Village Tensions. Villagers lived in close proximity to their neighbors, and fights were bound to occur. The records of village meetings and manorial courts provide lists of troubles that happened in these communities, particularly when land, tools, and crops were shared. As Frances and Joseph Gies have noted, the charges included "trampling another tenant's grain; cutting hay in the meadow without waiting for lots to be drawn; allowing one's cows, pigs, or geese to damage another's crops, 'stealing plow furrows,' that is, plowing part of a neighbor's land." Village bylaws and rules often stated that

"able-bodied" people should not be allowed to do the relatively easy work of gleaning reserved for "the young, the old, and those who are decrepit and unable to work," but should be employed to their capacity in reaping. Peas and...