The Medieval Village 1
This presentation covers:
1. Who lived in the village.
2. Who worked the land and who was in
charge.
3. The open field system.
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The village
The vast majority of people in Europe at this time lived in
the countryside.
There were very few towns and most people made their
living from the land. Most people lived in manors.
The manor was an area of land that could sometimes
include more than one village.
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Who lived in the village?
Not everyone in the village farmed.
Some peasants had important jobs
such as the miller and the
blacksmith. How important you
were in the village dependent upon
your occupation (job).
Some positions in the village were
high up. Obviously the lord of the
manor was the most important
person, but the priest was also
important because the church was
very influential in all people’s lives.
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Who worked on the lord’s land?
The general term for people who worked on the lord of the
manor’s land was peasants. They could be divided into
villeins and freemen.
The villeins worked on
the lord’s land, and in
return they had their
own land to farm.
The freemen paid rent
to the lord to have their
own land.
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Who was in charge?
The steward
He should instruct the bailiffs who are beneath him. He
should visit each of the manors two or three times a year
and check rents and services.
The bailiff
Every morning he should examine the corn, meadows and
woods. He should check on the ploughing every day.
The reeve
The reeve should be chosen by the whole village. He
should check attendance in the morning and see that the
lands are well ploughed and sown. Each year with the
bailiff he works out how much service is owed in the village
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Growing crops
Most of the land in the village belonged to the lord of the
manor. The lord kept some of the land for his own crops;
this was called his demesne. The rest of his land was let
to the villagers.
The fields were divided into strips. This was so that
everyone had a fair share of the good and bad land.
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The open-field system
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