[p126]CHAPTER V.MANORS AND SERFDOM UNDER SAXON RULE.I. THE SAXON 'HAMS' AND 'TUNS' WERE MANORS WITH VILLAGE COMMUNITIES IN SERFDOM UPON THEM.Thehamsandtunswere manors.Having now ascertained that the open field system was prevalent during Saxon, and probably pre-Saxon times, we have next to inquire whether the 'hams' and 'tuns' to which the common fields belonged were manors—i.e.estates with a village community in serfdom upon them—or whether, on the contrary, there once dwelt within them a free village community holding their yard-lands by freehold or allodial tenure.
[p126]
Thehamsandtunswere manors.
Having now ascertained that the open field system was prevalent during Saxon, and probably pre-Saxon times, we have next to inquire whether the 'hams' and 'tuns' to which the common fields belonged were manors—i.e.estates with a village community in serfdom upon them—or whether, on the contrary, there once dwelt within them a free village community holding their yard-lands by freehold or allodial tenure.
Let us at once dismiss from the question the word 'manor.' It was thenamegenerally used in the Domesday Survey, for athingdescribed in the Survey as already existing at the time of Edward the Confessor. The estate called a manor was certainly as much a Saxon institution under the Confessor as it was aNormanone afterwards.
The Domesday book itself does not always adhere to this single word 'manor' throughout its pages.[p127]
The wordmaneriumgives place in the Exeter Survey to the wordvillafor the whole manor, andmansiofor the manor-house; and the same words,villaandmansio, are also used in the instructions153given at the commencement of theInquisitio Eliensis. It is perfectly clear, then, that what was called amanororvilla, both in the west and in the east of England, was in fact the estate of a lord with a village community in villenage upon it.
In the Boldon Book also the wordvillais used instead of manor.
So in Saxon documents the whole manor or estate was called by various names, generally 'ham' or 'tun.'
King Alfred's will.
In King Alfred's will154estates in the south-east of England, including the villages upon them, which by Norman scribes would have been called manors, are described ashams(thehamat such a place). In the old English version of the will given in the 'Liber de Hyda'155the word 'twune' is used to translate 'ham,' and in the Latin version the word 'villa.'156
Parable of the prodigal son.
In the Saxon translation of the parable of the prodigal son, the country estate of the citizen—the 'burh-sittenden man'—to which the prodigal was sent to feed swine, and where he starved upon the 'bean-cods' that the swine did eat, was the citizen's 'tune.'157
So that the 'hams' and 'tuns' of Saxon times were in fact commonly private estates with villages upon them,i.e.manors.
Grants of whole manors.
This fact is fully borne out by the series of Saxon[p128]charters from first to last. They generally, as already said, contain grants ofwholemanors in this sense, including the villages upon them, with all the village fields, pastures, meadows, &c., embraced within the boundaries given. And these boundaries are the boundaries of thewhole village or township—i.e.of the whole estate.
Saxon words.
Further, a careful examination of Anglo-Saxon documents will show that the Saxon manors, not only at the time of Edward the Confessor, as shown by the Domesday Survey, but also long previously, were divided into the land of the lord'sdemesneand the landin villenage, though the Norman phraseology was not yet used. The lord of the manor was athaneor 'hlaford.' The demesne land was thethane's inland. All classes of villeins were calledgeneats. The land in villenage was thegeneat-land, or thegesettes-land, or sometimes thegafol-land. And further, thisgeneat-, orgesettes-, orgafol-landwas composed, like the later land in villenage, of hides and yard-lands, whilst the villein tenants of it, as in the Domesday Survey, were divided mainly into two classes: (1) thegeburs(villani proper), or holders of yard-lands; and (2) thecottierswith their smaller holdings. Beneath these two classes of holders ofgeneatland were thetheowsor slaves, answering to theserviof the Survey. Lastly, there is clear evidence that this was so as early as the date of the laws of King Ine, which claim to represent the customs of the seventh century.
To the proof of these points attention must now be directed.[p129]
In order to make these points clear, attention must be turned to a remarkable document, the Saxon version of which dates probably from the tenth, and the Latin translation from the twelfth century.158
The 'Rectitudines,' tenth century.
It is entitled the 'Rectitudines Singularum Personarum,' which may be translated 'the services due from various persons.'
It commences with two general sections, the first relating to the services of the 'thane,' and the second to those of the 'geneat.'
Thane's services.
Geneat's or villein's services.
