BOME

During Medieval times there was a system of manorialism in Britian. Manorialism is often confused with feudalism. Feudalism was a relationship between lords and vassals, the servants of the lords. The lord would grant the vassal a certain amount of land called a fief. The vassal would then pledge loyalty to the lord and military service. Although the lord was technically the owner of the land, the vassal had complete control over the land and the people that resided within its boundaries. In a manner similar to that of a lord, he was able to impose taxes on the people on the land as he pleased.

Manorialism was an extension of “tenant farming.” “Tenant farming” originated during the Germanic invasions of Gaul during the Middle Ages. People that owned smaller quantities of land turned their farms over to either the Church or larger landowners. The less wealthy paid the nobles that ruled their land a rent in crops in return for the ability to produce crops on the land, shelter, and protection from the invaders.

Peasants who worked on the land of a lord were known as serfs. Like the tenant farmers, the serfs also pledged loyalty and allegiance to the lord of the land and grew crops for him. However, the thing that separates these two types of farm workers is that although the tenant farmers were able to come to and leave the farm as they pleased, a serf and his descendants were permanently bound to the lord and the land. Serfdom is very similar to slavery. The aspect of serfdom that makes it different from slavery is that slaves could be bought and sold, while serfs could not be.

The lives of the poor have never been very pleasant. Peasants were not only burdened with the problems of their own land and family, but the land and family of the lord as well. Many lords allowed their serfs to work a small portion of land that was all their own in addition to working the lands of the lord. Since the lords held absolute power over the people on their lands, the serfs were often subject to cruel acts of the lords. For example, if a serf were accused of doing any act against the lord, he could be subjected to various harsh punishments. Being that the lord was the judge, jury, and executioner on his land, punishments usually depended not only on the severity of the crime, but at the caprice of the lord as well. Because of the nature of the system, there was absolutely nothing that the serfs could do to attempt to ameliorate their conditions.

“The needy are our neighbours, if we note rightly;
As prisoners in our cells, or poor folk in hovels,
Charged with children and overcharged by landlords.
What they may spare in spinning they spend on rental,
On milk, or on meal to make porridge
To still the sobbing of the children at meal time.
Also they themselves suffer much hunger.
They have woe in winter time, and wake at midnight
To rise and to rock the cradle at the bedside,
To card and to comb, to darn clouts and to wash them,
To rub and to reel and to put rushes on paving.
The woe of these women who dwell in hovels
Is too sad to speak of or to say a rhyme.”[1]

As currency became more frequently used, serfs were subject to paying any taxes the lord decided to impose upon them in addition to working his lands and cultivating his crops. These taxes varied from taxes to help protect the manor to taxes to help pay for the familial expenses of the lord. These expenses included the ceremonies that accompanied the marriage of the eldest daughter and the knighting of the eldest son. Being that the woman that was to be married and the son that was to be knighted were not the children of the serfs, it seems ridiculous that the lord would force them to pay for these ceremonies. However, it could be argued that paying a tax for these occasions was a sign of the serfs’ loyalty towards their lord and his descendants.

The system of manorialism lasted until the Industrial Revolution, the event that changed Britian forever. The Industrial Revolution brought with it many changes in the way farm work was done. Prior to the revolution, the tools that the serfs used to cultivate the land were made by attaching a piece of metal, usually iron, to the end of a stick of wood. During the Revolution, more advanced tools were created so that productivity was increased and the labor easier. Some of most important improvements to agriculture were the development of the watermill, windmill, heavy plow, horseshoes, and the collar harness. The development of the watermill and the windmill made it easier for the serfs to grind grain. The heavy plow cut through the soil with far more ease than previous plows, thus making working the earth easier. The horseshoes and the collar harness made it possible to use horses for plowing. Horses proved themselves to be far more useful than oxen at plowing the earth. The result of all these improvements in agriculture was the development of towns.

Because of the agricultural surpluses, trade increased, as there was more to trade. The expansion of trade made it necessary to create centers for traders to gather. These centers of trade were located in areas near waterways, such as rivers and ports. Towns were already in existence in these areas. With the increase in trade, more and more people began to move to these areas to be closer to the marketplace. Towns also provided serfs with a place of refuge from tyrannical lords. According to the custom of the time, if a serf lived in a town for one year and a day, he was automatically free. The growth of towns made it easier for more serfs to escape and become free.

Another factor accounting for the prosperity of towns was the increase in the population. This increase in population was not the result of an increase in the birth rate, but instead, a decrease in the death rate. Some of the factors that contributed to the decrease in mortality rates are the improvement in diet and the increase in cleanliness. Because of the increases in vegetables, cattle, and chicken, more people were able to eat well balanced, nutritious meals. The balancing of their diet provided them with vitamins and minerals that they have previously lacked. The increase in cleanliness was to an increase in availability of cheap soap and cotton underwear. The use of brick and slate to build homes versus wood and thatch also helped to decrease the insect problem.

However, the newly heightened values of cleanliness did not improve the lives of everyone. The lower classes continued to live in filth in large part because of the lack of interest of the aristocracy in the lower classes. During the Victorian era, in large part because of writers such as Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte, people began to take notice of the poor and the living conditions they were subject to in the slums. The picture that these writer painted of the lives of these people was an abominable one. They presented people living in less than sanitary conditions, massive hunger, and a constant spread of disease.

During the great migration to the city, many families brought with them not only their children, but their farm animals as well. These populations were often forced to settle in small room apartments in tenements. The tenements themselves were a sight to behold in disbelief, disgust, and horror.
“You went down one step even from the foul area into the cellar in which a family of human beings lived. It was very dark inside. The window panes were many of them broken and stuffed with rages, which was reason enough for the dusky light that pervaded the place even at midday... the smell was so feotid as almost to knock the two men down..... four little children rolling on the damp, nay wet, brick floor, through which the stagnant, filthy moisture of the street oozed up...."[2]
Crime was also a large part of “slum society.” Dickens immortalizes this in his novel, Oliver Twist. In this work, Dickens describes the streets of the Victorian slums as being rampant with thieves. Although the lower classes during the Victorian era in Britian were no longer subject to the brutality of a lord, they continued to be oppressed by the ills of the society in which they lived.
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[1] Langland, William. “The Peasant’s Life,” quoted in Ancient and Medireview Worlds, Howe and Howe, pg. 383
[2] Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. quoted at http://www.gober.net/victorian/reports/expansion.html

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