Tenants could sub-let part of their land, but this would cease on the death of the sub-tenant, who would often be a cottar or tenant at will, who were lower down in the social hierarchy.

The decline of the manor as a unit, though not as a legal entity, resulted in the parish increasing its powers in the sixteenth century. Some disappeared altogether. One important institution was the manor court, and it was this which produced the crucial records of the manor’s tenants and their activities.

Manor Courts

There were two types of manor court. The first was the court baron, or curia baronis. It was usually held every three weeks. It concerned the customs of the manor, relating to land tenure and use, and also served to uphold the payment of all dues and services owed to the lord. Disputes between tenants could be settled here, such as complaints of trespass and the settlement of small claims. The court also appointed its own officers, principally the reeve or bailiff who collected the lord’s dues, and the hayward, who oversaw the repair of fences and boundaries between landholdings.

Then there was the court leet, or curia letis, which was held less often, perhaps twice annually. It dealt with the operation of frankpledge, or visus franciplegii. This was a system of mutual responsibility based on a group of about ten households to uphold law and order. The offences it dealt with were common nuisances, affrays and breaking the assize of bread and ale. The latter regulated the sale of goods. The court could fine or imprison offenders. Its principal official was the constable. A fine was called an amercement because the offender was at the court’s mercy, and it would decide his penalty. There was a jury of twelve men who possessed property (worth at least £10 per year from 1696).

However, these courts’ functions were not always sharply differentiated. They could be held in the lord’s hall, or in the open air or in an ecclesiastical building if the lord was a clergyman. Usually the bailiff presided, but occasionally it could be the lord himself. Attendance by villeins was compulsory. Freemen had a greater leeway in attending, but there was no hard and fast rule. This court survived until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, though it was superseded by the parish, as noted in Chapter 3.

Manorial documents do not survive before the thirteenth century, though as noted the institution is centuries older. By the end of the century they exist in great quantity, but their survival varies considerably from manor to manor.

These documents are usually set forward in the same way, which makes them easier to deal with once a few have been looked at. For the courts leet, at the top of the parchment roll will be the name of the type of court, the day of the week and the date. Then there will be the list of penalties paid by those tenants who did not attend the court. Those non-attendees who did not send apologies were given heavier fines (known as amercements). Then there is a list of changes in tenancy, including surrenders and admissions, and details of entry fines paid. When a tenant died, this would be noted and his heir named in what is known as an inquisition post mortem (about property, not on how the individual died). They would have their right acknowledged and would pay a forfeit, often in the shape of a beast, termed a heriot. There may also be a list of witnesses. There should also be a little information about the individual who inherited the land, with his age, and proofs given by witnesses of this fact. Other new tenants, who purchased their tenancy, would also be named here. Descriptions of property were often given.