Norman Conquest Encyclopedia
Cottar
The social organisation of the Anglo-Saxon village was complex, with a number of levels of rank which, in the most simplified description, range from the thegn at the top, through the geneat and the cottar to the gebur. These four levels were set out in a work entitled Rectitudines Singularum Personarum that just precedes the conquest. The cottar (also known as a bordar under the Normans) was a freeman who was obliged to work for his lord every Monday, or three days a week during harvest, but paid no rent. He had five acres of his own in the arable land. The terms of his obligations could vary greatly throughout the land. As a freeman he was subject to the levy of the fyrd, that is, he had to do military service in times of crisis.
See also: Anglo-Saxon; fyrd; Normans; thegn
Related Reading:
- Saxon Viking Norman (Men-at-Arms 85)
- Anglo Saxon Thegn (Warrior 5)