DESCRIPCIÓN DE LAS CLASES PERSISTENTES

For protection, convenience, and because of land consid-erations, all communities will tend to be closely built. Those familiar with American hamlets should forget that model, but think instead of the “Wild West town” where all con-struction is virtually side by side. Such compactness in the community allows for continuous “walling,” whether it is a relatively fragile one for a small hamlet or a real curtain wall with towers for a town or city. Even farms will be built into the community, or very nearby, separate ones with a wall connecting all the buildings of the farm and its residents, so as to form a compound. We will begin at the small community end and work upwards to the metropoli-tan settlement.

Hamlets

Hamlets comprise from 50 persons to 250, more or less.

“Thorps” might be from around 300 to no more than 1,000 persons, and “villages” of non-manorial sort ranging from a small population of roughly 1,000 to a large size in the 5,000-plus inhabitant range.

Structures in such a community will be small, built from mud brick, sod, wattle and daub, timber, wood and plaster, stone and timber, stone, or firebrick depending on the re-sources available and builders’ skills. Costs for land and construction of buildings thereon are in the lowest range for such things in a town or city. Size of the community, its wealth, the desirability of its location, and the location of the property dictate land cost, affecting building cost in a minor way.

Small livestock will be kept in all hamlet communities, both for sale and for consumption. Such animals include chickens, doves, ducks, geese, pigeons, rabbits, and swine.

Depending on location, some or all of these animals will be kept by householders in the community. Small numbers of larger livestock will likewise be present from house-hold to househouse-hold—a riding animal (horse or mule), a milk cow, a few sheep or goats.

Food gathering, hunting, fishing, and trapping too are also likely in small communities where the surrounding land does not belong to a lord who forbids such activity. (Even in such case there will be poaching.) Berries, fruits, nuts, wild vegetables and roots will be used to supplement and add variety to the community residents’ diet. Likewise, small and large game and fish will be taken for food and hides and/or furs. The various bases for hamlets (and larger communities in this general category) are detailed below:

Agricultural: Other than farmer’s houses, such a place might contain a shrine, fane, or chapel, mill, general mer-chant or trader, and an alehouse or tavern. As size increases, so will the number of shops offering services or goods, perhaps one such addition per 100 residents above 250.

Thus, a “thorp” of 500 inhabitants might have all of the above, while one of 600 persons might have a baker, black-smith, carpenter, carter, thatcher, or weaver, to name a few possibilities.

Places here are built of whatever materials are on hand.

Most construction will be of wattle and daub, sod, timber and sod, or stone and sod. Thatched roofs predominate.

Heat and illumination will be mainly from fire pits or fire-places (fuel possibilities include wood, charcoal, coal, coke, and dried dung), augmented by fat lamps or tallow candles.

Indoor plumbing and any other amenities are not known.

Only a tavern or an inn might have anything close to ap-proaching what city dwellers would call “bare comfort.”

The diet of most persons in such a hamlet will be that of the lower class, most typified by the middle of the lower class, but better than that of the urban lower class certainly.

Although meat, eggs, and cheese might be there, such things are mainly for income, not home consumption. Along with small livestock raised primarily for home consumption, food gathering and hunting (including fishing and trapping) will enhance dietary diversity and value.

Garments are those of country folk or working farmers.

Most will have been made by hand at home. On special occasions, such as for worship services, a celebratory gath-ering, etc. clean and relatively new clothing is worn.

Personal possessions are few and generally consist of what has been made by hand, traded or purchased for a small and reasonable cost. The land, the dwelling on it, such constructions used to house livestock and crops, the ani-mals husbanded, and crops harvested will constitute virtu-ally all the wealth of a person in an agricultural hamlet.

A village elder and a council of a handful of persons likely make up the immediate governing authority. Likely, elder/

councilmen include the largest land owner, merchant or trader, tavern keeper, and the wisest old person in the com-munity. State or regional officers will make occasional rounds to collect taxes and adjudicate legal matters above the limited authority of the hamlet’s jurisdiction (the low-est of low justice, fence-line disputes, disorderly conduct, minor vandalism, petty theft, and the like). It is likely that stocks will be available for punishing offend-ers judged guilty by the elder and council.

If the community has a mill, the miller is likely to be the wealthi-est person in the hamlet, and will be its elder or most influential councilman.

Fishing: Other than fishermen’s houses, such a place might contain a shrine or temple, boatwright, general merchant or trader, and an alehouse or tavern. As size in-creases, so will the number of shops offering services or goods, perhaps one such addition per 100 residents above 250. Thus, a

“thorp” of 500 inhabitants might have all of the above, while one of 600 persons might have a black-smith, rope-maker, mason, carter, slater, or net-maker—to name a few possibilities.

