Blog Post: Debt Bondage in the Kingdom of Iyves

Overview

Most of the labor performed on the properties of affluent individuals in Iyves is done by peasants under contract. These peasants do not work for a wage but instead work to pay off the debt incurred for their right to live and work on the lands belonging to their employer. When a free citizen enters into a contract of debt bondage in Iyves, the terms and conditions may vary wildly from one "employer" to the next. Contracts are often designed to plunge the bonded peasant further into debt as the full cost of living is assessed to the debtor. Most peasants die passing these debts onto their children, and their children's children.

Balance Sheets

The wife of a landowner or her steward would maintain the balance sheets for a bonded peasant. Each adult male, regardless of household, typically has his own sheet with his dependents accounted for. Adult males living in the same household split tax expenditures and land rental. An example sheet for Jemec is below. As an adult male, his debt is tied to his father's but considered separate from it.



For a peasant who sells a service to generate revenue (as in the case of Jemec above), the employer will always pay himself first (or rather second-- a minimum 5% of Jemec's seasonal income goes toward paying off his bond per the contract). From there, the employer will pay debts owed to other lords by rank. This could get tricky for the peasant that does not generate enough revenue through his trade to pay his debts. If he defaults, he could easily land himself in jail until the debt is paid. While in jail, he could rack up more debt with no means of working to pay off that debt. The full cost of Jemec's bond is tacked onto his father's. Any additional debt that he accrues while in jail also becomes his father's debt.

Ultimately, the family of the imprisoned debtor would be forced to sell him into slavery just to survive because for a man like Jemec's father (who sells a commodity), the lords' debts are paid first. This means that his employer may refuse his family food, waste removal, etc in the case of a default. The employer needs a goat herder's labor too much to risk his imprisonment but by the same token, he won't lose any money in paying for that goat herder's living expenses. If Jemec's imprisonment causes his father to default, the family may well starve.

Once the family member in prison is sold as a slave, the family has only to hope that the revenue will pay all of that family member's outstanding debts. If Jemec, for instance, was sold into slavery today (particularly now that he is somewhat compromised), he probably would not fetch more than 11000 drakos. The family would not even be able to pay his bond in full. Jemec's outstanding debt would remain part of his father's contract, but at least there would be no additional debt accrued. And of course, all of this is dependent upon the will of the employer who owns the contract. He may very well refuse to allow the family to sell the imprisoned debtor in the first place (although, this would not be very advantageous to the employer at this point).

Not every contract will include a minimum bond. This is (on paper) somewhat gracious of Lord Corin. The Gomohov bond does depreciate most every season because of the minimum bond. It is when the minimum bond interferes with the bondsman's ability to pay debt owed to his lords that things get hairy. If Jemec were making a profit, this would go directly into Baron Corin's pocket. A percentage of that profit would also go toward paying Jemec's bond. That percentage is determined by the contract. In the above balance sheet, Jemec owes General Sholde 8 drakos.