Jeffrey's Outline on Freemen in the MIddle Ages

1. There were both advantages and disadvantages to being a freeman in the Middle Ages.
1. Freeman were a very special kind of peasant.
1. Freeman were free from the lord and did not have to pay taxes, rents, or fees .
2. Other peasants did have to pay the lord.
3. Freemen were allowed to move from land to land without the Lord’s permission.
2. There were many advantages to being a freeman.
1. Freeman could own their own lots of land, which they could rent a portion of to other peasants.
2. Freemen were often wealthy.
3. In some places a very wealthy freeman could rise to lower nobility.
3. There were some disadvantages to being a freeman.
1. There were few freeman so it was unlikely to be one.
2. The lord would not be required to feed a freeman in times of famine or if the freeman’s family was starving.
3. The lord would not be obliged to defend a freeman.
1. This was particularly dangerous for a freeman in times of war.
2. A freeman was a special kind of peasant who might own his own land and was not under the protection of the lord.
1. Freeman did not have to work on the lord's demesne.
2. They did not have to pay as many as peasants did.
3. They were wealthy and at the top of the peasants.
4. To be free, a serf (peasant) could run away for 101 days without being caught by the lord. Or rent a portion of land.

1. If caught he/she would be severely punished.

III. You would find a freeman in the middle ages on the lord's manor(country side).

1. They were wealthier than peasants and lived in larger houses and much cosier.
2. Because they were wealthier they could own up to 40-100 acres of land which is rich
3. Freeman were rare they accounted a small percent of the peasant population which meant they were few in number

IV. The middle ages was a time in history that was in between ancient times and modern times.

1. After the middle ages came the renaissance which was part of modern times.
2. The main government of the middle ages was the feudal system

1. At the top of the system which were the most powerful were the kings (Queens) or lords (Ladies) and the pope all people were noble or leaders the church
2. The bottom were the peasants

                C. There were Knights and crusades

    D. It was the time of the silk trade China - Europe.

    E.It lasted from about 500 ad-1500 ad (Fall of the roman empire to the renaissance

    F. Most of the people were peasants

1. They accounted about 90% of the population

1. There were both advantages and disadvantages to being a peasant in the Middle ages.

1. Peasants were at the bottom of everything in the feudal system.

1.One daily life for one of these people was very hard.

2.”Really” owning a good bed was hard enough.

3. They were poor and had to work for the lord for there living.

         a)They had to pay taxes,rents,fees,fines to the lord

     B. There were Advantages to being a peasant.

1. They could go to church gatherings on sundays and usually got to skip work

2.For their hard work they could go to feasts hosted by the Lord.

3. The lord had to promise to feed the peasants when starving and protect them or else he would lose all of them

a) this was good because the lord would protect them in war

b) The lord would have to also make sure they were up and going (healthy)

4. Owning a horse or ox ment being rich!!

     C. There were also disadvantages to being a peasant.

1.Peasants were very poor and did not own a ton of land(Some did not).

2.They had to first care for the lord up hand.

1. This meant they had to save the lords crops first in case of stroom or flood

3. They had to pay numeros taxes,fees,fines,rents to the lord

     a) This was pretty much why they were at the bottom.

4. They had to wake up very early and sleep early. They worked Dawn to Dusk.

II. A peasant was a farmer who was poor but could get protection from the Lord

                A.They lived in very simple houses and did not own a lot of stuff.

                    1. A barn was attached to the house for animals to come in during winter

          2.The houses were one roomed houses

                 B. There were two kinds of peasants

1. One of them was villain
2. The other was a serf

      C. The food that they most commonly ate was pottage.

                  1.It was anything boiled up for 2 hours.

      D.The only way they could make money is if they go to town to sell goods

                 1. Men were paid twice as women

E. A reeve was put in charge of the peasants.

1. The reeve was voted by the freeman

III  You would find a peasant on a lord's estate (A.K.A the countryside)

A. They were not aloud to leave the manor without the lord’s permission

B.  These farmers owned very little land (1 acre or so)

C. They sometimes would go into the city

1. In the city they would sell goods.

D.They accounted a majority of the era.

