A serf digging the land, c. Many of the negative components of manorialism, and feudalism in general, revolve around the bondage of the serf, his lack of social mobility, and his low position on the social hierarchy.
However, a serf had some freedoms within his constraints. A well-to-do serf might even be able to buy his freedom. The surplus crops he would sell at market. The landlord could not dispossess his serfs without legal cause, was supposed to protect them from the depredations of robbers or other lords, and was expected to support them by charity in times of famine.
Many such rights were enforceable by the serf in the manorial court. A villein or villain was the most common type of serf in the Middle Ages. Villeins had more rights and a higher status than the lowest serf, but existed under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from freemen.
Villeins generally rented small homes with or without land. Contrary to popular belief, the requirement was not often greatly onerous, and was often only seasonal, as was the duty to help at harvest-time, for example. Like other types of serfs, villeins were required to provide other services, possibly in addition to paying rent of money or produce. Villeins were generally able to hold their own property, unlike slaves.
Villeinage was not a purely uni-directional exploitative relationship. Landlords, even where legally entitled to do so, rarely evicted villeins, because of the value of their labour. Villeinage was preferable to being a vagabond, a slave, or an un-landed laborer.
In many medieval countries, a villein could gain freedom by escaping from a manor to a city or borough and living there for more than a year, but this action involved the loss of land rights and agricultural livelihood, a prohibitive price unless the landlord was especially tyrannical or conditions in the village were unusually difficult. In the foreground, a farmer plowing a field with a plow pulled by two oxen; man the leader with a long pole.
Winemakers prune the vine in a pen and till the soil with a hoe to aerate the soil. On the right, a man leans on a bag, presumably to draw seeds that he will then sow. Finally, in the background, a shepherd takes the dog that keeps his flock. In the background is the castle of Lusignan Poitou , property of the Duke of Berry.
Seen on the right of the picture, above the tower Poitiers, is a winged dragon representing the fairy Melusine. Skip to main content. Search for:. The Manor System Learning Objective Illustrate the hierarchy of the manor system by describing the roles of lords, villeins, and serfs.
Key Points The lord of a manor was supported by his land holdings and contributions from the peasant population. Serfs who occupied land belonging to the lord were required to work the land, and in return received certain entitlements. That distinction comes to seem a quibble where serfdom continues into modern times as in Russia in the 19th century , outlasting the abolition of true slavery. The system of labour and of rent which develops on a medieval manor is also immensely variable.
It is further complicated by the fact that part of any manor the demesne is farmed by the lord on his own account, using peasant labour, and part is cultivated by the peasants for their subsistence - paying the lord some form of rent, whether in natural produce, days and weeks of their own labour, or money. Gradually, as in any long-established social system, the lords devise more and more dues to supplement their revenue.
These may be direct taxes such as 'heriot', the lord's right to the best beast every time the head of a peasant family dies or fees for the functions of the manorial court. The manorial court: 9th - 15th century.
The court is the judicial basis of the manorial system. In the decentralized and unruly regions of medieval Europe, some measure of control is achieved by giving lords legal powers over the peasants on their manors.
A large estate will consist of many manors, acquired not only by feudal grant but also by marriage, purchase and even outright seizure.
The lord or his representatives move from one manor to another, holding court and consuming the produce gathered since their last visit. The court dispenses justice for crimes committed on the manor, hears civil disputes between tenants, and collects rents, fines and fees. Fees are claimed by the lord of the manor on a wide range of events in the life of the community. They may be required for the issue of a legal document, for the buying and selling of property and even - most notoriously - for permission to marry.
These rights over the community last long after the economic basis of the manor has crumbled. They are the final residue of feudalism, and the most resented.
Beaumarchais' radical comedy The Marriage of Figaro staged just four years before the French Revolution hinges on the question of whether the count will give permission for the wedding - or will attempt to revive a less authentic seigneurial right to the bride's virginity. This supposed right, known as the jus primae noctis right of the first night or droit du seigneur right of the lord , gives an intriguing glimpse of the nature of the manorial system at the time when feudalism is declining into decay and corruption.
There is no evidence that any lord ever claimed this outrageous prerogative, but there are several cases of people in the late Middle Ages paying money to avoid the exercise of the jus primae noctis. It is an unusually imaginative example of the feudal system of rights and privileges, with their inherent potential for abuse.
Farming the manor: 9th - 18th century. The Frankish empire under Charlemagne is the source of feudalism and the manorial system.
It also introduces a related revolution in agriculture. Rotation of crops to conserve the soil has been a standard part of agricultural practice since the Neolithic Revolution. The classic method is the simple two-field system. Of every two fields, one is planted each year in Europe with wheat, barley or oats.
The other is allowed to lie fallow, grazed by the cattle and fertilized by their manure. The Franks introduce a major improvement, extending the rotation to three fields. One field is now planted in the autumn with winter wheat or rye. One field is planted in the spring with oats, barley or vegetables such as peas and beans. The third field is left fallow. The new arrangement requires summer rain for the crop planted in the spring, so it is suitable only in the cooler regions of Europe.
It seems to have been introduced, perhaps in the late 8th century, between the Loire and the Rhine. The advantages are considerable. The work of preparing and harvesting the fields is more efficiently spread out through the year. The ripening of crops in two seasons rather than one reduces the risk of famine from freak weather. And there is a benefit, in terms of health and variety, in the addition of vegetables to a previously all-grain diet.
Strip-farming and enclosure: 9th - 20th century. The fields of a medieval manor are open spaces divided, almost imperceptibly, into long narrow strips. Only the fields being grazed by cattle are fenced. The others are open and are identifiable as separate fields only by the crops which they bear.
The unusual detail is that the single crop in each field is separately farmed - in individual strips - by peasant families of the local village. Some of the strips may also belong to the local lord, farmed for him by the peasants under their feudal obligations. But more often the lord's land is in a self-contained demesne around the manor. Strip-farming is central to the life of a medieval rural community.
It involves an intrinsic element of fairness, for each peasant's strips are widely spread over the entire manor; every family will have the benefit of good land in some areas, while accepting a poor yield elsewhere.
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