Due to being grounded the past few weeks I have been kept busy serfing. No, that is not a misspell of surfing. I may have conjured a new word. I have been doing a great deal of surfing for serfs. In other words, I have been working on genealogy, or my family tree. I have attempted to branch out from the usual vital statistics encountered in the Trebon Archives parish records of births, marriages and deaths and see what other sources may provide, specifically the seigniorial registers and land registers for the Hovel (Hawel, Havel, and as I recently found, even Hawle) ancestors. The purpose of this post is to provide some general information from these records on the lives of our ancestors, and how their lives interacted with certain notable societal influences.
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| Hovel House, Dolni Chrastany Frantisek moved here upon marriage photo by MB Hovel, 1993 |
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| 15 Ratiborova Lhota, present time (blue asterisk) Google maps |
Serfdom, common in Eastern Europe into the 19th century, was an institution that took on a life of its own. Two British economists, Klein and Ogilvie, wrote in 2018, there is no definitive answer to why certain institutions formed. They acknowledged that "Institutions are widely viewed as a fundamental cause of economic performance", but, they wondered how does that work? In other words the interplay between economics and institutional formation. To figure this out they examined micro-data from over 11,600 rural villages in Bohemia in the year 1757. Their conclusion was that manorial (aka robota) labor became greater over time as beasts of burden became more common. Less labor was required when only manual labor was the mainstay. This explains why corvee' increased over time. Being peasant farmers most of our ancestors likely worked the fields by hand, and as they could afford they perhaps bought beasts of burden--horses or other animals to assist with farm work. Many likely had their own (leased) small acreage to farm, their own rustikat, as it was known. Much of the unpaid labor for the lord, was on the dominikat, the domains farm. However, they may have assisted with road upkeep or other labor intensive services. In essence the theory these authors reviewed proved correct. Klein and Oglivie concluded that the robota (serf labor) requirements increased as labor became more expensive. Economic factors, therefore, played a role in the serf system. After all these were rural economies and "towns in Bohemia, and in most European societies where serfdom survived in the 18th century, were usually too feeble to provide outside options to either serfs or landlords, and thus did not alleviate coercion – if anything, they sometimes slightly intensified it." Beholden to the lord of the estate, with little other markets available was the reality of my ancestors, at least until 1848.
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| Dolni Chrastany, ~1835 |
Yet, besides giving labor to the lord, our ancestors were often required to provide goods, such as grain, milk, butter, or perhaps weaved cloth (weaver) or shoes (cobbler). Land is a commodity, but it was more plentiful than the labor required for many operations. Farming, particularly in the pre-industrial revolution, was a very hard and labor intensive operation. Until 1848 serfs could not own land, as we know owning land, but they had purchased rights to use land including building a house so this was similar to a long-term lease. In the vernacular of the time this form of "ownership" was known as emphyteusis--certain rights granted to the serf, similar to a long-term lease. They could build a house and farm the fields, but true ownership was elusive. The Hawel family and their interaction with the village and the domain is like our other Eastern European ancestors, and they represent a microcosm of the peasant society in 17th to 19th century Bohemia.
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| Ratiborova Lhota present time Google Maps |
From a genealogical standpoint the lack of mobility of serfs or peasants, their villeinage (tied to the land) has some advantage, once you find the ancestral village, it is a matter of going through the varied registers and vital record books, and if you are lucky you may find something within all those records that have handwriting hard to discern. Most look like scribbles. Records vary in language: German, Latin and Czech, and sometimes a mixture. Their script, my wife says is not unlike the legacy of my own handwriting. From work accomplished for one of my sisters we know that my 3rd great grandfather, Frantisek Hawel was from Ratiborova Lhota (RL) in Bohemia (in German it was known as Melhutka). This was tracked backward to Frantisek's father Matheus, and from Matheus to his father Matheo. Matheo's birth record identified his father as Simon Hawel. At present since the RL vital records online do not exist pre-1694, (although some records may be available in other nearby villages depending upon when a church/parish was established) I could not find Simon's birth record. However, I did find that Simon was married on 8 July 1703 to Elisabeth Pesek, who appears to have been from the village of Vrbice. In Matheo's 1711 birth record, Simon is identified as a tenant and a weaver. Simon's father, according to the marriage record, was Georg Hawel. This is at the point where things get tricky as, lacking vital (first source) records, information becomes dependent upon secondary sources, or the seigniorial and land registers.
