{ Maur' ate { Agnes } Machynge
{ Neuthon'
{ { Joh'es Rotlonde }
{ Joh'es { Walt's Rotlonde } man'
{ Rotlonde { Thomas Rotlonde } London'.
{
{ { Joh'es Pany
{ { Will's Pany
{ Will's Pany { Ric's Pany
{ { Elias Pany--modo tenens
{ { Agnes Pany
{
Nativus-- { Nich's ate { Simon ate nullus ab eo.
{ Neuthon' { Neuthon'
{ { { Ric's le Couper
{ { Thomas le { Simon le Couper
{ { Couper { Joh'es le Couper
{ { { Isabella la Couper
{ {
{ { Joh'es Bate Walt's ate Neuthon'--modo
{ { tenens
{ { Cristina Will's
{ {
{ { Wymarks nullus ab eo
{
Pater extraneus { { Will's Woderove
ignotus adhuc { Joh'es Galfr's { n.
propter { Woderove Woderove { n.
diurnitatem {
temporis { Will's nullus ab eo
{ Vaccarius { Steph's Pistor
{ { Will's Pistor
{ { Will's { Rog's Pistor
{ { Pistor { Joh'es Pistor
{ { { Cristina Pistor
Nativus-- { Rog's ate { { Isabella
Neuthon' { Cristina ate nullus ab eo (_sic_)
{ Neuthon' { Joh'es Broket
{ { Joh'es Broket Junior
{ Agnes ate { Matild' Broket
Neuthon' { Isabella Broket
{ Agnes Broket
Nativus-- { Alanus ate nullus ab eo
{ Hache
{ { Ric's ate Hache Junior
{ { Nich's ate Hache
{ { Rog's ate Hache
{ { Will's ate Hache
{ { Will's ate Hache
{ { Adam ate { Will's ate Hache
{ { Hache { Joh'es ate Hache
{ { { Alic' ate Hache
{ { { Matild' ate Hache
{ { { Emmot' ate Hache
Nativus-- { Rog's ate { { Marger' ate Hache
{ Hache {
{ { Matild' ate nullus ab eo
Editha la Daye { Hache
{ Orgor' ate nullus ab eo
{ Hache { Will's ate Broke
{ { Walt's ate Broke
{ { Walt's ate Broke
{ { Ranulfus ate { Ric's ate Broke--London'
{ { Broke { Cristin' ate Broke
{ { { Matild' ate Broke
Nativus-- { Walt's ate { { Agnes ate Broke
Hache {
{ { Walterus Mathy
{ { Will's Mathy
{ Matheus ate { Agnes Mathy
{ Broke { Emmot' Mathy
{
{ Mathild' ate nullus ab ea.
Broke
XI.
See p. 188, n. 2.
The best way to form an opinion as to the position of the hundredors
among other classes will be, I think, to start from a closer examination
of the Ely Surveys, which give the term several times. They are peculiar
in this respect, and only in this. A comparison with other Cartularies
will show at once, that the same thing is to be found elsewhere over and
over again.
Both Ely Surveys--that of 1222 (Tiberius, B. ii) and that of 1277
(Claudius, C. xi)--are remarkably alike, and may serve as an
illustration of the continuity of the fundamental organisation of a
feudal village. I shall take the later Cartulary because it is a trifle
fuller, and coincides in time with the Hundred Rolls. It would not be
sufficient to give only the entries relating to the hundredors, because
the reader would not be able to judge of their position in relation to
other classes. I may be allowed in consequence to present rather large
extracts.
In the manor of Wilburton belonging to the Ely Minster we find the
following classification of the tenantry[868] [f. 49 sqq.]
_De hundredariis. Et libere tenentibus._
Philippus de insula tenet 16 acras de mara et debet sectas ad curiam
Elyensem et ad curiam de Wilbartone, _et in quolibet hundredo per totum
annum_. Et dat ad six[thorn]epany et wardpany, et arabit cum caruca sua per
duos dies in hyeme et habebit quolibet die unum denarium. Et arabit in
XL^{ma} per 2 dies et habebit quolibet die unum denarium.... Et inveniet
omnes tenentes suos ad magnam precariam autumpni ad cibum episcopi. Et
dabit pro filia sua.
Ricardus filius Rogeri tenet 12 acras de ware et debet sectas ... (the
same as Philip). Et dabit leirwite pro filia sua et gersumam cum ipsam
maritare uoluerit, scilicet 30 et 2 den. Et tallagium cum aliis. Et de
herieto meliorem bestiam uel 30 et 2 denarios, si non habeat bestiam.
Oues sue non iacebunt in faldo domini....
_De operariis et plenis terris._
Samson filius Jordani tenet 12 acras terre de Wara que faciunt unam
plenam terram ... Et sciendum quod tota villata, tam liberi quam alii,
debent facere 40 perticatas super calcetum de Alderhe sine cibo et
opere.
In Lyndon the division of the tenantry is somewhat more complex [f. 52
sqq.].
_De militibus._
Philippus de insula tenet tres carucatas in Hinegeton per seruicium
unius militis. Et sciendum quod omnes tenentes sui ibidem debent uenire
ad precariam carucarum episcopi cum quanto iungant per duos dies in
hyeme et per 2 dies in XL^{ma} ... Et dominus Philippus de Insula debet
sectam ad curiam Elyensem. Et ad curiam de Lyndon, in aduentu
senescalli.
Nigellus de Cheucker tenet 2 carucatas terre per seruicium unius militis
cum terra sua de Harefeud ... Et liberi tenentes sui _qui tenent per
soccagium debent unam sectam ad frendlese hundred_, scilicet ad diem
sabbati proximum post festum S^{ti} Michaelis.
_De hundredariis._
Robertus de Aula tenet 40 acras terre de wara per _seruicium sequendi
curiam Elyensem_. _Et quodlibet hundredum et curiam de Lyndon...._ Et
ueniet ad precarias cum caruca sua ... Et inueniet omnes tenentes suos
ad magnam precariam episcopi in autumpno ad cibum domini. Et ipsemet
ibit ultra eos eo die. Et habebit cibum suum similiter cum balliuis
domini. Et _ueniet coram justiciariis ad custum suum proprium ... Et
sciendum quod iste et quilibet hundredarius_ dabit gersumam pro filia
sua maritanda, scilicet 32 denarios. Et dominus episcopus habebit
meliorem bestiam de domo sua pro herietto siue 32 denarios, si bestiam
non habuerit et operabitur super calcetum de Alderhe sine cibo pro se et
tenentibus suis.
Galfridus le Sokeman tenet 12 acras et dimidiam de wara....
_De consuetudinariis qui vocantur Molmen._
Patrik filius Henrici le frankeleyn tenet 10 acras terre in hylle pro
duobus solidis ... Et ueniet ad precariam carucarum cum caruca sua uel
cum quanto iungit ... Et debet sectas ad curiam de Lyndon ... Et dabit
gersumam pro filia sua maritanda ad voluntatem domini. Et in obitu suo
dominus habebit meliorem bestiam domus pro hereto uel triginta duos
denarios, si bestiam non habuerit. Et dabit tallagium. Et filius suus et
heres dabit releuium.
_De operariis qui tenent plenas terras._
Radulfus filius Osbern tenet unam plenam terram que continet 10 acras de
wara.
The next survey is that of Dudington (f. 63 sqq.).
_De libere tenentibus et hundredariis in Dudlingtone et Wimblingtone._
(The typical hundredor is made to pay merchet, leyrwite, and heriet as
above.)
_De consuetudinibus censuariorum in Dudingtone._
Radulfus filius Willelmi tenet unum mesuagium quod continet dimidiam
acram pro 12 denariis.... Et dabit gersumam pro filia sua et leyrwite ad
voluntatem domini. Et dupplicabit redditum suum pro suo releuio.
_De consuetudinibus operariorum in Dudington._
(They hold 'full lands' of 12 acres, and perform all kinds of
agricultural work.)
If we turn now to the Survey of Wyvelingham (f. 111 sqq.), we shall not
find the heading '_hundredarii_,' but it will not be difficult to
discern the tenants who correspond to the hundredors of the former
Surveys.
_De libere tenentibus._
Henricus Torel tenet dimidiam virgatam terre pro decem et octo denariis
equaliter. Et ueniet in autumpno ad magnam precariam domini cum omnibus
hominibus suis quot habuerit laborantes ad cibum domini. Et dabit
tallagium si dominus voluerit. Et gersumam pro filia sua. Et debet
sectam curie et molendini. Et ibit cum aliis extra uillam ad
districtiones faciendum.
Willelmus Nuncius tenet dimidiam virgatam pro 18 denariis equaliter. Et
faciet omnia alia sicuti predictus Henricus Torel.
Thomas filius Oliue tenet unam virgatam terre pro 6 denariis equ. ad
festum S^{ti} Andreae. Et arabit tres rodas terre per annum.... Et
herciabit cum equo suo ante Natale per unum diem integrum sine cibo et
per unum diem in quadragesima sine cibo ... Et falcabit cum uno homine
per unum diem integrum sine cibo. Et adiuuabit fenum leuandum et
cariandum sine cibo. Et sarclabit per unum diem integrum sine cibo. Et
illud quod messuerit cariabit sine cibo. Item portabit breuia domini
episcopi uel senescalli usque ad Dudington uel ad locum consimilem. Et
dabit tallagium, herietum et leyrwite, et gersumam pro filia sua. Et
_debet sectam Comitatus hundredi, et curie_, et molendini. Oues sue
iacebunt in faldo domini ut supra....
_De operariis._
Thomas Wecheharm tenet dimidiam virgatam terre que continet 15 acras
terre.
In Shelford (f. 125 sqq. Cf. Rot. Hundr. ii. 544) there are only two
main headings: 'de militibus' and 'de consuetudinariis et censuariis;'
but I think it is quite evident from the Survey that the first ought to
run 'de militibus et libere tenentibus,' or something to the same
effect, and that it includes the hundredors.
_De militibus._
Johannes de Moyne miles tenet unum mesuagium et unam rodam terre que
fuit coteria operabilis in tempore Galfridi de Burgo Elyensis episcopi
pro duobus solidis equ. Idem Johannes tenet unum mesuagium quod fuit
Michaelis de la Greue pro 14 den. equ. Et inueniet unum hominem ad
quamlibet trium precariarum ad cibum domini. Et metet dimidiam acram de
loue-bene sine cibo. Et inueniet unum hominem ad fenum leuandum et
tassandum in curia domini episcopi. Et dabit tallagium cum
consuetudinariis pro tanta portione.
Johannes filius Nicholai Collogne tenet dimidiam hydam terre _per
seruicium sequendi comitatum et hundredum_. Idem tenet quartam partem
curie sue pro uno niso (_sic_) uel duobus solidis....
In Stratham the Molmen are reckoned with the freeholders and hundredors
(f. 44).
