Feudal economy

4. FEUDAL ECONOMY -

THE MANORIAL SYSTEM Feudal economy was basically rural.

There were few cities with small population.

There was little trade and economy was self-sufficient ( people lived from what they produced).

System that regulated the relations between lords and peasants called the manorial system or manorialism (régimen señorial).

A manor (señorío) was the feudal lord’s fief and it was divided into: 1. The demesne (reserva señorial): - It was the land and resources of the manor that the feudal lord had for his own use.

-It included his castle (manor house) and its surrounding land , as well as farm houses, mills, wine and oil presses, woods and grazing land.

2. Small plots of land (manso): - Feudal lord gave small plots to free farmer to work themselves.

- But peasnts were forced to give the feudal lord part of heir harvests as taxes and they had to work on his demesne.

4. FEUDAL ECONOMY - Feudal lords had full authority on their manors: 1. They administered justice 2. They took decisions about the private lives on their serfs ( permission to get married) 3. Free peasants had to pay special charges to use the mill, oven and presses.

4. There wer tolls (peajes) or taxes, on merchants and travellers who crossed their land or their bridges.

4. FEUDAL ECONOMY -

AGRICULTURE Work on the land was very hard.

Peasants only had basic tools (scythes (guada単as) and ploughs (arados)).

They practised two-year rotation system: each year they only grew crops on half of their land, and the other half fallow (barbecho, es decir sin cultivar).

This system helped the land to recover its fertility, but the production was very low.

The main crops were cereals.

They also had livestock, this provided meat, milk, leather and wool.(for food and clothes) They also used animals for transport and to pull ploughs.

In the 10 th century, new areas were turned into agricultural land and there was improvements in agricultural tools. (ploughs and mills).

As a result of this innovations, more food was available and population grew.