Mediæval System of Land Tenure.—Among the nations that succeeded to the sovereignty of Rome, the title and ownership of land was regarded, as it is to-day in China, and in England and other European countries, as inhering primarily to the sovereign or chief of the state; and when partitioned among his nobles or chiefs, was held by them as it was termed on "tenure;" that is, on condition of performing certain services—mainly military, or the payment of a tribute—in the nature of rent. These conditions were ratified by oath; and the chiefs could only sublet, to their serfs or inferiors, on terms consistent with their own tenure.
Large domains were also set apart for the exclusive use of the sovereign[1]—both in his public and private capacity—the state and the sovereign being one and the same; and from the revenues thus accruing, and various fees and feudal incidents, the monarch, or feudal lord, was expected to defray all the expenses of the state, both public and private. Thus, the annual revenue of William the Conqueror is estimated to have been 400,000; which, taking into consideration that the pound at that time contained three times the weight of silver that it now does, and that silver had a comparatively great purchasing power, must have been equivalent to at least four or five millions of present money; and of the public expenditures of these ages it is important to note that there were very few that represented the bulk of the expenditures of modern governments.
Thus, for example, education was mainly confined to the clergy and the Church; and was efficiently supported by the produce of their own estates, or by tithes levied on the estates of others. There were few roads, and the labor of the serfs or peasants for a few days, before or after harvest, sufficed to keep in passable condition such as were needed to meet the demands of a very limited intercourse and commerce between different sections of the country. The administration of justice was held to be the perquisite of the lords or chiefs holding their estates direct from the crown, and, in place of being an expense, became through abuse and corruption a source of emolument. The standing army, which more than any one agency has tended to the impoverishment of modern Europe, could hardly be said to have then existed; the tenants in chief of the crown supporting the sovereign whenever
- ↑ The royal demesne (right of ownership) under the Norman kings was at one time of vast extent, comprising, according to Domesday Book, no less than fourteen hundred and twenty-two manors or lordships, besides farms and lands. It was divided into (1) forest; (2) land held by rural tenants; (3) royal cities, burghs, and towns. The first formed the king's hunting ground, and afforded supplies of venison, etc., for the royal table; the second supplied the king's table in other respects; the third was mainly the source of contributions for the discharge of the king's debts.
