Feudal Services

(A) H. S. Bennett, Life on the English Manor (1937)

Heriot was claimed by the lord of the manor on the death of one of his tenants... After the lord had chosen the best animal as his heriot, the Church had second choice. The Church forbade the taking of mortuary unless there were at least three animals. This, however, was rigorous enough, since after the lord had taken one, and the Church taken another, the widow or heir was often left with a solitary remainder.

1. Look at Yalding Labour Service and Yalding Rents. Fill in details in your Family Information Chart (section 2) of how much you pay in rent or in labour service for the land that you use. Are you a serf or a free person?

2. Look at Heriot Records and Mortuary Records. Fill in details in your Family Information Chart (section 8) of what you had to give to obtain your land.

3. Read source A and look again at the Heriot Records and Mortuary Records. Explain why the lord of the manor and the church did not always take animals in 1330 and 1331.

4. Hugh de Audley took a tunic from the Browne family when William died in 1331. Why did he do this? Would he have used William Browne's tunic?

5. Look at Tallage Payment and Lay Subsidy List. Fill in details in your Family Information Chart (section 10) of how much tax you paid in 1336.

6. Copy this table into your book. Look again at the worksheet Feudal Rent and Taxes. Fill in the empty columns.