Henewes
A Holding of Abriel Abbey

Location:Nelafayn Hundred, Meselyneshire,
Kingdom of Kaldor
Holder: Reeve of Abriel, Ragen of Charen
Liege: Rekela of Nurez, Ilor Hadan
Population: Village 54 (11 households)
Gross Acres: 590
Land Quality: 1.16

Henewes is small village of eleven households in northwest Kaldor, held as a subordinate village from the Church of Larani through Abriel Abbey and the Rekela of Nurez. The hamlet lies over a league west of the Kald River and a league south by southwest of Olokand Castle. Henewes is within three-fourths of a league east of Abriel and a half of a league from its eastern neighbour, the manor of Goffin. Henewes is governed by Abriel's Reeve for the abbey. He reports to the Abriel's Serolan (Abbot), Lorald of Banadar, or one of the abbot's representatives. The Rekela of Nurez avoids managing the properties in his ecclesiastical fief and is more concerned with spiritual matters.

Clan Quarne of neighbouring Goffin Manor settled Henewes. It was once subordinate to Goffin but was granted to the Laranian Church eight years ago. The village is fertile but an economic backwater whose labours go to supporting the priesthood and enriching the abbey. It lies along a rutted and lightly used road. The road runs east to Olokand via Goffin and west through light woodland before turning south to the Abriel Abbey subordinate hamlet of Minziles. There it then splits and heads either west to Abriel or south to Elwen, another abbey held village.

History

The Jarin settled Olokand and the nearby area in 1000 BT. They later peacefully assimilated the Lythians after the Atani Wars. In 21 TR Locar the Strong of the petty Kingdom of Olokand attempted to build a lasting realm but failed when his warbands fought each other to rule the region after his death in 38 TR. The area was later overrun and conquered by Lothrim in 113 and a lieutenant was installed in nearby Olokand.

In 125, following Lothrim's death, Sanric, a former captain in Lothrim's army, founded the Kingdom of Nurelia. Sanric's successor, Sanric II was a pious Laranian. In a show of devotion, he founded an abbey in 170 to the southwest of Olokand where he had granted lands to the Laranian Church, which had recently arrived on Hârn.

Henewes was founded during the reign of the Nurelian king, Lotin the Gray. In 212 Lotin granted a fief bordering the abbey's lands to Clan Quarne, who had loyally served Lotin for several years. The grant included Goffin Village and permission to found another hamlet, which Clan Quarne soon did, naming it Henewes.

During the Migration Wars, the Western Taelda sacked neighbouring Abriel Village in 235 and Lotin was later killed that same year. The existence of a child heir led the Nurelian barons to convene an illegal Succession Council, where they offered the crown to Kalabin of Kaldor. Clan Quarne opposed this act and backed a Nurelian baronial revolt in 237 upon the heir's unexplained disappearance. In 238 Kalabin pardoned Henewes' lord following the barons' defeat.

Aidrik I of Kaldor expanded the abbey's land grant to the north. The Laranian church constructed Iversen chapter house in 309. Decades later, between 379 to 384, Henewes suffered under Firith when a quarter of its population was forcibly drafted to build curtain walls around Caer Olokand. Following the restoration, Clan Quarne governed Henewes as part of their fiefdom until 712.

Henewes Village

The village is old and has contact with a reasonably close castle town market at Olokand. Many of the locals have clan connections to nearby serfs in the surrounding communities.

The village is composed of three larger clans, four smaller clans and a freeman family. Clans Arnerl, Gors and Sosor have 31 members and hold 115 unfree acres inbetween them. Clans Hurone, Kinew, Kyrt and Nart have 18 members and hold 63 unfree acres.

The abbey handles the fief's feudal obligation. Rosin the yeoman [5] is tasked with reporting all problems to Abriel's Beadle, Birain of Tabela. Under the supervision of Abriel's Beadle, Rosin is theoretically charged with the feudal militia for the defence of the village, but has been ordered by the Rekela to cease training any of the abbey's tenants. Abriel's Reeve and Beadle handle the daily operation of Henewes. Both men report to the Rekela's assistants, Serolan Lorald of Banadar and his underling, Steward Leradas of Elen, who resolve manorial matters.

Henewes is a subordinate village held from a large abbey, Abriel, the seat of a Rekela (Bishop) of Kaldor. The hamlet contains eleven households, consisting of ten unfree serfs (four villeins, three half-villeins and three cottars), and one yeoman (a medium foot). The village is composed of wood and wattle and daub buildings with thatched roofs. The majority of the serfs live in two or three bay cottages (tofts) with attached gardens (crofts).

