Part 9

[130] Ine, 55: a sheep with a lamb until a fortnight after Easter is worth 1 shilling. Æthelstan, VI. 6: a horse 120 pence, an ox 30 pence, a cow 20, a sheep 1 shilling (5 pence). Ibid. 8, § 5: an ox 30 pence. Schmid, App. I. c. 7: a horse 30 shillings, a mare 20 shillings, an ox 30 pence, a cow 24 pence, a swine 8 pence, a sheep 1 shilling, a goat 2 pence, a man (i.e. a slave) 1 pound. Schmid, App. iii. c. 9: a sheep or 3 pence. D. B. i. 117 b: an ox or 30 pence. D. B. i. 26: Tolls at Lewes; for a man 4 pence, an ox a halfpenny. This preserves the equation that we have already seen, namely, 1 slave = 8 oxen. Thus the full team is worth one pound. On the twelfth century Pipe Rolls the ox often costs 3 shillings (= 36 pence) or even more.

[131] In Leg. Will. Conq. I. 16, we hear of the _forisfacturae_ (probably the 'insult fines') due to archbishops, bishops, counts, barons and sokemen; the baron has 10 shillings, the sokeman 40 pence. In the same document, c. 20, § 2, we read of the reliefs of counts, barons, vavassors and villeins. Leg. Edw. Conf. 12, § 4, speaks of the _manbót_ due in the Danelaw; on the death of a _villanus_ or a _socheman_ 12 ores are paid, on the death of a _liber homo_ 3 marks.

[132] D. B. i. 167 b, Heile: 'ibi erant 12 servi quos Willelmus liberos fecit.'

[133] D. B. i. 263: 'Si quis liber homo facit opera in die feriato inde episcopus habet 8 solidos. De servo autem vel ancilla feriatum diem infringente, habet episcopus 4 solidos.' Compare Cnut, II. 45.

[134] D. B. i. 86: 'Huic manerio reddebatur T. R. E. de Cruche per annum consuetudo, hoc est 6 oves cum agnis totidem, et quisque liber homo i. blomam ferri.' South Perrott had belonged to the Confessor, Crewkerne to Edith, probably 'the rich and fair.' For the description of Cruche see D. B. i. 86 b. As to the 'bloom' of iron see Ellis, Introduction, i. 136.

[135] D. B. i. 92. See also p. 87 b, the account of Seveberge.

[136] D. B. ii. 145.

[137] D. B. ii. 1: 'In hoc manerio erat tunc temporis quidam liber homo de dimidia hida qui modo effectus est unus de villanis.'

[138] Thus D. B. i. 127, Mid.: 'inter francos et villanos 45 carucae'; Ibid. 70, Wilts: '4 villani et 3 bordarii et unus francus cum 2 carucis'; Ibid. 241, Warw.: 'Ibi sunt 3 francones homines cum 4 villanis et 3 bordariis.' Sometimes _francus_ may be an equivalent for _francigena_; e.g. i. 254 b, where in one entry we have _unus francigena_ and in the next _unus francus homo_. But an Englishman may be _francus_; ii. 54 b 'accepit 15 acras de uno franco teigno et misit cum terra sua.' However, it is not an insignificant fact that the very name of Frenchman (_francigena_) must have suggested free birth.

[139] For examples see the surveys of Warwick, Stafford and Shropshire.

[140] D. B. ii. 260: 'et 7 homines qui possent vendere terram suam si eam prius obtulissent domino suo.'

[141] D. B. ii. 278 b: 'si vellent recedere daret quisque 2 solidos.' Ibid. 207: 'et possent recedere si darent 2 solidos.'

[142] D. B. ii. 435: 'Et super Vlnoht habuit commendationem antecessor R. Malet, teste hundredo, et non potuit vendere nec dare _de eo_ terram suam.' Ibid. 397: 'viderunt eum iurare quod non poterat dare [vel] vendere terram suam _ab_ antecessore Ricardi.'

[143] D. B. i. 145: 'Hoc manerium tenuit Aluuinus homo Estan, non potuit dare nec vendere extra Brichelle manerium Estani.'

