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ASSART: To turn woodlands into pasture or cropland. To assart lands within a forest with out license is a grave offence.

BENEFICE: (L. beneficium): A grant of land given to a member of the aristocracy, a Bishop, or a monastery, for limited or hereditary use in exchange for services. In ecclesiastic terms, a benefice is a church office that returns revenue. Also known as a the fee, feud, or fief coming from the Germanic feofum which comes from the Frankish "fehu" and "od" meaning live stock and movable possessions or property "chattel".

CARUCATE: A measurement of land, equal to a hide (used in Danelaw)

COPYHOLD: in English law, a form of landholding defined as a "holding at the will of the lord according to the custom of the manor." Its origin is found in the occupation by villeins, or nonfreemen, of portions of land belonging to the manor of the feudal lord. A portion of the manor reserved for the lord was cultivated by labourers who were bound to the land; their service was obligatory, and they could not leave the manor. They were allowed, however, to cultivate land for their own use. This copyhold was mere occupation at the pleasure of the lord, but in time it grew into an occupation by right, called villenagium, that was recognized first by custom and later by law. The records of the court baron constituted the title of the villein tenant to the land held by copy of the court roll (hence the term copyhold); and the customs of the manor recorded therein formed the real property law applicable to his case. In 1926 all copyhold land became freehold land, though the lords of manors retained mineral and sporting rights.

COTTAGER: A peasant of lower class, with a cottage, but with little or no land.

demesne in English feudal law, that portion of a manor not granted to freehold tenants but either retained by the lord for his own use and occupation or occupied by his villeins or leasehold tenants. When villein tenure developed into the more secure copyhold and leaseholders became protected against premature eviction, the "lord's demesne" came to be restricted and usually denoted the lord's house and the park and surrounding lands. Demesne of the crown, or royal demesne, was that part of the crown lands not granted to feudal tenants but managed by crown stewards until it was later surrendered to Parliament in return for an annual sum. Ancient demesne was land vested in the crown in 1066, the tenants of such land having a number of privileges, such as freedom from tolls.

The part of the lord's manorial lands reserved for his own use an not allocated to his serfs or freeholder tenants. Serfs work the demesne for a specified numbers of days per week. The demesne may either be scattered among the serfs land, or a separate area, the latter being more common for meadow and orchard lands.

DENARIUS: The English silver penny, hence the abbreviation "d" and the coin most common circulation.

ESCHEAT: The right of a feudal lord to the return of lands held by his vassal, or the holding of a serf, should either die with out lawful heirs or suffer outlawry.

FEALTY: (Oath of): The oath by which a vassal swore loyalty to his lord, usually on a relic of saints or on the bible.

feudal land tenure system by which land was held by tenants from lords. As developed in medieval England and France, the king was lord paramount with numerous levels of lesser lords down to the occupying tenant. Tenures were divided into free and unfree. Of the free tenures, the first was tenure in chivalry, principally grand sergeanty and knight service. The former obliged the tenant to perform some honourable and often personal service; knight service entailed performing military duties for the king or other lord, though by the middle of the 12th century such service was usually commuted for a payment called scutage. Another type of free tenure was socage, primarily customary socage, the principal service of which was usually agricultural in nature, such as performing so many days' ploughing each year for the lord. In addition to the principal service, all these tenures were subject to a number of conditions, such as relief, the payment made on transfer of a fief to an heir, and escheat, the return of the fief to the lord when the vassal died without an heir. Chivalric tenures were also subject to wardship, the guardianship of a fief of a minor, and marriage, payment made in lieu of marriage of the vassal's daughter to the lord.

The main type of unfree tenancy was villenage, initially a modified form of servitude. Whereas the mark of free tenants was that their services were always predetermined, in unfree tenure they were not; the unfree tenant never knew what he might be called to do for his lord. Although at first the villein tenant held his land entirely at the will of the lord and might be ejected at any time, the royal courts later protected him to the extent that he held tenancy at the will of the lord and according to the custom of the manor, so that he could not be ejected in breach of existing customs. Moreover, an unfree tenant could not leave without his lord's approval. Tenure in villenage in England then became known as copyhold tenure (abolished after 1925), in which the holder was personally free and paid rent in lieu of services.

