CHAPTER VI. 



THE TENANTS AND THEIR LAND. 1376— 1378I. 



Concerning the freeholders {libere tenentes) the rolls say little, 

 but they contain several references to free land {terra libera). The 

 area of free land (that is, in general, in the case of Forncett manor, 

 land held by charter) continued to decrease as a result of its con- 

 version into terra soliata. No bondman of Forncett manor might 

 hold terra libera. If land held by charter were purchased by a serf 

 he was obliged to surrender it to the lord's representative in the 

 manorial court, receiving it again to hold at a nominal rent per 

 virgam ad volimtatein domini. Henceforth the land was known as 

 terra tenta per increme7ittim redditus, or, more commonly, as terra 

 soliata {terra solidatd). The distinction between terra nativa and 

 terra soliata was regularly maintained, but they were both conveyed 

 in the same way, and if there were any difference in the legal nature 

 of the tenures by which they were held it is not apparent from the 

 rolls. Already in the thirteenth century free land was being con- 

 verted into 'soiled' land-. Between 1358 and 1376, loj messuages 

 and some 50 acres were degraded to the lower tenure-l By 1378 

 about one-fourth of the terra nativa (250 acres) had reverted to the 

 lady of the manor and had been let for money rents. Among these 

 250 acres were included some of the lightly burdened tenements of 

 the sokemen, and some of the heavily burdened tenements of the 

 customers. But a far greater proportion of the customers' tenements 

 than of the sokemen's tenements had escheated. Thus, by September, 

 ^Z77i 15^ of the 25 customers' tenements had fallen into the lady's 



^ The material for this chapter consists of two bailiff's account rolls, for 1376-8 ; and ten 

 court rolls for the years 1358, 1373 {2), 1374 (4), 1375, 1387, and 1394. 



2 Min. Acc'ts, 935/11. 



2 In the survey of 1565 the total recorded area of soiled land is about 525 acres. 

 22 soiled messuages are mentioned, but very possibly this list is incomplete. 



^ This is exclusive of no. 50 (p. 61) as the winter works due from this tenement were not 

 accounted for as ' decayed ' until the following year. 