_De libere tenentibus et censuariis._
Walterus de Ely miles tenet 50 acras de wara unde debet sectam _ad
curiam de Ely. Et ad curiam de Stratham. Et in hundredum de
Wycheford...._ Et faciet omnes consuetudines sicut Johannes filius
Henrici subscriptus.
Johannes filius Henrici Folke tenet 10 acras de wara. Et debet _sectam
hundredi per totum annum, scilicet ad quodlibet hundredum et sectam ad
curiam de Ely et de Stratham_.... Et dabit gersumam pro filia sua
maritanda.
_De consuetudinibus operariorum_, etc.
The entries quoted are sufficient, it seems, to establish the following
facts:--
1. The hundredors of the Ely Minster are people holding tenements
burdened with the obligation of representing the manor in the hundred
and in the county.
2. The tenure may be quite distinct from the personal condition of the
holder. A knight may possess the tenement of a hundredor in one place
and a military fee in another (Philip de Insula in Wilburton and in
Lyndon.)
3. A free tenant is not _eo ipso_ a hundredor. Some holdings are singled
out for the duty. (Henry Torel, William 'Nuncius,' and Thomas filius
Olive in Wyvelingham. Cf. Lyndon.)
4. In many cases the hundredors are mentioned without being expressly so
called, and such cases present the transition between the Ely Surveys
and other Cartularies which constantly speak of privileged tenants
holding by suit to the hundred and to the county. (See the quotations on
p. 189, n. 2, and p. 191, n. 1.)
But there is another side to the picture. In the cases of which we have
been speaking till now the obligation to attend the hundred and the
county is treated as a service connected with tenure, and has to meet
the requirements of the State which enforces the representation of the
villages at the Royal Courts. Such a system of representation follows
from the conception of the County and of the Hundred as political parts
of the kingdom on the one hand, and as composed of Manors and Villages
or Vills, on the other. This may be called the _territorial_ system. But
another conception is lingering behind it--that namely of the County,
as a folk, and of the Hundred, as an assembly of the free and lawful
population. The great Hundred is derived from it, but even in the
ordinary meetings all the freeholders are entitled, if not obliged, to
join. The Manor and the Vill have nothing to do with this right, which
is not one of representation, but an individual one and extends to a
whole class. This may be called the _personal_ system of the Hundred. It
is embodied in the so-called 'Leges' of Henry I. And therefore we find
constantly in the documents, that the suit to the hundred, to the
county, and also that to the sheriff's tourn and to meet the justices,
are mentioned in connection with two different classes of people. On one
hand stand the representatives of the township, on the other the free
men, free tenants or socmen bound individually to attend the hundred and
to perform other duties which are enforced on the same pattern. The
Hundred Rolls give any number of examples.
I. 55: liberi homines de Witlisford et quatuor homines et prepositus
solebant venire ad turnum vicecomitis set post bellum de Evesham per
Baldewynum de Aveny subtracta fuit illa secta, set nesciunt quo
warranto.
I. 154: Idem abbas (de Wauthan) subtraxit ad turnum vicecomitum sectam 4
hominum et prepositi de manerio suo de Esthorndone et de liberis
hominibus suis in eadem villa et in villa de Stanford.
I. 180: Omnes liberi tenentes et quatuor homines et prepositus de Morton
Valence subtraxerunt sectam ad turnum vicecomitis bis in anno ad idem
hundredum.
In Shropshire we find the question put to the jurors of the inquest (II.
69): Si homines libere tenentes et 4 homines et prepositus de singulis
villis venerint ad summonicionem sicut preceptum est.
II. 130: Dominus Ricardus Comes Gloverniae subtraxit 4 thethingas
videlicet Stockgiffard, Estharpete Stuctone et Westone de hundredo de
Wintestoke et ipsas sibi appropriavit. Item dicunt quod Thomas de Ban
... et ceteri libere tenentes predictarum 4 thethingarum solebant sequi
dictum hundredum et se subtraxerunt a termino predicto.
II. 131: Dicunt quod una decena de Borewyk et alia decena Chyletone cum
liberis hominibus subtrahuntur de hundredo domini Regis de la Hane.
I. 17: Manerium de Collecote et 8 liberi Sokemanni tenentes in dicto
manerio solebant facere sectam ad hundredum de Kenoteburie et subtracti
sunt a tempore Alani de Fornham quondam vicecomitis usque nunc.
The last instances quoted do not speak directly of the four men and the
reeve, but their meaning is quite clear and very significant. The suit
of the tithing and of the manor is contrasted with the personal suit of
the free tenants. We find often entries as to the attendance of the
manor, the township, or the tithing.
I. 181: Dicunt quod abbas de Theokesberie pro terra sua in Codrinton ...
Episcopus Wygorniensis pro manerio suo de Clyve per quatuor homines et
prepositum solebant facere sectam ad istum hundredum ad turnum
vicecomitis bis in anno usque ad provisiones Oxonienses.
I. 105: Villata de Monston per 2 annos et villata de Stratton per 10
annos subtraxerunt sectam hundredi.
I. 78: Dicunt quod idem Walterus (de Bathonia) removit villanos de
Sepwasse in forinsecum et feofavit liberos de eadem terra in quo terra
quidam tuthinmannus (_corr._ quedam tethinga?) jungi solebat et sequi ad
hundredum forinsecum predictum et est secta ejusdem tethinge subtracta
de tempore Regis Henrici patris Regis Edwardi anno ejus quarto.
It appears that the feoffment of free tenants was no equivalent for the
destruction of the tithing. The entry is remarkable but not very clear.
(Cf. I. 87, II. 133, and Maitland, Introduction to the Selden Soc. vol.
II, pp. xxxi, xxxiii.) In any case the main facts are not doubtful. The
population of the kingdom was bound to attend the assemblies of the
hundred and of the county by representatives from the villages or
tithings, which sometimes, though not always, coincided with the manors.
There were many exceptions of different kinds, but the Crown was
striving to restrict their number and to enforce general attendance at
least for the tourn and the eyre. The representation in these last
cases, though much wider and more regular than at the ordinary meetings
of the hundred and of the shire, was constructed on the same principles,
and the difference lay only in the measure in which the royal right was
put into practice against the disruptive tendencies of feudalism.
The inquest in the beginning of Edward I's reign gives us a very good
insight into the inroads from which the organisation had to suffer,
especially in troubled times[869]. This attendance of the township is
mentioned in marked contrast with the suit of the free tenants or
socmen, which is also falling into disuse on many occasions, and also
supposes a general theory, that the free people ought to attend in
person.
An important point in the process which modified the representation of
the vills in the hundred has to be noticed in the fact, that the suit
from a single village was not considered as a unit which did not admit
of any partition. When the village itself was divided among several
landlords the suit was apportioned according to their parts in the
ownership instead of remaining, as it were, outside the partition. We
might well fancy that the township of Dudesford, though divided between
the Abbots of Buttlesden and of Oseney, would send its deputies as a
whole, and would designate them in a meeting of the whole. We find in
reality, that the fee of one of the owners has to send three
representatives, and the fee of the other two (Rot. Hundr. I. 33; cf. I.
52, 102). This gives rise to a difficulty in the reading of our
evidence. The Hundred Rolls speak not only of suit due from the village,
the tithing, or the manor, but also of the suit from the tenement. In
one sense this may mean that the person holding a free tenement was
bound to attend certain meetings of the commons of the realm. In another
it was an equivalent to saying that a particular tenement was bound to
join in the duty of sending representatives to such meetings. In a third
acceptation of the words they might signify, that a particular tenement
was charged to represent the village in regard to the suits, and for
this reason privileged in other respects. A few extracts from the
Hundred Rolls will illustrate the difficulty.
I. 143: Dicunt quod Johannes de Boneya tenuit quoddam tenementum in
Stocke quod solet facere sectam ad comitatum et hundredum, que secta
postea subtracta fuit per Regem Alemanniae, etc.
Was John de Boneya a socman bound to attend personally, or a hundredor,
a hereditary representative of the village of Stocke?
II. 208: Prior de Michulham subtraxit sectas et servicia 25 tenencium in
manerio suo de Chyntynge qui solebant facere sectam et servicium
hundredo de Faxeberewe et sunt subtracti per 6 annos ad dampnum dicti
hundredi 5 sol. per annum.
The twenty-five tenants in question may be villains joining to send
representatives in scot and in lot with the village (cf. I. 214, 216),
or free socmen personally bound to attend.
II. 225: Prior de Kenilworth subtraxit, etc., de una virgata terre in
Lillington 15 annis elapsis et de 4 virgatis in Herturburie 18 annis
elapsis ... qui solent sequi ad hundredum de tribus septimanis in tres
septimanas.
Here it would be difficult to decide whether the suit is apportioned
between the tenements of the village on the principle of their
contributing jointly to perform the services, or else bound up with
these particular virgates as representing the village (cf. I. 34).
I notice this difficulty because it is my object in this Appendix to
treat the evidence as it is given in the documents, and to help those
who may wish to study them at first hand. But as we are immediately
concerned with the position of the 'hundredor,' I shall also point out
that there are cases where a doubt is hardly possible. The tenant who is
privileged on account of the duties that he performs in representing his
village in the hundred court, may be easily recognised in the following
examples.
II. 66: Dicunt quod Rogerus Hunger de Preston solebat sequi comitatum et
hundredum _pro villa de Preston_ in tempore Henrici de Audithelege tunc
vicecomitis Salop 20 annis elapsis, mortuo vero predicto Roberto Hunger,
Abbas de Lilleshul qui intratus fuit in predictam villam per donum
Roberti de Budlers de Mungomery extraxit (_corr._ subtraxit) predictam
sectam 20^{ti} annis elapsis nesciunt quo warranto, unde dominus Rex
dampnificatus est per illam subtraxionem, si idem Abbas warrantum inde
non habet de 40 solidis.
I. 21: Johannes de Grey subtraxit se de secta curie pro villata de
Chilton de uno anno et die (_corr._ et dimidio), unde dominus Rex
dampnificatus est in 18 denariis.
Though the institution of the hundredors has found expression in the
Hundred Rolls, the name is all but absent from them. The rare instances
when it occurs are especially worthy of consideration. I have three
times seen a contraction which probably stands for it, but in one case
it applies distinctly to the hundred-reeve or to a riding bailiff of the
hundred.
I. 197 (Inquest of the hundred of Hirstingstan, Hunts): dicunt etiam
quod homines ejusdem soke rescusserunt aueria que El. hundredarius
ceperat pro debito domini Regis levando et impedierunt eum ad
summoniciones faciendum de assisis et juratis et equum ipsius El.
duxerunt ad manerium de Someresham et eum ibi detinuerunt quousque
deliberavit omnia averia per ipsum capta.
The case is different in regard to the description of Aston and Cote,
Oxfordshire. It is printed on p. 689 of the second volume of the Hundred
Rolls, but printed badly. The decisive headings are not given
accurately, and I shall put it before the reader in the shape in which
it stands in the MS. at the Record Office. The passage is especially
interesting because of the peculiar constitution of the manor of
Bampton, to which Aston and Cote belong. (See Gomme, Village Community.)
