Life in a medieval village was rude and rough. 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.
ALLEVIATIONS OF THE PEASANT'S LOT
Yet there is another side to the picture. If the peasants
had a just and generous lord, they probably led a fairly comfortable existence.
Except when crops failed, they had an abundance of food, and possibly wine or
cider drink. They shared a common life in the work of the fields, in the sports
of the village green, and in the services of the parish church. They enjoyed
many holidays; it has been estimated that, besides Sundays, about eight weeks
in every year were free from work. Festivities at Christmas, Easter, and May
Day, at the end of ploughing and the completion of harvest, relieved the
monotony of the daily round of labor. Perhaps these medieval peasants were
not much worse off than the agricultural laborers in most countries of modern
Europe.
