222 THE DOMESDAY INQUEST 



Hatfield Broad Oak was valued at 40, but the sheriff received 

 80, and a gersuma of i$. 1 It was part of the duty of the 

 sheriff to manage the royal manors in his shire ; and these 

 gersumae were premiums paid by the lessees for the privilege 

 of taking a lease of a manor. Most of the royal manors in 

 Wiltshire, Somerset, and Dorset were let at money rents, and 

 in many cases the payments were not by tale, but by coin 

 assayed and weighed. In addition to the gersumae, or pre- 

 miums, it was often the case that a lessee would agree to 

 pay a rent higher than the recorded value of the property. 

 Richard, son of Earl Gilbert, gave Thaxted (Essex) (which 

 was valued by both French and English at 50) to a certain 

 Englishman at cess for 60 a year, but every year he was 

 deficient at least 10? Similarly, the rent of the borough of 

 Ipswich had to be reduced from 40 to ^37, because the lessee 

 could not pay the larger sum. 3 The manor of Blakenham was 

 let for three years at 12 a year, and the lessees gave a pre- 

 mium of a mark of gold for the lease, " but the men who so 

 received it at farm were all ruined (confusi)" 4 Pagham was 

 valued at 60, but rendered 80 to the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury a rent which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, 

 was " too heavy (nimis grave)." 5 The Commissioners call 

 attention to the fact that William fitz Stur paid a rent of 60 

 for four manors in the Isle of Wight, " although they are worth 

 less," being valued at only 28 ; 6 and in one passage they 

 contemplate the possibility of a new lessee giving more than 

 the present rent, " The shire says that if this manor (of 

 Leominster, let at farm at 60 a year) were delivered, it might 

 be valued at six score pounds." 1 And examples could be 

 multiplied to show that lands let at a money rent often pro- 

 duced more than the sums at which they were valued ; and 

 thus we see the importance of distinguishing " values " from 

 " renders." 



1 D. B., n. 2 b. 2 /</., 38 b. 3 id., n. 290 b. 



* Id., II. 353 b. 5 Id., I. 16 b 2. 



6 Id., I. 52 b I. " Id., I. 1 80 a I. 



