Dan Jones wrote in Summer of Blood:
“Between the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 and the end of the fourteenth century, large numbers of the common people of England paid their rent for the small plots of land that fed them in the form of compulsory, hereditary labor service for a lord.” Jones further noted that “lordship existed everywhere…there was little freedom to swap lords and in many areas serfdom (the total ownership of a servant by his or her master) still ran strong.”
These “common people of England,” were subjects to their lord. They had limited rights, limited chances of advancement, and limited freedom. Private ownership of land was beyond the reach for most of them. They belonged to a lower class than their lords. Their access to travel was restricted. Deprived of opportunities their lives were subject to the whims of their masters. The lords would live by one set of rules and the subjects were restricted by another set of rules.
Today there are people who ...
Samuel Adams believed in American Independence from Great Britain. He is one of the most well know Son's of Liberty. On August 1, 1776 he gave a speech to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
William Wilberforce has been called an agitator for his commitment to ending the slave trade. One of his well known speeches on the subject was given on May 12, 1789.
Cardinal Richelieu has been hailed as a great statesman and as a subversive authoritarian. Depending on who you talk to he was a man needed to strengthen the monarchy in France, or he was a tyrant seeking personal power. Next week I will have a book review that may shed more light on Cardinal Richelieu.
This month this community will focus on Natural Law. What is Natural Law? How is it applied in real world situations? What are the alternatives to Natural Law? These are some of the issues that will be discussed this month.
“The natural law is the origin and principle of all virtues and their acts, therefore we must first speak about natural law.”
William of Auxerre
