Every freeman was obliged to do three things: 1. He must assist in the
maintenance of roads and bridges. 2. He must aid in the repair of
forts. 3. He must serve in case of war. Whoever neglected or refused
to perform this last and most important of all duties was dclard to be
a "nithing," or infamous coward.[4]
[4] Also written Niding. The English, as a rule, were more afraid of
this name than of death itself.
86. The Feudal System (see, too, the Constitutional Summary in the
Appendix, p. iii, S5).
The essential principle of the feudal system was the holding of land
on condition of military or other service. It appears to have
gradually grown up in England from grants made by the King. In
addition to the Eorls (earls)[1] or nobles by birth, there gradually
grew up a class known as Thanes (companions or servants of the King),
who in time outranked those who were noble by birth. He would
frequently have occasion to give rewards to the nobles and chief men
for faithful service and for deeds of valor. As nearly all his wealth
consisted in land, he would naturally give that. To this gift,
however, he would attach a condition. On making such a grant the King
required the receiver to agree to furnish a certain number of fully
equipped soldiers to fight for him. These grants were originally made
for life only, and on death of the recipient they returned to the
Crown.
[1] The Saxons, or Early English, were divided into three classes:
Eorls (they must nut be confounded with the Danish jarls or earls),
who were noble by birth; Ceorls (churls), or simple freemen; and
slaves. The slaves were either the absolute property of the master,
or were bound to the soil and sold with it. This latter class, under
the Norman name of villeins, became numerous after the Norman Conquest
in the eleventh century. The chieftains of the first Saxon settlers
were called either Ealdormen (aldermen) or Heretogas, the first being
civil or magisterial, the latter military officers. The Thanes were a
later class, who, from serving the King or some powerful leader,
became noble by military service.
Next, the nobles and other great landholders, following the example of
the King, granted portions of their estates to tenants on similar
conditions, and these again might grant portions to those below them
in return for satisfactory military or other service.
In time it came to be an established principle, that every freeman
below the rank of a noble must be attached to some superior whom he
was bound to serve, and who, on the other hand, was his legal
protector and responsible for his good behavior. The man who refused
to acknowledge his duty to serve a lord or superior was looked upon as
an outlaw, and might be seized like a robber. In that respect,
therefore, he would be worse off than the slave, who had a master to
whom he was accountable and who was accountable for him.
Eventually it became common for the small landholders, especially
during the Danish invasions, to seek the protection of some
neighboring lord who had a large band of followers at his command. In
such cases the freeman gave up his land and received it again on
certain conditions. The usual form was for him to kneel and, placing
his hands within those of the lord, to swear an oath of homage, saing,
"I BECOME YOUR MAN for the lands which I hold to you, and I will be
faithful to you against all men, saving only the service which I owe
to my lord the King." On his side the lord solemnly promised to
defend his tenant or vassal in the possession of his property, for
which he was to perform some service to the lord.
In these two ways, first, by grant of lands from the King or a
superior, and, secondly, by the act of homage (known as commendation)
on the part of the recipient when he had given up lands on condition
of protection and had received them back again, the feudal system (a
name derived from feodum, meaning land or property) grew up in
England. Its growth, however, was irregular and incomplete; and it
should be distinctly understood that it was not until after the Norman
Conquest in the eleventh century that it became fully establised. It
should also be distinctly understood that William the Conqueror made a
most important change in this system by requiring the tenants of all
the great landholders, as well as their masters, to swear direct
obedience to him (S121).