Feudal duties of peasants in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, the life of simple poor peasantscompletely depended on two factors: gentleman and mother-nature. The feudal lord imposed taxes (feudal duties), and nature, for its part, also sometimes did not like it: droughts, too frosty winters or rainy summers negated all attempts of the peasant to get out of poverty and vegetation.

Only the most hardworking and persevering sought their own and could improve their situation.

What is feudal duty?

The peasants' obligations consisted in observingseveral clauses of the treaty, at the conclusion of which the feudal lord was obliged to provide the peasant and his family with land for living and sowing fields, and to protect his land and estate from attacks by enemies. At the same time, this kind of agreement was not slave-holding: at any moment the peasant family could go to another feudal lord, but the lands that stood out to him were, of course, selected.

In the medieval history of feudal duties there were several:

• Corvee.
• The money for a feudal lord.
• Church tithe.
• Other local conditions.

Corvee

This feudal obligation wascompulsory duty to work on the field of a gentleman 2-3 days a week. Sowing and harvesting cereals, mowing hay, building and repairing buildings, caring for livestock and many other kinds of work were a heavy yoke on the peasant's neck.

The feudal lord frequently violated the conditions of corvée and delayedon their work of bonded people: while they were bending their backs on the master, in their fields a grain spike was sprinkled, the vegetables were dried and the uneven hay was spoiled. Barshchina was the most difficult and unprofitable payment for belonging to the land of the feudal lord, and given that the terms of the contract were constantly violated, this gave rise to confusion and discontent.

Church tithe

This feudal obligation was most oppressive:from it it was impossible to get rid of ransom or reduce the percentage of payment, each family had to pay the church ten percent of its profits from all activities. Not surprisingly, the church figures of the Middle Ages were drowned in luxury.

Obrok

The material payment to his master was another feudal duty for the right to use his land and protection. The obrok was of several types:

- Cash:a certain amount of money was paid annually to the treasury of the local master. Money peasants received from the sale of their goods at fairs, which were arranged every few months. Also, artisans received payment for their labors, which they paid the dues to their master.

- Grocery:payments were made by livestock and poultry products - meat, eggs, milk and cheese, honey and wine, vegetables and fruits. Often in the absence of more, they paid grain from the harvested crop.

- Various mixed forms of payment: livestock, craft items - cloth, yarn and utensils, mined fur skins or leather

After payment of all taxes and obligationsa simple peasant remained very little for his needs, but at the same time everyone tried to work as best and as qualitatively as possible, so the responsible families slowly and steadily improved their financial situation, and some even managed to redeem the land and free themselves from basic duties.

Some types of other obligations

There were other duties that were no less severe:

• Право первой ночи – самое оскорбительное The commitment, which lasted until the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. In some cases, it was possible to buy off this right quite a large sum of money. In some areas, a "marriage permit" was practiced, according to which it was required to get permission from the master (sometimes for a fee) to marry a certain woman.
• The right of a dead hand - if the head of the family was dying,on which the land was decorated, she returned to the feudal lord. But often the payment of dues was used, if the family after losing the main breadwinner could continue to process it
• Military service - in wartime, a man in a servile family had to stand up for the defense of the country, the local area or go on a crusade.

In different countries and at different times the feudalduties were due to local customs, beliefs and living conditions: somewhere they were more loyal, in other places, on the contrary, they bordered on slavery, violating all human rights, which subsequently caused riots, revolutions and the abolition of feudal law.