Here’s the sound track of Mark’s talk as well as the slides black-death-waldringfield
Extracted notes:
Social structure: Rivershall manor 1367
—3 free holdings, yielding total 7s. 6d. rent pa, 3+ tenants
—11 unfree (‘bond’, ‘customary’) holdings, total 28s. 3½d. rent pa, 13+ tenants
e.g. Roger and Juliana Tidy hold 1 messuage + 10 acres, paying 4s. 8½d. pa, 2 hens, 5 eggs, 30 works, 12 harvest works, 3 harvest boonworks, 13 ploughworks, 2 horse carriage works
Most grants of land on old villein tenure
1367 rental indicates little change of terms and conditions of tenure for most tenants
Resilience of people and institutions
SOME HINTS OF CHANGES
Jan. 1357 Will Lewen granted ‘le Chambre iuxta le Lane’ to hold for his life for 1d. rent pa.
March 1362 Hermans land leased to Thomas Gerard of Hemley for 6d. pa
Sept. 1360 Agnes Rowe widow ‘comes and establishes through copy of the court [roll]’ her right to a villein holding.
Robert del Clyff
Implications of topographical name?
May 1356
‘refuses to perform plough services as summoned by the lord’s reap reeve on four occasions’, fined 12d. [seven other tenants fined 3s. Total for same]
‘pastures his sheep on le hethe against the will of the lord’ fined 3d. [plus five others the same]
January 1357
‘demolishes two ruinous houses without licence’ fined 9d.
July 1357
‘depastures his horses in the lord’s marsh illegally’
May 1358
‘the lord grants to R. lands formerly Robert Thomas until next Michaelmas’
August 1358
‘granted R. and his heirs one quarter of Goridlond at the will of the lord according to the custom of the manor, entry fine 6s. 8d.’
March 1362
‘order to seize 1 messuage 6a. of land from R. because he refused to hold them for services and customs’.
