Life on a Medieval Manor

Manorial Records of Bernehorne (1307)

In the High Middle Ages, agricultural production took place on manors. Serfs were bound to a specific manor and required to work its land, dividing their time between raising crops for the lord of the manor and for their own consumption. In addition to their labor obligations, they were subject to a variety of fees and duties. Serfs were not slaves; individual serfs could not be sold, and serfs enjoyed certain recognized rights and protections. While it was certainly the case that lords had considerable power over the lives of their serfs, this power was limited by tradition and by obligations to their serfs. As you read the excerpt from the manorial records of Bernehorne, consider what it tells you about the power dynamics at work on a medieval manor. What limits existed on a lord’s ability to use his land and its people as he saw fit?

Extent of the manor of Bernehorne, made on Wednesday following the feast of St. Gregory the pope, in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of King Edward, in the presence of Brother Thomas, keeper of Marley, John de la More, and Adam de Thruhlegh, clerks, on the oath of William de Gocecoumbe, Walter le Parker, Richard le Knyst, Richard the son of the latter, Andrew of Estone, Stephen Morsprich, Thomas Brembel, William of Swynham, John Pollard, Roger le Glede, John Syward, and John de Lillingewist, who say that there are all the following holdings: . . .

John Pollard holds a half acre in Aldithewisse and owes 18d. at the four terms, and owes for it relief and heriot.1

John Suthinton holds a house and 40 acres of land and owes 3s. 6d. at Easter and Michaelmas.2

William of Swynham holds 1 acre of meadow in the thicket of Swynham and owes 1d. at the feast of Michaelmas.

Ralph of Leybourne holds a cottage and 1 acre of land in Pinden and owes 3s. at Easter and Michaelmas, and attendance at the court in the manor every three weeks, also relief and heriot.

Richard Knyst of Swynham holds 2 acres and a half of land and owes yearly 4s.

William of Knelle holds 2 acres of land in Aldithewisse and owes yearly 4s. . . .

They say, moreover, that John of Cayworth holds a house and 30 acres of land, and owes yearly 2s. at Easter and Michaelmas; and he owes a cock and two hens at Christmas of the value of 4d.

And he ought to harrow for 2 days at the Lenten sowing with one man and his own horse and his own harrow, the value of the work being 4d.; and he is to receive from the lord on each day 3 meals, of the value of 5d., and then the lord will be at a loss of 1d. Thus his harrowing is of no value to the service of the lord.

And he ought to carry the manure of the lord for 2 days with 1 cart, with his own 2 oxen, the value of the work being 8d.; and he is to receive from the lord each day 3 meals as above. And thus the service is worth 3d.

And he shall find one man for 2 days, for mowing the meadow of the lord, who can mow, by estimation, 1 acre and a half, the value of the mowing of an acre being 6d.: the sum is therefore 9d. And he is to receive each day 3 meals of the value given above. And thus that mowing is worth 4d. . . .

And he ought to carry wood from the woods of the lord as far as the manor, for two days in summer, with a cart and 3 animals of his own, the value of the work being 9d. And he shall receive from the lord each day 3 meals of the price given above. And thus the work is worth 4d.

William of Cayworth holds a house and 30 acres of land and owes at Easter and Michaelmas 2s. rent. And he shall do all customs just as the aforesaid John of Cayworth.

William atte Grene holds a house and 30 acres of land and owes in all things the same as the said John. . . .

And it is to be noted that none of the above-named villeins3 can give their daughters in marriage, nor cause their sons to be tonsured,4 nor can they cut down timber growing on the lands they hold, without license of the bailiff or sergeant of the lord, and then for building purposes and not otherwise. And after the death of any one of the aforesaid villeins, the lord shall have as a heriot his best animal, if he had any; if, however, he have no living beast, the lord shall have no heriot, as they say. The sons or daughters of the aforesaid villeins shall give, for entrance into the holding after the death of their predecessors, as much as they give of rent per year.

From James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History, abridged ed. (Boston: Ginn, 1906), pp. 181–184.