The land of a manor was the property of the lord and a reeve was an official appointed to supervise lands for a lord when he was absent. The reeve also had to supervise the serfs and villeins. Villeins had a house in the village and worked 2 days a week, they had to collect firewood, get hen’s eggs for Christmas and work when it was harvest time. Every villager was required to attend church and pay a tax known as tithe, which was one tenth of their crops.  The village houses had an undercroft which was used for storage and the living quarters for sleeping and eating. When the lord held a big feast, there was a table known as the ‘high table’ which was reserved for the Lord and his family. There was also a ‘lower table’ which was for the lord’s guests and other higher ranked people. Table manners were an important principle on the ‘high table’ but were not as important on the ‘lower table’. The peasants elected the bailiff who was similar to the reeve and had his own house for him and his family. He was in charge of caring for the manor, supervising the peasants and holding manor courts where judgments were made about nuisances, land issues and inheritance disputes.