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Home , Great chamber, Lord of the manor, Manor house, Overlord, Pantry, Vassal

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LORDS, , , AND : CLASS IN THE

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Detroit NewYork San Francisco San Diego New Haven, Connecticut Maine London Munich The Manor In a common sce nario, the new vassa l received a consisting of an estate with a large or small cas tle. In so me cases, especially in medieval Eng- land and France, a 's was com- parable in size and quality to that of his . usually clain1ed (or built) the largest and most splendid for themselves, but it was not unusual fo r some , , or other noble vas- sals to live as well as their royal masters. Whether it belonged to the or one of his chi ef retainers, a medieval Euro- pea n castle was the central focu s of life The great of Hedingham Castle, in Essex, England, features spanning twenty-eight fee t. In this , meetings, ceremonies, and banquets took place. and activity on a typical feudal manor. ness, receive guests, and host banquets. Inside the castle or manor house, the In many cases, the hall also doubled as a principal room was the , though sort of all-purpose lounging area, where it was more often ca lled simply "the tl1e 's uncles, cousins, and some of his (Sometimes people referred to the entire most loya l retainers slept, ate, and social- castle or house as a hall.) In the ea rliest ized. Later, more sophisticated castles had castles, the great hall consisted of a very a more complex great hall that often fea- large chamber with a high . It con- tured one or more extra stories and tained numerous tables, chairs, and chambers located above tl1e main room. benches, wh ich the servants rearranged The lord himself and his wife and chil- as need dictated, as well as tapestries on dren slept in separate chambers located the (partly for decoration, but also in a different part of the residence. There to help the room warm). The lord was also a with of the castle used the hall to transact busi- attached, as well as a chapel in which to

Kings, , and Serfs: The Feudal Order 21 Servants scurry to and fro, waiting on the of a medieval French manor and her guests. Th e largest had staffs dozens of servants. pray and meditate, small chambers to The first story was on th e ground house the famil y's servants, storerooms, level, where th ere were ce llars and and stables and other outbuildings granaries and grea t boxes, barrels, adjoining the main house. In the early casks, and other household utensils. twelfth century, a French writer named In the story above were the dwell ing Lambert of Ardres penned this descrip- and common of the residents, tion of a fa irly typical manor house of the including the [], time: [bread room) and

22 , Ladies, Peasants, and Knights: Class in the Middle Ages [service area for wine and beer] and the in which the lord and lady slept. Adjoining this was ... the of the ladies in wait- An English Country ing and the children .... In the upper story of the house were rooms Manor in which on the one side the sons of Throughout most of Europe's medieval the lord of the house, when they so era, the lives of the rich and poor contrast- desired , and on the other side the ed sharply. The great difference is well daughters, because they were obliged, illustrated in a comparison of th e horn.es were accustomed to sleep. In this of the peasants and the nobles. Most peas- story also the watchmen and the ser- ants li ved in tiny shacks with thatched vants appointed to keep the house roofs and dirt , while th eir lords slept at various times. High up on the dwelled in magnificent stone manor hous- east side of the house, in a conven- es. The following description of an Eng- ient place, was the chapel. . . . There lish nobleman's country manor in the year were and passages from story 1397 comes from a surviving local public to story . . . from room to room, and record of the period: from the house into the gallery, where they used to entertain them- xtent of the manor of Keevil in the selves with conversation, and again Ecounty of Wiltshire, which was [the from the gallery into the chapel. 7 property] of the of Arundel: With- in that m anor are a certain hall, a chief chamber, and a little chamber next [to A Manor's Outbuildings it] with a certain latrine [ room] at A feudal manor house or castle such as the back of the same hall, roofed with the one Lambert describes was surround- tiles ... a certain chapel and a cella r ed by smaller structures used by the ser- below the chapel ... a certain chamber vants, farmers, and laborers who main- called "le warderobe" likewise at the end tained the estate and did all the menial of the hall, and the entrance thereof is a work. A surviving thirteenth-century certain great chamber with a latrine, and document describes some of the build- below that chamber is a certain pantry ings immed iately joining the main house and buttery. There is a great kitchen on an estate in southern England: newly repaired.