Hundred Rolls, Oxford.
Chancery Series, No. 1, m. 3.
Sec. Tenentes Abbatis { Sec. Robertus le Caus tenet in eadem j. mesuagium et
in eadem. { ij. virgatas terrae de Abbate de Eygn', et reddit
{ per annum dicto Abbati Eygn' iij._s._
Sec. Hundr' in { Sec. Stephanus le Niwe tenet in eadem j. mesuagium
Aston'. { et ij. virgatas terrae de eodem, et reddit per
{ annum dicto Abbati xv._s._ vij._d._ ob. q.
{ Sec. Robertus de Haddon' tenet in eadem j. mesuagium
{ [et] j virgatam terrae de Domino W. de Valencia,
{ et reddit per annum dicto W. de Valencia j._d._
Sec. Servi. { Sec. Henricus Toni tenet in eadem j. mesuagium [et]
{ j. virgatam terrae de Abbate de Eygn', et reddit
{ eidem pro redditu iiij._s._ pro opere iiij._s._
{ iiij._d._ ob. q.
{ Sec. Willelmus Toni tenet in eadem j. mesuagium [et]
{ j. virgatam terrae de dicto Abbate, et reddit per
{ annum eidem pro redditu iiij._s._, pro opere
{ iiij._s._ ix._d._ ob. q.
{ Sec. Nicholaus Toni tenet in eadem consimile
{ tenementum de eodem pro consimili servicio
{ faciendo eidem.
{ Sec. Emma Lovel tenet in eadem j. mesuagium et
{ dimidiam virgatam terrae cum v. acras de eodem,
{ et reddit per annum dicto Abbati xj._s._ iij._d._
{ Sec. Johanna Galard tenet in eadem dimidiam virgatam
{ terrae de dono Willelmi fratris sui, et reddit
{ eidem per annum vj._d._; et idem Willelmus tenet
{ de hereditate per defensum antecessorum suorum,
Sec. Lib[ere] { qui dictam dimidiam virgatam terrae habuerunt
tenentes. { de dono Reg[is], cujus nomen ignoramus.
{ Sec. Thomas Wyteman tenet in eadem j. virgatam terrae
{ de Philippo de Lenethale, et est de confirmatione
{ Reg[is], ut dicta dimidia virgata terrae
{ praescripta; et tenetur de Willelmo Gallard
{ praedicto, et reddit per annum dicto Philippo
{ xij._d._
[The Abbot above mentioned was the Abbot of Eynsham.]
The _Hundr. in Aston_ in the margin can hardly admit of any other
extension but _hundredarius_ or _hundredarii_. It seems then, that the
term is applied to three tenants named first. The reason for thinking so
is, that all these three are assessed at certain rents without any
mention of labour services, whereas the three tenants who are next
mentioned pay so much as rent and so much more in commutation of labour
service, 'pro servitio.' The inference would be, that the names in the
beginning apply to people burdened with suit to the hundred and to the
shire, and therefore exempted in other respects. Their rents are very
unequal, but in any case lower than those of the men immediately
following. One very important feature admits of no dispute; the
hundredors are described as _servi_, that is villains, in opposition to
the free tenants of the Abbot of Eynsham. We know already from the text
that the hundredors, if the name be applied here as in the Ely Surveys,
occupied an intermediate position, and in one sense had certainly to
rank with the villains, people of base tenure belonging to the
townships.
Even a more difficult example is contained in the fragment of the
Warwickshire Hundred Roll. The oft-mentioned description of Stoneleigh
in that document begins of course with the demesne land of the abbot,
then mentions two villains and thirty free cotters holding 'ad terminum
vitae.' Then follows a list of five more free cotters. On the margin
between the two sets we read 'de hundred de Stonle.' To whom does this
phrase apply? There is nothing in the tenure which would enable us to
make a positive distinction between the two sets, and it would seem that
the expression has in view some duties assigned in the roll to the first
thirty tenants in conjunction with the villains. It is written
immediately in front of the following passage: 'Omnes supradicti
cotarii ipsius abbatis debent sectam ad curiam suam bis in anno. Et si
contingat quod aliquis captus sit in dicto manerio debet imprisonari
apud Stanle et tunc omnes villani et cotarii supradicti ipsum servabunt
et in custodia eorum erit dum ibi fuerit sumptibus suis et sumptibus
tocius manerii.'
The uncertainty of terminology is not without its meaning: the word
'hundredarius' did not get into general use, but it was used in several
places for different purposes. It may apply to a bailiff of the hundred,
perhaps to the alderman, to the standing representative of a village at
the hundred court, and possibly to all the free men who had to do
personal suit to this court. It is not in order to impose a uniform
sense upon it, that I have treated of it at this length. But in one of
its meanings, in that which is given by the Ely Surveys, we find a
convenient starting point for discussing the position of an important
and interesting class in which the elements of freedom and servitude
appear curiously mixed.
XII.
See p. 199, n. 1.
It did not occur to the men of the thirteenth century that it would be
important to distinguish between the different modes by which free
tenements had been created. To draw the principal distinction was enough
for all practical purposes. Stray notices occur however that give some
insight into the matter. Very often we find tenements held _per cartam_,
probably because this kind of title was rather exceptional and seemed to
deserve a special mention, while commonly land was held without charter,
on the strength of a ceremonial investiture by the lord. This last mode
does not find uniform expression in the documents, but the implied
opposition to holding by charter is sometimes stated in express terms
which bring out one or the other feature of free land holding.
One of the questions addressed to the jurors--from whose verdicts the
Hundred Rolls were made, was--Si aliquis liber sokemannus de antiquo
dominico alii sokemanno vendiderit vel alio modo alienaverit aliquid
tenendum libere per cartam[870]? The _free_ sokeman's tenure is meant,
although the inquest is taken on ancient demesne soil, and the point is
that none of these persons can alienate by charter, but must use the
ceremonial surrender in the court of ancient demesne according to the
custom of the manor. I have already drawn attention to the remarkable
opposition between free customary tenure and holding by charter. It is
chiefly important because it discloses a traditional element in the
formation of the socman's tenure.
The same traditional element appears in other cases in which the special
position of the socman is not concerned. In Warwickshire a free tenant
by sergeanty is said to hold his land without charter by warrant from
ancient times, and the peculiar obligations of his sergeanty are
described at some length[871]. The charter appears here in contrast with
ancient ownership, to the origin of which no date can be assigned. A
similar case is that of Over, Cambs.[872] Robert de Aula holds two
virgates of the Abbot of Ramsey _de antiquo conquestu_ and seven
virgates _de antiquo_. Further on a certain Robert Mariot is mentioned
holding five virgates of Robert de Aula _de antiquo feffamento_. The
weight falls, in all these expressions, on the _de antiquo_, which may
even appear without any further qualification. Of these qualifications
one is interesting in itself, I mean 'de conquestu.' In the language of
those times it may stand either 1, for conquest in the sense in which
that term is now commonly used, or 2, for purchase, or 3, for
occupation. The first of these meanings is naturally out of the question
in our case. The second does not apply if we take heed how the
expressions interchange: it could be replaced by feoffamentum in the
third instance, and could not have fallen out after de antiquo in the
second. Ancient occupation fits well, and such a construction is
supported by other passages. In Ayllington (Elton), Hunts, e.g., we
find the chief free tenants all, with one exception, holding _de
conquestu_ in contrast with the mesne tenants who are said to hold _per
cartam_. The opposition is again clearly between traditional occupation
and new feoffment settled by written instrument. In Sawtrey Beaumeys, on
the other hand, the mode of holding de conquestu seems exceptional[873].
Another terminological opposition which finds expression in the surveys
is that between men who hold _per homagium_ and those who hold _per
fidelitatem_. It seems to be commonly assumed that free tenements owe
homage, but without disputing the point in a general way I shall call
attention to the description of Kenilworth in the Warwickshire Roll, in
which _libere tenentes_ are said to hold _per fidelitatem et nullum
faciunt homagium_[874]. The deviation must probably be accounted for by
the fact that the castle of Kenilworth was Royal demesne and had been
given to Edmund, the brother of King Edward I; the peculiar condition
described was certainly a species of customary freehold or socman's
tenure.
The upshot is, that we find in the Hundred Rolls traces of freeholds
possessed by ancient tenure, 'without charter and warrant,' according to
customs which came down from the time of the Conquest, or the original
occupation of the land, or from a time beyond memory. The examples given
are stray instances but important nevertheless, because we may well
fancy that in many cases such facts escaped registration. And now how
are all these traces of the 'traditional' element to be expressed in
legal language? From what source did the right of such people flow? How
did they defend it in case it was contested?
The absence of a charter is not by itself a reason to consider this kind
of tenure as separated from the usual freehold. A feoffment might well
be made without a charter[875]. As long as the form of the investiture
by the lord had been kept, it was sufficient to create or to transmit
the free tenancy. But the warranty of the lord and the feoffment were
necessary as a rule. And here we find cases in which there is no
warranty, and the lord is not appealed to as a feoffor. They must be
considered as held by surrender and admittance in court and as being in
this respect like the tenements of the sokemen. I do not see any other
alternative. As to the sokemen we find indeed, that their right is
contrasted with feoffment and at the same time considered as a kind of
free tenancy, that it is defended by manorial writs, and at the same
time well established in custom[876]. But can we say that the warranty
of the lord is less prominent in this case than in the _liberum
tenementum_ created by the usual feudal investiture? Surrender seems to
go even further in the direction of a resumption by the lord of a right
which he has conferred on the dependent. If surrender stood alone, one
would be unable to see in what way this customary procedure could be
taken as an expression of 'communal guarantee.' But the surrender is
coupled with admittance. The action of the steward called upon to
transmit by his rod the possession of a plot of land is indissolubly
connected with the action of the court which has to witness and to
approve the transaction. The suitors of the court in their collective
capacity come very characteristically to the front in the admittance of
the socman, and it is on their communal testimony that the whole
transaction has to rest. The Rolls of Stoneleigh and of King's Ripton
give many a precious hint on this subject[877].
I speak of the socmen in ancient demesne, but there can be no doubt
that originally the different classes of this group called socmen were
constantly confused and treated as one and the same condition. The free
socmen and the base or bond socmen, the population of manors in the
hands of the crown, of those which had passed from the crown to
subjects, and, last but not least, a vast number of small proprietors
who held in chief from the king without belonging to the military class,
and without a clearly settled right to a free tenement--all these were
treated more or less as variations of one main type. What held them
together was the suit owed to some court of a Royal Manor which had
'soke' over them[878]. Ultimately classification became more rigid, and
theoretically more clear; free and socman's tenure were fused into the
one 'socage' tenure, well known to later law, but we must not forget
that Common Law Socage is derived historically from a very special
relation, and that the socman appears even in terminology as distinct
from the 'libere tenens.' I must admit, however, that it is only with
the help of the documents of Saxon times and of the Conquest period,
that it will be possible to establish conclusively the character of the
tenure as that of a 'customary freehold.'
