hold them well or quietly, and in peace, free from all unjust tax,
and from all Tallage, so as nothing shall be exacted nor taken but
their free service, which, by right, they are bound to perform."

This is expounded in the law of Henry I., cap. 4, to mean that no
tribute or tax shall be taken but what was due in the Confessor's
time, and Edward II. was sworn to observe the laws of the
Confessor.

The nation was not immediately settled. Rebellions arose either
from the oppression of the invaders or the restlessness of the
conquered; and, as each outburst was put down by force, there were
new lands to be distributed among the adherents of the monarch;
ultimately there were about 700 chief tenants holding IN CAPITE,
but the nation was divided into 60,215 knights' fees, of which the
Church held 28,115. The king retained in his own hands 1422 manors,
besides a great number of forests, parks, chases, farms, and
houses, in all parts of the kingdom; and his followers received
very large holdings.

Among the Saxon families who retained their land was one named
Shobington in Bucks. Hearing that the Norman lord was coming to
whom the estate had been gifted by the king, the head of the house
armed his servants and tenants, preparing to do battle for his
rights; he cast up works, which remain to this day in grassy
mounds, marking the sward of the park, and established himself
behind them to await the despoiler's onset. It was the period when
hundreds of herds of wild cattle roamed the forest lands of
Britain, and, failing horses, the Shobingtons collected a number of
bulls, rode forth on them, and routed the Normans, unused to such