PEASANT LIFE:
The way of life of peasants in the middle Ages was extremely cruel and grueling, many worked as farmers in fields owned by the lords and ladies of the manor; their lives were constantly centered around the farming seasons. The laborers were at the bottom of the Feudal System and had to obey their local lord to whom they had sworn a pledge of obedience on the Bible, because they had sworn an oath to their lord, it was taken for granted that they had sworn a similar oath to the duke, earl or baron who owned that lord’s property.
The position of the peasant was made clear by Jean Froissart when he wrote:
"It is the custom in England, as with other countries, for the nobility to have great power over the common people, who are serfs. This means that they are bound by law and custom to plough the field of their masters, harvest the corn, gather it into barns, and thresh and winnow the grain; they must also mow and carry home the hay, cut and collect wood, and perform all manner of tasks of this kind."
Written in 1395
Peasant Life:
Peasants lived in cruck houses; these houses were not large but repairs were quite cheap and easy to do. There would be little furniture within the cruck houses (shown in picture left) and straw would be used for covering the floor, so the houses were likely to have been very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter.
Windows were just holes in the walls, like in battle made castles, as glass was very expensive and doors would have covered with a curtain rather than having a door as good wood could be as expensive as glass.
There were other houses that were made from Wattle and Daub, the mixture that was left to dry in the sun and formed a strong building material, and the oak was bought from a wood cutter or cut down by the family to make the structure of the house. The wattle of the house consisted of mainly willow or oak sticks woven together to form a type of netting which stood up to all the elements and provided some sort of insulation in the winter. The daub was added to the wattle to seal it and make it waterproof, the floor was dirt, covered by a layer of reeds which provided some cushioning for the weary workers' feet.
The roof was made of a similar type of woven reed/daub combination or shingles made of wood or slate; it was usually sturdy as well as waterproof. These homes, however, were not known for their toughness or security; thieves often broke into the home by digging holes through one of the walls, because it was much easier and quieter than trying to break through the locked door.
Safety Of Animals:
At night, any animal they owned would have to be brought inside for safety, there were a number of reasons for this; first, wild animals roamed the countryside as England still had wolves and bears in the forests and these could easily have taken a pig, cow or chickens. The loss of any animal could be a tragedy but the loss of valuable animals such as an ox would be a catastrophe. If left outside at night they could also have been stolen or simply have wandered off, if they were inside their house, none of these would happen and they were safe. Yet, the animals would make the house even more dirty than it usually would have been, as none of these animals would have been house-trained and they would have also brought in fleas and flies increasing the germ-infested environment of the house.
Hygiene that never existed:
Peasants would be expect to have a proper bath (like we're used to!) just twice in their life, once when they were and second when they had died. Normal face and hand washing was more regular but awareness of hygiene like we know it today was non-existent, as clearly no-one knew what germs could be spread by not washing or having hygiene.
London had a number of public baths near the River Thames; these were called "stews". Several people at one time would bath in them, though, as people had to take off what clothes they wore, the stews also appealed to thieves who would steal what they could when the victims were hardly in a situation to chase after them! Regardless of how the water was found; there was a highly likely chance that it was polluted with toilet waste as it was constantly being thrown into the river, if it wasn't being thrown in the street, which would make its way into a water source somewhere.
Family Life:
Peasant families would have done everything all in one massive room e.g. cook, sleep, go to the toilet etc., children would have slept in a loft (if the cruck house was big enough). The lives of peasant children would have been very different to today; they wouldn’t have gone to school, very many would have died before they were six months old as disease were very common and widespread.
As soon as was possible, children joined their parents working on the land; they could not do any main physical work but they could clear stones off the land – which might damage farming tools – and they could chase birds away throughout the period when seeds were sown. For all peasants, life was "nasty, brutish and short."
Windows were just holes in the walls, like in battle made castles, as glass was very expensive and doors would have covered with a curtain rather than having a door as good wood could be as expensive as glass.
There were other houses that were made from Wattle and Daub, the mixture that was left to dry in the sun and formed a strong building material, and the oak was bought from a wood cutter or cut down by the family to make the structure of the house. The wattle of the house consisted of mainly willow or oak sticks woven together to form a type of netting which stood up to all the elements and provided some sort of insulation in the winter. The daub was added to the wattle to seal it and make it waterproof, the floor was dirt, covered by a layer of reeds which provided some cushioning for the weary workers' feet.
The roof was made of a similar type of woven reed/daub combination or shingles made of wood or slate; it was usually sturdy as well as waterproof. These homes, however, were not known for their toughness or security; thieves often broke into the home by digging holes through one of the walls, because it was much easier and quieter than trying to break through the locked door.
Safety Of Animals:
At night, any animal they owned would have to be brought inside for safety, there were a number of reasons for this; first, wild animals roamed the countryside as England still had wolves and bears in the forests and these could easily have taken a pig, cow or chickens. The loss of any animal could be a tragedy but the loss of valuable animals such as an ox would be a catastrophe. If left outside at night they could also have been stolen or simply have wandered off, if they were inside their house, none of these would happen and they were safe. Yet, the animals would make the house even more dirty than it usually would have been, as none of these animals would have been house-trained and they would have also brought in fleas and flies increasing the germ-infested environment of the house.
Hygiene that never existed:
Peasants would be expect to have a proper bath (like we're used to!) just twice in their life, once when they were and second when they had died. Normal face and hand washing was more regular but awareness of hygiene like we know it today was non-existent, as clearly no-one knew what germs could be spread by not washing or having hygiene.
London had a number of public baths near the River Thames; these were called "stews". Several people at one time would bath in them, though, as people had to take off what clothes they wore, the stews also appealed to thieves who would steal what they could when the victims were hardly in a situation to chase after them! Regardless of how the water was found; there was a highly likely chance that it was polluted with toilet waste as it was constantly being thrown into the river, if it wasn't being thrown in the street, which would make its way into a water source somewhere.
Family Life:
Peasant families would have done everything all in one massive room e.g. cook, sleep, go to the toilet etc., children would have slept in a loft (if the cruck house was big enough). The lives of peasant children would have been very different to today; they wouldn’t have gone to school, very many would have died before they were six months old as disease were very common and widespread.
As soon as was possible, children joined their parents working on the land; they could not do any main physical work but they could clear stones off the land – which might damage farming tools – and they could chase birds away throughout the period when seeds were sown. For all peasants, life was "nasty, brutish and short."