Arrentation facts for kids

Arrentation (from Latin arrendare) was a special rule in the old English forest laws. It allowed a landowner inside a royal forest to put a small fence or ditch around their land. In return, they had to pay a yearly fee, like a rent, to the King.

Later, the meaning of arrentation grew. It also meant changing how land was held from the King. Before, some people held land by offering a special service to the King, like providing arrows for hunting. This was called a serjeanty. Arrentation changed these services into a system where people just paid rent instead. This made it easier for the King to get money.

What Was Arrentation?

Arrentation was a way for the King to manage his lands and get income. It had two main parts.

Land in the King's Forest

Imagine a huge area of land that belonged to the King, called a royal forest. Even though it was called a forest, it included fields, villages, and farms, not just trees. The King had special laws for these areas, called forest law. If you owned land inside one of these royal forests, you usually couldn't build fences or make big changes without the King's permission.

Arrentation was a special license. It allowed a landowner to enclose a small part of their land with a low hedge or ditch. This meant they could protect their crops or animals better. In exchange for this permission, they had to pay a regular annual fee to the King. It was like paying rent for the right to use your own land in a certain way.

From Services to Rent

Over time, arrentation also meant changing how some people held their land from the King. In medieval times, many people held land by promising to do a specific service for the King. For example, someone might have to provide three arrows whenever the King hunted on Dartmoor. This was known as a serjeanty tenure.

Kings found it simpler to receive money instead of these varied services. So, they started to change these serjeanty tenures into tenures by socage or Knight-service. These new ways of holding land usually meant paying a regular rent or providing military service (which could often be paid for with money too). This made it much easier for the King to collect income.

Why Did Kings Want Rent?

Kings preferred rent because it was a steady and predictable income. Services could be hard to manage or might not be needed often. Money, however, was always useful.

A key person in this change was Robert Passelewe. He was a royal judge for the forests. In 1250, King Henry III asked him to make big changes to how serjeanties were held.

For example, a man named Walter Devenish used to provide three arrows for the King's hunt. After the reform, he had to pay three shillings in rent instead. This shows how services were turned into money payments.

How Kings Made the Change

Many people who held land by serjeanty had already rented out parts of their land to others without the King's permission. This was called subinfeudation. Also, serjeanties were usually meant to be kept whole and not divided or sold easily. This was called inalienability and impartibility.

The King's agents used these rules to their advantage. They could threaten to take away the land completely if the tenant didn't agree to the new terms. This pressure often made tenants accept paying rent instead of providing services.

King John had tried a similar change in 1205, but it only affected a smaller area. King Henry III's reforms in 1250 were much bigger. They covered many more serjeanties held directly from the King. The records of this important inquiry from 1250 can be found in the Book of Fees, which is a collection of old royal records.

Footnotes