CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. THE ENGLISH OPEN-FIELD SYSTEM EXAMINED IN ITS MODERN REMAINS. 1. The distinctive marks of the open-field system 1 2. Scattered and intermixed ownership in the open fields 7 3. The open fields were the common fields of a village community or township under a manor 8 4. The wide prevalence of the system through Great Britain 13

CHAPTER II. THE ENGLISH OPEN-FIELD SYSTEM TRACED BACK TO THE DOMESDAY SURVEY—IT IS THE SHELL OF SERFDOM—THE MANOR WITH A VILLAGE COMMUNITY IN VILLENAGE UPON IT. 1. The identity of the system with that of the Middle Ages 17 2. The Winslow Manor Rolls of the reign of Edward III.—example of a virgate or yard-land 22 3. The Hundred Rolls of Edward I. embracing five Midland Counties 32 4. The Hundred Rolls (continued).—Relation of the virgate to the hide and carucate 36 5. The Hundred Rolls (continued).—The services of the villein tenants 40 6. Description in Fleta of a manor in the time of Edward I. 45 7. S.E. of England—The hide and virgate under other names (the records of Battle Abbey and St. Paul's) 49 8. The relation of the virgate to the hide traced in the cartularies of Gloucester and Worcester Abbeys, and the custumal of Bleadon in Somersetshire 55 9. Cartularies of Newminster and Kelso, thirteenth century—The connexion of the holdings with the common plough team of eight oxen 60 10. The Boldon Book, A.D. 1183 68 11. The 'Liber Niger' of Peterborough Abbey, A.D. 1125 72 12. Summary of the post-Domesday evidence 76

CHAPTER III. THE DOMESDAY SURVEY (A.D. 1086). 1. There were manors everywhere 82 2. The division of the manor into lord's demesne and land in villenage 84 3. The free tenants on the lord's demesne 86 4. The classes of tenants in villenage 89 5. The villani were holders of virgates, &c. 91 6. The holdings of the bordarii or cottiers 95 7. The Domesday survey of the Villa of Westminster 97 8. The extent of the cultivated land of England, and how much was included in the yard-lands of the villani 101

CHAPTER IV. THE OPEN-FIELD SYSTEM TRACED IN SAXON TIMES—THE SCATTERING OF THE STRIPS ORIGINATED IN THE METHODS OF CO-ARATION. 1. The village fields under Saxon rule were open fields 105 2. The holdings were composed of scattered strips 110 3. The open-field system of co-aration described in the ancient laws of Wales 117

CHAPTER V. MANORS AND SERFDOM UNDER SAXON RULE. 1. The Saxon 'hams' and 'tuns' were manors with village communities in serfdom upon them 126 2. The 'Rectitudines Singularum Personarum' 129 3. The thane and his services 134 4. The geneats and their services 137 5. The double and ancient character of the services of the gebur—Gafol and week-work 142 6. Serfdom on a manor of King Edwy 148 7. Serfdom on a manor of King Alfred 160 8. The theows or slaves on the lord's demesne 164 9. The creation of new manors 166 10. The laws of King Ethelbert—There were manors in the sixth century 173 11. Result of the Saxon evidence 175

CHAPTER VI. THE TRIBAL SYSTEM (IN WALES). 1. Evidence of the Domesday Survey 181 2. The Welsh land system in the twelfth century 186 3. The Welsh land system according to the Welsh laws 189 4. Land divisions under the Welsh Codes 199 5. Earlier evidence of the payment of Welsh gwestva, or food-rent 208

CHAPTER VII. THE TRIBAL SYSTEM (continued). 1. The tribal system in Ireland and Scotland 214 2. The tribal system in its earlier stages 231 3. The distinction between the tribal and agricultural economy of the West and South-East of Britain was pre-Roman, and so also was the open-field system 245

CHAPTER VIII. CONNEXION BETWEEN THE ROMAN LAND SYSTEM AND THE LATER MANORIAL SYSTEM. 1. Importance of the Continental evidence 252 2. The connexion between the Saxon 'ham,' the German 'heim,' and the Frankish 'villa' 253 3. The Roman 'villa,' its easy transition into the later manor, and its tendency to become the predominant type of estate 263 4. The smaller tenants on the 'Ager Publicus' in Roman provinces—The veterans 272 5. The smaller tenants on the 'Ager Publicus' (continued)—the 'læti' 280 6. The 'tributum' of the later Empire 289 7. The 'sordida munera' of the later Empire 295 8. The tendency towards a manorial management of the 'Ager Publicus,' or Imperial domain 300 9. The succession to semi-servile holdings, and methods of cultivation 308 10. The transition from the Roman to the later manorial system 316

CHAPTER IX. THE GERMAN SIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL EVIDENCE. 1. The German tribal system and its tendency towards the manorial system 336 2. The tribal households of German settlers 346

CHAPTER X. THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THE OPEN-FIELD SYSTEM AND SERFDOM OF ENGLAND AND OF THE ROMAN PROVINCES OF GERMANY AND GAUL. 1. The open-field system in England and in Germany compared 368 2. The boundaries or 'marchæ' 375 3. The three fields, or 'zelgen' 376 4. The division of the fields into furlongs and acres 380 5. The holdings—the 'yard-land' or 'hub' 389 6. The hide, the 'hof,' and the 'centuria' 395 7. The gafol and gafol-yrth 399 8. The boon-work and week-work of the serf 403 9. The creation of serfs and the growth of serfdom 405 10. The confusion in the status of the tenants on English and German manors 407 11. Result of the comparison 409

CHAPTER XI. RESULT OF THE EVIDENCE. 1. The method of the English settlements 412 2. Local evidence of continuity between Roman and English villages 424 3. Conclusion 437

APPENDIX 443

INDEX and GLOSSARY 455