acorns, and where they might also collect a certain amound of small
wood for feul; (7) meadow land on which the tenants might hire the
right to cut grass and make hay. On the above plan the fields of
tenants--both those of villeins and of "sokemen," or tenants who paid
a fixed rent in money or service--are marked by the letters A, B, C,
etc.

If the village grew, the tenants might, in time, purchase from the
lord the right to manage their own affairs in great measure, and so
become a Free Town (S183).

II. Religion

151. The Church.

With respect to the organization of the Church, no changes were made
under the Norman kings. They, however, generally deposed the English
bishops and substituted Normans or foreigners, who, as a class, were
superior in education to the English. William the Conqueror made it
pretty clearly understood that he considered the Church subordinate to
his will, and that in all cases of dispute about temporal matters, he,
and not the Pope, was to decide (S118). During the Norman period
great numbers of monasteries were built.

In one very important respect William the Conqueror greatly increased
the power of the Church by establishing ecclesiastical courts in which
all cases relating to the Church and the clergy were tried by the
bishops according to laws of their own. Persons wearing the dress of
a monk or priest, or those who could manage to spell out a verse of
the Psalms, and so pass for ecclesiastics, would claim the right to be
tried under the Church laws, and, as the punishments which the Church
inflicted were notoriously mild, the consequence was that the majority
of criminals escaped the penalty of their evil doings. So great was
the abuse of this privilege, that, at a later period, Henry II made an
attempt to reform it (S164); but it was not wholly and finally done
away with until the beginning of the nineteenth century.

III. Military Affairs.

152. The Army.

The army consisted of cavalry, or knights, and foot soldiers. The
former were almost wholly Normans. They wore armor similar to that
used by the Saxons. It is represented in the pictures of the Bayeux
Tapestry (S75, 155), and appears to have consisted of leather or stout
linen, on which pieces of bone, or scales, or rings of iron were
securely sewed. Later, these rings of iron were set up edgewise, and
interlinked, or the scales made to overlap. The helmet was pointed,
and had a piece in front to protect the no