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OXFORD STUDIES

IN SOCIAL AND LEGAL

HISTORY

EDITED BY

PAUL VINOGRADOFF

M.A., D.C.L,, LL.D., Dr. Hist., Dr. Jur., F.B.A.

CORPUS PROFESSOR OF JURISPRUDENCE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

VOL. Ill

THE ESTATES OF THE ARCHBISHOP AND CHAPTER

OF SAINT-ANDRE OF BORDEAUX UNDER

ENGLISH RULE

By E. C. lodge

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF POOR LAW ADMINISTRATION
IN A WARWICKSHIRE VILLAGE

By a. W. ASHBY

OXFORD

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

1912

HENRY FROWDE, M.A.

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK

TORONTO AND MELBOURNE

Asa.*-

PREFACE

CJ The fifth monograph of our series is the result of
prolonged studies begun by Miss Lodge in Paris,
under the direction of M. Ch. Bemont. The author
intended originally to present a general description
of the conditions of land tenure and rural life in
mediaeval Gascony. A good deal of material was
collected for this purpose, but the scheme proved
too comprehensive, and its proper elaboration would
have demanded years of further study. I proposed
to Miss Lodge to narrow the investigation to one
district, and, as far as possible, to connect it with
the history of a great social organization. The com-
plex of estates of the Archbishop of Bordeaux was
selected as the principal object of observation, but
the economy of estates belonging to the Chapter
of Saint-Andre of Bordeaux was also examined, and
a good deal of material from other sources used for
the purpose of illustration and comparison.

With these limitations, the work was carried out
under my supervision in the course of 1906-9. The
aim was not, of course, to accumulate materials or
to discuss points of interest from the point of view
of local history. Nor was the subjection of Gascony
to England during the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries the determining factor in planning the
monograph on the above-mentioned lines. The

5i'i51.^'4

iv PREFACE

importance of the investigation lies in the fact that
the husbandry and the social grouping described
present an excellent instance of a mediaeval organiza-
tion built up on an entirely individualistic basis.
The dominant feature of the situation is the culture
of the vine, the olive, and of wheat on small, exceed-
ingly subdivided plots without any communal con-
nexion between them. There are waste lands, of
course, and there are occasional rights of common
in some places, but the ordinary arrangements of
rural life start from the intensive labour of single
households and from the dues and taxes imposed
on them. The administration of a great landowner
like the Archbishop reckons with money and food
rents more than with servile work, and the popula-
tion presents all kinds of varieties of the status of
personally free people subjected to protection and
exploitation {hommes de poste). The study of these
conditions is instructive, not only in its direct aspects,
but also indirectly by way of a contrast to the
English, North French, and German manors, charac-
terized by customs of open field cultivation and of
villain week work.

Mr. A. W. Ashby's monograph deals with the range
of problems arising from the attempts of eighteenth-
century self-government to deal with poverty, sick-
ness, and unemployment. The author has been
able to draw on interesting first-hand materials in
order to illustrate the policy of the squires which
put the poor laws into practice. The influence of
the re-partition of property and population, the

PREFACE V

consequences of enclosure, the share of industrial
occupations in rural life, the movement of wages
and the attempts to regulate them, the reaction of
compulsory settlement and work on the morals of
the inhabitants, the practice of out-of-doors irelief,
and the measures against unemployment — all these
points are copiously illustrated in the records of the
poor law administration of a Warwickshire village.
They acquire enhanced reality from the fact that
the examples cited come from the same local sur-
roundings. It is hardly necessary to appeal to the
contemporary interest attached to the administra-
tion of the poor law in order to justify the insertion
in our series of a monograph dealing with the self-
government of the ancien regime in England.

PAUL VINOGRADOFF.

THE ESTATES OF THE

ARCHBISHOP AND CHAPTER OF

SAINT-ANDRE OF BORDEAUX

UNDER ENGLISH RULE

ELEANOR C. LODGE

VICB-PRINCIPAL AND MODERN HISTORY TUTOR, LADY MARGARET HALL

OXFORD

(PART V) ST.A.

INTRODUCTION

So great is the interest felt at the present day in all social
history, that perhaps no apology is needed for attempting to
examine, however inadequately, the condition of the rural
population in the Bordelais during the Middle Ages. The
district round Bordeaux, now known as the Department of
the Gironde, was for centuries the heart of our English posses-
sions in South-western France. From the time when the
profitable marriage of Henry II brought the rich Province
of Aquitaine to the Crown of England, until the final loss of
this region in 1453, through varying fortunes and many changes
of boundary, Bordeaux itself remained in English hands.
A district so long looked upon as English territory, so long
numbering Englishmen amongst its inhabitants, and so long
ruled by English ofiEicials under the direct rule of an English
king, seems particularly deserving of consideration during the
period of this English occupation.

The whole of Gascony is of the greatest interest from the
social point of view, but there are several reasons for studying
it in separate districts rather than as a whole. The country
itself is very varied in its physical characteristics. The
Pyrenean valleys, the vast stretches of the Landes, and the
fertile well-watered soil of the Bordelais offer widely differing
conditions, which have affected materially the character of the
inhabitants. It is true, no doubt, that a general similarity
prevails amongst the rural classes of any country under
a system of feudalism, but the local variations are sufficiently
marked to render general conclusions for the whole very unsafe.
It seems better, therefore, to work out the social and economic
history of individual provinces in special detail.

For such a purpose there are many reasons for choosing
the Bordelais. This district has certain very marked charac-

4 INTRODUCTION

teristics of its own. First and foremost there is the geo-
graphical situation of Bordeaux, on the magnificent stream
of the Garonne. The river here is wide enough for the passage
of large vessels to and from the sea, and it has access to the
inland country, both by its own waters and by its tributary
river the Dordogne, thus offering an ideal position for trading
purposes. From early times the history of Bordeaux was
the history of a commercial centre, and this could not
fail to have important results on the neighbouring country
and on the social characteristics of its inhabitants. Next to
this must be noticed the pecuHar predominance of viti-
culture in the Bordelais, owing to the great advantages of
its soil for the production of wine. Even in the Middle
Ages almost all the land was occupied by vineyards. Corn-
growing and cattle-rearing were subsidiary to this all-prevailing
industry ; and the history of agriculture and of the labouring
classes has been profoundly affected by this special charac-
teristic.

Bordelais, in the Middle Ages, like the rest of the country,
was divided amongst numerous landlords. The King of
England had much private property in its rich soil, especially
in the district of Entre-deux-Mers between the Garonne and
the Dordogne, which claimed to be royal demesne by inalien-
able right, and to enjoy many important privileges in conse-
quence. Besides this royal property, portions of which were
to be found in all directions, scattered territories were in the
hands of the great seigneurs of Gascony, both lay and ecclesias-
tical. Church lands, lay lands, and royal demesne lay inter-
mixed in perplexing variety. One estate, however, stands out
amongst the rest, distinguished by its great extent, its wealth,
and its importance. The Cathedral Church of St.-Andre of
Bordeaux was probably the richest landholder in these parts,
and the possessions of the archbishop and chapter together
comprised not only a very considerable proportion of the
Bordelais, but territories which extended into other outlying
provinces.

The similarity of soil and cultivation throughout the whole
of this region, and a comparison of the lands of St.-Andr^

INTRODUCTION 5

with others of which records still exist, show that this estate
may be taken as a typical example for this part of the country :
typical, at least, of Church property and of the most flourishing
estates. Possibly Church tenants may have had some special
characteristics of their own. They may have enjoyed rather
more permanent conditions and a few extra privileges ; cer-
tainly their services had to be so arranged as to meet the
requirements of large religious establishments whether secular
or regular. There is, however, little reason to believe that
the household of a great noble was very unlike that of a great
ecclesiastic in its material requirements, and the management
of his estates was doubtless very similar. Unfortunately less
information exists for lay estates than for Church property in
Gascony, so that absolutely exact comparison is not possible.
The lands of the lesser nobles would probably show rather
greater divergence. Their tenants often had holdings smaller
and less advanced than those of the richer lords, whilst they
suffered more possibilities of seignorial oppression and direct
interference. As a type, however, of large and prosperous
estates, well cultivated and carefully supervised, the property
of St. -Andre may be taken as one of the best and is well-
suited for purposes of study.

The characteristics of this estate resemble those of other
large properties. The lands of archbishop and chapter lay in
scattered portions, separate little pieces here and there, need-
ing a considerable staff of officials to see that due rents were
paid and proper services performed. Amongst these various
possessions all the chief forms of tenure can be found repre-
sented. Some lands were let out to churches or to ecclesiastics
to be held by spiritual tenure ; others were fiefs in the hands
of lay lords who owed noble service ; some territories were
censives paying fixed rent ; others questaves owing labour or
the payment of arbitrary quete. Some sub-tenants rendered
dues in money, some in kind ; in the latter case generally
a certain proportion of the produce. Leasehold property let
out for a term of years also existed on the estate, though not
to any very great extent. Besides lands sub-infeudated or
sublet in these ways, there was a considerable amount of

6 INTRODUCTION

private demesne. A very good series of accounts, which has
been preserved, throws much light on the management of
this, and illustrates the usual methods of cultivation and the
machinery for supervision.

Another special advantage for the study of this property
is offered by the nature of the material at hand. It is possible
to compare territories and conditions in the thirteenth century
with those in the fifteenth, and to draw some conclusions as
to the general line of advance, and the principal developments
which took place within that period. For all these reasons
it is hoped that a description'of the lands of St. -Andre may be
useful as a type of social conditions during the Middle Ages
in the vine-growing districts of South-western France, and
especially of the Bordelais.

The chief sources of information for this work are to be
found in the Archives D^partementales of the Gironde, a rich
collection very fully catalogued. A few records are still kept
in the Archives of the Archeveche at Bordeaux, but these
are chiefly of an ecclesiastical nature. Some manuscripts have
been printed in the valuable pubhcation known as the Archives
Historiques de la Gironde.

For the lands of the archbishop the documents are as
follows :

1. A register of 1259 preserved in the Archives Departe-
mentales.^ This is a bound volume which once belonged to
Monsieur de Monteil, and which contains a record of rents
and other dues paid to the archbishop, chiefly in Lormont,
Bassens, and Ambares. The register is in Latin. There is
no indication as to the name of the official who compiled it.

2. A series of accounts kept by different procureurs of
the archbishop, which extend, with considerable gaps, over the
period from 1354 to 1459.^ The most important of these have
been published in volumes xxi and xxii of the Archives
Historiques de la Gironde with introduction and notes by
Leo Drouyn.^

^ Arch. Dept., Revenus de r Archeveche, 1259. Not catalogued.
^ G. 240, 241. (All references of manuscripts are to the Archives
Departementales unless it is otherwise specified.)

^ Published by Gounouilhan, Bordeaux, 188 1 and 1882.

INTRODUCTION 7

3. A collection of documents bound together containing
a notary's record of homages, chiefly in Montravel, during
the fourteenth century.^ This has also a list of the archbishop's
vassals who owed homage lige in 1306.

4. A bundle of documents, chiefly feudal recognitions,
relating to the seignory of Caudrot.^

5. Various other bundles containing similar documents ;
homages, land grants, deeds of sale, gifts, and leases for
Bordelais, Saintonge, Perigord, Bourges, and Blayais.^

6. Various registers containing similar documents for
Bordeaux and the banlieue. Chiefly originals, some copies.*

7. Registers concerning the Seignory of Montravel.^

8. Registers concerning the Seignory of Belves and Couze
in Perigord.^

9. Customs of Lormont, 1444.'

10. Documents concerning tithes and quarticres due to the
Archbishop.^

11. A register concerning the Temporel de I'Archeveche,

1336-1340-^

The documents concerning the possessions of the chapter
are no less interesting.

I. Cartulairc de St. -Andre. 13'' siecle.^o A quarto volume

' G. 82.

- G. 84. (G. 83 contains copies and extracts of these.)
' G. 94. Lormont, Reconnaissances feodales. G. 95. Lormont, Recon-
naissances feodales, dimes et agridres, &c., 1420-1731. G. 104, 105. Sain-
tonge and Perigord, Recon. feodales, 1 308-1456 (originals and copies).
<r. 106. Liasse, 1 301-167 1 : Collection d'hommages, &c., Saintonge,
Perigord, Bordelais, Blayais (all copies but one). G. 107. Copies, 12 14-
1721. G. 109. Liasse, 1308-1465 : Hommages, &c., Blayais. G. 133.
Liasse, Perigord.

* G. no. 1 308-1465. G. 114. Extract from Terrier, 1 367-1424.

* G. 138. Only one extract for fourteenth century ; chiefly seventeenth
and eighteenth. G. 139. Rights of archbishop in Montravel (copy).

* G. 177. Registre, 1 391-1462. G. 178. Registre, 1351 List of inhabitants
of Belv6s ; 1470 Transactions. G. 187. Liasse, 1 334-1765 : Copy (eigh-
teenth century) of Customs ; Transactions concerning commun. G. 225.
Cahier des proems de I'Archeveche devant le Parlement et le Seneschal de
Perigord, touchant les Chatellenies de-Belvds, Bigarroque, Couze et Millac,
1456-67.

' G. 93. Liasse. Copy and original. Confirmed 1612.

* G. 217. Liasse, 1 354-1 742. Copies and originals.

* Archives de I'Archev&che at Bordeaux. Analysed in the Inventory
of the Archives Dept. under G. 998.

'• Arch. Dept. Not catalogued.

8 INTRODUCTION

on parchment, from the library of Sir T. Phillips, containing
119 folios. It gives a full account of rents and territorial
dues of all kinds ; of tithes and other ecclesiastical payments ;
of privileges, jurisdictional and others, possessed by the
chapter over some of its lands. The register begins abruptly
and gives no indication of the compiler.

2. A sixteenth-century inventory of the Archives du Chapitre
de St. -Andre. This contains a fairly full analysis of several
documents from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, many
of which are not possessed in original by the Archives Departe-
mentales.^

3. Various registers containing Actes Capitulaires. Land
grants and leases amongst others.^

4. Bundles of documents concerning lands possessed by
the chapter in Bordeaux. Land grants and feudal recog-
nitions.^

5. Similar documents concerning land outside Bordeaux,
chiefly in the neighbourhood.*

6. Documents relating to possessions, chiefly vineyards, in
the Graves of Bordeaux.^

7. A very incomplete and illegible series of accounts.
1399-1460. Scarcely of any use.^

8. A fifteenth-century terrier. A large volume, also from
the library of Sir T. Phillips, containing 144 folios. In this,
various documents are bound together not in chronological
order, chiefly feudal recognitions, records of sales, land
conveyances, and leases, dating from 1440 to 1556.'

The lands, of which some idea can be gathered from the
above documents, both those of the archbishop and of the
chapter, lie so intermixed and are so much alike in charac-

^ G. 524. Drawn up in 1596.

* G. 309. 1410-12. G. 310, 311. 1426-55. G. 316. Obituaires du
Chapitre, 1 362-1624.

' G. 342. 1236-1304. G. 342-59. Possessions in the parish of St.-Michel.
G. 360-70. Possessions in the parish of Ste.-Eulalie. G. 372-8. Possessions
in the parish of Ste.-Croix. G. 379-97. Possessions in various parishes.

* G. 408. 1387-1765. G. 416. Cadaujac, 1361-1606. G. 418. Floirac,
Gradignan, Gresillac, 1400- 1760. G. 419. La Tresne, L6ge, Lormont,
1273-1751. G. 420. Pessac, &c., 1344-1778. G. 423. St.-Julien-en-Born,
&c., 1347-1762. G. 431. Biens divers, 1241-1531.

* G. 447-63, 1257-1469. • G. 489. ' Not catalogued.

INTRODUCTION 9

ter, that they can be considered together. Both landlords
possessed more vineyards than anything else, both collected
rents and dues of a very similar nature ; and there is every
reason to believe that the methods of cultivation and the
condition of the tenants were practically the same. Thus,
although the extent of territory possessed by each will be
considered separately, the estate will be treated as a whole
in the description of its social and economic conditions.^

^ I am glad to have this opportunity of thanking most heartily M. Charles
Bemont, Directeur adjoint a I'Ecole des Hautes Etudes, for the very
generous assistance and encouragement he has given to this work, begun
originally under his direction ; and M. Brutails, Archivist of the Depart-
ment of the Gironde, for the kind help and advice which he gave to me
while I was working at Bordeaux.

CHAPTER I

LANDS OF THE ARCHBISHOP

There were few seigneurs more distinguished in the
Bordelais than the archbishops of Bordeaux. They were
not only great ecclesiastics, but also important temporal lords,
and enjoyed an amount of independence seldom accorded to
even the highest feudal potentates. Gascony was a favoured
country in respect of privileges. Being debatable land,
there was constant desire on the part of the rival claimants
to win support, and the kings of France and England vied
with one another in making promises and granting charters.
The chief churchman of the district was one of those who
gained most profit from this rivalry.

In 1137, before the English kings became dukes of Aquitaine,
Louis VI of France gave a charter to the archbishops of
Bordeaux, which exempted them from doing homage or taking
any oath of fealty to the king.^ Next came the turn of John
of England. In 1201 he made to the archbishops a grant of
privileges, which gave them full rights of justice over their
vassals, allowed them to acquire new goods when they would,
by purchase or otherwise, and to receive alods or transform
them into fiefs at their will. It bestowed upon them also
various pecuniary advantages ; such as the right to a third
of the profits of the mint at Bordeaux, a third of the tolls from
the Pays de Buch, and the power of collecting considerable
sums of money in Entre-deux-Mers.^ No officials might
interfere to violate these rights, nor oppress the men of the
archbishop whether free or unfree. In 1203, besides confirm-
ing this grant, John expressly stated that the archbishops were
to be free from all lay authority, and were to have the power

' G. 264. Inventaire des Chartes de I'Archeveche.

" Livre des Coutumes, p. 475, Archives Municipales de Bordeaux,
vol. V, edited by Barckhausen.

CH. i] LANDS OF THE ARCHBISHOP ii

of bestowing ' customs ' on their subjects, of fortifying houses
and of establishing saiwetes in their estates.^

In 1282 Philip of France declared that the seignories and
possessions of the archbishops should remain free and exempt
from all duties. By letters patent of 1300, the seneschals of
Perigord and Gascony were forbidden to exercise their offices
on those estates, or to make any arrests in churches, cemeteries,
or other sacred places within them. The judicial powers of
the archbishops were evidently of the fullest description, and
in 1301 the French king wrote to the Seneschal of Guyenne
and commanded him to maintain the rights of high, middle,
and low justice possessed by the former in the chdtellenies
of Coutures, Loutrange, and Bazadais.^

The archbishop in the early fourteenth century, Bertrand
de Got, better known later as Pope Clement V, had the best of
reasons for keeping on good terms with the French king,
although he was a subject of the King of England. In 1302
we find him taking part in an assembly at Paris, but he was
careful, nevertheless, to assert that his action did not in
any way prejudice the liberty of his successors, for he was not
bound to ' hommage ni serment de fidelite au roi de France ' ?
A similar protest was made by Archbishop Arnaud de Canta-
loup in 1324, when officers of the King of England summoned
him to Langon. He declared himself under no obligation to
obey, since he owed fealty to the Pope alone : ' car il n'est
ni homme du roi et qu'il ne tient aucune chose de lui ni comme
roi ni comme Due de Guyenne.' "*

Thus little by little the archbishops won for themselves
independent control of their own estates, and acquired a
wealth which enabled them to administer the same to the
best advantage. Not only did they figure as rich landholders
with power to regulate tenurial conditions and lay down
rules for the cultivation and general management of their
demesne lands, but they exercised full rights of jurisdiction
over their subjects, rights which brought with them much

' Livre des Coutumes, p. 473.

* G. 264. (Analysed in the Inventaire des Archives.)

' Ibid. See also Jullian, Histoire de Bordeaux, p. 194. * G. 264.

12 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. I

profit from judicial fines and amercements, whilst they were
undisturbed masters of their own property, which they held
free from feudal services. Questions of trade also were
matters of interest and profit to these great ecclesiastics, who
took toll from the vessels passing to and fro on the river and
had other dues from sale and transport in many parts.^

By the middle of the fourteenth century the archbishops
were, perhaps, at the height of their temporal power. They
were wealthy and open-handed, living in great magnificence
and even luxury. They were served themselves by an
enormous retinue of followers and servants. They kept open
house and entertained all the more important strangers who
visited th'ese parts ; their table was laden with good cheer.
The private archiepiscopal accounts are full of expenses
incurred for dogs, falcons, and other sporting requirements ;
larger sums seem to have been spent on nephews and other
relations than on the poor of the diocese. Their needs involved
trade with other countries, and we find them buying cheeses
in England, mantles in Ireland and cloth of all sorts in Flanders
and Frisia. All this splendour and rich living meant con-
siderable occupation for the surrounding inhabitants. Tenants,
both free and servile, had to find provisions for the lavish
table of their clerical landlord ; many servants were employed
both in the episcopal palace and upon the estate ; numerous
day-labourers were hired to complete the work which ordi-
nary tenurial services were insufficient to accomplish. As
Monsieur Jullian writes in his History of Bordeaux : ' the
lower classes were occupied in working for this clerical
aristocracy.' ^

The chief centre of archiepiscopal territory was in Bordeaux
and the Bordelais, but it extended into Perigord and Saintonge,
and even as far north as La Rochelle. The archbishop had
a good deal of private demesne, which was managed by his
own procureurs, and of which he could use the produce as he
would. This consisted chiefly of vineyards and gardens, in

^ Livre des Coutumes, p. 475. G. 264. Letters Patent of 1320. G. 84.
Declaration in 1462 as to rights of toll.
* Jullian, Histoire de Bordeaux, p. 226.

CH. i] LANDS OF THE ARCHBISHOP 13

those parts in which he had places of residence. The culti-
vation was in the hands of his own paid servants, assisted in
part, no doubt, by the corvees of the labour-paying tenants,
but it gave occupation also to a large number of hired workers.
Other lands were let to sub-tenants. Some were farmed out
in return for fixed sums, whilst the farmer administered the
estate to his own advantage. Some were split up amongst
a number of small rent-paying tenants [censitaires), in which
case the procureur was responsible for collecting and accounting
for the rent, whether it was in money or kind, a fixed amount
or a certain proportion of the produce. These censives were
presumably administered by the tenants themselves ; but
when very small and scattered strips were let out in this
manner, the procureur seems to have had some degree of
control over the cultivation of the whole. In some districts
in which the land was divided up amongst many small
censitaires, we find him fixing the date at which the vintage
might begin. Besides these lands rented and farmed, much
territory was held from the archbishop by noble tenure in
return for homage ; the vassal himself being, in many cases,
a great feudal lord. Such fiefs were profitable to him in
a pecuniary way also, as various dues might be levied upon
them, besides the ordinary feudal incidents to which they were
liable. A noble might sometimes even pay rent as well as
do homage, whether for the same land or for different pieces
of territory in the same estate is not always clear.

In considering the property under these different heads, it
may be noted that there was a certain amount of variation
from time to time. Land which at one date was managed
by the procureur, might at another be let out at farm.
Occasionally the archbishop would keep in his own hands
for a time a seignory, usually held from him by homage ;
possibly this was when it had come to him through escheat or
forfeiture. Thus, for example, the seignory of Montravel,
held from the archbishop apparently by homage in the early
fourteenth century (this was due from a number of small lords,
not from one great noble), ^ appears in 1459 amongst the lands of

' G. 34, 82, 139. (Homage was done at any rate as late as 1364.)

14 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. i

which the procureur collects the rent. It is entered as yielding

that year as much as ;^228 155.^ This may have been in great

part a result of the weakening of the feudal tie, which gradually

led to the dropping of old tenurial ceremonies and to the

change from holding by homage to a more profitable pecuniary

transaction. Some rents, however, had certainly been due

from it before, though not to so great an extent. In 1336

there was a separate procureur for the archbishop's possessions

in Perigord and in the chdtellenies of Montravel.^ On the

other hand, Soulac, half of which had been held directly by

the archbishop in return for certain payments to the Abbey of

Sainte-Croix,^ in the fifteenth century was farmed out by the

former in return for a fixed sum.* In the case of Loutrange,

homage was done for it in 1300,^ it was farmed out by the

archbishop in 1360,^ and in 1459 the procureur again was

directly responsible for the collection of rents, although as

a matter of fact he was obliged to enter that he had received

nothing: 'car Monsieur de la Bret occupe tout.''^ The

period during which the French were regaining possession

by degrees of the whole of their south-western provinces was

a bad moment for the orderly management of landed property.

The chief instances of change of this kind are in cases of small

pieces of land, which the procureur at times administered

directly, at others let out for a season, according to what

seemed most convenient at the moment. Thus, for example,

the meadows of Ludon, generally managed directly for the

profit of the archbishop, were farmed out in 1340 ; ^ those

of Lormont in 1357 ; ^ those of Les Pesettes in 1367 ; 1° whilst

various pieces of vineyard appear occasionally in the accounts

as causing expense for the harvest,^ and are not mentioned in

other years.

The building up of this large archiepiscopal estate is

impossible to trace in detail, since there is insufficient con-

^ G. 240, f. 467. ^ Temporel de I'Archeveche, f. 2.

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxvii. 17. Terrier of St.-Andre, f. 103,

^ G. 240, f. 386. * Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, ii. 160.

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 519. ' G. 240, f. 391,

* Archbishop's Accounts : Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 48.

' Ibid., p. 456. ^' Ibid. xxii. 100.

" Ibid. xxi. 325 ; xxii. 321 ; G. 240.

CH. i] LANDS OF THE ARCHBISHOP 15

tinuous evidence as to gifts and purchases. Probably there
had been many grants received from great nobles in earlier
periods, but there is little evidence of extensive gifts from the
thirteenth century onwards. In 1285-7 the Abbot of Condom
bestowed half the church of Caudrot upon the archbishop,
but not without stipulating for some return. ^ In 1305
Pope Clement V, formerly archbishop, gave the demesne
of Pessac to be held by his successors.^ Although gifts were
not so numerous, property and revenue did increase after the
thirteenth century, by the occasional conversion of alods into
fiefs or into censives. This change would be chiefly due to
a desire for protection. The possessor of an alod^ burdened
perhaps by no dues, had on the other hand no prospect of
support in the maintenance of his property. Thus in 1214,
Arnaud of Ambleville, wishing to put himself under the
protection of the archbishop, promised to give a mark of
silver in homage for the house of Ambleville, and for his
goods in the chdtellenies of Bouteville and Aubiac, formerly
held free of all service en franc alleu? Later records show
that homage continued to be done for the same as late as
the sixteenth century. There are many similar instances in
the documents relating to the chapter of St. -Andre.

Besides these cases, new tenants, from time to time, put
themselves under the control and protection of the arch-
bishop. In 1447 two men, who had formerly held lands in
the parish of St.-Paxens from certain lords in the seignory of
Montravcl, begged to become tenants of the archbishop since
their landlords had left the estate. Their request was granted
and they were enfeoffed anew at a higher rent than they had
formerly given.* This, of course, was not a case of extension of
territory, since all'Montravel was held ultimately from the arch-
bishop ; but it probably meant the acquirement of rent from the
new tcnant,in place of homage from the old possessor. Similarly,
in 1463, a man of Larsac (Belvcs) was made an immediate
tenant of the archbishop and promised certain dues to him.^

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xv. 530 ; G. 83. ^ G. 207.

* G. 107. * G. 139. Bail a fief nouveau, 1447.

* G. 177, f. 87 : ' Aujourd'hui le dit Aymeric est fait hommc do Mon-
seigneur et a promis paicr a luy le commun.'

i6 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. i

However acquired, the most important of the archbishop's
lands seem to have come into his possession by the fourteenth
century. In the previous period, although plenty of estates
were held from the archbishop by homage, rents seem to have
been collected chiefly from Lormont, Bassens, and Ambares ; ^
whereas in the procureur's accounts from 1332 onwards
numerous other places are entered, and the sum total was
certainly very much larger than before.^ There are several
possible explanations of this, however, besides actual extension
of territory on a large scale, which would be rather unusual
at so late a date. For one thing Bordeaux itself was growing
rapidly, and the archbishop had tenants in almost every
street. Cultivation also was becoming far more general.
Land formerly lying waste was now turned to account, and
vineyards were being planted year by year in all the land
lying round the town, especially in the part known as the
Graves; whilst the actual value of land and amount of rent
paid tended to rise and swell th.Q pro cur eur' s column of receipts.
Certainly the middle of the fourteenth century sees the arch-
bishop at the height of his territorial power, and is a good
period for considering the extent and distribution of his
scattered territory.

His private demesne at this time was very extensive.
Behind the archiepiscopal palace at Bordeaux lay a garden
large enough to contain vines as well as fruit and vegetables.
At Lormont, likewise, he had a palace, a garden, and in addi-
tion large and important vineyards, a mill, and a considerable
amount of meadow land for which the procureur was respon-
sible. At Pessac was situated the vineyard given by Pope
Clement V. This was occasionally farmed out, but as a rule
directly administered by the procureur. A large meadow at
Ludon was also part of the private demesne land ; and from
time to time, other vines and meadows in the Graves and Palus
of Bordeaux would be retained by the archbishop, instead of
being farmed out in return for fixed sums. Places occa-
sionally added to the demesne in this way were vineyards

* Revenus de I'Archeveche, 1259.

" Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, vols, xxi and xxii.

CH. i] LANDS OF THE ARCHBISHOP 17

at Les Chretiens and Les Lepreux which were cultivated
directly by the procureur 1382-8 ; ^ Quinsac, which was in
the archbishop's hands in 1401,^ and Les Queyries which he
took over in 1410.^

Besides the procureurs whose accounts have been preserved
for the Bordelais lands, the archbishop had others in Mon-
travel, Caudrot, Coutures, and Loutrange, but whether these
officers did more than collect rents and dues from these more
distant possessions it is difficult to say. No accounts have
been preserved for the three latter places, J. Viguier, the
procureur of Montravel, has left a record of a few years, but
only for rents, dues, and services; there is no sign that he was
organizing work directly on any private piece of the estate."*

The archbishop was immediate lord of the chdtellenies of
Belves, Bigarroque, Couze, and Millac, and exercised full
rights of justice in each. Possibly he had no dwelling-places
nor home-farms in any of these, although a few labour services,
due from the tenants of Belves, suggest that he might have
had some private estate in the neighbourhood to be cultivated
by their exertions ; but on the whole they were chiefly
valuable to him for territorial rents and dues collected by his
receivers.^ No accounts, so far as I know, have been pre-
served for these places.

These outlying territories were in a rather precarious
condition during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
owing to the French being in possession from time to time ;
the results of war and uncertainty of tenure made their
management and the collection of rents a difficult matter.
Probably the more distant possessions were less advantageous
to the archbishop from a pecuniary point of view than his

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 321, 325.

* G. 240. ' G. 241, f. 123.

* Temporelde I'ArchevSche (1336-40). In the archives of the ArchevSch6
at Bordeaux. In Arch. Dept. Catalogue, G. 918.

' Temporel de I'ArchevSche. J. Viguier accounts for rents in Belvds,
Bigarroque, Millac, and Couze amongst other places, 1336-40. G. 178
gives an account of the dues from the inhabitants of Belvfes in 1351.
G. 177 is a register of the seignories of Belvds and Couze from 1391 to
1462. G. 240, f. 359, speaks of cens and rents, &c., in money and corn
collected from the chdtellenies of Belves, Bigarroque, Couze, and Millac
by Helie Faure, Pey Combraielle, and Guillaume Ferant in 1459-

(part V) ST.-A. C

i8 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. i

lands in the Bordelais. In any case information concerning
the latter is far more extensive.

In Bordeaux itself the archbishop had a great deal of rent-
paying territory. The town was split up amongst numerous
landlords, but the archiepiscopal estate seems to have com-
prised houses in almost every street ; certainly in every
parish. It was here that his tenants increased to the most
marked extent, and a great many burgesses owed also for
holdings outside the actual city. The Graves of Bordeaux
lying all round the outskirts of the towns, and thePalus along
the banks of the river, especially towards the north,were full
of small censives paying straight to the archbishop. From
the thirteenth century onwards he had considerable possessions
in Lormont, Bassens, and Ambares on the opposite side of the
river, which he never lost ; and by the fourteenth century
some scattered property in Entre-deux-Mers, Entre-Dordogne,
Bazadais, and Blayais.'^

The noble lands, held by homage from the archbishop, and
for which only occasional money payments were owed, were
very numerous. Great lords, knights, and small domicelli
were all amongst the number of his tenants-in-chief. Such
fiefs were chiefly outside the Bordelais and situated for the
most part in Perigord, but in the early fourteenth century
some houses in Bordeaux itself, and land in Les Queyries were
held in return for homage by Pierre of Bordeaux.^ Noble
lands were apparently almost as much subdivided as rent-
paying estates, and to enumerate all the noble tenants on the
archbishop's property would be a long as well as a difficult
task. Some of the principal seignories for which homage
was paid were Ambleville, which was certainly held from the
archbishop from 1214 into the sixteenth century at least ; ^
Chalais, mentioned in 1301, 1322, and 1327 ; * Montmoreau,

* Some of the places which occur regularly in the fourteenth-century
accounts are : Blanquefort, Le Taillan, St.-Medard-en-Jalles, Merignac,
Gradignan, Villenave-d'Ornon, Bugles, and Cadaujac on the left bank
of the river ; Blaye and Cars in Blayais ; Artigues, Yvrac, and St.-Germain-
de-Puch in Entre-deux-Mers ; Castillon in Entre-Dordogne ; the honour
of Caudrot with the villages which it included in Bazadais.

^ G. no, G. 133.

' Homage was done in I2i4andin 1528. G. 107. '' G. 106, G. 133.

CH. i] LANDS OF THE ARCHBISHOP 19

Puyguidon, Mureil, all recorded in fourteenth-century
documents ; ^ and Montravel, which was apparently sub-
divided amongst a large number of vassals, of whom we have
a list in 1306, when they all did homage to the archbishop.^

Other noble fiefs in Perigord were Portets, Arbanats, and
La Motte-d'Arbanats, all belonging to the same lord (1304,
1328), Puysseguin (1304),^ Labarde (1308, 1456), Neuvic,
Clerac, Confolens, Cosnac (1417), various fiefs in St.-Privat,
Festalemps, Chassaignes, and Bussac,* and property in the
Priory of Pessac held by the wife of Alain de Montmoreau.^
The temporaries of the Abbey of Nanteuil were held from
the archbishop by homage in 1313 ; ^ La Roquette in Mont-
ravel,' and Monpouillon in Bazadais ^ were also amongst the
number of his noble fiefs. The archbishop was certainly
a great seigneur, and could reckon men of all ranks amongst
his dependants.

In the fifteenth century these possessions and their manage-
ment seem to have changed very little. We learn from
accounts kept for 1459 ^ that the archiepiscopal procureurs in
that year had full management of the two gardens, together
with the vineyards of Lormont, Pessac, Ouinsac, andSt.-Caprais.
They collected rents directly in Bordeaux, Lormont, Montravel,
La Rochelle, Belves, Couze, Millac, and Bigarroque. Profits
were farmed for fixed sums at Soulac, St.-Cyprien, Coutures,
Loutrange and Caudrot. The archbishop's meadows were all
let out that year, to be worked by men who paid in money
for the privilege.

The territorial property of the archbishop and the dues
which he received in his character of landlord are far from
representing the whole of the prelate's worldly wealth. His
revenue included in addition a great many ecclesiastical pay-
ments, which occupy a large place in the accounts. The
description of these will be given later in the chapter on
revenue and feudal dues.

' G. 106.

» G. 82, No. 10.

' G. 106.

* G. 104.

' G. 133.

* G. 107, 133.

' G. 106, 82.

' G. 106(1458).

' G. 240.

C 2

CHAPTER II

LANDS OF THE CHAPTER

The chapter of St.-Andre, composed of a dean and a body
of canons (reduced in 1181 from twenty-four to fourteen),^
was almost as important a landowner as the archbishop, and
by the thirteenth century had acquired extensive possessions
and many rent-paying tenants.^ Popes, kings, and primates,
all in turn bestowed territorial grants, tenurial rights, and
judicial privileges upon it.

In 1173 a bull of Pope Alexander HI,^ which ordained that
the canons were to follow the rule of St. Augustine, allowed
them to receive gifts freely and confirmed them in their
possessions, of which it gave an enumeration. Thus we learn
that their landed estate was already of a considerable size.
The property of the chapter, at that time, was chiefly in
Bordeaux and its neighbourhood. It included, outside the
town. Lege, Cadaujac, Berneye, and St.-Martin-de-Cabanac.
The bull further affirmed the right of the chapter to receive
tithes from various places, and cens from the churches of
St.-Roman in Blaye, St.-Vincent in Bourg, Ste.-Marie in Guitre,
and Ste.-Marie of Sauve-Majeure ; and to possess mills in
Bordeaux, Cadaujac, andMomors. It bestowed also valuable
judicial rights over a part of the city and suburbs of Bordeaux.

This property in the diocese was to be held by the chapter
' salva sedis apostolice auctoritate et Burdegalensis episcopi
canonica reverentia.'

In 1181 Alexander's bull was confirmed by Lucius III, who
gave in addition the right to one-third of the profits of mintage
in Bordeaux, powers of high justice in Lege (a seignory which
had been given to the chapter by the Court of Gascony in the

» G. 268, No. I.

' Cart, de St.-Andre (Arch. Dept., uncatalogued).

* G. 267. Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xiii. 359.

CH. ii] LANDS OF THE CHAPTER 21

eleventh century)/ and exemption from toll on the river
between Mortagne and Langon, a stretch of water from which
all the trading dues went to the archbishop. Some parts of
the archbishop's revenue, such as his rents from Soulac and
his dues from the church of Mimizan, were to be collected and
kept by the chapter during any vacancy of the see.^

The judicial rights in Lege were the subject of struggle from
time to time, and in the thirteenth century the official of
Bordeaux attempted to exercise jurisdiction, which led to
a further declaration by the Pope in 1225, proclaiming the
chapter to be juge soiiverain? In the following year the men
of Lucanac came also under the control of the chapter, which
had interfered to protect them from the exactions of their
seigneur, Pierre de Mota de Buch,* who finally surrendered to
the canons all the rights which he might possess over these
tenants. In the Sauvete of St.-Andre, another place where
jurisdiction belonged to the dean and canons, they were
allowed to try cases in the first instance, without any inter-
ference of the mayor and jurats. So we learn from a sixteenth-
century document confirming these rights.^ Additional trading
privileges were conferred upon the chapter by Edward III
and Richard II of England ; the Archbishop of Bordeaux
swore to respect and maintain it in all its possessions and
powers.^

The chapter was therefore a great territorial lord and
judicial seigneur, as well as an ecclesiastical body. Neither
its powers nor its estates were quite so extensive as those of
the archbishop, but the amount of land which it possessed in
the immediate neighbourhood of Bordeaux was, if anything,
greater. The property of each lay very much intermixed
together. Frequently both archbishop and chapter had
fields and vineyards in the same village, and the strips of soil
paying rent to one or the other were situated side by side.

As in the case of the archbishop, the fourteenth century
seems to mark the culminating point of the territorial position

* G. 234, 1027-36. Gift of ' Sanche Comte de Gascogneet Seigneur de
Bordeaux '.

' G. 267. » G. 270. * Cart, de St.-Andre, f. 57^.

* Jullian, Histoire de Bordeaux, 194. • G. 524, No. 14.

22 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. ii

of the chapter, which had been built up during the twelfth
and thirteenth. There are more documents concerning landed
property surviving for that period than for any other, and very
few places are mentioned in the fifteenth-century terrier
which have not occurred in earlier records. Already by the
thirteenth century this growth of territorial wealth was nearly
complete. The chapter had property in most of the parishes
of Bordeaux, all round the town in the Graves, in Medoc, and
towards the south round La Brede, and a great deal on the
opposite side of the river, especially in Entre-deux-Mers.^
In the following century, however, a few new names appear
in all these districts; vines had increased in the Graves of
Bordeaux, and either more land had been brought under
cultivation in the former holdings ^ or the territory had been
subdivided amongst a greater number of tenants.

Some of the chief places where the chapter had land and
collected rents in the fourteenth century, besides Bordeaux
and the Graves, were as follows. In the Medoc at Listrac,
Avensan, Le Pian, Moulis, and nearer home in Blanquefort,
Breillan, Eysines, Le Taillan, and Merignac. To the south
of Bordeaux and on the same side of the river, in Gradignan,
Cadaujac, Pessac, Leognan, Villenave-d'Ornon, and Cabanac ;
Lege and Teich-en-Buch in the Landes. Crossing the Garonne,
we find in Bourges, besides a little in Bourg itself, the villages
of St.-Laurent, St.-Gervais, Lansac and Marcamps, (Pugnac,
in this district, is one of the few places mentioned for the first
time in the fifteenth century.) In Entre-deux-Mers posses-
sions were still more numerous. Artigues, BouHac, Cenac,
Floirac, St.-Loubes, Gresillac, Montussan, Quinsac, La Tresne,
Tresses, Pompignac, and many others. A little further south
near Cadillac, the chapter also had land at Listrac and Rions.
The following table will show the places where the dean and
canons had property in the different centuries. The omission
of the names of villages from the fifteenth-century terrier
need not imply, for certainty, loss of territory in those parts,
but only that no occasion for conveyance, sale or other

^ Cart, de St.-Andre.

* G. 524. Inventaire des Archives du Chapitre.

CH. Il]

LANDS OF THE CHAPTER

tenurial transaction had arisen between 1400 and 1442 (the
dates of the register). Had additions been made to the lands
of the chapter during that period, however, some record must
have appeared in the terrier, and of this there is no sign.

POSSESSIONS OF THE CHAPTER

Lands are mentioned in the documents as held in the
following places.

Thirteenth Century.

Fourteenth Century.

Fifteenth Century.

Artigues

Avensan (only tithe)

Bassens

Artigues

Baurech

Beautiran

Bugles

Blanquefort
Bouliac

BSgles

Beyssac (only tithe)

Blanquefort

Bouliac

Bdgles

Bourg

Breillan

Cabanac

Cadaujac

Cadaujac
Caillau

Cadaujac

Cambes

Camblanes

Camilhas

Carignan
Castarac

Carignan

Cayssac
Cenac

Cayssac
C6nac

Cenon

Floirac

Fourc

Gradignan

Gradignan
Gresillac

Gradignan

La Libarde

Langoiran
Lansac

Lansac

La Tresne

L6ge
Leognan

L6ge
Leognan
Le Plan
Le Taillan

Lidonne

Lignan
Listrac

Listrac
Lormont

Listrac

Montussan

Moulis-en-Medoc

Moulis

N6rigean

Nerigean

saint-andr£ of bordeaux

[CH. II

Thirteenth Century.

Fourteenth Century.

Fifteenth Century.

Palus de Bordeaux

Pessac

Pompignac

Pugnac

Quinsac

Ste.-Eulalie-de-Bor-

deaux

deaux
Ste.-Eulalie-d'Embares

St.-Gervais-en-Bourg

St.-Gervais-en-Bourg
Ste. -Hel6ne-de-la-Lande

Ste.-Hel6ne-des-Moulis

St.-Loubes

St. -Medard-d ' Eyrans

St.-Medard-en-Jalles

St.-Morillon

St.-Pierre-d'Ambares

St.-Pierre-d'Ambares
St.-Seurin

Sallebceuf

Sarporas

Soulac

Talence

Teich-en-Buch

Tourne

Tresses

Tresses
Vertheuil

Villenave-d'Ornon

Besides actual territory and the rents and dues proceeding
from it, the chapter, as we have already seen, had important
judicial rights over some of its tenants ; notably in Lege,
La Canau, and St.-Julien-en-Born. It also received cens from
a good many churches, not apparently in the usual meaning
of the word as payment for a censive, but as an extra due
conferred by special grant. (So at least it appears from the
mention of it in the Papal bull of 1173.) In the cartulary of
the thirteenth century more names are entered of churches
paying this due than in the original document. They are in
the archdeaconries of Blaye, Cernes, and Medoc.^

Much of the revenue of the chapter was derived from tithes,
but these were extraordinarily broken up and divided, and
often shared with the other churches.^ The chapter does not
appear to have received other ecclesiastical payments in
addition to these tithes, except one-third of the burial duties,

' Cart, de St.-Andre, ff. 7, 8.

* Ibid., f. 49^, &c.

CH. ii] LANDS OF THE CHAPTER 25

which the archbishop granted to the canons by charter
in ii76>

From a general review of the property of the chapter as
compared with that of the archbishop, it seems to have been
very much more concentrated round Bordeaux itself, and to
have consisted of small pieces of territory rather than large
estates and chdtellenies in the hands of important vassals.
Very few nobles appear to have held land from the dean and
canons, and it is rare to find mention of homage being done
for a holding. This occurs from time to time in the thirteenth-
century cartulary, but it is quite the exception. In 1230,
land which the chaplain of Begles had given ^ to provide for
the celebration of his anniversary, was granted out by the
chapter for rent and homage, to be done to the dean ; but
there is nothing to imply that the new tenant was a knight
or that the homage was noble homage. Indeed, in another
place, homage of this kind was expressly stated as forming
part of the duties of the servile tenants.^ The only instances
of homage from a noble tenant were in return for a share in
the tithes of Beautiran in the thirteenth century,* and for
La Motte-de-Faugueyres in 1378.^

Certainly by far the greater part of the lands belonging to
the chapter consisted of small censives. Rents in money and
kind, generally very low in value, were collected from houses,
vines, and lands in the possession of burgesses, small free-
holders, and villeins ; and both cartulary and terrier are
chiefly occupied with accounts of these.

Neither does the chapter appear to have had much land in
private demesne. Dues, which it received in kind as well
as in money, took the place of produce from a home farm.
This cannot be asserted with absolute assurance, since there

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, iv. 7.

* Cart, de St. -Andre, f. ^,6^ : ' 4s. census ecclesie et i2d. census decano
et homagio junctis manibus.'

' Ibid., f. 6i'»^. Under the heading, ' Questales de Legia,' we read that
a man and his son ' dedunt se, junctis manibus in manu domini G. decani,
homines ligios et questales Deo et ecclesie beati Andrie '.

* Ibid., f. 49^. Three parts of the great tithe of Beautiran were held
by the son of Porcia de Beautiran ' cum quinque solidis sporle et homagio '.

* G. 524, f. 60. Held for homage and a pair of white gloves as esporle
' senhor mudant '.

26 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. ii

are no early account-books preserved, and the fragments of
those which exist for the fifteenth century do contain some
record of expenses for vintage. Nothing in the other docu-
ments, however, gives any information on this subject, or
imphes the cultivation of private lands for the use of the
chapter as a body. The forest of Lege was the special posses-
sion of the canons, but that was merely for hunting purposes.
Lege was the one really important seigneurie in the hands
of the dean and canons, who had some curious and interesting
rights over its inhabitants, which the cartulary has preserved
for us.^ As a result of various quarrels which had arisen
between the canons of St.-Andre and the reeve [prepositus)
of Lege, the archbishop arranged a compact to avoid such
disputes in the future, and laid down regulations concerning
the management of the estate and the rights of the chapter
over it. These were as follows : —

1. Any disputes arising later were to be settled by arbitrators,
and should they fail to be unanimous, the majority was to
decide.

2. At any time when the dean or others of the chapter
came to visit Lege, they were to receive food in the reeve's
house, and to this meal they might also invite any one they
wished.

3. If any judicial question should arise whilst any one of
the canons was present in the place, the case was to be tried
before him should he wish it. If none of them were there, the
reeve was to see that justice was done.

4. During harvest-time, the canons, whose work it was to
supervise the same, were to live ' de communi ville '. On
the day in which the sheaves were collected, six of them and
no more were to be bestowed on the reeve as his share.

5. Out of the proportion of millet due to the canons each
year, the reeve was to have three escarts. The rest of the grain
was to be in his custody. In measuring the number of
escarts put under his charge, alternately one was to be a heaped
up measure, the other even with the top ; but in the latter
case the grain was to be shaken in the measure, and this was
not to be done in the former.

Corn, however, which was paid out again for any purpose,
was all to be measured even with the top [rasa).

^ Cart, de St.-Andre, fif. 91^-94.

CH. ii] LANDS OF THE CHAPTER 27

6. Twice a year qucte was to be collected from the villeins,
and the amount of this quete was to be fixed according to the
will of the canon or canons. Out of these quetes the reeve
was not to receive more than twelve coins ; and should any
extra quite be levied besides these two, he was to receive
nothing at all,

7. This quite was to be paid directly into the hands of
a canon should one be present. Otherwise the reeve was to
collect and keep it, until he could safely convey it to the
chapter.

8. On the death of the reeve, his heirs were to pay 1005.
as esporle^ to the dean. Should there be no dean at the
moment, a year might elapse before it was paid.

9. The reeve must be responsible for guarding the fields
and the cattle, should no canon be in the place.

10. Payments for beasts were to be : for a pig id., a
cow 2d., a horse 6d., and for a sheep one egg for each foot.

If a canon should be present, his servant together with the
reeve's servant was to guard the field and receive these dues
for the beasts, if he should wish it. Corn might be given
instead of money should the canon prefer it.

11. Neither the reeve nor his son might do hurt to any one
in Lege, whether a native or a stranger. Should he do so, the
canons must inquire into it at once.

12. The forest was private demesne of the canons, but the
reeve was to have the guardianship of it.

13. The canons might hunt in the forest when they wished,
and whatever beast they killed, whether stag, boar, or hare,
was all their own ; but if the reeve or any one else had assisted
at the hunting, a portion of the beast was to be given to him.
Should any great personage, staying in the place, come hunting
on the invitation of the canons, the reeve should present him
with the whole of the slain beast.

14. Of rabbits caught, two parts were to the canons, the
third to the reeve,

15. The guardianship of the coast belonged to the canons,
and they might entrust it to whom they would. Any one
found there without licence from canons or coastguard was
to be kept in custody. If traces of footprints were found
there, and any one was suspected, he might be summoned to
trial. Corn, wine, amber, or any other commodity found on
the coast, belonged by right to the canons.

16. If any vessel should be shipwrecked, all the goods in

' A payment in recognition of feudal overlordship ; see p. 112,

28 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. n

it, of whatever kind, were to belong to the canons. The
reeve, however, was to have sails^ cords, and anchors. Of the
hulk, unless it could be kept whole, two-thirds were to go to
the canons, one-third to the reeve.

17. From the fish caught by the men of the town, a portion
was to be given to the canons. If none of the canons were
present, the reeve was to receive it and send it on. If any of
the canons were there, and wished to eat the fish on the spot,
they were to do so in the reeve's house.

This compact was sworn to by the reeve and others, who
promised to obey all the conditions.

It appears from these customs that the chapter certainly
possessed no place of residence in L^ge, since they always
looked to the reeve for hospitality, and the tenants do not
appear to have owed labour services on any private demesne
land.

So far as can be judged from the existing documents, the
chapter possessed no such full rights as these in any other
place. Certain seignorial dues and judicial powers in Cadau-
jac and Berneye ^ imply that the dean and canons were founts
of justice there as well as landlords ; but, as a rule, their
tenants were chiefly bound to them by the payment of rent
or a portion of the produce of their lands, which they cultivated
as they wished. Almost the whole property of the chapter
was split up into these small holdings in the hands of censitaires.

* Cart, de St.-Andre, f. iii.

CHAPTER III

THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS

The lands of St.-Andre were situated in what is now, for
the most part, a very fertile district ; neither archbishop
nor chapter had very many possessions in the Dunes or the
Landes. Along the coast from the mouth of the Gironde to
the Adour the loose sand of the Dunes still defies cultivation,
and presents undulating hills of dry and flinty soil, though
even here some land has been reclaimed and trees have been
planted wherever possible. The Landes of Mddoc, a flat
unbroken stretch of country to the north-west of Bordeaux,
with very sandy soil intermixed with some clay and peat, has
been largely brought under cultivation and has been proved
suitable for viticulture ; though the best vineyards lie along
the river valley where the soil is much less dry. The Graves,
as the land is called on the left bank of the Garonne and
Gironde, with a soil composed of sand, gravel, and sihceous
deposits brought down by the river, which retains the heat
to an unusual extent, are peculiarly fitted for the growth of
vines, and are renowned for the wines of Medoc, Sauternes, and
Langon. The Grandes Landes to the south of Bordeaux, for
the most part outside the limits of the Bordelais, are far more
sterile than those of Medoc. Here little can grow but pine-
trees, which stretch in endless succession throughout the flat
country, so dry and bare in summer, so marshy and cold in
the winter months. Here and there clearings have been made,
and hamlets flourish in little oases which have been drained
and brought under cultivation. Rye and millet are the
principal crops, but the country is chiefly used for grazing
purposes.

On the right bank of the Garonne, in Bordelais itself, as
well as further east in Perigord, the country is undulating,

30 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. hi

well wooded, and extremely prosperous. There is great
variety in the soil. Sand, gravel, clay, limestone deposit, and
marl, all occur in varying proportions, sometimes one pre-
ponderating, sometimes another, but it is always fertile,
particularly in the valleys. Along the river banks, notably
by the Garonne and Dordogne, the alluvial soil of the Palus
is very rich, and this was the case in earlier days also, even
though flood and less scientific draining diminished its value
to some extent.

Probably the chief difference between the Middle Ages and
the present day, in the natural features of the country, was
a greater amount of forest and more extensive Landes, wild,
undrained, uncultivated, and largely uninhabitable, though of
some use for pasture. In the Medoc there were forests in
mediaeval times, which have since disappeared, where the
seigneur of Lesparre hunted boars and stags along the coast.
The sea has encroached to some extent, and the shifting sands,
which probably buried the old forests, are known to have
destroyed various parishes in whole or in part. Grayan,
Talais, Soulac, have all suffered, and the old church of Soulac
is now once more reappearing from the advancing sands
in which it has lain hidden since the thirteenth century.
Round Bordeaux itself there lay an extensive forest, which
was, however, constantly being let out in small pieces during
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in order that it might
be brought under cultivation.^ A description of the Landes
in the sixteenth century can be taken as giving a fairly true
picture of what they must have been like in the preceding
period. ' Le pays qui s'etend de Bayonne a Bordeaux
s'appelle en gascon " las lanas ". . . . II est inculte, sterile et
tres peu habite, les villages n'apparaissent que la ou un
bouquet d'arbres ou une source leur a donne naissance :
partout ailleurs le terrain n'offre ni agrement ni utilite. Le
parcours en est fort difficile ; on enfonce dans le sable, ou
Ton s'embourbe dans les eaux qui le detrempent et en font
une boue tenace dont on ne voit pas la fin. ... II faut chercher
la route, obstruee et cachee par d'interminables champs de

' Gascon Rolls, passim.

CH. Ill] THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS 31

tamarins et de fougeres. Ces plantes et d'autres herbes
epineuses font a chaque pas broncher les chevaux et leur
coupent les pieds.' ^

The archbishop and chapter had territory scattered here
and there through the whole of this region. In the sandy
Medoc ; in the Pays de Cernes immediately to the south, fertile
and well wooded ; in the Pays de Buch and the Pays de Born
stretching down into the Landes ; and in the fertile valleys
and coteaux on the right bank of the river, Bordelais and the
neighbouring districts.

The country round Bordeaux, especially in the coteaux,
must have been already populous even in mediaeval times.
Bordeaux itself was a commune and a large and important
trading centre composed of many parishes and numerous
streets and lanes.^ Round the fortifications were outlying
suburbs, now included in the town itself, such as La Taugue,
La Recluse, Au Peugue, Campaure, Gratacap, and others.
The banlieue, over which the mayor and jurats had jurisdiction,
extended for nearly twelve miles round and included over
twenty important parishes.^ There were other places in the
neighbourhood, known as filleules of Bordeaux, since they too
enjoyed privileges of a similar nature in the way of self-govern-
ment, which were fortified towns and growing centres of
population. These were Libourne, Bourg, Blaye, Castillon,
St.-Macaire, St.-£milion, Rions, and Cadillac. But this by no
means exhausts the number of fortified places. Gascony was
rich in bastides, often little more than villages, but with
strong walls and gateways for defence and with charters of
privilege granted by the king and their immediate lords.
Sauveterre, Castelnau, Villeneuve, Creon, Cenon-la-Bastide,
and many others still show traces of their ancient fortifi-
cations.

There has been much discussion in France, as to whether
concentrated villages or scattered farms and homesteads were

* Viaggio del Andrea Novagero in Espagna ed in Francia, 1528. Quoted
by Luchaire in Alain le Grand Sire d'Albret, Paris, 1877.

' See map of Bordeaux in 1450, in Leo Drouyn.

' Archives Municipales de Bordeaux. Livre des Privileges, edited by
Barckhausen, p. xi.

32 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. hi

the most prevalent form of original settlement.^ Certainly
Bordelais in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries illustrates
the tendency of population to form itself into groups, rather
than to scatter in isolated dwelling-places. The soil was
fertile and capable of intensive cultivation, so that it was less
necessary to wander far afield in search of a living, and the
turbulence of the times rendered grouping together a very
natural method of seeking mutual support and protection.
The peasants gathered round the castles of their feudal lords,
or in the neighbourhood of abbeys and monasteries. Grants
of privilege caused them to flock to hastides whenever possible,
and the general tendency to unite for common well-being led
to the formation of a few rural communities, though they
were far less frequent here and less important than further
south in the mountains.

Villages were very numerous, and all but the smallest had
their own churches. The list of quartihes, paid to the arch-
bishop from the different divisions of his diocese, shows how
many churches already existed in the fourteenth century.
The archipretre of Entre-deux-Mers contained 45 parishes,
that of Entre-Dordogne 41 ; Cern^s had 39, Benauges
38, Lesparre 35, Fronsac and Bourg each 31, Blaye 23, and
Moulis 72. Buch and Born, where habitations were bound to
be more scarce in the wilder country of the Landes, had only
12 and 10 respectively ,2 Nearly all the modern villages of
any size appear in these lists ; the chief difference is in Les-
parre, where the old settlements are all within a few miles of
the river banks, and the Dunes, where now towns and hamlets
are to be found, were then left apparently untouched and
uninhabited. It is difficult to gauge with any certainty the
size of these villages. The fiefs of the archbishop and chapter
were scattered from place to place, and did not necessarily
comprise the whole of any settlement, so that the docu-
ments concerning their property leave this question largely un-
answered. Lormont, however, was in the direct demesne of the
archbishop, and the accounts throw much light on its character

^ A. de Foville, Enquete sur les conditions de I'habitation en France,
2 vols., 8°, Paris, 1899, vol. ii. Introduction by Flach.
' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi.

CH. Ill] THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS 33

and development. It was a place of considerable size, with
a castle, a mill, a garden containing vines, and at least seven
streets.^ In 1361 only a few more than sixty names are given
in the list of censitaires, but this means a very much larger
number of inhabitants, even possibly of households, for as
many as nine, ten, and twelve fiefs are sometimes entered
under the one name, and sometimes a man will pay for himself
and his partners. In 1367 and in 1389 a few new names occur
and the town appears to be spreading, though the far longer
list in 1367 is chiefly due to the fiefs being entered separately,
and the same name occurs again and again. In a few instances
the fiefs have already begun to break up in the six years
which have passed, and more households have been formed
even without fresh lands being taken up.

Other villages which figure in the accounts and appear to
have been of considerable size are Cussac, which had two
churches,^ Ambares, which was growing steadily,^ Coutures,
a rural community, where a hundred and six inhabitants
owed fouage in 1354,^ and Cadaujac, where the archbishop had
many tenants in 1400, although the majority of the inhabitants
held from the chapter. There were certainly others equally
or more important amongst those paying their cens elsewhere,
which cannot, therefore, be estimated from the material in hand.

In some cases these villages formed a nucleus for little
hamlets which clustered round them, occasionally old settle-
ments, but more frequently offshoots from the original centre,
due to the spread of cultivation, the growth of population,
and perhaps, as Monsieur Flach suggests, to the need for
reconstruction after the damages done in the Hundred Years'
War.^ It is very usual to find when a fief is granted in any
parish, that it is said to be situated in such and such a place
within this parish. Thus, for example, amongst the rent-paying
tenants of Ambares in 1360 we find the heirs of Arnald

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 606. In 1361 the following are men-
tioned : Magna Rua, Rua Petri-Vitalis, Rua de Mcrcato, Rua de Portu,
Riia de Cantalupo, Rua de Veyreyras, and Rua Forthonis de Grava.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. y6.

' Archbishop's Accounts, passim.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 209.

* .\. de Foville, Habitations en France, ii. 83 sq.

(PART V) ST.-A, D

34 SAINT-ANDRfi OF BORDEAUX [ch. in

Austencius paying for a ' stagia quam tenent loco vocato au

Porge' ; John Sequin holding land 'a Papa-Grua'; another

tenant ' a la Caussada ' and still another ' loco vocato a Sana-

rega ' ; while two lepers had establishments at Campestan.^

Cadaujac, in 1400, contains an even greater number of these

small dependencies. Lands and vines are held at Esclau,

La Barba, Picacalhau, Las Gotas ; meadows at Boquau,

La Costa, Les Puyons, &c. There are, however, one or

two points to notice in reference to this before deciding that

these names imply separate homesteads. In some cases, as

appears especially at Cadaujac, the names are only given to

the fields or vineyards, and the holders of these lived in the

town or village with the other parishioners. Nearly every

little scrap of land in the Middle Ages had its own individual

name, and thus a place might be increasing in population and

bringing fresh lands under cultivation, without necessarily

sending out actual colonies to form a fresh nucleus of

population. In other cases the name did not apply to a new

settlement, but was only given to the property itself, which

might be situated in the original village, or in any case in its

immediate neighbourhood. Thus at Ambares ' au Porge ' was

the name of the stagia (property, habitation) itself, and that was

situated near the gate of the church ; ^ Sanarega was a stagia

with a house ; it occurs in various years, and no places are ever

named within it;^ Terssan, the onlyplace mentioned separately

in Lormont, though it contained more than one stagia, was

always in the hands of the family of Terssan and probably

formed a private holding, not a separate hamlet.* La Souys,

a place at Floirac, which started with three holdings, had

fifteen tenants in 1375, but only contained vines ; it was not

apparently an outlet for population. On the other hand,

some of these places were doubtless the germ of later hamlets

or isolated houses. Campestan must have been more or less

isolated, containing as it did the estate of a leper ; and whereas

in 1354 there was only one settlement there, in 1362 another

leper, possibly a son, had a new ftef not part of the original

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 540.

"^ Ibid. xxi. 53Q. ^ Ibid., pp. 541, 610 ; xxii. 81, 131.

' Ibid. xxii. toS.

CH. Ill] THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS 35

holding.^ In 1389 there were still two stagia, hut held by
two new tenants.^ Ambares in modern days contains seven
villages ; Cadaujac included an unusual number of separate
homesteads ; Bassens, Artigues, and Floirac, all with numerous
fiefs in the Middle Ages, have isolated houses belonging to
their parishes in the present day. It is, however, in the
Landes that the very small hamlets and homesteads are now
principally to be found, and they had not yet begun to appear
in the fifteenth century; the few there were at Lege in the
fourteenth century seem to have been swallowed up by the
encroachments of sea and sand. On the whole, therefore, the
region of the estates of St. -Andre was one in which the
nucleated village and fortified bourgwere the prevailing types,
and in which the people tended to group themselves together
and live near to one another, even though their fields and
vineyards might lie in scattered pieces at a distance from
their dwelling-places.

An important point to note, in considering the nature of
a mediaeval estate, is the very rural character of the towns ;
those on the lands of St.-Andre were no exception. Not only
did most of the burgesses live on the produce of their strips
of land outside the walls of their borough, but the towns
themselves were seldom thickly covered with houses, but
contained numerous gardens and plots of land, sometimes of
considerable size. This was the case in Bordeaux ; but in
the small hastides the walls did not often include sufficient
space for much soil to be cultivated within them. Yet
their inhabitants were almost wholly rural labourers, and
only had their dwelling in a town for the sake of protection.
It has already been said that trade developed early in the
Bordelais, and it is true, therefore, that towns became trading
centres there sooner than in many places, but this did not
destroy their rural character. The trade was chiefly con-
cerned with rural commodities, very often the natural products
of the soil which their inhabitants had cultivated.

Concerning the division of property within these towns
and villages, the tendency was towards minute subdivision
' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 290, 610. ^ Ibid, x.xii. 431.

D 2

36 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. hi

and very small holdings. This was in part due to the nature
of the soil, which rendered small holdings sufficiently profitable,
and in part to the custom of the country in the matter of
succession. There was a very strong feeling for the family in
the south-west provinces, and despite local variations Bor-
deaux, Bazas, and Agen all seem, originally at least, to have
practised a system of equal division amongst the children.
Down to the thirteenth century this was the usual custom
both for noble and simple property ; ^ according to the Fors
of Bazas, division was to take place even when there were
children of several marriages, and no child could be disinherited
for any offence less serious than that of striking a parent.^
By degrees the system of primogeniture began to spread
amongst the nobles, for the sake no doubt of feudal con-
venience. The customs of Bordeaux state that the eldest
son of a baron must retain the barony and the eldest son
of a knight the maison nohle^ although the father may freely
dispose of a third of his property and leave goods to the other
children.* A noble who has only daughters must leave most
to the eldest girl ; if he dies intestate the principal demesne
{lo mayne) will go to the first-born, and the rest of his posses-
sions be divided equally. In 1447 the conveyance of a holding
in the Bordelais stated that it was granted on condition that
the eldest son should succeed, although, as the donor remarked,
the custom of the country was in favour of equal division.^
A roturier was, however, allowed to dispose freely of two-
thirds of his property, instead of only one-third, if he wished ;
but there was a tendency to imitate the practice of the nobles

^ Jarriand, Histoire de la Novelle 118 (Paris, i88g, 8°), 325-9.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, vol. ii, No. 2. Coutumes de Bazas, §§ 10,
II, 12.

' Arch. Mun. de Bordeaux, vol. v. Livre des Coutumes, p. 59, art. 57 :
' Entreus barons et los cavoys, que lo prumey filh reten la baronia,
et lo prumey filh deu cavoy la taula.'

* Ibid., p. 61, arts. 60, 95.

' Gascon Rolls, 25 Hen. VI, m. 72 (Record Office). A grant was made
to Bernard Angevin, and although the custom of the country was that
after his death ' omnes filii ejus et filie de corpore suo in legitimo matrimonio
descendentes omnia bona paternalia et maternalia inter eos per equales
portiones habent et debent dividere ', the land was so poor and reduced
that it was granted out in a new way, so that ' primi filii heredum suorum,
gradatim castra, &c., tenebunt et possidebunt quilibet in dominio suo '.

CH. Ill] THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS 37

and to recognize extra rights in an eldest son. In the case of
questaves the sons of a serf shared his land, but, according to
customary law, the lord would succeed should one of them
die childless ; ^ daughters might also divide the property if
they lived inside their lord's estate, but any girl marrying
outside the quete would forfeit her right to any succession.^

The extreme subdivision, produced by this old custom of
family inheritance, was occasionally obviated by the family
combining together and allowing one of their number to
represent the whole estate, which they would cultivate in
common. Co-parcenage was very usual, especially amongst
brothers,^ sisters,* and cousins.^ Such property might be held
as a really joint-possession belonging to the family rather than
to the individual ' en commun e per no devis ' ; ^ but in some
cases the partnership meant nothing more than collective cens,
and the interest of the tenants remained separate in reality.'

Illustrations of inheritance of family property and division
amongst children occur frequently in all the documents,
leaving no possibility of doubt as to the usual practice. To
take one page of the archbishop's accounts in 1361, we find
there : ' Heredes Petronille de Rogerio solverunt pro domo
xl5. ; Heredes domini Galhardi de Beauteiano solverunt pro
domibus xvi^. ; Blanche de Castelfort, filia condam
Catherine, solvit pro domo et solo, xii^. ; heredes Arnaldi
solverunt pro domibus x^.,'^ and this is nothing exceptional.
At Ambares, A. Austencius held a stagia in 1360,^ his heirs
in 1367.^^ At Lormont, the fiefs, held by Maria Bogesius in
1361,^ had in part been inherited by her daughter in 1367.^^

* Livre des Coutumes, p. 105, art. 131.

* Ibid., p. 14s, art. 189.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 607 : ' A. et G. Gombaudi, fratres,
solverunt pro iiii° feudis suis que tenent in Laureomonte viis. Bord.'

* Ibid., xxii. 42 : ' J et Alemana Symeonis, sorcres, debent pro vinea
et aliis terris . . . xii^.'

* G. 1 1 56, f. 34'^. A very usual phrase is such and such a tenant
' cum parcionariis suis '.

* Brutails, Introduction to Cartulaire of St.-Seurin, p. 49.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 598 : ' Johannes de Muynuda solvit
nomine heredum Johanne de Montebonetonis pro censu dicti anni . . .
xvs. viid.'

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 600. ' Ibid., p. 539-

" Ibid. xxii. 81. " Ibid. xxi. 606. " Ibid. xxii. 62.

(S-

4151.74

38 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. hi

On the whole it would appear that in most cases these
shares were real shares and that holdings, therefore, tended
to become exceedingly small. As a result the cultivation
necessarily became very intensive, and only those things were
grown which could be turned to account in small quantities.
It is hard to distinguish cause and effect. The custom of
subdivision could not have been carried out literally if the
land had not been fertile and suitable for small holdings.
But whether the real reason was the nature of the soil or the
regulations of the country, the result remains the same.-'-

The chief product of the Bordelais, even as early as the
thirteenth century, though increasingly so as time went on,
was the vine. Corn-growing was chiefly carried on in the
outlying fiefs of Perigord and Saintonge, where vineyards
were less numerous than in the Bordelais.^ Some corn was
grown, nevertheless, in almost all parts. An estate in early
days was supposed to be self-sufficing, and each man attempted
to supply his own needs from his own land. This led, naturally,
to much unprofitable cultivation. Things were grown because
they were wanted, not because the soil was fitted for them ; as
for instance, in Normandy, where vines were planted despite the
obvious disadvantages of climate which they had to face. Bread
was an article of food which all required, and so at first corn was
universally cultivated, though vineyards were undoubtedly
more profitable in the Bordelais. Besides the demand for corn
to supply the actual wants of the tenant, it was sometimes
needed for rent ; and the quartieres, paid by diff'erent parishes
to the archbishops, once consisted wholly of grain.

The places round Bordeaux where corn was cultivated
most extensively, to judge from the rents paid in it, were
Lege, Blanquefort, Cadaujac, Blaye, Bassens, Lormont, and
Ambares ; there was a good deal throughout the whole of
Entre-deux-Mers, Some corn-rents were paid for houses in

1 For further details as to subdivision and for the usual methods of
cultivation see chapter vii.

* In Caudrot (i 308-1470) there is more mention of corn than vines,
and corn rents are occasionally paid (G. 83). The same is true for Belv^s
and Couze (G. 177). In Blaye (fourteenth century) a good deal of corn was
paid, and also loaves. Sometimes these were due even for vineyards
(G. 109).

CH. Ill] THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS 39

Bordeaux itself. This can scarcely have meant the existence
of arable land within the walls of the city, but the burgesses
may have procured it from their fields outside. The fact,
however, shows that the existence of corn-rents cannot be
taken as an infallible proof that the actual soil of the place
produced the corn which it had to pay. Probably it did so
in the first instance, but rents long fixed by custom took some
time to change to suit altering conditions, and arable land
converted to vineyard might still continue to owe its old
payment of corn. As a general rule, however, corn-rents
came from corn-growing land, and wine-rents from the vine-
yards. When any land had ceased to produce sufficient corn
for the purpose, the tenant would occasionally get the lord's
leave to commute his rents in kind for money payments.

Quartieres in corn were paid from all the archipretres.
In the revenues of the archbishopric (1259), twenty-eight
churches in Entre-deux-Mers are enumerated as paying
wheat and oats, and fifteen at La Sauve.^ These are all
entered at this date. In 1410 quarteria were paid from
Lesparre, Moulis, Buch, Born, Cernes, Benauges, Entre-
deux-Mers, Entre-Dordogne, Fronsac, Bourg, and Blaye.^
In 1459 the same places again appear in the accounts, where
they are shown very much in arrears with their payments.^

Corn was evidently grown in all these districts. The
principal crops were wheat, oats, rye, and barley. Of these,
wheat was cultivated much the most extensively nearly
everywhere. From Buch and Born, however, only millet
was due, which may mean that the soil was fitted for nothing
else, or at least that they could only grow sufficient of the
other grains for their own consumption. In considering the
amount of corn-land, it is important to note that very early

* Floirac, Cenon, Montussan, Cambanis, La Tresne, Sadirac, Lignan,
Loupes, Bonnetan, Fargues, Quinsac, Caillau, Cameyrac, Salleboeuf,
Carignan, Bouliac, St.-Loubes, Izon, St.-Sulpice, Lormont, Bassens,
Caminaynac, Duiras, Artigues, Pompignac, St.-Pierre-d'Ambares, Beyssac,
and Tresses. These are in the district of Entre-deux-Mers known as
Ubert Inferius ; the others in Ubert Superius. St.-Martin-du-Pont, St.-Vin-
cent-de-Creon, Cursan, Espiet, Vayres, Camiac, St.-Philippe-d'Aiguille,
St.-Martin-du-Bois, St.-Quentin, Nerigean, Avaron, Gcnissac, Gresillac,
Cissac, and Moulon. * G. 241. ' G. 240, f. 468.

40 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. hi

some of these dues began to be commuted for money. In
1259 all the quartieres were paid in actual grain. In 1307,^
1367,2 1401 ^ and onwards, money was substituted in increasing
amount. This need not necessarily mean lack of corn, but
it is very probable, and occasionally this is expressly stated.^
In 1401 the churches unable to pay in corn were at Lignan,
Queyrac, Uch, Cussac, Le Pian, Begles, Leognan,St.-Christophe
(Entre-Dordogne), Cerons, and Portets. In 1459 a long list
is given of commuted quartihes, and a long list of arrears
which had to be made up in money .^ The fact of so many
arrears at this date may have been due in part to the dis-
turbances of the recent war, which had wrought havoc in the
neighbourhood. In any case, there is no doubt that corn
dues had largely disappeared by the fifteenth century; and
this fact, combined with other evidence, helps to prove, not
only that money was much more used, but that vineyards
had been extended at the expense of corn-growing land.

As to the distribution of the vines, the main product of
the estate, they are found more or less everywhere. In the
thirteenth century there were numerous vineyards ; by
the fourteenth these had increased extraordinarily ; by the
fifteenth they had become practically universal, and had
largely usurped the place of arable land. The war must have
affected disastrously the welfare of the country, and done
great damage to rural cultivation ; but the nature of that
cultivation was fixed beyond any doubt, and it was by the
produce of their vines that the inhabitants strove to recover
from the loss and distress which had been caused.*

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 456.
° Ibid. xxii. 135.
' G. 240, f. 1 1 1'^.

* Ibid., f. 107 : ' Capellanus sancti Ilarii a CajTaco pro quarteria dicti
ecclesie sue ex composicione facta quia non habebat bladum, 5 sol.'
F. i07'»' : The same for the chaplain of Ste.-Marie-d'Uch (Oytz).

* G. 240, f. 393.

* For the results of the war in the Bordelais see Denifle, La devastation
des eglises (Paris, 1899, 8vo), i. 131. The first College of Studies founded
by the archbishop in Bordeaux (1443) could not be properly endowed,
' propter tenuitatem mensae archiepiscopalis.' P. 132 : 1477. ' De Pessaco,
de Caldeaco, de Calamiaco . . . ob guerrarum turbines, mortalitatem pestis,
terrarum sterilitates aliaque, habitatoribus et iiicolis carent ; propterea
eadem mensae penitus inutilia et nullius valoris sunt,' &c., &c.

CH. Ill] THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS 41

It was especially in the Bordelais that the land was so com-
pletely given to up viticulture. There were vines in the
outlying parts of the estate, in Perigord and Saintonge,
but not in such numbers as in the district round Bordeaux.^
It is here, therefore, that the increase in this form of cultiva-
tion can best be traced out.

In the thirteenth century the town of Bordeaux itself
contained a considerable number of vines. These were chiefly
near what were then the outskirts of the town, in the parishes
of Ste.-Eulalie, St.-Paul, St.-Christoly, and the quarters known
as Ha and Campaure.^ The parish of St.-Seurin (the church
then stood without the walls), later very rich in vineyards,
had already several at St. -Martin-de-Mont- Judee, La Recluse,
and Cantagric. The Graves of Bordeaux were, even at this
period, richer in vines than almost any other district ; but
the sparse notices of the thirteenth-century cartulary are very
different from the descriptions given in later documents, in
which we find the Graves devoted almost wholly to the growth
of the plant for which their soil so peculiarly fits them.
Besides the vineyards round St.-Seurin there were others at
St.-Caprais, La Motte-d'Ayre, St.-Laurent-d'Escures, Fourc,
and going rather further afield, at Merignac, Talence, and
Gradignan ; one or two lay still more to the south at Leognan,
Cerons, and Leogeats. Across the river, Entre-deux-Mers was
beginning their culture in many parts ; but at Lormont, in
especial, vines were already numerous.^ Here they were being
grown all round the archbishop's palace and garden, in various
roads, one in particular being known as the ' Rue de Vineis ',
and in the neighbouring district. Next to Lormont, Tresses
and Bouliac seem to have possessed the greatest number of
vineyards ; ^ Floirac, Bassens, Ambares, and Artigues all had

* G. 106. Homage in 1304 for lands in Portets, Arbanats, and Lamotte-
d'Arbanats, for ' tolas las vinhas et terras coutas et hermas '. 1306. The
same for Mureil ; ' terras, vineas, pratam.' G. 83. ' Trens de vigne '
mentioned here and there at Caudrot, but not so frequently as ' trens de
terre ' (1308-1470). G. 177. A few vines mentioned at Belv6s in 1462:
' jornau de vigne,' ' treille de vigne,' &c.

* Cart, de St. -Andre. See Leo Drouyn, Bordeaux vers 1450, for a map
of old Bordeaux.

* Revenus de l'Archev6ch6, 1259. * Cart, de St. -Andre.

42 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. hi

a few ; and to the north of the Dordogne the chapter possessed
some vine property in Bourg and its neighbourhood, Lansac,
and Marcamps, In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
each place mentioned above had a far greater extent of its
land planted with vines than in the thirteenth. Bordeaux
itself was perhaps an exception, since it was becoming more
thickly inhabited, and rents there were paid more frequently
for houses than for vines within the walls. These had not,
however, entirely disappeared, and all round were numerous
vineyards in districts which are now included in the town
itself. This was the case all about St.-Seurin, and at St. -Genes,
Puy Crabey (near the Port du Ha), St.-Julien, and the Palais
Gallien. In the Graves more and more did this form of
agriculture prevail. The richest and most abundant in vines
were Fourc, Pont Long, Pissaboup, and La Codane ; these are
entered over and over again as containing different vine
holdings ; but there were many other places in the same
region in which vineyards flourished, e. g. La Taugue, Naujac,
Pippas, Brunon, St.-Nicholas, La Saye, Campeyraut, Fosse-
Lobeyrc, and La Motte-d'Ayre. Outside the town also various
new places had planted vines in these later centuries. Pessac,
where Pope Clement V had bequeathed a vineyard to the
archbishopric ; Cadaujac, where a few were intermixed with
much arable and meadow land ; Blanquefort, Lysines,
St.-Medard-en-Jalles, Merignac, Begles, and Gradignan on the
left bank of the river ; Port Peyron, La Souys, and Les
Queyries on the right bank immediately facing Bordeaux ;
Camblanes and Carignan in the canton of Creon ; Ambares,
Bassens, Montussan, Nerigean in that of Carbon Blanc, and
many others ; whilst Lormont was becoming increasingly
important for its vine-growing all through the period.

The archbishop, on his private demesne, went in almost
exclusively for the cultivation of the vine. He had a few
meadows, often farmed out for money, but he grew no corn,
of which he obtained what he needed from quartieres, tithes,
and a few rents. The accounts consecrate a few pages each year
to corn expenses ; but these are not expenses for reaping and
gathering, but for collecting, measuring, and storing. Occasion-

CH. Ill] THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS 43

ally the whole est.ate did not supply him with sufficient corn
for his household needs, and he was obliged to buy some
in addition. These purchases were sometimes made from
British merchants, but the procureur does not always give
information as to where he went for his goods.-*-

The fifteenth-century terrier of St. -Andre shows that
nearly all the burgesses of Bordeaux possessed, at that time,
some strips of vine-land in the neighbourhood, and proves
that all this district was concentrating more and more upon
one occupation. With the exception of those inhabiting
Lege and Cadaujac, the tenants of the chapter scarcely held
anything but vineyards and their necessary adjuncts, osier-
beds and willow plantations; a list of the archbishop's
tenants in 1400 shows that in their case also these were by
far the most common kind of property.^

This extension of vine-growing is of capital importance for
the history of the whole estate. In part, no doubt, the
archbishop and chapter were able to plant their Bordelais
land with vineyards, because they could supply so many of
their necessities from other dues ; but these could not satisfy

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 347 (1383): eight tons of wheat
bought from an English merchant, 336 (1382) : exchange of corn for wine,
387 (1385) : purchase of oats, &c., &c.

* Taking at random the first twelve folios of the terrier, they contain
reconnaissances and baux a fief of land at L^ge and 30 reges of teira biiyta
in the Graves, of nine houses, a few of which had gardens, and of twenty-
eight pieces of vineland. The proportion continues about the same
throughout the whole document, which is almost wholly made up of
transactions concerning vineyards in the Graves. A few outlying places
also appear and they also show a preponderance of vines. F. 47.
At Floirac in 1444 we find : (i) Hostau ab lestatge qui es alentour, (2)
vinha, (3) estatge ab la terra et vinha qui si apperten, {4) trens de vinha,
( 5 ) trens de vinha. F. 56. Puch de Messan : ( i ) hostau ab la terra et vinha,

(2) Correya de vinha, (3) trens de vinha, (4) trens de vinha. F. 113. Pessac
and neighbourhood : (i) tota aguera bona de terra, (2) 26 regas de vinha,

(3) 24 regas de vinha, (4) 21 regas de vinha, (5) 65 regas de terra et de
vinha, (6) 14 regas de terra, (7) 4 regas de vinha, (8) 3 regas de vinha.
F. 126^. Artigues : (i) Mayson, (2) trens de vinha, (3) trens de terra,

(4) trens de jaugar, (5) trens de terra deserta, (6) trens de vinha, (7) trens
de terra, (8) trens de vinha, (9) pessa de vinha, (10) trensot de vinha, (11)
correya de vinha, &c. In 1400 the majority of the archbishop's tenants
were holders of houses and vineyards. ' Land ' is chiefly mentioned at L6ge,
Cadaujac, and Bugles. The first fifty notices of vines occur before terra
has been entered more than twelve times, with the e.xception of gardens
or small plots in which the houses were built.

44 SAINT-ANDR£ OF BORDEAUX [ch. hi

every want, and so the estate ceased to be really self-sufficing
and had to be conducted on commercial principles. Wine
was not only produced to drink, but to sell ; and so profitable
was its sale, that the archbishop was content to buy other
necessities, and to devote his land to the product which suited
it best. The small tenants also must have been unable to
live on the produce of their vineyards alone, and had, in their
turn, to obtain other commodities by purchase. This fact
led to rather different conditions of management and cultiva-
tion in the vine-lands from those which usually prevailed on
estates with a greater variety of crops.

Comparing the characteristics of this estate in the Middle
Ages with those of the same districts at the present day, they
will be seen to be very similar. The places in which the vine
flourishes most have very little changed. Perhaps an excep-
tion to this might be made in the case of Medoc, which does
not seem to have been planted out so early as the rest. This
is, of course, only judging from the lands of St.-Andre in that
district, which were not very extensive. Before 1400 there
were a few vines in this direction as far north as Blanquefort,
St.-Medard-en-Jalles, Le Taillan, and Breillan,^ but only a few.
In 1400 the list of the archbishop's tenants, which as a rule
is very explicit in stating the nature of the holding, speaks
of biens in Blanquefort and Le Taillan.^ Moulis-en-Medoc
in 1383 had only a few arreguas of land not vines,^ while
Listrac paid corn dues alone.* In the fifteenth century
there are traces there of uncultivated soil. Sainte-Helene is
perhaps just outside Medoc, but there certainly we find
mention only of desert : ^ and the same at La Caussade.^
In 1446 a bail d fief neuf to Arnold of Autelhan-en-Medoc
confers ' Trens de terra et de jaugar ' (rough moorland) ;
' trens de terra en desert ' ; ' trens o marret de terra e de
jaugar.' Certainly, as far as the archbishop and chapter

^ G. 524, f. 40 (1365). Cens assigned at Breillan on certain lands and
vines. Three of Blanquefort pay 5s. cens for vines and aubarides. F. 395
{1389) speaks of ten arreguas of vine at Le Taillan. F. 324 (1364). Vines
and lands at St.-Medard-en-Jalles.

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 547-641. * G. 524, f. 328.

* Ibid., f. 434. * G. 524, f. 268 (1421). * Ibid.,f. 100'.

CH. Ill] THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS 45

were concerned, they possessed no extensive vineyards in
the Medoc, where now the most famous cms are produced.
With this exception, however, the chief wine-estates of
modern days were already in existence by the fourteenth or
fifteenth century.

In the neighbourhood of the vineyards willow-plantations
and osier-beds were constantly found, since they produced
what was necessary for staking and binding the plants. They
were particularly numerous in the Graves and Palus of Bor-
deaux, but existed practically in all parts.

As regards meadows, some hay no doubt was grown in most
places, but meadow-land was of very secondary importance
in the neighbourhood of Bordeaux. The damp soil on the
banks of rivers was the most suitable for grass-growing, and
meadows were chiefly situated in the Pains of Bordeaux.
They were also fairly extensive in Blanquefort, St.-Medard-
en-Jalles, and above all Cadaujac.^

On the private demesne of the archbishop we find hay-
making going on in the large meadows of Lormont and Ludon,
and in various smaller fields in the Palus, at Les Pesettes,
Le Fresne, and Las Coalhas. In addition to these, he sometimes
had the grass cut and stacked in his own garden. Beyond
these few instances of regular meadow land, only very occa-
sional mention is made of it in land-grants. Possibly it may
sometimes have been included in the vague term terra, which
is most usually associated with the idea of arable land.

There was not much waste land or wood on the estate
of St. -Andre, which was very intensively cultivated for so
early a period. Many of the larger grants of land comprise

* G. 431. Meadows in Cayssac, 1360 and 1388, terrier, f. 17. Cadaujac,
1443 : a lot of waste land ; some meadows. Artigues evidently had
much meadow, it is mentioned in 1365 and 1389 (G. 524-24). In 1445
a quantity of land conferred on the tenants contained various ' trens
de prat '. G. 1 10 : 1 326, 6 sadons de pre ; 1406, trens de pre aux Pesettes ;
1429, 9 sadons de pre; 1465, trens de pre. Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii
(List of Tenants, 1400), Cadaujac : 3 sadons of meadow at Las Gotas ;
I piece at Berneye ; 60 sadons of land and meadow at La Rausilhon (near
Cadaujac) ; i bit of meadow (Bidalenx near Cadaujac) ; 2 sadons of
meadow (Grand Talhadin) ; and 2 at Boquau. G. 524. 60 enumerates
documents concerning all sorts of meadows. G. 524, 339. In the Palus,
Pradetz, &c.

46 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. iii

' boscas, landas, pastengas, e paduentz ' ; but these are
very common formulas, which give no absolute certainty as
to the character of the property so described. The real waste
and uncultivated moorland, fit only for very rude pasture,
was in the Landes, and neither archbishop nor chapter held
very much in that region. There was a forest of Bordeaux,
but that lay mostly in royal demesne,^ and was, in any case,
fast being brought under cultivation in the fourteenth century.
The chief woods on this estate were the Forests of Bretenor
in Montravel,^ and Confolens ^ in Saintonge, both of which
were held by homage from the archbishop ; and the Forest
of Lege in which the dean and canons had their rights of
hunting.^ Mention is made of small woods at Cenac,^ Artigues,^
Pugnac,' and elsewhere. Of waste land there was a quantity
all round Caudrot,® at Sainte-Helene-la-Lande,^ and also at
Cadaujac.^^ On the whole, however, land was most fully
cultivated and only enough waste retained to serve as pasture
for the necessary animals.

Not many beasts were kept on this estate. The archbishop
himself had a great many horses, but these were chiefly
for private use, not for work on the land. Oxen were used
for ploughing and also for carrying, though for the latter
mules and asses were also employed. Ploughing, however,
was chiefly for corn-land, since vines in the Middle Ages were
worked almost exclusively by hand. In the fourteenth
century we do find ox ploughs in use on some vineyards —
notably at Pessac,^ but this was the exception — nothing is
said of such a thing on the other parts of the archbishop's
private demesne. Oxen, therefore, were not required in all
parts nor in great numbers, and many of the tenants did not
possess them at all. Where they were kept, one or two were
considered an ordinary amount for one individual. At
Blanquefort ' manoeuvre a boeuf ' is owed by the questaux

* Cart, de St. -Andre, f. i. The chapter paid somethmg on feast days
to the guardian of the king's forest, from which it might take some wood.
' G. 139. * G. 104. * Cart, de St.-Andre, f. 92.

' Ibid., f. 75. « G. 524, f. 24. ' Ibid., f. 357^.

" G. 83. ' G. 524, f. 268. 1° G. 408.

" Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 184.

CH. Ill] THE SOIL AND THE SETTLEMENTS 47

if they have oxen. In Belves and Couze various men make
a declaration that they have two oxen or occasionally ' two
oxen for ploughing and one which does not work.' ^ At
Cadaujac and Berneye also, the inhabitants paid, dues to
the chapter reckoned in proportion to their beasts. Two
measures of millet from the man who had two oxen, one
measure for one, and those who had none were to pay one
penny. 2

The archbishop used to hire oxen when he required them
for work on his demesne and for carriage.^ This was especially
at harvest time for the collection of tithes and quartihes, but
it occurs also at other times of the year for various odd jobs,
so that he must have kept very few, if any, of his own. He
had, apparently, a few" sheep and pigs, as he kept a shepherd
and a swineherd. Meat was eaten so ver}' little on ordinary
occasions that the keeping of beasts was less necessary than
in some countries. Bread, wine, cheese, eggs, and* poultry
were by far the most common articles of food ; bacon was
used from time to time ; mutton and beef much more rarely.

A few places were better suited for pasture than others,
and more beasts were kept in consequence. One of these was
Cadaujac. In the thirteenth century its inhabitants had an
active dispute with a neighbouring lord, who complained that
they were trespassing on his lands, whilst they declared that
they were only exercising their due and ancient pasture rights,
which they had ' tam in bosco quam in piano '. These were
adjudged to them eventually by the chapter of St.-Andre,
but a payment was exacted from them for the future in return
for these same rights.* At Lege there were dues for cows,
pigs, and sheep. At Couturcs and Loutrange, besides payment
for ' herbage and glandage ',^ the archbishop received dues
for all sales of animals which took place, so much for each
horse, ox, mule, cow, sheep, pig, or goat. There was one rate
for selling them alive for use, another when they were sold
at the butchery.^ Here, therefore, they seem to have reared

* G. 177. ^ Cart, de St.-Andr6, f. iii-^.

" Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 195, 409, 416. 440, 450.

' Cart, de St.-Andre, ff. 96, in''. * G. 240, f. 391 (HSQ).

• Couturaes de Coutures, 1276.

48 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. hi

animals, instead of only keeping the necessary beasts for
agricultural work, and at Bigarroque and St.-Cyprien special
dues were also paid for sales in the market.^ In the more
immediate neighbourhood of Bordeaux, however, few traces
of this kind appear. Lormont seems to have had a sheep
farm of some importance, being one of the very few places in
which mention is even made of these animals. During the
fourteenth century purchases of sheep were made there from
time to time,2 and the archbishop had a shepherd there.^
There was probably good pasture on the slopes behind the
town, where vines were not universally planted.

On the whole, therefore, we gather that pasture land was
chiefly found in the outlying fiefs ; that near Bordeaux, with
the exception of Lormont and Cadaujac, there was little
attempt to keep more beasts than the few necessary for the
ordinary working of the estates ; that the archbishop him-
self kept scarcely any animals on his demesne, which was
almost wholly planted with vineyards, and that he gener-
ally hired any labour that was necessary. In consequence,
compared with other parts, disputes as to pasture were
extraordinarily rare. Very different was this estate from the
country nearer the Pyrenees, where land was of very little
use for anything but grazing, and where there were endless
disputes, not to say open wars between village and village, on
the subject of their several rights.

The lands of St.-Andre, on the contrary, were very fully
brought under cultivation, and this cultivation, especially in
the Bordelais, was almost exclusively viticulture. Corn land
and meadows were only interspersed here and there to supply
immediate necessities.

' G. 139.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 502 ; purchase of 100 sheep, 1357.

' Ibid, xxii (1387).

CHAPTER IV

LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i)
Free Property — Alod, Fief, and Censive

The estate of St.-Andre furnishes us with information on
all the chief forms of landed property, on alods, fiefs,
censives, and questaves, and on their possessors the nobles,
the freemen, and the serfs.

The whole subject of land and landholding is one of such
great difficulty, and so many problems have been raised
concerning it, that it is necessary to treat of it very warily.
One estate, indeed, cannot furnish material sufficient to allow
any general conclusions to be drawn from it. Of all questions
that of the alod is one of the most contested ; and the informa-
tion which is supplied by the documents concerning alodial
property belonging to St.-Andre must be supplemented from
other records of the neighbourhood to make it intelligible.

Gascony, according to old tradition, was essentially a
country of alods. Monsieur Chenon, writing in 1888,
asserts that in Bordelais, Gascony proper, Beam, Soule, and
Comminges at least, the maxim held good of ' nul seigneur
sans titre ' ; ^ and in 1273 the magistrates of Bordeaux
certainly declared ' domus nostri et vinee nostre pro majori
parte allodiales sunt '.^

Many of the arguments brought forward to prove the
original prevalence of the alod in these parts are historically
incorrect. Roman law was not the original basis of the
customary law of the country as has been asserted, nor have
judicial courts invariably supported the theory of property

' Chenon, Histoire des AUeux, pp. 137-43 (Paris, 1888).

* Livrc des Couturaes, No. 63 (Arch. Mun. de Bordeaux, vol. v).

(part V)ST.A. E

50 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX (ch. iv

being alodial unless proof existed to the contrary.* Never-
theless it is true that alods were disseminated widely through-
out all this region. Lands, rents, tithes, even men, could
be possessed alodially.^ What then does this exactly mean }

Monsieur Chenon explains an alod as property in contrast
to benefice ; in its primitive sense, an hereditary possession
rather than a holding for years or for life. As the feudal
estates likewise tended to become hereditary, the alod would
mean something freer than that ; a real bit of private property,
owned not held, over which the owner had absolute rights —
to alienate by gift or sale, to use in any way he liked, and
which was free from all seignorial charges ; subject perhaps
to a judicial lord, but entirely independent of any feudal or
territorial sovereign.

Before accepting such a definition there are various points
to consider. The legal alod may be one thing, and the actual
alod something quite different. The word may be used in
different senses : it may imply real property as contrasted
with personal, hereditary as contrasted with acquired, free
ownership as contrasted with feudal landholding ; and
sometimes these different meanings cut across one another
and refuse to combine. Above all, the ideas of the time were
thoroughly vague, and no term was used very strictly. Owners
were often obliged to make a monstree of their alods — a feudal
obligation which should not have been demanded were the
property free from all seignorial control ; and sometimes
even, a landowner claimed to have an alod because he paid
fixed rent and no heavier due.'

* Brutails, Cart, de St.-Seurin, Introduction, p. 65 sq. (Bordeaux,
1897). On the slight influence of Roman law in this part of the country
until later times, see Jarriand, Histoire de la Novelle 1 18, p. 325. Accord-
ing to the Customs of Bordeaux it was only resorted to in the last
instance if neither customary law, local practice, nor natural reason met
the case.

* Roles Gascons, vol. ii. No. 906 : grant in perpetuity to Jean de Greilly,
'sexaginta libras rendales monete burdegalensis in allodio.' Bibl. Nat.
MSS. Lat. 5460 A., f. 20', Cart, de St.-Jean-du-Mont, diocdse d'Auch:
* Arnaldus miles dedit rusticum unum ad alodium jure perpetuo." Ibid.,
f. 24^ : ' unum paisium in alodio.' Cart, de St.-Seurin, p. 218 : ' 1 1 homes
e tot les dreitz e totas las senhories que medis en W. ave . . . cum son fui
ale'

' Cart, de St.-Seurin, Introduction, p. 69. Dispute between chapter

CH. iv] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 51

Contemporary documents alone can throw light on this
vexed question, and show at least the usual characteristics
of the actual alod, whatever it ought to have been according
to strict legal theory.

