The West: Fragmentation and Resilience - Public Power and Private Relationships - Lords and Peasants

7 important questions on The West: Fragmentation and Resilience - Public Power and Private Relationships - Lords and Peasants

Who were at the lowest end of the social scale?

  • At the lowest end of the social scale were those who worked: the peasants.
  • In many regions of Europe, as power fell into the hands of local rulers, the distinction between "free" and "unfree" peasants began to blur; many peasants simply became "serfs," dependents of lords.
  • This was a heavy dependency, without prestige or honor.

What agricultural innovations arose in the tenth century?

In the tenth century, the three-field system became more prevalent, and the heavy moldboard plows that could turn wet, clayey northern soils came into wider use.

What did some lords to get greater profit?

  • Some lords lightened the dues and services of peasants temporarily to allow them to open up new lands by draining marshes and cutting down forests.
  • Other lords converted dues and labor services into money payments to provide themselves with ready cash. 
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Why did peasants benefit from paying fixed rents immune to inflation?

Peasants benefited from paying fixed rents immune to inflation. As the prices of agricultural products went up, peasants became small-scale entrepreneurs, selling their chickens and eggs at local markets and reaping a profit.

What happened in the settlements in the eleventh century, and increasingly so in the twelfth?

Peasant settlements gained boundaries and focus, becoming real villages.
Boundary markers - sometimes simple stones, at other times real fortifications - announced not only the physical limits of the village but also its identity as a community.

Why depended villagers on each other?

Peasants had to share oxen or horses to pull their plows and they needed craftspeople to fix their plow wheels and shoe their draft animals.

What happened in places where the power of kings was weak?

  • Where the power of kings was weak, peasant obligations became part of systems of local rule.
  • As landlords consolidated their power over their manors, they collected not only dues and services but also fees for the use of their flour mills, bake houses, and breweries. 

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