instancesofverygreatdisparityarerare，andsupposesomelocalandspecialreasonswhichwecannottrace。Suchdisparitiesseemtopoint，however，toarotationaccordingtotwocourses，becausethefallowofthethreecoursescouldhavebeenleftoutofthereckoningonlyifallthepartsinthefieldswereequal。14*IthinkthatacarefulinspectionofthesurveysfromthispointofviewmayleadtotheconclusionthatthetwocoursesrotationwasveryextensivelyspreadinEnglandinthethirteenthcentury。
Amostimportantfeatureofthemediaevalsystemoftillagewasitscompulsorycharacter。Theseveraltenants，evenwhenfreeholders，couldnotmanagetheirplotsattheirownchoice。15*Theentiresoilofthetownshipformedonewholeinthisrespect，andwassubjectedtothemanagementoftheentirevillage。Thesuperiorrightofthecommunityfoundexpressioninthefactthatthefieldswereopentocommonuseaspastureaftertheharvest，aswellasintheregulationofthemodesoffarmingandorderoftillagebythetownship。Eventhelordhimselfhadtoconformtothecustomsandrulessetupbythecommunity，andattemptstobreakthroughthem，althoughtheybecomefrequentenoughatthecloseofthethirteenthcentury，andespeciallyinthefourteenth，aremetbyaresistancewhichsometimesactuallyleadstolitigation。16*Thefreeholdersalonehaveaccesstothecourts，butinpracticetheentirebodyofthetenantryisequallyconcerned。Thepassagetowardsmoreefficientmodesofcultivationwasverymuchobstructedbythesecustomaryrulesastorotationofcrops，whichflownotfromthewillandinterestofsingleowners，butfromthedecisionofcommunities。
TheseveralplotsandholdingsdonotlieincompactI
patches，butareformedofstripsintermixedwitheachother。Theso-calledopen-fieldsystemhasbeentreatedsoexhaustivelyandwithsuchadmirableclearnessbySeebohm，thatIneednotdetainmyreadersinordertodiscussitatlength。IshallmerelytakefromtheEynshamCartularythegeneraldescriptionofthearableofShifford，Oxon。Itconsistsofseveralfurlongsorareas，moreorlessrectangularinshape；eachfurlongdividedintoacertainnumberofstripsseliones，mostlyhalfanacreoraroodquarteracreinwidth；someofthesestripsgetshortened，howeverselionescurtae，orsharpenedgorae，accordingtotheshapeofthecountry。Atrightangleswiththestripsinthefieldsliethe’headlands’capitales，whichadmittootherstripswhenthereisnospecialroadforthepurpose。17*Whentheareaundertillageabutsagainstsomeobstacles，asagainstahighway，ariver，aneighbouringfurlong，thestripsarestuntedbuttae。Everystripisseparatedfromthenextbybalksonevenground，andlinchesonthesteepslopesofahill。Theholdingofapeasant，freeorvillain，hasbeenappropriatelylikenedtoabundleofthesestripsofdifferentshapes，thecomponentpartsofwhichlieintermixedwiththeelementsofotherholdingsinthedifferentfieldsofthetownship。Thereise。g。intheAlvinghamCartularyadeedbywhichJohnAysterbygrantstothePrioryofAlvinghaminLincolnshirehisvillainRobertandhalfabovateofland。18*Thehalf-bovateisfoundtoconsistoftwelvestripswestofAlvinghamandsixteenstripseastofthevillage；theseveralplotslieamongsimilarplotsownedbytheprioryandbyotherpeasants。Thedemesnelandoftheprioryisalsosituatednotincompactareas，butinstripsintermixedwiththoseofthetenantry，inthe’communalfields’accordingtothephraseologyofourdocuments。
Suchadistributionofthearableseemsoddenough。Itledundoubtedlytoverygreatinconvenienceinmanyways：itwasdifficultfortheownertolookafterhispropertyintheseveralfields，andtomoveconstantlyfromoneplacetoanotherforthepurposesofcultivation。Athriftyhusbandmanwasmoreorlessdependentfortheresultsofhisworkonhisneighbours，whoverylikelywerenotthrifty。Thestripswerenotalwaysmeasuredwithexactness，19*andoursurveysmentioncuriousmisunderstandingsinthisrespect：ithappensthatasmuchasthreeacresbelongingtoaparticularpersongetmislaidsomehowandcannotbeidentified。20*Itisneedlesstosaythatdisputesamongtheneighbourswererenderedespeciallyfrequentbytheroughwayofdividingthestrips，andbythecuttingupoftheholdingsintonarrowstripsinvolvingaverylonglineofboundary。Andstilltheopen-fieldsystem，withtheintermixedstrips，isquiteaprevalentfeatureofmediaevalhusbandryalloverEurope。Itcoversthewholeareaoccupiedbythevillagecommunity；itisfoundinRussiaaswellasinEngland。