to confiscate almost all the soil of England as forfeited by treason.
Profiting by the lesson taught by the wretched condition of France, which country was kept in a state of constant turmoil by a host of feudal chiefs and lords many of whom were almost or quite as powerful as the king himself, William took care that in the distribution no feudatory should receive an entire shire, save in two or three exceptional cases. To the great lord to whom he must needs give a large fief, he granted, not a continuous tract of land, but several estates, or manors, scattered in different parts of the country, in order that there might be no dangerous concentration of property or power in the hands of the vassal. He also required of all the sub-vassals of the realm, in addition to their oath of allegiance to their own lord, an oath of fealty to the crown. This was a most important modification of feudal custom. On the Continent, the sub-tenant swore allegiance to his own lord simply, and was in duty bound to aid him in all his wars, even in one against the sovereign. But the oath of allegiance to himself exacted by William of all holders of fiefs, just reversed this, and made it the first duty of the sub-vassal, even in the case of a war between his lord and the king, to follow and obey the king. Furthermore, William denied to his feudatories the right of coining money or making laws; and by other wise restrictions upon their power, he saved England from those endless contentions and petty wars that were distracting almost every other country of Europe.
The Norman Successors of the Conqueror.—For nearly three-quarters of a century after the death of William the Conqueror, England was ruled by Norman kings.[1] The latter part of this period was a troublous time. The succession to the crown coming into dispute, civil war broke out. The result of the contention
- ↑ William II., known as Rufus "the Red" (1087–1100); Henry I., surnamed Beauclerc, "the good scholar" (1100–1135); and Stephen of Blois (1135–1154). William and Henry were sons, and Stephen a grandson, of the conqueror.
