Medieval Word of the Day

Fees and services: what separated the freeman (or free farmer) from the villein – After paying rent for his land, the freeman owed only nominal services to the manor lord, whereas the villein owed the manor lord innumerable “fees”, including: tithes to the Church; a yearly tax called tallage; the wood-penny; fees to grind their grain at the mill; a hen or eggs for permission to keep poultry; merchet; heriot (the villein’s best beast or chattel forfeited to the lord of the manor when the villein died); mortuary (the villein’s second best beast or chattel forfeited to the Church when the villein died); and many more. A villein also owed “services” to the manor lord, including week-works (a certain number a days per week the villein was required to work on the lord’s demesne) and boon-works (extra days a villein was required to work on the lord’s demesne, usually during the height of harvest season). Villeins could also be summoned to help with repairs around the manor or at the manor house

(villeins pay fees in the form of money and animals to their lord)