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A writer of the 13th century credits the Order with 19,000 manors
in Europe...
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In
England, the idea farm size for a family was a "yardland" (24-30 acres) in
size. Only about a quarter of farm families had this much land (or a bit
more) before the Bubonic Plague, most had ten or fewer. Those farmers
possessing a yardland were able to work their land efficiently enough to
feed themselves and produce a surplus for sale. |
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Wheat grain could be sold for about 40 ducats a bushel. Barley went for
25-30 ducats a bushel and peas for 15-20 ducats a bushel. In a good year, a yardland of crops could generate grain for sale that would bring 1,500-2,000
ducats. |
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Another thousand ducats could be obtained by selling cheese, wool, honey,
sheep, eggs, fruit and vegetables. Some of this profit was saved, some was
spent on repairing or replacing farm equipment and the some went for
household necessities (utensils, salt, furnishings) or luxuries.
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A
surplus was needed to pay taxes and land rent, which varied quite a lot. A
rough annual average would be 10-50 ducats per acre. In addition to this
there might be payments of a percentage of the main crop, as well as a
percentage of the wool taken from sheep (that often grazed on the overlords
land.). There were fees for taking over as a new tenant (as when the
existing tenant died and his son took over) and fees for the use of the
landlords meadows for grazing sheep and forests for taking wood, nuts and
berries. |
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The miller who ran the local mill - a windmill in
Rindoons case - charged 5 or 6 percent of the grain
sent for milling to
grind into flour (about one sack in 20) as a fee. |
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