The Importance Of The Serfs In Medieval Times

The Serf’s lives were controlled by the lords in a variety of ways during the medieval period. A Serf is a person who works farms under the direction of the lord’s estate. A lord was simply a person who did many things in the medieval period. The first way the lords controlled the Serfs was through debt and economics. In the document Manorial Records of Bernehorne it explained that the lords did not want the serfs to move away in order to provide themselves with a better life, the lords wanted to keep the Serfs tied to the land. In order for the lords to keep the serfs tied to the land they had to collect money to keep them in debt so they could not move away. Another way the Serfs were controlled through debt and economics was to charge them to get married, the serfs also had to pay rent for the land they owned and they even had to pay a death tax. Fortunately there were jobs that had to be done, for example carrying wood and manure which only paid 8 pence, but for completing the work that serf received 3 meals per day. The Manorial Court document was similar in terms of the lords controlling the Serf’s lives. For example “William Jordan in mercy for bad ploughing on the lord’s land. Pledge, Arthur. Fine, 6d.” Essentially the lords looked for any way possible to charge the Serfs to keep them in debt. …show more content…
The lords played many roles during the medieval period. Such as one lord may have been a judge during trial and the jury of that same trial. It was seen as it being unfair that one lord could do several things, and use his powers against the Serfs. The lords seen the serfs as their own personal slaves. As they worked the lords farms and they made mistakes, like bad ploughing they would gotten punished by getting sent to prison or being charged with hefty fines which kept them in debt. Then they were forced to stay tied to the land and under the lord’s