[epic music] [narrator] Peasants, knights,
burghers, monks... The four estates of the Middle Ages. They lived at a time which is often
thought of as dark, primitive and cruel. But it was also the dawn
of the modern era. [eerie music] [narrator] The libraries of monasteries
and universities hold the collective memory
of the Middle Ages. Everything emperors and kings,
bishops and monks, burghers and nobles did and thought... we know from the books of the time. We can discover little, however,
about the peasants. They could neither read nor write, and those who could read and write
weren't particularly interested in them. The peasants are the voiceless masses
of the Middle Ages. Only in prayer books
are their lives depicted, in magnificent miniatures. But the paintings do not reveal the poverty and servitude
of the peasant class. [mysterious music] We need someone who knew the peasants well
to tell us about them... a gaukler, a travelling showman of sorts. -[playful music]
-[applause and cheering] [Adam] They call me Adam.
I'm a child of Venus, because I know neither my father
nor my mother, nor where I come from. "There are no timbers in the air,"
say the peasants. It's how I make my living. Since I came into this world, I've been on the move,
earning myself a few pence. Here today, gone tomorrow. We're always glad of a peasant wedding. They like watching us, even though they despise us and think
we have neither honor nor rights. But they're the ones in bondage,
doormats for their masters. We wayfarers are free as the birds. "Marry your own kind,
she's the best you'll find" is what they believe. But they can't even marry
without their lord's consent. To get him to give up
his ius primae noctis, the right to the first night, the bridegroom has to pay him
a "virgin tax" of one "prick penny." Though, I'll admit, I've never heard tell of a lord actually claiming
his right to the first night. [narrator] Thousands upon thousands
of picture-postcard villages, like Najac in the south of France,
were dotted all over Europe in the Middle Ages. Over three-quarters of the people
were peasants. They lived in the shadow of the castles, protected by their lords,
and dependent on their lords. Only a few of them
were freemen; most were serfs. -[dogs barking]
-[chickens clucking] It took seven villages to maintain
just one knight and his castle. And now I praise the peasant man. -He feeds us all the best he can.
-[lively music] So I advise you, good sir knight.
Cleave to him with all your might. [narrator] The peasants' world was
as simple as it was small and uneventful. Market days came as a welcome change. [Adam] Their world ends
at the boundaries of the village. That's why they think that people
from the market must be clever. "Come here to me, ye men and maids.
I'll help you all with God's good aid." I know how to let blood. I can even heal cataracts
and make the blind see again. And I can pull rotten teeth. Miracle cures
are for charlatans and quacks. I know my craft. [grunting] If only it were market day every day. I'd earn my money in no time. [narrator] Anthropologists
from the Natural History Museum in Vienna are trying find out things not recorded
in any medieval document or chronicle. What infirmities did peasants
in the Middle Ages have? What did they eat? What diseases did they suffer from,
what caused their deaths? Finds from a tenth-century cemetery
in Austria provide some answers. Over 200 skeletons have been examined. From bones and skull, anthropologists
can do more than just establish a person's age at death. Like pathologists, orthopedic specialists and dentists, they also look
for a clinical picture and make diagnoses. In the graves, they found
only a few simple objects. The people buried at Gars-Thunau
were peasants and serfs. The average age at death was just 21. However, a high rate of infant mortality
distorts the picture, for half the children
didn't survive beyond infancy. Among the survivors, many lived to be over 40,
and ten percent even over 60. Under the microscope, anthropologists
study microtome slides of the bones and can diagnose retarded growth,
a consequence of the regular famines. Inflammation of the bone tissue
points to infections. Changes to the bone structure
are a sign of insufficient vitamin C. Head of the project is anthropologist
Dr. Maria Teschler-Nicola. A team of archaeologists and doctors has made an epidemiological study
of the whole village. They've frequently
found holes in the bones, an indication of bone tuberculosis. [somber music] [narrator] The peasants' lives
are depicted very differently in their lords' prayer-books. The Duc de Berry's Book of Hours is one of the most precious
and famous books in the world. The Limbourg brothers' miniatures
are a highlight of Western art. The illustrations in this calendar
paint a flattering picture. No one would have worked the fields
in their Sunday best. [narrator] These miserable people spend
many a wretched day in great drudgery, and must toil hard
to provide what the world needs. Little of their produce falls their way.
