Peasants And Labor
Moon stresses that labor and the need to multiply it is what directed much of the peasants’ household organization and marriage habits. The commune redistributed land according to how much labor (usually including women.) a household had. Communes periodically redistributed plots in the community in order to keep proportions the appropriate size to family’s abilities. Labor directly influenced how profitable each peasant family was. Peasants had nearly universal marriage because the decision to marry early was a logical one in a society that relied on labor to survive and comply with the exploitation placed on them. Some historians also stress the importance of the nobles’ influence on peasant marriage practices by demanding that all peasants