IV. They had many,many tasks to complete  

A. At the start of the day they would wake up at dawn

B. The tasks that were to be completed included light plowing,sowing grain, scythe hay,trample grass,shear sheep,herd pigs,collect firewood,and repair any broken stuff.

C. If it storms or floods you must save your lords crops first nomather what.

1. This is why some families are very poor

D.Sticks known as flails are used to beat grain into sheaves.

1. It was stored in a place called a granary.

a)It was used to keep mice and rats away.

V. The lord was a noble who was in charge of the manor and the peasants.

A. He owed the peasants protection from hazards.

B. He had knights that fought/protected him.

C. The main job of the lord was to protect/fight for the king which was a rank above him

1. If the lord was not doing well,the king could expel him or her and replace another one in charge

D. The lord's wife the lady (of the manor) was in charge of all servants in the manor house.

E. Lords lived in a manor house which was pretty big.

I. I would say in terms a freeman was better but a peasant was still Okay

A. Both of these jobs involved hard working but in the end they got rewards

1. The freeman did not have to pay as much as a peasant did yet they could not get protection(They were on their own)

2.The peasants had to pay more than a freeman yet they got protection from the lord/lady

B. A freeman was wealthy and owned a lot of stuff (peasants did not).

C. The freeman could move freely around yet the peasants did not have to worry of enemies since that was the lords jod (freeman did).

II. In my opinion I would say they had better advantages than disadvantages.

1. Freeman were at the top of the peasants and would own a lot of stuff
2. Peasants were at the bottom or middle of peasants.
3. There differences between these two classes (middle was a little like the bottom)

1.To be classified as being rich you could own a horse or ox

1. You could also own a boat
2. Best was you could own land!!
3. You also could own a coach or bed
4. You just did not get protection

      2. To be classified as being poor,you did not own a whole ton of stuff.

     a) The best you could probably own was a straw bed.

     b)You might just own 10 items

     c)You could just own a few tools (best of all a hoe)!!

     d)Yet you got protection!!

   D.Both of these classes had and lacked one thing (protection).

III. In the middle ages it was easy to classify the. Every relied on the feudal system.

In this case a freeman was better.

1. A freeman was better because they had a higher rank in the feudal system
2. A  peasant was worse because they had a lower rank down
3. Still the freeman were just a little higher

IV. What was the feudal system?

1. In the middle ages the feudal system was the government

1. It was sort of like a ranking from top to bottom

1. At the top were kings,barons,lords,and dukes
2. At the bottom were peasants and beggars
3. There were specialists and some rich farmers and knights in between
4. The church was also powerful and at the top
5. Everyone agreed that god was at the top

2. In the middle ages christians believed that god put people where they belonged

1. If you went up the feudal system that was god’s plan
2. If you tried but didn’t that was not god’s plan yet the devils
3. Usually it was rare to move up or down  the feudal system

3.People in different ranks had to do stuff for the ranks below or above.

                a) The top of the feudal system had to serve protection and defense to the ranks below

      (1)This was the nobles and the church's responsibility

    b)The bottom had to produce the goods and food to the ranks above and themselves

(1) This was the peasants and specialists responsibility

4. There was really no such equality than!!

V .Both a freeman and a peasants jobs were similar and I would consider a life for them hard

1. Both of these jobs were farming jobs and involved working from dawn to dusk
2. Both of these 2 jobs still had some rewarding

1. Freeman in the end did not have to pay the lord as much as peasants did.

2. Peasants got defense/protection from lord which was great in times of war.

     C. I could consider these two as hard jobs and in a harsh time in history.

 

 

Helena's Paper on Holidays in the Middle Ages

Holidays in the Middle Ages

By : Helena

Holidays in the Middle Ages were celebrated in a variety of ways, but all public holidays were correlated with the Christian church. Singing and dancing were often involved in holiday festivities. Plays and puppet shows were also usually associated with holidays and sometimes poems were written for a holiday.

