• In one fi eld they planted wheat (to make bread), in the second they planted oats (for porridge) and barley (for beer) and the third fi eld was left fallow – empty – for one year so that the soil could recover its nutrients and be fertile again the next year.
• A fourth large fi eld called the commons was used for grazing the animals that belonged to the peasants.
Field 1
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Wheat
Oats and barley Fallow
Field 2
Oats and barley Fallow Wheat
Fallow Wheat
Oats and barley Field 3
Working in the fields
WORKING WITH ——————————
THE EVIDENCE! —————————————
This illustrated psalter was created for a Lord Luttrell about 1330. It was found again in 1794 and is a fascinating visual source on medieval manor life.
Look at these pictures of peasants hard at work in the fi elds. Describe what is happening in each picture.
In a small group, discuss the work they are doing, the tools being used and the clothes they are wearing. What do you think the person on the left in the bottom panel is doing?
Luttrell Psalter triptych Peasants
Freemen and serfs There were two kinds of peasant in the Middle Ages: freemen and serfs. Freemen had to pay rent to the lord and pay a tithe (a tenth of their income to the local priest) but did not have to work the land for free. They could marry and leave the manor as they wished.
DID YOU KNOW?
The average life expectancy for a male child born in England in 1300 was 31 years. In 2000, it was 77. Why do you think it has changed so much?
Serfs, on the other hand, essentially belonged to their lord. They worked six days a week farming the lord’s lands. In return they received a small plot of land to farm and build a house on. They could not leave the manor or marry without the lord’s permission. They paid taxes to the lord and a tithe to the priest. If a serf escaped and stayed free for a year and a day, he became a freeman.