ÐEGENES LAGU.Degenes lagu ishe sy his boc-rihtes wyrðe.he ðreo ðinc of his lande do. fyrd-færeld.burhbotebryc-geweorc. Eac of manegum landum mare land-riht arist to cyniges gebanne. swilce is deorhege to cyniges hame.scorp to frið-scipe.sæ-weard.heafod-weard.fyrd-weard. ælmes-feoh.cyric-sceat.mænige oðeremistliceðingcTAINI LEX.Taini lex est, ut sit dignus rectitudine testamenti sui, et ut ita faciat pro terra sua, scilicet, expeditionem, burh-botam et brig-botam. Et de multis terris majus landirectum exurgit ad bannum regis, sicut est deorhege ad mansionem regiam et sceorpum inhosticum, et custodiam maris et capitis, et pacis, et elmesfeoh, id est pecunia elemosine et ciricsceatum, et alie res multimode.THANE'S LAW.The thane's law is that he be worthy of hisboc-rights,and that he do three things for his land, fyrd-færeld, burh-bot,andbrig-bot.Also from many lands more land-services are due at the king's bann, as deer-hedging at the king'sham,and apparel for the guard, andsea-wardandhead-wardandfyrd-wardandalmsfeeandkirkshot,and many other various things.[p130]GENEATES RIHT.Geneat-riht is mistlic be ðam ðe on lande stænt. On sumon he sceal land-gafol syllangærsswyn on geare.ridanauerianlade lædan. wyrcanhlaford feormian.ripanmawan. deorhege heawan.sæte haldan. bytlian.burh hegegian nige faran to tune feccan. cyric-sceat syllanælmes-feoh. heafod-wearde. healdanhors-wearde. ærendian. fyr swa nyr. swa hwyder swa him mon to-tæcðVILLANI RECTUM.Villani rectum est varium et multiplex, secundum quod in terra statutum est. In quibusdam terris debet dare landgablum et gærsswin, id est, porcum herbagii, et equitare vel averiare, et summagium ducere, operari, et dominum suum firmare, metere et falcare, deorhege cedere, et stabilitatem observare, edificare et circumsepire, novam faram adducere, ciricsceatum dare et almesfeoh, id est, pecuniam elemosine, heafod-wardam custodire et horswardam, in nuncium ire, longe vel prope, quocunque dicetur ei.GENEAT'S SERVICES.The geneat's services are various as on the land is fixed. On some he shall payland-gafolandgrass-swineyearly, and ride, and carry, and lead loads; work and support his lord, and reap and mow, cut deer-hedge and keep it up, build, and hedge theburh,make new roads for thetun:paykirkshotandalmsfee:keephead-wardandhorse-ward:go errands far or near wherever he is directed.
ÐEGENES LAGU.
Degenes lagu ishe sy his boc-rihtes wyrðe.he ðreo ðinc of his lande do. fyrd-færeld.burhbotebryc-geweorc. Eac of manegum landum mare land-riht arist to cyniges gebanne. swilce is deorhege to cyniges hame.scorp to frið-scipe.sæ-weard.heafod-weard.fyrd-weard. ælmes-feoh.cyric-sceat.mænige oðeremistliceðingc
TAINI LEX.
Taini lex est, ut sit dignus rectitudine testamenti sui, et ut ita faciat pro terra sua, scilicet, expeditionem, burh-botam et brig-botam. Et de multis terris majus landirectum exurgit ad bannum regis, sicut est deorhege ad mansionem regiam et sceorpum inhosticum, et custodiam maris et capitis, et pacis, et elmesfeoh, id est pecunia elemosine et ciricsceatum, et alie res multimode.
THANE'S LAW.
The thane's law is that he be worthy of hisboc-rights,and that he do three things for his land, fyrd-færeld, burh-bot,andbrig-bot.Also from many lands more land-services are due at the king's bann, as deer-hedging at the king'sham,and apparel for the guard, andsea-wardandhead-wardandfyrd-wardandalmsfeeandkirkshot,and many other various things.[p130]
GENEATES RIHT.
Geneat-riht is mistlic be ðam ðe on lande stænt. On sumon he sceal land-gafol syllangærsswyn on geare.ridanauerianlade lædan. wyrcanhlaford feormian.ripanmawan. deorhege heawan.sæte haldan. bytlian.burh hegegian nige faran to tune feccan. cyric-sceat syllanælmes-feoh. heafod-wearde. healdanhors-wearde. ærendian. fyr swa nyr. swa hwyder swa him mon to-tæcð
VILLANI RECTUM.
Villani rectum est varium et multiplex, secundum quod in terra statutum est. In quibusdam terris debet dare landgablum et gærsswin, id est, porcum herbagii, et equitare vel averiare, et summagium ducere, operari, et dominum suum firmare, metere et falcare, deorhege cedere, et stabilitatem observare, edificare et circumsepire, novam faram adducere, ciricsceatum dare et almesfeoh, id est, pecuniam elemosine, heafod-wardam custodire et horswardam, in nuncium ire, longe vel prope, quocunque dicetur ei.
GENEAT'S SERVICES.
The geneat's services are various as on the land is fixed. On some he shall payland-gafolandgrass-swineyearly, and ride, and carry, and lead loads; work and support his lord, and reap and mow, cut deer-hedge and keep it up, build, and hedge theburh,make new roads for thetun:paykirkshotandalmsfee:keephead-wardandhorse-ward:go errands far or near wherever he is directed.
Then follow what really are sub-sections of the latter clause, and they describe the services of the various classes ofgeneats; first of the cottiers.
Cottier's services.