There is no doubt that alodial property was the freest sort
of possession a man could have, ' Ouedam sunt allodiales
que tenentur ad manum ipsorum dominorum, qui locant eas
vel inhabitant, et eas vendunt et distraunt, et faciunt de ipsis
pro suo hbito voluntate, ita quod non oportet eos f acere verbum
alicui de eisdem : inde dictum est allodium, et antiqui nostri
referunt quasi sine sermone ; et ita ivit et observabit ista
civitas a primis cunabulis et aspiciis inconcusse, et etiam
temporibus Saracenorum ut credimus.'* In Entre-deux-Mers
in 1238 it is stated that any man may freely sell this alodial
land to whom he pleases without leave or licence.^ The
cartulary of the Abbey of La Grande Sauve ^ simply abounds
in gifts of alods, without any mention of leave being accorded
by lords or by heirs ; freely and alodially are used as though
synonymous.^

The hereditary nature of this property is also shown in
many instances. In 1310 two citizens of Bordeaux speak of
possessing an alod ' jure hereditario a tempore quo non extat
memoria pacifico tenuissent ' ; ^ and in the cartulary of
Ste. -Croix we find, ' sicut ad ipsum ut proprium allodium
jure hereditario expectabat.' ^ But there were not only these
old hereditary alods ; property of this sort could be acquired

and inhabitants of Cauderan, &c., on subject of alods. As Monsieur
Brutails points out, the vagueness of contemporary theory on alodial
property is well illustrated by this case, in which a light money cens was
claimed to be the test even though a monstrie was due from the supposed
alods, and when the chapter interfered as seigneur justicier in what was
obviously a territorial question.

' Livre des Coutumes, p. 508 : Reconnaissance par la ville de Bordeaux
de ses obligations envers le roi d'Angleterre, 1273.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, iii. 1 18.

* Cart, de Sauve Majeure, 13^ siScle (Bibl. Mun. Bordeaux).

* Ibid., f. 35. After gifts of land it adds : ' Hoc totum libere et allodia-
liter.' And on the same page a man gave himself to the abbey, ' de
allodiale et libere possessione.' (Alodially in this connexion may specially
mean hereditarily.)

* Ga-scon Rolls (Record Office), 3 Ed. 11, m. 2.

* Bibl. Nat. MSS. Lat. 9136, f. i.

E 2

52 SAINT-ANDRfi OF BORDEAUX [ch. iv

by marriage, by gift, by prescription, and this by any class
free or servile.

Perhaps the best information on the subject is furnished
by the report preserved of an inquest ordered by Edward I
in 1274, for the purpose of discovering who held fiefs and
who alods.^ The returns made by the different landowners
show that the latter, though in a minority, were still fairly
numerous ; and here emphasis is more especially laid on their
freedom from feudal dues. Some of the old hereditary
owners went so far as to declare that they were not bound
to answer any questions even to the king, and refused to
specify their property ; ^ but as a rule the reply was that for
the alods they owed nothing : ' tenent in allodium liberum
sub domino rege . . . ita quod nihil debent inde facere.' *
Others were under seignorial jurisdiction, but not under
a territorial lord : ' habent in allodium liberum oblias et
terras quas eorum pater et mater et ipsimet adquisiverant,
pro quibus debent facere jus coram domino.' "* A definition,
given in the same document, probably represented the usual
idea of the period on the subject. ' Quandam terram liberam
seu allodium . . . de quo nunquam dedit alicui censum nee
sporlem,' which in case of dispute ' coram dicto rege habet
respondere ', and in case of forfeiture ' ad dictum regem
devolveretur '.^

In the terrier of Comprian (1309), where alods are especially
abundant, the constant formula is : ' dixit se tenere dictas
terras in franco alodio, et nullum deverium sibi facit domino
Regi.' «

* Recognitiones Feodorum. Martial and Jules Delpit, Notice d'un
manuscrit de la BibliothSque de Wolfenbiittel. (Notice et extraits des
manuscrits de la Bibliothdque du Roi, Sec, vol. xiv.) ^ Ibid., p. 238.

* Ibid., p. 313 : 'Quod non debet facere homagium nee sacramentum
nee debet facere alia deveria.' * Ibid., p. 364.

* Roles Gascons, vol. i, supplement, No. 121 1 (1243). Notice the change
which is implied when a man who had formerly possessed an alod is stated
now to hold by service of homage and a lance as accapte. Cf. also Lanery
d'Arc, Du franc alleu, p. 76 (Paris, 1885). He quotes a fourteenth-century
description of an alod, which says it is ' terra libera de qua nemini servitium
nee census nee tenetur ab aliquo domino, et per hoc dififert a feudo quia
tenetur ab aliquo et ipsius ratione cognoscitur superior, et mutato domino
oportet solvere et in allodio nihil ' (Desmarcs).

* Brit. Mas. Cotton MSS., Julius E. i (copied by Brequigny, xviii. 209,
Bibl. Nat.).

CH. iv] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 53

This freedom from feudal obligations seems to be the really
essential characteristic of true alodial property. It was owned,
not held, it recognized no feudal superior save the king as lord
of the whole land, and in consequence its possessor was free
to dispose of it or to treat it in any way he would.

An alod, by reason of this independence from other lords,
was brought very closely, as a rule, under the immediate
control of the king. In the Manuscript of Wolfenbiittel it is
stated that any disputes about alodial land were to be tried
before the king ; that if a possessor died intestate his property
should pass to him, and this would also be the case in the
event of confiscation.^ The Customs of Bordeaux help to
bear out this idea of special royal rights.^

But though this may have been the theory of alodial
property generally accepted in Gascony during the Middle
Ages, as usual theory and practice were not always in harmony,
and the definition given above will by no means meet every
mention of alodial property.

Some alods, for instance, appear to have been held at
a money rent. Vivien de Veyrines gave ' xii denarios cen-
sualiter super mansuram suam . . . et super totum alodium
suum '.^ In 1270 a sale was made of the cens and esporle
owned by two brothers on a land in free alod.* And in 1376
a piece of land was sold to a burgess of Bordeaux on the
condition of a yearly cens of five sous and two deniers of
esporle, and this was guaranteed for all time ' franquament
in alo '.^ In these cases it is probably the hereditary character

' Recognitiones Feodorum, pp. 333, 334. Another interesting question
is as to whether the owner of an alod had rights of jurisdiction over it,
or whether that remained an essentially feudal right attached to a fief;
unless, indeed, the king chose to grant it, Cf. Chenon, Hist, des Alleux,
chap. ii.

^ Livre des Coutumes, No. 63. Reconnaissance par la ville de Bordeaux
de ses obligations envers le roi d'Angleterre, 1273-4. (a) Justice: 'Si
autem sit allodium, sibi curia remanebit, et exitus sue et exequtionem
habebit.' (b) Escheat : ' Allodia penes dominum remanebunt, et feuda ad
eorum dominos devolventur.' (c) Forfeiture : ' Si contingat aliquem sic
delinquere quod ejus bona debeant confiscari, allodia fiscus habebit, et
feuda domini eorumdem. Et sic claro Claris exstitit dominos in alodiis
multa jura habere et habere posse.' * Cart, de St.-Seurin, p. 44.

* Cart, de Ste. -Croix (Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxvii. 239).

' G. 1716, f. 112. Cf. also Roles Gascons, vol. ii, No. 478 (9 Ed. I, m. 8).
An alod was changed into a fief, but be;>ides homage and esporle it owed

54 SAINT-ANDRE OF BORDEAUX [ch. iv

which is especially emphasized. In speaking of alods it seems
as though sometimes one aspect predominates, sometimes
another, and the term may get applied to property which has
only one of the characteristic attributes.

The explanation probably lies in the fact that no definition
was absolutely correct in these early times ; things were not
really divided by the hard-and-fast lines which we should like to
draw. There were not of necessity any written titles for alods;
each man in 1273 was called upon to state his own liabilities,
and it was easy for tradition to vary and uncertainties to
arise. The general vagueness is shown by some of the answers
given at this inquest. One man does not know whether he
has a fief or an alod ; another is not sure, but will answer
to-morrow ; ^ a third says that he holds his fief in alod.^
Again, the duties incumbent on all alodarii would tend to
connect them with feudal tenants ; and it was not so very
great a step to interpret their relation to the king as that of
ordinary tenants-in-chief.^ Alods in the hands of simple
freemen, similarly, would become confused with the lands for
which they paid cens.'^ Thus the term alod fluctuated in
meaning from an estate in absolute and independent owner-
ship, to hereditary property in free tenure, to land in some
special relation to the king, and even to territory held by rent
and service of a peculiarly light description.

Besides the increasing vagueness of the term, the thirteenth

other services ' que antea debebat et consueverat facere, sicut alii tenentes
allodia '. (These are not specified, however, and may only mean ordinary
duties to the king from possessors of alodial property. )

^ Recognitiones Feodorum : ' dixit se dubitare utrum tenet in allodium
vel haberet in feudum.' * Ibid., p. 329.

* Alodarii owed to the State the essential duties of every good citizen
at that time ; military service, suit of court, and maintenance of fortifica-
tions. These duties are defined in Bazas (Recognitiones, p. 333) : ' Omnes
alodarii sui qui habebant allodia in dicta diocesi debebant dicto domino
regi Angliae, si mandet, campum seu bellum campestrem inter portus
et flumen Garonae.' This, however, was only to be for one day at their own
expense. Wherever required, it is stated a little later, they must appear
in court either to assist in justice, or to answer accusations against them-
selves. In the customs of Lectoure it is expressly entered that possessors
of free alods were to repair the walls of the town, together with the capcas-
saux and serfs. (Druilhet, Coutumes de Lectoure, p. 41. Arch. Hist,
de la Gascogne, vol. ix.)

* Brutails, Cart, de St.-Seurin, Introduction, p. 69.

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 55

and fourteenth centuries were marked by a rapid diminution

in the old alodial property. To have free land was all very

well, but sometimes a feudal lord was a protection in troublous

times.^ When war was so constant the obligation of military

service was no sinecure and could be commuted more easily

by a tenant than by a free alodial proprietor.^ The king was

anxious to enforce his sovereignty, and an alodarius was easily

induced to do homage and pay a lance or some other fancy

article as esporle.^ A noble needed money for his wars : he

let out portions of his alod at money rent ; ■* or he was engaged

for the Crusade, his land was safe in the hands of the Church,

and if he returned the usufruct would be all he needed.^

A man was on his sick-bed : he would gain the favour of

heaven by bestowing his alodial property on a church ; if he

recovered he would receive it back as a fief and live as

a favoured tenant for the rest of his life ; ^ or possibly a

religious house would receive him altogether, bestow food

on his body while he lived, and prayers on his soul after his

decease.'

For these reasons alodial land was fast diminishing, though
instances of old free property long continued.^ Alods were,
however, too much mixed with other estates to affect very
greatly the general condition of classes ; and instead of
wholly independent proprietors we find feudal tenants holding

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, iii. i. * Ibid., v. 243.

* Record Office, Reg. Mun., Liber B, f. cccix. 1281. J. de Podio did
homage to Edward for lands in Bazas : ' que omnia ego et mei antecessores
tenuimus in allodium liberum, et que recepimus a dicto domino Rege tenenda
ex nunc ... in feudum immediatum cum dicto homagio et uno pari ciro-
ticarum albarum (white gloves) in mutatione domini de acapte.'

* Livre Velu, MS. 234, f. 120.
' Cart, de St.-Seurin, p. 33.

* Ibid., p. 47 : ' Alodium meum dedi ac indesinenter concessi ; postea
vero a predicto decano et a canonicis presentialiter ibidem existentibus
domum predictum in feudo accepi, tali pacto quod ego et successores
mei duos nummos tantum de acquisitione ac duos censualiter darent.'
Ibid., p. 58. Usufruct kept for life at cens ; on death whole property to
the church.

' Ibid., p. 31, &c., &c.

* Notice various judicial decisions on the subject in sixteenth, seven-
teenth, and eighteenth centuries. Cart, de St.-Seurin, Introduction, p. 77.
Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 30753. The Chambre des Comptes declared in 1555
that any land said to be an alod must be put into the king's hand unless
a title could be shown.

56 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. iv

occasionally certain portions of their land exempt from the
ordinary dues and services.

On the other hand, though these old alods disappeared, new
alodial property would sometimes be created. It was a great
object of envy to possess a real bit of private property subject
to no burdensome dues and exactions ; peasants would pinch
and squeeze that they might have money to buy a portion,
however small, that they could look upon as their very own ;
and in consequence it is by no means unusual to find a serf,
the chief part of whose possessions are still held by base-
service, having also a little bit of alodial property, acquired
by gift, by marriage, or by purchase, for which he owes nothing
of any kind.^

To turn to the alods of which mention appears on the estate
of St.-Andre ; there is not very much information forthcoming,
but what there is helps to illustrate these general characteristics.
The archbishop himself was an alodial proprietor in the most
complete sense of the word, since he was allowed by actual
grant to retain his territory unburdened by homage to either
the King of England or the King of France. The dean and
chapter also had a good deal of their land and also of their
tithes ' in alodio '. This is mentioned occasionally when new
acquisitions are made. In St.-Medard-d'Eyrans they had
a tithe ' in alodium ', once belonging to Poncius de Broc ;
two parts of the tithe of Eysines were held ' in alodio ex dono
Bonifacio ' (Archdeacon of Cernes) ; and an eighth part of
the tithe of Bassens, ' in proprietate et alodio.' ^ In 1360 they
purchased two meadows at Cayssac ' et sunt in allodio '.^

The meaning of the term alod also appears from time to
time in the St.-Andre documents. The free power of their
possessors over them is shown in the case of gifts, where the

* Terrier de Comprian, 1309. Brequigny, xviii. 193: ' Arnaldus dixit
quod ipse dedit . . . sororem suam Guillelmo Calvili homini questali hospi-
talis de Compariano in uxorem, et dedit sibi in dotem ii sadones vine in
franco allodio, . . . pro qua vinea . . . faciebat dicto domino regi annuatim
vj solidos ii denarios et unam gallinam . . . de quibus dictus homo questalis
non cognoscit se tenere a rege, nee aliquod deverium sibi facit.' Ibid., p. 211.
Sale of land to homo questal is for sixty shillings ' in franco alodio ' ; for
■which the serf owed no duties, &c., &c.

* Cart, de St.-Andre, ff. 49% 52. ^ G. 316, f. 15.

CH.iv] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 57

donors declare that the property is alodial and that therefore
they give it independently by their own act alone. This
constantly appears in the foundation of anniversaries, when
land, rents, men possessed in alod were bestowed for the
maintenance of a chapel or the saying of masses.^ There
is also evidence of freedom from service in the case of alodial
property. The Seigneur of Ambleville says that he formerly
held the chdtellenies of Bouteville and Aubiac free from all
service ' en franc alleu '.^ Elsewhere the hereditary character
of the alod is implied by its mention in contrast with acquired
land.'

Other examples show how early the meaning of the term
became vague, and how payments were made from alodial
property. Sometimes this implies a definite change, the old
free land is changed into a censive, but this scarcely seems to
happen in every instance. In the rents due to St.-Andre at
Cabanac, one man paid for his alod 12 den. cens and 3 den.
esporle^ Another tenant at Artigues gave 6 den. cens and
I den. esporle ' super omnia alodia sua que sunt in casali
suo '.^ Strictly speaking, alods should not have had any
connexion with the chapter at all, but seignorial power was
developing.

The gradual diminution of alodial property is well illustrated.
In the example already cited of the Seigneur of Ambleville
and his free chdtellenies, he definitely states that he did homage
for them to the archbishop in return for protection. Most
frequently, however, the alod is changed into a censive held
at rent and esporle. In 1226 Martin Faber, who had sold his
alod to the chapter, ' rcccpit dictum feodum a domino
Decano cum iii. sol. esporle et Ix sol. cens.' ^ Similarly, in 1355,
possessions ' francas in allodio ' were sold and received ' in

' G. 316, passim. F. 38' for anniversary of Wm. of Benauges : ' homines
questales et talliabiles in corporibus et bonis ad voluntatem dicti Arnaldi
in allodio franco ' (1349). ' G. 107 (1214).

* Cart, de St.-Andre, f. 56'. Gift by the chaplain of Bugles of rent
imposed ' super allodia sua et conquestas '. * Ibid., f. 15^.

* Ibid., f. 76. A rather obscure payment in kind is mentioned in the
same document (f . 1 ), which the chapter gives to those who come with
certain dues : and it especially adds, ' pro omnibus alodiis suis habitis et
habendis.' • Cart, de St.-Andr6, f. 61.

58 SAINT-ANDR£ OF BORDEAUX [ch. iv

feodum ab eodem cum dictis censibus et sporlis '.^ This change
is becoming quite common.

The contrary tendency to acquire new alodial property is
seen at Belves, where a labourer in 1462 had, amongst other
possessions, ' trois cartonnades de terre . . . et le tient franche-
ment sans en paier rien '.

Ther'e is nothing very new to be learnt from the St.-Andre
document touching this form of property, but at least the few
examples which do occur bear out the general interpretation
which can be gathered from the fuller information obtainable
in other parts.

The lands held from the archbishop by noble tenure were
on the usual terms of homage and esporle.^ What arrange-
ment was made as to military service does not appear. Since
the archbishop held all his estates freely it was not he who
was responsible for the service of knights in the king's armyj
and nothing is said on the subject. The actual amount of
service due was often left vague even on secular property ;
probably the whole thing was very indefinite, and the lords
fought or did not fight much as they wished.^ Occasionally
service is systematically apportioned on to the land, and its
obligations are entered at the time of its grant,^ but this is
rather exceptional.

The king would doubtless come down on the archbishop's
vassals when he needed help, and even the neighbouring lords

1 G. 316, f. 49.

'^ In this district the word fief was by no means exclusively applied to
this noble land ; it is used for any sort of free property whether held by
homage or by rent ; indeed, the usual term for a censive is to be held
' en feu feuaument ' ; and the Gascon Rolls speak of a ' feudum seu cen-
sum ' worth £iS ^ year (14 Ed. Ill, m. 2).

' When Edward III wished to raise an army he sent to the different
lords and asked them to supply him with so many men, without any
special regard to any fixed service due. A. de Greilly, the seigneurs of
Langoiran, Lesparre, Mussidan, and others were each asked to send
thirty soldiers to serve with the English army (Gascony Rolls, 51 Ed. Ill,
m. i).

* In 1287 a. militia was granted to St.-Seurin, which owed the service of
one knight and three foot-soldiers (Brit. Mus. Cotton MSS., Julius E. i,
f. 109). In the diocese of Agen an estate was held for ' unum servientem
peditem de exercitu et unum par calcarum ratione sporle ' (Gascon Rolls,
8 Ed. I, m. 5). One piece of land, divided between six men, had to send
one armed knight for forty days, whenever the king had war in Gascony
(Record Office, Ancient Petitions, 141 15).

CH.iv] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 59

did so when occasion arose. Amanieu d'Albret in 1306 made
a declaration to the effect that the men of the archbishop who
had followed him in arms outside the seignory were not
bound to do so, but had done it for love of him, and their
action should not be any prejudice to their liberty in the
future.^ It remains, therefore; only to consider the services
done to the archbishop himself.

Homage, we learn, could be either homage lige, homage franc,
or homage plein. Homage lige was done by Pierre of Bordeaux
in 1305 : ' in tunica, sine cucufa gladio et zona, flexis genibus,
manibus complosis.' ^ The free noble homage of Helie de
Chalais seems to be much the same thing : ' homenatge franc
et paratgium cum lo nobles bars, Helias de Chales cavoys
senher de Chales qui fo tene cum feu franc de paratge de
i'archibesquau de Bordeu . . . lodeit bars sagenolhet per
davant lodeit senhor archibesque en cota et sens coutet
et sens coffa e meto las suas mans juntas entre los mans
deudeit senhor archibesque, et lodeit senhor lo bayset en lo
boca.'^

Homage plein was a simpler ceremony and did not imply
the unconditional obedience of homage lige. The Seigneur of
Montmoreau did ' homagium plenum junctis manibus et stando
prout in talibus homagiis moris existit '.* The difference
between the two bonds is shown by the declaration made by
Fulk of Mastacio, who had done liege homage for tithes in
Bourges and was not sure if he need have done so. He begs
that if it appears in the archbishop's books that he only owed
simple homage, that having performed the ceremony of liege
homage need not be to his prejudice.^ Every noble fief
besides homage owed the duty of esporle or accapte, on any
change of seigneur. This was a due in recognition of lordship
rather than a payment for the use of the land * (see chapter vi).

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, iii. 321.

* G. 133. A woman who did liege homage for goods at Montravel (1364)
was allowed to perform the ceremony ' sine capucio et zona in sola tunica
et cucufa non amota ' (G. 82, No. 7). ' G. 133 (1301).

* G. 106 (1304). ' G. 106 (1307).

' Recognitiones Feodorum, p. 369. A knight of Bourg-sur-Mer said he
held nothing in fief of the king, because ' il n'y a fief que 1^ oil il y a esporle
on investiture '.

6o SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. iv

For noble fiefs this esporle was very constantly some fancy
article, though occasionally it was paid in money. In the
list of vassals holding fiefs in the chdtellenie of Montravel all
the usual things appear — a pair of white gloves, a lance, ten
shillings, a marhotin of gold, gold spurs, horseshoes, and so
forth.^ Occasionally some unusual esporle is imposed on
a fief by way of variety. One of the Montravel tenants owed
a piece of cloth ; a domicellus of Arbanats an over-tunic
{supertuniculus) ; ^ and William Brun for the castle of Cosnac
a bow with green silk cord.^ A few of the noble tenants paid
some cens in money as well as doing homage ; (the castle of
Blanquefort, for example, was held by homage and a payment
of £y4) ; and there was nothing to prevent them from holding
actual censives, which they did increasingly as time went on.
Numerous houses in Bordeaux were held by nobles paying
a money rent.* The tendency was for the feudal tie to
become gradually weaker, — for money relations to be much
more common. The censive everywhere grew at the expense
of the fief.

A censive strictly speaking was free land, distinguished from
a fief by being non-noble and non-mihtary ; but sometimes
simple homage was exacted from the censitaires,^ nobles could
hold censives, as we have just seen, and in Gascony they were
called fiefs in legal language. The usual conditions of tenure
were the annual payment of cens (fixed rent either in money
or kind), and an esporle, generally of money, on change of lord
or tenant or both. Censives could also be held by the rendering
of a portion of the fruit, known as agrieres.

' G. I39,f. 3sq. (1306). ='0.106(1328). * G. 104 (1417).

* G. 106 (1307). Liege homage for tithes and /20 cens. Arch. Hist, de
la Gironde, xxii. 547 sq. : amongst the tenants of the archbishop in 1400
we find a domicellus holding a house for twenty bushels of wheat. The
Prior of Cayac paid six shillings for a meadow in Cadaujac. The Bishop
of Dax had a house for one quarter of wheat and the fourth part of a hen.
Ibid. XV. 539 (1283-7) '■ the archbishop himself paid a rent of 20s. for half
the church of Caudrot.

* G. 106. In 1371 a burgess of Ste.-Foy did homage, but probably in
this case for noble land, as it was in Montravel and the conditions were
a pair of gloves as esporle at every change of the archbishop, and ' pro
homagio pleno franco & simplici faciendo '. Cart, de St.-Andre, f. 29 :
P. de Brost owed i2d. cens, 6d. esporle, and homage. Ibid., f. 56^:
Chaplain of Bugles, '4s. census ecclesie i2d. decano, et homagio junctis
manibus et i2d. sporle.'

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 6i

Money rents varied to almost any extent. There seems
to have been no attempt to equalize the sums paid for equal
portions of land ; nor is it easy to find any rule as to the
relative values of vineyards, arable land, meadow, or pasture.
A question which would in any case be difficult is rendered
practically impossible by the fact that the extent of land is
so seldom given in the documents : these constantly say terra
vinea, or trens de terra, &c., &c. In the instances, also, where
the extent of land is given, the measures are of doubtful
quantity. A very usual way of reckoning is by reges, reguas,
or arreguas, which means in the case of vineyards a row or
furrow. This differs according to the method of planting,
but Monsieur Brutails thinks we may roughly consider it as
covering a width of 24- feet.i As, however, there is usually
no attempt to give the length of the rege this may vary to
a considerable extent, although some rough average may be
supposed. Another term in frequent use is sadon when the
piece of land was a plot rather than a strip. ^ The significance
of such terms often varied in the different localities, and was
certainly never very exact.^

Another great difficulty in making even a very rough
estimate of different rents is the uncertainty in money values
and the great variety of coins which were sometimes used.
Fortunately the archbishops' procureurs employed very
generally in their reckonings the pounds, shillings, and pence
which were the ordinary money of account, irrespective of the
actual coins in which the payments themselves might be
made. Twelve pence went to the shilling and twenty shillings
to the pound, and this was the legal and recognized standard
for the calculation of money payments.

Guyenne had a special money of its own, distinct from
the tournois or money of account in France and also from the
sterling money of England.'* There was a mint at Bordeaux,
and money throughout the province was expected to approxi-

' Cart, de St.-Seurin, Introduction, xxxvii.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xviii. 8. A sadon is said to be a marcha
long and wide.

* On the general size of holdings see chapter vii.

* Brissaud, Les Anglais en Guyenne (Paris, 1875), p. 23.

62 SAINT-ANDRE OF BORDEAUX [ch. iv

mate to the Bordeaux standard.^ A pound of Bordeaux
money was less than a pound sterling, more than a pound
tournois. French money fluctuated so much, owing to the
royal practice, introduced by Philippe le Bel, of tampering
with the coinage, that no comparison can be permanent.^
English money varied perhaps less than any other, though in
some reigns it was bad. The Bordeaux money was occasionally
altered, but not to anything like the same extent as that of
France. In 1357 the accounts reckon in three different
values ; the first, the second, and the third coinage of
Bordeaux.^ In 1368 the Black Prince issued a new money
worth almost double the old, and by exalting the price of the
actual current coinage reduced that of the money of account.^

In 1376 a Bordeaux pound has been said to equal one-sixth
of a pound in English sterling money, but to be worth twice
as much as a livre tournois, which had then sunk very low
in value.^ Avenel, in his Histoire £conomique, attempts
a comparison between mediaeval and modern money. In the
last half of the thirteenth century he considers that a pound
sterling was worth about seventy-five francs, nearly four times
the livre tournois, which he estimates at twenty francs. From
that date to the sixteenth century the value of English money
went down, though in nothing like the same proportion as
that of the French ; until in 1562 a pound sterling had reached
its modern value of twenty-five francs; but was worth eight
livres tournois.^ Possibly a Bordeaux pound in the fourteenth
century equalled from twelve to sixteen francs of modern
money. This very low value of money must be remembered
in later calculations concerning wages, which seem extra-
ordinarily high.

No gold coinage was introduced into Guyenne until the reign
of Edward III. The actual money most used were the
• Guyennois noirs ' and the ' Guyennois sterlings ' ; the latter

^ Venuti, Antiquites de Bordeaux (Bordeaux, 1740), pp. 146-99,
Dissertation ^sur les monnayes.

* Vuitry, Etudes sur le regime financier de la France, nouv. serie (Paris,
18S3), i. 187, 223, &c.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 517.

* Ibid. xxii. 197. ^ • Ibid. iii. 177 note.

* Avenel, Histoire Economique (Paris, 1894), i. 35.

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 63

made of white money {alba or blanchie) being worth five of
the former.^ A ' Guyennois d'or ' in 1420 and 1430 was
reckoned as equal to twenty-five shillings of Bordeaux money.'*
A great variety of coins are mentioned, however, in the accounts.
French money was often introduced from the outlying districts
and, unless its value is given at the time, confuses prices and
makes comparison impossible. The estimate of rent values
has, therefore, only been attempted as represented by the
standard money of account.

A few rents appear to be almost nominal. As, for instance,
in Bordeaux, where a knight only paid id. for his house ; ^
and in Pessac,- where 10 regnas of vine were also rented at
id. ; * 19 reguas of vine at 2d., and 41 reguas of land and vine
at 3^.^ In Caudrot there were some very low rents or oblies
as they were called, a term often used for these especially
small sums, 2d., ^d., and the like ; but these may have been
for correspondingly small bits of land, as there was plenty
of variety there. One ' trens de terre ' was held for as high
a price as 50 shillings.*

The only hope of making any sort of comparison is to take
prices at the same date, and as much as possible in the same
place. As the archbishop's accounts give a list of his rent-
paying tenants in 1400, this is a good year to choose for the
calculation, although it is impossible to arrive at any very
definite conclusion,

Bordeaux houses in 1400 are at every sort of rent from ^d.
to £s 14^- This latter sum is paid for an old stone house,
but it is very unusual ; only in three other instances does
rent rise to over j^i, A carpenter paid ^^5 for a house ; another
including a wine-press and garden was rented at 30s. ^\d.,
and a ' big house ' paid 305. annually. There is only one more
instance of house-rent rising even to 205. The average lies
somewhere between 2s. 6d. and 155. Very frequently the
extremely small rents which exist, ^d., id., ^d., and 6d., were

' Brissaud, Les Anglais en Guyenne, p. 24.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, vii, 417 (1420). Ibid. i. 34 (i434)-

* Ibid. xxi. 595 : ' B. Calculi miles pro domo. i den.'

' Ibid. xxii. 547-641. Held by the priest of St.-Michel (1400)

* G. 524, f. 351 (1340). 'G. 83(1324).

64 SAINT-ANDRfi OF BORDEAUX [ch. iv

paid by clergy, who may have been particularly favoured in
consideration of their ecclesiastical work.

Some sort of rough comparison can be made between the
value of land, presumably for arable cultivation, and the value
of vines. A rege of land was not generally very valuable,
although the instance at Begles of 74 reges for only is. o^d. is
exceptional. Other land at Begles varied from ^d. to 2^d.
the rege ; at Bordeaux from ^d. to i^d. The highest rent
was paid in Fourc, where as much as 3^d. was given per rege.
A sadon of land was rented a good deal higher. 3c?., ^d., 6d.,
y^d., are all found round Bordeaux, and once at Cadaujac as
much as is. was paid ; the average comes to just under 6d.

Vines in the register are reckoned, when the amount is
given at all, only in reges, and these vary very much. In the
Graves one vineyard was rented at less than id. the row,
whilst for another at St.-Seurin 15. 3^. was paid. Both these
extremes are unusual. There is only one other instance of
more than is. for a rege {is. id.), and only two are as much
as IS. ; all these three are in Fourc. It is fairly rare for the r^ge
to fall as low as id. The most constant rents are between sd.
and 8d. In Pessac, on the contrary, they are only once over
id., but there are not many pieces let out at rent here at all.
Sometimes corregia (strips) of vine are mentioned, but these
are apparently uncertain in size : their rents vary between
lod. and 12.J. dd.

Meadow land is occasionally reckoned by the rege, which
only seems to be worth ^d. or f^. One mention of a sadon
of meadow at Cadaujac as being rented at 35. 6d. must surely
be a mistake ; as a rule they run between id. and 15. id. ;
at an average of about 6d.

These estimates are extremely rough, as only in a few cases
are reges and sadons given : and many instances have had
to be omitted because land and meadows, or land and vines,
or vines and orchards, have been reckoned together.

The general conclusion can be drawn, that vineyards were
the most valuable possessions and were rented considerably
higher than arable land or meadow, and the two latter were
much on an equality. This is curious in the Middle Ages,

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 65

when meadows generally fetched a high price. The small
number of beasts requiring hay may possibly account for
this.

To turn from rent in money to rent in kind. This was
generally in corn, but sometimes wine was paid, and hens very
frequently ; these latter as a rule in addition to money pay-
ments. Corn was the usual rent for mills. Four belonging
to the chapter all paid wheat annually.^ In Blaye, amongst
other places, a good many holdings were rented for corn, and
occasionally loaves were either given instead or in addition.^
This corn did not always complete the obligation of the tenant,
but was often supplemented by a payment of so many hens,^
and sometimes by a money ce7is also.* Corn and wine were
both rendered occasionally,^ but wine does not occur very
frequently as a cens because it was so constantly paid as an
agriere. Corn and hens were by far the most common of
these cens in kind, but other things occur here and there,
such as pepper and ginger, or wax, w^iich was much needed
for church purposes.^ Quite a number of the archbishop's
tenants in Bigarroque each owed a torta ' (cake), and in Belves
one man's rent consisted of a load of chestnuts.^ Here and
there meals or parts of a meal were promised by the tenants ;
and this, although often a servile rent, was not necessarily so.
These comestiones occur most frequently and most continu-
ously on the lands of the chapter at Ambares, near St.-Andre-

' G. 410 (1273). Two mills at L^ge. Two escarts of wheat and three
of millet. G. 408 (1434). Mill of Cazau in parish of Gradignan, 36 bushels
of wheat. G. 423 (1460). Mill at Villeneuve, 8 bushels of wheat; 40 paid
that year for arrears. ^ G. 109 (fourteenth century).

^ Hens were often owed for houses in Bordeaux (Arch. Hist, de la Gironde,
xxi. ■;■; sq.), but this was common in many other places also.

* Revenus de I'Archeveche, 1259, f . 1 1 : ' Homines de salvitate Laurei-
montis debent vii solidos sensus pro uno porco, et xx duos panes qui
faciunt unam scartam frumenti veterem, et xvi scartas veteres avene '
(commuted rent in kind). G. 177 (1462). Lands in Sallebceuf : 655. 30
cartons frumenti, 6 cartons de avene. Ibid., f. 36. One hostau in Belvds
from the archbishop for i8rf., and half a carton of wheat.

" G. 109. House, vineyard, and lands in Blayais owed a bushel of oats,
a picket of wine, and a loaf.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 25 : (1367) G.de Blaye i lb. of wax.
Ibid., p. 49 : house in Bordeaux 8 lb. of pepper. Ibid., p. 122 : (1367)
house in Crcon i lb. pepper, i lb. ginger.

' Temporel de I'Archevfiche, f. 5.

• G. 177, f. 73.

(fart V)ST.A. F

66 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. iv

de-Cubzac.^ One man, for a house, vineyard, and land, owed
205., and ' sa part de deux mingars (mangers) de rente
annuelle ' ; and another ' ^d. d'esporle, 8^. et maille et sa part
d'ung mingar de cens ' (1365). The archbishop also had
possessions in the same place, for which he received similar
rents. In 1360 the meals are specified as consisting of bread,
wine, and meat boiled with ' caulibus et cinapi et cum gallinis
assatis '.^ There are a few instances of nuts and vegetables
being provided by the tenants,^ but on the whole there was
no great variety in the way of food dues on this estate, produce
being so much alike in all parts.

To these fixed rents in kind were occasionally added so
many days' labour. This in the case of censives was seldom
more than boondays, and on this estate even boon work was
very rare. Haymaking and vine work were the most usual
corvees, but sometimes a day's work with oxen was specified.
In Bordeaux (1341-2) some curious instances occur of such
corvees split up amongst several tenants. One man, as he
holds only a quarter of a stagia (property, habitation) owes
a quarter of millet, a quarter of a hen and a quarter of a man
for haymaking. For forty-six rows of vine a rent was due of
two measures of grain and one-third of a man.* Houses in
Bordeaux occasionally owed vintage work, but rarely more
than one day of it.^ In Belves various tenants gave corn,
hens, and one or two journaux (boondays).^

* G. 524, S. 98-104.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 1S9, 539 (1360) ; xxii. 81 (1367). See
also Cart, de St. -Andre, f. 19^. At Leognan 'prandium panis et vini '
(f. 54). F. 4^ : ' Dominus darrions unoquoque anno, in festo Sancti
Andree reddit censualiter ad mensam canonicorum xl magnos panes,
vinum quantum possunt portare duo asini, et duos magnos porcos ciliares,
et hoc reddit pro magna terra quam habet ab ecclesia Sancti Andree.'

' Ibid., f. 5V : 'In parrochio de Camelhano . . . modum de nucibus et
unum de vineis.' F. 13 : ' Apud Legiam . . . izd. cens, 12 aves, 12 sepias.'

* Ibid. xxi. 74-7.

* Cart, de St. Andre, f. is''. In the parish of St. -Simeon : ' id. et
I vindemiatus.' F. 29 : ' 2d. et i vindemia.' G. 524, f. 390^ : ' Maison
avec les maderas ... 2s. cens, 6d. esporle et ung vendangeur.' Terrier de
St.-Andre (1440) : ' i deney et i vendemihador cascun an de cens.'
G. 84 (1300): Caudrot, 'i manoeuvre.' Leo Drouyn (MS. Collection in
Arch. Mun. Bordeaux), xxvii. 25. Free men of Izon, besides 100 dolia
of vnne and a hen for each hearth, owed 2 manoeuvres of oxen ; those who
had none worked with their hands. * G. 177, fit, 35, 36 (1462).

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 67

It is obvious that labour of this kind could be of very little
use, and quite early it was commuted for money. These
divided rents in Bordeaux, mentioned above, all had their
equivalent in money entered by the side in 1340. In the
fifteenth century it was a regular thing to pay is. instead of
the day's vintage-work, if desired.^

Not only labour, but cens in kind began to disappear in most
places at an early date. It was usual to give food to those
who brought the rent, and this must have helped to diminish
its value.^ The subdivision of property, which led to the
splitting up of these already small dues, was an additional
reason for exacting a sum of money in their place. In Ambares
one rent was reduced to the thirty-sixth part of one meal !
By 1360 these meals were often commuted. One man paid
8s. Bordeaux money for his share, and several others fulfilled
their obligation in money. ^ In the fifteenth century ordinary
rents were paid from lands in Ambares and no mention made
of meals.* Rents of corn and hens were not wholly superseded,
but commutation was made fairly frequently. For a hen
a tenant was sometimes made to pay quite a high rent. In
1341, IS. seems to have been the usual value,^ but in 1354 as
much as 2S. id. was imposed in place of the original fowl.^

Corn rents, though they did not disappear entirely, were
very much diminished. Among the tenants of the archbishop
in 1400, only eight are entered as paying rent of this kind, and
two of them owe it for mills ; the others for houses in the
Rue du Faur and the Rue du Ha. In the terrier of the chapter
(1440-56), only five instances occur. These are for houses in

' G. 524, f. 393: (1409) ' Ung vendangeur ou I2d.' Ibid., f. 393'^:
{1405) ' 6 den. pour 6 demy vendangeurs de cens.' Terrier, f. 2 : (1440)
' O per lodeit vendemihador dotze deneys.' For value of money see p. 61.

* Cart, de St. -Andre, f. 59. Blanquefort : (1226) 'Debet istis duobus
et tercio qui veniet cum eis dari comestio.' F. 76 : ' Illis qui attulerint
censum debemus dare prandium.'

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 539.

* Terrier de St. -Andre, f. 129.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 78. Half a hen, ' censualium,' 6d.,
two hens, 2s.

* Ibid., p. 282 : ' 25. jd. receptis pro valore unius galline debite ratione
dicti feudi ' (House in the Rue de Bassens).

68 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. iv

the Rue du Faur, in the parish of Ste.-Eulalie and at Cambes
in Entre-deux-Mers.

Beyond this gradual commutation of labour and corn to
money, rents do not seem to have varied as a rule from year
to year. The cens was a fixed amount owed at fixed dates,
though the payment of it was very far from regular. Con-
stantly in the accounts arrears of rent are mentioned, either
as owing or as being paid ; and sometimes tenants have to
make up three or four years that they have missed. When
more rent is collected for the archbishop in any place, it is
generally because new fiefs have been let out, more land brought
under cultivation, or fresh houses built. At Ambares the
stagia at Sanarega and the two holdings at Campestan change
hands, but remain at I2d. respectively from 1360 to 1389.^

In La Souys (Floirac) a certain Vital Taqua owed 1085. for
vines in 1340 ; ^ in 1356 the same was due from G. de Cortey-
rac, who had married her daughter.^ Later the estate was
split up amongst a number of tenants. A stagia in Bassens
known as Audat is entered at one date as held by A. d'Audat
and his partners for 6d., at another G. d'Audat is said to hold one
stagiaior 2d., A. d'Audat stagia and vine ^d., Compter d'Audat
a stagia for id. ; "* thus showing both fixity of rent and the
real divisions so often existing in apparent co-parcenies.
Comparing the rents of Lormont in 1361 and 1367, although
the entries are made very differently and what is called
a house or a fief in 1362 is generally put down as a sol at the
later date, the money payments seem to work out exactly
the same, except where more possessions have been added.

Far more frequent than cens in kind, and, for vineyards at

least, quite as common as money rents, was the payment of

agrieres, some definite proportion of the produce of the soil ;

and this form of landholding continued undiminished in the

fifteenth century.^ In the thirteenth century it is not rare to

find as much as half the fruit being demanded from the

tenant,^ but this was a very high proportion, and later the

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 541, 611 ; xxii. 83, 431.
- Ibid. xxi. 38. ^ Ibid., p. 365. * Ibid., xxi. 286; xxii. 44.

* Terrier de St.-Andre, ff. 14, 22, 33, 6i\ 86.

' Cart, de St.-Andre, f. 69 : ' Hec sunt vinee que dent medietatem et
2J. custodi et prandium nisi aliter specialiter sint excepti. Sporle decano."

CH. iv] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 69

rent generally varies between one-third and one-sixth.
Some holdings already paid in this way at the time of the
cartulary.^

In all cases of this tenure it was necessary to have a supervisor
of the harvest, to see that the rightful partition was made,
and this guard the tenant was bound to feed and pay. As a
rule also, when the land was granted out, special conditions
were imposed concerning the duty of cultivating it properly
as the lord naturally wished to get what he could from the
property. One typical example will give an idea of the usual
stipulations, which var\^ very little from place to place. In
1441 a burgess of Bordeaux, for several correyas of vine, made
the following recoiinaissance.

' I recognize that I have and hold in fief feudally ... for two
pence of esporle on the change of lord, and for a quarter of
the produce as well as the tithe {deyma talhada) - of the grapes
and of the vintage, which may grow and increase each year
in the said three strips of vineyard ; and I am bound to carry
and render every year in its season the said fourth part and
tithe of the said fruit, at the command of the said lords the
dean and chapter, to the wine press of the said church at
Bordeaux. Moreover the said tenant must ask for a guard
when he wishes to gather the grapes from the said three
strips of vineyard. And further, he owes to the said guard
two pence of the said money for his supervision, and his
dinner, or else two shillings and a half of the aforesaid money
for the said dinner, whichever the said guard shall prefer.*
And the same on every day that shall be required for gathering
the grapes from all the said three strips of vine, the which
aforesaid three strips the said tenant is duly bound and has
expressly promised to work, to till, and to cultivate every
year ; that is to say, to cut, to clear, to bind, and to dig at
three different times, and to perform all the other labours and
workings which are necessary for vines in the Graves, at good

Then follow names of places all in Graves of Bordeaux, or in what is now
the town itself. F. 83' : ' W. Bebia habet vineam (Rue de Casaus) et
reddit mediam et portet ubi voluerimus apud Floriac'

' Ibid., f. 1 10^ : Two vines at one-sixth, two at one-third.

' Dime taillade is often mentioned with the agriire. It means probably
the ordinary payment, owed not as rent but as an ecclesiastical due. With
land paying cens it would be entered simply as tithe. With land paying
produce it means that tithe also is due, ' cut off ' from the agriire.

* Sometimes 2s. covered the dinner, instead of 2S. 6d.

70 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. iv

times and in good seasons, according to the said customs of
Bordeaux.' ^

This condition is repeated constantly with but slight
variations. The tenant must always ask for the guard and
pay him twopence a day and his dinner. The guard may
have 2S. 6d. in place of the dinner if he prefers.

The censive was hereditary property, at least by the thir-
teenth century. The tenant constantly speaks of his land as
having been acquired by succession from his father.^ When
division of property was made amongst the children, it
generally meant the splitting up of several censives, since
each one, strictly speaking, was indivisible. Even for rent-
paying land, however, primogeniture gradually tended to
become the custom.

A censive owed, in the same way as a fief, the duty of
esporler; i. e. of giving a monstree or description of the property
whenever required. Within certain limitations the tenant
was allowed to alienate his land, either by sale or gift, so long
as lods and ventes were paid to the lord, but he might never
alienate to a noble, nor to a religious body. Also the new
possessor must never pay less rent or less esporle, by which
the lord might suffer loss in any way ; nor must the tenant
sublet at an increased rent in order to augment his own

^ Terrier de St. -Andre, f. i'' (June 13, 1441) : ' Reconogo auer et tener
en feu feuaument . . . per dos deniers d'esporle a senhor mudant et per
la quart et la deyma talhada deu fruyt de vin et de vendemiha qui bayran
et creysseran cascun an en las deltas tres correyas de vinha portadas et
rendudas cascun an en sa sadon las deltas quarta part et deyma talhada
deudeit fruyt au comandament deusdeitz senhors dean et capitre, au
truilh de la delta gleisa a Bordeu ; et deu demandar garda aqui medis
lodeit affeuat quant borra vendemihar las deltas tres correyas de vinha.
Et plus que deu a lodeita garda dos deneys de la delta moneda de gardaria
et a diner, o dos soudz et mech de la moneda surdeita per lo deit dinar
loquau meys pla^Ta a la delta garda. Et aquo per cascun jorn que triguera
a vendemihar totas las deltas tres correyas de vinha, las quaus avant del-
tas tres correyas de vinha lodeit affeuat deu et estengut et a mandat
combent et promes obrar, laborar et coytivar cascun an, soes assaber
podar, levar, plegar, fudir, magestar et tersar (the second and third
famous of digging or ploughing which have to be given to a vine) et
far y totas autras obras et faissons que a vinhas de gravas se appertenen
en bons temps et en bonas sadonas, segont lodeitz fors et costumas de
Bordales.'

^ G. 94. Lormont (1253). Terrier, i. 18^ : (1441) land received 'cum
son et tornaleyra '.

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 71

income.^ The following example shows the ordinary con-
ditions of the tenure as it existed round Bordeaux ; throughout
a quantity of documents the essential features remain the same.

' 2'^ Nov. 1360. Ramon Mengans carpenter, dwelling in
the parish of Sainte-Croix of Bordeaux, recognizes and confesses
that he holds, and that his heirs and successors shall have and
hold in fief according to the customs of Bordeaux, from the
honourable and discreet lords the dean and chapter of St. -Andre
of Bordeaux, the whole of this house with the outhouses
[madeyra) and the land and place on which it stands, with
all its appurtenances ... at 13 pence of the money current
at Bordeaux for esporle on change of lord, and at 6 shillings
of cens ... in which aforesaid fief in whole or in part neither
the aforesaid Ramon nor his wife nor his heirs can put tenant
or sub-tenant, nor give nor lease at less cens or at less esporle,
nor do any other thing by w^hich either the aforesaid lords, the
dean and chapter, or their successors could lose their rights,
or their dues on sales, or their feudal dues : neither can it
be diminished or spoilt in any way in whole or in part.'

The dean and chapter on their side promise :

' to be good lords and bear good and firm guarantee of
the same holding, saving their own rights and dues above
mentioned, and any other rights and dues which they may
have as lords of the fief in the fief and over their tenants,
according to the for s and customs of Bordeaux.' ^

The lord sometimes imposed other conditions when he
granted out the censives, besides these general stipulations.
Amongst other things the freeholders occasionally promised
residence, tenir feu vif as it was called, a condition more
usually connected with servile tenure, when the tenant was
regularly bound to the soil. However, the lord was naturally
anxious to retain his free tenants also, and often insisted that
they should not leave their censives without licence, on pain of
forfeiting the samc.^

There were generally some restrictions imposed on the

' Terrier de St. -Andre, 1440 : ' ni balhar ab meys (more) cens ni ab
meys esporle ni ab mench (less).*

' Bibl. Nat. MSS., Documents relatifs k Guienne, 9131, f. 44.

* Terrier, f. 4^ (1439): 'Moreover the said Helias by his good and
agreeable will, for himself and for his heirs and his descendants, has com-
manded, agreed, and promised to the said seigneurs, dean and chapter,
that from this time onward he will not lease nor cause to be leased the said

72 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux Ich. IV

right of alienation, but nevertheless censives appear to have
passed more easily from hand to hand than fiefs. By the
customs of Bordeaux, a roturier was allowed to dispose of
two-thirds of his patrimony, a noble only of one-third, and
that on condition of leaving half at least to his eldest son.^
As primogeniture increased, the consent of the heir was
generally necessary before any gift of land could be made
at all. A censive could not be let by the tenant for a lower
rent, nor allowed to pass into the hands of a knight or a
corporation, but otherwise the only limit on alienation inter
vivos was the obligation of paying the regular dues on the
sale. The advantage to the lord of receiving esporle and
lods et ventes must have rendered him favourable to such
transactions, whereas a new noble tenant was a more serious
matter. He might be unfriendly and prove a dangerous
vassal, or he might be unfit to perform the requisite military
service. This explains the regulation against alienating

vineyard, bounded as described above, to any one to cultivate the same,
without the will, consent, and licence of the dean and chapter ; and if the
said Helias or his said heirs or descendants do to the contrary, the said
tenant wills, ordains, agrees, wishes, and consents by the tenor of this
present letter, that henceforth the said lords the dean and chapter, or their
court in their name, can take and seize in their hands and by their own
authority, all the said vines and do with them according to their own
will, without asking consent, licence, or authority from the said Helias.
[Aqui medis lodeit Helias per so bona et agradabia voluntat per ed et per
totz sons hers et ordenh, a mandat, combent et promes ausdeitz senhors
dean et capitre, que ed dassi en avant no balhera ni balhar fera las deltas
vinhas dessus confrontadas a fasanduras a nulla persona per aquera laborar
sinoque sia ab voluntat congeyt licensa deus deitz senhors, D. & C. ;
et si lodeyt Helias o sons deitz hers o ordenh fase deu contrari, volgo et
ordenet et se consentit et vol et se consent lodeit affeuat ab et per la tenor
daquesta present carta aras per la betz et alabetz per aras, que losdeitz
senhors D. & C. o lur cort deputat pusquen prendre et sasir a lurs mans
de lurs proprias auctoritatz totas las deltas vinhas et far daqueras a lur
propria voluntat sens demandar congeit licensa ni auctoritat audeit Helias.]

Ibid., f. 83 (1447). Promise of residence and repairs : 'The aforesaid
Arnaud, tenant . . . stipulating and conceding that from henceforth every
year he will keep the habitation enclosed, repaired, habitable, and in good
condition ; and that he will keep the fire burning and will himself dwell
and reside there in person and not elsewhere, unless it be according to
the will, licence, and consent of the said lords.' [Lavantdeit Arnaud
affeuat . . . stipulantz et recebentz que ed lo tendra dassi en avant cascun
an estang claus recaperat habitable et ben enderg. Et en aquet tendra
fue biu, estera demorara habitara et fare residencia personare, et no en
antra part sino que sia ab voluntat liccensa et congeit deusdeits senhors.]

* Livre des Coutumes (Arch. Mun. de Bordeaux), p. 216.

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 73

censives to knights. The stipulation that they should not
be granted to corporations was to avoid the loss of the
lucrative profits from marriage, wardship, and escheat, which
a community naturally would never pay.

To sum up shortly the information gathered from the
estate of St. -Andre concerning censives. Rent-paying land
was undoubtedly the most common form of property, whether
at fixed cens, or at part fruit ; and almost all exceptional
rents in kind had been commuted for money by the fifteenth
century. Labour services for censives had also practically
disappeared, and great uniformity in the method of land-
holding prevailed amongst all the immediate tenants of
archbishop or chapter.

Leasehold property existed also upon this estate, but not,
it would seem, in any very great quantity. The usual term for
letting out land for a term of years was hail a gaudence or
hail a fasendure ; and the arrangement most frequently
entailed the payment by the tenant of part of the profits and
some sort of rent as well. A careful enumeration of the
property was made when the lease was effected and a promise
exacted from the new possessor that he would restore every-
thing in good condition at the end of the time. When, as
occasionally happened, these leases were made renewable,
they differed very slightly from the ordinary grants of censives,
except that the payment of esporle was not a necessary con-
dition. There was generally a guard to supervise the harvest,
as in the permanent holdings in which the produce was shared,
and he had to be fed and sometimes lodged by the tenant.^

' G. 2681. (1425) Property in La Tresne : ' B. Cedassey has given and
granted leased and handed over to Pey Damas to till and cultivate by
this conveyance of leasehold property at part produce ... all this habitation
and all this plot of vineyard ... to have, to hold, to use, to labour, and to
possess from the feast of St. Martin from nine years to nine years ... by
the payment of a sixth part of the vintage . . . and he must demand guard
and give twopence to the guard . . . and twenty shillings of gaudenssas by
reason of the said habitation.' [B. Cedassey a dat donat et autreyat balhat
et livrat a laborar e coytivar ... a Pey Damas . . . aquesta balhansa de
affazenduras . . . tota aquera cambra e tot aquet trens de vinhas . . . haver
tener uzar laborar e possedir de la festa de Sent Martini . . . de nau ans
en nau ans . . . per la seysma part dcu fruit deu vin &c. e demanda garda
e deu dar dotz deneys de guardaria per dinar . . . e plus per vint soudz
de gaudenssas per rason de la delta cambra.]

74 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. iv

The earliest example of a lease occurs on the archbishop's
property at Lormont in 1367. Land, which had formerly-
been questal, was let out for nine years, at an annual payment
of fifty shillings.^ A similar agreement was made by the
chapter with a tenant at Blanquefort, who was to pay a fifty-
five shilling rent for the period of the lease. In a lease of land
near Cadaujac, a fifth of the fruit was exacted. There seem
to be no peculiarities attaching to the few leases which are
found on this property. Nine years was the usual period in
this part of Gascony, and the terms of grant were always much
of the same pattern. The examples of baux a fasendure are
not so good here as in some neighbouring places, and a typical
example, showing the usual conditions, has therefore been
borrowed from the documents which concern the property of
St. -Michel in Bordeaux (see Appendix).

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 81.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV

G, 94. December 22, 1355.

New Enfeoffment. Bail a fief nouveau.

Be it known that the wise Coneguda causa sia que lo

and discreet Monsieur Pey de sabi et discret mossen Peys de

la Fita, Vicar and Procurator- la Fita vicari et procurador

general of the Reverend Father generau deu reverent payre en

in Christ, Seigneur Amanieu, crist deu senhor n'Amaneu per

by the grace of God Archbishop la gracia de deu arcebesque

of Bordeaux on the day on de Bordeu lo jorn que aquesta

which this charter was granted, carta fo autreyada aventz

having full power and special plener poder et manament

authority to enfeoff and let out especiau de enfeusar e ba-

at fief the lands, the vines and Ihar feuaumentz las terras las

the possessions which are held vinhas e las possessions que

from the church of Bordeaux, moven de la gleiza de Bor-

and to perform and grant the deu et deffar et autreyar las

things which follow below in causas qui plus bas senseguen

this charter, in accordance with en aquesta carta per ayssi

the said power and authority; cum lodeit poder e manda-

I, the notary below named, ment, jo notari dejus nomp-

that they may be more fully nat si plus pleneirament estre

contained in letters patent contengut en letras patentas

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 75

sealed with the seal of the said
lord archbishop, of which letters
the tenor is as follows :

sageradas deu saget deudeit
senhor arcebesque de las quaus
lettres la tenor es ataus :

Amaneus, miseratione divina archiepiscopus Burdegalensis, ma-
gistro Petro de Fita vicario et procuratori nostro generali salutem.
Cum propter guerras epidimiam et alia accidentia terre vinee
et alie possessiones a nostra ecclesia in feudum seu perpetuam
emphiteosim antea moventes ad heremum et inutiles sint redacte,
nos volentes in hac parte meliora prospicere et eiusdem nostra
ecclesie indempnitati prout possimus providere, aut easdem
terras vineas seu alias posessiones quantum iura permittunt
personis ad hoc ydoneis in feudum seu in perpetuam emphiteosim
dare, salva nobis seu dicte nostre ecclesie annua pentione eas-
demque personas iuxta patrie consuetudinem de ipsis investire,
et super portanda garentia bona nostre ecclesie mobilia obligare
valeatis vobis tenore presentium plenam damus et concedimus
facilitatem. In quorum testimonium sigillum nostrum presentibus
est appensum datum Avinloh in domo habitationis nostre penul-
tima die Julii anno domni m ccc lo quarto, . . ,

seeing and knowing, as I say,
the things written below to be
for the profit and amelioration
of the aforesaid lord archbishop
and the church of Bordeaux by
his good will, in the name and
person of the said lord arch-
bishop and by the power given
him in these said letters, has
given and granted, bestowed
and delivered feudally in fief,
according to the fors and cus-
toms of Bordeaux, in return for
the rights and dues contained
lower in this charter, to Helias
Miton of the parish of St.-
Martin of Lormont, by this
same present enfeoffment and
other things contained in this
charter, (Helias) stipulating
and receiving for himself,
his heirs and his descendants,
all this piece of land, in which
there is about three plots or so
as has been said, with all its
appurtenances which are in the
said parish of Lormont, in the
street by which one goes to

vedentz et conoyssentz si-
cum disso en las causas de-
jus escrutas per lo profieit et
lamelhurament de lavantdeit
senhor arcebesque et de la
glej^sa de Bordeu per sa bona
voluntat en nom et persona
deu medis senhor arcebesque
et per lo poder a luy dat
en las deltas letras a dat et
autreyat balhat et livrat en
feus feuaumentz segont los
fors et las costumas de Bor-
dales ab los dreitz et devers
plus bas en cesta carta con-
tengutz a Helias Miton de
la parropia de sent Martin
de Larmont a qui medis pre-
sent et lodeit affeuadge et
autras causas contengutz en
aquesta carta stipulant et
recebent per siu et per sos hers
e per son ordenh tot aquet
trens de terra en que ave in
sous o entorn sicum fo deit, ab
totas sas appertenensas qui es
en ladeita parropia de Larmont
en lanua per laquau hom ba

saint-andr£ of bordeaux

[CH. IV

the port of Vayres, lying be-
tween the land of Alays Faune
mother of Arnaud Andreu on
one side and the land of Maria
Miqueu on the other ; and run-
ning length\\ise from the said
common road at one end and the
ditch of the sauvete of Lormont
at the other end ; the which
aforesaid piece of land contain-
ing the said three plots or there-
abouts, was formerly the pos-
session of Thomas de Lome of
Lormont, the whichThomaswas
present at the granting of this
charter and also for himself and
his heirs and descendants, aban-
doned and gave over into the
hands of the said procurator the
said piece of land, and renounced
all right, all reason and action
which he or his heirs or his
descendants had or ought and
could have there in any way
whatsoever; after which the said
procurator in the name of the
aforesaid, invested feudally the
aforesaid Helias Miton ^^'ith all
the said piece of land and its
appurtenances, the whole as one
lief ; and the same Helias took
and received investiture of it
for seven pence of the current
money of Bordeaux as esporle at
change of lord, and for seven
shillings and threepence and a
half each year of the same cur-
rent money for rent ; when the
said Helias must and promises to
render year by year to the said
lord archbishop or to his lieu-
tenant, carrying and paying the
same y/^i^ of rent to the Palace
of the Lord Archbishop at Lor-
mont ; and he must make feudal
recognition {esporlar) or do right
in the said place if any action
should be taken against the said

deu port de Vayres per ayssi
cum es entre lo sou de Alays
Faune molher Arnaud Andreu
d'una part, e lo sou de Maria
Miqueu la conuersa dautra
part, e dura e ten en lone
de la delta rua comunau de
lun cap entro au fossat de la
saubetat de Larmont de lau-
tra cap loquau avant deit
trens de terra contenent los-
deitz III sous o entom fo
saenreire de Thomas de lome
de Larmont, loquau Thomas
era present sobre lautrey da-
questa carta, e aqui medis per
siu e per sos hers e per son
ordenh gurpit e delaysset en
las mans deudeit procurador
lodeit trens de terra e quitet
tot dreit tota arradon e action
que ed o sous hers o son
ordenh y agos o aver y degos
o pogos en auguna maneira,
e en apres lodeit procurador
en nome que dessus de tot
lodeit trens de terra ab sos ap-
pertenensas vestit feuaumentz
lavantdeit Helias Miton deu
tot cum de i feu, e lomedis
Helias ne prengo e recebo
bestidon de luy ab set deners
de la moneda corsabla a Bordeu
desporle a senhor mudant e per
set soutz III deners e mealhe
a cascun an de cens de la
medissa moneda corsabla a
Bordeu que lodeit Helias Miton
ne deu et mandat e promes dar
rendre e pagar an per an au
deit senhor arcebesque o asson
loetenent portatz e rendutz
losdeitz VII soutz et lii deners
e mealhe de cens au palays
deu medis senhor arcebesque
a Larmont, e deu esporlar o
far dreit endeit loc si tort
lo corelhave quon fes endeit

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) ^^

fief, in which fief, in whole or in
part, neither the said feoffee nor
his heirs nor his descendants
must put tenant or subtenant at
increased rent, esporle, or any
other duty, nor do anything else
by which the lord archbishop
or his successors might lose his
rights of sales or his seignorial
dues, or suffer loss in whole or in
part ; and in the said manner the
said procurator, in the name of
the said lord archbishop and
under pledge of the goods and
chattels of the said church, has
promised and agreed to be good
lord of the said fief and to give
good and firm guarantee against
any encroachment of any claim-
ants and others of the property
or of any seignorial rights be-
longing to the said lord arch-
bishop or his successors, saving
his rights above mentioned and
saving his other dues which the
lord of a fief ought to have in
that fief and from that tenant
according to the fors and cus-
toms of Bordeaux ; and of this
were made two charters of
one tenor, one by the said lord
archbishop and the other by the
said tenant : actum fuit duo-
decima die introitus novembre
anno domini m.ccc lo quarto,
regnante serenissimo principe
domino Edwardo dei gratia
Anglie et Francie rege Aqui-
tanie duce prefato domino
Amanevo eadem gratia domino
archie piscopo. Testes sunt,
Moss. Peys Gaucem called
Colom prestre, Peys Guitard,
Amaud, Andreu, Amaut Gar-
ren, Guillelmus Boer of the said
parish of Lormont, and I John
de la Crota public notary in
the whole duchy of Guyenne,

feu, en quau feu en tot ni en par-
tida lodeit affeuat ni sos hers ni
son ordenh no deu ni pot metre
acasat ni sotz acasat ab creys-
sensa de cens desporle ni de
antra dever ni far deguna antra
causa per que lodeit senhor
arcebesque o sons successors ne
pogos perdre sas vendas ni sos
senhorias ni suy dever ne fossan
dapnadgatz en tot ni en partida,
e en aquesta maneira lodeit
procurador en nom deudeit
senhor arcebesque et sotz obli-
gation deus bens et causas
moblas de la delta gleysa a leu
mandat e promes estre bons
senhor deudeit feu, e portar
bona e fenna garentia de totz
emperadors torbadors deman-
dadors e autras de la proprietat
e de part senhoria las senhorias
deu medio senhor arcebesque et
dessos successors saubas e sos
dreitz dessus mentaugatz sau-
bas e SOS autras devers cum
senhor de feu los a e deu aver
en son feu e sobre son affeuat
aus fors e costumas de Bordales,
e dasso foren feytas doas cartas
duna tenor, una per lodeit
senhor arcebesque e antra per
lodeit affeuat. Actum fuit duo-
decima die introitus novembre
anno domini m ccc lo quarto
regnante serenissimo principe
domino Edwardo dei gratia
Anglie et Francie rege Aquitan
duce preffato domino Amanevo
eadem gratia domino archiepi-
scopo. Testes sunt ^loss. Peys
Gaucem aperat Colom prestre,
Peys Guitard, Amaud, Andreu,
Amaut Garren, Guillelmus
Boer de la delta parropia de
Larmont, e io Johan de la
Crota publicus notarius en
tot lo dugat de Guiayna

saint-andr£ of bordeaux

[CH, IV

which this charter requires and
my accustomed sign I place
here, the which John Doyde
by my will writes +, the day
of the feast of Saint Michael in
September.

qui cesta carta enqueri e mon
senhau acostumat hi pausen,
loquau Johan Doyde per vo-
luntat demin escruo + lo jour
de la fest de sent Miqueu de
Setembre.

G. 2276 (Beneficiers de St. -Michel), December 13, 1374.

Lease of land to he held at part
produce.

Pey Saint - Symphorien
knight . . . gave, granted and
delivered for payment of part
produce, to Pey Bonon Car-
penter, parishioner of Saint
Michael ... all this farm and all
this piece of vine garden and
plot of land ... in the place
called La Souys in the parish of
Floirac ... to have, to hold, to
use, to plough, to cultivate and
to possess the aforesaid estate
. . . and to grow, to train and to
gather the fruits of the same
from the feast of Saint Martin
till the end of the nine years next
following, finished, terminated,
continued and accomplished . . .
and the said lord saves and re-
tains for himself and his heirs
the power to make the wine
which he shall have from his
tenants and his other necessar}'
rights in the said farm . . . and
this aforesaid lease was made
and granted to Pey Bonon for
the fourth part of the fruits of
the vine and vintage . . . and he
must also give dinner to the
guard and four shillings . . . and
a hundred shillings to Monsieur
Pey, knight from whom he takes
the said farm . . . and two pipes
of wine for entry dues and alms.

Baillette a ffazenduras.

Pey de Sent Samphorin Cavoy
. . . balha autreya et livra
a fazenduras a Pey Bonon
Carpentey parropeant de sent
Miqueu . . . tot aquet bordiu
et tot aquet trens de vinha
casau et plassa de terra . . .
au loc apperat a la soys (La
Souys) en la parropia de
Floyrac . . . aver tener, usar,
laborar coytivar et possedir
lavantdeyt bordiu &c., et los
fruyts daquetz levar pendre
et culhir per lo diet Pey Bonon
de la festa Sent Martin a la
fin de nau ans apres sequinti
finitz accabatz continuatz et
complitz . . . et lo diet Senhor
se sauba et arreten assui et
assons hers &c. que pusca
far son vin quil aura de sons
affeuatz et sas autras neces-
sitatz en lo deyt bordiu . . . e
cesta avandeyta balhanssa . . .
affeyt et autreya a Pey Bonon
per la quarta part deus fruytz de
vinha et de vendemiha . . .
e pi usque deu dar a disnar
a la guarda a quatre soudz
. . . et per cent soudz a mosseu
Pey cavoy de cui lo deyt
bordiu &c. manen . . . et doas
pipas de vin de intradas et
de caritat.

CH. IV] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 79

G. 2202. February 9, 1432.

Contract of part produce sharing.

A. de la Mothe has granted
and delivered at part produce in
the name and in the manner of
such leases, according to the/ors
and customs of Bordeaux, to
J . Salamon parishioner of Saint
Pey of Quinsac (Ambares), a
piece of willow plantation ex-
cepting the osier beds which are
in the same place ... to hold, to
use, and to possess in return for
part produce, from the date of
this present charter onwards
until nine years are finished and
accomplished, and nine harvests
have been taken and received by
J. Salamon or by his heirs . . .
and from the end of this nine
years for another nine years also
taking harvests and receipts . . .
and from another nine to another
nine and so on for all time from
nine years to nine years. And
this lease the aforesaid A. de la
Mothe made and granted to the
said J . Salamon for half the pro-
duce of stakes, laths and osiers
. . . which J. Salamon must give,
render and pay each year when
they are cut. J. Salamon pro-
mises to stamp down [estrepar ?)
every year at the right season
and to clear out when he shall
have cut the said willow planta-
tion and to plant and do all the
lawful and necessary works.

Contrat de faizendure.

A. de la Mothe ... a baJhat et
livrat a fazenduras en nome
et per maneyre de fazenduras
sogont los fors et las costumas
de Bordales, a J. Salamon
parropiant de Sent Pey de
Quinsac — trens d'aubareda
exceptat los vimeneys qui son
en lo mey loc . . . tenir usar et
possedar en sas affazenduras de
la data de quest a present a carte
entro a nau ans finitz acabatz
continuat et complitz et nau
culhidas ajudas presas et recebe-
das per lodeit J . Salamon o per
sons hers . . . et de la fin deus-
deitz nau ans entro a d'autres
nau ans ayssime presas culhidas
et recebedas . . . nau culhidas
et daquetz autres nau en autres
nau et daqui en abant per totz
temps et de nau en nau.
E aquesta affazendura lavant-
diit A. de la Mothe affeyt et
autreyat audiit J. Salamon per
la meytat deu fruit de pau de
lata de carrasson . . . que
J. Salamon leu deu dar balhar
et paguar cascun an quant
sera talhaduyra. ... [J. Sala-
mon promises] ' estrepar cas-
cun an en bon sadon et curar
quant aura talhat la deyta
aubareda et plantar et far
de totas hobras lejudas et
necessarias'.

G. 2681. 1425.

Lease of usufruct at part produce.

B. Cedassey has given,
granted, leased and delivered
to labour and cultivate to Pey
Dauros of the parish of Cari-
gnan ... by this charter of

Bail a gaudence.

B. Cedassey ... a dat donat
et autreyat balhat et livrat a
laborar et coytivar a Pey
Dauros de la parropia de
Carinhan . , . aquesta balhansa

saint-andr£ of bordeaux

[CH. IV

lease at part produce all this habi-
tation . . . which is in the estate
and farm of the said B. Cedassey
. . . and all this plot of vine . . .
to have, to hold, to use, to culti-
vate and to possess from the feast
of St. Martin from nine years to
nine years . . . for the sixth part
of the fruit . . . and to demand
guard and to give the said guard
two pence and dinner . . . and
further for twenty shillings of
regular payments by reason of
the said habitation.

de affazenduras tota aquera
cambra . . . qui es en lostau
et bordiu deudeitz B. Cedassey
. . . et tot aquet trens de
vinhas . . . haver tener uzar
laborar et possedir de la festa
de Sent Martini de nau ans
en nau ans . . . per la seysena
part deu fruyt . . . et deman-
dar garda et deu dar dotz de-
neys de guardaria per dinar
. . . et plus per vint soudz de
gaudenssas per rason de ladeita
cambra.

G. 94. Sale by Amanieu de la Sauve to P. Guiraut, 1355.

The two parts of all this plot
of land with the two parts of the
wooden buildings which are be-
side it, before and behind, and
the two parts of the exit behind
the said plot, for 12 leopards of
gold. . . . Amanieu de la Sauve
has bound and does bindthesaid
P. Guiraut ... to be under the
jurisdiction, constraint and au-
thority of the said noble lord the
Seneschal of Gascony and of the
honourable lords, the Official of
Bordeaux and the Provost of the
Ombriere of Bordeaux . . . and of
any other lord or judge, ecclesi-
astical or secular, in case any
outcry or complaint were made
or shown, without any appeal
and without any claim upon any
other court or any other seign-
ory ; renouncing also all written
and unwritten right, all privi-
leges and benefits of having
taken or being about to take the
cross, all exception customary
and legal, all custom and fran-
chise of burgage tenure, all other
privileges given or to be given,
legally awarded or to be awarded,
all appeals made or to be made,

Las doas partz de tot aquet
sou de terra ab las doas partz
de las maderas qui son aus
costatz e davant e detras e las
doas partz de la eyssida qui es
detras lodeit sou . . . dotze
leopartz daur. . . . Am. de
la Seuba a obligat e obliga
audeit Peys Guiraut ... a
la juri diction costrensa e com-
pulcion deu noble senhor lo
senescaut de Guasconha e de
londrables senhor officiau de
Bordeu e deu prebost de lom-
breyra de Bordeu . . . e de tot
autre senhor e juge de gleysa
e de seigle, per davant ung
clamor o complanta ne fos feita
o demostrada, sens appeu e
sens reclam dautra cort ni
dautra senhoria, renunciantz
sobre asso a tot dreit escruit
e no escruit, e a totz privileges
e benefices de crotz presa e
apprendre, a tota exception
de for e de cort, a tot for, a
tota costuma, a tota franqueza
de bordesia, e antra a totas
gracias donadas o a donar,
empetradas o a empetrar, a
totas appellations feytas o affar,

CH. iv] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (i) 8i

all franchises and liberties given
to the hastide of Flamacort and
to allotherfeas^z^gsmade or to be
made, and to all rights and laws
bestowed in case of fraud to those
who have been deceived, except
the half of the rightful place and
the customs of Bordeaux, which
do not allow that any cost or
expense which shall be incurred
or losses suffered in default of
guarantee shall be paid, restored
or amended; renouncing also any
other right and custom which
ought to be or could be of value,
or which might confhct in any
way with this same agreement.

a tota franquesa e libertat
dada a la bastida de Flama-
cort, e a totas autras bastidas
feitas o affar, aus dreitz e a
las leys amdantz aus dece-
butz, antra la meytat deu
dreiturer pretz e a la costuma
de Bordales, que no bou ni
soffre que costz ni messions
que sian feitz ni dapnatges
suffertz en fauta de guarentia
sian pagatz restituitz ni esmen-
datz, e a totz autres renuncia-
mentz de dreit e de costuma
qui aidar ni baler lo degos-
san o p'ogossan per venir en
contra. . . .

(part V) ST. -a.

CHAPTER V

LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii)

The ' QuESTAVE ' and the ' Homme Questal '

It is impossible to consider the question of servile land held
by unfree tenure without bringing up the whole subject of
the serf himself, the homme questal, as he came to be called in
Gascony. Status and tenure are inextricably interwoven,
and it is not always easy to distinguish between them, or to
say whether unfree services were most concerned with the
man or his holding. Before examining the special conditions
of servile tenure on the estates of St. -Andre, it is worth noting
from other contemporary records the essential features of this
Gascon questalitat.

The distinctive term, homines questales, does not appear to
have been in general use before the close of the thirteenth
century ; during the fourteenth century it practically took
the place of every other term. The question of name has
some bearing on the actual condition of the men themselves.
In the twelfth century the variety of names was probably
the result of the vagueness of the condition ; no fixed rule
existed as to serfdom, and the same word was used for free and
unfree. In the thirteenth century, as the theory of serfdom
became more defined, this abundance of nomenclature gradu-
ally gave place to uniformity, and by the fourteenth the word
questal, or questau, implied a system of unfree tenure the duties
of which were more or less universally recognized.

Throughout the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries,

villanits and rusticus, both generic rather than specific terms,

were used constantly in speaking of members of an unfree

class, interchanged from time to time with such names as

decimarii, casali, paisii ^, and homines ligii,^ all employed in

1 Cart, de St.-Jean-du-Mont (Auch), Bibl. Nat. MSS. Lat. 5460 A.
* Cart, de St.-Seurin, edited by Brutails (Bordeaux, 1897).

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 83

a similar manner. The cartularies of St.-Seurin and the
Abbey of La Grande Sauve, besides those of other religious
bodies, are full of examples of gifts of men, who most undoubt-
edly were serfs. They were given as a rule with their land, ' vil-
lanum . . . cum omni possessione sua,'^ but in some cases no
mention is made of any property, and they appear to have
been handed over as mere chattels from one lord to another.^
That these men could be transferred without consent asked
or given is evident, and is enough to brand them as serfs,
although little is said to distinguish their actual condition
and method of holding. It may very well be the case that
when no mention is made of services, that the new lords could
exact what they wished as an understood thing in the case
of villeins.

Round Bordeaux the term hommes liges was often employed
for rural cultivators, before the designation questaiix came
into ordinary use, and, though not very definite, it was, cer-
tainly, frequently connected with serfdom.

It is the cartulary of St.-Seurin which lets most light
on the meaning of the term. In that document throughout
the twelfth and first half of the thirteenth century it is
the name constantly applied to serfs, and gradually gives
place to that of homines questales, as the villein of more or
less uncertain condition degenerated into the homme questal,
' taillable et corveable a merci.'

The indefinite position of these hommes liges is shown by
a dispute as to the services owed by some of them in Yvrac
(Entre-deux-Mers). They were given the title of en, by
which as a rule the names of nobles are distinguished from
those of simple freemen in an enumeration ; ^ but at the same
time the duties demanded from them sound very like those
of serfs. (1256) A canon of St.-Seurin for £4 gave up to

' Cart, de St.-Seurin, p. 36.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxviii. 117 (Cart, de Ste. -Croix) : 'duos
rusticos . . . fratres quoque alterius eorum in domo Helie (the donor) tunc
manentes et servientes.' 1 168.

' This was not by any means an invariable rule. It may at one time
or in some places have implied this, but in the Pyrenees we find it con-
stantly used not only for simple freemen, but even for serfs, being a term
of politeness used much as the modern monsieur and madame.

G 2

84 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. v

the chapter the rights he claimed over ' home lige en Bar-
tholemeu de Labatut d' Yvrac ' and his nephews, and acquitted
them of all homage and of all servitude.^ Again we find the
gift of an homme lige but to be regarded as free ' dedit in puram
et perpetuam eleemosinam Petrum in hominem ligium, sicut
ilium qui immunis erat et liber ab omni subjectioneetdominio
alterius '. But Peter was a censitaire also, for the document
adds : ' dedit cum ipso stagiam illam de qua predictus Petrus
reddet ii solidos vi denarios censuales cum i denario sporle.' ^
Another instance of this is found in a register of the chapter
of St.-Seurin, where in 1256 a gift is recorded of twenty sous
of cens and one dernier of esporle on ' hominem suum ligium '.^
But often the homme lige would appear to be more definitely
servile than this. In 1274 a man making himself a serf of
St.-Seurin expressed the gift thus : * fecit se hominem ligium
et questarium ecclesie Sancti Severini.' And in a gift of men
a little later they are called ' homines suos ligios et questarios '.^
There is no doubt that the two words lige and questal, and
the ideas contained in them, are getting connected ; and
a similar use of them in designating serfs occurs as late as
1339, when certain men belonging to the hospital of St. Jacques
de Bordeaux declare themselves ' esse homines ligii et questales
ad misericordiam prions et fratrum ' ; they promise to pay
arbitrary quete and not to quit the land without leave.^

The first instance in which the actual word questales is used
in the St.-Seurin cartulary is in 1287, and it seems to indicate
men subject to arbitrary rather than fixed payment. The
chapter are to have ' omnia quecumque obveniant quacumque
ex causa ab hominibus questalibus, vel illis qui dudum que-
stales fuerunt et postmodum ad certum census taxati ' ; ^
emphasis being laid on the change to certain cens, presumably
from the uncertain quete.

The expression questal is, however, applied to serfs rather
earlier in some documents than in the cartulary of St.-Seurin.

^ Cart, de St.-Seurin, p. 253. " Ibid., p. 131.

* G. 1030, f. 96V. * Cart, de St.-Seurin, pp. 271, 277.
' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxiv. 346 : ' Reconnaissances feodales par

des serfs questaux en faveur de I'Hopital St. -Jacques-de-Bordeaux.'

• Cart, de St.-Seurin, p. 341.

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 85

An illustration from the cartulary of St.-Andre in 1226,
speaking of ' ligios et questales ' is the earliest I have found ;
but in the second half of the century the term becomes much
commoner. In 1252, in consequence of a bull authorizing the
chapter of St.-Seurin to alienate goods to pay its debts, the
body came to an agreement with the hommes questaux to
the effect that, if they gave a large sum of money and a large
piece of land at once, their qucte should be commuted and
fixed at 1,000 sous each year.^

In 1254 land belonging to Ste.-Croix was described as de
feodo qiiestali as distinguished from feodum pure and simple,
although in this instance the dues which it paid do not appear
to have been arbitrary, but rather to have resembled cens.
' In isto territorio solebat esse stagia Petri deu Brosterar, et
ultra deberia questaha solvuntur huiusmodi, octo capones et
due galline sensuales quod territorium est et debet et consuevit
ab antique in sohdum de feodo questah '.^ Again, in a
Register of Monsegur the homes questales of the knights and
nobles of the town are excluded ; evidently in order that these
lords might not lose their serfs by the latter residing long
enough in the town to gain their freedom ; and any new-comers
to the same place had to relinquish those lands which they
held of the seigneur as questaves.^ A similar reason must
have prompted the mandate of King Edward in 1289 which
promised that the homines questales of barons, knights, and
nobles should not be received into royal hastides without the
consent of their lords.*

The name, from this time onward, becomes one of universal
apphcation, and it is therefore necessary to consider the
actual meaning of the term, and the conditions which rendered
an homme questal a serf.

It is impossible not to connect the questal with the payment
of questa or quete. The regular formula is ' homme questau
a questa talha et merci ' ; or ' homines questales et tallia-
biles '. This questa or taille was, by the fourteenth century

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxiii. 7.

» Censier de Ste.-Croix, MSS. Bibl. Nat. Fr. 1 1637, f. 130.
' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, v. 5 (Esclapot de Monsegur).

* Roles Gascons (edited by Bemont), vol. ii, No. 992.

86 SAINT-ANDR£ OF BORDEAUX [ch. v

at least, a personal tax paid by the man himself, and above
all arbitrary — entirely regulated according to the pleasure
of the lord. Earlier the word had not always had the same
significance : terms generally being vague, questa also was
used vaguely in the thirteenth century in much the same way
as cens, or as a sort of tribute or tax ; it was often a fixed
amount, and may have meant any payment sought rather
than brought. It is also used repeatedly in reference to fixed
payments to the sovereign ; an enumeration of the king's
revenue in 1254 includes ' census, quaestas et pedagia ' ; ^ and
in 1279 the parishioners of Ste.-Croix of Bordeaux were
declared to owe twelve denarii annually ' a la quete du roi '.^

These two different kinds of quite are explained in a petition
of the chapter of St.-Seurin in 1487, where the word is defined
in its ordinary meaning as a seignorial due, representing the
right of patronage over tenants of servile condition ; but
it is also stated that questa regis is a sort of tribute to the
prince as a mark of his sovereignty, a payment for the pro-
tection granted to all his subjects.^

Leaving on one side this royal qucte or taille, a tax which
might be demanded from any class, the payment of quete in
the first sense may be taken as a feature of the questalitat of
Gascony, and this quete implied almost always an arbitrary
exaction. In 1347 the chapter of St.-Seurin is declared lord
of certain questales ' cum plenissima potestate questandi eos
ad voluntatem et arbitrium suum '.* In 1358 the chapter
of St. -Andre interdicts for disobedience some of their tenants,
who are declared ' taillables annuellement a la volonte du
chapitre ' ; ^ and so on ad infinitum. Arbitrary quJte was
without doubt practically universal in the case of serfs. That
it may have been, and often was, commuted and fixed later
does not destroy the fact of its original character.

The next question to consider is whether the quite was
strictly speaking a personal or a territorial payment. Was
it the man or his land which was servile ?

Property could certainly be questal. Some land was held

^ Roles Gascons, vol. i, supplement, No. 4317.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxviii. 208 (Cart, de Ste.-Croix).

' G. 1395. * Cart, de St.-Andre. « G. 524, f. 38.

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) Sy

by base services, its possession involved the payment of quisle,
and its tenant was an homme questal of the lord from whom he
was holding, as far as that special piece was concerned. But
a free man with plenty of free land might have a questave
also, and not lose his free status, although he would
be liable to certain unfree services. Nevertheless, in the
typical instances status and tenure went together, and a man
who held servile property was a serf in some really personal
sense as well. A man could be born a serf. He would find
it hard to shake off the tradition of his servitude even though
he might have acquired free property in addition to the old
holding, held for years on servile conditions by his ancestors.
In the payments which he made, though doubtless they were
based on the land and determined by its extent, it is impossible
to exclude entirely the personal idea, the fact that he paid
them for his body as well as for his land. The two were most
frequently coupled together. A typical homme questal was
a serf by status as well as by tenure ; he paid servile dues by
reason of his landholding, but he was subject to servile inci-
dents, not only on account of his questave^ but as a consequence
of his birth and of his social standing.

Occasionally a man will declare himself a serf ' by reason
of his house and lands ' alone,^ but this is rare ; the usual
formula is ' by reason of body and estates ' ; ^ and mention is
frequently made of the serfdom of their ancestors and of
similar conditions being handed down to their children. For
example, in 1423 the Seigneur de Roquetaillade affirms ' that
the said Bernard and Ramon were and ought to be, and
their ancestors had been, the hommes questaux of himself

* Archives departementales des Basses-Pyrenees, E. 180: (1317
Seigneurie de Langoiran) ' P. de Lamardera reconogo que ed es hom
questaus per arradon de las maisons e de las terras.'

' Ibid. E. 200 : (Ste.-Mayne 1291) Certain men ' fossan home questable e
talhable a questa e a merce . . . per radon de lors personnes e de las maysons
de las estatges de las vinhas de las borias de las terras cautas e hermas,' &c.
Ibid. E. 153: (1357)' Robert Quan tern de la parropia de Ludedon reconogo
&c. que ed es home questau a questa talha e merce . . . per los cors per las
maysons maynes e estatges. . . .' Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. Fr. 8875, f. 62 :
(Enfranchisement 1433) ' Madona Isabe . . . agossa e aya affranquetz e
manumes las personas e bens . . . e extrematz gitatz treytz e foragitatz
de tot ligame de questalitat e servitut de homenest.'

88 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. v

and his predecessors in taille and in mercy of body and goods ;
and that he and his predecessors were in possession of the
quetes and tallies which were rendered by these men each year
as hommes questaux, and had been so for so long that there
was no memory of the contrary and this by reason of their
bodies and their two houses '.^ Similarly, in charters of
enfranchisement, it is always the man himself who is declared
free, although it is generally added that his possessions share
the same privilege ; or else the late serf is to hold in future
at rent and esporle, showing that the dufes owed by the land
are changed, as well as his own position. ^ A man is free in
body and in person, in lands, in goods, and in inheritances.

But although birth had to be taken into consideration, and
a man born of villein parents was a serf, unless he had received
a special grant to the contrary, it was always possible for a
free man born of free parents to sink in the social scale by
the very fact of his landholding.

Campana includes prescription of thirty years in his list of
the ways in which a man might become a serf ; ^ it woujd only
be too likfely that a man holding in villenage and performing
villein services through a long period of years would un-

* Ibid. E. 872 : Mossen B. de la Mota senhor de Roquetalheda . . . dise
e afiermave que losditz Bernard e Ramon FAu eran e deven estre e lurs
ancestres aven estat sons homes questaus e de son predecessors aquesta
talha e a merce en cors e en bens ; e ed e sons predecessors eran en posses-
sion de las questas e talhas quant binen cascun an com a lurs homes ques-
taus, c aven estat per tant de temps que no era memoria deu contrari
e assi per rason de lurs cors e de totz aquetz dos hostaus.' Ibid. E. 153 :
(1357) ' Ed es home questau a questa talha e merce e ed e sos successors
ben vivent . . . estar homes questaus deu noble e poderos baron mossen
Arnaud de Lebrit de Cubzac e dessos hers e desson ordenh.'

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, vii. 231 : (Archives du Chiteau du Cros,
1303) ' Bernard a Legur . . . acquitted and freed, from all and in all, the
body and the person, and all the goods, chattels, and inheritances of
Ramon Martin — late homme questal.' Arch. dept. des Basses-Pyrenees,
E. 186 : (will of Amanieu Labrit, fourteenth century) ' I, the said lord,
having learnt of the death of Pey Blanc de Dandas, w^ill and ordain that
his sons and heirs and their heirs and all their descendants . . . and
the house and inheritances of their goods and chattels, for all time shall be
quit and free henceforth from all questalitd and from all servitude.' [Item
volgo e ordenat le dit senhor volent fer cosiensa de la mort de Pey Blanc
de Dandas que sos filhs et hereters de los hers e lor ordenh descendent
de lor . . . e lor mayne e heretatge de los bes e causas per tostemps, sian
franc e quitis e foras de tota questalitat e de tota servitut.]
. * Campana, Etude sur le colonat et le servage (Bordeaux, 1883, 8°.).

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 89

consciously assume the status of a villein, whatever he
might have been to start with. Thus when disputes arose
upon the subject the contending parties always endeavoured
to prove what had been the conditions of the tenure during
past times ' as far back as the memory of man could reach '.^
Simon Vert argued in proof of his freedom that his land had
been free from questalitat for the past twenty-five years ; ^
a tenant opposing the claims of Ste.-Croix of Bordeaux, said
that he had been clerk and burgess of Bordeaux for a long
time — thirty years and more, and that he was therefore in
freedom and liberty, without any obligation of paying queste,
or taille, or rendering other servile incidents.^

But it is not enough to say of the homme questal that he was
the descendant of a servile family and that he held land
burdened with the duty of paying arbitrary qvJte. There
were many other conditions involved in the theory of serfdom,
and a typical questal had other disabilities apparently just as
essential to his position as this liability to be taxed at the will
of his lord. Other, things were also at the will of his lord :
the most burdensome feature of his tenure was its uncertainty.
He had to supply labour to cultivate his lord's demesne, the
amount and nature of which would remain unfixed ; he had
to provide his lord with corn and wine, and the demands

^ Gascon Rolls, 21 Ed. II, m. 5 : 'a tanto tempore quod memoria
hominum in contrarium non existit.' * G. 11 16, f. 19.

^ Terrier de Ste.-Croix, 1 375-1445 (uncatalogued), f. 39''. In the
Customs of Dax there is a rule which claims to be applicable to Gascony
generally, to the effect that freedom can be acquired by prescription for
forty years :

Livre Noir de Dax (edited by Abbadie), No. 645, p. 140. ' Si ung home
que sie questau de ung autre esta e damore en pocession de libertat fore de
questalitat per I'espaci de quoaraate ans bedent e audent de quet home
e de sons ancestres deu quoau sere questau, schetz que nulhe question no li
es feyte suber la pocession de la libertat, que segont la costume generau
d'Ax e de Gasconhe aquet atau home no pot ni deu estar diit questau,
avans deu per totz temps estar soult e quitis e franc, e deu esser mantengut
per lo seinhor en sa libertat en laquoau lo trobe.' (If a man who is the
questal of another should have been in possession of liberty and outside
all questalitS for the space of forty years, they may see and hear of that
man and of his ancestors of whom they were serfs, without any question
being made as to their possession of liberty ; and that according to the
general custom of Dax and Gascony this man can not and ought not to be
called questal, since all this time he has been quit and free, but must be
maintained by the lord in the liberty in which he is found.)

90 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. v

might, in some cases, swallow up the whole of his little store :
he had to do cartage, or castle guard or personal attendance
on his seigneur, without being sure when he would be required,
or for how long his service would last. But more important
and more universal than the uncertainty of his dues, was his
connexion with the land. He was almost as much a part of
it as the house, the farmyard, the very soil itself. If the land
were given away, he was naturally given too ; the purchase
of an estate would include the purchase of the serfs, as well
as the other appurtenances, and he could not leave or change
his holding without his lord's licence, for which he would
doubtless have to pay a heavy sum, in most instances a
prohibitive price. Bound to the land, alienable at the will
of his lord, and obliged to fulfil his behests, a questal of a really
typical description would be burdened by servile conditions,
which marked him off in many practical ways from the free
cultivators on the estate, whose actual services may have much
resembled his own. He would have to pay a fine for the
marriage of his daughter ; he could not educate his children,
nor train up his sons for holy orders, without express leave
from his overlord ; he would have little protection from his
seigneur's jurisdiction, however unjust, and he would be unable
to sign contracts, to bequeath his land by will, to sell, give
or in any way alienate his property, which strictly speaking
would not be his own, but completely in the possession and
under the control of his feudal superior.

To realize the usual combination of these services and
disabilities, and to estimate their real effect, it is best to
examine a series of servile reconnaissances of the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries, which set forth the duties of certain
serfs, and are probably typical of the general state of affairs
at that time.

On October 24, 1322, a grant of servile land was made on
the following conditions.^ (i) The new tenant was to hold
as a serf ' a homenest questal, a questa, a talha, et a merce ',
and to promise loyalty and obedience as a serf should be

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, viii. 93 (Arch, de M. le Baron de Bouy a
Vayres).

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 91

obedient to his lord. (2) He was not to leave the land, but
' tendra fue byu (feu vivant) et rezidenssa de son cors '.
(3) The land was to be kept intact, to be thoroughly cultivated,
and not to be alienated nor diminished in any manner. (4) He
promised not to leave his holding, nor to seek a new lord, nor
to obtain freedom by residence in a chartered town, nor in
any other way. (5) Should he break these promises and
flee the land, the lord could bring him back wherever he
might be.

In 1371 still more severe conditions were imposed upon a
questal at Izon.^ He is as usual ' a questa a talha a merce ' of
his seigneur ; he renounces the right to seek any other lord, to
change his house without licence, or to profit by the advantages
of town, bastide, or castle. His lord can arrest him wherever
he may be, can forbid him to appeal to any court, can seize
his goods, imprison him where he will, and keep him there
as long as he likes without appeal ; he can demand any money
he wishes from him, and seize his person in default of payment.
The serf takes an oath to observe these conditions, on his
knees with bare head, and promises in addition not to send
his children to school, nor allow them to enter any rehgious
order, and not to marry his daughter without leave.

Similar clauses reappear in a recognition of the same date
made by a serf to the Seigneur of Vayres. Here special stress
is laid on the fact that the tenant must always be ready to
obey the lord's summons to work. He promises that he will
perform ' all the labour services, that he will guard his lord's
person night and day, and do all other duties, subjections, and
submissions, which an homme questal ought to do to the lord
of his land ... at any time at the request and summons of
the said lord baron '.^ In August 1304 we find the same thing
repeated almost word for word.^

These documents show that the condition of serfs was more
strictly defined in the fourteenth century than in the twelfth
and thirteenth ; but they also indicate, by the anxiety of

' Arch. d'Anglades — Leo Drouyn, ' Izon ' — in Actes de I'Academie de
Bordeaux, vol. xxxvii.

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, viii. io6, No. 28.

* Ibid. i. 70, No. 34 (Arch, de la Mairie de Bordeaux).

92 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. v

the lords to have a written declaration of their rights, that
there was a tendency to shake off their authority ; and by
allusion to chartered towns and ordination we learn the usual
means adopted to attain this end.

We gather then, that an homme questal was subject to
arbitrary exactions of all sorts, unable to escape from them
by seeking new settlements, and forced to submit to his lord's
control in the management of his own family, and in the
cultivation of his land, and debarred from judicial privileges
and rights of appeal which might have been some sort of
protection for him. By far the most constant disability,
however, was the obligation of paying quite at the will of the
lord.^ Labour services were also arbitrary sometimes, as in
the recognition to the Seigneur of Vayres quoted above, and
in 1384 a tenant promises ' labours and services at any hour
when the lord shall summon him '.^ To be absolutely ' cor-
veable a merci ' was not, however, universal ; often the amount
of labour services was fixed, only the time and nature of them
were subject to the lord's will. For example, in 1349 certain
questales of St.-Seurin were bound ' facere tam capitulo quam
singularibus canonicis annis singulis in perpetuum trecentas
manoperas dumtaxat dividendas et ordinandas. Et est
sciendum quod dictas rrianoperas facient et facere tenebuntur
cum bobus, asinis, et aliis animalibus, quilibet quae habebit,
et caeteri qui non habebunt facient manoperas prout erit
rationis, videlicet cum corporibus si alias facere non poterunt
dolo et fraude cessantibus, sumptibus victus dicti capituli
memorati, et non tenebuntujr praedicti homines a casu infor-
tunato seu inopinabih nisi dolo, fraude, et lata culpa dum-
taxat '.^

These men may have been somewhat privileged, since they
had been trying, though in vain, to prove that they were not
questales at all.

That a serf had no judicial privileges meant rather that he
was not able to act himself as assessor in a local court than
that he had no trial granted him ; or it may have expressed
his exclusion from royal courts. This was a general rule ;

* G. 524, f. 38''. " Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, i. 72. ^ G. 11 17.

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 93

a serf was only brought before his lord's court, where the lord
or bailiff as president would probably impose his own will
unchecked. ' Jean Milan dwelling in the parish of St.-Seurin-
de-la-Marque in Medoc . . . confesses that he is homme questal
. . . and that he cannot be in judgement, nor do anything
without leave, nor make any contracts without authority,
leave or licence,' ^

Again in 1349, i^i the case of Simon Vert and his claims to
freedom, it was stated on his behalf, that whereas it was the
usual custom ' quod questalis sive servus non potest stare
in judicio sine domini sui licencia ', Simon 'potest stare in
judicio, sive in agendo, sive in deffendendo, non petita licencia '.^
The exact extent of judicial disabilities varied from place to
place apparently : no definite rule is laid down by the Customs
of Bordeaux. To some extent they would depend on the
judicial powers exercised by their immediate lords. There
was a general understanding that serfs were to be protected
in life and limb ; but when their lord, as was so often the case,
exercised rights of high, middle, and low justice, there was
little possibility of escape from him. Low justice covered
only the civil powers of an ordinary manorial court, but
middle justice allowed the infliction of penalties of mutilation,
and high justice included power over life and death, and in
fact, complete criminal jurisdiction.^ According to the strict
theory a serf could not appeal to a higher court, and in the
lord's court could not act as witness, claimant, or defendant
without permission.

