In 789 a statement of Church policy for both clergy and laity was issued under Charlemagne's name. Known as the admonitio generalis, it mentions the chores that peasants were likely to do on a Sunday despite regulations against such work. Although it is from a slightly earlier era than the period covered in this book, it suggests ongoing difficulties in enforcing "sacred" time, on a day when the only permissible chores were carting services for the purpose of supplying vital goods during times of war or, occasionally, for a funeral.

We also order that . . . no servants chores be performed on Sundays . . . that men not perform farm chores, that they refrain from cultivating the vineyards, from plowing the fields, from mowing, from cutting hay or building fences, constructing houses, or working in the garden. By the same token, women are not to manufacture...