KOT-SETLAN RIHT.Kote-setlan riht. be ðam ðe on lande stent. On sumon he sceal ælce Mon-dæge ofer geares fyrst his laforde wyrcan. oðð.III.dagas ælcre wucan on hærfest.ne ðearf he land-gafol syllan. Wim ge-byriað [.V.] æceras to habbanne. mare gyf hit on lande ðeaw sy.to lytel hit bið beo hit a læsse. forðan his weorc sceal beon oft-ræde. sylle his heorð-pænig on halgan Ðunres dæg. eal swa ælcan frigean men gebyreð.werige hid hlafordes inland. gif him man beode. æt sæ-weardeæt cyniges deor-hege.æt swilcan ðingan swilc his mæð sy.sylle his cyric-sceat to Martinus mæssanCOTSETLE RECTUM.Cotsetle rectum est juxta quod in terra constitutum est. Apud quosdam debet omni die Lune per anni spatium operari domino suo, et tribus diebus unaquaque septimana in Augusto. Apud quosdam operatur per totum Augustum, omni die, et unam acram avene metit pro diurnale opere. Et habeat garbam suam quam præpositus vel minister domini dabit ei. Non dabit landgablum. Debet habere quinque acras ad perhabendum, plus si consuetudo sit ibi, et parum nimis est si minus sit quod deservit, quia sepius est operi illius. Det super heorðpenig in sancto die Jovis, sicut omnis liber facere debet, et adquietet inland domini sui, si submonitio fiat de sewarde, id est de custodia maris, vel de regis deorhege, et ceteris rebus que sue mensure sunt; et det suum cyricsceatum in festo Scĩ Martini.COTTIER'S SERVICES.The cottier's services are what on the land is fixed. On some he shall each Monday in the year work for his lord, and three days a week in harvest.He ought not to payland-gafol.He ought to havefive acresin his holding, more if it be the custom on the land, and too little it is if it be less: because his work is often required. He payshearth-pennyon Holy Thursday, as pertains to every freeman, and defends his lord's inland, if he is required, fromsea-wardand from king'sdeer-hedge,and from such things as befit his degree. And he pays his kirkshot at Martinmas.
KOT-SETLAN RIHT.
Kote-setlan riht. be ðam ðe on lande stent. On sumon he sceal ælce Mon-dæge ofer geares fyrst his laforde wyrcan. oðð.III.dagas ælcre wucan on hærfest.
ne ðearf he land-gafol syllan. Wim ge-byriað [.V.] æceras to habbanne. mare gyf hit on lande ðeaw sy.to lytel hit bið beo hit a læsse. forðan his weorc sceal beon oft-ræde. sylle his heorð-pænig on halgan Ðunres dæg. eal swa ælcan frigean men gebyreð.werige hid hlafordes inland. gif him man beode. æt sæ-weardeæt cyniges deor-hege.æt swilcan ðingan swilc his mæð sy.sylle his cyric-sceat to Martinus mæssan
COTSETLE RECTUM.
Cotsetle rectum est juxta quod in terra constitutum est. Apud quosdam debet omni die Lune per anni spatium operari domino suo, et tribus diebus unaquaque septimana in Augusto. Apud quosdam operatur per totum Augustum, omni die, et unam acram avene metit pro diurnale opere. Et habeat garbam suam quam præpositus vel minister domini dabit ei. Non dabit landgablum. Debet habere quinque acras ad perhabendum, plus si consuetudo sit ibi, et parum nimis est si minus sit quod deservit, quia sepius est operi illius. Det super heorðpenig in sancto die Jovis, sicut omnis liber facere debet, et adquietet inland domini sui, si submonitio fiat de sewarde, id est de custodia maris, vel de regis deorhege, et ceteris rebus que sue mensure sunt; et det suum cyricsceatum in festo Scĩ Martini.
COTTIER'S SERVICES.
The cottier's services are what on the land is fixed. On some he shall each Monday in the year work for his lord, and three days a week in harvest.
He ought not to payland-gafol.He ought to havefive acresin his holding, more if it be the custom on the land, and too little it is if it be less: because his work is often required. He payshearth-pennyon Holy Thursday, as pertains to every freeman, and defends his lord's inland, if he is required, fromsea-wardand from king'sdeer-hedge,and from such things as befit his degree. And he pays his kirkshot at Martinmas.
Then the services of thegeburor holder of ayard-landare described asfollows:—
Gebur's services.
Week-work.
Gafol.
Bene-work.
Gafol-yrth.
Outfit of two oxen to yard-land.
GEBURES GERIHTE.Gebur-gerihta syn mislice. gehwar hy syn hefige. gehwar eac medeme. on sumen lande ishe sceal wyrcan to wic-weorce.II.dagas. swilc weorc swilc him man tæcð ofer geares fyrst. ælcre wucan.on hærfest.III.dagas towic-weorce.of Candelmæsse oð Eastran.III.gif he aferað ne ðearf he wyrcan ða hwile ðe his hors ute bið. He sceal syllan on Michaeles mæsse-dæig.X.gafol-p.on Martinus mæsse-dæg.XXIII.systra beres.II.henfugelas. on Eastran an geong sceap. oððe.II.p.he sceal licgan of Martinus mæssan oð Eastran æt hlafordes falde. swa oft swa him to-begæð.of ðam timan ðe man ærest ereð oð Martinus mæssan he sceal ælcre wucan erian.I.æcer.rædan sylfsæd on hlafordes berne. to-eacan ðam.III.æceras to bene..II.to gærsyrðe. gyf he maran gærses beðyrfe ðonne earnige [erige?] ðæs swa him man ðafige. His gauol-yrðe.III.æceras erigesawe of his aganum berne.sylle his heorð-pænig. twegentwegen fedan ænne heador-hund.ælc gebur sylle.VI.hlafas ðam in-swane ðonne he his heorde to mæs-tene drife. On ðam sylfum lande ðe ðeos ræden on-stænt gebure gebyreðhim man to land-setenesylle.II.oxan.I.cu..VI.sceap..VII.