Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/102

 90 much for the two grand pecies of tenure, under which almot all the free lands of the kingdom were holden till the retoration in 1660, when the former was abolihed and unk into the latter: o that lands of both orts are now holden by the one univeral tenure of free and common ocage.

other grand diviion of tenure, mentioned by Bracton as cited in the preceding chapter, is that of villenage, as contraditinguihed from liberum tenementum, or frank tenure. And this (we may remember) he ubdivides into two claes, pure, and privileged, villenage: from whence have arien two other pecies of our modern tenures.

III. the tenure of pure villenage have prung our preent copyhold tenures, or tenure by copy of court roll at the will of the lord; in order to obtain a clear idea of which, it will be previouly neceary to take a hort view of the original and nature of manors.

are in ubtance as antient as the Saxon contitution, though perhaps differing a little, in ome immaterial circumtances, from thoe that exit at this day : jut as we oberved of feuds, that they were partly known to our ancetors, even before the Norman conquet. A manor, manerium, a manendo, becaue the uual reidence of the owner, eems to have been a ditrict of ground, held by lords or great peronages; who kept in their own hands o much land as was neceary for the ue of their families, which were called terrae dominicales, or demene lands; being occupied by the lord, or dominus manerii, and his ervants. The other tenemental lands they ditributed among their tenants; which from the different modes of tenure were called and ditinguihed by two different names. Firt, book-land, or charter-land, which was held by deed under certain rents and free ervices, and in effect differed nothing from free ocage lands ; and from Rh