5001-HârnWorld/3rd Edition/16

The power of the nobility is ultimately vested in its control of land. Agriculture accounts for 80% of all Hârnic economic activity and employs 90% of its population; feudal lords control most productive land.

The basic economic unit of rural Hârn is the manorial fief. These can range from 600 to 4,800 acres in size, although 1,200 to 1,800 acres is typical. Manors are not shown on the regional map. Each hex on the map is nearly 90,000 acres and 10–30 manors are clustered around every keep, castle, or town. However, since manors are so important and because they appear in local expansion modules, the following information on Hârnic manors is included here.

A manorial fief on Hârn is either held by a knight who owes fealty and military service to a baron or earl for the grant of land or is held directly by some greater noble who will appoint a loyal relative or retainer to manage the estate for him. Some manors are held by religious orders, most notably those associated with the Church of Larani. A few manors around chartered freetowns are held by wealthy commoners, who usually have such estates managed by appointed bailiffs.

MANORIAL TENANTS
The notion of private property is somewhat alien in a feudal society. The vast majority of Hârnians are tenants of some feudal lord. The contracts between the lord of a manor and his tenants can have endless permutations of military service, agricultural service, scutage, rent, and crop share. The exact mix varies with the personalities involved, local custom, and the current situation.

Serfs
Sometimes called unfree tenants, serfs make up 70–90% of the rural population. They possess few legal rights but should not be thought of as slaves. Although they are bound to the land and the lord and may not marry without the lord’s permission, serfs cannot be deprived of their land without just cause and are entitled to the lord’s protection and justice. Serfdom is a contract between lord and tenant; each is honor-bound to the other. The amount of land held varies: Villeins hold 25–40 acres, Half-Villeins 10–25 acres, and Cottars 1–5 acres. In return for their land, serfs owe labor working the lord’s own fields, typically 3–5 days per year for each acre of land held.

Freeholders
Freeholders are simply individuals who hold land on which no serf-like obligations are due, a distinction that is

often problematical. Freeholders rarely own the land they work, but instead pay rent or crop shares for its use, a process known as farming the land. Some freeholders are rural guildsmen, such as millers or metalsmiths, who may or may not also farm some acreage. Freeholders have the right to come and go as they wish, grow whatever crops they please, and appeal their lord’s justice to the king’s law. Naturally, ignoring the wishes of the lord may be unwise, for it might lead to expulsion (or worse). In many ways, a serf has greater security in land tenure than a freeholder.

Manorial Villages
A typical manorial fief contains a manorhouse for the lord, one village that is home to 10–30 rural families, and probably one mill. All of these are generally clustered together, ideally near the center of a fief.

The Manorhouse
The lord’s home is usually a fortified stronghold of wood or stone, essentially a miniature keep with a palisade enclosing several outbuildings such as barns and stables. When possible, the house is situated on a natural or artificial hill and may be surrounded by a ditch, moat, or earthworks.

Peasant Cottages
Each village family will have a cottage and small adjacent garden plot. The style and size of peasant cottages are fairly standard on Hârn. Most are 800–1,200 square feet in size with thatched roofs and walls of daub and wattle. They look about the same regardless of the prosperity of the owner, for in a violent world it’s foolish to advertise prosperity. Wealth is defined in terms of livestock and acreage, not personal comfort.

Most peasant cottages consist of two rooms: a large living room and a smaller attached stable. Some cottages have a sleeping chamber separate from the living room. The living room has a straw-covered, dirt-packed floor, heated by a fire in a stone hearth. The attached stable may contain livestock and a variety of agricultural tools: spades, hoes, axes, and the like. Most stables also have a loft for storing a variety of grains in wicker baskets.

The Mill
Nearly every manorial village has a mill. Some are owned by the lord but most are owned by freemasters of the powerful Millers’ Guild. The miller typically pays an annual license of 240d to the lord of the manor for the right to operate the mill. Most mills are waterpowered, some are ox-powered, and a few (especially in southwestern Hârn) are windmills.

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