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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JDRay" data-source="post: 288818" data-attributes="member: 2344">I've got a few bits of information that you may be able to wrangle into part of an answer:An acre is around 45,000 square feet.  It's precise area is just over that, but I can't remember the exact figure.  It's around 215 feet on a side (square).The value of land, both in medieval times and modern, varies with the quality (or qualities) of the land.  Rich soil on the valley floor, clear of trees and rocks that is ripe for planting would be the most valuable land, particularly if it had a water source.  Desert scrub in the badlands, far from the nearest civilization and fraught with hazards such as windstorms and insect infestations would be some of the least valuable.  Land, then and now, is valued on its ability to produce something.  In medieval times, things produced were usually raw materials (timber, limestone, gold, etc.) or crops (wheat, potatoes, hemp, apples, etc.).  Other things that land "produced" were tactical advantages (the top of a hill, for instance), travel (a waterway or road), or aesthetic (a nice view, for instance).There are lots of books at your local library about how farmland was used in medieval times, especialy in late-period England.  Under the feudal system, a landlord might have only a couple of acres of land that was ploughed and divided into strips of one crop row.  A serf would work his crop row (or later, his portion of the crop row) and keep a percentage of what was grown.  In this fashion, the serf had some income from the land and taxes came out in the form of the landowner's cut of the harvest.  But the landowner was beholden to some lord, usually a baron, who took a portion of the cut, and the king took a cut from the baron.The whole question goes back to how the governmental system is established.  Is it based in ideas of capitalism, socialism or feudalism? Can just about anyone own land (city lot with a house, or a small subsistence farm), or is land ownership strictly in the hands of the government, and only leases are allowed?  Something in the middle, like described above?  Does a landowner have to dedicate part of his land to "common grounds," which are basically open to anyone that is a tenant on the land to use (such as community pasture, etc.)?The last bit to think about is the political value of being a landholder.  If the king has granted me 5000 acres of scrubland in the furthest reaches of the kingdom, there's still value at court in being able to say that, "Yes, I have a land grant.  5000 acres from the king.  Yes, I know that's a lot, but, well, the circumstances warranted it."Hope this helps.JD</blockquote>

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