By the time William and his barons had finished distributing land there were about 6,000 manors in England. The baron would then carry out similar ceremonies with his knights. The baron knelt before the king and said: "I become your man." He then placed his hand on the Bible and promised to remain faithful for the rest of his life. When William granted land to a baron an important ceremony took place. The number of knights a baron had to provide depended on the amount of land he had been given. These barons had to provide armed men on horseback for military service. The rest were given to 170 tenants-in-chief (or barons), who had helped him defeat Harold at the Battle of Hastings. William retained about a fifth of this land for his own use. After his coronation, William the Conqueror claimed that all the land in England now belonged to him.
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