[144] D. B. i. 133: 'Hanc terram tenuit Aluric Blac 2 hidas de Abbate Westmonasterii T. R. E.: non poterat separare ab aecclesia.'

[145] D. B. ii. 216 b: 'Ita est in monasterio quod nec vendere nec forisfacere potest extra ecclesia.'

[146] For example, D. B. i. 201: 'terram suam vendere potuerunt, soca vero remansit Abbati.' D. B. ii. 78: 'et poterant vendere terram set soca et saca remanebat antecessori Alberici.' Ibid. ii. 92 b: 'unus sochemannus fuit in hac terra de 15 acris quas poterat vendere, set soca iacebat in Warleia terra S. Pauli.'

[147] But the _consuetudo_, rent or the like, may 'remain': D. B. ii. 181 b: 'et possent vendere terram suam set consuetudo remanebat in manerio.' And so the _commendatio_ may 'remain'; ii. 357 b: 'Hi poterant dare et vendere terram, set saca et soca et commendatio remanebant Sancto [Eadmundo].'

[148] For example, D. B. i. 201: 'Homines Abbatis de Ely fuerunt et 4 terram suam _vendere potuerunt_, soca vero remansit Abbati, et quartus 1 virgam et dimidiam habuit et _recedere non potuit_.' See the important evidence produced by Round, Feudal England, 24, as to the equivalence of these phrases.

[149] One of the commonest terms is _recedere_--'potuit recedere'--'non potuit recedere'; i. 41, 'non potuit cum terra _recedere ad alium dominum_'; i. 56 b, '10 liberi homines T. R. E. tenebant 12 hidas et dimidiam de terra eiusdem manerii sed _inde recedere_ non poterant'; ii. 19 b, 'non poterant _recedere a terra_ sine licentia Abbatis'; ii. 57 b, 'non poterant recedere _ab illo manerio_'; ii. 66, 'non poterant _removere_ ab illo manerio'; ii. 41, 'non poterant _recedere a soca_ Wisgari'; ii. 41 b, 'nec poterant _abire_ sine iussu domini'; i. 66 b, 'qui tenuit T. R. E. non poterat ab aecclesia diverti [separari]'; ii. 116, 'unus [burgensis] erat ita dominicus ut non posset _recedere nec homagium facere_ sine licentia [Stigandi]'; ii. 119, 'de istis hominibus erant 36 ita dominice Regis Edwardi ut non possent _esse homines cuiuslibet_ sed semper tamen consuetudo regis remanebat preter herigete.' A remarkable form is, ii. 57 b, 'non potuit istam terram mittere in aliquo loco nisi in abbatia.' Then 'potuit ire quo voluit,' 'non potuit ire quolibet' are common enough.

[150] Ine, c. 39: He who leaves his lord without permission pays sixty shillings to his lord.

[151] For example, D. B. i. 41: 'Tres taini tenuerunt de episcopo et non potuerunt ire quolibet.'

[152] D. B. i. 35 b, Tornecrosta.

[153] D. B. i. 212 b, Stanford.

[154] D. B. i. 249 b: 'Tres taini tenuerunt et liberi homines fuerunt'; 256, 'Ipsi taini liberi erant'; 259 b, 'Quatuor taini tenuerunt ante eum et liberi fuerunt.'

[155] Chron. Abingd. i. 490: 'Nam quidam dives, Turkillus nomine, sub Haroldi comitis testimonio et consultu, de se cum sua terra quae Kingestun dicitur, ecclesiae Abbendonensi et abbati Ordrico homagium fecit; licitum quippe libero cuique, illo in tempore, sic agere erat.'

[156] D. B. i. 180 b: 'et poterant ire cum terra quo volebant, et habebant sub se 4 milites, ita liberos ut ipsi erant.'

[157] D. B. ii. 59.

[158] D. B. i. 172: 'si ita liber homo est ut habeat socam suam et sacam et cum terra sua possit ire quo voluerit.'

[159] D. B. i. 84 b.

[160] D. B. ii. 213: 'Hanc terram calumpniatur esse liberam Vlchitel homo Hermeri, quocunque modo iudicetur, vel bello vel iudicio, et alius est praesto probare eo modo quod iacuit ad ecclesiam [S. Adeldredae] die quo rex Edwardus obiit. Set totus hundretus testatur eam fuisse T. R. E. ad S. Adeldredam.'

