De laatmiddeleeuwse transitie en de oorsprong van gemeintes en heerlijke rechten op de wildernis in de Meierij van ’s-Hertogenbosch

Samenvatting

The Late Medieval Transition and the Origin of the Commons and Authority of Lords over the Wilderness in the Bailiwick of ’s-Hertogenbosch

In 2011 Hein Vera wrote a PhD thesis about various aspects of the wilderness and commons in the bailiwick of ’s-Hertogenbosch, situated in the eastern part of Southern Netherlands. Until then, there was a consensus that in the tenth century the wilderness belonged under the authority of the king in his role as overlord. However, Vera argued that from at least the eleventh century onwards, the wilderness was private property of the local lords and landowners. In his view, the commons - the demarcated parts of the wilderness used by farmer-communities - had their origin in privately owned demarcated parts of the wilderness of local lords. In this article counter-arguments to Vera’s thesis are introduced, in which some of the loopholes in Vera’s less-convincing arguments are discussed. This leaves room for the exploration of other possible scenarios. The article then concludes with a focus on the construction of a different model to that of Vera.

The article first explores why from the seventh till the twelfth century, houses were often rebuilt a few hundred yards from their predecessors. The article also discusses significant changes during the so-called ‘late-medieval transition’ (c. 1175-1250), such as the end of serfdom and the shifting focus from pig farming to sheep and cattle. The article poses the hitherto unresolved question of whether there were free farmers already before this transition period. In the twelfth century the majority of the population of what later became the village of Veghel, were serfs attached to a relative large property of a landlord situated east of the river Aa. There are strong indications that besides this domain of the local lord, there lived a smaller but relatively wealthy group of free persons mainly on the west side of the river Aa. Archaeologists have concluded that by the thirteenth century, almost all houses in some villages in the bailiwick of ’s-Hertogenbosch had shifted from the agricultural fields to lower lying areas. Based on a detailed reconstruction of landownership in Veghel from 1190 onwards, this article concludes that serfs were freed and that the landed property or domain of the local lord was reorganized, with former serfs moving to newly acquired pieces of land. Another contributing factor for the housing shift was that the growth of population led to an increased need for agricultural land.

This article proposes a model in which two main factors contributed to further regulation of the use of the wilderness and the establishment and demarcation of the commons, gover- ned by local farmers. The first factor was the increased use of the wilderness for agricultural and other purposes. The second factor was the increased number of free farmers, which resulted in their greater ability to protect their interests. This model is confirmed by histo- rical records. The first mention of a demarcated commons dates from 1196 and according to historical records the demarcation of the commons largely occurred two or three decades after that date.

Hereafter, research into privately owned and public wilderness is discussed. Privately owned wilderness is already mentioned in historical records from the eight century. In contem- porary records, privately owned wilderness was transferred as part of landed property or domains. The records also mention fishing and grazing rights and include a few cases where the wilderness is reserved for hunting by lords. This article asserts that in the twelfth century only a relatively small part of the wilderness was privately owned and that most serfs, farmers and local lords used the wilderness commonly, without claiming private ownership. From the twelfth century onwards the authority of the king weakened and local and regional lords started to usurp royal rights, including the king’s authority over the wilderness. The first hard evidence to be found for this is in the land taxes or tributes that the local lords asked from free persons who wanted to purchase the right to use a part of the wilderness privately. It is argued that these tributes were introduced in the eastern part of Southern Netherlands from around 1190 onwards and were common practice by around 1232.

It is interesting that these tributes originated in the same period as the establishment and initial demarcation of the commons. This is no coincidence. Both developments were a result of the end of serfdom and increased number of free farmers, who started to regulate the use of the commons and also needed plots of land for private cultivation. The lords capitalized on this need and introduced land taxes or tributes.

Already before around 1190 in Veghel, parts of the wilderness were demarcated and sold in a large-scale and organized way. It is reasonable to assume that the overlord (the count of Gelre) was in one way or another involved or granting permission, but there is no proof for this assertion. It is also quite possible that in the region, again before around 1190, local free farmers and landlords had started to regulate and agree on the use of natural resources with special sacred, social, or economic significance, like graveyards, roads, waterways, peat swamps and large trees, but supportive information for this early period is only indirect and scarce.