Modern people have the vaguest idea of how peasants lived in the Middle Ages. This is not surprising, because life and customs in the villages have changed a lot over these centuries.
The emergence of feudal dependence
The term “Middle Ages” is most applicable to because it was here that all those phenomena that are strongly associated with ideas about the Middle Ages took place. These are castles, knights and much more. The peasants had their own place in this society, which remained virtually unchanged for several centuries.
At the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries. in the Frankish state (it united France, Germany and most Italy) there was a revolution in relations around land ownership. A feudal system emerged, which was the basis of medieval society.
Kings (owners supreme power) relied on the support of the army. For their service, those close to the monarch received large amounts of land. Over time, a whole class of wealthy feudal lords appeared who had huge territories within the state. The peasants who lived on these lands became their property.
The meaning of the church
Another major owner of the land was the church. Monastic plots could cover many square kilometers. How did peasants live in the Middle Ages on such lands? They received a small personal allotment, and in exchange for it they had to work certain number days on the owner's premises. It was economic coercion. It affected almost everything European countries except Scandinavia.
The church was playing big role in the enslavement and dispossession of village residents. The life of peasants was easily regulated by spiritual authorities. Commoners were instilled with the idea that resigned work for the church or the transfer of land to it would later affect what would happen to a person after death in heaven.
Impoverishment of the peasants
The existing feudal land tenure ruined the peasants, almost all of them lived in noticeable poverty. This was due to several phenomena. Due to regular conscription and working for the feudal lord, the peasants were cut off from own land and had practically no time to deal with it. In addition, a variety of taxes from the state fell on their shoulders. Medieval society was based on unfair prejudices. For example, peasants were subject to the highest court fines for misdemeanors and violations of laws.
The villagers were deprived of their own land, but were never driven from it. It was natural farming that existed then the only way survive and earn. Therefore, the feudal lords offered landless peasants to take land from them in exchange for numerous obligations, which are described above.
precarious
The main mechanism of the emergence of the European was precarity. This was the name of the agreement that was concluded between the feudal lord and the poor landless peasant. In exchange for owning an allotment, the plowman was obliged to either pay quitrents or perform regular corvée work. and its inhabitants were often entirely bound to the feudal lord by a contract of precaria (literally, "transferred by request"). Use could be given for several years or even for life.
If at first the peasant found himself only in land dependence on the feudal lord or the church, then over time, due to impoverishment, he also lost his personal freedom. This process of enslavement was the result of severe economic situation, which the medieval village and its inhabitants experienced.
The power of large landowners
A poor man who was unable to pay the entire debt to the feudal lord fell into bondage to the creditor and actually turned into a slave. In general, this led to large land holdings absorbing small ones. This process was also facilitated by the growth political influence feudal lords Thanks to high concentration resources, they became independent from the king and could do whatever they wanted on their land, regardless of the laws. The more the middle peasants became dependent on the feudal lords, the more the power of the latter grew.
The way peasants lived in the Middle Ages often also depended on justice. This type of power also ended up in the hands of feudal lords (on their land). The king could declare the immunity of a particularly influential duke, so as not to enter into conflict with him. Privileged feudal lords could, without regard to central government judge their peasants (in other words, their property).
Immunity also gave the right to a major owner to personally collect all monetary receipts going to the crown treasury (court fines, taxes and other levies). The feudal lord also became the leader of the militia of peasants and soldiers, which gathered during the war.
The immunity granted by the king was only a formalization of the system of which feudal land tenure was a part. Large property owners held their privileges long before receiving permission from the king. Immunity only gave legitimacy to the order under which the peasants lived.
Patrimony
Before the revolution in land relations took place, the main economic unit Western Europe there was a rural community. They were also called stamps. The communities lived freely, but at the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries they became a thing of the past. In their place came the estates of large feudal lords, to whom serf communities were subordinate.
They could be very different in their structure, depending on the region. For example, in the north of France large fiefdoms were common, which included several villages. In the southern provinces of the general Frankish state medieval society in the village they lived in small estates, which could be limited to a dozen households. This division into European regions was preserved and existed until the abandonment feudal system.
Patrimony structure
The classic estate was divided into two parts. The first of these was the master's domain, where peasants worked in strict certain days while serving his duty. The second part included the households of rural residents, because of which they became dependent on the feudal lord.
