ABSTRACT
The problem of garrisoning a castle could be solved in two main ways: in the later period, with a money economy well established, it was the natural thing to hire fighting-men for wages; earlier, one would expect to find a feudal solution, a specialised form of military tenure. The term ‘wardsilver’ occurs as the equivalent of scutage, if only locally, for the castle-guard tenant. Commutation of actual guard-duty for money could be convenient for both vassal and lord, and from Henry II’s reign it appears to have become frequent. Tenure by castle-guard thus lapsed into a curious sort of rentcharge, which in fact had no necessary connection with any actual garrison. Honours burdened with numbers of castle-guard duties grouped the fees which had to perform them to permit a roster of duties covering the year so as to satisfy the overlord, who in the case of the mightier castles was likely to be the King.