All of the villagers are Peonian. There is no glebe or resident priest of any religion. The Peonian priest from Abriel Village, Ebasethe Merudus or one of his assistants, care for the religious needs of the villagers.

Henewes Village Lands

Located in the middle of Nelafayn Hundred, Henewes lies slightly over a league south by southwest of Olokand. Shaped like a rectangle standing on its short end, the village sits in the center of this plot. It is divided into halves by the weed filled and rutted road to Abriel. The road eastward goes to Goffin, westward to Minziles and the abbey. The hamlet's cereal fields, meadowland, pasture and woodland compose the majority of the lands. Vegetables, wasted land and the freehold plot round out the acres. Land is split roughly in thirds, with one-third for the tenants and two-thirds as abbey demesne.

The fief relies on rainwater and the Iver Stream that forms its northern border. The fields to the south are drier and hillier than those to the north of the village. Northern Kaldor receives an ample amount of rainfall and the fields are watered except during severe droughts. Water for the village is brought up by well, rain trap or is from the Iver Stream. The livestock are watered at the Iver.

The fief includes two wood lots. The north end includes the tip of Iversen Wood, used mainly to gather nuts and berries. It is heavily wooded with the majority held and patrolled as part of Iversen's lands. The larger lot is lighter woodland and lies to the west of the village. This woodland is used mostly to allow large numbers of serfs' pigs to forage. Both areas are managed by Abriel's Woodward Charancë of Katen. He often must hunt for meat to feed the many nobles and priests at the abbey. Abriel's Serolan makes a yearly tour of the fief's borders along with Abriel's Reeve and Beadle.

Economics and Agrarian Life

The land in Nelafayn Hundred is rich and productive. It is fertile from years of nutrient-filled soil washing down from the watershed of the Kald River and its tributary streams. The fief of Henewes itself is comprised of 590 gross acres, (just shy of 5 hides of land) of which 118 acres are wooded and 472 are cleared. The cleared acres are evenly divided between livestock and cropland. This includes 172 tenant acres and 300 demesne acres. These tenant acres are almost all serf except for a few free acres for the yeoman's plot. The one free farmer pays rent, while the serfs must labour four days in the demesne for each acre held.

The abbey's demesne is an important source of food for the priesthood at Abriel. Henewes brings in over £70 of profit in kind for the abbey every year. In the summer the livestock consists of 460 swine, 65 sheep, 50 goats, 20 cattle and many chickens. The villagers need several yoke of oxen to plough Henewes' fields every year.

Hedgerows divide most fields. Of the types of crops grown, legumes, oats and rye are the main crops along with lesser amounts of hay, barley, and vegetables. Large quantities of beans, peas and cabbages are produced. The peas are particularly sweet. Most of the fief's woodland is relatively tame. Many of the trees just west of the hamlet have been pruned over several years to form strong straight timber. The villagers pay pannage to use the woodland to let their hogs forage.

Henewes is too small to warrant a mill. The abbey requires that all milling be done in Abriel Village and carried or carted back. Villagers must undertake a round trip of two leagues to get their grain milled. The abbey severely punishes any use of hand-mills. Villagers who want to sell their livestock at market in Olokand must first drive their animals to Abriel where the abbey has the right to purchase them first.

Current Affairs

Henewes was granted to Abriel eight years ago when it was willed from the Quarne held fiefdom upon the death of Sir Edren Quarne, the father of Goffin's current fiefholder. The will was drafted on the 15th of Nolus 711, nine months before Sir Edren's death on the 4th of Nuzyael 712. Henewes was handed over later that year.

Since then, the Church of Larani has worked those bound to the land tirelessly in order to add to the abbey's coffers and support the priesthood and their noble guests. The abbey officials state that they must uphold the sacred feudal order and claim that the needs of the Church outweigh the peasants' temporary sacrifices.

The villagers were recently informed that the next spring planting would be unpaid boon-work. This would make it similar to the crucial harvest time, when all of the fief's adult unfree tenants receive no payment for their labour on the church's land. While the local clans have grown used to the abbey's management, many still remember Clan Quarne's lordship over the village. Some residents would be pleased to see the grant undone if it meant a decrease in their growing workload.

Local Map Key

A. Demesne Farm. The village has a well-maintained timbered barn that is used for the abbey's demesne land. It holds carts for transporting crops to the abbey and a small stable for any mules or horses. The stalls are rarely full. It also is used for the winnowing and sieving of a crop at harvest time. A portion of the winter seed is kept hidden behind a locked trap door in the floor.

