This sounds similar to the old swedish tradition, where the farmers old parents could be "set aside" (satta p=C2 undantag). It was legal until 1972, but I it went out of practice earlier.
Anyway, my point is that this often was a fairly strict contract (verbal or
written), detailing exactly the rights and interests due the parents.
Naturally this was often a source of miscontent. The son thought the
conditions were too harsh, the parents thought the son did not follow the
contract, other siblings saying that the inheritor did not honor the
contract and wanting to oust him from the farm, the eldest son not taking
over the farm because some one else agreed to a more benificial contract
for the parents, etc.
And conflicts within the family could of course often lead to conflicts
long lasting disoutes over the following generations.
Great material for stories!
At 21:15 2005-03-09, Stephen Tempest wrote:
>They even had pension schemes. The average villein couldn't sell
>their land, since they didn't own it. However, when they grew too old
>to farm it themselves, they'd transfer it to another tenant (possibly
>their own son) in return for a 'maintenance agreement'.
--- Henrix ------------------------------
Powered by hypermail