But he allowed those
who were willing to acknowledge him to redeem their land by a
payment of money. As William conquered the land of the realm, he
parceled it out among the barons who fought with him so that each
baron was given the holdings of an Anglo-Saxon predecessor,
scattered though they were. The barons again made oaths of
personal loyalty to him [fealty]. They agreed to hold the land as
his vassals with future military services to him and receipt of
his protection. They gave him homage by placing their hands within
his and saying "I become your man for the tenement I hold of you,
and I will bear you faith in life and member [limb] and earthly
honor against all men". They held their land "of their lord", the
King, by knight's service. The king had "enfeoffed" them [given
them a fief: a source of income] with land. The theory that by
right all land was the King's and that land was held by others
only at his gift and in return for specified service was new to
English thought. The original duration of a knight's fee until
about 1100 was for his life; thereafter it was heritable. The word
"knight" came to replace the word "thegn" as a person who received
his position and land by fighting for the King. The exact
obligation of knight's service was to furnish a fully-armed
horseman to serve at his own expense for forty days in the year.
This service was not limited to defense of the country, but
included fighting abroad.
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