<P> The open - field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in parts of western Europe, Russia, Iran and Turkey . Under the open - field system, each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acres each, which were divided into many narrow strips of land . The strips or selions were cultivated by individuals or peasant families, often called tenants or serfs . The holdings of a manor also included woodland and pasture areas for common usage and fields belonging to the lord of the manor and the church . The farmers customarily lived in individual houses in a nucleated village with a much larger manor house and church nearby . The open - field system necessitated co-operation among the inhabitants of the manor . </P> <P> The Lord of the Manor, his officials, and a Manorial court administered the manor and exercised jurisdiction over the peasantry . The Lord levied rents and required the peasantry to work on his personal lands, called a demesne . </P>

The poor farmers of the manor were called