Klawiter – AP World
Life on the Manor
Western European Economies in the Age of Feudal Fragmentation
(in collaboration with Mr. Deken)
Essential Questions
1. What are two advantages northern and western Europe possess that benefit agriculture?
2. How does manorialism reflect Roman, German, and feudal characteristics?
3. How do specific locations on the diagram illustrate important characteristics of manor life?
The Manor System
The economic base of medieval Europe was manorial agriculture, especially in the north and
west, in kingdoms like France and England. The reason for this is to be found in the climate and
the topography. Grain could be sown both in fall and spring, so the work could be more evenly
distributed during the course of the year.
The land was much more fertile in the north than in the south, near the Mediterranean.
Large expanses of arable land also led to larger farms in the north. For example, the average
English farm contained 30 acres, but in Greece the standard large farm was closer to 10 acres.
These larger farms permitted crops like oats and rye could be grown up north, with lower yields
per acre than wheat and barley. This was important for cattle raising and also the human diet. In
the south they had to depend on small-farm Mediterranean crops like olives and grapes.
Origins of Manorialism
Farming techniques in medieval Europe were mostly a combination of Roman with Germanic
ideas. Most Roman farming had been done by groups of slaves on the latifundia owned by elites.
The Germans had also practiced group farming, sharing labor and produce in the tribes and
villages that typified early Germanic life.
New agricultural techniques strengthened this cooperative farming practice. The new
“moldboard” plow not only cut into the ground, but also lifted and turned it over. But it needed
so much force that it had to be pulled by six or eight oxen, and no one peasant farmer was likely
to own so many. The pooling of resources became necessity. This led again to cooperative
cultivation of the soil, and a village-based community life among the peasants. By the tenth
century, most of Europe was divided into these farming units.
The rise of feudal government during the same time meant that each of these village areas
was controlled by an aristocratic noble, who was entitled to the farm produce as lord and
protector of the land. This situation created a society of basically two social groupings: knights
and serfs. The knight was lord of the manor, the fields, forests, and villages that made up his fief.
The exchange of fiefs for military loyalty among lords and knights formed the political structure
of feudal Europe; meanwhile, food production by peasants and serfs on manors formed the
economic structure. This made each feudal kingdom economically self-sufficient, which was
vitally important in a region lacking the security and long-distance trade that had existed under
Roman rule.
Klawiter – AP World
Diagram of a Typical Manor
On the diagram, note the following features:
 Different spaces for spring planting, autumn planting, and “fallow” land
 Common land for pasture, meadow, and woodlot
 Which buildings are largest, which are near others, and which are near the fields.