XIII.
See pp. 233, 234.
The passage on which the text of these two pages is based may be found
in a Survey of the Dunstaple Priory. The portion immediately concerned
is inscribed: 'Notulae de terris in Segheho' (ff. 7, 8). The Walter de
Wahull in question is probably the baron of that name (Dugdale, Baron.
I. 504), who joined the rebellion of 1173 along with the Earl of
Leicester, and was made a prisoner (Rad. de Diceto I. 377, 378; Ann.
Dunstapl. 21).
Harl. MS. 1885, f. 7.
Sec. Tempore conquestus terrae, Dominus de Wahull et Dominus de la Leie
diviserunt inter se feudum de Walhull', widelicet, Dominus de Walhull'
habuit duas partes, et Dominus de la Lee, tertiam, scilicet, unus xx.
milites, et alius x. Volens autem Dominus de Wahull' retinere ad opus
suum totum parcum de Segheho, et totum dominicum de Broccheburg', fecit
metiri tertiam partem in bosco et in plano. Postea, fecit metiri
tantumdem terrae, ad mensuram praedictae tertiae partis, in loco qui
nunc vocatur Nortwde, et in bosco vicino, qui tunc vocabatur Cherlewde;
et abegit omnes rusticos qui in praedicto loco juxta praedictum boscum
manebant. Hiis ita gestis, mensurata est terra de Segheho, et inventae
sunt viii. ydae vilenagiae. De hiis viii. ydis conputata est quarta acra
ad unam summam, et inventa est quod haec summa valebat tertiam partem
parci et dominici. Dedit ergo Dominus de Wahull' Domino de la Leie,
scilicet, Stephano, pro tertia parte quam debuit sortiri in bosco et in
dominico, culturas praedictorum rusticorum, et boscum qui nunc vocabatur
Cherlewd', nunc Nortwd'. Dominus autem de la Leie dedit hanc terram
Bald' militi suo, patri Roberti de Nortwd'. Et inter terram praedictorum
rusticorum habuimus de dono ecclesiae unam acram. Pro hac acra Robertus
pater Gileberti dedit nobis [in] escambium aliam acram quae abutiat ad
Fenmed', et jacet ad vest, juxta terram Nigelli de Chaltun'. De ista
praedicta acra in Nortwd' quae nostra fuit, jacet roda una ad lomputtes,
scilicet, roda capitalis. Alia roda jacet ad uest curiae Roberti
praedicti; quae curia ipsius Roberti primo fuit ad uest, quam post
obitum patris mutavit, transferendo horrea sua de uest usque hest. Tres
gorae jacent pro dimidia acra, et abutiant ex una parte versus viam
quae dicitur via de Nortwd', et ex alia parte versus Edmundum filium
Uctred'. Procedente tempore, tempore guerrae praedictae viii. ydae et
ceterae de Segheho fuerunt occupatae a multis injuste; et ob hoc
recognitio fuit facta coram Waltero de Wahull', et coram Hugone de Leia,
et in plena curia, per vi. senes, et per ipsum Robertum, de hac nostra
acra et de omnibus aliis terris, scilicet, quae acrae ad quas hidas
pertineant: et per hanc recognitionem, restituit nobis Robertus
praedictam acram. Uctredus drengus mansit ad uest de via de Nortwde, et
grangiae ejus fuerunt ex alia parte viae, scilicet, hest.
Tempore quo omnes tenentes de Segheho, scilicet, Milites, liberi
homines, et omnes alii incerti et nescii fuerunt de terris et tenementis
ville, et singuli dicebant alios injuste plus aliis possidere, omnes
communi consilio, coram Dominis de Wahul' et de la Leie, tradiderunt
terras suas per provisum seniorum et per mensuram pertici quasi novus
conquestus dividendas, et unicuique rationabiliter assignandas. Eo
tempore recognovit Radulfus Fretetot quod antecessores sui et ipse
injuste tenuerant placiam quandam sub castello, que placia per
distributores et per perticam mensurata est, et divisa in xvj buttos; et
jacent hii butti ad Fulevell', et abut[tant] sursum ad croftas ville.
Hii butti ita partiti sunt. Octo yde sunt in Segheho de vilenagio:
singulis ydis assignati sunt ii. butti. Ecclesiae vero dotata fuit de
dimidia yda: ad hanc dimidiam ydam assignatus fuit unus buttus: sed
postquam illum primum habuimus, bis seminatus fuit, et non amplius, quia
ceteri omnes non excol[un]t ibi terram, sed ad pascua reservant: un[de]
est, quia locus remotus est, nec pratum habemus nec bladum.
He terre prenominate sunt in campo qui dicitur Hestfeld. Summa, xix acre
et tres rode.
XIV.
See p. 302, n. 1.
Cotton MS. Galba E. X. f. 19.
Hec est firma unius cuiusque uille que reddit plenam firmam duarum
ebdomadarum.
Duodecim quarteria farine ad panem monachorum suorumque hospitum que
singula faciunt quinque treias Ramesie, et unaqueque treia appreciatur
duodecim denariis precium uniuscuiusque quarterii fuit quinque sol.
Summa precii 12 quarteriorum, 60 sol. et 2 millia panum uillarum uel 4
quarteria ad usum seruientium. Precium unius mille dimidiam marcam
argenti. Summa precii integra marca. Ad potum 24 missa de grut quarum
singulas faciunt una treia Ramesii et una ringa. Appreciatur una missa
12 den. Summa precii de brasio 32 sol. sunt et 2 septaria mellis 32 den.
sunt summa precii 5 sol. et 4 den.
Ad compadium 4 libre in denariis et decem pense lardi. Precium unius
pense 5 sol. sunt. Summa precii 5 obol. Et decem pense casei. Precium
unius pense 3 solidi sunt. Summa precii 30 sol. Et decem frenscengie
peroptime. Precium uniuscuiusque sunt 6 den.--Et 14 agni. Agnus pro
denario--Et 120 galline, 6 pro den.--Et 2000 ovorum. Precium unius mille
2 sol. sunt.--Et 2 tine butiri. Precium unius tine 40 den.--Et 2 treie
fabarum. Prec. 1 treie 8 den. sunt. Et 24 misse prebende. Precium unius
misse 8 den.--Summa precii totius supradicte firme 12 libre sunt et 15
sol. et 1 den. exceptis 4 libris supradictis, que solummodo debent dari
in denariis de unaquaque plena firma duarum ebdomadarum. Et postquam hec
omnia reddita fuerunt, firmarius persoluet 5 solidos in denariis, uno
denario minus, et sic implebuntur 17 libre plenae in dica cellerarii et
unum mille de allic sine dica et firmarius dabit present cellerario ter
in anno sine dica.
Villa que reddit firmam plenam unius ebdomade, dimidium omnium
supradictorum reddet. Excepto quod unaqueque villa cuiuslibet firme sit,
uel duarum ebdomadarum, uel unius plene firme, uel unius lente firme,
dabit equaliter ad mandatum pauperum 16 denarios de acra elemosin.
Villa que reddit lente firmam unius ebdomade, omnino sicut plena firma
unius ebdomade reddet. Exceptis quinque pensis lardis et 5 pensis casei
quas non dat set pro eis 40 solidos in denariis et alios 40 sol. sicut
plena firma.
XV.
See p. 344, n. 1.
Ayllington or Elton, Hunts, is remarkable on account of the contrast
between its free and servile holdings, as described in the Hundred
Rolls. It would be interesting to know whether the former are to be
considered as ancient free tenements, or as the outcome of modern
exemptions. The Hundred Rolls point in the first direction (ii. 656).
Some of the tenements under discussion are said to be held de conquestu,
and it would be impossible to put any other interpretation on this term
than that of 'original occupation.' It means the same as the 'de antiquo
conquestu' of other surveys (sup. p. 453).
But when we compare the inquisition published in the Ramsey Cartulary
(Rolls Ser. i. 487 sqq.) we come upon a difficulty. There the holdings
are constantly arranged under the two headings of _virgatae operariae_
and _virgatae positae ad censum_, the population is divided into
_operarii_ and _censuarii_, and in one case we find even the following
passage: 'item quaelibet domus, habens ostium apertum versus vicum, tam
de malmannis, quam de cotmannis et operariis, inveniret unum hominem ad
lovebone, sine cibo domini, praeter Ricardum Pemdome, Henricum Franceys,
Galfridum Blundy, Henricum le Monnier.' And so most of the free people
are actually called _molmen_, and this would seem to imply that they
were _libere tenentes_ only in consequence of commutation.
It seems to me that there is no occasion for such an inference. The
_molmen_ in the passage quoted are evidently the same as the _censuarii_
of other passages, and although, in a general way, the expression _mal_
was probably employed of quit-rents, still it was wide enough to
interchange with _gafol_, and to designate all kinds of rents, without
any regard to their origin. And of course, this is even more the case
with _census_. Upon the whole, I do not see sufficient reason to doubt
that we have freeholders before us who held their land and paid rent
ever since the original occupation of the soil.
INDEX.
Agreement as the origin of free tenure, 335;
between lord and village, 359.
Akerman, 147.
Amercement, 163.
Ancient conquest, 453.
Ancient demesne, definition, 89, 90;
privileges, 92;
tenantry, 114;
Saxon origin, 123, 136;
courts, 379.
Ancient freehold, 344, 352.
Anelipeman, 213.
Approvement, 273.
Assarts, 332.
Assessment, 244.
Assisa terra, 333.
Aston and Cote, Oxon, 392, 450.
Astrier, 56.
Auxilium, 293.
Averagium, 285, 286, 309.
Aver-earth, 280.
Aver-land, 257.
Ayllington (Elton), Hunts, 337, 460.
Bailiff, 318.
Balk, 232.
Barlick-silver, 291.
Beadle, 318.
Ben-earth, 281.
Birth, influence on status, 59.
Blackstone, view of English history, 7;
on copyholds, 80;
on ancient demesne tenure, 112.
Board-lands, 314.
Bockyng, Essex, 315.
Bondus, 145.
Boonwork, 174.
Borda, 256.
Bordarius, 145, 149.
Borough English, 82, 157, 185.
Bosing-silver, 291.
Bovati, 238.
Bracton, on villainage, 47;
on status, 60;
on convention between villain and lord, 71;
on waynage, 74;
on villain tenure and villain services, 77;
on villain socage, 89, 115, 121;
on rights of common, 269.
Braseum, 289.
Britton, on prescription, 63;
on the prohibition against devising villains, 76;
on privileged villainage, 109.
Butta, 232.
Campus, 228.
Carriage duties, 285.
Carta, 199, 452.
Carucarius, 147.
Censuarius, 186.
Ceorls, Palgrave on, 14;
connexion with villains, 135;
history of the term, 149.
Chevagium, 157.
Churchscot, 295.
Common, of pasture, 263;
appendant and appurtenant, 265;
intrinsec and forinsec, 270;
of wood, 275.
Communal liability, 357.
Communitas villanorum, 359.
Commutation, 179, 307.
