The Medieval Peasant
This presentation covers:
1. Peasant homes and work
2. Controlling the peasants
3. Women
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Peasant housing
A villein's home was very poor by our standards. Many
were just one-room huts, perhaps 6 metres by 4.5 metres.
The walls were made of woven branches called wattle.
This was covered with daub - a mixture of clay, dung and
straw. Animal hair was used to bind it together.
There were holes for windows and a hole for the door. The
floor was just the earth on which the house was built.
Often there was no chimney. These poor cottages
disappeared centuries ago. Each probably only lasted for
about 20 years. They had no taps. Water came from a
nearby stream. A pit in the garden did for a toilet.
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Peasant housing
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Peasant housing
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How the peasants farmed
Few farmers could afford the four oxen needed to pull the
plough, so they grouped together and ploughed everything
at once. This meant that peasants needed to be very good
at working collectively (together)
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All the sowing and harvesting had to be done at the
same time. The corn was cut with sickles and threshed
with flails. It was then taken to the lord’s mill to be
ground. The hay was cut with scythes.
sickle
scythe
threshing
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The peasant’s life
As well as the specific chores, peasants also had to dig
and maintain drainage ditches, look after their animals,
make repairs to their house, tend their gardens and
collect firewood all year round.
On top of all this,
peasants had to do
their services to the
lord – usually three
days a week
ploughing and other
jobs.
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Life was certainly hard for peasants, but the problems did
not end there. The lord of the manor had a great deal of
control over his peasants. A villein could not marry
without his permission, nor could a villein travel beyond
the village without permission. (Freemen could!)
Peasants also had to make payments for
certain things. To stop fires, ovens for baking
bread were controlled by the lord and had to
be paid for. All the peasants had to use the
lord’s mills, using your own hand mill would
mean you would be punished! Even brewing
your ale had a price. Ale tasters had to
check it before it could be sold.
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The woman’s life
Medieval manuscripts were
mostly written by men. They
tell us little about women's
lives. Yet women played an
important role in village life.
Married women led lives which were probably harder than
the men's. They were expected to help their husbands in
the farming work. On top of that, they cleaned the house,
cooked and made clothes and brought up the children
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