Peasant Life + Manorial System
By: Kenneth Cole, Lucas Winn, Matthew Thomas
PEASANT LIFE
Harvesting, slaughtering, plowing, and planting is all they really did. Religion was a major part in their life and dictated when they worked and how they did many things, such as bury the dead.
The Working Cycle
January: Clearing ditches and cutting wood
February: Pruning trees and the birthing of livestock
March: Plowing and sowing barley and oats
April: Planting peas, beans, flax, and hemp
May: Planting vegetables
June: Mowing hay and shearing sheep
July: Weeding and harvesting
August: Harvesting
September: Harvesting and breeding cattle
October:Plowing, sowing, and breeding sheep
November: Slaughtering pigs
December: Indoor tasks
February: Pruning trees and the birthing of livestock
March: Plowing and sowing barley and oats
April: Planting peas, beans, flax, and hemp
May: Planting vegetables
June: Mowing hay and shearing sheep
July: Weeding and harvesting
August: Harvesting
September: Harvesting and breeding cattle
October:Plowing, sowing, and breeding sheep
November: Slaughtering pigs
December: Indoor tasks
Peasant Diet
The peasant diet consisted of bread, which was very nutritious, vegetables, cheese and milk from cows and goats, nuts, and several different fruits. They rarely ate meat and saved it for festivities.
THE MANORIAL SYSTEM
The manorial system is the most basic form of feudal rule. Peasants, or serfs, would be under the rule of lords. This was called a manor. The serfs would grow crops and work the land as normal, but they would give a portion of their yield to the lords, also paying rent, in exchange for protection from others. Lords had absolute power and could try their own people in their manor.
Medieval Manor - British Social History - Changing Lives - 1066-1984 on Timelines.tv