登陆注册
5252000000066

第66章

But an important and constant result of the general conception is to be found in some of the regular feudal exactions. The villain has no property of his own, and consequently he cannot transmit property. Strictly speaking, there is no inheritance in villainage. As a matter of fact the peasant's property did not get confiscated after his death, but the heirs had to surrender a part of it, sometimes a very considerable one. A difference is made between chattels and land. As to the first, which are supposed to be supplied by the lord, the duty of the heir is especially onerous, On the land of the Bishopric of Lichfield, for instance, he has to give up as heriot the best head of horned cattle, all horses, the cart, the caldron, all woollen cloth, all the bacon, all the swine except one, and all the swarms of bees.(66*) The villains of St. Alban's have to give the best head of cattle, and all house furniture.(67*) But in most cases only the best beast is taken, and if there be no cattle on the tenement, then money has to be paid instead.(68*) The Cartulary of Battle is exceptionally lenient as to one of the Abbey's manors:(69*) it liberates from all duty of the kind those who do not own any oxen, It sometimes happens, on the other hand, that the payment is doubled; one beast is taken from the late occupier by way of heriot, and the other from his widow for the life interest which is conceded to her after the death of her husband.(70*) Such 'free bench' is regulated very differently by different customs. The most common requirement is, that the widow may not marry again and must remain chaste. In Kent the widow has a right to half the tenement for life, even in case of a second marriage; in Oxfordshire, if she marries without the lord's leave, she is left in possession only during a year and a day.(71*)In all these instances, when a second payment arises alongside of the heriot, such a payment receives also the name of heriot because of this resemblance, although the two dues are grounded on different claims, The true heriot is akin in name and in character to the Saxon 'here-geat' -- to the surrender of the military outfit supplied by the chief to his follower. In feudal times and among peasants it is not the war-horse and the armour that are meant, ox and harness take their place, but the difference is not in the principle, and one may even catch sometimes a glimpse of the process by which one custom shades off into the other. On the possessions of St. Mary of Worcester, for instance, we find the following enactment:(72*) Each virgate has to give three heriots, that is a horse, harness, and two oxen;the half-virgate two heriots, that is a harnessed horse and one ox; other holdings give either a horse or an ox. In such connexion the payment has nothing servile about it, and simply appears as a consequence of the fact or assumption that the landlord has provided his peasant with the necessary outfit for agricultural work. And still the heriot is constantly mentioned along with the merchet as a particularly base payment, and though it might fall on the succession of a free man holding in villainage, it is not commonly found on free land. the fact that this old Saxon incident of dependence becomes in the feudal period a mark of servile tenure, is a fact not without significance.

It is otherwise with the relief (relevium), the duty levied for the resumption of the holding by the heir: it extends equally to military tenure and to villainage. Although the heriot and relief get mixed up now and then, their fundamental difference is realised by the great majority of our documents and well grounded on principle. In one case the chattels are concerned, in the other the tenement; one is primarily a payment in kind, the other a money-fine. As to the amount of the relief the same fluctuations may be traced as in the case of the heriot. the most common thing is to give a year's rent; but in some instances the heir must settle with the lord at the latter's will, or ransom the land as a stranger, that is by a separate agreement in each single case.(73*) Fixed sums occur also, and they vary accord ing to the size and quality of the holding.(74*)On the boundary between personal subjection and political subordination we find the liability of the peasantry to pay tallage. It could be equally deduced from the principle that a villain has nothing of his own and may be exploited at will by his master or from the political grant of the power of taxation to the representative of feudal privilege. the payment of arbitrary tallage is held during the thirteenth century to imply a servile status.(75*) Such tallage at will is not found very often in the documents, although the lord sometimes retained his prerogative in this respect even when sanctioning the customary forms of renders and services. Now and then it is mentioned that the tallage is to be levied once a year,(76*) although the amount remains uncertain.

As a holder of political power the lord has a right to inflict fines and amercements on transgressors.(77*) The Court-rolls are full of entries about such payments, and it seems that one of the reasons why very great stress was laid on attendance at the manorial Courts was connected with the liability to all sorts of impositions that was enforced by means of these gatherings. tenants had to attend and to make presentments, to elect officers, and to serve on juries; and in every case where there was a default or an irregularity of any kind, fines flowed into the lord's exchequer.

Lastly, we may classify under the head of political exactions, monopolies and privileges such as those which were called banalites in France: they were imposed on the peasantry by the strong hand, although there was no direct connexion between them and the exercise of any particular function of the State.

