the English, although in some instances he acted very sternly and tyrannically. But he would not allow any one else to oppress the people, and his strong hand kept his Norman followers under control.
2. Feudal System.—The men who helped William to gain the Battle of Hastings did so in the hope of gaining rich estates and fine homes in England. They fought for gain, and now that William had become king they looked to him to give them their reward. This William found he would have to do, as the English in the North and West were not fully conquered, and without the aid of his knights he could not keep his hold on the land. On the plea that all those who had fought under Harold were traitors, he took their lands and divided them among his Norman friends. Whenever a rising took place against his rule, he would crush it out with great cruelty, and then would keep the estates of the unfortunate rebels, or give them away to his friends. In this way most of the land of the English passed to the king and his greedy followers. But William did not give these lands for nothing. He made each landowner take an oath that whenever called upon he would aid the king with men and money, and under no circumstances would rebel against him. To prevent these Norman barons from becoming too powerful, he gave them their lands in different counties, so that they could not unite against him, or have too many followers in one place. These barons in turn gave out a portion of their estates to their followers, who also had to give aid to their “lord” when called upon. But William was afraid that his barons might get their men to fight against the king, as often happened in France and Germany, and so made each landowner take an oath to obey the king first, under pain of forfeiting his estates. This was all very different from the English system, by which each freeman held his own land. Now all the land was held from the king, directly or indirectly, and the “vassal” had to kneel bareheaded before him and place his hands in the king’s hands, and then swear to give faithful service. He then got from the king his ‘‘fief” or ‘‘feudum,” which was to belong to him and his heirs for ever. This mode of holding land is called the “Feudal System.” It was slightly known in England before William became king, for the English kings had been wont to
