Medieval Sourcebook:
Manorial Management & Organization, c. 1275
The Office of the Steward (From The Seneschaucy): The steward of
lands ought to be prudent and faithful and profitable, and he ought to know the law of the
realm, to protect his lord's business and to instruct and give assurance to the bailiffs
who are beneath him in their difficulties. He ought two or three times a year to make his
rounds and visit the manors of his stewardship, and then he ought to inquire about the
rents, services, and customs, hidden or withdrawn, and about franchises of courts, lands,
woods, meadows, pastures, waters, mills, and other things which belong to the manor and
are done away with without warrant, by whom, and how: and if he be able let him amend
these things in the right way without doing wrong to any, and if he be not, let him show
it to his lord, that he may deal with it if he wish to maintain his right.
The steward ought, at his first coming to the manors, to cause all the demesne lands of
each to be measured by true men, and he ought to know by the perch of the country how many
acres there are in each field, and thereby he can know how much wheat, rye, barley, oats,
peas, beans, and dredge one ought by right to sow in each acre, and thereby can one see if
the provost or the hayward account for more seed than is right, and thereby can he see how
many plows are required on the manor, for each plow ought by right to plow nine score
acres, that is to say: sixty for winter seed, sixty for spring seed, and sixty in fallow.
Also he can see how many acres ought to be plowed yearly by boon or custom, and how many
acres remain to be tilled by the plows of the manor. And further, he can see how many
acres ought to be reaped by boon and custom, and how many for money. And if there be any
cheating in the sowing, or plowing, or reaping, he shall easily see it. And he must cause
all the meadows and several pastures to be measured by acres, and thereby can one know the
cost, and how much hay is necessary every year for the sustenance of the manor, and how
much stock can be kept on the several pasture, and how much on the common.
The steward has no power to remove a bailiff or servant who is with the lord, and
clothed and kept by him, without the special order of the lord, for so he would make of
the head the tail; but if the bailiff be less capable or less profitable than he ought to
be, or if he have committed trespass or offence in his office, let it be shown to the lord
and to his council, and he shall do as he shall think
good. The steward should not have power to sell wardship, or marriage, or escheat, nor
to dower any lady or woman, nor to take homage or suit, nor to sell or make free a villein
without special warrant from his lord. And the steward ought not to be chief accountant
for the things of his office, for he ought on the account of each manor to answer for his
doings and commands and improvements, and for fines and amercements of the courts where he
has held pleas as another, because no man can or ought to be judge or justice of his own
doings.
The steward ought, on his coming to each manor, to see and inquire how they are tilled,
and in what crops they are, and how the cart-horses and avers, oxen, cows, sheep, and
swine are kept and improved. And if there be loss or damage from want of guard, he ought
to take fines from those who are to blame, so that the lord may not lose. The steward
ought to see that each manor is properly stocked, and if there be overcharge on any manor
more than the pasture can bear, let the overcharge be moved to another manor where there
is less stock. And if the lord be in want of money to pay debts due, or to make a purchase
at a particular term, the steward ought before the term, and before the time that need
arise, to look to the manors from which he can have money at the greatest advantage and
smallest loss, for if he will not provide, he will often lose.
The steward ought, on his coming to the manors, to inquire how the bailiff bears
himself within and without, what care he takes, what improvement he makes, and what
increase and profit there is in the manor in his office, because of his being there. And
also of the provost, and hayward, and keeper of cattle, and all other offices, how each
bears himself towards him, and thereby he can be more sure who makes profit and who harm.
Also he ought to provide that there should be no waste or destruction on any manor, or
overcharge of anything belonging to the manor. He ought to remove all those that are not
necessary for the lord, and all the servants who do nothing, and all overcharge in the
dairy, and other profitless and unreasonable offices which are called wrong outlays,
without profit. The steward ought, on his coming to the manors, to inquire about
wrong-doings and trespasses done in parks, ponds, warrens, conygarths, and dove-houses,
and of all other things which are done to the loss of the lord in his office.