同类推荐
  • 黄石斋先生大涤函书

    黄石斋先生大涤函书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 南窗纪谈

    南窗纪谈

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说大爱道般涅槃经

    佛说大爱道般涅槃经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • THE SEVENTH LETTER

    THE SEVENTH LETTER

    You write to me that I must consider your views the same as those ofDion, and you urge me to aid your cause so far as I can in word anddeed. My answer is that, if you have the same opinion and desire as hehad, I consent to aid your cause; but if not, I shall think morethan once about it.汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 洞玄灵宝无量度人经诀音义

    洞玄灵宝无量度人经诀音义

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 江山为聘:夫君太妖孽

    江山为聘:夫君太妖孽

    她本是21世纪一位天才学者,穿越之后却变成了大家取笑挖苦的对象,说她癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉,不知廉耻,竟敢窥视邪尊。某女微微一笑:“从现在开始,邪尊脱了衣服追我三十里,我要回头看一眼,我就跪舔他。”邪尊摸了摸下巴:“她真是这么说的?”某手下:“属下亲耳听见!”不久之后,某女跪在邪尊大门前:“开门啊开门啊,我知道你在家!”
  • 阴毒狠妃

    阴毒狠妃

    “你再说一次?”明暗的烛火里,他的眸子近乎透明,怒火滔天。她唇角勾起一抹苍凉,“北棠妖,我说过,情爱不过是笼络人心的手段,难道你忘了?”“很好!”他要她明白,这辈子,或生或死,爱或不爱,她都只能是他的!——————传言,她是南昭太子最宠爱的女人,可最后,却被剥皮剔骨,尸骨无存!谁还记得,他曾许她倾世江山,谁还敢说,他把她奉若瑰宝!泣血重生,她化身修罗,以命索命。“郝连城!为人鬼畜,我也定要你挫骨扬灰,烈火烹油!我要用我这命,为你奏一曲通往地狱的冥音!”*她为复仇而生,誓要绝情断爱。他却以情为锁,步步攻心,逼她白首不离。她谋于算计,布下漫天棋子,却不想,棋子跳出棋局,铺就天罗地网。男人从身后环住女子,“我知道你一直在利用我..”女子垂眸轻颤。“但是我喜欢被你利用,我不怕万劫不复,只要,筹码够就好。”男人轻吻着女子的颈窝。*她以他为棋,却不想惹火烧身。他逆转全局,囚情霸爱。他是北燕皇子,曾落魄如狗。一朝弄权,颠覆天下!他喜怒无常,杀人剖腹只为享乐。他阴鸷歹毒,杀父,弑母,诛君,天道难容。他凶残狠厉,错杀一人,却诛他满门。*只是,他却爱她成痴。他为她磕长头叩拜三万里,腰斩美人三千只。他为她手执利刃不知倦,血染河山万里杀!他洒千斛珍珠铺满路,满身风雪,等她归来。当她想要抽身而出,却蓦然发现,自己早已沦陷在他温柔的眼眸。“挽挽,爱你,是我这辈子走不出的死路,可是,死路才是我唯一的出路。”--------脂爷读者群:287992040我妞们速来,脂爷可打滚可撒娇可卖萌,多种口味任妞选择,我妞们快来投入脂爷的怀抱~╭(╯3╰)╮
  • The Burning Spear

    The Burning Spear

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 达生编

    达生编

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 前面是延安

    前面是延安

    这是一个貌似平安无事的时刻,东江口镇非常安静,像往常一样,入夜不久,家家户户都关起门来,点燃了油灯。门外的事情,国民党军营的事情,老百姓是不知道的。而一个惨绝人寰的历史事件正在这里悄悄地预谋着,发生着。毛楚雄、张文津和吴祖贻三人被带到了东江口镇涂家门前的城隍庙背后的水渠边,那里已经挖了一个巨大的土坑,像是一个张开的血盆大口。坑道四周的泥土呈现出鲜活的颜色,能够让人感到这里的土质非常松软。三人被推进坑里后,站在四周的敌人便用铁铲一齐往坑里添土,实施他们惨无人道的活埋计划。没多久,这里就形成了一个隆起的土堆。
  • 佛说大辩邪正经

    佛说大辩邪正经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 倾世妖妃:腹黑萌娃闹天下

    倾世妖妃:腹黑萌娃闹天下

    前世有缘终无分此世定执子不离她说:“若有一天,我忘记了所有。。”他说:“用我的一生告诉你,你的所有。”宝贝说:“还有我,还有我!”。。。前世今生之谜,到底如何?看白染萌和腹黑宝贝如何应对、惩恶、救世、捉弄。。而后邪王如何追娇人……【本文是甜文、宠文的哦,我觉得还挺唯美的、欢迎大家观看】
  • 高冷总裁难伺候

    高冷总裁难伺候

    她只是个小助理,为了帮朋友出气却认错人,惹上了冷漠又可怕的大总裁。她躲她藏,却怎么也逃不出他的手掌心,她愤怒的朝他大吼:“你到底怎么样才能放过我?”他靠向她的耳边呢喃:“这一辈子我都不打算放过你了……”
  • 太上洞神太元河图三元仰谢仪

    太上洞神太元河图三元仰谢仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 重生做只喵

    重生做只喵

    前世,她被亲人算计,被朋友出卖,被恋人凌辱,凄惨而死!一朝重生,她誓要报仇雪恨,将命运掌据在自己手中!等等,画风不对……她怎么变成了一只猫?哦,原来是能化为人形的猫族公主。好吧,看在能学法术的份上,她忍了!可是,这个动不动就上来对她又搂又抱的家伙是怎么回事?本公主虽是天生丽质难自弃。但你一个前途无量的人族王子居然爱上一只猫,你家爸妈知道吗?