æceras gesawene on his gyrde landes. forðige ofergear ealle gerihtu ðe him to-gebyrigean.sylle him man tol to his weorceandlaman to his huse. Ðonne him forð-sið gebyrige gyme his hlaford ðæs he læfeÐeos land-lagu stænt on suman lande. gehwar hit is swa ic ær cwæð hefigre gehwar eac leohtre. forðam ealle land-sida ne syn gelice. On sumen lande gebur sceal syllan hunig-gafol. on suman mete-gafol. on suman ealu-gafol. Þedeseðe scirehealdehe wite á hwæt eald land-ræden sy.hwæt ðeode ðeawGEBURI CONSUETUDINES.Geburi consuetudines inveniuntur multimode, et ubi sunt onerose et ubi sunt leviores aut medie. In quibusdam terris operatur opus septimane,II.dies, sic opus sicut ei dicetur per anni spatium, omni septimana; et in AugustoIII.dies pro septimanali operatione, et a festo Candelarum ad usque PaschaIII.Si averiat, non cogitur operari quamdiu equus ejus foris moratur. Dare debet in festo Scĩ Michaelis X. đ. de gablo, et Scĩ Martini dieXXIII., et sestarium ordei, etII.gallinas. Ad PaschaI.ovem juvenem velII.đ. Et jacebit a festo Scĩ Martini usque ad Pascha ad faldam domini sui, quotiens ei pertinebit. Et a termino quo primitus arabitur usque ad festum Scĩ Martini arabit unaquaque septimanaI.acram, et ipse parabit semen domini sui in horreo. Ad hæcIII.acras precum, et duas de herbagio. Si plus indigeat herbagio, arabit proinde sicut ei permittatur. De aratura gabli sui arabitIII.acras, et seminabit de horreo suo et dabit suum heorðpenig; et duo et duo pascant unum molossum. Et omnis geburus detVI.panes porcario curie quando gregem suum minabit in pastinagium. In ipsa terra ubi hec consuetudo stat, moris est ut ad terram assidendam dentur eiII.boves etI.vacca, etVI.oves, etVII.acre seminate, in sua virgata terra. Post illum illum annum faciat omnes rectitudines que ad eum attinent; et committantur ei tela ad opus suum et suppellex ad domum suam. Si mortem obeat, rehabeat dominus suus omnia.Hæc consuetudo stat in quibusdam locis, et alicubi est, sicut prediximus, gravior, et alicubi levior; quia omnium terrarum instituta non sunt equalia. In quibusdam locis gebur dabit hunigablum, in quibusdam metegablum, in quibusdam ealagablum. Videat qui scyram tenet, ut semper sciat que sit antiqua terrarum institutio, vel populi consuetudo.GEBUR'S SERVICES.The Gebur's services are various, in some places heavy, in others moderate. On some land he must work atweek-worktwo days at such work as he is required through the year every week, and at harvest three days forweek-work,and from Candlemas to Easter three. If he do carrying he has not to work while his horse is out. He shall pay on Michaelmas Dayx.gafol-pence, and on Martinmas Dayxxiii.sesters of barley and two hens; at Easter a young sheep or two pence; and he shall lie from Martinmas to Easter at his lord's fold as often as he is told. And from the time that they first, plough to Martinmas he shall each week plough one acre, and prepare himself the seed in his lord's barn. Alsoiii.acresbene-work,andii.tograss-yrth.If he needs more grass then he ploughs for it as he is allowed. For hisgafol-yrthhe ploughsiii.acres, and sows it from his own barn. And he pays hishearth-penny.Two and two feed one hound, and each gebur givesvi.loaves to the swineherd when he drives his herd to mast. On that land where this custom holds it pertains to the gebur that he shall have given to him for his outfitii.oxen andi.cow andvi.sheep, andvii.acres sown on hisyard-land.Wherefore after that year he must perform all services which pertain to him. And he must have given to him tools for his work, and utensils for his house. Then when he dies his lord takes back what he leaves.This land-law holds on some lands, but here and there, as I have said, it is heavier or lighter, for all land services are not alike. On some land the gebur shall payhoney-gafol,on somemeat-gafol,on someale-gafol.Let him who is over the district take care that he knows what the old land-customs are, and what are the customs of the people.
GEBURES GERIHTE.
Gebur-gerihta syn mislice. gehwar hy syn hefige. gehwar eac medeme. on sumen lande ishe sceal wyrcan to wic-weorce.II.dagas. swilc weorc swilc him man tæcð ofer geares fyrst. ælcre wucan.on hærfest.III.dagas towic-weorce.of Candelmæsse oð Eastran.III.gif he aferað ne ðearf he wyrcan ða hwile ðe his hors ute bið. He sceal syllan on Michaeles mæsse-dæig.X.gafol-p.on Martinus mæsse-dæg.XXIII.systra beres.II.henfugelas. on Eastran an geong sceap. oððe.II.p.he sceal licgan of Martinus mæssan oð Eastran æt hlafordes falde. swa oft swa him to-begæð.of ðam timan ðe man ærest ereð oð Martinus mæssan he sceal ælcre wucan erian.I.æcer.rædan sylfsæd on hlafordes berne. to-eacan ðam.III.æceras to bene..II.to gærsyrðe. gyf he maran gærses beðyrfe ðonne earnige [erige?] ðæs swa him man ðafige. His gauol-yrðe.III.æceras erigesawe of his aganum berne.sylle his heorð-pænig. twegentwegen fedan ænne heador-hund.ælc gebur sylle.VI.hlafas ðam in-swane ðonne he his heorde to mæs-tene drife. On ðam sylfum lande ðe ðeos ræden on-stænt gebure gebyreðhim man to land-setenesylle.II.oxan.I.cu..VI.sceap..VII.æceras gesawene on his gyrde landes. forðige ofergear ealle gerihtu ðe him to-gebyrigean.sylle him man tol to his weorceandlaman to his huse. Ðonne him forð-sið gebyrige gyme his hlaford ðæs he læfe
Ðeos land-lagu stænt on suman lande. gehwar hit is swa ic ær cwæð hefigre gehwar eac leohtre. forðam ealle land-sida ne syn gelice. On sumen lande gebur sceal syllan hunig-gafol. on suman mete-gafol. on suman ealu-gafol. Þedeseðe scirehealdehe wite á hwæt eald land-ræden sy.hwæt ðeode ðeaw
GEBURI CONSUETUDINES.
