Avera and inward

In medieval England, avera and inward (or inguard) were feudal obligations assessed against a royal demesne. The terms refer to various services rendered to the crown in lieu of payment in coin.[1] Avera is connected with carrying items by horse,[1] or possibly ploughing[2] or both.[3] Inward is probably the provision of a bodyguard during a royal visit:[4] in Anglo-Saxon England it could be claimed by a sheriff.[5] The services could usually be commuted to a monetary payment: in Hertfordshire avera could be commuted for fourpence.[6] The services were usually found in the eastern counties, especially Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire,[3] due from sokemen.[7] In Hertfordshire, inward is found only in the manor of Hitchin.[7]

References

1. H. C. Darby; Eila M. J. Campbell (1962). The Domesday Geography of South-East England. Domesday Geography of England. 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-521-04770-6.
2. James Morgan (1858). England under the Norman occupation. Williams and Norgate. p. 135.
3. Sir Henry Ellis (1833). A general introduction to Domesday Book: accompanied by indexes of the tenants in chief, and under tenants, at the time of the survey, as wall as of the holders of lands ... Volume 1. Commission on the Public Records. p. 263.
4. Tom Williamson (2000). The origins of Hertfordshire. Origins of the Shire. Manchester University Press. p. 103. ISBN 0-7190-4491-X.
5. William A. Morris (January 1916). "The Office of Sheriff in the Anglo-Saxon Period". The English Historical Review. Oxford University Press. 31 (121): 20–40. doi:10.1093/ehr/xxxi.cxxi.20. JSTOR 550697.
6. Ralph Henry Carless Davis, ed. (1954). The kalendar of Abbot Samson of Bury St. Edmunds: and related documents. Camden third series. 84. Royal Historical Society. p. xxxv.
7. "Hitchin: Introduction and manors". A History of the County of Hertford. 3. 1912. pp. 3–12. Retrieved 15 September 2010.

See also

• Taxation in medieval England