BRITIAN BEFORE THE AGRARIAN REVOLUTION

• Before the 18th century, British society was made up of 4 groups of people: the king, the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners.
• Between the 9th and 15th century, the social, political, and cultural system that existed in Britain was known as "Feudalism".
• All the land belonged to the king who gave portions of the land to members of the nobility for loyalty. The nobility then allowed peasants to live on their land for homage, a share of the produce, and labour in exchange for military protection.
• Each manor included a village, farmlands around the village, and a manor house.
• The lord was expected to pay taxes to the king as well as provide soldiers when needed. To do that, the lord was given absolute power over his fief(land).
• The common people were divided into peasants and serfs.
• The peasant or freeman paid the lord for the right to farm the land. They worked only on their own strips of land and had rights under the law. They moved wherever and whenever they wanted to. However, the lord had the right to throw them off the land without warning.
• The serfs and their descendants were the lord's property. They were almost like slaves. The people could not be bought and sold. They could not move where they wanted to, own their own land, or marry without the lord's permission. However, they could not be thrown off the land and did not have to serve in the army.
• what could the serfs not do?

  Move wherever they wanted to, marry without permission, and own their own strips of land.