[161] See in particular the survey of Gloucestershire; D. B. i. 165 b: 'Hoc manerium quietum est a geldo et ab omni forensi servitio praeter aecclesiae'; Ibid. 'Haec terra libera fuit et quieta ab omni geldo et regali servitio'; 170, 'Una hida et dimidia libera a geldo.' When after reading these passages we come upon the following (167 b), 'Isdem W. tenet Tatinton: Ulgar tenuit de rege Edwardo: haec terra libera est,' and when we observe that the land is not hidated, we shall probably infer that 'This land is free' means 'This land is exempt from geld, and (perhaps) from all other royal service.'

[162] Dialogus, i. c. 11; ii. c. 14.

[163] Dialogus, i. c. 10.

[164] Will. Conq. I. 30, 31: 'Si les seignurages ne facent altri gainurs venir a lour terre, la justise le facet.' The Latin version is ridiculous: 'Si domini terrarum non procurent _idoneos_ cultores ad terras suas colendas, iustitiarii hoc faciant.' The translator seems to have been puzzled by the word _altri_ or _autrui_.

[165] Ibid. 29.

[166] Schmid, App. v.; vii., 2, §§ 9-11; Pseudoleges Canuti, 60-1 (Schmid, p. 431).

[167] D. B. iv. 497.

[168] D. B. i. 44 b: 'Istam terram calumpniatur Willelmus de Chernet, dicens pertinere ad manerium de Cerneford feudum Hugonis de Port per hereditatem sui antecessoris et de hoc suum testimonium adduxit de melioribus et antiquis hominibus totius comitatus et hundredi; et Picot contraduxit suum testimonium de villanis et vili plebe et de prepositis, qui volunt defendere per sacramentum vel dei iudicium, quod ille qui tenuit terram liber homo fuit et potuit ire cum terra sua quo voluit. Sed testes Willelmi nolunt accipere legem nisi regis Edwardi usque dum diffiniatur per regem.' It seems possible that William's witnesses wished to insist on the ancient rule that the oath of one thegn would countervail the oaths of six ceorls. This was the old English law (_lex Edwardi_) on which they relied.

[169] D. B. ii. 393: 'et 5 villani de eodem manerio testantur ei et offerunt legem qualem quis iudicaverit; set dimidium hundret de Gepeswiz testantur quod hoc iacebat ad ecclesiam T. R. E. et Wisgarus tenebat et offert derationari.'

[170] Schmid, App. vi.; Leg. Hen. 61 § 2: 'thaini iusiurandum contravalet iusiurandum sex villanorum.'

[171] Leg. Hen. 29, § 1.

[172] Hist. Eng. Law, i. 344.

[173] Dialogus, i. c. 11.

[174] D. B. i. 67 b: 'De terra villanorum dedit abbatissa uni militi 3 hidas et dimidiam.' Ibid. 89: 'tenet Johannes de episcopo 2 hidas de terra villanorum.' Ibid. i. 169: 'unus francigena tenet terram unius villani.' Ibid. 164: 'In Sauerna 11 piscariae in dominio et 42 piscariae villanorum.' Ibid. 230: 'Silva dominica 1 leu. long. et dim. leu. lat. Silva villanorum 4 quarent. long. et 3 quarent. lat.' Ibid. 7 b: '5 molini villanorum.' We have not seen _dominicum_ used as a substantive; but in the Exon. D. B. iv. 75 we have _dominicatus Regis_, for the king's demesne. There is already a slight ambiguity about the term _dominium_. We may say that a church has a manor _in dominio_, meaning thereby that the manor as a whole is held by the church itself and is not held of it by any tenant; and then we may go on to say that only one half of the land comprised in this manor is held by the church _in dominio_. Cf. Hist. Eng. Law, ii. 126.

[175] For example, D. B. i. 159: 'Nunc in dominio 3 carucae et 6 servi, et 26 villani cum 3 bordariis et 15 liberi homines habent 30 carucas.' Ibid. 165: 'In dominio 2 carucae et 9 villani et 6 bordarii et presbyter et unus rachenistre cum 10 carucis.' Ibid. 258 b: 'et 3 villani et 2 bordarii et 2 francigenae cum 2 carucis.' But such entries are common enough.

