Lords and tribute: who holds the land, and what it does to a city
Lords or a state take a fixed share of the harvest and of labour. European serfdom, Aztec tribute, Inca labour service (mit'a). 15% of the people do not farm; lords, tithes and taxes take about 33% of the harvest.
Dues
- Dues to the lord: 6% to 9% of the harvest
A city of 20,000 on a river, in a temperate forest
| Regime | Do not farm | Taken from the harvest | Largest town within a day | Countryside of a city of 20,000 | Scholars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clans and chiefdoms | 5% | 10% | 2,200 | 23,000 km², 3.5 days | 40 |
| Free farmers under a tax | 10% | 20% | 6,600 | 7,600 km², 2 days | 160 |
| Lords and tribute | 15% | 33% | 11,000 | 4,500 km², 1.5 days | 80 |
| Sharecropping | 18% | 45% | 14,000 | 3,500 km², 1.5 days | 80 |
| Great slave estates | 22% | 50% | 19,000 | 2,700 km², 1.5 days | 100 |
Orders of magnitude for play: sourced figures and Hearth estimates together. Every source, and every figure still waiting for one, is listed in the builder under Sources.
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