What was village life like in the medieval times

This medieval village picture shows the layout of a medieval village. The Lord of the manor would often go hunting on the fields around his manor. Near to the town would usually be a windmill where medieval people living in the medieval village would be grinding grain that would be consumed in the village. Most medieval villages had an animal pound where stray animals were kept, there was usually a fee to release them.

Most medieval villages would have a village green, a well for the drinking water, stables for horses, a stream in which to fish, a blacksmith, carpenters house, beehives and the all-important medieval inn were a medieval people could drink away all their problems with a jug of ale. Most villages in medieval England had a least three large fields which were planted with wheat and barley.

Nothing was planted in the third field and it was left empty fallow the reason for this was that was always a need to have one spare field available for planting the following year. These fields were divided up into sections for different families to work on and grow their own crops. The chief articles which needed to be brought from some distant market were salt, used to salt down farm animals killed in autumn, iron for various tools, and millstones.

Cattle, horses, and surplus grain also formed common objects of exchange between manors. The peasants labored from sunrise to sunset, ate coarse fare, lived in huts, and suffered from frequent pestilences. They were often the helpless prey of the feudal nobles.

If their lord happened to be a quarrelsome man, given to fighting with his neighbors, they might see their lands ravaged, their cattle driven off, their village burned, and might themselves be slain. Even under peaceful conditions the narrow, shut-in life of the manor could not be otherwise than degrading. Under feudalism the lords and nobles of the land had certain rights over Medieval Serfs and Peasants which included the right of jurisdiction, which gave judicial power to the nobles and lords and the right of hunting.

Towards the end of the medieval period, however, conditions generally improved. Peasant houses became larger in size, and it became more common to have two rooms, and even a second floor. Comfort was not always found even in the rich houses. Heating was always a problem with stone floors, ceilings, and walls. Not much light came in from small windows, and oil- and fat-based candles often produced a pungent aroma.

Furniture consisted of wooden benches, long tables, cupboards, and pantries. Linen, when affordable, could be glued or nailed to benches to provide some comfort. Beds, though made of the softest materials, were often full of bedbugs, lice, and other biting insects. Peasants usually ate warm porridges made of wheat, oats, and barley.

Peasants rarely ate meat, and when they did, it was their own animals that were saved for the winter. Peasants drank wine and ale, never water. Even though peasant households were significantly smaller than aristocratic ones, the wealthiest peasants would also employ servants.

Service was a natural part of the cycle of life, and it was common for young people to spend some years away from home in the service of another household. This way they would learn the skills needed later in life, and at the same time earn a wage.

This was particularly useful for girls, who could put the earnings towards their dowries. Nobles, both the titled nobility and simple knights, exploited the manors and the peasants, although they did not own land outright but were granted rights to the income from a manor or other lands by an overlord through the system of feudalism. During the 11th and 12th centuries, these lands, or fiefs, came to be considered hereditary, and in most areas they were no longer divisible between all the heirs as had been the case in the early medieval period.

Instead, most fiefs and lands went to the eldest son. The dominance of the nobility was built upon its control of the land, its military service as heavy cavalry, its control of castles, and various immunities from taxes or other impositions.

Nobles were stratified; kings and the highest-ranking nobility controlled large numbers of commoners and large tracts of land, as well as other nobles. Beneath them, lesser nobles had authority over smaller areas of land and fewer people. Knights were the lowest level of nobility; they controlled but did not own land, and had to serve other nobles. The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, was the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure.

Foreign princes and foreign nobility in exile could also seek refuge at a court. They built their homes using wood, reeds, twigs, mud and straw. The roofs were thatched, made of bundles of reeds. The inside walls were mostly made of wattle and daub twigs weaved and coated with mud and straw to make a hard, plaster-like surface to keep out drafts.

Villagers often brought their animals into their homes to protect them. Carpenters were highly skilled and were elite tradesmen. Kings and nobles used the finest carpenters and kept them employed on their staff as specialists. After all, castles and estates needed to be decoratively furnished to show their great prestige and status.

A master carpenter was always in demand and could earn high wages. The metalsmith, sometimes called blacksmith, had to first make his tools before he could make metal parts such as horseshoes, nails and door hinges. A blacksmith was named because he was a 'smith' who worked in the "black" metal, namely iron.