Normans, how the people lived. 3

How the people lived during the Norman times.

A villein in Norman times might have to do those things:

Plough 4 acres about 1 ½  hectares) for his lord in the spring.

Lend him 2 oxen for 7 days a year.

Work 3 days a week on his domain (land).

Pay 1 hen and 16 eggs each year.

Bring 1 cartload of wood  from the forest to the manor-house.

Grind  his corn in the lord’s mill.

Pay a fine if he sent his son to school at the monastery.

He could never leave the village except to carry a message or to go with his lord to war.

On some manors  the customs and payments were a little different.

But, generally, a man who held a lot of land had to do more work for the lord and make more payment than a villein who only held a little land.

Early mills were all  watermills.