Kinship, Inheritance, and New Households
The PeasantsThis thread traces family obligation from contested inheritance to the creation of new homes and the recurring uncertainty of who belongs.
increasing
Bearing strength in each event
decreasing
The Old Household

The Old Household
A family under one roof
Maciej Boryna’s farmstead holds grown children, workers, and dependants whose roles are shaped by the patriarch’s control.
Kinship and property
Family affection is real, but land determines who can remain, marry, or form an independent home.
Inheritance Fractures

Inheritance Fractures
A contested settlement
Maciej’s land agreement with Jagna changes the family’s expectations and intensifies Antek’s grievance.
The family breaks apart
The dispute leads to violence and expulsion, showing how a transfer intended to secure one household can divide another.
A New Family Home

A New Family Home
Szymek and Nastusia leave
After defying Dominikowa, Szymek and Nastusia establish their own cottage and begin a separate household.
Community makes a home possible
Neighbors provide labor, food, and materials, presenting kinship as something that can extend beyond blood relations.
The Return of the Father

The Return of the Father
Antek comes home
Antek returns from prison to Hanka and their children, whom he has been separated from for months.
Kinship renewed
He acknowledges Hanka’s work and embraces the children, rebuilding a family bond without resolving every old injury.
A Village of Unequal Kinship

A Village of Unequal Kinship
Kinship helps and excludes
Families feed, house, and support one another, yet property and reputation determine who is welcomed and who is turned away.
Community as family substitute
The village sometimes functions as extended kin, but its support remains selective and can become coercive.
autumn
late autumn
after the forest conflict
late summer
near the ending