As to the inability of hommes questaux to make contracts and
dispose of their property, we read that the above-mentioned
Jean Milan and his heirs, when granted freedom, were given
power ' to act and dispose, according to their own wills, of
their persons, their land and goods, in life and in death ;
and to make wills and bear witness, form marriage alliances,

* E. 38. " G. 1 1 16.

* Revue de Gascogne, i. 30. It will be remembered that both arch-
bishop and chapter had been given rights of high and low justice in their
sauvetis and elsewhere. In 1484 the chapter claimed to have high justice
in Cadillac, asserting in proof that thirty years before it had caused a
woman to be burnt and a man to be hanged (G. 482).

94 SAINT-ANDRfi OF BORDEAUX [ch. v

buy, sell, and make any other contracts in any manner, as
free men can do.' ^ This shows that such powers were not
allowed in a state of serfdom.

Similarly in an enfranchisement of two serfs in 1425,
they were allowed ' to use, direct, and exercise all actions, all
businesses, all civil and criminal affairs, to buy, sell, alienate,
give, bear witness, and make all other manner of contracts as
free and enfranchised persons '.^ The ' bearing of witness ' in
these two last illustrations is only another form of saying,
that in their previous state they were unable to take part in
justice : their oath would have been of insufficient value for
a witness, their importance too slight to enable them to act
as doomsmen, their subjection to the lord too great to admit
them as appellants.

On the subject of the limitations of the rights of serfs over
their holdings, we learn from a compromise between the
chapter of St.-Seurin and the inhabitants of Cauderan in
1349, that ' dicti homines (called earlier questales) non possint
vendere hospicia, tenementa, terras, possessiones que tenent,
neque ea diminuere sine licencia capituli ; quod aliquis de
parenthela dictorum hominum nee aliqiii alii preffatis homini-
bus seu eorum bonis non succedant, nee ad dividendum
dicta bona admittantur, nisi in dicta terra permaneant
et ibidem residenciam faciant personalem prout defuncti
faciebant, nisi hoc processerit de licencia capituli memorati '.^
Not only must they not sell, alienate, nor diminish in any way,
but the lord could decide on the nature of their crops, and
the method of their cultivation, and would not let them take
up and work new land on their own responsibility. In a later
dispute between the same men and the chapter, the usual
custom as to this is shown, when, in defence of their freedom
it was said that they could plough and work their land without
asking licence from any one ; but in deciding that they were
questaux ' that none of the said men could plough or bring
under cultivation any land, wood, moor, or any other waste ',
but that if they wished to do so, they must request leave

1 E. 38. ^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xviii. 376, No. 241.

3 G. II 16.

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 95

from the chapter.^ This shows fairly clearly that they were
not allowed to form ideas of their holdings as private property,
and even the stock on the land was scarcely their own. Perhaps
the seizure of beasts from the serf was rather an abuse of power
than an actual right possessed by the lord ; but he certainly
exercised it with impunity, and that it was looked upon as
a legal act is imphed in the Customs of Meilhan (fourteenth
century) where it says : ' the seigneur may not take beasts
from any inhabitant of the town, unless he should be his
homme questal.' ^

Not only was the condition of serfdom burdened by all
these disabilities, but legally it was extremely difficult to rise
from it : and, as in some of the instances quoted (p. 91),
a definite promise was frequently exacted that no attempt
should be made in this direction. In 1384 a serf at Izon not
only renounced all rights, privileges, and ways of getting free,
but especially the law which said that there was no harm in
any act of a man contesting his serfdom.^ In many charters
granted to bastides, serfs of the lords of those bastides were
often expressly excluded.*

To sum up shortly, the typical homme questal appears to
have been a dependant fixed to the soil, completely under the
control of his lord, and, above all, liable to arbitrary exactions
rather than fixed payments.^

' G. 1116. * Arch. dept. des Basses-P3rr6nees, E. 190.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, i. 73.

* Roles Gascons, vol. ii, 17 Ed. I : 'Mandamus ut homines questales
prelatorum, baronum, militum et nobilium, contra eorum voluntatem in
bastidis nostris factis vel faciendis vel locis seu proprietatibus nostris non
recipiatis nee retineatis.'

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxiv. 341 : (1275) ' They confess themselves
to be homes Itges et questaus of the Lord Prior and the Brethren of the
Hospital of St. James, by reason of the house, lands, vines, possessions,
and pasture lands which they hold from the said lords ; and have promised
to reside there continually and to pay to the said lords the quStes, failles,
dues, and services as homes liges et questaus ought to do.'

E. 744: (Terrier de Cartes, 1384) 'They recognize themselves to be
homes questaus by quetes, tallies, labour services, driving flocks (biantz
greytz), and other servile duties as an home qiiestau ought and is bound
to do — and to be in permanent residence with lighted fire ' (tendran feu
vif residencia).

G. 2681 : (May 25, 1422) a sale of two men — Fey Doat and Arnaud Doat
of the parish of La Tresne, serfs owing arbitrary quite and taille for their
bodies, their houses, lands, vines, and other inheritances, and goods and

96 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. v

Serfdom, however, despite its disabilities, brought with it
many advantages, in the shape of protection and support.
The lord was responsible for the fines of his serf, he might be
called upon to pay his debts, and it was to his interest to see
that his rural tenants were in good material condition. The
dues of serfs when fixed were generally lower than those of
free men,^ their land was practically hereditary, divided as a
matter of course amongst the male children,^ and no esporle was
due as from free tenants. Above all, the theory of serfdom was

chattels movable and immovable . . . and the said Pey and Arnaud agree
and promise that they will pay all the quetes, tallies, aids, labours, and
services to which the said A. Germon and his heirs hold them bound
without any contradiction . . . and if they leave the said houses and property
of the said qnestalit6, A. Germon can take them in any place outside
sanctuary and take them wherever it may please him and he may think
good to do, without asking will or licence of any lord or judge.' [Pey et
Arnaud Doat de la parropia de la Trena homes questaus a questa talha
et merce per lurs cors e per las maysons terras vinhas et autres heritatz
et bens et causas moblas et non moblas . . . et lodeitz Pey et Arnaud
combent et promes que edz lo pagueran totas las questas talhas ajudas
manobras et servitutz en que lodeit A. Germon et sons hers los questeran
et talheran sens tota contradiction . . . et si eds se parten de las maysons et
estatges de la delta questalitat A. Germon las pusqua prendre en totz Iocs
foras de segrat et menar aqui ou a luy playra et sera vist fazador, sens
demandar licencia ni voluntat a nulh senhor ni jutge.]

Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, i. 66 : (May 1 372) Method of investing a serf : —
he confesses publicly by word of mouth as a serf, and asserts that having
no franchise nor liberty he is home qiiestau at taille and mercy with all
servitude and subjection . . . and that he and his heirs in the same manner
are servile men and women (homes et homnas questaus) at taille and mercy
of the noble gentleman Monsieur Arnaud d'Angladas knight, of the parish
of Izon, . . . and of the powerful lord baron Monsieur Bernard d'Albret,
Seigneur of Vayres, &c.

* There are frequent instances of promises being exacted from holders
of censives not to let them fall into servile hands, since the lord would
thereby lose. In 1375 a censitaire promised not to let his land come into
mortmain, &c. : ' ni en man de home questau, ni que home questau
pusca succedar ni heretar, ni far deguna antra causa per que los ditz
senhors . . . ne paguossan perdre lurs vendas ni lurs senhorias ' (Terrier
de Ste. -Croix).

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xix. 28. In 1423 a questal belonging to
Ste.-Croix-de-Bordeaux having left only two daughters the land reverted
to the lord : ' per so que eren fempnas.' But females do not seem to have
been always excluded. Many questaux held ' selon los fors et costumas
de Bordeaux ' (Livre des Coutumes, No. 3, art. 130), according to which no
daughter of a serf could be married outside the seignory without the
lord's leave ; but if she married another servile tenant of her own lord,
a portion of the questal land might be bestowed as a dowry. The land
was to be divided amongst the family as long as there were relations left
to inherit, but excluding any daughters who had married outside the
quete ; and the soil was to revert to the lord on failure of heirs.

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 97

something very different from the practice, the class was very-
wide and very various, and there were many so-called questaux
who were in a far better position than the study of servile
reconnaissances would lead one to expect. For example,
legally a serf had no power of making a will. In the Customs
of Pouy Carrejelart, however, it was only the goods of those
questaux who died heirless and intestate which could be
divided according to the will of the lord and the consuls of
the town.^ The lord was not even given full power over the
persoi^al property of his serfs.

In theory, again, serfs could not sell, could not alienate,
could not make contracts. But in reality they are found
receiving legacies over which they may exercise considerable
powers, and which they can sell if they wish, although for this
the lord's licence is sometimes required.^ Thus in 1377 some
serfs belonging to B. d'Albret received house and lands from
an uncle who was a priest, and sold it again on the presentation
of a guarantee from the lord that their questalite should not
invalidate the transaction in any way.^

A serf, according to theory, could not give evidence ; but
in 1340 an homme questal is mentioned as present at the
livery of a censive, presumably to give evidence as to the
validity of the grant should it ever be called in question.'*

The legal idea also was that a serf was completely under his
lord's jurisdiction and could not appeal against him ; yet we
find a dispute between the Abbot of Ste.-Croix and certain of his
homines questales coming before the royal officials, and the king's
flag placed above the servile houses in sign of his protection.^

The rules about serfs in regard to justice, were perhaps,
of all their disabilities, the least clearly defined, and the

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, vol. xvii, No. i, art. 20 : (Coutumes
de Pouy Carrejelart, 1303) ' Algus homes questals . . . al poder dels dits
senhors . . . mors series heret, e sses tornar, e ses testament, tots los bes del
mort que seren portats a I'eastet ne en poder des senhors que seren foras de
las terras questals . . . e fossen partits a coneguda dels senhors edel cosselh.'

'' Ibid., vol. xxvi. No. 3 : (1367) Bequest by an homme questal with his
lord's leave of all his lands to a free man. ' G. 7^.

* Arch. dept. des Basses- Pyrenees, E. 176: (Langoiran, 1340) ' Guilhem
... a deit balhat livrat en feu feuaument . . . present Peys de la Maderas
son home questau ... a Arnauda deu Pin.'

'* Gascon Rolls, 13 Rich. II, m. 10.

(PART V) ST. -A. H

98 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. v

least rigidly observed in practice. There was considerable
chaos of jurisdictions in the Bordelais, as elsewhere, in the
Middle Ages. Besides the seignorial courts, both lay and
ecclesiastical (the latter with full powers over their tenants
in secular as well as spiritual matters), the Mayor and Jurats
of Bordeaux exercised rights of justice in the town and the
banlieue, and the royal officials could hear appeals, as repre-
sentatives of the king, in the Cour de Gascogne. After 1360,
when Guyenne came to the English king in full sovereignty,
a Cour Superieure was introduced, which was above the
Court of Gascony and exercised powers similar to those of
the Parlement of Paris.^ Whatever the lords or the servile
reconnaissances might assert to the contrary, the questaux are
frequently found pleading before one or all of these upper
courts. In many cases, no doubt, they were claiming to be
free and could thus excuse their action, but rules must have
been lightly interpreted or fairly easy to evade. In 1391
certain questaux were defending themselves against the claims
of the Abbey of Ste.-Croix and a knight, Bertrand de Caillon.
They first pleaded before the mayor and jurats of Bordeaux
and won their point ; but the case was then carried to John
of Gaunt, who reversed this decision, whereupon the serfs
appealed to the king himself and a special tribunal was
appointed to arbitrate on the point.^ In 1347 in a dispute
between the chapter of St.-Seurin and certain serfs, in the
banlieue of Bordeaux, though the chapter was allowed all
civil jurisdiction, the mayor and jurats were given authority
over burgesses and questaux in criminal matters or in any
case in which the fine exceeded 655., except in the actual
sauvete of the chapter.^ If the questaux were on royal lands
their appeals could naturally go to royal courts, and often this
privilege was retained even when the king alienated his royal
demesne,* though efforts were constantly made to stop it.

' Brissaud, Les Anglais en Guyenne, pp. 45-8. Livre des Bouillons
(Arch. Mun. de Bordeaux, vol. ii) for rights of the fouade. Brives-Cazes,
Origines du Parlement de Bordeaux (Actes de I'Academie de Bordeaux,
xlv). ^ Brissaud, Les Anglais en Guyenne, p. 60.

' Livre des Bouillons, p. 424 sq.

' Brequigny, Collection of Documents, vol. xvii, f. 7. Gascon Rolls,
<) Ed. II, m. 17 ; 15 Ed. II, m. 5.

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 99

In 1394 a special promise was exacted from the Duke of
Lancaster that he would not grant letters of safe-conduct
which enabled serfs to bring their lords to trial before royal
judges.^ Ordinary trials would naturally have been conducted
in seignorial courts and according to ordinary rules, although
the vagueness as to the position of the serfs must have led,
as in England, to a very uncertain line of division between
their status in these courts and that of the simple freeman.
Cases, however, especially concerning serfs, of which record
has been kept, were almost entirely disputed claims to freedom.
Such cases were frequently heard before the Seneschal of
Gascony,- or else before special courts of arbitration chosen
for the purpose.

The great frequency of these disputes as to status between
lords and tenants shows how very indefinite all rules as to
servile condition must have been. Often the serfs showed
a wonderful amount of boldness and independence in asserting
their claims, although the result nearly always seems to have
been a decision in favour of their questalite. Occasionally,
however, the trial might lead to a greater certainty as to dues
and services or even to the attainment of a few privileges and
exemptions, and in a very few instances the tenant won his
case.^ It is no wonder that much uncertainty existed, for
some of the lesser freemen were scarcely distinguished from
serfs. They were almost as frequently bound to labour
services ; they were often tied to the soil, promising personal
residence and hable to be brought back by force in case of
escape ; or they could only leave with difficulty on making
extremely heavy payment to their lord.*

• Livre des Bouillons, p. 73.

' Arch. Hist, de laGironde, vi. 38: ( 1318) Transaction between Marg^ of
Gironde and men of Ste.-Helene and Listrac. ^ G. 11 17 (p. 430).

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, x.xv. 488 : ' Reconnaissance feodale des
habitants de Salles et de Mios.' They do castle-guard and cut and carry
v.ood ; if they neglect services they can be compelled to perform them.
Ibid. xvii. 146 : ' Sentence entre le Seigneur de Montferrand et les habitants
tie Veyrines 1356.' The men were to do six days' labour sers-ice a year,
to carry corn and barrels, and to reside permanently, and if they left
could be forced to return. Ibid. i. 6 : (1326) Freedom granted on con-
dition of continued residence ; if the freed man goes to a fresh seignory
he must pay the lord ;iioo and payment may be enforced by seizure of

100 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. v

Despite these complications the general rule holds good.
The most distinguishing feature of the homme questal is his
quete, and this is, in the majority of cases, arbitrary. The
most distinguishing feature of the simple free man is his regular
cens and fixed esporle on change of seigneur. The typical
free man, not one merely on the border line, would be free to
use his land as he wished, to alienate freely, making contracts,
wills, and marriages without licence, and to seek other lords
and other lands if desirous to do so ; none of which things
would be possible for the typical serf.

The most striking feature concerning serfdom on the estates
of the archbishop is its apparent rarity. Even in early days
the hommes questaux were few as compared with the censitaires,
and the commutation of services and fixing of payments began
from the first. The instances which do occur seem completely
to support the ordinary view of questal services and disabilities.
The cartulary of St.-Andre furnishes some good instances of
the use of the term homme lige to signify serf, and its early
connexion with quete. In 1226 we read that ' homines ligios
et questales et filios suos qui tunc extabant ' were given to
the chapter of St.-Andre, without whose consent they were
not to leave the land, and who ' faciant alia que faciunt alii
homines nostri questales de Legia '. There is no doubt that
their quete was arbitrary, in its origin at least. At the same
date, certain men in Blanquefort are said to owe five shillings
of cens and a hen every other year, and ' questam pro volun-
tate capituli * ; ^ and later at Bouliac ' questam sicut nobis
placuerit '.^

The places round Bordeaux where the hommes questaux
seem to have existed in greatest numbers were Lege, Blanque-
fort, Carignan, Caucenes, Floirac, Pessac, and Cadaujac. The
men of Lege are frequently cited, as above, in a way which
makes them appear as typical villeins ; but beyond speaking
of them as tallaged at the will of the canons, the cartulary

land and goods. Arch. dept. des Basses-Pjrrdnees, E. 200 : ( 1 29 1 ) Freedom
granted to certain men ' de tot ligame e de tota servitut d'omenest'.
They are only to pay cens and esporle ' e totz devers . . . quen tengut de
far aissi coma personas franquas feuateiras . . . e fues tener vins audeit
senhor '. Cart, de St.-Andre, f. 59. ^ Ibid., f. 83.

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) loi

throws little light on their actual services.^ That they did
labour services, however, is obvious, since in ending a great
dispute as to status it was decided that the tenant was to do
all the services done by the ' questales of Legia ', with the
exception of angaria, a corvee with a horse. In the fourteenth
century a servile reconnaissance to the chapter, by certain
men of Blanquefort, shows the usual conditions still prevailing.
They avow themselves to be bound to arbitrary quite, to labour
services with oxen, or with their own bodies, and to be tied
to the soil ; the chapter may drag them back if they ever
leave without permission.^

Most of these examples imply that the questalite was both
personal and territorial, body and goods alike were servile.
The usual formula is ' hommes questaus, taillables a mercy
dudit Seigneur en biens et personnes ' ; ^ or ' homines questales
et talliabiles in corporibus et bonis ad voluntatem ', &c.*
Occasionally, however, the special connexion of quete with the
questave is more clearly put. One of the tenants of the chapter,
in the thirteenth century, is expressly told that he need not
pay ' questam vel talliam ' for his tenement, but only the rent
of two shillings, ' nisi ei terra accreverit que questam dare
solita fuerit ' ; ^ and in 1367 the archbishop's accounts speak
of a house in Lormont, ' quod maynile est questale.' ^

As early as the thirteenth century the serfdom on the lands
of St.-Andre began to change its character. It was not a very
progressive tenure, and not one suited to so prosperous an
estate. Quite long continued, at least in name, but little by
little lost its arbitrary characteristic, and tended to become
a fixed sum. At Bouliac, in 1225, a house and garden was
let at cens and esporle, and five shillings dequesta ; a tenement
at Melac also rendered the same sum in addition to the rent.'
At Floirac rent in kind and arbitrary quite were together
commuted to an annual cens of thirty shillings.^ In 1252 the
inhabitants of Cadaujac and a few neighbouring places, serfs
of the chapter of St.-Andr6, paid 100 marks down for their

' Ibid., f. g''. '■' G. 524 (Blanquefort, 1349)-

' G. 524, f. 38 (Blanquefort, 1347). ' G. 316, f. 38 (Teich, 1360).

' Cart, de St.-Andre, f. 73. * Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 81.

' Cart, de St.-Andre, f[. jj and 77"- ' Ihid., i. 83.

102 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. V

freedom, and had their quete, formerly a volonte, fixed at i,ooo
sous a year.^

Sometimes the quete was changed into cens, and the questal
became a free censitaire, but in other cases where no actual
enfranchisement seems to have been contemplated, the fixed
quite differs so little from cens that the free and the unfree
become very indistinguishable. Some of the conditions of
tenure were, in any case, extremely similar. As we have seen,
it is quite common for a small freeholder to promise to keep
feu vif. The difference is but slight between this promise
once made, and the obligation of the serf to remain on the
soil without special licence to go elsewhere. The provision
of food to the lord on certain occasions was another condition
which could be equally laid on serf or freeman, and it is
not easy to say what actually constituted the difference
between ' mingar questau ' and ' mingar censau '.^

Despite commutations and enfranchisements, St. -Andre
still possessed serfs in the fourteenth century ; sometimes
still bound to arbitrary payments and services, sometimes
owing fixed sums and working only on boon-days. In 1346
men were given to the chapter, who promised to be ' obedientes
et questales ', and who paid in tallage about ^^12.^ In 1361
the archbishop's procureur went to St. -Laurent in Medoc, to
collect tallage from ' quosdam homines questales '.* In 1375
the daughter of an homme questal formally declared that she
was bound to the chapter for any quetes or any labour which
they chose to impose upon her.^ Still, on the whole, this
class is mentioned surprisingly little amongst the tenants of
archbishop and chapter : the fixing of dues went on more and
more, and labour services were far less common than fixed
rents in money and part fruits.

1 G. 415, &c., &'c.

* This food-rent is most common at Ambar^s, where it could be paid
by free or serf (see chapter iv). G. 524, f. 98 : (1365) ' 6s. 6d. de cens,
de queste, et demy mingar'. F. 100 : (1389) ' 14s. de cens et de queste,
et sa part d'ung mingar questau '. F. 103 : ' sa part d'ung mingar de
cens.' . » G. 316, f. 38^, &c.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 681.

* G. 524, f. 352^: (Reconnaissance de Marie du Tastas, 1375) 'Que
Gme Tastas son pere estoit perpetuellement home questal a taille, a queste
et a merci, de son corps, et de tons ses biens dudit chapitre ; et a promis

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 103

A comparison between the thirteenth-century cartulary and
the fifteenth-century terrier gives a very strong impression
that serfdom is rapidly disappearing. At Blanquefort, where
there had been so much serfdom in earlier centuries no quite
is mentioned at all in the terrier : there are a few vine labourers
who are bound not to quit their lands without licence, but
these are probably free. At Lege, several inhabitants were
paying cens in the fifteenth century, but they still promised
personal residence and good labour, and to renounce all
privileges of burgage tenure, of taking the cross, of privileged
jurisdictions and so on.^ At Cadaujac nothing is noted but
rent-paying land, and this continues all through the rest of
the terrier. Amongst the list of the archbishop's tenants in
1400 also, only one allusion is made to quite, when a fixed
sum is received from all the goods in a parish, which used to
be questal. This latter, however, only purports to be a record
of censitaires, and does not therefore preclude the existence
of qiiestaux. It does show, however, the great number and
importance of the rent-paying tenants, and labour dues are
certainly of little account. This is proved by the constant
expenses incurred for hired labour on the demesne land, as
testified by the accounts of the procureurs. Here and there
signs of serfdom linger on, and in the sixteenth century there
are still questaux belonging to the chapter who are only just
acquiring freedom and the fixing of their quite. In 1520 there
is an interesting case at Vertheuil, where the tenant is declared
to be free and exempt from questalite, but still promises to
go on with his labour services and old dues. It is only fair
to remark, however, that he only seems to have owed boon-
days, such as many a freeman could do, without any idea
of servitude. -

la dite Marie a lauthorite que dessus, de paier et rendre chascun an audit
chapitre les questas, tallies, et manoeuvres que ledit chapitre luy voudra
iinposer, a son loyal pouvoir.' ' Ibid., fif. 83, 84.

* G. 524, f. 411 : (1520) Transaction between the chapter and a
parishioner of St.-Est^phe-de-Calon in Medoc. . . . ' homme questal tant
k cause de sa personne que de ses maisons, vignes, terres, pres, bois et autres
possessions, par laquelle est accorde que ledit A. Eymeric demeurera
exempt de ladite questalite, et que au lieu de tallies, questalite et autres
debvoirs qu'il deboit faire audit chapitre, a cause de la seigneurie de

104 SAINT-ANDRE OF BORDEAUX [ch. v

The accounts of the archbishop, all through the fourteenth
century, have only the very scantiest notices of hommes
questaux, and show that nearly all dues were paid in money.
The meals at Ambares, for example, are still noted year by
year, and always according to their money value, and there
is no word as to their having any questal character. The
procureur once or twice speaks of going to seek the quite that
was due, and in 1354 he receives a pig from Naudon, an homme
questal. Naudon never appears again, so that one is tempted
to ask whether this pig was something like the heriot which
we find in England — the best beast-which the lord might take
on the death of one of his villeins. Most interesting, however,
are the notices which occur from time to time of Arnaud
Constantin, an homme questal of Lormont. This description
is added to his name on several occasions, and his quite is
described as consisting of an annual pipe of wine, for which
the procureur himself sends when the time is due. This is the
only questal payment which Arnaud seems to owe, and in
every respect the accounts show him to be a prosperous and
well-to-do tenant, who holds most, at least, of his possessions
in return for a money cens. In 1354 he paid 145. 6d. as rent
for his tenements in Lormont, and gave twelve gold florins
for the hay of the archbishop's meadow in the same place.
The next year he had committed some offence against the
reeve, which was atoned for by a fine paid in wine : the same
in amount as that taken from him for quite. In 1357 he
again paid money for the meadow. This he apparently
farmed, paying a fixed sum for it to the archbishop ; a little
less this year than usual, on account of English devasta-
tions. A little later we find that he had as many as seven
different rent-paying tenements in Lormont, feuda they were
called. Two of these included houses, the others were only

Vertheuil, il paiera audit chapitre, a perpetuite, une barrique de viii, bon et
marchand, pur et net, le fust neuf . . . et fera au mandement du dit Chapitre
chescun an deux manoeuvres, I'une a boeuf et I'autre a corps ; et paiera
tons autres cens, agridres, rentes, ventes et droits de seigneurie qu'il leur
a accoustume de paier chescun an pour raison de ses biens.' G. 427 :
28 questaux of St.-Corbian in the same seignory petitioned to be en-
franchised, and promised to pay a barrel of wine annually to be carried to
the castle of Vertheuil.

CH. v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 105

pieces of land and for all of them he paid in money. His
questal property was evidently separate, and this is a good
example of the way in which the land might be servile rather
than the person. It was a maynile questale at Terssan in the
parish of Lormont. There were various other tenants of the
archbishop bearing the same family name, none of whom had
any sign of qiiestalite about them, but paid ordinary rent like
the other censitaires. Whether Arnaud died in 1367, or what
exactly happened, we do not know, but in that year his servile
property was let out by the procureur on a nine years' lease to
two parishioners of Lormont, who paid fifty shillings annually
in return for the same, and were in no way subjected to any
servile conditions. After a break we once more hear of
Arnaud Constantin, though very probably this was a son, and
not the original tenant. In any case the term questal is no
longer applied to this Arnaud, and we hear no more of the
pipe of wine. Some wine he did pay, and in 1389 a barrel
was carried to his house apparently to receive it, but this was
for the tithe of his vines at Audeyole. Also this new Arnaud
was a much more extensive proprietor than the old one.
In 1400 he is called a parishioner of Puy Paulin in Bordeaux,
and the cens which he owed for lands and vineyards and
orchards near the town amounted to as much as fifty-seven
shilhngs and tenpence. This Httle history, even should it be
that of a father and son, shows how a serf could grow in power
and importance, and add free land to his servile holding, until
in the end he might cast off his questave and appear himself
as a freeholder to all intents and purposes. The St. -Andre
documents show that it is quite a usual thing for a serf to
have also some land at money rent as did Arnaud Constantin,^
and this must often have caused an uncertainty as to his
status. In other places very good examples of this occur,

' G. 415 : Some questalcs, belonging to the chapter of St. -Andre, are
granted ' en feu feuaument . . . tot lo remanen de I'avantdeyta palee de
Cadaujac ... so es a saver queeds andat cada sadon per dotze deners de
cens rendutz an per an . . . et vint sos d'esporle '. G. 309 : (141 1) A priest
of St.- Andre ' assensat a Arnaude de Pradias home questau a questa
a talha et a merce . . . tota la deyma de Beautiran '. Brit. Mus. Cotton
MSS., Julius E. I, f. no : ' Homines questales . . . pro terris que tenent
dc censu . . . vi den. et vi den. de sporla et ii capones.'

io6 SAINT-ANDRE OF BORDEAUX [ch. v

Monsieur Drouyn points out that there may have been actual
advantages in the position of the questaux, which prevented
men from buying their freedom, when they had every oppor-
tunity of doing so. He cites in illustration of this, the case
of a serf at Izon (1371) who held, besides his questave, a great
deal of land in the most fertile part of Izon for various cens,
rents, and payments in kind ; his son was a cure, and therefore
free, and yet he himself seemed quite content to remain as
he was, without seeking a charter of enfranchisement.^

The general conclusion as to hommes questaux on the estates
of St.-Andre is, that they were never very numerous, that
their arbitrary dues began early to be fixed, and their uncer-
tain labour services commuted for money ; and that although
questal conditions did not wholly disappear during the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries, both archbishop and chapter let
out far more of their property at cens and agrieres than in any
other way, and payments in money or kind rapidly became
universal.

The reasons for this state of things are probably to be found
in the nature of the soil and the rather peculiar character of
its cultivation. Labour services were not very necessary on
an estate where the private demesne was not very extensive
in proportion to the size of the whole, and where corn, wine,
and food of various kinds were so largely provided by ecclesi-
astical dues (see chapter vi). Land, also, was so much
subdivided, that money was far easier to collect than the odd
days of labour and scraps of food, which each little holding
might be bound to provide. But above all it was on account
of the widespread cultivation of the vine, and of the early
development of trade. The estate was not necessarily self-
sufficing. Wine was produced more than any other com-
modity, and other things procured by exchange or purchase.
Money was needed to obtain the necessaries of life, to say
nothing of the luxuries, which were far from being despised
in the rich archiepiscopal establishment. It was the fact
that the archbishop was a great trader as well as a great
landholder, that his property was turned to account for
^ Leo Drouyn, ' Izon ' (Actes de TAcademie de Bordeaux, xxxvii. 147).

CH.v] LANDHOLDING AND LANDHOLDERS (ii) 107

commercial purposes, and provided exports for foreign
countries as well as food for home consumption, which really
affected the character of tenants and tenures. Rent-paying
tenants and wage-paid labourers were more suited than
servile cultivators to an estate, which was managed on
economic and productive principles, and which was cultivated
with an eye to foreign demand, not merely for the needs of
the actual inhabitants.

CHAPTER VI

REVENUES AND DUES

The income of a great ecclesiastical seigneur was not
dependent only on the rent of his lands, nor were his needs
bounded by the goods which his private demesne supplied.
A large amount of his revenue consisted of payments rendered
to him in his spiritual capacity, which he received in addition
to all the ordinary dues of a great lay landlord. The rest
of his income may be subdivided into : (i) territorial revenue,
which came to him from the land and was paid in virtue of
his temporal estate. (2) Seignorial revenue, which was paid
to him in return for those duties and responsibilities which
were inseparable from the position of a feudal overlord.^

To treat first of the ecclesiastical revenue of St. -Andre,
Both archbishop and chapter were possessors of immense
quantities of tithes, owed to them not only by tenants, but
by all dwellers in the diocese. These tithes, in their origin
always payments in kind, might be a portion of the produce
of the soil, chiefly corn and wine ; or might be a certain number
of beasts from the flocks, or a proportionate supply of eggs,
milk, cheese, or other rural produce. The great tithe was for
important crops, corn, and wines ; the little tithe of smaller
produce, such as vegetables, &c."" Constantly tithe is entered
with the rent, almost as if a condition of tenure. A portion
of the produce, and ' deyma talhada deu fruyt ', is a constant
entry for vineyards, especially for those in the Graves of Bor-
deaux and the neighbouring country.^

These tithes, when still paid in kind, were apparently

^ The actual rents or purely economic payments from the land have
been described in chapter iv, in connexion with the censives.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, vii. 432 : (1409) The parishioners of Cadaujac
pay ' decimam ortalicorum, porcellorum, pisarium, fabarum et aliorum
minutorum '.

^ G. 94, passim ; vassals of archbishop at Lormont ; terrier of St. -Andre,
passim (see note 2 on p. 69).

CH. VI] REVENUES AND DUES 109

collected by the officials of the archbishop or chapter. The
accounts of the former contain details of expense for this work
at Ambares and Lormont as late as 1388.1 The usual arrange-
ment for tithes, however, was to commute them for money,
or, a very frequent custom on this estate, to subinfeudate
them in return for a fixed sum. The accounts of the arch-
bishop enter quite as long a list of cens paid for tithes as for
land. Each year there is a section devoted to ' summe
recepte ex censibus decimarum que tenentur in feodum a
domino Archiepiscopo '. The actual tithes themselves were
often very much subdivided. Not only do we find sums of
money paid * pro censu decimarum ', and ' censu decime ',
but ' pro censu partis decime ' ; and even ' pro censu quarte
partis alterius quarte partis decime de Marsans, 6d.' - Some-
times the tithes of a whole place were farmed out. In 1392,
for example, the tithes of Ludon, consisting chiefly of corn
and wine, were rented by the chapter to a burgess of Bordeaux
for 76 guianes ^ (each giiiane amounted to 255.) ; and in 1409
those of Bouliac for 100 francs a year.* The same man very
often found both tithes and the rents in kind from the same
place, and paid one sum ' pro firma seu assensa decimarum et
agreriarum '.^ Occasionally the archbishop did not farm the
profits, but sent his collectors to answer for the whole :
' assensa de Solaco remanet super dominum nostrum archi-
cpiscopum, qui suos ibidem tenet collectores qui de exitibus
et proventibus exindc provcnientibus tenentur respondere.' ®
This, however, was both troublesome and expensive, and the
other plan became increasingly general. In the accounts of
the archbishopric in 1459 the total sum for farming of tithes
and agrieres amounted to £'^75 i5-^- ; the cens of tithes to
£1^ 12s. i\d. : none were apparently collected in kind.''

A dispute concerning tithes in Ambares shows how the

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 424.

* Ibid. xxi. 572. ^ G. 431.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, vii. 434. A franc was probably French
money. A franc of gold in 1360 equalled a livrc touinois, in 1437 £1 los.
of the same money (Avenel, i. 482). The terrier of St.-Andre in the
fifteenth century (f. 220^) reckons a franc as 25s. bordclais.

" Ibid. xxi. 113: Accounts, 1342-3.

' Ibid. xxi. 112: Accounts, 1342-3. ' G. 240, f. 467.

Jio SAINT-ANDRE OF BORDEAUX [ch. Vt

payment of these ecclesiastical dues was liable to complications.
A certain Gilbert de Pelaymo was proprietor of these tithes,
which he held from the archbishop and for which he owed
an annual cens. The rector of the place apparently claimed
them, and the matter being referred to the pope, they were
adjudged to him, although in the end he was only paid a fixed
sum. Eventually Gilbert's widow restored the tithes to the
archbishop to whom they rightfully belonged, and the annual
payment formerly due was then remitted. It was the practice
of subinfeudating these dues which caused so many com-
plications, and which makes their exact value so difficult to
estimate. Without doubt, however, they formed a very
considerable item in the revenue of St. -Andre and its clergy.

The other ecclesiastical dues seem to have only been paid
to the archbishop, not to the dean and chapter. Of these,
by far the most important were the quartieres. These were
annual payments of corn owed by all the cures of the diocese.
In 1259 they are entered as paid from the parishes of Entre-
deux-Mers alone, and were then entirely rendered in wheat
and oats. In the fourteenth century the accounts record
what was due from all parishes of the diocese, enumerated in
their different archipretres. At this period corn was still
usually given, and no doubt it was a valuable commodity for
the archbishop, who grew so little on his own lands ; but
occasionally this was commuted for money, and a regular scale
was drawn up to fix the price of the different measures. In
the following century commutation was becoming increasingly
common, although some corn was still rendered as well as
money. A few instances occur in the fifteenth century of
the farming out of these quartieres, although that was much
rarer than in the case of tithes, and occasionally the whole
amount due from one place would be sold outright. In 1361
the quartieres due from the ecclesiastical district of Benauges
were sold to the Captal de Buch, and those of Blaye to the
seigneur of Mussidan. The see was vacant at the moment
and possibly less corn was needed for practical use. The weak
point about the quartieres, from the archbishop's point of view,
was the great expense incurred in their collection. According

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES iii

to his accounts it was usual for his officials to go in person to
the different places and to provide for the carriage of the corn
to the house or barn where it was to be stored. From the
districts adjoining the river, carriage by water was the general
rule, but it was the archbishop's procureur who hired the
vessel or vessels required, who sent live or six men to receive
the grain, and who paid for the sacks and the carriers required
for its transport. It seems probable that the cures arranged
for the due amount to be carried to the nearest port, for
the accounts generally enter expenses of conveyance from
the river to the granary, and not explicitly from the field to the
river.^ In 1410, although a certain number of these quartieres
were paid in money, and those for Buch and Born were farmed,
the cost of collection amounted to ^43 25. 9c?. ; in 1409 to
j^34 6s. 6d. In this latter date, the money paid for those which
were commuted amounted to £82 105. 6d., so that the total
value was obviously very great and the expenses of collection
not thrown away.

The remaining church dues were synodes, paid for the
expenses of two great assemblies held twice a year for ecclesi-
astical matters ; pensions, owed by churches which had
vicaires perpetuels ; and occasional procurations? These were
payments made to a new archbishop and they were given
various names. The pallium, a tax to meet the expense of
the sending of this sign of his office from Rome ; ^ the prime
siibventionis for his ' jocondo adventu ',"* and the caritativum
subsidium, which was paid by certain churches 'in sui novitate',
or perhaps when he first visited them.^

Another very common entry in the accounts, due chiefly
to the time of trouble and disturbance during the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries, was that of reconsiliatio ecclesiarum.

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, x.xi. 250, 511, 671 ; xxii. 317, 351, 406, 445,
479- ' Ibid. xxi. 6, 48, 93, 201, 577.

* Ibid. xxi. 639 : ' debito in sua nova translatione facta ab ecclesia
Sarlatensi ad ecclesiam Burd.'

* Ibid. xxi. 18 : .\rrears paid in the second year of his office.

* Ibid. .x.xi. 124, 301, 468 : ' Recepta ex caritativo subsidio . . . pro suo
jocundo adventu concesso.' xxii. 162 : ' Fuit concessum caritativum
subsidium domino nostro archiepiscopo, per benefficeatos sue diocesis
. . . quando visitatur ecclesias et beneficia eorumdem.'

112 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. VI

This was a sum paid for the purification of a church or ceme-
tery, as a rule after it had been used for mihtary purposes,
or if blood had been shed there. Both French and English
were accustomed to employ religious buildings either as
fortifications or storehouses, and after such an event they
were considered to be polluted, until their official cleansing
had been purchased. Other causes might also necessitate
this payment even in time of peace. Purification was needed,
for example, if an excommunicated man had been buried in
holy ground.^

To turn to the ordinary feudal income. The territorial dues,
owed to both archbishop and chapter in their character of
landlord, were rendered both by the noble fief and the rent-
paying censive. The arbitrary impositions often levied on
the questaves have been sufficiently considered under that
heading.

Both fiefs and censives owed esporle, a payment in recognition
of feudal superiority, which was paid whenever a monstree or
view of the property was required. The lord might come in
person or send to inspect the land, and some customary
offering would then be made. The usual formula, however,
states that the esporle was due ' a muance du seigneur ' ;
a new lord in all probability requiring to look into the extent
of his property and the nature of the holdings in the hands
of his immediate tenants. Sometimes the esporle was
to be made when either the lord or the vassal changed : *In
mutatione domini hinc et inde ',^ or ' in mutatione domini
utriusque partis',^ or again 'a senhor o affeuat mudant
d'une part e d'autre '.^

It is difficult to be certain whether any real meaning lies
beneath these different formulas. Monsieur Delpit has sug-
gested that tenants-in-chief paid at the change of seigneur
only, while sub-tenants paid at the change of either lord or
tenant. In support of this he shows how we have a whole

1 Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 5, 19, 62, 98, 116, 145, 169, 200, 311,

379, 524, &c.

* G. 82, No. 3 : Homage of a knight, 1307 (Seigneurie de Montravel).

2 G. 106 : (1458) Homage of knight in Monpouillan.

* G. 139 : (1447) Fief in St.-Paxens.

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES 113

list of the esporles due from the different nobles, when the
Black Prince was invested in 1363, and no record of subsequent
payments. This theory is not, however, easy to maintain.
If tenants-in-chief mean only those lords holding directly
from the Duke of Aquitaine, all the archbishop's tenants
ought in every case to be stated to pay on change of lord
and vassal, whereas ' a muance du seigneur ' is certainly the
commoner form. In one instance of homage for land in
La Roquette (Mon travel), it is very precisely worded as ' in
qualibet mutatione domini Archiepiscopi Burd : ut est moris.' ^
On the other hand, if tenant-in-chief means all those holding
directly from the chief lord, in this case from the archbishop, we
should never expect to find, as we certainly do, an immediate
vassal of the archbishop owing for a change on either side. A
proof that the formula was entered rather vaguely, but that
most probably £5/?(jWg might be demanded either by a new lord
or from a new tenant, is found in a document of investiture in
the fifteenth century.^ The Prior of Soulac purchased a house,
which he is said to hold from the dean and chapter for a small
cens and an esporle of 2S. lod., ' a senhor mudant.' Later in
the document, however, the phrase occurs ' ab lodeit esporle a
senhor 0 prior mudant ', and again ' a senhor mudant d'una part
o dautra '. Here at least an immediate vassal very clearly
is liable to make a monstree of his goods and render the requisite
payment on either occasion.

Something as to the nature of esporles for noble fiefs has
already been said in the chapter on the conditions of land-
holding. Although money might sometimes be due, a fancy
article was by far the most common form of payment from
a baron or a knight ; a pair of gloves, a lance, gilded spurs, and
so forth. Only a few exceptional payments were made on
this estate ; a little brown cloth, a tunic, a bow with a green
cord (see p. 60).

In the case of censives, the esporle is practically always

a small sum of money, and the formula ' a senhor mudant '

is almost universal. From time to time ' ^ muance du

seigneur et du tenancier ' is found, but not often ; and still

» G. 106 (1 37 1). » Terrier de St.-Andr6, f. 6i^.

(PART V) ST. A. J

114 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. vi

more rarely * a muance du tenancier ' alone. This latter
condition was made in the case of land held from the chapter
as a body,^ when there would not be much chance of change
of lord, unless the dean could be considered to represent the
corporation. In the terrier of St.-Andre, out of the great
number of entries which it contains, the form is invariably
' a senhor mudant ', except in three cases. One of these is
that of the Prior of Soulac already cited ; another is that of
a canon, who held on the change of either lord or vassal ; ^
and the third is the widow of a burgess, whose tenure was in
no way peculiar.^

Little can, I think, be based upon these formulas. Unfor-
tunately neither accounts nor legal enactments do much to
clear up the actual practice. The old Customs of Bordeaux
have something to say about the esporle. The tenant who
does not monstrer his fief to the lord, on the day fixed by the
latter, is liable to a fine of 65 sous.* The burgess also, with
land of a certain value, must feed the lord on the occasion of
this mofistree, but then apparently is not bound to pay the
esporle, reckoned here as 2 denarii. In the outskirts of the
town, however, this sum of 2 denarii has still to be paid, and
it must be proffered to the lord while he is actually upon
the territory.^ Probably this personal view was very seldom
carried out, and when the esporle was so small it would often
be allowed to lapse.

Turning to the archbishop's accounts, there is no sign that
his tenants paid him esporle when he came newly into his
office. Large ecclesiastical payments were made to a new
archbishop, but otherwise there is nothing in the accounts
to show when the office changed hands. On the other hand
there are signs that esporle was paid by a new tenant when he
entered into the estate, since it very constantly accompanies
the sale of property, and is paid in addition to the dues of the
sale, although this is not invariably the case. In 1339 a
parishioner of St.-Paul of Bordeaux ' sporlavit de una sazone

* G. 524 (1372). * Terrier de St.-Andre, f. 28 (1443).

^ Ibid., f. 45 (1443). * Livre des Coutumes, iii. loi, No. 124.

* Ibid., No. 125.

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES 115

vinee' bought by him at La Taugue, ' i denarium '. A priest,

when he purchased a house, ' solvit sporlam 12 denarios ' ;

and a few similar instances follow.^ In 1341 there are a whole

series of sales with the esporles also entered, these varying from

2d. to IS. 4d.^ There are only a few entries of sporla apart

from sales. In 1340, A. de Via sporlavit for a house, which

once belonged to Wm. of Landiscana, i2d. The heirs of

a certain Benedict for a house which he used to have, 2^.^

But in later accounts, 1354, 1356, 1361, and 1367 the lists of

dues on sales comprise no sums for esporle; and though in

one or two cases they add that the new tenant sporlavit his

property, they do not enter any price for this, unless it is

included in the ventes.

The amount due as esporle from rent-paying land was

generally insignificant, and has little apparent connexion with

the value of the cens or the extent of the territory. One

characteristic, however, was invariable. The esporle was

always for one fee, and could neither be divided nor multiplied.

One man might have many estates and owe many esporles,

but however large a single fief might be, a single esporle

alone would be due from it. The most common esporles

for censives were from 2 to 6 denarii, occasionally they

amounted to i solidus, but anything above this may be

considered as exceptional. The Customs of Bordeaux seem

to take the sum of 2 denarii for granted, as we have already

seen in one of the articles. In another it is stated that a

tenant must ' show ' a fief when required and offer 2 denarii to

the lord ; but the lord can only require the same fief to be

shown once, and not at all if he has himself let it out newly

in this way.* Curiously enough, however, it is chiefly in

Bordeaux itself that very large esporles occur. Here they

occasionally equal the cens and even rise above it. The fact

that the largest esporles are often found with corn-rents

leads one to think that they may be a rough attempt to

equalize payments. Corn became less valuable, and fixed

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 43 (1339).
' Ibid. 88. » Ibid. 44.

* Livre dcs Coutumes, iii. 146, No. 190. ' Fief ' should strictly be
confined to noble land, but was used in Gascon for censives also.

ii6 SAINT-ANDRfi OF BORDEAUX [ch. vi

corn-rents might be very low in comparison to the payments
from lands which had been let out in return for some proportion
of the produce. This smallness of the rent was often made
good by imposing a very heavy entry due, and possibly a
similar reason might influence the sum imposed as esporle.

The cartulary of St. -Andre has a considerable number of
examples of high esporles. In the parish of Notre-Dame we
find 55. cens and 55. esporle ; los. cens and 105. esporle ; ^ and
even a holding, rented at 35. 6d. and a hen, owing 55. esporle.^
In the parish of Ste.-Croix there were several houses owing
2d. for rent and as much as 35. for esporle ; ^ and other parishes
at this time frequently offer one or two similar examples.
With corn-rents, in the same register, esporles varied from
2S. 6d. (28 of these) to as much as 105.* These high esporles,
although particularly noticeable in the cartulary, are still to
be found in the fifteenth-century terrier.^ They are not
wholly confined to Bordeaux, but have penetrated to the
surrounding country, although to nothing Hke the same extent.
At Iliac in 1450, half a house and garden for which corn-rent
was paid owed 4s. as esporle.^ At Floirac esporle amounted
to 2S. 6d. with a rent of 55. 6d., and again to the curious sum
of 105. 8^. with a rent of 3 mealhas '^ (a small coin of variable
value, sometimes worth about a farthing) ; and there are
a few instances in Quinsac and other places.^ Nevertheless
the smaller sums are by far the most common, and for the
vines in the Graves, held as a rule for a share of the produce,
2 denarii is without doubt the usual amount.

The general conclusion from this varied information seems
to be that esporles were very largely a matter of local custom.
Both amount and times of payment might differ not only
from place to place, but from fief to fief. A tenant was always
liable to have to make a monstree of his possessions, once at
least, and would then pay esporle ; this was most commonly

^ Cart, de St.-Andre, f. 13''.

^ Ibid., f. 16. ^ Ibid., f. 17. ^ Ibid., f. 36.

* Terrier de St.-Andre, passim. Houses with high esporles :
Rent 13/- 10/- Corn Corn 15/- 2/6 6/6
Esporle 5/- 4/2 4/4 4/- 2/6 2/6 7/-

There are numerous instances of an esporle amounting to i /-.

« Ibid., f. 83>'. ' Ibid., f. 112. » Ibid'., f. 129V.

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES 117

required when the property changed hands, above all when it
went to a new family of holders, either by sale or by a break
in the succession. A new lord might also look into his tenant's
holdings and receive the due in recognition of his overlordship.
This would be more frequently exacted in the case of nobles
than in the case of simple censitaires, and particularly so in
early days when the feudal tie was still strong. As time went
on, and the money connexion became more prominent than
the seignorial, the old fancy payments were often dropped.
The money esporles from censives in their turn tended to be
disregarded. A small sum of two or three pence, in early days
of quite an appreciable value, became insignificant in later
centuries and was often allowed to drop. Larger payments
on sales of property, on entry upon an estate, or on the death
of a tenant, gradually sprang up and more than took the
place of the old esporle. Even by the fifteenth century the
collection of this due was falhng into disuse, and the repeated
mention of it in the terrier may often be little more than
a meaningless formula. The documents treating of land and
its conveyance often continued to retain the old-established
wording, after it had lost much of its real force and significance.
From early times a lord expected to be paid considerable
sums when any property held from him changed hands. A
noble could not ahenate his fief without hcence, for the homage
of a new tenant was a matter too important to be decided
by any one except the chief lord himself ; but a censive might
be sold by one tenant to another, so long as it was still liable
to the same rent and esporle, and if a considerable sum, known
as lods et ventes, was paid to the lord (see p. 72). The old
Customs of Bordeaux allude to these payments, which were
only due when the actual sale took place, and according to
them it was the seller who had to pay, although the purchaser
was sometimes called upon for half the amount.^ The arch-
bishop's accounts have generally a section devoted to the
payments on sales, and these often amounted to quite large
sums. They were in some sort of rough proportion, apparently,
to the price of the property, which is always mentioned with
' Livre des Coutumes, p. 98, iii. 119 ; p. 103, iii. 127.

ii8 SAINT-ANDRE: of bordeaux [ch. VI

them. In 1339 exactly a ninth was paid : ' pro vendis et
revendis ' ;^i3 4s., the price of the house being ;^i20.i Other
examples also bring the due on the sale to about a ninth or
tenth of the actual price. Thus for a house costing ;^20, the
vente was 44 sous ; for one at ^32, £^ 12s. ; and for ^^85 a sum
of ^9 ys. was paid ; but this proportion was not universally
observed with any exactness. The only curious point about
these instances of venda is that all through the accounts they
seem to be paid by the purchaser, not by the seller. This is
evident from the wording ' et de viii° leopardis auri, &c.,
receptis ab Helio de Fontepadello, pro vendis cujusdam
domus per ipsum empte in rua Fabrorum, Burd, a Jordano
Comite, pretio iiii^^ leopardorum auri '. And again, ' De iiii°'^'
scutis antiquis, receptis a Menaldo de Monteauserio pro
vendis duarum domorum, que fuerunt Johannis Porquarii,
quarum pretium fuit lxiiii°^ flor. auri.' ^ They seem, in fact, to
correspond to a due on entry, rather than to a payment for
the licence of selling. On one occasion the heading runs ' pro
vendis sive intratis casalis et domus '; but the usual expression
nevertheless is ' ex vendis et retrovendis '. Some difference
is also implied when the Prior of Soulac (1445) paid ^^20 ' de
intradas et de caritatz en loc de vendas et reyrevendas '.^
This sum, though paid apparently at the time of the purchase,
was to be given again on the appointment of any new prior.

Occasionally a special arrangement was made in regard to
this payment, and the due was given ' pro compositione facta
super vendis et retrovendis ', or ' pro financia facta '. This
does not seem in any way to have reduced the amount rendered,
which was quite as high in proportion to the price as what is
called ' pro justis vendis '. In 1367, besides the ventes, a new
due, ' jure retentionis,' was sometimes added, which much
augmented the price. For a tenement which cost ^^50, as
much as ^12 was paid to the lord as his share of the trans-
action.*

Besides payments for taking up an estate, no censive could

* Arch, Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 42. The revenda appears to have been
a part taken by the collector of these ventes, as compensation for his
trouble. * Ibid., 210. * Terrier, f. 61''.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 144.

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES 119

be surrendered without a due to the lord known as droit de
gurpisson. The fifteenth-century terrier has a good many-
instances of surrender on account of poverty. The tenant no
longer able to pay the rent or cultivate the estate was obliged
to pay five sous for the privilege of giving up the property and
had to restore the charter with which he had been invested.^
It is interesting to notice that in such cases the land was, as
a rule, let out again at a money rent, whereas this might before
have been paid in corn ; and the esporle was sometimes
increased.

Very few other dues can strictly be called territorial, or
considered as paid to the seigneur solely as lord of the land.
Payments for the use of wood and pasture may perhaps come
under this heading, since they imply a use by the tenants of
property which the lord claims as his own. There are,
however, very few instances of such payments on the lands of
St. -Andre. As has been already seen, it was not a pastoral
country (chapter iii), and the plough-oxen or other beasts
necessary for cultivation may often have been fed free of

^ Terrier, f. 22 : (1441) ' And afterwards the said Marquesa (widow) was
there and came into the presence and before the said seigneurs (dean and
chapter), to whom she had surrendered and abandoned the said two
fiefs . . . since the said Marquesa had said and declared that there was now
no profit nor use in continuing to hold the said half hostau and its exits . . .
at the cens above stated, and also that they were very much wasted and
ruined and that she had nothing wherewith to repair them in any manner,
owing to her great poverty . . . and therefore she paid five sous of the
current money of Bordeaux for the surrender {gurpisson), and restored
the charter of esporle according to which she had paid and made recognition
for the said two fiefs as was the custom in Bordeaux.' [Et empreo ladeita
Marquesa (vepda) seu fossa et sia venguda en la presencia et per devant
losdeits senhors quaus agossa gurpit et desemperat losdeitz dos feus . . .
per so quar ladeita Marquesa agossa deit et confessat que aera no era pro-
feit an utilitat de tenir lodeit meich hostau et yssida . . . ab los cens dessus
declaratz, et aysi medis que eran belho freules et grandament roynos,
et no ave de que poscos repar aquetz en nulha maneyra arrenduda la
granda pauvretat en que era, ... en payant sine soudz de la moneda
corsable a Bordeu de gurpisson et restitucion la carta de I'esporle aissi
cum era aue esporlat deusditz feus aissi cum es for e costuma eu
Bordales.]

Ibid., f. 24: (1441) Surrender of vine at Cantagric held at one-third
of the fruit, because it brought its possessor more damage than profit ;
' et ayssi que no aven aur ni argent de que los poscossan far laborar ni
coytivar en nulh maneyra.' He also paid 55. ' de gurpisson,' and the land
was eventually let out again at a quarter of the fruit instead of a third,
but with 55. added by way of cens.

120 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. VI

charge. Occasionally a small payment was demanded from
those who had beasts of this kind, without any express state-
ment that it was in return for their grazing. The men of
Cadaujac, who claimed the possession of old rights of pasture,
were made to pay ^^lo for them (see p. 47). Possibly the
foire, a peculiar payment given here and at Berneye,^ may have
carried some such idea with it, since it was paid in proportion
to the number of oxen possessed ; one amount of corn for the
man with two oxen, a smaller share from the man with one.
But there was also a penny due from those who had no beasts
at all, which renders this explanation doubtful ; the oxen
may only have been a rough sort of property qualification.
The accounts of the archbishop's procureur are almost wholly
concerned with the vine-land round Bordeaux, which was,
with few exceptions, cultivated by hand, and contain nothing
about pastoral payments. In 1459, however, when the
revenues from some of the outlying property, Montravel and
St.-Paxens, are also entered, considerable sums are noted as
proceeding from rights of pasture, the cutting of wood and
grass, and the feeding of pigs. Forestage and cornellage
were reckoned at £30 155. ; herbage and glandage at X120
tournois}

The seignorial revenue may be divided into profits of
justice, tolls, and trading dues granted in old days by the King
or Duke of Aquitaine, and the various payments which the
tenants made to their feudal superior because of this superi-
ority, and in return for his jurisdiction and protection rather
than on account of his position as landlord.

The archbishop was a powerful temporal ruler. He had
' high, middle, and low justice ' in his estates, and could try
great lords as well as simple vassals in his court at Bordeaux,
and could punish temporal as well as spiritual offences. The
chapter had also the power of administering high justice in
a few places such as Lege ; and in the Sauvete of Bordeaux
the archbishop had delegated to it the right of judging cases
in the first instance free from any preliminary inquiry
(see p. 21).

* Cart, de St.-Andre, f. i. * G. 240, f. 390.

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES 121

Judicial powers were very closely connected with money
payments, for justice was distinctly a branch of the revenue,
and punishments were apt to take the form of pecuniary fines.
The archbishop's accounts show what large profits came to him
from his Curia ; but unfortunately they frequently enter the
mulcta, without specifying the offence for which they were
incurred. Some misdeeds of a spiritual character involved
very heavy payments. Ten florins were imposed on a clerk
for celebrating a secret marriage ; two florins for performing
the ceremony when no banns had been called ; and as much
as twenty-five florins were exacted for usurious contracts and
for perjury.^ Sometimes fines were paid in kind instead of in
money, as in the case of Arnaud Constantin the serf, who was
fined a pipe of wine for an offence against the reeve (see p. 104).
In 1356 a special official was appointed to collect these profits
of justice and see that the fines were duly paid, so that the
profits of the Curia ceased after that date to be an item in
the account books of the procureur.

Very valuable also were the profits of the seal, as they were
called ; payments for obtaining the official sanction for
various transactions. These were chiefly of an ecclesiastical
nature, such as letters of permission to a man to receive the
tonsure, to celebrate mass twice, or to perform the service at
a certain church. Sometimes letters of non-residence were
also required, but these again were generally demanded by
clergy, who might be needing a hoHday for the time. The
smaller fines which would be exacted in the ordinary courts of
justice for manorial offences, can be gathered from the customs
of Lormont, where all jurisdiction was in the hands of the
archbishop, and Lege, in which the chapter was supreme.
At Lormont any one who neglected to attend the court when
summoned was fined five sous for the first offence, and if four
times the summons was disregarded his body and all his
goods were forfeited to the archbishop. Goods were also
confiscated in case of murder, and for attacking and fighting
on the high road the hea\'y fine of 300 sous was executed.

* A florin in 1 360 was said to be equal to 20 albi and an albus to 2 sterlings
or 10 denarii old money. That would make the florin worth i6s. 8d. of
ordinary Bordeaux money.

122 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. VI

Other penalties were left to the discretion of the court, but
fines were imposed for all the usual forms of rural misdoings,
such as allowing beasts to trespass and do damage, cutting
greenwood, impeding a roadway or blocking up a watercourse,
selling bad meat, using false weights, causing a fire or throwing
dirty water out of a window. Other more special regulations
were laid down, infringements of which involved fines of
a considerable amount. No one, for example, might bake
in an oven, or sell wine in an inn, or trade in any wine except
that grown in the place without special licence and the pay-
ment of a due to the archbishop. All inhabitants were to
help in building or repairing the palace when required, no
tenant could begin his own harvest without sending information
of the same to the lord. On every article sold in Lormont
some sort of toll was to be rendered to the archbishop, and
the inhabitants were to bring him some portion of any beast
they sold, a measure of salt and a basketful of oysters and
mussels out of every boat-load.^

The profits from the seignory of Lege, though less fully
described than those of Lormont, were somewhat similar.
As an official was placed in charge there, the dues were divided
between him and the canons of the chapter who had delegated
their duties to him. Hunting dues, fishing dues, harvest
payments, wreck and treasure-trove, all brought in profitable
returns to the overlord (see Customs of Lege, p. 26).

In many cases these judicial rights, hke so much else on
this large estate, were farmed out to under officials. In
Montravel and St.-Paxens (1459) the archbishop received
a fixed sum for ' arbitrages, confiscacions et amendes ' ; and
should have had the same from Coutures and Loutrange,
where he also had high, middle, and low justice, only
nothing was paid that year, ' car Monsieur de Lebret occupe
tout '.

Evidently the usual practice was to farm the judicial rights

of distant territories ; to place officials over small courts of

justice, where ordinary rural offences were tried and punished ;

and to supervise directly the larger affairs and ecclesiastical

^ G. 93. Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xix. i.

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES 123

offences, the fines for which were collected by the procureur
or some other immediate official.

The trading rights of the chapter were confined chiefly to
toll from the places held in sovereignty. From Soulac dues
were paid for the sale of oil, meat, and cloth, besides a tribute
of salt which came from the mines of the place.^ In Cadaujac
no wood could be sold without a portion of the profits being
rendered to the canons ; ^ and in Lege various profitable
customs duties were collected.

In the case of the archbishop, tolls were a far more important
part of the revenue. Not only had he dues on sales throughout
his whole estate, but he received payments from ships passing
on the Garonne, tolls on goods entering or leaving the district,
from Montravel, Bigarroque, and other distant parts of his
dominion, and a variety of local customs duties from different
places. The collection of these local duties was either farmed
out to the chief vassal of the neighbourhood, or put in the
hands of a salaried official of the archbishop, appointed for
that particular business. The collection of dues in Bordeaux
was the work of two men at least. In 1339-40 the official,
who was responsible for the toll on cloth and hides coming
into the town, was paid 40^. as salary. The clerk, who
received customs duties from the castrum of Bordeaux, paid
in ;^30 to the archbishop's procureur, his salary having been
first deducted.^ In the following year the same official
rendered as much as ;^50.^ The tolls of Pierrefite at this time
were collected in the same way and brought in over ;^8o.
At Bourg, on the contrary, they were farmed for a fixed sum ;
a man and his son owed ' pro firma seu assensa pedagii et
coustumarum quod et quam idem dominus noster archi-
episcopus habet et percipere assuevit in villa de Burgo '
£$0 for the year.^ The customs duties of Blaye were also
farmed, a lump sum being paid not only for them but for
tithes and agrieres also. In 1459 the archbishop had farmed
the ' ptagcs, traicts et passage ' of Bigarroque ; ' peages et
travers ' of Montravel ; and the revenues of other places.

' Cart, de St.-Andr6, f. 62V. » Ibid., f. 96.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 50. * Ibid., p. 95. Ibid., p. 94.

124 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. v

His customs duties from Caudrot brought in nothing that
year, because he had made a present of the same to ' Madame
la Mareschale de Xainctrailles '.^

There were not many very peculiar tolls on this estate as
there were no very unusual products, and, with the exception
of salt dues from Soulac and oysters from Lormont, little was
paid but corn and wine. One exception to this was a curious
payment in tiles from certain men at Breillan.^ Any one there
who had an oven, apparently to cook for others as well as
himself, was to pay ' i millenarium de tegulis '. At Montravel
the archbishop had set up his own oven, which the in-
habitants were forced to use, and for which they paid him
jornage? The names of the different dues often vary according
to the locality, and it is not always obvious for what they are
paid. Foire (see above) at Cadaujac and Berneye is explained
in the cartulary as being a corn due to be paid on the feast
of St.-Severin. Two measures of millet for the man with
a pair of oxen, one measure for the possessor of an ox or a cow,
one denarius from the man who has neither. Of this payment,
the denarii were given to the canons of St. -Andre, but the
bailiff retained those from Berneye.^ The coraria owed to
the chapter from Lege is left unexplained.^

At Bigarroque, St. Cyprien, and Belves a due was owed,
known as leyde^ which was sometimes farmed out.^ This was
simply a toll on the sale of beasts, for which the seller was
responsible ; it varied from id. to \d. according to the animal
that was sold.'

A few payments seem to resemble taxes rather than regular
dues. Such were the focagium and sirmanagium demanded
from Coutures in 1353. These were collected by the notary
of the place, and handed over to the archbishop's procureur^
who allowed him some of the proceeds for his trouble. As

* G. 240. In 1 67 1 the tolls of Montravel were confirmed to the arch-
bishop and fixed as follows : pipe of com, 6d. ; cask of wine, 6d. ; load
of cloth, iSd. ; feather-bed, 35. ^d. ; piece of salmon, lod. ; a dozen of
colas, 4if. ; of lampreys, 4^. (G. 139, f. 30).

" Cart, de St.- Andre, f. 54. ' G. 139.

" Cart, de St.-Andre, f. iiiv. » Ibid., f. i.

* Temporel de I'Archeveche, f. 94: {1336) J. de Monserc de Bellovidere
levator et assensator leyde eiusdem loci. ' G. 139, f. 30.

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES 125

much as 55. seems to have been levied on each inhabitant,
but two years later it was still in arrears. ^

All information points to the varied character of the feudal
revenue, and to the general tendency of a lord to demand
some kind of due, however small, on every possible occasion.
Buying, seUing, carrying from place to place, hunting, fishing,
mining, all were to be profitable in some way or other to the
overlord, who protected the tenants in their holdings and their
industries. Amongst these dues, however, two are particularly
interesting and seem to represent distinctly the individual
protection supplied by the seigneur, and the original com-
mendation of the tenants, who had put themselves in a state
of dependence for the sake of the defence which it afforded.

Captennium was paid by certain tenants of the archbishop
in St.-Morillon, Barsac, Pujols, Preignac, Sauternes, and
Lassats.^ It appears to have been a sort of poll-tax ; certainly
a personal payment paid by the man himself, and without
any regard to his tenure. The amount varied according to
the locality. In Barsac the original due must have been
IS. a head; in St.-Morillon 2s. ; and at Pujols is. 8d. When
the archbishop's accounts first make mention of this capten-
nium^ it looks as though its collection already began to be
neglected, the payers were all so very much in arrears. In
1355, Blanche of Barsac paid 45. for the four past years.^
In the following year, various inhabitants of Pujols had to
make up for as many as eight or nine years of omission.* The
due was considerably broken up, but one whole captennium
for a year was clearly 20 denarii in Pujols. Two men owed
' pro medietate captennii ', 10^. each year ; another ' pro
tribus partibus ' (3 quarters), i^d. ; Vitalis Ayquehn for
captennium due for nine years past, 2od. each year. In 1360
the parishioners of St.-Morillon are entered as paying this
due.^ Here the land was often held by a group of co-owners,
in a few cases actually divided between them ; but the amount

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 208.

' It only occurs once amongst the tenants of the chapter. The cartulary
speaks of one man in Sareilles who owes one shilling as captennium. There
is no trace of this in later documents.

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 193.

* Ibid., p. 366. ' Ibid., p. 529.

126 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. vi

works out at 2S. for the whole captennium as a general rule.
Three men together paid 6d., 6d., and i^. Two men divided
their due into 8^. from one and i6d. from the other. A few,
however, paid is. when alone. This was the case with a
questal, who was included amongst these captenniers.

Apparently the original due was a personal and a fixed sum.
When a man died it is often stated that his heir or heirs paid
for him} If his land was divided amongst several successors,
together they made up the amount that he had owed.^ This
may have been when he had not made his last year's payment,
for the dead man is often entered as owing himself, when he
has left his land without an heir. There are instances of this
at Barsac in 1360. ' Vitalis de la Hossa debet i2d. Iste
decessit excommunicatus et non habet heredes.' ^ When the
heir has established his own position as captennier and no
longer owes for his predecessor, this is made clear by adding
to the record of his payment, ' iste est pro se ipso.' In the
next year's accounts, the group which had taken up the
property of the dead man and made good his whole captennium,
has very often divided and its former members are entered as
separate units. Thus the due itself sometimes gets split up
until the original amount is obscured. The accounts are not
always quite trustworthy on these matters. Occasionally the
scribe seems to be drawing up his accounts with the last year's
record before him, for he enters the captennium with its old
payer. At St.-Morillon in 1367, exactly the same names are
repeated as in 1360, even that of R. de Manheto, who was
before said to have died without heirs. In the 1367 accounts
for Pujols, those who had formerly paid for the dead man
now pay for themselves ; and some of the holdings have been
broken up, although a few groups still remain as co-partners.*
When partners held the land they seem to have paid the lump
sum between them ; ' Comptor with her partners owes 2od.'
Such a custom would gradually tend to obliterate the old
personal character of the due. Similarly the fact that the

^ ' Guillelma, filia Florentie, qui nunc moratur a Portet, debet 2s. Ista
est pro dieta Rorentia.' ' Raymundus Ricardi debet Sd., Arnaldus
Seguini debet i6d. Isti sunt pro Guillelmo Seguini.'

2 Ibid., p. 530. 2 Ibid., p. 531. * Ibid. xxii. 43.

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES 127

successor in the property, whether a relation or no, generally
became a captennier, must have helped to render the original
meaning of the payment more obscure. But there is no
doubt that it was not a tax on the land but on the person,
however much it might lose of its original character as time
went on.

There were two places which paid their captennium in
a lump sum, and in which the due does not seem wholly to
correspond with what has been gathered from other instances.
In 1399, the men of Talais paid ' pro captennio debito pro
terris quas habent in parrochia de Talaytz prope Solacum
255.' ^ And this same sum, although never before called
anything but cens, had been paid by them, at the time of the
Easter Synod, ever since 1333.^

The men of Lassats also paid a lump sum which appears
for the first time in the accounts in 1354, when the 405. owed
by them ' pro captennio ', was rendered through the hands
of their court. In 1375 this 405. is entered as accaptamentum,
but was due at the same date ; in 1399 they were again paying
through their court, this time only 155.

All these places, with the exception of Talais, are in the
archipretre of Cern^s. There is no reason that such a
payment as captennium should be strictly local, but since the
due at Talais only once receives the name, and appears to be
on the land, it is possible that it was really a different payment.
The fact of Lassats paying in a lump sum may merely mean
that the court was receiving the individual dues instead of the
archbishop.

This captennium, whatever it exactly represents, was paid
very irregularly, and as we have already seen was constantly
allowed to fall into arrears, with the result that little by little
it disappears altogether from the accounts. In 1375 far fewer
were paying than in 1367 ; ^ in 1399 only the men of Lassats
and of Talais are entered ; ^ but in 1459 the due has not yet
been forgotten, although the collection of it seems to have
been discontinued for a time.

' . . . des hommes de Maurillon en I'archipretrd de Sernaiz,

' Ibid., p. 537. * Ibid. xxi. 15. * Ibid. xxii. 215. * Ibid., p. 233.

128 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. vi

pour ung devoir appele captennium qui donnent 2 sols per cap
chascun an le jour de St.-Andre, ainsi que appert par le livre
du petit role, dont ne s'en fait point pour le present de recepte
jusques ad ce qu'on aye este sur le lieu.'^ The scribe adds
that 20^. a head was owed in Preignac, Pujols, and Sauternes ;
i2d. similarly from the men of Barsac. Here at least the
tradition as to its original character was still retained.

The commiin de la paix, a special due in Belves, Couze,
Bigarroque, and Millac, was also in all probability a payment
for protection. Ducange shows that in some places it was
originally a due for the maintenance of the treuga Dei,^ and
doubtless it continued to represent a special kind of peace, for
the inhabitants of those places in which it was paid. Its
actual significance, however, was not well understood even
at the time by those who paid it, and considerable controversy
arose upon the subject. The document concerning the
temporel of the archbishopric shows that quite large sums were
paid for this commun. £60 from Belves in 1337. The due
for Bigarroque that year was in the hands of the immediate
lord, and next year farmed out, together with another un-
explained due called cotum,^ for the sum of £160. Individual
payments are entered for Campania and Lussac, which
varied from 2d. to 6s. 6d. In 1459 it is explained in the
accounts that all non-noblemen over twelve years of age,
dwelling in the four places mentioned above, were bound to
pay this commun to the lord.'* By this time much vagueness
had arisen as to the actual reason of the payment, and an idea
grew up that it was connected with feudal subjection, or even
actual servitude. In consequence a good many inhabitants
tried to shake off the obligation. One man refused to pay
because he was a noble and the man of nobody: . . . 'dit qu'il
est clerc et bourgeois de la ville, e est noble e ainsi n'est
homme de nul, e n'a pour accoustume de paier commun, ni
ses predecesseurs.' Another, a labourer, claimed ' qu'il n'est
homme de negun et qu'il ni los seons no pageren james comun

1 G. 240, 349V.

' See Brutails, Populations riirales de Roussillon, p. 293.

' Ducange says ' tribute to be paid for merchandise sold '. * G. 240.

CH. vi] REVENUES AND DUES 129

a nul homme.' A third said he paid no commiin because he
was tonsured, as though the free status of a priest was a safe-
guard against the impost ; whilst another objected to the
payment because he had no oxen, although there seems no
reason to connect this due in any way with pasture rights or
the possession of beasts.^

The main idea running throughout is that it was a due to
the immediate lord, and certainly a due implying rather
a close connexion ; it was not paid necessarily to the arch-
bishop himself. Four or five lords received the commun from
different inhabitants of Belves, but there seemed to be no
need for them to be always the landlords of the payer. One
labourer held several scattered possessions from different lords,
and then ' dit qu'il est home de Seigneur de Serval (not before
mentioned), et luy paie le commun '. Another paid to the
archbishop, although his possessions were all held from sub-
ordinate landholders. In one instance the connexion involving
this payment is expressed in the phrase 'home communau'.
But there is one illustration which shows in especial that
personal commendation in return for protection was at least
the origin of the due. ' Pierre Barrau laboureur dit qu'il est
homme de Paleyrat et lui paie le commun, et dit que luy
estant audit lieu per avant quil fust marie, il navait rien,
mais Seigneur de Paleyrat luy deist que sil voulou estre son
homme, quil le soutiendroit bien, et de lors fut son homme.'"
On another occasion, a parishioner of Lussac changed from being
the ' man ' of Paleyrat and ' est fait homme de Monseigneur ',
to whom he promised to pay the due ; and in 1463 all the
inhabitants of Cabanac bound themselves to pay commun to
the archbishop.^

About this time there were so many disputes over the
payment of this due, and so much difficulty in its collection,
that legal proceedings were instituted to investigate its nature."*
In 1500 the royal officials forbade its levy in Bigarroque
because they asserted that it had been paid instead of the
tallies royales, which had now been resumed. The court which

' G. 177, passim (Belves and Couze, 1462).

' Ibid. 71'. » G. 180. ' G. 225.

(PART V) ST.-A. K

130 SAINT-ANDRfi OF BORDEAUX [ch. vi

examined into the question declared, with what amount of
truth it is impossible to say, that it was a very old payment
levied as compensation for letting out holdings at peculiarly
low value. The king, so it was asserted, had given the right
of receiving this payment to the seigneur, that he might the
better strengthen his hands to guard the kingdom against
her enemies ; and that thus the archbishop lost considerably
when the commun was dropped, since the low cens for which
it was supposed to compensate still continued. On the whole
the most probable explanation of the due seems to be, that it
represented a guarantee of special protection on the part of
the lord, and that individuals, or even districts, paid for the
benefit of enjoying this extra form of ' peace '. It would be
easy for the idea of special protection to carry with it an idea
of special submission also, and thus to render the payment
unpopular as a mark of subjection, until eventually resistance
led to its disappearance.

To sum up, it may be said that the estates of St.-Andre were
not rich in examples of peculiar dues, whilst those that did
exist tended to die out early, or at least to be fixed at some
definite sum of money. Tenures and methods of cultivation
were so very uniform, that naturally we do not find the curious
services and payments, which abounded in districts with more
varied and unusual conditions. There were too few beasts
kept for many tolls and dues to be connected with them, and
so more and more land dues, or tolls on sales and transport
became the staple part of the revenue. The constant tendency
in this, as in other things, is always towards uniformity and
money payments.

CHAPTER VII

DIVISION OF THE SOIL AND METHODS OF
CULTIVATION

It is not easy to estimate with certainty the extent to which
the subdivision of the soil had been carried on the estates of
St. -Andre, nor the exact nature of its partition. There is no
doubt, however, that the sub-tenants were extremely numerous.
Only a comparatively small portion was home farm (see
chapter iii), and the rest was held from archbishop or chapter
as the case might be. There were a few large seignories such
as Chalais, Ambleville, Bouteville, &c., which have been
already mentioned (chapter i), but, with a few exceptions,
the nobles of Gascony seem to have been numerous rather
than rich, and there were quantities of small domicelli and
milites with little bits of land held on noble tenure or quite
frequently in return for money rent. This is well illustrated
by the number of tenants in the seignory of Montravel, all
holding from the archbishop by homage and esporle. In 1306
there were over fifty vassalli, donzelli, milites, and others only
entered by name, with no special designation. Several
women were amongst the number.

The term, feodum, which should strictly apply to these noble
estates, was used very generally in Gascony ; and the docu-
ments distinguish noble from non-noble fiefs, instead of fiefs
from censives. Other terms were also in use for noble holdings
with slight shades of difference between them, but not always
applied with great exactness and precision.

Nobles are sometimes spoken of as holding a maison noble,^
which imphes the whole estate, not merely the house itself ;
in the same way that a manerium could equally \\e\\ be called
a mansio ; this term mansio is also found, but is not one of
the most usual. In the case of the domicelli, their houses and
* G. 104 : (1417) Maison noble de Cosnac.
K 2

132 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. vii

surroundings are more frequently called maynamenta,^ of
which they might hold several. There seems to be little
real difference between mansiones, maynamenta, reparia, or
repaires} These words are, as a rule, kept particularly for
noble fiefs, though they are occasionally found applied to the
holdings of rent-paying tenants. This is very rare in the case
of repaires, but there is a curious instance of it at Belves,
a place which has various peculiarities in the way of nomen-
clature. Here a labourer is said, amongst other possessions,
to hold ' le repaire de la mote . . , avec 8 sexterres de terre au
commun ', and also ' ung village ou repaire . . . assis en la
paropia de Monsac '.^ Specially fortified estates are called
castra. This, and possibly castella also, implies the fortified
house of a noble with the cluster of cottages which have
collected round it, generally surrounded by a wall for their
defence, and under the lord's particular protection. The
chdtellenies are the property of the chdtelains or military
commanders, numerous in these turbulent times. Chalais
was a chdtellenie as well as a ' ville et seigneurie ' * and Mont-
ravel also ; there were chdtellenies of Bouteville and Aubiac,
in the seignory of Ambleville, and many others.^

The lands of the simple free men tended to be much smaller
than those of the nobles, whose estates were generally handed
on to the eldest son. Though the censives might vary endlessly
in size, a great quantity of them were tiny holdings ; some-
times consisting of a few strips of arable land, a row or two of
vines, or simply a house and garden, or a portion of one.
The names by which the different little holdings are described
do not give much idea of size, but are interesting as implying
the varying nature of the property. In many cases, however,
the terms are rather more those used in a special locality, or
by a particular scribe, than anything more definite. The
meaning is not always very exact.

For the censives perhaps the most common name of all is

^ G. io6 : (1316) Homage for ' maynamentum de Murello ' (Mureil).

* G. 106: (1307) ' Homagium ligium . . . pro maynili seu reparrerio
suo de Podio Guidonis ' (Puy Guidon). G. 107 : (1538) ' Repaurium seu
castrum de Amblevilla.'

» G. 177 (1462). * G. 106 (1301). * G. 107 (1214).

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 133

stagia, which means the tenant's house, and also his whole
estate. It is obviously a vague term, about which no hard-
and-fast rule can be laid down, and does not imply any special
form of property or particular cultivation. Thus we hear of
one man who pays rent for the stagia in which he lives ;
another for a stagia or vineyard,^ a third for a stagia stretch-
ing from the road to the neighbouring property — evidently,
therefore, a piece of land of some size. One man may hold
four stagia, while another has only a half, or even a third part.-
In 1400 a stagia at Leognan contained eight sadons of land,
vine and meadow. The term seems to be more or less equiva-
lent to our word estate.^

The word mayne is used in much the same sense, although
in itself it applies especially to the house. A ' mayne et sou
de terre ' * at Lormont sounds like a house and small plot
of ground or garden, ' maison et casau ' they are frequently
called. But another example shows that the word may mean
the estate or the property, since we find that it contains houses
and buildings ; ' tot aquet mayne ab las maysons e hedificis
qui son dedins.' ^

The words hordile or bordeu, casale or casau, imply rather
smaller bits of property ; casau indeed often means nothing
more than a garden. The bordeu is not very frequently
found ; it was in origin probably the Httle homestead of the
small peasants, the bordiers as they might be called ; but it
came to be used very generally for any little rural holding or
house. In the holders of maynes and bordeiis we may see
something equivalent to the English bordarii and cottarii ;
cotters with toft and croft as opposed to strip-holding
villeins.^ In Entre-deux-Mers in the thirteenth century
many of the inhabitants held casalesP As a rule there is no
explanation, the scribe having merely entered the rent
owed ' pro casali ' ; but a few paid ' pro casali in quo manet ',

* Revenus de I'Archeveche, f . 12. * Ibid., f. 13^.

* The same word is also used as equivalent to etage, a storehouse in which
are two s/a^ia — and so on. * 0.94(1353). ' Ibid. (1354).

* On borde and manse see Brutails, Populations rurales de Roussillon,
p. 28 ; Avenel, i. 185. A borde was the smaller of the two.

' Cart, de St.-Andr6, f. 72.

134 SAINT-ANDR£ OF BORDEAUX [ch. vii

or ' ubi manet '. One had to give as much as 20s. cens ' pro
casaH, et debet ibi facere stagiam suam ', an unusually large
sum. The casau is generally mentioned with the house, and
if not always exactly what we should call a garden, seems at
least to have generally been the space surrounding the actual
dwelling-place. Very often they were walled-in spaces, and
the rent was paid for the ' casau ab los murs que si apperten '.
These casaus were very frequently attached to town houses,
which makes them appear as likely to be gardens. By the
fifteenth century the word jardin itself was occasionally used,^
and sometimes artiga meant much the same thing. This
latter term, however, generally conveyed the sense of assart,
land newly cleared and brought under cultivation.

So much of the property of St.-Andre was in Bordeaux
itself, that houses naturally formed a large part of it. Some-
times domiis or hostau is entered without anything further,
but the majority of houses had some piece of land attached,
however small, and we find ' house and garden ', or ' house
and yard ', or ' house with the land belonging '. The orts
and ayrals occasionally found in this connexion seem to have
been small empty places and yards rather than gardens ; but
all sorts of descriptions occur ; a house and garden, a house
and stagia, a house and vineyard, and so on. A very usual
term, especially in Bordeaux, is solum. This may simply
mean the actual land on which the house is built, the payment
for it being practically equivalent to ground rent ; ^ but it is
also used for a plot of land which need not be for building
purposes. Thus we find ' pro uno solo ubi est vinea ', and
' pro solo sive casale ', as well as ' solum sive domus ', or ' pro
uno solo in quo est domus '. As a rule, however, solum is
used for a town tenement and is not a mere equivalent for
terra ; there is generally some sort of building upon it. In the
terrier we read of ' tot aquet sou ab los murs et maderas de
peyra que si appertenen, en loquau sou aver hostau ab la

^ Terrier de St.-Andre, f. 84 : ' Terras, pastenxs, ribeyras, paduentz,
jardins, pesquys,' &c., let out as a new fief. F. 26 : ' Trens de jardin '
in Cadaujac.

* In the list of rents due from Lormont in 1361 and 1367 the scribe
speaks of domus in 1361 and of solum in 1367. The term solum is used
invariably at the later date for either fief or house.

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 135

terra et loc en que es '. Both houses and sola were constantly
divided, and rent was often paid for mech hostau, or for half
a solum, not shared with a co-partner, but held apparently
as quite individual property, separate from the other half.^

Other names by which property is described have some
reference to the actual nature of the soil, or the methods of its
tenure. Very frequently terra agreyra appears in the documents ;
arable soil evidently, and soil which is held for a portion of the
produce [agrieres), not for a fixed cens. Terra cultura may be
also used and contrasted with terra huultura ; but there are
quantities of words to express land that is waste and unculti-
vated. Desert, terra obsa, terra buyta, herme, all mean the
same thing. Various names, too, are employed for moorland
and tracts of wild country covered with gorse and bracken.
Landes, bruges, jaugar, genestar, feugueyres, rausarii, all imply
some kind of wild land, the name varying according to the
sort of plant which most abounds ; but probably the terms
were fairly vague and interchangeable.

Besides houses, gardens, arable land, and uncultivated waste,
the estates of St. -Andre contained woodland [bosc, segiia),
meadow [pratum or pre), pasture land [paduentz), a few
orchards {bernadarii), and plenty of willow plantations
(aubaredes) and osier beds [viminaria). These two last
were generally situated in the neighbourhood of vineyards,
to which they supplied a good deal of necessary material for
the vintage. There is no doubt, however, that the largest
and most important part of the property consisted of vinea.

These different kinds of land were not divided regularly
amongst the tenants, nor indeed did the estate itself form
a compact district. The archbishop and chapter had posses-
sions here and there, scattered about and intermixed with
property of others ; and in the same way their tenants held
land from them similarly dispersed. Very rarely did one man
hold a continuous stretch of territory. Estates were generally
built up little by little ; lands might be given, and inherited
or purchased in many different places, and thus the

' Cart, de St. -Andre, f. 17. Esporle owed 'pro duabus partibus do
quinque partibus cuiusdam domus divisa in quinque partibus '.

136 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. vii

richest landholder might still have scraps of land here and
there, and draw his profits from rents in many separate
districts. Even one fief was not always a connected whole
geographically, although it was always a juridical unit, and
only one esporle could be demanded from it. In many cases,
no doubt, one httle piece of compact land was called a fief
and paid for separately ; or the vineyards and woods and
lands included in the one fief might have been contiguous ;
but there are illustrations which show that a fief could also
be built up of scattered bits. A merchant and burgess of
Bordeaux, in 1446, had vines in the neighbourhood of Pessac,
at Brenars, Percy, Poyaus, and Milon ' tot cum d'un feu ' ;
and he only owed for them 13c?. of cens and 4^. esporle ' a
senhor mudant '} More frequently, however, so much land
would be counted as a number of fiefs, for it was quite usual
for one man, even a peasant, to hold several fiefs. In the list
of the archbishop's tenants, in 1400, the number of fiefs held
by each is entered against his name, and although a majority
of them held one fief, two, three, and four are very common,
and some had as many as thirteen or fourteen. Sometimes
these fiefs might lie side by side, so that a considerable block
of territory was formed, but they still remained separate as
concerned their payments. Doubtless the owner was gradually
purchasing or acquiring contiguous territory as the opportunity
offered.^

Single fiefs might vary in size almost to any extent ; but
the tendency was for property to break up into small pieces
and for the estate of the rural cultivator to be very minute.
These httle holdings, due to the nature of the soil and the
custom of division amongst the children, have already been
mentioned (see chapter iii). Even those tenants who were
rich and powerful and gradually acquired more land, had
to be content with a bit here and a bit there, so that
possessions were scattered even when extensive. One burgess

1 Terrier, f. 113 (1446).

* Arch. Hist. xxi. 540 : ' pro quinque feudis que tenet contigue ' (1360).
Ibid. xxii. 584, vii. f. : ' G. Berardi de Becgla, debet 2s. pro viii regnis
vinee apud St.-Ujan, 11^. pro xii regnis terre contiguis ; xi^. pro xxxvi
regnis terre contiguis,' &c., &c. {1430).

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 137

of Bordeaux, in 1400, held ten valuable fiefs and paid as much
as ;^4 2s. in rent annually.^

As far as it is possible to judge, there does not appear to have
been any general average for the size of the holding in the
hands of the ordinary cultivator. The documents which we
possess are hardly ever explicit upon the subject, but are con-
tent to enter that such and such a tenant held a piece of land
or a piece of vine : ' trens de terre ', or ' tresis de vigne '. In the
few instances in which the extent is stated, the difficulty of
calculating the exact significance of the term is almost insur-
mountable. Not only is the modern equivalent for the measure
often unknown, but very frequently it did not represent
a fixed quantity even in those days. Measures varied from
year to year ai)d from place to place. Neither does there
seem to have been any limit to the number of holdings which
one tenant could have. We do not find the virgatarii, the
semi-virgatarii, and the ferdingi of English manors.

There were various names in use to describe these land
measures. The following occur most frequently in the
description of arable land : —

A journal seems to have been a rough estimate of what one
ox could plough in a day : ' terra in qua est una jornale
boum.' ^ If this was the origin of the term, however, it must
soon have come to mean a measure of size without any special
reference to the plough, since it is used for other kinds of land
besides arable. ' 20 journaulx de dezert silve ; ' ^ ' 4 journeaux
de terreouverte,'*'i journal et demi de pr6,' and '4 de vigne'. ^
In other parts of France, according to the tables drawn up by
Avcncl, a journal was sometimes a little more, sometimes
a little less than an acre in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries. Unfortunately he gives no illustrations from the
Bordelais.

Much more common than the journal is the sadon or sazio,

a term in use particularly for arable land, but also for other

things, such as vines and meadows.^ One instance in Cadaujac,

' Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 630. ' G. 316, f. 3 : Bouliac (1367).
' G. 83 (1466). * G. 177 : Belv^s (1462). * G. 524, f. 24.

• G. 1 10 : 9 sadons of land and meadow and 6 sadons of willow planta-
tion. At Cadaujac 6 sadons of meadow brought in a rent of 6s. 6d., and

138 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. vii

when the sadon is described as one marca both in length and
.breadth,! leads one to think that the term may possibly imply
a field or more or less square piece of land rather than a strip ;
and this idea is supported by the fact that it is used in some
sort of contrast to a rege or furrow, which is a still more usual
term, especially for vineyards. If the sadon was a measure
of land, it must have either been of different sizes according
to the locality, or the value of land must have varied to an
extraordinary degree from place to place. A sadon of arable
land worth about 6d. in Cadaujac (1400) was as much as 85.
in La Souys through the latter half of the fourteenth century.
In La Taugue a sadon of vine was rented at 25., two sadons
at 45. ; half a sadon at is. In each place, however, it seems
to have been fixed. In Cadaujac at least eight examples of
the same rent occur in 1400 : and in La Souys not only do
the old sadons remain at the same rate from year to year, but
when new land is included the sadons approximate to the same
value, and presumably, therefore, to the same size. (Occasion-
ally the rent for a new sadon works out at about as much
as 85-. 2d.) ^

Fiefs and holdings were anything from i to 100 sadons,
though the tendency was towards the smaller size ; a great
number were between 3 and 6 sadons in extent. In Cadaujac
(1400) there are instances of very large estates made up of
land and meadow. One tenant in 1400 held 60 sadons, and
another 88, and another 100. These are very exceptional
entries, and, judging by their low value, it was a case of
unusually poor soil. One faint indication of extent is found
in a grant of land at Gradignan, where 9 sadons of land and
vine are said to consist of 23 rows of vine and other land which
was waste ; ^ 9 sadons must therefore have contained over
23 rows, but beyond that we learn nothing as to their usual size.
The descriptions of land constantly made use of this word
ridge, row, or furrow. Reges, arreguas, reguas, are very common
in the documents. This is a very natural method of calculation

there are frequent instances of sazones vinee. Archbishop's Accounts,
passim. * Cart, de St.-Andre, f. 21.

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 38, 39, 77, 365, 596 ; xxii. 38,40, 213,
557 sq. ' G. 316, f. 13.

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 139

in the case of vineyards, always planted in rows, and for
ploughed land it gives a good general idea ; but arreguas of
meadow or woodland, a phrase which does occur, though
rarely, seems to have very little meaning ; a row has evidently
become a more or less recognized width. ^ In any case the
size of the land thus described depends on the length of the
ridge, and this is only given in a very few cases, probably
in those which are exceptional (see below). The number
of reges in a holding varies from 2 or 3 to 30 or 40. Over
30 is, however, unusual. In Begles, where from other evidence
we know that land was poor and little cultivated, one man
held 74 regas, for which he paid in rent only is. i oh. ; and in
the same place another holding consisted of 45 rows at j.o^d}
In the parish of Pessac also, where the land was of scarcely
any value, 66 reges of vines were held for a rent of ^d}

These terms are by far the most common in all parts —
trens simply meaning a piece, sadon a measure and possibly
a plot, and rege a rough calculation by furrows. But localities
had sometimes expressions of their own, and Belves, as usual,
furnishes us with one or two new measurements. There the
word trop takes the place of trens ; instead of a sadon of land,
the usual measures are sexterada and cartonnade.'^ At Salle-
boeuf we read of : '7 sexteradas de terre labouree et 33 non
labouree ' ; ' i trop de prat contenant 14 cartonnades.'
Although rent is generally very little help in estimating the
value of a measure, there are so many instances in which 2d.
was paid for the cartonnade and i2d. for the sexterade, that
the latter may safely be considered the larger of the two.
In one instance a new word is used, and a place is said to
contain ' 3 brasses de terre '.^

To turn to the words and measures most frequently employed
for vineyards. Vines, as has been already said, were very
frequently counted by their rows. In a few cases, when these
were exceptionally long, the length is also entered. At

^ G. 524, f. 41 3"^ (1366). Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 579.

* Ibid. (1400), 567, 599. ^ Ibid., 600.

* G. 177 (1462). These names came originally from the land which could
be sown with a certain measure of seed. See Brutails, Populations rurales
du Roussillon, pp. 58. ' Ibid., f. 66.

140

SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. VII

Fourc (1282) one holding contained 14 arreguas, and these
were ' 140 pas ' in length ^ (a pas was about 2^ feet long 2) ;
7 rows were no pas long, and 16 rows were 80.

A term particularly used to describe strips of vine land is
correya or corregia. It does not seem to have been an expres-
sion very early in use, but in the list of holdings in 1400 it
appears frequently, and also in the fifteenth-century terrier.
These strips were especially common in the Graves of Bordeaux,
but the fact of this name being applied in particular instances
renders it probable that ordinary vineyards were not of this
long narrow shape, but tended rather more to be planted in
square plots, unless the length was specially noted. Some-
times the width of the correya is mentioned, in one place 8 pas
in width, in another 13. A trens de vigne described (1449) as
9 pas in width and 30 in length must have been similar to
these correyas.^

Vineyards, at the present day, tend to very regular shapes,
square or oblong ; but occasionally the nature of the land or
the position of a road renders this impossible, and the vine has
to be planted in a wedge-shaped piece, making some of the rows
shorter than others. The word used to express this formerly
was cahotz, which meant the shorter rows not going the whole
length of the reges.

Reges

Cabotz

Some of the vines were enclosed, or protected by ditches from
the inroads of stray beasts ; they might then be called claus de
vigne, or casaus de vigne. Other expressions show the manner
in which the vines were planted. Treilha, trilea, or arbotus

G. 524, f. 247^.
Terrier, f. 123.

^ Brutails, Cart, de St.-Seurin, Introduction, p. 37.

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 141

was used for the vines which were trained over trelHses or
along espahers, instead of being staked in straight rows
according to the usual plan in the open fields. This was
a system adopted as a rule in gardens or small plots in a town.
Joailles were rows of vine planted with considerable space
between, which was used for growing other things. Vegetables,
small fruit trees, or even corn are still sometimes grown
intermixed with vines. In some parts of the country this is
more common than in others ; certainly the plan was very
usual round Bordeaux during the Middle Ages.^

Very occasionally we read of a marret de vigne also, but
this does not occur so often as all the other words.- It may
have something to do with cultivation by the marre, a special
kind of spade generally used for vineyards, but there is nothing
except the name to prove this. In a list of property of
1401 a maret de vinha is entered in between an arrega and
a correya as though some kind of difference must have been
obvious at that time.

Both arable land and vineyards could be divided into bessons
or bersanas, which seem to be more or less equivalent to the
old English shots. A large open field would generally consist
of various bessons, with furrows going different ways as best
suited the formation of the ground. In a very large field,
when the furrow was long enough for the plough, that plot
would end and a new besson would begin. The word came
most probably from vertere in the sense of turning the plough,
and was therefore originally applied more usually to arable
plots. In 1259 we find a holding of ' 14 reges terra de duabus
versanis '.^ In 1364, ' 6 bessons de terre et de vigne '. In 1365
(Cenon), ' 4 bessons ou il y a 54 arreguas '. In 1367, ' 5
bessons de terre '.*

The question of morcellement within the villages, the extent
to which land was split up, and the average size of the holdings,

' Cart., f. 4 : ' Pro trilea que est circa cellarium suum.' Cart., f. 2y :
Vinea de 24 joalas. Revenus de TArchevgche (Bassens), f. 1 1^ : 17 joalas
vinee uno loco ; 5 joalas in alio loco ; 5 joalas in alio loco. G. 524, 169'^
(1340), 7 joailles, Cazau de Pomeye. Ibid. 406 (1366), 15 joailles,
Lambetz. Correya de vigne ou il y a 4 joailles, &c.

* G. 524, f. 410. » Revenus de I'ArchevSche, f. 11.

* G. 524, ff. 34, 38s'.

142 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. vii

is one of the greatest difficulty. There need be no distinction
drawn here between censives and questaves ; the possessions
of serfs and simple freemen were in no way distinguished by
any difference in extent. On one or two points we may be
sure. A fief or a censive was indivisible in itself, though it
might be shared amongst co-parceners : but most tenants held
several fiefs or several censives, generally scattered, but
occasionally concentrated so as to form a contiguous territory.
In the process of time, though more land was brought under
cultivation and thus new fiefs created, the practice of sub-
division and the growth of population tended to split up
estates, and a smaller number of pieces would be held by one
man, until holdings became very minute. This morcellement
was occasionally hindered by the direct action of either the
lord or tenant interfering with this subdivision and concen-
trating the estates in the hands of one member of the family,
but as vineyards could be cultivated with profit even in small
portions this part of the country was rather specially charac-
terized by the small size of the rural holdings.

