Hârn Manor Manor Life

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Unfree Legal Status

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Manor 03

Manor Life

The power of the nobility is ultimately vested in its control of land. Most Hârnians live in the countryside, where they work to feed themselves and their livestock and to prosper by selling surplus food to townsfolk. Survival for everyone depends on growing food, and feudal lords control most productive land under the manorial system. A typical manor has a manorhouse, an adjacent village of 10–30 peasant households, and supporting craftsmen.

The Manorhouse

The lord, his family, and their retainers live in the manorhouse, a stone or timber stronghold surrounded by an outer wall. The manorhouse complex is usually situated on a natural or artificial hill at one end of the village, but can be anywhere within the manor.

The heart of the manorhouse is the great hall where members of the lord's household eat meals and socialize. Here, too, the lord holds his manorial court, settling disputes among tenants, ruling on matters of law and custom, and receiving due homage. A fireplace is near the center of the hall, beneath a smoke hole in the high roof. Wood or peat fires provide light and warmth, and are used for cooking if there is no separate kitchen. Additional light may be provided by high, narrow (defensible) windows and, in the evening, by rushlights, torches, or lanterns. Large trestle tables are erected for meals and removed as necessary. Most residents sit on stools or long benches, but the lord will have chairs for himself, immediate family, and noble retainers. The floors may be hardwood or stone, covered with rush mats or carpets.

Bedrooms and dormitories are separated from the great hall by partitions, curtains, or walls. Quality of accommodation depends on the manor's wealth. The lord and lady might share an elegant four-poster. Very young children sleep in cradles near the bed of their nursemaid, perhaps their mother. Older children, retainers, and most guests are given space in dormitories, or a folding cot in the great hall. Important guests may borrow the lord's bed. Poorer residents can hope for pallets filled with straw.

The manor courtyard has an outer wall, sometimes built of stone but more likely a wood palisade, surrounded by a moat, ditch, or earthworks. Most manors are reasonably selfsufficient and have a miller, woodcrafter, metalsmith, and other craftsmen. Some craftsmen are bonded to the lord's household and operate workshops within the manor wall. Other craftsmen are freemasters and operate in the village outside the manorhouse complex.

SIDEBARS

Hârnic Manors

The manor is the basic economic unit of rural Hârn. A typical keep or castle has 10–30 manors within a five-league radius.

The manor ranges from 600 to 3,600 acres in size. Manors are held by a knight who owes fealty and military service to a baron or earl, or are held directly by a great noble and managed by loyal retainers known as bailiffs. Some manors are held by religious orders. A few manors around chartered freetowns are held by wealthy simplefolk. "Manor" is the nearest English translation of the Hârnic word Nealu.

Knight's Fee

A knight's fee is the amount of land considered sufficient to support a fully equipped cavalryman and his family.

Traditionally, this is ten hides, or twelve hundred (1200) acres, but the rising cost of chivalric weapons, mail armour, and trained warhorses require knights to manage their fief with care. Some knights hold larger manors for the same military obligation; some hold smaller manors. In other cases, a large manor is held as a double or triple Knight's Fee.

Rushlights & Lamps

Rushlights are made of rushes soaked in tallow. They are cheap, reliable, reasonably bright, and are the most common source of indoor light. Other sources of illumination include oil lamps and, in wealthier households, candles.

Manor 04

Manor Lands

Manor lands are composed of three primary types: woodland, cropland, and pasture. The latter two, the cleared land, is arranged as two open fields of equal size, one of which is left fallow each year. The open fields are subdivided into furlongs (furrow-longs), these being rectangles of about ten acres each. The furlongs are separated by a balk of turf, or a hedge, and have names like "Hopalong" or "Rockylong" for identity. Furlongs follow the lay of the land, often lying at odd angles to each other, and wedges of land where they meet, called gores, are cultivated with the hoe. Headlands for turning the plow exist at the ends of furlongs.

