Roles and Rights of A Peasant

Three different groups of peasants might live on the manor. Slaves, who could be bought and sold, existed, but their number declined after the early Middle Ages. Serfs, would could neither leave the manor nor be forced to go, made up the majority of peasants. Freemen, who owned small pieces of land and could move about freely, were a small portion of the society until the rise of towns. Although the contrast in status and living conditions between lord and peasant was great, each had certain rights according to the custom of the manner. The lord needed grain for the castle’s storehouse, and any unjust treatment might result in a decline in production. Also a runaway serf was hard to replace. Justice had to be enforced in open court. A peasant could not refuse to work, and the lord could not evict him, so they respected each other’s rights.

A serf had no political rights; he was bound to the soil. A serf who could escape might locate in a town which offered opportunities for the skilled craftsman. If he remained free for one year and one day, he became a freeman. Other peasants escaped their burdens by taking up a career in the Church. The hard daily life was balanced for those who remained on the land by the security of the land and work, coupled with knowing that their children would be cared for if anything happened to them. A serf was valuable to the landowner primarily because of the work he could do and the fees that he could pay. The peasants paid taxes in the form of products or in coin when it became common. Fees were collected by the lord on a number of occasions, such as when a daughter married off of the manor, when a son inherited his father’s land, or when peasants used the lord’s oven, winepress, or mill. There were fees paid for marriages, at death and, of course, to the Church.

Besides working on the lord’s land, usually three days a week, the peasants were expected to do repair work around the manor on roads and bridges. They were excused from military service except in time of siege. Most peasants were “jacks of all trades”; besides farming, they fixed their tools and made their own clothes and shoes. There were some who specialized, such as blacksmiths, wheelwrights, carpenters, tanners, and bakers. Most worked the land, but some peasants were shepherds. All worked from the necessity to survive; the workday was long, but everyday activities were varied, and numerous holidays existed for recreation.

The peasants’ lot was cast in the medieval world; they were simply the work force. As the Middle Ages wore on, the most intelligent, ambitious, or luckiest peasants became the craftsmen, traders, and merchants of the early towns.

Taken from The Manor (http://www.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1986/3/86.03.03.x.html)