THE GROWTH OF FREEDOM 53 



Ball in that he gave a place in his social scheme for 

 the lords and priests. If the knight would protect him 

 and his land, Piers says definitely : 



"I will sweat in thy service, and sow for us both." 



To the true priests and monks Piers also promised 

 support : 



" They shall bread have and broth, and abide at their ease, 

 For religion, in reason, hath somewhat for certain." 



Langland's lines must have been in everyone's mouth, 

 and have had their effect in stirring men's imagination. 



Turning from the wars, the plagues and the 

 religious agitations which combined to unsettle life in 

 this century, the changes that belong to 

 fe. tne villages themselves have to be con- 

 sidered. Even before the beginning of the 

 century the marked tendency already referred to, 

 towards commuting the many obligations of the 

 peasants for money, had had its effect in many districts. 

 Definite changes had occurred in Bedfordshire and in 

 Buckinghamshire, in both of which counties the yard- 

 land, that is, the farm of thirty or so scattered acre 

 strips, with the rights that went with it, was, at the 

 beginning of the XlVth century, subject to a rent of 

 between i6s. and 2Os. a year or 'to services of that 

 value.' In other counties similar arrangements were 

 undoubtedly being made. It became, indeed, more 

 and more common for the old customs to be set aside 

 and for the peasant farmers and cottagers to hold their 

 land subject to the payment of definite money rents. 

 In this way many bondsmen were freed from their 

 obligations and passed into the class of rent-paying 

 tenants of the manor. It should be clearly understood 