Monsieur Brutails, writing on very much the same region
when he treats of the estate of St.-Seurin of Bordeaux, has
attempted to make a rough estimate of holdings reckoned by
the rege or furrow. Before 1453 he finds the majority of
holdings to comprise between 3 and 10 rows ; of the rest, how-
ever, more tenants had over 11 than under 3 rows, though
only 2 men had as many as 60 furrows. The size of these
holdings in acres he has only been able to calculate between
1453 and 1789. Out of 65 examples, 15 were under half an
acre in extent ; 15 under a quarter of an acre, only 9 contained
about as much as an acre, and 4 alone rose to 3 or 4 acres.^

The estate of St.-Andre, taken as a whole, seems to present
similar features to that of St.-Seurin. On the other hand the
smallness of the holdings must not be exaggerated, nor were
all parts of the territory in quite the same condition. The
tenants of the archbishop were often very prosperous, held
fair-sized fiefs, and paid good rents. This was particularly
the case in Bordeaux, where burgesses formed perhaps the
^ Brutails, Introduction to Cart, de St.-Seurin, p. 38.

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 143

largest number of his direct rent-paying dependants. Some
of these burgesses had only houses, or house and garden in
the town itself ; others had vines in the banlieue where no one
held less than 4 reges. The amounts varied from 4 to 40 rows
and the rents for single fiefs from is. to 165. Just occasionally
very low rents were paid for Bordeaux houses (see earlier,
p. 63) : id., 2d., 6d. and 8d. ; very often such cheap houses
belonged to priests ; but 55., 105., 155. appear much more
frequently. One burgess paid as much as 40s. for half a sol
and another had 10 fiefs and owed as much as £4 2s.^ One
man for what the accounts call ' a great piece of vine ' in the
town itself actually paid £4 12s. for the same.^ The vine
holdings outside the walls of the town varied considerably
both in size and value. A rege seems to have varied in value
from i^. or i^d. to as much as 10^., and even in two cases is.
Those in Fourc were generally the most valuable : very often
6d., yd., and 8^. the row, and a fief might consist of from 4 to
12 of them. In Bordeaux town y^d. the row occurs several
times. In La Meyt-deu-Forc the values were generally a little
lower and the fiefs a little smaller. Occasionally, though less
frequently, strips of arable land were held in the Graves, and
this was less valuable than vineyards.

The archbishop's tenants in outlying places were much
poorer than the burgesses of Bordeaux, held as a rule smaller
fiefs or fewer of them, and paid lower rents. Occasionally,
when the land was very poor, larger holdings had to be given,
but at extremely low rents. This was noticeably the case at
Brenars, a hamlet of Pessac, where 10 reges of vine were
let out for the large sum of id., and of land at the same rate
as many as 20 reges. Begles was another place where land
went for very little : 74 reges for is. o^d. ; 30 rows for 6d.,
12 for 2d., and so forth. Vines here were not even attempted.
Some tenants at Eyssines had small holdings in 1400. A whole
bordeu with its lands was rented at dd., one or two pieces of
vineyard at the same price. In Pessac one stagia was held
for 4\d., another including 17 sadons of land for y\d. Several
holdings in St.-M6dard-cn-Jalles paid only 9^. of cens.

^ Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 631. ' Ibid. 599.

144 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. vii

On the whole the impression gained from the description
of the property is that there was nothing so regular as the
English strip-holding system in the open fields. Nor was
there equal necessity for the three-field system prevailing so
generally amongst corn-growing communities. The landscape
in the neighbourhood of Bordeaux, at least, must have
presented a very similar aspect to that which it does at the
present day. Large open tracts of country, seldom broken
by hedge-rows or enclosures, with plots of vineyard here and
there interspersed with corn land, divided into blocks of many
different shapes, but with a tendency towards long narrow
strips. This is shown by the frequent descriptions of holdings
situated on either side between the lands of other cultivators
and abutting at the end upon a wood or high road, or another
holding. Several holdings will have the same boundaries at
each end, and the land of one individual at the side ; so that
we get the idea of a number of holdings of equal length lying
side by side with one another. But this uniformity is not
universal.^

These strips or blocks were generally interspersed. Occasion-
ally a man might have acquired contiguous pieces {trens de
vigne aqui pres), but over and over again his neighbours are
mentioned by name, or he has a few rows of vine in one place,
of corn land in another, and a block of territory for various
purposes in a third.^

Meadow land, on the contrary, was generally in separate
portions, occasionally of quite considerable size. Also there
were a good many Httle homesteads in the country, consisting
of a house and a small croft by it or round it. In the
immediate neighbourhood of towns such as Bordeaux, how-
ever, it was very usual for town dwellers to be rural

* G. 83, passim.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxii. 581 (1400). A clerk had four vines
near one another at Brunon. G. 83 (1364). Jean Hodon had a trens de
terre between the holdings of Caseulh and Peaveyra, the common road
and the holding of Maurin at the ends ; a irens de terre between the holdings
of Seguin and Guiraud ; a trens de terre between the holdings of Brauyre and
Larin, the common road and the holding of Chaysoney at the ends ; a.trens
de vigne between the holdings of J. de Mote and H. deu Borns at the sides,
and those of R. de la Rue and P. de Sebirot at the ends, &c., &c.

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 145

cultivators with land in the country outside the walls, vines
in the Graves, or meadows in the Palus. Nearly all
houses in Bordeaux also had land round them all through
the period ; the town was slow to lose its rural character.
Most inhabitants had gardens, and for a long time there
were vineyards within the walls and empty spaces still
unoccupied.

The documents tell us disappointingly little of the methods
of cultivation employed by the tenants, and what information
we can glean from them is negative rather than positive.
Thus we gather that there was not much co-operation for
purposes of cultivation ; nothing is said of a village plough,
of the duty of landholders to supply so many oxen for common
use, or of combined labour on the open fields. Probably
the small holdings were easily cultivated by the labour of
the family, and when these were vineyards hand-labour was
what they chiefly needed.

The seigneur still retained some control over the cultivation

of the land held from him. This was generally asserted in

the case of terra agreyra, land held by payment of part of the

fruit, since in this case he was particularly interested in the

management of the property. As a rule some sort of promise

was exacted in the grant ' obrar e laborar ben e degudament

aus fors e costumas de Bordales ' ; or a few more details

might be added : ' hobrar, laborar et coyturar, boyar et

semenar cascun an.' ^ It was always necessary, also, in

tenures of this sort to have a surveyor at the time of vintage

or harvest, to see that all was properly done and that the due

proportion was paid. The tenant had to send word when he

was ready to begin the picking or reaping, and he was obliged

to pay and feed the official sent to supervise. Twopence and

a dinner each day was the usual arrangement, or the guard

might have money instead of the dinner if he preferred it.

The regular formula in grants of land at ' part fruit ' was ' a

ladeita garda dos deneys de la deita moneda de gardaria ct

a dinar ' ; and then would follow, in the case of vineyards,

a promise of good digging, pruning, bending, and other neces-

* G. 94 : Bail 4 fief nouveau (1354).

(part V)ST.-A. L

146 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. vii

sary work ; in the case of corn land, of ploughing at the right
seasons and sowing good seed.^

Good cultivation was expected, and possibly forfeiture
might follow if a holding were allowed to get into really bad
condition. The tenant was sometimes encouraged to manure
the soil, by being allowed to pay a smaller due when he had
done so ; ^ but this was not a regular custom, and in some
places the lord used to exact more if he did so.

^ Terrier, f. i''^ : (1441) Reconnaissance of a burgess of Bordeaux, who
had three strips of vine as a fief : ' for the fourth and the tithe in addition
of the fruit which shall grow and increase each year in the said three correyas
of vine, carrying and rendering each year in due season the said fourth part
and tithe of the said fruit, at the command of the said lords, dean and
chapter, to the wine-press of the said Church of Bordeaux ; and that the
tenant must demand guard of the same when he shall wish to gather the
grapes from the three correyas of vine. And further, that he must give
the said guard twopence of the said money and his dinner for his offices,
or two shillings and a half of the aforesaid money for the said dinner,
whichever the guard shall prefer ; and the same every day that he may
spend over the vintage of the said three strips of vine, the which three
strips the said tenant ought and is bound, and has promised and agreed to
work, to plough, and to cultivate each year, that is to say to prune, to
bank up, to bend, to dig, and to give the three necessary fagons and all
other labours and workings which are needful for vines in the Graves, in
good times and good seasons, according to the said fors and customs of
Bordeaux, [per la quarta et la deyma talhada deu fruyt de vin et de
vendemiha qui bayran et creysseran cascun an en las deltas tres correyas
de vinha, portadas et rendudas cascun an en sa sadon las deltas quarta
part et deyma talhada deudeit fruyt, au comandament deusdeitz senhors
Dean et Capitre, au truilh de la delta gleisa a Bordeu ; et deu demandar garda
aqui medis lodeit affeuat quant vorra vendemihar las deltas tres correyas
de vinha. Et plus que deu a la delta garda dos deneys de la delta moneda
de gardaria et a dinar, o dos soudz et mech de la moneda surdeita per
lodeit dinar, loquau meys playra a la delta garda. Et aquo per cascun
jorn que triguera a vendemihar totas las deltas tres correyas de vinha,
lasquaus avant deltas tres correyas de vinha lodeit affeuat deu et es tengut
et a mandat combent et promes obrar, laborar et coytivar cascun an,
soes assaber podar, levar, plegar, fudir, magestar, et tersar, et far y totas
autras obras et faissons que a vinhas de Gravas se appertenen, en bons
temps et en bonas sadons, segont los deitz fors et costumas de Bordales.]

Ibid., f. 83". Bail a fief nouveau in parish of L6ge of ' house, lands,
pastures, streams, wastes, gardens, fisheries, and all other things at 66
shillings of cens and 6 pence of esporle '. The tenant promises ' residence
and also that he will plough, cultivate, and sow the said lands with good
corn in good times and in good seasons as may appertain thereto, according
to the aforesaid /oys and customs of Bordeaux '. [' hostau, terras, pascenx,
ribeyras, paduentz, jardins, pesqueys et totas autras causas,' at 66s. cens
and 6d. esporle. . . . ' aissi medis que laborera, coytivera et semenevera
lasdeitas terras de bons bladz en bon temps et en bons sadons aissi cum
sa appertendra segont losdeits fors et costumas bordales.']

^ G. 524, f. 169.

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 147

There seems to be little more control than this exercised
over the tenants in regard to the cultivation of their land ;
and those who paid a fixed cens in money would not necessarily
receive even this amount of supervision. Judging from the
constant arrears of rent entered in the accounts of the arche-
veche, the estate was not managed very strictly, and dues and
services were apt to be shirked.

It is only from the accounts of the archbishop that much
can be learnt as to the system of agriculture and methods of
labour. As these are almost entirely concerned with his
demesne land, we find things probably at their best, and
cultivation of a kind rather more advanced than it would
be on the estates of the smaller tenants. On the whole,
however, it must be more or less typical, and we can gather
from it some general idea of agricultural methods in this
region during the Middle Ages.

The archbishop apparently put the whole practical working
of his property into the hands of one superior official or
procureur. This procureur was responsible for the collection
of all money and tribute owed directly to the archbishop,
whether in the shape of tithes, rents, quartieres, tolls, or fines ;
as well as for the cultivation of the demesne. The actual
details of management varied somewhat from year to year.
Sometimes the fixed sums, owed by the farmers of tithes and
dues, were paid through the procureur, sometimes straight
to the archbishop. Occasionally other officials were appointed
to help in the work ; as, for instance, a sigillator who was
responsible for all profits derived from the soil ; or a vicar-
general to whom were paid the sums for reconciliation of
churches and the fines from courts of justice. There might
be several procureurs too for the extensive property. Out-
lying possessions such as Montravel, Caudrot, &c., generally
had officials of their own, and do not figure in the accounts
kept of the Bordelais property. Occasionally the archbishop
used to let out a whole scignory at farm, and then no record
was kept of the details of its management.^ The series of

* This was the case with Coutures and Loutranges in 1361 (and other
years also). Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 589 : ' Proventus loci de

148 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. vii

accounts which have been preserved, and from which most
information as to cultivation must be derived, are those of
his principal procureur in Bordeaux, who was at the head of
all his most important property. He collected spiritual and
temporal dues, rents in money and kind for all but those
outlying possessions which were not in his administration,
and he was responsible for the demesne cultivation. For
this he kept all the accounts, although he had working officials
beneath him who directly supervised, and saw that labourers
were duly provided and the work properly done. The vine
cultivation, by far the most important on the estate, will be
considered separately in the following chapter.

Since there was no corn land in the archbishop's home
farm (see chapter iii), information on this subject is lacking.
All we can gather is, that the usual time of harvest was the
end of July and the beginning of August. The procureur was
very busy at that time collecting the different portions that
were owed, storing them in barns and granges, and providing
for the thrashing and winnowing of the same. There were
plenty of uses to which all this com could be put. A great
quantity was required for the archbishop's own household,
his numerous retinue and important visitors (see chapter i).
He had also various hospices which needed provisioning, and
fed the poor of the diocese at his own expense. Corn might
also be given as a valuable present ; some of the English
commanders were not above receiving presents of oats for
the use of themselves and their soldiers ; and on one occasion
the king's herald was presented with eight bushels of wheat.
Corn also was constantly used for the salaries of some of the
officials and servants upon the estate. The hordilerius of Pessac
received all his wages, apparently, in rye and millet ; the reeve
of Lormont was paid in wheat. Not only was it employed
for regular salaried officials, but it might be used instead of
money in the case of odd expenses. Thus in 1367 the shoemaker
and mason were paid for their labour in wheat ; and even the
doctor was presented with thirteen bushels of the same.

Culturis et prepositure de Loutragio recipiebantur per G. Alberti, domi-
cellum \ quare de ipsis non me onero.'

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 149

Besides the regular servants who lived at the archbishop's
expense, labourers hired for work were generally supplied with
food whilst they were working, and a great deal of corn was
needed at the time of vintage, when many extra workers were
employed and fed. Corn was also consumed by the animals
which the archbishop kept. He had a large number of
horses, which fed on oats and sometimes millet, but the latter
was generally required for the ducks, hens, and chickens of
his poultry farm.^

Corn was not only used for food, it was also an article of
commerce. Sometimes it was exchanged for other goods, as
when sixteen sucking pigs were purchased for two bushels of
wheat and one of beans.^ There were years when the arch-
bishop had more than he required and used to sell it. Merchants
and corn-dealers bought it most frequently, but in 1367
a number of small sales were effected to all sorts of people in
and round Bordeaux.^ Probably this was an experiment on
the part of the procureur to do without the middleman, who
generally managed all this retail selling. It shows how the
ordinary tenants, possessing as they did so many vineyards,
could not live on their own produce, but had to purchase
necessaries whilst they sold their wine. The archbishop him-
self, however, did not always have sufficient for his own needs,
and instead of selling was sometimes purchasing corn on his
own account. This he constantly did from English merchants,*
and sometimes instead of money, wine was exchanged for it.^
Foreign trade was important all through the fourteenth century,
but particularly towards the close, when corn dues were largely
commuted. The accounts from 1382 onwards are full of
these transactions with British traders, and the wine trade
enabled extensive purchases to be made of other commodities.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 514 ; xxii. 201.
^ Ibid. xxi. 237 (1355)-

' Ibid. xxii. 151 : (1367-8) ' Vendidi domino Remundo . . . medium
boys, avene. . . . didi Penoto bladerio 21 escar-avene. Bertrando de
Brocario ... 28 boys, avene. Uxori magistri Hamundi ... 10 boys, avene.
Bertrando coquo decani Sancti Severini ... 4 boys, avene,' &c., &c. Total :
/200 gs. id. new money, ;^88 6s. od. current money.

* Ibid. xxii. 347 : (1383) 8 tons of wheat bought from English merchant
at ;^i2 IDS. the ton. 387: (1385) 2 tons of oats at ;^i5 7s. the ton, &c., &c.

* Ibid., p. 336(1382).

150 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. vii

The value of this corn is very difficult to estimate, owing
to the various measures used in different places, and to the
constant changes in money. The following measures occur
most frequently.

The escarte or scarte was roughly about 4 bushels on an
average, but it varied from place to place. In the archipretre
of Cernes in 1459, it was only 3 bushels hordelais ; ^ whilst in
Benauges at the same date, it was reckoned at as many as 5.^
Both in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it is said to
contain sufficient for 22 loaves.

The conque, a measure especially used in Buch and Born
was there reckoned as a bushel, or a quarter of an escarte.^ In
Benauges, where it is used for measuring wheat, not as in the
other places for millet, 2^ bushels are allowed to it in 1460.'*

A petra was a stone measure employed in one part of Entre-
deux-Mers, whilst the other half of the district reckoned in
escartes} The size of the petra apparently varied according
to whether it was to be employed for wheat or for oats. It was
put down as containing i bushel hordelais in 1459.^

A tonneau appears to have roughly contained about 14 or
15 bushels ; ' an eymine, which only occurs in Fronsac and
Entre-Dordogne, was 3 bushels in 1398.^ The same district
also made use of a setier, which varied from 6 to 8 bushels
according to different entries.*

A quartail or quarterium was a measure used in Bourg and
Blaye, and contained 7 or 8 bushels : ^® a livrade or livralli also
found there was a little less than a bushel : ^ in 1460 it was
reckoned only as half,^ and a modureria at Blaye as one-third.^^

To add to the difficulties of comparison, these measures
might be used in different ways. The corn was evidently
measured out in vessels which held so much, but these might

^ G. 240, f. 449 (1459). ^ Ibid., f. 451'.

^ Arch. Hist. xxii. 139 (1367). See also xxi. 53. * G. 240, f. 468.

" Revenus de I'Archevdche, f. 15V. • G. 240, f. 456.

' Arch. Hist. xxii. 153, 387. * Ibid. xxi. 600; xxii. 525.

* G. 240, f. 457: (1459) In Entre-Dordogne = 6 bushels hordelais; in
Fronsadais=8 bushels hordelais. Ibid., f. 468 : (1460) In Entre-Dordogne
= Sk bushels; in Fronsac= 7^ bushels, xxii. 525: In Entre-Dordogne
(1398) a sextanum=6 bushels. '• G. 240, ff. 461, 468.

" Arch. Hist. xxi. 213. '* G. 240, f. 468.

" Arch. Hist. xxi. 62 ; xxii. 134, 530.

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 151

be heaped up as full as possible {cumulatus), or shaken down
even with the top (rasus). The procureur who had been selling
escartes of corn in 1356 said that as much as 5 bushels of wheat
difference was made by the use of the heaped-up measure,
then apparently introduced.^ In 1357 the Bordeaux measure
was said to be ' nee rasa, neque penitus cumulata ' ; ^ but in
1361 corn was being reckoned in heaped-up measures, and the
difference was one bushel more in every fifteen.^

On the archbishop's estate a good deal of trouble was taken
over this measuring, which naturally made considerable
difference in the collection of quarteria and corn rents. Special
officials were generally sent to measure the quantity due, and
they carried with them their own measures in order to make
a consistent calculation.

As time went on the practice of commuting these corn
payments for money became increasingly common. This
was advantageous in various ways. Much trouble and
expense was saved over the collection, and more land could
be turned to the profitable cultivation of the vine, for which
it was so well fitted. The increasing practice of trading
rendered it less customary to provide necessary food from the
estate, and the steady demand for the wines of Bordeaux
rendered it possible to provide corn from other parts. It was
largely the commercial connexion which kept Bordeaux so
loyal to the English rule and so slow in desiring a change of
allegiance.

The commutations of the quarteria give the best idea of the
average price of corn in different years, and would be extremely
valuable if the varying moneys employed did not make the
comparison of one year with another very uncertain. It does
help, however, to show the relative value of different grains
at the same period. Wheat, all the way through, appears to
have fetched a higher price than any other kind of corn.
Wheaten bread was always a much-desired luxury. Oats

' Ibid. xxi. 426 (1356): Some corn sold in ' mensura cumulata sicut
communiter venditur de presenti '. Some ' in mensure que non cumu-
iabatur '. ' Ibid. xxi. 512 (1357).

' Ibid. 703: (1361-2) ' Computando 15 boys, dicte measure cumulate
pro 16 boys, dicte mensure merchande vel econ verso.'

152

SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. VII

come next, as a rule, at a very much lower price, and rye and
millet seem to be fairly on the same level. The prices paid
instead of kind were generally settled by common agreement,
and it is interesting to note that the procureur, in making any
sale of corn on the estate, managed almost always to realize
a rather higher sum than this average estimate. The following
table is collected from the accounts, and gives a rough idea
of corn values at different dates :

Prices of Corn
As officially arranged for the sale of Quarteria.^
EscARTE reckoned as 4 bushels

Wheat.

Oats.

Fye.

Millet.

1332

25/t

14/t

1339

43/9

29/2

26/3

20/5
28/§

1340

54/J

48/t

40/-46/t

I34I-2

58/4

22/oi

32/1

29/2
4o/§

1342-3

70/ & 78/1:

40/t

1343-4

230/t
debilium

4o/-46/t

40/t

1354

2 flor.

I J flor.

a flor.

I flor.

1355

2flor.

I J flor.

ijflor.

I flor.

Lesparre 1356 ^

6/sterl*

4/ sterl.

3/ sterl.

4/4i sterl.t

2/8 sterl.

2/2 sterl.

Moults

6/8 sterl.*

5/ sterl.

4/ sterl.

4/iof sterl.f

3/4 sterl.

2/11 sterl.

2/1 1 sterl

1357

2 1 leop.
auri X

2&li

leop.J

I J leop. J

1360

4J leop.

2 leop.

3 leop.

2^ leop.
4§

1361

2 leop.J

2| leop.$

Lesparre 1367

9/4 sterl.

4/8 sterl.

Moults

10/ sterl.

5/ sterl.

5/4 sterl.

5/ sterl.

12/-13/4I:

6/8$

6/t

8/ Buch,
6/ Born.

1382

72/1

Lesparre 1398 c

50/

24/4

29/4

24/4

Moults

52/8

24/4

29/4

24/4

1459

48/t-6o/|

24/

Mixture.

46/t

When not the official price, but reckoned by a sale, a mark J is put
against it. * Bordeaux measure.

f Measure of quartieres. § At Buch and Born.

^ Arch. Hist. xxi. 385. It says against first figure ' ad mensuram
Burd.' ; and then ' que reducta ad mensuram quarteriaxum '.

c The reckoning was really given in bushels. This is counting 4 bushels
to the escarte.

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 153

The archbishop had a considerable number of hayfields,
although they were not sufficient for all his needs. These
meadows were managed in a variety of different ways, upon
which the accounts furnish a good deal of information.

Besides his own hay, the archbishop obtained some as agreria.
This was chiefly from meadows in the palus of Bordeaux,
a district with very good soil for grass-growing. In this case
the procureur had to arrange to fetch the hay and to pay for
its conveyance, and the cost of carriage always seems extra-
ordinarily high (see chapter viii). Only very occasionally
was carting done de gracia,^ and then food was provided for
the carriers, so that some expenses were always involved ;
but in the case of hay, as in everything else, the most striking
feature of this estate is the amount of hired labour required
and the very small number of labour services performed by
the tenants. Here and there a man for haymaking ^ was
included as part of the rent ; but subdivision had rendered
this of little value in the fourteenth century, when half a man
or a quarter of a man was often all that the tenement owed.
Naturally this was very soon commuted for money, and in
1346 a similar service is only mentioned as one item which
had gone to make up the money ceiis.^

The demesne meadows were not always cultivated directly
for the archbishop's use, but sometimes farmed out. That of
Lormont, which the procureur had managed himself in 1356,
was handed over to one of the tenants in the following year
for four crowns of gold. One of these was eventually remitted
because the EngHsh had devastated the field,* In 1367 the
hay-harvest of Lormont was managed on a sort of profit-
sharing compact, half being kept by the farmer and half going
to the archbishop.^ The meadow of Les Pesettes in the same
year was farmed to six men, who paid ;^20 between them for
the privileges. At Ludon the farming of the meadow brought

* Ibid. xxi. 488 : (1357) 'Pro 13 hominibus quos habuit ad parandum
et portandum dictum fenum . . . dando cuilibet 7 gros, ultra plaustra habita
de gracia.' ' Ibid. xxi. 75, 77 (i343)-

^ Ibid. 160: 'Pro blado et pro valore duorum hominum ad fenum et
gallinis debitis per eum, 23s.' For vines at La Taugue.

* Ibid. 456. •• Ibid. xxii. 150.

154 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. vii

in £2^ in 1340/ six leopards of gold in 1356,^ and ^25 in
1367.3

When the meadows were cultivated at the archbishop's
expense, and the procureur was responsible for their working,
practically all the labour required was hired, and in some of
the larger fields this meant a considerable number of workers,
Lormont (1306) only required 7 men to cut, and 12 to make
and carry.* Ludon was much more extensive, and here 39
men were employed for making after the reaping had been
done, 12 men more to load, and 10 carriers. They were all
paid wages and had food given. ^ In 1389 the haymaking in
the meadows of Les Pesettes and Le Fresne was an even bigger
affair. The actual number of men employed is not given,
but 71 days of labour were expended in the cutting ; 82 days
of men's work and 21 of women's for making it ; 20 men were
used to load, and oxen were hired for 8 days. The river
carrier or gabarrarius was paid as much as ^11 5.?.^

In the archbishop's garden some hay was also made ; but
this was only a small business ; one reaper and 3 or 4 men to
make the hay were generally sufficient.'

As a rule there were as many as two crops of hay in the year,
of which one was cut some time in June and the second in
September, on one occasion even as late as October.^ Some-
times, in a good season, three crops might be yielded. This
happened in the archbishop's meadow in 1354, when the first
and largest crop was cut in May ; the second in the middle
of June, and the third in September.^ Women were not so
much in demand for haymaking as for the regular work in
the vineyards. Of the workers, there seems generally to have
been one set of men for cutting, another for making ; and
whilst some specially loaded the carts others stacked the hay.
The carrying was chiefly done by hired huhulci. In the
archbishop's garden the same men made and carried.

This meant probably taking large bundles either on their
shoulders or fastened to stakes, as men still do so much in the

' Ibid. xxi. 48. ^ Ibid. 384. ' Ibid. xxii. 140.

* Ibid. xxi. 488. * Ibid. xxii. 150. * Ibid. 447.

' Ibid. 322 (1382). ' Ibid. xxi. 700 (1361).

' Ibid. 344 (1344).

CH. vii] DIVISION OF THE SOIL 155

mountains. For distant meadows the hay was often brought
by boat, a form of transit used whenever possible and not so
expensive as the hire of ox-wagons and their drivers for the
whole distance (see chapter ix).

The archbishop's garden, which first appears in the
accounts in 1361, was managed by the procureur, who arranged
its cultivation and paid for the hired labour that was required.
He had under him for the actual work a gardener, evidently
quite a subordinate, who took up no authoritative position,
and left all real responsibility to the procureur. The garden,
besides the hay which has been mentioned, contained chiefly
vines, but there was also a vegetable garden in which cabbages,
onions, beans, spinach, leek, and garlic were all grown. No
mention is made of any flowers being cultivated. This garden
was probably newly made in 1361 — not only because there
had been no mention of it earlier, but because this year so
much labour was expended on it. It was dug, weeded,
manured, a bridge was built, and so forth.^ Every year a good
deal of extra work was needed, not only for the vines which
the archbishop grew here, but also for general weeding and
planting. This gave employment to women as well as men,
but they were hired at a very much lower rate (see chapter ix).
The gardener was probably a permanent servant, who managed
the working except on special occasions, as these hired
labourers only appear from time to time.

The comparative absence of pasture land has already been
noticed and discussed (see chapter iii). Nothing further is,
therefore, to be learnt from the accounts on this subject,
and it only remains to treat of the cultivation of the vine.

» Ibid. xxi. 681 (1361-2).

CHAPTER VIII

VINES AND THE VINTAGE

The history of the Bordelais peasants, from the fourteenth
century onwards, centres very much round the vine. Whether
they were cultivating their own httle vineyard, or whether
they were earning wages as day labourers on the land of
others, it was the chief object of their work and source of
their well-being.

The wine they produced was used in every possible manner.
Naturally it was drunk by all, from the highest to the lowest.
No labourers provided with food during their work would
have been satisfied without their regular ration of wine ; the
produce of certain vineyards was put aside for use at the
archbishop's table ; barrels and pipes of wine were constantly
bestowed as presents on distinguished visitors to the country.

The archbishop's vineyards gave a great deal of occupation
to the inhabitants of the surrounding districts. All the year
round men were hired for the necessary labours amongst the
vines, for digging, planting, staking, &c. ; and at the time of
the vintage employment was given to large numbers at a time,
who were fed generously during their work, and could earn
a good sum for each day's labour. It was not only directly
that vineyards formed such a useful source of occupation.
There was continuous demand for tubs, vats, receptacles of
all kinds ; besides which, making and repairing, putting the
wine presses in order before the vintage, cleaning and mending
afterwards, all gave employment to numbers of peasants and
townsmen. In the fifteenth-century terrier, the majority
of Bordeaux inhabitants were laboradors de vinhas, and the
next class in size to be found there was that of the makers of
barrels. Then again, there were numbers of men regularly
occupied with the work of carriage and transport of goods,

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE 157

and of these goods by far the chief was wine. There were
always dues in wine to be collected from different parts of
the country ; there was always wine to be conveyed to the
different warehouses provided to store it ; there were purchases
made, which had to be transferred from seller to buyer, or
there were barrels to be carried to ship-board for export to
foreign parts.^ In one way or another, therefore, the Bordelais
people were occupied with the cultivation of the vine, and
their social history is inevitably bound up with it.

The kinds of wine chiefly produced in this district during
the Middle Ages, were clairet or vina clara, which was practi-
cally universal ; white wine, not apparently very common,
but grown on the archbishop's estate at Lormont and Les
Queyries ; and red wine, both pure and lymphatic, also at
Lormont and Les Queyries, Pessac, and above all, the Graves.
Verjuice and vinegar were likewise made more or less generally.

The measures most constantly used for wine were the cask
{tonnellus), the pipe, and the barrel. Of these, the pipe
roughly contained two barrels, the cask four ; ^ but there
were local varieties. Other measures are not so easy to
estimate. Muyatus was a term used by the procureur in 1382,
amongst the accounts of expenses concerning Lormont and
Pessac. It was a cask of some kind, which contained apparently
about the same amount as a pipe, since the same price was
given for the carriage of both.^ Carrales occur in some
of the earlier accounts only ; * and for verjuice qiiartones or
pitalphi are mentioned.^ Rents and dues of barrels, pipes,
or casks are, however, the usual thing, and wine was sold
according to these measures.

* See chapter ix for carriage and its cost.

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 330: (1354) ' computatis duabus
pipis pro uno ton.' This occurs frequently, xxii. 199 (1368) adds
' et duabus barriquas pro una pita ' (probably meaning pipa). See note
of editors (Leo Drouyn), xxii. 665. He thinks the barrel was the same
as the modern measure, containing 220 to 222 litres.

' xxii. 326: (1382) ' Solvi faysilheriis et bubulcis . . . dando pro quolibet
ton. lod., pro qualibet pipa et quolibet muyato &d.'

*■ xxi. 230. In 1355 a carral of claret was bought for 30s. sterling and
a pipe of wine for 285. sterling. This is the latest date at which the term
appears in these account-books.

' xxi. 657 : ( 1 361-2) ' feci fieri agrestam, videlicet 54 quartones sive
pitulphos.' The carton probably contained a quarter of a barrel.

158 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. viii

There were a good many different ways in which these
vine dues were paid. Sometimes the tenant used to render
a certain amount of the grapes themselves, which would then
be conveyed in baskets or tubs to the winepress of the arch-
bishop, either at Lormont or Bordeaux.^ Occasionally the
wine would be given, but sine fuste, that is not in barrels, in
which case it had to be carried in vessels of some kind, until
it could be deposited in the casks of the seigneur ; ^ or it
might happen that the tenant owed wine, but the barrels for
it were provided and sent to him by the lord,^ who had much
trouble and expense over the collection of his various agrieres.
The most common form, however, was for the tenant to pay
the wine cum fuste, in barrels that is, or as it was often
expressed ' vin fust et lie '.*

On the archbishop's estate a great quantity of wine was
required each year, and it speaks well for the extent of the
produce that any was still left to sell. The actual require-
ments of his table came to no small amount, since he kept
open house and gave generous hospitality ; he used wine also
for the salaries of his chief officials (see chapter ix), for his
permanent employes and household servants, besides which
he had to supply enough for the meals of the large number
of hired labourers who worked for him. Nevertheless, a good
deal was generally left for commercial purposes. In 1332
;^iii 115. was realized — by sales, after having deducted the
profits of the corretarius or middleman who managed the trans-
actions.^ In 1341, the text of the accounts notifies the sale
of old and new wine to the value of ;^453 os. ^d. ; or if the
marginal additions are included, as much as £7AZ iS'^- 4^-^

In 1361, 31 casks were sold to British merchants, 9 to
a Bordeaux merchant, and with other smaller sales to private

^ xxii. 161 : (1367) Money paid from vineyard at Pissaloup for a tithe
' quam omiserat solvere in racemis ' ; and from Lormont, ' ultra illud
quod solverat in racemis.'

^ xxi. 391 : (1356) ' Recepi pro assensa decime de Guitinhano 5 ton.
vini sine fuste.'

* xxi. 655 : ( 1 361-2) ' Recepi a domina Mabilia pro decima vinearum . . .
in fuste domini Archiepiscopi, i pipam vini clari.'

* xxi. 392 : (1356) ' I tonellum vini clari cum fuste.'

* xxi. 9. * xxi. loi.

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE 159

individuals the total gain was 796I leopards of gold ; probably
a little above the same amount of pounds in Bordeaux money.^

In some years far less was left to sell, because the wine dues
had been commuted for money. This was particularly the case
in 1367, when the section devoted to sales is almost entirely
taken up with the receipts of money from tithes and agrieres ;
as it says : ' P. de Fraxinii convenit solvere pro valore trium
piparum . . . ^-^j 105.' ^ &c. As a rule, however, the arch-
bishop made considerable sums by the profitable sale of extra
wine to merchants, inn-keepers, and private individuals.^

The methods of cultivation employed for vines in the Middle
Ages can be gathered to a certain extent from the archbishop's
accounts, in the sections concerning expenses due for the
vineyards in his demesne. There, as has been seen in
chapter i, were the large Figuer-Belh vineyard at Lormont ;
the vineyard called after Clement V at Pessac, and the plants
in his garden behind the cathedral. Occasionally the procureur
also accounts for the cultivation of those at Ouinsac (Ambares)
and Les Chretiens. The bordilerius hired almost all the
needful labour. The odd boondays mentioned here and
there among the rents were practically always commuted for
money ; ' i vendemihador cascun an de cens o per lodeit
vendemihador dotze deneys ' ; or put more explicitly as
12 denarii for one vendemihador (day's work in the vineyard).

The different ways of planting vines in joailles, trellises, and
rows have been already noticed (chapter vii, p. 141). In the
case of joailles, which should by rights have had vegetables
or other crops growing in the space between the wide furrows,
in early days this space was often left fallow, so that the
method was not very profitable, and in consequence rare.

The vineyards of Pessac and Lormont are worth considering
separately, since certain important differences existed between
them in the manner of their cultivation ; although the usual
labours required by vines were naturally very similar in all

' xxi. 651. ' xxii. 161.

' In 1384 a good deal was sold to a merchant from England, and some
was exchanged for corn (xxii. 372). In 1385 cloth was obtained from
England as payment (378). In 1387 forty casks conveyed to a vessel for
export to the same {416).

i6o SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. viii

parts. Pessac, however, was one of the few vineyards for
which the ox-plough was used as early as the fourteenth
century. Almost everywhere at that date, the covering and
uncovering of the roots was done by hand, the ground being
dug with the marre or special vine tool, something between
a hoe and a spade, which is still in use. The plough, during
the last fifty years, has almost superseded the marre, although
a few vines still continue to be worked entirely by hand ; but
in the Middle Ages, Pessac was certainly an exception to the
general practice.

Four times a year oxen and plough were hired for the work
at Pessac ; alternately the furrows were opened and re-covered.
The times at which this was done varied somewhat from year
to year, but there was generally one ploughing in October or
November after the vintage was over ; another in January
or February to uncover the roots ; whilst in March or April
they were once more covered, and opened again in May or
June.^

The exact nature of the plough employed for the vineyard
is not very obvious from the accounts. It must have been
a small machine to go between the furrows, and one would
have almost expected a single ox to have drawn it. Since,
however, pairs of oxen are constantly entered, it is possible
that a two-ox plough was the kind most commonly in use.
The work and its cost vary somewhat from year to year ;
also every now and then the accounts are not complete, and
only two ' labours ' with the plough are mentioned instead of all
the four. In 1354 only two fagons are entered ; one in March
which cost 4 florins and another in May, 3 florins.^ Of the
four ploughings in the following year, that in January was

^ Jouannet, Statistique de la Gironde, vol. ii. In describing modern
cultivation of vines, he gives four fagons with the plough for vines in
Medoc. (i) February and March to uncover with the plough called cabat.
(2) April to re-cover with the courbe. (3) May with the cabat. (4) July
with the courbe. Pessac had four ploughings in 1355, which roughly
correspond to these later labours, although the months have altered a little
xxi. 247 : ' Expenda prima obdemoda januarii, pro arando vineis 3 fior. . . .
ultimate obdemoda marcii solvi pro coperiendo sive arando secundo, 3I flor.
... 15 die junii, feci tertio arari sive cavelhonari vineas ; . . . penultima
obdemoda octobris, solvi pro faciendo quarto arari sive coperiri.'

* xxi. 341.

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE i6i

slightly more expensive than the other three ; 8^. 2d. as
contrasted with js. 3d. and ys. sterling.

In 1361-2 (the procureur says from July 11, 1361, to the same
date in the following year) there is no account kept of plough-
ing before March,^ which looks as though there must be some
accidental omission. The three fagons accounted for were
in February, April, and May ; the first to uncover the roots,
' arare sive cavalhonare ; the second ' coperire ' ; and the
third ' facere sive arare '.

The year 1367 is a very interesting one, as the accounts are
particularly full and complete.^ We gather from these that
only part of the vines of Pessac were ploughed, and that some
were still worked by hand, as after noting the ploughing in
November, it is added that eight men were required for
covering ' alias vineas que operantur cum marra '. The four
ploughings were in November, March, May, and the end of
June, and each time six pairs of oxen were hired, or as it
very probably means, one pair for six days. The November
work cost less than the others, possibly because a shorter day's
work was done. That amounted altogether to 105. sterling
or £2 los. Bordeaux money ; the one in March to £3 (still
reckoning a sterling as 5 denarii) ; in May and in June the
same number of oxen cost £3 155. for the necessary ploughing.
There was also some extra ploughing this year, because new
vines were planted. In January one pair came ' ad arandum
plantam ' for 85. 4^. Bordeaux money, the same rate at which
the six pairs in November were paid : and in April a pair was
hired for the entreplantz.^ In 1382-3 * and 1383-4 ^ four
ploughings are again entered, so that this appears as the
normal amount. In the earlier year these fagons took place
in December, or the end of November, April, May and June,
each time costing the same sum of £,^. In 1383 no details
are given, but £^ 165. was paid for each time the oxen were
hired for the work at Pessac. The vineyard was very probably

' xxi. 696. » xxii. 181 sq.

' These may have been new vines started between the old rows eventually
to be abandoned. In 1383 this was evidently done (xxii. 359), since the
bordilerius was paid ' ad plantandum novas vites intra vineas de Pessaco
antedictas '. * xxii. 320 sq. » xxii. 358.

(PART V) ST.-A. M

i62 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. viii

growing in extent. In the fifteenth century the fourth fagon
appears to have been dropped ; at least only three are entered
in 1401 and in 1459. Unfortunately the series of accounts
being no longer so regular, there is more uncertainty as to
details. In 1401, the statement is quite clear : ' Compoto
cum dicto Geraldo (the bordilerius) pro harando seu boscando
et fudendo dictas vineas ter in suis sadonibus ut est fieri
consuetum solvi pro quolibet tempore seu sadone 625. 6i.' ^
In 1459, eight pairs of oxen were hired three times, for the
reduced sum of 485. a time.^

Besides the ploughing, there was plenty of digging to be
done at Pessac as elsewhere. There was always a space
between the rows where a plough could not go, which had
to be worked by hand ' fodiendum los cavalhons ' ; every
year numbers of men were employed for this fudir, as it was
called. It did not, apparently, form a necessary part of every
fagon, but was done twice in the year after the ploughing which
opened the furrow. In 1355, for example, when ploughing
was done in January, March, June, and October, men were
only paid for digging the cavalhons in February and June.*
In 1361, this work is again only entered twice,^ in March and
June, in each case following a few weeks after the ploughing
called arare or cavalhonare, not after the one with the courbe
for the work of re-covering, coperire. In 1367 a great deal of
digging was done, and it is a httle difficult to distinguish which
was for the plants worked that year by hand (see above),
which was for the young vines just planted, and which was
for digging the cavalhons. That phrase itself is not used,
except in the case of the young plants, for which three men
were hired in April, just after the ploughing. Probably the
entry which follows the record of the June ploughing which
was ' ad cavalhondam ', refers to this work for the regular
vines. The entry runs ' solvi pro 12 hominibus quos habuerat
ad faciendum vineas predictas que fiunt cum aratro '. There
were thirteen men for digging in March after the ploughing
in that month also. In 1382 and 1383 there were again four

» G. 240, f. 13V. * Ibid., f. 408.

* xxi. 247. * xxi. 696.

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE 163

ploughings and two diggings. At the latter date a connexion
is implied between the two, when the accounts enter the pay
of ten men ' qui foderunt lo cavalhos in secunda aratura '.^
In 1459 also, the digging of the furrow is only entered twice,
so that this appears to be the most usual practice.^

Pruning {pudir, podar, sequar) was an important work which
employed many hands. It was done, as a rule, when the
vines were bare, either at the close or opening of the year ;
December, January, February, or even at the very beginning
of March. When this was done, the remaining branches were
bent and tied to the stakes [plier, pleguer) ; and generally at
the same time the soil was cleared off the stem of the vine,
round which it had collected too high {lever). These works
are constantly entered together. In 1355, besides 22 men
adputandum part of the vine, 14 more were employed to prune
the rest and also levandum et saccandum. In 1367 some of
this work was done in January, when 6 men cut and cleaned
the roots, while 3 tied, and a httle later 19 more did the same.
In February 5 men were required for attaching the branches
to the stakes.^ In 1382 the pruning was done in December,
the tying not till March.* In 1383 men were paid in January
for all these different functions.^ As a rule it was the training
of the branches, and the work of lever la vigne, which might
be left till March ; the old branches were cut off earlier. After
the pruning, the small twigs and shoots were collected and
made into little bundles, which were useful for fuel [eysser-
mentare ; in modern French, faire les sarments). This was
generally the work of women, who were employed for the
lighter forms of labour in the vineyards ; it was their business
to clear away the insects and snails which from time to time
made inroads on the vine-plants, and at Pessac a woman was
once commissioned to put manure on the vine-roots. Manuring
was not one of the regular treatments for the vine, but only
resorted to from time to time. In 1367 it was done both in
January and December for the new shoots which had been
planted ; and in 1459, 12 women were occupied in this work.

* xxii. 359. » G. 240, f. 408. * xxii. 182-3.

* xxii. 320. • xxii. 358.

i64 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. viii

The Garonne mud was sometimes used for this purpose,
a practice which still prevails in the Medoc.^

New vine-plants were generally put in early in the year ;
in 1367 as early as January and February, but other years in
April. Sometimes barbeaulx, thick branches cut off at the
joint, were planted ; at other times it was smaller shoots
{facere propagines) ; and these new plants generally required
extra attention in the shape of ploughing, digging, staking,
and manuring.

These various labours cover, more or less, the usual work in
the archbishop's vineyard at Pessac. There was, however,
a great deal of incidental employment involved ; such as
cutting and carrying willows and oziers and sharpening the
stakes. These were generally occupations for the winter
months, before the plants were requiring too much attention.
In 1383 the Pessac vineyard was enclosed, apparently for
the first time. A ditch was dug on the south side and some
sort of fencing erected in other parts, for which osiers and
hawthorn were required.^ This had to be renewed and repaired
in 1430, when 6 men sarat la vinha so that beasts were unable
to enter.^

With the exception of the vintage, the busiest months appear
to have been from January to June, and a great deal of labour
was hired for this one vineyard. The actual number of men
employed at once is difficult to estimate with certainty, as
the procureur is only interested to enter how many days of
abour he has to pay ; and when he speaks of paying 84 men,
it does not mean that so large a number as this was hired for
one day, but that 84 days of a man's work were employed
altogether.* Occasionally also, the details of the payments
are not entered, but the hordilerius is stated as receiving so

* xxii. 359: (1383) ' Pro 5 brossis vase maris quos fecit apportari idem
bordilerius apud Pessacum ; . . . item sex mulieribus queposuerunt vassam
in foveis, los.'

* xxii. 359 : ' Pro fossato facto in capite vinearum versus partem
meridionalem.'

' G. 241 : ' Per claus per sarar lo brisson que las bestias no intressan
en la vinha.'

* For the proof of this see chapter ix, p. 186, as it is best shown in a
consideration of the wasres.

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE 165

much for one or other part of the work. The later accounts
are fuller than those of the earlier years.

In 1362 (xxi. 690), besides the ploughmen who came with
their beasts, during the three weeks at the close of February
and beginning of March, the work required 71 days of men's
work altogether ; during one week in the middle of March, 53
men (i. e. in the same sense as above) and 8 women. More
were hired for a week in April and a week in May, until the
total came to 146 men for digging, pruning and staking. In
1367 (xxii. 151) there was a considerable increase of labour ;
only two women were hired, but 213 men's days were occupied
altogether. In 1383 (xxii. 158) only 165 men and 6 women
are entered as hired ; in 1390, 90 men and 4 women ; ^ while
in 1430 as many as 253 men were calculated as though em-
ployed.^ Possibly as time went on more hirelings were
required, either on account of the disappearance of labour
services, or because of the extension of the vineyard. Certainly
more and more labourers were hired as time went on ; but
some difference might also be caused by variations in the
seasons. Only in the years when the vineyard was farmed
out do we hear nothing of wage-paid labour expended upon it,
although doubtless the farmer in whose hands it was put
must have followed the same methods.

The cost of cyltivating this vineyard varied in proportion

to the hired labour, since otherwise there was little expense

save occasional purchases of laths and stakes, and possibly,

some new plants [vites). The expenditure was sometimes

increased by the fact that young vines were being started,

and extra men were needed to prepare the ground and to plant

them. In 1354 the account is, apparently, incomplete, and

the expenses are only given for March and May ; these

amounted to £6 155. 2d. In 1355, from January to October,

^13 35. od. was paid over to the hordilerius. In 1362, 26

leopards of gold might be roughly reckoned as about ^^27 in

the other money. In 1367, when a great deal of labour was

hired (new plants, &c.), the highest expense was reached

' xxii. 453. There were also four ploughings, costing ;{i6 altogether.
* G. 241 : Sometimes an entry speaks of work done by so many men;
sometimes by so many ' jornaus de homes,' &c.

i66 SAINT-ANDRfi OF BORDEAUX [ch. viii

with £$7 lis. M. After that, only £^2 was spent in 1382 ;
^^45 165. 9^. in 1383, at which date more new vines were being
planted. In 1459 the procureur himself has entered the
various totals, and the cost of the Pessac vineyard is reckoned
as £2'\ ys. od. ; ^ a surprising reduction, but it was rather
a year for cheap prices. There is unfortunately no record
of the amount of wine produced on the property, so that it is
impossible to estimate how far this expenditure was repaid.

Much of the foregoing description applies equally to the
cultivation of the Lormont vines. These were much more
extensive and offer greater variety. Some white wine was
produced here, though in far smaller quantity than the red.^
There were several vineyards here. The large one known as
Figuer-Belh, others round the archbishop's Lormont palace,
and trellises in his garden. These were managed, as at Pessac,
by a bordilerius, or as he was sometimes called, a prevot or
a sergent, who was paid for his outlay by the procureur, in
whose accounts the expenditure was noted.

The main difference at Lormont, as far as work is concerned,
was the absence of the plough ; all was apparently dug by
hand. One very interesting entry is made in 1354, which
shows that here at least corvees of vine-work had not quite
disappeared. So much was paid for digging ' ultra id quod
assensatores domini preteriti solverunt '.^ This does not
look so much like work as paying for the work ; the tenants,
however, seem to have paid labourers themselves to fulfil
their service, not to have given the commutation for this
service to the procureur. No such statement is made again,
but it may explain the absence of work, which we expect to
find entered, and which in later years appears much more
regularly amongst the hired labour.

There only appear to have been two fagons for the Lormont
vines, which is curious.* This digging was done some time

1 G. 240, f. 468.

* xxi. 9: (1332) '14 ton: vini albi, receptis de vinis Laureimontis.'
xxii. 354, &c. ' xxi. 341.

* Jouannet, II. He describes three labours for the red vines worked by
the hand ; but this applies to the Graves : (i) hudir in March ; (2) mages-
car in May ; (3) terssar in July.

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE 167

in March, and then again in May or June. The March work
is simply entered as fodiendum ; the later labour being known
as mayescandum ; but there appears to be no sign of terssan-
dum, the third fagon which one would expect to find in July.
This is mentioned once in the accounts, but not for the Lormont
vines. In 1382 the hordilerius hired six men ad terssandum
a small vineyard at Les Chretiens, which was only temporarily
added to the archbishop's private demesne, and was managed
by the same official as the large Lormont estate.^ A great deal
of work was hired each year for these labours, but always
a larger for the first fagon in March. There is wonder-
fully httle difference from year to year. In 1355, to follow
the method of calculation adopted by the procureiir, 109 men
(i. e. days of men's work altogether) dug in March ; 89 were
hired ad magiscandum.'^ In 1356 the two works were done
by 148 and 80 men respectively.^ In 1357, by 153 and 105,
the largest number entered at all.* In 1367, 126 men dug in
March, 96 in June.^ In 1382 the first digging was as late as
April, and 115 men were employed ; the June work was done
by 84 men.^ In 1383 wages were given for 137 men in March,
and 90 at the later date ; ' while in 1395 only 120 and 69 were
hired.®

Other work on these vines is similar to that done at Pessac,
only on a larger scale, and the periods of work appear to be
much the same. Pruning, tying, clearing the roots and the
stems and collecting the sarments were all in the early months
of the year ; cutting and preparing stakes in the winter ;
and in the July of 1367 women were employed to strip off
the little unnecessary leaves and twigs {dpamprer), a work
which they are still hired to perform.^

Manuring was done here casually from time to time, as at
Pessac ; and in 1459 the newly planted shoots and branches

*■ xxii. 322. * xxi. 248. ' xxi. 415. * xxi. 506.

• xxii. 182. * xxii. 321. ' xxii. 358.

• xxii. 510. It is interesting to notice that in one year at least (1367),
despite the ploughing at Pessac, these digging works also took place there,
in addition to the digging between the furrows, which supplemented the
work of the plough. Men were hired that year to dig in March, to tnagescare
in May, and tersare in July. This may only be for parts of the vine which
had recently grown, and were not done by the plough. * xxii. 185.

168 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. viii

were protected by hay being placed at their roots.^ There
was a good deal done in the way of planting at Lormont, the
young shoots being used as a rule for this purpose. (Men were
hired facere propagines in 1357, 1361, 1367, and 1459.) In 1382
a piece of waste land was laid out with new plants,^ and
covered with Garonne mud for the good of their roots. In 1459
both barbeaulx and promiaiges are mentioned ; 525 barbeaulx
were planted, and 480 promiaiges, and special digging and
cutting of stakes was done for them.

One year might be taken as fairly typical of the rest, to
give an idea of the work done and the amount of labour
employed. In 1356,^ for example, the procureur paid over
to Pierre Reynaut, alias Pin, the bordilerius of Lormont,
about 55 leopards of gold in the course of the year. In
January he paid for the labour of 95 men, who had cut stakes,
laths, and osiers for use in the vines, the willow plantation
having been bought at that time from the Abbot of Bon-Lieu
for 4 leopards. Some expense was also incurred for meat and
fish purchased for the bubulci who had transported these
materials, the actual carriage on this occasion having been
done ex gracia. In February, 114 men were paid for pruning
all the Lormont vines, and 164 for bending and tying them to
the stakes, for which purpose 18 sheaves of osier were bought.
In the same month a certain trellis had to be prepared, and
the vines grown in that way in the archbishop's garden at
Lormont were cut by 3 men. In March the digging was paid
for. It had required 148 men altogether, paid in varying
rates, some at 6 obols per day, others at 5 and S^. Two men
also worked at enclosing the vineyard at this time. For
magescandum Figuer-Belh only required 38 men, the vines
round the palace 53, all of which together cost over 6 leopards.
The only other hand labour entered for this year was that
of 8 men hired ad levandum Figuer-Belh.

There are always a few differences each year in the way of

entering work ; in 1367 snails [cogolhas) and insects [vermiculos)

had to be cleared from the vines, and from time to time there

^ G. 240, f. 406.

- xxii. 321 : ' Plantaverant vineam in deserto Laureimontis.'

' xxii. 414 sq.

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE 169

was extra work for planting new shoots ; but the year given
above is fairly typical. The regular item was the digging in
March and themagescare in May or June, and men are invariably
hired for pruning and tying. Such work as lever, epamprer,
eyssermenter does not appear each time, although it must
have been done. It may have been done by the same labourers
who are entered under the heading of the more important
work ; or it may be that all labour was not yet hired, and
that there were a few permanent workers on the estate, who
did a certain amount of the necessary cultivation, whilst day
labourers were hired for all the largest undertakings. There
is, on the whole, however, very little variation each year in
the number of days of work which has to be provided. The
smallest amount was in 1356, when 534 'men' were entered
altogether ; the largest in 1382, where we find 611 men and
12 women.^

The expenses were naturally very much heavier at Lormont
than at Pessac. They were also at their highest in 1367,
when about ;^io5 was paid. In 1459 they were reckoned at
£42 185. 8^. So great a reduction makes it appear as if some
change in the coinage was responsible for a part at least of
the difference, especially since Pessac had fallen in practically
the same proportion, viz. from £^'j lis. 8d. to ^^24 ys. od.

Nothing much that is new can be learnt from the accounts
which concern the vines in the archbishop's garden at Bordeaux.
Here they were grown on trellises and espahers, but the method
of cultivation is all very similar, and, as at Lormont, done
entirely by hand. Vine tools are mentioned here ; the marra,
a mixture of spade and hoe ; and the destralos, possibly a kind
of small hatchet. These were repaired during the winter.

The fagons are not very easy to distinguish, since the same
men generally dug the vines and other parts of the garden, and
the accounts do not always specify for which they were hired ;
also new plants were put in fairly frequently, and digging for
them is entered at odd times. Such work is entered in different

* i354i 577 men ; 1357, 618 men ; 1362, 601 men and 20 women ; 1367,
572 men and 21 women ; 1382, 611 men and 12 women ; 1383, 565 men
and 12 women.

170 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. viii

years as taking place in February, March, April, June, August,
and November.

In 1389, however, when fifty-nine men were hired through-
out the year for garden work, the list is headed, ' ad fodiendum,
magescandum et terssandum ; ' ^ as though three fagons were
the regular rule. In some years, nevertheless, it seems
probable that only two were actually given. In 1410, for
example, the second digging is entered in June, and nothing
later appears.^ Women were generally employed here to
clear off the leaves and waste branches, and to make the
sarments. Perhaps rather more was needed for these espaliers
in lattes and traversieres, but the pruning, tying, and clearing
away the earth [lever] were all as usual. In 1459 the whole
expense for the garden, which, however, included a good many
other things besides vines, came to £16 lis. 6d. during the
year.^

In 1410 the prociireur calculated his total expenditure for
cultivating the vines on the archbishop's private land and,
excluding the vintage, it amounted altogether to £1^^ 16^. od.^

The vintage was a period of great energy and interest. The
times varied, of course, according to the seasons. The white
wine seems to have generally been the first to be made ; at
Lormont in 1361 this was done during the last week of August,
while the rest was not begun until the third week of the
following month.^ The vintage of the red wines usually took
place some time in September. In 1355 Pessac began in the
second week, Bordeaux in the third. ^ 1361 was an early year ;
the vines paying agrieres were gathered at the beginning of
September, and in Pessac during the third week of August.''
In 1382 this latter vintage began in August, but only at
the very close of the month (Wednesday before St. John the
Baptist's Day, i. e. August 29) ; ^ and in 1395 Lormont was,
apparently, as late as the opening of October.^ The verjuice
was always made earlier. In 1361 this was done at Bordeaux
at the end of July.^'^

^ xxii. 452. ' G. 241. * G. 240, f. 403''. * G. 241, f. 123.

' xxi. 686, 689. ' xxi. 253. ' xxi. 685, 687.

* xxii. 354. * xxii. 508. " xxi. 657.

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE 171

The actual period of the vintage itself was far from represent-
ing all the work expended on the gathering of the grapes and
the making of the wine. There were numerous preliminary
expenses necessary, in the making or repairing of all the vats
and barrels for the reception of the wine, in the preparing of
the winepresses, and in the washing out of old vessels which
could be used from year to year. There was also constant
need for carting work. The necessities had to be brought to
the different vineyards, and very often the workers themselves
came from a distance, and had to be transported to the
scene of their labour. Then the w^ine itself often needed to be
transferred to other places ; either to the archbishop's cellars,
or to some central storing-house, or to the port for foreign
exportation. It was necessary besides to make various pre-
parations for the sudden influx of extra labourers. Places
were prepared for them to sleep in, coverings provided for
their beds, fish and meat purchased, and sometimes a woman
specially hired to cook for them during the time of vintage.^
Men were also paid for fetching the wood and water required
whilst the work was going forward.

All the year round wine vessels occur in the accounts for
some reason or other ; generally some item for mending or
cleaning has to be entered amongst the additional expenditure.
It is not always easy to ascertain exactly what the old names
mean, but there was certainly a wonderful variety of such
things. There were first of all casks and barrels which had
to be bought, and all the different parts of the same. These
were called tonnelli, cuba, pipa, barriqua, according to their
size.^ Rondela and agresseria were specially used for verjuice.*
Miiyans was a term occasionally used for a small cask, probably
about equal to a pipe, since the cost of carriage was the same.*
Besides the casks and barrels themselves, hoops were always
being bought for the same, known as bastards^ (half -sized

' G. 241, f. 123^. In 14 10 for the vintage of a small vineyard at Les
Queyries, the following expenses occur : A woman to cook, i05. ;y candles,
13s. gd. ; oil, 5s. ; bed-coverings, 55. ; meat, 17s. 6d. ; fish, 15s.

* xxi. 252.

* xxi. 657 ; xxii. 319.

* xxii. 325 : (1282) ' Pro portagiis bayselle vindemie, et unius muyati
vindemie.' * xxii. 330 : (1382) ' Pro 3 duodenis de bastardeu.'

172 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. viii

hoops), talucia ^ (those near the bottom of the barrel), codres
or coldra ; ^ they were generally made of osier. In addition
to these, there were barra ^ or planks for the bottom of the
casks ; faussetz or spigots, and honda or bungs for the same.*
Carts [plaiistraf] for carrying these barrels, &c., were known as
charcresa ^ or hrocsP There were also various vessels for carriage
of the wine which had to be rendered sine fuste, or for its
transport to the various receptacles ; such as comporta ® and
biters,^ the latter being made of earth. Baskets for carrying
grapes were known as panerii,^^ desquets,^ or calati.^

The trulh or winepress often needed repairing in various
parts. It had a spindle or bits ; ^^ agulhas,^^ thin needles of
wood which helped to strain the grapes ; and coladuys or
colators,^^ sieves or baskets placed under the pressoir, which
caught the grape-skins and let the juice run through. Convers^^
were constantly needed in the winepress shed and elsewhere ;
they were the pieces of wood put down, so that barrels might
be rolled more easily upon them ; and a funnel enfonilh ^' was

^ xxi. 252 : (1355) ' Pro 32 taluciis tarn tonellorum quam piparum.'

^ xxi. 252 : (1355) ' 13 feyssiculos de coudra sive de circulis.' These

were sometimes made of young chestnut.

' xxi. 339 : (1355) ' Pro viminibus, taluciis, circulis, barris et meyanis.'

(Meyans was the middle plank for the bottom of the cask.)

* xxii. 186 : (1367) ' Solvi pro bondis et 200 falsetis que emit pro vinis
conservandis.'

* xxi. 340: (13S4) 'Pro quodam plaustro cum quo portabant vinde-
miam.'

* xxii. 326 : (1382) ' I charcresam in dictis vindemiis, los.'
' xxi. 687 : (1361) ' I broc de terra ad portandum vinum.'

* xxii. 206: (1375) 'Pro decima ipsarum vinearum, videlicet pro
6 comportis vini.'

* xxii. 476 : (1357) ' Pro biters et aliis pitalphis de terra habendis pro
buticularis.'

^" xxi. 507 : (1357) ' Pro solvendo 4 panerios sive discos missos ad dictum
locum.' (Lormont for vintage.)

" Ibid. : ' Pro duobus desquetis missis.'

" xxi. 449 : (1389) ' Emi 6 calatos et i colador.'

" xxi. 687: ( 1 361-2) 'Pro cepo necessario ad liniendum la bitz que
volvitur in torculari.'

** Ibid. : ' Emi 6 convers de corallo pro faciendo de las agulhas pro
torquendo torcular et vindemiam.'

^* xxi. 465 : (1357) ' Emi pro trolio unum panerium vocatum coladuy.'
ii. 483 : ' Pro uno colatori ad colandum mustum.'

" xxi. 687 : ' 6 convers pro ponendo de subtus ton.'

" xxii. 189: (1367) ' Emi unum enfonilh cum longa canera ad implen-
dum et colorandum dicta vina.'

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE 173

also required through which to pour the wine when the casks
were being filled. Quantities of candles were always bought
at each vintage, and occasionally a lantern, since the days
were beginning to close early, and the work was carried on
after daylight had ended : or in any case the workers needed
lights in the sheds where they were lodged for the time. All
these things had to be got ready before the vintage began,
and they represent, therefore, considerable expense on one
side, and a good deal of occupation on the other.

These preparations being made, the next thing was to
provide workers for the vintage. Numbers of hired labourers,
both men and women, were brought in at this time, lodged,
and fed whilst the work was going on, and paid either by the
day or in a lump sum for the whole time. The women were
chiefly employed in cutting the bunches, but they did also
tread the grapes,^ except in the archbishop's winepress at
Bordeaux, where it was always the work of men. Both men
and women are often entered as hired ad vindemiandum
without any details ; ^ sometimes it is only the men who are
there ad calcandum,^ but this varies frequently. The occupa-
tion which was always given to men was the heavy work of
carrying and emptying the baskets of grapes, and filling the
vats.* Men were also employed in carrying necessary water
which was needed for washing out the vats (we read of four
waters being used ' escolare cuvas '), and ^ for making the
retrovinum or premiere piquette : ® a very light drink of inferior
quality, generally used at the time by the vintagers themselves.

Very often rather more women were employed than men.

As they were paid about half the wage of a man and it was

work which they could easily perform, it is not surprising that

their services were welcome. The amount of hired work at

^ xxi. 508 : (1357) ' Habuerat ad vindemiandum vineas (in Lormont)
et calcandum in torculari, 24 homines . . . et 57 mulieres.'

* xxi. 418 : (1356) ' Solvi pro 45 mulieribus . . . et pro 23 hominibus . . .
habitis ad vindemiandas omnes vineas de Laureomonte.'

' xxi. 509 : (1357) ' Habui in vindemiis Burd. ad calcandum in torculari
et faciendum vina ... 34 homines.'

* xxi. 253: (1355) 'Pro hominibus ad excolandum et adaquandum
cubas.' 686: (1361) ' 12 homines tarn ad portandum quam ad calcandum ';
' 4 juniores homines ad evacuaudum panerios,' &c.

* xxii. 326 (1382). • xxi. 660.

174 SAINT- ANDR£ OF BORDEAUX [ch. viir

Lormont increased as time went on : doubtless the vineyards
were spreading and more and more wine was made each year.
In 1355 only 11 men and 39 women (i, e. day's work of each)
were employed, which, together with the hire of a horse, cost
in wages 12s. id. sterling, or about £3 os. $d. Bordeaux money .^
Two men were sent to superintend this work, but their expenses
and those of the vintagers, ' ultra panem et vinum,' were only
reckoned at i^ sterlings, about 9s. In 1356, 41 men were
employed and 45 women, who with their food cost about
;^I2 55.^ In 1362, 55 men and 54 women cost altogether
I3|- leopards of gold, roughly equivalent to rather over the
same number of pounds.^ In 1386 the largest amount of
labour was hired, namely, 100 men and 114 women, and
their pay alone amounted to ^^19 1.2s. 6d.^ They were employed,
however, for a little extra work this year, since, besides the
actual vintage labour, they collected the tithe of wine, not
only in Lormont but in Rofhac and Les Queyries. This work
had hitherto been entered separately, and the addition of it
in this instance may partly account for these large numbers ;
certainly there were never quite so many employed in the
ensuing years. In 1387, 58 men and 88 women did the work,
and expenses were ;£"i2 155.^ In 1390 only 44 men and 63
women (;^8 10s. id.).^ In 1396 for the first time the propor-
tions were reversed and 74 men were employed to only 50
women (;^i4 ys. 6i.).'

The expenses of the vintage at Bordeaux represent more
than the actual gathering and pressing of grapes from the
archbishop's garden, for his private winepress was used for
all the dues which he received in grapes not in wine. Thus
a great deal of labour hired for his town estate was really
work in the winepress. This in Bordeaux was wholly the
work of men; the archbishop never had women to tread
his grapes.

The pay for vintage work was good, and very similar in all
parts of the demesne (see chapter ix). The labourers, also,
were well fed ; besides bread and wine, meat, fish, and cheese

^ xxi. 253. * xxi. 418. • xxi. 687. * xxii. 397.

* xxii. 415. * xxii. 449. ^ xxii. 508.

CH. viii] VINES AND THE VINTAGE 175

were provided. These latter commodities had often to be
bought and so augmented the expenses ; but the real cost of
the wine harvest consisted even more in the provision of casks
and barrels and in the carriage of the same full and empty,
than in the remuneration of the labourers. The total expendi-
ture of the grape harvest is difficult to reckon because of these
incidental expenses. In 1459, however, the procureur has
himself made a calculation, and the cost of the vintage on all
the archbishop's vines, in Lormont, Pessac, and the Graves, is
entered as £90 its. od. This actually exceeds the money
spent upon them throughout all the rest of the year, which
amounted altogether to ^^83 lys. 2d. The cost of the vine-
yards was, probably, more than made good by the value of
the wines, and the trade which was carried on both at home
and abroad.^

* Since this chapter was written and whilst the book was going through
the press, a very interesting series of articles on the same subject, by Jean
Barennes, has been appearing in the Revue de Bordeaux, begun in the
March-April number of 191 1 and hot yet finished. It was impossible
to make any reference to these articles in this chapter, since the type was
already set up when I first saw them, but I am glad to find that the
author and myself appear to be in complete agreement as to our general
conclusions and interpretation of the documents.

CHAPTER IX

SALARIES AND WAGES

The wage-paid labourer appeared very early on the arch-
bishop's estate, and the archiepiscopal account-books are full
of expenses incurred for the hiring of all sorts of workers for
the cultivation of his demesne, and for the carriage of the dues
in kind, which went to keep up his great establishment. His
large estate needed a considerable staff of officials for its
management and supervision, and these he had to pay and
• maintain, as well as his own personal attendants and household
servants ; whilst the workmen and artisans of the neighbour-
hood were principally occupied in working for their ecclesias-
tical superior or the chapter of St. -Andre.

The archbishop's chief official was the procureur, who took
over the whole responsibility of the temporal estate. He was
a great man himself, with his own house and servants, and
was completely trusted with all financial and agricultural
management. Below him came other officials to supervise
the various branches of the work. A collector of tolls and
customs ; a clavigerus who managed the actual house expenses
of the archbishop, but who applied to the procureur for the
money he needed ; a corn-dealer who looked after the sale
and purchase of this commodity. Generally the procureur
placed some one at the head of the different parts of the
demesne, who could live on the spot and personally supervise
the work, on which they had to report to their superior. Thus,
there was a bordilerius to look after the vines of Pessac,
a serviens at Lormont ; a gardener in the archbishop's casau,
and several others. These might vary from year to year,
according to whether the procureur had chosen to farm out
some special piece of land, or to manage it by an agent who
simply worked under him. Then there were quantities of
servants, messengers, and officers sent to collect corn and wine

CH. ix] SALARIES AND WAGES 177

payments, reeves, harvest guards, and others. The archbishop
had many in his own house : such as a porter, a cook, a baker,
and various ordinary servants both male and female, all of
whom were clothed and fed, while some received wages in
addition. All the expenses involved in the maintenance of
this large staff were under the control of the procureur.

Wages might be paid either by the year, by the day, or by
the job. Some work was paid for in varying sums, either
according to its nature, or to the length of time it took, or in
proportion to the expense which it involved.

Permanent officials, employed the whole year round, were
generally paid a salary, rendered once or twice during the year,
consisting for the most part of corn and wine, clothing and
a little money. It is very evident that in those days a man
worked to live, not to heap up riches, and as these permanent
officials were almost always maintained at the archbishop's
expense, the extra emolument they received was generally
slight, and took almost more the form of gifts than of actual
wages. The procureur himself was paid in 1357, 3|- tons of
wine, 10 escartes of wheat, and every week one crown pro
companagio, which generally means something extra to eat
with bread, whatever it may be. This does not seem a very
princely salary, but then he might, apparently, buy what he
needed for himself and his servants and put it down to the
archbishop's account. As these purchases took, as a rule,
the form of clothes — cloth for gown and cap, shoes, and so
forth — he was probably given house and food as a matter of
course. When he had to undertake any journey and so incur
unusual expenses, they were always carefully noted. The
bordilerius of Pessac was paid solely in corn and wine ; rye,
millet, and a pipe of red wine was given to him in 1355 ; any
purchase which he had made in the course of his work was
noted, but otherwise no money payment is mentioned. The
Serjeant of Lormont did occasionally have money as well as
corn. For himself and his servant, 1367-8, he received
12 bushels of wheat and 10 leopards of gold. The miller of
Lormont was sometimes a regularly paid official. This mill
was part of the archbishop's private property, and when he

(part V) ST. A. N

1-78 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. ix

did not wish to farm it out he put in a servant of his own.
This man received as salary in 1356, 8 florins (this was probably
about 1005. Bordeaux money) and a tunic.^ In 1401 he had
a most complete wardrobe provided. His gown with its
lining, and several pairs of boots and shoes, came to as much
as ;^24 55. 4^.2

Of the regular household servants, the cook seems to have
been the most important. There was a man at the head of
the kitchen, assisted by an under cook and several women who
were also under him.^ In 1382 his wages for half the year
amounted to £6 lis. 8d., and he had quantities of things bought
for him, sheets and a thick blanket for his bed, stuff for his
clothing, sundry pairs of shoes, and in 1387 lining for his gown
which cost £1 105.* He also had to have the doctor one year
and some ointment to put on his hand, all of which appears
duly noted in the procureur's accounts.

Another household servant was paid for a full year's salary
in 1361-2, 8 leopards of gold,^ which might amount to anything
between ^5 lO-^- and £6 in ordinary Bordeaux money, since
a leopard of gold varied from 32 to 36 sterlings. In 1356 an
old woman-servant was to have been paid 4 leopards and
2 pairs of shoes for her year's work, but went off apparently
before the end of the time, and only received one pair of
shoes ; ® a maid-servant in 1361-2 was paid for the year four
crowns of gold, which were of about the same value as the
leopards.'

In other instances there seems to have been no regular
salary, but occasional presents and clothes whenever required.
The archbishop was evidently not in the least stingy towards
his retinue, and they were well provided with the necessaries
of life and looked after when they were ill. Shoes are one of
the most frequent items in the accounts, and must have
constantly needed renewing. Perhaps they were like the

* Arch. Hist, de la Gironde, xxi. 449. * G. 240, f. 147.

* Arch. Hist., xxii. 347. * xxii. 414.

* xxi. 683. Gold money had only just been introduced into Gascony.

* xxi. 410.

' xxi. 677. A crown of gold in France at this date was worth a little
over £1 tournois (Avenel, i. 482).

CH. IX] SALARIES AND WAGES 179

string-soled sandals so much worn in the south of France in
the present day, which are more comfortable than durable.
In 1385 nineteen pairs of shoes were bought for the arch-
bishop's servants, and their cost was 6s. 3^. a pair.^

The smallness of the payments made to the upper officials
as contrasted with the actual servants, is probably accounted
for by the fact that they did not live at their own expense,
but had houses and food allowed them. Also, as a rule, they
spent what was necessary and then applied to the procureur,
who provided for himself and them out of the public fund.
In later days this system may have been a little breaking down.
In the fifteenth-century accounts, money payments appear
rather more frequently, and in 1412 the receveur was given
£50 for his year's salary, and ;^8 was spent in renting a house
for him.2

There were many other servants of whom we have occasional
mention, such as grooms, stable-boys, a shepherd at Lormont,
and a great many famuli, without other special designation.
All of them were kept and most of them paid or given some-
thing more or less regularly.

A few of those who worked for the archbishop, though not
exactly servants, probably gave him most of their time.
These were often paid in lump sums, not for their work as
it was done. We find something of this sort in the case of
the baker, the blacksmith, and the washen;\'oman, who were
provided with all sorts of things necessary for their business
and paid large sums at intervals.^ These were probably,
however, for past work and in proportion to it, the procureur
merely entering the total and not the details. The blacksmith
was not always paid in this way, but often given so much for
shoeing a horse or doing other things, instead of a large sum
for his work in general.*

Work which could not be done by the permanent staff, and
for which the rare corvees did not suffice, was frequently paid

' xxii. 389, » G. 240, f. 272^. » xxi. 500, 660, &c.

* xxi. 317: (1354) ' Solvi marescallo pro ferrando roncinos dictorum
fratrum, a prima die januarii ad dictam diem, 80 sterl.' 328 : ' Solvi
marescallo ... a 21 die mail citra, et pro quibusdam medicinis, 4 flor.'
xxii. 381 : (1385) ' Pro 40 ferris positis ia equis . . . dando pro quolibet
ferro 15^., 50s.'

N 2

i8o SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. ix

for by the job, or in any case entered so in the accounts. The
most constant of all hired work was that af transport, which
was needed continuously, for the archbishop's own produce,
for his receipts of corn and wine, for his purchases, for his
servants in the fulfilment of their offices, and for all the
ordinary requirements of the estate ; the sale of commodities
rendered this carriage from place to place more than usually
frequent. Surprisingly little work of this kind was done
unpaid. From time to time the wagon-drivers were only
given money for their food and incidental expenses, but in
far the greater number of cases the work was hired work,
whether carts and oxen were employed on the roads, or vessels
on the Garonne. The cost of carriage was a serious item in
the total expenditure.

In the instances given of unpaid cartage, it is not quite
clear whether this was done voluntarily, or enforced as a kind
of purveyance, or as a labour service owed by a tenant in
return for his land. Never is it expressly called a territorial
duty, and the wording of the accounts implies that it was
done freely. In 1362 loads of wood were carried to the port
of Lormont, and the procureur notes ' habui salmerios de
gracia V ' but I bought food for the drivers ' ; and in 1385
he had buhulci for taking cartloads of faggots from the wood
of Pessac * amoris absque pretio '.^ There is, however,
sufficient resemblance between this expression and the English
term of * love-days *, to render it probable that this service
was one of the few remaining forms of boon-work, which
some tenants still continued to render.

This unpaid work, whatever might be its reason, was very
exceptional, and transport of goods was generally paid for
according to the nature of the article, the length of the journey
and the method of conveyance.

Whenever possible goods were conveyed by water, which
was cheaper and more convenient than by road, and the
procureur was continually hiring vessels to bring to Bordeaux
the quarteria and rents in kind from districts near the Garonne
or Dordogne ; or to convey himself and his subordinates to and

^ xxi. 664. * xxii. 385,

CH. ix] SALARIES AND WAGES i8i

fro on their business. Sometimes the accounts merely state
that a vessel had been hired at a certain price ; at other
times the gaharrerius was paid for his trouble according to his
cargo. In 1355 the hire of a vessel to Blaye was 105. oh. ; ^
whilst one to Lormont (a much shorter distance, only just
across the river) cost 5 leopards of gold (roughly a little over
£-^) ; and to Libourne 6 of the same coins.^ It is impossible
to compare these prices in any way, when the size of the
vessels is unknown. In 1382, vessels for conveying the
quarteria, probably of a similar kind, were hired at the rate of
^5 for Bourg and £6 for Blaye.^ Two boats from Port
Trompette (Tropeyte) at Bordeaux to the seaport, presum-
ably the place beyond which foreign trading-ships did not
penetrate, only cost £1.^ In 1395, a vessel carrying 12
tonneaux of corn (about 170 or 180 bushels) to Blaye was paid
only 455.^ Sometimes there was a gabarrarius to whom the
money was paid. In 1386 he charged 4s. 2d. for every tonnelliis
(cask) of wine conveyed from Lormont to Bordeaux ; ^ and
the same price was paid in 1395 for shipping the produce of the
vintage from Ambares.'' The carriage of a solitary pipe of wine,
from Lormont to a sea-vessel, was 2S. id. at the same date.®

Even when the river rendered it possible to do most of the
journey by water, the goods had to be carried down to the port,
wherever it might be ; and then again at Bordeaux there
were additional expenses for conveying them to the arch-
bishop's palace, or to the barn or cellar in which they were
to be kept. Various men earned their living as carriers :
bubidci with ox wagons, who were employed for any sort of
commodity ; salmaterii or mule-drivers, who carried goods
that were possible to strap on to the back of an ass or mule ;
faysilherii or porters, who carried loads on their own backs,
or helped in the lading of carts and boats. The sacquerii
chiefly worked at the carrying of corn ; whilst the braymantes
rolled the barrels of wine to and from the vessels, or helped
to unload the carts and fill the cellars. This is particularly
explained on one occasion in the accounts, when the procureur

' xxi. 251. « xxi. 671. ' xxii. 318. * xxii. 336.

• xxii. 481. • xxii. 398. ' xxii. 485. ' xxii. 487.

i82 SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. ix

enters what he has paid ' braymantibus pro onerando, exone-
rando et insotando 20 ton. vini '.^

Occasionally the work of the carters was paid by the day
instead of by the load ; and when this is the case, they seem
to have received the ordinary wage for a day's labour at the
period. In 1357 hubulci were paid from 8 to 10 gros. apiece ; ^
in 1387 a mule-driver received 2S. 6d., and a bubulcus 2s. gd. ; *
in 1412 carrying corn was paid at the very usual rate of 2s. 6d.
the day.*

The cost of carriage, at different times and in different
manners, is very difficult to compare, on account of the
uncertainty as to the exact distances over which the goods
had to be carried. In the case of wine, hubulci and braymantes
are both employed over the same load, and are paid so much
for the cask, so much for the pipe. This nearly always works
out at just a little less for the braymantes ; but if the buhulci
have only a very short way to go they may possibly be paid
at the same rate as the others who load and unload. There
are a good many entries of the cost of carriage from Lormont
to Bordeaux. In 1361 both hubulci and braymantes were paid
4 sterlings for every cask which was taken from the vineyard
to the river. From the port of Bordeaux to the archbishop's
palace or cellar the buhulci received 6 sterlings a ton, the
braymantes a little less.^ Eighteen casks for the whole transit
cost as much as 10 leopards of gold.^ A faysilherius for con-
veying two barrels from the vineyard of Lormont to the port
was paid 2^ sterlings.' In 1367 either money was depreciated
or prices had gone up very much. All labour was paid for
at a higher rate and carriage was no exception. For each
cask conveyed from the river to the archbishop's palace at
Bordeaux, the buhulci were paid 8 albi (roughly 16 sterlings),
and the braymantes 5 ; for each pipe in proportion ; 5 albi
for the biibidci, 2^ albi or 5 sterlings for the braymantes.^

'■ xxii. 188.

* xxi. 488. Apparently of slightly lower value than sterling money.
Ibid., 486. 20 halfpennies gros. = 18 halfpennies sterling.

' xxii. 408. * G. 240, f. 131.

^ xxi. 681. A sterling seems to have equalled about sd. of Bordeaux.

* xxi. 691. ' xxi. 68I; * xxii. i86 sq.

CH. ix] SALARIES AND WAGES 183

In 1386 the cost of conveying the vintage of Lormont to
what was called the new port was 3s. 4^. for both workers ; ^
but certain tithes of wine which were paid by the seigneur of
Montferrand to the archbishop cost for carriage 3s. ^d. a ton
to the bubulci, 35. to the braymantes.^ For other journeys the
proportion was 35. 4d. to 2s. 6d. ; ^ or 35. 10^. to 2s. aid (1395).*

The carriage of corn was generally paid by the escarte or
by the bushel. The sacquerii were given 2 sterlings the
escarte in 1355, from the port to the granary ; ^ 4 sterlings
in 1361 ; ^ and in 1367, 6 sterlings from the granary to the
house of the Seneschal of Bordeaux.' In 1382 the payment
was made by the bushel ; 5^. each from the port to the arch-
bishop's oven,^ in 1395, 2>hd. from Villeneuve to the granary,
and 6d. from Ouinsac. A faysilherius for carrying a bushel
from the port to the granary only 2\d.^ A bubulcus in the
same year was paid 35. for conveying one tonneau of corn for
the same distance.^''

There are also many notices concerning the cost of conveying
other goods. Straw and wood were generally done by the
saumaterii. In 1395 the carriage of two bundles of straw from
the port to the palace cost lod. ; a sacquerius who carried
a load of salt received i^. ; a faysilherius with 51 lb. of oil
from one quarter of Bordeaux to another, also 10^. ; and for
a barrel of salted fish 15. Sd?^

A consideration of these expenses shows very little except
how much money went every year in the cost of carriage.
The methods of conveyance seem to have been much what
they are at the present day ; ox wagons, mules and donkeys,
or men with great loads on their own backs, took things from
place to place, whenever water transport was impossible.
The archbishop's officials had no free passage on the river,
but paid wherever they went for themselves and their beasts,
and there was continuous coming and going. A carrier could
make, apparently, much the same as any day labourer in the
country, or perhaps a little more. The biibidci were naturally
paid at a slightly higher rate than the others.

' xxii. 398. * xxii. 399. ' xxii. 450. ' xxii. 483.

' xxi. 251. • xxi. 671. ' xxii. 191. * xxii. 337.

• xxii. 479. '• xxii. 481. " xxii. 477.

i84 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. ix

These huhulci were also required for ploughing. The arch-
bishop had little need of this, since he had no corn land ; but
the vines at Pessac, as we have seen, were worked with an
ox plough, instead of being dug by hand, and the plough and
ploughmen were paid either by the'^ day or by the work they
had to do. In 1354 there were two ploughings costing respec-
tively 4 florins and 3 florins (roughly £2 los. and £1 lys. 6d.
in Bordeaux money). ^ In 1355 the four fagons — the vine
being ploughed in January, March, June, and October — each
cost 2>2 florins. As this coin was valued rather differently
the ploughing expense varied this year from £1 155. to £2.^
In 1361 the May ploughing was said to require nine days' work
with the oxen, which works out to about 6s. 3d. a day.^ This
evidently means a pair of oxen per day ; for in 1367 the
accounts are more explicit and say that six pairs of oxen with
the plough cost ;^3 105. each day ; * but this is the year when
all prices were high, and the proportion compared with other
wages is quite ordinary. In June, 125. 6d. was paid per day
for the work of a two-ox plough ; but the day's work may
have been longer than in March and April, when 105. was paid.
In 1382, 10 jornales bourn at £4 works out at 8s. a pair ;
taking for granted that the two-ox plough was still the one
in use.^

Every now and then a piece of work in the vineyards was
paid for in a lump sum, instead of labourers being hired by the
day, according to the usual plan. This, however, is often
merely a simplifying of the accounts. The procureur paid the
lump sum to the hordilerius, but whether the latter actually
hired the labourers by the day or by the job, remains
unspecified. Thus in 1355, 2^ florins were paid for digging
the cavalhons ; ® in 1440, 21 men digging the vines at Begles
(without any statement as to the number of days' work), each
had 18 sterlings ; 3 men digging the garden the same ; and
one woman stripping off the old leaves, 4s. 8^.' In all these
cases, more than one day's work was evidently given. Similarly
with haymaking, a sum was often paid down for the whole work

* xxi. 341. * xxi. 247. ' xxi. 696. * xxii. 184.

* xxii. 321. ' xxi. 247. ' G. 489.

CH. IX] SALARIES AND WAGES 185

of cutting and making. In 1354, haymaking on the small
meadow near the archbishop's house, cost 2 florins the first
time, 15. 8d. sterling the second, and is, id. sterHng the
third.i (About 255., 8s. ^d., 5<r. 5^.)

More frequently, however, this method of paying by the
job was reserved for chance bits of work, rather than for
regular labour on the land — such things as house-cleaning,
wood-cutting, clearing out a well, making bacon, moving and
measuring corn, and for doing repairs of all sorts. On one
occasion the procureur paid 2 ohols to the barber for cutting
the hair of the archbishop's nephews.

For all work in the fields, however, the usual method was
to pay by the day. All sorts of work on the vines was paid
for in this way, and at the time of vintage quantities of extra
labourers were hired, as they are at the present day. In
almost all cases food was given as well as pay; at the vintage
stocks of provisions were laid in, and extra women were often
hired to help in the kitchen. The procureur makes use of
so many different forms in his entries for labour, that at first
sight it seems doubtful whether the pay is for each man
irrespective of the number of days of work ; or even for the
day, when it might be divided amongst more than one man.
There we find in one place ' 37 homines, dando cuilibet 5
sterl.' ; ^ in another ' pro 65 hominibus duabus precedentibus
obdemodis ad putandum, &c., quorum hominum quihbet
recipiebat 8 obol. argenti ' ; ^ as if the 8 obols were paid for
the whole fortnight's work. This interpretation is seen to
be impossible from another entry, which, thus explained,
would make each man receive the same pay, viz. 4 sterlings,
for the work of three weeks as for that of one.* Then at other
times the procureur clearly speaks of paying by the day.
' Pro 9 jornalibus hominum ad fodiendum 22s. 6d.' ^ Or again,
' pro 9 jornalibus hominum ad vindemiandum vineas . . ,
dando cuilibet 2s. id., 18s. gd.' ^ This form of entry intro-
duces another difficulty, however, since it looks as though
a great number of men worked only for one day, which

' xxi. 344. * xxi. 341. * xxi. 505.

* xxi. 696. * xxii. 320. • xxii. 325.

i86 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. ix

would often be impossible. For instance, when we read
' pro 55 jornalibus hominum ad magescandum dando cuilibet
25. 6d.' ^ it is not likely that this May work on the vines could
really be finished in one day, and so many men suddenly
brought in.

There is no doubt, however, that these different expressions
all really convey one and the same meaning. Whether the
pay is reckoned by men or by days, it seems in each case to
mean that so much a day was paid to each man ; whether
55 men worked for one day or ii men worked for five days is
left unspecified. The cost in each case is the same. This is
proved by one entry in which both forms of expression are
employed. In 1361 during the Bordeaux vintage, the hired
work is reckoned as follows. * Habui ad faciendum necessaria
circa torcularia xiii homines, dando cuilibet ultra expensas v
sterl. ; item xvii homines, dando cuilibet vi sterl. ; item habui
unum hominem ad faciendum los marcs, qui fuit ibi per vii
dies, cui dabam, qualibet die, ultra expensas vii sterl. ; & sic
sunt xxxvii homines quibus solvi xviii s. sterl. argenti.' ^ Here
it is clear that 13 men + 17 men + i man for 7 days, is
equivalent to 37 men.

Taking for granted, therefore, that in all cases we may
calculate the number of days and the pay per day, it is
possible to get a good general idea of the sort of wages paid
upon the estate. The following tables show the rate of pay for
different sorts of work. Unfortunately, as the archbishop had
no corn-fields, the actual pay for this sort of agricultural work
is lacking. The corn-work which is tabulated is only that of
measuring and moving the corn paid to the archbishop,
and occasionally for thrashing and winnowing it. The
garden-work is concerned chiefly with weeding, digging, and
attending to the vegetables. The vine-work in the gardens is
practically the same as that in other places, and is not reckoned
separately.

* xxii. 357. * xxi. 687.

CH. IX]

SALARIES AND WAGES

187

Table showing Wages for Different Kinds
OF Agricultural Work.

Men by the Day.

1354

1355
1356
1357'

1361-2 *

1367-8 '
1382-3'

1386
1387

Vine.
3-5 sterl.i

3-4 sterl.^
4-6 obol.'^
5-7 gros.
6-8 obol.
4sterl.

4 sterl.
4 new sterl.
albos.*

4 new sterl.
counting
40 to =33
old

4-6 albi

8-10 sterl.

2/1-2/ I I

2/1-2/6

Vintage.

3-4 sterl.
5-7 obol.
6-7 gros.

10 gros.
4-6 sterl.
(and young
men 3 sterl.)

2/1-2/6

2/6-3/4
2/1-2/6

Corn.

Mowing and
measuring

3i-4

4-5

6 sterl.

6-7 gros.

4 sterl.
(winnowing)

4-5 sterl.

8 sterl.
2/6 (measur-
ing)

Garden.

5 obol.

4-5 sterl.

3-5 old
sterl.

2/1-2/6

Hay.

7 gros.

4 old sterl.

Cutting ^
3/4-4/2
Making 2/1

2/1 1

* A sterling = id. sterling. That is generally about five ordinary
denarii of Bordeaux, xxi. 308. A sterling is said to be S(i. in 1354.

^ A silver obolus in 1356= 4d. Bordeaux money.

* This year there is mention made of first, second, and third coin of
Bordeaux, id. gros. appears to be slightly lower in value than id. sterling ;
see p. 182, note 2.

* This year there was a new sterling sometimes used, worth less than
the old. 33 old = 40 new sterlings. See xxi. 670 for variations in money
in same year. Leop. auri might equal from 30 to 37 sterlings.

* Here 38 of these new sterlings are considered to equal 32 old sterlings.
But the calculation varies. Sometimes 40 = 33 as above.

* Some new coins came in during this year : —

Franchum equitem = 28^ albi
Franchtim peditem = 28 albi
Franchum =■ 29 albi

Florin = 20 albi.

xxii. 181. An albus here = 2 sterlings.

xxii. 197. The Black Prince changed the money on May i, 1368.
Albus, which had been worth lod. = 6d. of the new money. All the time
in the accounts the albns is reckoned as 2 sterlings.

' In this year all is reckoned in £ s. d. and so onwards. In 1382-3,
2/6 is by far the commonest day's wage- — either money is less valuable, or
wages have risen towards the close of the fourteenth century. Raising
the value of actual coinage, as the Black Prince had done, must have
tended to diminish that of the standard money.

i88

SAINT-ANDR£ of bordeaux [ch. ix

Table showing Wages for Different Kinds of

Agricultural Work.

Men by the Day [continued).

Vine

Vintage.

Corn. 1

Garden.

//ay.

1390

2/1-2/6

2/1

1395

2/6-2/1 I

3/4

2/1-2/6

1401-2

2/1-3/4

6-8 sterl.
(2/6-3/4)

2/1 1

3/4

I4I0

2/11-3/2

2/6-3/4

3/4

I4I2

7-10 sterl.

9 sterl.
(3/9)

10 sterl.

1430

10 sterl.

3/6

1432

2/6

1459

2/6

2/-2/6

2/-3/6

Women's Work by Day

Vine.

Vintage.

Garden.

Haymaking.

1354

3 sterl.

1355

1^2 sterl.

1357

2 sterl.

4 gros.

1361

2 sterl.

1367

4-5 sterl.

2-2I albi

1382

V-V3

1389

V-i/3

1/8

1395

iii.

1401-2

1/-1/8

1410

1/3-1/8

2/1

1412

1/3

1430

6 sterl.

1432

2/1-2/6

1459

1/6

Vintage Work in Different

Places.

Bordeaux Lormont

Pessac

Men.

Women.

AfeM.

PFow^M.

Mew.

Women

1355

4 sterl.

3-4 sterl.

ij-2sterl.

3 sterl.

2 sterl.

1356

7 obol.

6-7 obol.

3 obol.

1357

6-7 gros.

7 gros.

4 gros.

1361

5-6 sterl.

4 sterl.

2 sterl.

10 gros.

5 gros.

1367

4-6 albi

4 sterl.

4-6 albi

2 albi

7 sterl.

2 J albi

10 sterl.

4 sterl.

1382

2/1-2/11

2/6

1/3

2/1

1/3

1383

2/6

1/8

2/1

x/3

2/1

1384

2/1

1385

2/6

1386

3/4 tread-
ing grapes

2/6

1387

2/1

2/6

2/1

1390

2/6

2/1

x/3

2/1

1395

2/6

1/3

1410

7-9 sterl.
(2/1 1-3/9)

1/3-1/8

1459

-2/6

2/6

CH. IX]

SALARIES AND WAGES

189

Comparison of Wages for Agricultural and
Non-agricultural Work.

Tiler or

Vintager.

Carpenter.

Mason.

J. lurr Iff

Thatcher.

Odd work.

1354

ZS sterl.

6 sterl.

8 sterl.

1355

3-4 sterl.

6 sterl.

Cutting wood, 4
obol.

1356

4-7 obol.

8 obol.

7 obol.

Repairing mill, 3
sterl.

1357

6-7 gros.

18-24 gros.

Cleaning office, 4
sterl.

1367

i-ii sterl.

6albi
1/4 sterl.

1382

2/1-2/6

3/4-5

Wood-cutting,
2/6 2/9

1383

4/2

Loading wagon,
2/11

1385

4/2

Cutting wood, 1/3

1386

2/^3/4

4/2-5/

3/4-3/9

Loading hay, 3/4

1387

2/1-2/6

3/4-4/8

2/rr (re-
pairing ?)

Loading wood,
loading vessels,
driving mules,
2/6

1390

2/1-2/6

5/-5/6

2/11-4/2

1395

2/6-2/1 I

3/9-5/

4/2

Carrying manure,

2/5

or-4

2/1-3/4

15 sterl.

Cutting wood, 9
sterl.

1410

2/ir-3/2

Carr>'ing corn, 2/6

1412

7-10 sterl.

18 sterl.
6/6

Cutting wood, 7
sterl.

1430

10 sterl.

18 sterl.

1432

8 sterl.

1459

2/-2/6

There are too many changes in the value of money, as well as
in the actual coinage used for calculations, to render the com-
parison of wages year by year very instructive. It is evident,
however, that at the same date the different rural occupations
were all paid very much the same wage. There was little to
choose in the way of occupation for the sake of money-making.

Women were employed a good deal, but almost entirely
for work in the vineyards, or in the archbishop's garden.
Only once are they mentioned as haymaking, and they never
shared in the heavy work of moving corn or cutting wood.
There was so much light work they could do in the vines, both
for ordinary cultivation as well as for the vintage, that they
had no need to seek other employment.

They worked less often in Bordeaux than at Lormont and
Pcssac, the reason being that much of the work there was

190 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. ix

treading grapes in the archbishop's pressoir (his garden
vineyard was small), and this, curiously enough, was never
done by women, on this estate at any rate. They were paid
at a very much lower rate than the men, sometimes only half,
and similarly when they worked in the garden. This propor-
tion is very similar to the scale of payment for women's work
in Bordelais vineyards at the present day. As there was
practically no difference in the value of different forms of
rural labour, so there was very little difference from place to
place. Occasionally the rate for vintage at Bordeaux appears
a little higher than at Lormont and Pessac, probably because
there was more treading the grapes there, and that was some-
times paid rather better than the actual picking — as a rule,
however, the same men were probably doing both, so that it
was seldom reckoned separately. All through the latter years
of the fourteenth century, wages remain very steady in amount,
and 25. 6d. is about the average for a man's day from 1382
onwards. At the beginning of the fifteenth century they seem
to rise slightly, unless it is merely an alteration in the value
of money ; but by 1459 the 2S. 6d. average is again established.

The artisans were paid at a far higher rate than the labourers.
Carpenters on the whole seem to have received the best pay.
There are generally two grades of workmen. Either a master
and servant, in which case the latter is paid about half the wage
of his superior ; or the established workman and a travelling
carpenter or mason, &c., who generally receives a rather lower
rate of pay. As there is no mention of food being provided for
the artisan, the value of his remuneration as compared with that
of the labourer is not quite so much greater as it appears at first
sight. Stillthissortofworkwas naturally paid at a rather higher
rate, being more skilled, and needing a longer apprenticeship.

