The Decline of Serfdom with Mark Bailey
We know that many people were unfree serfs in the Middle Ages, but what does serfdom actually mean? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Mark Bailey about medieval serfs, their place in society, and the true catalyst for the decline and fall of serfdom in England.
A Military History of the German Peasants’ Revolt
Examining the causes of German Peasants’ Revolt of 1524-5 as well the events and battles of the conflict.
The Jacquerie Revolt with Justine Firnhaber-Baker
A decade after The Black Death, French peasants rose up suddenly against the nobility in an unprecedented and remarkably coordinated revolt. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Dr. Justine Firnhäber-Baker about the rebellion that shocked the elites of Europe: the Jacquerie.
You Might Be a Medieval Redneck If…
Call it hick, hayseed, or hillbilly: if you’re one of the rustici, you might be a medieval redneck.
Back to School, Medieval Peasant Style
Have you ever wondered how peasant children were educated in the Middle Ages? And if they even went to school?
Farming with Charms in the Middle Ages
By Kathryn Walton When medieval farmers were faced with a particularly difficult problem, they would turn to magic for a solution. Medieval farmers used…
Who were the peasants in the Middle Ages?
Our new columnist Lucie Laumonier explains the four common characteristics of what is a peasant in the Middle Ages.
Five Myths about Medieval Peasants
This week, Danièle takes on five common myths about medieval peasants.
Dangerous Times for Ordinary People: Violence from Above in Medieval Japan
Suzanne Gay discusses the medieval reality of violence and coercion of ordinary people by elites, focusing on several specific cases.
How Much Taxes Did a Medieval Peasant Pay? The numbers from Sweden
A new study on taxation in late medieval Sweden has revealed fascinating details about how much peasants had to pay to the royal government in taxes.
A peasant is a peasant, is a peasant? : Medieval Maritime Peasant Lives
A peasant is a peasant, is a peasant…or is s/he? Was the life of a peasant who lived in the coastal regions of England the same as that of the peasant who made his livelihood toiling on the land for his local lord?
‘Falseness Reigns in Every Flock’: Literacy and Eschatological Discourse in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381
The literature of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, a miscellany of fourteenth-century poetry and prose penned before, during, and after the insurrection, often stresses the importance of literacy to the nonaristocratic population of England.
Peasant Anger and Violence in the Writings of Orderic Vitalis
This paper examines the representation of peasant anger in the writings of Orderic Vitalis. In his texts, Orderic often associates peasant anger with divine vengeance and just violence.
INTERVIEW: A Conversation with SD Sykes about Plague Land
My interview with fiction author, SD Sykes about her fantastic medieval crime novel, Plague Land.
‘Shame on him who allows them to live’: The Jacquerie of 1358
In the eyes of the chroniclers, the Jacquerie of 1358 was the most important peasant revolt in late medieval France.
BOOK REVIEW: Plague Land by SD Sykes
My review of SD Sykes brilliant medieval thriller, Plague Land.
Manor Village and Individual in Medieval England
This thesis explores peasant life of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in England from information found in the manorial court rolls-the village court records–of Ramsey Hepman grove and Bury.
Signs of Power. Manorial Demesnes in Medieval Iceland
An important aspect of medieval Icelandic social organization, namely the manor, has been neglected in previous research, and very little research has been undertaken comparing Icelandic manorial organization with other regions. This article focuses on one aspect of manorial organization, namely the manorial demesne or central farm of the manor.
The Reordering of Society in Medieval Provence
“Here, some pray, others fight, still others work …” {}). “Since the beginning of time, mankind has been divided into three groups, men of prayer, farmers, and warriors” (2). Appearing between 1024 and 1031 in the writings of Adelbero, bishop of Laon, and his cousin Gerard, bishop of Cambrai, these two statements constitute the first fully developed expression of a tripartite, or more accurately a trifunctional conceptualization of European society.
BOOKS: Daily Life in the Middle Ages
Ever wonder how monks, women and Vikings lived their day to day lives in the Middle Ages? These books will give you a glimpse into their world.
Pruning Peasants: Private War and Maintaining the Lords’ Peace in Late Medieval Germany
‘Peasants are best when they grieve, and worst when they rejoice.’
Were the Peasants Really So Clean? The Middle Ages in Film
Movies about the European Middle Ages are profoundly modern creations. They tend to reflect the anxieties and preoccupations of their modern creators rather than those of people who lived a thousand years ago.
The Black Death, Economic and Social Change and the Great Rising of 1381 in Hertfordshire
What drove medieval people to such desperation that they felt they had no other course of action other than revolt? Was this a spontaneous reaction to a perceived injustice or a desperate response to years of simmering resentment?
The English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381
Life for the revolutionary peasants was structured by feudal ties and obligations. The villein was tied to the soil until he could buy his freedom. He lived in a wattle and daub hut with his family and animals on a floor of mud. Work began at dawn on his few (often separated) strips of land; he was obligated to work on his lord’s land three days a week, tend and shear his sheep, feed his swine, and sow and reap his crops.
The Trends Toward Serfdom in Mediaeval England
The bald theory of progressive subjection during Anglo-Saxon times does not appear possible of definition; and even as a hypothesis, it would seem inadequate.