They eat scarcely better than their swine. [narrator] Men and women are depicted
shamelessly exposing themselves for the entertainment of the nobles. To reconstruct the reality
of the peasants' everyday lives, archaeologists built a typical
medieval village in Düppel near Berlin. The land is being cultivated
just as it was in the Middle Ages. [narrator] The country folk
lead a harsh life. They must plough the fields, sow,
reap and get the crops into the barns. A peasant's life is not an easy one. Water and curdled milk are their drink,
bread and oat gruel their food. [narrator] Rye and oats
were originally weeds. Not until the early Middles Ages
were they cultivated, to become high-yielding crops. But failed harvests still led
time and again to disastrous famines. Necessity is the mother of invention... With the customary two-field system
of rotating crops, only half the arable land was sown, the other half lying fallow
so it could regenerate. The next year, the harvested field
was left to lie fallow. The three-field system
revolutionized things. One third of the arable land was sown
with a summer crop, such as wheat, and one third with a winter crop,
like rye. So instead of half,
now only a third lay fallow. The crops were rotated
in the following years. The three-field system produced
a 16 percent higher yield. And the farmers could now bring in
a harvest twice a year instead of once. Historians speak
of an agricultural revolution. [narrator] Without the increase
in the output of grain, there would have been
no population growth, hence, no cathedrals or cities. And without rye,
there would have been no black bread, which divided Europe into North and South. "Not even the best field
can bear fruit on its own," they said. Agriculture became a science
in the Middle Ages. The first modern handbook on agronomy
was written by Walter of Henley in 1270. His aim,
to show how yield could be increased. This book is a perfect example of the kind of handbook
that was used by the monastic estates in England in the 13th
and then into the 14th centuries. These handbooks were used in order
to manage the estates sufficiently. They include guidance on legal matters,
but also on husbandry, and how to farm effectively
and efficiently. There is guidance on ploughing, on sowing,
on manuring and fertilizing the land. And all of this
was very carefully recorded, so that experience could be accumulated
in order that the agriculture could be made more efficient
and more effective. Indeed, this is the origin
of modern business management, because it includes effective accounting,
a certain amount of personnel management in terms of selecting
and training the right people. And it became the basis
of business management as we know it today. -[light music]
-[rain and thunder] [narrator] The Church demanded
a tithe from the peasants, but their lords also received
a generous proportion of their grain, their straw, their cattle,
of everything, in fact. They had to surrender as much
as half of what they produced. On Saint Martin's Day,
their lords even demanded a goose as well. [Adam] Whether it's the fattest goose
or the nicest apples, the lords always get the best. [indistinct chatter] The peasants themselves often go hungry,
and live off herbs, roots or tree bark. I heard voices raised in a quarrel. One peasant had brought the steward
less than he had demanded. I couldn't bear to watch him
try to squeeze every last drop out of the poor fellow. I decided to stick my nose in,
and asked what was missing. [lively music] [indistinct chatter] The steward would get what he wanted. One egg... and another,
and the peasant's debt was repaid. But one was for him.
He shouldn't go hungry. [upbeat music] [narrator] Just how important
the hated tithes and taxes were in Europe can be seen in the Archives
of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona. Here, tens of thousands of tax files
from the 13th and 14th centuries have been preserved. Historians working
with Dr. Sánchez Martínez have studied the tax laws of the crown
and the communes. They have gone through
the king's accounts, the tax lists, petitions
and complaints page by page. The state bureaucracy and the army
had to be financed. The king's income from his own property
was no longer sufficient. And so the crown of Aragon
introduced something progressive, something revolutionary... income tax. [somber music] [narrator] In the 13th century,
every household in the kingdom of Aragon was listed in tax registers
for the first time. Every subject had to declare,
not only property, but also profits and revenue for the income tax,
no matter whether he was a landowner, a merchant or a hired laborer. Now it was no longer just personal wealth
that was being taxed. In special ledgers, the tax debts
of the impoverished, or those behind in their payments, were recorded
and crossed off when they were repaid. The Tax Office sends its regards... [narrator] In England,
William the Conqueror's rule extended from coast to coast. How could he tax
his subjects' property fairly and without provoking them into rebellion? Zero-hour for tax collection was 1086, the year in which the king ordered
the Domesday Book compiled. It was the first record
of land-ownings in Europe. It marked the beginning
of a new era in taxation. The property of all the dukes
and feudal lords, all the abbeys and churches, is listed by county. With this book,
the king could levy land tax to the furthest corner of his kingdom. He tried to make it equitable. Nobody was to be either advantaged
or disadvantaged. And no one was exempt from land tax. [Prof. David Roffe]
Nobody likes taxations. So, why did all these people
participate in this process? Well, the answer is the old cliché, that taxation is your subscription
to a civilized society. And this was especially true
in the 11th century. Because if you didn't pay your tax, you lost your land
and you lost your status. In other words, you became,
almost, a slave. So, it was vitally important
that you participated in these processes of reassessing taxation,
because your livelihood, your very legal status, depended upon it.
