37:
542:, that is, on the portion of their fief which remained in their own hands. These returns further prove that lands had already been granted for the service of a fraction of a knight, such service being in practice already commuted for a proportionate monetary payment; and they show that the total number of knights with which land held by military service was charged was not, as was formerly supposed, sixty thousand, but, probably, somewhere between five and six thousand. Similar returns were made for Normandy, and are valuable for the light they throw on its system of knight-service.
753:
551:
expenses free from difficulty. In addition to this primary duty, he had, in numerous cases at least, to perform that of castle ward at his lord's chief castle for a fixed number of days in the year. On certain baronies also was incumbent the duty of providing knights for the guard of royal castles, such as
Windsor, Rockingham and Dover.
606:, been largely reduced. The knight's fee, however, remained a knight's fee, and the pecuniary incidents of military tenure, especially wardship, marriage, and fines on alienation, long continued to be a source of revenue to the crown. But at the Restoration (1660) tenure by knight-service was abolished by the
601:
The disintegration of the system was carried further in the latter half of the 13th century as a consequence of changes in warfare, which were increasing the importance of foot soldiers and making the service of a knight for forty days of less value to the king. The barons, instead of paying scutage,
550:
The primary obligation incumbent on every knight was service in the field, when called upon, for forty days a year, with specified armour and arms. There was, however, a standing dispute as to whether he could be called upon to perform this service outside the realm, nor was the question of his
581:
The principle of commuting for the obligation of military service into payments struck at the root of the whole system. The change of conception was so complete, that tenure by knight-service of a mesne lord becomes, first in fact and then in law, a tenure by
505:, but the knight's fee had not any fixed area, as different soils and climates required differing acreages to produce a given profit requisite to support a knight and his entourage. This process could be carried further till there was a chain of
493:. The magnate who had been enfeoffed by his sovereign for his honour of land could provide the knights required either by hiring them for pay or, more conveniently when wealth was mainly represented by land, by a process of
537:
In the returns made in 1166 some of the barons appear as having enfeoffed more and some less than the number of knights they had to find. In the latter case they described the balance as being chargeable on their
497:, analogous to that by which he himself had been enfeoffed. That is to say, he could assign to an under-tenant a certain portion of his fief to be held by direct military service or the service of providing a
520:) of the barons (i.e. the tenants-in-chief) in 1166, informing the king, at his request, of the names of their tenants by knight-service with the number of fees they held, supplemented by the payments for
470:
divided the lay lands of
England among his magnates in the form of "honours" or great blocks of land. These were subdivided by the magnates into smaller manors and yet smaller divisions or
602:
compounded for their service by the payment of lump sums, and, by a process which is still obscure, the nominal quotas of knight-service due from each had, by the time of
558:
Aids, which consisted of the duty to ransom the lord if he were taken prison, to make the lord's eldest son a knight, and to marry the lord's eldest daughter
434:, the most important factor in battle. It was long believed that knight-service was developed out of the liability, under the English system, of every five
774:
554:
Under the feudal system, the tenant by knight-service had also the same pecuniary obligations to his lord as had his lord to the king. These consisted of:
378:
765:
442:, who relied essentially on their mounted knights, while the English fought on foot. It existed in Normandy where a knight held a fief termed a
36:
438:
of land to provide one soldier in war. It is now held that, on the contrary, it was a novel system in
England when it was introduced after
513:
and the actual occupier of the land. The liability for performance of the knight-service was, however, always carefully defined.
371:
299:
661:, which may be studied on the whole question, but the editors' view must be received with caution and checked by JH Round's
843:
569:
Wardship, that is, the profits from his lands during a minority (i.e., if the landholder is too young to manage the land);
224:
572:
Marriage, that is, the right of giving in marriage (unless bought off), his heiress, his heir (if a minor) and his widow.
705:
623:
482:
to his overlord by taking a vow of loyalty and accepting the obligation to perform military service for his overlord.
607:
364:
653:
For the financial side of knight-service the early pipe rolls have been printed by the Record
Commission and the
632:
598:
states, the test of tenure was scutage; liability, however small, to scutage payment made the tenure military.
