Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776Reilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
Laxton "had 2 carucates of land [assessed] to the geld. [There
is] land for 6 ploughs. There Walter, a man of [the lord] Geoffrey
Alselin's has 1 plough and 22 villeins and 7 bordars [a bordar had a
cottage and a small amount land in return for supplying small
provisions to his lord] having 5 ploughs and 5 serfs and 1 female serf
and 40 acres of meadow. Wood [land] for pannage [foraging by pigs] 1
league in length and half a league in breadth. In King Edward's time it
was worth 9 pounds; now [it is worth] 6 pounds."
Ilbert de Laci has now this land, where he has twelve ploughs
in the demesne; and forty-eight villani, and twelve bordars with
fifteen ploughs, and three churches and three priests, and three mills
of ten shillings. Wood pastures two miles long, and one broad. The
whole manor five miles long and two broad. Value in King Edward's time
sixteen pounds, the same now.
That manor of the town of Coventry which was individually held
was that of the Countess of Coventry, who was the wife of the earl of
Mercia. "The Countess held in Coventry. There are 5 hides. The arable
land employs 20 ploughs. In the demesne lands there are 3 ploughs and 7
bondmen. There are 50 villeins and 12 bordars with 20 ploughs. The mill
there pay[s] 3 shillings. The woodlands are 2 miles long and the same
broad. In King Edward's time and afterwards, it was worth 22 pounds
[440 s.], now only 11 pounds by weight. These lands of the Countess
Godiva Nicholas holds to farm of the King."
The survey shows a few manors and monasteries owned a salthouse
or saltpit in the local saltworks, from which they were entitled to
obtain salt.
In total there were about 110,000 villani [former coerls
regarded as customary, irremovable cultivator tenants]; 82,000
bordarii; 7,000 cotarii and cotseti [held land by service of labor or
rent paid in produce], and 25,000 servi [landless laborers]. There are
no more theows. This survey resulted in the first national tax system
of about 6s. per hide of land.
The survey also provided the Conquerer with a summary of
customs of areas. For instance, in Oxfordshire, "Anyone breaking the
King's peace given under his hand and seal to the extent of committing
homicide shall be at the King's mercy in respect of his life and
members. That is if he be captured. And if he cannot be captured, he
shall be considered as an outlaw, and anyone who kills him shall have
all his possessions. The king shall take the possessions of any
stranger who has elected to live in Oxford and who dies in possession
of a house in that town, and without any kinfolk. The king shall be
entitled to the body and the possessions of any man who kills another
within his own court or house excepting always the dower of his wife,
if he has a wife who has received dower.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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