A form of serfdom under the feudal system, whereby peasants were free, but restricted in their movements and options by their lord, to whom they owed labour and services. In theory, the lord in return was meant to look after the wellbeing of the villein.
Villeinage
Fact of the Day
The earliest book of English table manners was written by Daniel of Beccles in the time of Henry II. It prohibited elbows on tables, talking with full mouths and scratching armpits. It also gave guidance on what to do if the wife of the host were to make a pass at a guest: he should feign illness.
Quote of the Day
"Truly, when the day of judgement comes, it will not be a question of what we have read, but what we have done.
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~ Thomas à Kempis, 15th century
On This Day
62 The Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum suffered an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of between 5 and 6. It caused severe damage and was probably a precursor to the Vesuvius eruption of 79CE.
1811 The Regency Act was passed, allowing Prince George of Wales to rule instead of his mad father, George III.
1924 The Greenwich Time Signal, more commonly known as the pips which broadcast at one-second intervals, was first broadcast.
1945 Second World War Special Operations Executive agents Lilian Rolfe, Denise Bloch and Violette Szabo were executed at Ravensbrück concentration camp after being repeatedly interrogated and tortured.
1953 Sweets were taken 'off ration' in Britain, eight years after the end of World War Two.
1971 Apollo 14 landed on the Moon.