692:(University of Chicago Press, 1897), a valuable monograph with bibliography; and by Petit-Dutaillis, in his
426:
It is associated in its origin with that development in warfare which made the mailed horseman, armed with
833:
467:
239:
848:
591:
178:
134:
28:
603:
516:
The chief sources of information for the extent and development of knight-service are the returns (
490:
124:
69:
838:
455:
395:
289:
129:
20:
418:) from an overlord conditional on him as a tenant performing military service for his overlord.
654:
164:
139:
789:
758:
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
595:
319:
43:
510:
479:
439:
119:
50:
502:
475:
407:
249:
494:
279:
169:
104:
79:
827:
769:
759:
309:
294:
670:
642:
637:
530:
339:
244:
435:
234:
214:
174:
154:
525:
506:
501:
knight. The land so held would then be described as consisting of one or more
334:
74:
778:. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 867–868.
454:) worn by knights. An allusion is made to this in the coronation charter of
498:
354:
284:
269:
94:
274:
259:
194:
99:
84:
587:
521:
486:
447:
344:
329:
264:
209:
204:
184:
109:
564:
399:
324:
144:
114:
89:
676:
The existing theory on knight-service was enunciated by Mr Round in
464:" (literally "soldiers who serve their lands by means of armour").
471:
431:
427:
189:
403:
199:
64:
688:), who discuss the question at length; by Mr JF Baldwin in his
458:(1100), which speaks of those holding by knight-service as "
796:. Institute of Historical Research, King's College London
610:, and with it these vexatious exactions were abolished.
534:, and by the still later ones collected in Feudal Aids.
694:
Studies supplementary to Stubbs' Constitutional
History
818:, Book 2, Chapter V "Of the Ancient English Tenures"
561:Relief, which he paid on succeeding to his lands;
684:(1895). It is accepted by Pollock and Maitland (
474:just large enough to support one knight, termed
461:militibus qui per loricam terras suas deserviunt
657:, and abstracts of later ones will be found in
372:
8:
459:
636:(13th century), edited by H. Hall for the
379:
365:
24:
746:
744:
742:
740:
618:The returns of 1166 are preserved in the
738:
736:
734:
732:
730:
728:
726:
724:
722:
720:
663:Studies on the Red Book of the Exchequer
790:"Henry I's coronation charter (Hn cor)"
716:
680:, vi., vii, and reissued by him in his
308:
223:
153:
27:
696:(Manchester University Series, 1908).
640:in 1896. The later returns are in the
528:, by the later returns printed in the
489:when that country was conquered under
44:Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci
690:Scutage and Knight-service in England
7:
646:and in the Record Office volumes of
816:Commentaries on the Laws of England
16:Land tenure under the feudal system
14:
751:
35:
665:(for private circulation). The
485:The same system was adopted in
300:Peerages in the United Kingdom
1:
659:The Red Book of the Exchequer
225:Feudal land tenure in England
764:Round, John Horace (1911). "
546:Incidents of military tenure
814:William Blackstone (1753),
706:History of English land law
650:, arranged under counties.
440:the Conquest by the Normans
406:or estate of land termed a
865:
622:(13th century), edited by
608:Tenures Abolition Act 1660
18:
678:English Historical Review
633:Red Book of the Exchequer
460:
614:Sources and bibliography
450:or coat of mail (Latin:
775:Encyclopædia Britannica
673:may also be consulted.
