The Hard Life of a Peasant Created by Margrave Gemmes
In the early Medieval times there was two classes that lived in a king’s Kingdom. One of theses classes is the lowest class called the Peasants or Serfs. The peasants had very little rights and had to work for the nobility in order for their survival. The start of Medieval times was around the time when the fall of Rome took place and at that time things became unstable and dangerous for people to be separate from others. This caused the people to have to become workers for the Nobles. The moment that the peasants accepted the help and safety from the Nobles, they instantly became apart of a system called Feudalism that was commonly used around that time. In this system, the peasants had to provide everything from food to cleaning for the Nobles because in exchange for their safety, they had an obligation to do it all that for the one that was protecting them. The peasants lived on the Noble's manor where they lived in Villeins which were small one-roomed and a straw roof. The walls were made out of sticks, straws, and mud. Not only did they live in one room with all their family but they also lived with their farm animals inside of their little house. In the manor, there was a village where the peasants lived and there was no more than 100 peasants living in the manor. The peasants would work three days a week on the farmland and the rest of the week was used for the peasants to relax. The peasants would start their day off before dawn in order to have enough time to do their every obligation. First they have make their breakfast which was commonly pottage, a thick soup that had boiled vegetables, grains, or sometimes meat or fish. After breakfast they began to work the farmland and do such jobs as reaping, sowing, ploughing, binding, haymaking, threshing, and hedging. They would continue to work like this until dusk. The peasants were not provided with tools by their lords so they had to make their own tools using wood, leather, and horns from a cattle. peasant women were expected to take care of the cattle, the castle of their lord, cook for their families, and be available to their lord when needed. The peasants did get time to relax such as the other days that they did not work but also had a total of eight weeks that the peasants were able to take a break from always working and enjoy themselves. Throughout the whole year, there were times when there was a festival going on such as Christmas, Easter, and May Day that usually occur after they finished harvesting all the crops for that year. In theses festivals, the noble might have given to the peasants money, food, drinks, or firewood.
The life of a Noble Created by Margrave Gemmes In the Medieval times, the nobles were also referred as lords and their duty was to oversee the business and serfs that worked on his manor. They lived in a castle inside the Manor. The lord started off his day by waking up after dawn. Before he even got the chance to eat, he had to visit the chapel right after he woke up because there was a mandatory prayer session that the lord had to attend. When he finished his prayer session, he went back to his castle to have breakfast. After his breakfast, he would go and attend all the business affairs around his manor such as listening to the people’s issues, discuss marriage matters, and have meetings. The lord had control over the serf’s life and controlled every aspect of their lives. For instance, he had to be consulted before a couple would marry for them to get his blessing. After he finished all of his business affairs, he was free to do whatever he was pleased to do until his evening prayer at the chapel. Once he had finished his evening prayer, he had a very relaxing dinner that sometimes included entertainment. Following supper, the lord would proceed to the chapel for one last time to make his last prayer of the day. Once he has finished his prayer, he could go to sleep. It was not simply the men that had daily duties but also the noble women had many duties to attend to every day. The young medieval women were taught the principles of Medieval Code of Chivalry and Courtly Love. The Medieval Code of Chivalry was a moral system that was all about courtesy, bravery, and honor for noble women. The Courtly Love is a medieval tradition of the love between a noble woman and a knight. Knights would go out and do extravagant performances to impress the noble women in hopes of marrying her. They would also be taught French and their role of ladies in waiting. At seven, girls would be sent away to live with another noble family, where they will be taught to a large range of subjects and skills such as manners and etiquette. At age twelve, girls could be allowed to marry with their parent's consent. The girls did not marry for love rather for financial and status for the benefit of both marriage parties. Noble women were required to give a dowry to her husband as she would be bringing some wealth into the marriage. After they were married, the husband would be fully in charge of the wife and she was seen from then as his assets. The Noble women were then expected to run the household and take charge of the children. They had many children because there was a high mortality rate in children. There were only a few children that could survive after childhood.
Medieval Life Documentary Pt 1 - Rich and poor, work and marriage By Mr H History