The Manor System

Year 8 - History - The Middle Ages:
• Within the system of Manorialism, the Lord of the Manor had economic and legal power of his tenants (serfs). The lord's land was called his demesne, (pronounced domain).
• A typical manor would include a manor house which was built apart from the village where the peasants lived.
• Medieval manors varied in size but were typically small holdings of between 1200 -- 1800 acres. Another name given to this land was a Fief. A fief was the land held by a vassal of a lord in return for military service.
• Farming land in a fiefdom was divided into three fields; one field would be sown with wheat, one with barley and the third would be left fallow (land ploughed and left unseeded for a season) and sheep and cattle would be allowed to graze on it.
• Each field was divided into parcels of land called furlongs, and each furlong was divided into strips. These strips were then divided among the peasantry.
• The peasantry could cut a limited amount of hay from the meadow and also enjoyed the privilege of taking a certain amount of wood from the forest for fuel and building purposes. A peasant's holding, which also included
• Each year the fields would be rotated. This meant that every three years a field would be left fallow so it could rest and regain its fertility.
• The lord's demesne contained vegetable gardens, beehives, fruit trees and dovecotes.
• A large area of land called 'the common' was left as pasture for the peasantry to graze their livestock.
• On a fief, there was also a hay meadow which provided the hay for the village and land connected to the church (called the glebe).

Видео The Manor System канала Miss Roe