The labor of peasants was also necessarily used in the manor's estate, which, as a rule, was the center of the estate and the master's allotment. It included a house and a yard, on which there were various outbuildings, vegetable gardens, orchards, and vineyards (if the climate permitted). The master's artisans also worked here, without whom the landowner also could not do. The estate also often had mills and a church. All this was considered the property of the feudal lord. What peasants owned in the Middle Ages was located on their plots, which could be located interspersed with the landowner's plots.
Dependent rural workers had to work on the feudal lord's plots using their own equipment, and also bring their livestock here. Less common were real slaves (this one social layer was much smaller in number).
The arable plots of the peasants were adjacent to each other. They had to use a common area for grazing livestock (this tradition remained with the time of the free community). The life of such a collective was regulated with the help of a village gathering. It was presided over by the headman, who was elected by the feudal lord.
Features of subsistence farming
This was due to the low development of production forces in the village. In addition, in the village there was no division of labor between artisans and peasants, which could have increased its productivity. That is, craft and household work appeared as side effect Agriculture.
Dependent Peasants and artisans provided the feudal lord with various clothes, shoes, and necessary equipment. What was produced on the estate was mostly used at the owner's court and rarely became the personal property of the serfs.
Peasant trade
The lack of circulation of goods slowed down trade. Nevertheless, it is incorrect to say that it did not exist at all, and the peasants did not participate in it. There were markets, fairs, and money turnover. However, all this did not in any way affect the life of the village and estate. The peasants had no means to independent existence, and feeble trade could not help them pay off the feudal lords.
With the proceeds from trade, the villagers bought what they could not produce on their own. The feudal lords acquired salt, weapons, and also rare luxury items that merchants from overseas countries could bring. Villagers did not participate in such transactions. That is, trade satisfied only the interests and needs of the narrow elite of society who had extra money.
Peasant protest
The way peasants lived in the Middle Ages depended on the size of the quitrent that was paid to the feudal lord. Most often it was given in kind. It could be grain, flour, beer, wine, poultry, eggs or crafts.
The deprivation of the remaining property caused protest from the peasantry. He could express himself in various forms. For example, villager fled from their oppressors or even organized mass riots. Peasant revolts Each time they suffered defeats due to spontaneity, fragmentation and disorganization. At the same time, even they led to the fact that the feudal lords tried to fix the size of duties in order to stop their growth, as well as increase discontent among the serfs.
Refusal of feudal relations
The history of peasants in the Middle Ages is a constant confrontation with large landowners With with varying success. These relations appeared in Europe on the ruins of ancient society, where classical slavery generally reigned, especially pronounced in the Roman Empire.
The abandonment of the feudal system and the enslavement of peasants occurred in modern times. It was facilitated by economic development (primarily light industry), industrial revolution and the outflow of population to cities. Also, at the turn of the Middle Ages and the Modern Age, humanistic sentiments prevailed in Europe, which put individual freedom at the forefront of everything else.
Peasants, who had only limited rights to land - the main wealth of the Middle Ages - occupied a subordinate position in society. But it was their work that was its basis.
Peasants and lords
In the Middle Ages, those who worked - and more than 90% of them were peasants - were considered the third class, necessary, but the lowest. Their low position was associated with dependence and the fact that they did not own land - it was the property of the lord. At the same time, it was believed that the peasant feeds everyone and that his work pleases God.
The lord's land was usually divided into two parts. He kept one for himself: forests for hunting, meadows where his horses grazed, the master’s farm. The entire harvest from the master's field went to the lord's estate. The other part of the land was divided into plots, which were transferred to the peasants. For the use of land, peasants bore duties in favor of the lord: they worked in the master's field (corvée), paid quitrents in food or money, and there were other duties. The lord also judged the peasants.
Free peasants by the 12th century. there are almost none left in Western Europe. But they were all unfree in different ways. Some carried out small duties, while others worked for a long time in corvee labor or gave half the harvest to the lord. The most difficult situation was personally dependent peasants. They bore responsibilities both for the land and for themselves personally.
Peasant duties were often very burdensome, but they did not change for a long time. And if the lords tried to increase them, violating a long-standing custom, then the peasants resisted, sought justice in the king’s court, or even rebelled.
Life in a medieval village
In the early Middle Ages agriculture A three-field system spread, in which agricultural crops alternated in a certain order and the land was less depleted. Productivity remained low: in the XI-XIII centuries. For each bag of sown grain, two to four bags were harvested. But the peasant had to leave seeds for sowing, give tithes to the church and rent to the lord, and live on the rest with his family until the next harvest! Even in good years, many peasants were malnourished, but shortages and crop failures often occurred, causing hunger and disease. The well-being of the peasant could easily be destroyed by an enemy raid, feudal feudal feuds, and the tyranny of the lord.