B. Village Common. The common lies along one side of the road through Henewes. Villagers have the right to keep their animals here when they are not needed to fertilize the abbey's fields. Abriel's Beadle and Rosin the yeoman [5] monitor use of the common. Every 12th and 28th day of the month, Merudus of Arolis, the fat and jolly Peonian Priest in Abriel Village, holds a Peonian worship on the common. Everyone is expected to attend. The villagers like the priest's rites but dislike the fact that they must feed him and an Esolani (Assistant Priest).

C. Peonian Shrine. Part of a fieldstone constructed wall, a carved marker pays homage to the goddess Peoni and her semi-divine servant, Maermal, the Lord of Honest Labour. It is crudely chiselled into the shape of an ox's head but its horns have since been broken off. Wildflowers and sage form a wreath around its base, giving it the appearance of a collar. Villagers who worship at the shrine in spring sometimes pick one of these wildflowers when they are in bloom. Locals occasionally leave small offerings on top of the wall.

D. Woodlot. Lightly forested woodland lies to the west of Henewes. The village lies on the northeastern part of the small woodland, and the Abriel held village of Minziles lies on the southwest edge. The trees have been thinned out over the centuries and it is home to a few game birds, particularly pheasants. Both villages allow their swine to forage freely. The middle of the wood marks the borders of Henewes, Minziles and land held directly under Abriel Village. The border is no longer closely watched as it once was, as the abbey now holds all three fiefs.

E. Peonian Graveyard. Just within the edge of the tree line to the fief's woodlot lies a partially covered clearing. This thinned out patch of light woods has a few low grass covered mounds of earth. The bodies of Henewes' previous residents lie buried here in typical Peonian fashion. Some of these simple graves have rocks placed at the head while others lie unadorned.

The Village Residents

1 Villein (Konil of Clan Arnerl) Konil, a stooped shouldered grey-haired man, is loose of limb and leathery-skinned from years of working in the fields. Konil is a kind husband, caring father, decent clanhead and the de facto local leader of the serfs in Henewes. Konil's thickset wife Issa brews the best ale in the village, and cares for her senile father, two young sons, a nine-year-old daughter and two teenaged stepdaughters from Konil's first wife. The stepdaughters help their father work the family's 35 acres. Konil owns a yoke of oxen, 9 cows, 7 sheep, 2 goats, 12 pigs and a few chickens himself. He also heads the largest clan in the village and one of the largest families. Konil has seen the life of many of the unfree tenants slowly become ever harder under the lordship of the abbey. The relative contentment of the serfs in the hundred's neighbouring fiefs, compared to those not held by the Church of Larani, has not gone unnoticed.

2 Cottar (Ralarn of Clan Kyrt) Ralarn of Kyrt and Ralarn of Nart [9], share the same first name. In order to distinguish between the two, the outspoken twenty two year old, is called “Loud Ralarn” while the quieter fifty something is called “Quiet Ralarn” even though he is not especially silent. The noisy Ralarn is a cousin to “Quiet Ralarn” [9] and Rakren of Kyrt in Abriel Village. Loud Ralarn lives with his aged mother. He and his wife quarrel everyday, for she has not gotten pregnant after five years of marriage.

3 Half-Villein (Jesel of Clan Gors) Jesel, a scrawny fellow with a broad flat nose, is a farmer of mediocre skill despite his love of work and frequent prayers to Peoni. Known around the village as “Jesel the Short”, he has a wife, one eight-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. Jesel's wife is the younger sister of Lerin of Arnerl [11], and Jesel performs some of his brother-in-law's labour obligation. Jesel currently owns 6 sheep and a pregnant sow but was fined 24d a month ago for failing to deliver kind owed to the abbey while his sheep are afflicted with murrain. Arilis [8] has kept Jesel's animals separate from the herd and only one ewe has died so far.

4 Cottar (Werile of Clan Gors) The Widow Werile's husband died of a pox seven years ago. Though a meddling and rancid old crone of a woman, she is a hard worker. Werile has been allowed to keep her husband's acres for the time being, until her skinny grandson, Lerin, comes of age next year. The widow's half brother is a free farmer in a neighbouring abbey held village and looks in on her from time to time. Werile is always interested in strangers.

5 Yeoman - MF (Rosin of Clan Toor) See detailed article below. Fit but lazy Rosin heads the only freeman family in Henewes. In the past eight years since the hamlet became part of the Abriel Abbey held lands, Rosin occasionally helps Abriel's Beadle Birain of Tabela and his two strong sons police Henewes. Rosin sporadically collects fines, impounds stray livestock and patrols the village with his spear. Particularly before Birain of Tabela's sons started helping their father, Rosin would fine the villagers judiciously but failed to pay Birain the full amount collected. His family consists of a 14 year-old son, his mother-in-law and two teenage nieces that Rosin is tiring of. His son Bulen is a disappointment to him and is too much of an idealistic dreamer. Rosin and his son are the only literate people in Henewes. Rosin owns a yoke of oxen, 4 cows, and 10 pigs.

