II 6 History of the English Landed Interest. 



just as the older dioceses had, at an earlier date, replaced the 

 kingdoms of the Heptarchy. 



At any rate, for all administrative measures, relating to 

 Church dues, the ecclesiastical land divisions would supersede 

 the civil. Add to this consideration the fact that the central 

 authority of each ecclesiastical district was entirely in the 

 hands of the monastic clergy, and we may conclude that the 

 distribution of those tithe does which passed through their 

 hands was, as far as possible, carried out on the lines of the 

 Continental polity. Later on, when we come to examine the 

 provisions for the maintenance of the national poor, w^e shall 

 find that its relief throughout the Middle Ages was compul- 

 sory on the monastic clergy. From these circumstances it 

 may be fairly concluded that a large portion of the tithes 

 were, during a period difficult to define, disposed of in the 

 support of the nation's clergy, in the maintenance of its 

 churches, and in the relief of its poverty ; and this, in other 

 words, is the tripartite distribution which we have already 

 shown to have been prevalent abroad.^ 



If more or less strict rules encompassed the disposal of the 

 tithe we may be sure that its sources were jealously watched 

 and systematically regulated. There were in fact three main 

 distinctions in the various tithes, known respectively as " pre- 

 dial," " mixed," and " personal " ; the first of which arose from 

 the produce of the earth, such as corn, hay, hemp, hops, fruit, 

 seeds and herbs ; the second of wliich arose from beasts and fowls 

 fed on such produce, and the third from earnings and profits of 

 individuals. The two first-named were also known as " tithes 

 de jure," and included all fruits of the earth renewable annually, 

 and the last-named as " tithes by custom." The produce of 

 a mine, houses, etc., not being fruits of the earth renewable 

 annually, were excluded as well as the daily work of the com- 

 mon labourer. It would be almost impossible to enumerate all 

 the things which were liable to predial tithes, and it would be 



* The quadripartite distribution included the maintenance of the 

 Episcopal Sees, but as soon as these became self-supporting by means of 

 endowments from other sources the tripartite distribution would take 

 the place of the earlier system. 



