![]() ![]() And food shortages were extremely common. With scrawny animals, few tools and endless back-breaking work, it's hardly surprising that medieval farmers could only produce about one-fifth of what a farmer cultivates today on the same amount of land. Sheep and goats grazed on the common land next to the village and were used to provide wool and milk. ![]() Chickens and geese were kept for their eggs and were allowed to wander freely around the village. In addition to growing crops, most families would also have a few animals. The ploughwright would often be paid a small salary as well as getting other fringe benefits, like oil to clean his shoes. Looking after the lord's plough was considered an important task. It was pulled by an ox but, like the other tools, was mostly made of wood and needed constant maintenance. The most important tool in the village was the plough, but only the lord of the manor and the wealthiest peasants would be lucky enough to own one. With only a blunt wooden spade, digging over even a small plot of land meant hours of back-breaking work. Some tools did exist, but they were extremely basic. Without machines to help them, life on the land was hard and everything from fetching water to cutting corn had to be done by hand. But the majority of their land would be given over to wheat and barley, used to make their staple foods - bread and ale. Most families would also grow fruit, like apples, pears, blackberries and raspberries. Potatoes and carrots were yet to arrive in Europe, so the main vegetable crops were turnips, parsnips and beans. Each family had to grow enough food to feed themselves all year round. With many of the men having to work for the lord of the manor, farming the family land was mainly left to the women. This pattern of land use has left an imprint which can still be seen in many parts of Europe today. Each family would farm a number of different strips to make sure they had a share of good and bad land. These fields were subdivided into strips called 'furlongs'. The land around the village was usually divided into three fields. Like the other villeins, in return for doing the lord of the manor's dirty work and making sure his table was always full of food, his family would be allowed to farm strips of land to grow a little bit of food for themselves. The swineherd was in charge of the lord's pigs and was one of the few serfs who might be paid for his work. Shot of Caradoc grasping, then dropping a rooster.Ī few of the luckier serfs would be given special responsibilities. During harvest time and other busy periods, they'd have to work all the time. But this would vary according to the seasons and the lord's mood. They not only had to work for the lord of the manor, but would have to ask permission to marry, or even leave the village.Įach villein in the village had to do about three days' work per week for the lord of the manor. The rest of the people in the village were peasants like Caradoc, sometimes called 'serfs' or 'villeins'. He was a freeman - in other words, someone who'd earned the right not to have to work for the lord of the manor. The reeve was usually elected by the other villagers. But as he often lived elsewhere, he'd employ a bailiff and a reeve to act as his managers. Good day, Master Reeve, I was just upon my way to see you.Įvery medieval village had a strict social hierarchy, known as the feudal system. But, praise be to God, and to my lucky charm, he has seen fit to spare me. God has been angry, it seems, and has caused many thousands of our countrymen to be struck down with a great pestilence. Though I must confess you do find us upon hard times. On-screen text reads 'Cosmeston - 1352 AD'. Man and woman continue to inspect metallic object.Īh, good day. But if you put all the clues together, you begin to get a feel of how it might have been. No-one will ever be totally sure what medieval Europe was like. Shot of man and woman inspecting metallic object. But when we do uncover something, each piece of evidence has its own stories to tell and helps build up an ever more accurate picture of what it was like to live hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Shot of person digging in an archaeological site.įinding these ancient clues is a major challenge. Europe's historic landscapes are covered with tiny clues about ways of life that have long since disappeared. ![]()
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