History 2149A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Manorial Court, Furlong, Middle Ages
Document Summary
Lecture 2 - no lies - not impoverished nor oppressed. The life of a male english serf farmer. Is a legal status, the third one in the middle ages. May have emerged in the 4th century (coloni) but was definitely a practice by the 11th century. Slavery: legal state where all rights and profits of person belongs to another person. Serfs had farms on manors and may have paid rent to the manorial landlord in the form of labor or cash or a combination. 11th century - 84% of population could be considered a serf. Disappeared over the course of the 13th century and 14th centuries in western europe possibly due to the black death (50% of population died) 19th century - university students start studying history as a discipline and examine primary resources. Legal jurisprudence - studying law codes to reconstruct society. May not reflect reality as people act differently than laws.