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Conclusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2009

Govind P. Sreenivasan
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Massachusetts
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Summary

In June of 1542, old Benedict Seitz of Betzisried bought a horse from a neighbor, Jörg Stroglin. The deal was formalized with the traditional cup of wine, but does not seem to have rested on an explicit price. When the transaction became the subject of a dispute in the following year, one witness to the sale testified that he could not remember the price, while another declared that buyer and seller “had agreed to nothing more than that Bene should work for Jörg two days a week … and that he [Benedict] should pay him [the remainder of] whatever was not worked off by Martinmas [11 November].” Benedict's wage rate was no more clearly stipulated than the price of the horse: the witnesses (a total of five were deposed) added only that Jörg agreed to notify Benedict every Sunday which days of the week he would be needed, “so that he could [also] work in other places.”

In March of 1698, another Ottobeuren peasant became embroiled in a similar dispute. Jerg Stich of Böhen complained to the court of the Kempten district of Falken that he had been swindled in a horse trade the previous month by one Franz Meÿr of Dietmannsried. Meÿr had taken advantage of his “drunken imprudence,” Stich claimed, to take Stich's horse, worth 25 fl. at least, in exchange for 2 1/2 fl. in cash and a nag worth no more than 10 fl. The defendant took exception to this characterization of the exchange.

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The Peasants of Ottobeuren, 1487–1726
A Rural Society in Early Modern Europe
, pp. 343 - 357
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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  • Conclusion
  • Govind P. Sreenivasan, Brandeis University, Massachusetts
  • Book: The Peasants of Ottobeuren, 1487–1726
  • Online publication: 21 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496943.011
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  • Conclusion
  • Govind P. Sreenivasan, Brandeis University, Massachusetts
  • Book: The Peasants of Ottobeuren, 1487–1726
  • Online publication: 21 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496943.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusion
  • Govind P. Sreenivasan, Brandeis University, Massachusetts
  • Book: The Peasants of Ottobeuren, 1487–1726
  • Online publication: 21 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496943.011
Available formats
×