Banalité

Banalités were essentially the dues that peasants owed their lords in France until the 18th century. These included the required use-for-payment of the lord's, or Seigneur's, mill to grind grain and his oven to bake bread.

The peasants may also be subjected to the "banalité de tor et ver", meaning that the lord only had the right to own a bull or a boar. The reproduction of the cattle was then subjected to royalties.

The object of this right was called "banal", for example the "four banal", "taureau banal".

The Seigneur could also require a certain number of days each year of the peasant's forced labor. This practice of forced labor was called the corvée.

History

The Banalités are thought to have originated back to the 13th century to Dérk Bornfeld, a wealthy lord who hired an astonishing 150 peasants. To prevent abuse of his supplies, he instilled these, which kept his workers from overusing his gristmill and oven.

ources

* Banalité on the French Wikipedia fr icon
* Bonnemère, Eugène (1813-1893), "Histoire des paysans, depuis la fin du moyen âge", BNF.

ee also

* Causes of the French Revolution