298 THE ROAD TO FREEDOM
prepared to commit to merchants and others willing to take them, and
to enfeoff them thereof for building and dwelling purposes.1
A further example is to be found in the Welsh border, where
the harassed countryside was to be repopulated, and "all who
wish to become feoffees or farmers " are ordered to appear before
the King's officers at Hereford or Shrewsbury, while those
wishing for the further security of the town might apply to the
Justice of Chester and his fellow, who had power "to assign
places in Rhuddlan to all who desire to receive and hold the
same from the King".2 So also at Chard, at Kingston-on-Hull,
and at other places, we see the opportunity offered to the ad-
venturous; and, so far as the documents go, there is nothing to
make us believe that the serf was barred.3
It is clear from our survey that the towns offered great
opportunities and had great advantages, but we have still to in-
vestigate these opportunities and advantages in so far as they
concerned the serf. It was not sufficient for him merely to pass
through the town gate to win his freedom: during the first four
days of his absence from the manor the lord might pursue him,
and bring him back from wherever he found him. After that it
was another matter, for by then he was in possessions libertatis,
and the lord would have to seek the aid of the courts to get
possession of him.4 Therefore, the serf was not really free: his
seisin of liberty must be clearly distinguished from the full and
lawful liberty he desires, and it is here that the towns played so
great a part, for by dwelling within the walls of a chartered town
or royal demesne for a year and a day, a serf acquired a certain
freedom. But here we must go warily: it is by no means clear
that simple residence in a borough or city gave a serf the privi-
leges which some writers have assigned to him. Pollock and
Maitland, as we should expect, put it guardedly: "The serf
1 Cal. Pat. Rolls, 14 Ed. I, m. 24, and cf. Cal. Chart. Rolls, n, 337. For the
fate of this borough see Tait, Proc. Brit. Acad. x, 6.
2 Op. dt. 8 Ed. I, m. 21 (p. 366); cf. Se"e, op. dt. p. 298, n. 2: "dansles
bastides se re'fugier un grand nombre de serfs."
8 Indeed, the Chard document expressly states the Bishop's offer is to
all persons. Cal. Pat. Rolls, 14 Ed. I, m. 24 (p. 216).
* Bracton, op. dt. f. 6b. It should be noticed, however, that Britton, op. dt.
i. 201, says that the fugitive may be pursued and brought back within a year
and a day. For an account of how his lord regained possession of his serf, see
below, p. 309.