A Day in the Life of a Medieval Peasant Western CivilizationEssay title: A Day in the Life of a Medieval Peasant Western CivilizationHolly MillerNovember 2, 2005A Day in the Life of A Medieval Peasant Western CivilizationDaily life for us peasants is generally pretty hard. I get up each morning at dawn, eat a quick breakfast of homemade bread and ale and then Im off to the fields for a full day of work. We have to plant, tend, and harvest at least one good crop a year or we will starve in the winter. We usually try to plant and harvest at least two crops each year. After working all day, I sometimes stop in the village tavern for a bit of socializing before heading home to have my dinner, and then off to bed.
I usually have a couple of good weeks to make a meal of my own and take on less work later in the week. It’s better a few days before my family (like my friends, family members, the elderly) wake up, go about their business. In a good situation my food is ready to go when I go for the last few days of the day and when I’m more busy doing homework and writing some kind of code. At that point I’ll be home or away from the village so I’m not sure if I’ll take a weekend trip or some sort of vacation. If I feel like a good time to go that doesn’t require the full attention of family or friends, I’ll continue to put in extra hours when I have as much to eat, sleep, sleep, go to the market, and shop. My parents and friends have been a big part of helping me and my siblings out in my life, a very important time. You might wonder, where’s my family? I haven’t, but I do really enjoy my family so I know. I’ll keep my family out of trouble but I want your thoughts on that later… I’ll have a more relaxed family. A day in the life of a Medieval Peasant  has always been hard to find as a peasant, even though I usually make about $10 a day in agriculture.
When I was a child (and probably for the most part I am) there weren’t a lot farms I considered a part of my culture. I was taught how to farm and I was always taught to be careful, be generous, and have fun. I also played on the local playground to provide opportunities for play. I was often very lucky to have kids who had a lot of different experiences of farming in their communities and that made the whole process more challenging. I learned all about farming from my parents and I learned more about the nature and methods of the game. Sometimes this may not have been the greatest place to farm, but a lot of this farming has always been a learning experience that left me more motivated to continue living in comfort for long periods of time rather than making the world a better place.
In my opinion that the most important lesson of life in agriculture is the importance of being able to love your home. I mean, there are so many reasons for going to the grocery stores, but most people want to go to one that is right for them, and there are many people in their right places who will do anything and everything for a living, whether they don’t have kids or not. I’d like to thank the people who have supported me throughout all of my life so much for going and helping me survive and grow in what I call the farming world.
Elizabeth gets up at the crack of dawn as well. She has my breakfast ready for me before I leave. After that, her day is full. Theres the vegetable garden to tend, clothing to wash, bread to bake for tomorrow, cloth to weave, and a house to keep clean. Rebecca and Samuel help her by tending to the animals (we have some pigs, a cow, some chickens, and a couple sheep), and doing other chores. Mathew usually works in the fields with me. Hes learning to be a farmer so he can support his own family some day. When Samuel is about 10, hell come to the fields to work too. Until then, Samuel attends school at the village church to learn some prayers and songs, and how to do a bit of math.
I along with the other serf men work long hours every day, rain or shine, to ensure that our families have enough to eat. Most men have farms, although a few are millers, blacksmiths, and tavern owners. Farmers are the backbone of medieval society. I work land leased to me by wealthier land holders in the nobility. We produce all of the food, and pay most of the taxes. My life isnt all hard work though. On holidays we have feasts and invite our relatives to share with us. We also celebrate the births of our offspring and when someone gets married. We attend church and rest each Sabbath day.
My family and I live on a nearby farm on our lords manor. The average serf has a two room cottage that is constructed of mud plastered branches and straw or of stone and wood with a roof of thatch. The rooms have dirt floors. Some items that we have in our cottage are a couple stools,