COTTER

cotter, cottar, or cottier, a word derived from the latin _cota_, a cot or cottage, and used to describe a man who occupies a cottage and cultivates a small plot of land. this word is often employed to translate the _cotarius_ of domesday book, a class whose exact status has been the subject of some discussion, and is still a matter of doubt. according to domesday the _cotarii_ were comparatively few, numbering less than seven thousand, and were scattered unevenly throughout england, being principally in the southern counties; they were occupied either in cultivating a small plot of land, or in working on the holdings of the _villani_. like the _villani_, among whom they were frequently classed, their economic condition may be described as "free in relation to every one except their lord." see f. w. maitland, _domesday book and beyond_ (cambridge, 1897); and p. vinogradoff, _villainage in england_ (oxford, 1892).