Manors

This is the fine house, a monument to knighthood and individuality. It has small private rooms for the family, a secret place for hidden treasure, and kitchen, but its great hall is the showpiece. Here court is held, and guests are entertained with feasts. Trophies and treasure show off the knight's Glory.

The squire, soldiers and the bailiff sleep in the hall too. Other servants sleep where they work: cook in the kitchen, nurse in the nursery, clerk in the chapel, and so on. The outside workers do the same: grooms in the stable, gardener in his tool shed, dairy maids in the barn, dog boy in the kennel, and so on.

A village of about a hundred households is part of the manor. They might be clustered together (a village), spread in clusters (hamlets), even spread about in separate houses. Most village buildings are common “croft and toft” huts, sheds, byres and granaries.

A small, poor church is at the center of the town. It is the largest building around, and made of wood. The resident is a porter, while the priest makes rounds among several nearby villages.

Most knights own a couple of fields, and some strips of land in the peasant fields. The peasants send men and plows to work the land. The fields are planted mostly in wheat (for people) and oats (for horses). The more numerous peasant fields are generally of barley. The knight's personal fields, worked by others, are called demesne. Plow lands are usually crowded into the half-mile around a village or town. Oxen can only work half a day, and any farther than that and the workday is too short. Half the fields are plowed each year. The other half is left fallow, and used to graze livestock.

Manors all contain varying amounts of these unfarmed lands.

Meadow: These grow hay to feed the livestock over the winter.

Pasture: Animals such as sheep and horses graze on these.

Wastes: Land not cultivated, supplying wood and grazing for pigs. Hunting is not allowed to the peasants, but unless it is a royal forest, the knight can hunt on his lands.

The knight owns the mill here, and the commoners pay to use it. The communal bakery is the same. Neither is commonly near the hall.

Cattle: Cattle provide meat, leather, and work animals (plow oxen are castrated bulls). The herd has around 20 cattle (1 bull, 1 yearling bull, 6 oxen, 5 milk cows, 2 unseasoned oxen, 5 calves).

Sheep: Sheep provide food and wool. A herd of about 20 serves the manor (1 ram, 14 sheep, 6 lambs).

Pigs: Pigs provide the most meat per pound of hoof of any domestic animal. The herd is around 31 animals (1 boar, 6 sows, 24 piglets) and is loosed into the wastes each year to fatten on wild acorns. They are rounded up and slaughtered each fall.