Historians call medieval times from the 5th to the 15th centuries, that is, the period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the discovery of America. For many years, these times were considered dark, barbaric, ignorant, cruel and bloody. However, along with these people are aware of romance, knightly deeds, troubadours, the construction of magnificent cathedrals and castles of that period.
Who is the señor
In the Middle Ages, society was divided into three classes, each of which had important responsibilities:
- worshipers are the clergy;
- warring - these are the lords protecting the country;
- those who work are peasants.
Belonging to a certain group was inherited. It is appropriate for the children of peasants to be peasants, only a descendant of a knight can become a knight, a priest the son of an abbot.
All classes performed their important social functions. The clergy took care of the souls of people, the lords guarded the country, members of the peasant families fed everyone. According to this theory, representatives of each of the estates must strictly fulfill their duties and live in peace with others.
Who is the lord? The definition according to history says that this is the landowner, the lord who has the power of the king on the territory of his own lands.
The structure of the hierarchical staircase of feudal times
In the Middle Ages, most of the population was engaged in agriculture. In the conditions of endless wars, there was a division of people into those who worked on the land and those who were better at owning weapons. Times full of dangers contributed to the accelerated emergence of the professional military estate, which gradually became a separate layer of society.
It is known that the main wealth of man in the Middle Ages was considered land. The estates awarded citizens for loyalty to the kings, received them in property for military exploits. The lands bestowed for service were called "feuds." The one who received such an allotment, became a donor vassal, had to serve his lord and fight for him at least 40 days a year. In the absence of hostilities, military training was held in the castle of the lord.
Contractual power system
The medieval system is called feudalism. Who are the lords? These people (kings, dukes, barons, knights, and even church ministers) can be called the main owners of the land. They are fair and generous to their vassals, help them, protect them. Between the representatives of the aristocracy there were peculiar obligations on the basis of which the power system in feudal society was built .
The king took the highest step of the ladder. He was called the supreme overlord or first lord. The direct vassals of the king were considered representatives of noble and wealthy families:
- dukes and counts;
- archbishops and bishops;
- abbots.
At the next stage were vassals of higher representatives - barons, to whom, in their turn, the knights obeyed. All this "ladder" was supported by the work of artisans and peasants, providing the country with food and clothing.
A careful examination of this hierarchical structure makes it clear who such a lord in the Middle Ages is a noble man who owns estates and his vassals.
Estate interdependence
The life of the peasants, who make up the bulk of the population, depended very heavily on the lords. Their duties included not only work for their family, but also work on the count's farm several days a week, as well as community work on the repair of fences, bridges and roads. They paid with honey, eggs or grain, fruits or poultry for the opportunity to marry, for using a local mill to grind grain.
Who are the lords for the medieval peasants? These are more powerful “tribesmen” who, in exchange for food and labor, guaranteed to farmers the possibility of obtaining fields for rent for living and growing grain. The lord served as protection for his peasants from military service, from raids by strangers in unstable times.
To the question "who is the seigneur," history answers that it is a kind of patron. The more peasants and land allotments were in the seigneur's possessions, the more powerful he became, richer, his social significance grew.
Duties and rights of the lower class
Some peasants were forced to abandon ownership of land and freedom. They agreed to a dependent life in exchange for confidence in protection and safety. It was more profitable for the feudal lords to get as much as possible from the workers. However, the hungry and poor peasants, who were also subjects of their patron, were of no use. Therefore, in the Middle Ages, taxes, fees and requisitions were limited to certain customary norms.
Who are the lords? These are large feudal lords who always willingly took under their protection the peasants, taking from them in response to this freedom and land available. However, they did not have the right to sell, exchange, bodily punish, or execute these people.
Even the most dependent of the peasants could not be driven out of the land when paying them the established quitrents. The relations of the nobility and the farmers were regulated not by the vagaries of the master, but by customary customs. In case of violation of their rights, the peasants went to court and often won.
Direct and honorary owners
A land area with a manor, a castle and a local church is called Senoria. The principle of such ownership was the heart of the medieval economy. Most estates included one to several villages with surrounding lands. Who is the lord? The definition is as follows: the honorary or direct owner of all real estate in a particular seigneur.
There must be a castle on the territory - a significant symbol and a control center for the estate. Such a fortified structure was a kind of demonstration of power over people and this territory.
So, answering the question “who are the seniors”, we can say that these are large feudal lords who have vassals subordinate, have the ability to administer justice and receive income from their lands.