Glancing for a moment at another county, we have in the Survey of Leicestershire a remarkable instance of a whole fief being entered twice over. It is that of Robert Hostiarius:
| Robertus hostiarius tenet de rege ii. car. terræ in Howes. Terra est iii. carucis. In dominio est i. caruca et iii. servi, et viii. villani cum i. bordario habent ii. car.... Idem [Turstinus] tenet de R. iiij. car. terræ in Clachestone. Terra est ii. caruca. Has habent ibi iii. sochemanni cum ii. villanis et ii. bordariis. Ibi viii. acræ prati. Valuit et valet x. solidos. Tetbald[us] tenet de Roberto ii. car. terræ in Clachestone. In dominio est i. caruca cum i. servo et iii. villani cum i. bordario habent i. car. Ibi vi. acræ prati. Valuit et valet x. solidos. | Robertus filus W. hostiari, tenet de rege in Howes ii. cari terræ. Ibi habet i. car. in dominio et iii. serv[os] et viii. villani cum i. bordario habentes ii. car.... Idem Turstinus tenet de Roberto in Clachestone iiii. car. terræ et Tetbald[us] ii. car. terræ. Ibi est in dominio i. caruca et iii. sochemanni et v. villani et iiii. [sic] bordarii cum iii. carucis et i. servo. Ibi xiii. acræ prati. Valuit et valet totum xx. solidos. Has terras tenuerunt T.R.E. Outi et Arnui cum saca et soca. |
Here the last two entries (both relating to Claxton) have been boldly thrown into one in the second version, which also (though omitting the number of ploughlands) gives additional information in the name of Robert's father, and in those of his predecessors T.R.E. This is thus an excellent illustration of the liberty allowed themselves by the compilers of Domesday.
An instance on a smaller scale is found in the Survey of Cambridgeshire, where we read on opposite pages:
| In Witelesfeld hund'. In histetone jacet Wara de i. hida et dimidia de M. Cestreforde et est in Exsesse appreciata, hanc terram tenuit Algarus comes (i. 189 b). | In Witelesf' h'd. In histetune jac' Wara de hida et dimidia de Cestres' man. et est appreciata in Exexe. Algar comes tenuit (i. 190). |
The second entry has been deleted as a duplicate, but it serves to show us that the scribes, even when free from error, were no mere copyists.[45]
III. 'SOCA' AND 'THEINLAND'
The extracts I have given above establish beyond a doubt the existence among the 'sochemanni' of two kinds of tenure. We have (1) those who were free to part with (vendere) and leave (recedere) their land, (2) those who were not, i.e. who could not do so without the abbot's licence. This distinction is reproduced in two terms which I will now examine.
In the Inquisitio Eliensis and the documents connected with it there is much mention of the 'thegnlands' of the Abbey. These lands are specially distinguished from 'sokeland' (terra de soca). Both, of course, are distinct from the 'dominium'. Thus in one of the Conqueror's writs we read: