was effectively put to rest for some, others persisted in their beliefs. Vinogradoff's own assertion did not go unchallenged, even by those who agreed with the thrust of his argument. Some, such as Frederic Maitland, gave partial or cautious support, while others rejected the assertion and offered their own definitions. A more recent text dealing explicitly with these controversies is Eric John's 1960 work, Land Tenure in Early England. He emphatically denies the previously held view that bookland evolved to take the land out of the family line, and in fact developed specifically to keep it within the family, claiming that the king's power over folkland remained too powerful and that his favour depended too much on a subject's good behaviour towards him. An episode from Beowulf is employed to indicate that a subject who displeased the king was likely to have his folkland removed. Bookland, by contrast, provided the holder more definite powers of bequest removed from royal influence. As there are only three explicit references to folkland in surviving documents, few plausible definitions can be ruled out, so long as they satisfy the criterion of historical consistency. The tautological definition sidesteps the controversy: it is agreed that all land that is not bookland is folkland. Ros Faith describes folkland as "the counterpart or antithesis of bookland". See also Anglo-Saxon Charters Fee simple History of English land law Notes References Anglo-Saxon law Real property law