Manorial Estate Officials and Opportunity in Late Medieval English Society

"Manorial Estate Officials and Opportunity in Late Medieval English Society." This essay explores the evolution of manorial estate offices after the Black Death, and the opportunities now open to peasants holding positions such as hayward. In contrast to familiar stereotypes, these offices were not necessarily low-paying, crushingly burdensome, and held only by tricksters such as Chaucer's reeve. Changing conditions required rent collectors rather than labor supervisors, and at manors such as Wymondham Grishagh, Norfolk, the old offices were adapted to the new circumstances. Rather than a 4s. rent allowance the pay might be as high as 40s. a year, and opportunities existed for a man so inclined to make an occupation of collecting rents at many different manors. While not a ticket to wealth and higher social status, the added income and prestige of the offices were one of numerous ways families could exploit the now favorable economic conditions of the fifteenth century.