[176] Round, Domesday Studies, i. 97.

[177] D. B. i. 28: 'Ipse Willelmus de Braiose tenet Wasingetune.... De hac terra tenet Gislebertus dim. hidam, Radulfus 1 hidam, Willelmus 3 virgas, Leuuinus dim. hidam qui potuit recedere cum terra sua et dedit geldum domino suo et dominus suus nichil dedit.'

[178] D. B. i. 163, 163 b.

[179] D. B. i. 121: 'Omnes superius descriptas terras tenebant T. R. E. S. Petrocus; huius sancti terrae nunquam reddiderunt geldum nisi ipsi aecclesiae.' D. B. iv. 187: 'Terrae S. Petrochi nunquam reddiderunt gildum nisi sancto.'

[180] D. B. ii. 372: 'Et quando in hundreto solvitur ad geldum 1 libra tunc inde exeunt 60 denarii ad victum monachorum.'

[181] Cnut, II. 79: 'And se þe land gewerod hæbbe be scire gewitnisse....' The A.-S. _werian_ is just the Latin _defendere_.

[182] Heming, Cartulary, i. 278; Round, Domesday Studies, i. 89. Compare the story in D. B. i. 216 b: Osbern or Osbert the fisherman claims certain land as having belonged to his 'antecessor'; 'sed postquam rex Willelmus in Angliam venit, ille gablum de hac terra dare noluit et Radulfus Taillgebosc gablum dedit et pro forisfacto ipsam terram sumpsit et cuidam suo militi tribuit.'

[183] D. B. iv. 245, Cruca.

[184] See above p. 54, note 175.

[185] D. B. i. 163: 'Ibi erant villani 21 et 9 rachenistres habentes 26 carucas et 5 coliberti et unus bordarius cum 5 carucis. Hi rachenistres arabant et herciabant ad curiam domini.' Ibid. 'Ibi 19 liberi homines rachenistres habentes 48 carucas cum suis hominibus.' Ibid. 166: 'De terra huius manerii tenebant radchenistres, id est liberi homines, T. R. E., qui tamen omnes ad opus domini arabant et herciabant et falcabant et metebant.'

[186] D. B. i. 186, Ewias.

[187] D. B. i. 180.

[188] D. B. i. 179 b.

[189] D. B. i. 179 b.

[190] D. B. i. 174 b.

[191] D. B. i. 246 b. So the burgesses of Steyning (i. 17) 'ad curiam operabantur sicut villani T. R. E.'

[192] D. B. i. 219.

[193] D. B. i. 174 b: 'Ipsi radmans secabant una die in anno et omne servitium quod eis iubebatur faciebant.' The position of these tenants will be discussed hereafter in connexion with St. Oswald's charters.

[194] D. B. i. 16 b: 'De herbagio, unus porcus de unoquoque villano qui habet septem porcos.' In the margin stands 'Similiter per totum Sussex.'

[195] D. B. i. 12 b: 'Ibi tantum silvae unde exeunt de pasnagio 40 porci aut 54 denarii et unus obolus.' Ibid. 191 b: 'De presentacione piscium 12 solidi et 9 denarii.' Ibid. 117 b: 'aut unum bovem aut 30 denarios.'

[196] See above p. 56.

[197] D. B. i. 12 b.

[198] D. B. i. 11 b, Hamestede.

[199] D. B. i. 117 b, Colun.

[200] D. B. i. 127, Stibenhede.

[201] D. B. i. 179 b, Lene.

[202] D. B. i. 12 b, Norborne.

[203] D. B. i. 127 b: 'Wellesdone tenent canonici S. Pauli.... Hoc manerium tenent villani ad firmam canonicorum. In dominio nil habetur.'

[204] See above p. 36.

[205] This matter will be discussed when we deal with St. Oswald's charters.

[205] Schmid, p. 263 (note). This document is Dr Liebermann's Instituta Cnuti (Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc. vii. 77).

[207] Schmid, App. II. 57-9.

