Manorialism, Feudalism

Gennemgang af de lange linjer i kulturhistorien for de cirka 500 hektar, som Bikubenfonden købte ad nogle omgange 2005-2006 i Svanninge Bakker / De fynske Alper, og som kaldes Svanninge Bjerge. Særligt fokus på herregårde, skovdrift og landboreformer

The motte at Callan, Co. Kilkenny comprises the substantial earthwork remains of an earth and timber castle located in a 4.84 hectare pasture field. It survives as a large sub rectangular earthen platform sited on a natural gravel ridge, overlooking the Kings River and adjacent to the medieval borough and town of Callan.  The castle was located at the centre of the manor of Callan, founded by William Marshall in the early 13th century.  An Inquisition Post Mortem dated 1307 records the presence of a wide range of buildings at Callan within the castle complex. This article describes the results of a survey of Callan motte, grant aided by the National Committee for Archaeology, Royal Irish Academy, which included a complete geophysical and topographical survey of the monument and part of the surrounding field. The survey provided important insights into the construction of the earth and timber castle as well as the probable remains of buildings on the mound’s summit and bailey. This article also looks at the significance of Callan motte as the caput of a major Anglo-Norman manor and its relationship with the adjacent medieval town of Callan.

Medieval society consisted of a wide spectrum of social groups characterised by specific artefacts. It can be presumed that the handling of particular objects and the occupation of particular types of buildings helped define the status of both individuals and communities and symbolised their social status. The vertical, horizontal and formal definition served as a means of symbolic communication stabilizing the relations in communities. This contribution discusses to what extent this phenomenon is manifested in archeologically documented constructions between seats and manorial farms, and whether particular building forms allow the classification of the owners or occupants with medieval elites.

This is the presentation that I give within the course "Medeltidens Europa" at the University of Gothenburg. The 60-minute lecture (40+20 minutes) is followed by group work in which students try their hand in medieval source criticism and analysing artwork.

Based on a synthesis of the empirical scholarship on England and Germany, this paper demonstrates that in both regions, rural socio-economic developments c.1200–c.1800 are similar: this period witnesses the rise to numerical predominance and growing economic significance of the ‘sub-peasant classes’, which had a growing impact on the market as a result of their increasing market dependence, and from which towards the end of the period a rural proletariat emerged. Against the influential theory of Robert Brenner, it is argued that the period c.1200–c.1400 cannot really be categorized as ‘feudal’ according to Brenner’s definition; and ‘agrarian capitalism’ does not adequately describe the socio-economic system that obtained by the end of the sixteenth century. A genuine transition to capitalism is only evident from after c.1750, and can be found in Germany as well as in England; it is predicated both on ideological shifts, and the evolution of the rural proletariat, which is only found in large numbers by or after c.1800.

A woman named Alice was born about the year 1300.  She married a Ralph St.Owen, and their descendants can be traced in various lines to the present day, including to Elizabeth [1900-2002], late Queen Mother, and to early New England immigrants John Davenport [1597-1670] and Thomas Thompson [1610-1655].  A critical review of the documentary evidence, from contemporary IPMs to heraldic visitations, an analysis of modern studies, and a comparison of the alternatives, leads to the conclusion that Alice's father was very probably named Peter Brewes, and is probably identical with the well known Peter/Piers de Braose/Brewose, who was born 1271-2 and died by 1312 April 7, and descended from the famous family of marcher lords.

The Low Countries - an area roughly embracing the present-day Netherlands and Belgium - formed a patchwork of varied economic and social development in the Middle Ages, with some regions displaying a remarkable dynamism. Manors and Markets charts the history of these vibrant economies and societies, and contrasts them with alternative paths of development, from the early medieval period to the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Providing a concise overview of social and economic changes over more than a thousand years, Bas van Bavel assesses the impact of the social and institutional organization that saw the Low Countries become the most urbanized and densely populated part of Europe by the end of the Middle Ages. By delving into the early and high medieval history of society, van Bavel uncovers the foundations of the flourishing of the medieval Flemish towns and the forces that propelled Holland towards its Golden Age.

Exploring the Low Countries at a regional level, van Bavel highlights the importance of localized structures for determining the nature of social transitions and economic growth. He assesses the role of manorial organization, the emergence of markets, the rise of towns, the quest for self-determination by ordinary people, and the sharp regional differences in development that can be observed in the very long run. In doing so, the book offers a significant contribution to the debate about the causes of economic and social change, both past and present.