Cropland & Crops

Furlongs are subdivided into long, narrow, strips called selions, traditionally 220 paces by 11 paces, about half an acre. The selions are assigned to specific tenants so that a serf holding one selion out of 20 in "Riverlong" receives one twentieth of the harvest from that furlong. A villein with 60 selions would have 30 under cultivation in a dozen or more different furlongs, and 30 in the fallow land.

It is customary to plant a furlong with the same crop. Scattering a tenant's selions among furlongs ensures a variety of crops and gives insurance against failure of a specific crop. Freeholders, on the other hand, generally hold their land in contiguous parcels on the edges of the manor.

The principal crops are wheat, barley, rye, oats, hay, vegetables, flax, and fruit. How much of each crop is planted is determined by generations of local experience. Some areas favor lower-risk, lower-value crops. It is common to plant some acres with winter crops.

Meadows

Meadows are arable land, often the best in the manor, devoted to hay for fodder. Without meadows, the lord and his tenants would have great difficulty feeding livestock over the winter. Like the arable fields, meadows may be divided into furlongs and selions and held by lord and tenants, or they may be held as a communal resource, with the lord taking a share of the fodder and the tenants dividing the rest. Depending on the amount of livestock, hay can account for one third of the manor's crops.

Pasture & Livestock

The land used to graze livestock might be permanent pasture, especially in hilly parts of a fief, but most pasture is the fallow land. The grazing animals help to keep the weeds down and also fertilize the fallow land with their manure. Most animals are raised for their contribution to self-sufficiency, providing work, milk, and wool. Only pigs are raised primarily for meat, justified because they are prolific breeders; they thrive on human scraps, dairy waste, and woodland forage—their natural habitat.

Woodlands

Woodlands make up 10 to 20 percent of a typical manor; in lightly populated districts, a much higher proportion can be wooded. These lands include streams, ponds, swamp, and heath, all of which produce useful products such as fish, herbs, reeds, wild fowl, and bird eggs. Woodlands are carefully managed by a woodward to provide timber, firewood, nuts, berries, and game for the lord's table.

SIDEBARS

The Demesne

The demesne is land that the lord does not farm out to any tenant. Most lords retain a demesne. The amount depends on the availability of labor, the inclination of the lord, tenant contracts, and other local factors. There are manors with no demesne, where the lord collects rent from everyone, and there are some that are entirely demesne, where all the tenants are either slaves or serfs who hold no land other than their cottage and garden.

Demesne arable may be divided into selions and scattered throughout the open fields, like that of the tenants, or can be retained as a single parcel near the manorhouse. However it is organized, the unfree peasants work the demesne as part of their labor obligations.

The Village

The village is often nothing more than a haphazard collection of homes and outbuildings along a badly rutted dirt road. Even the richer peasants tend not to show off their wealth to the rootless, lawless, even dangerous folk who wander the high roads of Hârn. A chapel, if present, might look like any other home.

Winter Crops

Winter crops, most often rye, are planted in the autumn. The crop sprouts, grows an inch or two, and then goes dormant when frosts and snow come. Next spring, the rye grows faster than a spring crop and can be harvested sooner. The practice spreads out the risk of crop failure, the workload of harvest, and the burden of plowing since winter crop furlongs are plowed in autumn instead of the next spring.

Livestock Contributions

Oxen: work, meat, leather, tallow, vellum. Cows: dairy products, leather, tallow. Sheep: dairy products, wool, meat, parchment, tallow. Goats: dairy products, goathair, tallow Swine: Meat, skins, tallow. Fowl: Eggs, meat, feathers.

For more information, see Manor 30.

Manor 05

Manor Tenants

Manorial tenants fall into two broad classes: free (25%) and unfree (75%). These percentages can vary from region to region and from manor to manor.

Freeholders

Freeholders include craftsmen, yeomen, and simple farmers. They hold their land in exchange for military service (yeomen) or rent (farmers). It is important to understand that freeholders are renters, not owners. They do not possess any rights to land tenure beyond their agreement with the lord, usually verbal, to farm (lease) an area of land for an agreed period, typically seven years. Although not bound to the land in the sense of a serf, freeholders must honor their farm contract or face prosecution. When a farm expires, the lease can be renewed if both parties agree. Freeholders can be evicted and chattels seized for non-payment of rent.

