New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-24
THE FEUDAL MANOR.
Dr. Vinogradof on Its Place :" me
History of England.

THE GROWTH OF THE MANOR o by 1t' pp.
Vfnogradoff II. A, Hon. u y =.
,i 3s4 The Macmillan Company
rrh. ADVENT Of the manorial epoch may III gen
-, p. dated from the Norman Conquest ii''
great exent-or rather series OF events
+ha final touch to the formation OF niii''"
.r,stocracy. and brought about more =. -,
.,.e+anoatfc settlement of the country on ieu1'
hos,s Fut social and economic changes IA rs
,.na for centuries before the conquest H"u
,,o,-ing away from the system OF liiO'i ~
session and use of land common III 'he -.
sos. and If is with these changes eA'eiiu
a., from, tho Celtic period to the end OF the
c., .erato the end Of what is Wen ue
s,~fba6 as the old English period-that the larger
mart ~ rr vinogra doffs work is concerned.
He aimed at writing book for stooeh'S Va
general history and for those who are inter e'.eu
On the results of recent research into the leuua
reriod and the period which preceded H. " ii'ie
;. does moi claim that he has said the last
word on the manor an institution IN hhsii'
,nedisval life. or that students should accept
az final his Interpretation Of early hhslSl GO
ciety the success and permanent useluii'eSS -
his work are beyond dispute
DR. vinogradoff has had no idea Of starting
cry entirely new theories as to the development
OF the regal. governmental. social and economic
svste1ns which are associated with feudallsh'
F7s dTeIls only on the main facts and tendencies
Of the long drawn out movement which cuiihi-
mated with the advent of the Normans ana the
'psrcelling out Of England into manors' helo
by the Norman aristocrats or the Church, IN
most cases directly from the Crown starting
from Celtic times. he shows that, while the
communal origin Of property in land has IN re-
cent years been much contested. there is hardly
anything in the domain of archaic law more
49, coil nT
land and Wales Was originally owned by groups
and not by individuals; and that its individual
appropriation, which became complete and gen
ieral IN the early days Of the Norman Conquest.
was the result OF q slow process of develop
naent The ownership Of land began to be rec
ognized as q force even in Celtic times; put
there was as yet no regular organization OF the
state In which dependent labor was gathered
around any economic centre like that INTO
which the feudaI manor ultimately developed
Serfs In Celtic society lived by the side OF free
proprietors Of land and free tenants. These
serfs, however, were Of separate communities
and did not bear the burden Of work for the
benefit OF their free neighbors.
Roman influence Celtic conditions was
neither complete nor far reaching. It made 1T
self chiefly felt in the military life and the
military economy Of the country and on the
religious life of the people. This influence had
not been carried far when the Saxons broke in
and Roman rule collapsed. without having
altered in any essential particulars the life OF
tbs common people Of England As far as the
slight evidence which is obtainabe goes. it tends
TO show that the rural economy Of the Roman
period was TO a great extent determined by
Celtic antecedents
The Teuton invasions had much more de-
cisive and permanent result on the organization
OF English society. They brought about the con-
centration of the people in villages or tuns The
tuns-social organizations composed not Of peo-
pie with divers proprietary rights and economic
pursuits. but of households brought into definite
and simple relations TO each other in regard TO
rights and duties-became we'll established social
Institutions: and with them came the township.
and also the divisions Of counties into hundreds
divisions which still exist geographically and
politically in their main lines, much as they
did in the old English period. In that period all
the requirements OF the government and the
church were charged on the township; and then
as now the hundreds were divisions for the pur-
poses of police and justice. The principle of scot
and lot-the charge on each householder as his
part of the cost of governmental administration
came into existence at this time; and, is
well known scot and lot was the basis Of the
Parliamentary franchise in scores of English
boroughs until the more uniform household suf-
frage was established by the Reform act Of 1892
DR.. VTnogradoff attributes the movement tow
ara the memorial system IN the old English
period to the insuficiency Of local and central
government Tribute TO the King in respect Of
land then, for most people. became rent TO a
lord. This change was evident according to his
Interpretation OF the history Of the period be
fore the incoming Of the Normans and be-
fore the Norman invasion there had come into
existence military system on which Norman
feudalism was afterward founded He dates
the incoming Of the nano~ial system at the end
OF the old English period; but with the Con-
quest the manor became the prevailing social
institution; and all the main factors in local
organization hencefoTward as long as feudalisrn
survived in its integrity. We're made more or
less dependent on the structure Of the manor
With the coming Of feudalism people had to look
not SO much 10 their time honored association
IN township, hundred and shire as to their
relations Of personal and territorial dependence
Then the manor became the organizing unit of
property and population. It became the seat
or q feudal lord, and also the centre of Iocal