SS The Tenants and their Land, 1400 — 1575. [ch. 



The landed property of Launcelot Smith seems to represent a 

 single investment of a considerable amount of capital, while all the 

 other larger landed properties of copyhold held in Forncett in 1565 

 had been gradually accumulated. 



Toward the latter part of the fifteenth century freeholders, 

 representatives of the local gentry, began to buy up more consider- 

 able amounts of copyhold than formerly, though as early as the 

 beginning of the fifteenth century it was usual for freeholders to have 

 a {^v^ acres of copyhold. No 'merchant or townsman ' apparently 

 figured among the larger tenants of the manors 



In 1400 nineteen families of servile status held land of Forncett 

 manor; in 1500 not more than eight bond families were tenants; a 

 quarter of a century later there were but five, twenty-five years 

 later only three, and by 1575 serfdom had disappeared. 



After 1400 the history of serfdom in Forncett is the history of 

 these nineteen families. 



Since the series of court rolls from 1400 to 1575 is fairly com- 

 plete, it is possible to trace with tolerably satisfactory results the 

 history of each family during the period. The rolls show how much 

 ' soiled ' or ' bond ' land a tenant entered upon or alienated ; how 

 much he held of Forncett manor at the time of his death, and to 

 whom it passed ; and what land he leased from the lord. They 

 contain lists of chevage-paying bondmen, often naming the place 

 from which the serf is paying chevage, and in a few instances stating 

 his occupation. Eleven wills of bondmen and five manumissions are 

 also entered in the rolls I 



Besides the nineteen families mentioned, members of five other 

 servile families are referred to in the rolls between 1400 and 141 2. 

 In one case a chevage-paying tenant had died, and it was ordered 

 to inquire concerning his heir. In four cases orders were given* to 

 seize or distrain bondmen who had withdrawn. As no serfs bearing 

 the surnames of these fugitive bondmen appear in the later rolls, we 

 may assume that the last representatives of these families that were 

 connected with the manor won their freedom by flight. 



A brief account of each of the nineteen bond families holding 

 land of Forncett manor after 1400 follows. 



The Aunfrey Family. In 1404 John, son of the bondman William 

 Aunfrey, was remaining away from Forncett manor without license 

 from the lord. A few years later his father sold his land and joined 



^ Unless Launcelot Smith were such, and of this there appears to be no evidence. 

 ^ The wills and one manumission are printed in Appendix XIII. 



