Legal Definitions - yokelet

A yokelet is a historical term for a small agricultural farm. Its size was traditionally defined by the amount of land that could be cultivated using only one yoke, or pair, of oxen.

• Example 1: Historical Land Division

  During the medieval period, a wealthy landowner might divide his estate among his children. While his eldest son received vast tracts of land, a younger daughter might be granted a yokelet as her inheritance. This meant she received a small farm, just large enough to be worked by a single pair of oxen, providing a modest means of subsistence rather than significant wealth.

  This example illustrates a yokelet as a specific, small parcel of agricultural land, often used in the context of inheritance or land distribution, emphasizing its limited size and productive capacity.

• Example 2: Agricultural Census and Taxation

  In historical records, such as a 13th-century Domesday-style survey, a village might be described as having "three large manors, seven medium holdings, and twenty-five yokelets." These yokelets would represent the smallest farms in the community, each requiring only one pair of oxen for plowing and cultivation, and would have been taxed accordingly based on their limited size and output.

  This example demonstrates how a yokelet was a recognized category in historical administrative and economic contexts, used to classify and assess the smallest agricultural units within a community.

• Example 3: Subsistence Farming

  Imagine a peasant family in the 16th century whose entire livelihood depended on their yokelet. They would possess only one pair of oxen, which they used to plow their few acres of land to grow enough crops to feed themselves and pay their lord. Their farming practices and crop yields would be entirely constrained by the limited capacity of their single ox team and the small size of their farm.

  This example highlights the practical implications of a yokelet, showing it as a farm whose operations and output were strictly limited by the labor of a single pair of oxen, often supporting a family at a subsistence level.