I certify that I have read this thesis and have ... - Bilkent University

conquerors from Francia had to make new arrangements to supply the needs that
were the outcome of new circumstances — the governing of a conquered country.
After the Conquest, one of the problematic issues that the Normans faced
was the system of soc and commendation. There was no necessary correlation
between these two before 1066. Therefore, the new tenancies-in-chief were created
more often than not in accordance with commendation alone, in spite of the fact this
threatened the rights of existing soc-holders. In terms of the structures of tenure, the
advocates of continuity over 1066 and the advocates of dramatic change after 1066
can both find examples to support themselves. The truth is somewhere inbetween.
The belief that almost immediately after 1066 we see the creation of a feudal
tenurial system in England cannot be justified from the entries in Domesday Book,
where there is no sign of such a creation; we cannot even find the word miles in
eastern Suffolk. Although in the Cartae Baronum of 1166 we see lists of the milites
of tenants-in-chief, there is still no indication whether they rendered particular
amounts of military service or not. Given the fact that we cannot convincingly
demonstrate a pre-existing general system of fiefs with fixed military service in
Normandy before 1066, and that the development of such a system in England
perhaps had more to do with taxation than with soldiers, we cannot see feudalism
being brought to England from the Continent, by the Norman Conquest or
otherwise.
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