Heerlijke karweien in het graafschap Vlaanderen tijdens de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw

Labour Services in the County of Flanders during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

This article examines practical aspects associated with the enforcement and execution of servile works in the County of Flanders during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a feudal right that required peasants to perform labour for their lord. Although this ‘corvée’ labour largely fell into disuse from the late Middle Ages onwards, archival sources from Poeke and Boelare show that the system was still actively applied locally. Analysis of corvée records reveals remarkable flexibility in implementation, differentiation according to socio-economic status and a gradual transition to optional redemption systems – all of which mainly benefited the peasantries. The administration of servile works was therefore complex and reflected demographic changes within the seigneuries. The downside was a particularly high administrative burden for the lord, raising the question of whether this indirect cost was not one of the causes of the system’s decline. Finally, this study nuances the image of early modern corvée labour as inherently conflictual as most subjects of the lords executed their labour duties without clear signs of protest or contention.