The life of the peasants flowed slowly and monotonously. Its rhythm was set by nature itself. It was easier to survive together, and the peasants of one or more villages united in community. Many issues were resolved at its meetings. She determined what to sow the field with, established rules for the use of common village lands (haymaking, pasture, forest), resolved disputes between peasants, organized assistance to those in need, and maintained order in the area.
Natural economy
The peasants provided food for themselves, their lord and his people, and the nearest city. Almost everything necessary for life was produced in every village. They bought little, and there was nothing to pay for purchases.
This situation, when almost everything needed is not bought, but is produced locally, is called subsistence farming. In the early Middle Ages it dominated, but some things still had to be bought or bartered, for example salt. And the lords needed expensive and prestigious goods: fine fabrics, good weapon, in thoroughbred horses; all this was brought from afar. So even with subsistence farming, trade did not stop completely. Material from the site
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| Harvest. Stained glass from the 12th century. |
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| Shearing. Miniature of the 15th century. |
Peasant culture
In addition to work, the peasants knew how to enjoy rest. During the holidays they sang and danced and competed in strength and dexterity. Peasant holidays, although they were sanctified by Christianity, often went back to pagan rituals. And the peasants themselves believed in witchcraft and brownies.
The medieval village was almost entirely illiterate. But oral folk art - ancient songs, fairy tales and proverbs - has absorbed folk wisdom. The peasants' dream of justice was embodied by the image noble robber avenging the offended. So, English ballads they tell stories about the fearless Robin Hood, a sharp shooter and protector of ordinary people.
In the spring, peasants plowed the land, sowed spring crops, and tended the vineyards. In the summer they prepared hay, reaped the ripe crop with sickles, and poured grain into bins. In the fall, they harvested grapes, made wine, and sowed winter crops. During the harvest season, when the fate of the harvest was decided, they worked from dawn to dusk. Then came a short time recreation. And now it’s time to prepare for a new field battle.
On this page there is material on the following topics:
Presentation of peasants in a village in the Middle Ages
Life of peasants in a medieval village
Questions about this material:
The role of peasants in medieval society. Peasants made up the majority of the population of medieval Europe. They played very important role in society: they fed kings, feudal lords, priests and monks, and townspeople. Their hands created the wealth of individual lords and entire states, which were then calculated not in money, but in the amount of cultivated land and harvested crops. The more food the peasants produced, the richer their owner was.
The peasantry, although they made up the majority of society, occupied the lowest level in it. Medieval writers, comparing the structure of society with a house, assigned peasants the role of the floor on which everyone walks, but which forms the basis of the building.
Free and dependent peasants. Land in the Middle Ages was the property of kings, secular feudal lords and the church. The peasants had no land. Those who were descendants of slaves and colons never had it, while others sold their land or transferred it to feudal lords. This way they got rid of taxes and military service. The feudal lords did not cultivate their own lands, but gave them to the peasants for use. For this they had to bear duties in favor of the feudal lord, that is forced duties in favor of the feudal lord. The main duties were corvee And quitrent.
| Corvee |
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| quitrent |
Corvée was work on the feudal lord's farm: cultivating the lord's land, building bridges, repairing roads and other work. The rent was paid in products produced in peasant farm: it could be vegetables from the garden, poultry, eggs, livestock offspring or home craft products (yarn, linen).
All peasants were divided into free And dependent . A free peasant paid only a small rent for the use of land - most often a few bags of grain. He could always leave the estate. Such peasants were only land dependent on their owner, remaining personally free.Material from the site
The position of dependent peasants, who were often called servami. They were personally dependent on the feudal lord. The serfs could leave their master only with his permission or for a ransom. The feudal lord had the right to punish them and force them to do any work. The main duty of personally dependent peasants was corvée, in which they worked three to four days a week. Not only the land, but also the property of the serf was considered the property of the master. If he wanted to sell a cow or sheep, he had to first pay money for it. A serf could even marry only with the consent of the lord and by paying a certain amount.