Another form of free tenure was the spiritual tenure of bishops or monasteries, their sole obligation being to pray for the souls of the grantor and his heirs. Some ecclesiastics also held temporal lands for which they performed the required services.

FIEF: Heritable lands held under feudal tenure; the lands of a tenant in chief. Sometimes this can apply to an official position. Often called a Holding.

Normally a land held by a vassal* of a lord in return for stipulated services, chiefly military. Sometimes unusual requirements were stipulated for transferring a fief. For example: Henry de la Wade held 42 acres* of land in Oxfordby the service of carrying a gyrfalcon (see: falconry birds) when ever Kind Edward I wished to go hawking.*

FIEF-RENTE: money paid by a lord in an annual manner to a vassal in return for homage*, fealty*, and military service (usually knight service) and it could include various other things than money, such as wine, cheese. provide chickens, or wood

FINE: A sum of money paid to the Crown to obtain some grant, concession, or privilege. Unlike amercement, a fine is not a monetary penalty, although failure to offer and pay a customary fine for some right, will undoubtedly lead to an amercement.

FORFEITURE: The right of a feudal lord to recover a fief when a vassal fails to honor his obligations under the feudal contract.

HERIOT: A payment which a feudal lord may claim from the possessions of a dead serf or other tenant, essentially a death tax. In the Godley Hundred the heriot usually consisted of the tenants best beast.  The heriot was one of the most dispised taxes and the first to be abolished at the Reformation.

HIDE: A unit of measurement for assessment of tax, theoretically 120 acres, although it may vary between 60 and 240 acres. It is by custom the land that can be cultivated by one eight ox plough in one year.

HOMAGE: The ceremony by which a vassal pledges his fealty to his liege, and acknowledges all other feudal obligations, in return for a grant of land.

HUNDRED: Anglo Saxon institution. Subdivision of a Shire. Theoretically equals one hundred hides but hardly ever. Generally has their own court that meets monthly to handle civil and criminal law. In Danish is called a wapentakes (weapons taking?).

KNIGHT’S FEE: In theory, a fief which provides sufficient revenue to equip and support one knight. This is approximately twelve hides or 1500 acres, although the terms applies more to revenue a fief can generate than its size; it requires about thirty marks (£20) per year to support a knight.  The knight would be required to attend his lord for 40 days per year in wars.  Sometimes smaller holdings attracted a fraction of a knights fee; i.e. half knights fee would be 20 days per year.

MANOR: A small holding, typically 1200-1800 acres, with its own court and probably its own hall, but not necessarily having a manor house. The manor as a unit of land is generally held by a knight (knight's fee) or managed by a bailiff for some other holder.

MARK: A measure of silver, generally eight ounces, accepted throughout Western Europe. In England is worth thirteen shillings and four pence, two thirds of one pound.

MORTUARY: a payment to the church on the death of a parishioner.  It was in addition to burial fees so essentially a death tax.  In 1529, this reviled tax was abolished for those leaving an estate worth less than 10 marks.

REEVE: A royal official, or a manor official appointed by the lord or elected by the peasants.  The reeve for the shire became to be known as the sheriff.

RELIEF: The fee paid by the heir of a deceased person on securing possession of a fief. Tradition determines the amount demanded.

SERF: A Semi-free peasant who works his lord's demesne and pays him certain dues in return for the use of land, the possession (not ownership) of which is heritable. These dues, usually called corvee, are almost in the form of labor on the lord's land. Generally this averages to three days a week. Generally subdivided into classes called: Cottagers, small holders, or villeins although the later originally meant a free peasant who was burdened with additional rents and services.

SHILLING: Measure of money used only for accounting purposes and equal to 12 pennies.

SOCAGE Another type of free tenure was socage, primarily customary socage, the principal service of which was usually agricultural in nature, such as performing so many days' ploughing each year for the lord.

SOKEMAN: Another name for a free villager.

TITHE: A tax of one tenth of a person’s income.  Originally given to support the church and poor; but later taken by the lord of the manor.

TITHING: Created by Anglo-Saxon law, a body of men, notionally ten - hence its name - but usually a good deal larger, which collectively maintained public order, vouched for its members and collectively 'presented' any delinquents amongst them before the court of the hundred.

VILLEIN: The wealthiest class of peasant. They usually cultivate 20-40 acres of land, often in isolated strips.

VIRGATE: One quarter of a "hide".