Medieval Society

it's the year 1128 in a typical medieval village farming is the major industry but the land doesn't belong to the farmers it's all the property of the baron who divides the huge Fields into hundreds of strips and on these the villagers grow their crops the manor house the Lord of The Manor who serves the baron is responsible for local organization and justice but the Lord oversees so many manners that he can visit each one only now and then so he has a BFF to look after Village Affairs in his absence my Lord has 26 manners some many leagues from here which you never seen he's got uh no nine under the ear of Essex 12 under the Abbot of chy and five near erodium from the King himself ah it's uh it's two years now since our old Lord God Rest his soul came to winkfield but his son Sir Richard who is our new Lord he did here is to visit us soon Edwin the baliff has a busy life managing the Affairs of the village for his new Lord God's day Walter God's day Master B Walter works in the fields here as a villain that is a surf who has Freeman status but he must pay rent for this land and everything else he uses he pays in money and by working for the lord of the manner for my plow land I must do two days work each week on my Lord's land and thus I pay my due but that is not the end of it I must also every year do as many days Boon work as my Lord decrees that is to say I must do more work at Harvest Time and a gathering wood for the winter time and at many other times I must pay hens and eggs on all great holy days such as Christmas in both summer and winter I must work parched or be slobbered with mud and when there is much to do my Good Wife helps me by Golding the ox while our baby lies wrapped against the cold in a wiing sheet on the Headland where the plow turns I have a cow and a c and a cart to draw down to the fields and I have a mirr too and so I feed hunger with the be Walter has a cottage in the village like all the other villains his wife not only helps him in the fields but of course tends to the housework each day towards evening I cook broth for my good man in the field and I takes him bread at midday but on those days that he do work on the Lord's land he gets from Master jonno reev Bean Bread and a and perhaps some CDs and bacon but no wheat bread such as the baliff eats for that is not for the likes of us the house of John the reev how goes the meal goodby oh thought is ready John the reev is a villain too but his job is to help the baliff run the manor he's chosen by the other villains and does no field [Applause] work his house is finer than most John's wife is proud of her furniture and her fine pots and bowls unlike most houses in the village the smoke from their fire comes out a chimney under the roof and while other villagers have only one room John and his family have two they have a bedroom up above the Reeve is one of the most important men in the village he supervises the work of the villains in the fields the shepherd and the swin herd now meet Thomas a carpenter there are many such Craftsmen in this [Applause] Village four days each week I labor for the baliff that is for the Lord though God Rest his soul to seldom we see him and two days for myself and Enoch works with me we call him the underdog because he labors underneath and O makes bowls and chests and beams and all manner of things and O builds houses too but when I needs iron I go to William the blacksmith but I am not skilled in Iron The Village also has a pottery which is owned like everything else by the baron and a wife of one of the villains bakes bread for the whole village in the Bak house being a self-sufficient Community there's also a Miller in town a competent man with an educated thumb is true my thumb's my gold and if you disagree take Eed for no man is m match I can e the stoutest door off in or post or take a run and butt it with my head now I'll be the judge I'm an honest man and live in charity with all my neighbors and pay my due of 20 Shilling to my lord for the use of this same Mill and with it grind Every Man's corn and keep back no more than is my due well honest Miller you grow so rich you need no longer work I'm a poor man as well you know and as Christ as my judge keep back only that part of the flower that is my [Applause] due Andrew the Hayward his job is to see that the animals do not damage the villagers crops and to act as a kind of Village Constable the job is so unpopular that a new Hayward is often chosen each year uh-oh the swine herds let his pigs get into Widow Alice's Garden Oh Blessed Virgin I leave a fast bread and water all 5 years and be chose Haywood for another year Master Andrew your pigs be in Widow Alice's pot herbs and do eat all out of house and Arbor and their ends are all gone by thy neck Thou Art like to buy it dear as I am worthy of my meat to F block to be f for such a thing find you will be if Master Edwin the BFF hears out of it make haste oh the re be looking for he he says get Widow Alice's hands out of the waist by the Holy Mary why was I born to [Applause] this [Laughter] and the Cotter found in every medieval village a man so low in status he has no strips in the common fields the Cotter works all his life for others he's among the poorest in the village lives in a h sleeps on the floor but this fine house belongs to Richard baleaf who represents a new class of villager he pays the Lord not in services but in money earned from the wool he sells of course the church the one building which every class of villager tends with loving [Music] care all gather here on Sundays and feast dayss [Applause] today the priest tells a story from the scriptures using as illustrations the paintings on the walls of the church the priest is everybody's friend friend his father was a villain and as a boy showing intelligence he was sent to one of the abies for training then appointed to the Village he helps the poor the sick and the widows as best he can the Lord visits the manor the BFF reports and the Lord dispenses Justice all men and boys over 12 are expected to attend the regular menorial courts father having died God the Lord listens to the pleas of the villagers and all the villains are here to listen and answer questions also for the right's ability Walter seeks to pay six shillings and do no plowing at Lon sewing uh Thomas has a daughter and he seeks permission for her to marry and uh John Crocker he seeks more grazing on the waist sire and he offer one hen in payment Alice the Widow do complain of wrong done to her by Jacob the swier he Jacob did let the swine break down my fence and all my leaks and beans be eaten and my hands are gotten to the waist and they'd be eaten too by the foxes had not Andrew the Highwood caught them all and brought them back and me but a poor Widow with no man to fetch wood to mend my fence I would not take 12 P for the disgrace of it could not the reev deal with this matter she did humbly ask to see you s and has for many years had Feud with the swin herd whom she says doth wrong her with intent but say you swin herd does this woman speak the truth the swine was loose and that were fault enough but I'm an honest swine herd I did intend no wrong to this good Widow then or any other time will any man speak uh two men will testify that the swine broke down the fence then you must mend the fence and pay two P for the disgrace of it this man's punishment is a day in the Piller for breaking a minor Rule and this woman well she was found guilty of constant nagging they punish people for that sort of thing before the Lord of the manner leaves he gives final instructions to the baith and life in the medieval village goes on as usual in this year [Music] 1128