226 Wisco7isin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 



proper, of an inferior grade, — as privileged cottagers, rather 

 than as inferior customary tenants. In one case ' they are in 

 fact classed with the Coterelli. It may be remarked that the 

 services of the lundinarii agree very nearly with those of the 

 ■Cotsetlan, the second, or intermediate, class of peasants of the 

 Rectitudines. The importance of this distinction will appear 

 further on. 



It will be observed that in this Cartulary, as in the statute 

 Extenta Manerii, we hear nothing of villeins as a class. I have 

 met in it with the word villani once and villenagium, twice, as 

 will be shown presently. 



The result of an examination of these registers, is fully to 

 confirm the classification of the statute Extenta Manerii. We 

 find that the three classes there enumerated are distinctly 

 mentioned here, under names essentially the same ; and we 

 find that every other class can be easily reduced to one of 

 these three, with the single exception of the Lundinarii, who 

 agree in certain points with one class, and in certain point, 

 with another ; probably what puzzles us now, was perfectly 

 plain to the men of that time. Further, the result of this ex- 

 amination is to develop the fact that the class of consuetudi- 

 narii, or customary tenants, ranking between the other two, 

 was distinguished by a remarkable regularity and uniformity, 

 both of estate and of services ; while the free tenants, the 

 class highest in rank, are exceedingly variable and irregular, 

 and the cottagers, the third in the list, are uniform, it is true, 

 but wholly insignificant. The customary tenants enjoy a 

 relatively very respectable standing, and their estate — the 

 virgate, usually of 36 to 60 acres, — is a very comfortable farm, 

 especially when it is considered that this was exclusively 

 arable land, and that they had besides the use of the common 

 .pasture, wood-land, etc. For this farm they paid in a great mul- 

 tiplicity of prtedial services, burdensome no doubt, but deter- 

 fnined in amount and time. Including the ferendelli, this class 



^ Exteuta de Ledeue, p. 131. 



