Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) EditionReilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) Edition
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
Intermarriage had destroyed any distinction of Normans by look or
speech alone, except for the Anglo-Saxon manor villeins, who worked the
farm land and composed about two-thirds of the population. Villeins were
bound to the land and could, on flight, be brought back to it. They
could not give homage, but could give fealty. A villein had the
equipment to farm, fish, make cheese, keep poultry, brew beer, hedge,
and cut wood. Although the villeins could not buy their freedom or be
freed by their lord, they became less numerous because of the preference
of landholders for tenants motivated to perform work by potential loss
of tenure. Also, the Crown's protection of all its subjects in criminal
matters blurred the distinction between free and unfree men.
The boroughs were dominated by lords of local manors, who usually had a
house in the borough. Similarly, burgesses usually had farmland outside
the borough. Many boroughs were granted, by the king or manor lord, the
right to have a common seal for the common business of the town. Some
boroughs were given the authority to confer freedom on the villein by
enrolling him in their guild or allowing him to stay in the borough for
a year and a day. The guilds met frequently in their drinking halls and
drew up regulations for the management of their trade. Each borough was
represented by twelve reputable burgesses. Each vill was represented by
a reeve and four reputable men. Certain towns sponsored great seasonal
fairs for special goods, such as cloth. About 5% of the population lived
in towns.
In the early 1180s, the horizontal-axle windmill was invented, probably
in eastern England, on the analogy of the horizontal-axle watermill. It
was very useful in flat areas where streams were too slow for a
watermill unless a dam were built. But a dam often flooded agricultural
land. Some watermill wheels were moved by tidal currents.
London guilds of craftsmen such as weavers, fullers, bakers, loriners
(makers of bits, spurs, and metal mountings of bridles and saddles),
cordwainers (makers of leather goods such as shoes), pepperers, and
goldsmiths were licensed by the King, for which they paid him a yearly
fee. There were also five Bridge Guilds (probably raising money for the
future construction of London Bridge in stone) and St. Lazarus' Guild.
The wealthy guilds, which included the goldsmiths, the pepperers, and
three bridge guilds had landholding members who had been thegns or
knights and now became a class of royal officials: the King's minters,
his chamberlain, his takers of wines, his collectors of taxes. The
weavers of Oxford paid 27s. [two marks] to have a guild. The shoemakers
paid 67s. [five marks].
In 1212, master carpenters, masons, and tilers made 3d. per day, their
servers (the journeymen of a later time) made 1 1/2 d., free stone
carvers 2 1/2 d., plasterers and daubers, diggers and sievers less. All
received food in addition or 1 1/2 d. in its stead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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