Stewards
Lords often controlled several manors. A steward was
employed at each manor to manage it while the lord was
absent. Other officials supervised the peasants and collected taxes and fines.
FARMLAND
Serfs
Most peasants were serfs. Serfs were “bound to the
land” (by law they could not leave the manor on which
they were born). A class of serfs, known as villeins, were
granted a plot of land and a home in the village. In return
they gave the lord grain, paid taxes (for their use of the
lord’s mill and other facilities), and helped farm the lord’s
strips of land (or paid a rent instead). The poorest serfs
were not granted any strips of land; they farmed the
lord’s land in return for protection and a place to live.
RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MANORIAL CLASSES
Lord of the Manor
The manor was controlled by a noble (or churchman)
called the lord of the manor. He lived in a manor house
(often a fortified castle) and took the best share of the
farmland (his share was known as the demesne land). In
return for farm produce and services from the peasants
living on the manor he provided them with land, protection, and a rough form of government and justice.
Key to farmland strips
A single peasant
family’s holdings
Lord of the
Manor’s strips
1 Barn
2 Spring field
3 Autumn field
3
4
4 Woodland
5 Orchard (vineyard)
6 Blacksmith’s forge
5
Free Peasants
Free peasants could leave the manor to work elsewhere.
In return for land and the right to live in the village, they
paid a rent or worked part of each week for the lord.
6
7
7 Cemetery
8 Church
9 Well
8
9
10
10 Mill
11 Priest’s house
12 Inn
11 12
13
14
The farmland of a medieval manor was usually divided
and worked according to a three-field planting system:
the spring planting field, autumn planting field, and fallow
(unplanted) field were rotated each year to allow the soil
to recover its fertility. Each field was divided into long
narrow strips. The lord, his officials, and the parish priest
had a number of strips in each field. When they were not
working the lord's land, the peasants cultivated their own
strips of farmland. Everyone could graze animals on the
rough pasture and have hay from the meadow.
13 Rough pasture
14 Lord’s oven
15 Villeins’ houses
15
16
16 Woodland
17 Manor house
18 Fallow field
19 Ford
20 River
21 Meadow
17
Parish priest’s strips
Other peasants' or
officials' strips
1
18
19
2
20
21
Manorial System 1000–1300
The economy of early medieval western Europe depended on an agricultural arrangement called the manorial
system. This was centered on small estates called
manors that were controlled by nobles and worked by
peasants. Each manor was a self-sufficient community,
producing almost all the needs of the lord’s family and
some 15 to 30 peasant families who lived on the manor.
The manorial system operated by a set of rights and
duties based on law and custom.