THE PEASANTS’ REVOLT OF 1381. 9 
became lords of the manors. The lord of the manor kept from 
about one-fourth to one-half of the land in his own hands as his 
demesne or home-farm, and the remainder was held under him 
by free tenants, who were called franklins, freeholders or freemen, 
and by villeins or feudal serfs. ‘Ihe former, living in houses of 
their own and cultivating what was practically their own land, 
made an annual payment to the lord of the manor as an acknow- 
ledgment, and could not be turned out of their holdings so long 
as these annual payments, which corresponded to ground rents, 
were maintained. If the free tenant wanted to sell out of his 
holding, the lord of the manor exacted payment for the privilege. 
At the death of the free tenant the heir paid for admittance to the 
inheritance. If he died without heirs, the property went back to 
the lord of the manor, and then, but then only, could the ground 
rent be raised. This, however, was very rarely done. The 
villein was by no means in so good a case; he could not go away 
from the manor in which he was born, he could not marry 
without a license from the lord, for which he had to pay. How- 
ever shrewd, enterprising, and thrifty he might be, he had no 
hope of changing his state except by the special grace of the lord 
of the manor. ‘Once a villein, always a villein.” Ordination 
by a bishop would, however, remove him from the villein class, 
and this formed a strong inducement to young people to obtain 
an education that would fit them for entering the ranks of the 
clergy. It will also be remembered that a serf living a year and 
a day in a borough without challenge on the part of his lord 
became, 7fso facto, a free man. The villein was bound to give so 
many days’ service, and to pay certain small dues, generally in 
kind. This done, the villein was absolutely secure in his holding. 
When the lord wished for ready money to join in a campaign or 
to pay aids or reliefs, he would exchange services due for ready 
money, and this bargain would be entered in the court roll of 
the manor. A copy of this agreement became the title deed of 
the tenant, who was hence called a copyholder. 
The earliest disturbance of the tenures which have been briefly 
described arose from the introduction of leases. For various 