On this page there is material on the following topics:
Compare the situation of the medieval dependent peasant
Dependent peasant in medieval Europe 4 letters
Dependent peasants of the Middle Ages
Dependent peasant in medieval Europe, what kind of farm he had
Peasantry of the Middle Ages
Questions about this material:
Peasants living in feuds were free only in name. In practice, the feudal lords enslaved them, prohibiting them from leaving the plots they cultivated and moving either to another feudal lord or to cities where there was an opportunity to engage in crafts or trade. Already in the 9th century, two categories of dependent farmers were distinguished in feuds - serfs and villans. The serfs were almost in the position of slaves. In legal terms, the servant was completely dependent on the will of the master. He had to obtain special permission to marry. He also did not have the right to transfer his property by inheritance. The heir of the peasant serf, his son or son-in-law, had to “buy back” his father’s property from the feudal lord for a set fee. In addition to the usual taxes that were imposed on all farmers, the serfs paid the master a poll tax. However, it would be incorrect to call a medieval serf a slave. After all, he could have a family, personal property, tools, and livestock.
Villan was not much different from the serf. From a legal point of view, he had all the rights free man. Villans did not pay a poll tax, their personal property did not depend in any way on the feudal lord. Corvée and other duties to which the villans were subjected on an equal basis with the serfs were still not so burdensome for them. But, like the serf, the villan was a serf. The land did not belong to him, he had no right to leave it, and his personal freedoms turned out to be minimal.
The corvée was quite wide circle economic responsibilities. Each peasant in the community received a plot of land for cultivation that belonged to the local feudal lord (secular or ecclesiastical). The peasant was obliged to plow this land, sow it, harvest the crop and bring it in full to the owner of the land. Sometimes corvée was strictly regulated in time: three days a week the peasant worked on the land of the feudal lord, three days on his own plot. Sunday was considered a holiday and prohibited for work. This ban was one of the most severe - in some places, working on Sunday was punishable by the most terrible punishment for a medieval person - deprivation of personal freedom. Villan, who worked on Sunday, became one of the serfs.
The land corvée of church peasants was more varied than that of those who belonged to secular feudal lords. Church farms were richer than most feuds - peasants had to take care of meadows, gardens, and vineyards.
In addition to the land corvee, the peasant also bore a number of other economic duties. He was obliged to regularly provide a horse for the feudal lord's economic needs (or go out for transport work himself with his team). This duty, however, was limited: the feudal lord could not force the peasant to carry loads for too long long distances. This principle was clearly stated in the laws (in particular, in the “truths” of the Frankish state in different periods). The construction duty, although it was part of the corvée duties, stood apart - for its execution the feudal lord was obliged to pay the peasants a certain reward. Peasants performing construction duties were engaged in the construction of economic structures in the possessions of the feudal lord - barns, stables, fences.
In addition to corvee, peasants were obliged to pay the lord a quitrent in kind - a certain part of the entire harvest collected from their own plots. In relation to church peasants, this was a tenth - the church tithe, famous in the Middle Ages, which was paid to the church by everyone without exception. Secular feudal lords could change their share received as quitrent, but quitrent itself remained an unchanged part of the life of the agricultural community until the end Early Middle Ages. Only closer to the XI - XII centuries. feudal lords began to gradually abandon food rent in favor of cash payments. And from the end of the 12th century, cash rent replaced quitrent in almost all of Western Europe, with the exception of Germany, which retained it longer than other countries. feudal economy in its purest form.
Along with corvée labor and quitrent, communal peasants had to annually bring the feudal lord a set payment - chinsh for the use of his pastures for grazing communal livestock. The mention of this chinsha in the texts of early medieval documents clearly demonstrates that already in the 8th - 9th centuries the community of free farmers practically ceased to exist, having lost its main support - various land holdings. The community members retained only strips of arable land - conditionally in the possession of the peasants, which actually and formally belonged to the feudal lord on whose land the community was located.
From about the 7th – 8th centuries, the enslavement of peasants was formalized by numerous laws. At first, the church was especially zealous in this, striving to strengthen its position as the main landowner in the state. If a free community member, having owed money to the church, did not manage to pay the debt before the agreed date, part of his cattle was first taken away from him and his duties were increased. Often a peasant, in order to work his dues, was forced to go out into the field on Sunday. And this was already considered a sin and was punished “in accordance with the law.” The first punishment for Sunday work was corporal punishment, which was not generally applied to free people. For the second such offense, a third of his property was taken away from the peasant, and after the third time, the church whose land he cultivated had the right to transfer him to the category of serfs.
Final enslavement feudal peasants happened only in the 10th – 11th centuries. The first to do it French kings. A series of decrees ordered all free communities to come under the protection of one of the large feudal lords, along with all property and land. French serfdom was perhaps the most difficult in all of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. The French villans and serfs were perhaps the most despised part of the country's population. In numerous works of secular literature on French, which appeared in XI – XII centuries, the peasants are cruelly ridiculed. The authors of poems and chivalric novels urge not to give in to “these rogues” who are only thinking about how to deceive a noble man.
