Peasants During The High Middle Ages

The manor and feudal system during the middle ages shaped the society of Western Europe because it both allowed protection to the serfs (peasants/ workers) from attacking tribes and barbarians as well as gave nobility power and control of society. The manor system consisted of a large plot of land given to a vassal by a king or a lord. A vassal was a deputy of the lord and was responsible for making sure that the work on the manor was getting done. He got his manor from a feudal contract that was called the fief which was a pledge to a lord or king that he would be their vassal for life. In exchange for this promise, the vassal got protection from his enemies for life as well as an estate. On the manor there was a manor house where the vassal

The serf provided material, military aid, and advice for the lord’s counsel. The lord provided protection for the serf, maintenance, and aid when the vassal requested. The land of the vassal, holder of he land through homage, was broken into strips of land called fief. After the homage ceremony, the lord then granted a fief to the serf. A man could then be a vassal to multiple lords and a lord could obtain multiple vassals, which thus introduced subinfeudation. This caused great complexity especially if the lords had different views and the vassals were divided. In this case, a contract was initiated swearing a serf to the main lord.

It has been claimed by some historians that since the peasants were not able to enjoy the knowledge, luxury and arts of the renaissance due to their poorness, therefore, they did not experience it. However, that is not true; even though they did not enjoy things like art and luxury, they did experience the renaissance, but just differently than other people. At the beginning of the 14th century –which became known later as the beginning of the renaissance- life in Europe was still medieval, by working on the land of the wealthy lords and devoting their lives for them, peasants were able to find food, homes and protection there. Nevertheless, peasants’ lives were hard, they work all day, their pay was barely enough to feed them and their families,

At the height of the Medieval Ages, life existed mainly in two different forms: the Feudal system and the Manorial System. Barbarian attacks created many dangers for the common citizen, generating a need for personal protection of both their lands and their lives. It is true that kings still did exist at this time, but due to the decentralization of the government, the king became a distant and ambiguous figure. The lord of the manor then became the authoritative figure for the people of medieval society. Society now subsisted on the self-governing basis of the manor.

Peasants were members of the lowest class, those who work. They were the most common class. They were the millers, blacksmiths, butchers, carpenters, farmers, and other trades people. Peasant women in particular, spent much of their time taking care of children, making clothes, and cooking meals. They also tended gardens, took care of animals by tending chicken, shearing sheep, and milking cows (Cels 16). Within peasants, there were two main groups of people, the serfs and the freemen. Both were employed by the lords. And serfs were people that paid more fees, and had less rights. Freemen on the other hand paid less fees and had more rights than serfs (Noiret). While freemen could leave the manor when at whim, serfs were not allowed to leave

During the middle ages the lack of protection and a stable government after the Fall of Rome created the need for a new political system. Feudalism was the political system that emerged and shaped the lives of people socially and politically. Manors were small communities that were made up of a castle, church, village, and land for farming. The structured society provided a place and responsibility for everyone. The feudal obligations showed that in exchange for one thing they would be provided with something else. Serfs and peasants would work and produce goods for the rest of the manor and in return had their land and promised protection. The vassals would need to obtain land from the Lord and in return would provide the Lord with military service, loyalty, and ransom if asked for (Doc. 4). To make clear the vassal’s specific allegiance to their lord whom they owed in for exchange for their fief they would take the Homage Oath (Doc. 2). This interdependent system required everyone to do their part and it created social classes that they were born into. Their daily lives were centered on the manor and that was how it stayed until towns began to

During the Middle Ages social class much different than modern day. In a feudal society “nobles were granted the use of land that legally belonged to the king,” (Doc. 1). The nobles, in return, would give the lord loyalty and military services (Doc. 1). As peasants or serfs worked for nobles and knights they received protection and a portion of the harvest to feed their families (Doc. 1).

The most significant ways in which the legal status of the inhabitants of Lorris differed from that of the medieval serfs was that the inhabitants of Lorris were treated with more respect than the medieval serfs. The inhabitants of Lorris were given more privileges with being except from paying taxes and owing their property. They had more advantages when it come growing their business and traveling without paying any tolls along their way. They were able to profit from their own crops and were allow to “…made to pay measurage fee on the grain which he has raised by his own labor”. On the other hand the medieval serfs did not benefit from any of this legal status.

