By Morgan Irvine and Moriko Schulte

Medieval Manors

1/3 or ¼ of the land belonged to the lord.The rest of the land was pastures, fields, and

villageThe Village consisted of houses for the

villagers, a kitchen, a mill, a manor house, a blacksmith, a church and other things.

Layout of the manor

Manors were given to lords as a fee (fief) for their work which consisted of providing fighters for a vassals lord may go to war

Manors were about 1200-1800 acres in size.

About Manors

Lords, Vassals, or even the King owned manors.

Manors were part of the feudal system, they were given to a lord for their service to their vassal

Manors were self-sufficient villages that had fields for crops, a court, a manor house, and things needed in the village for the peasants who lived there

Who owned the manors?

There are 8 classes of people that live on the estates: Vassal-the manor lord or owner of the manor Bailiff-was an important person; they were the “manager” of the

manor Reeve-manor official; could have been appointed by the vassal or

elected by the lower classes Yeomen- owned his own land and was required to be trained with

a bow and be armed to protect his lord/authority Serf- a person who worked on the lords land 3 days a week for

payment Peasant/Villein-low status agricultural laborer who had some

land to harvest for themselves Cottager-low status peasant who had no right to land Servant- a peasant who worked in the house cleaning, washing

dishes, etc.

Peasants and Lords weren’t the only ones that lived on the manor…

Life was not easy for serfs. Many of the men worked late into the night farming. Women would, clean, sew, and gather firewood from the forest. Even children had to work and do duties around the manor. Even Serfs were entitled to some land. Each villager had a house, 1 acre of land for their own use and a limited amount of supplies from the manor resources.

Lives of Serfs

The church provided a refuge for people who needed it; even the rare queen would try to escape her husband. The Church was a way that people could get away from pressing matters and cares they wish to leave behind

It provided a place of entertainment and learning.

It gave hope to those who wished to someday escape feudalism and it allowed the chance of advancement if they lived their life well.

The Role of the Church

Black Death was a plague that killed many plants and damaged so many crops so many workers/labourors died of starvation. This made the workers more scarce so they did more work and demanded higher pay. This made Lords go broke and the feudal system fell out

How Feudalism Came to an End