Conquest, Norman, 123, 130, 133, 135
Conquest, Saxon, Palgrave on, 13;
Kemble on, 18;
Freeman on, 22;
Seebohm on, 34.
Conveyancing, 216, 371.
Copyhold, 80, 115, 216, 310.
Cornage, 295.
Cornbote, 289.
Costeseye, Norfolk, 435.
Cotland, 256.
Cottarius, cotsetle, cottagiarius, 148.
Court Baron, 365.
Court leet, 362.
Court of ancient demesne, 378.
Court roll, 173, 374.
Criminal law, 64.
Curia, plena curia, 375, 377.
Custom, 172, 174, 181, 213, 297.
Custumarius, consuetudinarius, 146, 170.
Day-work, 288.
Defence, 260.
Demesne, 223, 313;
free tenements carved out of it, 327;
its development, 406.
Denerata, 257.
Dialogus de Scaccario, on villainage, 44;
on Englishry, 64;
on the Conquest, 121, 122.
Domesday Survey of Kent, 205;
on classes, 209.
Donum, 293.
Election of manorial officers, 355.
Elton, C.I., on ancient demesne tenure, 112;
on shifting ownership of arable, 236.
Ely Surveys, 441.
Emphyteusis, 333.
Enfranchisement, by feoffment, 70;
modes of manumission, 86;
by convention, 183;
as gradual emancipation, 184, 214.
Essartum, 332.
Exemption from labour, 296, 322.
Extraneus, 142.
Fald-silver, 291.
Farm, feorm, 301, 459.
Fastnyng-seed, 282.
Fealty, 164, 454.
Feoffment, 347, 455.
Ferdel, 256.
Ferlingsetus, 148.
Festuca, 372.
Feudalism, Kemble on, 20;
influence on villainage, 131;
oppression, 204.
Field systems, 224.
Filstnerthe, Filsingerthe, 282.
Firmarius, 305.
Fish-silver, 291.
Fleta on the hide, 241.
Fleyland, 170.
Foddercorn, 288.
Food-rents, 304.
Forinsecus, 142.
Forland, 332.
Frank pledge, villains in, 66, 418;
and leet, 363.
Free bench, 160.
Freeman, Edw., 22.
French Revolution, 10.
Fustel de Coulanges, 17, 32.
Gafol, 184, 187.
Gafol-earth, 280.
Gathercorn, 289.
Gavelkind, 207.
Gavelman, 187.
Gavelseed, 288.
Gebur, 145.
Geneat, 145.
Gersumarius, 147.
Gild, 293.
Glanville, on status, 59;
on manumission, 87.
Gneist, R., 24.
Godlesebene, 282.
Gomme, on early folk-mots, 367.
Gora, 231.
Grass-earth, 280.
Hale, Archdeacon, on the farm system, 305.
Halimote, 364, 370.
Hallam, his work on the Middle Ages, 11;
on villainage, 48.
Hand-dainae, 288.
Havering atte Bower, Essex, 108, 436.
Headland, 232.
Heriot, 159.
Hidage, 294.
Hide, 239, 241, 244;
Kemble on, 19.
Hidarius, 147.
Hitchin, Herts, 394.
Holding, 238, 241, 249, 263, 300;
origin, 401.
Homagium, 455.
Hundred, 67, 192, 445.
Hundredarius, 188, 194, 441, 450.
Hundred Rolls, on merchet, 154;
on free tenements, 336.
Huntenegeld, 292.
Husfelds, 314.
Inheritance, 246.
Inhoc, 226.
Inland, 328.
Intermixture of strips, 234, 254, 317.
Jugum, 248, 309.
Juratores curiae, 376.
Kemble, 18.
Kentish custom, 205, 248.
King's Ripton, Hunts, 93, 106, 110, 383.
Labourers, hired, 321.
Lammas-meadow, 260.
Landchere, 290.
Landgafol, 292.
Landsettus, 146.
Leases, of demesne land, 329;
for life and term of years, 330.
Legal theory, 44, 127.
Lentenearth, 282.
Levingman, 213.
Liberaciones, liberaturae, 176, 322.
Liber homo, 140;
as suitor of halimote, 389.
Libere tenens, 140, 169, 178, 311;
customary freeholder, 220, 456;
as overseer of labour, 368, 407;
subjected to the manorial arrangement, 325;
forinsecus, 327;
as suitor of halimote, 386.
Linch, 232.
Littleton, on villains regardant and in gross, 49.
Lodland, 257.
Lord, origin of his rights, 151;
amercements, 163;
control over villain land, will and pleasure, 212, 297;
as owner of the waste, 272;
equity, 384;
growth of his power, 404.
Lundinarium, 256.
Lurard, 319.
Maine, Sir Henry, 28.
Maitland, F.W., on John Fitz Geoffrey's case, 98;
on hundred and county courts, 189, 192;
on the leet, 362;
on the division of manorial courts, 364;
on manorial presentments, 371;
on court of honor, 390;
on the manor, 395.
Mal, 184, 187.
Malt-silver, 291.
Manor, Blackstone's theory, 8, 9;
influence on status, 57, 61, 85;
general organisation, 223;
husbandry, 316;
in relation to the township, 394;
its elements, 405.
Manuoperationes, 287.
Mark, 19.
Marriage, 62, 139.
Martin of Bertenover _v._ John Montacute, 78.
Maurer, G.F. von, 26.
Maurer, Konrad, 21.
Meadows, 259.
Mederipe, 283.
Men of Halvergate _v._ Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk, 431.
Men of King's Ripton _v._ Abbot of Ramsey, 110, 425.
Men of Tavistock _v._ Henry of Tracy, 119.
Men of Wycle _v._ Mauger le Vavasseur, 102, 111.
Merchet, 82, 153, 202.
Messarius, messor, 319.
Ministeriales, 319, 323, 406.
Mirror of justice, 415.
Molland, 183.
Molmen, 183.
Mondayland, 256.
Monopolies, manorial, 163.
Monstraverunt, writ of, 101, 104, 108, 110, 116.
Nasse, E., 26.
Nativus, 45, 142, 440.
Neat, niet, 144.
Ne injuste vexes, writ of, 420.
Nook, 256.
Note-book of Bracton, on conventions of lord with villain, 73;
on Martin of Bestenover's case, 79;
on manumission, 88;
on the Tavistock case, 119.
Nummata, 257.
Oath of fealty, 164.
Open field systems, 225, 237;
Nasse on, 27;
Seebohm on, 231;
origin, 399.
Operarius, 146.
Palgrave, Sir Francis, 12.
Pannage, 291.
Parvum breve de recto, 94, 100.
Pasture, 261.
Pedigree of villains, 440.
Pell, O., on acrewara, 242.
Penyearth, 282.
Petitions to the King, 102.
Ploughing work, 278.
Plough team, 238, 252.
Police, in relation to villainage, 66, 139.
Pollock, Sir Frederic, on conventions with villains, 72.
Precariae, 281, 284, 308.
Prepositus, 318.
Prescription, 63.
Presentments in the halimote, 368.
Prior of Hospitalers _v._ Ralph Crips and Thomas Barentyn, 54, 412.
Prior of Ripley _v._ Thomas Fitz-Adam, 83.
Prohibition against selling animals, 156.
Quare ejecit infra terminum, writ of, 330.
Quit-rent, 291.
Quo jure, writ of, 265, 270.
Radacre, 282.
Reaping work, 283.
Recognition, 348.
Reeveship, 157.
Regular arrangement, of villain holdings, 334, 345;
of free holdings, 337;
of socmen's holdings, 349.
Relief, 162.
Remuneration of servants, 321.
Rent, 181, 188, 215;
trifling, 290;
of free tenants, 342.
Revision of procedure, 99.
Rofliesland, 334.
Roger Fitz William _v._ Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds, 422.
Rogers, J. Thorold, on legal theory, 44;
on manorial documents, 138.
Roman influence, Palgrave's view, 14;
French scholars, 16;
Seebohm, 33.
Rotation of crops, 230.
Royal jurisdiction, 219.
Scrutton, T.E., 266.
Scutage, 294.
Scythepenny, 291.
Seebohm, F., 32.
Segheho, Beds, 233, 457.
Self-government, communal, 355, 361.
Selio, 231.
Seneschal, 318.
Sequela, 300.
Serfdom, 43, 152.
Serland, 257.
Servientes, 320.
Services, implying villainage, 82;
uncertain, 83;
certain on ancient demesne, 110;
labour, 167, 215, 305.
Servus, 45, 141.
Shareholding, 340, 347.
Sixteen of Aston and Cote, 393.
Slavery, 43, 47.
Socagium ad placitum, 334.
Sockemanemot, 365.
Soke, 391.
Socmen, free, 196, 204, 456;
on ancient demesne, 113, 197, 456;
villain, 89, 91, 199;
nature of tenure, 113, 116.
Solanda, 255.
Status, 83.
Statute of labourers, 54, 412.
Statute of Merton, 273.
Statute of Westminster II, 273, 274.
Steward, 318, 354.
Stoneleigh Abbey, 91, 93, 105, 116, 381, 426.
Stubbs, W., 23.
Suitors of halimote, 370;
in ancient demesne court, 380;
free, 386.
Sulung, 247.
Surrender and admittance, 371, 455.
Symon of Paris _v._ H. bailiff of Sir R. Tonny, 411.
Tallage, 163.
Tenmanland, tunmanland, 255.
Teutonic influence, Palgrave on, 13;
German scholars, 17;
Kemble, 19;
Freeman, 22;
Stubbs, 23;
Gneist, 24.
Township, 394.
Turnbedellus, 329.
Tywe, 282.
Undersette, 213.
Unlawenearth, 282.
Vagiator, 319.
Village community, Nasse on, 27;
Maine, 28;
Seebohm, 33;
acting in the interest of the lord, 355;
acting independently of the lord, 357;
as a farmer, 360;
its relation to the manor, 404.
Villain, sold, 151;
opposed to serf, 419;
civil disabilities, 67, 159,166;
free as to third persons, 68;
convention with the lord, 70, 182;
waynage, 74, 420;
not to be devised, 76;
claimed by kinship, 84, 417;
on ancient demesne, 114;
in manorial documents, 140, 150.
Villainage, definitions, 44;
exception of, 46;
in gross and regardant, 48, 411, 413.
Villain tenure, 77, 165;
free man holding in villainage, 80, 81, 143;
held by labour services, 167.
Virga, 173, 372.
Virgata, virgatarius, 148, 238.
Walter of Henley, on field systems, 225;
on the hide, 241.
Wara, 242.
Ward-penny, 291.
Waynage, 74, 420.
Week-work, 280.
William Fitz Henry _v._ Bartholomew Fitz Eustace, 80.
William Fitz Robert _v._ John Cheltewynd, 421.
William Taylor _v._ Roger of Sufford, 73.
Wista, 255.
Wood-penny, 291.
Workman, 186.
Wye, Kent, 309.
Yerdling, 148.
