Life on the Medieval Manor

History Class Period 5 Topic 2 When someone mentions The Middle Ages or Medieval times, most people automatically think of knights, the black plague, or classical music. How did people of The Middle Ages really live? Everyone was divided into ranks using the feudal system. Lords had it the best when it came to living situations and special treatments while peasants and serfs had life harsh. Most lords owned a Manor, which was a district where the lord could exercise certain privileges and rights in medieval Europe. Only the Lords could own a Manor, because they were at the top of the feudal system. Let’s take a look at what everyone’s role was on the Manors. As I already said, Lords and their families lived quite comfortably on their Manor. Lords lived in a manor house, which was built apart from the village where the peasants lived. There were many rooms in a manor home. Some had a moat, but they were still not as big as medieval castles. A lord’s day started with breakfast, then prayers. Business matters were attended to in relation to the land. Noble lords would go hunting or hawking in the afternoons as well as inspecting the estate. Daily chores were done around the manor house and no harsh work was given to the lord to do. Peasants, on the other hand, had the shorter end of the stick. Peasants lived in poorly constructed cottages or wattle and doub homes. Peasants worked from sunrise to sundown growing food or any other product to sell to towns, for their families, or for the lord. Their cottages consisted of one or two

Bibliography: “The Middle Ages” westernreservepublicmedia.com. Northeastern Television of Ohio, INC. ND. web “Medieval Manor Houses” historylearningsite.co.uk. HistoryLearningSite. ND. 2000-2013 “Medieval Manors” lordsandladies.org. Linda Alchin. July, 16, 2012. Web Also some information came from the textbook.