Medieval Manorial System Essay

Words: 1510
Pages: 7

The medieval manorial system was well acquainted with many western kingdoms during the middle ages. It was a system dependent upon the relationship between the manor lord and his subjects. It was designed to protect and to remain a functional self-sufficient community. The protection would come at a cost, but was still a widely accepted method. The manorial system is a key component during the middle ages and shaped much of the feudalistic environment. To better understand the medieval society, it is paramount to understand what the manorial system actually is. The manorial system was used in many different places, during the medieval times, as a way of organizing a self-sufficient community within a difficult environment. It was a very organized simple administrational structure that required very little to no interference, just a simple lord or …show more content…
The manor house was the home of the lord, lords were often squires or knights, although manors could even be owned by privileged men with great wealth. The manor also acted as the main court or the place of judicial enforcement, what happened in the court affected all those living on the manorial estate (Cannon, par. 1). Manor courts were ruled by the lord and his officials, the court would deal with the villein tenants about their required servitudes and quotas or even with freeman and farmers regarding criminal punishments. The court provided justice for the village people and acted as the judge or jury to all the tenants. However, the court was mainly involved in economic situations (Bennett 195). The manor resided on the lord’s demesne, a demesne is the portion of a manorial estate that belongs to the lord of the manor and given to any of the freeman or parish (“demesne,” par. 2). The as seen in fig. 1, the image projects the lord’s castle and villeins working the