Now, step back into the medieval world…
They were poor. They did all the menial work. They made up more than 90% of the population. They were often wretched and pitiable. Which people am I describing?
No, not you! You may believe your lives to be wretched and feel that a little sympathy is just what you need, but I’m referring to the peasants of medieval Europe.
Image kindly provided by http://retrokat.com/medieval
Even in such a lowly group, there were variations in status. Some were free and some were serfs. A serf was like a slave but not quite a slave. My beloved Shorter Oxford (which I carry around in my pocket on my i-Pod) describes a serf in this way: “a person in a condition of servitude or modified slavery”. According to this tome (which in its book form would weigh down even the healthiest peasant), the powers of the master were “more or less limited by law or custom”. You can see that the writers of the Shorter Oxford, being learned types, don’t want to be too specific.
In any case, I doubt whether such precise meanings would have mattered much to the peasants. When you are nearly a slave, but not quite, the finer distinctions might not concern you. (The word “villein” is also used sometimes as a synonym for serf.) Servitude meant that the serfs were subject to the will of the lord of the manor; they could not leave the manor without his permission. They were subjugated, they were poor, they were often hungry; to get through each year would have required unimaginable struggle, grinding toil and, I assume, a fair bit of luck.
Hunger was a constant danger, starvation a real possibility. According to Lacey and Danziger, the writers of The Year 1000: What Life was Like at the Turn of the First Millenium, July in England was the toughest month for the poor to get through. The spring crops had not yet matured; the midsummer harvest produced hay for the animals and nothing for the humans. This time was referred to as “the hungry gap”.
Yet there were some healthy aspects of their lifestyle. They had a very healthy diet, if only they could get enough of it. They lived on a pottage (like a porridge) of grain and vegetables, into which they dipped the hard, coarse and often stale flat bread that they baked. No soft, fluffy bread for them: their bread was a little like a pita bread or nan, but tougher and coarser. The pottage served to soften the hard, stale bread and make it edible. The bread was also used as an edible plate, called a “trencher”.
A detail from the beautiful 15th century Book of Hours (in the public domain from about.com) called Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. This shows October – tilling and sowing.
One of the healthiest aspects of their diet was that they had no sugar. Until the 17th century, when sugar was brought back from the Caribbean, no one in England had sugar. Honey was so precious that it was sometimes used as a currency. Imagine a life without sugar! But at least it meant they experienced almost no dental or jaw decay. The skeletal remains of the Anglo-Saxons in the year 1000 show that they were surprisingly tall, with excellent teeth.
Below are some extra details about their lives, with some websites for you to explore. Don’t work too hard. I don’t want you to feel like serfs.
Did you know…?
Medieval peasants worked long hours, produced most of the food and paid most of the taxes. If you want justice, don’t expect to find it in the medieval world.
Peasants’ cottages had dirt floors and walls made of mud and straw. There was no glass in their windows and their animals often lived with them.
Fleas were common. People expected to have them.
Many peasants died in the winter from hypothermia.
Outer clothes were rarely washed but wood smoke acted as a kind of deodorant.
It has been estimated that 20% of women died in childbirth (this would not have varied much from peasants to the wealthy, presumably). Infant mortality was also high.
CLICK ON THESE SITES TO DISCOVER MORE…
General details of peasant life: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/pdailylife.html
A village street of the Middle Ages
Click on the characters in the street to discover the range of people in medieval life:
http://www.camelotintl.com/village/street.html
Peasant life and housing with pictures of cruckhouses: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_peasants.htm
Some questions for you to answer in a comment:
1) Read up on the kinds of people who lived in medieval villages and think about the advantages and disadvantages of each person. Who would you most like to be and why? A trader? A peasant? A lord?
2) Which part of being a medieval peasant would you find the hardest? (Think about what you would miss most: Facebook? PSP? Sugar? The internet? Getting an education?)
3) Name one modern object/idea/thing you would give a family of medieval peasants (e.g: electricity or a television).
4) Now imagine you could only give the family one medieval object, idea or experience – what would you give them? (e.g. a cow, a new church, more clothing, better toilet facilities). Make sure you include WHY you think this is the most important thing a medieval family of peasants needs.
I would like to be a lord because they had slightly better lives than the commoners.
Although they had better food, possible education it still had its disadvantages, there was always the possibility of being assassinated or thrown from power.
The hardest part of being a peasant would probably be having to work all day and not have a lot of variety in my diet.
2) I would find working for long hours the hardest as I would like a day where all I would like to do is sit on my chair and on my computer.
2) The part of modern life i would miss most would be the entertainment we have on computer, TV and portable gaming consoles.
If I could give a modern object to a family of medieval peasants would be electricity so that they don’t have to work in total darkness at night time.
1) Read up on the kinds of people who lived in medieval villages and think about the advantages and disadvantages of each person. Who would you most like to be and why? A trader? A peasant? A lord?
I would like to be a trader because you get to travel from places to places, unlike being a lord, who stays in one place and takes care of it. Also, you get better lives than the peasants and you make more money!
2) Which part of being a medieval peasant would you find the hardest? (Think about what you would miss most: Facebook? PSP? Sugar? The internet? Getting an education?)
