Manorial Plunder: Serfdom and Material Culture in Fifteenth-Century England

Journal article

Heriot was a due paid by manorial tenants to their lords when they died, traditionally in the form of their best beast. Unlike other customary dues associated with serfdom that gradually disappeared from manorial courts in the later 14th and 15th centuries, heriot proved surprisingly resilient to social and tenurial change, even though it often came to be collected by a cash payment or the render of household goods. In this article I explore why heriot proved so durable. First, I argue that because heriot was owed on the basis of landholding, rather than personal status, it was more easily assimilated into the new formulations of customary tenure; its connection with death meant that it came to be understood as a requisite for the inheritance of customary land. Secondly, however, I argue that heriot’s unusual durability must also be understood within the broader continuity of seigneurial prerogatives to tenants’ household goods through legal procedures in the manor court. The example of heriot allows us to revisit narratives about serfdom in late-medieval England; rather than the traditional narrative of decline, heriot suggests a more complex reformulation of lordship and its customary entitlements.

Authors: Johnson, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: De Gruyter Brill
• Journal: Economic History Yearbook
• Volume: 67
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 105-134
• Publication date: 2026-04-09
• DOI: 10.1515/jbwg-2026-0004
• EISSN: 2196-6842
• ISSN: 0075-2800
• Language: English
• Keywords: N 53; N 13; N 33; Grundherrschaftsgericht; N 43; Leibeigenschaft; materielle Kultur; Tenure; Gewohnheit; Lordship; Custom; Manor Court; Gewohnheitsrecht; Besitzrecht; Herrschaft; Material Culture; Serfdom; Customary Law