medvillage

The Medieval Village 1 This presentation covers: 1. Who lived in the village. 2. Who worked the land and who was in charge. 3. The open field system.

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The village

The vast majority of people in Europe at this time lived in the countryside. There were very few towns and most people made their living from the land. Most people lived in manors. The manor was an area of land that could sometimes include more than one village.

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Who lived in the village? Not everyone in the village farmed. Some peasants had important jobs such as the miller and the blacksmith. How important you were in the village dependent upon your occupation (job). Some positions in the village were high up. Obviously the lord of the manor was the most important person, but the priest was also important because the church was very influential in all people’s lives.

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Who worked on the lord’s land? The general term for people who worked on the lord of the manor’s land was peasants. They could be divided into villeins and freemen. The villeins worked on the lord’s land, and in return they had their own land to farm. The freemen paid rent to the lord to have their own land.

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Who was in charge? The steward He should instruct the bailiffs who are beneath him. He should visit each of the manors two or three times a year and check rents and services. The bailiff Every morning he should examine the corn, meadows and woods. He should check on the ploughing every day. The reeve The reeve should be chosen by the whole village. He should check attendance in the morning and see that the lands are well ploughed and sown. Each year with the bailiff he works out how much service is owed in the village

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Growing crops Most of the land in the village belonged to the lord of the manor. The lord kept some of the land for his own crops; this was called his demesne. The rest of his land was let to the villagers.

The fields were divided into strips. This was so that everyone had a fair share of the good and bad land. 7 of 16

The open-field system

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