第33章

Inspeakingofthoseclassesofpeasantswhowerebynomeanstreatedasserfstobeexploitedatwill，Imustnotomittomentiononegroupwhichappears，notasahorizontallayerspreadoverEngland，butintheverticalcut，asitwere。ImeantheKentishgavelkindtenantry。TheDomesdaySurveyspeaksofthepopulationofthiscountyquiteinthesamewayasofthepeopleofneighbouringshires；villainsformthegreatbulkofit，socmenarenotevenmentioned，andtojudgebysuchindications，wehavehereplainserfdomoccupyingthewholeterritoryofthecounty。OntheotherhandthelawofthethirteenthcenturyputsthesocialstandingofKentishmeninthemostdecidedoppositiontothatofthesurroundingpeople。The’ConsuetudinesKanciae，’

thewell-knownlistofspecialKentishcustoms，(71*)isreportedtohavebeendrawnupduringaneyreofJohnofBerwickinthetwenty-firstyearofEdwardI。Beitsoriginwhatitmay，wecomeacrossseveralofitsrulesatmuchearliertimes，(72*)andtheyarealwaysconsideredofimmemorialcustom。ThebasisofKentishsociallawistheassumptionthateverymanborninthecountyisentitledtobeconsideredaspersonallyfree，andtheCommonLawCourtsrecognisedthenotiontotheextentofadmittingtheassertionthatapersonwasborninKentasareplyagainstthe’exceptiovillenagii。’Thecontrastwithothercountiesdidnotstopthere。Thelawoftenurewasasdifferentasthelawofstatus。ItwouldbeneedlesstoenumerateallthepointssetforthasKentishcustom。Theyshowconclusivelythatthelordwasanythingbutomnipotentinthiscounty。Interferencewiththeproprietaryrightofthepeasantryisnoteventhoughtofthetenantsmayevenalienatetheirplotsfreely；thelordcanonlyclaimtheaccustomedrentsandservices；ifthetenantsarenegligentinperformingworkormakingpayments，distressandforfeitureareawardedbythemanorialcourtaccordingtocarefullygraduatedforms；wardshipincaseofminoritygoestothekinandnottothelord，andheiressescannotbeforcedtomarryagainsttheirwish。AsacaseofindependencetheKentishcustomisquitecomplete，andmanorialdocumentsshowoneverythatitwasanythingbutadeadletter。TheRochesterCustumal，theBlackBookofSt。Augustine，thecustomsoftheKentishpossessionsofBattleAbbey，theregistersofChristChurch，Canterbury，allagreeinshowingtheKentishtenantryasaprivilegedone，bothastothequantityandastothequalityoftheirservices。(73*)AndsothegreatbulkoftheKentishpeasantryactuallyappearsinthesamegeneralpositionasthefreesocmenofothercounties，andsometimestheyareevencalledbythisname。(74*)

Whatismore，thelawofKentthusfavourabletothepeasantryconnectsitselfdistinctlywiththeancientcustomsofSaxonceorls：thequaintoldEnglishproverbsenrolledinitlooklikesayingswhichhavekeptitinthememoryofgenerationsbeforeitwastransmittedtowriting。Thepeculiaritiesinthetreatmentofwardship，ofdower，ofinheritance，appearnotonlyinoppositiontothefeudaltreatmentofallthesesubjects，butincloseconnexionwitholdSaxonusage。Itwouldbeverywrong，however，toconsiderthewholepopulationofKentaslivingunderonelaw。Asinthecaseofancientdemesne，thereweredifferentclassesonKentishsoil：tenantsbyknight-serviceandsergeantyononeside，villainsontheother。(75*)ThecustomofKentholdsgoodonlyforthetenantrywhichwouldhavebeencalledgavelmeninotherplaces。Itisacustomofgavelkind，oftherent-payingpeasantry，thepeasantrywhichpaysgafol，andassuchstandsinoppositiontotheusagesofthosewhoholdtheirlandbyforkandflail。(76*)TheimportantpointisthatwemaylaydownascertaininthiscasewhatwasonlyputforwardhypotheticallyinthecaseofmolmenandgavelmenintherestofEngland：thefreeholdqualityofrent-payinglandisnotduetocommutationandinnovationalone——itproceedsfromapre-feudalclassificationofholdingswhichstartedfromthecontrastbetweenrentandlabour，andnotfromthatbetweencertainanduncertaintenure。Again，thelawofgavelkind，althoughnotextendingoverthewholeofKent，belongstosoimportantandnumerousaportionofthepopulation，that，asinthecaseofancientdemesne，itcomestobeconsideredasthetypicalcustomofthecounty，andattractsallothervariationsoflocalusageintoitssphereofinfluence。TheCustumalpublishedamongtheStatutesspeaksofthepersonalfreedomofallKentish-men，althoughithastoconcernitselfspeciallywiththegavelkindtenantry。Thenotionofvillainagegetsgraduallyeliminatedfromthesoiloftheprovince，althoughitwasbynomeansabsentfromitinthebeginning。

Thirteenth-centurylawevidentlymakesthecontrastbetweenKentandadjoiningshiresmoresharpthanitoughttohavebeen，ifallthevarietieswithinthecountyweretakenintoaccount。

But，ifitwaspossiblefromthelegalstandpointtodrawahardandfastlinebetweenKentononeside，SussexorEsse