An image from: E2BN gallery – National Education Network

1. What deductions can you make from this Medieval picture about life in the Middle Ages? Clues: -Lord of the Manor - Peasants An image from: E2BN gallery – National Education Network

2. What 6 things can you see in the picture? What jobs are being done? What do you think life was like in the Middle Ages? Clues: -Rich & Poor -Lord of the Manor - Peasants An image from: E2BN gallery – National Education Network

3. Title: A Peasant’s Home.

4. A Peasant’s House – a)Describe to your neighbour what conditions were like for peasants in the Middle Ages. b) Label your diagram of a peasant’s house.

5. A Peasant’s House –Tell your neighbour 5 facts about a Peasants house. b) Label your diagram of a peasant’s house.

6. A Peasant’s House: Complete the table below in your book. Try to use sub-headings to organise your ideas. Items connected with work Personal Possessions Items for the home

7. Peasants’ Homes. • What materials were used to build Medieval peasants’ houses? • Write a paragraph describing what living conditions were like for peasants. Justify your answer - link it to the evidence in the diagram. • Devise 3 true & 3 false statements about life as a peasant – see if your neighbour can alter the false statements into correct statements.

8. Peasants’ Homes. • What materials were used to build Medieval peasants’ houses? • Write a paragraph describing what living conditions were like for peasants. Explain how you know this from the picture. • Devise 3 true & 3 false statements about life as a peasant.

10. The Manor House. • See worksheet

11. The Manor House. • See worksheet/plan

12. Food. -What evidence does this picture provide about food in the Middle Ages? -Would all classes of society eat the same types of food?

13. Food. -What evidence does this picture give about food and eating in the Middle Ages? -Would all people eat the same types of food?

14. Can you work out which of these foods were eaten by peasants & which by nobles? See the next slide

15. Can you work out which of these foods were eaten by peasants (poor) & which by nobles (rich) ? See the next slide

16. Peasant Food: Noble Food: versus Oatcakes Courses would include meat, fish, poultry & sweet dishes. Rye bread Venison pies Swan Honey Cabbages, leeks & onions Sugar sculptures in the shape of swans, peacocks etc. Very little meat Sweet wine Pike & bream Cold baked tarts Ale Broth thickened with barley Porridge Wild oxen

17. Answers.

18. Peasant Food: Noble Food: versus 2.Oatcakes Courses would include meat, fish, poultry & sweet dishes. 1.Rye bread 4.Venison pies 5.Swan 3.Honey 6.Sugar sculptures in the shape of swans, peacocks etc. Sweet wine 7.Very little meat 8.Pike & bream Cold baked tarts 9.Ale 10.Cabbages, leeks & onions 11. Porridge 13.Wild oxen 12.Broth thickened with barley

19. Peasant Food: Noble Food: versus Oatcakes Courses would include meat, fish, poultry & sweet dishes. Rye bread Venison pies Swan Honey Sugar sculptures in the shape of swans, peacocks etc. Sweet wine Very little meat Pike & bream Cold baked tarts Ale Cabbages, leeks & onions Porridge Wild oxen Broth thickened with barley

