The way in which William introduced the feudal system.

the title

deeds of the landowners,

fealty, taken in the time of Athelstane, but it did not exist here as a system until the time of William the Conqueror, who introduced it from Normandy.

In order to understand the way in which he introduced it, we must go back to the mode in which men obtained possession of land in the Anglo-Saxon times.

Those to whom land was given, at the time of the Saxon invasions, held it as their own, and they had the power of giving or selling it to others. All such sales or gifts were accompanied by the giving of a document, called a charter, or land-boc. Whoever had possession of this land-boc, was held to be the owner of the property. These documents, or titledeeds as we should call them, were usually placed in a monastery for safety.9

When William came, the lands were no longer seized by a number of fierce warriors, each one claiming a share as his right, but they were distributed, as rewards, by the leader of a body of soldiers who were bound to obey him. William had promised his warriors to give them land, and one of his first He seized objects was to keep his promise. But he wished that all titles to land should spring from himself, and so he destroyed every one of these land-bocs, by which the Anglo-Saxons held their lands, on which he could lay his hands. He then took possession of the royal lands, which were very extensive, seized also the lands of those who had taken arms against him, and and grant- distributed them among his followers, who were called Barons, keeping, however, extensive lands for himself.21 The lands were not however, as in Saxon times, given in absolute ownership, but they were granted on certain conditions, viz., on what is called

ed the

lands on

feudal tenure.

Feudal Tenure, which I have already explained to you, and thus the Feudal System, which had long been a Norman institution, was introduced into England.

Manors.

Further Information as to Tenure of Land, and
Division of the Nation into Classes.

I shall now give you some further information as to the tenure of land, and this will lead me to tell you of the different classes into which the nation was divided, and of the state in which they lived. The lands, or estates distributed by William among his followers, were called Manors by the Normans. The divisions of land thus named, existed, as I told you in my former lecture, in Anglo-Saxon times, but they were not called Manors till the Normans came. The name was derived from a Latin word (manere) meaning to dwell or remain, because the lord dwelt on the land in a house or mansion. A manor was a tract of land held by a lord or great personage, who kept to himself such parts of it as were necessary for his own use. These were called demesne lands. The rest he distributed to freehold tenants. Of the demesne lands again, part was kept in the actual occupation of the lord, for the purposes of his family, part was held in villeinage (which I will explain to you immediately), and the rest, being uncultivated, was called the lord's waste. This waste portion served Commons. for public roads, and for common of pasture, to the lord and his tenants. This explains to you the origin of, and laws relating to commons, such as Chorleywood common, at the present day. Manors were formerly (by the Normans) called baronies, as they still are Lordships, and the owner of the Manor is, as I have no doubt you know, called the Lord of the Manor.60

William the Conqueror seized for himself nearly 1500 Manors, besides giving between 2000 and 3000

DIVISION OF THE NATION INTO CLASSES.

University of MICHIGAN

99

to his followers. Those who received the largest grants, to the extent, for instance, of six manors, were called the greater barons; those who received grants to a less extent, the lesser barons.22

I must now explain to you what is meant by holding land in villeinage, and in order to do this I must tell you of the different classes into which the nation was divided, and I shall begin with the labouring class.

The lowest class of the community were called Thralls or Villeins, who existed in a state of absolute slavery, and none who had unhappily been born in, or had fallen into, bondage, could acquire an absolute right to any species of property.85 This was also the case in Scotland, as may be seen by the book of ancient Scottish laws. "Na bondman may buy or purches his libertie with his awin proper gudes or geir, because all the cattell and gudes of all bondmen are understand to be in the power and dominion of the maister swa that without consent of his maister, he may not redeme himself out of bondage with his awin proper denires or money.'

1185

These villeins probably originally consisted of conquered Britons 39, but as criminals who could not pay the fines to which they were subject by law were degraded to this state, many of the Saxon invaders no doubt became included in the class, even before the Normans came. 97 After their arrival it was common for the Normans to make slaves of the Saxons. These Thralls or Villeins were, in some cases, attached by law to the soil, and could not be removed from it, but they always belonged to the owner, for the time being, of that particular estate. Others, who were called villeins in gross, were the personal property

Thralls or were slaves.

Villeins

Villeinage.

Ceorls, or
Churls,

of the lord 23, and could be sold by him, as he would sell his horses or his cattle, and if a villein was murdered, the fine which was paid for murdering a man was paid to the lord who was his owner. 42 98 These slaves were so numerous as to form a considerable branch of English commerce.99 An author, who lived in the reign of Henry the Second, informs us, that such a number of them was exported to Ireland, that the market there was absolutely glutted; and another declares that, from the reign of William the Conqueror to that of King John, there was scarce a cottage in Scotland that did not possess an English slave.85

A man who held land in villeinage did so on condition of rendering such services as were usually rendered by villeins, or, as described by a learned lawyer of the time of Henry the Third, "Pure villeinage is where a man holds on terms of doing whatsoever is commanded of him, nor knows in the evening what is to be done in the morning." 43 Every man was bound to place himself in dependence upon some man of rank and wealth, as his lord. A "lordless" man was liable to be slain as an outlaw by any one who met him.41

It is thus expressed in the laws of King Athelstan : "And we have ordained, respecting those lordless men of whom no law can be got, that the kindred be commanded that they domicile him, and find him a lord in the folk-mote; and if they then cannot or will not produce him at the term, then be he thenceforth a flyma' (that is a man who has fled for his offence), and let him slay him for a thief who can come at him."70 a

The next class were called Ceorls, or as we should say, Churls.100 These were freemen. They had their