Refer to the passage. "Henceforth it shall be lawful for any free man to sell at will his lands or tenements or a part of them; in such manner, however, that the infeudated person shall hold that land or tenement from the same lord in chief and by the same services and customs by which his infeudator previously held them. And if he shall have sold to any one any part of those his lands or tenements, the infeudated person shall hold that (part) directly of the lord in chief, and shall straightway be charged with as much service as pertains or ought to pertain to that lord for that parcel, according to the quantity of the land or tenement sold; and so in this case there shall fall away from the lord in chief that part of the service which is to be performed by the hand of the infeudator, from the time when the infeudated person ought to be attendant and answerable to that same lord in chief, according to the quantity of the land or tenement sold, for that parcel of service thus due.”

Excerpt from Statute of Edward I Concerning the Buying and Selling of Land (Quia Emptores), 1290. Under this rule, the new landowner or tenant owed feudal obligations to the landlord, not the seller.

Which of the following statements best explains the cause of this decree?

A. Enclosure had forced farmers to emigrate to new areas in search of work.
B. Feudal governments were becoming too large and difficult to manage effectively.
C. Governments and economies were decentralized, affecting labor availability in some areas.
D. Kings needed to ensure that laborers produced an adequate food supply in case of foreign attack.