Note 15 — Chapter III · ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION

Latin ‘capitalis’ from ‘caput’—a head, and thus “the status of Roman citizenship”. Under the old Roman law each citizen was assessed according to the number of beasts which he possessed. Thus, the word cattle is also derived, through French, from ‘capitalis’. Compare the derivation of pecuniary from ‘pecus’—a head of cattle, and fee from Old English ‘feoh’ (cattle).