), i. 78, n. 1.
- Ducange, s. v. Aetas Baroniae.