Freehold land is rarely mixed with unfree land. To mix them complicates plowing and reaping because a Reeve has no authority over freeholders. Nor do most freeholders desire to have their legal status confused by working on unfree land. Freeholders typically have separate acreage near the manor boundary and may live in cottages outside the village.

Serfs (Unfree)

There are three broad classes of unfree tenant: villeins, half-villeins, and cottars. Villeins hold 20–30 acres and are the aristocrats of unfree peasantry; they are often better off than most freeholders. Half-Villeins hold 10–20 acres, which is the bare minimum for survival. Cottars usually have 1–5 acres, but sometimes just their cottage and garden. Cottars with an average household size of five cannot grow enough food to survive, but their labor obligations are light. They help support themselves by working as fishermen or trappers when possible, or as laborers for the lord or for richer villeins.

An unfree tenant has few possessions of his own. His cottage and land belong to the lord and he uses them in exchange for a combination of labor and rent. Unfree tenants typically owe the lord four days of labor for each acre they hold and also owe payments in kind for their cottage and various fees. The head of the household owes the labor personally. Some lords let their tenants send someone else to do the work, such as a son, but the tenant remains responsible for the quality of work done. Fines are levied for careless or inferior work.

SIDEBARS

The Rural Priest

Hârnic villages tend to have a chapel dedicated to Peoni, the most popular deity among the peasant population. Unless the village is very large or wealthy, there will be acreage attached to the chapel to help support the local priest. For details, see Manor 14.

Craftsmen

Some industry is necessary to village life and many craftsmen practice their occupations in manorial villages. Manorial lords benefit from selling licenses that allow guildsmen to operate on the manor; they also collect rents since most rural craftsmen hold some freehold acres.

Millers, metalsmiths, and woodcrafters are the most common guilded occupations, then hideworkers, salters, charcoalers, and timberwrights. For details on craftsmen, their license fees, and acres, see Manor 11.

Tenant Officers

The day-to-day administration of the croplands, pastures, and woodlands is handled by tenant officers who are appointed by the lord or chosen by their peers. The chief tenant officer is the Reeve and, depending on the size of the manor, he will have a Herder, Woodward, and Beadle as assistants. For more information on the duties and responsibilities of these officers, see Manor 13.

Note: ADD LINKS like Manor 13

Manor Slaves

Slavery exists in Rethem, Tharda, and Orbaal. Although agricultural bondage is uncommon, slaves may work the lord's demesne or work within the manorhouse as servants, cooks, and scribes. In some cases, the slaves are trained warriors, trusted by their owner as bodyguards. Slaves have no legal rights but are valuable assets and rarely ill-treated. They never hold land in the legal sense but a married slave couple with children (slave offspring are automatically slaves) are usually rewarded with a modest cottage and a small vegetable garden.

Manor 06

Peasant Life

A typical peasant cottage is of wood-framed wattle and daub construction with a thatched roof. In timber-poor districts, the cottage may be constructed of stone or turf. A typical unfree peasant has a "three-bay cottage," meaning three interconnected chambers each 10 to 20 foot square. The building is renewed from time to time by adding a new bay and removing an old one. Typically, one cottage bay will be a barn for livestock and tool storage, one a kitchen and living room, and one a bedroom. Sleeping chambers might be partitioned for privacy, depending on the size and wealth of the family. The cottage is the property of the lord, but the tenant is responsible for upkeep. A tenant can be fined for failing to maintain the dwelling in good condition.

Earth pit cellars, three to 10 feet deep and covered by wooden floors, are common. The pits are often filled with waste vegetation, which decomposes over the winter and provides heat for the household and compost for the garden. Alternately, the cellars may be used for cool storage. A cottage may have separate cellars under each bay. The floors may be wooden or packed earth where there is no cellar.

An enclosed garden plot, no more than an acre and usually less, adjoins the cottage. This is land for the exclusive use of the tenant and is usually devoted to vegetables, perhaps a fruit tree or two. Here the family grows produce and raises livestock for its own use and for market.

