Manorial Officials ****************** The Manor was a small holding, typically 1200-1800 acres, with its own court and probably its own hall, but not necessarily having a manor house. The manor as a unit of land was generally held by a knight (knight's fee) or managed by a bailiff for some other holder. Every noble had at least one manor; great nobles might have several manors, usually scattered throughout the country; and even the king depended on his many manors for the food supply of the court. England, during the period following the Norman Conquest, contained more than nine thousand of these manorial estates. Another name given to this land was a Fief. A fief was the land held by a vassal of a lord in return for stipulated services, chiefly military. The lord's land was called his "demesne," or domain which he required to support himself and his retinue. The rest of the land of the Manors were allotted to the peasants who were his tenants. A peasant, instead of having his land in one compact mass, had it split up into a large number of small strips (usually about half an acre each) scattered over the manor, and separated, not by fences or hedges, but by banks of unploughed turf. Besides his holding of farm land each peasant had certain rights over the non-arable land of the manors - the common land. He could cut a limited amount of hay from the meadow. He could turn so many farm animals including cattle, geese and swine on the waste. He also enjoyed the privilege of taking so much wood from the forest for fuel and building purposes. A peasant's holding, which also included a house in the village, thus formed a self-sufficient unit. Officials were needed by the Lords and Nobles to control these lands, workers and incomes.... Steward ******* A steward was a lord's chief representative of a village. He was not a slave or a serf, but was also not usually a member of the nobility. When a lord was not present in that village, the steward was in effective control of the village - though answerable to the lord if something went wrong. The steward organised the farmworkers and kept records of the estate's money. If the lord of the manor had to go away the steward had control and presided at the manor court until the lord's return. Stewards were the most well paid and powerful of all the lord's officials. Beside him normally stood the Bailiff. Bailiff ******* The bailiff was usually a villein (peasant) who would wear the same style as the farmworkers but would have a slightly better quality of clothes. The bailiff was a freeholder who owned his own land and it was his role to allot the jobs to the serfs (peasants) whilst taking care of running repairs to buildings for which he would hire in skilled labourers such as carpenters and blacksmiths. Just like the steward, the bailiff also had a right hand man, he was called the reeve. Reeve ***** The reeve was responsible for the overall general management of the village. A reeve was under the control of the steward. It was a reeve's responsibility to make sure that serfs (peasants) in the village completed their labour service on the lord's land. Later, in Anglo-Saxon England, a reeve was the chief magistrate of a town, port, city or district. His position evolved into that of sheriff, or "shire-reeve." After the Norman Conquest, the term came to be applied to a manorial official. Reeves were chosen from among the villeins (free commoners). They might be appointed by the lord of the manor, but more often they were elected by their fellow villeins. Sheriff ******* The chief administrative and judicial officer of a shire was known as a sheriff. The office evolved from that of the Anglo-Saxon reeve, (the magistrate of a town or district); the sheriff was the reeve for the whole shire, or "shire reeve." It was the job of a sheriff to deal with legal matters on a local level. He also collected taxes and turned them over to the Exchequer (after taking his share). Initially, sheriffs performed the duties that would later be the province of itinerant judges, coroners, and justices of the peace. In some cases, as the royally-appointed overseer of the county, it fell to the sheriff to make sure that the king's hunting preserves were protected; and when the monarch was in his shire, it was the sheriff's job to see to it that his king had all the necessary provisions (food, lodging, etc.). Hayward ******* The hayward was responsible for work done in the hay fields. He was a manorial official who served as an assistant to the reeve. Like the reeve, the Hayward was chosen from the villeins, usually by his fellow villeins. He was responsible for the preservation and sowing of the previous year's seed, and it was he who saw to it that the workers did their share of mowing and reaping. The beadle or hayward also impounded stock that had strayed into the demesne and saw to it that their owners were fined. Although a beadle and a hayward were usually the same office, busier villages might have individuals to fill each role, in which case the hayward would manage the sowing, reaping, and the workers who did the job, and the beadle collected rents and fines. Beadle ****** The term has