Introduction
The database of the Commons has been made using Microsoft Access® 2007. The database consists of several datasets. The central dataset is the dataset called ‘Commons’. It contains the main unique data concerning the commons found and entered. Items that relate to the specified common, but are in a many-to-one relationship to the specified common, have been entered into separate datasets, linked to the ‘Main Table’. For instance, concerning a specified common, several literary sources have been found; thus, the literary sources are in a many-to-one relationship to the common and have been entered into a separate dataset. The datasets related to the commons entered into the ‘Main Table’ are named after the main item of content: ‘Numbers of members’, ‘Archives’, ‘Literature’ and ‘Detailed regulations’.
Main Table
This main dataset contains among other data the extensive information on and about the commons, based on the work of Beekman (1920-5, Vol. 6) and for the province Gelderland on the work of Sloet (1911). Descriptions of commons that do not appear in these works, but have shown up in archival sources, generally only provide basic information such as country, province, location of common, name of common, and a classification for the type of common.
| Commons_ID | Id within ‘Commons’ dataset. |
| Country | Country in which the common was situated. Only commons situated in the Netherlands have been structurally entered into the dataset. |
| Province | Province in which the common was situated. |
| Location Common | Name of the town, village, buurschap, or area where the common was situated. |
| Name Common | Name of the common. |
| Location specific | Specific location of lands of the common, whenever possible time-specified. Contains regular references for Drenthe and sometimes for Gelderland. |
| Cadastral section | Cadastral section where lands can be found that used to belong to the common. Contains regular references for Drenthe and sometimes for Gelderland. |
| Type of Common | Common land management can be referred to as marken, meenten, buurschappen or maalschappen. If the common is known under several terms, this field contains multiple terms separated by a slash (/). |
| Type of natural resource | Natural resources found in the common. Field contains the following terms, which may be found in the glossary: oever, es, kom, groenland, heide, bos, weiland, brink, veen, ondergronden, dalgrond, wateren, veld, zand, koeweide, hooiland, uiterwaarden, meent, twijgwaard, broek, belt, akker, houthaag, wildernis, schaapsweide, turf, zodden. |
| Estimated surface | Estimated surface of the common in hectares, when possible with specified year between brackets (). Surfaces given in morgen mentioned in sources dating after 1806 (in 1806 the rijnlandsche morgen (0.85 hectares) became the standardized surface measurement for the Kingdom of The Netherlands) have been converted into hectares, with the original surface in morgen in between brackets. Older surface descriptions are in original form. Surfaces mentioned in sources dating from before 1806 are only entered with the surface measurements as mentioned within the source. |
| Estimated starting year | Oldest (archival) reference to common. |
| Beginning | Year of foundation of common. |
| Estimated end | Estimated year of dissolution of common. Most commons were dissolved after 1810, before that time the specific references to dissolution are rare. |
| End | Year of dissolution of common. Usually only known for dissolutions after 1810. |
| Erf-markerichter | This field indicates whether the highest administrative office of the marke – that of markerichter – was hereditary. |
| Chosen markenrichter | Indicates whether the highest administrative office of the marke – that of markerichter – was subject to election. Sometimes the office of markerichter was chosen, this could be for one year, several years or life depending on the mark. |
| Remarks on markerichters | Field contains additional information about the markerichter, for instance the number of markerichters, or to which gewaarde erf or family the office was bound. |
| Remarks on other administrators | Field contains what different kind of administrative offices where held in the common, and how many people held such an office. |
| Division of Lands | Field states whether dissolution of the common was carried out via a division of lands. Information has only been structurally supplied for Overijssel by Beekman (Engelen van der Veen, vol. 6.2, 1924). Therefore a fairly reliable overview is only available for Overijssel. |
| Sale of lands | Field states whether dissolution of the common was carried out via a sale of lands and a division of the proceeds. Information has only been structurally supplied for Overijssel by Beekman (Engelen van der Veen, vol. 6.2, 1924). Therefore a fairly reliable overview is only available for Overijssel. |
| By waardeel | If this field has been marked, it means that the amount of land or money a person was to receive after dissolution of the common was based on the amount of waardelen a member owned. |
| By user rights | If this field has been marked, it means that the amount of land or money a person was to receive after dissolution of the common was based on the access rights this person had on the common (for instance how many animals a member was allowed to keep on it). |
| By contribution | If this field has been marked, it means that the amount of land or money a person was to receive after dissolution of the common was based on the amount of money or time spent by a member for the upkeep of the common, or the amount a person paid every year to use the common. |
| By fields/meadows | If this field has been marked, it means that the amount of land or money a person was to receive after dissolution of the common was based on the hectares of land owned by a member, sometimes with subdivisions for the sort of land. |
| By land tax | If this field has been marked, it means that the amount of land or money a person was to receive after dissolution of the common was based on the amount paid by a member in land tax. |
| By ownership house | If this field has been marked, it means that the amount of land or money a person was to receive after dissolution of the common was based on the kind of house(s) a member owns. |
| By cows | If this field has been marked land or money a person was to receive after dissolution of the common was based on the number of cows owned by a member. |
| Part for ongewaarden | The arrangements for ongewaarden who had some user rights but not full access to the marke have only been sparsely given by Beekman (vol. 6, 1920-1925). |
| Short History of Common | This field contains a short summary of the history of the common. |
| General remarks | Remarks. |
| Also known as | This field contains alternate names for a common, found within the sources. The most frequently used name has been given in the field ‘Name of Common’ . |
Number of members
This database contains quantitative data on the number of members in each common.
