第38章

inconvenientnetwork。Thelordhadnointeresttopreventsuchexchanges，whichcouldmanifestlyleadtoanimprovementofhusbandry，。andinregardtohisownstrips，hemusthaveperceivedsoonenoughthatitwouldbebettertohavetheminonecompactmassthanscatteredaboutinallthefields。Andstilltheopen-fieldintermixtureholdsitsgroundallthroughthemiddleages，andwefinditssurvivalsfarintomoderntimes。Thiscanonlymean，thatevenwhentheshifting，’ideal，’shareinthelandofthecommunityhadgivenwaytothepermanentownershipbyeachmemberofcertainparticularscatteredstrips，thispermanentownershipdidbynomeansamounttoprivatepropertyintheRomanorinthemodernsense。Thecommunalprinciplewithitsequalisingtendencyremainedstillastheefficientforceregulatingthewhole，andstrongenoughtosubjecteventhelordandthefreeholderstoitscustomaryinfluence。BysayingthisIdonotmeantomaintain，ofcourse，thatprivatepropertywasnotexistent，thatitwasnotbreakingthroughthecommunalsystem，andactingasadissolventofit。Ishallhavetoshowby-and-byinwhatwaysthisprocesswaseffected。Butthefactremains，thatthesystemwhichprevaileduponthewholeduringthemiddleagesappearsdirectlyconnectedinitsmostimportantfeatureswithideasofcommunalownershipandequalisedindividualrights。

Theseideasarecarriedoutinaveryroughwayinthemediaevalarrangementoftheholding，whichismorecomplicatedinEnglandthanonthecontinent。Accordingtoaverycommonmodeofreckoning，thehidecontainsfourvirgates，everyvirgatetwobovates，andeverybovatefifteenacres。Thebovate(oxgang)

showsbyitsverynamethatnotonlythelandistakenintoaccount，buttheoxenemployedinitstillage，andtherecordsexplainthehideorcarucate(23*)tobethelandoftheeight-oxenplough，thatissomuchlandasmaybecultivatedbyaploughdrawnbyeightoxen。Thevirgate，oryard-land，beingthefourthpartofahide，correspondstoone-fourthpartoftheplough，thatis，totwooxen，contributedbytheholdertothefullplough-team；thebovateoroxgangappearsasthelandofoneox，andtheeighthpartofthehide。(24*)Suchproportionsare，asIsaid，verycommonlyfoundintherecords，buttheyarebynomeansprevalenteverywhere。OnthepossessionsofGlastonburyAbbey，forinstance，wefindvirgatesoffortyacres，andahideof160；andthesamereckoningappearsinmanorsofWetherallPriory，Westmoreland，(25*)oftheAbbeyofEynsham，Oxfordshire，(26*)andmanyotherplaces。

Theso-calledDomesdayofSt。Paul’sreports，(27*)thatinRunwelleightyacresusedtobereckonedtothehide，butincourseoftimenewlandwasacquired(fortillage)andmeasured，andsothehidewasraisedto120acres。Altogetherthesuppositionofanuniformacre-measurementofbovates，virgates，hides，andknights’feesalloverEnglandwouldbeentirelymisleading。Theoxenwereanimportantelementinthearrangement，but，ofcourse，nottheonlyone。Theformationoftheholdinghadtoconformalsotothequalityofthesoil，thedensityofthepopulation，etc。Wefindinanycasethemostvaryingfigures。Theknight’sfeecontainedmostlyfourorfivefullploughsorcarucates，andstillinLincolnshiresixteencarucateswenttotheknight’sfee。(28*)Thecarucatewasnotidenticalwiththehide，butcarucateandhidealikehadoriginallymeantaunitcorrespondingtoaplough-team。Fourvirgatesweremostlyreckonedtothehide，butsometimessix，eight，sevenaretaken。(29*)Theyardlands(virgates)orfulllands，astheyaresometimescalled，becausetheywereconsideredasthetypicalpeasantholdings，consistoffifteen，sixteen，eighteen，twenty-four，forty，forty-eight，fifty，sixty-two，eightyacres，althoughthirtyisperhapsthefigurewhichappearsmoreoftenthananyother。(30*)Bovatesoften，twelve，andsixteenacresaretobefoundinthesamelocality。(31*)Wecannotevenseizeholdoftheacreastheoneconstantunitamongthesemanyvariables；thesizeoftheacreitselfvariedfromplacetoplace。Inthiswayanyattempttoestablishanormalreckoningoftheholdingswillnotonlyseemhazardous，butwillactuallystandincontradictionwithpatentfacts。

Anothercircumstanceseemsofyetgreaterimport：evenwithintheboundariesofoneandthesamecommunitytheequalitywasanagrarianoneanddidnotamounttoastrictcorrespondenceinfigures。Itwasobviouslyimpossibletocutupthelandamongtheholdingsinsuchawayastomakeeveryonecontainquitethesam