What is the difference between a peasant and a commoner

Cottagers were medieval peasants who were deemed to be of a lower class, Cottagers did not have any land but they did have somewhere to live — a cottage — which is where the name cottager came from. Considered to be one of the lowest class of people in Medieval Times, a Commoner medieval peasant would typically own land jointly with other commoners and because they did not belong to any Nobility they were often frowned upon by other people at a higher level in the Feudal system.

Stewards had very important jobs in Medieval times and were very well paid important people as they were in charge of running a castle in the absence of a Lord, the Steward was basically what we would call a deputy manager and took overall control for the efficient running of a Castle. A Lord would need to have a lot of trust in a Steward as they had to organise any work in a Castle and were also in control of the Estates money in the Lords absence.

Bailiffs were also quite powerful people who owned their own land and as such were known as freeholders. The role of a Bailiffs was one of delegation like the Stewards, but they were in charge of allocating jobs to different peasants, looking after livestock and maintaining the buildings by hiring the correct craftsmen for the problem that needed fixing, they were pretty much like modern day estate managers.

Working along side the bailiff a Reeve was the representative of the villager peasants and acted as a go between. Usually a tough and intimidating character with a white stick a Reeve would make sure that work began on time and was also entrusted with keeping an eye on the workers and making sure that nothing was stolen from the Lord.

Was a freeman of a borough which meant that he owned land or a property within a borough. The name came from the Old French Word Burgeis which just meant the inhabitant of a town.

Unskilled workers who usually had physical jobs usually classed as Serfs. Medieval Farm workers who had important roles in growing food but where not very high in the Feudal system See Serfs. There were various maids in Medieval Times such as a Scullery maid or a ladies Maids.

Medieval Peasants Scullery Maid is plucking a Pheasant bird. A scullery maid had quite a hard life in that they were expected to do all the hard physical jobs in an important households kitchen, they helped the Kitchen maids and were usually the youngest members of the kitchen staff given such wonderful jobs as scouring floors, pots and dishes amongst other items.

The scullery maid would report to the Main Chef or Cook and was always required to stay in the kitchen area to keep an eye on the food and to make sure there was plenty of fresh clean vegetables available and to do other menial jobs such as scaling fish, the Scullery maid was even expected to eat in the Kitchen in fact a major portion of her life would have been spent in a busy demanding Kitchen.

The Cook had an important role in the household and prepared and cooked the food for the Lord, Lady and people depending on the situation the Cook was in, there was not much in the way of convenience foods at the time so everything had to be cooked from scratch and cooking meals was a very labour intensive job. Servants were also classed as peasants, they would often work in the Manor House and carry out any duties that were needed by the Lord of the Manor Cooking, cleaning, laundering, and many different household chores were completed by servants.

In conclusions life would have been fairly good if your were a Peasant in the Middle ages if you were a higher class of peasant such as a Villein or a Bailiff as you would have had some land and a decent standard of living, however not all people in Peasantry had it so good and if you were a slave like a labourer life could have been pretty tough.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article on medieval peasants, if you would like to learn about medieval peasants in even more detail please click on the images at the top of this medieval peasants page, or click the links below on medieval serfs, slaves, villeins etc.

Copyright - - - Medieval Chronicles. Medieval Peasants At the bottom of the feudal system were the common people, who neither had the extensive right to own properties nor a voice in feudal society. Medieval Serf. Medieval Villein.

Medieval Yeoman. Share this:. At a festival, a peasant could watch a play or take part in contests like archery or wrestling, and maybe even see a juggler or magician. The noble paid the local church to put on the festival. Power of the Church: During medieval times, the church was all powerful. The only way to get to heaven was to follow the Bible.

However, since most people couldn't read. The local priest could tell people that the Bible told them how to behave, who to obey, even who to marry. New Ideas: Since most people never left their village area, ideas spread thoughout Europe through the priests and wandering musicians and traders. This was a slow process. Commoner Homes: Peasants homes were usually one room huts, made of logs held together with mud, with thatched roofs.

There was a hole in the roof for the smoke to get out so people could cook inside. Homes had little furniture, perhaps a three-legged stool and beds made of straw covered with a leather toss. There were pegs on the walls to hold clothes.

They usually had iron cooking pots and pans. Food: Peasants grew their own food. Three days a week, they worked to provide food for the lord of the manor. Three days a week they worked to provide food for themselves. Sunday was a day for prayer. They kept bees to make honey. They drew water from the village well, or if they were lucky, from a nearby stream. They kept fruit trees. They grew vegetables.

Serfs were almost like slaves. Though no one owned serfs, they were bound to the land, which were owned by nobles. However, a serf could buy his or her own freedom, but only if he could earn enough.

The liberation of serfs happened over a period of many years. Black death, which was followed by the peasant revolution is considered to be the most important event in the emancipation of serfs in England.

In the feudal society, peasants were poor, rural farmers ; they were either the owners of their own farms or laborers. The social structure of peasantry can be categorized into further smaller groups.

Foreign princes and foreign nobility in exile could also seek refuge at a court. Etiquette and hierarchy flourished in highly structured court settings. Most courts featured a strict order of precedence, often involving royal and noble ranks, orders of chivalry, and nobility. Some courts even featured court uniforms. One of the major markers of a court was ceremony.

Most monarchal courts included ceremonies concerning the investiture or coronation of the monarch and audiences with the monarch. Court officials or office-bearers one type of courtier derived their positions and retained their titles from their original duties within the courtly household. With time, such duties often became archaic. However, titles survived involving the ghosts of arcane duties.

These styles generally dated back to the days when a noble household had practical and mundane concerns as well as high politics and culture.

These positions include butler, confessor, falconer, royal fool, gentleman usher, master of the hunt, page, and secretary. Elaborate noble households included many roles and responsibilities, held by these various courtiers, and these tasks characterized their daily lives.

This involved a vernacular tradition of monophonic secular song, probably accompanied by instruments, sung by professional, occasionally itinerant, musicians who were skilled poets as well as singers and instrumentalists. Women in the Middle Ages were officially required to be subordinate to some male, whether their father, husband, or other kinsman.

Widows, who were often allowed some control over their own lives, were still restricted legally. Three main activities performed by peasant men and women were planting food, keeping livestock, and making textiles, as depicted in Psalters from southern Germany and England. Women of different classes performed different activities.

Rich urban women could be merchants like their husbands or even became money lenders, and middle-class women worked in the textile, inn-keeping, shop-keeping, and brewing industries. Townswomen, like peasant women, were responsible for the household and could also engage in trade. Poorer women often peddled and huckstered food and other merchandise in the market places or worked in richer households as domestic servants, day laborers, or laundresses.

There is evidence that women performed not only housekeeping responsibilities like cooking and cleaning, but even other household activities like grinding, brewing, butchering, and spinning produced items like flour, ale, meat, cheese, and textiles for direct consumption and for sale. An anonymous 15th-century English ballad described activities performed by English peasant women, like housekeeping, making foodstuffs and textiles, and childcare.

Peasant household. An image of a peasant household, including a woman preparing cheese.