cottages, _i.e._ boarded or wooden huts, and ranked as a lower grade of
villeins. They held about five acres, but provided no oxen for the
manorial plough-team. Below them were the _cottarii_, or cottiers, who
were bound to do domestic work and supply the lord's table. They
corresponded to the modern labourer, but lacked his freedom. The lowest
class of all were the _servi_, or serfs, who corresponded to the Saxon
_theows_. In Norman times their condition was greatly improved; they
mingled with the cottiers and household servants, and gradually were
merged with them.

The _sochemanni_, or socmen, our yeomen, who abounded chiefly in the
Danish district of England, were inferior landowners who had special
privileges, and could not be turned out of their holdings, though they
rendered certain services to the lord of the manor, and in this respect
differed little from the villeins. _Domesday Book_ also mentions a class
of men called _burs_ or _geburs_, who were the same as _coliberti_; also
the _commendati_, who received privileges in return for services
rendered to the lord of the manor.

Each village community was self-contained, and had its own officers.
Although _Domesday Book_ was not compiled in order to ascertain the
condition of the Church and its ministers, and frequently the mention of
a parish church is omitted where we know one existed, the _presbyter_,
or priest, is often recorded. Archbishop Egbert's _Excerptiones_
ordained that "to every church shall be allotted one complete holding
(mansa), and that this shall be free from all but ecclesiastical
services." According to the Saxon laws every tenth strip of land was
set aside for the Church, and _Domesday_ shows that in many villages
there was a priest with his portion of land set apart for his support.