The attitude of the medieval nobility towards the peasants is perfectly illustrated by a small work on Latin, parodying the common in the Middle Ages Latin grammars- “Peasant declination.” Here's how, according to unknown poet, the word “villan” should be used in different cases:
Name case singular numbers - This villan
Will give birth. - This hillbilly
Dat. - To this devil
Vinit. - This thief
Vocative - Oh, robber!
Creates. — By this robber
Name plural - These damned ones
Will give birth. - These despicable
Dat. - To these liars
Vinit. - These scoundrels
Call. - Oh, the meanest ones!
Creates. - By these wicked ones
Strictly speaking, serfdom took root only weakly in Italy, the most economically developed country Middle Ages. Free urban communes dominated there, royal and imperial power often remained nominal, and Italian feudal lords had much fewer rights in their country than French or German ones. So in Italy, relations in agriculture were predominantly between city and countryside, and not between feudal lords and countryside. Cities, especially large ones industrial centers(Florence, Bologna, Lucca, Pisa) bought all the peasants from the feudal lords and granted them freedom. The contado villages, redeemed from serfdom, became dependent on the urban commune - a dependence no less severe, but not so burdensome in terms of the personal freedom of the peasants.
Interesting information:
- Corvee – form of feudal rent – free forced labor peasant on the farm of a feudal lord. Spread from the 8th – 9th centuries.
- quitrent - food or cash payments paid by the peasant to the feudal lord on account of land rent.
- Chinsh (from lat. census– qualification) – cash and food dues from feudal-dependent peasants. For hereditary owners, the chinsh was fixed.
The term “Middle Ages” is most applicable to Western Europe, because it was here that all those phenomena that are strongly associated with ideas about the Middle Ages took place. These are castles, knights and much more. The peasants had their own place in this society, which remained virtually unchanged for several centuries.
At the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries. in the Frankish state (it united France, Germany and most of Italy) there was a revolution in relations around land ownership. A feudal system emerged, which was the basis of medieval society.
Kings (holders of supreme power) relied on the support of the army. For their service, those close to the monarch received large amounts of land. Over time, a whole class of wealthy feudal lords appeared who had vast territories within the state. The peasants who lived on these lands became their property.
The meaning of the church
Another major owner of the land was the church. Monastic plots could cover many square kilometers. How did peasants live in the Middle Ages on such lands? They received a small personal allotment, and in exchange for this they had to work for a certain number of days on the owner’s territory. It was economic coercion. It affected almost all European countries except Scandinavia.
The church played a big role in the enslavement and dispossession of village residents. The life of peasants was easily regulated by spiritual authorities. Commoners were instilled with the idea that resigned work for the church or the transfer of land to it would later affect what would happen to a person after death in heaven.
Impoverishment of the peasants
The existing feudal land tenure ruined the peasants, almost all of them lived in noticeable poverty. This was due to several phenomena. Due to regular military service and work for the feudal lord, the peasants were cut off from their own land and had practically no time to work on it. In addition, a variety of taxes from the state fell on their shoulders. Medieval society was based on unfair prejudices. For example, peasants were subject to the highest court fines for misdemeanors and violations of laws.
The villagers were deprived of their own land, but were never driven from it. Subsistence farming was then the only way to survive and earn money. Therefore, the feudal lords offered landless peasants to take land from them in exchange for numerous obligations, which are described above.
precarious
The main mechanism for the emergence of European serfdom was precarity. This was the name of the agreement that was concluded between the feudal lord and the poor landless peasant. In exchange for owning an allotment, the plowman was obliged to either pay quitrents or perform regular corvée work. The medieval village and its inhabitants were often entirely bound to the feudal lord by a contract of precaria (literally, “transferred by request”). Use could be given for several years or even for life.
If at first the peasant found himself only in land dependence on the feudal lord or the church, then over time, due to impoverishment, he also lost his personal freedom. This process of enslavement was a consequence of the difficult economic situation experienced by the medieval village and its inhabitants.
The power of large landowners
A poor man who was unable to pay the entire debt to the feudal lord fell into bondage to the creditor and actually turned into a slave. In general, this led to large land holdings absorbing small ones. This process was also facilitated by the growth of the political influence of the feudal lords. Thanks to the large concentration of resources, they became independent from the king and could do whatever they wanted on their land, regardless of the laws. The more the middle peasants became dependent on the feudal lords, the more the power of the latter grew.
