New FranceThe Seigneurial System

What is the Seigneurial System?

• It is the way the King of France wanted to divide the land

• Land was divided into large squares

• One man was given the land

• This man was called a seigneur or a LORD

What is the Seigneurial System?

• The seigneur would ask farmers to live on the land

• When farmers moved there, they would divide the land even more

• The farmers were called censitaires or TENENTS

What did the Seigneurial System look like?

• The seigneury was usually next to a river

• This help people travel quickly

• The water also helped farmers grow crops

• The seigneury looked like lots of rectangles stuck together

What was on the Seigneury?• You could find lots of things

on the seigneury:– The lord’s house– The tenants’ houses– Farms– Roads– Windmill– Sawmill– Pier– Church– Cemetery– Land for animals to walk and

eat

The Lord’s House

• The Lord’s house and land was usually close to the water and church

• The Lord’s house was usually bigger than the farmer tenants’ houses

• The Lord also had a lot of land called the DOMAINE

The Lord’s House

The Tenants’ Houses & Farms

• The farmer tenants’ houses were small• The land they had was usually a narrow or thin

rectangle• Sometimes the land was oddly shaped because

of small rivers, hills or other natural elements• The farmers used the land to grow crops• Crops were important for the farmers to make

money

The Tenants’ Houses & Farms

Roads

• The First road was called the King’s Road• The second road was called the 2nd row• The third row was called the 3rd row• The road that came up from the river was

called LA MONTEE

Roads

KING’S ROAD

1st ROW

2nd row

MONTEE

The Pier

• The pier was important because boats carrying important goods could stop and leave from there

• Boats that left the pier could bring goods grown by the farmers to markets to be sold

• Soldiers and other people who want to communicate quickly would use waterways to get around quickly

The Pier

The Windmill

• The windmill was important because it was used to grind up grains to make bread and other edible goods

• The windmill would be placed close to the water where there was a chance for more wind.

• More wind means the mill could work better

The Windmill

The Sawmill

• The sawmill would be used as a place to cut wood

• The cut pieces of wood could be used to build several different things

The Sawmill

Land for Animals

• The farmers would keep their animals on one piece of land, usually in the center of the seigneury

• Animals could eat the grass there this is called grazing

• The land was usually called the COMMUNE

Land for Animals

Church and cemetery

• The church and cemetery were very important to have at each seigneury

• Remember, the people living in New France were Catholic they needed a church

• The church and cemetery were usually in the center of the seigneury

• Having a church close by was important traveling far away was almost impossible

Church & Cemetery

What happened on the Seigneury?

• The Lord was in charge• The tenants worked hard• The Lord and the tenants had RIGHTS &

DUTIES• Rights what they were allowed to do and

what they were allowed to have• Duties things they had to do

Duties of the Lord• The Lord had to:– Be loyal to the King of France– Give any valuable mineral or stones to the King– Build a church on the seigneury and pay taxes to

the church– Divide land for the farmers– Build roads for the farmers– Live on the seigneury

Rights of the Lord• The Lord was allowed to:– Sit at the front of the church during church

events–Be buried in the church cemetery– Tax the farmers money or the farmers

would give the Lord goods from their farms–Ask the farmers to work on his land for free

during 3-4 days out of the year

Duties of the tenants/farmers• The tenants/ farmers had to:–Give free work to the Lord–Pay taxes to the Lord & church–Use the mill of the Lord and give him

some of the milled grain–Give some money to the Lord if he sold

his land

Rights of the tenants/farmers

• The tenants/farmers were allowed to:–Sell his land or leave it to his family–Use the mills (he paid for this)–Let his animals use the COMMUNE (he

paid for this)–Keep most of his profits from his farm