Montesquieu has seen this very clearly, when he considers even the horse and _framea_ of Tacitus in the light of _beneficia_. From a charter of Æðelflǽd, an. 915-922, it would seem that in Mercia a thane required the consent of the lord, before he could purchase an estate of bookland: “Ego Æðelflǽd ... dedi licentiam Eádríco meo ministro comparandi terram decem manentium æt Fernbeorgen, sibi suisque haeredibus perpetualiter possidendam.” Cod. Dipl. No. 343. About the close of the ninth century, Wulfhere, a duke, having left the country, and so deserted the duties of his position, was adjudged to lose even his private lands of inheritance: “Quando ille utrumque et suum dominum regem Ælfredum et patriam, ultra iusiurandum quam regi et suis omnibus optimatibus iuraverat, sine licentia dereliquit; tunc etiam, cum omnium iudicio sapientium Geuisorum et Mercensium, potestatem et haereditatem dereliquit agrorum.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1078. The importance of this passage seems to me to rest upon the words “sine licentia.” Footnote 319: “Þegenes lagu is ðæt he sý his bócrihtes wyrðe; taini lex est ut sit dignus rectitudine testamenti sui.” Thorpe, i. 432. And with this Ælfred’s law of entails is consistent. Leg. Ælf. § 41. Thorpe, i. 88. Footnote 320: Toward the end of the tenth century, Beorhtríc, a wealthy noble in Kent, devised land by will to various relatives. He left the king, a collar worth eighty mancuses of gold, and a sword of equal value; his heriot, comprising four horses, two of which were saddled; two swords with their belts; two hawks, and all his hounds. He further gave to the queen, a ring worth thirty mancuses of gold, and a mare, that she might be his advocate (forespræce) that the will might stand, “ðæt se cwide stondan mihte.” Cod. Dipl. No. 492. Between 944 and 946, Æðelgyfu devised lands and chattels to St. Albans, “cum consensu domini mei regis.” The king and queen had a very fair share of this spoil. Cod. Dipl. No. 410. Between 965 and 975, Ælfheáh, an ealdorman, or noble of the highest rank, and cousin of Eádgár’s queen Ælfðrýð, left lands, a good share of which went to the king and queen: the will was made, “be his cynehláfordes geþafunge,” by his royal lord’s permission, and winds up with this clause: “And the witnesses to this permission which the king granted (observe, not to the will itself, but to the king’s permission to leave the property as he did,) are Ælfðrýð the queen and others.” Cod. Dipl. No. 593. Æðelflǽd a royal lady, left lands, some of which went to the king: she says, “And ic bidde mínan leófan hláford for Godes lufun, ðæt mín cwide standan móte,”—and I beg my dear Lord, for God’s love, that this my will may stand. Cod. Dipl. No. 685. In the time of Æðelred, Wulfwaru, a lady, commences her will in these words: “Ic Wulfwaru bidde míne leófan hláford Æðelred kyning, him tó ælmyssan, ðæt ic móte beón mínes cwides wyrðe;” _i.