It was vitally important. It's almost as if they belonged to a club. And if they don't pay their subscriptions,
they don't get the benefits. If you're in a golf club,
you don't pay, you don't play golf. -[bright music]
-[cow mooing] [Adam] "The early bird catches the worm,"
or so the peasants say. There was nothing to keep us here.
The wedding was over. We moved on. "The smaller the cage,
the sweeter the freedom." We wayfarers want no lord over us,
and to be no one's servant. Even if we don't know
what the next day will bring. After all, we were given feet to wander. According to an old proverb, "You can't dance at two weddings
at the same time." I'd rather dance for people
with full bellies than empty ones. There are no timbers in the air. This is truly dangerous.
Blessed Virgin, stand by me. Ladies of the church, knights,
noble women... count on me. You weather-beaten highwaymen... take whatever catches your eye.
Barons, peasants, fresh-faced youths... Your amusement is my command! Everyone wants to see me
go through my paces. We're sure to get a reward,
and it will have to last us a while. Their barns are full, yet they complain
they haven't enough money. But who wouldn't trade places with them? At least they have a roof
over their heads. [narrator] Chateau de Chillon
on Lake Geneva is just one of many picture-book
castles in Europe. But indoors,
life was anything but romantic. The knight
Oswald von Wolkenstein complained... [Oswald] Horsemen come and go, and some among them
are robbers and bandits. It stinks everywhere. The whole day brings care and woe,
ceaseless unrest and constant turmoil. [narrator] Of course,
there were many poor knights too. Few could afford tapestries
to help insulate the cold, damp walls. [wind howling] All the rooms were ice-cold in winter. Only one room,
the chimney-room, had a fireplace around which the lord of the castle,
his family and his guests, gathered. The servants had to sit in the back row. [creaking] Few castles had glazed windows. Normally the window openings were covered
with shutters when it grew too cold. So it was often dark indoors by day. [festive music] [narrator] One achievement
of aristocratic culture in the Middle Ages was the introduction
of rules of polite behavior. To the sociologist Norbert Elias,
it marked the beginning of a process of civilization. "Don't wipe your hands on the tablecloth." "Don't throw bones over your shoulder." Even the upper classes
had to learn their manners. Emotions could run high. Hence the rule: "Don't point your knife at anyone
at table." It could be misunderstood. Not only better table manners,
but also cutlery as we know it, came into being in the Middle Ages. [festive music] [Adam] As usual, we got only the leftovers
from his lordship's table, the going rate if we'd performed well,
and by God, we had. I had risked life and limb.
We deserved to hear the jingle of coins. But what did we get?
The lords' and ladies' cast-off clothing. Oh, "Clothes make the man," it's true,
but we weren't allowed to wear them. [man] Hey! [indistinct chatter] [Adam] The loss was ours,
but at least I had some merriment from it. [lively music] [narrator] Only nobles
were allowed to dress grandly. Clothing regulations,
known as sumptuary laws, stipulated: [narrator] By law, what a peasant wears
must be either black or grey. Nothing else is permitted. A coarse linen smock is appropriate, wooden clogs
and one pair of leather boots. That is enough. [narrator] The peasants were forbidden
to wear better cloth, fur and jewelry like their lords - a punishable offence. The class differences
had to be plain for all to see. "Who should till the fields if all
were lords? You must be what God wills," that is the sermon
the peasants heard from the pulpit. [Adam] The Devil take them,
if that's all the thanks we get. We'd received no more than a full belly
and a pile of gaudy rags. [happy music] [Adam] When Adam delved and Eve span,
who was then the gentleman? [indistinct chatter] I slipped the cap upon her head
and thought that night to share her bed. [all laughing] [eerie music] [Adam] The next morning I was all alone.