[208] For the rest, the word _túnesman_ appears in Edgar IV. 8, 13, in connexion with provisions against the theft of cattle.

[209] D. B. i. 259, 259 b.

[210] Leg. Will. I. 29.

[211] D. B. ii. 360 b: 'Hanc terram habet Abbas in vadimonio pro duabus marcis auri concessu Engelrici quando redimebant Anglici terras suas.' Sometimes the Englishman gets back his land as a bedesman: i. 218, 'Hanc terram tenuit pater huius hominis et vendere poterit T. R. E. Hanc rex Willelmus in elemosina eidem concessit'; i. 211, 'Hanc terram tenuit Avigi et potuit dare cui voluit T. R. E. Hanc ei postea rex Willelmus concessit et per breve R. Tallebosc commendavit ut eum servaret'; i. 218 b, a similar case.

[212] Dialogus, i. c. 10; Bracton, f. 7. On both passages see Vinogradoff, Villainage, p. 121.

[213] D. B. ii. 1: 'In hoc manerio erat tunc temporis quidam liber homo ... qui modo effectus est unus de villanis.'

[214] D. B. i. 148 b: 'In Merse tenet Ailric de Willelmo 4 hidas pro uno manerio.... Istemet tenuit T. R. E. sed modo tenet ad firmam de Willelmo graviter et miserabiliter.'

[215] D. B. i. 141: 'Hanc terram sumpsit Petrus vicecomes de isto sochemanno Regis Willelmi in manu eiusdem Regis pro forisfactura de gildo Regis se non reddidisse ut homines sui dicunt. Sed homines de scira non portant vicecomiti testimonium, quia semper fuit quieta de gildo et de aliis erga Regem quamdiu tenuit, testante hundret.'

[216] D. B. i. 30: 'Ricardus de Tonebrige tenet de hoc manerio unam virgatam cum silva unde abstulit rusticum qui ibi manebat.'

[217] D. B. ii. 282 b: 'et istam consuetudinem constituit illis Aluricus prepositus in tempore R. Bigot.'

[218] D. B. ii. 284 b.

[219] D. B. ii. 84 b.

[220] D. B. ii. 353 b: 'omnes fuerunt confusi.'

[221] D. B. ii. 440 b: 'sed homines inde fuerunt confusi.'

[222] D. B. i. 65, Aldeborne.

[223] D. B. ii. 18, Berdringas.

[224] D. B. ii. 88 b, Tachesteda.

[225] Ellis, Introduction, ii. 428. We give Ellis's figures, but think that he has exaggerated the number of sokemen who were to be found in 1086.

[226] We make considerably more than 900 by counting only those who are expressly described as sokemen and excluding the many persons who are simply described as _homines_ capable of selling their land.

[227] Hamilton, Inquisitio, 65.

[228] Hamilton, Inquisitio, 77.

[229] Thus e.g. D. B. ii. 87 b: 'Hidingham tenet Garengerus de Rogero pro 25 acris quas tenuerunt 15 liberi homines T. R. E.'

[230] D. B. i. 31.

[231] D. B. i. 31 b: 'Et 10 hidas tenebant alodiarii villae.'

[232] D. B. i. 10 b.

[233] D. B. i. 13, Essella.

[234] D. B. i. 24.

[235] D. B. 83, 83 b.

[236] Vinogradoff, Villainage, 89 ff.; Hist. Engl. Law, i. 366 ff.

[237] D. B. i. 189 b.

§ 4. _The Sokemen._

[The _sochemanni_ and _liberi homines_.]

Now of a large part of England we may say that all the occupiers of land who are not holding 'manors[238]' will belong to some of those classes of which we have already spoken. They will be villeins, bordiers, cottiers, 'boors' or serfs. Here and there we may find a few persons who are described as _liberi homines_. In some of the western counties, Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, Shropshire, there are _rachenistres_ or _radmans_; between the Ribble and the Mersey we may find a party of _drengs_. Still it is generally true that two of those five classes that seem to have been mentioned in King William's writ[239], the _sochemanni_ and the _liberi homines_, are largely represented only in certain counties. They are to be seen in Essex, yet more thickly in Suffolk and Norfolk. In Lincolnshire nearly half of the rural population consists of sokemen, though there is no class of persons described as _liberi homines_. There are some sokemen in Yorkshire, but they are not very numerous and there are hardly any _liberi homines_. We have seen how in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire the sokemen have fared ill; but still some are left there. Traces of them may be found in Hertford and Buckingham; they are thick in Leicester, Nottingham and Northampton; there are some in Derbyshire. There have been sokemen in Middlesex[240] and in Surrey[241]; but they have been suppressed; a few remain in Kent[242]; so we should be rash were we to find anything characteristically Scandinavian in the sokemen. Even in Suffolk they are suffering ill at the hands of their new masters[243], while in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire they have been suppressed or displaced.

