SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



in nine cases of tenements held at will for life.*" About twenty years later, 

 in the court of Stevenage, a villein took of the lord for life a messuage and 

 virgate, paying gs. rent. The same rent had been paid by another life tenant 

 since 1314.^" The size of the tenement suggests that it was a typical villein 

 holding, possibly empty since 1 349. In these cases the emphasis put on 

 money is stronger than in Codicote or Tyttenhanger. 



It must be realized how large a proportion of villein land was beginning 

 to be held on lease, to which the lords of Codicote and Tyttenhanger tacked 

 on little labour services. Of five leases given at one court two were for rent 

 only, two for rent, common suit and heriot, one for rent, common suit and the 

 autumn boonday." There are many other examples of both kinds in the 

 Court Roll of Codicote. In 1351 the lord granted to Stephen May all the 

 lands late of Robert atte Strete, all the lands of Reginald AUeyn, Edward 

 atte Hacche and J. atte Strete for eight and a half years for 20s. a year. 'And 

 Stephen shall do all the service and customs belonging to the said lands, and 

 he may remove one house.' ^^ Here one sees, incidentally, how the lease 

 was convenient to the lord, as it could deal with any fraction or addition of 

 holdings in clear terms. Most commonly it is small portions of land, the 

 debris of the villein holdings, that are thus conveyed. 



Five leases for nine years made in 1361 bear rent, suit of court and 

 the autumn boonday." At Standon and Munden the lease for rent only is 

 most frequent ; so also at Ashwell in 1 3 5 1 . 



The effect on villein status is obvious, especially as the leases, short at 

 first, were granted for long periods. Here was another means by which the 

 differences between villein and free were obliterated. In practical life the 

 economic difference between the cultivator of freehold and the cultivator of 

 an arrented copyhold was negligible. The change from the lord's point of 

 view is equally clear. The estate was becoming a more commercial, more 

 manageable affair, as regarded unfree tenants. The lease brought in what 

 was wanted — money — and gave the lord a command of the villein tenements 

 at the end of short terms if he wanted them. 



In the years between 1349 and 1380 the Hertfordshire villein had his 

 opportunity. Land was cheap, and there was a considerable market for the 

 produce ; in fact, the villeins took land from the lords in large quantities. 

 The yeoman class, economically, not legally differentiated, was in the making, 

 and the villeins of higher standing were aiming at a rent-paying tenure. 

 How conscious they were of its advantages they showed in the Peasants' 

 Revolt. 



As soon as freemen and villeins began to hold villein and free land 

 indifferently (and this had begun long before i 350) villeinage was foredoomed. 

 But the cheapening of land and the spread of leasehold made this condition 

 a very general one. 



The question for the lord was, should he throw the empty tenements 

 into his demesne. This would perhaps have paid under an immediate 

 extension of sheep farming, but he still thought tenants the most paying 

 agricultural produce. In Hertfordshire the arable of the tenements was not 

 converted into sheep pasture. Sheep farming was probably on the increase ; 



*' Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf, 178, no. 42. ™ Ibid. no. 52. " Caledon D. Ct. R. Tyttenhanger, 



^^ Stowe MS. 849, under date given. ^' Ibid. 



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