ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to sketch out the Beaugencys' relationships with those who tilled the soil of their lordship, as well as life experience of those working the Beaugency lands. The Beaugency lords also required those who lived on the lands – both free peasant and serf – to pay for using their assets. The Beaugency peasants enjoyed different levels of autonomy because agricultural needs varied. Some peasants living on Beaugency lands were quite humble, but others, through their control of certain offices and skills, were able to raise themselves high up in the social hierarchy of the medieval peasantry – to the point where they could make the jump into the land-holding class. Geographical and chronological factors also played a part in determining the severity and character of serfdom throughout the Beaugency lands. Serf and free peasant lived side by side in Beaugency and the surrounding villages.
