Hello List ...... I learned a lot from Dr Clemens Pagensterts book Bauerhoeve in Visbek ,but understand precious little of it Can you help ?
Ahlers in Varnhorn, 59 ha. Groß. 1545 und 1568 Johann Alerdt, 1594 Hinderich Alers. Hofhörig an die Kirche zu Visbek (?), 1777 schon frei. Leibdienst an die Landesherrschaft. Lasten: " Am Amthause Vechta 70 Gr. Herbstsch., 1 Huhn dem Vogten 1 ½ ... Dienstgeld (für den Leibdienst). Am Amt Wildeshausen ½ Sch.(effel?) Goroggen und 1/2 Gr.(oschen?) An den Amtsvogten in Twistringen 20 Roggengarben. Pröv. An den Pastor und Küster wie bei Hackstedt. An die Kirche zu Visbek 12 Gr. Canon
( I think wood) aus St. Viti Busch."Monatschatz 1 ... 17 Sch. 6 ...Vhst.1545: 3 Pferde, 2 Ochsen, 7 Kühe, 8 Rinder, 11 Schweine, 50 Schafe; 1608: 4 Pferde, 3 Kühe, 10 Rinder, 5 Schweine, 85 Schafe;1669: 2 Pferde, 3 Kühe, 3 Rinder, 20 Schafe. 1545: 3 ½ Mlt. Einsaat.
Henry,
a conclusive answer would be a college course in medieval North German
history. 
You are basically looking at references from various sources to the
available history of a farm occupied by someone named Ahlers.
Typically these sources are census or soul listings for taxation
purposes by the early church. To properly explain terms such as
hofhörig and Leibdienst requires a little knowledge of the way of life
back then. Few people were really free under our concept to do as they
please. People were tied to the land as that was their only means of
survival. It was a quid pro quo contract that protected the people
from outside forces in return for working the land and paying a
portion of the proceeds to the next higher level up. Land ownership as
we know it didn't really exist back then. You can see from the above
description that the farm had to pay various items to various
authorities as part of the social contract that obligated the farmer.
Originally the land was part of the parish property as the early
Church was the caretaker of God's land. The conflict to reverse this
process and bring ownership to the secular authorities is the history
of Europe. By 1777 this farm was no longer church property but however
this changed it brought with it obligations like labor service to the
nobility, payments to the Amthaus in Vechta, a chicken to the Vogt,
etc etc. ,
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Ahlers zu Varnhusen, 84 ha. Groß. 1545 Phenneke to Vernhusen, 1568 Alerdt Vernhusen, 1594 Hermann to Vernehusen, 1680 Alhard Meyer. Eigenhörig an Burg Dinklage, 1844 abgelöst mit einem Entschädigungskapital von 2880...? - Der Monatsschatz betrug in Münsteraner Zeit 2 ...14 Schilling. 1680. 1545: 8 Pferde, 4 Ochsen, 13 Kühe, 15 Rinder, 20 Schweine; 1669: 3 Pferde, 4 Kühe, 7 Rinder, 3 Schweine, 30 Schafe. 1545 12 Mlt Einsaat.
I am having difficulty not only with the abbreviated language but also with the concepts . Would anyone be willing to "translate"" the text above into concepts of today ?
Don't feel bad. Unless one is immersed in history or genealogy these
terms mean little to the German reader too. Burg Dinklage was the
local nobility of which the farmer was basically a land bound serf. He
had to get permission for practically everything. New laws enabled
actual purchase of the land in 1844. The rest are just sna[shots of
what the inventory of the farm was in particular years.
Hofhoerig an die Kirche means ? Leibdienst an die Landesherrschaft means ? Dienstgeld fuer den Leibdienst...Does this mean a financial pay off in lieu of the service for life of what and for whom ?
Hofhörig simply means the farm and its occupants were obligated to
some higher authority in this case the Church or parish. Leibdienst is
service of the body or labor service to the local nobility. Dienstgeld
was payment either in lieu for not doing the actual labor or some
minimal payment contract for doing this work. There is no financial
pay off until much later when actual property ownership was possible.
Financial Obligations...(Lasten) to an official in Vechta 70 what ?
See above.
Are Groschen an Austrian currency ? What has Autumn (Herbstch) do with Financial obligations ? What does 1 Huhn dem Vogten 1 1/2 mean ?
No, it's a generic word for the local currency. The harvest was in the
fall and that when taxes were due in number of bushels or whatever.
One chicken to the Vogt (local authority figure).
What is 1/2 Sch? Goroggen and 1/2 Groschen to an official in Wildeshausen mean
Schäffel(saat) and Groschen - think of it as taxes.
..AND if he was obligated to pay this guy in Wildeshausen why did he also have to pay another fellow in Twistringen ?
Ah, that's the trick. Lots of folks lined up to get their due. Local
taxes, state taxes, federal taxes etc etc - get the point?
What are 20 Roggengarben ?
They would allocate 20 stands of rye after it was cut and stood up for
drying to be delivered to the threshing process.
...and as if it is not already bad enough to have to pay a fellow in
Twistringen and Wildeshausen , why must he also pay the parish priest
and helper in Hackstedt and in Visbek ? Could every "Tom ,Dick and
Harry" in clerical garbs just roll up and demand to be kept by these
poor farmers ?
Pretty much. Remember it was a privilege to work the land someone else
owned the rights to. Deals were made and contracts lasted centuries.
Why after Monatschatz does it mention horses cows and sheep ? Was that the entire livestock of the place or is that the amount demanded of the farmer every month ?
I think that is just an inventory listing.
What is an Eigenhoerige ? Is Burg Dinklage a civil authority or a Church authority?
Dinklage was the nobility. It doesn't matter much wether they were
princes or bishops. The two often intertwined. Much of the Reformation
was about who could own what. The secular lords wanted what the Church
owned. It made it easy for them to switch sides to get property they
could leave their children.
Am I mistaken in my belief that (1) originally ,that means prior to Charlemagne ,these farmers owned the land (2) they were dispossessed by Charlemagne and their land was given to or obtained (by todays standards a swindle) in return for salvation to the Church or monasteries... (3) then was bought back in 1844 with an Enschaedigungskapital öf 2880 (what ?) guilders /schillings /ducats Was the Monatsschatz on Varnhuesen in 1680 of 14 Schillings a monthly tax assessment based on the value of the livestock on the farm ? How much was 14 Schillings in those days ..and could the farmers pay it and did they ?
Now you're really reaching back. Prior to Charlemagne life was tribal.
People worked whatever land they needed to survive. Envision Charles
as the Church coming to the land. Be baptized or off with your head.
Now you've become a subject of the HRE and the land belonged to this
new God you just met. Everything was managed out of Rome for this
Christian God. The pope was his earthly representative and the emperor
was his nominal subject who had the armies on the ground. These armies
had to eat and in came taxes. The Church was part of the game from the
beginning in the tithe but there had to be a system to collect all
this funding. Charles and his predecessors set up these major domus
places which were responsible for local collections and law and order.
In other words, some of the biggest farms from Saxon days now became
Maierhöfe (from the Latin 'major'). Otherwise nothing much changed.
The concept of actual landownership by people had yet to be developed.
Life became centered around a short earthly stay with eternal life as
the reward for working God's land with whatever suffering was
associated with it.
People were born as a test for eternal life. Everything else was not
very important.
I would not seat the small stuff as to what a Schilling was worth.
Money was not really a part of life back then. Most people had none
but the value of good had to be determined somehow and that's were
money came into play. If you didn't have chickens, you could pay in
grain for the prescribed value equivilant.
Fred