Frankish Peasant during the Time of Charlemagne - Research Paper Example

 Frankish Peasant during the Time of Charlemagne As I, Eligildis, lay on my death bed, I want to recount the days of my life that I wish to be narrated to my grandchildren. I was born at the time when Carloman was still alive and his brother Charlemagne was under his shadow. I have lived under turbulent times and have seen the best and worst of the great empire of Charlemagne. I want to describe the story of these times to my grandchildren who need to know about their roots and should always remember through this memoir. I was born into a Frankish peasant family. My father, Arctardus, lived with his wife and my mother, Frontlindis, along with my two siblings, Tendo and Simeon. I was pretty young when Charlemagne took over from his brother after his death. My father was the major bread earner of our family. He was a free peasant and owned 6 bonniers and 2 arpent of arable land, and, 3 arpents of meadow.1 It was sufficient to run our family decently. My mother helped in the household chores besides sometimes helping my father during the time of harvest. I was the eldest among my siblings and I was able to help my mother to take care of Simeon after his birth. I remember as a child playing with my brothers at the backyard. Our home was small, or rather very small if I compare it to the nobles or other peasants who owned more land. However, despite its size, we managed to live pretty comfortably. Our home had two main rooms and a kitchen where my mother was usually found busy doing various chores. Despite her usual chores that already seemed time-consuming to me, she would get super busy during harvest time. Both my mother and father would go early in the morning to the field and bring the harvest back by noon, spreading it in front of the house. She really worked hard during those days. I had little idea that I would end up with a similar destiny. As we grew up, my brothers started helping my father with his work and I started helping my mother with hers. Till then I had known little that how “hard” the work really was, despite the fact that I already thought my mother worked hard. I was married to a peasant Deodata when I was still very young. Entering into the new house and adjusting to a different environment was a difficult task. But I slowly got accommodated to the new situation. Deodata belonged to a different village, and hence I hated travelling to a different village. The first impression I had of him after I saw his house was that he was a richer peasant compared to my father. His home was bigger compared to my father’s. It was still not as big as those of nobles but it was definitely bigger than my father’s. The basic layout of the house and fields were still the same though. Even so the house was more spacious. Deodata seemed more knowledgeable than my father. He spoke about the changes that had been occurring after Charlemagne came into power. About how little he really did for peasants and about how his hard earnings were being blatantly snatched away by Charlemagne. I understood little when he spoke about fractions of wealth that he has to pay as tax or why he can not build a more comfortable house (I thought it was pretty comfortable!). Deodata worked hard, he was the next hardest working person I had seen after my mother. He owned 19 bonniers and 4 arpent of arable land, 6 arpents of vineyard, 5 arpents of meadow.2 He worked along with his brother on the land. They were three brothers and Deodata was the middle brother. The eldest brother owned his own land and lived in a separate family. The youngest brother was about the same age as Tendo. He was like a brother to me and had a really playful nature. The reason why I got so easily adjusted to a new setting was because of his playful attitude. There was also livestock in the house. A separate pen was made for the animals in the backyard and I had to take care of them. It was an additional duty on top of the household work. I would wake up early in the morning and would sleep after everyone had been fed. When Deodata and his brother went out on the field they would also bring with them the flock. The flock would graze in the open fields and return with them at evening. During harvesting season, however, it was my duty to take the flock out in the open for grazing. Soon we were blessed with a boy, Electardus. After Electardus, I bore three more children, Abbey, Bodo, and Aclebrug. Children kept me really busy and working continuously without a break agitated me. After Bodo’s birth, Deodata’s brother left us to work on his own land (by then he owned a little piece of land). He too got married soon and became a rare site. Having lived in the initial days of comfort I felt frustrated that working even harder did not bring the same comfort. It was during such times that I would fight with Deodata about trivial issues. I would ask him why he would not build a bigger house for we worked so hard and he actually owned much more land than my father. He then explained to me how he paid 6 solidi silver for protection this year; and 4 solidis tax on their animals; and an herbage tax of 1 ewe lamb with its dam.3 He would explain how it’s not easy being a peasant with those taxes to be paid. I would sometimes feel that there were not enough utensils in our house (We had 1 brass kettles; 3 drinking cups; 2 brass cauldrons; 1 iron cauldron; 1 frying-pan; 1 gramalmin; 1 pair of andirons; 1 lamp; 2 hatchets; 1 chisel; 2 augers; 1 knife; 1 large plane; 1 small plane; 2 scythes; 2 sickles; 2 spades edged with iron4; and a sufficient supply of utensils of wood), and would ask him unnecessarily to bring more utensils and that I was unable to work in such meagre conditions (I really was a pain!). Those times were the most difficult times of our marriage. I couldn’t understand why I was born into a peasant family and others were born into noble family. Despite such turbulent times, I think Deodata strived to work hard for his family and he most certainly provided the best for his family. Chrlemagne was a fierce ruler but he was definitely not the best. Despite my comfortable life as a peasant I did feel the occasional pangs of being on the higher edge of the society, I thought that would bring more comfort and hence happiness. However, I don’t think its comfort that ultimately provides you happiness. Its love of your dear ones that gives you happiness. I wanted to narrate this short account of my life to my grandchildren to make them realize the real worth of family. References Primary Sources: B. E. C. Guerard, Polyptyque de l'Abbe Irminon, (Paris, 1865), p. 165, reprinted in Roy C. Cave & Hebert H. Coulson, eds., A Source Book for Medieval Economic History, (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1936; reprint ed., New York: Biblo & Tannen, 1965), pp. 43-44 Frederic Austin Ogg, ed., A Source Book of Mediaeval History: Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance, (New York, 1907, reprinted by Cooper Square Publishers (New York), 1972), pp. 127-129. J. P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, (Paris, 1862), Vol. XCVII, p. 193, reprinted in Roy C. Cave & Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History, (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1936; reprint ed., New York: Biblo & Tannen, 1965), p. 130. Steven Kreis, “Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance,” last modified on August 3, 2009, http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture20b.html. Secondary Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, 2007. “Early Middle Ages’, last modified on 2010, http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/middle1/section8.rhtml. Ellis L. Knox, “Charlemagne,” last modified on 1999, http://www.the-orb.net/textbooks/westciv/charlemagne.html. Frederick Engels, “The Formation Of the State Among Germans,” last modified on 2010, http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/ch08.htm. Keith Tankard, “The Dark Ages: Really So Dark?” last modified on 14 December 2009, http://www.worldhistory.knowledge4africa.com/medieval/dark-ages.jsp. Read More