The process of colonization that followed the Norman Conquest defined much of the history of England over the next 150 years, structurally altering the distribution of land and power in society. The author's subjects include Domesday Book, the establishment of knight-service, aristocratic structures and nomenclature, the relation of family to property, and security of title and inheritance. He comments on the work of Maitland, Round and Stenton and ends with studies of the treaty of Winchester (1153), the "casus regis" and Magna Carta.