Legal Definitions - boon day

A boon day (often used in the plural as "boon days") was a historical term referring to specific days when a tenant, particularly a "copyhold tenant" in medieval England, was legally obligated to perform unpaid labor for their landlord, known as the lord of the manor. These services were typically manual or agricultural tasks, forming part of the tenant's rent or duties in exchange for holding their land.

• Imagine a copyhold tenant named Thomas. On certain designated boon days, Thomas might be required to spend the day mending fences around the lord's personal fields or helping to clear new land for cultivation, all without receiving any wages for his work. This illustrates a boon day because Thomas, as a tenant, is performing mandatory, unpaid manual labor for his lord on a specific day, fulfilling his historical obligation.

• Consider Eleanor, another copyhold tenant. Her boon day obligation might involve assisting with the annual maintenance of the manor's main road, perhaps by hauling stones from a nearby quarry to fill potholes, or helping to clear overgrown brush from the lord's hunting grounds. Eleanor's task of road maintenance or clearing land for the lord demonstrates an unpaid service performed by a tenant for their landlord on a designated day, fitting the definition of a boon day.