686:History of English Law
414:being synonymous with
468:William the Conqueror
240:English feudal barony
844:Medieval English law
135:Feudal fragmentation
70:Ecclesiastical fief
794:Early English Laws
590:). By the time of
478:. The knight paid
396:feudal land tenure
290:Customary freehold
130:Feudal maintenance
21:Feudal land tenure
655:Pipe Roll Society
389:
388:
165:Lord of the manor
140:Bastard feudalism
29:English feudalism
856:
819:
812:
806:
805:
803:
801:
786:
780:
779:
757:
755:
754:
748:
524:recorded on the
463:
462:
381:
374:
367:
320:Avera and inward
54:
39:
25:
864:
863:
859:
858:
857:
855:
854:
853:
824:
823:
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813:
809:
799:
797:
788:
787:
783:
763:
752:
750:
749:
718:
714:
702:
667:Baronia Anglica
616:
579:
548:
511:tenant-in-chief
444:fief de haubert
424:
385:
349:
304:
219:
149:
56:
55:
51:Bayeux Tapestry
48:
47:
23:
17:
12:
11:
5:
862:
860:
852:
851:
846:
841:
836:
826:
825:
821:
820:
807:
781:
770:Chisholm, Hugh
766:Knight-Service
715:
713:
710:
709:
708:
701:
698:
682:Feudal England
615:
612:
578:
575:
574:
573:
570:
567:
562:
559:
547:
544:
495:subinfeudation
423:
420:
398:under which a
394:was a form of
392:Knight-service
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255:Knight-service
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170:Manorial court
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137:
132:
127:
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117:
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107:
105:Subinfeudation
102:
97:
92:
87:
82:
80:Allodial title
77:
72:
67:
61:
58:
57:
41:
40:
32:
31:
19:Main article:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
861:
850:
847:
845:
842:
840:
837:
835:
834:Feudal duties
832:
831:
829:
817:
811:
808:
795:
791:
785:
782:
777:
776:
771:
767:
761:
760:public domain
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745:
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739:
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731:
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625:
621:
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568:
566:
565:Primer seisin
563:
560:
557:
556:
555:
552:
545:
543:
541:
535:
533:
532:
527:
523:
519:
514:
512:
508:
504:
503:knight's fees
500:
496:
492:
488:
483:
481:
477:
476:knight's fees
473:
469:
465:
457:
453:
449:
445:
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421:
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314:
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310:Feudal duties
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295:Landed gentry
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62:
60:
59:
52:
46:
45:
38:
34:
33:
30:
26:
22:
815:
810:
798:. Retrieved
793:
784:
773:
693:
689:
685:
681:
677:
675:
666:
662:
658:
652:
647:
643:Book of Fees
641:
638:Rolls Series
631:
628:Liber Rubeus
627:
619:
617:
600:
583:
580:
577:Denaturation
553:
549:
539:
536:
531:Book of Fees
529:
517:
515:
509:between the
484:
466:
451:
446:, from the
443:
425:
415:
411:
408:knight's fee
391:
390:
340:Scot and lot
254:
250:Knight's fee
245:Feudal baron
42:
849:Land tenure
648:Feudal Aids
620:Liber Niger
507:mesne lords
235:Land tenure
215:Free tenant
175:Manor house
155:Manorialism
828:Categories
712:References
626:, and the
526:pipe rolls
335:Feudal aid
75:Crown land
839:Feudalism
592:Henry III
499:mercenary
355:Feudalism
285:Gavelkind
270:Serjeanty
95:Feoffment
800:28 April
700:See also
604:Edward I
491:Henry II
280:Freehold
275:Copyhold
260:Baronage
195:Overlord
125:Affinity
100:Seignory
85:Appanage
772:(ed.).
762::
596:Bracton
588:scutage
584:escuage
540:demesne
522:scutage
487:Ireland
456:Henry I
448:hauberk
422:History
402:held a
345:Tallage
330:Scutage
265:Peerage
210:Serfdom
205:Peasant
185:Demesne
110:Feoffee
768:". In
756:
624:Hearne
586:(i.e.
518:cartae
480:homage
452:lorica
400:knight
325:Socage
145:Livery
120:Homage
115:Fealty
90:Vassal
671:Madox
594:, as
472:fiefs
436:hides
432:sword
428:lance
190:Glebe
802:2019
430:and
416:fief
404:fief
200:Lord
179:List
65:Fief
669:of
630:or
412:fee
830::
792:.
719:^
804:.
410:(
380:e
373:t
366:v
181:)
177:(
53:)
49:(
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