The archbishop was a great employer of labour, and he
seems to have paid for it at a very good rate, although the
extraordinarily high figures must be due rather to the low value
of the standard money, than to absolutely exceptional con-
ditions in this region (see p. 62), The various sorts of money
need, however, to be reduced to their equivalent value at the
present day, before any satisfactory conclusion can be reached
upon this subject.

CHAPTER X

CONCLUSION

The general impression gained from a study of the docu-
ments concerning the estate of St.-Andre is that it was un-
usually wealthy and prosperous. By means of the dues and
produce received from the land, vast expenses were defrayed
and a high standard of living maintained. The archbishop's
procureur did things on a large scale ; servants and labourers
were paid well and kept in considerable comfort, money for
food and clothing was not stinted, and enough was left to
give handsome presents and to entertain generously. At the
same time the capacity of the estate was sometimes severely
taxed to meet all the calls laid upon it ; and although current
expenses were met, and that apparently without stint, the
balance left over was never a large one and in some years
non-existent ; money was not being laid by for a rainy day.
It must, however, be remembered that money by no means
represented the full value of the estate or the real profits from
the land. If the procureur had no actual coins to hand over
to the archbishop, he generally reported a large stock of corn
and wine as still in hand, after all expenditure had been
defrayed ; and even a money deficit did not necessarily imply
a year of failure and loss.

In 1342-3 we have a very neat calculation of all the money
transactions during the year.^ The sum total of all the
receipts in money amounted to ;^4,622 45. ^d. Bordeaux
coinage. The expenditure was as follows : — •

The procureur' s own expenses .....

Vintage expenses .......

For sundry expenses (' que extraordinarie nuncupantur ')
To archbishop and his vicars ....

Works and repairs ......

Cultivation of vineyards .....

xxi. 128.

200

') • 715

• 3,40s

• 151

. 48

Total £4,631

192

saint-andr£ of bordeaux

[CH. X

The procureur was therefore £g os. 2d. out of pocket at the
end of the year. This seems to have been really a bad season,
for there was, apparently, neither corn nor wine left in hand.
There had been as many as fifty-eight casks of wine beyond
expenses, but these, for some reason, were all handed over to
Helie de Caudrot according to the accounts.^

In 1354, receipts and expenditure were declared to be equal,
but large sums of money had been handed over to the arch-
bishop who was at Avignon with the Pope at the time, and
com and wine were left over.^ In 1356 also, although nothing
was left over in money, both cellars and granaries were full,^
In 1357 and 1362 on the contrary, the procureur gives a long
list of various sorts of money still in hand when all had been
paid.* As the totals of what the archbishop himself had
received are not given, it may be simply that all surplus was
handed over to him, and the profits were therefore larger in
former years than would appear from the end of the accounts.
In 1401 there was a balance of a little over ;^I5,^ and in 1459
of ;^i6.^ A few interesting details are given in the accounts of
these years.

In 1410 some of the expenses are calculated as follows :

For collecting vintage in Pessac
Vintage in gardens
Vintage in the Graves
Vintage in Lormont .
Vintage in Les Quejrries
Carriage of wine
Expenses for collecting quarteria
Cultivation of various vineyards
Clothes for the procureur .

In 1459 there are additional details, and also an entry of
arrears, which every year helped to diminish the receipts
actually due from the estate.

Money given to Monseigneur

For garrisons

Garden expenses

Expenses for vines at Lormont

Expenses for vines at Pessac

Vintage at Lormont, Pessac, and the Graves

144

xxi. 346.

XXI. 392.

. 1844

s.
15

d.
0

59
16

9
II

. 42

xxi. 517

, 706.

CH. X]

CONCLUSION

193

100

loi

Vintage at Quinsac

Expense for collecting dues from St.-Capra:

Expense for collecting quarti&res

Expense for stone ....

Expense for repairs

Extra expenses and journeys

Expenses for Perigord and St.-Cyprien

Arrears of Bordeaux

Arrears of Lormont ....

Arrears of rents ....

Arrears from churches

At the end of this year, although the procureur had ;^i6 in
hand, it is only fair to notice that he started in 1458 with £2^
in hand from the previous year. He had not, therefore, made
money by his management.

It is evident that the ideal was not to store up wealth, but
to cover expenses, and to enable the whole establishment of
St. -Andre to be carried on without difficulty. This, to judge
from the manner of life of the archbishops, and their staff of
officials, servants, and labourers, was amply fulfilled.

It must be remembered that it was particularly creditable
for an estate to be prosperous throughout the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, since it was a period when both war and
plague were making considerable havoc throughout the whole
district, and when French and English alike were committing
depredations and rendering it impossible to collect all the
revenue which should have been forthcoming. The effects
of the war are especially visible in the fifteenth century, when
the country round Bordeaux was actually the scene of active
warfare.

In 1423 we find that the archbishop had been prevented
from making any proper visitation of the diocese for some
years, owing to the war and disturbances which had been
raging.i In 1443 he was too poor to endow properly a new
College of Studies at Bordeaux.^ Many of the churches and
hospitals of Bordeaux were in ruins ; ^ the Monastery of

' Denifle, i. 127. See Gall. Chris, ii. 841. Work of Pey Berland :
' ecclesias, occasione bellorum dirutas, restauravit, spoliatas ornabat,
pauperes recreabat. Ecclesiam cathedralem, cujus pars fornicis navis
terrae motu conquassata an. 1427 corruit, fortasse jam restauratam
invenit.' * Ibid. i. 131 : ' Propter tenuitatem mensae archiepiscopalis.'

' Ibid. 133, 134 : ' Ecclesia sancti Severini depauperata . . . causantibua

^PART V) ST.-A. Q

194 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. x

St.-Sauveur of Blaye ; the Abbey of La Grande Sauve/ the
churches of Soulac, St.-Emihon, Begles, Villeneuve, and many
others were desperately impoverished.^ In 1447 plague added
its horrors to those of war and depopulated much of the
country in the archbishop's diocese.^

There are plenty of illustrations which show that this
prevailing distress did affect the actual property of archbishop
and chapter, and render it less productive than it would other-
wise have been ; and that some of the tenants were brought
to misery and destitution. It was the small holders who
must have suffered the most, and their condition can only be
gathered from incidental remarks rather than direct state-
ments. In 1356 the procureur made an expedition to La
Souys to inspect certain vines which had been wasted, and to
endeavour to bring them again under cultivation.* In 1360
several fiefs had lapsed to the archbishop, and paid no rent.^
In 1383 a large debt for quartieres had to be remitted at
Cazau, because the whole district was ' penitus destructa per
guerram ; non fuit fructus '.® The accounts this year are
full of notes stating ' deserta est, et non computatur '.'

In the fifteenth century there were a number of deguer-
pissements on account of poverty. Estates were abandoned
by the tenants, who were no longer able to make them pay
sufficiently to render the rents or to continue cultivation.^
Plague and bad seasons helped to account for the distress
of this period, as well as the war itself.^ The accounts of 1459
show that the close of the long Hundred Years' War had not
yet brought a cessation of troubles. No rents were paid from
Coutures and Loutrange, where the Seigneur d'Albret was in

guerrarum turbinibiis et aliis sinistris eventibus.' Hospital of Carmelites
in ruins. Hospital of St. -Julian destroyed, &c.

^ Ibid. 139. ' Ibid. 142.

^ Ibid. 132 : (Nov. 2, 1447) ' De Pessaco, de Caldiaco, de Calamiaco . . .
ob guerrarum turbines, mortalitatem pestis, terrarum sterilitates aliaque,
habitatoribus et incolis carent.'

* xxi. 407-8. ' xxi. 538. ' xxii. 297. ' xxii. 300-2.

* Terrier of St.-Andre, passim.

* G. 285, f. 162. In 1433 there was plague at Bordeaux, and a general
procession to pray for relief. Terrier,!. 6&' : (1440) ' Et fora estat en
aissi que par las grans freitz qui foren aras dos ans en lo pais de Bordales,
lodeit trens de vinha fossa estat mort cum totas las autras vinhas de tot
lodeit pays de Bordales.'

CH. x] CONCLUSION 195

possession, and many parishes were wasted and unable to
pay their qtuzrtieres ; ^ but even this bad year did not involve
real loss to the archbishop.

As to the methods of cultivation employed, they appear to
be distinctly advanced for the period, at least on the private
demesne of the archbishop. The introduction of the plough
for some of the vine-work, the enclosing of certain vineyards,
the use of manure, all point to progressive ideas ; and the
whole management is orderly, regular, and careful. The
interesting feature of the estate is, however, the fact that it
was commercial rather than natural. All was sacrificed to
the vine and the wine-trade, and there was but little trace,
in consequence, of the old, self-sufficient manorial system.
Buying, selling, exchanging must have been active amongst
the tenants, as well as with their seigneur.

The condition of the inhabitants was also advanced for the
period. There was doubtless some serfdom, there were some
labour services, some dependent conditions ; but this is not
the aspect of life most prominent in the documents. All
points to a state of things extraordinarily modern : a great
number of small free rent-paying or profit-sharing tenants,
bound to their ecclesiastical superiors by ties of money rather
than by bonds of allegiance ; sometimes bound to the soil
and unable to alienate freely, but this by reason of contract
rather than by custom or the arbitrary will of the lord; services
and dues early commuted into money payments, and the
wage-paid labourer the rule rather than the exception. That
is what the accounts and the terriers seem to show us, although
their record may be partial, and the conditions on more
distant parts of the estate rather less advanced, and not so
wholly estabhshed on an economic basis.

The Hst of the archbishop's tenants in 1400, and the terrier
of the chapter in the fifteenth century, give some idea of the
chief occupations which were carried on amongst the tenants,
and the social conditions prevailing on the Bordelais part of
the estate.

Amongst the rent-paying tenants who held directly from

' G. 241.
02

196 SAINT-ANDR£ of BORDEAUX [ch. x

the archbishop in 1400, there were a few nobles who had
houses in Bordeaux for which they paid in money. The
Captal de Buch himself was amongst the number, and there
were three domicelli : but the ecclesiastical nobility was better
represented than the lay. The Bishop of Dax, the Priors of
Bardenac, Cayac, le Barp, and St.-George-de-lTsle, and the
Abbots of Sauve Majeure and St.-Sauveur-de-Blaye, all held
rent-paying property from the archbishop. There were a large
number of priests, thirty-nine in all, and seven clerks, besides
four of the canons of St.-Andre itself. In the majority of
cases the tenants are entered in the list as parishioners of such
and such a place, but without mention of any special occupa-
tion. In the majority of these instances, however, it is
evident that they were rural cultivators, for their lands are
entered with their houses, and it is presumably on the profits
of these lands that they lived. Vineyards formed the chief
part of the property of these tenants, and the cultivation of
the vine must therefore have been the principal occupation.
(The list being of rent-paying tenants only, it naturally does
not include the large mass of rural cultivators, mostly of
vineyards, who held by the payment of agrieres. They must
be remembered, however, as swelling the number of those
who made their living from the land.) Most of the necessary
trades of the time were also represented. There were a large
number of carpenters, a few blacksmiths, masons, chemists,
merchants, chandlers, and butchers ; besides a grocer, a baker,
a cutler, a pastry-cook, a barber, and an inn-keeper. Of course
these different employments may have found recruits amongst
the sub-tenants, of whom there is no record. In Bordeaux
itself there were a surprising number of notaries, and we find
also a Bachelor of Arts, a Doctor of Laws, and a Doctor of
Medicine to represent the professions.

The terrier of St.-Andre mentions the names of a few new
tradesmen ; a tanner, a glove-maker, some weavers, copper-
smiths, and quite a quantity of shoemakers ; besides which
it adds to the number of merchants, butchers, barbers, and
inn-keepers. But by far the greater number of entries are
concerned with vine-labourers (laboradors de vinhas), and

CH. x] CONCLUSION 197

makers of big wine casks or tonnelli. Of the former over
forty occur as connected with the land-transactions recorded.
They may have been the labourers who hired themselves out
for wages, but they certainly had vineyards of their own also,
often quite extensive holdings. There is no reason to think
that the wage-paid labourer was always landless, though there
may have been some who made their entire living by payments
for work. Amongst all these tenants only seven carters are
mentioned and they appear in the terrier ; no bubulci, bray-
mantes, or fay silher it are named at all. Possibly these workers
really had no land of their own, but lived wholly on what they
could earn ; or they may have been sub-tenants, since they
do not even appear as holders of houses or parts of houses
in 1400.

The general conclusion derived from these lists of tenants
is, that amongst the simple freemen there were a small number
of artisans and tradesmen, but a far larger number of rural
cultivators, living on the proceeds of their own land, or working
for a money wage on the property of others. We also infer
that the servants of the archbishop were not rewarded by
land but only by money, and were lodged in his house or, in
any case, at his expense, since none of them are named amongst
his tenants. From the terrier it appears that the tendency
as time goes on is for the class of merchants to increase and
for a few new trades to be introduced ; but that rural labourers
are still in the majority, and that vineyards give the chief
occupation to dwellers in Bordeaux and its neighbourhood.

The uniform character of the land and its inhabitants
renders a description of the estates of St.-Andre less interesting
than that of some district would be where conditions were
more varied. It is very different from Pyrencan Gascony,
where almost every valley had its special characteristics, its
own customs, its peculiar rights. But this Bordelais property
is all the more useful as a type on account of this very sameness.
With some allowance for the importance and wealth accruing
to it as a great ecclesiastical seignory, it may be taken as
a very fair example of the large wine-growing estates of
Southern France.

INDEX

Accapte, 59. See Esporle.

Agen (rules of succession in), Dept. of
Lot et Garonne, 36.

Agresseria, vessels for wine or verjuice,
171.

Agreyra {terra), land held at part pro-
duce, 135-45-

Agri&res, part produce, 60, 65, 68, 106,
109, 135, 158, 170, 196.

Agulkas, strainers in the wine-press, 172.

Albret (Amanieu d'), 59.

— (Bernard d'), 97.

— (Seigneur d'), 195.
Alexander III (Pope), 20.
Alod, 15, 49, 58.

Ambares, c. of Carbon-Blanc,* 6, 16, 18,
33> 35. 38, 41, 42, 65, 67, 104, 109, 181.
Ambleville (Arnaud d'), 15.

— (Seignory of), in Saintonge, Dept. of
Charente, 18, 57, 131, 132.

Aquitaine, 3.

— (Duke of), 113, 120.
Arbanats, c. of Podensac, 19, 60.
Archbishops of Bordeaux, estates of, 12,

13. 147 ; garden of, 155, 168, 169,
176; jurisdiction of, 11, 120, 121;
labour hired for, 47 ; palace of, 166 ;
private demesne of, 16, 32 ; privileges
of, 10, 56 ; revenue of, 108 ; trade of,
12, 149, 158 ; wealth of, 12.
Archives de I'Archevcche, 6.

— dcpartementales, 6, and notes
passim.

— du chapitre, 8.

— historiques de la Gironde, 6, and

notes passim.
Arreguas, see litge.
Arliga, garden, clearing, 134.
Artigues, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 22, 23, 35,

41, 57-
Artisans, wages of, 189, 190.
Aubari'de, willow plantation, 135 and

passim.
Aubiac (Chdlellenie of), Dept. of Lot et

Garonne, 15, 57, 132.
Audat, place at Bassens, 68.

— (Arnaud d'), 68.

— (Comptor d'), 68.

Audejole, old quarter of Bordeaux, 105.

Austencius (Arnold), tenant at Ambares,

3,3, 31-
Autelhan-en-Medoc (Arnold of), 44. See

Le Taillan.
Avensan, c. of Castelnau, 22, 23.
Avignon, Dept. of Vaucluse, 192.
Ayral, yard, 134.

Bail h fazendure, 73, 74, 78, 79. See

Leasehold.
Bail a gaudence, 73, 79. See Leasehold.
Barbeaulx, thick vine branches cut off

at joint, 164, 168.
Bardenac (Prior of), 196.
Barra, planks for casks, 172.
Barrel (of wine), 157.
Barsac, c. of Podensac, 125, 126, 128.
Bassens, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 6, 16, 18,

35, 38, 41, 42, 56.
Bastards, hoops for barrels, 171.
Bastides, fortified towns of a special kind,

31. 32, 3S-
Baurech, c. of Creon, 23.
Bayonne, Dept. of Basses Pyrenees, 30.
Bazadais, 11, 18.
Bazas (customs of), 36.
Beam, 49.

Beasts (on the estate), 47, 48, 120.
Beautiran, c. of La Brede, 23, 25.
Begles, c. of Bordeaux, 23, 40, 42, 64,

i39» 143. 184, 194.
Belves {Chdtelknie of), Dept. of Dor-

dogne, 7, 15, 17, 19, 47, 58, 66, 124,

128, 129, 132, 139.
Benauges (ArchipretrJ oi), 7,2, 39, no,

150.
Berneye, place at Cadaujac, 20, 47, 124.
Bersanas, bessons, shot or division of

open field, 141.
Bertrand de Got, Archbishop of Bor-
deaux and Pope Clement V, 11. See

Clement V.
Bigarroque {Ch/itellenie of), Dept. of

Dordogne, 17, 19, 48, 65, 123, 128,

129.
Biters, wine-vessels, 172.
Bitz, spindle of the wine-press, 172.
Black Prince, 62, 113,
Blacksmith, 179.

* When it is not otherwise mentioned, the places in this Index are in the
Department of the Gironde.

200

saint-andr£ of bordeaux

Blanquefort, arr. of Bordeaux, 22, 23,
38, 42, 44, 45, 60, 74, 100, 103.

Blayais, 7, 18.

Blaye, town on the Gironde, 31, 123,
150, 181.

— (Archdeaconry of), 24.

— {Archipretreoi), 32, 38, 39.
Bogesius (Maria), tenant at Lormont, 37.
Bonda, bung of a cask, 172.
Boquau, place at Cadaujac, 34.
Bordeaux, 3, 4, 12, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22,

30, 31, 35, 42, 46, 48, 49, SI, 60, 63,
64, 69, 100, 109, 114, 115, 120, 136,
143, 145, 170, 190, 192, 193 ; Customs

of, 53, 70,93, "4, 115, "7-

— (Pierre de), 18, 59.

Bordelais, 3, 4, 6, 7, 32, 38, 41, 48, 49,
197.

Bordeu, hordile, a small holding or farm-
stead, 133 and passim.

Bordilerius, official of the Archbishop,
159, 184 ; of Lormont, 167, 168 ; of
Pessac, 148, 164, 165, 166, 176, 177.

Born (Pays de), 31.

— {Archiprelre, with Buch), 32, 39, in,
150.

Bouliac, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 22, 23, 41,

100, loi, 109.
Bourg, town on Dordogne, 22, 23, 31,

42, 123, 150, 181.

— {Archiprelre oi), 32, 39.
Bourges, 7, 22, 59.

Bouteville {Chatellenie of), Dept. of

Charente, 15, 57, 131, 132.
Brasse, measure of land, 139.
Braymantes, men to roll casks, 181, 182,

183, 197.
Breillan, arr. of Bordeaux, 22, 23, 44,

124.
Brenars, place at Pessac, 136, 143.
Bretenor (forest of), 46.
Broc (Roncius de), holder of tithe in

St.-Medard d'Eryans, 56.
Brocs, vine-carts, 172.
Brun (William), domicelliis of Cosnac, 60.
Brunon, place in the Graves, 42.
Bubulcus, carrier and driver of ox-wagon,

154, 168, 180, 181, 182, 183, 187.
Buch {Archiprelre with Born), 32, 39,

III, 150.

— {Capiat de), no, 196.

— (Pays de), 10, 31.

Bussac, fief in Saintonge, Dept. of

Charente-Inferieure, 19.
Buyla {lerra), waste land, 135.

Cabanac, c. of La Brede, 22, 23, 57, 129.
Cabolz, wedge of vine-land, 140.
Cadaujac, town on Garonne, 20, 22, 23,
28, 33, 34, 35, 38, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48,

64, 74, 100, loi, 103, 120, 123, 124,

138.
Cadillac, arr. of Bordeaux, 31.
Caillau, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 23.
Caillon (Bertrand de), knight, 98.
Calati, grape-baskets, 172.
Cambes, c. of Creon, 23, 68.
Camblanes, c. of Creon, 23, 42.
Camilhas, old parish in Bourg, 23.
Campania, payment of colum at, 128.
Campaure, old quarter of Bordeaux, 31,

41.
Campestan, place at Ambares, 34, 68.
Campeyraut, place in the Graves, 42.
Cantagric, place in the parish of Saint-

Seurin of Bordeaux, 41.
Cantaloup (Arnaud de). Archbishop of

Bordeaux, 11.
Caplennium, a due or poll-tax, 125, 126,

127.
Carbon-Blanc, town in Entre-deux-Mers,

42.
Carignan, c. of Creon, 23, 42, 100.
Caritativum subsidiutn, church due, in.
Carrale, wine-measure, 157.
Carriage, ni, 154, 180 ; by water, 181 ;

ex gracia, 168.
Carlonnade, measure of land, 139.
Cartulary, of Saint-Andre, 7, 25, 85, 100.

— of Sainte-Croix, 51.

— of Sauve Majeure (La Grande Sauve),

51-
Casau, casale, garden or space round

house, 133, 134.
Castarac, fief in Caudrot, 23.
Castelnau, arr. of Bordeaux, 31.
Castillon, place at Cadaujac, 31.
Caucenes, hamlet near Bordeaux, loc.
Cauderan, hamlet near Bordeaux, 94.
Caudrot, c. of Saint-Macaire, 7, 15, 17,

19, 46, 63, 124, 147.
Cavalhon, vine-furrow, 184.
Cavalhonare, to uncover vine-roots, 161.
Cayac (Prior of), 196.
Cayssac, place at Blanquefort, 23, 56.
Cazau, c. of La Teste-de-Buch, 194.
C6nac, c. of Creon, 22, 23.
Cenon, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 23, 141.
Cenon-la-Bastide, arr. of Bordeaux, 31.
Cens, rent of land, 53, 65, 84, 100, 102,

106, 109.

— rent of tithes, 109, no, 115.
Censilaires, rent-paying tenants. 84, 117,

and passim.

Censhies, rent-paying holdings, 5, 13, 15,
28, 49, 57, 60, 66, 70, 72, 73, 112, 113,
115, 117, 132, 141 J form of convey-
ance of, 71.

Cernes (Archdeacon of), 56.

— {Archiprelre of), 32, 39, 127, 150.

INDEX

201

Cernes (Pays de), 24, 31.
Cerons, c. of Podensac, 40, 41.
Chalais (Helie de), noble tenant of arch-
bishop, 59.

— (Seignory of), Dept. of Charente,

18, 131, 132.

Chapter of Saint-Andre, 7, 15, 20, 21, 23,
25. 47» 56, 65, 86, 100, 101, 108, 113,
176 ; homage to, 25 ; jurisdiction of,
20, 21, 24, 26, 120, 121, 122 ; demesne
of, 25 ; tithes of, 25 ; trade of, 123.

Charcresa, vine-carts, 172.

Chassaignes, fief in Perigord, Dept. of
Dordogne, 19.

CMtellenie, meaning of, 132.

Clavigerns, official of archbishop, 176.

Clement V, Pope (Bertrand de Got), 11,
i5» 42.

— (vineyard of), 16, 19, 22, 24, 42,

157. 159-

Clerac, fief in Perigord, Dept. of Cha-
rente, 19.

Coast, guarding of, 27.

Cogolhas, snails, 168.

Coladuy, coladors, sieve of wine-press,
172.

Coldra, coldres, hoops for barrels, 172.

Comminges, 49.

Commun de la paix, due in certain places,
128-30.

Comporta, grape-basket or vessel, 172.

Comprian (Terrier of), 52.

Condom (Abbot of), 15.

Confolens, fief in Perigord, Dept. of
Charente, 19.

■ — (forest of), 46.

Conque, corn measure, 150.

Constantin (Arnaud), serf of Lormont,
104, 105, 121.

Convers, wooden rollers for casks, 172.

Co-parcenage, 37, 68.

Coraria, due at Lege, 124.

Corn, kinds of, 152 and passim ; mea-
sures of, 150, 151 ; value of, 150-2.

Cornellage, due on beasts, 120.

Corn-land, 38, 39, 46, 148.

Corn-rents, 38, 39, 65, 67, 115, 151.

Corretarins, middleman, 158.

Correya, corregia, strips of vine-land, 140.

Corteyrac (G. de), 68.

Corvie, see Labour services.

Cosnac, fief in Perigord, Dept. of Correze,

19, 60.

Colum, due in Bigarroque, 128.

Cour de Gascogne, 20, 98.

Cour sup^rieure, 98.

Coutures {CMtellenie of), Dept. of Lot

et Garonne, 11, 17, 19, ^2' 47» 122,

124, 195.

— (rural community of), 33.

Couze {CMtellenie of), Dept. of Dor-
dogne, 7, 17, 19, 47, 128.

Creon, basiide in Entre-deux-Mers, 42.

Cultivation, methods of, 145-7, ^95 5 of
vines, 161-70.

Curia of Archbishop, 121.

Cussac, c. of Castelnau-de-Mcdoc, 33, 40.

Dax (Bishop of), 196.
Decimarius, name for serf, 82.
Deguerpissement, surrender of property,

194.
Desquets, grape-baskets, 172.
Destrales, small hatchets for vines, 169.
Dime, see Tithe.
Dime taillade, 69, n. 2.
Dordogne (river), 4, 30.
Dues, 125, 126, 130 ; beasts, 47 ; fishing,

28, 122 ; hunting, 122 ; oven, 124 ;

for sales, 48 ; salt, 124 ; trading, 123,

124; wine, 157, 158.
Dunes, 29, 32.

Edward I, King of England, 85.
Edward III, King of England, 21.
Employments of Archbishop s tenants,

196.
Enfeoffment, form of, 74.
Enjonilh, funnel of wine-press, 172.
Enfranchisement, charters of, 88, 94.
Entre-deux-Mers, 4, 10, 18, 41, 51, 68,

— {Archipretre of), 32, 39.
Entre-Dordogne, 18, 150.

— (Archipretre of), 32, 39.
Entreplantz, vines planted newly be-
tween rows, 161.

Epamprer, to clear twigs and leaves from
vines, 167, 169.

Escarte, corn -measure, 150.

Esclau, place at Cadaujac, 34.

Esporle, payment in recognition of
feudal superiority, generally made by
every new tenant, 27, 53, 55, 57, 58,
60, 70, 72, 88, 96, 99, 112-17, 119, 131.

Expenditure on estates of Archbishop,
191, 192.

Eymine, corn-measure, 150.

Eysines, c. of Blanquefort, 22, 42, 56,

143-
Eyssermentare, Jaire les sarmenls, to col-
lect bundles of vine -twigs, 163, 169,
170.

Faber (Martin), holder of alod, 57.
Faxons, work at regular periods for vines,

160, 161, 162, 166, 169, 170, 184.
Faussetz, spigots, 172.
Faysilherius, feysilherius, porter, i8i,

183, 197.

202

SAINT-ANDRfi OF BORDEAUX

Festalemps, fief in Perigord, Dept. of

Dordogne, 19.
Fiefs, 49, 52, 60, 72, 112, 131, 132, 136,

and passim.
Figuer-Belh, vineyard at Lormont, 159,

166, 168.
Flanders, trade with, 12.
Floirac, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 22, 23, 34,

35, 41, 100, loi, 116.
Focagium, due or tax in Coutures, 124.

See Foliage.
Fodiendiim, digging of vines, 167.
Foire, due in Cadaujac and Berneye,

120, 124.
Food, nature of, 47 and passim.
Forest of Bordeaux, 30, 46.

— of Bretenor, 46.

— of Confolens, 46.

— of Lege, 46,

— in Medoc, 30.

Forestage, due for cutting wood, 1 20.

Fornage, due on ovens, 1 24.

Fors, written customs, 36.

Fosse Lobeyre, place in the Graves, 42.

Fouage, hearth-tax, 33.

Fourc, place in the Graves, 23, 41, 42,

64, 143-
Frisia, trade with, 12.
Fronsac (Archipreire oi), 32, 39, 150.
Fudir, to dig, 162.

Gabarrarius, river-carrier, 154, 181.
Garden of Archbishop, 155, 168, 169,

176.
Gardener of Archbishop, 176.
Garonne (river), 4, 29, 30, 123, 164, 180.
Gascony, 3, 49, 53, 131.
Gaunt (John of), Duke of Lancaster, 98,

99.
Gironde (department of), 3.

— (river), 29.

Glandage, due for pasture of pigs, 47.
Gradignan, c. of Pessac, 22, 23, 41, 42,

138.
Gratacap, place to south of Bordeaux,

31-
Graves of Bordeaux, 8, 16, 18, 22, 41,

45, 140, 175, 192.
Grayan, c. of Saint-Vivien, 30.
Gresillac, c. of Branne, 22, 23.
Guitres, arr. of Libourne, 20.
Gurpisson (droit de), due on surrender

of property, 119.
Guyenne, 61, 98.

— (Duke of), 1 1 .

— (Seneschal of), 1 1 .
Guyennois, a coin, 62.

Ha, a quarter of Bordeaux.
Harvest guard, 69, 70, 73.

Haymaking, 153, 154, 185, 189.

Herbage, due for pasture, 47.

Hired labour, 164, 165, 167, 169, 173,

174, 176, 180-90, 197.
Homage, 7, 13, 18, 55, 58, 59, 131.
Homme lige, term used in some parts for

serfs, 82, 83, 84, 100.
Homme questal, serf. See Questanx.
Hosiau, house, 134, 135, and passim.

Iliac, c. of Pessac, 116.
Ireland, trade with, 12.
Izon, c. of Libourne, 9, 95, 106.

Jaugar, rough moorland, 44, 134.
Joailles, special method of planting

vines, 141, 159.
John, King of England, 10.
Jornal, measure of land, 137.
Jornaux, boon days, 66, 184.
Justice, rights of, 20, 21, 26, 31, 93, 97,

98, 120, 121, 122.

La Barba, place in Cadaujac, 34.

Labarde, c. of Castelnau, 19.

Labor ador de vinhas, vine-labourer, 156,

196.
Labour services, 46, 66, 67, 91, 92, lor,

103, 106, 159, 166, 169.
La Brede, arr. of Bordeaux, 22.
La Canau, c. of Castelnau, 24.
La Caussade, place at Ambares, 34, 44.
La Codane, place in the Graves, 42.
La Costa, place at Cadaujac, ^4.
La Grande Sauve (Abbey of), c. of Creon,

51,53, 194.'
— (Abbot of), 196.

La Libarde, old parish near Bourg, 23.
La Motte-d'Arbanats, fief in Perigord,

19.
La Motte-d'Ayre, place in the Graves,

41, 42.
La Motte-de-Faugueyres, place at La

Brede, 25.
Landes, 3, 29, 30, 46, 135.
Langoiran, c. of Cadillac, 23.
Langon, town on the Garonne, 11, 21 ;

wine of, 29.
Lansac, c. of Bourg, 22, 23, 4r.
La Recluse, place in the Graves, 3r, 41.
La Rochelle, Dept. of Charente-In-

ferieure, 12, 19.
La Roquette, fief in Montravel, Dept. of

Dordogne, 19, 113.
Larsac, place in Belves, Dept. of Dor-
dogne, 15.
La Sauve, c. of Creon, 39.
La Saye, place in the Graves, 42.
Las Coalhas (meadow of), 45.
Las Gotas, place at Cadaujac, 34.

INDEX

203

La Souys, place at Floirac, 34, 68, 138,

194.
Lassats, old parish in Commune of Lan-

diras, 125, 127.
La Taugue, old quarter of Bordeaux, 314

42, 115, 138.
La Tresne, c. of Creon, 22, 24.
Leasehold property, 5, 73 ; form of

grant of, 73, 78, 79.
Le Barp (Prior of), 196.
Le Fresne (meadow of), 45, 154.
Lege (Seignory of), 20, 21, 23, 24, 26,

35> 38, 43> 47. 100, 103, 120, 121, 122,

123, 124 ; Customs of, 26-8.

— (forest of), 25, 27.
L^ogeats, c. of Langon, 41.
L^ognan, c. of La Brede, 22, 23, 40, 41,

^33-

Le Pian, c. of Blanquefort, 22, 40.

Les Chretiens (vineyard of), near Bor-
deaux, 17, 159, 167.

Les Lepreux (vineyard of), near Bor-
deaux, perhaps the same as above,

17-
Lesparre {Archipretre oT), 32, 39, 152.

— (Seigneur of), 30.

Les Pesettes (meadow of), at Ludon or

Bruges, 14, 45. i53- i54-
Les Puyons (meadows at), 34.
Les Queyries, place on Garonne, opposite

Bordeaux, 17, 42, 157, 174, 192.
Le Taillan, c. of Blanquefort, 22, 24, 44.
Lever, to clear vine-stems, 163, 169.
Leyde, due on sales of beasts, 124.
Libourne, town on junction of the lie

and Dordogne, 31, 181.
Lidonne, 23.
Lignan, c. of Creon, 23.
Listrac, c. of Castelnau-en-Medoc, 22,

23. 44-
Livrade, corn-measure, 150.
Lods el ventes, due on the sale of land,

72, 117.
Lormont, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 6, 16, 18,

32, 37. 38. 42, 48, 68, 74, 75, 76, loi,

104, 109, 121, 122, 133, 157, 177, 190,

193 ; customs of, 7, 121 ; garden of,

8, 16; meadow of, 45, 153, 154;

palace of, 8, 16 ; sheep-farm of, 48 ;

vineyard of, 19, 159, 166, 169, 174,

190.
Louis VI, King of France, 10.
Loutrange {Chdtellenie of), Dept. of Lot

et Garonne, ii, 14, 17, 19, 47, 122,

195-
Lucanac, men of, 21.
Lucius in, Pope, 20.
Ludon, c. of Blanquefort, 109.

— (meadow oO, 14, 45. iS3. i54-
Lussac, arr. of Libourne, 128, 129.

Magescandum, May work, second fa^on

in vineyards, 167, 169.
Maison noble, 131, 132.
Marhotin, a gold coin said, in 1343, to

be worth sixty Bordeaux shilUngs, 60.
Marcamps, c. of Bourg, 22, 42.
Marre, tool for vines, 141, 166, 169.
Marret, plot of vine-land, 141.
Mastacio (Fulk de), noble tenant of

Archbishop, 59.
Mayne, maynile, house or estate, 133.
Meadows, 45, 64, 144, 145, 153, 154.

— of Cayssac, 56.

— of Las Coalhas, 45.

— of Le Fresne, 45, 154.

— of Les Pesettes, 14, 45, 153, 154.

— of Lormont, 45, 153, 154.

— of Ludon, 14, 16, 153, 154.
Measures, for com, 150, 151 ; for land,

64, 137-9 ; for vines, 61, 64, 139-41.
Mddoc, 22, 24, 29, 31, 44, 45, 164.
Meilhan (Customs of), Dept. of Lot et

Garonne, 95.
Melac, old parish in Commune of Tresses,

lOI.

Merignac, c. of Pessac, 22, 41, 42.

Meyt-deu-Forc, place in the Graves, 143.

Milan (Jean), serf in Medoc, 93.

Millac {Chatellenie of), Dept. of Dor-
dogne, 17, 19, 128.

Milon, place near Pessac, 136.

Mimizan (Church of), arr. de Mont-de-
Marsan, Dept. of Landes, 21.

Mintage, rights of, 20.

Modiireria, com measure, 150.

Momors (mill of), 20.

Money, various kinds of, 61, 62, 161,
189-90, and passim.

Monpouillon, fief in Bazadais, Dept. of
Lot et Garonne, 19.

Monsac, parish in Belves, Dept. of Dor-
dogne, 132.

Monsegur (register of), 85.

Monslrt'e, description of property given
to the lord, 50, 70, 113, 116.

Montferrand (Seigneur of), 183.

Montmoreau (Alain de), 19.

— (Seigneur of), 59.

— (Seignory of), Dept. of Charente, 18.
Montravel (Seignory of), in P^rigord,

Dept. of Dordogne, 7, 13, 14, 17, 19,

46, 60, 120, 122, 123, 134, 147.
Montussan, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 22, 24,

42.
Morcellement, splitting up of property,

141, 142.
Mortagne, town on the Gironde, Dept

of Charente-Inf6rieure, 21.
Mota de Buch (Pierre de), 21.
Moulis, c. of Castelnau, 22, 24, 44, 152.

204

saint-andr£ of bordeaux

iionlis {Archipretre oi), 39, 152.
Mureil (Seignory of), in Perigord, 19.
Mussidan (Seigneur of), no.
Miiyans, small cask, 171.
Muyatus, wine-measure, 157.

Nanteuil (Abbey of), Dept. of Charente,

19.
Naudon, serf at Ambares, 104.
Naujac, place now in Bordeaux, 42.
Nerigean, c. of Branne, 24, 42.
Neuvic, lief in Perigord, Dept. of Dor-

dogne, 19.
Nobles, 131, 196, and passim.
Notre-Dame of Puy Paulin, parish in

Bordeaux, 116.

Oris, yard, empty place, 134.

Paduentz, pasture, 135 and passim.
Paisius, term used for serf in some parts,

82.
Palais-Gallien, a quarter of Bordeaux,

42.
Paleyrat, fief in Belves, Dept. of Dor-

dogne, 129.
Pallium, a church due, 1 11 .
Palus of Bordeaux, 16, 18, 24, 45.
Papa-Grua, place at Ambares, 34.
Parlement of Paris, 98.
Pasture dues, 119, 120.
Pension, church due, in.
Perey, place near Pessac, 136.
Perigord, 7, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19, 29, 38,

41, 193-
Pessac, arr. of Bordeaux, 15, 64, 100,

136, 143, 190, 192 ; vineyard of

Clement V at, 16, 19, 22, 24, 42, 157,

159, 160-70, 175, 190, 192.
Petra, stone measure for corn, 150.
Peugue (au), a quarter of Bordeaux, 31.
Picacalhau, place at Cadaujac, 34.
Pierrefite, a Priory at Saint-Sulpice-de-

Faleyrens, where the archbishop had

rights of toll, 123.
Pipe, wine-measure, 157.
Pippas, place in the Graves, 42.
Pissaboup, place in the Graves, 42.
Pilalphus, wine-measure, 147.
Plaustra, wine-carts, 172.
Pleguer, to bend vine-branches and tie

to stakes, 163.
Ploughing, 46, 160, 161, 184.
Pompignac, c. of Creon, 22, 24.
Pont-long, place in the Graves, 42.
Porge (au), place in Ambares, 34.
Portets, c. of Podensac, 19, 40.
Port-Peyron, place on Garonne facing

Bordeaux, 42.

Port Trompette, a quarter of Bordeaux,

181.
Pouy Carrejelart (Customs of), 97.
Poyaus, place near Pessac, 136.
Preignac, c. of Podensac, 125, 128.
Prime subventionis, a church due, in.
Procuration, a church due, in.
Procureur of Archbishop, 13, 14, 19, 102,

III, 121, 147, 176, 191, and passim.
Promiaiges, vine-shoots, 168.
Pudir, podar, to prune, 163.
Pugnac, c. of Bourg, 24, 125.
Pujols, c. of Podensac, 125, 128.
Puy-Crabey, place in Bordeaux, 42.
Puyguidon (Seignory of), in Perigord, 19.
Puy Paulin, parish of Bordeaux, 105.
Puysseguin, fief in Perigord, 19.

Quartail, quarterium, corn-measure, 150.
Quartieres, ecclesiastical due to Arch-
bishop from all parishes of his diocese,

7. 38, 39> 40, 1 10, 147. 151J 152, 192-5-

Quar tones, wine-measure, 157.

Questalitat, questalite, serfdom, 82-107.

Questaux {homes questaus, serfs), 46, 82,
90-9, 106, 107 ; advantages of, 96-9,
106 ; judicial disabilities of, 92-3 ;
typical condition of, 90-5.

Questaves, servile holdings, 37, 49, 74,
82-107, 112, 142; form of grant of,
90.

Quite, questa, arbitrary due from serfs,
26, 84, 85, 86, 88, 92, 100-3 ; occa-
sionally used for estate where due
exacted, 37.

Queyrac, c. of Lesparre, 40.

Quinsac, c. of Creon, 22, 24, 116, 193 ;
vineyards at, 17, 19, 159.

Receveur, ofBcial of Archbishop, 179.

Reconnaissance, form of, for free land,
69 ; for servile land, 97, 98, loi.

Reconsiliatio ecclesiarum, due for puri-
fication of Church, in.

Reeve of Lege, 26, 27.

— of Lormont, 148.

Rege, reguas, arreguas, furrow or measure
of vine-land, 138, 139.

Rents : in kind, 38, 39, 65-8, 151; in
labour, 67 {see Labour services) ; in
money, 63, 64, 68, 143 ; in part pro-
duce, 69, 73.

Repaire, repaure, fief or holding, gener-
ally noble, 132.

Retrovinum, premiere piquette, inferior
wine, 173.

Reynaut (Pierre), Bordilerius of Lor-
mont, 168.

Richard II, King of England, 21.

Rions, c. of Cadillac, 22, 31.

INDEX

205

Roffiac, place probably near Lormont,

174.
Rondela, vessels for verjuice, 171.
Roquetaillade (Seigneur of), 87.
Rue du Faur, in Bordeaux, 67.
Rue du Ha, in Bordeaux, 67.

Sacquerius, corn-carrier, 181, 183.

Sadon, sazio, a plot or measure of land,
64, 137, 138.

Saint-Andr6 of Bordeaux, 4-6, 29, 48,
49, loi, 102, no, 119, 130, 131, 142,
191, 193. See Archbishops of B. and
Chapter of St.-A.

Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac, arr. of Bor-
deaux, 65.

Saint-Caprais (vineyards of), in the
Graves, 19, 41, 193.

Saint-Christoly, a quarter of Bordeaux,
41-

Saint-Christophe, c. of Lussac, 40.

Sainte-Croix of Bordeaux (Abbey of),
14, 98-

— (parish of), 85, 86.

Saint-Cyprien, fief in Perigord, Dept. of
Dordogne, 19, 48, 124.

Saint-Emilion, c. of Libourne, 3r, 194.

Sainte-Eulalie-d'Ambares, c. of Carbon-
Blanc, 23.

Sainte-Eulalie of Bordeaux (parish of),

23, 41, 68.

Saint-Genes of Bordeaux (parish of), 42.

Saint-George-de-l'Isle (Prior of), 196.

Saint-Gervais, c. of Saint-Andre-de-
Cubzac. 22, 23.

Sainte-Helene-de-la-Lande, c. de Castel-
nau-en-M^doc, 23, 44, 46.

Sainte-H61ene-des-MouIis (? same as
preceding), 23.

Saint-Jaques of Bordeaux (Hospital of),

Saint- Julien of Bordeaux (parish of), 31.

Saint- Julien-en-Born, arr. of Dax, 24.

Saint-Laurent, c. of Saint-Andre-de-
Culzac, 22.

Saint-Laurent-d'Escures, place in the
Graves, 41.

Saint-Laurent-en-Medoc, arr. of Les-
parre, 102.

Saint-Loubcs, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 22, 24.

Saint-Macaire, arr. of La Reole, 31.

Sainte-Marie-de-Guitres, arr. of Li-
bourne, 20.

Sainte-Marie-de-Sauve-Majeure, 20. See
La Grande Sauve.

.Saint-Martin of Cabanac (parish of), 20.

Saint-Martin-de-Mont-Judce, a place in
parish of Saint-Seurin at Bordeaux, 4 1 .

Saint-M6dard-d'Eyranes, c. of La Brede,

24. 56-

Saint-Medard-en-Jalles, c. of Blanque-

fort, 24, 42, 44, 45, 143.
Saint-Michel of Bordeaux (parish of),

74-
Saint-Morillon, c. of La Brede, 24, 125,

126.
Saint-Nicholas of Bordeaux (parish of),

42.
Saint-Paul of Bordeaux (parish of), 41,

114.
Saint-Paxens, fief of Archbishop in

Montravel, Dept. of Dordogne, 15,

120, 122.
Saint-Pierre d'Ambares, c. of Carbon-
Blanc. See Ambares.
Saint-Privat, parish in P6rigord, Dept.

of Dordogne, 19.
Saint-Romain of Blaye (parish of), 20.
Saint-Sauveur of Blaye (Abbot of), 196.

— (Monastery of), 194.
Saint-Seurin of Bordeaux (Cartulary of),

83-6.

— (Chapter of), 86, 94, 98.

— (parish of), 24, 41, 42, 65, 83, 84,
142.

Saint-Seurin-de-la-Marque, parish in

Medoc, 93.
Saintonge, 7, 12, 38, 41, 46.
Saint- Vincent of Bourg (Abbey of), 20.
Salaries, 158, 177-90.
Sales of land, 80.
SallebcEuf, c. of Creon, 24.
Salmaterius, mule-driver, 181.
Sanarega, place at Ambares, 34, 68.
Sarar, to enclose, 164.
Sarporas, place in Cadaujac, 24.
Sautemes, wines of, 29, 125, 128.
Sauvete oi Saint- Andre, 11, 21, 120.
Sauveterre (Bastide of), arr. of La Reole,

31-
Seneschal of Bordeaux, 183.

— of Gascony, 11, 99.

— of Guyenne, ir.

— of P6rigord, 11.
Sequar, to cut, prune, 163.
Sequin (John), tenant at Ambares.
.Serf, see Queslaux.

Servants, 148, 177, 178, 179, 197.

Serviens, Serjeant, at Lormont, 176, 177

Setter, corn-measure, 150.

Settlements, nature of, 31, 34, and Chap-
ter III passim.

Sexterada, measure of land, 139.

Shejiherd of Lormont, 179.

Sigillalor, official of Archbishop, 147.

Sirminagium, due in Coutures, 124.

Soil, divisions of, 131, 135, 136, 142,
144 ; measures of, 137, 138, Chapter
VII passim ; nature of, 30, 44, 45,
46, 48.

2o6

saint-andr£ of bordeaux

Solum, plot of land, 134.

Soulac, c. of Saint-Vivien, 14, 19, 21,
24, 30, 123, 194.

— (Prior of), 113, 114, 118.

Soule, 49.

Slagia, property or small estate, gener-
ally with house, 133 and passim ; in
Bordeaux, 67.

Streets in Lormont, 31, note i, 41.

Succession (rules of), 36, 37, 70, 96.

Synode, a Church due, iii.

Taille, 85. See Quele.
Talais, c. of Saint-Vivien, 30, 127.
Talence, c. of Bordeaux, 24, 41.
Talucia, hoops for barrels, 172.
Teich, c. of La Teste, 22, 24.
Temporel de 1' Archeveche, 7 and notes

passim.
Terrier of Saint-Andre, 8, 22, 23, 43, 67,

114, and notes passim.
Terssan, place at Lormont, 34, 105.
Terssandum, third fafon in vineyards,

176.
Tithes, 7, 24, 25, 56, 108, 109, 147.
Toll, exemption from, 21 ; rights of, 123,

124.
Tonneaii, corn-measure, 150.
Tonnelliis, cask, wine-measure, 157, 197.
Tourne, c. of Creon, 24.
Trade, 12, 35, 44, 106, 123, 149, 158, 159.
Treilha, trilea, trelhce of vines, 140, 141.
Trens, irop, a plot or small piece of land,

137, 139, and passim.
Tresses, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 22, 24, 41.
Trop, 139. See Trens.
Trulh, wine-press, 172.

Uch, old parish in Commune of Lesparre,
40.

Vayres (Seigneur of), 91.

Vegetables, 155.

Vendemihador, day's work in vineyard,

159-

Venles el reventes, 118. See Lods et ventes .

Verjuice, 170.

Vermiculi, insects which destroy vines,
168.

Vert (Simon), serf trying to prove free-
dom, 89.

Vertheuil, c. of Pauillac, 4, 103.

Veyrines (Vivien de), holder of alod in
Bordeaux, 53.

Viguier (John), procureur of Montravel,

17-
Villanus, 82, 83. See Questaux.
Villenave-d' Omon, c. of Pessac, 22, 24.
Villeneuve (bastide of), c. of Bourg, 31,

183, 194.
Viminaria, osier-beds, 135.
Vine-labourers, 196.
Vines, culture of, 161-76.
Vineyards, 4, 14, 16, 29, 38, 40-3, 106,

156-75, 196, and passim ; measures

of, 139-41.
Vintage, 170-5, 186, 189.
Vites, new vine-plants, 165.

Wages, 177-90 ; tables of, 187-9.
Wine, making of, 156-75 ; measures of,

157-9 ; varieties of, 157.
Wine dues, 158, 159.
Wine-press, 172 ; at Bordeaux, 158,

190 ; at Lormont, 158.
Wolfenbiittel, manuscript of, 52.
Women, emplojonent and wages of, 1 73,

174, 189, 190.
Wreck, rights of, 27.

Yvrac, c. of Carbon-Blanc, 83.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF POOR

LAW ADMINISTRATION IN A

WARWICKSHIRE VILLAGE

A. W. ASHBY

FORMERLY OF RUSKIN COLLEGE, OXFORD
DIFLOME IN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, OXFORD

(PART VI) W. V.

CHAPTER I

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE AND HISTORY OF PARISH

I. Prior to Enclosure.

The parish of Tysoe, which is the subject of the following
study, lies at the extreme south-east of the county of Warwick.
The part of the valley of the Warwickshire Avon known as
the Feldon was in early Saxon times a thickly-populated
and prosperous district, and one of the most noted corn-
producing centres of the Midland Counties. The Saxon
remains in the church of Tysoe show that this parish shared
the good fortune of the district, which continued to prosper
for many centuries. The Victoria History of Warwickshire,^
quoting Leland, says, ' corn is the chiefest commodity grown
in the county, whereof the Vale of the Red Horse yieldeth
most abundantly.' From the period of Saxon settlement till
the year 1870 the village continued to grow in size and impor-
tance ; and not the least striking period of its development
was that between 1727 and 1827, with which we shall be
concerned.

The Domesday Survey gives the following particulars of
the place : ^ * There are twenty-three hides in Tysoe (Tihe-
soche) ; there is land for thirty-two ploughs. In the demesne
are eleven ploughs, nine serfs, and fifty-three villeins, and
twenty-eight bordars have twenty-one ploughs. There are
sixteen acres of meadow, and in Warwic three houses paying
eighteen pence rent. It was worth twenty pounds, now
thirty pounds. Waga held it freely.'

The manor of Tysoe, described in the Survey as belonging
to Robert de Stadford, was subsequently subdivided, and
at various periods the boundaries of the present parish con-
tained one chief and three subordinate manors. Besides

* Vol. ii, p. 69. * Domesday, i. 242 b.

B 2

4 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

these manors several ecclesiastical bodies held lands in the
parish. This is a point of great importance in the study of
social life in the centuries preceding the general enclosure of
the common fields, the abolition of the Settlement Laws, and
the parochial organization of Poor Relief, Villiers, one of
the Assistant Commissioners on the Poor Laws in 1834, in
his Report on Warwickshire, distinguishes between ' close
and ' open ' villages : the former being those whose boundaries
were contiguous to the limits of a single manor, and which
were frequently the property of a single lord : the latter
those which included several manors and were under many
owners.

Villiers's use of the terms at that particular time would lead
to the conclusion that there was some real connexion between
the single proprietorship of a manor or parish and the state
of its lands in so far as they had been subject to the process of
enclosure or were still in that state described as ' mingle-
mangle '.

Mr. H. L. Gray's table of village groups,^ with its details of
Land Tax paid by occupying and non-occupying owners in
1785, shows the striking fact that in Group A, consisting of
48 villages in which 20 per cent, of the land was occupied by
owners, none of the villages were enclosed. On the other
hand, in Group E, consisting of 90 villages with no occupying
owners, 71 were enclosed. In our case the comparative
lateness of the enclosure is probably due to the fact that the
lands of the parish of Tysoe were under many proprietors and
that there was a considerable number of occupying owners.

Enclosure of the lands of individual proprietors went on in
the district from the end of the sixteenth century onwards,
but the enclosure of parishes, as such, did not begin till the
early part of the eighteenth century ; an exception being the
parish of Compton Wyniates, which was enclosed under special
licence given by Henry VIII. From the opening of the
eighteenth century to the opening of the nineteenth the
process was continuous.

^ Yeoman Farming in Oxfordshire, by H. L. Gray : Quarterly Journal
of Economics, 19 10,

CH. I] HISTORY OF PARISH 5

Beginning on the boundaries of Tysoe, in the parish of
Kineton, in 1732, the spread of enclosures is noticeable in the
whole neighbourhood before the Enclosure Act for Tysoe was
passed in 1796. Within a radius of about 12 miles from
Tysoe, 24 Warwickshire and 12 Oxfordshire parishes were
enclosed between 1731 and 1796.

The only parish in the immediate neighbourhood of Tysoe
which remained unenclosed in 1796 was Oxhill, where a con-
siderable amount of the land had been enclosed at a very
early period. It is worthy of note that in the list of freeholders
published in connexion with a Parliamentary Election Petition
at Coventry in 1775, among the 47 townships within the
Hundred of Kineton, to which Tysoe belonged, only two,
Warwick and Tanworth, had a higher number of freeholder
electors than Tysoe.

Most of these enclosed parishes in Warwickshire belonged
to the Kineton Hundred, and Kineton itself, once a king's
manor, which had not been subdivided, and which in 1775
had only 2 freehold voters, as against Tysoe's 36, was
enclosed in 1732. As a factor in determining the date of
enclosure, the subdivision of land-ownership would affect
the general development of agriculture, therefore the con-
ditions of life and labour, and, not improbably, those of settle-
ment as well.

In his Antiquities of Warwickshire Dugdale gives the dis-
tribution of property and manorial organization of Tysoe as
follows :

' I find that in 7 Edward I Nicholas de Stadford held it as
part of his Barony by the service of one Knight's fee, having
at that time two carucates in demesne, and thirteen tenants
occupying certain portions of land under several rents, and
divers particular services ; viz. ploughing, harrowing, mowing,
thrashing, and the like. At that time Robert dc Stadford,
son of the same Nicholas, also held a good quantity of land
here of this said father, upon which he had nineteen tenants,
who, occupying the greatest part thereof, performed the like
servyle duties as his father's tenants.

' It also appears that the monks of Bordesley held three
yard-lands and a half within the precincts of this lordship ;

6 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

and the nuns of Brewood two yard-lands and a half ; the
Bishop of Worcester four yard-lands ; the Canons of Stone
three yard-lands, with the advowson of the church ; the
Canons of Kenilworth five yard-lands ; the Canons of Erdley
two carucates ; and the Templars of Ballshall one carucate ;
all of the fee and gift of the barons of Stafford ; all whose
tenants, except those of the Canons of Kenilworth and the
Templars, did their suit twice a year at the Court Leet held at
Kineton for that Hundred.' ^

After mentioning that in 13 Edward I Lord Stafford had
' free warren ' on all the demesne lands granted to him, and
that in 15 Edward III his grandson was granted a ' weekly
mercate and a yearly fair ', Dugdale states that * the land
which was held by the Templars, coming afterwards into
the hands of the Crown, with all other lands belonging to the
religious houses, was in 7 Edward VI, past out by the name
of a manor ... by letters patent . . . being now called Temple
Tysoe by way of distinction from the other lordship '.^ Two
other subordinate manors were those of Westcote and Hard-
wick. According to Dugdale the latter was given by Robert,
Baron Stafford, to one William Giffard, who passed away part
of it to the Canons of Kenilworth in the reign of Henry II.
' In 7 Edward I one Richard de Blys was certified to be
lord of part thereof,' which he held of Baron Stafford by two
parts of a knight's fee ; and another, John de Cantilupe, ' was
owner of another part ' of the manor, holding it by the service
of a third part of a knight's fee and one pound of cumin.
Of Westcote, Dugdale says that ' about 38 Henry III passed
away all this village of Westcote to the Canons of Kenilworth.
So that in 7 Edward I the Prior of Kenilworth was certified
to be lord thereof '. ' The Hospital of St. John, situate
without the east gate of Oxford ' (afterwards Magdalen
College), held a carucate of land in Westcote, which it pur-
chased in the reign of Edward I. The monks of Stoneleigh
held one yard-land in the same village.

Westcote at that time was probably an important hamlet.

^ Dugdale, Antiquities of Warwickshire, London and Coventry, 1730,
p. 544. ^ Ibid.

CH. I] HISTORY OF PARISH 7

Miller writes : ^ ' It was at one time a separate village with
its own clergyman ; ' and in connexion with the depopulation
and enclosure movement of the sixteenth century, the Victoria
County History of Warwickshire says : ^ * The depopulated
villages mentioned by Rous fall into local groups. . . . The
Tysoe country contains Keytes-Hardwicke, and Westcote.'
The Enclosure records of 1517 and 1549 show that enclosure
was taking place both within and without the parish of Tysoe.
Right along the southern and western boundary ran the
fences of Compton Wyniates. On the north-east one John
Warren, knight, depopulated a messuage and enclosed some
lands in the Manor of Upton.^ On the north-west, in the
parish of Oxhill,* one messuage was depopulated, and some
land had already been enclosed. Within Tysoe itself one
messuage had been destroyed, and some land enclosed and
converted into pasture in Westcote.® After this period, and
before the Act for enclosing the parish, other enclosures took
place in Tysoe. The whole of the manors of Westcote and
Hardwicke, including Brixfield Farm, were * ancient enclo-
sures ' in the eighteenth century, as will be seen on the map.^
Yet these enclosures, after the beginning of the sixteenth
century, did not substantially affect the number of landowners
in the parish, for the lords of Hardwicke and Westcote and
the ecclesiastical bodies mentioned above seem to have been
the only owners within those manors.

By the eighteenth century these manors were regarded as
a single lordship, and in that form had again passed into the
ownership of the Lord of Tysoe. The ecclesiastical holdings,
however, were not in his property. When the enclosure of
the common fields of the village took place at the end of the
eighteenth century the largest landed proprietors next to
the lord of the manor were those persons to whom the eccle-
siastical lands had descended, and Magdalen College still
possesses its ancient holding in Upper Westcote. If an

' George Miller, Parishes of Diocese of Worcester, 1889, p. 34.
' Vol. ii, p. 159,

* Dugdale's Notes on Inquisition of 1517, Royal Hist. Soc., 1897.

* Domesday of Enclosure, I. S. Leadam, vol. ii, p. 684.

* Ibid., vol. i, p. 445. • Map i, Appendix.

8 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

inference may be drawn from the size of the fields enclosed on
these lands, the effect of the enclosures was to convert much
of the arable land into pasture, or at least to reserve it for use
as pasture land.

Between the date of the Inquisition of 1549 and the opening
of the eighteenth century there were further enclosures within
the parish of Tysoe, the largest being at Barnhill Farm, which
comprised land belonging to the lord of the manor, the Earl of
Northampton, The others were on a smaller scale, the most
extensive containing about 50 acres. (These enclosures are
shown by a grey tint in Maps i and 11.) It will thus be seen
that prior to the Act of 1796, which provided for the
enclosure of the common fields of Tysoe, such parish lands
as still remained open were on every side adjacent to the fences
of old enclosures with the exception of a strip on the north-
west, where the open and common fields of Tysoe joined
those of Oxhill. The land of Oxhill was also enclosed by
Act of Parliament in 1797.

It would be difficult at the present to reconstruct an exact
scheme of the common and open fields, the common or lot
meadows, and the commonable pastures of Tysoe, as they
existed at the beginning of the eighteenth century. We can
only indicate roughly the relative positions of the various
kinds of lands, as we have attempted to do on Map i (see
Appendix). This much may be said with certainty, that the
greater part of the land was used for agricultural purposes,
though the exact amounts in use cannot be determined; but
if the holding of the vicar of the parish may be regarded as
typical, we may obtain an approximate idea of the lands of
the various owners and occupiers as they lay intermingled
in the common and open fields. A terrier of the living was
prepared by the vicar, churchwardens, and others in 1796
for the guidance of the Commissioners for the division of the
parish lands under the Enclosure Act. It runs as follows :

' A true terrier of the lands commonly called and reputed
to be a yard-land, tenements, meadows, gardens, and orchard
belonging to the Vicarage of Tysoe, with porceions of tythe
thereunto belonging so far as we know.

CH. I] HISTORY OF PARISH 9

' A house containing seven bays of building and two small

tenements towards the street. Two bays of , an orchard,

garden, small close of two acres and a small meadow in Aston
Meadow lying in the Church Hides. Four beast pastures,
thirty-two sheep pastures, and three horse pastures. Items.
Four leys lying in Black Earths by the town side. One Butt
in Winnsfield cutting upon M. C.'s close. One Butt more in
Winnsfield, David Malins on the north. One land in Long
Lyther, William Tompkins on the north and Horsman on
south. One Hadland at the upper end of Long Lyther, David
Malins on the east. One Butt in Shortmore Shilch, Earl of
Northampton on the west. One Sideland in the Pound
Furlong, David Malins on the north. One land adjoining
N. Hewen's close, Horsman on the north. One land in
Broadridge, Thos. Middleton on the south and D. Malins on
the north. One other land in the same furlong Simon Hewens
on the south, Horsman on the north. One land in Upper
Wooland, D. Malins on the south and Earl of Northampton
on the south. One land in Assbrook, Earl of Northampton
on the west, Horsman on the east. One land in Andridge Hill,
David Malins on the north, Thomas Middleton on the south.
One yard in the Hemp furlong, R. Wiggins on the west,
W. Turner on the east. A small fither^ at W. Greenway's
gate, John West on the east, J. Nicholls on the west. A
fither shooting into Overbrook, Daniel Grimes on the west,
W. Tompkins on the east. A Butt in the same furlong,
Thos. Middleton on the east, Daniel Grimes on the west.
One Hadland at Millers Ditch, Earl of Northampton on the
north. One Butt shooting into Ball End, Earl of Northamp-
ton on the north and W. Townsend on the south. One land
under Three Beeches, W. Tompkins on the east and Thomas
Middleton on the west. One fither in Longlands, Horsman on
the south, W. Turner on the north. One other land in the
same furlong, Thos. Middleton on the north. Earl of North-
ampton on the south. One land in Washing Stock furlong,
W. Tompkins on the east, Widow Wells on the west. One
land under Redway, R. Wiggins west. Earl of Northampton
east. Another land in the same furlong, R. Wiggins on the

* A fither was a small land or ley from two to three yards wide covered
with grass, running between two larger lands or leys which were ploughed.
This method of laying out the arable lands on heavy clay soil was adopted
so that the large leys might be thrown up with high ridges, and the wide
intervening space or fither would carry off the water. Many of the Tysoe
fields bear traces of this system to the present day.

10 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

west and R. Townsend on the east. One land in the Further
Shilch, D. Mahns on the south, W. Tompkins on the north.
One land along Redway, Thos. Middleton on both sides.
One land in Short Down, W. Tompkins on the west. Widow
Wells on the east. One through-land in the same furlong,
W. Tompkins on the east, Thos. Middleton on the west. One
other land in the same furlong, D. Malins on the west and
Widow Callow on the east. One side land in Rowe Pits,
Thomas Middleton on the south. One land in Long Down,
Ward on the west and Thos. Middleton on the east.

' The privy tythes are these, tythe lambs, pigs, pigeons,
geese, eggs, a garden penny, roots, cabbages, apples, nuts,
bees, and the tythes of the Town Closes, hemp, flax and
offerings, weddings, churchings and burials. The grass and
feeding of one sideling adjoining unto the town on the south-
east side being a passage or highway, and the tythe of the
Windmill. Item, mortuaries. (A footnote mentions pears
and turnips.)

The whole commonly valued at Thirty Pounds per annum.

Signed : Vicar.

2:|others. ^;} Churchwardens.'

3-)

Thus this holding of one yard-land, excluding the grazing
rights, was spread over 21 pieces or furlongs, and comprised 36
lots or strips. The number of names given as neighbours is
14, and in many of the furlongs exactly the same neighbours
are found on the north or south or east or west, as the case
might be. There is every reason to believe that other holdings
of land from a half yard-land upwards were spread over
several pieces, and lay in different directions, in the same
manner as the holding of glebe land the details of which we
have just reviewed. Prior to the enclosure of the common
fields, there were, within fences clustering round the home-
steads ^ of the village, many home-closes and orchards which
provided pasture for calves and other immature stock. They
also served as a means for feeding and keeping under control
such other stock belonging to individual farmers as could not
be loosely grazed upon the common pastures, which were open
to the cattle of the whole village.

* Appendix, Map 2.

CH. I] HISTORY OF PARISH ii

The earliest obtainable figures giving the number of land-
holders in Tysoe during the eighteenth century are those
provided by the Freeholders' lists ^ for the county of Warwick
in 1774. The list for Tysoe mentions 36 freeholders as having
recorded their votes, though this number does not necessarily
include all who possessed the right to vote. Of the 36, 9 were
residents of other parishes in the neighbourhood. There are
no records of the assessments for the Land Tax prior to 1775.
In the County Record Office, Warwick, a few assessments
for the years 1746 and 1749 are preserved, but none of them
deal with villages at the southern end of the county. The
earliest assessment for Tysoe is that of 1775. It enumerates
105 items, amounting to £245 195. lo^d., and 65 persons who
paid the tax. A comparison with the freeholders' lists shows
that many of the owners held property below the annual
value of forty shillings, which was the freehold qualification
for franchise. By 1779 the number of persons paying Land
Tax had fallen to 56 ; but the amount of tax paid had con-
siderably risen. In 1785 the number of tax-payers and the
amount paid were the same as in 1779. By 1800 the number
of owners of land and property had risen from 56 to 69, and
from 1795 to 1800 the number of persons occupying their own
land increased by the same figure. In 1795 there were 27
occupying owners, in 1800 there were 40, while the number of
proprietors increased from 57 in 1795 to 69 in 1800. A com-
parison of these striking figures with Mr. H. L. Gray's records
of the increase of occupying owners in Oxfordshire ^ will show
that although the rate of increase was very marked in some
of the Oxfordshire groups, it was distinctly less than the rate
in Tysoe.

However, the figures given for Tysoe in 1795 may not be so
reliable as those given for later dates ; for the later assessment
records were compiled with much greater care than the earlier.
In 1798 the Enclosure Award was made. The lands enclosed
included I23|^ yard-lands as specified, together with several

* Published in Coventry, 1775.

' Yeoman Farming in Oxfordshire, p. 314.

' Dr. Gilbert Slater gives the acreage as 3,000 and the number of yard-

12 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

other pieces of which the amounts are not stated. The total
acreage enclosed amounted to 2,638 acres, i rood, i perch.
Making due allowance for the roads coming under the award,
the full area of the open lands would be nearly 3,000 acres.
The acreage of the parish was computed at 4,600 acres till
1883, and at the present time is said to be 4,800 acres. Thus
the Enclosure Award dealt with rather less than two-thirds of
the parochial lands, the remaining third having been pre-
viously enclosed. It is the opinion of I. S. Leadam ^ that the
average size of a virgate or yard-land in Warwickshire was

20 acres. In Tysoe the yard-land works out at just over

21 acres. Whatever other effect the process of enclosure
may have had upon the economic conditions of the parish,
and especially of land-owning and occupying, it was in
simplifying the latter that its immediate effect was most
pronounced. Sufficient proof of this fact is afforded by the
claims for tithes, &c., for which allotments of land were
awarded.

2. Analysis of Enclosure Award of the Parish of Tysoe.

The Act of Parliament authorizing the enclosure of the
common fields, commonable lands, and waste, was passed in
the session of 1796, and the three Commissioners of Enclosure
appointed thereunder took the oath in April of the same year.
The Commissioners ' qualified, valued, and appraised the
fields and lands ' ; appointed two surveyors who ' surveyed
and admeasured the fields and lands ' ; ' duly informed them-
selves of the claims of all parties interested ' ; ' settled all the
disputes and differences between all the parties interested ' ;
and as the result of these investigations gave their award in
1798. The Commissioners proceeded to set out :

Sixteen public Carriage and Drift Ways. Fifteen of them
to be each 40 feet wide, and the other — the Turnpike — to be
60 feet wide, except where it passed through ancient enclosures.

lands as 1 3 1 (Appendix to English Peasantry and the Enclosure of Common
Fields). Reckoning the supposed acreage from a calculation based on the
reputed number of yard-lands to be enclosed, Mr. Slater arrived approxi-
mately at the truth. ^ Domesday of Enclosure, vol. i, p. 660.

CH. I] HISTORY OF PARISH 13

The herbage growing or renewed upon these public roads to be
the property of the owners and occupiers of the adjoining
allotments from the respective boundary ditches to the middle
of the road.

Six public Bridle Ways of the breadth of 12 feet. One
public Bridle Way and private Carriage Way of the breadth
of 20 feet.

Thirteen private Carriage and Drift Ways varying from
12 to 27 feet wide.

Twenty-seven public Footways varying from 4 to 6 feet
wide.

All these public carriage ways to be ' scoured and set out '
within the next six months after the award. A surveyor
was appointed at a salary of £26 per annum during such time
as he should continue to survey the roads. The rates for
defraying the necessary expenditure ' over and above the
statute duty ', for forming and putting the roads into ' good
and sufficient repair ', to be assessed and appended in the
Schedule No. 3. This schedule gave the names of 37 persons
who were to pay rates varying from sevenpence (due from the
churchwardens), to £255 (from the lord of the manor), making
a total of £564 14^. 2^d. Then followed three allotments for
parochial stone pits. One in the common and open fields of
Upper Tysoe (No, 22), 2 acres. Another in the open fields
of Church Tysoe (No. 29), 2 acres, 3 roods, 20 perches. One
in the open fields of Lower Tysoe (No. 108), 2 acres.

These pits to provide material for making and repairing
the roads of ' the parish of Tysoe and no other '. The various
rights of tithes and moduses in lieu of tithes, in compensation
for which certain allotments of land were given, were as
follows :

The Earl of Northampton (lord of the manor) had the
right to annual rents ' called Warren Rents ' arising from the
common fields and from certain ancient enclosures. One
R. C. had a right of tithe of corn and hay in the upper field of
Church Tysoe. T. E. F. had the right of tithe of corn and
grain in Lower Tysoe town field. M. P. had tithes of corn,
grain, and hay in the lower field, Upper Tysoe, and the

14 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

meadows of Church Tysoe. J. C. J. had a right to a ' modus '
of one penny per acre in lieu of tithe of hay in the lower field
of Upper Tysoe and Church Tysoe meadows ; to a modus of
fourpence per yard-land in lieu of tithe of hay from Lower
Tysoe ; tithes of corn, grain, hay, and wool from Hardwicke
Farm ; in lieu of tithes of milk and calves, several moduses
of three halfpence for every new milch cow and one penny for
every ' old milch cow or strapper ' depastured on the open
fields of Tysoe or on the old enclosed farms ; also he was
entitled to a modus of one penny for every colt foaled within
the parish of Tysoe.

J. W. had the right to a tithe of wool for all sheep depastured
for the year, or from old May Day till shearing-time, on the
open fields of Tysoe or on Barnhill Farm. He was also entitled
to a modus of one penny for every sheep depastured in the
open fields between shearing-time and Candlemas, and to
three-halfpence for every sheep depastured between Lady
Day and May Day (old style), if such sheep were not shorn
within the parish.

The Vicar of Tysoe was entitled to certain tithe-free glebe
lands lying in the common fields, and to some ' small or
vicarial ' tithes, or payments in lieu thereof (except tithes
of milk, calves, colts, wool, and hay) arising from the common
and open fields.

It was enacted that the property allotted in lieu of any of
these rights should not exceed one-fifth of the land from which
they were derived if it were arable, or one-ninth if it were
meadow or pasture.

All these tithes and moduses were said to be ' arising,
renewing, growing, and increasing yearly '.

In regard to some tithes and moduses due from ancient
enclosures, homesteads, '&c., it was enacted that if the owners
of the property liable to these tithes had other estate in the
open fields, the tithe proprietors were to be awarded full com-
pensation in lieu of their tithes from such land. If the owners
of the land and homesteads liable to tithes had no property
in the common fields, or not enough to substitute for the tax,
the Enclosure Commissioners might award as compensation

CH. I]

HISTORY OF PARISH

to the tithe proprietors a portion of the property actually
liable to the tithe in question. But this was only possible
with the consent of the owners themselves ; and if the
arrangements were not made, the Commissioners might order
that the owners of such orchards or homesteads as were liable
to tithes in kind should pay to the owners of the right what-
ever sums of money the Commissioners might think fit.
Schedule i enumerates 51 ancient enclosures, containing
289 acres, owned by 14 proprietors who were to pay annually
to the Vicar £l gs. gd. ; to J. C. J. £1 igs. id. Schedule 2
enumerates 35 enclosures and tenements, containing altogether
38 acres, owned by 27 proprietors who were still liable to
tithes in kind.

ALLOTMENTS

To Lord of Manor in lieu of waste
To Lord of Manor in lieu of Warren Rents
A claim of a right to cut furze and goss on
waste having been delivered on behalf of the
poor of Tysoe the Commissioners allot to
such as do not occupy any part of the lands
to be enclosed .....

To R. C. in lieu of tithes in Church Tysoe .

To T. E. F. in lieu of tithes in Lower Tysoe

To M. P. for tithes in lower field, Upper Tysoe

To Vicar for glebe and right of common

To Vicar for tithes of open fields

To Vicar for tithes in kind from certain ' mes-
suages, cottages, tenements, farm houses,
windmill, home closes, ancient enclosures,
woods, spinneys,' &c., as full and sufficient
equivalent for such tithes as might fall to
Vicar ......

To J. C. J. for moduses in lieu of tithes

To J. W. in lieu of tithe wool .

To J. W. in lieu of tithe wool from old enclo
sures on the south-east

To J. C. J. for tithes of old enclosures

To ditto

To M. P. for tithes of old enclosures .

To J. W. in lieu of tithe wool .

Initial of

township and

No. on plan.

T. T. 106

C. T. 24

C. T.

T. T.

102

C. T.

T. T.

U. T.

124

C. T.

C. T. 41
T. T. 90
C.T. 30

C. T.
T. T.
T. T.
U. T.
C.T.

a. r. p.
200
5 3 6

29
14
14

2 13
o 14

o 13

29 I 39

13 o o

18 3 2

120

7 o 28

It was provided by the Enclosure Act that after the above awards had
been made ' the Commissioners should set out and allot all the residue
of the common fields, and common or commonable meadow and pasture
lands, therefore, ' having had due regard to the quality as well as the

i6 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

quantity of land to be allotted, and of the situation and convenience
thereof to the homesteads and messuages of the several proprietors,' the
Commissioners made the following awards.

To Earl Northampton for 35^ yard-lands and

rights of common in lower field, Upper Tysoe.
To ditto, 3^ yard-lands without right of

common.
To ditto, 8J yard-lands ' called arbary lands '

(probably woodlands), also without right of

common.
To ditto, 26^ yard-lands in upper field of

Church Tysoe.
To ditto, 2 yard-lands with odd lands and leys

and common right in Temple Tysoe,
To Earl Northampton for all ' lot ground and

meadowing ' in Church Tysoe and other

meadows and pieces ....

To M. P. for 1 yard-land with right of common
To ditto .......

To W. D. B. for several pieces of land and in
lieu of his interest in two other pieces of land

To T. T. for i yard-land with right of common
To J. C. for I yard-land and all common right

and meadowing thereto belonging
To R. H. for J yard-land and all common rights
To J. P. in lieu of right of first crop of a plot in

the meadows of Upper Tysoe .
To M. S. for 1 yard-land in Upper Tysoe .
To C. P. for il yard-lands with right of common
To Church-wardens in lieu of the first crop of

two leys in Redway Leys
To E. B. for ^ yardland with right of common
To E. B. for il yard-lands
To R. A. for ^ yard-land with right of common

Initial of
township and
No. on plan.

U. T.

217

C.T.

U. T.

210

C.T.

236

C.T.

T. T.

lOI

T. T.

107

T.T.

109

T. T.

T.T.

104

C.T.

U. T.

U. &C.

T. 12

U. T.

C.T.

CH. I]

HISTORY OF PARISH

To R. A. for y yard-land with right of common

To Feoffees of the Poor for 2^ yard-lands and
a certain piece in Upper Tysoe and also right
of common ......

To J. H. in lieu of right of first crop on certain
piece of land ......

To R. D. for 2 yard-lands with right of common

To W. H. for ^ yeird-land with right of common
purchased ......

To J. H. for several odd lands, leys, and lots of
meadow grounds .....

To T. H. for ^ yard-land and right of common

To J. H. for ^ yard-land and right of common

To J. C. J. for 7! yard-lands and rights of
common in Temple Tysoe and for several odd
lands in Upper and Church Tysoe fields .

To J. C. J. for 2 yard -lands and right of com-
mon purchased by him ....

To J. J. for 5 yard lands with right of common

To ditto, for 2^ yard-lands and right of common
lately purchased .....

To ditto, for | yard-land and common rights
purchased .....

To ditto, for | yard-land and common rights
purchased ......

To T. E. F. for i yard-land with right of common

To J. B. for I yard-land with right of common

There is a marginal note ' Batchelors' en-
croachment on the common for this allot-
ment '.......

To ditto, for i yard-land and rights of common
purchased ......

To W. M. for 2 yard-lands and common rights

To E. W. for I yard-land ....
To M. W. for \ yard-land and common rights

(part VI) w. V. Q

Initial of

townsht

p and

No. on

plan.

r. p.

C. T.

2 0

C. T.

0 37

C. T.

2 12

C. T.

2 19

C. T.

I 4

C. T.

3 12

C. T.

0 0

T. T.

0 IS

C. T.

0 39

T. T.

I 35

T. T.

2 16

T. T.

0 39

T. T.

2 17

C. T.

I 15

T. T.

3 33

T. T.

105

1 S

T. T.

122

I 4

T. T.

I I

T. T.

2 22

T. T.

C. T.

2 7

T. T.

100

2 29

T. T.

2 7

T. T.

0 20

T. T.

0 38

T. T.

I 29

T. T.

2 37

T. T.

92A

0 IS

T. T.

92B

3 22

T. T.

3 I

T. T.

0 26

T. T.

2 22

T. T.

C>3

I 25

T. T.

3 34

T. T.

0 17

T. T.

2 21

POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

To H. M. L. for ' two customary acres of

meadow ground '.....

To E. W. for ^ yard-land and right of common

To W. C. for 2 yard-lands with rights of com-
mon .......

To T. A. for 2 yard-lands with rights of common

To W. W. for I yard-land with rights of com-
mon .......

To G. C. S. for I yard-land and right of common
To T. C. for ^ yard-land and right of common
To ditto, for ^ yard-land and right of common
To A. L. for i^ yard-lands and right of common

in C. T

To ditto, for 3 yard-lands and right of common

T. T

Initial of
township and
No. on plan,

T. T. 103
T. T. 64
T. T. 83

T.T. 55

T.T. 75

T. T. 61

T. T. 85

T.T.
T.T.
T.T.
T.T.
T.T.
T.T.

54
68
80
87
74
73

C. T. 49
T.T. 6s

Total in yard-lands : 123|- and other odd lands or leys.
Total in acres : 2,638 acres i rood i perch.

a. r, p.

I 3 35

I 4

14 3 26

9 o 17

41 I 36

I 3 18

56 3 39

1 1

19
24

31
27
21

142 3 12
21

After the allotments had been duly made, the Commis-
sioners had power to negotiate exchanges ' for the more
convenient situation of land ', without any deed, and in spite
of any entail. The only proof of the exchange demanded was
the signature of the exchanging parties on the back of
the award or in the Minute Book kept by the Enclosure
Commissioners.

Exchange No. i. For the right of a first vesture ^ or fore-
math on certain pieces of meadow land containing 25 acres,
in Brixfield Farm, the Earl of Northampton accepted two
allotments, comprising altogether 10 acres, i rood, 13 perches.

No. 2. J. J. accepted an allotment of 13 acres, 8 perches,
in lieu of tithes of hay, grain, and corn which arose from
Brixfield Farm.

No. 3. The Earl of Northampton gave to M. L. No. 104
on the plan of Temple Tysoe, and relinquished the right of

* The right of first vesture seems to have been that of grazing off the
first growth of spring grass before the meadows were closed for mowing
purposes.

CH. I] HISTORY OF PARISH 19

a first vesture or foremath in Radway Meadow, in exchange
for a hedgerow boundary of Westcote Wood.

No. 4. The Vicar of Tysoe accepted No. 44 on the plan
of Church Tysoe, containing 8 acres, 15 perches, in exchange
for No. Ill on the plan of Brixfield, consisting of 5 acres,
3 roods, 38 perches.

No. 5. The Earl of Northampton gave to J. C. J. No. 76
in Temple Tysoe containing i acre, 7 perches, in exchange for
a close known as ' Tithe Free Close ' on Hardwicke Farm.

No. 6. One M. W. exchanged No. 76 in Temple Tysoe,
containing i acre, 2 roods, 22 perches, with J. C. J. for a
* Town Close ' in Temple Tysoe amounting to i acre, i rood.

No. 7. The Earl of Northampton gave to the Vicar No. 31
in Church Tysoe, containing 31 acres, 6 perches, in exchange
for i| yard-lands, rights of common, and premises, situate in
Whatcote, and belonging to the Vicar of Tysoe.

During the process of enclosure under the Act of Parlia-
ment, there was some engrossing by purchase, but none on
behalf of the lord of the manor, who was the largest landowner.
These transactions transferred the ownership of nine yard-
lands. There were seven purchasers and ten vendors. In
every case the purchaser was already a landed proprietor, and
the vendors seem to have sold the whole of their holdings in
the common and open fields, but not necessarily, or even
probably, their cottages or home-closes. This circumstance
should be borne in mind in considering the number of owners
or occupying owners as given in the Land Tax Assessments.

The readiness of over one-fifth of the owners of lands on
the common fields to sell their rights during the process of
enclosure may have been due to the pressure of the hard
seasons of 1794 and, more particularly, 1795. In Tysoe the
amount of rates collected for the relief of the poor rose from
£565 in 1790 to ;^92o in 1795, remaining at £600 in the inter-
vening years. In 1795 the price of wheat rose from 555. 7^.
in January to 108s. ^d. in August. The King's Speech of
October in that year alluded to the very high price of grain as
' causing the greatest anxiety '. In Tysoe special provisions
had to be made for the feeding of the poor, and in addition

20 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

to the famine — perhaps partly in consequence of it — there was
an outbreak of small-pox in May 1795. The necessity of pro-
viding for the frequent parochial demands for money, added
to the burden of maintaining their own families, may well
have broken the independence of the weaker landowners.
' In these years of scarcity,' says Levy, ' the small farmers who
had corn to sell were the exception ; most of them had not
enough for themselves.' ^

The duty of fencing the allotments fell with varying
incidence on the different proprietors. In every case the
allotments substituted for tithes were given without any
obligation of fencing, which devolved upon those proprietors
who were unlucky enough to be neighbours of the tithe-owners.
The same arrangement applied to the allotments given to the
poor in lieu of their fuel rights. It was provided that a
contractor who was a surveyor should carry out the fencing
of the glebe. In exchanged lands, the person in whom the
ownership ultimately rested was responsible for the fencing
which was obligatory on the owner of the allotment ex-
changed. Among the other owners the compulsory burden of
fencing was not equally distributed ; the land of smaller
owners had to be immediately protected on every side, while
the larger owners could divide their allotments as they wished,
and were only required to provide a boundary fence on those
sides of their allotments which did not abut on the fences of
other allotments. A careful reading of the award shows
beyond doubt that the burden of fencing fell more heavily
on the smaller than on the larger owners.

The lands of the common fields were given to 37 persons
in lieu of their various rights, a clear indication that the
number of those described as proprietors in the Land Tax
Assessment of 1795 included several persons whose only hold-
ing consisted of cottages or old enclosed lands. If we add to
the number of persons who received allotments those who
sold their common-field rights while the award was still
pending, we obtain a total of ten persons, described in the
Land Tax Assessment of 1795 as proprietors, having no
* Large and Small Holdings, p. 17.

CH. I] HISTORY OF PARISH 21

holding in the common fields. Allowance must be made here
for the old enclosures of Brixfield, Hardwick, and Westcote,
but with one exception, namely, Magdalen College, the owners
of those lands had rights of tithes from the common fields of
Tysoe, and therefore received allotments.

As to the effect of enclosure on the value of the land, there
is no accurate guide except the rateable value of the parish.
There are no records of rents, and the value of the living was
derived from so many sources that it affords no basis of
calculation. Again, the Land Tax Assessments were gauged
by sums which had been fixed by custom. The rateable
value of the parish rose from £3,000 in 1790 to ;£4,i6o in 1800.
The increase is not to be attributed to the rise in the price
of corn, which was counterbalanced by the augmented poor-
rate, but rather to the effect of enclosure in enhancing the
value of the land.

On the cost of enclosure, Wedge,^ writing in 1794, said that
* with frugality ' the process might be carried through at a cost
of £2 55. per acre. The cost of the Tysoe enclosure on this
basis would amount to ;^5,990. Wedge states that the
improvement of lands generally amounted to about one-third
of the rent.^

3. After Enclosure.

Despite the fact that during the enclosure period many
owners sold their rights on the land, the number of landed
proprietors continued to grow till 1804, and in some ways the
subdivision of the property of the village was more extensive
after enclosure than before it. In 1800 the number of items
described on the Land Tax Assessment was 113, while in 1785
the number was 105. Forty owners occupied their own lands,
and the lord of the manor, Earl Northampton, had 31 tenants
on his estate. No other landowner had more than four
tenants, though several had less. The most striking fact in the
Assessment of 1800 is that, despite the expenses of enclosures
and the increasing cost of poor relief, the lord of the manor

' General View of Agriculture of Warwickshire, 1794, p. 20.
' Ibid., p. 21.

22 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

and thirteen others of the largest owners had redeemed their
portions of the Land Tax. The total Land Tax due from
the parish was £327 195. 10^., and the amount ' exonerated '
£200 11^. 8d. Therefore fourteen of the largest landowners
— representing about one-fifth of the whole number, and
liable to nearly two-thirds of the whole Land Tax — had found
it possible to redeem their dues by paying a capitaHzation sum
equal to about thirty years' purchased The arrangement
was made at the expense of the smaller peasantry and the
labourers. The larger landlords could redeem their Land Tax
at considerable expense, the larger farmers were increasing
their farms and amassing capital, the smaller cultivators
became labourers, and the labourers were impoverished and
demoralized. There is striking evidence of the extent to
which the workers lost their hold on the land and on
employment in the fact that the Poor Rates of Tysoe rose
from £565 in 1790 to £2,912 in 1800. Not only did enclo-
sures tend to divorce the poor man from the soil, but they
also, in conjunction with the Corn Laws, enabled the more
opulent rapidly to increase their wealth : for otherwise the
larger holders would not have been in a position to meet the
enormous expenses of enclosure and redeem their portion of
the Land Tax. None of the other smaller owners redeemed
their taxes between 1800 and 1832. In 1810 the items
described by the Land Tax Assessment remained practically
the same as in 1800 ; but by 1815 the number of owner-
occupiers had fallen to 37. This was no landslide ; a far more
significant change was that the Earl of Northampton's
tenants diminished from 31 in 1800 to 21 in 1815 : while on
the other hand the rents of his estates increased from £1,700

* Pitt's Act for the redemption of the Land Tax provided that ' the
consideration . . . agreed to be given for such redemption . . . shall be
so much Capital Stock of Public Annuities transferable at the Bank of
England bearing an interest after the rate of three pounds per centum per
annum, commonly called " the Three Pounds Per Centum Consolidated
Annuities " and the " Three Pounds Per Centum Reduced Annuities ", as
will yield an Annuity or Dividend exceeding the Amount of the Land Tax
so to be redeemed by One Tenth Part thereof '. * Thus the cost of redeeming
the tax depended upon the price of Consolidated Stock on the market and
the number of years' purchase was not fixed by law.

* 58 Geo. in. c. 60, s. 8.

CH. 1] HISTORY OF PARISH 23

in 1803 to £2,480 in 1811. Thus we see a steady rise in rents
keeping pace with the consoHdation of farms. Similarly in
Compton Wyniates there were 14 occupiers in 1800 and only
10 in 1815, The number of owners occupying their properties
steadily fell, till it reached 29 in 1832. The total of North-
ampton tenants sank to 20 in 1830, and at that point it
remained. The whole number of occupiers and proprietors
steadily rose between 1820 and 1832, but the increase may be
largely attributed to the greater accuracy with which the
record was compiled. In 1830 the items assessed were
carefully distinguished as ' land ' and * house and land ', the
two classes comprising 40 and 75 items respectively. And in
1832 the Assessor was at pains to put down the rents of the
various items in sums varying from five shillings to £210, with
a total of £3,234-

The improvement of method shown in these records cer-
tainly vitiates to some extent the comparison of the number
of owner-occupiers at this time with those of earlier periods.
On the other hand, it increases the value of the records
concerning consolidation : for it would be the smaller items
which would be most likely to be overlooked in earlier times,
and therefore the recorded number of Northampton tenants
would probably be nearer the truth in the later than in the
earlier assessments.

The tendency to consolidate farms was widespread, Adam
Murray says in his View of the Agriculture of Warwickshire,
' there appears to be a disposition among the landlords when
small farms fall in, to increase them in size, by laying two or
three of them together.' ^. Doubtless this was due to the fact
that the larger holders, being able to produce corn more
cheaply than their smaller neighbours, could afford to pay a
higher rent. The difference in the cost of the production of
corn was not altogether due to Arthur Young's law that
ploughing cost the small holder more than the large proprie-
tor ; nor yet to the wealthy owner's advantages in possessing
greater capital. While labour was being subsidized, and

' Adam Murray, General View of the Agriculture of the County of
Warwick, 1815, p. 24.

24 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. i

even in some cases, as in Tysoe, practically paid for, by
the ratepayers, the small holder who tilled his own land was
placed at a great disadvantage. He had to pay his quota
of the labour-rate without obtaining any compensating
advantage ; for he often had not sufficient land to provide
material for his due share of pauper labour.

Of the system of agriculture in Tysoe before and after enclo-
sure it is difficult to say very much. Prior to enclosure there
seems to have been six common arable fields, three for each
township as set out for the Enclosure Award. It is significant
that there is no tithe of clover mentioned in the awards,
although the terrier mentions ' roots ' and ' turnips '. The
last-mentioned were probably known and cultivated, because
some of the arable land of the parish was eminently suited for
such crops. It was, indeed, favourable to almost any crop,
owing to the variety of its texture, which ranged from a light
soil over about one-third of the open fields, to a very heavy
soil in the remaining two-thirds. John Wedge ^ gives the
rotation on the three-field system as the following : (i) fallow
(manured), (2) wheat, (3) beans, peas, barley, or oats. On the
open fields, says the same authority^ wheat yielded 20 bushels
per acre, and barley, oats, and beans about 24 bushels. The
average produce on good clay land (enclosed) was said to be :
beans 35 bushels, wheat 28 bushels, barley 30 bushels, oats
40 bushels, clover 2 tons. The average rents were 105. per
acre on unenclosed lands, 18s. per acre on enclosed lands.^
From this general statement one may form an idea of the
change which enclosure would effect in Tysoe. And this
much is certain, that the parish was ill-developed agriculturally
in proportion as it was behind-hand in enclosing. There were
no improvers of cattle or drill-husbandry men in Tysoe in 1794,
though there is reason to believe that they were introduced
soon after that date. The process of enclosure, by simplifying
the system of holdings and facilitating the employment of
men and horses, increased the utility of labour and decreased
the demand for the labourers. ' Upon all enclosures of open

* John Wedge, General View of the Agriculture of the County of
Warwick, 1794, p. 15. ' Ibid.

CH. I] HISTORY OF PARISH 25

fields,' says Wedge,^ ' the farms were generally made larger ;
from that cause the hardy yeomanry of country villages have
been driven for employment into Birmingham, Coventry,
and other manufacturing towns, whose flourishing trade has
sometimes found them profitable employment.' But where
no manufacturing towns existed to provide even occasional
employment, the labourers, as in Tysoe, had to be kept alive
by parochial doles. Truly ' the pathos of the new hedges and
the deserted villages did not lie in the wickedness of the
strong, but in the passive and unrecorded misery of the many,
evicted or maimed by the community, in its remorseless march
to a new life and a new order through the wreckage of the old '}

' John Wedge, General View of the Agriculture of the County of
Warwick, 1794, p. 21.

' Grant Robertson, England under the Hanoverians, p. 332.

CHAPTER II

THE VILLAGE AND ITS POPULATION

The influence of the feudal system on English village life
has not entirely disappeared at the present day. During the
eighteenth century the feudal relics possessed still greater
vitality, and were an important factor in shaping the social
structure. And the 'openness' of Tysoe, previously described,
had a bearing on the life of the village apart from its direct
influence on the immediate conditions of land ownership and
occupation.

The village lies at the foot of the Edge Hills, and is composed
of three distinct hamlets, as is shown in the sketch.^ Each of
these hamlets lies on a road which runs through the village,
and each is quite a distinct cluster of houses. But though
there is a mile between the hamlets from extreme north to
south, Tysoe is not a straggling community in the style of a
woodland village ; indeed, there are very few isolated houses,
apart from the homesteads on the old enclosed farms, which
were the remains of depopulated hamlets.

About three settlements seem to have been made on the
wastes and borders of the parish ; but their dates are unknown.
The cause of the formation of the village in hamlets instead
of in one compact township may be discovered by a glance at
the sources of water-supply. In each case the hamlet extends
along a brook which arises in the hills above, and in all
three cases the distances between the hills and the hamlet
is about the same. The Enclosure Commissioners were careful
to adjudge all these brooks as public watercourses, and to
make provisions for the freest possible access to them, so that
their importance was great even in comparatively modern

* Map 2, Appendix.

CH. II] THE VILLAGE AND ITS POPULATION 27

times. The distance between the hills and the hamlets may-
be accounted for by a glance at the situation of the common
arable fields. Without exception these came right up to
the greens and wastes bordering on the brooks upon which the
hamlets were built, and those lying nearest the hamlets,
immediately at the foot of the hills, contained the richest
loamy soil in the parish and neighbourhood.

Thus the water-supply and the quality of the soil determined
the situation of the village ; a fact which seems to show that
the earliest settlement was made in a time of peace, probably
in the early Saxon period. The particular formation of Tysoe
added to its manorial subdivision would tend to make the land
and houses of the village more accessible, and would therefore
give to the inhabitants greater economic and social liberty.
In 1826 there were 30 ratepayers following occupations other
than agriculture, besides 3 persons who may be described as
following professions, while 91 of the ratepayers were agricul-
turists. The census return of 1801 gives the number of
persons chiefly employed in agriculture as 584, and those
chiefly employed in ' manufacture and handicraft ' as 261,
though these figures must apply to members of the dependent
families of those employed, and not to individuals.^

Both in the social life, and the actual formation, of a village,
the concentration of land ownership produces results very
different from those brought about by a widely distributed
proprietorship. We may best see the contrast by comparing
the growth of population in Tysoe and in Compton Wyniates.

According to the Domesday Survey of the Conqueror,
Compton Wyniates contained 22 families and 5 bondsmen —
at a ratio of 4-5 persons per family in the case of the main

' It may be noted that in 1735 a licence was given at the July Quarter
Sessions of the county for a house in Middle Tysoe ' to be used as a place of
religious worship for Quakers ', and at the end of the century the ' .ethodists
held land and other property in the village. The rapid growth of this latter
body in the early nineteenth century is shown by the fact that the Report
of the Education Inquiry* in 1835 states that there were two Sunday
Schools in the village : one under the auspices of the Established Church,
having 45 male and 41 female scholars, the other under the Methodists,
having 63 male and Ti female scholars.

• Report on Education, 1835. Record Office, Shire Hall, Warwick.

28 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ii

holdings — a population of 105. In 1720 ^ the population
had fallen to 20, in 1801 it was only 41, and in 1841, 46 — the
highest number reached since Domesday.

In Tysoe the population was as follows : a.d. 1086 — 81
families, 9 bondsmen, i priest ; at 4'5 persons per family, a
population of 374; a.d. 1665 it had risen to 608, a.d. 1801
to 891 : the highest number, 1,112, being reached in 1871. The
difference of results is again seen in the fact that the levies
for the relief of the poor in Tysoe and Compton were in
1785 respectively £469 and £8 lys} Compton was entirely
owned by the Earl of Northampton, lord of the manor of
Tysoe, and it seems as though its population was at some
period deliberately removed or checked. In spite of the fact
that Compton was over one-fifth the size of Tysoe and con-
tained excellent agricultural land under full cultivation, it had
practically no labouring population and no heavy poor rates.
Thus there can be little doubt that the labour used in the
cultivation of Compton came from Tysoe, and that in times
of unemployment or sickness its poor levies were derived
from the same source.

