第64章

71。Ibid。94：’Reginaldusfil。Benedictiinjustededicitesseunusde12juratoribusallegandolibertatem。DicunteciamquodWillelmusdeBernewellinjusteallegatlibertatempropterquamcontradicitesseunusdejuratis。’CfCor。RegeincertianniJohann。5：Predecessoressuietipsetenueruntliberumtcnementumetquodquidamexjuratissuntconsuetudinariimonialium。’Cor。

RegePascha，9Edw。I，34，b：’(Amerciamentumsochemanni)perparesvelperliberosdecuriaetvicinosadcuriamvenientes。’

HerefordRolls(Bodleian)，12：’Compertumperliberetenentesquodcustumariifalsopresentant。ideocustumariiinmisericordia。’Rot。Hundr。ii。469：’Quatuorhominesetpreposituspresentabantdefaltaspredictisliberishominibusetipsiliberipresentabantballivis。’

AverygoodcaseinpointispresentedbyHitchin，becausetheboundariesandthejurisdictionofthemanorcompriseagreatnumberofvillagesandhamletswhichmanagedtheiropenfieldsquiteindependentlyofthecentraltownshipofHitchin，andcouldnotbutdoso，astheylayquiteapartandagoodwayfromit，asmaybeseenontheOrdnanceMap。Andstillthemanorcomprises，thetownshipofHitchinandthehamletofWalsworth，thelessermanorsoftheRectoryofHitchin，ofMoremead，otherwiseCharlton，andofthePrioryoftheBiggin，beingcomprehendedwithintheboundariesofthesaidmanorofHitchin，whichalsoextendsintothehamletsofLangleyandPrestoninthesaidparishofHitchin，andintotheparishesofIckleford，Ipolitts，Kimpton，Kingswalden，andOffley。’(Seebohm，VillageCommunity，443，444：)AsMrSeebohmtellsme，thecon。trastbetweenthecentralportion，thatofthetownship，managedinoneopenfieldsystem，andtheoutlyingparts，isprobablyreflectedinthecuriousdenominationsofthemanorasPortmanandForeign。Itiswellknownhowfrequentlyoursurveysmentionhamlets；inmanycasestheseannexesoftownshipsarcsowidelyscattered，thatitwouldbeimpossibletosupposeoneopenfieldsystemforthem。

TheManorandtheVillageCommunityConclusionsIfwelookatthevillagelifeofmediaevalEngland，notforthepurposeofdissectingitintoitsconstitutiveelements，butinorderthatwemaydetecttheprinciplesthatholdittogetherandorganiseitasawhole，weshallbestruckbyseveralfeatureswhichmakeitquiteunlikethepresentarrangementofruralsociety。Evenacasualobserverwillnotfailtoperceivethecontrastwhichitpresentstothatfreeplayofindividualinterestsandthatundisputedsupremacyofthestateinpoliticalmatters，whicharesocharacteristicofthepresenttime。Andontheotherhandthereisjustassharpacontrastbetweenthemanorialsystemandasystemoftribalrelationshipsbasedonbloodrelationshipanditsartificialoutgrowths；andyetagainitmaybecontrastedwithavillagecommunitybuiltuponthebasisofequalpartnershipamongfreemembers。Itisevident，atthesametime，thatsuchdifferences，deepthoughtheyare，cannotbetreatedasprimordialandabsolutedivisions。Allthesesystemsarebutstagesofdevelopment，afterall，andthemostimportantproblemconcerningthemistheproblemoftheiroriginsandmutualrelations。Themainroadtowardsitssolutionliesundoubtedlythroughthedemesneofstrictlyhistoricalinvestigation。Shouldwesucceedintracingwithclearnesstheconsecutivestagesoftheprocessandtheintermediatelinksbetweenthem，themostimportantpartoftheworkwillhavebeendone。Thisissimpleenough，andseemshardlyworthmentioning。

Butthingsarenotsoplainastheylook。

Tobeginwith，evenacompleteknowledgeofthesequenceofeventswouldnotbesufficientsinceitwouldmerelypresentaseriesofarrangementsfollowinguponeachotherintimeandnotachainofcausesandeffects。Wecannotexemptourselvesfromthedutyoffollowinguptheinvestigationbyspeculationsastotheagenciesandmotiveswhichproducedthechanges。Butevenapartfromthenecessityoftakingupultimatelywhatonemaycallthedynamicthreadoftheinquiry，thereisconsiderabledifficulty。Inobtaini