| ID | Id within ‘Members’ dataset. |
| Commons_ID | Id within ‘Commons’ dataset. |
| Name of Common | Name of the Common. |
| Location | Location of the common. |
| Year Beginning | First year for which the number of members of the common is known. |
| Year End | Last year for which the number of members of the common is known. Combined with the field ‘Year Beginning’, period for which the number of members is known. |
| Number of commoners | The number of commoners in a specific year or period. |
| Type of commoners | The specific type of commoners (for instance: gewaarden, ongewaarden etc.). |
| Number of gewaarde erven | The number of gewaarde erven, farms with stints, in the common. |
| Number of katersteden | The number of katersteden, small farms without stints, in the common. |
| Number of waardelen | Number of waardelen, stints, in the common. |
| Source of information | Source of information used for this entry of the dataset. |
| Remarks | Remarks. |
Literature
This dataset contains the literature that has served as a basis for the ‘Main Table’ dataset. It is not an extensive bibliography – the commons bibliography can be found here. This dataset also contains a few references to source books for regulation documents. The field ‘Year Sources’ gives the years for which regulation documents are available in this publication.
| Id | Id within ‘Literature’ dataset. |
| Commons_Id | Id within ‘Commons’ dataset. |
| Name of Common | Name of the common. |
| Location | Location of the common. |
| Author | Author of the book. |
| Year | Year of publication. |
| Title | Title (shortened) of the book. |
| Location in work | Page(s) of the book, on which the information concerned has been mentioned. |
| Remarks | Remarks. |
| Year sources | Years for which regulation documents have been published by the source book mentioned in this entry. |
Archives
This dataset contains references to the years for which the specific archival sources are available concerning commons in a specific archival fund. An account of the search method can be found here. If types of archival sources are available for a longer period of time, the period has been indicated by the first and last years for which this type of source is available. This does not, however, mean that documents are available for all the consecutive years; gaps of around 25 years are possible/not uncommon.
| Id | Id within ‘Archive’ dataset. |
| Commons_Id | Id within ‘Commons’ dataset. |
| Name of Common | Name of the common. |
| Location Archive | Physical location archive (city). |
| Archival fund | Name of archival collection, the specific content of the inventory can usually be found under the … tab on this website or by clicking here (please add link to the inventory section of the website). |
| Markeboek | Years for which Markeboeken are available in the specified archival fund. This may contain a variety of information, such as rules and regulations, (financial) administration, lists of members, and border or legal conflicts. |
| Regulations | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund that contain regulations, rules, and willekeuren concerning commons. |
| Number of members | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund that contain lists of members or waardelen concerning commons. |
| Sale | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund about property, property management, property, and some water management concerning commons. |
| Division | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund about division or final division of the common. |
| Border | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund about borders of a common, and documents on legal conflicts about borders. |
| Administration | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund about management, administration, minutes from meetings etcetera concerning commons.Also documents for financial administration in Drenthe and Groningen. |
| Financial administration | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund about the common’s financial administration.Not included in this field are financial documents for Drenthe and Groningen. |
| Legal conflict | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund about legal conflicts concerning commons. These conflicts may be conflicts with or between members, local government, or other commons. |
| Maps | Years for which maps on which the common is depicted are available in the specified archival fund. |
| Social | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund about social activities of the common, usually pertaining to schools, churches and relief of the poor. |
| Other | Years for which archival pieces are available in the specified archival fund about the common that do not fit into any other category, or references that are nondescript. |
| Remarks | Remarks. |