Geburi consuetudines inveniuntur multimode, et ubi sunt onerose et ubi sunt leviores aut medie. In quibusdam terris operatur opus septimane,II.dies, sic opus sicut ei dicetur per anni spatium, omni septimana; et in AugustoIII.dies pro septimanali operatione, et a festo Candelarum ad usque PaschaIII.Si averiat, non cogitur operari quamdiu equus ejus foris moratur. Dare debet in festo Scĩ Michaelis X. đ. de gablo, et Scĩ Martini dieXXIII., et sestarium ordei, etII.gallinas. Ad PaschaI.ovem juvenem velII.đ. Et jacebit a festo Scĩ Martini usque ad Pascha ad faldam domini sui, quotiens ei pertinebit. Et a termino quo primitus arabitur usque ad festum Scĩ Martini arabit unaquaque septimanaI.acram, et ipse parabit semen domini sui in horreo. Ad hæcIII.acras precum, et duas de herbagio. Si plus indigeat herbagio, arabit proinde sicut ei permittatur. De aratura gabli sui arabitIII.acras, et seminabit de horreo suo et dabit suum heorðpenig; et duo et duo pascant unum molossum. Et omnis geburus detVI.panes porcario curie quando gregem suum minabit in pastinagium. In ipsa terra ubi hec consuetudo stat, moris est ut ad terram assidendam dentur eiII.boves etI.vacca, etVI.oves, etVII.acre seminate, in sua virgata terra. Post illum illum annum faciat omnes rectitudines que ad eum attinent; et committantur ei tela ad opus suum et suppellex ad domum suam. Si mortem obeat, rehabeat dominus suus omnia.
Hæc consuetudo stat in quibusdam locis, et alicubi est, sicut prediximus, gravior, et alicubi levior; quia omnium terrarum instituta non sunt equalia. In quibusdam locis gebur dabit hunigablum, in quibusdam metegablum, in quibusdam ealagablum. Videat qui scyram tenet, ut semper sciat que sit antiqua terrarum institutio, vel populi consuetudo.
GEBUR'S SERVICES.
The Gebur's services are various, in some places heavy, in others moderate. On some land he must work atweek-worktwo days at such work as he is required through the year every week, and at harvest three days forweek-work,and from Candlemas to Easter three. If he do carrying he has not to work while his horse is out. He shall pay on Michaelmas Dayx.gafol-pence, and on Martinmas Dayxxiii.sesters of barley and two hens; at Easter a young sheep or two pence; and he shall lie from Martinmas to Easter at his lord's fold as often as he is told. And from the time that they first, plough to Martinmas he shall each week plough one acre, and prepare himself the seed in his lord's barn. Alsoiii.acresbene-work,andii.tograss-yrth.If he needs more grass then he ploughs for it as he is allowed. For hisgafol-yrthhe ploughsiii.acres, and sows it from his own barn. And he pays hishearth-penny.Two and two feed one hound, and each gebur givesvi.loaves to the swineherd when he drives his herd to mast. On that land where this custom holds it pertains to the gebur that he shall have given to him for his outfitii.oxen andi.cow andvi.sheep, andvii.acres sown on hisyard-land.Wherefore after that year he must perform all services which pertain to him. And he must have given to him tools for his work, and utensils for his house. Then when he dies his lord takes back what he leaves.
This land-law holds on some lands, but here and there, as I have said, it is heavier or lighter, for all land services are not alike. On some land the gebur shall payhoney-gafol,on somemeat-gafol,on someale-gafol.Let him who is over the district take care that he knows what the old land-customs are, and what are the customs of the people.
Then follow the special services of the beekeeper, oxherd, cowherd, shepherd, goatherd, &c., upon which we need not dwell here; and the document concludes with another declaration that the services vary according to the custom of each district.[p134]
Correspondence with the Domesday Survey.
This important document is therefore a general description of the services due from the thane to the king, and from the classes in villenage to their manorial lord. And it might be the very model from which the form of the Domesday Survey was taken. Both, in fact, first speak of the lord of the manor, and then of the villein tenants; the latter being in both cases divided into the two main classes of villani and cottiers; for, as already stated, the Saxonthaneanswered to the Normanlord, the Saxongeburanswered to thevillanusof the Survey, and thecotsetleto the cottier orbordariusof the Survey. But these various classes require separate consideration.
The thane's 'three needs.'
The 'Rectitudines' begins with the thane or lord of the manor; and informs us that he owed his military and other services (for his manor) to the king—always including the three great needs—thetrinoda necessitas; viz. (1) to accompany the king in his military expeditions, orfyrd; (2) to aid in the building of his castles, orburhbote; (3) to maintain the bridges, orbrigbote.
