Hand in hand with the progress of conquest, the confiscation of land
went on. William had seized the lands belonging to Harold (S67) and
those of the chief men associated with him, and had given them to his
own followers in England. In this way, all the greatest estates and
the most important offices passed into the hands of the Normans. The
King made these royal grants on the express condition that those who
received them should furnish him a certain number of armed men
whenever he should demand them.
Two great classes of society now existed in England. First, the
leading Norman conquerors, who, as chief tenants or landholders under
the Crown, and as peers of the realm, had the title of barons. They
numbered about fifteen hundred, and, as we have just seen, they were
all pledged to draw their swordss in behalf of the King. Secondly,
the English who had been reduced to a subordinate state; most of these
now held their land as grants from the Norman barons on condition of
some kind of service. A majority of these men were no longer entirely
free, while some were actual slaves. The greater part of this servile
class were villeins or farm laborers (S150). They were bound to the
soil, and could be sold with it, but not, like the slaves, separately
from it. They could be compelled to perform any menial labor, but
usually held their plots of land and humble cottages on condition of
plowing a certain number of acres or doing a certain number of days'
work in each year. In time the villeins generally obtained the
privilege of paying a fixed money rent, in place of labor, and their
condition gradually improved.