6 Cottar (Keles of Clan Sosor) With only 5 unfree acres, 2 sheep, and 3 pigs, blackbearded Keles and his wife and daughter do not have enough land to feed themselves. They plan on petitioning the abbot for more acres at the hallmoot. Keles acts as a thatcher and tends Henewes' hedges, which surround many of the cleared acres in the fief. In order to survive and get some extra foodstuffs, Keles sells any bit of gossip to Eraek of Charion whenever the wandering Ilviran priest quickly passes through the area.

7 Half-Villein (Osric of Clan Kinew) Osric is a black-haired, curt, man of early middle years. Whenever possible Osric likes to carve unpainted wooden toys and is allowed to collect deadwood yearly for this purpose. His best works are sold to the toymaker in Olokand with nine-tenths of any profits going to the abbey's coffers. He is a good farmer of his 13 acres but loves to wager and is in debt to six villagers. The family owns 4 cows, 4 sheep and 8 pigs, some of which Osric has used as collateral and lost bets on, but has yet to pay. His feisty wife Raena berates him daily over it and sometimes sleepwalks at night. Raena is friendly with Rosin's mother-in-law [5]. The couple lives with their quiet eightyear-old son, cross-eyed five-year-old daughter, and noisy three-year-old son. Raena is the closest person to a midwife in Henewes. She has helped the midwives from neighbouring villages with births, but has yet to deliver a child on her own.

8 Villein (Arilis of Clan Sosor) Arilis is a sour old wreck of a man whose mouth droops to one side. He still occasionally aids Abriel's Herder, Urnin of Sargeriel, look after the abbey's flocks despite the pain and misery he endures. Arilis is wed to a self-righteous woman named Eleina. The couple has four lice ridden sons, aged thirteen, twelve and ten. The mischievous ten-year-old sons are non-identical twins and are good at untying cowbells from the necks of the troublesome cattle. Arilis' mother-in-law lives with him and his wife in their cottage, as does his spotted mutt. Arilis prefers the company of his mutt to either woman. The Sosors are an old clan and are respected by many serfs.

9 Half-Villein (Ralarn of Clan Nart) “Quiet Ralarn's” old croft burnt down, (it has since been completely rebuilt) and he has been paranoid about the spread of fire ever since. Ralarn has had a tough two years. Last harvest, he was fined 28d for laziness when he tried to avoid doing some of the abbey's boon work during the crucial harvest time. To add to Ralarn's misery, his strapping 18-year-old son Tamin, recently vanished and presumably ran away while he was working the fields along the border with Iversen. The abbot heavily fined Ralarn at the last abbey hallmoot for his son's disappearance. Ralarn is irate and still in denial, as his son never expressed such complete disregard for his family. Ralarn's wife is heartbroken, as she had been trying to make a match with Kaman of Varlis' wife in neighbouring Abriel Village for the hand of Kaman's eldest daughter. Ralarn's hobbled mother helps tend the family's 16 acres.

10 Villein (Ragen of Clan Hurone) Hunched-over Ragen is a grizzly and suspicious man who believes in many a tall tale. A pit underneath the family's cottage hides an extra cache of seed and a soiled Laranian Priest's robe that Ragen found last spring. Before the Church of Larani was willed Henewes, Ragen was granted the right by Clan Quarne to fell five trees a year for his own use until his death. He is still thankful to his old lords to this day. Ragen lives with a delicate wife, her stout mother, a sixteen-year-old son, a ruddy fifteen-year-old daughter and an infant grandchild. Maliem, the daughter, bore a daughter out of wedlock last month and was fined 24d in childwite. She has not named the father, but most assume it was Keles [6] or Tamin [9].

11 Villein (Lerin of Clan Arnerl) Shaped like a spear shaft, Lerin is the tallest man in the village. Lerin's father was born free, the younger son of a freeholder at Loxton Manor. Rather than have it split when Lerin's grandfather died, Lerin's father left the holding whole and moved to Abriel where he later took some villein land in Henewes that had reverted to the abbey without heirs. He worked the serf land but never doubted his status as a freeman. Lerin is now trying to change his ‘unfree' status, with no success. Lerin and his comely wife Palael, who is deaf and mute, have five surviving snot-nosed children aged three to ten. The only daughter of Henewes' former yeoman who died of a chill in the spring of 712, Palael was free but married into serfdom due to her lack of marriageable prospects. Her brother Toris is the teamster in nearby Goffin and has privately expressed his frustration with her impoverishment.