Most peasant households have some livestock: a few sheep or goats, some poultry, a pig or two, perhaps a cow and ox. While livestock is individual property, they are often herded communally. Ordinarily, livestock live in the home, providing warmth and an assortment of familiar noises and odors.

SIDEBARS

Weavers & Spinsters

In addition to their agricultural and housekeeping duties, women of the family often spend a great deal of time spinning and weaving, both for the family and for the guild of clothiers.

Packed Earth Floors

Packed earth is not as bad as it sounds. Village women practice floor-packing. Every few months, a team of floor-packers beats the floor with special poles until it is remarkably smooth, even shiny. Earth is warmer than stone and cheaper than wood.

Furnishings & Appointments

Furnishings depend on wealth. Most cottages contain storage chests for important possessions, shelves, stools, benches or chairs, tables, and the like. Some would have spinning wheels and looms, and a few might have real beds. Poorer peasants sleep on pallets with strawfilled mattresses. Most of the furniture is placed against the walls.

Clothing

Peasant garb is mostly home-made. It consists of a tunic, leg-wrappings (hose or trousers for richer peasants), and canvas or leather shoes or boots. Items are made from durable, local cloth or hides, and brightly colored by a local dyer, usually a peasant woman who specializes in the task. Peasants prefer bright colors: reds, greens, and blues are cheap dyes.

Manor 07

Food and Cooking

In the middle of the kitchen bay or next to a wall, a stone hearth provides heat and cooking facilities. Over or near the fire, there is a hanging or footed pot where pottage simmers. Smoke escapes by way of a roof or wall vent or chimney. Food is cooked by toasting on skewers, boiling, grilling, frying, baking, or roasting on a spit.

Pottage is the base of most meals and is eaten with bread and ale. A cauldron of pottage may be kept going for many days. Almost anything goes in, including barley, peas, beans, a little meat, cabbage, lettuce, parsley, spinach, leeks, onions, garlic, and even fruit like apples, pears, and cherries. The whole magnificent mix might be seasoned with whatever herbs can be found in the garden, near hedges, or in the woods.

Bread is a staple in all households. Peasants bake bread at home in a skillet or in clay or brick ovens. Some peasants have handmills to grind flour, but this is a violation of the Millers' Guild monopoly and the lord will have no choice but to fine tenants who abuse this practice. Wheat is valuable, so peasant bread is usually made of maslin, a mixture of wheat and rye, or barley and rye.

In season, fruits, nuts, and vegetables form an important part of the diet. Wild and domestic fruits are collected, including apples, peaches, pears, plums, blackberries, bilberries, cherries, currents, elderberries, gooseberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Almonds, hazelnuts, beechnuts, chestnuts, and walnuts are collected from the woods and grown in gardens. Beehives are common and honey is the principal sweetener.

Small quantities of meat are typically added to the pottage, most often pork, mutton, and (poached) small game. Chickens, ducks, and geese are kept more for their eggs than meat, but it is traditional to roast a bird for annual festivals.

Dairy products are very important to the diet. Sheep and goats are the most common sources of milk. Raw milk is preserved by making a great variety of cheeses, butters, and yogurts.

Water is a beverage only for livestock and the poor. Ale is produced at home from water, barley, and honey, and might be flavored with wild hops. Cider and mead are also produced at home. Ale is brewed three times. The first batch is "heady ale," the second is "pauper's brew," and the last is almost free of alcohol and called "small beer." Small beer is not tasty, but it is healthier than water and is consumed by children and the infirm.

Most home brewing is done by village women called alewives. The village has a party (called a tavern) when one alewife completes a batch of beverage. The lack of preservatives encourages villagers to consume the product as soon as it is ready.

Note: ADD Millers' Guild article (32 Pages)

Games & Leisure

Peasants work hard, but they still have some free time, especially during long winter evenings. Children's games include varieties of hopscotch, tag, hiding games, skipping, ball-games, and a large assortment of word and guessing games. Singing and dancing are popular with all ages. Adults amuse themselves with dice and board games. Most folk enjoy story-telling, riddling, and general discourse over a pint of ale.