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| Hovel Family Generation |
The seigniorial register was generally an annual accounting of serfs under a lord's domain. Consider it a basic census. The lord wanted to know the available households and manpower to assure the proper funds, service, and goods were received. The 1702-1756 register notes that in 1702 Georg Hawel and his wife Magdalena and some of their children are at the family home in RL. This spreadsheet like record also notes that around 1713 Simon is probably now the head of the household and appears to be a rutikat, a farmer on his own land (and giving labor to the domain), and Georg, who lived to 1719 is probably in retirement. The land register records payments from one lease holder to another. For example, the 1707-1882 land register for RL records payments being made by Simon to Georg. I conclude that Simon is taking over the family farm, and is paying his father for shares to perhaps be distributed to other children. This same register, a page later, notes payments by Frantisek's grandfather (Matheo, b 1711) to his dad, Simon. Matheo (Franc's grandfather), born in 1711 and his wife and children are living with Simon and by about 1742 it appears Matheo has bought his father out and is now the presumed head of the household. Simon died in 1749. The circle of peasant Bohemian life is evident in these records.
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| Ratiborova Lhota Seigniorial Register (1702-1756) Georg Hawel family |
Showing the connection that the family had to the domain, the 1702-1756 seigniorial register notes that Matheo (b 1711), was at age 13 (so about 1724) in "Feudal service with consideration." It would appear that the 13 year old boy was at duty to the manor, perhaps a farm hand, livery boy, or in some other service. Matheo, maybe, was dispatched to work as part of robota service, or perhaps in consideration of a loan provided. In any event it is an interesting notation.
Bohemia was a rural, land-based economy, with less than 5% of the population living in urban centers of 5,000 or more persons in the 18th century. Much of the production for sustenance was in the small villages. From a land register we know that RL was the home of a flour mill, and so it would not be surprising for labor from the village residents to be accorded to the flour mill. I suspect it is possible that some of the Hawel family worked at the mill. The mill also had cottages to house itinerant laborers. Villages would provide housing for the poor, with up to four families sharing a 150 sq ft home.
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| 15 Ratiborova Lhota, present day Google Maps |
The seigniorial register for 1702-1756, has Frantisek's grandfather, Matheo, with his spouse and children living with Simon and some other family members. The next register (1756-1766) mainly focuses on Matheo's son Matheus. One can glean some of Frantisek's (b 1769) siblings, Urusla-14, Matheu-13, Dorothea-10, Marie-6 (who died young), Anton-3, Teresia born about 1758, Johann born about 1760 and Matej born 1762. We know that Agnete, also seen as Ann in some records, was probably Matheus' first wife. The record indicates that Agnete had passed away by 1765. In February 1765 Mathous would marry Marie Pannusch (varied surname spellings) probably from house #9 in RL. The Hawel house was #15. (Many, particularly pre-19th century, records do not indicate house numbers.) The households were inter-generational and the older generations, as they retired, depended upon the children for support. In fact, it was not uncommon for the in-laws, whose daughter may have died, to be living with the son-in-law and his new spouse. The grandparents may live in the same house, or if of sufficient ability there may be a secondary or auxiliary dwelling unit, often referred to as an outer house. For example, we know that when Frantisek died in 1847 the parish death record states that he lived at 18 Dolni Chrastany, "outer house."
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| Matheo Hawel Family in Seignorial Register 1756 to 1767 |
Peasant life was hard, during the spring through fall the family would awake with or before dawn. In the winter before daybreak. They would feed and check the animals, let the poultry out of their pen and then move on to breakfast. Breakfast was usually a mash or porridge, and if fortunate perhaps a piece of bread and some cheese. After breakfast, the father, with older sons, would head to fields to work for the day. Their task would depend on the time of year. The mother would tend the children, cook, clean, and do the gardening work. The same breakdown of chores my grandparents, Rudy and Ida Hovel, performed in the 20th century. The whole family would gather in the kitchen-dining room to eat dinner, usually late afternoon. After dinner, household chores were completed. As dark enveloped the dwelling, the evening or night would be spent telling tales and stories. In the inter-generational households of the time there was no shortage of tales or stories to pass on to other household members. Family history was probably told, not written. The father was the head of the household, until such point, as discussed, a son bought him out. The household roles were common for the culture.
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| ~1825 Cadastral Map Ratiborova Lhota Shows that the Hawel family no longer owns land associated with No 15. |
In 1774 Empress Marie Theresia would require six years of mandatory education for children. While taking away some farm help, it also got some of the kids out of the house. The mother's or step mother's breathed a sigh of relief as the kids went to school, and conversely, the teachers looked forward to getting home.
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| Hawel in 1624-1707 Land Register |
Families were generally large, and it was a fact of life that a good number of children died at a young age. Although fathers and mothers did not always live to a ripe old age. It appears both Frantisek and his father married twice. Men often married within a few months of the death of a spouse, in order to have a person care for the children. This dynamic likely is the claim to the evil step mother of Disney fame, and Brother Grimm tales. The second marriage was often to a younger woman. For women, the loss of the husband posed a much more difficult situation. If they lacked any long term leased property to bring to a marriage they were, well, not in high demand. Older woman, who had property, may fare better in finding a spouse. I heard indirectly heard a story told by a woman who worked at the Trebon Archives in the Czech Republic. She noted that a 50 year old woman's husband died, but she had some property to bring which young males found attractive. She played the cougar role and married a much younger man. However, as she was barren the man would have relations with a younger woman who bore his children, and upon his wife's death they would marry. The archivist suspects it was something that was not irregular, likely known and understood in the village.