It may be estimated that at the beginning of the eighteenth
century the population of Tysoe would be well under 700.
From 1665 to 1801 there was an increase of 283, the figures
being 608 and 891. The number of baptisms in the Parish
Register shows that the increase was more rapid in the first
than in the second half of the period. The return of hearths
made under 13-14 Charles II. c. 10,^ for the purposes of
taxation, gives the number of houses in Tysoe as 132. Eighty-
one of these had 172 hearths and were liable to be taxed. The
remaining 51 comprised 52 hearths and were not liable. These
figures are important as showing that houses of the better class
were decidedly predominant in the village, and also that there
was plentiful house-room, the average number of persons to
a house being 4'6. According to the figures for population
in 1665 given by Miller,* the average number of persons in the

^ G. Miller, Parishes of the Diocese of Worcester, 1889, vol. i, p. 57.
^ Ibid. ^ Duplicate. Muniment Room, Shire Hall, Warwick.

* Parishes of the Diocese of Worcester, vol. i, p. 34.

CH. II] THE VILLAGE AND ITS POPULATION 29

houses of ratepayers would be 4'66 and in those of labourers
4*51. Ratepayers are estimated at 378, labourers at 240 ;
but these figures probably include not only ' ratepayers ' and
' labourers ' proper, but all members of families the heads of
which would come within those categories.

Thus there would be 81 heads of families paying rates, and
53 heads of families which depended for a living on their
labour. When it is remembered that the number of persons
paying Land Tax in 1775 was only 61, there seems to be good
ground for Mr. A. H. Johnson's contention that the closing
years of the seventeenth century, and the first fifty years of
the eighteenth, were fatal to the small cultivator.^ That
some great economic change in the status of the majority of
the population took place in the eighteenth century is shown
by the Census Returns of 1801. There were 220 families but
only 195 houses : so that in several instances two or more
families must have been jointly occupying tenements designed
for a single household : the number of persons per house
being 4*51, per family 4-05. The number of houses advanced
between 1663 and 1801 by 63, and although the rate of increase
was not as large as that of the population, the difference is
not sufficient to account for the overcrowding. The real
cause of the congestion seems to have been that the poorest
classes were obliged to seek the cheapest possible shelter ; for
at the very time when several families were being herded
together in a single cottage, other houses stood tenantless.

From 1801 the population rapidly advanced till 1821, after
which date it fell slightly, and did not regain its former vitality
till 1861.

I8II

was 944.

I82I

„ 1,070.

I83I

„ 1,007.

I86I

) >

„ 1,035.

I87I

) )

„ 1,112.

The decrease between 1821 and 1831 seems to correspond
to the decline which, in the opinion of the Poor Law Commis-

* A. H. Johnson, Disappearance of Small Landowner, 1909, p. 136.

30 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ii

sioners of 1834, resulted from the more stringent regulation
of relief from the Poor Rates ; ^ for the overseers of Tysoe
made some effort to improve their system of administration
during this period.

It is noteworthy that the increase of population was not by
any means proportionate to the plentiful supply and low
price of corn. In fact the ratio almost seems to have been
inverse. The figures speak plainly for themselves. In the
period 1742-51 the average price of wheat per quarter was
295. 2^d. and the number of births in Tysoe was 204.

1770-79 Average price 455. od. No. of births 291
1780-89 „ „ 455. 9^.2 „ „ „ 229

31790-99 „ „ 57^- 7d. „ „ „ 257

1800-09 M „ 845- Hd. „ „ „ 337

1820-29 „ „ 59-^- 92^- ., M M 308

It is not suggested that there is any connexion between
these advances, but rather that the scarcity of corn and the
rise in prices were not sufficient to check an increase of popu-
lation due to other causes. Truly, if such conditions were at
all general in English agricultural villages at the end of the
eighteenth century, there was some justification for the rather
extravagant writings of Mai thus on the subject of population
and food supply. The real cause of the increase of population
is to be looked for in the degradation of the labouring classes
through economic causes, and in the injudicious conduct of the
farmers helped by the maladministration of poor relief. In
the first place, many of the women had lost their employment
in the open fields. Prior to enclosures one of their chief occu-
pations was weeding the broadcast sown corn ; but with the
coming of enclosure and drill-husbandry, the demand for
female weeders diminished.

Moreover, the modern demand for domestic servants and
women factory-workers had not yet arisen, and even when it
did exist it was frequently discouraged by the tax on domestic

^ Report of Poor Law Commissioners, 1834, p. 240.

* Bohn's Cyclopedia of Political and Statistical Knowledge, 1848.
Article, Corn Laws.

' Curtler's History of English Agriculture, Appendix 3.

CH. II] THE VILLAGE AND ITS POPULATION 31

servants and the fear that they might gain settlements. For
instance, the overseers of Leamington issued a circular
advising householders to keep down the number of servants,
and to engage them for fifty-one weeks only. Under the
Bastardy Acts the punishment of women was rarely enforced :
for the overseers probably felt some sympathy for the woman,
and were reluctant to add either to the public expense or to
the personal degradation by sending her to the local Bridewell.
Where paternity could be fixed on a man of means the woman
reaped an advantage, and in every case, even with the parish
allowance, the woman would be better off with a child than
without. Doubtless it was for these reasons that Villiers
was able to report to the 1834 Poor Law Commissioners ^
that in some Warwickshire villages seventeen out of every
twenty, and in others nineteen out of every twenty, of the
women were pregnant when married. Every woman could
claim her pittance from the parish when unemployed, but if
she married she shared her husband's allowance; and if she
remained unmarried and bore an illegitimate child, her portion
was increased. There can be no doubt that the greatest cause
of looseness among the women was the hope of finding a
husband. Marriage or maternity was the only occupation
freely open to women. On the male side it must be remem-
bered that the married man was preferred to the single man
for employment, and his unemployed allowance was greater.
Also the allowance in aid of wages made it easy for the work-
men to live awayfrom their employers' houses, and unprofitable
for farmers to employ male servants and lodge them in their
own homes. If they did, they still had to pay their share of
the Poor Rates, and thus contribute a double share towards
the maintenance of the labourers of the parish. For these
reasons the employment of male servants declined, and as
a consequence the overcrowding of cottages became worse
and worse. This birth-rate result will not surprise those who
are acquainted with rural housing conditions even at the
present day. The growth of population seems to have been
rather favoured than feared by those in authority. For one
* Appendix A, Part II, evidence, Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834.

32 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ii

thing, it provided a plentiful supply of labour during the
summer months to meet the demand occasioned by the
increased cultivation of corn. And Villiers, writing of the
Allowance System, says : ' I was informed that the conse-
quences of the system were not altogether unforeseen at the
time (of adoption, in 1797) as affording a probable inducement
to early marriages and large families, but at this period there
was little apprehension on that ground. A prevalent opinion,
supported by high authority, that population was in itself
a source of wealth, precluded all alarm. The demands for the
public service were thought to ensure sufficient draught for
any surplus people.' ^ The enormous growth of population,
occurring during a period in which the real wages of the
labourers, through no direct fault of their own, were lower
than they ever were before, is an interesting comment on
the charges of thriftlessness and immorality which are often
levelled at the poor.^ The fact is that when the labourers
were comparatively well-to-do during the early eighteenth
century, they were both thrifty and moral : a statement
amply substantiated by the bastardy figures for Tysoe. From
1727 to 1759 there were three ' illegitimates ' baptized, and
one of these is described as ' the son of a traveller '. From
1795 to 1801, during the corn famine, there were twelve
illegitimates baptized, and it is impossible to say how
many women during the same period obtained husbands by
deliberate guile.

As there was no definite manufacturing industry in the
neighbourhood, the population of Tysoe was mostly engaged
in agriculture. Still, trades and handicrafts were well repre-

' Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834. (Reprint 1905, Cd. 2728) p. 126.

' As early as 1774 one of the reasons assigned for the repeal of the
Elizabethan Act which provided that every cottage built should have
four acres of land attached to it was that it created a check on population.
Had the governing classes of England had any wish to restrict population
they had the means to do so. The Poor Law Commissioners of 1834
reported that the tendency to reckless improvidence in marriage seems
rather to be checked by placing before the labourers something to look
forward to beyond the resource of daily labour for a master (p. 183). And
the Labourers' Friend Magazine for May 1834 contains conclusive evidence
that granting the labourer a direct interest in the soil, even though only
through small allotments, made him thrifty, provident, and hopeful. The

CH. II] THE VILLAGE AND ITS POPULATION

sented. The Census Return for 1801 gives 260 persons as
employed in trades and handicrafts. If we divide this number
by four — a fair ratio per family — we have a total of 65 persons
actually so engaged. Unfortunately nothing more definite
can be found throwing light on the question of domestic
industry, but if this source can be trusted, it seems that a
great change occurred between 1801 and 1826. The Poor

following is a comparison between the growth of population in some
Wiltshire villages with and without allotments, and Tysoe, which lacked
these conveniences for the poor.

ALLOTMENTS

AND POPULATION

Village.

. to

0 S

> ■=>

> «

s .

■»» to

« Si
s «

s
.0

S 00

to
4

1. Little J
Somerford |

2. Dauntsey |

3. StantonSt. 1
Quinton )

4. Seagny |

5. Rod- I
bourne )

6. Christian (
Mai ford \

1821
1831
1821
1831
1821
1831
1821
1831
1821
1831
1821
1831

52
60
64
70

19
20

66
93
99
57
60

33
29

156
188

237
272

138
152

431

483

174
188
230
289
147
165

63
76

447
497

330
376

467

=;6i
285
317
215
234
139
155
878
980

j 46
j 94

I-

j ,6

\ 102

330

467
285
215

139
878

94
32
19
16
102

20-5

II-2

8-8
n-2
II-6

7. Newtown ]

8. Broad (
Somerford' |

1821
1831
1821
1831

59
58
86
97

59
61

95
102

153
147
233
249

153
160
248
251

306

307
481
500

I
19

306

481

I
19

0-32
3-95

3,101

319

10-28

Nos. I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, villages without allotments. Nos. 7 and 8, with
allotments.

Tysoe '

1801

I80I

195

220

42s

466

891

1 "

891
1811

5-94

I8II

944

126
Dec.

944
1821

126
Deer.

13-4
Deer.

I82I

218

231

540

530

1,070

5-88

183 1

218

239

501

506

1,007

Inc.

1831

Incr.

I84I

1,033

1,007

2-58

* Eight Wiltshire villages. Labourers' Friend Magazine, May 1834. An
inquiry into the effect of letting land to labourers as regards population.
' Census returns.
(part vi) w. V. D

34 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ii

Rate Assessment for the latter year classifies the ratepayers
as follows :

72 ' farmers ' 19 ' Smallholders '

14 labourers i fiaxdresser

I spinner 2 weavers

3 cordwainers 4 grocers

1 whitlaw (white leather 3 taylors

maker)

2 masons 2 carpenters

2 millers 2 wheelwrights

3 bakers i butcher

I blacksmith i schoolmaster

I vicar i doctor

I gentleman.

Thus from 1801 to 1826 there was a decrease of more than
30 persons employed in trade and handicraft with probably
120 dependents. The decay of domestic industry indicated
by these figures was another cause of economic hardship,
social chaos, and human suffering ; for it accentuated the
evils already existing, which the Poor Laws and administra-
tion had helped to create and had subsequently been obliged
to alleviate.

It was the misfortune of Tysoe that the village was never
affected, except adversely, by the industrial development of
the country. The Oxford Canal was only nine miles distant,
but the journey over the intervening hills to Banbury was so
difficult that the farmers and haulers preferred to go twelve
miles to Stratford or sixteen miles to Warwick. This fact
is by no means negligible when it is remembered that coals
at the canal side cost 10^. per cwt., and were sold to the
poor of Tysoe by the overseers at i^. 6d. per cwt., the
prices paid to the haulers for carriage being 6d. per cwt.
However, the distant touch with the canals was good for the
district, for with this means of access to distant markets the
farmers were not at the mercy of local dealers. Writing on
the price of provisions in the county, Wedge ^ said distinctly
that the price of corn was much more regular after the opening
of the canals than before. Besides the canals, the only means

^ View of Agriculture. Warwickshire, 1754, p. 22.

CH. II] THE VILLAGE AND ITS POPULATION 35

of commercial communication was the turnpike road from
Oxford to Birmingham through Stratford-on-Avon. There
were daily coaches along this road, as well as pack-horse men
plying between Droitwich and London. Thus Tysoe remained
and still remains a large, prosperous, old-world, agricultural
parish.

To the economic and social structure which we have described
the Poor Laws were applied in such manner as was considered
best for the poor, or most convenient for the administrators.
We have now to consider the effect of those laws in their actual
operation.

CHAPTER III

ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION

The provisions for administration in the Tudor and Stuart
Poor Laws were founded upon the ancient divisions of county,
hundred, and parish. The manors and manorial organization
were left severely alone. The result is that local self-govern-
ment in rural districts is free from the manorial taint. What
traces of the manorial organization still remain are to be
found in the economic system rather than in the organization
of government. In only one instance is there any relic of
the influence of the manorial organization in the English
Poor Laws.

Section 21 of the Settlement Act, 14 Chas. II, c. 12, provided
that parishes consisting of several townships or villages might
constitute these separate townships units for poor relief
purposes, each unit maintaining its own poor. This suited
the lords whose demesne was a distinct part of the parish
in which it lay ; for they were enabled by the demolition
or restriction of cottages to limit population and thereby
diminish the poor rates.

Tysoe would have provided an admirable field for exercising
the power of dividing parishes, had it not been that the
proximity of Compton Wyniates, under the same lord — with-
out population — made its exercise unnecessary and undesirable.
The use of the parochial organizations and of the magistracy
in Tudor times tends to show that the aim of the Government
was to give the people some power to protect themselves.
The manorial organization must have been still intact in most
villages, but, as far as the Poor Law was concerned, it was
neglected if not actually discouraged. In Tysoe the manor
courts must have remained in operation at least till the
enclosure of the common fields, and probably even later ; for
there is still extant in the parish safe a renewal of copyhold
executed in 1765, and extending for three lives.

The parish authorities administered the Poor Laws, under

CH. Ill] ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 37

the supervision of the Justices of the Peace for the county.
The latter possessed an extensive and important jurisdiction in
economic and social matters, apart from the jurisdiction in civil
and criminal cases given to local justices by the social policy
of the Tudors and Stuarts. The importance of their functions
may be shown by a few quotations from the actual orders of
Quarter Sessions made for Warwickshire.-^ An instance has
already been quoted of the licensing of Nonconformist meeting-
houses in 1753. There are numerous other records of the
same kind. In the sixth year of George I, Anthony Bishop,
Francis Wood, John Hewens, and John White, sen., of
Brailes, were ' indighted ' ' for not coming to church for three
months last past being Popish Recusants '. On October 7,
1713, occurs this entry ; one ' Thos. Arthur Esq. by a deputa-
tion under his hand and seal dated ye ist of October 1713 did
appoint John Welshman of Banbury in ye county of Oxon
gamekeeper for ye manor of Ratley in ye county of Warwick '.
These records of gamekeepers' appointments are very numer-
ous and seem to have been most carefully kept. There are
many records of corn-dealers' licences.
Here is an example from the year 1763 :

' We ... a quorum, do license and admit being a

married man and an householder having been an inhabitant
in the said county for three years last past to be a common
Badger, Carrier and Seller of Corn and Grain in any fair or
market whatsoever. The same to convert it to meal and to
carry and vend the same in any fair or market from time to
time during the space of one whole year ; date hereof ;
according to the true intent and meaning of the Statutes in
that case made and provided against Regrators, Forestallers,
and Ingrossers, and not otherwise given under our hands and
seals the nth of January 1763.'

The power of the travelling judge of Assize even in the
nineteenth century is shown by a quotation from the Warwick
Advertiser, January 4, 1806 :

' Price of Bread. His Lordship and the Court, on
Tuesday morning, ordered the price of bread to be reduced

' Orders in Sessions : Muniment Room, Shire Hall, Warwick, from
Restoration onwards.

38 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. hi

one assize or 2d. in the peck loaf, which makes the price of the
quartern loaf ii^d.'

Besides the powers illustrated above the justices regulated
the rates of wages for labourers. There are instances of such
regulation in 1657, 1672, 1730, and 1773. They also had
power to adjudicate in appeals against rates, and to require
rates in relief of parishes from the Hundreds. Many instances
of these orders might be given. They were also empowered
to grant various permits and licences to beggars and vagrants ;
indeed the Justices in Quarter Sessions seem to have organized
vagrancy provisions for the whole county. They had two
permanent officials to deal with this problem, as is shown by
an entry on April 15, 1735 :

' That Richd. Spiers be appointed to convey vagrants for
one year at £60 to be paid quarterly. That Mr, T. Hanbury
be appointed to convey vagrants for one year more as usual,'

And a beggar's licence appears later :

' For as much as it did this day appear that upon the
twenty-first day of March last there happened a dreadful fire
to break out in the dwelling house of W, P, a labourer, of
Ashorne in the county of Warwick, which in a few hours con-
sumed the same as also the greatest part of his household
goods and implements of husbandry is the great injury of the
said W, P, unless relieved by the Charity of the well-disposed
Christians, His Majesty's justices now in the Court, taking into
consideration the misfortune of the said W. P, have thought
fit and do hereby recommend him to all Charitable and well-
disposed Christians in the county of Warwick, aforesaid, and
that this order do continue in force for one year and no longer,'

The Justices of the Peace also had duties concerning the
local militia, and discharged soldiers and sailors. In 1746^
the Vestry Meeting of Tysoe passed a resolution ' that no
officer for the future give relief to soldiers nor sailors, nor
pay for quartering of disbanded soldiers without order from
a magistrate ', In 1751 and 1816 an instance occurs of pay-
ments to soldiers and sailors :

' To disbanding soldier to pay quartering, 6d.
To a sailor in distress, is.'

* Overseers' Account Books, Tysoe, vol, i.

CH. Ill] ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 39

Similar payments are recorded as ' ordered by the jus-
tices '.

Thus the Tudor Government had based the organization of
poor rehef on the parish unit, vesting the control in the parish
meeting which annually met under the auspices of the church
in the vestry, and of the ecclesiastical organization of church-
wardens. In addition they appointed overseers of the poor,
doubtless because these officers were likely to prove a
sympathetic administrative body. Having now appointed the
officials, the Tudor Government next made ample provision for
the superintendence of their work. The Justices for separate
Hundreds and divisions of Hundreds formed links between
the parish units and the Quarter Sessions, and the Judges of
Assize provided administrative and advisory links between
the counties and the Privy Council. The strictness of the
control of local administration by the latter body is shown by
the Book of Orders ^ issued by them to local Justices in 1630.
The supervision at this period consisted mainly in enforcing the
laws in favour of the poor, and not in checking the extrava-
gance or folly of the Justices or overseers. By 1834 the
complaint of the Poor Law Commission was that no central
control existed which would check abuse of powers of relief,
because after 1795 the interference of Justices was practically
always on the side of leniency to the poor.^

As a matter of fact the control of the Privy Council and the
Judges over local administration began to fall off about 1630,
and whatever traces remained seem to have been swept away
by the Civil War.

Then came the Settlement Act (13 & 14 Chas. II), the whole
tendency of which was to diminish the size of the administra-
tive unit. It provided in one section that divisions of parishes
where there were distinct ' chapelries ' might form nuclei for
vestries. It is worthy of note in this connexion that while
settlement was fixed in the Hundred by some of the early
Tudor laws, it was not dealt with by the Act of 1601, and
was restricted severely to the parish by the Act of 1662. In

' Cf. Miss E. M. Leonard, Early English Poor Relief, Cambridge, 1900,
p. 158. * Poor Law Report, 1834, p. 294 and following pages.

40 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. hi

this way the parochial units of organization became more
distinct and isolated. The duties or powers taken from the
Hundreds and imposed on the parishes would increase the
importance of parochial officials at the expense of the impor-
tance of the Justices, who were the chief officials of the Hun-
dreds. This policy was extended in 9 George II, c. 7, which
enacted that Justices could not grant relief on their own
authority, but that appeal must first be made to the overseers.
The need for this provision seems to show that the Justices
were still acting on the traditions of an earlier period and
enforcing the law purely for the benefit of the poor. From
this date till the passing of the Act of 1782 their power was
more restricted than hitherto. During this period only a very
slight control over parochial officials was exercised by superior
authorities. The Justices interfered only on the appeal of
some aggrieved person and in the capacity of auditors of
accounts and supervisors of assessments. In the parish under
consideration the latter powers were only formally exercised,
for there is no record of advice or censure. Still, the books
were regularly signed, if not actually examined or audited, and
in 1825 the Justices drew attention to the fact that the books
had not been signed by parishioners at the Vestry Meeting.

During the eighteenth century the chief duties of the Justices
in Poor Law matters in Tysoe was adjudication in appeals and
prosecutions. Particulars of these processes are not recorded,
but the expenses are always entered. An example occurs in
1727 : ' Horse shoes and expenses at Warwick Sessions,
£5 OS. od.' And another in June 1760 :

' Expenses and Warrant taking W. Kite to

Campden 35. 6d.

Paid when I went to have the warrant back to

William Tracy 55. 6d.

Expenses at Mr. Falkner's when W. Kite was

kept prisoner, and going to the justices 135. 10^.

Paid the expenses and warrant and watching 6s. 3^.'

This was an illegitimacy case ; but many entries mention
only ' Expenses going to the Justices ' with no reference to
warrants. These were evidently appeals. The result of the

CH. Ill] ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 41

prosecutions was generally a committal to the local Bridewell ;
which was described in 1850 as follows :

' House of Correction or Bridewell, Warwick, nearly opposite
the entrance to the gaol, and enclosed within a high stone
wall ; having been enlarged at different times, the arrange-
ment is rather inconvenient, the entrance from some of the
wards to the chapel and other parts of the prison requiring an
ascent of many steps ; the same regard to classification, order,
and cleanliness, prevails here as in the county gaol. The
boys and the women were formerly employed in heading pins
for the manufacturers of Birmingham, and the men in drawing
and preparing the wire for that purpose, but it was found to
be attended with loss, owing to the waste of material ; conse-
quently was declined a few years ago. A flour mill worked
by crank, with hand labour, employing one hundred men,
who relieve each other at intervals, grinds sufficient quantity
of corn to supply the county gaol and Bridewell and for hire.'

There was a resident Governor, and a surgeon and chaplain.
The good order of the gaol referred to consisted of classification
of prisoners and superintendence of workrooms, airing yards,
day-rooms, and tread-mill, so that ' the greatest order, and,
as far as circumstances will allow of it, the greatest comfort
and cleanliness prevail throughout the establishment ; a warm
bath is appropriated to the use of the prisoners on their
entrance, and every precaution is taken to avoid contagion '.^
If this was true of the nineteenth century, it is improbable
that it was true of the eighteenth. In any case, the corn-mill
employing one hundred men shows that there was a large
demand for accommodation.

In the index of the Report drawn up by the Commissioners
on the Poor Laws in 1834 there is no mention of these Bride-
wells ; but the number of committals from Tysoe and the
evidence given above, show that they played an important
part in the administration of the Poor Laws. A good instance
of committal to Bridewell occurs in 1751 :

' Expenses having Godard to Bridewell lys. 6d.

Paid Godard's Bridewell fees 35. 8^;^.' ^

* Warwickshire, Sheffield, 1850, p. 465.

' Overseers' Account Book, Tysoe, vols, ii and iii.

42 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. hi

And another in 1736 :

' Paid to Mr. Cattol, Bradley's charges at Bridewell 5s.*

Meanwhile the parish kept Bradley's wife in house-rent,
fuel, and food.

The Church played a considerable part in the organization
of poor relief in the eighteenth century. In Tysoe the Vicar
presided at all the Vestry meetings, and the churchwardens
took an active part. The Sturges Bourne Act, passed in 1818,
assumed that the Vicar had a right to preside at Vestry
meetings. The words are : ' in case the Rector or Vicar shall
not be present, the persons present shall forthwith nominate
a Chairman.' ^ On this point Toulmin Smith quotes Lord
Hardwicke to the effect that ' I do not find any resolution, or
even opinion, to give the Vicar the right of presiding. There
is indeed a notion that he has a right to preside, but that has
taken its rise from special vestries.' ^ But it is probable that
such a custom was directly produced by the enactments of
the Tudors in the early part of the sixteenth century, which
made use of the Church organization in preference to any
other for the purpose of poor relief.

When the Vestry was purely ecclesiastical the Vicar would
almost certainly preside. During the sixteenth century the
predominance of the Church in Poor Law affairs would not be
felt ; but during the Civil War period, and the latter part of
the eighteenth century, after the revival of Nonconformity and
the birth of Methodism, it may well have been a source of
trouble, or more likely of negligence. The ecclesiastical
business of the parish was done, as it is now, at a Vestry
meeting held on Easter Monday, and the village Quakers and
Methodists, some of whom were ratepayers, may have pre-
ferred to let others manage parochial business rather than
intervene in affairs which interested them only in so far as
they excited hostility.

A general rule as to the constitution of parish vestries cannot
be laid down, and at the present time it is hard to discover

^ 58 Geo. Ill, c. 69, s. 2. Cf. Toulmin Smith, The Parish, London, 1858,
p. 244 et seq., for lengthy discussion of the question.
^ Toulmin Smith, People and Parish, p. 27.

CH. Ill] ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 43

the principles upon which the composition of particular
bodies was based. In the case of the Tysoe vestry it is
at least certain that it was never an open or democratic
meeting. The key to the problem may lie in the words
regularly used in the records of the parish under consideration,
' being met according to the custom of the parish.' The usual
attendance, as we learn by the signatures to the accounts, was
somewhere between nine and fifteen ratepayers ; never more
than twenty, although the number of ratepayers exceeded
one hundred. Those who attended were the largest farmers.
The chief business of the Vestry was the passing of the accounts
of the previous year and the appointment of overseers for the
ensuing year. In some respects the meeting was arbitrary
in its decisions, and often had good reason to be so. The
following minute of the meeting in 1796 explains itself : ' It
is agreed by the Vestry that shop-keepers be excluded from
serving the office of overseer, and that they be not hired to
serve as substitutes.' The minutes of the meeting in 1746
illustrate very well the influence of the Vestry in guiding
actual administration :

' The overseers to provide a Book, the present assessments
of the Land Tax to be recorded in it, and all subsequent
assessments. The officers to continue the respective rates
agreeable to the assessments, the overseers to record one levy
in the year.'

' No Parish Officer for the future to make any alteration in
either assessment or levy without order from the Justices or
Commissioners, or if any such order be that order to be recorded
in the Book.'

' No officer for the future to give Public Money to losses by
fire or water, nor relief to strolling beggar, soldier or seaman.
Nor to pay the quartering of any band of soldiers without
order from the magistrate.'

' Overseers to enter all individual payments the next pay-
day after such payment.'

' The poor having a weekly collection for the future to wear
the Town Letter.'

' The overseers in all cases of difficulty to call a vestry and
take their advice.'

The last clause is important because special meetings were

44 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. hi

often called to decide urgent questions, and sometimes, as in
1816, the meeting was advised by a solicitor who was paid by
the parish.

A minute of a meeting in 1740 shows that the control of
expenditure was not by any means lax at that period :

' To be deducted, seven shillings charged as paid by the . . .
(overseer) to William Willcox, it not being allowed by the
parish, he being no parishioner.'

Still, this supervision was not continued during the whole
of the eighteenth century. The expenses for refreshments
at the Easter Vestry, which amounted to about two shillings
in 1740, rose to two guineas toward the end of the century.
The attempt to regain supervision over expenditure will
account for the changes made in the vestry. The first of
these was due to the immense amount of distress in 1799.
Quarterly meetings were made the rule, and the accounts
were drawn up quarterly instead of annually.

By 1814 the meetings were held regularly every month,
and the accounts were made up accordingly. Thus the
' custom of the parish ' of holding meetings annually, gave
way before the stress of circumstances. In 1819 the Select
Vestries Act was passed, and Tysoe adopted its provisions.
It is the opinion of Mr. Sidney Webb that ' the small rural
vestries seem practically to have ignored both the Act of 1818
and that of 1819, the obligatory equally with the permissive
sections '.^ But this view is not supported by the evidence
afforded by Tysoe ; and probably a close examination of the
records of Warwickshire would show it to be even less tenable
in other places.

The Sturges Bourne Act did not limit or extend the powers
of the Vestry, but merely enabled the parish to limit its con-
stitution. The effect of this provision is well shown by an
entry in the overseers' books of Tysoe. In March, 1825,
occurs the entry : ' Pd. for signing second levy and Select
Vestry, 45. 6d., and Journey to Warwick, 75.' Then in May,
1826, the following is recorded : ' Paid for 5 dinners at the

* Parish and County, p, 157, footnote.

CH. Ill] ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 45

yearly meeting at 2S. each, lo^.' The number hkely to attend
the meeting was definitely known and could be exactly catered
for. The Select Vestries had no power except over poor relief,
and their chief object was to reduce expenditure on that
account. The Act directed that a book of accounts should be
provided and properly kept by the overseers : but this was
no innovation, for it had already been prescribed by 17 George
II, c. 38.

In respect of accounts Tysoe would compare very favourably
with other parishes. The overseers of Foleshill in the same
county burnt their books rather than show them to a Commit-
tee of Inquiry in 1832. But the most important provision of
the Sturges Bourne Act was the establishment of the cumu-
lative vote in parish meetings. Previously to the Act of 1818
no person attending the Vestry had more than one vote ; after
the measure was passed, occupation of property of the value
of £50 or less entitled to one vote, and over ;^5o one vote was
added for every additional ;^25, until a maximum of six was
reached. This system remained in force till the Local Govern-
ment Act of 1894 came into operation.

After the appointment of the Select Vestry very little
interest seems to have been shown in Poor Law administration
by the inhabitants of Tysoe. In 1825 the following entry was
made by the Justices before whom the book was produced for
their signatures : ' This book was produced at the Easter
Vestry, but omitted to be signed by the principal inhabitants,
but no objections were made.' The signatures of the Justices
were appended. The best explanation of the oversight seems
to be that the officials were the only persons present at the
meeting, and they could not pass their own accounts. This
was the first omission of the kind, and as it occurred while
a paid clerk or deputy overseer was being employed, it can
hardly have been caused by ignorance or neglect of the
rule.

Besides appointing the churchwardens and overseers and
supervising the administration of poor relief, the Vestry
organized and superintended the general civil government of
the parish. Still, the distinction between civil business and

46 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. hi

Poor Law business would not be great, as the overseers paid
all the expenses of each department, and the churchwardens
had duties in both, though the more important were probably
in the civil sphere. For the most part, churchwardens acted
in Poor Law affairs as an advisory body to the overseers,
especially during times of extraordinary distress.

A few extracts will show the range of the civil business of the
parish.

October 8th, 1780. ' Notices, renewing licences. Constable's
Presentments for Sessions, Freeholders lists, swearing Militia
men, appointing new Surveyor of Highways, 65.'

1796, March 27th. ' The Constable's expenses and the new
assessment, 135. 6d.*

' To the expenses of the Constable and Churchwardens and
Overseers going to Warwick about the papers concerning the
produce of corn, 13s. 8i.'

' To expenses at My Landlord Watts', 4 persons eating and
drinking when we took account of the people in the parish,
March 15th 1801, 10s.'

The result of this expenditure was that the officials forgot
to enter the particulars of the census in the parish books.
The details for Compton Wyniates were entered by the curate,
and those for Tysoe were duly entered when the census was
again taken in 18 11.

Easter, 1810. ' To Mr. Middleton and Robert Wells for
being sworn in Constable and Thirdborough, 25.'

The persons named were also deputy-overseers, so that that
year at least there would be no sharp distinction between
civil and Poor Law affairs, in the minds of simple villagers.

1821. ' To the Constable for drawing the new Stocks from
Lower Tysoe to Church Tysoe 2s. 6d.' ' Received for old
Stocks 15.' ' Paid to Thomas Callcott, new stocks, iron work
and lock £2 95. 2^.'

Other entries show that the overseers were entering into
another sphere of organization. The following item occurs
in 1746 : ' Paid for rules about the cattle is' And there is
one in 1752 recording repairs to the local pound :

CH. Ill] ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 47

I 5. d.
' Thomas Hancox Bill ye 266

Guy Chamberlain Lower Town 16 6

Smith's bill carriage 7 Ids. of mortar Pound 9 6

Mat Savage 10 Ids. stone the Lower

Town Pound 5 0*

And in the next year a new pound was built in another part
of the parish. An entry in the Minutes of Quarter Sessions
for Warwickshire in 1713 throws an interesting side-light on
the relation of parish officials to the common land customs.
It is as follows : ' Thomas Rawlings of Grandborough indighted
by the constable of Grandborough for an incroachment on the
Common.'

During the eighteenth century the appointments of con-
stables and surveyor of highways do not seem to have been
regularly made, but in the following century they became
more methodical. The Vicar of the parish took his place as
chairman of the Vestry, but there his activity seems to have
ended. Thus all the real power was left in the hands of the
churchwardens and overseers. In Tysoe the number of
churchwardens was usually two ; only on one occasion were
there three. They seem to have been freely elected by those
who attended the Vestry.

The overseers, on the other hand, varied in numbers at
different periods, and they were never freely elected. Although
the word used in the records was ' chosen ' the overseers served
in rotation, most probably following a given order of houses
or holdings of land. The following entry occurs in 1802 :

' We, the inhabitants of the parish of Tysoe, having met
this day for the purpose of choosing overseers of the poor for
the year ensuing, but not agreeing in the choice of proper
persons to serve the office according to the usual custom of
the parish by rotation, we have nominated (here follow the
names of ten persons) . . . any two of these to be appointed
and approved by two of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace
for the said County as overseers for the parish of Tysoe for
the year ensuing.'

In one instance a woman held the office, probably because

48 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. hi

she was farming on her own account, and was obliged to serve
when her turn came in the rotation.

The uncertainty and chaos shown in 1802 was followed in
1809 by the appointment of two ' Deputy Overseers ' in addi-
tion to the two ordinary officials. In 182 1 and 1824 similar
appointments of deputies were made, even after the adoption
of the Select Vestry ; whence it would appear that the appoint-
ments had been regularly made since 1809.

The record of the first appointment of Deputies runs
thus :

' Easter Monday, being met according to the custom of the
parish we do chuse and appoint Mr. W, B. and Mr. W. H,
to be Overseers of the Poor for the present year 1809. It is
further agreed that Mr. C. Middleton and Mr. R. Wells, the
late overseers, do serve as Deputy Overseers for the above.'

From the first the schoolmaster acted as Vestry clerk,
originally at a salary of 15. 2d. per week, with additional
allowances for paper ; later at £10 10.?. o^, per annum.

In the early years of the nineteenth century the parish
expenditure had risen to well over ;£i,ooo annually, and the
parish was carrying on enterprises such as the sale of coal
and bread. During this period the person employed must
have given practically the whole of his time to the conduct of
parish business, for the books show that the clerk's salary had
risen to £40 per annum.

All this organization was founded upon the conception of
the parish or village as a corporation. The Act i Edward VI,
c. 3 (1547), provided that every community should maintain
its own paupers or beggars, and so prevent them from preying
upon other districts. If it failed to provide for its own poor,
the community was to forfeit a sum proportionate to its
standing. A city, £5 ; a borough, 405. ; a village, 205. ; the
penalty to be equally divided between the informer and the
King's Exchequer. In the eighteenth century, a somewhat
similar measure, 5 George I, c. 28, enacted that all damage
done to woods or fences by lawless persons was to be levied on
the parish.

The Tysoe records show that this Act was by no means

CH. Ill] ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 49

a dead letter, and that the principle of corporate responsibility
was very vital.

The year 1774 furnishes an example : ' George Fessey the
money that was ordered by Mr. Aylesworth (Justice of the
Peace) for a Trespass done at Mr. Dyers, 25.' Another in
1781 : ' To Mr. Shelton of Shipston his fee when he came and
seized on James Geden, Senior and Junior's goods for rent for
Mrs. Greenway, Ss. 6d' And during the famine period, 1795
to 1801, there were frequent payments by the parish on account
of trees lopped and fences broken by children and men.
An item of expenditure recorded in 1786 bears a close
resemblance in principle to the fines paid as compensation
for injury by the tribal communities in the early stages of
English society. ' To Brailes officers the money that we
gave them for the maintenance of the child that David
Winter had sworn to him by the servant that lived with him
at his Uncle Tarver's at Chumpscott, £9 95. oi.'

In fact the spirit of the laws and customs of the ancient
village communities was still active in the law and practice of
the eighteenth-century parish.

(part VI) U. V.

CHAPTER IV

ASSESSMENT AND RATING

The only thing that can be said with certainty about the
Poor Rates in the eighteenth century is that they were purely
parochial. Of any definite principle or procedure there is
very little evidence at all. Dr. Edwin Cannan puts the position
pointedly when he says that * every conceivable thing in
rating was done '} And the Poor Law Commissioners of
1834 reported that ' the mode of rating is now, like many other
parts of the administration of the Poor Laws, in the highest
degree uncertain and capricious '.^

The most general principle that can be laid down is that
land bore the heaviest portion of the burden of the rates, in
spite of the provisions of the Acts of Parliament that personalty
was also to be taxed. In consequence of the provisions of
settlement, from 1381 onwards, this was almost inevitable.
If the labourers must remain in the district where they were
born, it was the land of that district which must maintain
them. Obviously it would often be to the advantage of
traders to afford faciUties for the migration of labour, and if
the landed interests checked migration for their own advan-
tage, they had also to provide for the labourers on their estates
in such times and conditions as did not give the labourers
opportunity to provide for themselves. Or, as has been said,
' from the feudal conception of labour, as bound in duty and
loyalty to work for its lord, employers and landowners had
gradually come to regard themselves as charitable benefactors
of the poor.' ^

The legal basis of rural rating during the eighteenth century
was the Act of 43 Eliz., c. 2. The overseers and churchwardens
were to raise the necessary money ' weekly or otherwise, in

* Edwin Cannan, History of Local Rating, 1896, p. 35.
^ Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834, p. 359.

* H. O. Meredith, Economic History of England, 19 10, p. 270.

CH. IV] ASSESSMENT AND RATING 51

every parish, by taxation of every inhabitant^ person, vicar,
and other, and of every occupier of lands, houses, tithes,
impropriate or propriations of tithes, coal-mines, and saleable
underwoods, in the said parish, in such competent sum and
sums of money as they shall think fit '.

The principle seems to be identical with that laid down in
earlier Tudor Acts of Parliament which attempt to enforce
charity, viz. that every person should pay according to
* ability '. There is no direct mention of the rateability of
income or capital, but the words ' every inhabitant ' show
that such rateability was implied ; and at the time the 1601
Act was passed it is probable that, even in the case of persons
concerned only with trade and manufacture, the annual value
of the premises inhabited would be a fair measure of the
' abiHty ' of the occupier to contribute. The class of persons
enjoying large incomes and following no visible occupation
was scarcely recognizable, and this being the case it is not
difficult to see how the practice of rating after a course of years
came to be fixed on the visible property, although the principle
was that the ' person ' and not the ' property ' was liable.
The rating of ' personalty ' was rare, though it was declared
legal in several judicial appeals during the eighteenth century,
and again by the Poor Law Board in 1839. It was, however,
forbidden by an Act of 1840.^ In a purely rural district the
distinction between the rating of persons and the rating of
property was of little importance, because the conditions of
landholding and trade at the beginning of the eighteenth were
practically identical with those existing at the beginning
of the seventeenth century. As to handicraftsmen, they
generally held land, and this, with a little extra value added to
the buildings occupied, would probably make them liable to
the same assessment as farmers with an equal income.

From 1834 onwards the Poor Law Board was against the
rating of personalty and stock-in-trade, and before that date
the custom had been most prevalent in the old manufacturing
districts of the south and west of England, where the distinc-
tion between farming and manufacture would be greater than

* 3 & 4 Victoria, c. 89.
£ 2

52 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. iv

in any other rural district. Still it is worthy of note in view
of recent agitation for broadening the basis of the poor rate,
that the principle of assessment on abihty to help was part
of English Law from 1601 to 1840, and that now it is only
excluded by the annual passage of the Expiring Laws
Continuance Act.^ The main purpose for which personalty
was rated was the maintenance of highways. The General
Highway Act or ordinance of 1654 ^ created a pound rate on
all the usual sources of Poor Rates, and on dead goods, com-
modities, and stock-in-trade. These were to be rated on the
principle that every £20 worth of goods was of equal value to
land of twenty shillings annual rental. A clear case of such
rating for highway purposes is given by an Order of the
Warwickshire Quarter Sessions in 1763 :

* Whereas it does appear that the highways within the
parish of Southam cannot be sufficiently repaired and amended
without assessment being made upon all inhabitants, owners,
and occupiers of lands or personal estate, we have this day
caused assessment to be made upon all inhabitants, owners,
and occupiers of lands or personal estates, not exceeding 4
pence in the pound.'

The sum yielded was £39 igs. lod.^ In Tysoe there was no
special rate for highway purposes, probably on account of
the proximity of a turnpike. The only payments for roads
from the rates are similar to the following, taken from the
Overseers' Accounts :

1789. ' Pd. for five beesoms to sweep the road with.' 1764
' To Richard Blackwell mending the highways having no
work.'

It would appear, then, that the Statute labour provided by
the General Highway Act of 1654 a-^id the subsequent Acts
was sufficient to keep the roads in a state satisfactory to the
parishioners. Directly after the Enclosure Commissioners
made their award, and provided a Schedule of payments for

* R. M. Garnier, Annals of British Peasantry, 1892, p. 228.

* This ordinance was re-enacted with little alteration early in the reign
of Charles II (14 Charles II, c. 6) : E. Cannan, History of Local Rates,
1896, p. 120. ^ Orders in Sessions, 1763, July 12.

CH. IV] ASSESSMENT AND RATING 53

the construction of new roads in 1797, some of the money was
collected, as appears by a receipt in the Church Safe :

' Reed, of Rev. J. Seagrave, Apr. 24, 1798, Three pounds
eleven shillings and three pence ^d. being his share of the third
instalment of the first rate for making the roads of Tysoe.'

Owing to the growth of population and trade and the decline
of village parochialism, the traffic on the roads was probably
more frequent and varied than prior to 1760.

Of special rates the only examples in Tysoe occur in 1757
and 1795. The former was a special rate ' for the building of
the County Hall, by Act of Parliament '. Two levies at two-
pence and one at one penny in the pound were collected for
this purpose. The second example was recorded in January,
1795 : ' A levy entered at 4^. in the pound to lower the price
of bread.' In reality this money was raised for general poor
relief purposes, but seems to have been specifically devoted
to one particular department.

Until 1739 there are no records of payments of County
Rates. But in that year, an Act of Parliament provided that
rates should be raised in a lump sum for the various purposes
of the county — Highways, Bridges, Gaols, Conveyance of
Vagabonds, Houses of Correction, and Poor Relief. After
this enactment there is a regular recurrence of payments ' to
the Chief Constable ' of ' the proportion ' of a certain sum.
The estimates for the county seem to have been made by the
Chief Constable and assessed upon the Hundreds. The Petty
Constables for the Hundreds or their separate divisions were
responsible for estimating the proportion due from the
different parishes. In Tysoe the amount and frequency of the
county calls varied ; but their tendency was to become
heavier as the century advanced. In 1739 the amount paid
on this account was 18s. yd., and in 1816 the account was as
follows :

£ s. d. £ s. d.

The proportion of 5,000 . . . 17 4 9

of 3,671 14 6 . . . 16 5 8^

of 5,813 II 3i • • -19 18 5^

Total £53 8 II

54 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. iv

So the County Rates had advanced at an even greater rate
than those collected purely for the relief of the poor of the
parish. It is therefore not surprising that the County Com-
missioner should have reported to the Poor Law Commission
of 1832 that complaints were made that the Statute Duty for
repair of highways, added to the County Rates, pressed heavily
upon the landed interest. It was a manifest hardship that the
rents of the landlords should be taxed for the upkeep of roads,
bridges, and gaols, while the trader should escape all charges
for these purposes. Besides, the rural parts of Warwickshire
suffered from the proximity of industrial Birmingham. That
town, with its population of 200,000, supplied half the cases
tried at the judicial courts of the shire ; but the attendant
costs were distributed over the whole of the county. In ten
years the expenses for bridge-building, attendance on and
maintenance of criminals increased 50 per cent., and on an
average of five years the county rates amounted to one shilling
in the pound on the rateable value of 1815.

Under such circumstances a parish like Tysoe, with its
numerous poor, fared very badly indeed. So far as can be
ascertained, the justices during the eighteenth century do not
seem to have made much use of their power under the famous
Act 43 Elizabeth, c. 2, of levying ' Rates in Aid ' upon the
Hundreds, for the assistance of parishes which were excessively
burdened. And the Select Committee on the Poor Laws of
1817 refused to recommend any facility for the employment
of this particular provision. ^

But in the seventeenth century the Justices seem to have
asserted their powers on some occasions, for there is a record
of an order for a rate in aid given by the Warwickshire Quarter
Sessions.^

Easter, 1660. ' Whereas the court was this day informed
on behalf of the inhabitants of [a) that they have many poor
to maintain and that the inhabitants of (b) being the next
hamlet and both in the parish of {c) have but few. Whereupon

^ Gamier, Annals of British Peasantry, p. 228.

' 1660, Orders of Sessions, vol. v (names omitted by copyist), County
Hall, Warwickshire.

CH. IV] ASSESSMENT AND RATING 55

it was proved that the said inhabitants of {b) might contribute
to the maintenance of the poor of [a). It is therefore ordered
that the said inhabitants of {b) shall from henceforth contribute
to the maintenance of the poor of {a) until they shall show
cause to the contrary at the next general Sessions of the Peace
to be holden for this county.'

But even this instance of the rate in aid in the seventeenth
century applies to two hamlets within one parish, and is strictly
limited as to the period of the application ; and in the eigh-
teenth century, as we have seen, no example is recorded.

Villiers, however, reported that in each of the four counties
(including Warwickshire) which he visited, forty years before
1832, there were certain parishes which had no rates for poor
relief ; and some of the old people were persuaded, with great
difficulty, to accept relief, so that the parish might not be
called on to assist other less fortunate communities in the
Hundred. But such a device could not have effectively with-
stood the power of the Justices if they had been really eager
to equalize the burden of the Poor Rates. Evidently the pre-
vailing opinion of the governing classes was in favour of a
purely parochial basis for Poor Law rating.

It might be expected that there would be some connexion
between the valuation for the Poor Rates and the Land Taxes
during the eighteenth century. Certainly those who were
responsible for the collection and payment of rates and taxes
believed a connexion to exist. There is proof of this in the
minutes of a Vestry meeting in Tysoe in 1746. A resolution
was passed :

' The Overseers of the Poor to provide a book, the present
Assessments of the Land Tax to be recorded in it and all
subsequent assessments. The officers to continue the respec-
tive rates agreeable to the Assessment, the overseers to record
one levy in the year.' ' No parish officer for the future to
make any alteration in assessment or levy without order from
the Commissioners or Justices, or if any such order, that order
to be recorded in the book.'

As late as the year 1804, instructions were given to the
Assessors of a Land and Property Tax under an Act of 1801
that no assessment was to be below that alloted for the

56 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. iv

Poor Rates. Where the Poor Rate was based on the ' Rack
Rent ', the Property Tax was to follow the Poor Rate, and
where the Poor Rate followed a ' proportion ', the Property
Tax was to follow from the proportion to the full value.^ And
in 1799 a Tysoe Vestry ordered ' that the Collectors of the
Taxes on Sunday immediately following the day of paying
the Taxes into the hands of the Receiver General do call a
Vestry and submit the Receipt of the Receiver General and
the state of arrears, to the inspection of the principal inhabi-
tants of the parish, who shall put the Receipt into the Parish
Chest '.

Even more curious than this is the fact that the overseers
paid on behalf of the parish, not only the Land Taxes on pro-
perty owned by the parish, but also the levies which had been
made on persons who had become paupers. In 1799 the
accounts give this item : ' Paid John Judge's arrears of Taxes
;^9 75. lid. and £g 12s. 6d.' And ' To the collectors of House,
Window, and Land Tax, late John Dyer being in arrears,
£2 10s. oi.' This was probably done to obviate the necessity
for redistribution of the Land Taxes, as the parish was obliged
to make up its quota.

The overseers also regularly received a sum of money
described as a surplus from the Land Taxes. It was consis-
tently devoted to the destruction of sparrows, snakes, and
adders. The first entry of receipt is as follows : ' 1768
received of Thos. Gardner the overplus money of the Land
Tax £4 95. 0^.' And the payments are recorded similar to
this : ' To Martin Cole out of the overplus money of the Land
Tax the money paid out of his pocket for sparrows, snakes and
adders £2 2s. od.' It may have been that ' |- and ^ quarter
pound of 2 shots ii^d.^ were also purchased for the same
purpose.

However, there was never an assessment for the Land Tax
which was exactly similar to that for the Poor Rates. There
may have been a principle connecting them which was
eminently intelligible and useful in the eighteenth century,
but which cannot be discovered at the present time. In 1775
* Assessor's Warrant, Parish Safe, Tysoe Church.

CH. IV] ASSESSMENT AND RATING 57

the valuation for the Land Tax would be £1,224 ^9^- 4id., as
the amount paid was £245 195. lo^d. ; while, calculating on
the amount collected by the levies, the Poor Rate valuation
would be approximately £3,000. By 1779 the amount of
Land Tax paid by the parish was £327 195. lod., and at that
figure it remained till 1832, thus throughout this period the
valuation would be £1,639 ^9-^- 2^. The Poor Rate valuation
during the same years rose from £3,000 in 1790 to £5,600 in
1820, and fell again to £3,580 in 1826.

There is no traceable connexion between the rental value of
the land and the rateable value as given in the assessments.
Records are preserved of rents drawn from land amounting
to 1,340 acres, or nearly one-third of the parish.

Approximate Rateable Value.

1727

;^2,020

1735

£i,7S6

1740

£3,700

1750

£2,670

1760

£2,700

1770

;{3,000

1780

£3,000

1790

;^3,000

i8cx)

;^4,l6o

1810

/4,l6o

1816

/5,50o

1820

;^5,6oo

1826

£3,580

1830

;^3,8oo

Calculating these

as one-third:

Rents of

rents of the

1,340 acres.

whole parish.

1803

£h700

;^S,IOO

1811

£2aZo

£7,AAO

1817

i2,220

;^6,66o

1822

;£l,868

;^S,6o4

1828

£2,200

£6,6CM

1845

£h970

;^5,9io

Thus the Poor Rate Assessment was based upon some
customary or fictitious value which is not ascertainable at
present. Assessments in Warwickshire were usually based on
a proportion of two-thirds, three-fourths, or five-ninths of the
rental value,^ and Tysoe seems to have followed the county
custom. Even when the assessments profess to give the rents
of the various items, they are manifestly false. For instance,
the assessments in 1832 for both the Poor Rate and the Land
Tax specify the rents of the various items. These are the par-
ticulars :
Poor Rate Assessment. 1832.

No. of items loi. Rents £3,809 175. 6d. Real rent of
parish according to calculation £6,000.

' Villiers, Report on Watwckshire : Report of Poor Law Commission,
1834, Evidence ; Appendix A, Part II.

58 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. iv

Land Tax Assessment, 1832.

No. of items 112. Rents £3,233 195, od. Real rent
£6,000.

Thus the only agreement is to reduce the rental value to the
lowest possible limit. Certainly the Poor Rate Assessment of
1828 gives the rents as £4,034, but in reality they must have
amounted to well over £6,000. These figures suggest that
the estimate was made on the basis of two-thirds of the real
value ; but that proportion will not be found to hold good in
all instances.

New assessments were made several times during the
eighteenth century, but the records are very meagre. The
first seems to have been made in 1744, when an entry occurs :
' spent with the Churchwardens when we went to consult
about the rate.' A similar item occurs in 1797 : ' spent when
we went to meet the Commissioners at Edge Hill about the
Poor Levies ' ; but there follows a definite entry of an assess-
ment :

' An assessment for the necessary relief of the Poor and
for other purposes in the several Acts of Parliament mentioned
relating to the Poor for the Parish of Tysoe in the County of
Warwick made and assessed the 23rd day of April 1797.
Being the first rate at eightpencef in the pound.'

This was made entirely by local people, among whom the
constable was prominent. With the exception of tithes, neither
this nor any other assessment mentions a levy upon anything
except land, buildings, and woods.

Indeed, not all the cottages were rated. Those occupied
by independent owners were made liable, as we learn from the
mention of 14 ' labourers ' in an assessment of 1826 ; but the
cottages let to the poor by the parish, and by other owners,
could not have been rated, for the total number of items in
the levies is never more than 112. There is, however, an
entry of 1766, which records that the parish took a cottage for
pauper occupation from one Thos. Savage ' provided that he
pays all dues and levies '. But this was most probably a
special case : a glance at any typical rate list will show that
it could not have been normal. In 1828 there were 102 rate-

CH. IV] ASSESSMENT AND RATING 59

payers and 112 items, 58 of which were described as ' house,
buildings, and land ', 10 as ' land ', and 44 as ' house and
garden ', and, judging by the amounts paid, we may safely
say that just over half of the last number were labourers'
cottages.

The ' levies ', as they were called, varied in different years,
but they grew both in amount and frequency. In 1727 there
were three levies each of 2d. in the £, and in 1739 there is a
record of ' a monthly rate for the maintenance of the poor of
^d. in the £ '. By 1767 there were nine levies at 2d. in the £ :
in 1788 twelve at 4^., and in 1800 fourteen at lod. and one
at 25. 6d. The decisions of the overseers regarding the
levying of rates were not always accepted without demur by
the ratepayers, for in 1739, after the overseers had passed
a levy, a special Vestry meeting was called which decided that
the order should be cancelled. Generally the orders for levies
were only authorized by the overseers ; but sometimes the
book was signed by the churchwardens and a number of the
ratepayers.

Some entries, similar to those in the overseers' expenses for
1761 and 1815, show that it was not uncommon for levy-dues
to have been imposed on persons who had become paupers.
Thus : ' Paid five levies of Ed. Ward y^d.' ; and 'To William
Caldicott for money's lost by John Ainge in Poor Levies
£3 12s. 6d. and £2 2s. od.' Ainge was a farmer who failed in
business. He was handsomely treated by his overseer friends,
for they attended the sale of his furniture and bought, at the
expense of the parish, a goodly supply for a new home ; and
in addition to that paid him about £10 which was due to him
for hauling the parish coals.

Appeals and prosecutions were very rare indeed. The
most costly appeal occurred in 1811, when it is recorded that
£25 was ' paid to Mr. Godson and Mr. Kinman (both residents
of Tysoe), for estimating Mr. Miles Tennant's property and
going to Warwick to attend sessions '. The other appeals did
not cost much, and were concerned only with small sums.
In 1798 two entries of expenses occur : ' Expenses of myself
and others going to Justices with Thos. Turner, Wm. Walker

6o POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. iv

and Jno. Dixon and others about paying their levies 145. 5cf. ' ;
and, ' Deducted Richard Tarver's and Ann Watt's Poor Levies
allowed by the Justices, 14,?. 4^.' Thus in the year after the
Enclosure Award, and after the first definite assessment,, there
was more trouble over appeals than in all the other years in
the whole of the century.

The machinery for rating purposes must have worked very
smoothly, despite the complexity which strikes the modern
observer ; and there can be no doubt that the overseers, and
ratepayers who understood the system, were perfectly satisfied
with it so long as it succeeded in conceahng the real value of
the lands and property. Villiers said that no sound reason
was ever assigned for the complexity of the assessments ; ^
but it seems probable that the fear of taxation during the
Napoleonic wars was quite sufficient reason for falsifying the
value of any property as readily taxable as land and houses.

^ Appendix A, Part II, Evidence, Poor Law Commission, 1834. ViUiers's
Report on Warwickshire. See Rents and Rates.

CHAPTER V

SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL

From the date of the pubhcation of Adam Smith's Inquiry
into the nature and causes of the Wealth of Nations to the
present day, much controversy has raged round the supposed
effect of the settlement provisions in English Poor Laws.
Adam Smith was of opinion that it was often ' more difficult
for a poor man to pass the artificial boundary of a parish than
an arm of the sea or a ridge of high mountains '}

On the opposite side Howlett and Eden, English contem-
poraries of Adam Smith, adduce the rapid growth of the
English manufacturing towns, and statistical tables on the
birth-places of immigrants.^ Dr. W. Hasbach writes that
' little can be said for these measures, but they were far from
doing as much harm as was done by the corn laws and poor laws
proper '.^ Fowle writes of the Settlement Act : ' By this Act
it may with truth be said that the iron of slavery entered into
the soul of the English labourer, and made him cling to his
parish like a shipwrecked sailor to his raft.' * And in his
Annals of the British Peasantry, Garnier entitles his chapter
on settlement ' When parishes were prisons '. If the problem
be considered, as it is by Hasbach, mainly from the point of
view of the able-bodied male labourer who could command
employment, the settlement regulations may not seem to
deserve the strictures of Adam Smith and others ; but from
the point of view of general social conditions, they deserve
the most severe criticism.

Complaints as to the evil conditions of rural housing have
been incessant during the nineteenth century, and it has
always been stated that the conditions are worse in the open

* Bohn's edition, 1887, vol. i, p. 147.

' Eden, State of the Poor, vol. i, pp. 181 and 296.

' History of the English Agricultural Labourer, London, 1908, p. 174.

* T. W. Fowle, The Poor Law, 1894, p. 63.

62 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

than in the close villages.^ ' The close villages are show
places, where dwell the squire's retainers, shepherds, gardeners,
and keepers. A few miles away lies the open village with
miserable huts, neglected cabbage gardens, and inhabitants
who seek work for miles round.' ^ Besides this the Settlement
Act was also responsible for the conditions which made
necessary and possible the system of organizing gangs of
agricultural labourers,^ a system which is among the darkest
stains on the history of the rural counties in the nineteenth
century.*

It is interesting to study the growth of the principle that
each parish should maintain its own poor. Its real origin is
probably to be found in the earliest type of village community.
In the form of law the provisions for settlement were formulated
directly under the sway of feudalism ; but it was the funda-
mental rule of primitive society which gave rise to the prin-
ciple that the people had a right to provide themselves with
sustenance from the communal lands, and, in case of inability
to make such provision for themselves, to be provided for from
the fruit of the lands. The lack of some such rule would have
made social order impossible ; and all provisions for relief of
paupers, especially of the able-bodied, are to some extent
influenced by the fear that the rights of property may be
affected by individual depredations or armed revolt. The
unnecessary or anti-social person in a savage community may
be killed or left to starve, but in civilized societies every

* The Second Report on the Earnings of Agricultural Labourers, 1905,
says : ' The condition of the open villages at the present time does not
appear to be equal to that of the close villages. Cottages in the open
villages are often inferior in construction and condition, and are often
rented higher. They not infrequently belong to small owners who have
invested savings in them. It will be readily understood that such owners
have generally a very small margin, if any, available to spend in repairs
or additions.' But it must be remembered that there are social as well
as economic considerations which affect the life of the villages. There is
a fascination for certain minds in the idea of a close village under a benefi-
cent landlord (Kebbel, The Agricultural Labourer, 1893, p. 85) which
does not appeal to would-be independent minded people who have to live
in the model cottages.

^ W. Hasbach, History of the English Agricultural Labourer, App. V, 400.

' Ibid., 195.

" See Report on Employment of Children, Young Persons, and Women
in Agriculture, 186S.

CH. v] SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL 63

criminal cannot be killed, and, if punished, must be maintained ;
therefore the f oodless must be allowed a minimum of subsistence
to prevent their becoming criminals. ' Thus it is an admitted
maxim of social polity that the first charge on land must
always be the maintenance of the people reared upon it.' ^

As the manorial system developed and free men became
serfs, the villager's right to subsistence developed into the
right of the lord to the labour of the serf. This in its turn
entailed the duty of maintenance ; or, if no such duty were
recognized, at least an inducement to maintain the chattel
for actual economic advantage. It is probable that such
relief as was necessary under the manorial system was pro-
vided from three sources : the stock of the lord of the manor,
the charity of neighbours, and the third part of the tithes of
the Church.^ The first legal provisions for settlement occur
in 1388 (12 Richard II, c. 7), and apply to labourers, who were
not to remove from the place in which they were dwelling.

Considering the social conditions of the period there can be
little doubt that this Act was intended to safeguard the rights
of the feudal lords. But as feudalism, with its customary and
legal institutions, fell into decay, the ecclesiastical parish and
its system of government became the medium of civil adminis-
tration and of poor relief. During the fifteenth century social
conditions improved, and the industrious labourers seem to
have been satisfied with their lot ; for the Acts dealing with
settlement, after that of 1388, were concerned exclusively
with beggars and vagrants. It is a significant feature of
these vagrancy laws that legal settlement was not confined to
the parish or manor, but that the hundred might be made
the area within which the vagrants could live, move, and be
maintained.

Both II Henry VII, c. 2, and 19 Henry VII, c. 12, distinctly
mention the hundred as the unit for settlement purposes.
This was quite natural ; for the monasteries were largely
responsible for the relief of these strolling persons, and the
sphere of their ministrations was by no means confined to

' History of Poor Law, Sir George Nicholls, vol. i, p. 2.

• R. M. Garnier, Annals of the British Peasantry, 1892, pp. 84 and 85.

64 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

a village, or even a town. Particularly in rural parts, the
district served by the ecclesiastical houses would correspond
much more nearly to the area of the hundred than the parish.
Concurrent with the reformation of the Church, the destruction
of the monasteries, and the growth of economic freedom among
the lower classes, there was a revival of the spirit and form
of the ancient village community as opposed to the economic
system of feudalism and the monastic organization of the
Church. The first explicit statement of parochialism is found
in 27 Henry VIII, c. 25, which enacted that every parish
neglecting to put its poor and idle people to work should
* forfeit 20 shillings monthly '. This Act was soon followed
by I Edward VI, c. 3, which expressly directed all vicars to
exhort their parishioners to relieve all those ' horyi in the same
parish ' who needed help.

The Act of 1572 (14 Eliz., c. 5) deviated from the narrow
restrictions of the two preceding measures, used the Justices
as the direct administrators of its provisions, and transferred
the burden of maintenance from the parish to the inhabitants
of the divisions within the jurisdiction of the various justices.
The directors of social policy in the Elizabethan period were
too enlightened to place undue restraint on the movement of
labour for fear of inflicting hardship on individual parishes ;
and yet the Settlement Act of 1662 was the inevitable result
of the measure of 1601.^ The system of relief was still
parochial and the amount was adjusted to different scales in
the various villages ; and therefore, since the poor naturally
sought the place where they would be treated most generously,
some parishes found it profitable to be negligent and so induce
the poor to leave them.

^ The President of the Poor Law Board, Mr. Villiers, M.P., introducing
the Union Chargeability Act of 1865, said that during the great inquiry
of 1832-4 in wiiich he took part he received an impression that ' the
abuses, mismanagement, and malpractices which the inquiry disclosed
were, more or less, directly or indirectly to be attributed to the laws of
settlement and removal. — Fifteen thousand arbitrary divisions, each
saddled with the burden of maintaining the poor within its own limits,
and each trying to cast its burdens upon others, without the slightest
regard to the interests, the morals or the wellbeing of the poor in any
respect ; that is the history — or at least the character — of the Poor Law
for two centuries ' (Hansard, vol. 177, p. 469).

CH. v] SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL 65

The principle of the Settlement Act regarding relief was
aptly stated by Villiers in his report on Warwickshire in
1834 • * The law assumes some definite relations between the
poor and the property out of which they are to be maintained,
or of some resource of visible and local property that can be
expanded with the exigencies of the charge.' The Commis-
sioners of 1834 reported that the view of the pauper was that
' the land, to use his own expression, is to maintain him, and
it is not his business to inquire whether he is wanted elsewhere,
or whether he is an encumbrance where he is '} The largest
landed proprietors were the legislators themselves, and they
would not, for the sake of making labour conditions more
elastic, give up the right to command labour which they had
acquired under the feudal system and the Act of 1388. Their
prerogative was ' an interest vested in the hands of the
seigniorial class, and had become the common property of
a district. A communal system of land tenure had ceased to
exist ; a communal system of agriculture was also ceasing ;
but a communal system of labour had obtained too firm
a hold of our rural economy to be suddenly upset '.^ This was
not the worst. The Act of 1662 followed directly the tradition
and the spirit of the old vagrancy laws. It made no real
distinction between the honest worker who might desire, for
sufficient personal and social reasons, to remove from his
native place, and the lazy vagabond who was a social parasite
living by craft or crime. Indeed, one of the minor provisions
of the Settlement Act was adopted almost bodily from the
cruel vagrancy laws of the sixteenth century.

An Act of 1547 provided that an able-bodied poor person
who did not apply himself to honest labour, or offer to serve
even for meat and drink, should be taken for a vagabond, and
be branded on the shoulder with a letter V. Any person could
demand the unemployed, and if they refused to work for
bread and water could whip them or chain them. If they ran
away they were to be branded with a letter S and adjudged
as slaves for life. In 1662 it was enacted that every person

' Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834, p. 155.

' R. M. Garnier, Annals of the British Peasantry, p. 248.

(part VI) w. V. F

66 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

receiving parish pay should wear upon his sleeve a badge made
of red or blue cloth bearing ' a roman P ' (signifying ' pauper ')
and the initial of his parish. Criminals and unfortunates were
thus treated with equal ignominy. The parish of Tysoe used
this provision with rigour during the early part of the eighteenth
century and to some extent during the latter part. The
records of overseers' payments in 1746 and 1749 give expendi-
ture as follows :

' Cloth, thread and making badges, 25. 8^d.
Paid for making 6 town letters, cloth, &c., 15. 8^i,'

Other entries give similar details.

The general conditions upon which settlement could be
established were laid down in 13-14 Chas. II, c. 12, and
certain amendments were made in later Acts, which, however,
are not of great importance. The rights of settlement accorded
to persons coming into a parish had not much bearing on
poor relief, for the conditions governing them almost precluded
the possibihty of such settlers becoming paupers. Untold
injustice, expense, and misery were inflicted both on parishes
and paupers by the power of the authorities to remove such
persons as could not qualify for legal settlement. The pro-
visions for settlement and removal did not effectually check
the fluidity of labour ; but, besides being vexatious, they
enabled one parish landlord or farmer to benefit himself at
the expense of others.^ For example, instances can be traced
in the records of Tysoe which show that men migrated to
places like London, Leicester, and Birmingham, and there
spent the best part of their working lives. When they had
given their best to the communities to which they had removed,
and were unable to maintain themselves any longer, the parish
of Tysoe, to which they may have stood in the position of
debtors, had to maintain them.

Wedge, writing in 1794, said of Warwickshire :

* The rapid growth of manufactories in this county, the
greatly decreased value of money, and a continual increase
of poor's rates are incontestible facts ; but I am inclined to

* Chap, ii, p. 28.

CH. v] SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL 67

believe that the latter does not arise in country villages from
any want of industry or effort in the labouring poor. . . .
A vast number of those who are employed in manufacturing
towns are parishioners of different villages (particularly those
in their vicinity), and whenever infirmity, old age, or check in
trade happens, these men are not supported by those who
have had the benefit of their labour, but are sent for subsistence
to their respective parishes.' ^

However, several of the settlement provisions were opera-
tive, notably those dealing with marriage, birth, apprentice-
ship, labourers' certificates, and settlement by hiring. As
regards settlement by service, Tysoe, owing to its large area
and extreme openness, would be in a bad position. Villiers
proves by two Warwickshire instances that no settlements
were gained by male servants in close villages, because
regulations were made against hiring them for the full year.
In two other cases of open villages, settlements were gained
by both servants and apprentices. There are no records of
settlements obtained by servants in Tysoe ; indeed, there is
only one clear record of settlement at all (that of an apprentice),
although there must have been many actual cases, particu-
larly those gained by marriage. An item of expenditure in
1775 shows that the parish tried to rid itself of persons by
assisting them to obtain places as servants : ' To Mary
Wigson going to Kington Mop to set Eliz White 6i.' And
further items : ' To John Wilks' wife to take her to Birming-
ham to a place of service 45.' (1817) ; and ' To Richard Cole
as allowed by the Vestry to take his family to London,
£5 55. od.' In 1817 a meeting of the parishioners was called
' about hiring servants ' which cost £1 4s. 8^d. in * expenses '.
Unfortunately no minute of proceedings was made ; but there
can be no doubt that the meeting was convened to draw up rules
against hiring farm-servants from the surrounding parishes.

In the church safe there is preserved the indenture of an
apprentice who gained a settlement ; and probably there
were other similar cases. The indenture runs as follows :

' We (the overseers of Market Raisin) by these presents do

put and place William Berry a poor child of the said parish

* General View of the Agriculture of the County of Warwick, 1794, p. 24.

68 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

apprentice to Wm. Bootheby, Husbandman and Weaver,
with him to dwell and serve from the day of the date of these
presents until the said apprentice shall accomplish his full
age of four-and-twenty years, according to the statute in that
case made and provided : During all which term the said
apprentice his said master faithfully shall serve in all lawful
business according to his power, wit, and ability : And
honestly, orderly, and obediently in all things behave and
demean himself towards his said master and all his during the
said term. . . . That the said Wm, Bootheby, the said apprentice
in the art of a weaver shall and will teach and instruct or cause
to be taught or instructed, and shall and will during all the
said term aforesaid, find, provide, and allow unto the said
apprentice, meet, competent and sufficient meat, drink, apparel
and lodging, washing and all other things necessary and fit
for an apprentice. And also shall provide for the said appren-
tice that he be not in any way a charge to the said parish or
parishioners of the same ; but of and from all charge shall
and will save the said parish or parishioners harmless and
indemnified during the said term, and at the end of the term,
shall and will make, provide, and allow and deliver unto the
said apprentice double apparel of all sorts, good and new,
(that is to say) a good new suit for the Holydays and another
for the working days.'

To this the parish under consideration responded by placing
in neighbouring parishes all its apprentices who were inden-
tured. From 1727 to 1827 there would not be more than
twenty of these, although there were within the same parish
many apprenticeships to husbandry, without indenture. A
good example of this placing out occurs in 1772, Septem-
ber 2 1st :

* Esau Hartwell at Richard Turners at the Toll Gate on
Edge Hill, to Robert Hunt of Horley, Oxfordshire, Worsted
Weaver, at eighteenpence a week to old May Day next.
Tysoe parish to find him in all manner of wearing apparel,
both linnon and woolon, likewise shoes.'

Two years later this boy was again let to the same master,
so that he evidently was not removed at the end of his first
term. In some cases boys were let to masters previous to
actual apprenticeship. In 1728 one R. Pratt was let, and in
1734 occurs the item : ' Spent when R, Pratt's indentures

CH. v] SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL 69

were sealed.' The placing out of indentured apprentices is
not confined to any particular period, but reappears at various
intervals. Why, it may be asked, were some of the children
indentured as apprentices to handicraft, and others let to
farmers } The best explanation seems to be that one of the
various charities in the village occasionally found money for
particular boys (probably educated at the charity school) who
had become orphans, and therefore paupers.

Before we proceed to consider how the powers of removal
operated, we must first glance at the vagrancy provisions, for
they were the real foundation of the rules for removing the
honest but pauperized labourer. 13 Anne, c. 26, and other
Acts, made provision for dealing with rogues and vagabonds,
but the actual administrative regulations are shown by an
order of the Warwickshire Quarter Sessions, Michaelmas, 1709,

' Whereas by a late Act of Parliament made in the nth and
I2th years of his late Majesty, entitled an Act for the more
effective punishment of vagrants and sending them whither
by law they ought to be sent, it was recited that whereas many
parts of this kingdom are extraordinarily oppressed by the
casual method of conveying vagabonds or beggars from parish
to parish in a dilatory manner whereby such vagabonds or
beggars in hope of relief from every parish through which they
are conducted are encouraged to spend their lives in wandering
from one part of this kingdom to another and to delude divers
charitable persons very frequently forge or counterfeit passes,
testimonials, and characters, whereby the charitable intentions
of such persons are often abused. It was therefore enacted
that from and after the 17th of June 1700, every vagabond,
beggar, or any other person whatever, who shall be brought
to any constable, headborough, tithing-man, or any other
officer, with any pass, testimonial, letter of request or any
other writing whatever, pretending thereby to be relieved or
conveyed, that all such persons shall by such constable or
officer or other sufficient person whom he shall order or depute
be taken before some Justice of the Peace of every such county
wherein they shall arrive who inhabits or resides nearest the
town or place where such vagabonds shall first appear or be
brought before the constable or other officer. Which J. P. shall
carefully and diligently examine them, and if he finds them
such persons as ought to be punished he is then required to
send them to the House of Correction and take such further

70 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

course of the law with them as the law in such case directs.
Or if they are not such persons, then to order them immediately
out of the said county to such towns of the next county into
or through which such persons are to pass or be conveyed, as
such Justices may think most proper. And every officer is
hereby required accordingly to convey them either to the
House of Correction or such town of the said county as afore-
said without delay. And the J. P. is hereby further required
to give the said constable a certificate without fees of the
number of such vagabonds whom he shall so order to be
punished or conveyed, as also the manner how, when, and
from whom such persons are to be conveyed and whether
by cart, horse, or foot : And what number of persons any
constable or officer has occasion to employ to bring such per-
sons or vagabonds to the House of Correction or next county
as aforesaid. And to the intent that every such person or
officer may be fully paid and satisfied for his loss of time and
his expenses in the execution of this Act, it is hereby enacted
that the J. P. shall tax on the back-side of such certificate
a reasonable and sufficient allowance for his trouble and
expenses, which certificate the said constable shall deliver to
the Chief Constable of that Division who is ordered forthwith,
out of the sums of the Gaol and Marshalsea money he shall
receive, to pay such sums as are taxed upon each certificate
and take receipt of each constable for the sums. Which
receipt the Chief Constable shall deliver to the Treasurer of the
County at the next Quarter Sessions. The treasurer shall
account the same with those, the Chief Constable taking the
said receipts and certificates which shall always be allowed
here upon the General Account of the Treasurer. And in
case the Gaol and Marshalsea Money be not sufficient after
having discharged the purposes for which it is raised, to reim-
burse the expense and satisfy the allowances as is hereby
required, it is further ordered that the Justices in Quarter
Sessions shall have power to raise moneys upon their respective
counties and divisions in which they are impowered to act by
their respective commissions, in such manner as they raise it
for the County Gaols and Bridges. To satisfy the expenses
and allowances the money as raised shall quarterly be paid
to the Chief Constable of each division, so that the said Chief
Constable shall have a quarter's payment in their hands
before hand. And as often as the petty constable or deputy
shall produce the said certificates of his expenditure and
allowances to the Chief Constable of the Division under the
hands and seals of the J. P., the said Chief Constable is required

CH. v] SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL 71

to pay the said charges according to the certificates which he
must take and account for at the next Quarter Sessions as
aforesaid. And it is further enacted that the petty constable
shall not charge the inhabitants of his constabulary with
any sums of money or any provision toward the conveyance
of such rogues and vagabonds. And that any constable
neglecting to apprehend such vagrants or wandering beggars
or be remiss or negligent in doing his duty as by the Act
required, shall for every such offence forfeit the sum of 20s.
One fourth part thereof shall go to the informer and the
other three parts to the poor of the parish wherein the offence
is committed. The sum to be levied by distress and sale of
the goods of such offender by warrant under the hands and
seal of any J. P. of the county who is impowered and requested
to hear and determine the said offence by the oath of one
witness as is declared by the Act of Parliament recited.

In pursuance of the said Act of Parliament it is this day
ordered by the court that the several Chief Constables within
this county make out the precepts to the several petty con-
stables and headboroughs, or of the constabularies within
their divisions, thereby charging them to their respective
parts and proportions of the sum of £150, which said Chief
Constables and petty constables and headboroughs are forth-
with to levy and collect the same and pay the same to the
Chief Constables, who are forthwith to pay over the same to
the Treasurer who is to pay and dispose the same according
to the said Act and give account thereof to this court.'

This, with two smaller orders following, put the conveyance
of vagrants outside the duties of the Poor Law officers proper.
To them was left the sole duty of relieving those who were not
prosecuted or conveyed on their journeyings. An order of
Quarter Sessions, Easter, 1709, declared :

' It is ordered by this court that it be recommended to His
Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the county that they will
be pleased to see that the orders made by this court relating
to their certificates for conveying vagrants be strictly obeyed.
And they are desired especially in the future time, (that is to
say) from the first day of May to the first day of October
yearly, provided that the ways are good and passable, to order
that vagabonds be conveyed in carts when that way of con-
veyance will make it cheaper for the county, and not to allow
any constable, for conveying any vagrants from Willoughby
for any more than eight and twenty in lots.'

72 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

And the final order of Michaelmas, 1709, states :

' That whereas W. Bright, constable, . . . hath this day in
open court declared that he is willing to undertake the con-
veyance of vagrants through this county for £150 per year, it
is therefore thought fit and so ordered that the said W. Bright
shall have the said £150 paid him for the year ensuing
for the conveyance of vagrants. Which said sum shall be
paid to him for the cause aforesaid by the treasurer of the
stock of this county.' ^

Very soon after these orders were made, the burden of
conveying vagrants about the county was definitely trans-
ferred from the parish to two officials regularly appointed.

The principle upon which vagrants were relieved was, that
irrespective of residence or settlement, actual destitution
entitles any person to relief ; and it was the duty of poor law
oflEicials to see that all necessary and reasonable arrangements
were made for affording every such person the requisite relief
whether in food, clothing, medical attendance, or lodging.^
The prevailing practice of relief during the century under
consideration can be well illustrated by a series of items of
expenditure from the account books of the Tysoe overseers.

i s. d.

1728. Gave to a travelling woman ..... 2

1729. Gave to vagabonds six in company . . . . 16

1741. Paid for a thrave ' of straw for Lightfoot's bed . . 9
Bed and beer for Lightfoot's children . . . 2 9I

1742. To men with a pass being 22 in company . . . 10
Gave to a travelling woman being great ... 6

1744. Gave to three seamen ...... 6

Paid the baker a soldier's expenses and lodgings . 6

1751. To disbanding soldiers to pay quartering ... 6

1769. To a traveller at my door ..... •6

1 780. To a tramping man by consent of the constable and others 2 o
To a man with a pass ......10

1782. To a traveller with a letter of request ... 6

1783. To a man with a foot pass . . . . . 10
1790. To Anthony Walker's children 2 boltens * of wheat straw

for a bed ........ 6

1795. To My Landlord Watts for ale that was had when we went

to take the trampers in Sugarswell Lane . . 13 4

To a trespass warrant to take vagabonds ... 6

' Orders in Sessions, Warwickshire, 1 709.

' Poor Law Board Report, vol. xii, p. loi. * See Note 4.

* A ' thrave ' would contain the straw of twenty sheaves of wheat and
would weigh on an average f of a cwt. A ' bolten ' was a bundle of an
average weight of 22^ lb., or five per cwt. '

CH. v] SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL 73

I 5- d.

181 1. Relief of soldier's wife with a pass by order of Mr. Moody

(Justice of Peace) ...... i o

1812. To George King the travelling porpor and his family .330
1814. Gave to 5 men in distress on the road . . .50
1821. To a man with a pass ......10

1823. Paid Mr. Malsbury for 9 sailors . . . . .40

1825. Paid to soldiers' wives on passes . . . .213

This representative series of payments shows that relief of
vagrancy continued in the latter part of the century in the
same form as in the earlier part, and the amount of expendi-
ture did not vary to any considerable extent. In most years
a few pounds would be spent on this account.

Although there are no records to show that vagrancy was
very severely repressed, entries like the following make it
plain that the trampers' lot was far from happy : ' To Isaac
Cole, horse and self going to Stratford and Warwick and given
to the Coroner for the man that was found dead in the

meadow, 105.' ^ Again, ' Paid the expenses of having

a child and being found dead in a ditch. Jury, &c., £2 os. id.' ^
These are not extraordinary occurrences ; on the contrary,
they are painfully frequent. Otherwise the evidence points
to the fact that the eighteenth-century vagrants, like those
of the present day, were personally known to local people, and
they seem to have had regular rounds like their modern
disciples in the cult of the simple life.^

From 1662 till after the passing of 35 George III, c. loi
(1795), the parish of Tysoe carried on the process of removal
in much the same way as other parishes. But it would be
unsafe to assert positively whether it did or did not remove
labourers and settlers before they became paupers. I am
inclined to think that it did not till after 1760. And after 1795
labour could circulate freely — if it would * — because settlers
could not be removed till they had actually become chargeable
on the parish. There were very few forcible removals from

' Overseers' Accounts, 1782. * Overseers' Accounts, 1763.

' The Poor Law Commission reported in 1834 : ' Vagrancy has actually
been converted into a trade, and not an unprofitable one ; and it also
appears that the severity and increasing burden arises from vagrants by
trade and not from those on account of destitution ' (p. 338).

* See 1834 Report, p. 156.

74 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

Tysoe between 1727 and 1760. The most active period was
between 1756 and 1795, when there was heavy expenditure
for both horse-hire and legal advice : and though the expenses
fall off after 1795, there is no diminution in the number of
removals. The parish often made provision for persons who
were returned to it for settlement by arranging that they
should stay in the parish in which they lately resided and
receive a regular allowance from Tysoe. The frequency of
cases and the expenditure upon them will be shown by a series
of accounts for typical years during the three periods 1727-

1756, 1756-1795, 1795-1827.

C s. d.
1727-1733. 7 years.
1 727-1 728. Expenses at Warwick Sessions . . . .500

Spent discharging people of settlement . . 10

Another case tried by Justices finally settled a man

upon Tysoe cost . . . . . . i 10 o

1 728-1 729. Sent by the hand of W. Newman of Camden to Honor

Freeman. (These payments occur fortnightly.) 6 o

Jan. 26. Spent when Ilmington officers brought Geo. Archer

with an order ...... 18

Spent when we went before Mr. Watkins (J.P.) about

H. Wilkin's settlement .... 3 o

Paid to Mr. Lampett Mander (solicitor) the money
he laid out for W. Davis' order and his own
charges ....... 69

1729-1730. Sent to Geo. Archer at Ilmington ... 26

Paid expenses of a warrant .... 26

Sent to Baskott (fortnightly) .... 40

1730-1 73 1. Two women, Ann Appleby and Mary Clark, were
taken before justices to prove settlement but
remained in the parish and continued to be
relieved. House rent was paid for Clark at the
rate of is. per fortnight and a spinning wheel
was purchased for her at a cost of . . 6 6

1 731-1732. Spent going to Justices' meeting ... 17

1732-1733. No case, no expenditure.
1733-1734. Taking Thomas Tysoe before justices ... 34

1 777-1 783. 6 years.
1 777-1778. To Mr. Bignoll the attorney examining J. Anderton

about settlement ..... 66

Smith's case, lawyer, &c. . . . . . 14 6

Going for J. Long to have him to Warwick Sessions

about settlement . . . . • i 13 5

Four paupers living in neighbouring village per week 7 6

1 778-1 779. Expenses going to have J. Anderton to Sessions

concerning settlement . . . . . i 12 6

Expense at Warwick . . . . . .1116

Paid for a letter from W. White at Reading . . 7

CH, V]

SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL

\TjZ-\TJ(j. To White and family to go back to Reading

To Mr. Greenway — his bill for counsel and self for
a cause that was tryed at Easter Sessions with
the inhabitants of Brandon, they bringing J.
Anderton and family to our parish with an
order, he not having gained a legal settlement
among us. And counsel's opinion on Jno.
Pilkington's examination that his settlement
is here .......

To myself charges removing Jno. Spicer and wife
to settlement ......

1779-1780- Myself, going to Whatcote to fetch Thos. Smith's
goods . . . . . . .

Four letters from White, Reading

To White's family at times ....

^ Spent going to Banbury for advice from attorney

about militia man's family ....

Spent going to Warwick Sessions to the treasurer
to have the money that Wldte has had he being
in the Berkshire Militia * . . .

One out resident pauper cost
1 780-1 78 1. Spent when Stephen Wilks' family came to the Red
Lion .......

Horse hire and expenses when we sweared J. Bister
to his settlement ....

Eating and drinking when J. Bister was kept a
prisoner ......

Paid for a license to marry J, Bister with .

Paid for justice's order ....

Mitimus, &c., on J. B.'s acct.

Warrant to take J. B. .

For backing at the Justices' meeting .

Minister and clerk marrying J. B.

Witnesses from Harbury day's work and dinner

Ale and liquor ......

Guarding J. B. .

Carrying J. B. and his wife to Harbury

Horses, guards, &c., J. B.'s acct.

To expenses at Coventry, Harbury, and elsewhere
fetching witness on J. B.'s account

Witnesses at Warwick Sessions .

Expenses of 2 persons and 2 horses going to St
Albans concerning Morris 2 horses 4 days at
2s. 6rf., self 4 days at is. same account. And
I horse 5 days on J. Bister's acct.

Horses when we went to prove J. B.'s settlement

Brown Well's horse'going to Coventry and Harbury

To the attorney for counsel and self for a cause that
was tryed with the inhabitants of Harbury we
having taken J. Bister and his wife with an
order of settlement to Harbury they having
appealed but withdrew .....

£ s. d.
I 2 10

17 19 o
2 6

10 o

2 3
380

5 8

3 o
290

3 o

5 10 8

' No entry is made of receipt, but the parish was reimbursed from
White's militia pay for the relief it had afforded to his family.

76 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

I 5. d.

1780-178 1. Horses on J. Bister's acct. . . . . 16 o

To Anne Coles, bill for eating and drinking on James

Bister's acct. . . . . . .216

For seven weeks Stephen Wilks and family were

there . . . . . . . .140

Payments to out resident paupers continue as in

previous year.
1781-1782. Taking J. Hodgkin to settlement, examining and

swearing J. Clad on expenses ...40

Warrant for Peel and Jeffs, keeping them prisoners,

going to Bridewell, &c. ....

Justices' clerk examining Mary Peel .
My horse carrying double, taking M. Peel to Idlicote
Two horses going to Shotswell, ale, &c.
Warrant and expenses Stephen Wilks fetched
Letter from White at Reading ....
Taking Blackford to justices, pillion, &c.
1 782-1 783. Going to justices with R. Plestoe and paid for order

and summons ......

To 2 orders and examining and swearing R. Wilkins

to his settlement at Halford
Nine nights lodging Godard and his wife
To Master Gilks, Sibford, daughter that belongs to

our parish being lame . . . . . 10 6

To White's family when they lived in Townsend's

barn ........ 76

To White and family to go back where they came

from ........

White's family at Reading ....

Letter and money to Reading ....

Warrants to take Wilks, Howe, Griffin, and Edwards

with ........

For two orders that we had, Griffin's examination

and Wilks' mitimus .....

Ale, eating, guarding, &c. .....

Eating and drinking and guards for Wilks, Howe,

and Grifhn .......

Two men guarding Griffin and taking him to Stretton

on Fosse .......

Going to justices and carriage to Stretton .
Going to Warwick to put in appearance against the

inhabitants of Stretton on Fosse about Griffin

and family's settlement . . . .186

Attorney attending the officers and giving advice

how to proceed about Griffin's settlement at

Stretton and they giving notice against .106

Myself going to attorney ..... 66

1 800-1 802. 2 years.

1 800- 1 80 1. Taking to Oxford to Settlement . . .295

To eleven men's and boys' expenses at Halford

Bridge to have them examined about their

settlements . . . . . . .196

To eleven men's day's work . . . . no

To Mr, Brain 11 examinations . . . . no

CH, V]

SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL

1800-1801. Bill for removing several persons to settlement .

To Widow Foster at Edmonton (55) . . . weeks'
allowance at 4s. .
43 weeks at 45. to February 28 . . .

To Widow Townsend at London . . . weeks' allowance

To my expenses, self and horse, going to London
and Edmonton in coach twice and expenses on
the road .......

1801-1802. My expenses and R. Ainge's going up to London with
Ward in the coach .....

To Mr. Mosely of London for the Wid. Townsend
and Ann Edward's allowance up to Easter .

Mr. Prickett's Bill . . . and order of removal for
R. Geden and drawing notice of appeal and 2
fair copies and instructions to get them signed
by parish officers .....

1826-1828. 2 years.
1826-1827. Widow Townsend, London, 11 months . .

Journey to Warwick to have Brewer's daughter

sworn to settlement .....
Cart and horse and mother and daughter's expenses
To W. Phillpot's son-in-law's orders and expenses
Horse and cart to parish ....
Cart and horse, Garrett to Kineton
Carriage, orders, and gin ....
To Shenington and Duns Tew with Shelton and

Coldicott's son .....
Examination and five orders
Eating and drinking 6 men and 3 women and horse

and cart 3 times ....

Removing W. Holton to Stoneley
Orders and examinations ....
To Sarah Greenway for expenses to her parish
Journey with Sarah Greenway .
Paid Mr. Shipton for examining paupers

17 8 6

II 4 10

13 4

6 12

7
I 6

7
10

5
16

1 II

19
10
II

3
10

2 o

Few, if any, of the cases that were tried at the Quarter
Sessions cost the parish more than £10, and the average
expense would be £5 or £6. Still, this was a comparatively
large sum, for at the prevailing scales of relief £10 would have
provided maintenance for a year, and when appeals failed the
relief rarely extended beyond a few months, except in the
case of women settled upon the parish, who were invariably
relieved for a longer period than men. Thus there seems to
have been some foundation for the report that ' at one of the
Sessions of the Peace held at Warwick, forty settlement
appeals were tried, and a calculation was made by which it
appeared that the interest on the whole sum expended in

78 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

litigating these claims would have supported each family in
question for the remainder of their lives '.^ The overseers
seem to have favoured the more subtle methods of removal.
As early as 1741 there is a record of a payment ' to go off '.
The first case of a marriage at the expense of the parish occurs
in 1760, and from that date to the end of the period there were
few years which did not provide instances of weddings followed
by removals. By this process the parish got rid of some of
its surplus female population. In one case the bridegroom
failed to keep the tryst, and the ceremony had to be postponed
till he was found. The guests were ready and waiting, and
the parish officers entertained them liberally at the local inn.
During the day the bridegroom was discovered, brought to
the inn, and was there kept under two guards for the night.
In the morning the marriage was ' duly solemnized ', the
couple were removed to find their domestic sphere elsewhere,
and the overseers of Tysoe paid bills amounting to £9 45. 0^.
And there was one clear bribe to a father and husband to
secure the marriage of a woman in 1787. The record runs as
follows :

' To James Smith and Wilham Hunt the money that Wm.
Hunt was to have with James Smith's daughter when he
married her, £5 155. 6d.'

The provision made by the Act of 1662 for granting travel-
ling certificates to labourers was freely used by the Poor Law
officers of Tysoe, and proved to be a great boon to the parish.
In practically every instance the labourer went away in
the summer, the overseers maintained his family during his
absence, and he repaid either the whole or a part of the main-
tenance on his return. The records of certificates granted
usually mention expenses of refreshment for the officers.
Thus in 1731 : * Spent when we went to Justices concerning
Humphrey Wilkin's certificate, 6d.' An item of expenditure
indicates the purpose for which the certificates were used : ' To
Thomas Jeffs' family when he went up the upper country

* Villiers, on Settlement, App. A, Part II, Report of Poor Law Commis-
sion, 1834.

CH. V] SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL 79

haymaking.' In 1782 Jeffs repaid 105., and a similar amount
was paid by another inhabitant of the parish ' towards his
family's maintenance in haytime last '. There is sufficient
evidence to show that the workers had not altogether lost their
honesty and initiative ; and there is good reason to believe
that if they had not been oppressed by the mischievous
provisions for settlement, some villages might have escaped
the moral degradation into which they sank in the early part
of the nineteenth century.

The particulars of baptisms and burials recorded in the
church registers, together with the census statistics for
population, show that certain settlements were made in the
parish of Tysoe in the nineteenth century. The figures for
three decades are as follows :

Excess of births Increase or decrease Number of Settlements

over deaths. of population. or Migrations,

1801-1810. 138 (Incr.) 153 (Migr.) 75

1811-1820. 115 (Incr.) 126 (Sett.) 11

1821-1830.^ 137 (Deer.) 63 (Migr.) 200

From 1665 to 1801 there was an increase of 283 in the
population of the parish, while the excess of births over deaths
between 1725 and 1801 was 470. If the whole of the increase
in population is to be placed between 1725 and 1801, these
figures point to the total migration of 187 persons ; or 2-46
per annum. If the increase of population continued steadily
during the whole period, the migration in the last seventy-five
years of the eighteenth century was even greater than that
indicated above.

In view of these statistics, and the fact that relief was
granted to many families living in industrial centres, it cannot
be said that there was no fluidity of labour. The removal
regulations did not oppress the employers as much as the
employed. And the latter suffered more particularly in
individual liberty and domestic advantages. J. T. Burgess

* It may be noted that about this period the rents of the Marquis of
Northampton's Tysoe estate also fell by ;^352. In 182 1-2 and 1826-7
there was acute agricultural distress. War prices had raised the rents of the
farms, and at this time prices of both corn and meat fell very seriously.
Cf. Curtler, History of English Agriculture, chap. xix. Depression.

8o POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. v

cites the case of Jack Lenten the thatcher, the cleverest
labourer in the village.^

' Jack went off towards Lunnon whenever the haymaking
season came on and made a mort o' money. When he came
home, the farmers told him he might go in the winter where
he had been in the summer. ... He had to get another place
but they would never let Jack gain a settlement, so in bad
times Jack was sent to his own parish to find that his cottage
was pulled down. He had to live miles away and tear his
heart's blood out walking to and from his work night and
morn. . . . When the railways came Jack got work as a ganger
and made some improvement in tipping stuff for embank-
ments. . . . He is a big man now, for he got into the right
groove.'

This case is typical. The sluggard might be content to
live on a parochial dole and be buried at the expense of the
poor rates ; but nothing more galling to the spirit of the
enterprising labourer could have been placed upon the Statute
book than the Settlement Act of 1662.

' J. T. Burgess, Life and Experiences of a Warwickshire Labourer, pub.
Routledge, 1872.

CHAPTER VI

BASTARDY

There is no better example of the evil effects produced in the
moral condition of the people by economic disruption and un-
suitable laws than the spread of bastardy which was revealed
by the inquiries of the Poor Law Commissioners of 1832. After
1775 the prices of commodities rose at an enormous rate ; but
wages of agricultural labour, as is usual in such cases even at
the present day, did not show a corresponding increase.-*-
From 1790 till 1820, and more or less till 1830, the agricultural
proletariat was in dire straits, and the peasant cultivator was
not much better off. Despite the small increase of thirteen
occupier-owners between 1785 and 1800, shown in the Land
Tax Returns for Tysoe, the position of the peasant capitalist
was a difficult one. During the making of the Enclosure
award several peasants sold their holdings ; and, what is more
important from the Poor Law standpoint, many cottagers
became so impoverished that they had to barter their cottages
to the parish to obtain relief. Only a few of these transactions
occurred between 1725 and 1760, and at the latter date the
parish did not own more than two or three cottages. By the
end of the century many were falling, or had already fallen,
into the hands of its officials. Then came the great consolida-
tion of farms in the early years of the nineteenth century,
and with this the concentration of power in local government
and Poor Law matters. The decay of domestic industry also
helped on the economic chaos.

' Wages did advance with the rise in corn prices ; but such advance was
insignificant in face of the fact that the price of provisions generally had
gone up in a much greater proportion. The nominal wages did increase,
but real wages fell lower and lower. The wages of the agricultural labourer
rose 60 per cent, between 1760 and 181 3, and the price of wheat rose 130
per cent. Dr. H. Levy, Large and Small Holdings, Cambridge University
Press, 191 1, p. 9.

(PAKT Vl) W. V. Q

82 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vi

A study of the baptismal register and the overseers' accounts
for bastardy in the parish of Tysoe makes it clear that from
1725 to 1760 marriage conditions and the moral standing of
women were normal, even if they were not extraordinarily
good. It might be urged that this fact was due to the strict
use of the power to punish bastardy misdemeanants ; but
though the exercise of authority may have been partly respon-
sible, it is not a complete explanation. If repression was
sufficient of itself to stop sexual irregularity in the early part
of the eighteenth century, it should have been sufficient in
the latter half also. But in Tysoe the most vigorous efforts
for discipline and punishment were made, not when the pro-
portion of illegitimate to legitimate children was small, but
when it was rapidly increasing. And it could scarcely be
urged that the failure of the officials to use their power of
punishment in the early decades of the nineteenth century
was entirely due to clemency or negligence. Besides, the
fact that 50 Geo. Ill, c. 51, was passed in 1810 to mitigate the
sentences on delinquents shows to some extent that repression
had failed, and that the legislature recognized that the
prevalence of bastardy was due to other causes besides the
moral weakness of the poor.

The primary economic causes of degradation were beyond
the control of the poor or their overseers. Parliament alone
could remove the settlement restrictions which galled the
poor, especially the female section, and the marvel is that the
landlord class did not bestir itself for that purpose, to lighten
the burden upon its rents.