See the attachment for a synoposis of the book and a debate about the book (special issue of the Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History)

Resumen El territorio gallego es desde sus orígenes medievales un espacio fuertemente señorializado. No obstante, y pese al carácter feudal de estas estructuras, los señoríos gallegos no constituyeron una realidad feudal en sí misma, tampoco homogénea, ni menos estática, sino que experimentaron numerosos cambios durante la Baja Edad Media hasta configurarse como los señoríos jurisdiccionales que llegan a la Edad Moderna. El presente artículo intenta ofrecer una visión global caracterizadora de estos señoríos, sus orígenes, evolución y transformación en las jurisdicciones de la Galicia Moderna. Para ello se recurre al análisis comparativo de un buen número de señoríos laicos y eclesiásticos y la documentación generada por ellos a través de los siglos. Abstract Galician Kingdom was since its origins in the Middle Ages a feudal territory consisting of multiple manors. However, despite their feudal nature, Galician manors did not correspond to a uniform, homogeneous or static reality, but undergone important changes along the Late Middle Ages, until turning into modern jurisdictional manors. This article aims to offer an overall picture of the main characteristics of these manors, their origins and evolution. To this end, we draw on the comparative analysis of several examples of secular and ecclesiastical manors and the documentation generated by these manors. Abreviaturas utilizadas: AGS = Archivo General de Simancas, ARCHV = Archivo Real Chancillería de Valladolid, AHPOU = Archivo Histórico Provincial de Ourense, ARG = Archivo Reino de Galicia, CE = Catastro de Ensenada, RG = Respuestas Generales. 2 Correo electrónico: rodrigopousa@gmail.com. orciD: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9323-8728.

Resumen Los señoríos constituyeron una efectiva fórmula de articulación político-adminis-trativa, militar y social del territorio en la Edad Media. El conocimiento de su origen y formación da las claves para comprender la evolución del paisaje y de las formaciones sociales que lo habitaron. Muchos de estos señoríos nacieron en el período de grandes expansiones territoriales (siglos XII y XIII) y estuvieron en ma-nos de familias nobiliarias que proyectaron su influencia política, civil y militar sobre los territorios controlados, alcanzando un prestigio social y económico que los situó dentro de la elite de poder. El señorío de Bureta se enmarca dentro de la dinámica feudal medieval y supone un ejemplo para conocer el funcionamiento de la tenencia de tierras dentro de la administración del reino de Aragón. Hoy todavía perviven las huellas de sus orígenes medievales y siguen vigentes sus títulos nobi-liarios. Abstract The formation of medieval manors is the origin of the spaces where we still inhabit nowadays. Through knowing how they were formed, we can understand some keys about the environment around us. Many of these manors were in the hands of major noble families. They projected their political, civil and military influence

This paper describes three copies of an estate map produced at intervals of roughly one century, the first being created in the early 17th. Century. The motives for the creation of the maps are discussed as is the nature of innovations in management information systems that they represent. Issues concerning the need for maps are raised prefiguring the discussion in the next paper in the series which will examine the technologies that the maps replaced and the reasons why they did.

The archaeological research of elite seats should not be limited only to field activities; with available analytical tools, it is also possible to build digital corpora and to conduct their systematic evaluation. The compilation of an extensive database of 5,000 potential seats whose use dates to the period between the 13th and 17th centuries has created an important analytical collection from which 2,880 seats have been described and localised, and 1,332 of which have been processed to the point where their formal-topological and topographical characteristics could be further studied. The processing is based upon a description of the seats using tools of geographic information systems (GIS) and subsequent evaluation employing several alternative methods. The result brings not only an interpretation of evolution of seats with an emphasis on their role in past society, but also a concept of their functional typology and an analysis of historical development of landscape in Bohemia with regard to the seats existing in the studied period.

The extensive literature so far devoted to Redbad lacks a spatial approach. Our article wants to provide this, on the basis of the question where to look for the core goods of Redbad in Frisia and how his reign could have been built on them and around them. According to our analysis based on the boundaries of the first territorial parishes from the late tenth century, the oldest Frisia consisted of the residential areas along the coast. These formed the nuclei of pagus districts, the rear boundaries of which had been drawn across the original watersheds of the peat bogs behind them. For the Franks, Frisia around 700, seen from the south and east, could not have been any different from the North Sea coast lands behind the moorland wilderness. Frisia Citerior had to coincide with the then temporarily or permanently by Frisian kings controlled central Dutch river area on this side (east) of the peat bogs. When Redbad, the most famous of the Frisian kings, was defeated by Pepin of Herstal in a battle near Dorestad in 695, he lost his direct rule over Frisia Citerior. The fact that afterwards he remained upright as an independent monarch, means that he had his core area elsewhere. We locate this in West-Frisia north of the Maas estuary. Already early in the eighth century the Frankish king there favoured the Church with large parts of large estates that were acquired by confiscation. The (nuclei) of this pre-Franconian royal estate are not found east of the Vlie in that shape and size. This leads to the hypothesis that in the seventh century the most important West-Frisian landowner was able to extend his power range from the coastal zone to a part of the Central Rivers area. However, he was and remained a Frisian monarch, an independent ruler, who not only looked at the Frankish world but also had to take into account the rest of the coastal region east of the Vlie and other areas around the North Sea. This non-Christian world was of great importance to him culturally, economically and militarily, if only because he was considered king within it. This explains the historical ambivalence of Redbad. The Frisians from the areas east of the Vlie will have wanted to support him as a Frisian prince against the Frankish threat but at the same time expected that he would not convert to Christianity. Redbad, for his part, will not have wanted to alienate this strategic and tactical back-up, which attitude then manifested itself in his legendary rejection of baptism. It is likely that as long as Redbad lived, Pepin and Karel Martel were content with their dominance in the Scheldt and Meuse region, and they preferred an agreement with Redbad to a subjugation of all Frisians. They respected his non-Christian interests by directing Willibrord and his family to the areas south of the great rivers.