York Powell, F., on manumission, 87.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Miss Lamond's edition of Walter of Henley did not appear until the
greater part of my book was in type. I had studied the work in MS. So
also I studied the Cartulary of Battle Abbey in MS. without being aware
that it had been edited by Mr. Scargill Bird. Had Mr. Gomme's Village
Communities come to my hands at an earlier date I should have made more
references to it.
[2] English Historical Review, No. 1.
[3] In his Considerations sur l'histoire de France.
[4] History of Boroughs.
[5] Ancient Rights of the Commons of England.
[6] Quoted by Palgrave, English Commonwealth, i. 192, from the second
edition of 1786. The first appeared in 1784.
[7] The first edition of the Commentaries appeared in 1765. I have been
using that of 1800.
[8] 'Es war eine Zeit, in der wir Unerhoertes und Unglaubliches erlebten,
eine Zeit, welche die Aufmerksamkeit auf viele vergessene und abgelebte
Ordnungen durch deren Zusammensturz hinzog.' Niebuhr in the preface to
the first volume of his Roman history, quoted by Wegele, Geschichte der
deutschen Historiographie, 998.
[9] Enquiry into the Rise and Progress of the Royal Prerogative, 1831.
[10] History of the English Commonwealth, 1832; Normandy and England,
1840.
[11] I do not give an analysis of Hallam's remarkable chapters on
England in his work on the Middle Ages (first edition, 1818), because
they are mostly concerned with Constitutional history, and the notes on
the classes of Saxon and Anglo-Norman Society are chiefly valuable as
discussions of technical points of law. Hallam's general position in
historical literature must not be underrated; he is the English
representative of the school which had Guizot for its most brilliant
exponent on the Continent. In our subject, however, the turning-point in
the development of research is marked by Palgrave, and not by Hallam.
Heywood (Dissertation on Ranks and Classes of Society, 1818) is sound
and useful, but cannot rank among the leaders.
[12] Histoire de la conquete de l'Angleterre par les Normands.
[13] Histoire du tiers etat.
[14] Histoire du droit municipal.
[15] Prolegomenes au polyptyque de l'abbe Irminon.
[16] Histoire des institutions de la France; Recherches sur quelques
problemes d'histoire.
[17] Gregor von Tours und seine Zeit.
[18] Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte.
[19] Geschichte des Beneficialwesens, 1856; Feudalitaet und
Unterthanenverband, 1863.
[20] Roth is very strong on this point.
[21] Ueber angelsaechsische Rechtsverhaeltnisse, in the Munich Kritische
Ueberschau, i. sqq. (1853).
[22] K. Maurer is very near Waitz in this respect.
[23] See especially his Englische Verfassungsgeschichte.
[24] Einleitung in die Geschichte der Hof-, Dorf-, Mark- und
Staedteverfassung in Deutschland, 1 vol.; Geschichte der Frohnhoefe, 4
vol.; Geschichte der Dorfverfassung, 1 vol.; Geschichte der
Markenverfassung, 1 vol.; Geschichte der Staedteverfassung, 4 vol.
[25] Collected in 2 volumes of Agrarhistorische Untersuchungen.
[26] Zur Geschichte der mittelalterlichen Feldgemeinschaft in England,
1869.
[27] I do not mention some well-known books treating of medieval
husbandry and social history, because I am immediately concerned only
with those works which discuss the formation of the medieval system.
Thorold Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices, and Six Centuries of
Work and Wages, begins with the close of the thirteenth century, and the
passage from medieval organisation to modern times. Ochenkovsky, Die
wirtschaftliche Entwicklung Englands am Ende des Mittelalters, and
Kovalevsky, England's Social Organisation at the close of the Middle
Ages (Russian), start on their inquiry from even a later period.
[28] Is it necessary to say that I am speaking of general currents of
thought and not of the position of a man at the polling booth? An author
may be personally a liberal and still his work may connect itself with a
stream of opinion which is not in favour of liberalism. Again, one and
the same man may fall in with different movements in different parts of
his career. Actual life throws a peculiar light on the past: certain
questions are placed prominently in view and certain others are thrown
into the shade by it, so that the individual worker has to find his path
within relatively narrow limits.
[29] The last great German work on our questions, Lamprecht, Deutsches
Wirthschaftsleben im Mittelalter, is nearer Maurer than Sternegg.
[30] Thorold Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices, i. 70; Six
Centuries of Work and Wages, 44. Cf. Chandler, Five Court Rolls of Great
Cressingham in the county of Norfolk, 1885, pp. viii, ix.
[31] Stubbs, Seventeen Lectures, 304, 305; Maitland, Introduction to the
Note-book of Bracton, 4 sqq.
[32] Dial. de Scacc. ii. 10 (Select Charters, p. 222). Cf. i. 10; p.
192.
[33] Glanville, v. 5; Bracton, 4, 5; Fleta, i. 2; Britton, ed. Nichols,
i. 194.
[34] Bracton, 5; Britton, i, 197. Pollock, Land-laws, App. C, is quite
right as to the fundamental distinction between status and tenure, but
he goes too far, I think, in trying to trace the steps by which names
originally applying to different things got confused in the terminology
of the Common Law. Annotators sometimes indulged in distinctions which
contradict each other and give us no help as to the law. The same
Cambridge MS. from which Nichols gives an explanation of _servus_,
_nativus_, and _villanus_ (i. 195) has a different etymology in a
marginal note to Bracton. 'Nativus dicitur a nativitate--quasi in
servitute natus, villanus dicitur a villa, quasi faciens villanas
consuetudines racione tenementi, vel sicut ille qui se recognoscit ad
villanum in curia quae recordum habet, servus vero dicitur a servando
quasi per captivitatem, per vim et injustam detentionem villanus captus
et detentus contra mores et consuetudines juris naturalis' (Cambr.
Univers. MSS. Dd. vii. 6. I have the reference from my friend F.W.
Maitland).
[35] Placita Coram Rege, Easter, 14 Edw. I, m. 9: 'Willelmus Barantyn et
Radulfus attachiati fuerunt ad respondendum Agneti de Chalgraue de
placito quare in ipsam Agnetem apud Chalgraue insultum fecerunt et ipsam
verberaverunt, vulneraverunt et male tractaverunt, et bona et catalla
sua in domibus ipsius Agnetis apud Chalgraue scilicet ordeum et avenam,
argentum, archas et alia bona ad valenciam quadraginta solidorum
ceperunt et asportaverunt; et ipsam Agnetem effugaverunt de uno mesuagio
et dimidia virgata terre de quibus fuit in seysina per predictum
Willelmum que fuerunt de antiquo dominico per longum tempus; nec
permiserunt ipsam Agnetem morari in predicta villa de Chalgraue; et
eciam quandam sororem ipsius Agnetis eo quod ipsa soror eam hospitavit
per duas noctes de domibus suis eiecit, terra et catalla sua abstulit.
Et predicti Willelmus et Radulfus veniunt. Et quo ad insultacionem et
verberacionem dicunt quod non sunt inde culpabiles. Et quo ad hoc quod
ipsa Agnes dicit quod ipsam eiecerunt de domibus et terris suis, dicunt
quod predicta Agnes est natiua ipsius Willelmi et tenuit predicta
tenementa in villenagio ad voluntatem ipsius Willelmi propter quod bene
licebat eidem Willelmo ipsam de predicto tenemento ammouere.--Juratores
dicunt ... quod predicta tenementa sunt villenagium predicti Willelmi
de Barentyn et quod predicta Agnes tenuit eadem tenementa ad voluntatem
ipsius Willelmi.' Cf. Y.B. 12/13 Edw. III (ed. Pike), p. 233 sqq., 'or
vous savez bien qe par ley de terre tout ceo qe le vileyn ad si est a
soun seignour;' 229 sqq., 'qar cest sa terre demene, et il les puet
ouster a sa volunte demene.'
[36] Coram Rege, Mich., 3 4 Edw. I, m. 1: 'Ricardus de Assheburnham
summonitus fuit ad respondendum Petro de Attebuckhole et Johanni de
eadem de placito quare, cum ipsi teneant quasdam terras et tenementa de
predicto Ricardo in Hasseburnham ac ipsi parati sunt ad faciendum ei
consuetudines et servicia que antecessores sui terras et tenementa illa
tenentes facere consueverint, predictus Ricardus diversas commoditates
quam ipsi tam in boscis ipsius Ricardi quam in aliis locis habere
consueverint eisdem subtrahens ipsos ad intollerabiles servitutes et
consuetudines faciendas taliter compellit quod ex sua duricia mendicare
coguntur. Et unde queruntur quod, cum teneant tenementa sua per certas
consuetudines et certa servicia, et cum percipere consueverunt boscum ad
focum et materiam de bosco crescente in propriis terris suis, predictus
Ricardus ipsos non permittit aliquid in boscis suis capere et eciam
capit aueria sua et non permittit eos terram suam colere.--Ricardus
dicit, quod non debet eis ad aliquam accionem respondere nisi questi
essent de vita vel membris vel de iniuria facta corpori suo. Dicit eciam
quod nativi sui sunt, et quod omnes antecessores sui nativi fuerunt
antecessorum suorum et in villenagio suo manentes.'
[37] Note-book of Bracton, pl. 1237: 'dominus Rex non vult se de eis
intromittere.'
[38] It occurs in the oldest extant Plea Roll, 6 Ric. I; Rot. Cur.
Regis, ed. Palgrave, p. 84: 'Thomas venit et dicit quod ipsa fuit
uxorata cuidam Turkillo, qui habuit duos filios qui clamabant libertatem
tenementi sui in curia domini Regis ... et quod ibi dirationavit eos
esse villanos suos, et non defendit disseisinam ... Et ipsi Elilda et
Ricardus defendunt vilenagium et ponunt se super juratam,' etc.
[39] Maitland, Select Pleas of the Crown (Selden Soc. I), pl. 3:
'Quendam nativum suum quem habuit in vinculis eo quod voluit fugere.'
Bract. Notebook, pl. 1041: 'Petrus de Herefordia attachiatus fuit ad
respondendum R. fil. Th. quare ipse cepit Ricardum et eum imprisonauit
et coegit ad redempcionem 1 marce. Et Petrus venit alias et defendit
capcionem et imprisonacionem set dicit quod villanus fuit,' etc.
It must be noted, however, that in such cases it was difficult to draw
the line as to the amount of bodily injury allowed by the law, and
therefore the King's courts were much more free to interfere. In the
trial quoted on p. 45, note 2, the defendants distinguish carefully
between the accusation and the civil suit. They plead 'not guilty' as to
the former. And so Bishop Stubbs' conjecture as to the 'rusticus
verberatus' in Pipe Roll, 31 Henry I, p. 55 (Constit. Hist. i. 487),
seems quite appropriate. The case is a very early one, and may testify
to the better condition of the peasantry in the first half of the
twelfth century.
[40] As to the actual treatment experienced by the peasants at the hands
of their feudal masters, see a picturesque case in Maitland's Select
Pleas of the Crown (Selden Soc.), 203.