After 1760 the number of baptisms of illegitimates in Tysoe
grew rapidly, the proportion of bastards to legitimate children
being i to 18 in the decade, 1792-1801. This was the highest
proportion reached in the eighteenth century, but between
1831-1840 the rate was i to 14. The latter figure does imply
some real lowering of the moral standard of women, the
reasons for which are not far to seek ; for public opinion had
become lax, and there is no question on which it is more
difficult to elevate public opinion than that of private
morality.

CH. VI] BASTARDY 83

The real cause of the depravity were the economic changes
of the last thirty years of the eighteenth century. There was
no regular labour for men ; in the winter many of them,
especially the unmarried, were ' on the round ', partly because
their labour was naturally displaced by improvements, and
partly because the larger farmers had found a way of shuffling
the cost of their labour on to the rates, and therefore, as some
of the entries state, ' would not take ' them. There was no
hope for them ; if they were industrious or skilful, their
wages would not rise, and accordingly competition for labour
that was paid a living wage was keener than it had ever been ;
consequently the men did not care whether they laboured or
loitered, since their subsistence had to be doled out to them
in either case. They could not save, they could not marry,
and in some cases the modest patrimony in the shape of
a small holding or cottage which had been handed down
through the family for centuries was rapidly vanishing before
the rising prices. A rise in prices or a fall in the purchasing
power of money was something profitable for the landlord,
but nothing could be worse for the small peasant cultivator
who practically lives on the produce of his toil. Producing
little for the market, and depending to some extent on wages
for summer labour to augment his income, the peasant was
entirely a loser by the increased cost ; for he had nothing to
sell which might bring him a benefit, and the purchasing
power of what he had to spend was seriously diminished.
Despite the bad harvests between 1760 and 1793, EngUsh
statesmen clung to the delusion that they could stimulate
arable farming by high import duties and export bounties,
and meanwhile the small-holders and labourers lost property,
liberty, and hope.^ The growing cost of living and the heavy
burden of the rates, which sometimes rose to 145. in the £,
were sufficient to crush all but the largest farmers, and they
saw too plainly that the rising rates militated against the
raising of rents. The young women were in a worse position
than the men. For men to be ' on the round ' was bad
enough, but to think of a young woman in the same position

' Dr. H. Levy, Large and Small Holdings, p. 9.
G2

84 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vi

is appalling. It is no uncommon occurrence to find as many
as twenty women regularly receiving relief, amounting to an
average of about 45. per week, during the whole of the winter
months. And payments to girls ' on the round ' and ' for
lost time ' are very common. Harsh as it may sound, the best
fortune that could befall a young woman was to have a sick
relative dependent upon her, for then the parish would pay
fairly liberally for her services.

The only other alternative was to become pregnant, for then
the overseers would compel some one to marry her, or she
would be sure of a regular allowance for her child in addition
to her own meagre pittance. If the men married they would
be sure of larger regular incomes, even if not of regular, honour-
able employment. If the women married they were sure of
a home, which they could force the overseers to provide if
they would only degrade themselves. Thus an illicit preg-
nancy was the sure way to a secure, if not honourable, married
life. Under such circumstances the wonder is that the poor
withstood the temptation so well.

To use the language of 7 Jac. I, c. 4, and call every mother
bearing a bastard child between 1775 and 1830 ' a lewd
woman ', would be utterly unjustifiable. And to brand every
father of an illegitimate child as a seducer would be equally
rash. Seduction of working women is apt to be practised by
the class immediately above them rather than by their fellow-
workers. The records of Tysoe show that bastardy in its
worst period originated in the obstacles which were offered to
legitimate love and marriage by economic disruption and the
deliberate pauperization of the proletariat.

The begetting or conceiving a so-called illegitimate child
were acts not punishable under English law. They only
became punishable when the bastard became, or was likely
to become, a pauper. And in spite of the argument that
parents should be responsible for the maintenance of their
children, it cannot be denied that the Bastardy Laws made
a great distinction between the rich and the poor. Two poor
parents of a child born out of wedlock might be quite willing
and able to discharge their duty to their joint child as it de-

CH. VI] BASTARDY 85

volved upon them ; but they might not be able to give the
parish what would be considered sufficient security against
the possibihty of their child becoming a pauper. Hence they
would be hable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding
one year at the instance of any person who bore them malice,
on the ground that he was acting for the common good of the
parish. Such a calamity could never happen to the rich ; they
could give security and thus escape, although morally they
were not a whit better, and were possibly much worse than
their less fortunate brethren. When the rich were grinding
the poor, as they undoubtedly did in the early years of the
nineteenth century, such a legal distinction would be pecu-
liarly galling.

Although the writer of the Report of 1834 might describe
bastardy as ' an offence against God's law and man's law ', at
least Enghsh law did not regard it as an offence, unless it were
pauper bastardy. Evidently those who were responsible for
legal and social policy recognized that the begetting or con-
ceiving of children out of wedlock is not always an unsocial
act. This was peculiarly true of England between 1790 and
1820, and it is evident that during that period it was held in
Warwickshire that certain conditions extenuated the offence.*
In the administration of the Bastardy Acts under the Poor
Laws there was no idea of compensating the woman for
injury inflicted on her, nor of compassion for the weaker sex
leading to the punishment of seduction. The only object of
affiliation was to indemnify the parish for the charges of
maintenance of a bastard. The penalties were inflicted, not
out of a zeal for morality, nor to chastise the sin of having
a bastard child ; but for having a bastard child which might
become chargeable to the parish.^

The bastardy branch of the Poor Laws comprehended pro-
vision for the support of illegitimate children, the relief
afforded to their mothers, the attempts to obtain the repay-
ment of the expenses from the supposed fathers : and the

' Chapter ii, p. 33.

* Report of Poor Law Commissioners, 1840, Addenda by Sir Edmund
Head, App. B, p. 83.

86 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vi

punishment of both parents if they failed to give proof that
their child should never become chargeable to the parish.
Prior to 1575 the custody of an illegitimate child may
possibly have fallen, as the 1834 Report suggests,^ and the
burden of maintenance devolved, upon the parish. If so, it
seems probable that the family tie of the village community
had left this evidence of its vitality. However, 18 Eliz., c. 3,
enacted that any two Justices of the Peace, ' upon examination
of cause and circumstance,^ could at their discretion order both
parents of any illegitimate child being left to the charge of the
parish to contribute weekly or otherwise, in money or other
sustentation, to the maintenance of their child. And it seems
that the Act intended that all parents leaving illegitimate
children to the charge of the parish were to be punished
forthwith. These were the essentials kept up in all the Bas-
tardy Acts until 1834. 7 Jac. I, c. 4, simply provided for a
heavier punishment of the women, especially for the second
offence.

' Because great charge ariseth upon many places by reason
of bastardy, besides the great dishonour of Almighty God,
it is enacted that every lewd woman which shall have any
bastard which may be chargeable to the parish shall be com-
mitted to the House of Correction, there to be punished and
set to work, during the term of one whole year ; and if she
shall eftsoons offend again shall be committed to the said
House of Correction and there remain until she can put in
good sureties for her good behaviour, not to offend so again,'

Had this enactment been enforced from 1795 to 1830
England would have had to enlarge considerably her
Bridewells and prisons.^ The provisions seem to have had
a drastic effect : for fourteen years later a special Act was
passed entitled ' an act to prevent murthering of bastard
children ', In some respects there is a similarity between the
decades 1620-30 and 1790-1800, In both, great efforts were
made to establish an administration of the Poor Laws
sympathetic to the working classes, — the Books of Orders

^ Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834, p. 165,
^ See 1834 Report, p. 170 et seq.

CH. VI] BASTARDY 87

issued by the seventeenth-century Privy Council, and the
Speenhamland Act and similar scales set up by the eighteenth-
century Justices may serve as an instance.

13-14 Chas. II, c. II, was an important Act because, without
laying down any new principle as to punishment or main-
tenance, it extended the provision for maintenance to allow the
parish officials to distrain on the goods of parents who shirked
their responsibility. This Act, especially as it mentions ' goods
and chattels ' and ' rents or profits of lands ', suggests that
seduction by the well-to-do, and not by the labourer, was the
principal cause of bastardy. If the working-man failed to do
his duty he could be punished ; but if a member of a richer
class entered into recognizances to maintain his child or, as
the Tysoe records put it, negotiated ' a harmless bond ', and
subsequently absconded, he was not punished and the parish
was not indemnified. Evidently 13-14 Chas. II, c. 11, was
prepared to meet such a contingency. This was the state of
the law from 1674 to 1733, and at least one case came under
these Acts in the parish of Tysoe may serve as an instance.

In 1733, 6 Geo. II, c. 31, was enacted ; by which, if any
single woman declared herself to be pregnant, and charged
any person with being the father, any one Justice of the division
could, on the application of the overseers or any other sub-
stantial householder, issue a warrant for the apprehension
of the man indicated ; and unless he gave security to indem-
nify the parish, or entered into a recognizance to appear at
the Quarter Sessions and submit to any order there made, he
was to be immediately committed to prison. It is only fair
to say that as far as Warwickshire was concerned bastardy
offenders were sent, not to the criminal gaol, but to Bridewell,
which was the recognized prison for the detention of mis-
demeanants under any branch of the Poor Laws. This Act
remained in force till 1809, when it was repealed and supplanted
by 49 Geo, III, c. 68, which, however, effected only slight
alterations. Thus the law remained practically the same
from 1733 till 1834.

Jurisdiction therefore lay with a single Justice if he desired
to act, and not with the bench of Justices for the division,

88 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vi

or even with two Justices, as in the earlier Acts. Moreover,
the provision in the Act of 1575 that the Justices should inquire
into the ' cause and circumstances ' of cases is omitted from
that of 1733. Accordingly, if the woman took her oath, the
Justice had no power to ask for corroborative evidence, to
inquire into the woman's character, or to hear evidence in
rebuttal on behalf of the man. He simply had to carry out
the law on behalf of the parish. Much criticism has been
levelled at the law which allowed the conviction of a man on
the mere oath of a woman ; but it seems probable that the
very institution of such a provision was due to the difficulty
of obtaining corroborative evidence to support the woman.
After all, the unsupported oath of a woman is generally the
only real evidence in bastardy cases. There may be evidence
of circumstances which would lead to the offence, but only
rarely is there any evidence that the offence itself was com-
mitted by any particular person. Hence it follows that either
the woman must be believed, or the accused must be dis-
charged. Probably the latter course had been taken by
Justices prior to 1733, and the parishes had suffered in conse-
quence. Thus there was good reason for the provisions made
in that year that the unsupported evidence of the woman
should be admitted. Still, the Act gave women almost un-
limited opportunities of working injustice, furthering their
matrimonial designs, or persecuting those who attempted to
thwart them. For if a man was charged with being father
to a bastard, he must either go to jail, marry the woman, or
pay a weekly sum towards its maintenance, not according to
the child's needs, but according to his ability to contribute.

It seems that proceedings under the Bastardy Laws might
be altogether ex-parte. It was not necessary that the accused
should be served with a summons to appear before the Justice,
nor that he should be present at the examination of the accuser.
In Tysoe he was generally absent. Once a warrant was issued
the Justice had no option but to see that the parish was in-
demnified or the person punished.^ It has been said that ' in
form the proceedings were against the putative father for the
^ Nolan's Poor Laws, vol. ii, pp. 288 and 289.

CH. VI

BASTARDY 89

indemnification of the parish ; but in substance it was a pro-
ceeding of the mother against the putative father for a contri-
bution towards the expenses of their common child, in which
by a fiction of law the parish was plaintiff '> This opinion is
biased by an idea which its originators wished to establish
as law. In a very real sense the parish was the plaintiff,
especially if it is true that the first Bastardy Act was an
attempt to shift the responsibihty of maintenance from the
parish, where it had lain, to the parents who, according to the
doctrine of individualism appearing in Elizabeth's reign, were
under an obhgation to bear the burden they had created.
The real importance of the parish lay in the fact that if a
father refused to do his duty, the mother had no other means
of bringing pressure to bear upon him than the proceedings
we have described. Consequently it is more than likely that
the Poor Law Officers were called on to deal with a great
many cases which, under other legal conditions, might have
been settled by different methods.

We have seen, then, that punitive measures in repression
of bastardy decayed at a time when cases were too numerous
to be dealt with effectively, or public opinion was favourable
to a growth of population however obtained. Apart from
this development, the most important change in the bastardy
laws between 1575 and 1834 was the failure of the authorities
to ensure that the mother took an equal share with the father
in the maintenance of the child. The prevalent theory was
that she contributed her portion by general superintendence
and care. But that contribution was frequently not given.
Often in Tysoe, as soon as the child was weaned it was placed
with a foster-mother who undertook to rear it on the allowance
from the father or the parish. Thus the mother was free from
the burden, unless she married, in which case the husband,
whoever he might be, had to take joint responsibility with the
mother for the bastard child. These considerations may
have minimized the woman's fear of the consequences of
her action ; but neither this nor any other change in the law or

' Poor Law Commissioners, Paper on Bastardy, Parliamentary Papers,
No. 31, Session 1844.

go POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vr

practice was sufficient warrant for the irregularities which
actually took place in the village. Mothers of bastards in
Tysoe did escape heavy burdens, but they did not actually
profit by their actions, whatever may have happened else-
where.^ A series of bastardy accounts for representative
years, taken from the Overseers' Accounts for Tysoe, will serve
to show the true state of things.

For the years ending Easter, 1731 and 1732, there are no
records of payments or receipts on bastardy accounts. This
is also true of the years 1740-1 and 1741-2, although in
these years there are records of payments for warrants ; but
no committals to Bridewell. Again, for 1750-1 and 1751-2
there are neither receipts nor expenditure. Between 1725
and 1760 the church register only gives the names of three
infants who were baptized without recognition of paternity.
None of these came under the ken of the Poor Law officials.
But evidently the register of baptisms is not altogether reliable.
In 1728 a case of bastardy came before the officials which does
not appear in the register.

These ar,e the entries :

s. d.

Paid for the examination of Judith Capp for a warrant for Henry

Eglington . . . . . . . . . .20

Going to Shipston for a harmlos ^ bond from Henry Eglington to

the parish of Tysoe . . . . . . . .16

Spent at Stratford when the aforesaid bond was executed . . 4

In 1760, simultaneous with the baptism of an illegitimate
child, occur these records in the overseers' expenditure :

For Mary Rose ........

Pd. for nursing and christening child ....

Pd. the expenses warrant and watching ....

Pd. for marriage and other expenses ....

There was no reimbursement of the parish on this account.
In 1762 three illegitimate children were baptized, but there
was no expenditure upon bastardy cases coming under the
Poor Laws. In 1763 there was neither expenditure nor

* Cf. 1834 Report, p. 169 and following pages.

* A ' harmlos ' or ' harmless ' bond was an agreement between the parish
and the father of an illegitimate child, made to secure the parish against
such a child becoming chargeable to the Poor Rate.

CH. VI] BASTARDY 9^

receipts, but a widow and a single woman were sent to the
Bridewell. There may be some connexion between this fact
and the baptism of four bastards in the two preceding years —
a most unprecedented occurrence. Still, whatever else hap-
pened during this period, the overseers did not treat women
very harshly, for in 1764 they gave a single woman 2s. 8|-i.
for ' drink for herself and baptizeing child '. In 1770, when
there was one baptism of an illegitimate child, the following
entry appears in the overseers' accounts :

To Betty Blackford delivering Mary Penn

To W. Walton for ale when Mary Penn was delivered

Horse to take Penn to justice ....

To the Justice giving her oath ....

Nine weeks house-rent, Mary Penn, at 6d.

To Thos. Savage 4 weeks lying in, waiting, fireing, &c. Mary

s. d.
2 6
I 6
I o
I o
4 6
Penn 160

The mother was given two shillings per week till Septem-
ber 12, 1773, for a period of three and a half years, and then
she received one shilling and sixpence per week for about six
months. After this she received ninepence per week till 1780,
when the same payments are made ' to young Penn '. The
weekly allowances continue until the Vestry meeting of 1781,
when they stop abruptly. As the lad was not apprenticed,
he evidently began to earn his living by some means or other.
Besides the initial expenses, the case cost the parish, according
to the records of expenditure, £50 75. od., the payments cover-
ing eleven years. In 1770 several warrants were executed,
but they do not provide any clue to this case. There is no
record of reimbursement ; but it is unlikely that the parish
really bore the expense. The probability is that the money
was regularly paid by some non-parishioner through the
parish officials. Strenuous efforts were made to find offending
males, for the records for 1774 contain an entry of a journey to
Oxford ' to find a man about Mary Pcrriss being breeding '.
And although there is no evidence of distraint for the recovery
of bastardy costs, there is in 1774 a record of a procedure to
prevent a man from selling his goods and leaving his wife
without support. The wife was relieved and the goods were
eventually sold by the parish for its own benefit. Again, in

92 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vi

1778 the cost of maintaining a victim of the small-pox was
nearly all recovered from the man's sons.

In that year the names of two illegitimate children appear
in the register, and one, if not both, of these cases were dealt
with by the overseers. Three men were under guard at the
same time, and all of them were committed to prison. During
an average fortnight there were fifteen w'idow's and four single
women receiving regular relief. On October 12 there were
twenty-eight items of relief, amounting to £6 145. 11^. Only
seven of these items were for relief of males. Thirteen were
for widows, three for orphans, and five for single women.
Payments to the last-named ranged from is. 6d. to 45. 6^.
each, the whole amounting to 145. All these payments may
have been for children born out of wedlock. If so, the amount
spent on this account would be £36 per annum. However,
I think it unlikely that all the items come under the head of
bastardy.

The first definite receipt of money by the parish officials
on a bastardy account occurred in 1778, when £2 45. 6d. was
received for a woman ' lying in '. As there is no record of
payments to the woman, it w^ould seem that up to this time
at least the prevailing practice was to keep the relief of the
poor and the support of illegitimate children as distinct as
possible. Another small item of receipt for ' a child's main-
tenance ' occurs in 1779 ; but as the amount was only six
shillings it is obvious that it was a payment during temporary
arrangements, and does not represent continued support of
a child made through the overseers either at the instance of the
mother or the parish. However, there were many receipts
during the later period indicated by the following extracts :

1788-9. ' Rec'd of Thos. Gardner of Chipping Norton the
money that neighbours agreed with him for the security of the
child that was begotten on the body of Kate Clark, £11 15. orf.'

1790-1. ' Part of Richard Allcock's money that I received
on Jane Walker's acct., ;£3 os. od.'

' Rec'd of Pullios down at the side of Broadway, ^^5.'

' Rec'd of Rich'd Allcock money on Jane W^alker's acct.,
{j OS. od.'

CH. vi] BASTARDY 93

1791-2. ' Rec'd of Richd Holton of Oxhill the money on
Note of Hand that he gave towards the maintenance of Eliz
Lamb's child, £5 0^. od.'

1792-3. ' Rec'd of PuUios down at Broadway the remainder
of the money that he gave on Note of Hand for child, £$.'

1794. ' Rec'd of John London of Wellesbourne on Eliz
Ashfield's acct., £10.'

1796. ' Simon Nicholls received of Thos Olliver cash that
he received of Ann Claydon's man for a child begotten on the
body of the said Ann Claydon (Claydon's second offence),

/lO 105. 0^.'

1802. ' Rec'd of Mr. Hunt for Ann Jones child, £13.'

' Rec'd of Wm Barron towards Note, £1.'

' Rec'd of Wm Barron more towards Note, £3 8s. gd.*

' Rec'd of Thos Wilks, Jun. for child, up to Easter, £3 105.'

1814. ' Rec'd of Chas. King for the child, £10.'

It is rather remarkable that during the greater part of
the eighteenth century there should have been a prejudice
against dealing with bastardy through the parish officials, for
after 1770 many of the wives of the labourers regularly looked
for relief at the time of their confinements. And after 1780
payments to husbands or wives on account of ' lying in ' are
quite frequent ; other payments are to widows ' for delivering
wife '.

During the years 1780 and 1781 no illegitimates were
baptized, and there were no bastardy cases before the over-
seers. In 1785, when three illegitimate children were bap-
tized, the only record either of receipt or payment is this :
' To Jno Ainge money that he was out of pocket on Hannah
Blackford's acct., that was the money that they had in hand,
6^.' Here evidently the money for the support of a child was
paid by the father to the overseers and through an intermediary
to the mother. By 1790 a remarkable change had taken
place in the publicity of procedure and the expenses incurred.
Here are the details of a single case :

£ s. d.
To the examination of Ann Claydon at Halford ... 20

2 men, eating, drinking, and horse corn

Morse carrying .\nn Claydon to Justice to swear child and a man
going with her .......

Two men going to Heyford to have warrant back

Carried forward

2 4
4 6

16 4

POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vi

So there was an adverse balance to the parish of

Brought forward
Horse hire, tolegates, &c. .......

Three men and horses going to take Edward Cross
Three men going to meet Mr. Cross at Banbury to settle with him
Three men going to Halford to settle with Mr. Cross at his desire
Two men, journey to Banbury to Cross ....

Journey to Warwick to Mr. Greenway to have his advice about

Mr. Cross's bond and paid for cognizances to bind Cross over

to Sessions ........

Expenses. Ann Claydon being at publick 7 days and 7 nights

and for herself .......

Ann Claydon, money, bread and ale before she was brought to

bed

Ann Cole. Coals when she lay in and before

Her month lying in ...... .

Katherine Walton delivering her .....

Expenses at Sessions, men and horses

Horse hire to Kineton on A. Claydon's acct.

To Court at Warwick. Cross's case ....

Journey to Warwick to advise Mr. Greenway to prepare for trial
Tollgates going to Warwick .....

Ann Claydon at times in cash .....

Two men going to serve bastardy order on Ed Cross .
Ann Claydon going to Justices and for her father's day's work
Myself and neighbours going to Justices same day as above
Court Dues for 2 Bastardy Orders for Ed Cross .
To 2 men's expenses going to serve order of Bastardy on Ed Cross
To journey to S. Aylworth, Esq., to have warrant to serve on

Cross, Mr. Aylworth said I had better stop till the Sessions . 2 o

£\2 10 II
The money received of Cross ' for the expense that I had been at

with Ann Claydon and others ' was . . . .8191

13 6

15 6

6 II
10 o

5
17

II
3
5
7
3
5

3 II 10

There were three other cases for which receipts were entered,
one for ;^io, and two for ^^5 each. One entry mentions three
men : ' Reed of Jos Cole, Weld, and Holtom on Eliz. Lamb's
acct. £5 05. oi.' : a curious case, which it is difficult to explain
satisfactorily. However, there was apparently some form of
division of responsibility for maintenance.

The trouble taken over the man Cross, and his immunity
from imprisonment, seem to show that he w-as in a good
position or was the son of a man of substance. The other
men were all taken prisoners, and for some period, short or
long, were committed to Bridewell. Subsequently, one of
the parties settled his case by some means, possibly marriage,
and payments to the other two were made at the rate of

CH. VI] BASTARDY 95

IS. 6d. per week. So that although Cross was of good position,
he did not have to contribute any more to the maintenance
than his fellow delinquents ; or at least, if he did, it was the
parish and not the mother that profited by proving paternity
against a man of higher economic position than a labourer.
The woman therefore did not attempt to gain an advantage
from the social position of the accused by perjury, such as was
said to occur not infrequently in other villages.^ In 1793
another of the women passed out of the purview of the overseers
as they distributed the parochial doles ; but Cross's son
remained till 1800, and in 1795 his weekly allowance was
increased to 25. As the woman's name disappears from the
relief list, the receipt entries are also missing. Still, in that
case at least the parish did not suffer : in fact it gained, for it
received 2s. per week from the father and gave is. 6d. per
week to the mother or the foster-mother of the child. Cross
contributed £8 8s. in 1792 and £1 in 1793, after which year
all payments stopped. On this case the parish was a loser,
since the weekly payments, excluding the initial expenses,
would amount to over £50, while the receipts did not rise
to ;{^20. The probability is that Cross, who showed no
mean ability in eluding his persecutors in the early days
of their acquaintance, escaped them altogether at a later
period.

About this time two remarkable and important items of
expenditure occur in the overseers' books. One George Fessey
was advertised for in Oxford, Birmingham, Northampton,
and London newspapers at a cost of £11 95. 6d. Apparently
it was on a case of responsibility for maintenance. The
second item relates to a foundling child, which was left in
a basket at a farmer's door. Endless journeys were made in
search of the mother, and later of the father. An appeal was
brought, not, as ordinarily, to the Quarter Sessions, but to
the Assizes. The travelling expenses and legal costs amounted
to £34. The child was a bastard which its mother was
attempting to abandon, and the father was a fairly well-
to-do person belonging to another village. The parish
* Cf. Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834, p. 167 et seq.

96 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vi

succeeded in its appeal, and the father had to refund to
Tysoe £30 towards the expenses incurred in the quest of
the parents.

By 1797 the woman Claydon, who bore a child to Cross in
1790, also had a daughter, and was regularly receiving seven
to eight shillings per fortnight on that account. The highest
amount paid to support a widow during this period was six
shillings per fortnight, and many only got three or four
shillings. The average was about five. Thus Claydon, the
mother of two illegitimate children, was quite secure in the
possession of a regular income, which was better than that of
any steady woman in receipt of parish relief, and nearly equal
to the earnings of any honest, independent working woman.
It is not surprising to find that in January, 1801, there were
eight women in the parish of Tysoe receiving allowances on
account of ten illegitimate children. Against the total of
£40 which these allowances cost the parish, there is only one
small item of clear receipt, viz. £2 35. 6d. It is more than
likely that a great change had occurred in the method of
determining paternity. Prior to 1790 paternity was without
exception imputed to a non-parishioner. In the years of
famine at the end of the century the number of illegitimate
children baptized was greater and more regular than it had
ever been, and it is quite probable that paternity was imputed
to labourers within the parish who were themselves paupers
because they were the delinquents. In the year ending
Easter, 1801, the cost of poor rehef amounted to £2,303. And
in January, 1801, the expenditure includes two hundred items
of relief, a figure which on the lowest computation indicates
a total of four hundred receivers. It is possible that more
than a quarter of the whole population were at that period
supported by the Poor Rates. There were at least forty single
women receiving relief, besides twenty-seven widows. There
were about forty persons ' on the round ', and many others
unemployed whom the overseers made no pretence of setting
to work. Considering that economic conditions absolutely
precluded any possibility of marriage for younger members of
the working population, the increase of illegitimacy cannot be

CH. vi] BASTARDY 97

regarded as primarily due to any vicious tendencies of the
poor, either male or female.

The largest single receipt in any one bastardy case is found
in the accounts for 1810 : ' Reed of Mr. Varney's groom on
Sarah Hyron's acct. ;^20 os. od.' This amount, however,
would even be counterbalanced by expenditure, for the said
Sarah Hyrons was given 2s. 6d. per week, and the receipts
from the father of the child did not continue for long. In
1810 there were five bastards from three mothers in receipt of
relief. Claydon, who first appeared on the books in the Cross
case of 1790, was still receiving 2s. per week.

The amounts paid for maintenance seem to have risen in
the early years of the nineteenth century. In 1819 the rate
paid for at least some of the children was 2s. 6d. per week.
The receipts, however, had not increased in the same propor-
tion. The one receipt which is recorded only amounts to
£10 05, od.

In the year ending Easter, 1820, there were four women
receiving allowances for illegitimate children. Three of these
were granted 2s. each, and the third was paid at the rate of
2s. 6d. per week, but her allowance was given in lump sums.
The very next entry in the accounts is the allowance to a boy
who seems to have been motherless : ' To William Tucker's
child, ten weeks at 25., £1 os. od.' In this instance therefore
the legitimate child was not so well provided for as his bastard
contemporary. There are no records of reimbursement to the
parish for the expenses incurred in the bastardy cases in
1819-20.

The method of paying at monthly or quarterly intervals

was general in 1827. Thus :

£ s. d.
To Hannah Wilks' son, March 24 to August 4, 20 weeks at 2s. 2 o o
August 4 to Nov. 24, 16 weeks at 25. . . . . i 12 o

Eliz. Wilks from April 1 1 to June 9, 8 weeks at 25. 6d. .100

In this year the expenses resemble those of 1790 ; for example :
' Gave to Jno Brain to go after Hannah Wilks' man £z Ss. od.' ;
and ' Jno Brain going down to Ncwbold and taking W. Ham-
bidgc for Chas. Greenway, Bastardy, and keeping him two
days at Tysoc, £1 2s. 4^.'

(part VI) w. V. H

98 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vi

Then follows a curious entry. The expenses are ' for a
journey to Kineton with James Wilkin's wife to swear her
child '. The woman may possibly have been a widow, but if
so it is surprising that she was not so described, as the designa-
tion frequently occurs in the accounts.

In the last year which we shall consider there was only one
woman in receipt of a weekly allowance for bastardy ; so that
including the periodical allowances just mentioned there were
three cases of bastardy. There were no entries of receipts
on any of these accounts, and therefore the parish itself must
have borne the real burden of maintenance.

One important feature is not directly touched upon in the
records ; viz. the fact that since an illegitimate child gained
a settlement where it was born, an unmarried pregnant woman
was hunted from pillar to post so that she might reach her own
place of settlement. Cases of sending such women away or
of receiving them on return may have occurred in Tysoe, but
there are no clear records, still this aspect of the law may have
been responsible for several births which occurred in the lanes
and ditches of the village during the eighteenth century.

Thus there were various means of dealing with bastardy —
by marriage, by contribution, and by punishment. But it
can safely be said that the parish was never adequately
recouped for its expenditure on behalf of illegitimate children.
The attempt made in 1575 to make the parents of bastards
support their children had practically failed. Nor were the
attempts to make them discharge their duty successful as long
as the parish had any part in the proceedings. But when the
right to claim assistance was given to the mother, and the
parish or union was entitled to take the results of her claim
only when the bastard becomes chargeable to it, the poor rates
were relieved of their bastardy burden. Probably mothers
were more successful in their claims than parishes ; and even
if not, they often bear rather than escape the burden which is
the result of their actions. All this is vastly different from
the conditions of the eighteenth century. For it is doubtful
whether the parish of Tysoe recovered 50 per cent, of its
expenses : though the estimate cannot be absolutely proved.

CH. VI] BASTARDY 99

The most important point is that in Tysoe few women, if
any, looked on bastardy as a definite means of livelihood, and
very few children remained on the books for the full period
of ten or twelve years. Ten years is the longest period during
which relief was given : and most of the bastards disappear
from the relief list between their second and sixth year. This
was due to the marriage of their mothers. Two women
appear each as the mother of illegitimates ; but such a record
is not extraordinary, and might be easily surpassed even in
the present age.

The use of the power of punishment had fallen off "before
the Act of 1810 which repealed 7 Jac. I, c. 4, was passed. The
punishment of women was given up before that of men,
doubtless because the effect of sending women to the local
Bridewell was not reformative, and the expense of maintaining
them at Bridewell was nearly as heavy as if they had been
permitted to remain in the parish supported by the allowance
for the child and a little extra given by the overseers. In one
case stronger measures were taken than the mild treatment
of Bridewell. One Jno. Edwards was an offender under the
Bastardy Acts in 1776, and he appeared again in 1779. He
was first taken to Bridewell ; and then appears the following
entry : ' Expenses when we took Jno Edwards to Bridewell
and spent when we met the Commissioners to send him for
a soldier, £1 55. 2^.' This was evidently a case of compulsion ;
for at the same time Tysoe appears to have been visited by
a press-gang. The landlady of one of the inns was paid
i$s, for ' Eating, beer and fireing when the chimney sweep
and the razor grinder were pressed for soldiers '. The pity
is that such an amount of punishment for bastardy offences
should have been necessary after 1760. But the blame
should not be laid upon the poor. There is no necessity to
make excuses for them ; the principle of individual moral
responsibility must be tempered by a consideration of economic
and social conditions. If blame is to be apportioned for the
bastardy conditions from 1775 to 1830, it must be assigned
to those who enjoyed the advantage of the wider political
outlook provided by education and social position, and who

100 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vi

had the power of legislation and administration in their own
hands. The fact is that so long as the nation triumphed over
her continental foes, developed her industry, and enabled the
higher classes to tighten their grip on the land, the aristocracy
and plutocracy of England cared little what happened to the
masses of the people during the period of the French wars.
From the year 1738 when an entry was made that £2 had
been spent on the jury ' on account of Mary . . . having a child
and being found dead in a ditch ', to the time when it was
a commonplace to be pregnant at marriage and profitable to
be the mother of a bastard, there were changes in the condi-
tions of the poor which make it difl&cult to prove an arbitrary
judgement of their character, or to imagine the feelings of
the women as they realized that they were being cruelly and
unnaturally degraded.

CHAPTER VII

GENERAL RELIEF

Whatever may be the present or the future principle upon
which rehef is or will be granted to poor or destitute persons, the
principle which inspired the administration of relief up till 1834
was that of Public Assistance. The Act of 1601 (43 Eliz., c. 2)
simply established in the statute law a principle already long
recognized in the common law as well as in Christian charity.
There can be no doubt that the early guilds and the charity of
religiously disposed persons assisted townships and parishes
in taking care of destitute villagers even before the Conquest.
Then ' it must always be remembered that in the view of the
Church, tithes, other than first-fruits or tithes of increase, were
destined not to provide a maintenance for the clergy but for the
relief of the poor ; and the rector, whether of a religious house
or parochial incumbent, was supposed to administer them for
these purposes, he being only a ruler or administrator of
them '.1 It was always taught that the tithes ought to be
divided in some way between the Bishop, the minister, the
repair of the church fabric (mostly the chancel), and the relief
of the poor. And when a rector farmed out his tithes, he had
to obtain four approved parishioners to become sureties for
the faithful payment of the full proportion due to the poor.^
Such a system of providing for the necessitous poor continued
until the rise of the individualistic philosophy which led to
the reform of the English Church. Upon this system was
founded the whole of the provisions for poor relief, especially

' O. J. Reichel, Rise of Parochial System in England.
' Gasquet, Parish Life in Mediaeval England, p. 19.

102 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vii

as to the unit of organization from 1540 to 1834. First came
the attempt to effect by exhortation of the clergy what had
hitherto been ensured by common law and immemorial custom
— namely, the provision of a sum of money which could be
drawn upon at need for the assistance of poor neighbours.
Next it was attempted to enforce a kind of compulsory charity
by means of assessments. It is not at all surprising that these
expedientsfailed: for the assessments were an additional burden
upon the farmers and artificers of the period. The monastic
and institutional lands had been given to the aristocracy, the
clergy now claimed the tithes for their own maintenance, and
till the rating provisions of 39 Eliz., c. 3, there was no adequate
provision for the relief of the poor. However, the tradition
of parochial assistance remained, and the Act of 1601 closely
followed the tithe system of assessments of rates levied for
the relief of the poor. All tithes were subject to rating, and all
timber and mines, land and profits of industry were to be taxed.

Under such conditions relief could never have been given
solely on the principle that the pauper should be entitled to
assistance only after he had made every effort to maintain
himself — even if that effort took the suicidal form of buying
bread at the price of home, furniture, or tools. An attempt
to make absolute destitution the qualification for relief for
some classes of paupers was made between 1722 and 1782,
and again since 1834. In the eighteenth century the result
was an almost total failure, but in the nineteenth century
there was some measure of success. In order to be ' destitute '
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a person only had
to lose his status : that is to say, to lose all civic standing of
any kind : he might fall from a higher status to a lower, and
still retain some kind of caste : but there was a point beyond
which he could not fall without losing his rights to any kind
of social status.

The Poor Law Commissioners of 1832 defined poverty as

the condition of one who, in order to obtain a mere subsistence,

is forced to have recourse to labour.^ The labourer was at

the lowest point in the scale, and directly he lost his employ-

■ Report, p. 227.

CH. vii] GENERAL RELIEF 103

ment he was without status — destitute. True, the modern
conditions under which a man might be temporarily unem-
ployed and yet have a large savings' bank account, did not
then exist. If there were any ' savings ' they would be in the
form of stock for industry or agricultural capital ; and one
who retained these resources in the seventeenth century was
not without status.

Thus if a labourer lost his employment he at once had right
to public assistance. If a wife lost her husband, or a child a
father, they were likewise entitled to help. The lame and
blind did not need to assert their claim, for they were certain
of a measure of relief. The workman or the widow need not
sell their cottages to obtain assistance ; while they lived they
held their property, and had some degree of economic security
beside their right to parish maintenance. If they died in
receipt of relief, the overseers would probably claim the
cottage — naturally enough, since the first charge upon
property must always be the maintenance of the immediate
proprietors. The parish apprentice by accepting relief did not
endanger his prospects of earning wages, nor did he forfeit
his future claim to respect : for there was no stigma attached
to pauperism. He was entitled to public assistance and he
received it. And those who actually distributed relief may at
many times have been within measurable distance of receiving
it. The Commissioners of 1832-4 reported that ' in no other
part of Europe than England had it been thought fit that
pubhc provision, whether compulsory or voluntary, should
be applied to more than the relief of indigence — i. e. the state
of a person unable to labour, or unable to obtain, in return
for labour, the means of subsistence '} But if France had
had in operation a system of relief such as that set up in Eng-
land in 1601, her history during the eighteenth century might
have been very different ; and if England had not maintained
such a system of adequate relief from 1785 to 1800 it is more
than likely that her constitution would have suffered from
violent changes. Under the Elizabethan Poor Laws there
was provision for the development of national power, for the
* Report, p. 227.

104 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE, [ch. vii

safeguarding of personal property, and for the adequate
maintenance of the poor. Thus, in the worst of times, the
various classes lived together with the minimum of discord,
and the national standard was maintained.

The legislators of 1601 based their Act for providing
relief of the poor upon two assumptions : {a) that there was
some definite relation between the poor and the property
out of which they were to be maintained : that the land and
property of a parish were sufficient to maintain its popula-
tion ; 1 [b) that every able-bodied man and woman, if given
access to the necessary employment in agriculture or industry,
could provide sufficient for his or her maintenance, and that
every life was of sufficient value to the nation to be preserved.
It is unnecessary to discuss the application of these proposi-
tions to all times and places, but it is safe to say that they
were generally true in England from 1601 to 1801. Upon
these assumptions were founded the provisions for :

(a) Setting to work all children whose parents were not
able to maintain them.

(b) Setting to work all persons, married or unmarried, having
no means of support, and using no ordinary or daily trade to
obtain their living.

{d) Putting out children to be apprentices according to the
ability of each parish.

The churchwardens and overseers were to judge what
parents were able to maintain and train their children in
a fitting manner, and they must also decide who was and who
was not able to earn a living. Those who were able but
unwilling to work, it was the duty of the churchwardens and
overseers to punish under the many vagrancy laws : for those
who were able and willing to work it was their duty to provide

^ The Commissioners of 1834 reported (page 62) that at Cholesbury,
Bucks., the whole of the land of the parish had been handed over to the
poor for their maintenance. As a last resort this action seems to be in full
accord with the principles of the 43rd Eliz., c. 2, notwithstanding the fact
that it led to the ' utter subversion of the happy order of society so long
upheld in these kingdoms '.

CH. vii] GENERAL RELIEF 105

employment. The parish as a corporation being responsible
for furnishing the means of employment and relief, the over-
seers and churchwardens were bound to see that adequate
provisions were made, and they had the necessary power of
collecting money, subject always to the approval of the Jus-
tices of the Peace. If the overseers failed in their duty and
any damage resulted, they were held responsible. For failure
to supply relief they were indictable.^ And as late as 1835
it was enacted that any overseer failing to supply relief in
urgent cases should forfeit any sum, not exceeding £5, which
should be ordered by the Justices.^ This Act assumed that
overseers were not so likely to refuse relief to residents within
their own parish as to strangers : which was probably true for
the most part. Besides this, it seems probable that if the
legal guardian of any person who needed assistance failed to
apply for relief on behalf of his ward, and death resulted, he
might be prosecuted for manslaughter. Thus it was the duty
of every person needing assistance to claim it, as well as the
duty of the overseers to provide it. If a citizen failed to
apply for relief he suffered hardship, sickness, or death, but the
law meant at least to shield minors from the neglect of their
ordinary and Poor Law guardians.^

In reahty the principles of the Act of 1601 resolve them-
selves into the right of the individual to relief, and the right
of the State to demand work in return ; or, to change the
the expression, the right of the able-bodied to the means of
livelihood, and the right of all other persons to actual existence.
Behind all provisions for poor relief there is always a sentiment
of humanity, and of common charity toward the sick and
helpless. There was in the whole Elizabethan code of State
regulations a definite policy of social construction, and in the
relief of the able-bodied and vagrants there is a recognition
that men must be fed if they are to respect the rights and
privileges of others. These various ideas and feelings are to
be found intermingled and sometimes almost indistinguishable
in all legislation affecting poor relief ; and up to 1834 they

' Nolan's Poor Laws, vol. ii, p. 475. ' 4 & 5 William IV, c. 76, s. 54.
* See Glen's Poor Law Orders, tenth edition, p. 76.

io6 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vii

formed in practice the principles of the right to subsistence
and the duty to labour.

Developed as it was from a scheme of customary charity,
the Poor Law could hardly fail to co-ordinate the systems of
private and public assistance, or the system of customary
public aid with that set up by statute. This was done in
1536 by an Act^ which directed that all persons bound to
distribute ready money, victuals, or other sustentation to the
poor people ' were to dispose of the sum or the value thereof
to the common box'. And 43 EHz., c. 4, entitled 'An Act
to redress the misemployment of lands, goods and stocks
heretofore given to certain charitable uses ', carried on the
same principle. The trustees of Tysoe charities regularly
paid over certain sums for distribution by the overseers.
During the eighteenth century there were two so-called
charities. One, known as Willington's Dole, given by a will
made in 1555, directed that forty shilhngs per annum, from
the proceeds of certain lands, was to be laid out in fuel for the
poor of Tysoe. The other, known as the ' Town Lands ' or
' Utility Estate ', was of uncertain origin : no records of it
exist save the deeds by which the property was conveyed from
one set of trustees to another. It is surmised that despite
the Acts of Henry VIII and Edward VI confiscating guild
property,^ the property had belonged to some ancient village
guild : a conclusion which is strengthened by the use to which
the revenues of the property were put. Local tradition has
it that the funds of the estate should be devoted to education,
to carrying out schemes of public utility, and to the charitable
assistance of the poor. At the present time yearly grants
are made to education and the poor, and occasionally to
purposes of public utility. The Commission appointed to
inquire re Charities and the Education of the Poor, 1815-1839,
reported that by deed of feoffment dated April 26, 33
Henry VIII, certain persons were seised in fee of one messuage
in Over Tysoe and one yard-land to the same messuage
adjoining, and of one half-yard-land in Westcott in the parish

^ 27 Henry VIII, c. 27.

* n Henry VIII, c. 4, and l Edward VI, c. 14.

CH. vii] GENERAL RELIEF 107

of Tysoe, and of two cottages and one messuage of the yearly
value of 8s., which property was to be held by nine persons
who were * to bestow and employ it to the common utility and
profits of the said parish of Tysoe, in such necessaries as
should be thought convenient by the inhabitants of the said
parish '} This disposition of the proceeds does not seem to
derive its origin from charitable directions ; and the earliest
deed relating to the property is concerned only with transfer
from one set of trustees to another. But at any rate a sum
of money was regularly set aside for the assistance of poor
persons, and in many, if not all the years of the eighteenth
century, a certain amount was handed over to the overseers
to relieve the rates. And, as the Commission reported, a
school for boys had been maintained out of the fund from time
immemorial. The rate paid to the schoolmaster was one
guinea per boy, and the number of boys seems to have varied
with the rental value of the property. Prior to 1817 there were
ten boys, and the master's salary was £10 10s. In that year
the number of boys and guineas was increased to twelve, in
1824 to sixteen, and about 1830 there were twenty boys, for
whom a sum of £21 was paid. When the Commissioners
visited Tysoe somewhere about 1830, the net value of the
property was £114 per annum : and according to their report
the residue of the proceeds after the payment of the grant
for education was given to the poor who were not in receipt
of parish relief, according to necessity and individual desert.
Occasionally grants were made to deserving people who were
in receipt of parish relief. When the common fields were
enclosed in 1797, the poor were awarded eighteen acres of land
in lieu of their rights to cut fuel on the wastes. According to
the Charity Commissioners, £26 los. od. were derived from this
source in 1830. Most, if not all, of the income from this
property came into the hands of the overseers as the official
distributors of relief. The records of the receipts and expendi-
ture of Willington's Dole, and grants from the feoffees of the
Town Lands, arc very meagre ; the only information they

' Report of Commissioners appointed to inquire concerning Charities and
the Education of the Poor, 1 815-1839, vol. xxxv, p. 503.

io8 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vii

give is that a small sum was spent in refreshments ' when we
distributed Wilhngton's Dole ' and that ' £5 ' was ' received
from the Feoffees ', The first-mentioned dole was undoubtedly
given away in fuel as originally directed, and the grants from
the Trustees of the Town Lands seem to have gone to the
relief of the poor and incidentally to the assistance of the rates.
In times of extraordinary distress, such as the year 1799,
gifts of faggots and firewood were received from various
charitable donors. But the receipts from the Fuel Land were
the most important.

The parish, as a corporation acting through its officials, the
churchwardens and overseers, was the chief retail dealer of
coal within the village. Indeed there is no evidence that
there was any other dealer at all, and it is probable that the
parish had a monopoly. When the Act of 1601 was given
permanent force in 1641, it was provided that the church-
wardens and overseers of the poor might * with the consent
of the justices ', set up, use, and occupy any trade, industry,
or occupation only for the setting on work and the better relief
of the poor of the parish. In Tysoe this provision against
parochial manufacture or business was disregarded. During
the whole of the eighteenth century the parish owned, kept in
repair, and used its own malthouse. At the end of the century
it traded in coals, and from 1795 onwards owned and conducted
a bakery. This latter may have been conducted entirely for
the better relief of the poor ; but the same could not be
said of either of the other enterprises. The malthouse may
possibly have existed prior to 1641 : for Gasquet says that
' although it was not till well into the sixteenth century that
any successful attempt was made to impose by law upon the
parishioners, as such, any purely secular duty, such as the
repair of roads, and bridges, . . . the people's wardens had long
before this assumed the superintendence ... of such works
as brewing and baking undertaken for the common benefit
or profit. This probably mostly sprung out of their necessary
management of parochial (ecclesiastical) property '.^ It is
quite likely that the malthouse of Tysoe had its origin in the
* Parish Life in Mediaeval England, p. 233.

CH. VII] GENERAL RELIEF 109

feasts of the Church, or of some guild which has now disap-
peared. There remains in the parish safe a recipe for a cake,
written in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth centuries,
which states among other directions that one and a half
gallons of flour and twenty eggs should be used. These
liberal ingredients are clearly intended for something more
than a family feast, and suggest rather a gathering of the
village or guild.^

There was much trouble about fuel in the parish, in the
late eighties of the eighteenth century, and after several
prosecutions for stealing, such as the following, the parish
began the regular sale of coal.

To Mr. Middleton, warrant and prosecution against Godard and s. d.

Bayliss stealing fuel ....... lo o

To Jno. Hancox, prosecuting the law against 2 boys, lopping trees,

&c. .......... 50

An attorney's bill in 1789 contains this item :

' Attending officers and neighbours respecting fetching coals
and prosecuting people cutting trees and bushes.'

Then there are such items as these :

To my Landlord Watts the night we set about selling coals to the poor and

settling the price of yt.
To Martin Cole writing a paper to stick up at the Church door about

fetching the coals.
To Jno. Hancox for painting and writing boards, finding the £ s. d.

same and putting up . . . . . . .340

To opening the road to the coal wharf .... So

To a new shovel for parish use at the coal barn . . 40

The receipts for coals sold rose as follows : —

£ s. d.

1800 80 o o

1815 107 15 o

1825 119 o o

Long before the earliest of these dates the parish had kept
a supply of coals for distribution to the poor, but now it
entered on a regular traffic. Sometimes one man and some-

' Cf. Gasquet, Parish Life in Mediaeval England, p. 229 et seq.

' The overseers also sold wood. These are a few of the receipts :

i s. d.
Reed, for wood sold . . . . . . . .140

Reed, of Landlord Walker for bushes .... 80

Reed, of Robt. Ashby for bushes . . . . . 16 o

Reed, for bushes . . . . . . . .140

i s.

1787

II 12

1790

30 2

1795

64 II

no POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vii

times two, were in charge of the supply. The buying price
varied from lo^. to is. id. per cwt., and the sale price from
IS. 6d. to IS. M. Hauling cost from ^d. to 'jd. per cwt.
Much of the supply was given out as relief, but on the quantity
sold, indicated by the above figures, the net profit would vary
from one penny to twopence per cwt., probably approximating
to the higher figure.

The Fuel Land, given to Lord Northampton and his
heirs in trust for the poor of the parish, did not come under
the management of the overseers till 1815. Up till that year
they regularly received sums of money, generally about £30
per annum, ' for coals given to the poor '. After 1815 the
overseers received the rents of the eighteen acres of land,
and gave the poor the value in coals from the parish stock.
The fund was not treated as a charity or as relief. It was
applied to the purchase of coals, which were * distributed
during the winter season for three or four weeks to all the
poor parishioners of the description of those who were accus-
tomed to cut gorse, giving to each family i cwt., to widows
and old men, -^ cwt. per week, till the supp4y was exhausted '.
So said the Charity Commissioners of 1830 : but an appendix
to one of the volumes of the overseers' accounts gives a
damning piece of evidence against the pubhc honesty of
those officials. In 1827 the receipts for coal money were :

I s. d.

Willington's Dole . . . . . . . .400

Reed, of Robt. Ashby one year's rent of allotment (12 acres) . 20 10 4
Reed, of Richard Baldwin (6 acres) . . . . .754

31 IS 8

Thirty-one pounds of this were said to be disbursed to
the poor in coals, but in reality the coals given to the poor were
valued at 45. per cwt., when the real value, even at the price
set by the parish, would not exceed is. 8d. per cwt. The

entries stand as follows :

s. d.

Cole money disburst to the poor,

Richard Cannon, i cwt. o qrs. ,.,,.. 40

Francis Hancox, i cwt. ....... 40

Widow Malins, 2 qrs. ,,...... 20

Thos. Sutton, i cwt. ........ 40

John Jarrett, 3 qrs. . ....... 30

CH. VII] GENERAL RELIEF iii

About i8o families or persons received allowances varying
from Y cwt. to i cwt., the whole amount being 7 tons 11 cwts.
2 qrs. The price of this quantity at is. 8d. per cwt. should
have been £12 11^. 6d. The overseers were paid £30 25. od.,
and thus stood to gain £17 105. 6d. It is only fair to say that
in all probability this method was adopted in order to keep
the paupers' allowances down to the regular minimum which at
this time was fixed, and the overseers did not personally profit,
except that the rates were reduced by the amount gained.

As the parish malthouse was not established under the
Poor Law, records of it in the overseers' books are naturally
meagre. Still, the cost of repairing it was paid out of grants
from the poor rates, and in the early part of the nineteenth
century, when the parish held much property, the malthouse
was scarcely distinguishable for purposes of classification from
the cottages and other property maintained for Poor Law
purposes. In 1825 the overseers made an entry of a receipt,
' for rent of cottages and malthouse, £30.'

There are several entries for payments for repairs, for
example : ' For 12 bushells of lime for repairs at the parish
malthouse, 95.' ' Bill for repairs at the parish malthouse,
£1 gs. od.' ' To Robt. Usher when he brought coals to the
malthouse, 15.' The last entry suggests that the property
was used for its original purpose. When the malthouse was
let to a private person, the rates paid upon it amounted to
IS. 8d. As the charge was ^d. in the £, the rateable value of
the property would thus be £4.

The establishment of a bakehouse was made necessary by
the famine of 1795. At first a bakehouse was hired for
6d. per week, and a baker was paid gs. per week, for which
sum he probably gave the whole of his time to the business.
The minutes of the Vestry meetings provide good records of
the proceedings :

* At a vestry held at the church the 3rd day of August 1795,
we whose names are hereunder written do agree to have a
a Bakehouse carried on at the Bakehouse for the use of the
poor till after harvest.' (Fifteen signatures.)

' At a vestry held this 22nd day of October 1795 at the

112 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vii

chancel : we whose names are under- written do agree to have
the Bakehouse carried on for the use of the poor as long as the
majority of the inhabitants think proper,' (Eight signatures.)
' Two people are to be nominated to buy 20 sacks of flour to
be bought at times price. Four people are to be nominated for
the four weeks ensuing to see the bread delivered to the poor :
those two people that are (serving) to nominate two more
for the next four weeks ensuing; those four people that are
nominated to deliver the bread out to the poor the four first
weeks are to nominate four more people for the four weeks
next ensuing.'

The necessary people were nominated. There were twelve
signatories.

Between 1795 and 1799 the parish seems to have established
a bakery of its own. Payments occur ' To 1,000 bricks and
loading for the bakehouse, £1 8^. 6d.\ ' To Jno. Ainge carriage
of lime for the bakehouse, 75. 6d.\ and ' To a carpenter's bill,
work done at the bakehouse, £1 11s. 8d.' Also there are entries
of receipts ' for old boards and bags from the bakehouse '.
But again in 1799 the harvest failed. In 1795 and 1799 the
overseers of Tysoe went to Warwick * with papers about the
Produce of Corn ' — doubtless to answer some form of State
inquiry. In 1800 the House of Lords' Committee on the
Dearth of Provisions ^ reported of Warwickshire that ' the
consumption of the new crops began as soon as possible
after the harvest was in, and most of it was threshed out for
immediate use, the stock of old corn being, comparatively
speaking, none. In general there used to be enough to carry
on the country for three months. The amount of land down
to wheat 1799-1800 not as much, on account of the Badness
of the Season.'

' Average crop as stated by the evidence, at quarters per acre :

Qrs.

Bushells. Qrs.

Bushells.

Wheat

to 2

Barley-

to 4

Oats

to 5

Rye

Pease

to 2

Beans

Potatoes

150

* Report of Select Committee of the House of Lords

On the Dearth of

Provisions, 1800, Muniment Room,

County Hall, Warwick,

CH. VII] GENERAL RELIEF 113

Proportions of an average crop at the late harvest (as
stated by the evidence) :

Wheat I to 4, average %.
Barley § to |, average ^|.
Oats |, average 11.
Pease §, to average.
Beans |, nearly average.'

With the previous crop consumed before the harvest, and
the harvest itself amounting to only two-thirds of the average
yield, it is not surprising that the Poor Law officials had to
make extraordinary efforts to cope with the distress. The
minute of the Vestry held on December 20, 1799, describes the
provisions made.

' It was agreed at the parish to raise £30 to meet the
Rt. Hon. Lord Northampton's £30 to lower the price of bread
for four months for the relief of the poor. And the overseers of
the poor are to pay the regular instalments out of the parish
rates, and the committee shall alter the weight of the bread
every fortnight according to the average Price of the Markets.'

Several persons were appointed to serve as a Bakery
Committee.

The ordinary bakers were hard hit by this departure, and
were obliged to make the following arrangement with the
Vestry :

' And the Bakers here present have agreed to make six
pounds of bread for a shilling, half wheat and half barley, for
a fortnight, beginning on Tuesday next.'

Two bakers signed the agreement. In 1800 the overseers
paid over £600 to the Bakehouse Committee, and in 1801 £400.

Relief was given ' by consent of neighbours ', ' by the
churchwarden's orders ', ' by order of the justices ', and on
various plaints made by paupers. Some of these entries show
that not all the paupers had the confidence of the overseers.
' To Humphrey Wilkins one day he would not work for bad-
ness, 3^.' Do. ' Five days he would not work for badness,
2s. 6d.' ' To Mary Wilkins more, being troublesome at times,
6d.' Other reasons given were ' the severity of weather '
and ' the extremity of weather '. There is also good evidence

(part VI) W. V. J

114 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vii

that the word ' poor ' as used by the legislators of 1601 was

literally interpreted :

May 28, 1727. To Wm. Davis being poor .

Dec. 10.

To Jas. Ball being poor
To Jno. Wilkins in distress 3 times
Gave to Ball in distress
Gave to Brewer's wife in want

There is no such definite use of the words ' destitute ' or

' indigent '. Relief was given both in money and kind. There
are many interesting entries of the relief in kind ; one especially
shows the intimate knowledge of the wants of the poor gained
by the overseers : * Two chamber pots, 15. 6d.' Food, clothing,
and boots were given, as a few specimen items will show :

£ s. d.

1727. Pd. for a loaf of bread ...... 10

Pd. for a hat for Thos. Elliot ..... 16

1729. Pd. for a pair of breeches for boy .... 3 o

Pd. for a pair of shoes for boy .... 36

1732. Pd. for a pair of bodisses for Grace Hands . . 36

1736. Pd. for 2 bushels of barley for Willcox ... 54

1737- To Chas. Wesbury a grist by Churchwarden's orders. 6 6

1740. To. Mr. Bates for sugar and oatmeal ... 7
To Mr. Hyrons a pair of sheets for Plestoes . . 40
To Henry Middleton for malt ..... 38

1 741. To Eliz. Simpson for a pair of sheets that was in pawn i o
1743. To a pint of wine for drink ..... 13

1750. For sweeping Wigson's chimney .... 10
To a hat and strings for Mary Ball .... 14

175 1. To the baker for bread for the Widow Griffin before she

received collection ...... 26

1764. Pd. for I lb. of butter ...... 6

1767. To George Watts, hooping a tub for Jno. Hyron . i o

1769. To John Hemming mending Mary Wilkin's wheel and

hoop, and bung for Mary's son's barrel, and spindle

and ears for Mary ...... 16

1772. To Anne Cole nursing Mary Cole, finding tea and sugar i 6

1778. To Richard Buckingham's grandson a smockfrock . 4 6

1784, To Eliz. Ashfield three shifts, three caps, two aprons,

pettycoat, border for caps and bodying gown
1790. To Anthony Walker's children bolten of wheat straw for

a bed ........

181 1. For a pint of wine Eliz. Gillett ....

1817. For 1 pint of gin .......

1785. To Hannah Granthorn, petticoat, shifts, and mending stays

1770. To Isaac Gardner in part of his Bill for clothing the poor
To James Walker's bill for shoes for young children and

mending as appears by a bill . . . . 14 3^
To Ed. Capp a stay and mending and making a frock and

2 coats Mary Wilkin's children .... 24

1774. To Rachell Wesbury to buy bread, coals, and candles 2 6

To Mr. Williams, Kineton, for cloth, buttons, and thread 5 6

6 8

6
2 6

loi
12 o
o o

CH. VIl]

GENERAL RELIEF

115

And bills for clothing in bulk often amounted to ;^20.

Assistance was also given to persons suffering accidental
losses, as ' to a man with a loss by fire ' ; and in 1819 a fire
occurred in the house in which this history is written and 14s.
was ' paid to Wm. Watts the baker for bread and cheese had
of him on the 17th and i8th of March last at Thos. Collcott's
fire for the men '. ' To Richard Reading for a £1 note burnt,
by order of the Vestry this day, £1 os. od.' Also two good
evidences of loans appear, one in 1819 when £1 gs. was
received ' by cash lent to Thos. Tarver ' ; the other in 1813
states that £1 was ' lent to Samuel Coldicutt to be stopped out
of his pay'.

The total disbursements for 1727 amounted to £58 185. 4^d.,
those for 1827 to ^^1,170 195. 5^d. This was not by any means
the largest amount. Nearly £3,000 was distributed in 1800.
1727 and 1827 were normal years for their respective periods,
yet the number of persons in receipt of relief grew during the
century from 11 in January, 1727, to 134 in January, 1827.

APPENDIX

Specimens of the fortnightly disbursements by the overseers
will indicate the method of giving reHef, and will also serve to
illustrate the enormous growth of pauperism during the period
from 1727 to 1827.

July 9, 1727, Paul Mallet paid the poor ;

To Widow Lively
To Widow Wells
To Widow Hitchcox
To Jno. Fly
To Thos. Elliot

July 7, 1827, Mr. Rose paid the poor :

Pd. to W. Randall

Wid. Gregory
James Ratley
Abraham Pilking

ton
Robt. Hancox

Carried forward

II
2

Pd,

£1 13

s. d.
I 6

s. d.

o
4

Brought forward
to Ed. Beck

Widow Styles

Charlotte Black-
man

Wid. Matthew .

Carried forward £i 4 10

I 2

ii6 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vii

L s.

i s.

Brought forward 3 4

Brought forward

19 6

Pd. to Wid. King .

Pd. to Thos. Greenway .

Wid. Powell

Do. daughter ill .

Mary Powell

Sam. CoUdicott .

Wid. Thomas

Wm. Powell

Wid. Watkins

Sam. Hancox &

Wid. Walton

son

Wid. Thompson

Wm. Parker

Wid. Hyrons

John Cockbill

Wid. Geden

Thos. Horton

Wid. King .

Arnold Hewins .

Wid. Clark .

Hannah Wilk's

Wid. Gregory

child

Rose Durham

Benjamin Walker

Eliz. Geden

Francis Hancox .

Mary Townsend

Saml. Randall

Jane Clifford

Wm. Collins

Anthony Phelps

Thos. Power

George Davis

John Ainge

Widow Winter

Thos. Ludlow &

Joseph Claydon

son

John Lane

Jno. Ainge's son .

Timothy French

Widow Walton's

John Hemmings

daughter

Widow Wilkins

William Wilson's

Richard Allcock

son

Richard Durham

Robt, Harriss's

Saml. Carter

daughter ill

Robert How

Wm. Wilks

Widow Eden

N. Middleton for a

John Smith's son

journey .

John Penn .

Serving a sum-

Richard Townsen

i 6

mons

Thos. Townsend

Wilson's child

Eliz. Townsend

For Washing

Thos. Pargeter

Lane's & Pil-

Do.'s daughter

kington's sheets

Richard Winter .

3 pairs .

Thos. Castle's son

Jno. Kirby for pair

Wid. Ainge's son

shoes. Chas.

John Wilk's chUd

Greenway

Richard Tower .

Wm. Hancox

Unity Coldicott .

James Clifford ex-

Wid. Edwards

tra, ill .

Widow Edden

Wm. Fessey for

Robt. Woodfield .

going round to

WUlm. Philpot .

let the children

George Reason .

know to be

Thos. Pargeter

cut for the cow-

Richard Walton .

pock

Simon Juffs

Thos. Watts \

Robert Harris

year's rent for

Thos. Denny

Gregory .
Carried forward /

Carried forward

£19 6

26 I

CH. VIl]

GENERAL RELIEF

117

i s. d.
Brought forward 26 i 10
Pd. to Expenses at King-
ston with E,
Greenway and
others . . 10 o

Carried forward ;^26 11 10

£ s. d.
Brought forward 26 11 10
Pd. to John Townsend

journey . . 50

The presentments 10 6

Alice Hardeman . 3 o

£27 10 4

January 12, 1728, Wm. Middleton paid the poor

To Edward Plestoe
Juda Brewer .
Widow Wells ,
Widow Lively .
Widow Capp .
Widow Wilkins
Francis Howell

£ s.
2

5
I
I
I
8
I

d.
0
0
6
6
6
0
0

£ ^^

To Eliz. Elliot . . i
Joe Ball ... 2
Henry Wilkins . 2
Given to David Ples-
toe ... I

d.
0
0
0

£\^

January 5, 1828, Sir. Stubbs paid the poor :

£ s.

, to Widow Randal

Brought forward

8 12

Wid. Gregory

Pd. to Richard Pargeter

James Ratley

6 days

Abraham Pilking-

Widow Ainge's son

ton

Eliz. Geden

Robt. Hancox

Widow King

Wid. Stiles .

Rose Durham

Charlotte Black-

George Davis

man

Wm. Fessey

Wid. Malins

Timothy French

Wid. King V.T. .

ill, extra .

Wid. Watts

Anthony Phelps .

Wid. Powell

Widow Wilkins .

Mary Powell

Wid. Winter

Esther Powell &

Jno. Claydon

daughter

Jno. Lane .

Wid. Gregory

Jno. Hemmings .

Jane Clifford extra

Richard Durham

Wid. Thomas

Richd. Allcock .

Wid. Walker

Saml. Carter

Wid. Geden

Robt. How

Wid. Thompson .

Jno. Smith .

Wid. Hyrons

Saml. Randall

Mary Townsend .

Richd. Tower

Richard Townsenc

Widow Edden

Richard Winter .

Stratford

Do. 9 days lost .

Thos. Greenway

Thos. Pargeter &

extra

daughter

Thos. Winter ill .

Widow Clark

Thos. Townsend .
Carried forward /

Carried forward

£8 12

17 19

ii8 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. vii

Brought forward 17

Brought forward 28

Pd. to Eliz. Townsend .

Pd. to Wm. Greenway 9

Hannah Castle

days

Jno. Wilk's child .

R. Godard .

Wid. Edward's do.

Robt. Harris 9

Robt. Woodfield .

days

Wm. Philpot and

Robt. Usher 3

daughter

days

George Reason

George Davis

Thos. Pargeter .

Francis Hancox .

Richard Walker

Robt. Hancox

& daughter

Richd. Cannon

Robt. Harris and

Thos. Wilks

daughter

Absalom Harris 2

Simon Juffs and

days

daughter

Wm. Durham 2

Thos. Denny

days

"Wid. Powell & son

Wm. Freeman 4

Wm. Wilks

days

Wm. Parker and

Wm. Powell 2

daughter

days

John Cockbill

Jno. Collins

Thos. Green way's

Benjamin Harris .

daughter .

Dan'l Hancox

Do. daughter

Wm. Philpot

Hannah Wilkin's

Sam. King 9 days

child

Wm. Pargeter

Jno. Tower

Wm. Cockbill

Alice Hardeman .

Jarvis Howe

Watson's children

Jno. Smith .

Wm. Hancox ill .

Thos. Horton's 2

Judge's wife

sons

Francis Hancox .

George Freeman 7

Collin's daughter .

days

Wm. Batchelor 9

George Freeman 7

days

Jno. King's daugh-

Thos. Horton

ter .

Thos. Hancox

Saml. Hancox's

Thos. Freeman

daughter

Thos. Randall .

Jno. Penn .

Sam Coldicott ex-

Benjamin Walker

tra I05. .

S. Collicott 4 days

W. Hancox, ill ex-

Jno. Harris 1 1

tra .

days

Mary Coldicott for

Jno. Ainge's son .

doing for Thos.

Wm. Collins

Reason .

Thos. Power

To Wid. Winter

Jno. Edden

for do. Jno.

Wm. Watts

Wilks 20 days .

Jno. Wilks .

Thatching parish

Jno. Hyrons 4

houses . . I

days

;^38

Carried forward ;^28 9 2

CHAPTER VIII

SPECIAL RELIEF

Section I. Housing

The legislators of 1601 assumed that the people to be dealt
with by the administrators of the Poor Law which they passed
were economic and not moral paupers. They therefore
imposed no test ; such a principle as that of the Workhouse
test of 1722 and 1834 was far from their minds. Economic
paupers, or those who were physically or mentally unable to
support themselves, or who were physically capable of self-
support but lacked the opportunity for it — these needed no
test of employment or discomfort to ensure the honesty of
their application for relief. Moral paupers, or those who were
physically able to maintain themselves, but preferred to
wander and beg and steal, were to be dealt with under the
stringent regulations of the Vagrancy Acts. When applica-
tion was made for relief, it depended upon the personal know-
ledge and integrity of the overseers to distinguish the one class
of paupers from the other. There was no test whatever to be
used, and those persons who were unemployed in the com-
mercial sense through the dislocations of industry or agricul-
ture, and employed by the parish, were not necessarily in
a worse position than their brethren who were still employed
in producing private profit. The parish employee who could
produce more by the use of the parish stock than was necessary
for the maintenance of himself or his dependants, was working
for his own benefit and profit. It is conceivable that such
a person would be in a better position than one privately
employed for a fixed money wage.

The general connexion between poor relief and charity
during the early part of the seventeenth century cannot be
better traced than in the provision of homes and workshops for
those who were economically incapable of so providing for

120 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

themselves. Hospitals and almshouses abounded. In these
the aged and infirm were lodged and cared for. Many of the
towns and cities possessed some form of training school for
the young. The Bridewells themselves, till the beginning of
the Civil War, were of the nature of industrial training homes
rather than jails. As the towns grew, the task of the overseers
in distinguishing between economic and moral paupers became
difficult, because the populations were too large and too
migratory to allow of any intimate personal knowledge of the
character of applicants. It was because of this that the
Workhouse test was established by the Act of 1722.^ More-
over, the factory system of manufacture was developing, and
utilizing labour of children and young persons. This in-
fluenced the establishment of many workhouses in urban
districts, but in the villages conditions were different. There
the real conditions of life had not altered between 1601 and
1722, nor indeed did they alter much until the enclosure move-
ment spread widely and rapidly after 1760. For this reason
there was no great need of any test of real pauperism, and the
very fact that manufactures were tending to production on
a larger scale and to centralization in special areas would make
the application of such a test as that provided in 1722 almost
impossible in the villages. Thus it came about that very few
workhouses were established in agricultural villages ; and that
the workhouses of whose abuses the Poor Law Commissioners
of 1834 loudly complained,^ without exception belonged to
the towns. In the villages there were some tenements larger
than cottages which were known as ' poor-houses ', but
unfortunately there are no trustworthy records of their
numbers. Villiers reported of Warwickshire in 1834 that
poor-houses were not common in the county ; and if, as he
said, ' the only advantage of these houses to the parishes is
a saving of rent,' and they were ' calculated to extend and
confirm every bad habit among the poor ', it was well that
there were no more of them. He further says that a workhouse
' was known by having a master or a matron, a regular dietary,
and inmates being subject to some control '. Of these
* 9 Geo. I, c. 7. * Report, p. 5 1 et seq.

CH. viii] SPECIAL RELIEF 121

institutions there were several in the county, most, if not all,
of them in the industrial centres. Thus the general system of
housing the recipients of parochial relief was to provide them,
or allow them to provide themselves, with cottages. In villages
where there was no hospital nor sufficient almshouses to shelter
the poor and impotent, and where no workhouse with test had
been provided under the Act of 1722, provisions for housing
the poor must have been made under the Act of 1601. This
statute enacted that :

' To the intent that necessary places of habitation may
more conveniently be provided for such poor impotent people,
... it shall and may be lawful for the said churchwardens and
overseers or the greater part of them, by the leave of the
Lord or Lords of the Manor whereof any waste or common
within their parish is or shall be parcel, and upon agreement
before him or them made in writing, under the hands and seals
of the said Lord or Lords, or otherwise, according to any order
set down by the Justices of the Peace of the said County at their
general Quarter Sessions, or the greater part of them ... to
erect, build, and set up in fit and convenient places of habitation
in such waste or common at the general charges of the parish or
otherwise of the Hundred or County, to be taxed, rated, and
gathered in manner before expressed, convenient houses of
dwelling for the said impotent poor, and also to place inmates
or more families than one in one cottage or house . . . which
cottages or houses shall not at any time after be used or
employed to or for any other habitation, but only for impotent
and poor of the same parish, that shall be there placed from
time to time by the churchwardens and overseers.'

Under this section different methods of providing homes for
the poor were used during the eighteenth century. Cottages
were hired, sometimes paupers found themselves a house
while the overseers paid or guaranteed the rents, allowances
were made to assist payment of rents, and poor-houses and
cottages were built at the expense of the parishes. The
records of the Warwickshire Quarter Sessions teem with evi-
dence of the fact that the particular form of housing favoured
by the section of the Act quoted above — settlement and
building on the waste — was the provision generally made in
the seventeenth century. But there is no evidence that it
was continued in the eighteenth century, probably because

122 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

the wastes were rapidly improving and diminishing. Tysoe
never had a workhouse or poor-house. Cottage accommoda-
tion was the only provision made for housing the poor. On
July 2, 1790, five years before the practical abolition of the
Workhouse test, a resolution was passed at a special Vestry,
' That the churchwardens and overseers of the poor and other
inhabitants of the parish of Tysoe do agree to have a work-
house up at John Gardner's to be fitted up at the expense of the
parish, William Middleton and Simon Hewens oversitors of
the Feoffees, and Wm. Watts, deputy overseer for Mr. Willcox,
and William Hawten, overseer, John Dyer, William Ballard,
and Simon Nicholls, oversitors, to see that the said building
be properly executed.' ^ There were twelve persons present,
six of whom are named in the document. The resolution
was never acted upon — probably because it lacked other
support — and there can be little doubt that the history of the
parish is brighter on that account. It would have been more
difficult to employ agricultural labourers, male and female,
inside an institution than outside ; and the parish was saved
from the stigma which disgraced many of the village poor-
houses, where old and young, male and female, virtuous and
vicious, were herded together without discrimination or
discipline.^ The cottage system which continued in use was
healthier and more natural, even if it were not cheaper, than
a small ill-organized workhouse would have been ; and the
children at least had some chance of receiving a fair training
in the families with which they were placed. Still, the system
of grouping families together was not unknown in Tysoe, for
in 1781 an entry appears in the accounts that a solicitor was
paid 35. 6d. ' for advice about putting families together and
taking away goods ', The practice disclosed in the latter
clause may have been the crux of the matter, but the legal
adviser left no record of opinion, and the parish continued its
former practice. The form of housing adopted for mothers
of bastards, for persons returning to settlement, and for

* Note the connexion between the trustees of the Town Lands and
Poor Law officials in this enterprise.

^ See Fowle, The Poor Law, p. 92 seq., and also Crabbe's poem, The
Village, for description of ' poor-houses '.

CH. viii] SPECIAL RELIEF 123

others with no homes of their own, was to lodge them with

other paupers or with independent labourers. Special terms

were made for ' the lying in month ' of unmarried mothers, £1

often being paid ; but the parish always hoped that the

expenditure would be refunded. After the end of the month,

or for other persons, the payments for lodging varied between

sixpence and one shilling per week. The first provision of

housing in our period was in a case of return to settlement.

The records are as follows :

5. d.

Spent on Tysoe's coming ....... 2

Spent for houseroom for Tysoe's goods . . . . i 10

Pd. Wm. Callow for Tysoe's rent ..... 7 2

After this the records of taking and letting houses, and of
payments of rents, regularly continue. The accounts for
housing gradually increased as the eighteenth century ad-
vanced, and were heaviest in the early part of the nineteenth
century. No houses were really bought by the parish till
1813. In that year £500 was borrowed at 4|- per cent, interest
and invested in cottages, and a few years later another £50
was borrowed to buy two more cottages. But before the
purchase of any cottages in 1813, £18 175. od. was received
' for poor's rents ' in that year. This amount may possibly
have included the rents of six cottages which were taken of
the Marquis of Northampton in 1812, but it is more likely that
it was a clear receipt after the payment of rents due. It is
plain that many of the cottages of the village must have been
under the authority of the overseers if £18 were received from
independent persons, while relief was being regularly given to
about twenty widows, besides various aged persons, who would
not pay rents, but who would at the same time need housing.
The way in which houses came into the owTiership of the parish
can be shown by a few examples from the actual records.

Oct. 14th, 1770. ' To Jno. Cox part of his money he sold
his house for, £1 is. od. Part of Mr. Snow's bill for making
the writ, 105. 6^., £1 lis. 6d.'' Oct. 28th, 1770. ' To Jno. Cox
part of the money he sold his house for, £1 is. od. Part of
Mr. Snow's bill for making the writ, 105. 6d., £1 lis. 6i.'

This cannot be regarded as a free sale. It was probably

124 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

made compulsory by some obligation to the parish. Some of

the other entries are much clearer. In 1743 one Phillip Wells

died and was buried at the expense of the parish, after which

expenses are recorded as follows :

i s. d.
Wm. Hewens, hooks and hinges the late Phillip Wells's

house ......... 14

R. Hitchcox for work to build the chimney the late Phillip

Wells's house . . . . . . . .200

1745. Feb. 14. Wells's house to Widow Tuckey at 135. a year.

1742. To Danl. Smith before he went oflE . . . . 20

To Danl. Smith when he went ofi . . . .200

Then follows : /■ . ^

To Richd. Capp for building at Smith's cottage . . 6

To Jno. CoUcott for building at Smith's cottage . i o

To Peter Turner 9 thraves straw at Smith's cottage . 3 9
To Thos. Collcut for the use of his hurdles at Danl. Smith's

cottage ......... 10

1764. Pd. to Jno. Howe carriage of 7 loads of stones to Humphrey

Wilkin's house at 2s. 6d. . . . . • 17 6

175 1. Spent appraising Godard's goods .... 10

To bricks and work at Godard's oven . . . 13 9

By 1830 about twenty cottages had fallen into the hands
of the overseers in this way. Some of the other transactions
of the overseers in the provision of housing for the poor are
recorded as follows :

1745, Oct. 13. ' A house taken of Master Lively from last
St. Michaels at 125. per year for Jas. Ball.' Do. 1746.

1755- ' Wm. Freeman's house in Fox's Lane is let to the
Town for the use of the Widow Pratt and no other at the yearly
rent of 155. for so long as she may trouble them for a house
and no longer.'

1756. ' Wm. Freeman's house for Thos. and Mary Wilks at
forty shillings, the overseers having the liberty to put another
family in, Godchild excepted. The windows to be left in
good repair. Thos. Greenway to have the fruit of the orchard
and garden and 20s. a year to wash and nurse the said Thos.
and Mary Wilks.'

1766. ' Matthew Savage's house to Wm. Ratcliffe for one
year at one pound five shillings. Wm. Ratchffe to have the
garden if he'll dig it. Thos. Savage to pay all dues and levies.'

1770. ' Khz. Gillet's little house took by Simon Hewens,
churchwarden, Wm. Turner and Thos. Walton, overseers, for
Wm. Neville at 6d. per week, the Town to stand tenant if
he does not pay it himself. Thos. Hancox's little house under

CH. viii] SPECIAL RELIEF 125

the hill for Wid. Collins and anybody the overseers think
proper, at one pound eight shillings per year. Entered at
Michaelmas last.'

1775. ' By vestry held March 19th, that the Wid. Malet's
house be taken for Geo. Fessey for one year by the consent of
the neighbours at the (annual) vestry at -£1 os. od. to enter the
25th of this instant.'

1780. ' Mr. Harris' kitchen to Timothy French at 6d. per
week. Timothy French to pay his rent himself.'

An entry of expenditure in 1784 discloses an evil which was

a direct result of this system of cottage accommodation :

' To Richard Ainge ^ rent of house not inhabited, 6s. 6d. ' :

an entry which shows that there was some idea that landlords

ought to be equally treated. Some such idea was almost

bound to arise in small communities ; however, the abuse

does not appear to have spread far in Tysoe, for no other

similar entry has been found. An idea of the overseers'

obligations in regard to cottages can be gained for the rent

lists of representative years.

£ s. d.
1759. Pd. to W. Freeman for Thos. Wilk's houserent due Dec. 2,

1758

Pd. do. for the Wid. Pratt's house ....

Pd. do. two years' rent for R. Blackwell's house

Pd. Wm. Greenway for Thos. Sutton's house due Oct. lOth,

1758

Pd. Wm. Greenway jun. a year's rent for James Geden

Pd. Wm. Bates for Rachel Wesbury 54 weeks at gd. .

1780. To R. Townsend a year's rent of his house where Geo.

Fessey lives . . . . . . • .150

To Wm. Watts one year's rent of his house where Wm.

Gillet and IMargaret Archer live . . . . .100

To Wm. Watts one year's rent for half a house where Esther

Ratley lives . . . . . . . . 130

To Mr. Willcox J year's rent where the Widow Kinman

lives ......... 76

R. Townsend 13 weeks' houserent where Jno. Wilks lived

at 10^. ......... 10 10

To James Walton one year's houserent where his brother

William lives . . . . . . . .1126

To Widow Malet half year's rent of her house where Jno.

Coldicott lives . . . . . . . 15 o

To Mrs. Greenway one year's rent of her house where

James Geden Sen. & Jun. live . . . .180

To Eliz. Gillet one year's rent of her house where Widow

Robbins lives . . . . . . . 130

Mr. Newman one year's rent of his house where Widow

Sutton and Martha Morris live . . . .100

126 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

From the above it will be seen that in a few cases several
persons or families were permanently placed in one house, but
the commonest way of ensuring that the houses were fully
occupied was to place with a pauper widow in her cottage
persons who needed temporary lodgings. By far the most
striking facts which appear are that on account of the open-
ness of this village, ownership of cottage property was ex-
tremely widely distributed : and that paupers were not the
occupants of the worst houses. About 1830 the Feoffees of the
town lands held eight cottages, four of which were let for ten
shillings each and one for twelve shilhngs per year. Many of
the paupers' cottages, even before the rise in the value of
money, were rented at higher rates than these, and it is quite
safe to conclude that they provided better accommodation.
The Feoffees' cottages were without gardens.

In 1814 and 1820 £550 was borrowed for the purchase of
property, but the number of cottages purchased is uncertain.
The interest amounted to £27 10s. od. per year, while in 1832
the amount received for cottage rents was ^^32 175. 2^d.
Thus it is unsafe to say much definitely about the real state
of affairs. Probably the rents received were from independent
labourers, while the real paupers who were kept entirely on
parish allowances were housed in the property which had been
purchased. It was unlikely that the overseers would give
allowances to paupers to receive part of them back in rents,
and thus run the risk of losing them. It is more likely that
the rents booked as receipts were real receipts from cottages
which had become the property of the parish by the death of
pauper owners.

Besides shelter, the poor were provided with furniture and
fuel from the earliest times. When people returned to settle-
ment the overseers sent a vehicle to fetch their furniture, this
was evidently done to prevent it being sold and a claim being
made on the parish for a fresh supply. Two examples of ex-
penditure on these accounts show that heavy sums were paid.

£ s. d.
1784. To Wm. Hawtin going to Hanover's ford to fetch Free-
man's goods . . . . . . . .1116

18 1 5. Carriage of Thos. Stiles' goods from London . .120

CH. viii] SPECIAL RELIEF 127

The overseers might well make great efforts to enable

labourers to retain their furniture : for in one case at least

a man's goods were distrained upon and sold for rent. The

parish had to pay the expenses of the proceeding, find the

defaulter another home, and, presumably, another set of

furniture. In 1815 two extraordinary cases of payments for

furniture occur. Two small farmers failed in business, and

within a few weeks there are entries recording large payments

to one of them for hauling the parish coals ; then his arrears

of rates and taxes on property of the rateable value of £90

were paid by the overseers ; soon afterwards there were

purchases of necessary furniture at the expense of the parish

from the sale of the farmer's own goods, and eventually the

parish found him a house and a weekly allowance. The

overseers were never so generous to the poor as they were

to these unfortunate confrhes, for the usual payment for

furniture did not amount to more than one pound ; while

in one of these two cases the entries are as follows :

£ 5. d.
To goods bought at John Ainge's sale for his use . 3 19 o
To Mr. Jakes for a pair of sheets for John Ainge .220
To R. Ainge for a tea kettle, cups and saucers and iron

candlesticks . . . . . . . . 16 o

In the other case, the allowances were not quite so generous ;
still they were greater than those usually given to the labouring
poor.

£ s. d.
To Mr. Jno. Watts for goods for Wm. King bought at his

sale 386

To a wheel, rug and tools for Wm. King . . • i 3 3

Some of the more common entries are as follows :

£ s. d.
1776. To Mr. Watts, bill for bedtick, bolster, blankets, pair of

sheets and stuffing for Maxy Wilkins . . .19 3

Pd. to R. Collcott for 2 bedsteads and work . • i 12 10

Pd. for tin kettle, iron pot, and bed mat ... 58

Pd. for a pair of sheets ...... 40

On the whole the expenditure for furniture was not of
great importance, for the poor seemed to have provided them-
selves with the necessary articles. Payments for beds and

128 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

bedding — the most destructible articles of furniture — are far

the most frequent.

There were always a few paupers who were provided with

fuel. From 1730 to 1760 these were mostly widows who were

supplied with faggots and furze. Such fuel was cut from the

waste lands of the village, and the cost to the overseers rarely

covered more than the haulage ; which seems to mean that

the paupers cut for themselves. As time went on, the

increase of population and the encroachments and clearances

on the commons and wastes reduced the supply of fuel from

this source so that it could no longer meet the demand. Still

the poor did not give up their claims to fuel rights, and when

the brushwood failed them they made an attack on the

timber belonging to various landed proprietors. They

asserted their claims in a practical way by taking fuel wherever

it was available, and the prosecutions show that the poor did

not surrender their rights without a struggle. A climax was

reached in 1787-8-9, and the owners of timber and fuel had

to set about giving the poor an adequate supply of coals.

This they did by making the parish a general retailer of coals,

as has been already described. Before 1760 the custom seems

to have been to supply coals only during illness. They were

generally bought from some farmer or dealer at is. 6d. or

IS. gd. per cwt. After 1760 some purchases were made in

bulk : still the coals continued to be given as a part of relief ;

there was no definite trading, but only a supply for the valid

purposes of relief. The gifts of wood and coals are well

exemplified by the following :

s. d.

1727. For fetching fuel for Cotterill ..... 20

For furze for Williams ...... 30

Pd. for 2 cwt. of coals ...... 40

1735. Pd. for 2 cwt. of coals ...... 30

1 741. R. Ainge, a load of furze to Plestoe's in their illness . 3 6

1742. C. Middleton for 20 faggots for Widow Loveday . 5 o

1736. To Jos. Ashfield 3 cwt. of cleft wood from Jno. Coldicott

at lod. ......... 26

1767. 12 cwt. of coals at is. M. ..... 18 6

1797. To R. Ainge for 3 loads of faggots for the use of the poor 15 o

The price of coal varied between is. 6d. and 2s. per cwt.,
only rising to the latter figure in 1727. The general level was

CH. viii] SPECIAL RELIEF 129

IS. 6d. to IS. gd. In 1735 the price was is. 6d., in 1736 is. yd.
and IS. gd. ; in 1767 and 1784 is. 8d. ; and in 1771 is. gd.
per cwt.

Thus, the poor and needy were supplied with shelter,
furniture, and fuel. They were never better provided for
than the independent labourers, nor were they ever in a much
worse condition. Till the general pauperization under the
' Roundsman ' system, it was a small misfortune for the able-
bodied workman and his family to have to call upon the
parish for support. For the aged and unfit the provision was
as generous and as free from discomforts as could be expected
from any system of public assistance during the period.

Section II. Reuef of Sick Persons

The Poor Law Commissioners of 1832 had very little to say
about medical relief in their report. All their energies were
directed against the evil system which was pauperizing able-
bodied labourers, and they could scarcely pause to consider
any other subject. Two lines describe the system of parish
contracts with surgeons, and a short paragraph commends
the system of dispensaries for the medical relief of poor
persons which was the distinguishing feature of Warwickshire
poor relief. Unfortunately Mr. Smith's dispensaries^ extended
from Southam into the central part of the county, and did
not affect the south-eastern district in which Tysoe is situated.
It was left for the Commissioners who were appointed after
the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834, to com-
plain of the evils which arose from the old system of medical
relief. In their second report ^ they said that ' the parish
authorities exercised no discretion concerning the persons who
were entitled to be attended at the expense of the parish.
In the matter of relief by medicine almost all rural labourers
were paupers '. Now the word ' pauper ' soon after 1834
began to convey a distinct moral stigma, and its use to describe
the agricultural labourer in receipt of medical relief gives
a wrong impression which is little short of slander. The

* Report of Poor Law Gsmmission, 1834, p. 43.

* Second Report of the Poor Law Commissioners, 1836, App., p. 180.

PART VI) W. V. J,

130 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

labourers certainly did receive medical relief, but directly they
were unable to work they were entitled to such. They need
not be absolutely destitute or dying before they could acquire
a legal right to relief under the Act of 1601, and the adminis-
trators of the Act during the early part of the eighteenth
century recognized the wisdom of setting a fair minimum for
the physical stamina and economic stability of the labourer.
After 1780, when prices were high, and the labourers became
pauperized by the various ' Round ' systems devised by the
cupidity of employers, there was no possibility of the mass of
labourers making any provision for sickness or old age.^ It
was therefore unjustifiable to use the word pauper in any
except its legal or economic sense — i. e. a person in receipt of
public assistance — as applicable to the labourer in receipt of
medical relief. The Poor Law Commissioners of 1840 wished
to confine the provision of medical aid to those persons who
were ' really destitute ', and they argued that previously to
the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834 there
existed no definite legal authority to provide medical relief
for the poor.2 While this may have been true, there was no
legal test of absolute destitution to be apphed to any applicant
for relief prior to 1834 : so that labourers who might possess
a little property in furniture or a cottage were not acting dis-
honestly, or to the detriment of the social welfare, when they
applied for relief. They should therefore incur no obloquy
because they received medical aid. Happily it has never been
possible to submit to the destitution test applicants for medical
relief even since 1840, when the Commissioners wished to put
such a principle into action.

In the statute of Elizabeth no allusion is made to medical
or surgical assistance, and in the subsequent Acts of Parlia-
ment relating to the poor the Legislature was entirely silent
on the subject up till 1834. Nevertheless, even prior to
that date, medical aid had been rendered to the poor, in spite
of the absence of express provision for it. Under the Act of

* Cf. Hammond, The Village Labourer, 1 760-1832, pp. 1 20-1 21, on the
conditions of rural life at the end of the eighteenth century.

* Report of Poor Law Commissioners, 1840, Continuance Report, p. 44.

CH. viii] SPECIAL RELIEF 131

1601 the rates were to be raised ' for and towards the necessary
rehef of the Lame, Impotent, Old, Blind and such other persons
being Poor and not able to work '. On the warrant of this
clause, relief in all sorts of sickness was given by the overseers
of Tysoe during the whole of the eighteenth century; medical
and surgical aid was provided as occasion arose, but there
was no permanent appointment of physician or surgeon till
about 1820. The poor were attended by the various doctors
who practised in the neighbourhood. In 1820 the parochial
practice was secured by one doctor, probably by tender and
contract ; and from that year there are regular payments
' to the parish doctor '. In his Report on Warwickshire in
1834 Villiers said that it was the prevaihng practice in the
county for the overseers at Easter in each year ' to invite
a statement from all medical men within reach of the parish,
of the lowest terms on which they will attend the poor for the
ensuing year. They are requested to make an estimate of
the value of their time, service, and drugs in the relief of
every disorder to which the paupers of the parish may be
exposed, sometimes including the vaccination of children and
attendance on women in labour '.^ So Tysoe seems to have
followed the county practice. The first expenditure under
this head was £30, and subsequent payments were slightly
more or less at various times. Previous to the permanent
arrangement, doctors attended their patients and submitted
their bills to the overseers. There seems to have been no
distinction between private and parish practice. A few
examples of the numerous bills will give some idea of the
method and costs :

1731. Pd. half a Doctor's bill for curing Richard Pratt's knee
Other overseer. Do. ......

1732. Pd. Doct. Silch upon acct. of Susan King
Pd. Doct. Chandler upon acct. of Simon Middleton .

1734. Pd. Dr. Chandler for J no. Wilkins ....
Pd. Dr. Chandler's bill for Ben Powell and child .
1741. Pd. the apothecary for stuff for itch to dress a child with
1751. Mr. Bates for Thos. Nixon with the small pox .
1769. Pd. a Doctor's Bill .......

* Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834, App. A, Part II, p. 4.

II.'

132 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viir

i s. d.
1787. To Mr. Venour bill of journeys and medicine, Wm. Castle,

wheelwright . . . . . . . . i 10 o

To Mr. Venour bill of journeys Wid. having a sore

leg 338

1795. Medicines and dressing for Mary Townsend's hand . 7 6

1 80 1, Mr. Mead's bill of journeys, medicines and attending the

poor . . . . . . . . .989

1802. Mr. Mead's and Mr. Shelswell's bills, journeys, medicines

and attending the poor . . . . .1156

Mr. Mead and Mr. Shelswell extra . . . .220

1820. To Mr. Shelswell the parish surgeon . . . . 32 10 o

1821, Pd. the Parish Doctor's bUl . . . . . 30 o o

Very often the parish saved the expense of employing a

skilled surgeon by employing the local leech, and the quack

not infrequently supplanted the qualified doctor and his

remedies, A few records of the expenses incurred will serve

to show the system employed :

d.
To Henry Eglington bleeding Grace Middleton . . 6

To do. bleeding Eliz. Elliot ... 6

The latter was a costly case, for it entailed funeral expenses ;
but whether they were the result of bleeding is not stated.
The person who did the bleeding also made it his business to
set bones — a branch of the medical craft which the ordinary
doctors seem to have avoided during the eighteenth century.
Accidents in Tysoe which came within the cognizance of the
overseers were treated by the bone-setter. Ordinary pay-
ments are : ' To the bonesetter, 75.' Another item, ' To
Susan Powell for salve and dressing Mary Brewer's sores, 15.,'
seems to show that the quack or herbalist was at work, while
many payments ' to Anne Watts for two bottles of Daffy's
Elixir ' show the popularity of that patent medicine. There
were also allowances made ' to buy bark ', which seems to
apply to quinine. While the poor as well as the rich benefited
by the proximity of the spa at Leamington, as early as
1750 there was a payment ' to Isaac Clarke going to Leaming-
ton to fetch water for Widow Claridge, 35.'

Not many years ago some form of opiate locally known as
' Godfrey's ' used to be sold in the village. This was used by
the women field-workers to keep their babies quiet, particularly
in the harvest time. The same thing seems to have been used
in the eighteenth century, for in 1769 a payment ' for a bottle

CH. VIII] SPECIAL RELIEF 133

of Godfrey' appears. About 1760, payments for confinements
began to be made. Sometimes the money was given to the
man ' at his wife's groaning ' or ' when his wife was put to
bed ' ; but more often the money was paid direct to the local
midwife — as witness an entry of 1757 : * To Jane Grimmett
delivering Stephen Ward's wife, 2s. 6d.' From 1760 onwards
these payments became common. During the eighteenth
century there was no institutional relief of sickness whatever,
but in the nineteenth century patients were sent both to
Oxford and London for treatment. Many of these individual
cases were costly. The annual subscription to the Oxford
Infirmary about 1815 was £3 35. o^. In 1820 there was
a payment ' for Decimus Beck coming from St. Luke's
Hospital, London, £3 os. od.' And in 1821, ' To W. Ainge and
others to and from London, also money at St. Luke's,
£18 12s. id.'

During the whole of the period small-pox was the greatest
scourge that had to be dealt with. In the eighteenth as in
the twentieth century the infection was often carried by
tramps. A case which occurred in Tysoe in 1741 illustrates
this very well. The payments begin with one ' to Jno.
Murray the roper for carrying the woman Eliz. Simpson, that
was brought with a pass to Lower Town, is. od.' Then they
continue for bread, for salves to dress her sores, for a blanket
and for maintenance. After the woman was out of the infec-
tious stage she was lodged in a cottage at a cost of 4s. 6d. per
week, and after nearly a year's residence in the village she
was 'sent off'. Cases of small-pox occurred in 1741, i743,
1752, 1769, 1773, and 1781. From 1790 onwards a regular
' pock-house ' was maintained at Westcote, a lonely farm
about two miles from the village. In the famine years of
1795 and 1801 the conditions were fearful. The overseers
seem to have done their best to cope with the distress and
sickness. Bread apparently could be had for the asking, and
in 1796 payments were made for ' pease, pepper, beef, garden
stuff, and fireing, and trouble making soups ', milk, and other
similar things. In 1801 the parish was heavily in debt
through the extraordinary demands made on its resources.

134 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

Whenever cases of small-pox occurred they were invariably
isolated. Sometimes the school building was used as a pock-
house, at other times a cottage was taken. When the victims
succumbed, they were interred with all haste, and their
clothing was also buried. At the end of the eighteenth
century inoculation began to come into use, for there are
records of payments to a man ' going round to tell the children
about being cut for the small-pox '. Several entries after
1790 show that whenever the pest appeared, the people were
in a state bordering on panic. On one occasion a doctor was
paid ys. 6d. to come and ' satisfy the neighbours whether
a person had the small-pox ' ; and in 1792, 14s. was ' paid for
ale when the neighbours met when there was talk that Mary
Smith on the Green had small-pox '.

Beside medical and surgical aid special relief was administered
to the sick in money and kind. The grants were as follows :

£ s. d.

1729. Given to R. Loveday in sickness .... 50
Given to Chas. Wesbury, wife sick .... 10
Juda Brewer, her and the 2 children sick . . 50

1730. Goodwife Robbins washing and mending Eliz. Elliot . i 6
1 74 1. To Dorothy Pratt being ill and woman attending 3 weeks 9 o

Pd. Eliz. Sutton nursing Thos. Horton with small-pox 220

1765. To Chas. King for a peck of malt .... 11

1787. To John Hyron being poorly ..... 40

18 10. To a pint of wine Eliz. Gillet ..... 26

18 12. To John Handy to buy him a truss ... 70

18 1 3. To Mr. NichoUs wine the poor had when ill . .236
1816. To 5 pints of wine Thos. Horton 's wife . . . 12 6

1814. For coal and soap, mending a bed and cleaning S. Hyrons 4 \\
To Geo. King thrown from a load of stubble . . 80

Wine and malt seem to have been popular curatives, for they
were the most common gifts in sickness. Nurses were also
provided. They were generally women of the village, but
occasionally trained attendants were called in. In 1769
a person was given ' 55. more, allowed by Justices to find
a nurse ' ; and in 1817 a trained nurse was fetched from
Banbury to attend those who were stricken with small-pox.

