Unenfeoffed

Not all knights held fiefs, and it was not unusual for knights to buy themselves freedom from the obligations of the fief, or even to abscond with the arms provided by their lord, becoming a part of the large number of unenfeoffed, wandering knights available for hire […]

Following ‘great murmur and clamour’ because of the non-payment of the expenses of the Household and the abuses of purveyance, it was further provided that the income from the unenfeoffed portions of the Duchy of Lancaster […] should be diverted for the next five years […]