52 THE MANOR
the possession of an "assart" carry with it any communal
privileges such as went with the strips in the common fields* It
«did not give a man the right to put any extra beasts on the
common, nor was the yearly rent relaxed on it when its holder
served as reeve and all his other manorial services and dues were
relaxed or diminished. His assart was an extra, and had to bear
its own burdens.1
We cannot expect to know much in detail about the piecemeal
parcelling out of small portions of the waste for assarts.2 Some-
times they were granted by the lord for a fixed rent; sometimes
the land was just seized by the peasant and cultivated, and when
he was found out he accepted the fine imposed on him as an
additional charge for his new holding.3 However it was done,
assarting went on continuously: we read of "old assarts" and
" new assarts ", and every cartulary reminds us of their existence.4
But we have nothing to tell us what persuaded lords of manors to
allow of their cultivation. We may perhaps guess with some de-
gree of certainty that assarting within limits was acceptable to
the lord: it provided him with a yearly rent, and it broke up
virgin soil that hitherto had been unremunerative. He naturally
objected if land was taken without his knowledge and consent,
but otherwise must often have found it a solution for those of his
tenants whose families had grown too numerous for their original
holding.5
Although, as we have seen, our information is mainly frag-
mentary, yet here and there a more connected account of what
was happening is available, and may serve as an example of how
assarts were being carved out of the waste of innumerable
English manors. Let us take as an example what was happening
in the great Forest of the Peak of Derbyshire. We must re-
member that the technical medieval term "forest" was not
confined to a densely wooded domain, but included much open
waste country suitable for agriculture. Throughout the centuries
1 V.C.H. Berks, n, 183. The author of this article draws attention to the
comparative lowness of assart rents. This we may confirm by a study of
Eynsham Cart, n, xxxiii-xxxv. See also Villainage, 333.
2 See Growth of Manor > 170-73.
8 See, for example, Wakefield Rolls, I, 149; n, 53; m, 147, 152, 157.
4 D.S.P. 8; Ramsey Cart. I, 342; II, 90, 296, 297; Wore. Priory Reg.
12a; Early Yorks Charters, passim, etc.
5 See p. 66.