Medieval People – Those Who Worked A medieval peasant
The lords and knights divided their land into manors. A manor was a village and the land around it.
A knight kept some of the land for his own use (the demesne) and rented the rest to
peasants. The knights used bailiffs or stewards to run the manors. The peasants lived in a village, in small houses with a plot of ground for growing vegetables or vines.
The walls were made of wattle and daub – interwoven sticks covered with mud
The peasants were either freemen
or serfs. Freemen paid a money rent and could move away whenever they wanted to.
Serfs were not free. They needed the permission of the
lord to travel to the nearest town.
2Explore what life was like for peasants in medieval times
04
What are the main features of a peasants house in medieval times?
Wood North Field Church The Mill
All peasants had to work on the lord’s demesne (private estate) at certain times. They also had to pay a tithe (one-tenth of their produce) to the
parish priest. They had to grind their corn in the lord’s mill.
Peasants Houses
Central Green
Manor House Moat A medieval manor 61
Explain how the Open Field System below was applied to this village.