20. Open-Field Villages.See worksheet. Open - Field Villages. Medieval villages had fields called ‘open’ fields because there were no hedges, walls or ditches. These were split up into narrow strips and most peasants would have strips of land. In Cricklade the fields were known as ‘North Mead’ & ‘South Mead.’ Peasants would have strips in each of the fields so that they got a mixture of good and bad land. Peasants could also graze their animals on the common land and collect wood there. In Cricklade they used Dance Common & Common Hill. The villagers or peasants would share oxen to plough the fields and work together to sow their crops and harvest their crops. Most peasants were villeins and were not free people. They had to obey the lord of the manor and pay him rent. Rent and taxes could amount to as much as half of what a villein grew. All villagers had to also give one tenth of what they grew to the church. This was known as the Tithe. If there was a bad harvest peasants often died of starvation the next winter. Some villagers were called cottarsor bordars and were too poor to own any strips of land. They would work for the richer peasants and just have a small plot of ground to grow their food. Did you know? In 1066 90% of people lived in the countryside. Activities. .Explain how the villagers cooperated and helped one another. Most peasants had to work for a couple of days a week on the lord’s land, this was how the villeins paid the lord rent. The lord was the most important man in the village. His land was called the demesne. At harvest time peasants did extra work called ‘boon work.’ They were also expected to give the lord gifts at certain times of the year, this could be money or items like 32 hens at Christmas. Freemen were better-off peasants and paid rent to the lord of the manor, they could leave the village if they wanted and had more freedom. 2. Draw three peasant faces and speech bubbles to explain what life was like for each person. Villeins: • Had to do Services or week-work all year long for the lord. 1-2 days for ploughing, weeding, fence making and carting. At harvest time they would work for 5 days. • They might make payments to the lord rather than doing certain services for him. • They had to attend the manor court and be on the jury if they were chosen. • They had to pay the lord for certain rights like getting married, using the mill or taking over their parents’ land. Villeins & Freemen: • Boon-Work included ploughing, harvesting & hay-making. • Payments had to be made to the lord for grinding corn into flour at the mill. Ovens were also charged for and use of the smithy where the blacksmith worked. The lord set the price of ale and it was tested by his ale tasters. • Cottar • Villein • Freeman 3. Draw a pyramid to show the different groups of people in a medieval village. The most powerful person should be at the top. All illustrations by kind permission of Ray Fishwick Bibliography: -Chris Jordan & Tim Wood,’England in the Middle Ages,’ (John Murray, 1984) -Peter Moss,’History Scene 2,’ (Hart-Davis Educational, 1979) -Colin Shephard, Chris Hinton, John Hite & Tim Lomas, ‘Societies in Change,’ (John Murray, 1992) -Martyn Whittock, ‘Life in the Middle Ages,’ (Robinson, 2009) -

21. Match up the statements, the most important person needs to go at the top of the pyramid. D. I am a villein and have to work for the lord. I have to obey the lord and pay him taxes and rent. I have some land to grow crops on. B. I am the lord of the manor and own all of the land. People pay me rent & work on my land. A. I am a Freeman and pay the lord rent. I can leave the village when I want to but still have to do some work for the lord at busy times of the year. c. I am a cottar and do not own any land. I am very poor and work for everyone else.

22. Crop Rotation: ? Can we use Cricklade field names/crops – check McB where pics from Complete the table & explain why a three year plan was used for planting crops. Keywords – nutrients fertility fertilisers

23. Crop Rotation: ? Can we use Cricklade field names/crops – check McB where pics from Complete the table & explain why a three year plan was used for planting crops – why can you not grow the same crops in the same place each year? Keywords – nutrients fertility fertilisers

24. Crop Rotation: ? Can we use Cricklade field names/crops – check McB where pics from Barley Fallow Fallow Complete the table & explain why a three year plan was used for planting crops. Keywords – nutrients fertility fertilisers

25. What types of jobs did Medieval villagers have to do?

26. The Peasant’s Year: • January-Planting vegetables. • February-Ploughing with oxen, digging manure into soil. • March-Crops sown, weeding, chasing away birds & ploughing fallow field. • June-Sheep sheared, hay harvested, cattle ate stubble. • July-Fallow field ploughed again, hemp & flax prepared to make linen. • August & September-harvest time, crops scythed & transported in carts. Grain separated (winnowed) from the stalk and husks. • October-Winter corn was sown. • November-Some animals were butchered and the meat salted or smoked for the winter. What other jobs would the Medieval villagers have to do all year round?

27. The Peasant’s Year: • January-Planting vegetables. • February-Ploughing with oxen, digging manure into soil. • March-Crops sown, weeding, chasing away birds & ploughing fallow field. • June-Sheep sheared, hay harvested, cattle ate stubble. • July-Fallow (empty) field ploughed again, hemp & flax prepared to make linen cloth. • August & September-harvesttime, crops scythed (cut) & transported in carts. Grain separated (winnowed) from the stalk and husks. • October-Winter corn was sown. • November-Some animals were butchered and the meat salted or smoked for the winter. What other jobs would the Medieval villagers have to do all year round?

28. Cricklade Map