MANOR
Country people often lived on a manor. On a
manor there was a village, church, lord's house or castle, and the
farmland upon which the people worked. The peasants had requirements
they had to fulfill in order to live there. This involved farming
the lord's land and paying rents with food. Officials were hired by
the lord of the manor in and were responsible for enforcing those
requirements. Because many of them were knights, they were often in
constant battle between each other. The lord of the manor acted as
judge in the manor court and authority to fine those who broke the
law. As the manors were usually isolated, the villagers had to produce
all they needed themselves. Only salt for curing meats and iron for
tools came from outside. An interesting characteristic of the people
is that very few ever traveled far from their own villages. And the
only visitors were soldiers, peddlers, or pilgrims.
Following
1000, peace and order grew. As a result, peasants began to expand
their farms and villages further into the countryside. The earliest
merchants were peddlers who went from village to village selling their
goods. As the demand for goods increased--particularly for the gems,
silks, and other luxuries from Genoa and Venice, the ports of Italy
that traded with the East--the peddlers became more familiar with
complex issues of trade, commerce, accounting, and contracts. They
became savvy businessmen and learned to deal with Italian moneylenders
and bankers. The English, Belgians, Germans, and Dutch took their
coal, timber, wood, iron, copper, and lead to the south and came back
with luxury items such as wine and olive oil.
With the advent of trade and commerce, feudal life declined. As the
tradesmen became wealthier, they resented having to give their profits
to their lords. Arrangements were made for the townspeople to pay
a fixed annual sum to the lord or king and gain independence for their
town as a "borough" with the power to govern itself. The
marketplace became the focus of many towns.
THE
MIDDLE AGES 
