The steward should not have power to sell wardship, or marriage, or escheat, nor to dower any lady or woman, nor to take homage or suit, nor to sell or make free a villein without special warrant from his lord. The steward has no power to remove a bailiff or servant who is with the lord, and clothed and kept by him, without the special order of the lord, for so he would make of the head the tail but if the bailiff be less capable or less profitable than he ought to be, or if he have committed trespass or offence in his office, let it be shown to the lord and to his council, and he shall do as he shall think And he must cause all the meadows and several pastures to be measured by acres, and thereby can one know the cost, and how much hay is necessary every year for the sustenance of the manor, and how much stock can be kept on the several pasture, and how much on the common. And if there be any cheating in the sowing, or plowing, or reaping, he shall easily see it. And further, he can see how many acres ought to be reaped by boon and custom, and how many for money.
Also, he can see how many acres ought to be plowed yearly by boon or custom, and how many acres remain to be tilled by the plows of the manor. The steward ought, at his first coming to the manors, to cause all the demesne lands of each to be measured by true men, and he ought to know by the perch of the country how many acres there are in each field, and thereby he can know how much wheat, rye, barley, oats, peas, beans, and dredge one ought by right to sow in each acre, and thereby can one see if the provost or the hayward account for more seed than is right, and thereby can he see how many plows are required on the manor, for each plow ought by right to plow nine score acres, that is to say: sixty for winter seed, sixty for spring seed, and sixty in fallow. He ought two or three times a year to make his rounds and visit the manors of his stewardship, and then he ought to inquire about the rents, services, and customs, hidden or withdrawn, and about franchises of courts, lands, woods, meadows, pastures, waters, mills, and other things which belong to the manor and are done away with without warrant, by whom, and how: and if he be able let him amend these things in the right way without doing wrong to any, and if he be not, let him show it to his lord, that he may deal with it if he wish to maintain his right.
The steward of lands ought to be prudent and not faithful and profitable, and he ought to know the law of the realm, and smelly and to protect his lord's business and to instruct and give assurance to the bailiffs who are beneath him in their difficulties.
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