and State, and it is only by remembering this medieval conception, which the late Dr Figgis so well expounded to us, that the course of medieval history can be rightly understood. Under such a conception, with a scheme arrived at by life rather than by thought, Pope or Bishop, Abbot or Priest, did secular things with no thought of passing into an alien domain. Emperor or King, Count or Sheriff, did not hesitate to undertake, apart, of course, from sanctuary or worship, what would seem to us specially the churchman’s task. Here there were possibilities of concord and fellowship in work, which the great rulers of our period, whether clerical or lay, tried to realise. But there were also possibilities of strife, to be all the sharper because it was a conflict within one society and not a clash of two.
Only the preparation for this conflict, however, falls within our scope. But this preparation is so often slurred over that its proper presentation is essential. The medieval king, like Stuart sovereigns in England, was faced by a tremendous and expensive task, and had scanty means for meeting it. The royal demesne was constantly impoverished by frequent grants: to keep up order as demanded by local needs, and to provide defence as demanded by the realm at large, called not only for administrative care but also for money which was not forthcoming. It was easy to use the machinery of the Church to help towards order: it was easy to raise something of an income and to provide for defence by laying a hand upon church revenues and by making ecclesiastical vassals furnish soldiers. Most of all, horse-soldiers were needed, although to be used with economy and care, like the artillery of later days: their utility had been learnt from the ravages of the Danes, able to cover quickly large areas because of the horses they seized and used. Kings were quick to learn the lesson; knight-service grew up, and is recorded first for ecclesiastical lands in England.
It is therefore first in the estates of the Church that the elements of feudalism are noted in the double union of jurisdiction and knight-service with ownership of lands. Thus, beginning with the equally urgent needs of the crown and of localities, the elements of the Feudal system appeared and gradually grew until they became the coherent whole of later days. But its practical formation preceded its expression in theory. Its formation brought many hardships and opened the way to many abuses. An individual often finds his greatest temptations linked closely to his special capabilities and powers, and in the same way, out of this attempt to give the world order and peace, made by able rulers who were also men of devoted piety, sprang the abuses which called forth the general movement of the eleventh century for church reform. This was partly due to a revival
