Servicium debitum and scutage in twelfth century England, with comparisons to the Regno of Southern Italy
The purpose of this study is to re-assess the system of military obligation in England at the earliest time sufficient documents survive to provide an in-depth explanation. It is both an examination of the twelfth-century feudal structure and lordship arrangements as described by these documents, and how they came to be in their twelfth-century forms. This is supplemented by a similar, but briefer, evaluation of the Regno of southern Italy and of the occasional relevant documents from Normandy. An examination of the place of military obligation in the kingdom of England covers three major areas: the assessment of this obligation, the cost of service both to the king and the individual knight, and how the men actually served. These three areas offer insight into how the Normans established the servicium debitum, how knights exempted themselves from their obligation or were compensated for extra service, and various aspects of what their service entailed, such as castle guard. A study of the returns made by tenants-in-chief in 1166 suggests that these have been misinterpreted in the past; their inspiration lay in the desire of the barons to protect themselves from excessive royal demands, rather than in the
Smith, Nicholas James Crosby
Servicium debitum and scutage in twelfth century England, with comparisons to the Regno of Southern Italy. The purpose of this study is to re-assess the system of military obligation in England at the earliest time sufficient documents survive to provide an in-depth explanation. It is both an examination of the twelfth-century feudal structure and lordship arrangements as described by these documents, and how they came to be in their twelfth-century forms. This is supplemented by a similar, but briefer, evaluation of the Regno of southern Italy and of the occasional relevant documents from Normandy. An examination of the place of military obligation in the kingdom of England covers three major areas: the assessment of this obligation, the cost of service both to the king and the individual knight, and how the men actually served. These three areas offer insight into how the Normans established the servicium debitum, how knights exempted themselves from their obligation or were compensated for extra service, and various aspects of what their service entailed, such as castle guard. A study of the returns made by tenants-in-chief in 1166 suggests that these have been misinterpreted in the past; their inspiration lay in the desire of the barons to protect themselves from excessive royal demands, rather than in the
england comparison southern_italy purpose_study re_assess system military obligation england early time sufficient document survive provide depth explanation examination twelfth_century feudal structure lordship arrangement describe document come twelfth_century form supplement similar evaluation southern italy occasional relevant_document normandy examination place military obligation kingdom england cover_three major_area assessment obligation cost service king individual knight men actually serve three_area offer_insight normans establish knight obligation compensate extra service various_aspect service entail castle guard study return make chief suggest misinterpret past inspiration lay desire baron protect excessive royal demand rather