Rural Life

Question 1

What percentage of Europe’s population lived in rural communities in the 18th century?

Answer 1

85-90% and nearly all were involved in agricultural production which supported the agrarian economy

Question 2

Who was the head of the family and what was their role?

Answer 2

The male and he was the locus of authority
As the head of the family he was responsible for the allocation of resources, representing the family in community politics and was owed obedience by his wife, children and servants (if they had any)

Question 3

What is hausfrieden?

Answer 3

“House Peace” in Germany
The line of drops that fell from the eaves when it rained formed a symbolic boundary offering everyone within the household special protection. Also believed to protect the household from the supernatural.

Question 4

How did households protect against witches?

Answer 4

Special herbs were put in the lintds of doors

Question 5

What was the average life expectancy of a peasant?

Answer 5

Around 30 years old

Question 6

What were the infant mortality rates?

Answer 6

40-50% died before the age of 10

Question 7

What were the five main causes of death?

Answer 7

• Disease e.g., Plague which killed 27% of Venice’s population
• Fights (men)
• Childbirth (women)
• Epidemics, War, Dearth
• Accidents i.e., drowning

Question 8

What did a short life expectancy mean?

Answer 8

That there were frequent remarriages so families often incorporated step-children and step-parents

Question 9

How much land did an average peasant family need for subsistence?

Answer 9

5 hectares

Question 10

How many women died in childbirth?

Answer 10

6-7% that a women would die in childbirth

Question 11

What was a man’s role?

Answer 11

• Ploughed the land
• Sowed the grain
• Later reaped and threshed it
• Fetched wood/main source of fuel
• Made and repaired tools and shoes
• Wove

Question 12

What was a women’s role?

Answer 12

• Domestic chores such as cooking,cleaning and washing
• In charge of small livestock i.e., chickens
• Made bread, dairy products, cloth and beer
• Tended the garden
• Took rural produce to market and helped in the fields at harvest time
• Pregnancy and the events that followed (6 week rest) was dominated by women. Men only attended the christening

Question 13

Why was good health of paramount importance?

Answer 13

Because life was very physically demanding. There was little to no technological aid and they were at the mercy of disease and the climate. Men who suffered injury in fights could be liable to sue for compensation as it prevented them from providing for their family.

Question 14

Why was remarriage so popular?

Answer 14

Because two healthy adults ensured the household had the best chance at survival

Question 15

Who was part of the household?

Answer 15

Everyone living under the same roof was part of the household regardless of whether they were blood-related (or by marriage)

Question 16

How many children did peasant women have on average and why?

Answer 16

Spartan diet, late age of marriage, hard physical labour and breastfeeding meant peasant women only had around 6-7 children but high infant mortality rates meant only 2-4 survived

Question 17

What were dowries?

Answer 17

Agreements that once a woman was married, she was excluded from further claim to her birth-family’s inheritance. Usually consisted of money or valuable movable goods rather than money.

Question 18

What type of family was common in England and North West Europe?

Answer 18

The Nuclear family which consisted of two parents and their children. Within the household there may also be a grandparent, servants or an orphaned niece or nephew

Question 19

What proportion of the population never married?

Answer 19

Perhaps a tenth never married - Kamen

Question 20

How was peasant life organised?

Answer 20

Around the household

Question 21

If you were poor, it was likely that…

Answer 21

more people would live in your household

Question 22

Was patriarchal authority dominant?

Answer 22

In theory more than in practice. A woman could make heir husbands lives miserable by scolding them or cooking them inadequate meals often. Sources and records show that their household duties, including tending to livestock, were of vital importance and suggest that the relationship was more of a partnership albeit an unequal one

Question 23

Whose fault was infertility?

Answer 23

Always the wife’s fault

Question 24

Where were larger households more common?

Answer 24

Kamen: In Italy, France and Austria there tended to be a multitude of people under one roof, including more than one married couple

Question 25

What could happen if a man’s authority was deemed inadequate or suspicious?

Answer 25

He could face interference from kinsfolk, neighbours and even the authorities

Question 26

Why could the question of patriarchal authority be complicated?

Answer 26

Complicated by age if there was more than one couple within the household and in most poverty-stricken areas, it was irrelevant and often widows took control

Question 27

How did marriage work?

Answer 27

Betrothal vows, followed by the exchange of property between the two families, sealed by intercourse. This process was attacked by the Protestant Reformation. A church service followed usually after the women fell pregnant

Question 28

Who did peasants tend to marry?

Answer 28

They tended to marry locally and the best partner was one with land who would work hard thereafter and was someone within their wealth and status bracket

Question 29

What was marriage related to and when did peasants marry?

Answer 29

Marriage was synonymous with adulthood and social independence. Usually preceded by courtship or bundling and they often met at village events such as dances. They tended to marry late once they had inherited or earned enough money.

Question 30

What is partible inheritance?

Answer 30

When the land was divided up between the heirs equally. In Normandy, this meant sons only but sometimes all children were involved. It could lead to economic issues as the land could become too small to produce profit or sustain a family

Question 31

What is impartible inheritance?

Answer 31

When the land is bequeathed intact to a single heir, usually the eldest son in England- youngest, son-in-law, or even daughter elsewhere. Could lead to rivalry or displacement within the family

Question 32

Where did the two types of inheritance blur?

