THEMES IN WORLD HISTORY

THEME-6

THE THREE ORDERS

PART-4

THE THIRD ORDER-PEASANTS

CONTENT

1. FREE AND UNFREE PEASANTS
2. FEUDALISM IN ENGLAND
3. FACTORS AFFECTING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS
1. THE ENVIRONMENT CHANGES
2. LAND USE
3. NEW AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY

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THE THIRD ORDER: PEASANTS

• They formed the vast majority of the people.
• They sustained the first two orders.
• They were the cultivators.
• It included men, women and children.

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Types of the Cultivators

Free Peasants

1. They held farms as the tenants of the lord.
2. They had to provide Military service to their lord(40 days/year).
3. They had to work for three or more days of a week in the lord estate. It was called labour rent. Output from such labour would go directly to the lord.
4. They also had to perform unpaid labour such as:
1. Digging ditches
2. Gathering firewood
3. Building fences
4. Repairing roads and buildings

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Free Peasants

1. Women and children had to perform following tasks:
1. Helping in the field
2. Spinning the threads
3. Weaving the clothes
4. Making candles
5. Pressing grapes for the preparation of wines for their lords.

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Taille - Direct Tax

• Peasants were supposed to pay Taille.
• It was a tax levied by the kings.
• It was a direct tax.
• The clergy and the nobles were exempted from paying this tax.

Serfs

• Serfs cultivated plots of land.
• They belonged to the lord.
• Agriculture produce was to be given to the lord.
• They were supposed to work on the land exclusively given to them.
• No wages were paid to them.
• They were not permitted to leave the estate.
• The lord treated them as their property.

Lords’ Monopolies on Serfs

• The Lord claimed a number of the monopolies on Serfs.
• They could use only their Lord’s mill to grind their flour.
• They used Lord’s oven to bake their bread.
• They used Lord’s wine -presses to distil wine and beer.
• The Lord will decide whom a serf should marry.

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Feudalism in England

SCOTLAND

ENGLAND

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FRANCE

NORMANDY

ENGLISH CHANNEL

ATTACK

The Angles and Saxons settled in the sixth century.

The name , England is a variant of Angle-land.

In the eleventh century, William, the Duke of the Normandy crossed the English channel and defeated the Saxon King of England.

From this time , France and England were often at the war because of disputes over the territory and trade.

William I had the land mapped and distributed it in sections to 180 Norman nobles who had migrated with him.

Factors affecting Social and Economic relations

• Not only two orders, The clergy and The nobleman were changing the society.
• Many other factors contributed a lot in changing the societies.
1. Environment
2. The land use pattern
3. New Agriculture technology

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Factors affecting Social and Economic relations - Environment

•  Environmental changes from the fifth to the tenth centuries.
• Entire Europe was covered with the dense forests.
• Agriculture land was limited.
• Peasants dissatisfied with their conditions could flee from oppression and take refuge in the forest.
• Environmental changes
1. Cold phase
2. Warm phase

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Factors affecting Social and Economic relations - Environment

• Cold Phase:

From the Fifth to the Tenth Centuries;

• Intensely cold climate
• Severe and prolonged winters
• A shortened growing season for crops
• Reduced agriculture yields

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Factors affecting Social and Economic relations - Environment

• Warm Phase:

From the eleventh century;

• Average temperature increased
• Longer growing season
• Less subjected to the frost
• Could be more easily ploughed
• Receding of the forest line
• Expansion of the agriculture area
• Increase in agriculture production

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Factors affecting Social and Economic relations - The Land Use Pattern

Two-Field System :

• An Ineffective method of Crop rotation.

Current year:

• The land was divided into two halves
• First half was planted in autumn with winter wheat
• Second half was left fallow

Next year:

• Rye was planted on this piece of fallow land
• While the other half was put to a fallow

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Demerits of the two fields system

• Soil slowly deteriorated
• Famine were not uncommon
• Chronic malnutrition
• Devastating famines and
• Life was difficult for the poor

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The Land Use Pattern

Three-Fields System:

• The farmers could break their land holdings into three fields.
• Each year they rotated the use among the three fields

First-Field: 

• They could plan one with wheat or rye in the autumn for human consumption.

Second-Field:

• Second could be used in spring.

Third-Field:

• Third field lay fallow.

Merits of the Three-Field System

• Immediate increase in agriculture production
• Food availability doubled
• More intake of protein in the diet of Europeans
• Better source of fodder for the animals
• They could produce more from less land

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Factors affecting Social and Economic relations – New Agricultural Technology

Primitive Agricultural Technology:

• Wooden plough was used
• Drawn by a team of oxen
• Best scratch the surface of the earth
• Could not draw out natural productivity of the soil

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Factors affecting Social and Economic relations – New Agricultural Technology

New Agricultural Technology:

• Wooden plough was replaced by heavy iron tipped ploughs
• It could dig much deeper
• It could fully draw out the natural productivity of the soil
• Use of mould boards
• To turn topsoil properly
• Soil nutrients could be utilized properly
• Neck harnessing of the animals was replaced by the shoulder harnessing
• Horses were equipped with the horseshoes to prevent the foot decay
• Water mills and Wind mills were utilized for milling corn and pressing grapes.

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