It also changes our knowledge of the Castle’s history. The Dudley period is known as a period of ruin and neglect, deliberately left to rot to emphasise its antiquity. This plasterwork, found in the old medieval Solar, suggests it may been renovated with the latest 16th designs.

It’s called the “rule of law” @jdvance. Our constitution created three co-equal branches of government to provide checks and balances on each other (“separation of powers”). The judiciary makes sure that the executive follows the law. If you do, then you won’t have problems.

.JD Vance -If you believe any of the multiple federal courts that have ruled against you so far are exceeding their statutory or Constitutional authority, your recourse is to appeal. You don’t get to rage-quit the Republic just because you are losing. That’s tyranny.

Two coins that I found a couple of years ago! Top: 1st Century Roman silver from emperor Vespasian. Bottom: A silver 17th Century Danish coin! 😍👌 #metaldetecting

A perfect clay pipe, c.1620, still blackened with soot inside the bowl from the last person who smoked it 400 years ago. A fairly common find, but they still send shivers of delight down my spine when I pick them up. #mudlarking

You’re a medieval peasant farmer. You’re at the bottom rung of society—bound to the land with limited social mobility… But life isn’t all bad. Here’s what it looks like🧵

Even compared to the glorified Roman Empire, the average “Dark Age” peasant likely saw lower taxes, more freedom, and a weaker ruling class under the Manorial system—a type of Feudalism where peasants worked the land under a lord.

In this system, the manor was the epicenter of rural life, often surrounded by several hundred acres, hovels, a church, and community grain mill. The lord of the manor was usually a bishop or abbot of the local church, or a wealthy noble.

The manor system was community-oriented. Farms were concerned with self-sufficiency rather than outside trade. This, on the heels of the Roman Empire’s high taxes, imperial trade, and military oversight, suggests a freer, more locally-minded early Medieval society.

They typically used open-field systems with no barriers between neighboring farmers’ plots. A peasant laborer would farm a dozen or so narrow strips of arable land. Ridges and furrows were intensively plowed for removing weeds, adding drainage, and preparing the next planting.

To accomplish all this plowing, oxen and horses served as Medieval "tractors." In fact, if you wander among the British countryside today, you can still find these furrows and ridges in memorial to the great labors of the Medieval peasant and his beasts of burden.

Other animals were kept for meat, dairy, and wool. Cattle, sheep, and goats were grazed on common fields. Chickens likely roamed the village. The manor forest was used for raising pigs and gathering lumber and firewood for the long winters.

About 12 acres of land were needed to support a large family. Peasants mostly grew rye, wheat, barley, and oats in northern Europe. Peas, beans, and fruits were secondary.

Even with virtually no understanding of soil nutrients or microfauna, Medieval farmers still knew the importance of crop rotation and letting farmland rest fallow. Many practices used a three-field rotation of communally-planned fields.

Still, yields were low compared to modern farms. One theory for the low yields was a shortage of animal dung—nature’s best fertilizer—due to too few grazing livestock and pasture to support them.

Because farmers were at the whim of the four seasons, only so much farm work could be done in a year. Winter was a time for rest. The Church mandated holy days (holidays) not only for religious observance but also to appease revolting populations.

Sunday was always a day of rest and Mass, and the peasant could expect time off for births, weddings, and whenever traveling entertainment came through. Scholars estimate the number of days off varied from 50 to 150 days a year. Surprising, right?

While peasants were the bottom of medieval society, they enjoyed several rights, lived under protection from knights and lords, and worked less than you probably do. So, how does your life compare to that of a Medieval peasant?

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Mueller, She Wrote I have lost all faith that there is any justice and America.