I would find that working from a young age the hardest. I would really miss things such as chocolates, games (any sort, not just computers) and comfortable beds.
3) Name one modern object/idea/thing you would give a family of medieval peasants (e.g: electricity or a television).
A real mattress! I doubt the medieval peasants spent much time sleeping, so why not make the experience more enjoyable? And also, it helps to bolster their energy when they had a good night’s sleep.
4) Now imagine you could only give the family one medieval object, idea or experience – what would you give them? (e.g. a cow, a new church, more clothing, better toilet facilities). Make sure you include WHY you think this is the most important thing a medieval family of peasants needs
I think I would give them a better house. It is very hard to live in somewhere small and uncomfortable. If the house could be bigger and made more comfortable, then I think the peasant family would relax more, and thus, work better.
To Louis,
For your answer about giving them electricity, how are they going to pay the electric bills? Or do they not use power lines?
@Amos
We r GIVING them electricity not selling it 2 them!!
1) A trader because it woul;d be better than a serf but not too spoilt.
2) The hunger and work would be the hardest. I can stand no technology.
3) The telephone- the one thing that is useful!
4) FOOD! Otherwise they will STARVE!
I would most like to be a trader because you would have a good stable job and you would earn some money and if you traded honey you would be able to trade good things.
Not having sugar and the internet.
5 gum.
I would give them a castel to live in so they would have a better home life and be able to keep warm in the winter and not freeze to death.
I would like to be a lord because you will be more or less carefree and will most likely have enough food to eat. Besides I’ve always wanted to be part of nobility!! I would really miss my computer and the Internet most. It helps me do many things and I basically use it everyday. I would give a medieval family a computer complete with electricity and Internet. How I am to do that I am not sure… But it would be very useful for them and can help them do many things! If they presented this ‘apparatus’ to the king, they might even be made a lord!
i would be a trader/merchant not a lord because i wouldnt want to be responsible for the deaths of many people. plus i would get to see the world. i would also get better food.
i would miss sweet foods and definintly the internet. i couldnt do any hardcore gaming without the internet.
i would give them morphein when they where dying of starvation or hyperthermia they could end their lives quickly.
possibly better toilet fassilitys as a lot of desease comes from bad hygiene
Answer 1) i would love to be a trader; what do you do in life? TRAVEL PLACES!! you are one of the only people who have a chance to see the outer world…
Answer 2) from such a young age you have to work. work like an adult to get your fair share of food. even though you are young boy you still have to work very hard. unlike today you would not get an education and wont be able to move on and get a good job
Answer 3) a massive leather couch; this is something they can actually sleep on as well as sit down and be comfortable on it 😉
Answer 4) an uber duber awesome house that is uber comfortable and in the package you get the luxuries of today only $1999995 (ORIGINAL RETAIL PRICE $19995) WHAT A BARGAIN!!!
Dewanshfavileg4ytnhrnyibtr
2) The thing that I would miss most from being a medieval peasant would be no sugar in my diet.
1) I would have liked to be a noble because they have a very good life and had people to do all their work for them.
2)I would miss computer games and television the most.
3)I would give them a whole bucket of honey so that they could sell it and make a lot of $$$
4)I would give them a whole bucket of honey so that they could sell it and make a lot of $$$
1) I would like to be a Trader, as being a Lord would be really annoying, as you are responsible of tonnes of people’s deaths, and generally regarded as a not-so-nice person. I also don’t like all of that sort of official stuff, and I don’t want to spend my whole life pretty much being a slave, so I want to be a Trader.
2) I would computers and the internet. I wouldn’t be able to play any good games without them!!! I guess I might be able to survive without sugar, but no computers! That’s a no-go zone.
3) I would give them a robot to do all of their work for them. I know this is the most obvious answer, but it’s probably the best one.
4) I would give them really good soil, as then their plants would prosper and grow several times bigger than before, so they won’t be hungry. Also, this has a lasting affect, unlike a cow.
1) I would like to be a noble because they are highly skilled fighters and have some slaves.
2) I would find the constant danger of an injury the hardest because even the simplest of injuries could not be cured. I would probably miss would be TV and xbox.
3) I would give them the crane cause then they could build castles easily.
4) I would give them a better house and better sleeping facilities.
1) i would be a lord – i get to order people to do my work for me to eat plenty of of food. I would niot nesicarliy be a healthy person but at least i have food.
2)I would miss my iced tea, coffee and sugar and PIE!!!
3)I would give a medieval family seperate beds/rooms
4) I would give themn better toilets
Of course, everyone wants to be a Lord, if possible. The higher up the Heirarchy you are the better life would be, don’t you think?
Weighing up the advantages against the disadvantages, Being a peasant would be better than modern day life. Yes, we have lots of great luxuriesand technology etc. but we are lazy and doing hard labour would make us fit. You don’t know what your’ve gottil it’s gone, so if you never have it, you don’t miss it.
Probably a wind up torch. I mean, anything that you give them will be either technology or power, and technology omething to use it. is no good without power,and power is useless without stuff using it.