349
will be as the of the of
It was a nobility that did not to increase-, for the
title went only with the and the was
ing strictly primogenitary.
The early prevalence of the primogenitary principle
was also a result of the Norman Conquest, Primogeni-
ture originated in feudalism. The overlord wished a
certain undivided source to which he might look for
the service owed by the fief; the vassal would naturally
divide his holding equally among his sons. Chvir.g to
this clash of interests, the growth of primogeniture was
slow and was not completely established in Normandy
at the time of the Conquest. The Norman of
England had far more any
overlord and were more interested in the en-
forcement of the principle. They were strong to
enforce it, and were enough not to be afraid to
enforce it, that is, they no vassals so powerful that
they were tempted to favour principle of partition
in order to weaken them. Thus England got in advance
of the other countries of western Europe in the
of primogeniture as the rule of succession in law1;
and the younger sons of barons lacked both the baronial
tenure and the baronial title. They went to swell the
class of lower nobility, which in England is properly
termed gentry, a word which indicates nobility. For the
gentry were of noble blood performed only
services for their lords. In any country but England,
they would have been reckoned every whit as as
the greatest barons. But the strong in
had formed at the top of the body of a
select number, who, being the only in of
political and legal privileges, came finally to "be reckoned
the only nobles. Thus the gentry were distinguished
from the non-noble freemen only by their noble bleed,
"Like some otter features of feudal tenure, primogeniture began to
affect the freehold tenures. alt belongs in origin to a military system;
slowly It spread from the military tenants to the socagers, it ceased to be
tlie mark of a class, it became common law/*—Maitland, C, H. £., p. 157-