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WORKDAY

Most medieval peasants, Freeman and Serf alike, worked approximately the same number of hours as a modern day hourly minimum-wage employee in 2009, about 2,000 hours a year, out of the 4,370 hours available, assuming a total availability of 12 hours a day, 365 days a year. This could be averaged out to 40 hours per week, at more or less 6 hours per day, 7 days per week. Exceptions to this average are certain, and 10 and 12 hour days were not unheard of, though part of the reason the workday was so long was because there was usually plenty of breaks for meals and naps.

Because most work was season-dependent, most peasants did not always work day-in and day-out year-round, but rather their schedule depended on the type of work they did. Peasants usually made all of their annual wage off of one or two major harvests or other seasonal yields, leaving them with more "free time" than one might think - this accounts for their seemingly "lax" work schedules.

WAGES AND PAYMENT

Since peasants generally self-governed their own work schedules, their wages were figured per day (though they were rarely paid daily), week or month, and almost never by the hour, and a minimum amount of work, or quota, was usually required for a peasant to earn his complete wage. To a great extent, the same was true for Freemen who worked for themselves, as there was no point in dragging their feet, as it was THEIR fences that needed mending, animals that needed herding, crops that needed harvesting, etc.

In general, unskilled laborers, peasants without some sort of professional or artistic ability, who simply worked the land, made about 3d per day, and 1s per week, about 4s per month - 5s or 1 crown (1/4L) if they were really industrious. Those who served in the military in basic service in peacetime usually made 4p to 1s per day (this also applies to ship's crews etc.), and usually didn't even see battle, though the more likely the combat and the closer to the action and the more seasoned the soldier, the more he would earn.

REQUIREMENTS OF A SERF

The serf, who was not permitted to leave his Lord's land, typically was required to work his Lord's land 1-2 days a week, fixing fences, harvesting crops and anything else that needed done, before tending to his own farming and livelihood. The Serf typically also owed 1/3 of his crops to the Lord.

Related: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/hi story/middleages/peasant.html

T YPES OF PAYMENT / CURRENCY

The "coin of the realm" was, for peasants, rarely a coin,

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