The Office of Reeve (From The Hosebonderie):The reeve must cause all
the hair of the avers to be gathered to make ropes for which he shall have need, and he
must cause hemp to be sown in the court to make ropes for the wagons, for harness and
other necessary things, and an allowance must be paid for making them if there is anyone
in the court who knows how to do so. For repairing houses, walls, hedges, and ditches, if
need be an allowance must be paid according to what is right. And the reeve must not buy,
sell, receive, or deliver anything unless by tally and good witness. And the reeve must
make all the servants of the court when they come for their labor work in the court in
threshing corn or making walls or ditches or hedges or other works in the court to save
money. And if there is a servant who knows how to do work in the court for which it would
be necessary to pay another highly, let him do the work and pay another in his place. The
seneschals or head-bailiffs ought to see all purchases and all sales that the provosts or
under-bailiffs make to see that they are well made and to the lord's profit. And the
seneschals and chief bailiffs who hold court must, immediately after Michaelmas, give up
their rolls to the lord or the auditor of the account that they may be able to charge by
these rolls the provosts and bailiffs who must account for the purchases of the court
throughout the year.
And the reeve must answer for the issue of the mares of the court, that is to say, for
each mare one foal in the year, and if there be any which has no foal let it be inquired
if it be by bad keeping, or want of food, or too hard work, or want of stallion, or
because it was barren, that she bore no foal; and if she could have been changed for
another in time and it was not done, let him be charged fully for the issue or the value.
And if there be any horse or beast dead in the court, let it be inquired if it was for
want of keeping or because the bailiff and reeve could have saved it or made any amendment
and did not, let them pay it themselves, and if they died by mishap that they could not
help, as murrain which falls sometimes on beasts, the reeve must answer for the skins and
hides and flesh and issues, and put it to the profit of the lord | as well as he knows or
is able. And if there be anything lost in the court or without, or stolen, whether it be
live or dead, small or great, where the lord can have any kind of loss, either by fire or
any other way, the lord must take (the value) from the reeve
and the reeve must take it from those of the court who may be to blame. And make it
known that all the servants of the court, men and women, ought to obey the reeve, because
he must answer for their doings, and the reeve must put those in the court for whose
doings he will be answerable. And the steward must see that the reeve has good pledges for
all those in the court who are put there by him, and if the lord receive any damage by the
reeve, and the reeve cannot make good the damage, all those of the township who elected
him shall make up for him the amount he cannot pay. And if the lord place any parker or
messer or granger or other, whoever he be, and the lord receive damage from any of these
he places, he must take the value from them, because he put them there, and nothing from
the reeve. Make it known that on the manors which are kept by bailiffs they must answer
for the manor, just as the reeve renders account even so must he render account for
everything, and move and change nothing as the reeve. All those who hold in villeinage on
a manor must elect as reeve such a one as they will answer for, for if the lord suffer any
loss by the fault of the reeve, and he have not of his own goods the wherewithal to make
it good, they shall pay for him the surplus which he cannot pay.
The Office of Hayward (From The Seneschaucy):The hayward ought to be
an active and sharp man, for he must, early and late, look after and go round and keep the
woods, corn, and meadows, and other things belonging to his office, and he ought to make
attachments and approvements faithfully, and make the delivery by pledge before the reeve,
and deliver them to the bailiff to be heard. And he ought to sow the lands, and be over
the plowers and harrowers at the time of each sowing. And he ought to make all the
boon-tenants and customary-tenants who are bound and accustomed to come, do so, to do the
work they ought to do. And in haytime he ought to be over the mowers, the making, the
carrying, and in August assemble the reapers and the boon-tenants and the laborers and see
that the corn be properly and cleanly gathered; and early and late watch so that nothing
be stolen or eaten by beasts or spoilt. And he ought to tally with the reeve all the seed,
and boon-work, and customs, and labor, which ought to be done in the manor throughout the
year, and what it amounts to the bailiff tallies and accounts for, and they ought to
answer on the account for the rest.
Surveying Lands & Tenements (From Walter of Henley): Survey your lands
and tenements by true and sworn men. First survey your courts, gardens, dove-houses,
curtilages, what they are worth yearly beyond the valuation; and then how many acres are
in the demesne, and how much is in each cultura, and what they should be worth yearly; and
how many acres of pasture, and what they are worth yearly; and all other several pastures,
and what they are worth yearly; and wood, what you can sell without loss and destruction,
and what it is worth yearly beyond the return; and free tenants, how much each holds and
by what service; and customary tenants, how much each holds and by what services, and let
customs be put in money. And of all other definite things put what they are worth yearly.