Outside o f [the] are an old quoted in Clair C. and house for the servants, a good stable Marlin M. Chew, eds. World. New York: Colum- ... and to the east of the principal bia University Press, 1948, p. 331. , beyond the sm aller stable

Kings, Vassals, and Serfs: The Feudal Order 23 ... barns, one for wheat and one their local lord, just as he owed allegiance for oats. These are enclosed and mandatory services to the king or with a , a , and a hedge. other overlord. In exchange for the local Al so beyond the middle gate is a lord's protection, a group of peasants good barn , and a stab le of cows and agreed to perform agricultural work or another for oxen .... Also beyond some other form of labor for him for life. the outer gate is a pigsty. 8 Most of the agricultural laborers were serfs, poor workers who were tied to the Beyond these were fields landed estate on which they toiled. In the- for crops, orchards, vineyards, pastures ory, they were free to leave and try to find for cattle and sheep, and small farmers' work somewhere else. But the reality was huts that were sometimes grouped in tiny that if they did leave, they lost a way to villages. feed themselves and gave up their lord's military and legal protection, as well as the right to draw water from his springs Manorial Workers and wells and to gather wood from his Most of the people who used and main- forests. Moreover, in an age of poor com- tained these outbuildings, fields, pas- munication and transportation, there tures, and huts were rural peasants, who were no guarantees that better work or made up the bulk of the population of living conditions were ava ilable some- medieval Europe. Their relationship with where else. So most laborers stayed; they the (whether a king or and their children, and their children's a vassal), their obligations to him, and children, remained dependent manorial the work they did for him were all parts workers generation after generation. of what over time came to be known as These serfs, also called , led dif- the manorial sys tem (after the term ficult and usually monotonous lives. In manor). The manorial sys tem propped the fall they planted wheat and rye, in up and basically made possible the - the spring they sowed other grains and dal system because the wealthy kings and various vegetables, and generally in the their well-to-do vassal lords co uld not summer they harves ted the crops. The have maintained their estates and fiefs serfs also raised, fed, and when necessary without large numbers of cheap, loyal slaughtered the livestock owned by the laborers. Without the manorial peasants lord of the manor. They kept some of the to grow and harvest the crops, build and food they produced for themselves, but maintain the castles, and fight as foot sol- a hefty share automatically went to the diers in the wars waged by the nobles, lord and his knights or other subvassals. the feudal system would have collapsed. Some idea of the duties and obliga- The workers in the manorial system tions of such manorial peasants is con- owed all egiance and set obliga tions to tained in a passage from a census taken

Kings, Vassals, and Serfs: The Feudal Order 25 of manors and their wo rkers in an Eng- 'Norks through the whole year except lish district in 1279. The document even 1 week at Christmas, 1 week at East- preserves the man's name: er [and a few other days] .... He gives 1 bushel of whea t ... and 18 Hugh Miller holds 1 virgate [about sheaves of oats ... [to his lord ]. Like- 30 acres, or 12 ha] of land in vil - wise he gives 3 hens and 1 cock year- lenage [i.e. , ] .... Hugh ly and 5 eggs at Easter. If he sells a

26 Lords, Ladies, Peasants, and Knights: Class in the Middle Ages ((It Is Very Hard Work"

The labors medieval serfs . . . Every day I must plow a full acre or for very rewards, are more.... ""Have yo u any mate [helper]?" revealed this between the early "l have a boy, who drives the oxen .... writer Aelfric and He is now hoarse from cold and shout- a se1f ing [at the oxen].""Well , is it very hard work?" "Yes indeed, it is very ha rd pl owma n, how d o yo u work." "Oh, , I work very Aelfric the Grammarian, quoted in Anne hard. I go o ut at dawn, drivi ng the oxen man and the Editors of Time Life Books, Age of Fait/1. to the field and I yoke them to the plow. New York: Time, p.

brood mare in hi s for 10 someone having higher status than them- [shillings] or more, he shall give [a selves. The nobles looked to the king for share of the money to his lord]. 9 protection and land grants and gave him loyalty and mi litary service in return. When workers like Hugh Miller were not Meanwhile, the workers depended on their busy tending to crops and livestock, they vassa l lord for jobs and security and in perfo rmed numerous lesser but equally return maintained his estate and kept him demanding chores relati ng to the main - supplied with food and other products. tenance of the manor and manor house. The single greatest benefi ciary of the tem was the king. Occupying the top of th e feudal pyramid, he demanded and The Feudal Pyramid received goods and services from nearly Both th e vassals of the noble class and the everyo ne, rich and poor, and that is one peasants making up the lowest classes were reason he was able to maintain both grea t dependent upon and owed obligations to power and a co mfortable lifestyle.

Kings, Vassals, and Serfs: The Feudal Order 2 7