Thane's 'inland.'
The lord's demesne land was called the 'thane's inland.' So, too, in a law of King Edgar's already quoted, the tithes are ordered to be paid 'as well on thethane's inlandas ongeneat land,' showing that this distinction between the two was exhaustive.
So also in Scotland, where the old Saxon words were not so soon displaced by Norman terms as in[p135]England, the lord of a manor was long called thethaneof such and such a place. In the chronicler Wintoun's story of Macbeth, as well as in Shakespeare's version of it, there are the 'thane of Fyfe' and the 'thane of Cawdor.'
Scotch example of burhbote.
And the circumstance which, according to Wintoun, gave rise to Macbeth's hatred of Macduff is itself a graphic illustration of the 'burhbote,' or aid in castle-building due from the thane to hisking:—
And in Scotland than as kyngThis Makbeth mad gret steryngAnd set hym than in hys powereA gret hows for to mak off wereUpon the hycht off Dwnsynane.Tymbyr thare-till to draw and staneOff Fyfe and off Angws heGert mony oxin gadryd be.Sa on a day in thare traivaileA yhok off oxyn Makbeth saw fayle,Than speryt Makbeth quha that awchtThe yhoke that fayled in that drawcht.Thai awnsweryd till Makbeth agayne,And sayd, 'Makduff off Fyffe the ThaneThat ilk yhoke off oxyn awchtThat he saw fayle in to the drawcht.'Than spak Makbeth dyspytusly,And to the Thane sayd angryly,Lyk all wythyn in hys skin,Hys awyn nek he suld put inThe yhoke and gev hym drawchtis drawe.159
And in Scotland than as kyngThis Makbeth mad gret steryngAnd set hym than in hys powereA gret hows for to mak off wereUpon the hycht off Dwnsynane.Tymbyr thare-till to draw and staneOff Fyfe and off Angws heGert mony oxin gadryd be.Sa on a day in thare traivaileA yhok off oxyn Makbeth saw fayle,Than speryt Makbeth quha that awchtThe yhoke that fayled in that drawcht.Thai awnsweryd till Makbeth agayne,And sayd, 'Makduff off Fyffe the ThaneThat ilk yhoke off oxyn awchtThat he saw fayle in to the drawcht.'Than spak Makbeth dyspytusly,And to the Thane sayd angryly,Lyk all wythyn in hys skin,Hys awyn nek he suld put inThe yhoke and gev hym drawchtis drawe.159
And in Scotland than as kyng
This Makbeth mad gret steryng
And set hym than in hys powere
A gret hows for to mak off were
Upon the hycht off Dwnsynane.
Tymbyr thare-till to draw and stane
Off Fyfe and off Angws he
Gert mony oxin gadryd be.
Sa on a day in thare traivaile
A yhok off oxyn Makbeth saw fayle,
Than speryt Makbeth quha that awcht
The yhoke that fayled in that drawcht.
Thai awnsweryd till Makbeth agayne,
And sayd, 'Makduff off Fyffe the Thane
That ilk yhoke off oxyn awcht
That he saw fayle in to the drawcht.'
Than spak Makbeth dyspytusly,
And to the Thane sayd angryly,
Lyk all wythyn in hys skin,
Hys awyn nek he suld put in
The yhoke and gev hym drawchtis drawe.159
The thane as a soldier.
But the military service was by far the most important of 'the three needs' or services due from the thane to the king. The thane was asoldierfirst of all things. The very wordthaneimplies this. In translating the story of the centurion who had soldiers under him, the Saxon Gospel makes the[p136]'Hundredes ealdor' say, 'I have thanesunder me' (ic hæbbe þegnas under me).160And though the text of the translation may not be earlier than the tenth century, yet, as the meaning of words does not change suddenly, it shows that the military service of the thane dated from a still earlier period.
And just as in Norman times the barons and their Norman followers (Francigenæ eorum) were marked off from the population in villenage as companions or associates of the king or some great earl, or as they might now be called 'county men,' so the Saxon thanes 400 years before the Norman Conquest were 'Gesithcundmen,' in respect of their obligation to 'do fyrd-færeld,'i.e.to accompany the king in his royal expeditions. But this association with the king did not break the bond ofservice. By the laws of King Ine161thegesithcundmenwere fined and forfeited their land if they neglected their'fyrd:'—
LI. Gif gesiðcund mon land-agende forsitte fyrde geselle .c.xx. scill.þolie his landes.51. If a gesithcund man owning land neglect thefyrd, let him pay cxx. shillings and forfeit his land.
LI. Gif gesiðcund mon land-agende forsitte fyrde geselle .c.xx. scill.þolie his landes.
LI. Gif gesiðcund mon land-agende forsitte fyrde geselle .c.xx. scill.þolie his landes.
51. If a gesithcund man owning land neglect thefyrd, let him pay cxx. shillings and forfeit his land.
51. If a gesithcund man owning land neglect thefyrd, let him pay cxx. shillings and forfeit his land.
As a landlord.
But the 'gesithcund' thanes were landlords as well as soldiers. And King Ine found it needful to enact laws to secure that they performed their landlord's duties. They must not absent themselves from their manors without provision for the cultivation of the land. When hefæres,i.e.goes on long expeditions, a gesithcundman may take with him on his journey his reeve, his smith to forge his weapons, and his child's fosterer, or nurse.162But if he have xx. hides of land, he must show xii. hides at least of[p137]gesettes land on his manor; if he have x. hides, vi. hides of gesettes land; and if he have iii. hides, one and a half hides of gesettes land before he absents himself from his manor.163
Thegeneat,geset, orgafolland.
