Page:Landholding in England.djvu/19

 when roads were bad and few, and communication difficult, every township had its own jurisdiction, some part of which still survives. These local courts could not sit without a certain number of sokemen. There was the Court Baron, presided over by the Town Reeve, elected by the township, and the Court Leet, or local criminal court. In both these courts, questions of book-land could be decided.





HE word "feudal" is probably derived from the word "fee" or stipend. But if it is derived, as some think, from the Old French for "faith," its practical meaning is the same—it means property held in return for a promise of something—rent, or personal service, or both. 