We have been looking at the instruction manual for the staff of a medieval manor or lordship, called the Seneschaucy. To my surprise, the Seneschaucy includes instructions for the lord himself. The personal qualities listed first would do well for each of us.
The lord ought to love God and justice, and be faithful and true in his sayings and doings and he ought to hate sin and injustice, and evil-doing. The lord ought not to take counsel with young men full of young blood, and ready courage, who know nothing of business, nor of any juggler, flatterer, or idle talker, nor of such as bear witness by present, but he ought to take counsel with worthy and faithful men, ripe in years, who have seen much, and know much, and who are known to be of good fame, and who were never caught or convicted for treachery or any wrong-doing; nor for love, nor for hate, nor for fear, nor for menace, nor for gain, nor for loss, will turn aside from truth, and knowingly counsel their lord to do him harm.
The lord ought to command and ordain that the accounts be heard every year, but not in one place but on all the manors, for so can one quickly know everything, and understand the profit and loss. And he ought to command and ordain that no bailiff have his food in the manors except at a fixed price in money, so that he take nothing from the manors but hay, firewood, and straw; and that no friend, stranger, nor anyone from the lord’s hostel or elsewhere be received at the manors at the lord’s expense, nor shall anything be given or delivered to them without warrant of writ, unless the bailiff or reeve wish to acquit it from their own purses for the great expense one is unnecessarily put to, as can be seen above in another chapter.
The lord ought to inquire by his own men and others on his manors as many as there are, about his seneschal and his doings, and the approvements he has made since his coming; in the same way he ought to inquire about profits and losses from the bailiff and reeve, and how much he will have to seek from both. He ought to ask for his auditors and rolls of account, then he ought to see who has done well and who not, and who has made improvement and who not, and who has made profit and who not, but loss, and those he has then found good and faithful and profitable, let him keep on this account. And if anyone be found who has done harm and is by no means profitable let him answer for his doing and take farewell. And if the lord observe these said forms then will each lord live a good man and honestly, and be as he will rich and powerful without sin, and will do injustice to no one.
The lord ought to command the auditors on the manors to hear the complaints and wrongs of everybody who complains of the seneschal, or reeve, or hayward, or any other who is of the manor, and that full justice be done to franks and villeins, customary-tenants, and other plaintiffs, such as by inquest can be had; and that the auditors do right by their peril.
These instructions, which we have looked at over the last several months, give a great insight into the life and duties of a wide range of people of medieval times. If you missed any of the previous posts, here is a list (sorry for the spacing):
Ann Marie Thomas is the author of five medieval history books, a surprisingly cheerful poetry collection about her 2010 stroke and two further poetry collections, and the science fiction series Flight of the Kestrel, of which there are four books are out now. Follow her at http://eepurl.com/bbOsyz and get free books.