History - Everyday Life in a Norman Village

Everyday Life in a Norman Village

In Norman England, the vast majority of the population were peasants living in small villages, almost hamlets, all over the country. Usually, one of these villages corresponded to one manor, an area of land, including farmland and forest, which was owned by a lord. The smallest lords (who were no more than Knights granted a little land) would own a single manor, with one village. It was not uncommon, however, for there to be multiple villages on one manor, or indeed one large village representing multiple manors. For more information about the organisation of manors, see the section on Governmental Structure.

I will describe an archetypal small Norman village. There were usually 30 - 40 residents, living with relatively small families in small shacks. Although many babies were born, only a shockingly small percentage survived it to maturity. Peasants' houses were made using a technique called wattle and daub, where multiple posts were sunk into the ground around the perimeter of the house, and supple willow sticks woven in and out of the sticks. A mixture of mud, straw, and dung was spread over the sticks. The roof was thatched with hay or straw. The family lived with what few animals they could afford to keep. They would usually have a small vegetable garden, growing uninspiring crops such as turnips, parsnips, onions and leeks. These would comprise the main meal of the day, called pottage, in which everything they had, including a little meat sometimes, was boiled up in the pot.

Peasants spent the bulk of their time working in the garden or in the fields. Each village had three fields for crops, only two of which were sown at one time (the other was left fallow to regain nutrients; one of the farming innovations the Normans introduced). Each family would have small strips of land spread around the two fields. Although it made less economical to access the peasants' fields, and no doubt caused border disputes, this was to ensure no family got a particularly fertile area of land. In each village there was also a common, where any animals the villagers had could be grazed, and usually some wooded area, which the villagers may or may not have been able to forage from, depending on the lord.

Peasants had to spend a portion of their week working for the lord, usually about 3 days, and the villagers would be punished if they seemed to be giving the lord's lands or animals second-rate treatment. The lord's crops would always be harvested first, for example. Villagers would have to use the lord-owned mill to grind their flour and oven to bake their bread. Peasants were bound to the land and their lord, were not able to leave, and even had to ask permission of the lord before they could marry.

Although I have painted a fairly grim picture of life in a Norman village, it wasn't all bad. They had regular Saint's Days and other Holy Days (holidays) such as May Day, and in all probability peasants only worked in the fields until about 2pm each day, leaving the rest of the time for more restful occupations.

	Everyday Life in a Norman Village In Norman England, the vast majority of the population were peasants living in small villages, almost hamlets, all over the country. Usually, one of these villages corresponded to one manor, an area of land, including farmland and forest, which was owned by a lord. The smallest lords (who were no more than Knights granted a little land) would own a single manor, with one village. It was not uncommon, however, for there to be multiple villages on one manor, or indeed one large village representing multiple manors. For more information about the organisation of manors, see the section on Governmental Structure. I will describe an archetypal small Norman village. There were usually 30 - 40 residents, living with relatively small families in small shacks. Although many babies were born, only a shockingly small percentage survived it to maturity. Peasants' houses were made using a technique called wattle and daub, where multiple posts were sunk into the ground around the perimeter of the house, and supple willow sticks woven in and out of the sticks. A mixture of mud, straw, and dung was spread over the sticks. The roof was thatched with hay or straw. The family lived with what few animals they could afford to keep. They would usually have a small vegetable garden, growing uninspiring crops such as turnips, parsnips, onions and leeks. These would comprise the main meal of the day, called pottage, in which everything they had, including a little meat sometimes, was boiled up in the pot. Peasants spent the bulk of their time working in the garden or in the fields. Each village had three fields for crops, only two of which were sown at one time (the other was left fallow to regain nutrients; one of the farming innovations the Normans introduced). Each family would have small strips of land spread around the two fields. Although it made less economical to access the peasants' fields, and no doubt caused border disputes, this was to ensure no family got a particularly fertile area of land. In each village there was also a common, where any animals the villagers had could be grazed, and usually some wooded area, which the villagers may or may not have been able to forage from, depending on the lord. Peasants had to spend a portion of their week working for the lord, usually about 3 days, and the villagers would be punished if they seemed to be giving the lord's lands or animals second-rate treatment. The lord's crops would always be harvested first, for example. Villagers would have to use the lord-owned mill to grind their flour and oven to bake their bread. Peasants were bound to the land and their lord, were not able to leave, and even had to ask permission of the lord before they could marry. Although I have painted a fairly grim picture of life in a Norman village, it wasn't all bad. They had regular Saint's Days and other Holy Days (holidays) such as May Day, and in all probability peasants only worked in the fields until about 2pm each day, leaving the rest of the time for more restful occupations.

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