In
England's
ancient past large parts of the realm were unoccupied and owned as
allodial titles: the landowners simply cooperated with the king out of a mutual interest instead of legal obligation. It was not until the
Norman Conquest, when
William the Conqueror declared himself to be the sole allodial owner of the entire realm, that land tenures changed drastically. In William's kingdom the common exchange and sale of land became restricted and all landholders were made to provide a service to their lord ("
no land without a lord").
Norman reforms William stripped the land from those who opposed him and redistributed it among his followers. He introduced a new type of feudalism, in which obligation extended right down through the hierarchy, a model informed by the
military system.
Barony and knight-service The
tenants-in-chief held their land by the
tenure of barony, which required the tenant to provide a number of knights for their liege for 40 days per annum. After the served days, the liege was obliged either to begin paying the knights, or to dismiss them. However, tenants who held their land by the tenure of knight-service were not permitted to pass their lands to the heir automatically, but were required to obtain the lord's approval. The system failed because the assessment of knight's fees became impossible to maintain. A few estates retained the same wealth and population as when first
enfeoffed, with the result that the lord provided only a small number of the knights whom he was actually able to muster. Another issue was the practice of
subinfeudation, by which the subtenants were able to alienate the land to tenants of their own. This became unpopular among the
superior lords, and was banned by
Edward I in his edict
Quia Emptores. In compensation, the
sale of properties was made legal. ==Late medieval period==