第31章

ThereareattheBritishMuseumtwomostcuriousSurveysofthepossessionsofElyMinster，onedrawnupin1222andtheotherin1277，(22*)Insomeofthemanorsdescribedwefindtenantscalled’hundredarii。’Theirdutiesvaryagooddeal，butthepeculiaritywhichgroupsthemintoaspecialdivisionandgivesthemtheirnameisthesuitofcourttheyowetothehundred。(23*)AndalthoughthenamedoesnotoccuroftenevenintheElySurveys，andisveryrareindeedelsewhere，(24*)thethingisquitecommon。Thevillagehastoberepresentedinthehundredcourteitherbythelordofthemanor，orbythesteward，orbythereeve，thepriest，andfourmen。(25*)ThesamepeoplehavetoattendtheCountyCourtandtomeettheKing’sjusticeswhentheyareholdinganeyre。(26*)Itisnotanecessaryconsequence，ofcourse，thatcertainparticularholdingsshouldbeburdenedwiththespecialdutyofsendingrepresentativestothesemeetings，butitisquiteinkeepingwiththegeneraltendencyofthetimethatitshouldbeso；andindeedonefindseverywherethatsomeofthetenants，evenifnotcalled’hundredarii，’aresingledoutfromtherestto’defend’thetownshipathundredandshiremoots。(27*)Theyareexemptedfromotherservicesinregardtothis’external，’this’forinsec’

duty，whichwasconsideredasbynomeansalightone。(28*)

Andnowastotheirstatus。TheobligationtosendthereeveandfourmenisenforcedallthroughEngland，andforthisreasonitisprimafacieimpossiblethatitshouldbeperformedeverywherebyfreeholdersintheusualsenseoftheword。Therecanbenodoubtthatinmany，ifnotinmost，placesthefeudalorganisationofsocietyaffordedlittleroomforaconsiderableclassoffree-holdingpeasantsoryeomen。(29*)Ifeverytownshipintherealmhadtoattendparticularjudicialmeetings，toperformservicefortheking，bymeansoffiverepresentatives，thesecouldnotbutbeselectedlargelyfromamongthevillainclass。ThepartplayedbytheserepresentativesintheCourtswasentirelyinkeepingwiththeirsubordinateposition。Theywerenotreckonedamongthe’freeandlawful’menactingasjudgesorassessorsanddecidingthequestionsatissue。Theyhadonlytomakepresentmentsandtogivetestimonyonoathwhenrequiredtodoso。Theoppositionisaverymarkedone，andspeaksofitselfagainsttheassumptionthatthefivemenfromthetownshipwereonanequalstandingwiththefreeholders。(30*)Again，fourofthesefivewereinmanycasesespeciallyboundbytheirtenuretoattendthemeetings，andthereevecamebyvirtueofhisoffice，butheisnamedfirst，anditdoesnotseemlikelythattheleadershouldbeconsideredasoflowerdegreethanthefollowers。Nowtheobligationtoserveasreevewastakenasamarkofvillainage。Allthesefactsleadoneforciblytotheconclusionthatthehundredorsofourdocumentsrepresentthevillagepeopleatlarge，andthevillainsfirstofall，becausethisclasswasmostnumerousinthevillage。Thisdoesnotmean，ofcourse，thattheywereallpersonallyunfree：weknowalready，thatthelawoftenurewasofmoreimportanceinsuchquestionsthanpersonalstatus。(31*)Itdoesnotevenmeanthatthehundredorswerenecessarilyholdinginvillainage：smallfreeholdersmayhaveappearedamongthem。Buttheinstitutioncouldnotrestonthebasisoflegalfreeholdifitwastorepresentthegreatbulkofthepeasantryinthetownships。

Thisseemsobviousanddefiniteenough，butourinquirywouldbeincompleteandmisleadingifitweretostophere。Wehaveinthisinstanceoneofthosecuriouscontradictionsbetweentwowell-establishedsetsoffactswhichareespeciallyprecioustotheinvestigatorbecausetheyleadhimwhileseekingtheirsolutiontoinferencesfarbeyondthematerialunderimmediateexamination。Inonesensethereeveandthefourmen，thehundredors，seemvillainsandnotfreeholders。Inanothertheyseemfreeholdersandnotvillains。Theirtenurebythe’sergeanty’ofattendinghundredsandshiresranksagainandagainwithfreeholdandinoppositiontobasetenure。(32*)

Originallythefourmenweremadetogonotonlywiththereevebutwiththepriest；andifthereevewasconsideredinfeudaltimesasunfree，thepriest，the’mass-thane，’wasalwaysconsideredasfree。(33*)Itistobenoticedthattheattendanceofthepriestfellintoabeyanceinprocessoftime，butthatitwasnotlessnecessaryfortherepresentationofthetownshipaccordingtotheancientconstitutionofthehundredthantheattendanceofthereev