The way peasants lived in the Middle Ages often also depended on justice. This type of power also ended up in the hands of feudal lords (on their land). The king could declare the immunity of a particularly influential duke, so as not to enter into conflict with him. Privileged feudal lords could judge their peasants (in other words, their property) without regard to the central government.
Immunity also gave the right to a major owner to personally collect all monetary receipts going to the crown treasury (court fines, taxes and other levies). The feudal lord also became the leader of the militia of peasants and soldiers, which gathered during the war.
The immunity granted by the king was only a formalization of the system of which feudal land tenure was a part. Large property owners held their privileges long before receiving permission from the king. Immunity only gave legitimacy to the order under which the peasants lived.
Patrimony
Before the revolution in land relations took place, the main economic unit of Western Europe was the rural community. They were also called stamps. The communities lived freely, but at the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries they became a thing of the past. In their place came the estates of large feudal lords, to whom serf communities were subordinate.
They could be very different in their structure, depending on the region. For example, in the north of France large fiefdoms were common, which included several villages. In the southern provinces of the common Frankish state, medieval society in the village lived in small fiefdoms, which could be limited to a dozen households. This division into European regions was preserved and lasted until the abandonment of the feudal system.
Patrimony structure
The classic estate was divided into two parts. The first of these was the master's domain, where peasants worked on strictly defined days, serving their service. The second part included the households of rural residents, because of which they became dependent on the feudal lord.
The labor of peasants was also necessarily used in the manor's estate, which, as a rule, was the center of the estate and the master's allotment. It included a house and a yard, on which there were various outbuildings, vegetable gardens, orchards, and vineyards (if the climate permitted). The master's artisans also worked here, without whom the landowner also could not do. The estate also often had mills and a church. All this was considered the property of the feudal lord. What peasants owned in the Middle Ages was located on their plots, which could be located interspersed with the landowner's plots.
Dependent rural workers had to work on the feudal lord's plots using their own equipment, and also bring their livestock here. Real slaves were used less often (this social stratum was much smaller in number).
The arable plots of the peasants were adjacent to each other. They had to use a common area for grazing livestock (this tradition remained with the time of the free community). The life of such a collective was regulated with the help of a village gathering. It was presided over by the headman, who was elected by the feudal lord.
Features of subsistence farming
Subsistence farming predominated in the estate. This was due to the low development of production forces in the village. In addition, in the village there was no division of labor between artisans and peasants, which could have increased its productivity. That is, craft and household work appeared as a by-product of agriculture.
Dependent peasants and artisans provided the feudal lord with various clothes, shoes, and necessary equipment. What was produced on the estate was mostly used at the owner's court and rarely became the personal property of the serfs.
Peasant trade
The lack of circulation of goods slowed down trade. Nevertheless, it is incorrect to say that it did not exist at all, and the peasants did not participate in it. There were markets, fairs, and money circulation. However, all this did not in any way affect the life of the village and estate. The peasants had no means of independent subsistence, and feeble trade could not help them pay off the feudal lords.
With the proceeds from trade, the villagers bought what they could not produce on their own. The feudal lords acquired salt, weapons, and also rare luxury items that merchants from overseas countries could bring. Villagers did not participate in such transactions. That is, trade satisfied only the interests and needs of the narrow elite of society who had extra money.
Peasant protest
The way peasants lived in the Middle Ages depended on the size of the quitrent that was paid to the feudal lord. Most often it was given in kind. It could be grain, flour, beer, wine, poultry, eggs or crafts.
The deprivation of the remaining property caused protest from the peasantry. It could be expressed in various forms. For example, villagers fled from their oppressors or even staged mass riots. Peasant uprisings suffered defeats each time due to spontaneity, fragmentation and disorganization. At the same time, even they led to the fact that the feudal lords tried to fix the size of duties in order to stop their growth, as well as increase discontent among the serfs.
Refusal of feudal relations
The history of peasants in the Middle Ages is a constant confrontation with large landowners with varying success. These relations appeared in Europe on the ruins of ancient society, where classical slavery generally reigned, especially pronounced in the Roman Empire.
The abandonment of the feudal system and the enslavement of peasants occurred in modern times. It was facilitated by the development of the economy (primarily light industry), the industrial revolution and the outflow of population to the cities. Also, at the turn of the Middle Ages and the Modern Age, humanistic sentiments prevailed in Europe, which put individual freedom at the forefront of everything else.