In the Middle Ages, the life of ordinary poor peasants completely depended on two factors: the master and mother nature. The feudal lord imposed taxes (feudal duties), and nature, for its part, also sometimes did not favor: droughts, too frosty winters or rainy summers nullified all the attempts of the peasant to get out of poverty and vegetation.
Only the most industrious and persevering people got their way and could improve their situation.
What is feudal service?
The duties of the peasants were to comply with several clauses of the contract, at the conclusion of which the feudal lord undertook to provide the peasant and his family with land for living and sowing the field, as well as to protect his land and estate from attacks by enemies. At the same time, this type of agreement was not a slave-owning one: at any moment the peasant's family could go to another feudal lord in the service, but the lands that were allocated to him, of course, were taken away.
There were several feudal duties in medieval history:
- Cove.
- Cash quitrent in favor of the feudal lord.
- Church tithing.
- Other conditionslocal character.
Cove
This feudal duty consisted in the forced obligation to work in the master's field 2-3 days a week. Sowing and reaping grain, mowing hay, building and repairing buildings, caring for livestock and many other types of work were a heavy yoke on the peasant's neck.
The feudal lord often violated the terms of the corvée and detained forced laborers at their work: while they bent their backs on the master, grain was sprinkled on their fields, vegetables dried and uncut hay spoiled. Corvee was the most difficult and unprofitable payment for belonging to the lands of a feudal lord, and given that the terms of the contract were constantly violated, this gave rise to unrest and discontent.
Church tithing
This feudal duty was the most oppressive: it was impossible to get rid of it by ransom or reduce the percentage of payment, each family was obliged to pay ten percent of their profits from all activities to the church. It is not surprising that the church leaders of the Middle Ages were drowning in luxury.
Towage
Material payment to his master was another feudal duty for the right to use his land and protection. The quitrent was of several types:
- Monetary: a certain amount of money was paid annually to the treasury of the local master. Peasants received money from the sale of their goods at fairs, which were held every few months. Also, artisans received payment for their work, which they paid dues to the master.
- Grocery:payment was made with livestock and poultry products - meat, eggs, milk and manufactured cheeses, honey and wine, vegetables and fruits. Often, for lack of more, they paid in grain from the harvest.
- Various mixed forms of payment: living creatures, handicraft items - cloth, yarn and utensils, skins of fur animals or dressed leather
After paying all taxes and obligations, a simple peasant had very little left for his needs, but at the same time everyone tried to work as best and better as possible, so responsible families slowly but steadily improved their financial situation, and some even succeeded redeem the land and free yourself from basic duties.
Some types of other obligations
There were other duties that were no less difficult:
- The right of the first night is the most offensive obligation that persisted until the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. In some cases, it was possible to buy off this right with a rather large amount of money. In some areas, a "marriage license" was practiced, which required obtaining permission from the master (sometimes for a fee) to marry a certain woman.
- The right of a dead hand - if the head of the family, to whom the land was issued, died, it returned to the feudal lord. But quitrent payments were often used if the family, after the loss of the main breadwinner, could continue to process it
- Conscription - in wartime, a man in a bonded familywas obliged to stand up for the country, local area or go on a crusade.
In different countries and at different times, feudal duties were due to local customs, beliefs and living conditions: somewhere they were more loyal, in other places, on the contrary, they bordered on slavery, violating all human rights, which subsequently caused riots, revolutions and the abolition of feudal rights.
