The early Middle Ages, during which the Germanic conquest of western Europe took place, were characterized by rampant warfare, localized government, and relative isolation from bordering societies. Between 800CE and 1200CE, however, the emergence and evolution of settled agriculture across Europe demanded peasant collaboration and adherence to contractual agreements within the manorial system. This movement towards a society of mutual cooperation and legal order was also encouraged by the necessity for defensive warfare against an influx of foreign invaders and the revival of commerce towards the conclusion of the high Middle Ages. Economic life often dictates which ideas are able to penetrate societies, and it was not until
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Among the most important agricultural developments was the heavy wheeled plow, which could cut open the sod and aerate the soil, leaving behind a deep furrow in which to plant cereal crops (Course Document 78). This new technology was expensive, however, made largely from metal, and since few individual peasant families could afford the equipment, oxen, and skilled manpower required to tend their fields, agricultural cooperatives were formed (Course Document 78). Initially settled in patterns of relatively isolated manors, peasant collaboration prompted settlement into closer communities, and cooperation became a necessity for the protection and well-being of the entire field. Farming policies needed to be uniform to prevent the ruin of crops for each family that had strip holdings in the open field; planting and harvesting decisions were therefore made by the community as a whole, and the …show more content…
Cases brought forth were overwhelmingly related to agricultural disputes, and lords frequently pursued justice for issues of inadequately plowed lands and destruction of property by peasant cattle. “John Sperling,” for one, “complains that Richard of Newmere on the Sunday next before S. Bartholomew’s day last past with his cattle, horses, and pigs wrongfully destroyed the corn on his land to his damage to the extent of one thrave of wheat, and to his dishonor to the extent of two shillings; and of this he produces suit” (Tierney Sourcebook 264). In another case, “all the ploughmen of Great Ogbourne are convicted by the oath of twelve men… because by reason of their default [the land] of the lord was ill-ploughed whereby the lord is damaged to the amount of 9s… and Walter Reaper is in mercy for concealing the said bad ploughing” (Tierney Sourcebook 264). As a manor lord’s survival and livelihood was deeply connected to his land, a response to the aforementioned issues was merited, but rather than resorting to violence, both disputes were settled through an emerging legal system in which cases were judged according to a set of community regulations passed down through generations (Tierney Text 182-3). To be sure, the Germanic impulse to violence remained
Among the most important agricultural developments was the heavy wheeled plow, which could cut open the sod and aerate the soil, leaving behind a deep furrow in which to plant cereal crops (Course Document 78). This new technology was expensive, however, made largely from metal, and since few individual peasant families could afford the equipment, oxen, and skilled manpower required to tend their fields, agricultural cooperatives were formed (Course Document 78). Initially settled in patterns of relatively isolated manors, peasant collaboration prompted settlement into closer communities, and cooperation became a necessity for the protection and well-being of the entire field. Farming policies needed to be uniform to prevent the ruin of crops for each family that had strip holdings in the open field; planting and harvesting decisions were therefore made by the community as a whole, and the …show more content…
Cases brought forth were overwhelmingly related to agricultural disputes, and lords frequently pursued justice for issues of inadequately plowed lands and destruction of property by peasant cattle. “John Sperling,” for one, “complains that Richard of Newmere on the Sunday next before S. Bartholomew’s day last past with his cattle, horses, and pigs wrongfully destroyed the corn on his land to his damage to the extent of one thrave of wheat, and to his dishonor to the extent of two shillings; and of this he produces suit” (Tierney Sourcebook 264). In another case, “all the ploughmen of Great Ogbourne are convicted by the oath of twelve men… because by reason of their default [the land] of the lord was ill-ploughed whereby the lord is damaged to the amount of 9s… and Walter Reaper is in mercy for concealing the said bad ploughing” (Tierney Sourcebook 264). As a manor lord’s survival and livelihood was deeply connected to his land, a response to the aforementioned issues was merited, but rather than resorting to violence, both disputes were settled through an emerging legal system in which cases were judged according to a set of community regulations passed down through generations (Tierney Text 182-3). To be sure, the Germanic impulse to violence remained