In addition to these taxes, or "aids," as they were called, there were other demands which the lord might make, such as: (1) a year's profits of the land from the heir, on his coming into possession of his father's estate; this was called a relief; (2) the income from the lands of orphan heirs not of age; (3) payment for privilege of disposing of land.[1]
[1] The clergy, being a corporate and hence an ever-living body, were exempt from these last demands. Not satisfied with this, they were constantly endeavoring, with more or less success, to escape ALL feudal obligations, on the ground that they rendered the state divine service. In 1106, in the reign of Henry I, it was settled, for the time, that the bishops were to do homage to the King, i.e. furnish military service for the lands they received from him as their feudal lord (S136).
In case of an orphan heiress not of age, the feudal lord became her guardian and might select a suitable husband for her. Should the heiress reject the person selected, she forfeited a sum of money equal to the amount the lord expected to receive by the proposed marriage. Thus we find one woman in Ipswich giving a large fee for the privilege of "not being married except to her own good liking." In the collection of these "aids" and "reliefs," great extortion was often practiced both by the King and the barons.
Besides the feudal troops there was a national militia, consisting of peasants and others not provided with armor, who fought on foot with bows and spears. These could also be called on as during the Saxon period (S96). In some cases where the barons were in revolt against the King, for instance, under William Rufus (S130), this national militia proved of immense service to the Crown.
The great landholders let out part of their estates to tenants on similar terms to those on which they held their own, and in this way the entire country was divided up. The lowest class of tenants were the common agricultural laborers called villeins—a name derived from the Latin villa, meaning a country house or farm. These villeins, or serfs, held small pieces of land on condition of performing labor for it. They were bound to the soil and could be sold with it, but not, like slaves, apart from it. They were not wholly destitute of legal rights.
Under William I and his successors, all free tenants, of whatever grade, were bound to uphold the King,[2] and in case of insurrection or civil war to serve under him (S122). In this most important respect the great landholders of England differed from those of the Continent, where the lesser tenants were bound only to serve their own masters, and might, and in fact often did, take up arms against the King. William removed this serious defect. By doing so he did the country an incalculable service. He completed the organization of feudal land tenure, but he never established the Continental system of feudal government. (See, too, the Constitutional Summary in the Appendix, p. v, S6.)
[2] See the Constitutional Summary in the Appendix, pp. iii-v, SS5, 6.
The building is Ludlow Castle, Shropshire. Manor houses proper, as distinct from castles, existed in England at least from the thirteenth century
(See Gibbin's "Industrial History of England" and Cheyney's
"Industrial and Social England")
The inhabitants of a manor, or the estate of a lord, were: (1) the lord himself, or his representative, who held his estate on condition of furnishing the King a certain number of armed men (SS113, 150); (2) the lord's personal followers, who lived with him, and usually a parish priest or a number of monks; (3) the farm laborers, or villeins, bound to the soil, who could not leave the manor, were not subject to military duty, and who paid rent in labor or produce; there might also be a few actual slaves, but this last class gradually rose to the partial freedom of villenage; (4) certain free tenants or "sokemen," who paid a fixed rent either in money or service and were not bound to the soil as the villeins were.
Next to the manor house (where courts were also held) the most important buildings were the church (used sometimes for markets and town meetings); the lord's mill (if there was a stream), in which all tenants must grind their grain and pay for the grinding; and finally, the cottages of the tenants, gathered in a village near the mill.
The land was divided as follows: (1) the "demesne" (or domain) surrounding the manor house; this was strictly private—the lord's ground; (2) the land outside the demesne, suitable for cultivation; this was let in strips, usually of thirty acres, but was subject to certain rules in regard to methods of tillage and crops; (3) a piece of land which tenants might hire and use as they saw fit; (4) common pasture, open to all tenants to pasture their cattle on; (5) waste or untilled land, where all tenants had the right to cut turf for feul, or gather plants or shrubs for fodder; (6) the forest or woodland, where all tenants had the right to turn their hogs out to feed on acorns, and where they might also collect a certain amound of small wood for feul; (7) meadow land on which the tenants might hire the right to cut grass and make hay. On the above plan the fields of tenants—both those of villeins and of "sokemen," or tenants who paid a fixed rent in money or service—are marked by the letters A, B, C, etc.
If the village grew, the tenants might, in time, purchase from the lord the right to manage their own affairs in great measure, and so become a Free Town (S183).
II. Religion
151. The Church.
With respect to the organization of the Church, no changes were made under the Norman kings. They, however, generally deposed the English bishops and substituted Normans or foreigners, who, as a class, were superior in education to the English. William the Conqueror made it pretty clearly understood that he considered the Church subordinate to his will, and that in all cases of dispute about temporal matters, he, and not the Pope, was to decide (S118). During the Norman period great numbers of monasteries were built.
In one very important respect William the Conqueror greatly increased the power of the Church by establishing ecclesiastical courts in which all cases relating to the Church and the clergy were tried by the bishops according to laws of their own. Persons wearing the dress of a monk or priest, or those who could manage to spell out a verse of the Psalms, and so pass for ecclesiastics, would claim the right to be tried under the Church laws, and, as the punishments which the Church inflicted were notoriously mild, the consequence was that the majority of criminals escaped the penalty of their evil doings. So great was the abuse of this privilege, that, at a later period, Henry II made an attempt to reform it (S164); but it was not wholly and finally done away with until the beginning of the nineteenth century.
III. Military Affairs.
152. The Army.
The army consisted of cavalry, or knights, and foot soldiers. The former were almost wholly Normans. They wore armor similar to that used by the Saxons. It is represented in the pictures of the Bayeux Tapestry (S75, 155), and appears to have consisted of leather or stout linen, on which pieces of bone, or scales, or rings of iron were securely sewed. Later, these rings of iron were set up edgewise, and interlinked, or the scales made to overlap. The helmet was pointed, and had a piece in front to protect the nose. The shield was long and kite-shaped.
The weapons of this class of soldiers consisted of a lance and a double-edged sword. The foot soldiers wore little or no armor and fought principally with long bows. In case of need, the King could probably muster about ten thousand knights, or armed horsemen, and a much larger force of foot soldiers. Under the Norman kings the principal wars were insurrections against William I, the various revolts of the barons, and the civil war under Stephen.
153. Knighthood.[1]
Candidates for knighthood were usually obliged to pass through a long course of training under the care of some distinguished noble. The candidate served first as a page, or attendant in the house; then, as a squire or attendant, he followed his master to the wars. After seven years in this capacity, he prepared himself for receiving the honors of knighthood by spending several days in a church, engaged in solemn religious rites, fasting, and prayer.
[1]