Source Genre: Inventories

The preparation of an inventory or rent-roll was usually undertaken by the lord of a manor or territory, or, as in our example, by his his representative.
The compact descriptions that resulted were written in a style in keeping with their function.
Inventories of this kind provide information for Bevölkerungs- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte.
In our examples you will see that the production of cloth in the diocese of Augsburg was still located outside the city, in the countryside. And we get an impression of the density of settlement in the surrounding territory and of the productivity of various farmsteads. Inventories are among the very few sources that allow us insights into the everyday lives of the peasantry
In interpreting these sources one must be aware that they are documentary in nature, and were not written with the intention of transmitting knowledge of events in a particular way over many generations. Rather, they are an index of the practical needs of their time.