[1] Professor Stubbs and Freeman take opposite views on this point.

81.  What the Witan could do.

1.  The Witan elected the King (its choice being confined, as a rule, to the royal family). 2.  In case of misgovernment, it deposed him. 3.  It made or confirmed grants of public lands. 4.  It acted as a supreme court of justice both in civil and criminal cases. (See the Constitutional Summary in the Appendix, p. ii, S3.)

82.  What the King and Witan could do.

1.  They enacted the laws, both civil and ecclesiastical. (In most cases this meant nothing more than stating what the custom was, the common law being merely the common custom.) 2.  They levied taxes. 3.  They declared war and made peace. 4.  They appointed the chief officers and bishops of the realm.

83.  Land Tenure before the Conquest.

Before they invaded Britain the Saxons and kindred tribes appear to have held their lands in common.  Each head of a family had a permanent homestead, but that was all.[1] “No one,” says Caesar, “has a fixed quantity of land or boundaries to his property.  The magistrates and chiefs assign every year to the families and communities who live together, as much land and in such spots as they think suitable.  The following year they require them to take up another allotment.

[1] Tacitus ("Germania”) says that each house “was surrounded by a space of its own.”

“The chief glory of the tribes is to have their territory surrounded with as wide a belt as possible of waste land.  They deem it not only a special mark of valor that every neighboring tribe should be driven to a distance, and that no stranger should dare to reside in their vicinity, but at the same time they regard it as a precautionary measure against sudden attacks."[2]

[2] Caesar, “Gallic War,” Book VI.

84.  Folkland.

Each tribe, in forming its settlement, seized more land than it actually needed.  This excess was known as Folkland (the People’s land,[3] and might be used by all alike for pasturing cattle or cutting wood.  With the consent of the Witan, the King might grant portions of this Folkland as a reward for services done to himself or to the community.  Such grants were usually conditional and could only be made for a time.  Eventually they returned to the community.

Other grants, however, might be made in the same way, which conferred full ownership.  Such grants were called Bocland (Book land), because conveyed by writing, or registered in a charter or book.  In time the King obtained the power of making these grants without having to consult the Witan, and at last the whole of the Folkland came to be regarded as the absolute property of the Crown.

85.  Duties of Freemen.

Every freeman was obliged to do three things:  1.  He must assist in the maintenance of roads and bridges. 2.  He must aid in the repair of forts. 3.  He must serve in case of war.  Whoever neglected or refused to perform this last and most important of all duties was dclard to be a “nithing,” or infamous coward.[4]