And by the surveyors inquire with how much of each sort of corn you can sow an acre of
land, and how much cattle you can have on each manor. By the extent you should be able to
know how much your lands are worth yearly, by which you can order your living, as I have
said before. Further, if your bailiffs or provosts say in their account that so many
quarters have been sown on so many acres, go to the extent, and perhaps you shall find
fewer acres than they have told you and more quarters sown than was necessary. For you
have at the end of the extent the quantity of each kind of corn with which one shall sow
an acre of land. Further, if it is necessary to put out more money or less for plows, you
shall be confirmed by the extent. How? I will tell you. If your lands are divided in
three, one part for winter seed, the other part for spring seed, and the third part
fallow,
then is a plowland nine score acres. And if your lands are divided in two, as in many
places, the one half sown with winter seed and spring seed, the other half fallow, then
shall a plowland be eight score acres. Go to the extent and see how many acres you have in
the demesne, and there you should be confirmed.
Plowing and Cultivating (From Walter of Henley): Some men will tell you that
a plow cannot work eight score or nine score acres yearly, but I will show you that it
can. You know well that a furlong ought to be forty perches long and four wide, and the
king's perch is sixteen feet and a half; then an acre is sixty-six feet in width. Now in
plowing go thirty-six times round to make the ridge narrower, and when the acre is plowed
then you have made seventy-two furlongs, which are six leagues, for be it known that
twelve furlongs are a league. And the horse or ox must be very poor that cannot from the
morning go easily in pace three leagues in length from his starting-place and return by
three o'clock. And I will show you by another reason that it can do as much. You know that
there are in the year fifty-two weeks. Now take away eight weeks for holy days and other
hindrances, then are there forty-four working weeks left. And in all that time the plow
shall only have to plow for fallow or for spring or winter sowing three roods and a half
daily, and for second fallowing an acre. Now see if a plow were properly kept and
followed, if it could not do as much daily. And if you have land on which you can have
cattle, take pains to stock it as the land requires. And know for truth if you are duly
stocked, and your cattle well guarded and managed, it shall yield three times the land by
the extent. If free tenants or customary tenants deny services or customs you will see the
definite amount in the extent.
At the beginning of fallowing and second fallowing and of sowing let the bailiff, and
the messer, or the provost, be all the time with the plowmen, to see that they do their
work well and thoroughly, and at the end of the day see how much they have done, and for
so much shall they answer each day after unless they can show a sure hindrance. And
because customary servants neglect their work it is necessary to guard against their
fraud; further, it is necessary that they are overseen often; and besides the bailiff must
oversee all, that they all work well, and if they do not well let them be reproved.
You know surely that an acre sown with wheat takes three plowings, except lands which
are sown yearly; and that, one with the other, each plowing is worth sixpence, and
harrowing a penny, and on the acre it is necessary to sow at least two bushels. Now two
bushels at Michaelmas are worth at least twelve pence, and weeding a halfpenny, and
reaping five pence, and carrying in August a penny; the straw will pay for the threshing.
At three times your sowing you ought to have six bushels, worth three shillings, and the
cost amounts to three shillings and three halfpence, and the ground is yours and not
reckoned.
You can well have three acres weeded for a penny, and an acre of meadow mown for
fourpence, and an acre of waste meadow for threepence-halfpenny, and an acre of meadow
turned and raised for a penny-halfpenny, and an acre of waste for a penny-farthing. And
know that five men can well reap and bind two acres a day of each kind of corn, more or
less. And where each takes twopence a day then you must give five pence an acre, and when
four take a penny-halfpenny a day and the fifth twopence, because he is binder, then you
must give fourpence for the acre. And, because in many places they do not reap by the
acre, one can know by the reapers and by the work done what they do, but keep the reapers
by the band, that is to say, that five men or women, whichever you will, who are called
half men, make a band, and twenty-five men make five bands, and twenty-five men can reap
and bind ten acres a day working all day, and in ten days a hundred acres, and in twenty
days two hundred acres by five score. And see then how many acres there are to reap
throughout, and see if they agree with the days and pay them then, and if they account for
more days than is right according to this reckoning, do not let them be paid, for it is
their fault that they have not reaped the amount and have not worked so well as they
ought.
Animal Husbandry (From Walter of Henley): Sort out your cattle once a year
between Easter and Whitsuntide---that is to say, oxen, cows, and herds---and let those
that are not to be kept be put to fatten; if you lay out money to fatten them with grass
you will gain. And know for truth that bad beasts cost more than good. Why? I will tell
you. If it be a draft beast he must be more thought of than the other and more spared, and
because he is spared the others are burdened for his lack. And if you must buy cattle buy
them between Easter and Whitsuntide, for then beasts are spare and cheap. And change your
horses before they are too old and worn out or maimed, for with little money you can rear
good and young ones, if you sell and buy in season. It is well to know how one ought to
keep cattle, to teach your people, for when they see that you understand it they will take
the more pains to do well.
