the feudal type and received stricter legal definition.
Further, the higher judicial organization assisted the expansion of
court fees; while, above all, the increased authority of the state made
the casual receipts (for such they were) from trade more profitable.

In a broad view the sources of revenue fall under the following
heads:--(1) The royal estates which were distributed over England,
derived in part from the possessions of the old English kings, but
increased by the confiscations that followed the events of the
Conqueror's reign, as well as by the doctrine that unowned land was the
king's (_terra regis_). Over fourteen hundred manors appear in Domesday
as royal property. The forests, placed under special laws, yielded
little revenue, except in the form of penalties on offenders. The rural
tenants, who at first paid their rents in produce, gradually commuted
them into money payments. As the royal demesne was favourable for the
growth of towns the rents derived from urban tenants became a valuable
part of the yield from the demesne; this, later, took the shape of a
payment from the town as a unit (the _firma burgi_), a method which
secured to the burghers freedom from the exactions of the sheriff and
which was purchased by special payments. (2) The feudal rights. These
included the claim to military service; the three regular aids and the
payments of relief at succession to a fief, as also the profits on
wardships and marriages. Escheats and forfeitures completed the list.
The yield from this source varied with the power of the king and was
kept within bounds by the resistance of the tenants as shown in the
provisions of Magna Carta. (3) The administration of justice was a
lucrative prerogative of the crown. Suitors had to pay for securing the
hearing of their cases in addition to the fees for writs, and both
amercements and compositions increased the receipts under this head. (4)
Two special classes contributed to the royal exchequer. As a great deal
of the wealth of the country was in the hands of the church the
opportunities afforded by the vacancies of sees, abbacies and priories
were utilized for the purpose of securing the profits of these offices
during the time in which there was no occupant; and this term was
frequently prolonged by the king's action or inaction. The Jews, until
their expulsion, were an even more profitable class to the revenue.
Being under the absolute control of the crown, they could