THEIR CONDITION IN 1066 125 



The man who had become the man of another, had the 

 assistance of his lord both for protection against thieves and 

 in the law-courts ; and when we remember how the value of 

 the oath of a man varied according to his social position, we 

 can see that the advantage of this patronage was very con- 

 siderable to a poor man. A further point to be borne in mind 

 is that when a man commended himself to another, he entered 

 into the " mund " of this other, and that, in addition to the fine 

 paid to the man for an offence committed against him, the 

 offender would pay to the lord an additional fine for breaking 

 his mund a fine which varied according to the social position 

 of the lord, being highest when the lord was the archbishop. 1 



It would seem but the point is not quite clear that one 

 result of commendation was that the commendor obtained a 

 warrantor of his title to his lands. Odo, a man of (i.e. com- 

 mended to) Swegen, received 10 acres which, according to the 

 testimony of the hundred, belonged to the Church of St. Mary, 

 Barking, but he called on his lord as tutor, i.e. to warrant his 

 title. 2 On the other hand, the lord gained the advantage of 

 another follower to swell his retinue and fight his battles ; but 

 it is doubtful whether he gained any further advantage. Fre- 

 quently we read, " In this land X had nothing but commenda- 

 tion." 3 And references to mere commendation are frequent : 

 " X was only the man of Y, tantummodo homo Wisgari" 4 That 

 commendation did not necessarily confer any right on the 

 lord is shown by the record relating to Hanningfield (Essex), 

 where the Abbot of Ely claimed the land which two men 

 held T. R. E. ; but the hundred bore witness that they held 

 their land freely, and were only commended to the abbot. 5 

 At Gorleston there was a dispute turning on this point. The 

 hundred bore witness that in certain men the predecessor of 

 Hermer had nothing but commendation, but one of Hermer's 

 men said that the predecessor had, T. R. E., all dues from them ; 



1 D. B. and B., 70. 2 D. B., II. 10 b. 3 Id., II. 102 b. 



4 D. B., II. 40. 5 /</., II. 25. 



