Peasant Life in High Middle Ages

Peasants worked laboriously in agriculture for the other two classes. Modern society frequently regard peasants as a much lesser and poor social order. However, this has been proven to be a popular fallacy. Honorius wrote in the early twelfth century, “What do you say about the agricultural classes? Most of them will be saved because they live simply and feed God’s people by means of their sweat”. This sentiment disseminated widely throughout Europe during the High Middle Ages and suggests that peasants may have been appreciated and respected more than modern students may believe.  

Slaves were found in Christian Europe during the High Middle Ages and were considered the lowest social class amongst peasants. Slaves usually originated from Western Europe, with the word slave being derivative from “slav”, indicating that slaves were traded from the Slavic areas. There were also numerous wealthy and upper-class peasants, who farmed extensively and were quite rich. Either way, general sentiments believe peasants to be “the workers” due to their laborious efforts on the farm. This resulted in peasants being known as the most economically productive group in the medieval European society.  

Life for most peasants meant country life. A peasant’s horizons are largely impacted by the region where he or she was born. Most peasants rarely traveled more than twenty-five miles beyond their villages. The visions of peasants resulted in being narrow and quite closeted. A farmer therefore had strong family values and security of familial support and help in times of stress or trouble. People therefore had a strong sense of self-security and place. This is often absent in the family of a noble, who’s male members may leave on a crusade that may range from 2-5 years!  

Setting of Peasants In High Middle Ages:

During the High Middle Ages, most European peasants lived on manors. This means the estate of a lord and the tenants of that particular estate. A manor was the fundamental necessity to life as a peasant and served as the centerpiece of rural life. Manors varied from thousands of acres to as little as 120 acres. Historians also believe a manor might include multiple villages, with produce being divided among several lords.  

A manor’s land was also split up according to social class. A lord cultivated a home farm or “demesne”. The other part of a manor is held by the peasantry. Peasants usually had the larger portion of land with the agreement they would cultivate a lord’s home farm. Both the lord’s and the peasants’ land was separated into smaller strips. This was due to the consideration if one strip did not grow particularly well, hopefully other strips did better. All peasants on a particular manor participated in its cultivation in unity. This meant they shared any particular disasters but also any bountiful harvests.  

In addition to being farmers by means of agricultural production, some peasants also supplemented work as brewers, carpenters, tailors, or housemaids with wage labor in the field. In all cases, peasants supported the lords, clergy, and townspeople. An interesting fact rarely indicated is that peasants make up the overwhelming majority of the population of the High Middle Ages. Over more than 90 percent of people were peasants!