Siena, the story of a mediaeval commune . simplefact is that the breath of freedom wafted abroad wakedeven the most remote agricultural districts to new may prove interesting to inquire a little more particu-larly just what changes this liberating movement broughtabout, first, in the relation of the lords to their peasants,and, second, in the general level of comfort and dignitymaintained by the humble tillers of the soil. Originally, wherever feudalism held sway, thecountry folk were largely serfs who cultivated theirlands under a system of tenure, obliging them to pay * Such a social
Siena, the story of a mediaeval commune . simplefact is that the breath of freedom wafted abroad wakedeven the most remote agricultural districts to new may prove interesting to inquire a little more particu-larly just what changes this liberating movement broughtabout, first, in the relation of the lords to their peasants,and, second, in the general level of comfort and dignitymaintained by the humble tillers of the soil. Originally, wherever feudalism held sway, thecountry folk were largely serfs who cultivated theirlands under a system of tenure, obliging them to pay * Such a social-political study as I have in mind has never been under-taken, though much material dealing with the Aldobrandeschi fortunes hasbeen diligently collected. See Berlinghieri, Notizie degli Aldobrandeschi;Milanesi, Periodico di Numismatica, Vol. I (1868), p. no^.; Repetti,Dizionario geografico, Appendice, chap. 12; Davidsohn, Forschungenzur Geschichte von Florenz, Vol. I, p. 94; and numerous notices (passim)in Bull. Sen. and Mis. Stor. < °. E- THE SIENESE CONTADO 233 certain customary dues, in the form of personal services,farm products, or money to their lords. It lay in thehaphazard nature of the feudal bond—to dignify it withthe name of the feudal system is an act of excessivecourtesy—that these dues varied greatly from provinceto province, often from neighbor to neighbor. Thelord dwelt in a fortified castle, wherein, however, hisdependents were not without rights, for they stored theirgrain and wine within its walls. Davidsohn, writingof the Arno valley,* has shown how this commoninterest in a central stronghold gradually led to definiteagreements between the lords and the agriculturalpopulation, and how these agreements exhibit a steadyimprovement in the social and economic status of thepeasantry. It is with distinct surprise that the student,accustomed to think of the feudal age as one of unlimitedpetty tyrany, will learn that by the twelfth century thepeasants
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