Sir Desmond de Silva played an important role not only as a top international lawyer, human rights and war crimes expert, but also in critically assessing and intervening at crucial political moments, to the benefit of several countries but most notably Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Serbia.

El trabajo describe el proceso evolutivo de la fazaña castellana según el cual puede configurarse un tipo específico de texto jurídico con innegables implicancias históricas y políticas que venían a poner de manifiesto una impronta nobiliaria del ejercicio del poder. En este trabajo presentamos presentamos una hipótesis de conjunto a partir de una serie de fazañas desde sus manifestaciones más tempranas (siglo XII) a sus formulaciones tardías (mediados del siglo XIV). Lo que se dirime en estos relatos en virtud de lo que allí se representa es quién se sustrae a la norma en el marco de la acción creadora de derecho. Como afirma el propio Agamben, la excepción es la estructura de la soberanía: soberano es quien crea y a la vez se sustrae a la ley. Y soberano, bien lo sabía don Juan Manuel, es el que imprime un (único) sentido al texto y a la historia. Los textos que aquí presentamos configuran un modelo ideal de conducta y un sujeto excepcional: el caballero. Aunque no fueron los únicos ya que lo caballeresco tuvo un desarrollo en textos historiográficos, jurídicos y didácticos. La fazaña fue una pieza narrativa clave que contribuyó a configurar ese sujeto en el marco de ese peculiar proceso, situado históricamente entre los siglos XIII y XIV, en el que, en palabras de Jauss, la experiencia estética se fue apropiando progresivamente del mundo en la modalidad de la ficción y en el que lo verosímil se escindió en las funciones  de comprensión y de aligeramiento del mundo.

Au milieu du VIIe siècle, Remacle fonde l’abbaye de Stavelot-Malmedy en Ardenne. Liée aux Pippinides et développant le culte de son saint fondateur, cette institution est pourvue richement en hommes et en terres.
L’ouvrage suit l’histoire des seigneuries de l’abbaye jusqu’au XIVe siècle. Il s’inspire de divers courants historiographiques européens, articulant approches classiques et novatrices pour aborder l’histoire sociale et économique de l’espace entre Meuse et Moselle.
La première partie retrace l’histoire événementielle, politique et institutionnelle de l’abbaye en veillant à dépasser les stéréotypes de « déclin » et de « réforme ». Elle analyse les relations des moines et de leur abbé avec la royauté, la papauté et l’aristocratie dans le cadre du royaume franc, de l’empire ottonien et salien, mais aussi face au mouvement grégorien et à l’émergence des principautés territoriales en Basse-Lotharingie.
La deuxième partie du livre aborde la domination sociale, la production et la circulation de biens dans les seigneuries monastiques. Jusqu’au XIIe siècle, l’organisation domaniale et la familia, le groupe formé par l’ensemble des hommes et des femmes dépendant de saint Remacle, sont des structures seigneuriales fondamentales. Aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles, la transformation des formes de domination sociale, des liens entre paysans, des rapports internes à l’aristocratie et de l’économie entraînent une restructuration des seigneuries en profondeur. Autour de l’articulation formelle entre pouvoir hautain et foncier, les communautés rurales du Pays de Stavelot et d’autres institutions essentielles de la principauté abbatiale de Stavelot-Malmedy apparaissent pour la première fois sous les traits qu’elles conserveront jusqu’à la Révolution.

The drought of 2018 caused massive problems
in the field of agriculture. This paper addresses
the question on how medieval farmers and the
manorial system might have coped with situations
like this. Did medieval subsistence strategies like
risk minimization result in advantages which could
be of use for modern agriculture? The Lauresham
Open-Air Laboratory for Experimental Archaeology
at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Lorsch Abbey
in Southern Germany delivers valuable answers
to questions like this. As a scale 1:1 model of
an Early Medieval manor it functions as a vast
basis for experiments in the fi eld of Experimental
Archaeology, Agriculture and Ancient Crafts.
On almost more than one hectare, the Open Air
Laboratory conducts experiments on the function,
advantages and disadvantages of different field
systems of the Early Middle Ages including ridge and
furrows. Using (re)constructed medieval ploughs
and draft cattle, it is the goal to create as authentic
conditions as possible for the scientific experiments.
A professional weather station, soil analysis,
growth monitoring of the diff erent crops and the
calculation of the maximum draft power needed
for the various agricultural implements all allow
deep and new insights on the value of medieval
subsistence strategies for 21st century agriculture.

Southern History is a peer reviewed academic year book published by the Southern History Society covering the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucester, Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Oxford, Buckingham, Berkshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It contains articles and reviews. Prospective authors are requested to email the editor (aspicer@brookes.ac.uk) for copies of Notes for Contributors. Outlines of proposed submissions are welcome and articles should be submitted in electronic form.