26 ENGLISH RURAL LIFE 



interfere in manorial matters as between the lord and 

 the freemen, and refused any relief to the lower class 

 of the peasantry. Nevertheless, in considering the 

 condition of the people it is well to realize that it was 

 against the interest of the lords to grind them too hard, 

 for the lords had to maintain a sturdy peasantry, able 

 to fight for them if needed. There is, indeed, good 

 reason to suppose that in many places the position 

 of the villagers was still tolerable. Especially would 

 this be so in districts controlled by the king himself, or 

 by a bishop or other Church dignitary, and in outlying 

 villages where the lord or his steward rarely came. 



Whilst the Norman lords installed by William as land- 

 holders were organizing their estates into the manorial 

 form, the king, who needed money to carry 

 on tne state > decided to put a tax on the 

 land of England at the rate of 6s. on the 

 * hide.' The hide is a word of varied meaning, but 

 it usually implies an area of 120 acres. The tax there- 

 fore worked out at one halfpenny an acre of cultivated 

 land ; perhaps a quarter of the annual value. The 

 lords claimed that by custom the peasants' land alone 

 paid king's taxes, and probably also gave too low 

 statements of the area under cultivation. In any case, 

 William was not satisfied with the results of the levy, 

 and he decided to have an investigation into the 

 amount of land available for taxation. He therefore 

 ordered in the winter of 1085-6 that a record of the 

 condition of rural England should be prepared. Land 

 commissioners went to every county, and from every 

 tun came the tun's representatives, priest, reeve and 

 six tunsmen, to meet the commissioners and to tell the 

 story of their village. These delegates were called upon 



