Were tasks undertaken by tenants as part of their obligations to landowners for the right to farm or use land. These duties came to be seen as part of the rent paid by tenants under the *‘manorial system’ during the Middle Ages. Precise statements of labour services owed by landholders were set out in ‘custumals’, documents produced in manorial courts under oath. During the 14th cent. landowners found it profitable to commute labour services for fixed cash payments. A few labour services survived in economically underdeveloped areas until the early 18th cent.
Subjects: British History.