dward
the Confessor, but was specially needful when a foreigner had possesed
himself of the throne.

I have perhaps dwelt to long upon this point, but the error to which I
have referred has been adopted as if it was an unquestioned fact, and
has passed into our school-books and become part of the education given
to the young, and therefore it required some examination.

I believe that a very large portion of the land in England did not
change hands at that period, nor was the position of either SERFS
or VILLEINS changed. The great alteration lay in the increase in the
quantity of BOC-LAND. Much of the FOLC-LAND was forfeited and seized
upon, and as the king claimed the right to give it away, it was called
TERRA REGIS. The charter granted by King William to Alan Fergent, Duke
of Bretagne, of the lands and towns, and the rest of the inheritance of
Edwin, Earl of Yorkshire, runs thus:

"Ego Guilielmus cognomine Bastardus, Rex Anglise do et concede tibi
nepoti meo Alano Brittanias Comiti et hseredibus tuis imperpetuum omnes
villas et terras qua nuper fuerent Comitis Edwini in Eborashina cum
feodis militise et aliis libertatibus et consuetudinibus ita libere et
honorifice sicut idem Edwinus eadem tenuit.

"Data obsidione coram civitate Eboraci."

This charter does not create a different title, but gives the lands as
held by the former possessor. The monarch assumed the function of the
fole-gemot, but the principle remained--the feudee only became tenant
for life. Each estate reverted to the Crown on the death of him who held
it; but, previous to acquiring possession, the new tenant had to cease
to be his own "man," and became the "man" of his superior. This act was
called "homage," and was followed by "investiture." In A.D. 1175, Prince
Henry refused to trust himself with his father till his homage had been
renewed and accepted, for it bound the superior to protect the inferior.
The process is thus described by De Lolme (chap, ii., sec. 1):

"On the death of the ancestor, lands holden by 'knight's service' and
by 'grand sergeantcy' were, upon inquisition finding the tenure and
the death of the ancestor, seized into the king's hands. If the heir
appeared by the inquisition to be within the age of twenty-one
years, the King retained the lands till the heir attained the age of
twenty-one, for his own profit, maintaining and educating the heir
according to his rank. If the heir appeared by the inquisition to have
attained