CHAPTER II 



THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. — THE MANOR AT ITS 

 ZENITH, WITH SEEDS OF DECAY ALREADY VISIBLE. 

 — WALTER OF HENLEY 



In the thirteenth century the manorial system may be said 

 to have been in its zenith ; the description therefore of Cuxham 

 Manor in Oxfordshire at that date is of special interest. 

 According to Professor Thorold Rogers ^ there were two 

 principal tenants, each holding the fourth part of a military fee. 

 The prior of Holy Trinity, Wallingford, held a messuage, a 

 mill, and 6 acres of land in free alms ; i. e. under no obligation 

 or liability other than offering prayers on behalf of the donor. 

 A free tenant had a messuage and 3I acres, the rent of which 

 was ^s. a year. He also had another messuage and nine acres, 

 for which he paid the annual rent of i lb. of pepper, worth 

 about IS. 3^. The rector of the parish had part of a furrow, 

 i. e. one of the divisions of the common arable field, and paid zd. 

 a year for it. Another tenant held a cottage in the demesne 

 under the obligation of keeping two lamps lighted in the 

 church. Another person was tenant-at-will of the parish mill, 

 at a rent of 40^. a year. The rest of the tenants were villeins 

 or cottagers, thirteen of the former and eight of the latter. 

 Each of the villeins had a messuage and half a virgate, 13 to 

 15 acres of arable land at least, for which his rent was chiefly 

 corn and labour, though there were two money payments, 

 a halfpenny on November 12 and a penny whenever he 

 brewed. He had to pay a quarter of seed wheat at 



1 Six Centuries of Work and Wages, p. 39. No one can write on English 

 agriculture without acknowledging a deep debt to his monumental 

 industry, though his opinions are often open to question. 



