Country people often lived on a manor. On a manor there was a village, church, lord's house or castle, and the farmland upon which the people worked. The peasants had requirements they had to fulfill in order to live there. This involved farming the lord's land and paying rents with food. Officials were hired by the lord of the manor in and were responsible for enforcing those requirements. Because many of them were knights, they were often in constant battle between each other. The lord of the manor acted as judge in the manor court and authority to fine those who broke the law. As the manors were usually isolated, the villagers had to produce all they needed themselves. Only salt for curing meats and iron for tools came from outside. An interesting characteristic of the people is that very few ever traveled far from their own villages. And the only visitors were soldiers, peddlers, or pilgrims.