HIS109Y1 Lecture 4: Lecture 04 - Sep 23 Notes
Ibraheem Aziz Sep 23/2015
HIS109Y – L0101 Lec 04
Manorial Economy
• feudalism and the manorial economy developed in tandem
• Middle Ages were chaotic – population declined dramatically
o breakdown of Roman Imperial system led to a lack of food, food production
o food production was lessened and contaminants entered – plagues
o Fertility rates fell due to poor nutrition
• Agriculture functioned on a subsistence basis – o eoo eeded, eperietatio as’t
necessary
• Marginal lands abandoned
• Agriculture sustained on a primitive level
• 8th and 9th century – opposed to traditional Mediterranean system where half of the land was
unused and in furrows, land was divided into thirds and utilized more efficiently
o Three-field system increased yield of agriculture
o Better fed population
▪ Higher fertility rates and better health
• Growth of animal husbandry allowed animals to be used in agriculture
• Plowing was changed by wood plows attached to an animal
o Metal plows allowed for deeper furrows and better sowing of crops
o Heavier pieces of equipment – frames with wheels to support weight was innovative
• System assumed horses, blacksmiths, oxen to produce equipment
• Small technological inventions changed nature of European economy
• “usistee agriulture as’t iterested in variation of crops; diet was poor for peasants
o Landowners/lords had better, meatier diets
▪ Meat was a caste mark – hunting defined the nobility, this is still common today
• Rise of towns in 13th century began commercial gardening and selling of crops
o European diets changed and became better varied
• Manors were narrow land strips, used for farming
o Europe was organized as manors/villas
▪ Villas – manors that grew into towns/cities
o Manor – large estate, self-sufficient, able to produce enough to keep villagers alive as
well as knights and clergy
▪ Built around fortified house of landlord for protection
▪ Fields were self-sufficient, but farthest fields must be walkable by at least a day
to allow for close proximity
▪ Manors had villages of serfs – attached to farm, could not leave/attached to
property, obligated to landlords
o Economy was extremely locally organized economically
▪ No agribusiness and interaction
▪ World was seen as a tiny space, manor-confined
▪ Manor was the only economic centre during Middle Ages
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