Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/74

 62 the tenure in chivalry, per ervitium militare, or by knight-ervice. Secondly, where the ervice was not only free, but alo certain, as by fealty only, by rent and fealty, &c, that tenure was called liberum ocagium, or free ocage. Thee were the only free holdings or tenements; the others were villenous or ervile: as, thirdly, where the ervice was bae in it's nature, and uncertain as to time and quantity, the tenure was purum villenagium, abolute or pure villenage. Latly, where the ervice was bae in it's nature, but reduced to a certainty, this was till villenage, but ditinguihed from the other by the name of privileged villenage, villenagium privilegiatum; or it might be till called ocage (from the certainty of it's ervices) but degraded by their baenes into the inferior title of villanum ocagium, villein-ocage.

1. firt, mot univeral, and eteemed the mot honourable pecies of tenure, was that by knight-ervice, called in Latin ervitium militare, and in law French chivalry, or ervice de chivaler, anwering to the fief d'haubert of the Normans, which name is exprely given it by the mirrour. This differed in very few points, as we hall preently ee, from a pure and proper feud, being entirely military, and the genuine effect of the feodal etablihment in England. To make a tenure by knight-ervice, a determinate quantity of land was neceary, which was called a knight's fee, feodum militare; the value of which, not only in the reign of Edward II, but alo of Henry II , and therefore probably at it's original in the reign of the conqueror, was tated at 20𝑙. per annum; and a certain number of thee knight's fees were requiite to make up a barony. And he who held this proportion of land (or a whole fee) by knight-ervice, was bound to attend his lord to the wars for forty days in every year, if called upon: which attendance was his reditus or return, his rent or ervice, for the land he claimed to hold. If he held only half a knight's fee, he was only bound to attend twenty days, and o in proportion. And there is reaon to apprehend, that this er- Rh