The Medieval Village 1

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The Medieval Village 1

• This presentation covers
• Who lived in the village.
• Who worked the land and who was in charge.
• The open field system.

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The village
The vast majority of people in Europe at this
time lived in the countryside. There were very
few towns and most people made their living from
the land. Most people lived in manors. The manor
was an area of land that could sometimes include
more than one village.
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Who lived in the village?
Not everyone in the village farmed. Some peasants
had important jobs such as the miller and the
blacksmith. How important you were in the village
dependent upon your occupation (job).
Some positions in the village were high up.
Obviously the lord of the manor was the most
important person, but the priest was also
important because the church was very influential
in all peoples lives.
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Who worked on the lords land?
The general term for people who worked on the
lord of the manors land was peasants. They could
be divided into villeins and freemen.
The villeins worked on the lords land, and in
return they had their own land to farm.
The freemen paid rent to the lord to have their
own land.
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Who was in charge?
The steward He should instruct the bailiffs who
are beneath him. He should visit each of the
manors two or three times a year and check rents
and services. The bailiff Every morning he should
examine the corn, meadows and woods. He should
check on the ploughing every day. The reeve The
reeve should be chosen by the whole village. He
should check attendance in the morning and see
that the lands are well ploughed and sown. Each
year with the bailiff he works out how much
service is owed in the village
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Growing crops
Most of the land in the village belonged to the
lord of the manor. The lord kept some of the land
for his own crops this was called his demesne.
The rest of his land was let to the villagers.
The fields were divided into strips. This was so
that everyone had a fair share of the good and
bad land.
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The open-field system
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