ThereareattheBritishMuseumtwomostcuriousSurveysofthepossessionsofElyMinster，onedrawnupin1222andtheotherin1277，22*Insomeofthemanorsdescribedwefindtenantscalled’hundredarii。’Theirdutiesvaryagooddeal，butthepeculiaritywhichgroupsthemintoaspecialdivisionandgivesthemtheirnameisthesuitofcourttheyowetothehundred。23*AndalthoughthenamedoesnotoccuroftenevenintheElySurveys，andisveryrareindeedelsewhere，24*thethingisquitecommon。Thevillagehastoberepresentedinthehundredcourteitherbythelordofthemanor，orbythesteward，orbythereeve，thepriest，andfourmen。25*ThesamepeoplehavetoattendtheCountyCourtandtomeettheKing’sjusticeswhentheyareholdinganeyre。26*Itisnotanecessaryconsequence，ofcourse，thatcertainparticularholdingsshouldbeburdenedwiththespecialdutyofsendingrepresentativestothesemeetings，butitisquiteinkeepingwiththegeneraltendencyofthetimethatitshouldbeso；andindeedonefindseverywherethatsomeofthetenants，evenifnotcalled’hundredarii，’aresingledoutfromtherestto’defend’thetownshipathundredandshiremoots。27*Theyareexemptedfromotherservicesinregardtothis’external，’this’forinsec’
duty，whichwasconsideredasbynomeansalightone。28*
Andnowastotheirstatus。TheobligationtosendthereeveandfourmenisenforcedallthroughEngland，andforthisreasonitisprimafacieimpossiblethatitshouldbeperformedeverywherebyfreeholdersintheusualsenseoftheword。Therecanbenodoubtthatinmany，ifnotinmost，placesthefeudalorganisationofsocietyaffordedlittleroomforaconsiderableclassoffree-holdingpeasantsoryeomen。29*Ifeverytownshipintherealmhadtoattendparticularjudicialmeetings，toperformservicefortheking，bymeansoffiverepresentatives，thesecouldnotbutbeselectedlargelyfromamongthevillainclass。ThepartplayedbytheserepresentativesintheCourtswasentirelyinkeepingwiththeirsubordinateposition。Theywerenotreckonedamongthe’freeandlawful’menactingasjudgesorassessorsanddecidingthequestionsatissue。Theyhadonlytomakepresentmentsandtogivetestimonyonoathwhenrequiredtodoso。Theoppositionisaverymarkedone，andspeaksofitselfagainsttheassumptionthatthefivemenfromthetownshipwereonanequalstandingwiththefreeholders。30*Again，fourofthesefivewereinmanycasesespeciallyboundbytheirtenuretoattendthemeetings，andthereevecamebyvirtueofhisoffice，butheisnamedfirst，anditdoesnotseemlikelythattheleadershouldbeconsideredasoflowerdegreethanthefollowers。Nowtheobligationtoserveasreevewastakenasamarkofvillainage。Allthesefactsleadoneforciblytotheconclusionthatthehundredorsofourdocumentsrepresentthevillagepeopleatlarge，andthevillainsfirstofall，becausethisclasswasmostnumerousinthevillage。Thisdoesnotmean，ofcourse，thattheywereallpersonallyunfree：weknowalready，thatthelawoftenurewasofmoreimportanceinsuchquestionsthanpersonalstatus。31*Itdoesnotevenmeanthatthehundredorswerenecessarilyholdinginvillainage：smallfreeholdersmayhaveappearedamongthem。Buttheinstitutioncouldnotrestonthebasisoflegalfreeholdifitwastorepresentthegreatbulkofthepeasantryinthetownships。
Thisseemsobviousanddefiniteenough，butourinquirywouldbeincompleteandmisleadingifitweretostophere。Wehaveinthisinstanceoneofthosecuriouscontradictionsbetweentwowell-establishedsetsoffactswhichareespeciallyprecioustotheinvestigatorbecausetheyleadhimwhileseekingtheirsolutiontoinferencesfarbeyondthematerialunderimmediateexamination。Inonesensethereeveandthefourmen，thehundredors，seemvillainsandnotfreeholders。Inanothertheyseemfreeholdersandnotvillains。Theirtenurebythe’sergeanty’ofattendinghundredsandshiresranksagainandagainwithfreeholdandinoppositiontobasetenure。32*
Originallythefourmenweremadetogonotonlywiththereevebutwiththepriest；andifthereevewasconsideredinfeudaltimesasunfree，thepriest，the’mass-thane，’wasalwaysconsideredasfree。33*Itistobenoticedthattheattendanceofthepriestfellintoabeyanceinprocessoftime，butthatitwasnotlessnecessaryfortherepresentationofthetownshipaccordingtotheancientconstitutionofthehundredthantheattendanceofthereeve。Thislastfactisofgreatimportancebecauseitexcludesanexplanationwhichwouldotherwiselookplausibleenough。Doesitnotseematfirstsightthatthecaseofthehundredorsissimplyacaseofexemptionandexactlyonaparallelwiththecommutationofservileobligationsformoney？