by James Johnson

Created on: July 30, 2008   Last Updated: July 21, 2009

To understand Peasant life in the Middle Ages, you must first understand the time period (1100-1500 A.D.) and all the different classes of people.

First and foremost, there were the Royalty, commonly referred to the Lords and Ladies. They had great power, made all the political decisions and served as judges in frequent disputes. Then you had the tradesmen, this included potters, weavers, bakers, blacksmiths, and stone masons; they owned shops and stores in the villages and provided services to the upper class. The Priesthood was usually separate and composed of "second sons", the ones that could not inherit under Medieval Law, but were very knowledgeable. It is important to note that they controlled the religion and often taught the schools.

Peasants were the servant class and were usually farmers, working the land from before sunrise until after sunset. They were poor and considered to be of little use by the other classes, but were actually essential to the system. No culture or civilization can survive without food!

Unfortunately, Peasant life in the Middle Ages wasn't simple and it wasn't easy. The peasant owned very little and was under the control of the local Lord or Manor. While the Lord didn't actually own him, it did his land and virtually all his labor. The farm usually consisted of a few acres of land with a small two room house covered by a thatched roof (which the peasant had to maintain). The peasant usually arose a few hours before sunrise, in the summer months this was as early as 3:00 a.m. They would have a quick breakfast of hard bread and a bit of porridge, usually wheat or something and then off to work all day in the fields.

Work for the man included all the tasks of farming with none of the modern conveniences; Ploughing was behind an ox if you were lucky, if not you hoed by hand and sowing was also by hand, reaping in the fall was done using a sickle, there were no modern John Deere tractors. Threshing, to remove the seeds and grains was all done using manual tools. You also usually made most of the tools using wood, leather and cattle horns or bones. If you were prosperous of have a good "Lord", you got something actually made by a tradesman.

The peasant woman stayed home and prepared the food, fed the chickens and tended the small vegetable garden where the peasant's food was grown; the food from the big fields went to the Lord that "allowed you the privilege of farming it". The woman was also responsible for

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