Places here will be built of what-ever materials are on hand. Most likely construction will be of tim-ber, timber and fieldstone, field-stone, or stone masonry. Wood or slate roofs will predominate.

Heat and illumination will be mainly from fire pits or fire-places (most likely driftwood fuel unless coal is available in the area), augmented by oil lamps or tallow candles.

Indoor plumbing and any other amenities are not known.

Only a tavern or an inn might have anything close to ap-proaching what city dwellers would call “bare comfort.”

The diet of most persons in such a hamlet will be that of the lower class, most typified by the middle of the lower class, but there will be plenty of fish and seafood dishes in it—especially shellfish as these are difficult to preserve.

Small gardens will provide vegetables, but most other food-stuffs will be rare and expensive. Some small livestock

being raised for home consumption will supplement the monotony of a diet of fish, while food gathering and hunt-ing (includhunt-ing trapphunt-ing) will do likewise.

Garments are those of country folk, working fishermen.

Most will have been made by hand at home. On special occasions, such as for worship services, a celebratory gath-ering, etc. clean and relatively new clothing is likely to be worn.

Personal possessions are few and generally consist of what has been made by hand or else traded for or purchased for a small and reasonable cost.

The lot and the dwelling on it, the fishing boat and accou-trements, will constitute virtually all the wealth of a per-son in a fishing hamlet.

A village elder and a council of a handful of persons likely make up the immediate governing authority. Likely elder/

councilmen include the owner of the largest boat or of two or more boats, merchant or trader, tavern keeper, and the wisest old person in the community. State or regional of-ficers will make occasional rounds to collect taxes and adjudicate legal matters above the limited authority of the hamlet’s jurisdiction (the lowest of low justice—net-tan-gling disputes, disorderly conduct, minor vandalism, petty theft, and the like). It is likely that stocks are available for punishing offenders judged guilty by the elder and council If the community has a boat-building shop, the boatwright is likely to be the wealthiest person in the hamlet, and will be its elder or most influential councilman.

Herding: Other than herder’s houses and barns, such a place might contain a shrine or temple, wool factor, gen-eral merchant or trader, and an alehouse or tavern. As size increases, so will the number of shops offering services or goods, perhaps one such addition per 100 residents above 250. Thus, a “thorp” of 500 inhabitants might have all of the above, while one of 600 persons might have a carder and spinner, carpenter or mason, carter, thatcher or slater, weaver, or a tanner to name a few possibilities.

Places here will be built of whatever materials are on hand.

Most likely construction will be of wattle and daub, sod, sod and timber, timber, or timber and fieldstone. Thatched, sod, or wood roofs will predominate.

Heat and illumination will be mainly from fire pits or fire-places (possibly using peat fuel or dried dung), augmented by fat lamps or tallow candles. Indoor plumbing and any other amenities are not known. Only a tavern or an inn might have anything close to approaching what city dwell-ers would call “bare comfort.”

The diet of most persons in such a hamlet will be that of the lower class, most typified by the middle of the lower class, but there will be less grain in it and plenty of milk and/or cheese and more meat. Small gardens will provide vegetables. Other foodstuffs will be gained mainly from small livestock raised primarily for home consumption, food gathering and hunting (including fishing and trap-ping—likely to be rather extensive in a herding commu-nity) so as to provide a quite varied diet.

Garments are those of country folk, working herders. Most will have been made by hand at home. On special occa-sions, such as for worship services, a celebratory gather-ing, etc. clean and relatively new clothing is likely to be worn. Personal possessions are few and generally consist of what has been made by hand or else traded for or pur-chased for a small and reasonable cost.

The lot and the dwelling on it, and the herd of animals husbanded, will constitute virtually all the wealth of a per-son in a herding hamlet.

A village elder and a council of a handful of persons likely make up the immediate governing authority. Likely elder/

councilmen include the owner of the largest herd or flock, any merchants or traders, tavern keeper, and the wisest old person in the community. State or regional officers will make occasional rounds to collect taxes and adjudicate legal matters above the limited authority of the hamlet’s juris-diction (the lowest of low justice—grazing right disputes, strayed animals, disorderly conduct, minor vandalism, petty theft, and the like). It is likely that stocks are available for punishing offenders judged guilty by the elder or council.

If the community has either a carter or tanner, one or the other is likely to be the wealthiest person in the hamlet its elder or most influential councilman, with the other and such person also prominent.

Mining: Other than miner’s houses and barns, such a place might contain a shrine or temple, sawyer, assayer, general merchant or trader, and an alehouse or tavern. As size in-creases, so will the number of shops offering services or goods, perhaps one such addition per 100 residents above 250. Thus, a “thorp” of 500 inhabitants might have all of the above, while one of 600 persons might have a freighter (for ore or the like mined), blacksmith, carpenter or brick maker, or slater to name a few possibilities.

