Western Civilization I / Unit 11 WC1 1020 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Manor: Yeoman, Serf, Cottager, and the Commons
Captions available
The idea
A manor was house and lands; peasants owed rent in crops, then cash, and labor. Yeomen and freeholders stood above serfs, semi-free and tied to the land, above cottagers with no land. The commons gave firewood, grazing and trapping, a customary safety net.
In practice
Manorialism as rights on both sides, the anchor says.
Where people slip
The commons were later curtailed. Enclosure is the witness's word.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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