If your cows were sorted out, so that the bad were taken away, and your cows fed in
pasture of salt marsh, then ought two cows to yield a wey of cheese, and half a gallon of
butter a week. And if they were fed in pasture of wood, or in meadows after mowing, or in
stubble, then three cows ought to yield a wey of cheese and half a gallon of butter a week
between Easter and Michaelmas without rewayn. And twenty ewes which are fed in pasture of
salt marsh ought to and can yield cheese and butter as the two cows before named. And if
your sheep were fed with fresh pasture or fallow, then ought thirty ewes to yield butter
and cheese as the three cows before named. Now there are many servants and provosts and
dairymaids who will contradict this thing, and that is because they give away and waste
and consume the milk; and know for certainty the milk is not wasted otherwise but in the
same thing, for so much they ought to and can yield, for I have proved it. And you will
see it with regard to the three cows that ought to make a wey. One of these cows would be
poor, from which one could not have in two days a cheese worth a halfpenny; that would be
in six days three cheeses, price three halfpence. And the seventh day shall help the tithe
and the waste there may be. Now that will be three halfpence in twenty-four weeks which
are between Easter and Michaelmas--that is, three shillings. Now put as much for the
second cow, and as much for the third, and then you will have nine shillings, and thereby
you have a wey of cheese by ordinary sale. Now one of these three cows would be poor, from
which one could not have the third of a pottle of butter a week, and if the gallon of
butter is worth sixpence then is the third of a pottle worth a penny.
If you wish to farm out the issue of your stock, you can take four-and-sixpence clear
for each cow and acquit the tithe, and save for yourself the cow and calf; and for a sheep
sixpence and acquit the tithe, and keep the sheep and lamb; and a sow should bring you six
shillings and sixpence a-year and acquit the tithe, and save for yourself the sow; and
each goose ought to bring you seven pence- halfpenny clear and acquit the tithe and save
the goose; and each hen should bring you nine pence clear and acquit the tithe and save
the hen. And ten quarters of apples and pears should yield seven
tuns of cider; and a quarter of nuts should yield four gallons of oil. And each hive of
bees ought to yield for two hives a-year, one with another, for some yield nothing and
others three or four a-year,
and in some places they are given nothing to eat all winter and in some they are fed
then, and where they are fed you can feed eight hives all winter with a gallon of honey;
and if you only collect the
honey every two years, you should have two gallons of honey from each hive.
Arranging the Sojourn for the Year (From The Rules of Robert Grosseteste): Every
year, at Michaelmas, when you know the measure of all your corn, then arrange your sojourn
for the whole of that year, and for how many weeks in each place, according to the seasons
of the year, and the advantages of the country in flesh and in fish, and do not in any
wise burden by debt or long residence the places where you sojourn, but so arrange your
sojourns that the place at your departure shall not remain in debt, but something may
remain on the manor, whereby the manor can raise money from increase of stock, and
especially cows and sheep, until your stock acquits your wines, robes, wax, and all your
wardrobe, and that will be in a short time if you hold and act after this treatise as you
can see plainly in this way. The wool of a thousand sheep in good pasture at the least
ought to yield fifty marks a year, the wool of two thousand a hundred marks, and so forth,
counting by thousands. The wool of a thousand sheep in scant pasture ought at the least to
yield forty marks, in coarse and poor pasture thirty marks. I advise that at two seasons
of the year you make your principal purchases, that is to say your wines, and your wax,
and your wardrobe, at the fair of St. Botolph, what you shall spend in Lindsey and in
Norfolk, in the Vale of Belvoir, and in the country
of Caversham, and in that at Southampton for Winchester, and Somerset at Bristol; your
robes purchase at St. Ives.
Source:
From: Elizabeth Lamond, trans., Walter of Henley's Husbandry, (London: Longmans,
Green, 1890), pp. 7-11, 19, 23-27, 63-69, 79-81, 85-89, 103, 105, 145, reprinted in Roy C.
Cave & Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History, (New
York: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1936; reprint ed., New York: Biblo & Tannen, 1965),
pp. 32-36, 50-55, 68-69.
Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton. The text has been modernized by
Prof. Arkenberg.
This text is part of the Internet
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© Paul Halsall, September 1998
halsall@murray.fordham.edu
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