Lesson 25: Medieval Village Life
Information sheet
During the Middle Ages, most people lived in villages. Every village was owned by a
lord – his land consisted of the village and surrounding fields, known as a manor.
Most manors were made up of peasants’ houses, a church, a manor house (where the
lord and his family lived) and sometimes a mill and an alehouse, with fields divided
into long strips surrounding the buildings.
Peasants who lived in the villages were either freemen or villeins. Freemen
paid the lord rent and also did some work for the lord. Villeins had to work on the
lord’s land and were granted a small strip of land for themselves where they could
grow crops and keep animals. Villeins could not leave the manor without the lord’s
permission. The lord also had to give his permission for villeins’ sons or daughters to
get married.
Life was hard for villagers. Freemen and villeins got up each day at dawn to
work on the land, and had to work long hours every day of the year. Women worked
just as hard as the men. While the men worked on the lord’s land, the women often
tended their own strip of land by the house and took care of the animals and children.
Without washing machines, ovens or shops, washing and cooking also took a lot of
time. All washing was done by hand, grain was ground and bread was baked, wool
was spun into threads and cloth woven to make clothing for their families, and the
house had to be kept clean.
Most peasants were farmers, although a few were millers, blacksmiths and
tavern owners. Most of them lived in cottages that they had built themselves out of
mud, straw and wood, with a thatched roof. There were two rooms in each cottage
http://education.hodge.continuumbooks.com © Susie Hodge (2010)
Resources for Teaching History 11–14. London: Continuum.
with dirt floors and a fire in the centre of one of the rooms – but no chimneys, so they
were very smoky inside.
In the winter, peasant families usually brought in the livestock, which helped
to provide warmth. Their lives were dominated by the farming year, but they also
celebrated church holidays, marriages and birthdays. On some of these days, the lord
might provide food and drink for all the peasants who worked on his land.
http://education.hodge.continuumbooks.com © Susie Hodge (2010)
Resources for Teaching History 11–14. London: Continuum.