ABSTRACT
Barton upon Humber lies on northern boundary of Lincolnshire facing the East Riding of Yorkshire on the opposite bank of the Humber, with the modern road to the new Humber Bridge running to the west of the town. The documents show that the roles of the famuli in Barton, paid agricultural labourers as opposed to performers of customary services, involved ploughing, carting and the management of animals. The so-called 'pipe roll' of the bishop of Winchester for 1301-1302 provides the most abundant easily accessible comparative information about the activities and remuneration of the famuli and others on another estate at exactly the time of the Barton union. The confederation of the Barton famuli was made during the period when the concept of 'conspiracy', principally in respect of the perversion of legal processes, was beginning to develop. The Barton confederation of famuli in 1302 seems therefore to have been an isolated and remarkable occurrence in the circumstances of a particular locality.