SIDEBARS

Millers' Guild Monopoly

Grinding flour is a monopoly of the guild of millers and millwrights. Most grain is ground at the local mill. Those responsible for enforcing the guild monopoly tend to overlook handmill violations by poor families, but the "ban" is otherwise enforced. Most millers also have large ovens for baking bread and a press to squeeze oil from seeds or nuts, but these are services offered, not monopolies.

Maslin Bread Recipe

2 packages dry yeast 3 cups water 4 cups wheat flour 4 cups rye flour 2 tablespoons salt

(You may substitute milk for water, add an egg if you like, or some caraway seed, raisins, or honey, or whatever else seems tasty).

Mix yeast with warm water and a generous pinch of wheat flour, let stand for 30 minutes or until foamy.

Mix in the rest of the water and flours until it makes a sticky dough. Knead vigorously for 10 minutes or until elastic. Let rise for one to two hours, until doubled in bulk.

Punch down, knead some more, and form into a long, thin loaf.

Let rise again, then bake in a hot oven for 45 minutes.

Country Ale Recipe

10 pounds barley malt extract 5 gallons water some flowers some yeast 1 cup honey (optional)

Boil the malt with the water. Add a cup of honey for sweetness if desired. This makes the wort. Pour hot wort into a clean keg, over the flowers.

Cover the keg with a clean cloth until it cools. When it is lukewarm, add the yeast.

Cover the keg again. It will froth and bubble by tomorrow night. Let it go. When it calms down, maybe after a week, pour the beer through a boiled white cloth into a second clean keg. Cover and bung. Move gently to storage (away from the fire but where it won't freeze). The ale can be served now, but if stored for a month or two it may be much better (or it may spoil).

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Hallmoots

Hallmoot is the name for the lord's manorial court. All tenants are subject to justice dispensed by the lord. The lord holds court once a month. There are a number of fines that may be charged for violations of local custom; these fines, or amercements, form a significant part of the lord's income. The lord has the ultimate power to pass and execute on a sentence of death.

When the lord holds court, he may bid any of his tenants to attend and they are required to comply. Tenant officers must be present (unless excused) and there may be an assortment of petitioners, plaintiffs, and defendants. The lord sits on his high chair in his hall, flanked by his wife, other family members, and perhaps some household retainers—a collective that seems to temper overly hasty and harsh punishments. Village elders often stand or sit to one side for consultation.

Most cases are brought by the reeve, who explains what he knows, calls witnesses, and may offer recommendations. The lord listens to the evidence (testimony) from witnesses, the plaintiff, and defendant. He may ask the reeve or elders for advice on custom (the law) and then makes a ruling.

Except when freeholders are involved, the lord's verdict is final. Freeholders have the right of appeal to a hundred or shire court where a royal justice system exists. That right is not commonly exercised. Appealing a decision to a royal court is unlikely to please the lord and is time-consuming for everyone. Only harsh or very unfair judgements are likely to be appealed.

For information on manor crimes and punishments, see Manor 37.

SIDEBARS

Unfree Legal Status

The relationship between lord and unfree tenant is a customary contract that may have been established over generations. It is usually the case that a tenant who holds land in the same furlong as another serf is by association unfree, but unfree status is more properly defined by the rights and obligations established between a tenant and lord. Many legal disputes arise over the free or unfree status of tenants.

An unfree tenant represents a source of labor, which is usually in short supply. An unfree person wishing to leave home legally must obtain permission from his lord and pay compensation. If the tenant cannot afford this, the only options are to run away or in some way to win the favor of the lord and be granted freedom.

Runaways are pursued. An unfree tenant is a valuable asset and lords do not take such losses lightly as it sets a bad example. Lords dispatch riders along main roads, send word to nearby manors, and post watches where the runaway could find sanctuary. Most runaways head for the nearest mine or town and are caught before they arrive.

Captured runaways must pay a fine (6–12d for a first offense) and make up any work missed. Repeat offenders can expect larger fines and harsher punishments, such as a flogging. In extreme cases, the offender can be mutilated with the loss of an eye, ear, or tongue, or even put to death.

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