The Beginnings of the Feudal Age147all sorts of armed marauders, including neighboring
lords whose behavior was often no better than the
Vikings’. Faced with the prospect of unending, uncon-
trolled violence, most people accepted their loss of
freedom as a necessity. Instances of coercion by
prospective lords were apparently rare and sometimes
subtle. The manorial system was, like its feudal counter-
part, a necessary adaptation to a world gone mad.
In physical terms, no two manors were exactly alike.
Their character differed widely according to topogra-
phy, agricultural practices, and local custom (see
illustration 8.3). Some constituted entire villages of
peasant huts with their household gardens and perhaps
a church. Not every manor boasted a lord in residence,
and the church sometimes served as a fortified refuge in
case of attack. Paths radiating out from the village pro-
vided access to fields, which might be divided from one
another by narrow balks of turf. Where the iron plow
(see chapter 10) was in use, the fields were laid out in
long strips to facilitate plowing with draft animals. They
were often worked in common because not everyone
could afford a plow or a team. In lands cultivated by the
old Roman plow, fields might be irregular in shape and
worked only by the peasant family or its servants.
The lands of an individual tenement were not
necessarily contiguous. The equivalent of between
thirty and forty acres was the maximum that could
be cultivated by a peasant family. Many plots were far
smaller. With the passage of time and the vagaries of
inheritance, farmers might find themselves holdingDOCUMENT 8.4
Manorial Obligations
John Cayworth was one of the larger tenants on the English manor of
Bernholme in 1307. His obligations were correspondingly great and
may be compared with the data in tables 11.1 and 11.2. This excerpt
from the Custumals of Battle Abbeyprovides a good example of
how manorial tenures worked. Such agreements were almost never writ-
ten down before the end of the thirteenth century, and it is doubtful if the
monetary value of the obligations would have been calculated in this
way before the widespread commutation of services for cash.
They say, moreover, that John Cayworth holds a house
and 30 acres of land, and owes yearly 2s. at Easter and
Michaelmas; and he owes a cock and two hens at Christ-
mas, of the value of 4d.
And he ought to harrow for two days at the Lenten
sowing with one man and his own horse and his own har-
row, the value of the work being 4d.; and he is to receive
from the lord on each day 3 meals, of the value of 5d.; and
then the lord will be at a loss of 1d....
And he ought to carry the manure of the lord for 2
days with 1 cart, with his own 2 oxen, the value of the
work being 8d.; and he is to receive from the lord each
day 3 meals of the price as above, and thus the service is
worth 3d. clear.
And he shall find 1 man for two days for mowing on
the meadow of the lord, who can mow, by estimation 1
acre and a half, the value of the mowing of an acre being
6d.; the sum is therefore 9d.; and he is to receive each
day 3 meals of the value given above; and thus the mow-
ing is worth 4d. clear. And he ought to gather and carry
that same hay which he has cut, the price of the work be-
ing 3d....
And he ought to carry wood from the woods of the
lord as far as the manor [house] for two days in summer
with a cart and 3 animals of his own, the value of the work
being 9d. And he shall receive from the lord each day 3
meals of the price given above; and thus the work is worth
4d. clear.
And he ought to find a man for 2 days to cut heath,
the value of the work being 4d., and he shall have 3 meals
each day of the value given above; and thus the lord will
lose, if he receives the service, 3d.
And he ought to carry the heath which he has cut,
the value of the work being 5d., and he shall receive from
the lord 3 meals at the price of 2 1/2d., and thus the work
will be worth 2 1/2d. clear.
And he ought to carry to Battle twice in the summer
season, each time half a load of grain, the value of the ser-
vice being 4d. And he shall receive in the manor each
time 1 meal of the value of 2d. And thus the work is worth
2d. clear.
The total of the rents with the value of the hens is
2s. 4d.
The total of the value of the works is 2s., 3 1/2d.,
owed from the said John yearly.
“Custumals of Battle Abbey.” In Edward P. Cheyney, ed., Pennsylvania
Translations and Reprints,vol. 3, no. 5, p. 30. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1902.