History: The Medieval Village Flashcards
What were the most important buildings in a village in the Middle Ages?
The Church
The manor house (otherwise they’d have no manners ; ) )
The mill
About how many families lived in a village in the Middle Ages?
About 20-30 families.
Who controlled everything in the village?
The lord of the manor
Give 3 examples of things that villagers had to do if the lord of the manor told them to?
Work serval days a week on his land
Marry the person he told them to
Use only fallen wood for their fires
What is an ‘open field’?
Huge fields that are divided up for growing crops
There are no fences or hedges showing where they are divided.
What was ‘common land?
An area where everyone had the right to graze their animals.
What purpose did the forest serve for the villagers?
They could graze their pigs
Collect firewood (can’t chop trees though)
Gather nuts, (like yr 8s) berries, herbs and wild honey (yeehaw)
How were the large fields divided?
Into long narrow strips
There was a ditch between each strip (waste of land)
Each peasant could have between 2 - 4 strips but not necessarily next to each other. (Waste of time)
Could the peasants choose to grow any crop they liked?
No, each field had to contain the same crop so peasants were never allowed to try out something different.
Describe a Medieval three field crop rotation.
3 fields
2 crops
Each year what is grown in each field is swapped between the 2 crops and being left fallow
Define a ‘hide’
The amount of land needed to support 1 family.
Define ‘fallow’
Land left ploughed over with weeds allowed to grow.
Define a ‘wattle wall/fence’
A wall or fence made of wood or branches woven together.
Could be plastered over with a mud mixture called daub.
Describe a typical house belonging to a peasant.
1 room
Wooden frame with wattle and daub walls (in areas with little timber the house was made of stone)
Thatch roof
No windows
1 door
Cooking done in the middle of the room over a fire
Hole in the roof (to allow smoke to escape)
Describe the inside of a typical peasant’s house.
People lived in half the house and at night livestock slept in the other half.
Not much furniture: maybe a few 3 legged stools, a bench table and a chest for clothes.
The bed was usually a mattress stuffed with straw.
