Labor service (English)

A form of land rent that is prominent in classical manors around the 10th century in the West. In exchange for renting farmland from the manor lord and holding it (perpetual tenancy), peasants were forced to work for free on the lord's land, also known as labor rent. There were many cases of three days of corvée per week, which is said to be a harsh land rent burden. However, this weekly corvée was the amount of corvée per 1 hufé (10-15 hectares) of land owned by the peasant. For example, a peasant who owned one-third of a hufé had to pay one day of corvée per week, and the burden for small peasants who had less than that was even smaller. On the other hand, wealthy peasants who owned one hufé owned several slaves and had the slaves perform most of the corvée on their behalf, and only served a few days a year as corvée on the lord's land, accompanied by one slave and one horse. Therefore, for peasants who owned hufés, three days of corvée per week was only about one-tenth of their household labor force.

In addition, in the classical manors in France, the majority of the farmers were colonus (semi-free people), and about half of them and all the slave farmers paid three days of corvée per week or the equivalent. On the other hand, in Germany, more than half of the farmers in classical manors were slaves and were uniformly charged three days of corvée per week, but the remaining semi-free farmers mainly received product rent of about a few percent of the harvest, and the amount of corvée was small. Furthermore, in Germany during the classical manor period, there were still many free farmers who did not belong to manors, so in the rural area as a whole, the ratio of those who paid weekly corvée was not much different from that in France.

In France, the proportion of corvée further decreased in rent manors from the 11th century onwards, and product rent became predominant. In Germany, too, corvée generally decreased during the so-called rent manor period from the 13th century onwards. However, in Germany, the lordship of a manor was divided into judicial power and the right to collect rent, and there were cases where the owner of judicial power (lord) collected about one day of corvée per week as a type of tax. In northeastern Germany, corvée became predominant from the 16th century onwards, and the burden of corvée on poor peasants in particular was heavy. The agricultural reform carried out in Prussia in the first half of the 19th century was aimed at abolishing this corvée for a fee.

In England, corvée was prominent around the 13th century, especially in the southeast, but from the 14th century onwards it was changed to money rent.

[Ichiro Tochigawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

西洋で10世紀前後の古典荘園(しょうえん)に顕著とされる地代形態。農民が荘園領主から農地を借りて保有（永代小作）する代償として、領主直営地で無償労働を強制されたもので、労働地代ともいう。毎週3日の賦役という事例がかなり多く、過酷な地代負担といわれる。しかしこの週賦役は農民保有地1フーフェ（10～15ヘクタール）当りの賦役量で、たとえば3分の1フーフェを保有する農民の賦役量は毎週1日、それ以下の小農民の負担はさらに小さかった。他方1フーフェを保有した富農は、数人ずつの奴隷を所有し、賦役の大部分を奴隷に代行させ、ただ1年に数日だけ、富農自身が奴隷1人と馬1頭とを連れて、直営地で犂耕(りこう)賦役に服したのみである。それゆえフーフェ保有農にとって週3日の賦役は、おのおのの家内労働力の10分の1程度の負担にすぎなかった。

　なおフランスの古典荘園では、大半がコロヌス（半自由人）身分の保有農であったが、その約半数と、奴隷身分保有農の全員とが、フーフェ当り週3日もしくはそれに相当する賦役を負担した。他方ドイツでは、古典荘園農民の半数以上が奴隷身分で、一様に週3日の賦役を課されたが、残る半自由身分保有農は、収穫の数％程度の生産物地代を主とし、賦役量は小さかった。さらにドイツでは古典荘園時代には、まだ荘園に属さない自由農民が多数残存したので、農村全体としては、週賦役負担者の比率は、フランスと大差ない。

　フランスでは11世紀以降の地代荘園で、賦役の比重はさらに減少し、生産物地代が優勢になった。ドイツでも13世紀以後のいわゆる地代荘園時代には、一般に賦役は減少した。しかしドイツで荘園領主権が裁判権と地代収取権とに分化し、裁判権所有者（領主）が租税の一種として毎週1日程度の賦役を徴収した事例もある。また東北ドイツでは、16世紀以後かえって賦役が優勢になり、とくに貧農の賦役負担が大きかった。19世紀前半プロイセンで行われた農業改革は、この賦役の有償廃棄を主眼とするものであった。

　イギリスでは13世紀ごろ、とくに南東部で賦役が顕著であったが、14世紀以後、貨幣地代に変えられた。

［橡川一朗］

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