Manor - Membership

Membership

Every person who dwelt in mediaeval England was deemed to exist under the jurisdiction of a manorial court, unless a citizen of a borough or a cleric, or a lord of the manor himself, when he was subject to the primary jurisdiction of the king's court if a tenant-in-chief or of the county court if a mesne lord. It was not permissible for a person to migrate from the manor of his birth except by special arrangement with the authorities. The manor was also the source of a poor man's charitable relief, should he fall into destitution, but such was at the discretion of the manorial court, by custom of each manor. An alien within a manor would not therefore be entitled to any such relief, or indeed protection offered by the power of the lord from crime or violence committed by marauding bands and robbers.