Places here will be built of whatever materials are on hand.

Most likely construction will be stone masonry or possi-bly fire brick. Slate or wood roofs will predominate.

Heat and illumination will be mainly from fire pits or fire-places (wood, charcoal, coal, or coke most likely), aug-mented by fat lamps or tallow candles. Indoor plumbing

and any other amenities are not known. Only a tavern or an inn might have anything close to approaching what city dwellers would call “bare comfort.”

The diet of most persons in such a hamlet will be that of the lower class, most typified by the middle of the lower class, but its exact composition will depend on the loca-tion of the hamlet in relaloca-tion to the nearest food-producing community. Small gardens will provide vegetables, but other foodstuffs will be rare and expensive unless a few enterprising truck farmers, farmers, and/or herders are in-cluded in the village. However, such small livestock that is raised primarily for home consumption, along with food gathering and hunting (including fishing and trapping) will enhance dietary diversity and value.

Garments are those of country folk, working miners. Most will have been made by hand at home. On special occa-sions, such as for worship services, a celebratory gather-ing, etc. clean and relatively new clothing is likely to be worn.

Personal possessions are few and generally consist of what has been made by hand or else traded for or purchased at a small and reasonable cost.

The lot and the dwelling on it, mining tools, and such min-eral as is the miner’s own portion, will constitute virtually all the wealth of a person in a mining hamlet.

A village elder and a council of a handful of persons likely make up the immediate governing authority. Likely elder/

councilmen include the miner with the best skill at the craft, merchant or trader, tavern keeper, and the wisest old per-son in the community. State or regional officers make oc-casional rounds collecting taxes and adjudicate legal mat-ters above the limited authority of the hamlet’s jurisdic-tion (the lowest of low justice—digging rights disputes, division of mineral shares, disorderly conduct, minor van-dalism, petty theft, etc). It is likely that stocks are avail-able for punishing offenders judged guilty.

If the community has either an assayer or freighter or both, one or the other is likely to be the wealthiest person in the hamlet and its elder or most influential councilman, with the other also prominent.

Woodcutting: Other than logger’s houses and small out-buildings, such a place might contain a shrine or temple, sawyer, general merchant or trader, and an alehouse or tav-ern. As size increases, so will the number of shops offer-ing services or goods, perhaps one such addition per 100 residents above 250. Thus, a “thorp” of 500 inhabitants might have all of the above, while one of 600 persons might have a freighter (for logs and boards), blacksmith, carpen-ter, or charcoal burner, to name a few possibilities.

Places here will be built of whatever materials are on hand.

Most likely construction will be timber and boards. Simi-larly, plank or wood shingle roofs will predominate.

Heat and illumination will be mainly from fire pits or fire-places (wood or charcoal most likely), augmented by fat lamps or tallow candles. Indoor plumbing and any other amenities are not known. Only a tavern or an inn might have anything close to approaching what city dwellers would call “bare comfort.”

The diet of most persons in such a hamlet will be that of the lower class, most typified by the middle of the lower class, but its exact composition will depend on the loca-tion of the hamlet in relaloca-tion to the nearest food-producing community. Small gardens will provide vegetables, but other foodstuffs will be rare and expensive unless a few enterprising truck farmers, farmers, and/or herders are in-cluded in the village. However, such small livestock that is raised primarily for home consumption, along with food gathering and hunting (including fishing and trapping) will enhance dietary diversity and value.

Garments are those of country folk, working woodcutters.

Most will have been made by hand at home from leather.

On special occasions, such as for worship services, a celebratory gathering, etc. clean and relatively new cloth-ing is likely to be worn.

Personal possessions are few and generally consist of what has been made by hand or else traded for or purchased for a small and reasonable cost. The lot and the dwelling on it, woodcutting tools, and such lumber as is the lumberjack’s own portion, will constitute virtually all the wealth of a person in a woodcutting hamlet.

A village elder and a council of a handful of persons likely make up the immediate governing authority. Likely elder/

councilmen include the woodcutter with the best skill at the craft, merchant or trader, tavern keeper, and the wisest old person in the community. State or regional officers will make occasional rounds to collect taxes and adjudicate le-gal matters above the limited authority of the hamlet’s juris-diction (the lowest of low justice—felling-right disputes, division of shares of lumber, disorderly conduct, minor van-dalism, petty theft, and the like). It is likely that stocks will be available for punishing offenders judged guilty by the elder and council.

If the community has either a sawyer or freighter or both, one or the other is likely to be the wealthiest person in the hamlet and its elder or most influential councilman, with the other also prominent.