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| Georg Hawel in 1707-1882 Land Register for Ratiborova Lhota |
Younger widows and their children, lacking property would become dependent upon a brother or other surviving relative for shelter and sustenance. The safety net was the extended family. The seigniorial registers separately record widows and orphans. The oldest seigniorial record available for RL is from 1670, and in that record, with no last name, one can see Georg, wife Magdalena, and their children Georg-8, Ludmila-6, Catherine-4, and Elisabeth-3. While lacking records, the 1675 register interestingly only gives two persons: Georg and son Simon, age 3; this puts Simon's birth around 1672. This is a few years off Simon's recorded death age, but we know that ages in death records were often not accurate. Age meant little to the peasants whose daily grind went day-to-day.
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| 1670 (part) Seigniorial Register Oldest Such Register for Ratiborova Lhota |
The day-to-day grind, however, could be disrupted by a tragedy--the death of a spouse being the main one. From another secondary source, the 1624-1707 land register, this appears to be the case of the Hawel family, many generations distant. Georg's probable father Jakub is dead somewhere near the year 1740, and the land register identifies his widow and some of the children, including Georg at age 5 (putting his birth about 1635). In the mid 1650's there are references to the orphans of Jakub Hawel. (In terms of reliability, the Seigniorial Register is likely closer to correct age).
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| 1624-1707 Land Register Ratiborova Lhota, between the two + signs is Georg, his age of 5 is covered by other letting |
The oldest online record I have seen for the Hawel family is the 1603-1623 Land Register. The top of the page clearly shows the name Hawel and possibly Jakub or Josef following, with a reference to 1603. The ancestral village of the Hawel family, at least as of the early 17th century, is Ratiborova Lhota, Bohemia. Movement between villages in this era was not allowed unless approved by the lord, and this stability has made it easier to locate records. What is often referred to as the second serfdom started 60 to 70 years before 1603, and so it was about 1530 to 1540 that movement apparently became more restricted than in the first serfdom. The lord's needed their laborers. This small village set among the hills and valleys of southwest Bohemia is the home of my ancestors from which my surname has evolved.
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| 1603-1623 Land Register Ratiborova Lhota Hawel Family back to 1603 Oldest found Record of Hawel Family |
This secondary source indicates that Georg's father was Jakub, and that for about 200 years the family kept its residence in Ratiborova Lhota. It appears that after marriage in 1796 Frantisek made his home in Dolni Chrastany. How did he end up in Dolni Chrastany? When Emperor Josef II abolished many aspects of sefdom in 1781, most were not followed, and many of those reforms were repealed after his death in 1790. One reform, however, remained--the ability of serfs to move without permission. At this time the main daily movement of a person was perhaps 6 to 10 miles in a day, due to most having to walk. Ten miles is considered the greatest distance a man laden with goods could walk in a day,and get back home. Dolni Chrastany is, by a present day route, 6.7 miles from Ratiborova Lhota. Frantisek would marry Teresia Jiral of 18 Dolni Chrastany on 25 Oct 1796, with his freedom to find a new residence being related to the reform of Josef II. My great grandfather, Martin (b 1850), and his father, Josef (b 1808) would be born in the same house in which Josef's mother Teresia was born.
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| Route between Dolni Chrastany and Ratiborova Lhota Google Maps |
In the small Bohemian village of Ratiborova Lhota the Hawel family were not dukes, lords, or knights, but peasants, or commoners, much like most all of the other families living in the collection of houses in the village with farm land radiating out from village in long thin parcels. Farmsteads consisted of a house with an attached barn, or perhaps in earlier times the family lived on the floor above animals.As farmers they were part of the backbone to the rural serf-dependent economy of Bohemia and the larger Austro-Hungarian Empire.
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| Frantisek and Josef Hawel (Habl) Mentioned in the Dolni Chrastany Land Register Appears Josef is buying the farm in 1846 |
My serf ancestors did not own land, but had the equivalent of a long-term lease, through the Lord-Serf institution that began in the middle ages. It was a subsistence type of living, with most goods staying for household use. Of course, they had to provide labor, services, and goods to the domain for a few weeks every year or perhaps a few days every week. As many have written, they were a step above a slave. Over time the family would move up the scale to the higher level of peasant farmer a sedlak. Josef and Anna Hawel with their children would migrate to Wisconsin in 1868, forever changing the course of their descendants. What is my key take away from serfing through my Hovel family? The family worked hard, persevered through trails of war, famine, death, tragedy, disease; showed resiliency in the the domineering serf system; and looked to provide a better life for their children. Their values, traits, and decisions laid the groundwork for the success for their descendants.
Author Note: To better understand some of the records, I engaged the services of a transcriber who assisted in attempting to read the old script in the languages of German, Czech and Latin.
Sorry for the length of the post.
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