2.7.1 Forest Law

Question 1

The forest (3)

Answer 1

• William took land away from earls, increasing his ownership of land in England.
• The land was known as ‘forest’ and it was private hunting land for his use.
• Local people were often relocated and their homes removed in order for William to hunt in his forest land undisturbed.

Question 2

Forest laws

Answer 2

• Some local people hunted on William’s forest laws. Anyone found ‘poaching’ William’s animals (also called quarry) on William’s land or found guilty of damaging his plants, was harshly punished, with some Anglo-Saxons being blinded for these kinds of crimes.
• So William seized land from people, made money from the operations of the demesne, and punished anyone doing anything on the lands that he had taken.