[41] Stubbs, Constitutional History, ii. 652, 654; Freeman, Norman
Conquest, v. 477; Digby, Introduction to the Law of Real Property, 244.
[42] Sir Thomas Smith, The Commonwealth of England, ed. 1609, p. 123,
shows that the notion of two classes corresponding to the Roman _servus_
and the Roman _adscriptus glebae_ had taken root firmly about the middle
of the sixteenth century. 'Villeins in gross, as ye would say
immediately bond to the person and his heirs.... (The adscripti) were not
bond to the person but to the mannor or place, and did follow him who
had the mannors, and in our law are called villains regardants (sic),
for because they be as members or belonging to the mannor or place.
Neither of the one sort nor of the other have we any number in England.
And of the first I never knew any in the Realme in my time. Of the
second so fewe there bee, that it is not almost worth the speaking, but
our law doth acknowledge them in both these sorts.'
[43] Section 182 is not quite consistent with such an exposition, but I
do not think there can be any doubt as to the general doctrine.
[44] I need not say that the work done by Mr. Horwood, and especially by
Mr. Pike, for the Rolls' Series quite fulfil the requirements of
students. But in comparison with it the old Year Books in Rastall's, and
even more so in Maynard's edition, appear only the more wretchedly
misprinted.
[45] For instance, Liber Assisarum, ann. 44, pl. 4 (f. 283): 'Quil fuit
son villein et il seisi de luy come de son villein come regardant a son
maneir de B. en la Counte de Dorset.'
[46] Y.B. Hil. 5 Edw. II: 'Iohan de Rose port son [ne] vexes vers Labbe
de Seint Bennet de Holme, et il counta qil luy travaille, etc., e luy
demande.' _Migg._: 'defent tort et force, ou et quant il devera et dit
qil fuist le vilein Labbe, per qi il ne deveroit estre resceve.'
_Devom._: 'il covient qe vous disez plus qe vous estes seisi, ut supra,'
etc. _Migg._: 'il est nostre vileyn, et nous seisi de luy come de nostre
vileyn.' _Ber._: 'Coment seisi come,' etc.? _Migg._: 'de luy et de ces
auncestres come de nos vileynes, en fesant de luy nostre provost en
prenant de luy rechate de char et de saunk et redemption pur fille et
fitz marier de luy et de ces auncestres et a tailler haut et bas a
nostre volente, prest,' etc. (Les reports des cases del Roy Edward le
II. London, 1678; f. 157.)
[47] I do not think it ever came into any one's mind to look at the Plea
Rolls in this matter. Even Hargrave, when preparing his famous argument
in Somersett's case, carried his search no further than the Year Books
then in print. And in consequence he just missed the true solution. He
says (Howell's State Trials, xx. 42, 43),'As to the villeins in gross
the cases relative to them are very few; and I am inclined to think that
there never was any great number of them in England.... However, after a
long search, I do find places in the Year Books where the form of
alledging villenage in gross is expressed, not in full terms, but in a
general way; and in all the cases I have yet seen, the villenage is
alledged in the ancestors of the person against whom it was pleaded.'
And he quotes 1 Edw. II, 4; 5 Edw. II, 157 (corr. for 15); 7 Edw. II,
242, and 11 Edw. II, 344. But all these cases are of Edward II's time,
and instead of being exceptional give the normal form of pleading as it
was used up to the second quarter of the fourteenth century. They looked
exceptional to Hargrave only because he restricted his search to the
later Year Books, and did not take up the Plea Rolls. By admitting the
cases quoted to indicate villainage in gross, he in fact admitted that
there were only villains in gross before 1350 or thereabouts, or rather
that all villains were alike before this time, and no such thing as the
difference between _in gross_ and _regardant_ existed. I give in App. I
the report of the interesting case quoted from 1 Edw. II.
[48] Y.B. 32/33 Edw. I (Horwood), p. 57: 'Quant un home est seisi de son
vilein, issi qil est reseant dans son vilenage.' Fitzherbert, Abr. Vill.
3 (39 Edw. III): '... villeins sunt appendant as maners qe sount auncien
demesne.' On the other hand, 'regardant' is used quite independently of
villainage. Y.B. 12/13 Edw. III (Pike), p. 133: 'come services
regardaunts al manoir de H.'
[49] Y.B. Hil. 14 Edw. II, f. 417: 'R. est bailli ... del manoir de
Clifton ... deins quel manoir cesti J. est villein.'
[50] See App. I and II.
[51] Y.B. Trin. 9 Edw. II, f. 294: 'Le manoir de H. fuit en ascun temps
en la seisine Hubert nostre ael, a quel manoir cest vileyn est
regardant.'
[52] Y.B. Trin. 29 Edw. III, f. 41. For the report of this case and the
corresponding entry in the Common Pleas Roll, see Appendix II.
[53] Cf. Annals of Dunstaple, Ann. Mon. iii. 371: 'Quia astrarius eius
fuit,' in the sense of a person living on one's land.
[54] Bracton, f. 267, b.
[55] Bract. Note-book, pl. 230, 951, 988. Cf. Spelman, Gloss. v.
astrarius. Kentish Custumal, Statutes of the Realm, i. 224. Fleta has it
once in the sense of the Anglo-Saxon heoreth-faest, i. cap. 47, Sec. 10 (f.
62).
[56] Bracton, f. 190.
[57] Littleton, sect. 187. Cf. Fortescue, 'De laudibus legum Angliae,'
c. 42.
[58] Littleton, sect. 188.
[59] Bracton, ff. 5, 193, b.
[60] I need not say that there were very notable variations in the
history of the Roman rule itself (cf. for instance, Puchta,
Institutionen, Sec. 211), but these do not concern us, as we are taking the
Roman doctrine as broadly as it was taken by medieval lawyers.
[61] Mater certa est. Gai. Inst. i. 82.
[62] See Fitz. Abr. Villenage, pl. 5 (43 Edw. III): 'Ou il allege
bastardise pur ceo qe si son auncestor fuit bastard il ne puit estre
villein, sinon par connusance.' There was a special reason for turning
the tables in favour of bastardy, which is hinted at in this case. The
bastard's parents could not be produced against a bastard. He had no
father, and his mother would be no proof against him because she was a
woman [Fitz. Abr. Vill. 37 (13 Edw. I), Par ce qe la feme ne puit estre
admise pur prove par lour fraylte et ausi cest qi est demaunde est pluiz
digne person qe un feme]. It followed strictly that he could be a
villain by confession, but not by birth. The fact is a good instance of
the insoluble contradictions in which feudal law sometimes involved
itself.
[63] Bracton, f. 5: 'Servus ratione qui se copulaverit villanae in
villenagio constitutae.' Bract. Note-book, 1839: 'Juratores dicunt quod
predictus Aluredus habuit duos fratres Hugonem [medium] medio tempore
natum et Gilibertum postnatum qui nunc petit, set Hugo cepit quamdam
terram in uillenagio et duxit uxorem [uillanam] et in uillenagio illo
procreauit quemdam filium qui ad huc superest.... Et bene dicunt quod
... iste Gilibertus propinquior heres eius est, ea racione quod filius
Hugonis genitus fuit in uillenagio.'
[64] Y.B. 30/31 Edw. I, p. 167 sqq.: 'Usage de Cornwall est cecy qe la
ou neyfe deyt estre marier hors de maner ou ele est reseant, qe ele
trovera seurte ... de revenir a son _ny_ ov ses chateux apres la mort de
son baroun.' Bracton, f. 26, 'Quasi avis in nido.'
[65] Bract. Note-book, pl. 702: 'Nota quod libera femina maritata
uillano non recuperat partem alicuius hereditatis quamdiu uillanus
uixerit.'
[66] Bract. Note-book, pl. 1837: 'Nota quod mulier que est libera uel in
statu libero saltem ad minus non debet disseisiri quin recuperare possit
per assisam quamuis nupta fuerit uillano set hereditatem petere non
poterit.' Bract. Note-book, pl. 1010: 'Et uillani mori poterunt per quod
predicte sorores petere possint ius suum.' Fitzherb. Villen. 27 (P. 7
Edw. II.): 'Les femmes sont sans recouverie _vers le seignior_ uiuant
leur barons pur ce que ils sont villens.' Cf. Bracton, f. 202.
[67] Another instance of the influence of marriage on the condition of
contracting parties is afforded by the enfranchisement of the wife in
certain cases. The common law was, however, by no means settled as to
this point. Y.B. 30/31 Edw. I, p. 167 sqq.: 'La ou le seygnur espouse sa
neyfe, si est enfranchi pur toz jurs; secus est la ou un homme estrange
ly espose, qe donk nest ele enfraunchi si non vivant son baroun, et post
mortem viri redit ad pristinum statum.' Fitzherb. Vill. 21 (P. 33 Edw.
III): 'Si home espouse femme qe est son villein el est franke durant les
espousailles. Mes quand son baron est mort el est in statu quo prius, et
issint el puis estre villein a son fils demesne.' It is quite likely
that gentlemen sometimes got into a state of moral bondage to their own
bondwomen, and were even led to marriage in a few instances, but the law
had not much to feed upon in this direction, I imagine.
[68] Fitzherbert, Vill. 24 (H. 50 Edw. III; P. 40 Edw. III, 17): 'Si
home demurt en terre tenue en villenage de temps dount, etc., il sera
villen, et est bon prescripcion et encountre tel prescripcion est bon
ple a dire qe son pere ou ayle fuit adventiffe,' etc. I suppose _ayle_
here to be a simple error for _ayl_ or _ael_, grandfather.
[69] Cambridge Univ., Dd. vij. 6, f. 231: 'Nota de tempore quo servus
dicere poterit quia fecerit consuetudines villanas racione tenementi non
racione persone. Et sciendum, quod quamdiu servus poterit verificare
stipitem suam liberam non dicitur nativus, set quam citius dominus
dicere poterit villicus noster est ex auo et tritauo, tunc primo desinit
gaudere replicacione omnimoda et privilegio libertatis racione stipitis,
ut si A. primo ingressus villenagium tenuerit de F. per villana
servitia, deinde B. filius A., deinde C. filius B., deinde D. filius C.,
et sic tenuerint in villenagium de gradu in gradum usque ad quartum
gradum de F. et heredibus suis, ille uillanus inuentus in quinto gradu
descendente natiuus dicitur.' I am indebted for this passage to the
kindness of Prof. Maitland.
[70] Britton, i. 196, 206.
[71] Hale, Pleas of the Crown (ed. 1736), ii. 298, gives an interesting
record from Edward I's reign, which shows that even the general theory
was doubtful.
[72] Dial. de Scacc. i. 10. p. 193: 'Ea propter pene quicumque sic hodie
occisus reperitur, ut murdrum punitur, exceptis his quibus certa sunt ut
diximus servilis condicionis indicia.' On the other hand the Dialogus
lays stress on the fact, that if a villain's chattels get confiscated
they go to the king and not to the lord (ii. 10. p. 222), but this is
regarded as a breach of a general principle.
