第48章

Onemoresubjectremainstobediscussed。Isthereinthesurveysanymarkeddifferencebetweendifferentclassesofthepeasantryinpointofruralduties？

Anexaminationofthesurveyswillshowatoncethatthefreeandtheservileholdingsdifferverymateriallyastoservices，quiteapartfromtheircontrast，inpointoflegalprotectionandofcasualexactionssuchasmarriagefines，heriots，andthelike。Thedifferencemaybeeitherinthekindofdutiesorintheirquantity。Bothmaybetracedintherecords。Ifwetakefirstthediversitiesinpointofqualityweshallnoticethatonmanyoccasionsthefreetenantsaresubjectedtoanimpositiononthesameoccasionastheunfree，buttheirmodeofacquittingthemselvesofitisslightlydifferent——theyhave，forinstance，tobringeggswhenthevillainsbringhens。Theobjectcannotbetomaketheburdenlighter；itamountstomuchthesame，andsotheaimmusthavebeentokeepupthedistinctionsbetweenthetwoclasses。Itisverycommontorequirethefreetenantstoactasoverseersofworktobeperformedbytherestofthepeasantry。Theyhavetogoaboutorrideaboutwithrodsandtokeepthevillainsinorder。Suchanobligationisespeciallyfrequentontheboon-days(precariae)，whenalmostallthepopulationofthevillageisdriventoworkonthefieldofthelord。Sometimesfreehouseholders，whohavedependentpeopleresidentunderthem，areliberatedfromcertainpayments；anditmaybeconjecturedthatthereasonistobefoundinthefactthattheyhavetosuperintendworkperformedbytheirlabourersorinferiortenants。(104*)Allsuchpointsareofsmallimportance，however，whencomparedwiththegeneraloppositionofwhichIhavebeenspeakingseveraltimes。Thefreeandtheservileholdingsarechieflydistinguishedbythefactthatthefirstpayrentandthelastperformlabour。

Wheneverwecometoexaminecloselythereasonunderlyingthecaseswhentheclassificationintoservileandfreeisadopted，wefindthatitgenerallyresolvesitselfintoacontrastbetweenthosewhohavetoserve，intheoriginalsenseoftheterm，andthosewhoareexemptedfromactuallabour-service。Beingdependentnevertheless，theselasthavetopayrent。IneednotrepeatthatIamspeakingofmaindistinctionsandnotofthevariousdetailsboundupwiththem。Inordertounderstandthoroughlythenatureofsuchdiversities，letustakeupaveryelaboratedescriptionofdutiestobeperformedbythepeasantsinthemanorofWye，Kent，belongingtotheAbbeyofBattle。(105*)Ofthesixty-oneyokesitcontainsthirtyareservile，twenty-ninearefree，andtwooccupyanintermediateposition。Thedutiesofthetwochiefclassesoftenantsdifferinmanyrespects。Theservilepeoplehavetopayrentandsohavethefree，butwhilethefirstcontributetomakeupageneralpaymentofsixpounds，eachyokebeingassessedatsevenshillingsandfive-pence，thefreepeoplehavetopayasmuchastwenty-threeshillingsandseven-penceperyoke。Bothsetshavetoperformploughings，reapings，andcarriageduties，buttheburdenoftheservileportionissomuchgreaterinregardtothecarriage-work，thatthecorrespondingyokessometimesgettheirverynamefromit，theyarejugaaveragiantia，whilethefreehouseholdsaremerelyboundtohelpafewtimesduringthesummer。Everyservileholdinghasacertainnumberofacresofwoodassignedtoit，orelsecorrespondingrightsinthecommonwood，whilethefreetenantshavetosettleseparatelywiththelordofthemanor。Andlastly，thereliefforeveryunfreeyokeisfixedatfortypence，andforeveryfreeoneisequaltotheannualrent。Thiscomparisonofdutiesshowsthatthepeasantscalledfreewerebynomeanssubjectedtoverylightburdens：infactitlooksalmostasiftheyweremoreheavilytaxedthantherest。Stilltheywereexemptedfromthemostunpopularandinconvenientlabourservices。

Altogether，thestudyofruralworkandrentsleadstothesameconclusionastheanalysisofthelegalcharacteristicsofvillainage。TheperiodfromtheConquestonwardsmaybedividedintotwostages。Inlatertimes，thatisfromthecloseofthethirteenthcenturydownwards，thedivisionbetweenthetwogreatclassesoftenantsandtenements，acontraststrictlylegal，isregulatedbythematerialtestofthecertaintyoruncertaintyoftheservicedue，andtheformaltestofthemodeofconveyance。

Inearliertimestheclassificationdependsprimarilyontheeconomicrelationbetweenthemanorialcentreandthetributaryhousehold，labourisdeemedservile，rentheldtobefree。Itisonlybykeepingthesetwoperiodsclearlydistinct，thatoneisenabledtocombinetheseeminglyconflictingfactsinoursurveys。Ifwelookatthemostancientofthesedocuments，weshallhavetoadmitthatarent-payingholdingisfree，neverthelessitwouldbewrongtoinferthatwhencommutationbecamemoreorlessgeneral，classificationwasse