Go West

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Who lived on a Manor?
The lord of the manor
The priest - if the village had a church
The lord€s officers - the bailiff and his assistants the reeve
Freemen - people with land who were not tied to the lord of the manor. It was quite possible for a  freemen to own less land than the villeins, they sometimes worked for wages as a craftsman - miller, potter, blacksmith
Villeins - villagers who had land ( about 30 acres, called a yardling) but were still tied to their lord, they could not leave and work anywhere else.
Bordars and cottars- cottagers were also tied to the lord but with less land - no more than 5 acres, they tried to make ends meet by hiring out their labour around the village.


Medieval communities were very structured.  Everyone knew their place and what was expected of them.  They knew that they had to pay for their land with services to their lord, they also knew that they had to pay taxes (or fines) to him when they or their children married, when they inherited land and when the king commanded it they knew that they had to fight with their lord.