We all love a good storybook tale of righteous
Kings and Queens or fantasizing that we could be a brave Knight on a heroic quest! But what if you were actually living during
medieval times and found yourself not as a noble, but all the way at the bottom of the
proverbial totem pole as a lowly peasant instead? What would you be expected to do? What kind of life would you live? How long would you survive the grueling lifestyle
of a medieval peasant? Just like in today’s society, there are
certain societal structures in place during the Middle Ages. That structure is known as the Feudal System
- with the king or queen reigning at the top of this structure and owning all the land. They then gave land to lords and knights in
exchange for money, loyalty, and military support. Nobles then provided land and protection to
the peasants who were expected to work in exchange for living on the land as well as
paying taxes in the form of money or a portion of what they grew. Imagine the king having a whole pie. He keeps a big chunk of that pie for himself,
then slices up the remaining pie for the lords, who in turn give some to their knights. From there, some of the nobles give pieces
of their pie to peasants BUT at the end of each year the nobles take a piece of that
teeny little slice back! Talk about unfair! So, you get a piece of land and in exchange
work a little bit. That’s not so bad, right? Well, the average peasant’s life primarily
circled around the agrarian calendar, meaning most of your time was spent working the land
and trying to harvest enough crops to survive another year - and don’t forget that tax
you owe! Peasant men and women alike tended to the
fields, and even their children were expected to learn the necessary skills to help out. Peasants’ homes were constructed of a small
wooden frame with walls of plaster made from a mixture of mud, straw, and - plug your noses
for this one - manure! Glass was extremely expensive, so “windows”
were just a small circular hole in the wall. There was no flooring, just dirt, and no real
insulation - so it was often extremely cold during the winter and unbearably hot during
the summer. And not only does the family have to fit in
the home but the livestock as well! If left unattended outside, horses and oxen
could roam off on their own or even be stolen, so you’d be sleeping side by side with your
prized pig. To make matters worse, the animals would bring
in bedbugs, lice, and other biting insects that would set up camp in the peasants’
straw stuffed beds. Peasant homes had none of the things we consider
normal in ours today. No running water, toilets, baths, or basins
of any kind. Even the king would barely bathe. There’s a saying that a peasant only bathed
twice in their life - once when they are born and once when they die as their bodies are
being prepared for burial! Working hard, barely having enough food, and
having less-than stellar living situations makes it pretty difficult to survive medieval
times as a peasant. If you are born into serfdom, there is only
a 50/50 chance of surviving your first year of life and the average life expectancy is
only 35 years old! The lack of clean water and modern medicine
make it difficult to live to an old age. However, if you survive your childhood and
teenage years, it’s possible to live well into your 50s or 60s. One of the worst plagues to well- plague - the
Earth first appeared during medieval times. The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black
Death, is a gruesome disease that knocked out one-third of Europe’s population! Due to the lack of sanitary awareness, fresh
water, and modern medicine, the disease spread like wildfire. While those higher up in the power chain did
fall ill with the Bubonic Plague, the nasty bacteria did it’s worst on the peasants. Although the horrifying Black Death ran rapid
and killed thousands of people, it actually might have been the cause for a shift in the
peasants’ economic status. Once the plague disappeared, there weren’t
as many people to complete much needed tasks, like harvesting the fields. These jobs fell on the peasants left standing,
and because they were needed so badly, they were able to ask for higher wages to complete
the exact same jobs they were previously working for little to no pay! Instead of paying taxes with their crops and
hard work, they were able to pay with actual money! From there, everyday life changed along with
the overall economic structures. The tough life as a peasant was never ending;
spending your life working to pay back the lord of your land - or you know, landlord…
get it?! - and essentially giving that piece of the pie back to the king himself. But hey, all you gotta do is survive the deadliest
of plagues and you too can earn a living wage! Thanks for watching, and don’t forget to
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