Church and people

The church was a major landowner and very much part of the social fabric. Small churches would have stood in sizeable settlements, mostly built of timber and thatched with turf, heather or reed like the houses themselves. Many clerics were not celibate so they and their families formed part of the local community, even if the community was a monastic one.

King hereafter

When Macbeth became King of Alba he would have continued to travel round, staying at various locations around his Kingdom in the same way as he had as Mormaer. Royal and Mormaer lands were managed by so-called thanes, the most basic rank of nobility, relieving itinerant lords and Kings of the burden of local administration.

The middling and poorer layers of society

The middle classes managers of 11th century society were the freeholders, variously called 'hiredmen', 'drengs' or 'husbandmen'. These men were expected to pay tribute or rent in kind, and to serve in the common army if their lord required. They provided local community leadership and stability.

Beneath them were a variety of generally unfree people with various degrees of economic independence all the way down to virtual slavery.