Answer 32

Sometimes blurred as the heir was made responsible for their siblings via the profit made from the land.

Question 33

What was livestock needed for?

Answer 33

• Income
• Foodstuffs
• Manure: the only fertilizer of the period. The bigger the dung-heap, the wealthier and higher the status of the peasant

Question 34

Why did land prices increase over the period?

Answer 34

Land prices grew steeply in the 16th century thanks to demographic expansion (Kamen, population growth). This meant peasants may turn to unsuitable land ravaged by the plague. Although arable farming increased as did productivity, it was not enough to sustain and grain prices increased by 400% by 1700.

Question 35

What was the significance of harvest failures?

Answer 35

They caused food shortages and lowered resistance to disease. Usually the result of poor weather, the 1590s saw a lot of this. At this time, folk healers were believed to be important and some estimate they outnumbered or equaled the amount of clergy.

Question 36

What was the point of village assemblies and how did they work?

Answer 36

• Set times for ploughing and decided what should be planted
• Consisted of all the heads of households with sufficient land to qualify them with a full right in the community
• Met regularly to debate the division of communal resources, regulation of agrarian work and fine any villagers who violated communal customs
• Could also act as channels for peasant rebellion e.g., to join German Peasants’ war of 1525
• Widows could participate in economic life only

Question 37

What was the role of neighbours?

Answer 37

Surveillance of every household by neighbours was the norm

Question 38

Could women participate in politics?

Answer 38

Women, the unmarried and propertyless barred from political life

Question 39

What were the benefits of village life?

Answer 39

• Share in the use of communal resources
• Communal ordering of life aimed at mediating social conflict
• Focus on communal sociability and annual festivities
• Offered some protection against marauders - sturdy churches provided very good defence
• Larger villages could include rural artisans e.g., blacksmiths and a parish priest

Question 40

What were the sizes of villages?

Answer 40

Ranged from small hamlets of 5-6 to larger settlements of around 60-70

Question 41

What were youth abbeys and kingdoms?

Answer 41

Groups of men who had jurisdiction over women of marriageable age and often repulsed outsiders who came to court them.
They instigated charivaris - public humiliation of a couple who had offended communal norms

Question 42

Who were seigneurs?

Answer 42

The noble lords who owned most of the land in 16th century Europe

Question 43

How did the majority of peasants rent their land?

Answer 43

From Lords. There were many complicated ways but Kamen groups them into three.

• Simple annual payment of rent (rarest)
• Sharecropping: 1/2 or 1/3 of seed or livestock for 1/2 or 1/3 of produce
• Annual rent with an additional bundle of dues and fulfill certain labour services

Question 44

In return for obedient for fulfilment of reunited obligations, Lords…

Answer 44

were expected to respect their tenants customary rights, offer protection in times of military threat, maintain justice and order and show mercy in times of dearth and disaster

Question 45

Why did the 16th century shift towards more exploitative peasant-Lord relationships?

Answer 45

Pressure grew as Lords tried to capitalize on grain and land which became increasingly valuable over the period. Re-enserfment trend in eastern Europe- deprived of any land rights they have had and freedoms combined with increasing labour pressures in order to produce as much grain as possible.

Question 46

What were some popular customs and why were they important?

Answer 46

• Opening all the windows after someone had died in the house helped their soul leave safely out of the world
• Merriment of funerals were psychological aid
• Also helped peasants cope with death
• Sometimes they involved an outburst of eagerness for salvation

Question 47

Why did the church play a leading role?

Answer 47

Because the village often coincided with the parish unit

Question 48

How did peasants explain misfortunes?

Answer 48

As the result of ill-will, asking not how it happened but who caused it to happen

Question 49

Who was accused of witchcraft?

Answer 49

Often a particular village woman who had long had a reputation for being able to cause harm by magical means - often by cursing or simply looking at her victim
Women associated with witchcraft thanks to their association with nurturing and life-giving processes such as childbirth, cooking and caring for the sick

Question 50

Were the elites involved in witchcraft accusations?

Answer 50

From the 1560s onward, elites who came to believe witchcraft was the renunciation of Christianity in favour of an alliance with the Devil, offered for peasants to quell their concerns through legal channels

Question 51

Where did the most serious accusations of witchcraft take place?

Answer 51

Where the judicial authority had enough autonomy to bend legal procedures explicitly to the extirpation of witches

Question 52

How does Kamen explain the decay of village life?

Answer 52

Kamen: Decay of the autonomous village community by the end of the 17th century caused by polarization of wealth. Yeoman vs Labourers.
Demographic expansion meant that provision of labour exceeded demand. This coincided with a decline in crisis mortality and a rise in fertility. What is more, grain prices increased while labour prices decreased alongside a loss of common resources and increased seigneurial pressure.
Wages increased half as quickly as the price of grain

Question 53

What other factors contributed to the demise of village life?

Answer 53

Urbanization - cities grew enormously during this period’
Urban markets stimulated demand for agricultural produce, commercial farming and crop-specialization which in turn gave opportunities for profit but this meant people were more reliant on other markets for specific produce.
Insufficient land meant poorer peasants had to buy grain but they were already rarely self-sufficient and held economic links to other villages and other nearby market towns