ands in Normandy. Stories of good
King Arthur were popular and set ideals for behavior and justice
in an otherwise barbaric age where force was supreme. His last
battle in which he lay wounded and told a kinsman to rule in his
place and uphold his laws was written in poem ("Layamon's Brut").
Romantic stories were written and read in English. The custom of
"bundling" was started by ladies with their knights, who would lie
together in bed without undressing and with one in a sack the top
of which was tied around his neck, as part of a romantic
courtship. Wealthy men often gave their daughters dowries in case
they were widowed. This might be matched by a marriage settlement
by a prospective husband.

Intermarriage had destroyed any distinction of Normans by look or
speech alone, except for the Anglo-Saxon manor villeins, who
worked the farm land and composed about two-thirds of the
population. Villeins were bound to the land and could, on flight,
be brought back to it. They could not give homage, but could give
fealty. A villein had the equipment to farm, fish, make cheese,
keep poultry, brew beer, hedge, and cut wood. Although the
villeins could not buy their freedom or be freed by their lord,
they became less numerous because of the preference of landholders
for tenants motivated to perform work by potential loss of tenure.
Also, the Crown's protection of all its subjects in criminal
matters blurred the distinction between free and unfree men.

The boroughs were dominated by lords of local manors, who usually
had a house in the borough. Similarly, burgesses usually had
farmland outside the borough. Many boroughs were granted, by the
king or manor lord, the right to have a common seal for the common
business of the town. Some boroughs were given the authority to
confer freedom on the villein by enrolling him in their guild or
allowing him to stay in the borough for a year and a day. The
guilds met frequently in their drinking halls and drew up
regulations for the management of their trade. Each borough was
represented by twelve reputable burgesses. Each vill was
represented by a reeve and four reputable men. Certain towns
sponsored great seasonal fairs for special goods, such as cloth.
About 5% of the population lived in towns.

In the early 1180s, the horizontal-axle windmill was invented,
probably in eastern England, on the analogy of the horizontal-axle
watermill. It was very useful in flat areas where streams wer