There is no record of particular dealings with lunacy — unless
the two following items refer to that malady :

s. d.
1789. To a pair of handcuffs ...... 90

1814. For a straight waistcoat ...... 76

CH. VIII]

SPECIAL RELIEF

135

The special purpose for which the latter was intended seems
clear enough, but the handcuffs might be used for general
purposes.

When illnesses proved fatal the parish was often called
upon to pay the expenses of burial. The expenditure on this
account was rather heavy because paupers were accorded very
decent funerals. In fact it would be safe to say that up to
1780 pauper funerals were as costly and decent as those of
independent labourers. The expenses in this connexion were
rendered more burdensome by the laws which demanded that
all bodies should be ' buried in woollens ', or that a sum of
money should be paid for the benefit of the poor if this con-
dition were not complied with. There is very good evidence
that no gentry resided in Tysoe during the eighteenth century
in the fact that the burial registers mention no receipts under
the alternative provided by statute. The burial registers at
Compton Wyniates contain eight entries between 1683 and
1812, of receipts of ' £2 105. o^. for the poor, according to
Act of Parliament for being buried in other than sheep's wool '.
In 1754 £5 was received in a lump sum for the same purpose.
On this occasion the person buried had been a Marquis and
a Privy Councillor. This provision of the law fostered the
production of wool and burdened the rates at the same time :
took money from the farmers' pockets with one hand and
attempted to replace it with the other, with the risk of losing
it in the transfer. The cost of shrouds made in order to
comply with this extraordinary statutory regulation varied
between two and nine shillings. The price of coffins advanced
from 55. 3d. in 1727 to 175. in 1815, and £1 2s. 6d. in 1817. In
1727 a set of items of funeral expenditure is recorded thus :

To making affidavit .

Phillip Wells' fees (clerk)

Minister's fees .

Coffin

4 men carrying to church

Paid for a shroud

For candles and necessary ware.

For many years the minister's fee for burial was sixpence :
but toward the end of the century it advanced to 2s. 6d. and

136 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

35. 6d., payments being made in a lump sum like any other
professional fees. This may account for the distinguishing
mark ' P ' against certain names in the register of burials
from 1782 to 1792. There are no other distinguishing com-
ments in the register. When names were unknown, burials
were entered as ' an anonymous stranger ', ' ^ beggar woman ',
' a chimney sweeper ', and ' a poor travelling man ' ; but in
1784 one is described as ' a poor apprentice ', and in all the
years of this decade certain persons are distinguished by a
' P '. It is suggested that these were paupers, because the
latest entry of the burial of a ' poor traveUing man ' prior to
the general adoption of the mark in 1781 is also distinguished
in the same way. If this view is correct, it is striking that
of 23 burials in 1787, 13 are those of paupers. During the
decade of 1783-92 there were 113 burials, 35 of which were
of paupers ; thus 3i'8 per cent, of the funerals were paid for
at the expense of the parish.

If allowance is made for the difference in medical knowledge
in the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries, the evidence
of the overseers' expenditure in Tysoe during the earlier
period leaves little doubt that sick persons who were obhged
to claim public assistance were as well attended and as
adequately provided for as their modern successors. The
last rites accorded to their bodies were much more decent
and sympathetic than many pauper funerals of the sixties
and seventies of the last century.

Section III. Relief of Infants and Impotent

The Commissioners appointed to inquire into the working
of the Poor Law in 1832 reported that they had received less
information on the apprenticeship of poor children than on
any other subject connected with the Poor Law.^ Yet there
is a general opinion that the conditions in which children lived
under the Poor Law were very bad indeed. Only two of the
Assistant Commissioners, Chapman and Villiers, gave any
evidence on this subject while the Commission was sitting,

' 1834, Report, p. 337.

CH. viii] SPECIAL RELIEF 137

and Villiers reported of the Midlands that in the manufacturing
districts and those adjoining the conditions of apprentice Hfe
were shocking : further, that it was said that one-half of the
criminal prosecutions in the county of Warwick were of
persons under age, and one-half of these again were of children
under the age of fifteen years.^ There can be no doubt that
apprentices living in the new industrial areas had a very hard
time of it. Mr. H. O. Meredith, referring to factory appren-
tices, writes that ' there is no reason to suppose that the lot
of the pauper apprentice had ever been easy ' } Hasbach states
that in the south-west of England ' we find that parish
children of seven and eight years old were apprenticed to the
farmers, who treated them badly and set them to the lowest
and most unpleasant tasks '? If these statements were
generally true, Tysoe seems to have been peculiarly fortunate.
From 1727 to 1770 the children whocame on the parish were
placed in the homes of the largest farmers, and though there
is no evidence that they were treated with any particular
kindness, there is on the other hand no indication of harshness.
In the opinion of a recent writer on the subject, ' it is a
pleasant picture — the friendless children of a parish being
taken into the families of the best-to-do ratepayers. In those
primitive days they at least were maintained within some
family circle, and it may be doubted whether they were called
upon to work at an earlier age than the children of the families
into which they were thrown by the bargains made on their
behalf by the overseers.' * At any rate, Tysoe did not send
its children in batches to the cotton-mills or to any other
industrial occupation. The reason for this may have been
that Tysoe had no inconsiderable industry within its own
borders. As Villiers wrote in 1832, in the Midland counties
the population engaged in manufactures was much scattered
throughout those parts of the country which were called

* Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834, Appendix A, Part II, Sec.
Infants.

* Economic History of England, p. 268.

* History of Agricultural Labourer, p. 83.

* Jos. Ashby, A Century of Parish History, Warwick Advertiser, Feb-
ruary, 191 1.

138 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

agricultural. This had been the case with Tysoe at the
beginning of the nineteenth century when the system of
sending children to the cotton-mills had been used by other
parishes.

The 43rd of Elizabeth made it lawful for ' the Churchwardens
and overseers, with the consent of two Justices, to bind any
children to be apprentices, where they shall see convenient,
till such Man-child shall come to the age of four and twenty
years, and such Woman-child to the age of one and twenty
years, or the time of her marriage'. This provision applied
to a real apprenticeship to some kind of craft or trade. It
was enforced in Tysoe, but the parish only paid the necessary
premium in a few cases, which mostly occurred in the early
years of the nineteenth century. In 1827 ^ payment was
made ' to Jno. Morris of Stratford for Thos. Watson apprentice
£6 105. od.' In all other cases the only payments made by
the overseers were the magistrates' fees for signing the inden-
tures. It is impossible to say with certainty why a few
children should have been singled out for real apprenticeship,
for only about twenty indentures were paid for in a century.
Influence may have been used on behalf of some children by
relatives and friends, but the best explanation is that the
premiums were paid by the Trustees of the Town Lands.
This view is strengthened by the fact that the number of
indentures increased as the value of the property in question
advanced in the early years of the nineteenth century. The
usual expenses of the overseers run to four shillings or little
more. These are examples :

s. d.

1724. Spent when Richd. Pratt's indentures were sealed . 4 o

181 1. Pd. Mr. Wade the Magistrate for signing a pair of inden-
tures ......... 40

1 8 14. A journey to Banbury to apprentice Jno. Edward's son,

5s. Spent on Edwards is, 4d. , , . . 64

18 16, Expenses at the Peacock when Richard Barron was put

apprentice ........ 10 o

About twenty indentures were paid for in the course of the
century 1727-1827.

From 1727 to 1770 there was a good demand for agricultural
labour, and during this period the farmers of Tysoe seem to

CH. viii] SPECIAL RELIEF 139

have been quite willing to take the parish children into their
own homes. Sometimes they paid for the privilege of having
the older children, yet few of the boys or girls were retained
as apprentices to husbandry after they became self-supporting.
The parish generally paid the farmers to take the children,
who were bound to remain with the specified family between
the ages of eight and fifteen (approximately). The Act of
5 Elizabeth, c. 4, sec. 18, had provided that all farmers holding
more than half a ploughland in tillage might take apprentices.
Under this section the children who claimed relief from the
overseers of Tysoe were ' let '. The officials did not always
wait for the death of both parents before they apprenticed
the children to farmers, or even placed them out to nurse. In
1728 a man died leaving a widow and seven children. The
widow was given a regular allowance for some months. Two
of the youngest children were placed with another, probably
an older widow, who received 2s. per week each for their keep,
and the others were let to farmers. Here are the entries :

' An account of the children placed and set out by the
overseers in the year 1728.

' Susannah Pratt to Thos. Middleton for one year at
£2 5^. od.

' Michael Wells one of Pratt's children the 27th of May for
7 years at £10 10s. od. Ten shillings of the said sum in hand
paid, forty shillings a year for the three first years and twenty
shillings a year for four last years (named Catherine).

' Saml. Knibb one of Pratt's children named Thomas the
28th of May for one year at £5 o^. od.

' Widow Wilkins two of Pratt's children, the one named
Richard, the other named Peter at four shiUings a week,
June 3.

' Robt. Turner one of Pratt's children named Elizabeth at
£13, Twenty shillings of which in hand, fifty shillings a year
the first two years, the remaining part to be equally divided
the other six years. Entered June nth, for 8 years.

' Anne Richards Jun. one of Pratt's children named Dorothy
at £14 for seven years, the 17th of June. Twenty shillings of
which in hand and fifty shillings a year for the two first years,
the remainder to be paid equally for the last 5 years. (Which
is £1 125. a year the 5 last years.) '

The most important point about the transactions is that

140 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

the allowance paid for keeping the youngest children was
equal to two-thirds of the wages of a woman worker of the
period. The Wages List prepared by the Warwickshire
Quarter Sessions at Easter, 1730, stated that the pay of a
woman raker in corn-harvest was to be sixpence per day ;
while in 1778 there appears in the books of the Tysoe overseers
an account for thatching, according to which a woman was
paid one shilling for two days drawing straw. This liberality
of payment for the upkeep of pauper children continued
during the whole of the eighteenth century. After 1790,
when the system of letting children to farmers had broken
down because of the prevalent unemployment which caused
farmers to take the men who were ' on the round ', the practice
of placing orphans with widows was extended, and must
have been very costly.

The above entries may be taken as fair specimens of the
bargains made between the overseers and farmers for the
maintenance and training of children. Of such transactions
there would be about two hundred during the eighteenth
century. Much the heaviest account for children occurs in
the decade 1750-60. In 1750 there were five apprentices, in
1751 seven, 1752 six, 1753 five, 1754 four, 1755 four, 1756 four,
1757 none, 1758 two, 1759 two. It is curious that one of the
chief questions to be settled was always the responsibility
of clothing the child. Provisions for this purpose were
always stated with precision — thus in 1742 :

' Geo. Plestoe to James Nixon for one year till Michaelmas
next. Mr. Nixon to find him in two shirts and to pay to the
next overseers 155. at Michaelmas, 1743. The Town to find
him the remaining part of his apparel.'

And in 1774 :

' Eliz. Hartwell to Robt. Hart of Horley at fifteen pence
a week to old St. Michaels next if the neighbours think fit.
Tysoe parish to find all manner of wearing apparell both linen
and woolen, likewise shoes.'

After 1771 the farmers did not show the same readiness to
take the parish children on agreements for long periods. The
term covered by the transactions between 1770 and 1790 was

CH. VIII] SPECIAL RELIEF 141

usually one or two years. Doubtless the change was due to
the fact that labour was plentiful. After 1790 the boys and
girls were brought up by independent labourers, or widows
receiving parish pay. When the boys were old enough to
work they seem to have taken their chance of obtaining em-
ployment with other boys and men, and if they did not
succeed they received the usual allowance for being out of
employ or ' on the round '. In a word, they shared the
general demoralization and discomfort which overtook their
class between 1790 and 1830. What happened to the girls
cannot possibly be ascertained ; but there is no reason to
believe that they were any better off than the boys. In fact,
their lot was probably worse. Neither boys nor girls seem
to have gone to farm work at such an early age after 1790 as
they had previously done. Farmers who had to employ their
quota of the adult labour of the village were not keen to
engage child labour and double their burdens by adding wages
to rates. Still, infants under the age of twelve years seem to
have been fairly well treated ; after that age they shared the
fortunes of the whole class of able-bodied labourers within the
parish. The only children who were subject to harsh treat-
ment were the sons and daughters of parents who were returned
to the village to settlement. Several entries — e. g. this in
1790, ' To myself, three boltins of straw for Anthony Walker's
children, 6(i.' — show that such children were not welcomed
to the village and were innocent sufferers for their father's
misfortune.

Two transactions are recorded in 1747 and 1764 which were
in the nature of farming out the poor ; but they present
certain peculiar features. There was never any wholesale
farming out in Tysoe, and both these transactions dealing
with adult individuals are similar to those regarding appren-
tices to husbandry. On February 17, 1747, an entry was
made as follows : * The Widow Plestoe to Thos. Mansell at
2s. dd. per week during life, Thos. Mansell is to find her in
everything and burial, the parish to give him 6 hundred-weight
of coals entrance.' The entry of 1764 simply states that
Wm. Tysoe, Jun., was ' to have the Widow Tysoe at td, a week'.

142 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

Apart from these cases the aged poor were practically treated
as pensioners. It has been cynically said that the function
of the Poor Laws is to prevent people from outraging the
common sentiments of mankind by dying of hunger.^ If this
were correct one would expect it to be peculiarly true of the
aged poor ; but it certainly was not true in the administration
of the Poor Laws during the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. In fact, even when the Poor Laws were adminis-
tered with most severity, there has always been a tendency
to deal leniently with the aged and infirm. Even the Poor
Law Commissioners of 1836 stated that it had always been
their wish that the principles of the law should be applied
without harshness to aged persons.^ The Commissioners of
1832-4, after their inquiry, found nothing to complain of the
system of relieving the aged, so long as they received their
allowances in money, that there might be no possibility of
overseers or their friends jobbing with them.^ The Commis-
sioners reported that even in places distinguished in general
by the most wanton parochial extravagance the grants to the
aged and infirm were only moderate, and evidently they
regarded the allowances as sufficient. Of blind, deaf, or dumb
there are no records in Tysoe, and whatever lame or disabled
persons lived in the village were not likely to be specially
described. Once they had become recognized as regular reci-
pients of relief there would be no need for succeeding overseers
to justify their doles by stating the claims of the applicants :
for there would be no question among ' the neighbours ' as to
the right of such persons to relief. There are payments to
persons ' being lame ', and to some who ' could not work ' ;
but such descriptions are soon omitted, although the persons
still continued to receive relief, probably for the same reason
as when the description was first entered. Widows formed
the most important class who received assistance under that
part of the Act of 1601 which ordered that the overseers were
' to raise competent sums of money for and towards the
necessary Relief of the Lame, Impotent, Old, Blind, and such

^ Mr. R. H. Tawney, Sociological Journal, vol. ii, No. IV, 1909.
* Second Report, 1836, p. 8. ^ Report, p. 42.

CH. VIII] SPECIAL RELIEF 143

others among them being Poor and not able to work '. The
Commissioners of 1832-4 stated that in many places widows
received what were known as pensions, from is. to 35. per
week, without reference to their age, strength, or powers of
obtaining an independent subsistence, but simply as widows.^
Independently of any right to public support on the ground
of want of employment or insufficiency of wages, these women
had established a claim to relief from the parish funds.
Villiers, the Assistant Commissioner for the Midland Counties,
reported that it was a general practice to make grants to the
impotent of 2S. 6d., 35., and in some instances 6s. per week.
If Thorold Rogers's word-picture of a manorial court can be
depended upon, it is quite possible that these Poor Law
pensions did not become customary in the eighteenth or even
in the seventeenth century ; and that the Poor Laws simply
carried on a custom of allowing a pension to widows which
had existed several centuries before there were any legal
provisions for the rehef of the poor. Describing the business
of a feudal court Rogers says :

* A son comes into court, and, on succeeding to his father's
tenement, not only fines in a mark for quiet entry ; but
acknowledges that he is bound to pay an annuity to his
mother for her whole life — of a quarter of wheat, another of
barley, another of peas, and forty pence : proffering as sureties
for the due performance of his obligation two other residents.' ^

But whatever the origin of the Poor Law pensions to widows
may have been, they undoubtedly constituted one of the
heaviest taxes on the funds for relief. One is amazed at the
number of widows living in a parish like Tysoe during the
eighteenth century, and puzzled to find any sufficient and
reasonable cause for the phenomenon.

In July, 1730, there were three widows each receiving nine-
pence per week. In January of the same year, four widows
were receiving the same sum. During the whole of this year
there was also a person in receipt of relief who might be
described as a male pensioner. His allowance was larger than

' Report, p. 42.

* Six centuries of Work and Wages, 190S ed., p. 98.

144 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. viii

those made to the women, and amounted to is. per week.
In January, 1760, there were eight widows in regular receipt of
weekly sums varying between is. and 2S. 2d. ; some of them
increased their income by taking parish children or pauper
lodgers. In July, 1760, there were nine women described as
widows, and one described as * Dame Ward ', in receipt of
fortnightly sums varying from is. to 4s. In January the
largest fortnightly payment, amounting to Ss., was made to
a man, and during the whole year the allowances to men were
greater than those to women. Still there were only four men
whose names appear regularly in the fortnightly payment
lists. It is rather striking that none of the payments to the
ordinary female recipients of parish relief were so large as
those to the militia men's wives. In 1760 three women were
in receipt of allowances because their husbands were away
on active service. The payments for April were as follows :

Paid to those women whose husbands are on the body of the militia :

s. d.
April 20. To Mary Pargeter ...... 70

To Thos. Wilkin's wife ..... 5 o

To Wm. Freeman's wife ..... 90

If a poor man had three children born in wedlock he could
neither be compelled to serve in the militia nor to find a substi-
tute. Hence it seems as though 25. 6d. per week was the
allowance for the wife and is. per week for each child. Thus
of the persons mentioned in the above entry one would be
childless, one would have one child, and the third two. In
July of the same year the payments were each reduced by
sixpence per week to 3^., 2s., and 4s. respectively.

In 1790, both in January and July, there were twenty-four
widows in receipt of pensions ranging from is. 6d. to 3s. per
week. It is most difficult to compare their allowances with
those of men, because the latter may not have been single like
the widows. Some of the men in receipt of relief in this year
would be certain to have families dependent upon them.

By 1820 the allowance to widows had doubled. In January
of that year there were fourteen widows receiving pensions of
35. per week. It is in this year that we find the first mention

CH. VIII] SPECIAL RELIEF 145

of widows with children. In one case a widow and family-
were allowed gs. per week. In several others widows with
one child were allowed 35. 6d., instead of the ordinary allowance
to a childless widow of 35. per week.

In 1827 there were twenty-one widows in receipt of relief
during the month of January, fifteen of whom were given
regular pensions of 2S. 6d. per week each. The others were
granted allowances on a basis only known to the overseers of
the time. In July there were eighteen widows on the relief
list, fifteen of whom were pensioners. These grantees were
in a much better position than single women, who were given
allowances on the ground of unemployment. The latter never
received more than 25. per week in 1827, and very often their
allowance amounted only to is. per week. Many of them
would have been better off had they become mothers of
illegitimates, and it is much to their credit that they did
not do so.

There is no evidence that the number of aged men or
widowers was ever equal to that of the widows. The reason
for this difference of length of life between the two sexes is
a mystery, and is likely to remain so. The only suggestion
that can be made is that the widows were the relicts of men
who went to the wars, for Tysoe gave many soldiers to the
nation between 1760 and 1815. On several occasions the
overseers of Tysoe collected sums of money and sent them
abroad, presumably for the relief of our soldiers. But this
explanation is not altogether satisfying. The fact remains
that the widows were there, and that they received pensions
which were kept in a much more exact ratio to the change
in monetary values than were the wages and allowances of
the able-bodied workers. Consequently the widows were as
well-to-do as any persons of their own class during the first
thirty years of the nineteenth century.

(PART VI) W. V.

CHAPTER IX

THE ABLE-BODIED

Employment and Relief

The motives which lead to the public provision of sustenance

for able-bodied persons are the desire to ensure the security

of property, and to maintain the productive efficiency of the

workers. Intense hunger knows no moral law. So long as

society puts a ban upon suicide it must make provision for

feeding all persons, of whatever physical or moral character.

This was done in England by the Poor Law of 1601, and there

is no longer a need to steal or to live by any immoral means,

because there is a provision in the English constitution for

physical subsistence for all her subjects. On the other hand,

every average individual is of economic value to the State at

large, and often to individuals in particular. Most able-bodied

workers produce more than they consume, and the surplus

is added to the national wealth. This is a sufficient social

reason for maintaining the worker in such peculiar times

and under such circumstances as he may be unable to

provide for himself. If every producer of a surplus retained

the whole of what he produced there would be no need for

social provision against emergency, but this does not happen.

Sometimes by the simple working of economic forces many

surpluses turn into one channel and are retained by one

who may or may not be himself a producer. More often

than not, such persons, by reason of their peculiar position

of economic advantage, or by great personal knowledge and

skill, are able to manipulate intelligently economic forces so

as to be able to gain possession of these surpluses. In most

states these persons obtain, by direct or indirect means, the

power of government. Then there exists what may rightly

CH. IX] THE ABLE-BODIED 147

be called a personal motive for the maintenance of all pro-
ducers- in time of scarcity. This personal motive has played
a large part in the legal and administrative provisions for the
relief of able-bodied persons in England. The maintenance
of able-bodied workers is a function of the Poor Laws, and is
important to property owners above all other classes in the
community. Certainly, to the workers themselves parochial
doles are an advantage, for they diminish competition in
times of scarcity, and eventually they take off the bitter-
ness of failure. Yet the maintenance of productive efficiency
was essentially a landlord's question up till 1790, when the
English population began to increase at such a rate that there
w^as little possibility of property owners suffering from a dearth
of labour. But there came into play all the great force of
custom, and that which had been the landlord's advantage
became the labourer's safeguard. It was exactly the same
with the relief of the able-bodied as it was with Settlement.
At first the landlords used Settlement for their own purposes ;
later the paupers used that principle as their own peculiar right
and safeguard.^

A recent writer on the Poor Laws states that the Acts
passed before 1722 were called ' Acts for the Relief of the
Poor ' ; the Act of 1722 speaks of ' Settlement, Employment,
and Rehef '? But the actual provisions of the Acts are of
much more importance than what Thorold Rogers called the
' hypocritical preambles ', The Act of 1601, although entitled
* An Act for the Rehef of the Poor ', ordered that the parish
officials should raise sufficient sums of money ' for setting to
work all such persons, married and unmarried, as had no means
of maintaining themselves, and who practised no ordinary
and daily Trade of Life by which to obtain a living . . ,
and that they should provide a sufficient Stock of Flax,
Hemp, Wool, Thread, Iron, and other Wares and Stuff to set
the poor to work ', By this Act was established a system of
employment and relief as definite as that set up by the Work-
house Test Act of 1722,

^ Cf. Report of Poor Law Commissioners, 1834, p. 155,
' Hammond, The Village Labourer, p. 148.

148 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ix

From the passing of the EHzabethan Poor Law down to
1834, parish officers were legally required to find work or
maintenance for every able-bodied person residing within
their parish who was without the necessaries of life. On the
other hand, all wayfaring or vagrant persons were dealt with
under the criminal law by the Justices and their underlings, the
parish constables, and the maintenance afforded to them was
assumed to be accompanied by some measure of punishment —
the stocks, the whipping-post, or commitment to the House
of Correction.^ This distinction between the worthy and
unworthy able-bodied paupers was never drawn as it ought
to have been. The 43rd of Elizabeth ordered that those who
would not apply themselves to work were to be imprisoned,
and there was other ample provision for the punishment of
such as were ' idle and would not work ' in the numerous
Vagrancy Acts. Towards the end of the eighteenth century
the system of punishing vagrants and idle persons utterly
failed, and not a little of the abuse of the provisions for
employing the poor or relieving the able-bodied arose from
this cause. The overseers could do nothing, for public
opinion was against the harsh treatment meted out to vagrants
under the existing laws. Even when misdemeanour was so
palpable as in Tysoe, where the actual accounts state that
payments were made to people when they ' would not work ',
when they ' would not work for badness ', and when they
' were troublesome ', the overseers were powerless. On the
other hand, there were payments made to men when their
masters ' would not take ' them. At the end of the eighteenth
century population was increasing rapidly, the demand for
agricultural labour was diminishing rather than increasing,
because enclosures had made economies in manual labour
possible and the vast improvements in machinery were rapidly
supplanting hand labour ; the poor were losing their per-
quisites derived from the commons and wastes, also after 1795,
when there were no legal restrictions on migration, there were
economic restrictions, such as those caused by lack of capital

^ Minority Report of Poor Law Commission, 1909, vol. ii, p. i.

CH. IX] THE ABLE-BODIED 149

amongst the poor ; thus there was no alternative for them
but the parish. The labourers were rather to be pitied than
blamed. Not a little of the abuse of the legal provision for
employing the poor or relieving unemployed workmen arose
from the extension of the tenant-farming system at the end
of the eighteenth century. When the cultivators were also
the proprietors of land there was no advantage in shuffling the
cost of labour on to the Poor Rates. The allowances to
the labourer might have been less under that system, but the
efficiency of the worker and the control of the master would
have diminished correspondingly. When, however, the dis-
tinction was sharply drawn betw^een the cultivator and the
proprietor it became a decided advantage to the former to
shift his wages bill on to the parochial rates. For whatever
the amount of Poor Rates may be, the incidence in nearly all
cases is borne by the landlord. The evidence given in the
Report of 1834 is sufficient to prove that this was especially
true of the period 1790-1830.^ And it is a well-known fact in
the locality that many Tysoe farmers made small fortunes
in the opening years of the nineteenth century. The price of
corn was high, rents were not any higher than they are at the
present day, wages were low. Poor Rates were high, but even
if these were added to rents there remained a large margin
for farmers' profits. Thus it might well be said that Poor
Rates had not lessened the farmer's capital, but only the
landlord's rents,^ and, it ought to be added, the labourer's
wages. There was a large movement for the consolidation
of farms in Tysoe and Compton Wyniates from 1800 to 1820,
and a minute of a Vestry meeting held at Tysoe in 1823 shows
clearly that the employers only paid their workmen three
shillings per week. The necessary addition to make up the
labourer's allowance came from the Poor Rates, and was
eventually a reduction of the landlord's rent. Wedge wrote
in 1794 that the continual increase in Poor Rates did not arise
in country villages from any want of industry or effort on the

' Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834, pp. 61 et seq.
' 1834 Report, p. 61.

150 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ix

part of the labouring poor, but from the fact that they only-
received from parish officers what they ought to have received
in wages.^

The framers of the Statute of 1601 do not appear to have
contemplated any other than industrial employment for the
poor. They assumed that all able-bodied poor persons could
work or be taught to work at some craft. Whether this was
the case or not, it is certain that in seasons of unemployment
in rural districts, very largely due to defective harvests, it
would have been most difficult to turn the needy workmen
to such crafts as the provision for stock indicates, especially
as there would be no provision of buildings or implements in
those places where the periods of unemployment were of
infrequent occurrence and of short duration. In towns it
might be different ; but in agricultural villages the only
methods open to the overseers were to grant relief without
labour, or work on public improvement, or to apportion the
labourers out among the employers and subsidize their wages
on a system which became known as ' the Round '. The first
was in a sense illegal, although it was resorted to in Tysoe ;
the second does not seem to have been eagerly desired, though
also sometimes used ; the third came to be the general method ;
in Tysoe it was much the most important of the three. Though
the overseers did provide articles, mostly implements, under
the Act of 1601, there was no attempt to maintain a parish
stock, the system being to provide for individual needs as
they appeared. Payments were made for yarn and wool, but
the most common were for flax. It should also be remembered
that hemp was grown on the common-fields before enclosure.
The payments for flax are all similar to one which appears in
1735 '■ ' Pd. for flax for David Plestoe's wife, 35.' These
supplies were nearly all given to women. More frequent and
important was the provision of spinning-wheels, for there can
be little doubt that many women receiving aid from the rates
were eking out a livelihood by spinning for the local weavers.

^ General View of the Agriculture of Warwickshire, 1794, p. 24.

CK. IX] THE ABLE-BODIED 151

At least thirty wheels were purchased during the century ;
also there are numerous records of payments for repairs ;
and there is every reason to believe that, like other furniture,
the spinning-wheels passed to another pauper on the decease
of the person to whom they had originally been given. Most
of the wheels were given to women, although one was given
to a bankrupt farmer as late as 1815. The cost of the wheels
was generally about 35, 6d., though it is difficult to find exact
entries because they were paid for along with other things as
in 1779 : ' To George Watts for the Stocks, Ironwork and
Paint, and Jersey wheel for Ann Cox's daughter, £1 35. gd.'

1 767. To Jos. Ashfield at times in money and paid for a wheel

1 73 1. Pd. in part for a wheel for Mary Clark

1754. Dame Wadley, a wheel for the parish

1782, To Jno. Hemmings Bill for repairs, Ann Cox's wheel,

and new wheel Ely's wife and James Geden's wife 10 6

Payments for repairs are similar to the following :

s. d.
1 73 1. Pd. for mending a wheel for Mary Clark ... 8

1782. To Jno. Hemmings mending Ann Cox's wheel . . 23

1730. Pd. for mending a wheel for Henry Clark . . 8

1780. To a spindle and wheel spring and making . . 6

The overseers also provided men with other tools, mostly
scythes. It is surmised that these were provided for the
men before they ' went up the upper country haymaking '.
Such payments are much more frequent after 1760 than
before.

5. d.

1769. To John Price repairing Humphrey Wilkins' tools . 2 o

1786. To Thos. Dodd for a scythe and sned that Richard Peel

had ......... 16

1887. To Thos. Watts for a scythe, sned and irons that Stephen

Wilks had 6 6

Persons accustomed to following handicrafts never seem
to have been sent on the round, or to have been treated
in exactly the same way as agricultural labourers were. In
1811, when some form of the allowance system was used in
the relief of the able-bodied, a shoemaker became unemployed.

152 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ix

On the same page there are records of payments made to him

for shoes for paupers and the following :

i s. d.
Jan. 26, 181 1. Pd. Thos. Hancox for going to Banbury to get

work ......... 20

Pd. Thos. Hancox, shoemaker, out of employ, which sum is to

serve him to Easter . . . . . .100

Then the overseers made gifts of money ' to buy things to
sell again ' and ' to buy things to put in basket *. There was
a case in 178 1 : ' To James Smith to buy things to sell again,
105-.' Two curious entries appear in 1781 and 1815 :

£ s. d.
To George King the Traveller and family . . . • 3 3 o

To George King the Travelling Pauper . . . . 2 10 o

This man may also have been a hawker, or he may have been
an itinerant entertainer, more probably the latter. The
overseers were fairly liberal in their gifts to some persons at
that time, for in 1810 they paid 155. ' to Ann King, a pauper
by consent of neighbours '.

On a few occasions men were employed in public improve-
ments. In 1757 an entry occurs, ' To Wm. Freeman having
no work, for 95 perch of trenchen at id. per perch, ys. iid.'
This is interesting because it was work done for the common-
weal on the open fields of the village. In other cases indivi-
duals were employed on the roads. There is no evidence that
gangs of men were employed on the roads as a system of poor
relief, and it is curious that when new roads were constructed
under the Enclosure Award, unemployment does not appear
to have appreciably diminished. The making of hedges,
ditches, and roads should have provided much employment,
and probably did ; but during the years when this process
was gone through, 1797-1800, the general employment con-
ditions were so chaotic that it is possible that the demand
for special labour only served to mitigate conditions which
would otherwise have been worse. It has been suggested
that the reason why the work entailed by enclosure did not
relieve the unemployment situation was that it was carried
out by imported labour.^ In a few cases this may have been

* Jos. Ashby, A Century of Parish History, Warwick Advertiser, February
1911.

CH. IX] THE ABLE-BODIED 153

true. Two contractors were set to fence the glebe, part of

the poor's land, and part of the grants in lieu of tithes. It is

not unlikely that these men imported their own gangs of

labourers who were used to the work ; but it is unthinkable

that proprietors fencing their own lands should import labour,

while they were supporting many men on the Poor Rates. It

is certain that the roads were made at the cost of the levies

provided for in the award, for a receipt for an instalment of the

Vicar's levy still exists.

The only traces of parish employment on the roads occur in

1827 and 1828. In 1827 the income accounts of the overseers

of the parish state that £19 6s. ^d. was ' received of the

Surveyor ', and on March 25, 1828, the overseers ' received

■£6 155. od. from the Surveyor for breaking 180 loads of stone

at ()d. per load '. The latter is the only evidence of organized

work on the roads, and that is not a large item. There is

a tradition in the village of the use of parish carts in which

men were used to haul stones from the pits on to the roads,^

but even if the tradition is trustworthy, the carts were not

used till after Easter 1828. The usual payments from the

Poor Rates to persons employed on the roads were similar to

the following :

s. d.
1764. To Richard Blackwell mending the highways having no

■work ......... 50

1783. To James Geden, more, highway .... 10

1789. Bot. five besoms to sweep the road with ... 26

The last-named were for the use of boys who were unemployed,
but were not old enough to be sent on the rounds. Even
individual payments for work on the roads were not numerous.
There was not more than one mile of road between the turn-
pike road, which was the general means of transit, and the
village. This largely accounts for the small expenditure
on the roads. The turnpike road was maintained by the
Turnpike Commissioners, the by-roads were left in their
primitive state, except for occasional repairs by the annual
Statute Labour.

Between 1727 and 1757 there were occasional payments to
' Cf. Hammond, The Village Labourer, pp. 182, 242.

154 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ix

unemployed persons without the offer of employment. They
were made mostly in the winter, and comprise the whole of
the provision for the relief of able-bodied workers apart from
the provision of wheels and spinning-stock. The following
are specimens :

April, II, 1743. To Jos. Ball having no work
April 14 To Jos. Ball having no work

To Wilkins having no work
To Nevell having no work .
To Bradley having no work
1748. To Godard at times having no work
1 757' To Godard, having no work

s. d.

I o

1 o
4 o
6 o

2 6

Relief without employment was given in emergencies
during the whole of the century ; but in the later years it was
the exception and not the rule. For some reason or other
1757 was a hard year. The general accounts were heavy and
there are many payments for barley, some to people out of
employment, and others to children. The following entries
occur on one page :

5. d.

Jan. 23. To Thos. Mansell no work ..... 40

To D. Wigson 2 bushels barley .... 66

To Jno. Sutton's children ..... 30

To Wm. Peel's children ..... 40

The last entries indicate that the overseers were evading the
law by a method which has been used even later than 1834,
namely, giving relief to a whole family, though nominally
only to the children. There is no doubt whatever that unem-
ployment was due to causes which were quite outside the
labourer's control. Unfortunately such conditions were soon
to become chronic. On January 2, 1763, the first payment
to a man ' going about by the yard-land ' was made. This is
the actual entry : ' To Danl. Wigson one shilling p. w. more
that he was to have, going about by the yard-land, 45.' Evi-
dently some arrangement had been made for the employment
and relief of able-bodied persons at a Vestry or other parish
meeting, but no minutes remain. It is singular that with the
exception of payments, the subject of the unemployed does
not appear prominently in the Poor Law records. Separate
books dealing with the Roundsman system were kept, for in

CH. IX] THE ABLE-BODIED 155

1819 ' a Book for the Employment of the Poor ' was bought
at a cost of two shillings, while the ordinary account books
were paid for every Easter, the clerk to the vestry receiving
an allowance for a ' court roll '. All the special books dealing
with the able-bodied have disappeared. It is not improbable
that they, like some others, were destroyed before the inquiry
of 1832.

It is difficult to say when the Roundsman system became
general, or even when it began. Gamier writes that a ' rounds-
man process ' began in the sixteenth century, as a result of
the Vagrancy Act, i Edward VI, c. 3.^ Unfortunately he does
not indicate the source of his information. In 1788 an attempt
was made to legalize the system of employing labourers by
sending them round to the parishioners,^ so it seems to have
been well known at that time. The system appeared in Tysoe
in 1763, but it is doubtful whether it had not appeared before,
in the years of dearth at the beginning and end of the seven-
teenth century, and about 1715. In 1623 the Justices sur-
veyed the corn-stocks held by farmers, and each family was
given a supply in proportion to the stock. Sometimes
paupers were billeted on those who had a supply of corn, but
the usual method was to sell to the poor at less than current
prices. In any case, there was a regular allowance system in
vogue at that time, and the Roundsman was nothing more
or less than an allowance system with employment added.
Every unemployed worker put him- or herself in the entire
control of the parish officials, who arranged with the various
cultivators of land to take such persons for a period of time
proportionate to the acreage or the annual value of their land.
The roundsman received from every farmer to whom he was sent
some proportion of the average wages paid, either three-fourths
or five-sixths. The parish added an allowance which made up
the whole wage to the necessary minimum. The Roundsman
system was invented to cope with unemployment in times of
fairly steady prices. The Speenhamland allowance system
was invented to cope with unemployment and general insuffi-

' Annals of British Peasantry, pp. 95, 96,

* W. Heisbach, History of the Enghsh Agricultural Labourer, p. 181.

156 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ix

ciency of wages in a period of violently fluctuating prices.
Had prices remained stable, or even steadily advanced, from
1790 the allowance system would never have become so
scientific in character. It was inaugurated to deal with
precision with the necessities of the labourer, at a time when
there was no power, economic or legal, which could make
money wages correspond with the rise and fall of prices. With
a steady advance of prices wages would keep up a lagging
relationship and the roundsman's allowance would follow
wages. But neither wages nor round allowances could follow
prices in their yiolent movements after 1795, hence the
Speenhamland and similar relief schemes. There had been
allowances before, only there had been no definite attempt to
correlate allowances and prices. When these allowances were
first made it is not possible to say, but from the ease with which
the system was adopted in Tysoe in 1763 it is safe to infer that
the parishioners had previously been acquainted with it.

After 1763 the time of the Tysoe roundsmen was at first
apportioned among the various ratepayers according to the
acreage of their land, probably according to the acreage of
their arable land, as has been seen by the expression ' going
by the yard4and '. Afterwards the standard of ability to
employ the poor and contribute to their relief was based on
the annual value or ' the pound rent '. At a later period the
standard was fixed on the Poor Rate assessment.

In 1763, following the single payment on January 2, there
were three regular payments to those who went round by the
yard-land for several weeks, from January 30. Each man
received one shilling per week from the parish. In July there
was one roundsman at the same rate, in August these items
had entirely disappeared. And although the general accounts
continue to increase no roundsmen appear in 1768.

On January 14, 1770, there were four roundsmen who
were allowed 2d. per day from the parish ; while in the list
appears a payment, ' To Jos. Ashfield to make his pay up to
14^. a day, 12 days at 4^., 45.'

Hence it appears that the minimum wage was seven
shillings per week and the farmers paid six-sevenths of the

CH. ix] THE ABLE-BODIED 157

wages of the average roundsman. Also there is a payment
in that Hst : ' To Humphrey Wilkins for 5 days of severely
bad weather, 2s. 6i.' This appears like relief without employ-
ment, the person relieved being a craftsman, probably a mason;
for a few weeks later an entry appears, ' To Humphrey Wilkins
two days he could not work at his trade for severity of weather,
2S. od.'

In July of the same year the system changes its name.
There were three men having the same allowances as in
January ; ' more than was allowed by the pound rent 12 days
at 2d., 25.' The payment to make up pay still continues, and
beside these there was one man ' not able to work ', another
' having no work ', and two items of relief :

s. d.
To Jno. H5n-on's family ,,,.... 40

To Richd. Smith's family ....... 40

And the female overseer, ' Mrs. Turner, Wido ' of the deceased
Wm. Turner ', had to pay a single woman sixpence for ' doing
for her father '. Thus as early as 1770 all the systems and
excuses for giving grants to the unemployed poor so much
lamented by the Commissioners of 1834, were establishing
themselves in Tysoe.

By 1780 the yard-land and pound-rent system had changed
its name to that of ' the round ', but its characteristics remained
exactly the same. On January 9, 1780, there were five persons
on the round ; also many payments were made as ' more for
fuel ', and one to a man ' being poorly '. If this was not one of
the excuses on which relief was granted without employment
in 1780, it became one of them in the opening years of the
next century. On July 16 there were three roundsmen, and
a payment to a man for his daughter, also probably with-
out ordinary employment ; but as the summer wore on the
roundsmen all disappeared as usual. On July 30 there was
only one, and on August 13 there were none.

In January, 1790, there were three roundsmen on the first,
and eight on the second payment lists. The parish allowance
had now risen to sixpence per day. The proportion paid by
the farmers direct to the labourers may have diminished, but

158 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ix

there is no evidence either for or against that view. It can
only be said that if the man ' lost a day ' he only received
from the overseer the same allowance as if he had gone on
the round. In July the overseers prepared to pay one man
a round allowance, entering his name in the list, but no pay-
ment was made — probably the person had found independent
employment. Still, there was an allowance of four shillings
made to a man for bread, and all through the year there were
payments of sixpence per week ' to John Hancox, Labourer '.
On April i8 there were seven roundsmen, also several men and
women received allowances as * more ', while there were other
payments to men for bread, and to women ' for doing for
father and mother '. There can be little doubt that the latter
was in many cases simply an excuse which justified the dole ; as
there was no employment for women, either independently or
on the round, some ground had to be found to justify grants
of relief.

In 1799, among all the stress of famine and war, an attempt
was made to tighten up the organization of the Round system.
A Vestry was held on January 30 which passed a resolution
that —

* it is Agreeable at the Vestry this day above written, held by
those neighbours whose names are hereunder written, that the
Rounds are to go regularly according to the Poor's Rates and
not to stay longer than their time on the Rounds according
to the Poor Rate. No man is to have two Roundsmen together
and each man on the Round is to come to Martin Cole for
a Ticket and to deliver it to his Master when he goes on the
Round, and his Master is to deliver him a ticket again ; every
man that don't go where Martin Cole sends him is not to
receive any money out of the Poor's Book ; every Roundsman
is to go one day for Ten Pounds a year by the Poor's Rate.
Martin Cole is to receive One Pound One Shilling a year for
writing their Tickets and sending them regularly round.'

Signed 2 Overseers.

2 Churchwardens.
9 Other ratepayers.

Evidently some leakage of labour had occurred, either at
the instance of some of the farmers or the men. The chief

CH. ix] THE ABLE-BODIED 159

point of the new regulations was that the Poor Rate assess-
ment was used as the basis on which to divide the labour.
If a farm was assessed at £50 value, the farmer would have
a succession of men, according to the number on the list, for
five days each. Such a system was bound to diminish the
quality of the work done, and some work, such as the tending
of cattle, could never be done by roundsmen without entailing
disaster, so it is probable that in the worst times some men
were retained in regular employment. It may have been to
such as these that the allowances designated ' more ' were
made. Either their masters would have to give them a living
wage or their wages would have to be subsidized by the parish,
for by becoming paupers they could ensure a minimum sum
sufficient for subsistence.

In January, 1800, there were twenty-one roundsmen, eight
persons receiving ' more ', and many persons receiving ' extra '
relief. At this time the parish dole to the roundsmen varied
from 4d. to 8d. per day, but the overseers failed to leave any
record of their reasons for such variations. In the first list
for the month there were 141 items of relief, making a total
of ;^29 3^. 2d. Besides this, bread was being given freely at
the parish bakehouse. In July there were eleven roundsmen,
also many allowances * to family ' and ' to daughter ' or
' daughters ', and to some ' being poorly '. There were also
gifts to twenty men and some single women, for which no
reason was assigned. One is led to the opinion that the men
on the round, receiving wages from farmers and doles from the
parish, were the married unemployed. Those who were not
employed and received only parochial doles were the single
men. It was the universal practice to give married men
preference for employment. This led to many of the preva-
lent early marriages, and again to poverty.

Villiers, the Assistant Commissioner for Warwickshire in
1832-4, reported that the allowance system came into use
in the county in the year 1797, and that copies of the scale
were published before 1800.^ Diligent search has been made
in the Records of Quarter Sessions, and inquiries have been
" Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834, App. A, Part II, Sec. Able-bodied.

i6o POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ix

made, but all the copies of the scale seem to have vanished.
According to Villiers the scale adopted in the Southern Divi-
sion of Warwickshire allowed a man, wife, and three children
8s. 6d. per week without work, that is to say that 8s. 6d. was
the minimum weekly income for a family of five. There is no
trace of the use of any exact scale in Tysoe, but the minimum
would not be higher than that quoted above. While it is diffi-
cult to discover any common principle running through the
payments, it is possible that the scale referred to did not apply
to such parishes as Tysoe, which had long had an allowance
system, but rather to those parishes where officials had been
backward in making adequate provision for the poor. In
any case, if a scale was adopted in Tysoe it could not be more
than a slight elaboration of the system which had long been
used. Regulation of allowances according to families was no
fresh principle in Tysoe, and as Villiers reported that the
Roundsman system was peculiar to agricultural parishes,
showing that it was especially useful in such, no doubt Tysoe
clung to its accustomed method, rather than adopt new
measures which would tend to be more costly and make the
labourers more independent and less easily controlled. For
while they were on the round the farmers had some control
over the men, whereas while in receipt of relief without labour
the labourers were their own masters. The Roundsman
system was a mixed survival of primitive communism and
mediaeval serfdom ; ^ the effect of the use of the allowance
scale without a labour test was to give men the rights
and advantages of communism without the corresponding
duties.

On January 20, 1810, there wxre six persons on the round,
four of whom were boys, who each received an allowance of
2d. per day. In addition six men received allowances ' for
daughter ' or ' for girl ', and there were 46 men and single
women, besides the mothers of bastards, in receipt of relief.
In July there were no persons on the round, and only one
payment to a person ' out of employ ' ; this was a single
woman. Nevertheless the names of 36 men and 7 single
* T. W. Fowle, The Poor Laws, p. 82.

CH. ix] THE ABLE-BODIED i6i

women, besides mothers of bastards, appear in the list of
recipients of relief.

By January, 1820, the Round system had entirely disap-
peared. There was one payment called ' relief ', and several
' extra ', but the most important payments to the able-bodied
for which any reason was assigned were * for lost time '.
There were 36 of these. The number of days is not stated, so
the rate of relief cannot be accurately gauged. However,
a boy received 35. 6d. ; that would probably be a full allowance
for a fortnight. Young women invariably received 2s. per
week, and the payments to men for lost time vary between
15. 8^. and 105. The latter seems to have been the
maximum. Altogether there are loi names of men on the
relief list ; the payments to these vary from is. 8d. to 185.
per fortnight.

In July, 1827, there were 57 men and 11 single women,
besides mothers of illegitimate children, in receipt of relief.
There is no evidence of the round, and the payments are not
distinguished in any way. In January, 1828, within two
months of the end of the period dealt with in the available
records, 86 men were on the relief lists. There were many
payments for lost time, ranging from $d. to is. 6d. per day.
There is also an entry, ' To Jno. Walker for 20 days thatching
parish houses, £1 10s. od.' For skilled work such as thatching
IS. 6d. per day was a very low wage, and it is significant of
much that it is only equal to the highest allowance for lost
time. ' To Robt. Harris 9 days lost time 125.' and the above
indicate that the maximum wage was about 95. per week.
Again omitting mothers of bastards, there were 19 single
women on the relief list ; some of these received 15. and others
2s. per week each,

A minute of a Vestry held on February 5, 1823, records
that ' it was unanimously agreed that we the undersigned do
agree to take our full number of men at 6 shillings per week
if every occupier will do the same, if not we do agree that
they shall receive no more than three shillings per week for
three weeks to come '. To this there were ten signatories,
but as the other occupiers did not fall in with the arrangement

(PART VI) W. V. M f

i62 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. ix

the resolution came to nothing. Three weeks later, at another
meeting, it was ' unanimously agreed that all able-bodied men
are to receive four shillings per week from their employers
from the date hereof '. ' Boys above 12 years of age to have
IS. per week, and under 12, gd.'

There are only a few clear cases of payments to induce the
people to migrate from Tysoe, as in 1821 when £5 was given
to a man ' as allowed by the vestry to take his family to
London '. Still there must have been a large migration be-
tween 1821 and 1831 as there was a reduction of population,
while in previous decades there had been increases. The
Round and Allowance systems had served to maintain an
increasing population, sufficiently large to meet the great
demands of the French wars and the industrial development
of the country ; but at the same time the records of the
Vestries held in Tysoe in 1823 indicate the low economic
standard to which they had reduced the labourer and the low
moral standard to which they had reduced the employers.

CHAPTER X

REIMBURSEMENTS

One of the principles of the great Elizabethan Poor Law
was that every person of sufficient means should contribute
towards the maintenance of any of his relatives who were
dependent on public rehef. Section 7 of the Act provided :

* That the father and grandfather, and the mother and
grandmother, and the children of every poor, old, blind, lame
and impotent person, or other poor person not able to work,
being of sufficient ability shall at their own charges relieve
and maintain every such poor person in that manner, and
according to that rate as by the Justices of the Peace of that
county where such sufficient persons dwell, or the greater num-
ber of them, at their general Quarter Sessions, shall be assessed,
upon pain that every one of them shall forfeit 20 shillings for
every month which they shall fail therein.'

While grandparents were responsible for grandchildren,
grandchildren were not responsible for grandparents, nor were
brothers or sisters responsible for each other. But the most
striking omission is that wives were not made chargeable to
husbands nor husbands to wives. This defect was remedied
by the Act 5 Geo. I, c. 8, and husbands in the parish of Tysoe
were compelled to maintain their wives, or in default were
punished by imprisonment, even from the earliest times.
Again provision was made by 5 Geo. IV, c. 83, in a form
similar to regulations controlling vagabonds and unruly per-
sons, for the maintenance of wives and children by husbands
and fathers. Modern Poor Law recognizes two rights of
recovery : (i) against the person relieved, (2) against persons
responsible for his maintenance. Only the second of these
was recognized by the Act of 1601. The system of free relief
at the expense of the Poor Rates was merely the survival of a

M 2

i64 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. x

system of free alms which had existed from time immemorial ; ^
and the question of recovering the cost of relief from the
person assisted never seems to have occurred to the promoters
of the Act of 1601. Poverty was the essential qualification
for relief, and it is evident that if a person raised himself, or
was raised, from that condition after the receipt of assistance,
he was not to be retarded by anything which remained from
the days of his adversity.

The provision for maintenance applies only to the physically
unfit ; the able-bodied being ' set upon work ' under the same
statutes were presumed to provide for their own maintenance.
But in time a practice grew up of granting a loan to the able-
bodied destitute instead of setting them to work. This
system was adopted to some extent in Tysoe during the
eighteenth century. Then the Poor Law Commissioners
recommended in their Report that this might become a
regular part of the practice of the Poor Laws. Their recom-
mendation was adopted in the Poor Law Amendment Act of
1834, and afterwards many Boards of Guardians gave special
relief by way of loan for the purchase of implements and
stock.^ Probably they were following out the policy of the
old parochial ofBcials, Before long, however, the Central
Authority intervened with the dictum that when relief could
not be legally given it could not be legally lent. Thus the
recommendation of the 1834 Commission was perverted to
mean that all relief was given on loan and that it is all
recoverable : a principle quite contrary to the spirit of
the 43rd of Elizabeth and the eighteenth century loans.
59 Geo. Ill, c. 12, had provided that parish officers might
advance money or other relief on loan to careless persons who,
though able to provide for themselves or their families, had not
taken the trouble to do so. From this provision the able-
bodied unemployed were excluded, probably because they
had a right to relief without a duty of repayment, while the
above clause was intended to give some form of recovery in
cases where able-bodied persons or their families were desti-

' Minority Report of the Poor Law Commission, 1909, vol. i, p. 366.
' See Minority Report, 1909, vol. i, p. 380 et seq.

CH. x] REIMBURSEMENTS 165

tute without any sufficient cause. This provision was never
enforced in Tysoe ; consequently money given for the relief
of able-bodied persons could not be recovered, unless given
to deserted wives or granted by way of loan.

Though there is evidence of many repayments of relief in
the parish of Tysoe, there is no record of any appeal to the
Justices. There may have been some appeals, but the avail-
able evidence points rather to the conclusion that the reim-
bursements were made either voluntarily or at the instance
of the overseers. In any case the recovery of relief, unlike
the recovery of maintenance under a bastardy order, was
a civil, and not a criminal procedure. Even as late as 1898
it was legally decided in Re Gamble that ' Money due under an
order of the Justices made upon a person for the maintenance
of his father under 43 Eliz. c. 2, s. 6, is recoverable as a civil
debt and not as a penalty ; and an order of Justices for the
payment of money so due cannot be enforced by imprisonment
in default of distress.' On the contrary, payment under a
bastardy order was regarded as being of the nature of a fine
or penalty, and defaulters could be imprisoned directly without
reference to the question of means or the possibihty of dis-
traint. In certain bastardy cases the overseers had power
of distraint ; but they had also the option of imprisoning.
If an accused person failed to pay or give security, the Justices
had to commit him to Bridewell immediately. Distraints
were not unknown in Tysoe, for on one occasion a pauper's
goods were seized to pay his landlord's rents and the overseer
paid the officers' fees ; but so far as the Poor Laws were con-
cerned they were rarely used.

The following extract contains many of the actual reim-
bursements for relief made to the overseers of Tysoe. The
only recovery from impotent persons who had received relief
occurred after their decease, and for many years this was the
only form of recovery in vogue. From 1727 to 1741 there is
no entry of a repayment of any description. In the latter
year £1 115. id. was received ' for Plestoe's goods ', and in
1746 an apprentice to husbandry returned something to
the parish. He may not have been a source of profit, for the

i66 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. x

parish had to find him in clothing ; but at all events the
overseers ' Reed, of Robt. Newman for David Plestoe's two
years wages due at St. Michaels last, £i os. 6i.' And again
in 1748 they received 105. upon the same account. The boy
seems to have been left an orphan by the death of his father,
whose goods were sold in 1741. From 1741 there is a series
of regular entries of different forms of recovery ; the sale of
goods of deceased persons is the most common :

£ s. d.

1748. Reed, for the Widow Loveday's goods . . . ig 10

1749. Reed, for Saml. Plestoe's goods . . . . 2 16 4

1 76 1. Reed, of Jno. and James Wilkins the expenses of their

father's funeral . . . . . . . 19 6

1762. James Eglington at Stratford on Avon to keep his mother

at 15. per week from Feb. ist . . . .200

1764. Made of Edwd. Peel's, deceased, clothes . . . 16 6
Reed, of R. Townsend for bed and old rags Ralph Wilkins

of Woodstock, deceased ..... 77

Reed, on Thos. Compton's acet. . . . .200

1765. Reed, for Widow Sabin's and Widow NichoU's goods 450
1767. Reed, of Mr. Beale the elder for maintenance of R. Capp's

granddaughter . . , . . . .170

1770. Reed, of Ed. Watt's son for a gold ring of Widow Rouse's

deceased . . . . . . . .116

177 1. Reed, for a brass cocktale ..... 6

[Probably a tap for barrel.]
Reed, for a gold ring . . . . . . 116

1772. Reed, the cash that Mary Buckingham had when she

died, and made of bacon, pigmeat, &e. . . . no

Reed, of Ann Hall of Hook Norton the money her

mother had off the parish when living . . .116

Reed, of Mr. Bayliss of Kineton 52 weeks maintenance

of Blanche Capp . . . . . . . i 12 o

1773. Reed, of Mr. Bayliss of Kineton for 52 weeks maintenance

of Blanch Capp . . . . . . . 2 12 o

[This entry was continued in 1774 and 1775.]
1773. Reed, for two old tea kettles and linen handkerchiefs 5 6

1773. Reed, of Geo. Fessey money that was ordered by Mr.

Aylworth for an offence done at Mr. Dyers at Ratley ' 2 o

1774. Similar entry ........ 20

1775. Reed, for W. Castle's goods . . . . .186

[On this ease there was a loss, for the expenses ' to stop the sale of
Castle's goods ' amounted to £1 19s. 2d. Still the overseers were fighting
for the principle of maintenance, probably under 5 Geo. I, c. 8, which
provided for legal distraint upon the property of persons leaving a wife
or children dependent upon the parish.]

^ 6 Geo. I, c. 16, enacted that damage done to woods or fences by lawless
persons should be levied on the parish to which they belonged. This was
a repayment under the statute.

CH. X]

REIMBURSEMENTS

167

1777, Reed, of Jno. Edwards', jun. son Sam Edwards towards

Jno. Edwards' family's maintenance
1 78 1. Reed, of Robert Wilkins towards shirt
Reed, for 45^ lbs. of bacon at sd. .

1784. Reed, of Peel towards his wife's maintenance in hay time

last ........

Ditto

Reed, of Edwards towards his wife's maintenance
Ditto

1785. Reed, for Edward's family ....

1786. Reed, for Edward's family ....

1787. Reed, of Edwards for family ....

1788. Reed, of Edwards for maintenance .

1789. Reed, of Edwards. Old arrears of wife's maintenance

1790. Jno. Edwards towards his deceased wife's maintenance

1792. Reed, of Thos. Walton 3 weeks maintenance of his son

William's wife when here . . . . .

Reed, of parish where Dame Hemmings comes from, bill

of journeys, medicines, &c., she being ill when here
Reed, of Anthony Walker towards his children's

maintenance ........

1793. Reed, of Anthony Walker towards his family's main-

tenance ........

Robt. Wells reed, of the late Thos. Winter's daughter
towards relief that he had when living .

Clark Middleton reed, of Mr. Cross the late Widow Pies-
toe's kinsman .......

1794. Reed, of Mr. Cross the late Widow Plestoe's kinsman
Reed, of late Thos. Winter's daughter towards what

extraordinary he had when living ....

1795. Reed, of Anthony Walker towards what we allowed

family .........

Reed, of Thos. Juffs towards what we allowed family
Reed, of Thos. ITownsend towards family's allowance .
1798. Reed, of R. CoUcott towards his house rent
18 1 5. Reed, for Jos. Drake's goods . . . . .

1 8 18. For a wallnut tree sold to Thos. CoUcott .

£ s. d.

I 8 9

5 o

18 Hi

10
10

I 4
I I
I 10
I 18
I 10
I 16

7 6

2 13 6

2170

I I o

ID O

O O
O O

2 2

I 17

4 2
I 18

Besides such payments as these, and others made under
the bastardy orders, the parish officers received rents for
cottages let to independent tenants, rent for land granted to
the poor in lieu of fuel rights by the Enclosure Commissioners ;
and, in the early part of the nineteenth century, rent of a parish
malthouse ; and the surplus of the Land Tax. For many
years there were no repayments for relief, and even when a
process of recovery was begun by taking deceased paupers'
goods, the receipts were not large. From 1760 receipts for
goods sold frequently occur up till 1790, but after that date
they are far less frequent. Probably the decrease was due to

i68 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. x

the pauperization of the labourers, who, under certain circum-
stances, were provided with furniture by the overseers,
who, instead of selling the furniture, passed it from one
pauper to another. Another cause may lie in the fact
that as the labourers became pauperized the value of their
furniture diminished, although at the best of times it was not
worth a great deal. In the early years of the nineteenth
century repayments fall off altogether. This was partly the
result of the amendment of the Settlement Laws, which pro-
vided that labourers could not be removed till they became
chargeable to the parish, and enabled them to move their
families with far less fear of disturbance than before ; and
in this way obviated the necessity for a series of repayments
like those of 1785, Another cause was the impoverishment
of the whole class of labourers. While the able-bodied were
themselves paupers they could not contribute to the support
of physically disabled persons in the same state of distress.
Hence in the closing years of our period there was no recovery
of relief in any form whatever. The best effect of this pro-
vision for orders of maintenance would be to induce those
persons liable to contribute to do their duty, so far as was
possible, without the interference of the officials. Only in a
very few cases was there any provision for continued main-
tenance, and the sums saved to the parish were very small,
so that the provision for maintenance had no very great
importance as a direct safeguard of the Poor Rates. The
percentage of the relief which was recovered by sale of goods
and the contributions of relations was very minute indeed,
especially as during those twenty years of the worst poverty
and the highest expenditure there was no recovery whatever.
The best period of recovery was during the period of the
growth of pauperism through the medium stages, from 1760
to 1790, when certain persons were being hard pressed by
economic conditions and the mass of labourers still retained
their independence. From 1790 onwards the greatest pro-
portion of relief was given to under-employed and under-
paid able-bodied workers. Recovery of relief from these
was legally and economically impossible. Under ordinary

CH. x] REIMBURSEMENTS 169

circumstances the able-bodied employed class were the very
people who would have contributed to the support of the aged
and unfit, but under the circumstances in which they were
placed they were glad to eke out their own existence by every
means at their disposal. Even had the able-bodied labourers
been able to support themselves and to obtain a slight surplus
of income, it is doubtful whether the heavy fines provided for
in the Act of 1601 were intended to apply to such a class.
And the study of the Tysoe repayments suggests that, apart
from the support of wives by husbands, few of the contribu-
tions were made by the class of day labourers.

CHAPTER XI

WAGES AND PRICES

The enormous increase in the rates raised for the relief of
the poor during the eighteenth century was attributed to
several causes, including the Settlement Act, Enclosures, and
the rise and growth of Methodism ; ^ but the abnormal growth
of Poor Rates consequent on the failure of wages to keep pace
with the rise in prices was rarely, if ever, mentioned. Apart
from the much-quoted Assessment of Wages by the Lancashire
Justices in 1725, there is not much evidence on the state of
wages during the eighteenth century till the advent of Eden
and Davies and the writers of the Reports to the Board of
Agriculture after 1790. It is remarkable that no later judicial
assessment of wages than that named appears in our records
of Quarter Sessions, or if they exist it is remarkable that they
have not been pubhshed. In Warwickshire the practice of
fixing wages under 5 & 6 Eliz. c. 4, did not lapse till after
1770, when the general decay of the old system of regulations,
especially those restricting freedom of bargain, set in. It is
interesting to trace these regulations during a period of one
hundred and twenty years. The first assessment during this
period was made in the late years of the Protectorate, and is
important, as it shows that if the internal administration of the
country was upset during the Civil War, it was very soon after
reorganized. The assessment with its preamble was as follows:

' Easter^ a.d. 1657. Upon conference of the Justices of the
Peace of this country among themselves, and upon consulta-
tion with divers others discreet and grave persons, and upon
perusal of the statute made in the fifth yeare of the late
Queen Elizabeth concerning the rating and assessing of wages
of servants, labourers, and artificers within the county, and
in pursuit of the Act, it is ordered, limited, and appointed by
the Justices of the Peace now present at this court that the
wages of servants, labourers, and artificers by the year and
day within the said county shall be such and no more than are

' Eden, State of the Poor, p. x, quoting Review of the Policy, Doctrines,
and Morals of the Methodists.

ch: xi] wages and prices 171

hereafter set down, assessed and appointed. And the said
rates so assessed are to remain and continue until the same
shall be altered by the said Justices or by some proclamation
made by the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners, or
by the Keeper of the Great Seal of England for the time being.
And all and every person giving or receiving more or greater
rates of wages than is hereby declared shall suffer such for-
feiture or punishment as in the said Act is expressed. And
it is further ordered that this order and the rates of wages here-
unto annexed shall be forthwith proclaimed in every town
corporate and market town within the said county upon the
next market day after the receipt hereof. And the several
High Constables of every division are to see that the Bayliffs
of the Hundreds cause the same to be proclaimed accordingly.

The best men-ser\^ants for husbandry who are able without
direction to manage husbandry not to exceed £4 by the year.

Other good husbandmen not to exceed £3 by the year.

The best maid-servant not to exceed £1 10s. by the year.
Except she make mault and then not to exceed £2.

Labourers' wages from 25th of March to 29th of September
not to exceed 8d. by the day. Except at mowing and reaping
and then not to exceed is. by the day.

From 29th of September to 6th of November not to exceed
yd. From 6th of November to 2nd of February not to exceed
6d. From the second of February to the 25th of March not
to exceed yd.

Carpenters, Masons, and Tilers not to exceed in any time of
year 2s. by the day.

Maids and women working in harvest for reaping not to
exceed Sd. by the day. For haymaking and other work at
other times not to exceed 4^. by the day.'

The foregoing assessment is not of a detailed character such
as some which were to follow it, and one striking feature is
that it was drawn up with the main idea of regulating the
wages of servants in husbandry. The provisions dealing
with men following trades were grouped in one clause, and
no provisions were made for more than one grade of workmen
in any trade. This defect was to be remedied by the following
list published in 1672, which gives greater details for the
regulation of rewards to both husbandmen and artificers, and
it should also be noticed that the preamble does not recite
the penalties which might follow a breach of the regulations,
while it does state that the rates of wages had been arrived at

172 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. xi

after a consideration of the high prices wherewith the poor
were more grievously charged at that time than in times past.
Also the list shows greater elaboration in the scales for pay-
ment with and without meat and drink. It is possible that
this was necessitated by a growth of the practice of feeding
servants which was due to the periods of severity that were
coming upon the people.

' Easter, 1672. The particular rates of wages of all manner
of artificers, labourers, and servants, as well by the day with
meat and drink as without, also by the whole year and in
gross or by task, made and set at the general Quarter Sessions
of the Peace of our Sovereign Lord the King holden at Warwick
in and for the county of Warwick on the Tuesday next after
the stop of Easter in the four and twentieth year of the reign
of our Sovereign Lord King Charles II ... by his majesty's
Justices here assembled according to the laws and statutes
of this realm in such case made and provided, having a special
regard and consideration to the prices at this time of all kinds
of victuals and apparells, both linen and woollen and all other
necessary charges wherewith artificers and labourers and ser-
vants have been more grievously charged than in times passed.'

By the day.
With

A Freemason . . ,

A master rough mason

Hired servants and apprentices above the age of eighteen

A master carpenter having men under his charge

Hired journeymen and servants above the age of eighteen

Hired servants and apprentices

A cartwright or ploughwright .

Master bricklayer ....

A tyler, plaisterer, shingler

A second bricklayer, tyler, or plaisterer

Their servants and apprentices above the age of 1 2 years

Master thatcher

His servant

Fallers of wood, threshers, and all other common la

bourers, the time of harvest excepted
The man haymaker
The woman haymaker
Weeders of corn
Mowers of corn and grass
A raker in corn harvest .
A man reaper
A woman reaper

meat and

drink,

4
6
6

4
6
6
6
4
3
6

4
4
2
2

3
6

Without.

s. d.

I 4

CH. xi] WAGES AND PRICES 173

From the middle of September to the middle of March id. the day to be
abated of the wages before specified.

By the
whole year.

i 5. d.
The Bailiff of husbandry taking charge and able to discharge the

same . . . . . . . . . . 4 lo o

A chief hind, the best plowman and carter . , . .3150

The shepherd performing his charge . . . . .300

Inferior servant men . . . . . . . .2100

A woman servant that is able to manage a household . i 16 o

A second woman servant . . . . . . .168

A dairymaid and washmaid . . . . . . i lo o

(Signed by three Justices.)

This assessment is repeated in exactly identical words at
Easter 1673 and 1674. If, however, the recitation of the
penalties for breach of the regulations were omitted from this
declaration they were soon to be specifically stated. A special
order was issued at the Easter Sessions, 1685, to the following
effect :

• It is to be observed that by the statute made in the 5th
year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (c. 4) the following rules
were enacted, that is to say, that refusers to serve for the
wages appointed are to be imprisoned. That all artificers or
labourers being hired by the day or weeke shall, betwixt the
middle of the months of March and November be and continue
at their work at or before four of the clock in the morning
and continue at work and not depart until betwixt seven
and eight of the clock at night, except it be at the times of
breakfast, dinner, or drinking ale, the most of all not exceeding
2 hours and half in the day. That is to say at every drinking
one half hour, for his dinner one hour, at every breakfast one
half hour, at the most. And all artificers and labourers
between the midst of September and the midst of March shall
be and continue at their work from the spring of the day in
the morning till the night of the same day, except it be in the
time afore appointed for breakfast or dinner, upon pains to
be forfeit one penny for every hour's absence to be deducted
and defaulted out of his wages. That every person giving
above the wages appointed shall suffer seven days' imprison-
ment and forfeit five pounds. That every person taking
above the wages appointed shall suffer one and twenty days*
imprisonment. That every promise, gift and payment of
wages contrary to the said statute is utterly void and of non-
effect."

174 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. xi

Though no prosecutions on any of the possible counts under
the Statute of Apprentices have been found, steps were taken
to administer what may be called the economic provisions of
the law.

The first assessment which occurs during the actual period
dealt with in the study of the administration of the Poor Law
in Tysoe is that for 1730. The chief point of interest is that
with the exception of changes in the wages of the higher class
workmen in trade and husbandry the list remained as it was
in 1685. Thus there can be little doubt that the conditions of
the workers had improved, for the general level of prices was
lower in 1730 than at the end of the seventeenth century.

Wages List, Easter, 1730.

A freemason, per day .....

A master man mason .....

Apprentice above 18 years ....

A master carpenter having men under his charge
A journeyman and servant above 18 years
Their servants and apprentices
A plowwright or cartwright ....

A master bricklayer .....

A tyler, plaisterer, or shingler ....

Their servants and apprentices above 12 years

Second bricklayers and plasterers

Faller of wood, thresher and all other common labourers

the time of corn harvest excepted
A man haymaker ......

A woman haymaker and weeder of com .

Mower of grass, corn, and men reapers

A raker in corn harvest .....

A woman reaper ......

From the middle of September to the middle of March one penny by
the day to be abated of the wages before specified.

i s. d.
A bailifiE of husbandry taking charge and able to discharge the
same, by the year ......

A chief hind, the best plowman and carter .

A shepherd performing his charge ....

Inferior servant men .......

A woman servant that is sufficient to manage a household
A second woman servant ......

A dairymaid or washmaid ......

The last formal assessment which was made eight years later
discarded the settling of the wages of labourers ' with meat and

With meat

and

drink.

WitJ

hou

• 4

• 3

. 2

CH. Xl]

WAGES AND PRICES

175

drink ' and provided only for the rates to be paid ' with
drink ' and without. Thus it appears that the system of
feeding day labourers had fallen off. This was probably due
to the fact that such provision was no longer necessary on
account of the plentiful supply of corn, resulting in reduced
prices. The system of feeding day labourers seems to have
been adopted to meet a set of circumstances similar in many
respects to those met by the Allowance System about the year
1795. The assessment of 1738 shows a general increase of
wages, although there had been no great rise in prices during
the preceding eight years. This indicates that agriculture
was in a prosperous condition and that the demand for labour
was good. Another significant feature of this assessment is
the meagre provision made for regulating the wages of artisans.
The following is the list and preamble as published.

The particular rates of wages of all manner of artificers, labourers, and
servants as well by the day with meat and drink as without, as also by the
whole year in gross or by task, made and provided having a special regard
and consideration to the prices of provisions and all other circumstances
necessary to be considered at this time. April, 1738.

Every head servant in husbandry by the year

Second servant .....

Servant boy from 14 to 18 years of age

Servant boy from 11 to 14

Every head servant maid by the year

Second maid servant ....

Labourers from Martinmas to March 25 by the day

From March 25 to harvest and after harvest to Martinmas

Every mower of grass by the day with drink

without drink
Every labouring man in corn harvest with meat and drink

without meat and drink
Every woman in haymaking, with drink

without drink
Every woman in com harvest, with drink .

without drink

Every carpenter by the day, March 25 to St. Michael's, with drink

without drink
From Michaelmas to Lady-day, with drink .

without drink
Every mason by the day in summer, with drink

without drink
Every mason by the day in winter, with drink .

without drink
Thatcher by day, summer and winter .
Weeders of corn by the day ....

d.
o
o
o
o
o
o
8
9
o
2
o
6

5
6
6

7
o
2

176 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. xi

This assessment held good on April 20, 1762, and again
until Easter, 1773. But these maximum rates of wages were
not strictly enforced, for in 1770 unemployed labourers in the
month of January received allowances ' to make up pay ' to
seven shillings per week, which was sixpence per day in excess
of the legal maximum.

In 1778 the overseers of the parish paid an account for
thatching a cottage. The following were the items :

5. d.
To Wm. Green way 2 days thaching ..... 34

To Joseph Ashfield 2 days serving for same ... 20

To Mary Wilkins 2 days drawing straw .... 10

And the same rates were paid for thatching in the year 1783.
Still there is not much evidence as to the actual rates of wages
paid in Tysoe after this date with the sole exception of the
resolution passed by the meeting of farmers in 1823, that
able-bodied men were to receive four shillings per week from
their employers. This decree was made after the demoraliza-
tion of the farmers and labourers due to the adoption of the
Allowance system. What the wages of labourers were between
1780 and 1823 it is only possible to learn from writers of the
period. But the poor were not without resourcefulness in
augmenting their incomes, for one ' Eliz. Simpson ' obtained
one shilling from the overseers of Tysoe ' for a pair of stockings
and a sheet that were in pawn '. And in 1779 the overseers
made an entry to the effect that they had ' redeemed Richard
Peel's daughter's wheel ' at a cost of 25. The redemption of
the goods being brought about by a gift from the overseers,
the woman had gained to the extent of the original grant on
the security of the goods.

Sir Frederick Eden, writing in 1795, said that the wages of
labourers at Banbury, a distance of nine miles from Tysoe,
amounted to eight or nine shillings during the whole year, and
the women and children in the factories earned three shillings
per week.^

And he gives the budget of a labourer's family as follows :

* Eden, State of the Poor, vol. ii, p. 584.

CH.xi] WAGES AND PRICES 177

Labourer's Family in Banbury, July 1795.

i s. d.
Labourer, 50 years of age, 85. per week . . . . 20 16 o

Wife nil.

Girl, 15 years of age, I5. 6d. per week by spinning . 3 i8 o

Boy, 13 years of age, s^. per week at plough . . 7 16 o

3 girls, II, 9, and 7, and boy of 4 years, nil.

Earnings ;^32 10 o
Parish allowance, girl of eleven lame . . . . . 2 12 o

Total income £3$ 20

Expenditure.

£ s. d.

g^ peck loaves per week at is. 2d. per loaf . . . 27 6 o

Rent . . • 2 12 o

Fuel 2 12 o

Clothes 2 12 o

;^35 2 o

On the opposite side of Tysoe, and at about the same
distance from that parish, the wages of labourers at Southam,
according to Eden,^ only amounted to 65. per week in winter
and 75. in summer, except in harvest, when it was possible for
them to earn is. 6d. per day.^ Thus it is clear that the wages
of labour in Tysoe could not have been more than sufficient
to provide a mere subsistence for the labourer, and were not
large enough to keep him and his family in a state of efficiency
and comfort.

Reporting to the Board of Agriculture on the Agriculture of
Warwickshire in 1794, John Wedge stated that the labourers
received ' from 45. to 55. per week with victuals, and from
65. to 8s. a week without them, sometimes with and sometimes
without an allowance of small beer'. The hours of labour
were from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the summer, and from eight
to dark during the winter. The ordinary wage for a woman
was sixpence per day, rising to one shiUing per day in harvest,
their ordinary hours of labour being from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.^

The next Report, presented to the Board of Agriculture in
1813 by Adam Murray, stated that the wages of male labourers
ranged from 25. to 35. 6d. per day, while women could earn

* Eden, State of the Poor, vol. ii, p. 586.

* Ibid., p. 744.

* Wedge, General View of the Agriculture of Warwick, 1794. P- 23.

(PARTVI)W. V. j^

178 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. xi

from 15. to 15. 6d} But as he says that there was a plentiful
supply of labour it is difficult to believe that Murray's higher
rates bore any close relation to the actual earnings of the
workmen.

The Assistant Commissioner, Villiers, stated in his report
to the Poor Law Commission of 1832 that the rates of wages
per day were as follows : ^

s. d. s. d.

1789

per

day

1823

1795

1825

1804

1826

I8I0

1827

I8II

1828

I8I6

1829

I8I7

1830

I8I8

1832

Thus according to Villiers wages only rose to a maximum
of two shillings per day in 1817 and 1827, while Murray gives
two shilhngs as the minimum for 1813. But no support
whatever can be found for Murray's statements. It is clear,
even from the Wages Assessments quoted, that wages rose to
some extent during the latter years of the seventeenth century
and they did not fall with low prices in the middle of the
following century. At the same time they did not rise in
proportion to the rise in prices after 1770. Writing on the
advantages of rising prices to the agricultural interests, Home
Tooke stated that ' farmers, landlords, and owners of tithes
alone benefited by an advance in prices rising from scarcity ',
* The conditions of the labouring classes, even of those em-
ployed in husbandry, is well known to be deteriorated in
periods of dearth, as the wages of labour do not rise in full
proportion to the advance in the price of provisions.' ^ And
as there is no doubt that many of the periods of high prices
at the latter end of the eighteenth century were the results
of dearths, there can be no doubt that the labourer suffered
most in those periods.

^ Adam Murray, General View of the Agriculture of Warwick, 1813,
p. 167.

' Report of Poor Law Commission, 1834, App. A, Part II, p. 75.
* Tooke, History of Prices, vol. i, p. 14.

CH. Xl]

WAGES AND PRICES

179

The period between 1692 and 1715 was remarkable for a high
range of prices of corn, the average price of wheat according
to the Eton tables being 455. 8d. per quarter,^ but between
1715 and 1765 the average price of wheat was only 345. iid. ;
thus as the wages of labour in Tysoe had tended to rise since
1690, the condition of the labourer improved during the first
sixty-five years of the eighteenth century. After 1770 other
causes began to affect prices. The most important, because
the most uncertain, was the number of harvests which did not
yield an average crop. Also the steady influx of silver from
the American mines would have a gradual influence on prices.
Then after 1790 came the violent fluctuations in the value of
money due to the French Wars and the methods used in
currency matters for providing such money as was necessary
to carry on the campaigns.

A few excerpts from the accounts of the Tysoe overseers
will serve to show the general and particular rises in the
prices of the commodities necessary for life which occurred in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

1727. Pair of man's shoes .

1730. Pair of woman's shoes

1 73 1. Pair of woman's shoes
1767. Pair of man's shoes .
1772. Pair of man's shoes .
1782. Pair of woman's shoes
1784. Pair of man's shoes .
1 79 1. Pair of man's shoes .

1800. Pair of man's shoes .

1 80 1. Pair of woman's shoes
181 1. Pair of man's shoes .
1 79 1. A smock frock .
1793- ditto

181 5. Smock frock for boy .
i8i6. Smock frock for man.

7
12

4
5

3 10
5 4

6 10

7 o

The following is an attempt to indicate the cost of the
wardrobe of a man and woman of the working class during the
period stated. The prices of the items are taken directly
from the overseers' accounts.

* Tooke, History of Prices, vol. i, p. 38.
N 2

i8o POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. xi

Woman's Outfit, 1730-1760.

s. d.

A pair of shoes .
' A shift ' (underclothii
A pair of stockings
Petticoat .

ig)

3 10
2 9
I 6

4 3

A gown

An apron .

' A leathern bodice '

5 0

1 9

2 10

A pair of pattens
A pair of stays .
A hat and strings

1 2

5 0
I 2

Check apron

A pair of shoes .

Hat and strings .

A shift

A pair of stays .

A pair of stockings

Petticoat .

A gown

A leathern bodice

A pair of pattens

1760-1790.

;£i 9 3

5. d.
I 11^
6

2 10
I 4

£l 16 6

1 790-1 830. s. d.

A pair of shoes .........70

A pair of stays ......... 6 o

A pair of stockings ........ i 10

A shift 50

Gown ..........90

Apron . . . . . . . . . • iiii

Petticoat 4 3

Hat and head laces ........18

Bodice .......... 2 10

Pair of pattens ......... i 4.

£2 O II

A Man's Outfit, 1730-1760

pair

of breeches

pair

of shoes .

hat

. .

shirt

pair

of stockings

pair

of gloves

frock

and waistcoat

5, d.
4 6

CH. Xl]

WAGES AND PRICES

i8i

1790-18;

50.

i s.

A smock frock ......... 10

Pair of shoes ....

Coat, waistcoat, and pair of breeches

I I

Pair of stockings

A shirt .....

A hat

Pair of gloves ....

£2 II

The prices at which wheat and barley were sold and bought
under retail conditions in the parish of Tysoe were as follows :

Wheat (per bushel

Barley.

Malt

of 8 gallons

£ s.

5. d.

s. d.

1728

4 0

1736

2 8

1737

2 8

1740

4 0

I74I

2 6

1752

(Aug. 30)

(Dec.

31)2 3

1753

2 6

1756

35.

Sd., 35. 6d., & 45.

5 0

1758

3 3

1767

3 3

I77I

(Feb.

31)3 4

(June 9) 4 0

1772

3 6

1778

2 9

1782

4 0

I80I

(Sep. 20)

I I

13 3

It is difficult to find any record of local prices after 1801, but
there is no reason to believe that they varied much from the
general prices of the period. Prior to the construction of the
turnpikes and canals the variation was only slight if any, and
afterwards the common use of the turnpikes to reach the
wharves and the fact that practically all the corn sold was
taken to the canal side indicate a general levelling of prices
through the use of transport facilities.

In some cases large gifts of corn, amounting to as much

as six or eight bushels, were given in a single dole. It is the

opinion of Mr, Jos. Ashby that these large gifts were made

to cottagers for seed purposes^ when their own seed supply

* Jos. Ashby, A Century of Parish History, Warwick Advertiser, March
191 1.

i82 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE [ch. xi

had been consumed on account of poverty, or on account of
the shortage of the crop at the previous harvest. And as
many gifts, especially of barley, were made in the spring,
there seems to be good foundation for this view. It is also
probable that on some occasions the overseers assisted
cottagers with provisions for their cattle. For instance, an
entry was made on November 13, 1742, that 15. 2d. was ' paid
for a drench and fetching William Capp '. Capp's name never
appears as a medical practitioner, nor even as a leech, so the
inference is that he was the local farrier.

The prices of some other commodities are also shown by
casual entries in the records of the overseers' receipts and
expenditure.

1747. ' A shoulder of veal '

1764. One lb. of butter

1 78 1. Bacon at .

1 82 1. '7 lb. of meat ' {M. per lb.)

1784. A pair of sheets

A pottage pot .

Two chairs
181 1. A bedstead

d.
o
6

4
7
2
I
16

The price of bread, with one exception, seems to have been
stationary at one shilling per loaf. In such case the weight
must have varied, and it seems probable that it did, for on
September 28, 1755, the overseers made an entry of a payment
of five shillings ' paid for bread weighing for a year '. Thus the
assize of bread seems to have been maintained at least prior
to 1760. In 1730 the records state that ninepence was paid
for a loaf. Otherwise the entries stand as in 1727 : ' Paid for
a loaf, 15.' Even when there were a number of loaves paid
for the sum was usually, though not quite always, stated in
level shillings.

There is a little evidence in the Tysoe overseers' accounts
as to the income of the poor. As early as 1731 there was a
payment to a man ' to make up his eightpence a day', so that
was evidently the minimum standard of wages. By 1769
the minimum as indicated by the sum to which the wages
were made up had risen to twelve pence a day in February,
and further rose to is. 2d, in June of that year. In 1790

CH.xi] WAGES AND PRICES 183

and 1791 the sums paid to witnesses losing their wages in
attendance on the justices on parish cases amounted to
one shiUing per day. Other evidence points to this sum as
the average wage for an agricultural labourer. That the
general standard of wages was low is proved by the fact that
the parish was able to obtain the services of a skilled baker
for the wages of gs., and it is not too much to assume that the
wages of an agricultural labourer would not amount to more
than two-thirds of the sum paid to a trained baker. In 1818
and in 1825 the day rates of wages paid by the parish to
labourers in its service cutting and carting fuel for the poor
was IS. 6d. Thus the rate of wages paid in Tysoe was equal
to the general rate for the county of War^nck as stated in
Villiers's table for 1819, and slightly higher than the general
rate as stated in that table in 1825. There can be no doubt,
however, that with house-rents and the cost of clothing prac-
tically doubled, and the price of food rising from 100 to 150
per cent, during the century 1730-1830, the incomes of the
poor were not of the same real value after 1790 as they were
prior to 1760.

i84

APPENDIX I

GENERAL EXPENDITURE, 1727-1827.

i s. d.

/ s. d.

1727 .... 58 18 4i

1778 .... 2si s loi

1728

60 0 9^

1779

134 12 6

1729

56 16 o^

1780

279 16 oi

1730

50 9 6

1781

229 19 9

1731

46 0 0

1782

315 17 3i

1732

28 15 11^

1783

467 10 10

1733

27 12 5

1784

418 15 3i

1734

48 I 0

1785

469 6 if

1735

43 I I

1786

439 14 6

1736

38 10 9

1787

464 4 10

T^717

40 4 0

1788

567 16 7i

1738

34 10 0

1789

483 16 5i

1739

49 6 9i

1790

565 3 6f

1740

46 IS i\

1791

534 8 7

1741

118 9 2\^

1792

508 3 lO^

1742

92 3 6i

1793

602 18 7\

1743

73 8 2

1794

659 1 li

1744

57 3 4

1795

920 I 2I

1745 •

S3 0 3i

1796

849 2 7

1746

54 3 10

1797

726 9 9i

1747 •

59 16 5*

1798

737 15 5i

1748

67 3 iiJ

1799

1041 16 7

1749 .

58 IS oi

1800

2912 7 6^

1750

87 3 8

1801

2303 10 8|

1751 •

70 12 6^

1802

No records.

1752 .

104 7 8

1803

>»

1753 •

109 18 2^

1804

>»

I7S4 .

87 II 7

I^Oi,

>»

1755 •

91 0 3i

1806

1756 .

107 14 5

1807

1757 •

174 II II *

1808

822 9 6

1758 .

157 2 8i

1809

1 149 10 6|

1759 .

140 12 5

1810

942 2 6|

1760 .

108 4 7

1811

1072 5 el

1761 .

112 0 3i

1812

1242 0 loj

1762 .

117 10 9

1813

1377 12 4

1763 .

117 2 s

1814

1134 0 si

1764 .

1X2 90

1815

1040 18 of

1765 •

146 19 2^

1816

1247 14 4i

1766 .

175 4 6

1817

2026 5 6^

1767 .

209 0 2^

1818

1838 12 10

1768 .

IIS 17 7

1819

1553 17 lo^

1769 .

243 2 9i'

1820

1417 3 8

1770 .

197 3 li

1821

io6s 14 7

1771 .

221 10 o|-

1822

1223 18 3

1772 .

259 18 7

1823

1 186 I 9

1773 •

278 3 i|

1824

1175 6 8i

1774 •

274 18 Si

1825

1106 6 6

1775 •

269 7 5

1826

1181 14 7

1776 .

267 2 i|

1827

1 170 19 si

1777 .

272 14 of

^ Small Pox years. * Rates for building County Hall.

* 'Pound Rent ' Relief year.

i85

APPENDIX II

BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES, AND BURIALS, 1725-1830.

Baptisms.

Illegitimates.

Marriages.

Buria

1725

—

1726

—

1727

—

1728

—

1729

I
' son of a traveller '

1730

—

I73I

—

1732

—

1733

—

1734

—

1735

—

1736

—

1737

—

1738

—

1739

—

1740

—

I74I

—

1742

—

1743

—

1744

—

1745

—

1746

—

1747

1748

—

1749

—

1750

—

1751

—

1752

—

1753

—

1754

—

1755

—

1756

—

1757

—

1758

—

1759

—

»>

1760

>»

1761

1762

1763

1764

1765

1766

1767

1768

1769

1770

1771

—

i86 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE

Baptisms.

Illegitimates.

Marriages.

Burials

1772

—

^171

1774

—

1775

1776

1777

1778

1779

—

1780

—

1781

—

1782

1783

1784

—

1785

1786

1787

—

1788

■ 25

—

1789

—

1790

1791

1792

1793

—

1794

1795

1796

1797

1798

1799

1800

1801

1802

—

1803

—

1804

—

1805

—

1806

1807

1808

1809

1810

—

1811

— :

1812

—

1813

1814

1815

1816

1817

—

1818

1819

1820

1821

—

1822

—

1823

1824

1825

—

1826

1827

1828

1829

1830

i87

APPENDIX III

Abstract of the Returns made by the Overseers of the Poor.
i6 Geo. III. a. d. 1776.

Tysoe. Warwick.

Money raised in year ending Easter, 1776, ;^269 75. $d.

Expended in paying County Rates and for other purposes not relating
to the Poor, ;^24 4s. 4S.

Expended on account of ye Poor, ;^245 35. id.

Whereof was applied in paying Rent of Workhouses and Habitations of
the Poor, ;^i2 12s. od.

In litigations concerning Settlements and Removals of Paupers,
;{i2 155. 6d.

(Column 4, number of workhouses and number of persons which each
will accommodate not filled in.)

Parliamentary Return on the Poor Rates, a.d. 1785.

Tysoe. Warwick. 1783-4-5.

Money raised by Assessment, medium of three years, ;^4o8 35. iid.
Expenses for militia, vagrancy, county buildings, &c., average £3$ 8s.
Expenses to minister's salary, roads, &c., £2 14s. average.
Medium of net moneys paid to the Poor, ;^370 is. i id. 1776, ;^245 3s. id.
Average expenses of overseers, journeys, visits to Justices, &c., ;^io is. 6d.
Average expenses of entertainments and meetings relative to the poor,
£2 gs. 2d.

Legal expenses, £2 15 s.

Average of money expended in setting the poor on work, is. id.

Parliamentary Poor Rate Returns, a.d. 1803.

Tysoe. Warwick.

Total money raised by Poor and other Rates, ;^i,i49 8s. S^d.

Average raised for similar rates, 1783-4-5, ;^4o8 3s. iid.

Raised by similar Rates, 1776, ;^269 js. $d.

Rate in the £, 1803, 9s. 6d.

Total money expended for the relief of the Poor, 1803, ;^868 js. iiJJ.

Expended on Workhouse, nothing.

Expended for litigation, £g.

Abstract of Overseers' Accounts, Tysoe, 1823.

Not Found in any Parliamentary Return; given in a Pencil Notb

ON the Overseer's Payment Book, s. d.

Paid for notice from House of Commons . . . . .16

Paid for notice to House of Commons ...... 6

Return sent to House of Commons.
Total money surveyed ......

Total expended .......

Expended for other purposes .....

Paid to the Poor ....... 939 14 3

1,254

1,186

246

IS
I

6
9
6

i88 POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE

Abstract of Poor Rate Returns Ordered by the House of Commons.

1861.
Tysoe. Warwick, a. d. 1856.
Gross estimated rental ........ /5>273

Rateable value. ......... £s,oi6

Expended for the relief of the Poor ..... ^400

Rate in the £ for the relief of Poor on gross estimated rental, is. 6^d. —
on rateable value, 15. y^d.

Where the figures given in the text do not agree with the Returns made
by the Overseers, it need only be said that it has been found preferable
to work from the actual accounts of the overseers' collections and pay-
ments. In 1785, when it was stated that only is. id. was expended on
setting the poor to work, and in 1803, when there was no return made of
housing expenditure, it is obvious that the overseers either took advantage
of some loophole in technical definition or deliberately falsified the returns.

INDEX

Act of 1601, 142, 147, 169.

— to prevent murthering of Bastard
Children, 86.

Appeals and prosecutions, 59.
Apprentice life, 137.
Apprenticeships, 68.

Assessment (in Warwickshire), 170,
172.

— of wages by Lancashire justices,
170.

Bakehouse Committee, 113.
Bastardy Acts, 31, 85, 88, 89.
Beggars, licences to, 38.
Board of Agriculture, 177.
, reports to, 170.

— Guardians, 164.
Bridewell, 87, 99.
Bridewells, 86.
Bridle ways, 13.
Burgess, J. T., 80.

Carriage and drift ways, 12.

Chapman, 136.

Charity Commissioners, 107, no.

Claims to fuel rights, 128.

Commission appointed to inquire con-
cerning Charities and the Education
of the Poor, 106.

Commissioners of 1834, 65.

Common-fields enclosed, 107.

Communal system of land tenure, 65.

of agriculture, 65.

Compulsory charity, 102.

Connexion between poor relief and
charity, 119.

Consolidation of farms, movement for,
149.

Corn dealers' licences, 37.

Corn, prices of, 30.

Correction, House of, 41, 69, 70, 71,
148.

Cost of wardrobe, 179.

Davies, 170.

Decay of domestic industry, 81.
Domesday Survey, 1,27.
Dugdale, 5.

Economic paupers, 119, 120.
Eden, 61, 170, 176, 177.

Education, 27.

Elizabethan Poor Laws, 103, 148,

163.
Enclosure Act, exchanges under, 19.
for Tysoe, 5.

— allotments, 15, 16, 17.

— award, 11, 12, 60, 152.

— Commissioners, 12, 14, 18, 26, 52.
— , cost of, 20.

Farming out, 14T.

Feudal system, influence of, 26.

Firstfruits, loi.

Footways, 13.

Freeholders' list, n.

Fuelland, no.

Gamier, 61, 155.

Gasquet, 108.

Gray, Mr. H. L., 4, 11.

Hasbach, 61, 137.

House of Lords' Committee on the

Dearth of Provisions, 112.
Housing, 119.
Howlett, 61.

Illegitimates, 33.

Improvements in machinery, 148.
Income of the poor, 182.
Indentures, 67, 69.
Individualistic philosophy, loi.
Inquisition of 1549, 8.

Johnson, Mr. A. H., 29.
Justices, power of, 37, 38, 40.

Kineton Hundred, 5.

Land tax, 4, 11, 22, 43, 55, 56.

— assessments, 20.
Laws and customs, 49.
L6vy, 20.

Local prices, 181.

Lord Northampton and his heirs, no.

Magdalen College, 7.

Malthus, 30.

Manufactures, population engaged in,

13-
Maximum rates of wages, 172.

igo

POOR LAW IN A WARWICK VILLAGE

Medical assistance, 130.

Methodism, 170.

Miller, 7.

Moral condition of the people, 81.

— paupers, 119, 120.
Murray, Adam, 23, 177.

Old enclosures, 21.

Order of Quarter Sessions, 71, 109.

Ownership of cottage property, 126.

Parish contracts with surgeons, 129.

— doctor, 130.

— malthouse, 11 r.

Parochial manufacture or business, 108.
■ — stonepits, 13.
Pauper badges, 66.

— funerals, 135.
Payments for furniture, 127.

Poor Law Amendment Act, 129, 164.

Commissioners, 29, 36, 50, 65, 120,

129, 136,164.

Guardians, 105.

, modern, 63.

Poor Law, Tudor and Stuart, 36.

— Laws, Select Committee on, 54.

— Rate assessment, 59.

— Rates, 22, 50, 57, 149. ISO-
Population, increase and decrease of,92.
Principle of public assistance, loi.
Property Tax, 56.

Provisions for settlement, 79.

Quarter Sessions, 37, 77.
Records of, 160, 170.

Rateable value, 55.
Rate assessments, 57, 58.
Rates in aid, 54, 55.
— , county, 35, 54.

— special, 53.
Rating, 50.

— of personality, 51.
— , see Poor Law.
Ratepayers, 27, 34, 58.
Relief , general, loi.

Relief of infants and impotent, 136.

— of sick persons, 129.
Repayments of relief, 165.
Rogers, Thorold, 143.

' Round ' system, 130.

— , The, 150.

Roundsman system, 154, 155, 160.

Select Vestries Act, 44.
Settlement Act, 65, 80, 170.

— operative provisions of, 67.

— rights of, 66.
Settlements of servants, 67.
Small-pox, 133.

Smith, Adam, 61.
Speenhamland Act, 87.

— allowance system, 155.
Stadford, 3, 5.

Sturges Bourne Act, 43, 44, 45.
Surveyors, 13.

Tithes, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 63, loi, 102.

— of increeise, loi.
Tooke, Home, 128.

Town lands, trustees of, 139.
Trades and handicrafts, ^2>y 34*
Travelling certificates, 78.

Vagabond, branded, 65.
Vagrancy Acts, 119.
Vagrants, 69.
Vestry, Easter, 45.

— meeting, 40, 42, 43, 44.

— Select, 45, 48.

Village as a corporation, 48.

— guild, 106.

— guilds, loi.

Villages, open and close, 62.
Villiers, 4, 31, 33, 35, 60, 65, 67, 120.
131, 132, 143, 159, 160, 178, 183.

Wages List of Quarter Sessions, 140.

— , regulations of, 38.

Warren rents, 13.

Webb, Sidney, 21, 24, 34, 66, 150, 177.

Widows in receipt of pensions, 144.

Workhouse test, 119, 120.

Oxford : Horace Hart, M.A., Printer to the University

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