The Medieval Village: Peasant Life and Labor on Manor скачать в хорошем качестве

The Medieval Village: Peasant Life and Labor on Manor

Welcome to All of History! A Glastonbury Manor We may today obtain some passing success from glimpses of actual life recorded in particular villages, allowing us, little by little, to construct a coherent picture. Let us take an abbey estate as a rather favorable example of peasant well-being. Monastic charity was heavily counterbalanced by monastic conservatism. However, if the reader follows me patiently to the end, they may conclude, as I do, that there was a slight balance of prosperity in favor of the peasantry on Church lands. The Sporting Chance This is only one instance of the medieval rustic’s resignation to fate—or, shall we say, to a somewhat slipshod and disorderly Providence? We have seen that customs differed in detail not only from manor to manor but even from group to group within the same manor. These variations, along with the rudimentary nature of even the most definite arrangements, left room for endless misunderstandings and bickering between landlords and tenants, or between peasants themselves. Bans and Monopolies Another major source of business uncertainties was the monopoly of the mill and oven. This system not only encouraged deceptive practices, such as those described in Chaucer’s Reeve’s Tale, but also led to disputes over the amount of time a peasant was required to wait at the miller’s convenience. 00:00 A Glastonbury Manor 15:48 The Sporting Chance 34:45 Bans and Monopolies