Households

[Jeanne C. Stapleton]

 Households formed as 1) extended families, 2) a means to
> go somewhere or do something cheaply, and 3) an informal structure
> filling the gap of not having many peers and nobles per se.  There
> were some common law rules about households.  1) It could be formed
> by a lord and a lady, 2) three individuals (three women, three men,
> three sheep)  or it could be formed by a Peer or Noble.  Great
> Houses, like Greater House Locksley, were so called that if the
> household were made up of smaller households (kinda like an umbrella
> corporation, I think.  You get the idea)
>         They were important and actually I miss them a great deal
>         since the
> Household I had (Freehold of Stonebridge) was a very supportive
> group.

I think your three points about the formation of households neatly 
sum up good reasons for their extended existence, including the 
ability to concentrate work and resources into a unit that goes 
places together on a regular basis without having to reinvent the 
wheel each weekend.

Three sheep?  You mean my cats were a household?


Countess Berengaria de Montfort de Carcassonne, OP
Barony of Caerthe
Kingdom of the Outlands