One of the main features of the manorial system was that serfs were bound to a certain manor, and required to work that land for the lord. The serfs were tied to the land because of their debts or their ancestors’ debts to the lord. For the lord to keep his power and comfortable way of life, he had to keep the serfs bound to his land. This meant that he must keep them in debt, which led to many fees and taxes. An example of one of these taxes is, “And after the death of any one of the aforesaid villeins, the lord shall have as a heriot his best animal…”. This example shows the extent that the lord went to to keep the serfs in debt, so that he could maintain control over the

In the Medieval government, the Feudal system was used. With the system, everyone but the king had a ruling lord above him/her. They would give him loyalty and service in order for land and protection. Peasants in the Middle Ages formed small communities around a lord for defense and safety.

They were required to work on the land 3 days out of the week, with the exception of planting and harvesting season. They were also required to pay fees on common occurrences. If the serfs got married or died, they were forced to pay a fee. In the event of the death of a serf, the son, or heir, had to pay an inheritance fee in order to receive their inheritance. In the article State and Society in the High Middle Ages, it states that “concentrating peasants in villages make it easier for nobles to collect rents and ‘dues’ that were their rights as ‘lords’.”

Monarchs owned the land and he would divide the land that he did not need up between the men who were called lords in return for loyalty to him in times of war. The lords enlisted soldiers who were called knights to be the fighting force in these wars. The lowest people in the feudal system were called peasants; these people farmed the land to provide food and provided other services for the kingdom in exchange for protection.

Lifestyle of peasants in medieval Europe was tremendously challenging. Seeing that, they were at the bottom of the European feudal system that foresaw peasants as the main working force. During the Middle Ages the concrete structure of the society classified individuals from the moment they were born. Which resulted in, no significant changes attributed to the work one was able to endure. Meanwhile; homes, clothing, food and marriage were the prominent contributors that determined your status/class. For means of survival peasants worked extremely long hours each day to obtain the basic necessities of; food, shelter and clothing. Most peasants were farmers however, a select few were Tradesmen who work as Miller's or in the tavern establishment. Peasants obeyed their local Lord swearing an “oath of obedience” on the Bible. This ensured to peasants loyalty and commitment to a Lord, in aspirations of producing goods and other fineries.

Life as a serf or peasant was not easy. Serfs were bound to their lord's land and required to do services for him. Although they could not be sold like slaves, they had no freedom (Ellis and Esler 219-244). Peasants farmed for the goods that the lord and his manor needed. They went through difficult hardship because of this. Peasants were heavily taxed and had to provide for themselves the goods that they needed (“The Middle Ages”). According to the medieval law, the peasants were not considered to 'belong to' themselves (“The Middle Ages”). Although serfs were peasants and had relatively the same duties and similar rights, what differentiated a peasant from a serf was that a peasant was not bound to the land (“The Middle Ages”). Peasants had no schooling and no knowledge of the outside world (Ellis and Esler 219-244). They rarely traveled more than a couple miles outside of their villages. All members of a peasant family, including children, tended crops, farmed, and did some sort of work to help out (Ellis and Esler 224). Very few peasants lived past the age of 35 because of hunger in the winter and the easy development and transmission of disease (Ellis and Esler 224).

These farms were part of an estate that included a castle and a small village, surrounded by woods, meadows, and pastures. The landlord kept serfs, and these serfs obtained the same agreement as in the Anglo-Saxon period: obedience to the king resulted in the king’s protection. Serfs performed tasks such as farming and blacksmithing. Like the Thegns, serfs had few freedoms, but in contrast, they were not slaves. Limitations on these individuals included being unable to leave the property without permission or marry someone from another manor. As the late Middle Ages approached, many serfs became freemen, able to own land either by renting or owning little debt to a feudal lord. Compared to the Anglo-Saxon time period, the Middle Ages brought more freedoms to the lowest