Feudal England: Historical Studies on the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries

by John Horace Round

	H.	V.	A.
Odo	1	0	0
Reginald	½	0	20[76]
Picot (1)	3	3	0
Picot (2)	4½	0	10
	——	——	——
	10	0	0

fo. 96 (a) 2: 'Pampeswrda pro v. hidis et xxii. acris se defendit.'

	H.	V.	A.
Abbot of Ely	2	3½	0
Two Knights	1	0	22
Ralf 'de scannis'		3	0
Hardwin			10
Picot			5
Hardwin		½[77]	0
A priest		½	0
	——	——	——
	5	0	22

fo. 107 (a) 2: 'Barentona pro x. hidis se defendit.'

	H.	V.	A.
Robert Gernon	7	1½[78]	0
Chatteris Abbey	2	0	0
Ralf			20
Walter fitz Aubrey			40
Picot		½	0
	——	——	——
	10	0	0

fo. 108 (a) 2: 'Oreuuella pro iiii. hidis se defendit.'

	H.	V.	A.
Earl Roger	1	1⅓	0
Durand		3⅓	0
'Sigar'		1⅓	0
Picot		3¼	5
Walter fitz Aubrey		1	0
Robert		1	0
Ralf 'de bans'		⅓	0[79]
Chatteris Abbey		¼	0[79]
	——	——	——
	4	0	0

This last example is, perhaps, the most remarkable of all, in the accuracy with which the virgates and their fractions, by the help of the five acres, combine to give us the required total.

But, it may be asked, how far does the Inquisitio, as a whole, confirm this conclusion? In order to reply to this inquiry, I have analysed every one of the Manors it contains. The result of that analysis has been that of the ninety-four townships which the fragment includes (not counting 'Matingeleia', of which the account is imperfect) there are only fifteen cases in which my calculation does not hold good, that is to say, in which the constituents as given do not equal the total assessment when we add them up on the above hypothesis of thirty acres to the virgate, and four virgates to the hide. This number, however, would be considerably larger if we had to work only from D.B., or only from the I.C.C. But as each of these, in several cases, corrects the errors of the other, the total of apparent exceptions is thus reduced. Hence I contend that if we could only get a really perfect return, the remaining apparent exceptions would largely disappear.