[Lord and man.]

We have now to enter on a difficult task, a discussion of the relation which exists between these _sochemanni_ and _liberi homines_ on the one hand and their lord upon the other. The character of this relation varies from case to case. We may distinguish three different bonds by which a man may be bound to a lord, a personal bond, a tenurial bond, a jurisdictional or justiciary bond. But the language of Domesday Book is not very patient of this analysis. However in the second volume we very frequently come upon two ideas which are sharply contrasted with each other; the one is expressed by the term _commendatio_, the other by the term _soca_[244]. To these we must add the great vague term _consuetudo_, and we shall also have to consider the phrases which describe the various degrees of that freedom of 'withdrawing himself with his land' that a man may enjoy.

[Bonds between lord and man.]

In order that we may become familiar with the use made of these terms and phrases we will transcribe a few typical entries:

Two free men, of whom Ælfwin had not even the commendation[245].

Of these men Harold had not even the commendation[246].

Thus commendation seems put before us as the slightest bond that there can be between lord and man. Very often we are told that the lord had the commendation and nothing more[247]. Thus it is contrasted with the soke:--

His predecessor had only the commendation of this, and Harold had the soke[248].

Of these six free men St Benet had the soke, and of one of them the commendation[249].

And the commendation is contrasted with the 'custom,' the _consuetudo_, perhaps we might say the 'service':--

Of the said sokeman Ralph Peverel had a custom of 3 shillings a year, but in the Confessor's time his ancestor had only the commendation[250].

R. Malet claims 18 free men, 3 of them by commendation, and the rest for all custom[251].

And the soke is contrasted with the _consuetudo_:--

To this manor belong 4 men for all custom, and other 4 for soke only[252].

In a given case all these bonds may be united:--

There are 7 sokemen who are the Saint's men with sake and soke and all custom[253].

Over this man the Saint has sake and soke and commendation with all custom[254].

Then if the man 'withdraws,' or gives or sells his land, we often read of the soke 'remaining'; we sometimes read of the commendation, the custom, the service 'remaining.'

These free men could sell or give their land, but the commendation and the soke and sake would remain to St Edmund[255].

These men could sell their land, but the soke would remain to the Saint and the service (_servitium_), whoever might be the buyer[256].

They could give and sell their land, but the soke and the commendation and the service would remain to the Saint[257].

But after all, these distinctions are not maintained with rigour, for the soke is sometimes spoken of as though it were a species of _consuetudo_. We have a tangled skein in our hands.

[Commendation.]

The thread that looks as if it would be the easiest to unravel, is that which is styled 'mere commendation.' The same idea is expressed by other phrases--'he committed himself to Bishop Herman for his defence[258]'--'they submitted themselves with their land to the abbey for defence[259]'--'he became the man of Goisfrid of his own free will[260]'--'she put herself with her land in the hand of the queen[261].' 'Homage' is not a common term in Domesday Book, but if, when speaking of the old time, it says, as it constantly does, that one person was the man of another, no doubt it is telling us of a relationship which had its origin in an oath and a symbolic ceremony[262]. 'She put herself into the hands of the queen'--we should take these words to mean just what they say. An Anglo-Saxon oath of fealty (_hyldáð_) has been preserved[263]. The swearer promises to be faithful and true to his lord, to love all that his lord loves and eschew all that his lord eschews. He makes no distinct reference to any land, but he refers to some compact which exists between him and his lord:--He will be faithful and true on condition that his lord treats him according to his deserts and according to the covenant that has been established between them.

[Commendation and protection.]