The Middle Ages were a period of european history. Some historians say that the Middle Ages were from AD 500 to AD 1485, but others say that they were from AD 400 to AD 1400, and AD 500 to AD 1500. The Middle Ages were a time of contrast with powerful lords and peasants who had virtually no power or control. You wouldn’t usually move out of the rank that you were born into in the Middle Ages, and 80% of the people in the Middle Ages were peasants. Peasants in the Middle Ages had to grow crops for themselves and the lords, but the lords in the Middle Ages would not usually pity the people of lower ranks. Most of the Middle Ages circled around christianity and the church. There were lots of nuns and monks that were literate. But, kings that might have been educated in the Middle Ages might still not be literate. There were many of fantastic castles and buildings built in the Middle Ages.

There were many holidays in the Middle Ages, some were bigger and some were smaller holidays called saint days. On most holidays in the Middle Ages, you had to attend mass, which was the service at church. After mass, would be when the celebrating would usually begin.
Christmas started on December 24th and went until January 6th. People would take one week off of work for celebration. Christmas celebrate. On Christmas, people would decorate their homes with green leaves like holly and ivy, and you would also place a yule log in the fire. On Christmas, the priests would play “the fool” in church. And on the last day of Christmas, January 6th, there would be a feast called the feast of the Epiphany.

May day took place on the first day of May. At May day celebrations you would dance around the maypole which is a pole with lots of ribbons and leaves.
Easter took a whole week to celebrate, just like Christmas. Easter celebrated the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. There was also a 40 day period of fasting called Lent that lead up to Easter. On Lent, you were not aloud to eat sweets or any fatty foods. No marriages were allowed to take place either.

Some smaller holidays in the Middle Ages celebrated the beginning of something. New year’s day is celebrated on March 1st. Some people also celebrated it on January 1st or January 6th.
Midsummer's eve celebrated the first day of summer. People would start celebrating right after Mass at church, and it would go until late evening.
Lammas day was a small holiday. It celebrated bread, and was celebrated in August. On Lammas day, there would be a feast containing mostly bread.
St. days would usually celebrate a certain saint. St. Valentine's day celebrated St.Valentine, St. Catherine’s day celebrated St. Catherine, etc. Michaelmas celebrated St. Michel and his adventures in the bible, but it also determined if it would rain in the next 40 days or not. St. Valentine’s day not only celebrate St. Valentine, it also celebrated love. People would usually celebrate saint days by singing and dancing, but some had other special traditions.

No matter what your role in the manner was, you would still be able to go to celebrations, but you would have different duties. All the poor people were allowed to go to celebrations and take a day off work in the fields and the lord would have to hold a feast for all the poor.
The lords would have special things that they had to take care of at celebrations. For example, lords would have to throw a feast for all of the peasants that worked for him and the lord would have to hold the actual celebration along with the church. The lords would also go to church before celebrations along with the poor.
All knights were allowed to go to all celebrations. If the knights were fighting a battle, all battles would be paused so that people could still attend celebrations. Also, if the knight was currently working for a king or a lord, they would definitely be able to go to festivals because the lord’s job was also to help hold the festivals.

There would be different types of entertainment for children, and adults. Children would often bob for apples or play other small games. Young boys would usually go hunting for food with the adults, and people would use that food for the celebration. Kids would also like to play sports like soccer and golf.
Adults would have a variety of things to do at celebrations as well . There would always be lots of singing and dancing at celebrations and some men would go hunting. In a few holidays people would have a parade, were you march and sing through the town. There would be different types of shows at celebrations in the Middle Ages. There would be lots of plays and people would also put on puppet shows. On St.Valentine's day, you would write special plays about love and perform them at the festival.

There were many different holidays in the Middle Ages, and some of which we still celebrate today. But, the Holidays that we still celebrate are likely not celebrated in the same ways, some traditions will be like the traditions in Middle Ages while some are gone, and others are new.