The Structures and Domination of Villages in Europe during the Early Middle Ages
Summary
The early Middle Ages was a time of varied village structures and domination across Europe. Villages were dominated by powerful individuals who were either aristocrats, external owners or landowning peasants. Villages in different regions had different structures with some having single lords dominating or having powerful external owners with fragmented property-holding. Although practical authority belonged to the village collectivities, the richest inhabitants tended to dominate. Kings drew an element of their legitimacy from their links with the entire free (male) people of their kingdoms, and so law codes paid a good deal of attention to village-level, peasant society.
Table of Contents
- Variety of Village Structures Across Europe
- Powerful External Owners and Single Lords Domination
- Peasant Hierarchy and Gender Inequalities
- Royalty and Legitimacy
- Population Levels in the Early Middle Ages
Q&A
Q: What is the village structure like during the early Middle Ages Europe?
A: The village structures in Europe during the early Middle Ages were varied. Villages were either dominated by aristocrats, external owners, or landowning peasants. Villages varied in size, internal organization, and coherence, but they were the basic stage on which the peasant majority lived their lives throughout the period.
Q: Who dominated the villages?
A: With the exception of those villages where aristocrats had a direct presence, the richest inhabitants tended to dominate. Nevertheless, practical authority remained with the village collectivities in which peasants could have a voice. Villages were dominated by powerful individuals who were either aristocrats, external owners, or landowning peasants.
Q: What is an example of a village during the early Middle Ages?
A: An example of a village during the early Middle Ages is Gœrsdorf in Alsace, which was documented in nineteen documents between 693 and 797. Here, the monastery of Wissembourg owned a large amount of land, but other people also lived in the village, including medium owners and small-owning peasants. It was probably the free villagers who ran village affairs, with unfree tenants being in the majority.
Q: What are the laws in peasant society according to the royal legislation?
A: The royal legislation of early medieval societies tells us little about the society itself, as written laws were seldom enforced or known at the village level. However, the Pactus Legis Salicae detailed the expectation of peasant activity, including the duty of free peasant males to attend law courts and bear arms. While it is unlikely that many peasants went to larger-scale county-level hearings, all free individuals were liable for military service.
Q: Was there a sharp division between free peasants and aristocrats during the early Middle Ages?
A: Early medieval society did not have a sharp division between free peasants and aristocrats, and individuals who satisfied local assumptions about aristocratic practice were more or less acceptable to other aristocrats. Kings drew an element of their legitimacy from their links with the entire free (male) people of their kingdoms, and so law codes paid a good deal of attention to village-level, peasant society.
Q: What is the population like during the early Middle Ages?
A: The early medieval period was characterized by relatively low population levels, and a relatively lack of control of the natural world. Settlement densities were lower in the early medieval period than before or after, but there was no significant land abandonment. The causes of the population drop are unknown, but it is likely that the landscape was less intensely used than in previous or subsequent periods. The early medieval bubonic plague epidemic of the East is often invoked as an explanation for the population drop, but the narrative texts used to support this argument tend to describe the plague in apocalyptic terms.
Conclusion
The early Middle Ages was a time of varied village structures and domination across Europe. Villages were dominating either by aristocrats, external owners or landowning peasants. Villages had different structures in different regions with some having single lords dominating or having powerful external owners with fragmented property-holding while others had small owners who ran their own lives more autonomously. Royalty and law codes paid a good deal of attention to village-level, peasant society. The early medieval period was characterized by relatively low population levels, and a relatively lack of control of the natural world. Settlement densities were lower in the early medieval period than before or after, but there was no significant land abandonment.
