Life on a Manor

Economic systems have been enforced in society to create order. Therefore various systems have influenced many nations, regions, and groups of people throughout the course of history. Manorialism is one primary example that demonstrates the influences an economic system can have on a nation. It was a prominent system throughout the Middle Ages in Western Europe. Manorialism is considered the economic side of feudalism, a political system where kings in Europe gave away land to nobles in return for their loyalty, military service and labor.

A medieval manor was a large agricultural estate that was made up of various types of farming lands, a village where the current manor tenants would live, and a manor house where the lord who owns or controls the estate lives. It was typically the wealthy who owned or had control over any of the manors. Most manors were built of natural stone and were built to last. Their size usually illustrated the owner’s wealth.

Thus the manor might be secular or religious (many times secular lords had religious overlords and vice versa), but the essential relationships between lord and serfs were not significantly affected by this distinction. There is little evidence that serfs were treated any less harshly by religious lords than by secular ones. The religious lords and secular nobility were the joint ruling classes; they controlled the land and the power that went with it. In return for very onerous appropriations of the serf's labor, produce, and money, the nobility provided military protection and the church provided

During the middle ages the lack of protection and a stable government after the Fall of Rome created the need for a new political system. Feudalism was the political system that emerged and shaped the lives of people socially and politically. Manors were small communities that were made up of a castle, church, village, and land for farming. The structured society provided a place and responsibility for everyone. The feudal obligations showed that in exchange for one thing they would be provided with something else. Serfs and peasants would work and produce goods for the rest of the manor and in return had their land and promised protection. The vassals would need to obtain land from the Lord and in return would provide the Lord with military service, loyalty, and ransom if asked for (Doc. 4). To make clear the vassal’s specific allegiance to their lord whom they owed in for exchange for their fief they would take the Homage Oath (Doc. 2). This interdependent system required everyone to do their part and it created social classes that they were born into. Their daily lives were centered on the manor and that was how it stayed until towns began to

In manorial villages the lords of the land would have vassals and serfs. A vassal was a voluntary obligation taken so the vassal would be cared for. Although once one became a vassal this obligation would follow through all the generations of the family. Serfs on the other hand

During the Medieval era there were many diseases. Because of the lack of hygiene in the medieval times, diseases would spread like a wildfire. Just to name a few common diseases that happened in this time, there was the Black Death, leprosy, measles, and typhoid fever. These were most likely transported because of dirty bedsheets and blankets, unwashed clothing, and rodents. The treatments for these diseases and other things, such as medicine for stomach pains, medicine for wounds, and medicine for headaches, are different from today’s standards.

Manors were self-sufficient landholdings that included the manor house, outbuildings, peasant village, and surrounding land. Serfs lived in manors and were completely controlled by the nobles of the manor. Serfs worked crops, tilled fields, and did other requests of the nobles. Serfs stayed at the manors because they provided political and physical protection; the serfs were loyal to the lord of the manor, unlike earlier, people were loyal to the king. The decline of Roman culture led to the rise of Germanic customs. The warfare also led to knights being the central figure of the military and the development of new military technology; there was more iron production to create knight’s armor. There had never been knights before, only Roman soldiers or the Hoplites of ancient Greece. Another system that developed at this time was feudalism. Feudalism was land awarded for military service; kings and lords gave land (a fief) to supporters in return for sworn military support. In Rome, citizens needed to own land in order to join the military, however, they were not given land for military service. Another change in this period was monasticism, monasticism was a new religious trend at this

Feudalism was the system used in Europe during the late middle ages. The economic part of feudalism was centered on the lord's estate or manor. A lord's manor consisted of a peasant village, a church, farm land, a mill and the lord's castle. Feudalism was split in society levels. Kings would be on top with the most power, then upper lords followed by lesser lords, underneath the lesser lords were the knights, and then the serfs being the lowest social class.

Most peasants and serfs lived in small villages of windowless thatched wooden huts. It would not be too bad if the people knew of sanitation. They dumped their wastes into rivers from which they drank. They also dumped them into nearby fields where livestock graze and livestock slept under the same roof as the people. Washing was a similar problem. People rarely washed themselves or their clothes. Fleas lice and other vermin were part of life and to be endured with. Most rats were ignored which was not good because they were major carriers of the disease.

Now, the manor system works like this: the king or the ruler is the highest class of all and owns the land of the entire kingdom and the king gave land and protection for military service, labor, and loyalty. The nobles, whom was given land by the king and that they own everything one the land given to them and promises that they will in return offer the king loyalty and service. The vassals are the ones who were given land by the nobles in exchange for service and loyalty. The knights, who are usually a member of the noble family who is trained to

During the fourteenth century, knowledge of germs and the spread of illnesses was almost nonexistent. Bathing and washing occurred infrequently for average civilians, allowing fleas to run rampant. The housing that many peasants had was roofed with

Landowners called lords built castles. They gave land to followers called knights. In return, the lords called on their knights to defend them in battle. People called serfs or peasants actually farmed the land. Serfs were not much better off than slaves.

Even though the clergymen needed to find ways to administer laws, produce harvests, and protect their territories, conforming to manorialism was not theologically sound or practical for all people. First of all, the ecclesiastics understood that if their roles were the spiritual guidance for the people and the warriors were the church's protection, then they needed someone to support their endeavors. Secondly, it was predetermine that duties of the supporters were beneath the vassals and the clergy, therefore, the people that performed these tasks were less than themselves. This "luckless breed" was not able to own anything with the exception of what it took for them to work (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Von Laue, 2013, p. 221). Coupled

A noble, or lord, was in control of his manor. The manor was the heart of feudal economy (Ellis and Esler 222). A manor often consisted of the castle, a church, a village, and

The feudal system of the time operated on the premise of peasants or serfs, and thanes, or lords. The lords owned the land, and the peasants worked on it. In turn, they received the protection