The lives of the peasantry in the medieval community
The heart of the medieval economy was the manor, or lord's estate. Most manors included one or more villages and the surrounding lands. Peasants, who made up the majority of medieval society, lived and worked on the manor.
Peasants and Lords:
- Most peasants ere serfs, tied to the land but not slaves.
- Serfs could not leave the manor without the lord's permission. If the manor was granted to a new lord, the
peasants went along with it.
- Peasants and their lords were tied together by mutual rights and responsibilities.
- Peasants had to work several days a week farming the lord's land, repairing bridges, roads, and fences.
- Peasants paid a fee to the lord when they get married, used the local mill, inherited land.
- Peasants were paid in grain, honey, eggs, or chicken.
- In return for a lifetime of labor, peasants had the right to farm several acres for themselves.
- Peasants were entitled of their lord's protection from raids or warfare, they could not be forced off the
manor.
- Peasants were guaranteed food, housing, and land.
- The medieval manor was a small, self-sufficient world.
- Pheasants produced almost everything they needed, from food and clothing to simple furniture and tools.
- Most peasants did not travel further than miles from their village.
- They had no schooling, and no knowledge of the wider world.
- The community included a dozen of huts, mills, churches, and the manor house.
- Farming was in strips divided among families in different fields. Good and bad lands were shared equally.
- Half the land was left fallow, or unplanted, each year, to allow the soil to regain its fertility.
- Serfs could not leave the manor without the lord's permission. If the manor was granted to a new lord, the
peasants went along with it.
- Peasants and their lords were tied together by mutual rights and responsibilities.
- Peasants had to work several days a week farming the lord's land, repairing bridges, roads, and fences.
- Peasants paid a fee to the lord when they get married, used the local mill, inherited land.
- Peasants were paid in grain, honey, eggs, or chicken.
- In return for a lifetime of labor, peasants had the right to farm several acres for themselves.
- Peasants were entitled of their lord's protection from raids or warfare, they could not be forced off the
manor.
- Peasants were guaranteed food, housing, and land.
- The medieval manor was a small, self-sufficient world.
- Pheasants produced almost everything they needed, from food and clothing to simple furniture and tools.
- Most peasants did not travel further than miles from their village.
- They had no schooling, and no knowledge of the wider world.
- The community included a dozen of huts, mills, churches, and the manor house.
- Farming was in strips divided among families in different fields. Good and bad lands were shared equally.
- Half the land was left fallow, or unplanted, each year, to allow the soil to regain its fertility.