Rosin's Cottage

The yeoman's farm is composed of a modest timberframe house, a garden and a paddock. The house has a coat of faded whitewash. Fresh rushes and a stone fireplace show that this is the home of a moderately successful but average freeholder. The walls of the house are halftimbered with a woven latticework of wooden stakes daubed with a mixture of mud and clay (wattle and daub) contained between wooden beams. The spaced plank roof has been covered and trimmed with wheat straw.

The cottage is the dwelling of Henewes' grizzled miser and only freeholder, Rosin of Toor. His family consists of a son, his mother-in-law and two supercilious teenage nieces. Born in 683, like many Rosin has lived most of his life in the same hundred. The illegitimate son of a mercenary, he was adopted into his mother's clan and worked as a labourer in Olokand before renting a modest piece of land in Abriel. When the abbey was granted Henewes, Rosin moved his family to the hamlet with the abbot's permission. Rosin's wife died of pneumonia two winters ago, and he has lived a miserly life. The middle-aged Rosin had once hoped that settling in Henewes would instil his son with more maturity. He has remained disappointed.

Farm Buildings

1. Cottage. This cramped cottage is composed of one room with a curtained off sleeping area for Rosin and a loft for the women. The ground floor has a packed earth floor and wood shutters. The hall holds blankets, firewood, a chest, and a crate of farm produce. Smoked hams hang from hooks in the ceiling. A poorly built stone fireplace dominates one side of the room and lies opposite a curtain, which separates the hall from the yeoman's private chamber. Rosin could afford better. Rather than use what little coin and items of worth he has to pour back into his home or provide for the dowries of his two supercilious teenage nieces, the aging yeoman wants to give up field work with military service and spend the rest of his life alone in some comfort.

Unbeknownst to his family, Rosin is squirreling away what little he has and is petitioning the abbot for a corody, an old age pension purchased from the abbey that covers food and lodging. The home is filled with old, broken tools and items. Rosin no longer cares whether they are repaired. The yeoman's wobbly chair, his pewter mug and a few iron pots are on the other hand obvious items of value. Torn clothing hangs on antler-made pegs along the wall, next to Rosin's spear and mail, which are the only items he keeps in good repair. Rosin's 14-year-old son must sleep in the hall. Bulen, the son, is a failure to his father. He is deathly afraid of sharp objects, fighting or serving as a yeoman. Bulen is uninterested in women, particularly his cousins, and wishes to have his father's blessing to become a Peonian Esolani.

2. Loft. A wooden ladder leads up to a loft above Rosin's room, where the women sleep on beds of straw. Rosin's mother-in-law, Nenlyn is a tired old wreck of a woman. His two teenage nieces, Albea (14) and Ferya (13) are annoying gossips.

3. Bedroom. Behind a heavy cloth curtain, is Rosin's room, which has space just enough for a low bed with heavy wool blankets and two trunks. The unlocked trunk holds Rosin's ragged clothes. The locked trunk is for the collecting of village fines, which Rosin must forward on to Abriel's Beadle, Birain of Tabela, or one of Birain's two sons. It holds a silver piece, a small bag of wheat flour, and good iron shears. Underneath a false bottom are items meant to purchase a corody: a clipped garnet, an ivory comb, three silver pieces, and a finely tooled pair of red leather riding gloves suitable for a nobleman.

4. Garden. This small vegetable garden contains cabbages, peas and some basic herbs. It holds an apple tree in the western corner. Rosin rents a 29 acre plot of land from the abbey, which he works with his son. This is enough to support a family of five with a little extra, and the yeoman has tasked his mother-in-law and nieces with tending to the garden. Rosin's mother-in-law, Nenlyn has a nasty temper. She is a fair gardener however, and keeps the plot watered and clear of weeds.

5. Paddock. A water trough lies on the north end and a two-sided timbered shelter is built in the southeast corner. Rosin keeps his own yoke of oxen here when they are needed for work. Tack and harnesses hang from the side of the fence. Since the hamlet's Beadle lives in Abriel Village, some distance away, extra feed and supplies are kept in the nearby village barn [A]. Rosin helps the Beadle, Birain of Tabela, or one of his two sons, see that any stray livestock who wander away from the herd are impounded and that their owners are fined. Birain has allowed Rosin to hold lost animals here and charge the Henewes residents 12d per day until Rosin receives enough to cover the fine. Rosin has buried a few pieces of silver next to a blackberry bush a foot below ground in a leather pouch just east of the shelter. Only he knows of the coins' existence.

Manor Census