That 'geset land' was a general and rather loose term meaning the same thing as 'geneat land' is clear from a charter ofA.D.950, which will be referred to hereafter, wherein a manor is described as containing xxx. hides, ix. of inland and xxi. of 'gesettes land,' and the latter is said to contain so many yard-lands ('gyrda gafol-landes'). This instance also helps us to understand howgafol land, andgesettes land, andgeneat landwere all interchangeable terms—all, in fact, meaning 'land in villenage,' to the tenants on which we must now turn our attention.
Geneatland was land in villenage.
It has been shown that the Saxon thane's estate or manor was divided intothane's inlandor demesne land, andgeneat landorgesettes land, answering to the land in villenage of the Domesday Survey. Let us now examine into the nature of the villenage on the geneat land under Saxon rule.
'Gesettes land' etymologically seems to mean simply land set or let out to tenants. In the parable of the vineyard, the Saxon translation makes the 'wíngeardes hlaford164gesette' it out to husbandmen (gesette þone myd eorð-tylion) before he takes his journey into a far country, and the husbandmen are to pay him as tribute a portion of the annual fruits.[p138]
Need of husbandmen.
In early times, when population was scanty, there was a lack of husbandmen.
King Alfred, in his Saxon translation of Boethius, into which he often puts observations of his own, expresses in one of the most often quoted of these interpolations what doubtless his own experience had shown him, viz., that 'a king must have his tools to reign with—his realm must be well peopled—full manned.' Unless there are priests, soldiers, and workmen—'gebedmen,fyrdmen, andweorcmen'—no king, he says, can show his craft.165
We are to take it, then, that population was still scanty, that a thane's manor was not always as well stocked with husbandmen as the necessities of agriculture required. The nation must be fed as well as defended, and both these economic needs were imperative. How, then, was a thane to plant new settlers on his 'gesettes-land'?
Settene stuht, or outfit ofgeburs.
We have seen the Kelso monks furnishing their tenants with their outfit or 'stuht'—the two oxen needful to till the husbandland of two bovates; also a horse, and enough of oats, barley, and wheat for seed. The 'Rectitudines' shows that in the tenth century this custom had long been followed by Saxon landlords. It further shows that the new tenants so created were settled onyard-lands, and calledgeburs.
Two oxen to yard-land.
It states that in some places it is the custom that in settling thegeburon the land, there shall be given to him 'toland setene' (i.e.as 'stuht' or outfit) two oxen, one cow, six sheep, and seven acres sown on hisyard-landor virgate. Then after the first year[p139]he performs the usual services. Having been supplied by his lord, not only with his stuht, but also even with tools for his work and utensils for his house, it is not surprising that on his death everything reverted to his lord.
The gebur here answers exactly to the villanus of post-Domesdaytimes.166His normal holding is theyard-landor virgate. Hisstuht, which goes with the yard-land 'to setene,' or for outfit, is two oxen, one cow, &c.;i.e.one ox for each of the two bovates which made up the yard-land.
That this was the usual outfit of the yard-land, and that the yard-land at the same time was the one-fourth part of thesulungor full plough-land, in still earlier times than the date of the 'Rectitudines,' receives clear confirmation from an Anglo-Saxon will datedA.D.835, in which there is a gift of 'an half swulung,' and 'to ðem londe iiii oxan & ii cy & 1 scepa,'&c.167Thehalf-sulungbeing the double of the yard-land, it is natural that the allowance for outfit in[p140]the bequest of oxen and cows should be just double the outfit assigned by custom to the yard-land. It is obvious that the allotment to the wholesulungwould be a full team of eight oxen.
Services.
The gebur, then, having been 'set' upon his yard land by his lord, and supplied with hisseteneor 'stuht,' had to perform his services.
What were these services?
An examination of them as stated in the 'Rectitudines' will show at once their close resemblance to those of the holders of virgates in villenage in post-Domesday times.
They may be classified in the same way as these were classified.
Gafol.
Some of them are calledgafol;i.e.they weretributesin money and in kind, and in work at ploughing, &c., in the nature rather of rent, rates, and taxes than anything else. They were as follows:
Gafol-yrth.
Bene-work.
Next there were theprecariæorbene-work, extra special services:
Week-work.
Lastly, the chief services were the regularweek-work(wic-weorc), generally limited to certain days a week according to the season.
Thirty acres in yard-land; ten in each field.
These were the services of thegeburorvillanus, and we may gather that his yard-land embraced the usual thirty acres or strips,i.e.ten strips in each of the three common fields of his village. This seems to follow from the fact that his outfit included 'seven acres sown.' These seven acres were no doubt on the wheat-field which had to be sown before winter. It was seven acres, and not ten, because the crop on the other three counted as 'gafolyrð' to his lord, and this was not due the first season. The oats or beans on the second or spring-sown field he could sow for himself. The third field was in fallow. The only start he required was therefore the seven acres of wheat which must be sown before winter.
So much for thegebur; now as to thecottier.
Cottier's holding of five acres, and his services.
