life in a medieval village western europe during the middle ages the majority of people lived in rural villages rather than urban cities or large towns but what was everyday life like in a medieval village the truth is like many periods in history medieval life differed from village to village and from person to person life in a medieval village depended on someone's class and role in society generally speaking though the medieval village was the domain of the peasant peasants were the lowest class of society but they actually made up the majority of the entire population for this majority the village was the center of their universe they were born lived worked attended church were married had children and died all within the same area today we might imagine a medieval village as a line square or several little rows of houses with a tavern and a church but the medieval village actually took on many forms it could be several houses clustered together but a village could also be several scattered hamlets and farmsteads far apart but under the control of a lord most villages would have been houses concentrated around a lord's manner that is an administrative device by which a lord charged rents and taxes from peasants by far the most common villager was the surf serfs were the lowest class of peasants an old fealty to the lord of the matter though they were legally free therefore being different from slaves they were nevertheless legally bound to the land where they lived and worked and they were not allowed to move away the lord of the manor would barely if ever be in the village instead he would be away fighting in wars or performing acts of royal service manners would be surrounded by huge fields usually three of up to a hundred acres each which would make up the land for the village in exchange for living on the land surfs were expected to pay rent and be responsible for working the land in northwestern europe much of the work revolved around farming cereal crops such as wheat barley or rye fields surrounding the manor would be worked in rotation and each would be divided into strips to be worked by individual peasant families village fields that weren't fit for growing crops would be used for grazing animals such as sheep for wool beyond the fields would often be woodland which gave fuel and building materials or where wild animals could be hunted for food but only for a privileged few resources cultivated in the countryside villages would feed and provide for the village residents but would also be transported to those living in nearby towns and cities for the village surf daily life was difficult backbreaking and a constant struggle for survival from starvation to the plague it seemed as though the threat of death was always on the horizon the average village house might have had a low stone wall and a thatched roof and would have been built mostly out of timber and wattle and daub a lattice of wooden strips clung together with a mix of wet soil clay or animal dung the majority of medieval villagers would wake at sunrise in order to make the most of the working day they would work extremely hard from dawn to dusk with meager meals of bread and pottage a thick soup made from porridge peas and beans most villages kept communal cows so milk butter and cheese would also make the menu with meat being an extremely rare treat until the 15th century ale was part of the payment that the peasants received for working the lands of the manor the peasants received portions of everything produced on the land although more expensive items were given in smaller quantities villagers were highly religious due to widespread catholicism at the time they would go to church daily if not multiple times a day however unlike the nobility or richer folk living in cities and towns village peasants weren't expected to do more than the bare minimum when it came to their daily prayers it was thought that if you performed your duties by working hard plowing the fields and providing for the realm then you would be rewarded in the afterlife daily life in a medieval village would also change depending on the time of year the necessary work for villagers depended on the month whether that be harvesting wheat in july or slaughtering farm animals for food in november medieval time was also heavily governed by the church with every month bringing new saints day and the hours of the day being tracked by the church bell while village life was extremely hard work the sheer amount of religious feast days meant that there was always cause for rest and celebration however not all those living in the village would spend their days as serfs working the land some would be a higher class of peasant in the lord's absence the village manor would be run by a steward the highest ranking village official each village would also have a bailiff a man appointed to supervise over the agricultural work done by serfs understandably they were not very popular amongst the villagers there would also be trade workers such as bakers millers blacksmiths each village would also have its own priest to be the village priest was to be in a position of power and respect as they were considered to be absolutely necessary for the salvation of everyone's souls the medieval village was remarkably self-sufficient with an immense sense of community villagers would produce everything they needed themselves in contrast to those in urban areas which in the 12th century were starting to grow and relied on resources sent from villages villagers would make their own clothes from leather linen or wool they would grow their own food using farm tools made by the village blacksmith they could grind grain for flour at the village mill and there would be communal bakers where villagers could bring their loaves to be baked villagers were also practically self-governing in medieval england a law system called frank pledge was put in place which meant that all villagers were equally responsible for the behavior of their peers and neighbors between 1346 and 1353 the bubonic plague known as the black death claimed 30 to 60 percent of europe's population in the wake of the plague so many peasants had died that there were fewer villagers to work on the land peasants therefore realized they were a valuable commodity playing an important role in providing for the realm they were able to demand higher wages better working conditions and lower taxes these demands led to revolts and uprisings and eventually led to many peasants rising into higher roles within society the lower population also meant that fewer crops were needed driving the price of grain down villages that had initially thrived through the growing of grain in large open fields fell into disrepair and over time many were deserted until the 16th century all in all after the devastation of the plague and the changes in social structure that followed medieval village life was never quite the same you