natural laws of society, and stood it on its apex, like a cone
balanced on its point. For instead of saying that the land was the
property of the people of the tribe or nation, it started by taking
for granted that the land all belonged to the king. The idea was that
the king did not give the land, outright, to his dukes and earls, but
that he gave them, in return for their faithful support and service in
war, the use of the land during their lifetime, or so long as they
remained true to him. In Macbeth, we read how, for his treason, the
lands of the thane (earl) of Cawdor were taken from him by the
Scottish king and given to the thane of Glamis. The lands thus lent
were called fiefs. Upon the death of the tenant, they went back to the
king or duke who had given them in the first place, and he at once
gave them to some other one of his followers upon the same terms. It
often happened that upon the death of an earl or baron his son was
granted the lands which his father had held, Finally, in many
counties, it grew into a custom, and the oldest son took possession of
his father's fief, but not without first going to the king and
swearing homage and fidelity to him.

Two things must be kept in mind if we are to understand the system
fully. In the first place, in the division of the lands among the
barons of the conquering nation, no account was taken of the peasants.
As they were of the defeated people, their rights to the land were not
once considered. In many countries, the victors thought of them as
part and parcel of the conquered territory. They "went with" the land
and were considered by the lord of the county as merely his servants.
When one lord turned over a farm to another, the farmers were part of
the bargain. If any of them tried to run away, they were brought back
and whipped. They tilled the land and raised live stock, giving a
certain share of their yearly crop and a certain number of beeves,