THE STEWARD 159
of every manor; how many acres should be ploughed and how
much seed will be needed. He must know all his bailiffs and
reeves, how they conduct the lord's business and how they treat
the peasants. He must know exactly how many halfpenny loaves
can be made from a quarter of corn, or how many cattle each
pasture should support. He must for ever be on the alert lest
any of the lord's franchises lapse or are usurped by others. He
must think of his lord's needs, both of money and of kind, and
see that they are constantly supplied. In short, he must be as
all-knowing as he is all-powerful.
The picture is doubtless an ideal one, but the happy preserva-
tion of one thirteenth-century steward's letters is proof that it
was not absolutely untrue to actual life. Every steward on taking
office swore to preserve his master's interests to the utmost of
his ability, and this correspondence certainly shows that at
least one steward tried to live up to his oath.1 Simon of Senlis
was his name, and he was steward to the Bishop of Chichester
during the second quarter of the thirteenth century. His letters
show him to be in correspondence with his master on every kind
of business. A handful of examples must suffice: he urges the
Bishop to take immediate action against an encroaching neigh-
bour; discusses the advisability of "farming-out" a church, and
hints that the price asked is too high; complains of the high-
handed action of the bailiffs of the Earl of Arundel; warns his
master that the Precentor of Wells intends him some evil;
prompts him how to make a hard bargain with a lady whose
property is in question; reports the result of a conference at
which he has succeeded in getting a rent due from the Bishop
reduced. He shows another side of his character when he ad-
vises the Bishop to offer hospitality to his Archbishop who is
spending a night on one of his Sussex manors, "for", he says,
"he will provide for himself out of his own means, and wishes to
accept nothing from you.. .wherefore, if you please, I will pay
attention to him so that it shall turn to your advantage and
honour". Crops, buildings, mortgages, provisions, the weather
—all are discussed in turn. One letter shows him vigorously
1 For this oath, see Reg. Pontissara, I, 261-2, and for commission given to a
steward with jurisdiction over all manors, and a statement of his powers, see
Lit. Cant, i, 284.