They had taken everything from me, every last thing. Even my shoes. Oh well, he who goes barefoot
doesn't have pinched toes. I had underestimated the old man. [wind howling] [Adam] I went on alone,
into the land of the Swiss. They love freedom
and don't doff their hats to their lords. Maybe I'd have better luck there. [narrator] The Swiss peasants
and shepherds controlled the Gotthard Pass. It was a thorn in the side
of the Hapsburgs. Since 1273, they had been trying to deprive the peasants
of their ancestral freedoms. They appointed foreign judges
who broke the old laws. Opposition grew. The cantons of Schwyz,
Uri and Unterwalden, signed the famous "eternal alliance"
on Rütli Meadow, according to legend. [narrator] We want
to be a united people of brothers. No danger or threat will separate us. We want to be free, as our fathers were. Death is better than slavery. [narrator] That's how Friedrich Schiller
put it in William Tell. [Adam] In a wood, I had come across followers
and mercenaries of the Hapsburgs. They were on an expedition
to fight the Swiss. [bright music] I hadn't eaten for days and was trying
to entertain them with tricks. May it please you, sirs. [all clapping] I never thought I'd end up
wheedling favors. Too bad, I'll just have to be a groom. There are worse jobs when you're starving. At least you have somewhere warm
to lie at night. [narrator] The Chronicle of the Swiss
describes in words and pictures what happened to them under the Hapsburgs. Year after year,
knights and soldiers of the Austrian king marauded across the land,
to put down the rebellious peasants. [somber music] The Austrians stole their cattle... attacked their villages... plundered and laid waste... and seized their women. To defend themselves,
the Swiss assembled a popular army. But where would they get weapons? The peasants took what they had at hand. Flails were fashioned into spiked staffs. Pitchforks were turned into pikes. Scythes became spears
with razor-sharp blades. [narrator] The Swiss
also had murderous instruments with which they could split
well-armed opponents in two, as if with a butcher's knife,
and chop them into pieces. Halberds, they called them. [dramatic music] [narrator] Thus armed, the Swiss
waited for the Hapsburgs in the narrow Morgarten Pass
on November the 15th, 1315. They had only 1500 men,
against 5000 well-armed knights. So they lay in wait, ready to attack
the flank of the enemy column. Unlike the Hapsburgs,
they were without shields or armor, but they did have courage. They knew what they were fighting for:
their freedom and independence. [Adam] The Hapsburgs had been boasting
they'd have no trouble with those peasant dolts,
as they called the rebellious Swiss. But something was wrong here. I smelt a rat. "My stomach's playing up,"
I shouted and made for cover. Whatever they were up to,
it was no business of mine. I took to my heels and headed for safety. [shouting] Bravely, the Swiss
stormed out of their hiding-places. What I saw wasn't a battle.
It was a slaughter. Like cowards, the knights
fled from the Swiss peasants. [narrator] The Swiss spared no one,
nor did they try to take prisoners. They killed everyone, without exception. It is said that 1500 men
died by the sword in that butchery. When some of the foot soldiers heard how their bravest warriors
had been so cruelly killed, they threw themselves into the lake,
utterly crazed and confused. [Adam] Not till the battle was over,
did I cross the battlefield. "Many a man lay in eternal rest
A swordblade rising from his breast." -[crows cawing]
-[somber music] There was more booty
than the Swiss could carry. The ground was still covered
with Hapsburg armor and swords. So, I could take what they owed me. It served them right.
They had broken the law and done wrong. [narrator] We want to be free,
as our fathers were. Better death than to live in slavery. [narrator] The faded flag of the Swiss
is kept in the Museum of Schwyz, a sacred symbol of the nation. The citation reads: [narrator] Under me,
in the 11th month of 1315, the men of Schwyz, with the aid
of the men of Uri and Unterwalden, defeated Duke Leopold of Austria
at Morgarten. [narrator] Morgarten was more
than just a military victory. The three original cantons
united with all the other cantons to form Switzerland, the first federal state in Europe
with a democratic constitution. "A free people on free land,"
as Goethe wrote. It had been achieved
by peasants and shepherds. Rütli Meadow, where the Swiss assembled
to swear an oath of allegiance, is another symbol of national pride. Historians say it's all just a legend. The men never met on this meadow,
nor was there an oath of allegiance. [serene music] [Adam] Much later, in the spring of 1316,
I was travelling through Bohemia. I wasn't born to be a servant...
and I didn't want to be anyone's fool. So I was searching
for a band of performers who would take me into their troupe and with whom I could once more
wander from village to village. [applause] [bright music] Even I, Adam, was in luck for once.
They took me in. Be gone, you gloomy hours.
