A large number of villages were incorporated into the estate, giving the basic framework for the organization of villages in medieval Germany. The lords relied on the manor system to bring the peasants under their jurisdiction, and the peasants continued to work in production under the manor system to provide servitude to the lords.
The origin of the German village community has been explained by many historians. According to FS Steinbach, "Village communities develop from common administrative rights and autonomous communities separated from existing jurisdictions."
either within the same territory or through subordinate areas of the jurisdiction" holds that village communes derive from the administrative districts established by the Kingdom of Germany, which were mostly administered by Vogt administrators appointed by the king.
When the administrative district gradually disappeared, the village community took its place and became the new local grassroots organization. The existence of the administrative district is supported by the Cartulary of the Monastery of Rosch, "The compilers of the monastery did not copy exactly the existing archives, but consciously organized the units of the region, first of all in the administrative districts. ”
However, an administrative district contains several villages (village communes), which have taken their place after the dissolution of the administrative district. In contrast, A. Dopsch attached the Familia as the origin of the village community and its legal and administrative organization.
He argues that dependent groups are first and foremost in an economic and legal association, and this is why they serve as a model for village community formation.
Within the village, members of dependent groups continue to operate their traditional forces under the control of the owners of the estate". The historian K. SBader "rejects the first two views."
The analysis of three German historians shows that there is more than one source of the formation of village communities. "Due to the differences in different places, the specific reasons for the formation of village communities are diverse. In the old western districts, some villages had their own form of administration before the estate was established. The lord only confirmed the establishment of the village community after the fact.
"In 1252, the ecclesiastical governor of the Ancona border allowed the villagers of Penna San. Giovanni to form a village community. In fact, four years ago, the village community was established. ”
After it was incorporated into the estate, the village community continued to operate according to its own customs. The village community of Bugbenheim was also formed before it was protected by the lords (kings), who only confirmed their protection.
"Frederick I granted the village of Burgbermheim in Franconia a concession in return for paying an annuity to the emperor, they were free from all lords oppression and received a high degree of imperial protection from all tyrants."
Other village communities were established under the estate. There are also village communities where autonomy is acquired somewhat arbitrarily, such as those that have been granted autonomy for building three-quarters of the castle walls for the lord.
Three factors contributed greatly to the formation of village communes. The first is the lord's need for the collection of rents and the management of the territory. Medieval lords did not have the strong bureaucracy of the Eastern world to gain control over the grassroots.
Thus, the lords of the German region relied on their stewards to connect with the villages, and on the other hand, on the management within the villages to govern the villages.
Therefore, the formation of village communities has a lot to do with the need for lords to collect taxes and the lack of effective management at the grassroots level. Manors in medieval Germany could be divided into ecclesiastical estates and secular aristocratic estates according to the status of their owners.
During the reform of the Cluny Abbey, "the abbot formed a powerful group of monks in a manor-like monastery, and made them follow limited or unlimited manual labor... Many monasteries were the earliest centers of agricultural colonization. ”
However, with the union of the German monarchy and the clerical power, the political influence of the church and the economic benefits that came with it increased. The peasants replaced the clergy as the main labor force, and the direct management of the estate by the monastery gradually relaxed.
Before Pope Leo IX and Gregory VII, the German king or emperor had great influence over bishops and archbishops (especially the right to appoint bishops in German lands).
Desperate to consolidate his rule, kings often appointed their own cronies or relatives to teaching posts. But these secular aristocrats did not know much about the teachings of the Christian church, and the buying and selling of priesthoods became an open secret.
These ills gave direct impetus to the ecclesiastical reform of Pope Gregory VII in the eleventh century. The purpose of the reform was to strengthen the discipline of the Church, "Pope Leo IX strove to establish ties with the lower classes, often sending envoys to various places. Hildebrand often served as the papal envoy to spread the papal encyclical everywhere. "
A series of propositions such as regulating the moral behavior of clergy by strict fatwa, strict celibacy, and prohibiting the return of church property by various means. ”
The strict celibacy system, which focused on the cause of serving God, led to less clerical intervention in secular affairs. As a result, the need for self-management in the church-dependent villages scattered throughout Germany became increasingly prominent.
