History of the fiefs of Guernsey

Phase 1: 1020 - 1061

The first phase begins with the original grants of the two fiefs of Bessin (West) and Cotentin (East) around 1020, and the ecclesiastical grants of the fief of Saint Michel by Duke William II as part of the fief of Cotentin, all of which were granted before 1961 and in almost all cases the feudatories were absent.

Phase 2: 1061 - 1069 or later

The second period, according to Guernsey lore, lies between the creation ofthe fief of Anneville in 1061 and the Conquest in 1069 and the following years. According to Guernsey lore, Samson d'Ansneville, the first of the family to be mentioned before 1050, was commissioned by Duke William to drive off some pirates who had taken up residence on the island of Guernsey, which was then part of Normandy. He succeeded, whereupon Duke William, according to an entry of 1061 in a tax list in Rouen, gave half of the island of Guernsey in equal shares to Samson d'Ansneville, "his squire" establishing the Fief d'Anneville, and the Abbey of Mont-St-Michel. In 1066, a Seigneur d'Ansneville was governor of Val-de-Saire. According to this tradition, the settlement of the island had already taken place before the conquest. This tradition, of course, underlines the special nature of Guernsey and we find it in The History of Guernsey and Its Bailiwick: With Occasional Notices of Jersey by Ferdinand Brock Tupper and in many other historians. Other historians such as Marr have this second phase of development beginning after the death of William in 1087, and the rise of Geoffrey of Anjou in Normandy dominates the second phase, characterised by the expansion of enfeoffed lands into former desert areas and leading to the emergence of feudal lords in the island (particularly in the former Fief du Cotentin). In any case, at the end of this second phase, the feudal structure of the island was consolidated, as were the main institutions such as the royal court.

Phase 3: 1204-1248

The third phase resulted from the cessions of lands to the Crown, whose owners declared themselves in favour of Philip Augustus after 1204. This led to more lands passing into the hands of local families, even if a large part remained with the Crown as feudal estates or was given to Mont St Michel. In this third phase, the Royal High Court probably added the jurats and was established in its present form. Eventually, the distinction between the fief du Bessin and the fief du Cotentin lost all meaning as, for example, the de Cheny family became owners of fiefs in all parts of the island. Subsequently, the fiefs became a mere form of land ownership, no longer bearing the name of the feudal lord but that of the place where they were located. As early as 1248, the distribution of fiefs was similar to what it is today - apart from the ecclesiastical fiefs which had fallen to the Crown and which the Crown still holds with the exception of the fief of Saumarez and the fief of de Blanchelande. According to Marr the transition from absentee landlords to local landlords ran counter to the interests of the peasants, because the resident landlords were far more concerned with collecting their dues than providing protection and security for their tenants