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How Did The Peasants Live In The Middle Ages

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Once long ago, there was a world in which work had to be done from all of mankind, from servants who were settled in the village, to peasants on the countryside nearby. This was a reality for people who lived in a time period situated with the name of The Middle Ages. During this era of history, servants had a heavy load on their shoulders--many goods were to be crafted, while diligent peasants were off planting crops and doing such drudgery for their lord; they were fed with the least costly foods, and there was a variety of fabrics and styles to be seen. Without question, the life servants lived in the village was painstaking and time consuming. Crafts and industries were a huge part of village life--not only were towns a …show more content…
The kinfolk of those who were settled in the village were hard at work planting crops (Elliott 4). Firstly, peasants lived and worked on a manor, renting houses and strips of land from the lord. Consequently, they were demanded to pay their rent by working on the fields and giving the lord a big portion of the food they harvested for themselves and a couple of the animals they took care of. Peasants made enough food for all people on the manor, while working more than two or three times a week during the busy harvest time, but occasionally, during long periods of war, bad crops, or poor weather, food was scarce. Moreover, sometimes food shortages led to famines, or widespread hunger (5). Two important elements of the peasant's diet were a dark, brown bread baked from barley and rye, and a weak alcoholic beverage called ale, and in fact, “Ordinary people ate large amounts of coarse brown bread; laborers consumed 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg) per day, or more!”. Although peasants were given an abundance of food, they mostly ate the same bland bread every day in addition to whatever fruit and vegetables they could find, as “What people ate depended on how poor or rich they were” (Town Life 18-19). In addition to eating bread and sipping ale, fish was a commonly seen food in the Middle Ages mostly because the church didn’t allow eating meat on Fridays and Saturdays, during Lent, and on particular religious ceremonies during the year (Food and Drink). Furthermore, peasant women brewed soups and stews in large pots, or cauldrons, which were hung above open fires. One common mouth-watering stew was pottage, which had vegetables, herbs, and breadcrumbs in it. Peasants also consumed eggs gathered from their chickens, and dairy products such as cheese and butter from their cows' milk (Elliott 10). Additionally, since meat was expensive, it was thought as a luxury for many, excluding those

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