the smallest tax, largely because of the very large number with more modest personal estates under 2s. 6d., comprising well over half the assessed inhabitants in both hundreds. It is beyond the scope of this introduction to make similar detailed examinations of the distribution of wealth in other regions of the county, but enough has been done to show that marked differences existed between neighbouring hundreds in which the quality of the soil was much the same. Altogether the obvious deficiencies of the subsidy, on account of the omission of the names of many persons not assessed to the tax, should not be allowed to conceal its very real importance in illustrating the distribution of population and wealth in Kent of the first half of the fourteenth century.
                                                                       C.W.C.

EDITORIAL NOTE
   In editing the text the general aim has been to make the contents easily readable without departing essentially from the form of the original. Roman numerals have been converted into arabic and christian names have been anglicized wherever possible. In the case of less well known Latin forms, the English versions given in Trice Martin’s Record Interpreter have been adopted and where no English equivalent could be found the original Latin form, converted into the nominative, has been retained. A particular difficulty arises with regard to "occupational" surnames in Latin. It is impossible to know 

in each case (a) if the name denotes the actual occupation of the person concerned and (b) if it is a surname in itself or merely the Latin form of an English or French family name. For these reasons it was thought best to give the nominative form of the original with an English translation in brackets. "Filius" has been rendered as "son of ", e.g. Filius Rogeri (son of Roger) though this could well be equivalent to Fitz Roger or Rogers. Contractions have been extended wherever the intention seemed reasonably clear. In doubtful cases the contraction has been left and is indicated by an apostrophe. This applies also to some Christian names, e.g., Julian’ and Alic’ ; wherever the full forms occur these read as Juliana and Alice respectively but the possibility of masculine versions cannot be excluded.
   When mistakes have been discovered in the calculation of the total assessments for the boroughs, hundreds and vills the correct totals have been supplied in brackets. The total number of assessments for each taxation unit has also been indicated. It should be noted that these do not necessarily correspond to the total of names in each case as two or more names are occasionally included in a single assessment.
   With the exception of a little fading in one or two places the document is clear and legible throughout. It is, however, frequently impossible to distinguish between certain letters, especially u and n, o and e, t and c, with any degree of assurance.