THE MAGNATES 103 



day Book of the King's thegns and of the thegns of Earl 

 Harold and of the various monasteries. At the death of a 

 thegn holding of the King, the King had as a relief all his 

 arms and two horses, the one saddled and the other un- 

 saddled. If he had hounds or hawks, they were presented 

 to the King, if he would accept them. 1 



The rules relating to military service after the Conquest 

 differed materially from the pre-Conquest rules. Mr. Round 

 has investigated the whole subject, 2 and has shown that there 

 were two main points of difference. Although in the thirteenth 

 century there appears to be some connection between a 

 knight's fee the area which was considered necessary to 

 support a knight and an estate of 5 hides, yet this knight's 

 fee had no connection with the unit of 5 hides which provided 

 a thegn for the fyrd. The number of knights provided by 

 the barons of the twelfth century was not fixed by the number 

 of hides at which they were assessed. These numbers were 

 always multiplies of five, and usually multiples of ten ; and Mr. 

 Round connects these figures with the unit of the feudal host 

 the English constabularia of ten knights and is decidedly 

 in favour of the opinion of the older writers that the Conqueror 

 granted the forfeited lands of the conquered English to his 

 foreign followers on condition that they should furnish him 

 with varying contingents of mounted men. The churches, 

 however, did not owe their lands to the bounty of the 

 Conqueror. How is it, then, that we find knights on episcopal 

 and monastic estates ? Matthew Paris tells us that in 1070 

 King William fixed, "according to his will," the number of 

 knights to be furnished by each bishop and abbot ; and 

 although Dr. Stubbs rejects this statement as "a mistaken 

 account," it is accepted by Mr. Round, who finds it in perfect 

 agreement with the Exchequer records which he produces. 

 That this number had no relation to the 5 -hide unit is proved 

 by a few figures showing the number of hides at which the 

 1 D. B., I. 56 b i. 2 A E., 225-314. 



