Growth of the Manor 27 



the circuit of several districts of England, and showed such 

 cunning wantonness and violence in the collection of money, 

 especially from the northern nobles, that the amount of treasure 

 collected passed the belief and excited the wonder of all who 

 heard of it. ... The said Geoffrey had a large armed retinue, 

 and if he heard any of the aforesaid nobles making excuses or 

 murmuring he ordered them to be at once arrested and lodged in 

 the king's prison, since the judges were hostile to them ; nor 

 could any reply be given for fear of censure. For a single small 

 beast, a fawn or a hare, though straying in an out of the way 

 place, he impoverished some men of noble birth even to ruin, 

 sparing neither blood nor fortune.' * 



The peasants were unable to resist encroachments, or to 

 prevent the tyranny, of the Crown officials, but the barons were 

 in a position to give a better account of themselves. These 

 grievances, these restrictions on their freedom, the humiliating 

 treatment at the hands of arbitrary officers, were some of the 

 causes which led to the frequent struggles between them and the 

 king. The success which attended the resistance of the barons 

 had a far-reaching influence on the future history of the country. 

 At the time of the Norman Conquest there were probably few 

 or no marks of difference in the manorial system as it existed in 

 England, France, and Germany, but very soon after this forces 

 began to work in the different countries which have given a dis- 

 tinct character to the organization of agriculture in each. 



4 



Manor-Farming 



IF we speak honestly, we shall admit that little progress was 

 to be expected in agriculture from the English people under the 

 manor. A great body of cultivators, partly agricultural labourers, 

 1 Quoted by W. H. Hutton, Misrule of Henry III. 