For eyes are the doors of love... Pretty maid, prepare a welcome
when to you I come... [narrator] By the time
Adam was wandering the countryside, great changes had taken place
in farming practices. In the Duc de Berry's Book of Hours, the peasants
were still working in the traditional way. For a long time,
oxen were the tractors of the Middle Ages, until they were largely replaced
by horses. This contributed
to the agricultural revolution of the Middle Ages, say the historians. Farmer Joe Henson,
from Cheltenham, explains why. This is a medieval ox yoke. The yoke laid across
the tops of their necks and the ox bow
went underneath their necks. Now, it was not possible
to use this with horses, because the ox bow would strangle them. It would come up under their neck
and make them uncomfortable. So, it was when they invented
the horse collar that they were able to harness the horse and use horses. And horses are much,
in a way, better than oxen. You need two oxen to replace one horse.
They're stronger, they're faster, they're more willing. A horse will try and pull something
that it can't pull. If you make oxen work too hard,
they will just lie down. [narrator] The Henson family
put on a demonstration, a ploughing contest between
a pair of horses and a pair of oxen. The teams
worked under identical conditions. The collar, developed
especially for horses, enabled riding mounts
to be used as working horses too. Horseshoes improved their performance
in heavy soils. Another important discovery
of the Middle Ages was the wheeled plough
with an iron ploughshare. These new ploughs could be guided easily
and didn't just scratch grooves in the soil, like the old wooden harrows.
They dug deep furrows and turned the earth at the same time,
increasing the yield of the land. The contest shows that horses can do
twice as much work in a day as oxen. The turning-circle of horses
is considerably smaller. They can also walk further,
enabling farmers to lead them to distant fields for ploughing. So, it's no wonder that horsepower became
the standard measure of performance. There was another decisive factor
in the agrarian revolution of the Middle Ages: mills. The land of Europe isn't suitable
for rice, but it is for other grains. Unlike rice, rye isn't only husked,
it also has to be ground. Manpower wasn't free in the Middle Ages. So, people had to learn to harness wind
and water as sources of energy. That called for many innovations
and inventions. To transfer the power
of the vertical water wheels to the horizontal mill-stones,
cogwheels, axle bearings and camshafts were constructed. This principle was later used
in the first gearboxes. The technology of the flour mill
was soon driving mills for paper, for fulling cloth
and for grinding mineral ores, as well as pumps to drain mines,
and early industrial hammer-mills. Improved farming
and the new mill technology went hand in hand
with the first industrial revolution to bring about the rise of Europe. [eerie music] [crow cawing] [scuffling] [Adam] A sound roused me. In the dark, my companions
had stolen a peasant's horse. The scoundrels, villains.
What were they thinking of? This was going too far. I'm no thief.
I wanted nothing to do with it. [shouting] [Adam] But the next day,
the furious peasants turned on me, of all people. "Performers and thieves.
One tree with two leaves!" screamed the mob. [dramatic music] They weren't exactly hanging around. [narrator] Make inquiries about the crime
and the punishment to be imposed. Thieves are to be hanged. [somber music] [narrator] So says the oldest
and most important law book of the Middles Ages,
the Sachsenspiegel - the Saxon Mirror. Heidelberg University Library is home to the most handsome
of the illuminated manuscripts. In the Middle Ages, law was the tradition
and custom of the forefathers. It was passed down by word of mouth. Eike von Repgow was the first to record the law of his home state of Saxony,
at the beginning of the 13th century. His collection of laws
became a model for Central Europe. He recorded the management
of fiefs and regional law, and added vivid paintings of offences
and punishments as a reminder. These dealt with capital crimes,
and neighborhood disputes. To whom did runaway geese belong? What about fruit
that hangs over the fence? It belongs to your neighbor,
as is still true today. Punishments in the Middle Ages
were harsh, but not arbitrary. Pickpockets were to have
their hands chopped off. Adulteresses were to be flogged publicly
and have their hair shorn. [somber music] [Adam] Guilt by association.
The gallows are the fate of the unlucky. No one believed me, though I called on God
and all the saints as my witnesses. Only my new companion
was convinced of my innocence. [bright music] Before the steward,
she announced that she would marry me. And thus, an old unwritten law
saved me from the noose. "Four months must pass between sowing
and reaping," say the peasants. With us, it will take a while longer. I was tired of life
as an eternal vagabond. "Country air makes you a slave,
town air makes you free," they say. After all these years, we'll no longer be
without honor and rights, but free citizens. [bright music]
