April 1 -- Socials 8 -
See attached for Life on the Manor assignment.
The assignment will be due April 15.
Read pages 47-53 in the text.
Mapping assignment of Medieval Europe is due April 8
See previous post for the map and criteria sheet.
See notes below to help with the completion of your assignment.
Life on the Manor
Ordinary People
Serfs and freeholders lived similar lives – freeholders could own land.
Average serf – 5000 calories per day
Mostly bread and ale
Serfs could own small gardens and a few animals
Freeholders paid “rent” to the Lord of the Manor
Freeholders did not have to serve in the military
Vegetables, dairy from cows and goats
Herring, onions, leeks, peas and fruit.
Serfs strip of the manor field would be passed down through the generations.
Village Homes
Blacksmith & Candlemakers
No plumbing or electricity
Houses were small (9 or 10 metres long)
A few pieces of furniture (stool, bench, table)
Strong mattresses, low beds
Floors of packed dirt
Thatched roof (straw)
Wattle and daub (sticks and mud)
Whole family shared one room, with farm animals
Fire, but no chimmney (hole in roof)
Work & Cooperation
Young children worked (farm work)
No school (serfs and freeholders)
Grandparents were not there
Sunrise to sunset
Neighbours helped (sense of community)
Garden next to the kitchen
Babies went to fields with mothers
Whole family helped with planting/harvesting
Women – keeping family fed and clothed
Men – farm work
Very hard work
The Manor House
Lord and Lady of the manor lived well
Largest and best houses
Attended by servants
Large hall for entertaining
Conditions not good – no running water, central heating, but good for the time.
Nobles spent most time outside.
Servants slept near their Lord
Expensive furniture
Privileges
Lived as well as they could
Servants
Rare and expensive items as status symbols
Hunting falcons, horses, houses, furniture
Hunted for recreation
Troubadours – medieval singers who would entertain nobility.
Obligations
Lord had to make sure he was providing enough knights
He could lose the manor
Duties of nobles were to marry and have children
Lord died childless – Tenant in chief would inherit the manor
Marriages were arranged (land and power, not love)
Women's Rights
Boys rights increased as they got older.
If a woman's husband died, her eldest son would inherit the land.
An unmarried woman could have her land taken back by the King.
Once married, her husband takes control.
Marriages were arranged carefully.
Women had few legal rights.
Widows had more rights to their land, etc.