Samuel Peterson’s Reviews > Life in a Medieval Castle > Status Update
Samuel Peterson
is on page 43 of 272
"The sheriffdom, or shrievalty, was even more a focus of conflict as the fractious barons strove to occupy themselves or place it in friendly local hands. By the thirteenth century the office had become one of the most embattled prizes of the baronial-royal conflict..." thus why a lot of the depictions of the Sheriff of Nottingham tends to put him as an extension of Prince John or an independent baron against Robin.
— Feb 26, 2026 10:55AM
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Samuel’s Previous Updates
Samuel Peterson
is on page 158 of 272
So, Tolkien borrowed "moot," meaning a "court" in Anglo-Saxon language, and put it in Lord of the Rings.
— 2 hours, 41 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 157 of 272
"The village community met at intervals in an assembly called a bylaw, a term applied to the body as well as to the rules it passed. At these bylaws, all matters were decided that were not automatically regulated by custom..."
So that's how we got the term "bylaws."
— 6 hours, 36 min ago
So that's how we got the term "bylaws."
Samuel Peterson
is on page 156 of 272
"Custom was reinforced by the fact that the lord could not survive without the services of his tenants. The lord rarely pressed them so hard that they ran away, or even resisted him." That is until the Black Plague upended the status quo and brought about social changes to the peasantry.
— 6 hours, 39 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 155 of 272
So, now we got the origin of "boons." "These movable works, called boons or benes, were the longest preserved of all work services. In return, the lord gave food, drink, or money, or sometimes all three. Benes were classified accordingly—the alebidreap and the waterbidreap, when the lord gave ale or water; the hungerbidreap, when the villagers were obliged to bring their own food; the dryreap when there was no ale."
— 6 hours, 45 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 154 of 272
"Villein which meant mainly that they owed heavy labor service to the lords." I'm curious to see how this word evolved to have a negative connotation.
— Mar 05, 2026 10:01AM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 152 of 272
Why is it that film depictions of farmers show them without a wheeled plow? Farmers knew the advantages of wheels! They had wheeled plows to make things easier! Hollywood doesn't understand that people back in the Middle Ages thought the same way that we do now.
— Mar 05, 2026 09:30AM
Samuel Peterson
is on page 144 of 272
"Villagers in forest areas were supposed to raise the 'hue and cry' (shouting when a felony was committed and turning out with weapons to pursue the malefactor) when an offense had been committed against the forest law. But their sympathies were often with the poachers."
Much like how it was in Robin Hood.
— Mar 05, 2026 09:13AM
Much like how it was in Robin Hood.