[73] Glanville, xiv. 1: 'Per ferrum callidum si fuerit homo liber, per
aquam si fuerit rusticus.'
[74] Lighter offences committed by the lord could not give rise to
prosecution, but the _persona standi in iudicio_ was admitted in a
general way even in this case. A curious illustration of the different
footing of villains in civil and criminal cases is afforded by a trial
of Richard I's time. Richard of Waure brings an appeal against his man
and reeve, Robert Thistleful, for conspiring with his enemies against
his person. He offers to prove it against him, 'ut dominus, vel ut homo
maimatus, sicut curia consideraverit.' Reeves were mostly villains, and
the duty of serving as a reeve was considered as a characteristic of
base condition. The lord probably goes to the King's court because he
wants his man subjected to more severe punishment than he could inflict
on him by his own power. (Rot. Cur. Regis Ricardi, 60.)
[75] The lord had power over their property, but against everybody else
they were protected by the criminal law.
[76] Sometimes the system is used so as to enforce servitude. See Court
Rolls of Ramsey Abbey. Augmentation Court Rolls, Edw. I, Portf. 34, No.
46, m. 1 d. (Aylington): 'Adhuc dicunt quod Johannes filius Ricardi
Dunning est tannator et manet apud Heyham, set dat per annum pro
recognicione duos capones. Et quia potens est et habet multa bona,
preceptum fuit Hugoni Achard et eius decennae ad ultimum visum ad
habendum ipsum ad istam curiam, et non habuit. Ideo ipse et decenna sua
in misericordia.' (This case is now being printed in Selden Soc. vol.
ii. p. 64.)
[77] Bracton, 124 b: 'Quia omnis homo siue liber siue seruus, aut est
aut debet esse in franco plegio aut de alicuius manupastu, nisi sit
aliquis itinerans de loco in locum, qui non plus se teneat ad unum quam
ad alium, vel quid habeat quod sufficiat pro franco plegio, sicut
dignitatem vel ordinem vel liberum tenementum, vel in civitatem rem
immobilem.' Nichols, Britton, i. 181, gives a note from Cambr. MS. Dd.
vii. 6, to the effect that 'Villeins and naifs ought not to be in
tithings, secundum quosdam.' This is certainly a misunderstanding, but
it can hardly be accounted for either by the enfranchisement of the
peasant or the decay of the frank-pledge. I think the annotator may have
seen the passages in Leg. Cnuti or Leg. Henrici I, which speak about
free men joining the tithings, or speculated about the meaning of
'plegium liberale.' There could be no thought of excluding the villains
in practice during the feudal period. As to the allusion in the Mirror
of Justices, I shall refer to it in Appendix III.
[78] See below, Essay I. chap. vi.
[79] Bract. Note-book, pl. 1256: 'Et Ricardus dicit quod assisa non
debet inde fieri quia predictus Iohannes dedit terram illam cuidam
uillano ipsius Ricardi, et ipse uillanus reddidit terram illam domino
suo sicut emptam catallis domini sui, et quod ita ingressum habuit per
uillanum illum in terram illam ponit se super iuratam.' Liber Assisarum,
ann. 41. pl. 4. f. 252, shows that the statute _de religiosis_ could be
evaded by the lord entering into his villain's acquest. 'Levesque
d'Exester port un Assise de no. diss. vers le tenaunt et _Persey_ pur
Leuesque en euidence dit, que un A. que fuit villeine le Evesque come de
droit de sa Eglise purchase les tenements a luy et ses heyres et morust
seisie, apres que mort entra B. come fitz et heire, sur que possession
pur cause de villeinage entra Leuesque.--_Wich._ Home de religion ne
puit pas recoverer per assise terre si title de droit ne soit troue en
luy, et ou le title que est trouue en Leuesque est pur cause de la
purchace de son villein, en quel cas Leuesque ne fuit compellable de
entre sil nust vola mes puit auer eu ses seruices, et le statute voit
Quod terrae et tenementa ad manum mortuam nullo modo deueniant, per que
il semble que nous ne possomus pas doner iudgement pur Leuesque en ceo
cas. _Sanke_: de son villein ne puit il pas leuer ses seruices, ne
accepter lesse par sa maine, car a ceo que ieo entend par acceptacion de
homage ou de fealty per sa maine il serra enfraunchi, per quey necessite
luy arcte dentre, et le statut nestoit pas fait mes de restreindre
purchaus a faire de nouel, et non pas a defaire ceo qe fuit launcien
droit dez eglises. Et sur ceo fuerent aiournes en common bank, et
illonque le judgement done pur Leuesque sans difficultie,' etc. (See
also the report of the same case in Y.B. Mich. 41 Edw. III, pl. 8. f.
21.)
[80] Bracton, f. 25: 'Si ... stipulatus sit servus sibi ipsi, et non
domino, id non statim acquiritur domino, quamuis illud (corr. ille) sit
sub voluntate et potestate sua, antequam dominus apprehensus fuerit
possessionem. Quod quidem impune facere poterit, si voluerit, propter
exceptionem,' etc. Fitz. Abr. Vill. pl. 22 (Pasch. 35 Edw. III): 'Si le
villen le roy purchase biens ou chatteux le properte de eux est en le
roy sauns seisier. Mes auter est de auter home, etc. Mes sil purchas
terre le roy doit seisier, etc. car _Thorp._ dit que terre demurt terre
tout temps, mes biens come boefs ou vache puit estre mange.'
[81] Bracton, f. 25 b: 'Sic constat, quod qui sub potestate alterius
fuerit, dare poterit. Sed qualiter hoc cum ipse, qui ab aliis
possidetur, nihil possidere possit? Ergo videtur quod nihil dare possit,
quia non potest quis dare quod non habet, et nisi fuerit in possessione
rei dandae. Respondeo, dare potest qui seisinam habet qualemcunque, et
servus dare potest,' etc. In case of an execution for debt due to the
king the goods of the villain were to be taken only when the lord's
goods were exhausted. Dialog. de Scacc. ii. 14. p. 229.
[82] Bracton, f. 190: 'Et non competit alicui hujusmodi exceptio de
villenagio, praeterquam vero domino, nisi utrumque probet, scilicet quod
villanus sit et teneat in villenagio, cum per hoc sequatur, quod ad
ipsum non pertineat querela sive assisa, sed ad verum dominum, et ideo
cadit assisa quantum ad personam suam et non quantum ad personam
domini.' Cf. Britton, i. 325.
[83] Britton, i. 199; Littleton, 189; Bract. Note-book, pl. 1025:
'Assisa venit recognitura utrum una uirgata terre cum pertinenciis in R.
sit libera elemosina pertinens ad ecclesiam Magistri Iohannis de R. de
R. an laicum feodum Gaufridi Beieudehe. Qui venit et dicit quod non
debet inde assisa fieri quia antecessores sui _feoffati fuerunt a
conquestu Anglie_ ita quod tenerent de ecclesia illa et redderent ei per
annum x. solidos.... Iuratores dicunt quod terra illa est feodum eiusdem
ecclesie ita quod idem G. et antecessores sui semper tenuerunt de
ecclesia.... Et dicunt quod idem Gaufridus est natiuus Comitis Warenne et
de eo tenet in uilenagio aliud tenementum. Postea uenit Gaufridus et
cognouit quod est uillanus Comitis Warenne. Postea concordati sunt,'
etc.
[84] Example, Fitz. Abr. Villen. 16. The proper reply to such a plea is
shown by Bract. Note-book, pl. 1833: 'Et Iohannes dicit quod hoc ei
nocere non debet, quia quicquid idem dicat de uillenagio, ipsemet ut
liber homo sine contradiccione domini sui terram illam dedit Iohanni del
Frid patri istius Iohannis pro homagio et seruicio suo ... Consideratum
est quod predictus Iohannes recuperauit seisinam suam, et Richerus in
misericordia.' Liber Assis. ann. 43. pl. 1. f. 265 gives the contrary
decision: 'Lassise agarde et prise, per quel il fuit troue quil [le
defendant] fuit villein al Counte ... mes troue fuit ouster que le Counte
ne fut unques seisie de la terre, ne onques claima riens en la terre, et
troue fuit que le plaintif fuit seisie et disseisie. Et sur ceo, le quel
le plaintif recouerer, ou que le brief abateroit sont ajornes deuant eux
mesmes a Westminster. A que jour per opinion de la Court le briefe
abatu, per que le plaintif fuit non sue,' etc.
[85] A different view is taken by Stubbs, i. 484.
[86] Digby, Real Property, 3rd ed. p. 128. I may say at once that I fail
to see any connexion between copyhold tenure and any express agreements
between lord and villain.
[87] Bracton, 192 b: 'Si autem dominus ita dederit sine manumissione,
servo et heredibus suis tenendum libere, presumi poterit de hoc quod
servum voluit esse liberum, cum aliter servus heredes habere non possit
nisi cum libertate et ita contra dominum excipientem de villenagio
competit ei replicatio.' Cf. 23 b and Britton, i. 247; Fleta, 238;
Littleton, secs. 205, 207.
[88] Bracton, 24 b: 'Si autem in charta hoc tantum contineatur, habendum
et tenendum tali (cum sit servus) per liberum servitium huiusmodi verba
non faciunt servum liberum nec dant ei liberum tenementum ... Quia
tenementum nichil confert nec detrahit personae, nisi praecedat, ut
dictum est, homagium vel manumissio, vel quod tantundem valet de
concessione domini, scilicet quod villanus libere teneat et quiete et
per liberum servitium, _sibi et haeredibus suis_. Si autem hoc solum
dicatur, quod teneat per liberum servitium [sibi et heredibus suis], si
ejectus fuerit a quocunque non recuperet per assisam noue disseisine, ut
liberum tenementum, quia domino competit assisa et non villano. Si tamen
dominus ipsum ejecerit, quaeritur, an contra dominum agere possit de
conventione, cum prima facie non habet personam standi in judicio ad
hoc, quod dominus teneat ei conventionem, videtur quod sic, propter
factum domini sui, ut si agat de conventione, et dominus excipiat de
servitute, replicare poterit de facto domini sui, sicut supra dicitur de
feoffamento. Nec debent jura juvare dominum contra voluntatem suam, quia
semel voluit conventionem, et quamvis damnum sentiat, non tamen fit ei
injuria et ex quo prudenter et scienter contraxit cum servo suo, tacite
renunciavit exceptionem villenagii.'
[89] The freehold would be given and still 'non recuperet per assisam
no. diss. quia domino competit assisa et non villano.'
[90] See my article, 'The Text of Bracton,' in the Law Quarterly Review,
i. 189, et sqq.; and Maitland, Introduction to the Note-book of Bracton,
26 sqq.
[91] The Cambridge MSS. have been inspected for me by Mr. Maitland.
[92] Comp. Bracton, f. 194 b: 'Quia ex quo mentionem fecit de heredibus
praesumitur vehementer, quod dominus voluit servum esse liberum _quod
quidem non esset, si de heredibus mentionem non fecerit_.'