The cottier tenant, in respect of his five acres (more or less), rendered similar services on an humbler scale. His week-work was on Mondays each week throughout the year, three days a week at harvest. He was free from land-gafol, but paid hearth-penny and church-scot at Martinmas. The nature of his work was the ordinary service of the geneat as[p142]required by his lord from time to time; only, having no oxen, he was exempt from ploughing, as he was also after the Norman Conquest.
Returning to the services of the gebur, stress must be laid upon their double character. Like the latervillanushe paid a double debt to his lord in respect of his yard-land and outfit, or 'setene'—(1)gafol; (2) week-work.
Laws of King Ine.
This is a point of great importance at this stage of the inquiry; for it gives us the key to the meaning of an otherwise almost unintelligible passage in the laws of King Ine,170which bears directly upon the matter in hand.
Geset-land.
This passage immediately follows those already quoted, requiring one-half or more of the land of the absentee landlord to be 'gesettes land.'
It follows in natural order after this requirement, because it evidently relates to the process of increasing the number of tenants on the gesettes land, so introducing new geburs or villani, with new yard-lands or virgates, into the village community. The clause is as follows:
Yard-land.
Gafolandweorc.
BE GYRDE LONDES.Gif mon geþingað gyrðe lander oþþe mære to pæðe-gafole.geereð. gif se hlaforð him pilelanð aræran to weorceto gafole. ne þearf he him onfón gif he lum nan botl ne selð. . . .OF A YARD OF LAND.If a man agree for a yard-land or more at a fixedgafoland plough it, if the lord desire to raise the land to himto work and to gafol, he need not take it upon him, if the lord do not give him a dwelling. . . .
BE GYRDE LONDES.Gif mon geþingað gyrðe lander oþþe mære to pæðe-gafole.geereð. gif se hlaforð him pilelanð aræran to weorceto gafole. ne þearf he him onfón gif he lum nan botl ne selð. . . .
BE GYRDE LONDES.
Gif mon geþingað gyrðe lander oþþe mære to pæðe-gafole.geereð. gif se hlaforð him pilelanð aræran to weorceto gafole. ne þearf he him onfón gif he lum nan botl ne selð. . . .
OF A YARD OF LAND.If a man agree for a yard-land or more at a fixedgafoland plough it, if the lord desire to raise the land to himto work and to gafol, he need not take it upon him, if the lord do not give him a dwelling. . . .
OF A YARD OF LAND.
If a man agree for a yard-land or more at a fixedgafoland plough it, if the lord desire to raise the land to himto work and to gafol, he need not take it upon him, if the lord do not give him a dwelling. . . .
[p143]The meaning of it apparently is that if a man agree for a yard-land or more to 'ræd-gafol' (i.e.at such gafol payments as have been described), and plough it, still the lord cannot put the new holding 'to weorceandto gafole,' that is, make the holder completely into ageburor villanus, owing both gafol and week-work to his lord, unless the lord also supply the homestead ('botl').
That the 'botl' or homestead was looked upon as the essential part of a man's holding is shown by another law of KingIne:—
LXVIII. Gif mon gesiðcundne monnan adrife. fordrife þy botle. næs þære setene68. If a gesithcund man be driven off, it must be from thebotl, not thesetene.
LXVIII. Gif mon gesiðcundne monnan adrife. fordrife þy botle. næs þære setene
LXVIII. Gif mon gesiðcundne monnan adrife. fordrife þy botle. næs þære setene
68. If a gesithcund man be driven off, it must be from thebotl, not thesetene.
68. If a gesithcund man be driven off, it must be from thebotl, not thesetene.
The manor and serfdom in seventh century.
Now the importance of these passages can hardly be exaggerated; for, if we may trust the genuineness of the laws of King Ine,171they show more clearly than anything else could do, that in the seventh century—400 years before the Domesday Survey—the manor was already to all intents and purposes what it was afterwards. They show that at that early date part of the land was in the lord's demesne and part let out to tenants, who when supplied by the lord with everything—their homestead and their yard-land—owed, not only customary tribute orgafol, but also 'weorc' or service to the lord; and how otherwise could this 'weorce' be given then or afterwards[p144]except in the shape of labour on the lord's demesne, as is described in the 'Rectitudines'?
It is worth while to notice that while the double debt of both gafol and week-work was due from thegeburorvillanusproper, and the week-work was the most servile service, yet even the mere payment of gafol was the sign of a submission to an overlordship. It had a servile taint about it, as well it might, being paid apparently part in kind and part in work. As the class of free hired labourers had not yet been born into existence under these early Saxon economic conditions, in times when thetheowswere the servants, so the modern class of farmers or free tenants at a rent of another's land had not yet come into being. It was the 'ceorl' who lived on 'gafol land,'172and to pay gafol was to do service, though of a limited kind.
Gafola serviletribute.
The Saxon translators of the Gospels rendered the question, 'Doth your master pay tribute?'173by the words 'gylt he gafol?' And they used the same wordgafolalso in translating the counter question, 'Of whom do kings taketribute, of their own people or of aliens?'
Bede.
So when Bede described the northern conquest of Ethelfred, king of the Northumbrians, over the Britons inA.D.603, and spoke of the inhabitants as being either exterminated or subjugated, and their lands as either cleared for new settlers ormade tributaryto the English, King Alfred in his translation expressed[p145]the latter alternative by the words 'set to gafol'—to gafulgyldum gesette.174
No doubt the Teutonic notion of a subjugated people was that of a people reduced to serfdom or villenage.They—the conquerors—were the nation, the freemen. The conquered race were the aliens, subjected togafoland servitude.