n 



THEIR CONDITION IN 1066 115 



Domesday Book records of certain men that they were so 

 free as to be able to go where they would or to what lord 

 they would ; and in one place x a distinction is drawn between 

 two men who held freely and one who could not depart with 

 his land. 



A man who held freely was further said to hold of the 

 King: "Orgar held of Miles Crispin four hides at Berwick 

 and one at Gangsdown (Oxon.) ; these two lands which Orgar 

 holds of Miles he ought to hold of the King, for he and his 

 father and grandfather held them freely T. R. E." 2 



This rule is confirmed by a passage relating to an estate 

 in the hundred of Wantage 



" Azor the steward held one hide T. R. E., and could go with 

 it where he would. Now (in 1086) he holds it of Robert of Ouilly ; 

 but the hundred says he ought to hold it of the King; for King 

 William restored it to him at Windsor, and gave him his writ. 

 Robert holds it unjustly, for no one has seen the King's writ or man 

 on his part to put him into possession." 3 



The expression, "holding of the King," as used of pre- 

 Conquest times, requires some little investigation ; but such 

 investigation must be preceded by an inquiry into the services 

 which Domesday Book shows were due from freemen and 

 sokemen alike. Many of the Cambridgeshire and Hert- 

 fordshire sokemen, who were at liberty to sell their land, and 

 would therefore in Suffolk have been described as freemen, 

 were liable for carrying and sentinel services when the King 

 visited the shire. In the years when the King did not come 

 into the shire, these services were commutable for a small 

 money payment to the sheriff, and non-performance of these 

 services involved forfeiture to the sheriff. 4 Brumann held 

 I hide "de soca regis" at Fordham (Cambs.), with liberty 

 of sale, and always found a carrying service for the King, 

 or paid 8^/. in lieu thereof, and his forfeitures were received 



1 D. B., I. 233 b i. 2 Id., I. 159 b I. 3 /</., 62 a 2. 



4 Id., I. 132 b i. 



