Peasant Freedom in Medieval Leicestershire: The Experience of Rothley, c. 1201–1377

Abstract

The tenants of the soke of Rothley, Leicestershire, were sokemen living on ancient demesne of the crown, and in the thirteenth century they acted cooperatively to reach favourable terms with their manorial lords, the Templars. Subsequently they entered into a dispute over the payment of tax with their overlords, and as a result of this earlier agreement the Templars were forced to concede. In the fourteenth century the sokemen resorted to legal memory to obtain an exemplification of these earlier successes to enable them to resist further exploitation by the Hospitallers. Their persistence and cooperation in these actions demonstrated a growing legal awareness and epitomised their struggles for early freedom.