Franco-English pre-renaissance origins, derived from the Latin "bidellus" or "bedellus," rooted in words for "herald." It moved into Old English as a title given to an Anglo-Saxon officer who summoned householders to council. He was responsible for maintaining law and order in the village and collecting rent and fines. In later England, the word came to refer to a parish constable of the Anglican Church, one often charged with duties of charity. The title "Hall Beadle" is also held by the ancient administrator of a Livery Hall. A famous fictional constabulary beadle is Mr. Bumble from Charles Dickens' classic Oliver Twist, who oversees the parish workhouse and orphanage. Yeoman ****** A yeoman owned his own land and often farmed it himself. His land would be equivalent to 30-120 acres. A yeoman of the Middle Ages was required to be armed and trained with a bow. Wealthy yeoman would be expected to also be trained and armed with a sword, dagger and the longbow. Yeoman were therefore often employed to guard and protect the nobility. Messor ****** A messor was the village official responsible for the work done in the fields. This is the same role as the Hayward, managing the sowing, reaping, and organizing the workers who did the job. He was a kind of lesser reeve who may also have had a role in the manorial court. Woodward ******** A woodward was responsible for woodland that the lord might have in the village. Derived from 'Wood-Reeve' or Wood Warden. A judicial officer of a Royal Wood, appointed under Edward II's reign (1307—1327) as a "legal keeper of the vert and venison, pannage of hogs and lawning of dogs, with responsibility for referring offenders to the Verderer at the Forest Assizes" Affeeror ******** An Affeeror was responsible for ensuring that those fined by a Manor Court actually paid their fines. From the 15th to the 18th century, an affeeror was an English civil servant who could reduce arbitrary fines or amercements to a reasonable level. The affeeror in the town of Stratford from 1559 to 1561 was John Shakespeare, whose son William was born in 1564.... Ale Connor ********** The Ale Connor was responsible for controlling the sale of ale in a village. He would ensure that only those villagers granted a licence by the Manor Court sold ale. The job goes back to Roman times, but in medieval times if a new ale had been brewed in the village they would have to call the conners to test the ale and check it was being served in the right measures. He also had to ensure the goodness and wholesomeness of bread. There were many different names for this position which varied from place to place: "ale-tasters," gustatores cervisiae, "ale-founders," and "ale-conners". Ale-conners were also often trusted to ensure that the beer was sold at a fair price. The mediaeval post of ale conner was far from a popular or sought-after position. Hops are a preservative, so before the introduction of hopping, ale would not keep well and had to be brewed on site, meaning there were many small breweries to visit. In addition, ale frequently "went off" for the same reason, so tasting it was not uniformly pleasant. As a representative of the authorities and dispenser of fines, an ale-conner could become unpopular in the community. Ale-conners sometimes had to be impressed into service, and the post was often rotated amongst a number of individuals. Pinder ****** The Pinder was mainly responsible for rounding up stray animals and putting them in a pinfold. He kept the pinfold himself but was an employee of a landowner. The pinder would also go around and collect the rental dues from the tennants on the land. If the tennants could not pay in money, the pinder would take livestock in lieu of payment and put them in the pinfold until they could pay. When the pinder caught any livestock that had got loose and put them in the pinfold, he would charge a fee to the animals owner to get it back. He also acted as the village herdsman, and during harvest he looked after the tennants grain. He is often referred to as Messor or Hayward, so all these jobs seem to have been interchangeable. Tithing Leader ************** Each tithing group within a village had a tithing leader and he would be responsible for what that tithing group did, ensuring that it met its work requirements etc. A tithing or tything was an historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally one tenth of a hundred, and later a subdivision of a manor or civil parish. The term implies a grouping of ten households. The tithing's leader or spokesman was known as the tithing leader or a tithingman. The term originated in the 10th century, when a tithing meant a group of ten adult males (over the age of 12), each of whom was responsible for the other members' actions and behaviour in a system of frankpledge. It later came to be used in a wider range of legal, fiscal and estate-management contexts, sometimes applied to a grouping of householders and sometimes to an area of land (with considerable overlap between the two senses). It continued to be found in some parts of rural England well into the 19th century. Sources: familysearch.org en.wikipedia.org home.olemiss.edu