The Jews in England
The Jews, first brought to England from Rouen by William the Conqueror and favoured under William Rufus, formed no part of the townsfolk but stood as a class apart.…
Domestic Life in Castle and Manor-House
Domestic arrangements in castle, manor-house, and citizen’s dwelling were broadly similar, typically comprising a hall, a solar raised over cellars, and a kitchen.…
Building Materials and Architecture
Houses, whether in town or country, were commonly built of wood, since stone construction lay beyond the means of all but great nobles and exceptionally wealthy Jews.…
Dress and Fashion
After the excesses of William Rufus’s reign, when nobles wore long curled hair, feminine ornaments, and long pointed shoes, a reforming party under Henry I.…
The Feudal Manor
The feudal manor, into which the ancient township had by now fully transformed, centred on the baron’s castle or manor-house, originally developed from the thegn’s hall.…
Land Distribution Among Villeins
Villein holdings consisted of strips of arable land scattered across the large open fields, each tenant contributing oxen in proportion to his holding to the common plough-team.…
Services Due to the Lord
In return for their holdings, villeins owed the lord a mixture of labour-rent on the demesne, customary payments in money or kind, and special “boon-work” on particular occasions…
The Reeve and Week-Work
The reeve or bailiff superintended the manor’s labour, farming-stock, dues, and revenues, letting unoccupied land and keeping the general account.…
CHAPITRE I.
This chapter, titled “CHAPTER I.,” presents a richly detailed picture of rural England under Henry I (circa 1125), drawing extensively on the “Black Book” of Peterborough to document manorial life, villein obligations, and the broader social and spiritual conditions of the perio…
Illustrations of rural life from the Black Book of Peterborough
Illustrations of rural life from the Black Book of Peterborough The “Black Book” of Peterborough, compiled around 1125, provides a detailed inventory of the manors belonging to th…
The manor of Thorp
The manor of Thorp At Thorp twelve full villeins each held eleven acres and worked on the demesne three days a week, while six half-villeins performed proportionate labour.…
The manor of Colingham
The manor of Colingham At Colingham twenty villeins each worked one day a week plus three boon-days in August, hauled sixty waggon-loads of wood to the manor-house, dug and carrie…
The manor of Easton
The manor of Easton At Easton twenty-one villeins, each holding a virgate, worked twice weekly throughout the year and three boon-days in August; they operated twelve ploughs, wor…
The manor of Fisherton
The manor of Fisherton Fisherton displays exceptional variety of service. Twenty-six full villeins and twelve half-villeins performed weekly labour, with four cottagers working on…
The township of Oundle
The township of Oundle Oundle reveals both a rural township and an incipient dependent town.…
The villein’s life: duties, rights, and feudal interdependence
The villein’s life: duties, rights, and feudal interdependence The customary obligations laid on villeins were undoubtedly burdensome, but the system possessed a reciprocal charac…
Paths to freedom from serfdom
Paths to freedom from serfdom Although mere personal freedom severed from land and customary support would have been a dubious gift, villeins possessed at least three avenues to e…
The spiritual condition of the English Church under Henry I.
The spiritual condition of the English Church under Henry I Judged by its highest officials, the spiritual state of the English Church under Henry I was alarmingly low.…
The Austin canons as a reform movement
The Austin canons as a reform movement Of the two religious movements stirring English society at this period, the earlier was that of the Austin canons, which originated not as m…
The foundation of the Augustinian Canons Regular
The foundation of the Augustinian Canons Regular Towards the beginning of the twelfth century the canonical reform movement culminated in the foundation of the Augustinian Canons…
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